Glamour Failure

[animusmods]

Characters: any
Setting: all around the Tower
Format: any/party-style
Summary: A general mingle log for the reaction to the beginning of the Idealism event.
Warnings: PG-13; please include any more detailed warnings in your threads if necessary

Comments

[mysterical]

[There was a voice she knew and could recognize.] Mr Brooks. I am glad to see that you're still sane. The media room is as dark as the rest of the tower.

[sacred_flamer]

It's... kinda creepy in there right now. I wouldn't go in if I were you.

[All of the floors were really creepy, so that didn't say much at this point.]

[tsunderebunny]

Miss Grants. Mister Fabre.

[The tension in his frame lessened at the sound of the two familiar voices, but he kept his tone that of polite neutrality. It was for the best.]

That's unfortunate to hear. I was wondering if anything in there had a clue about what's going on. There should be one somewhere if we look hard enough.

[mysterical]

[Tear looked over at the man who she could only recognize by voice. Something about the way he held himself, even featureless as they all were, told volumes about his tension. She was worried about him, as a healer, but she knew that there was very little she could do for him at that moment, since the head injury she suffered earlier was still plaguing her.]

I think there might be, but at a time like this, trying to find anything alone seems like suicide.

[sacred_flamer]

Pretty sure there wouldn't be anything in there. The screens went dead when the power went out. If there's anything on there, it's probably about the system failure.

[Luke paused a moment, looking worriedly at Tear.]

Also, powers aren't working... they probably never did.

[tsunderebunny]

I noticed that myself.

[He would have Handsome Escaped somewhere private as soon as the lights went out otherwise-- there was no point in trying, although he felt...less without them.]

It's suicide to travel alone at any time unless you can take one of these beasts on yourself. [And, even then...] But, we could work as a group and see what we can learn.

[mysterical]

That would probably be for the best, truthfully. Three separate sets of eyes works best for watching all of our backs until the situation calms down. [Tear unconsciously squeezes Luke's hand, unwilling to let go of the lifeline to sanity that it represents.]

[sacred_flamer]

[He noticed, and glanced down at her hand, curious. She was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, but she had to be just as uneasy about everything as he was. After a moment, he squeezed her hand back, turning his attention back to the... er... other guy. He totally forgot his name already.]

We can use all the help we can get.

[tsunderebunny]

[It was easy for him to fall into business mode after confirmation from both of the young adults was given. Barnaby adjusted his glasses-- rather, that stuff that claimed to be his glasses-- and pulled himself together.

Now isn't the time to relent. Not if he wanted to stay alive.]

Very well then. Mister Fabre, you've been here longer than either Miss Grants or myself, correct?

[sacred_flamer]

Yeah... over a year now, according to this places' calendar.

[...damn, he hadn't been real for over a year? He could feel his stomach twist at the thought, and he struggled not to be sick, to keep himself from freaking out.]

[tsunderebunny]

Alright. [He kept his voice as level as he could manage for his own sanity, but it was clear that the others needed something to ground them too.] Do you have any ideas of suggestions about where to begin? Or any ideas about all of this?

[mysterical]

[Tear was just as curious about what Luke had to say, but she could tell that he was about two seconds from freaking out again. She squeezed his hand to let him know that she would support him and waited patiently.]

[sacred_flamer]

[He paused, glancing over at her with a small smile on his face, before he let out a faint breath. Well, there was no point in keeping it a secret anymore.]

This... there was a group of us planting these fonchips all over the Tower, 'cause Dax -- one of the admins -- was trying to help us, even though he was already dead. Pretty sure that's what did this.

[tsunderebunny]

[So it was a break from the inside instead of the other way around. Barnaby paused, once again lingering on the cryptic words that he took away from the Masquerade:]

'Change is your friend.'

Maybe this was what he meant.

[mysterical]

This is certainly a change, and I remember those chips. I saw Zelda with them. I only met her a few days before the post I made on the network about training, and that was my priority. [She frowned, although neither man would be able to see it.] Not that that helped.

[sacred_flamer]

Yeah, I don't think any kind of training could have prepared us for this...

[tsunderebunny]

That doesn't matter right now. Please focus, Mister Fabre. Miss Grants.

[Zelda this. Zelda that. He was tired of hearing about Zelda already. Without having ever met the woman, he had no way to form his own judgement. He trusted April, and she promised him some intel later on. That, and the masked, nameless man, were all he counted as potentially reliable resources.

Although he didn't know what his reality was any longer, he decided that he was going to play whatever nasty game this was.]

This much has changed. We need to figure out what else has, if anything.

[mysterical]

[Tear held a hand up to her head to fight back the headache that had been niggling since the tumble down the stairs with Luke earlier. When she could think, she attempted to think beyond the surface of Barnaby's words.]

You're speaking about besides the obvious changes? I think if this was brought about by Zelda's group, it means that the admin's grip on the tower is lessening. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

[sacred_flamer]

Or we forced it, and they could take it back at any time.

[Luke gave a small shrug; fontech in general was fairly beyond him. It took him the longest time to figure out how the terminals worked. This much fontech, though? This was way too much.]

[tsunderebunny]

[More about this Zelda. Everyone was talking about her that night. :|]

If it's out for us, it's out for them too. This might be beyond us, but that's no reason not to take advantage of it later.

[He wasn't going to fall for this trap again; it was unforgivable.]

[mysterical]

I agree. While we're vulnerable, they might be in a similar situation. It's a shame that a contingency plan to strike when the power dropped was not put into place.

[sacred_flamer]

Well, we had no idea what those chips were going to do. And I don't think anyone expected this. I don't think we could have formed a plan.

[tsunderebunny]

I don't believe that thinking over 'what-if's is helpful right now.

...regardless of anything, I'm going to learn what I can.

[That was his singular determination. Not to stop anything, not to rage against the system-- he was done with that. He wanted facts now. Hard, cold facts that he could grasp.

Luke and Tear had their truth. He needed to find his.]

[mysterical]

Is there anything we can do to help then?

[Despite everything that had occurred that night, Tear knew that Barnaby was capable of being fairly eloquent. She wondered what it is that he was truly searching for that seemed so different from what the rest of the residents in the tower were.

Or, maybe like Luke and Asch, it wasn't so much that their goals were different but their methodology.]

[sacred_flamer]

Yeah, we wouldn't mind helping.

[Luke glanced between Tear and Barnaby.]

We're all in this together, even the people we don't like. It's better if we all cooperate with each other as much as we can.