The whole Tower went a brilliant, blinding white. Then it went black, and there was nothing. Surely this is it--something's gone wrong, something's failed, it didn't work, everyone is dead, or maybe worse--

And then light filters back in--it lights only the various residents of the Tower. No matter where in the Tower they were before this happened, they are all together again now. It appears that they are in a void, but after a few moments, as if their eyes are adjusting to it, more things become visible: the machine that may be their salvation is here. Ruana, with a visible pulse of energy encircling her, is here, but appears colorless and frozen. Aria is here.

Zo is here. And he speaks. "I can't hold her forever. We have to act now. I want to save you all, so I'll do my best. Just tell me, okay?

What do you want me to do?"

Characters: open to those staying in the machine room
Setting: machine room
Format: any
Summary: The time has come to make decisions about what will happen after everything is over.
Warnings: psychological horror (eventually)

Characters: open to those who want to fight Ruana
Setting: the lower administrative levels
Format: action, please!
Summary: It's time to take control of the Tower.
Warnings: physical and psychological horror, violence

When everyone is assembled, Zo opens up a portal--rather, he rips into space violently, as if doing anything less will cause it to snap back shut again. The way the portal quivers and shakes at the edges, it really might. He'll hurry everyone through--and they'll all step into a bedroom. The bed in the center is decorated in pink, with a large canopy and curtains surrounding the bed itself. The curtains are closed. It's silent, but the pressure is so thick in the air it's a living thing all its own. It's completely silent.

Characters: open
Setting: travelling through dead worlds
Format: any
Summary: The power has gone out, but a portal opens. Maybe all is not lost if you can gather up those who are missing...
Warnings: general animus endgame warnings

Characters: open to those trapped in cells
Setting: the cells
Format: any
Summary: Those left abandoned in the Tower have some time to speak to each other. In the middle of the room, a clock counts down...
Warnings: general animus endgame warnings

Characters: Riki and the infiltration team
Setting: administrative levels
Format: any
Summary: Riki's efforts must be sabotaged. Stealth is the name of the game and time is of the essence.
Warnings: psychological horror

Though the chipped unit does not follow, he sees to it that the team advances the rest of the way. At the end of the lit corridor is a set of double doors, heavy-duty polished metal with small windows set into each one.

Through the windows, a massive machine is visible, connected to thousands of holographic screens that are hard to make out at the speed at which they're being manipulated. The machine sits in the center of the room and is networked to four elaborate terminals stationed along the walls via a complex tangle of panels, wires, and towers. Each of these terminals controls its own set of floating screens; the sheer amount of holographic monitors in the room is disorienting, and really, it's hard to tell what's connected to what.

In the chair in the middle of the enormous set-up is Riki, maneuvering all of the screens with the same ease with which most people breathe. His back is to the doors that lead into the room, and for the moment, he is utterly engrossed in his work.

Characters: any characters who are still within the Tower
Setting: the hidden floor
Format: any
Summary: Zo needs help. What will you do?
Warnings: psychological horror

Aria and the other retrieval units stand guard in the room and regard each person who enters with a little bit of caution. The reason quickly becomes clear: Zo lies unconscious on a bed that appears to have been stolen from a hospital recovery room. With the glamour down, he looks spectral: it's possible to look through his body and to the bed beneath. He's not quite a ghost, though, as he can be interacted with.

If Zo is attacked, the retrieval units will be quick to retaliate. They can't help Zo on their own, though--so maybe there's something you can do...

Characters: any characters who were warped outside
Setting: outside
Format: any
Summary: The outcast residents arrive in the city that surrounds the Tower.
Warnings: psychological horror

The city appears on the horizon long before they reach it, of course--and it stretches and stretches and stretches, swallowing up the landscape until it's all that can be seen before them. And on a hill in the center lay the Tower, as if it were a monolith to be worshiped by an awestruck populace. But if that's the case, then the god has been abandoned: there is no one left alive to pay tribute.

But if that's the case, maybe it's the god who abandoned them first.

The city is dead, and its population has fallen like ash on the streets and buildings. The bodies are familiar ones to those who have seen their home worlds after being taken from it: corpses that do not decompose, with their insides pulled out through their mouths.

The city is sorted into ringed districts--while time is not on your side, you have to pass through each district anyway, so there's nothing saying you can't do a little exploring as long as you don't dawdle too long...

Characters: anyone outside of the Tower
Setting: outside
Format: any
Summary: You have been transported out of the Tower, and you must return quickly.
Warnings: psychological horror

It's pitch black here, though the ground is made of dirt and the Tower gleaming in the distance provides at least a sign that light exists somewhere. It's completely silent. It feels as if things might jump out at you--but that's probably your imagination.

Characters: Ruana
Setting: the labyrinth
Format: prose
Summary: Ruana finally appears.
Warnings: graphic description of cannibalism, gore, horror

( 'cause she's liable to grow up mean )

Characters: Jason, open to characters who are in the labyrinth
Setting: the labyrinth
Format: party-style
Summary: Fighting Jason and other fun labyrinth activities.
Warnings: violence, gore, disturbing content, Animus event
Note: Most of this thread will be used for fighting Jason. Doing things in the labyrinth that are not fighting Jason is perfectly fine, just use the subthread here!

( I have taken control )

Characters: open to characters who signed up for the Heel event
Setting: a familiar labyrinth
Format: any; party style
Summary: A game of hunters and prey.
Warnings: potential for violence, gore, angst, etc.

Event details are here. Please make sure to include the IC date and if your thread is open or closed in your subject lines. Please mark threads for any specific warnings.

Characters: open
Setting: all around the Tower on the 14th
Format: any
Summary: There's something interesting on floor forty-three...
Warnings: Animus horror event warnings
Note: The bear has been found.

The note might be familiar by now: "A bear stole my heart. Will you find it for me?" What's unusual is that this isn't attached to anyone. Instead, it's attached to the inner wall of cell 037 on floor forty-three. A red Valentine's Day heart, painted in blood, is scrawled above the note on the wall.

Will you search for the bear?

Characters: anyone who signed up to be hooked into the machine for the Recharge? event
Setting: a void
Format: party style
Summary: Those who chose to hook themselves up to the machine find themselves wandering around a void...
Warnings: standard Animus warnings; please put anything specific in subject lines of threads

Characters: Jason, open
Setting: starting on floor 23 and moving downward
Format: action
Summary: Jason arrives, and he's not happy. Zo has promised his help, but he can't come right away, and he won't strike any direct attacks. It will be up to the characters involved to do what they can.
Warnings: gore and violence

[Jason pulls himself up out of the void with arms much too long and strong to support his odd body, so similar to that of the smaller plague doctors who crawl out and about. The glamour seems to fail around him in an approximate five meter radius. Even with his inhuman face, the human eyes that stare out are cold and furious. Countless scalpels line his six arms, glittering and ready to be yanked out.]

I can't stand interruptions, you know.

[Jason's voice is undoubtedly his, but there's something twisted and odd about its tone with the glamour removed.

He begins to rapidly descend the Tower staircase.]

Characters: open to all characters running supplies for Aria
Setting: 22nd, all day
Format: any
Summary: Supplies have to be run up to the 101st floor from the infirmary. With the retrieval units pinned down where they are, it's up to the characters to do the heavy lifting.
Warnings: standard event warnings

[The eerie darkness of the Tower reflects oddly against the snow and metal. Still, maybe the darkness is good for this sort of task, considering all the plague doctors lurking in the halls and around corners to be avoided. The supply station on the 101st floor is easy enough to spot, ringed with a strange, glittering blue barrier, but the plague doctors don't seem to notice the area at all. The supply station and the infirmary are safe--it's moving between the two that's the difficult part.

Good luck.]

Characters: characters participating or open
Setting: throughout the Tower on the 26th-28th while characters are frozen
Format: party style; please specify the date and time in your subject header
Summary: A mingle log for the Cognizance event.
Warnings: PG-13; please note in subject lines any more specific warnings
Note: Remember, only characters who missed their collar checks can be awake on the first night!

Characters: any
Setting: all around the Tower; please specify the date and location in your subject header!
Format: any/party-style
Summary: A second general mingle log for characters to encounter monsters.
Warnings: PG-13; please include any more detailed warnings in your threads if necessary.

Characters: any
Setting: all around the Tower; please specify the date and location in your subject header!
Format: any/party-style
Summary: A general mingle log for characters to encounter monsters.
Warnings: PG-13; please include any more detailed warnings in your threads if necessary.

PLEASE USE THIS POST FOR NEW THREADS.

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