poly_chromatic | (no subject)

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Okay, Cityzens. Let's talk.

Serious conversation here. Because, really, you guys deserve a hell of a lot more honesty than you ever got with the old order that was in charge around here.

We're gonna talk about the City's famous curses.

Early last month, we thought that we'd figured out a way to keep the curses at bay. We'd set up kinda like a block around them--like a buffer or a barrier, and, yeah, I know you know barriers--so that we could contain their energy and dissipate it. To get a little more technical, we set up a block in a certain configuration so that the curse energy couldn't filter out into the City at large and do its work. It was like stopping a gas leak or an oil spill: it had to be contained and removed. And, cool, it worked. Nobody got turned into sheep, nobody had to rollerskate all day (unless they wanted to, which is fine), nobody was covered in blood (not on account of a curse, anyway). You get the idea.

And it worked--for a while. I mean, really, the first part of last month wasn't so bad. I didn't think it was, anyway. But if you were paying attention, you probably noticed that things started going wrong pretty quick. Trees started dying, water dried up, and then a non-zero number of residents of the City became seriously ill. Yeah, that's politi-speak for you, right? But you saw it happen. And you saw what you had to do to get everyone back to health and everything back to normal.

I know Blackdog told you, more or less, what we had to do: we sent a pulse through the blocks we had set up, which was designed to shake loose enough of the necessary power to create a curse-like situation without actually bringing on the curses themselves again. That was that whole thing with those dreams you had and your "essence" and all. No, I don't know why he liked that word either, but he did. It's Blackdog. I don't know what the fuck he's thinking sometimes. So you and we had to do twenty-seven different things to try and save everyone's lives. But you did and, okay, good job. You guys rock. It was like a curse without being a curse. And it was a necessary evil at the moment.

But, seriously, the blocks we set up were the actual problem. They cut you--all of you living in the City--off from the sources of energy that basically hold all this crazy shit together.

Yeah, we Clock-blocked you.

So here's the pisser: you're in the City, so you're effectively part of the City. If you're kept from appearing to the City and the Clock and whatever and everything else as though you don't belong here, like you're not in contact with its energy or its energy is prevented from working like it wants it to, then it thinks you're an outside invader and it starts to get rid of you. That's basically why everyone got sick or started disappearing and all that shit. You didn't belong here, so far as those things were concerned, so you had to get gone. The trees and the water were sort of the symptoms and getting rid of you was the cure. It was like a giant immune reaction, if you want a metaphor.

So we're going to be modifying those existing blocks.

Actually, fuck it, we're as good as going to have to take them down. Ha ha, awesome, I know.

What that means for you is that, yeah, the curses are going to be coming back.

No, we don't know for how long. Yes, we are working on it. No, we can't stop the curses again yet. Yes, we're pissed off too. Yell and scream and complain all you want. I'm telling it to you straight because you fucking deserve to know what's going on in your own City. Transparency is fucking radical.

And if you can stop being angry about it for long enough, I can tell you that we think a smaller-scale version of the blocks might work. We're doing the last tests on one right now and we're hoping to get some things in place before shit gets real. We'll tell you when we've got it worked out.

Also, the curse energy itself is also pretty fucked up on account of having been blocked for, oh, a whole fucking month. I don't know if it's going to be a veritable flood of curses here or what. There could be. I honestly don't know. So, you know, hold on to your butts, as they say.

What I do know is that we're working out how to interpret the curse energy and its patterns. The old order had this down to a fucking science, so they were probably telling it what to do as much as anything. From what I can see? They were programming curses in advance. They had schedules mapped out for months. They were like...they were like fucking Wilhelm Reich and his cloudbusters going on here. I just... I can't...

That ain't us.

Give us a little while and we might be able to control the scale of the curses and the manifestations. Which, if we're really fucking lucky, and I mean really, will mean fewer and easier curses for you. I'm not promising anything. Hell, maybe we'll be able to give you a forecast for the curses. That's something. Better than nothing. We're working on it. Fuck, but I'm sick of saying that. I want it working, not being worked on.

And I'm...I'm sorry. Yeah, that's all I got, Cityzens. I'm sorry. I've been sitting here for weeks waiting to give you some good news for once and it just keeps coming up bad. And I'm sorry.

And now I gotta get back to work too.

[ooc: As you can see on the August calendar, curses will be running on a pretty familiar schedule for the coming month. But the members of the Anonymous Movement do have a few other things they're working on, so stay tuned for some new potential solutions to the curses. More announcements to come!]

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[ Scott didn't sign up for any classes. But, nonetheless, when this guy comes up he grabs his device and watches, listening closely.

This is more information than he's had. A lot more than "A" gave. Clock-blocked. Clever. But, only reiterating what he already knows.

Okay, this is a lot more information. But, it all just sounds so convenient. For them. A reason for everything. ]

Wait.

Waiting. Yeah?

Who are you? Anonymous? Are you from here or did you end up here like all of us?

Okay, I'll try to keep it short:

Hi. I'm Tristero. I'm part of a group--and I refuse to call us an "organization"--that is dedicated to liberating the Cityzens of the City if they should choose to be liberated. We don't come from the City, but we weren't brought here against our will like all of you were. We're not really like you. We're more like the so-called Deities, the old order, who had been in control of the City before us, but we don't have their same bullshit bureaucracy hanging over our heads. We can do all the same stuff they could, more or less, but we don't have the same crap to put up with and we're not going to feed you the same crap.

Short version of the story is that we were sick and tired of seeing all of you pushed around and punished when we were pretty sure that we could do better here than those "Deities" did.

So we took over.

And now we're doing what we can to stop the curses, to allow freedom of movement into and out of the City, and to remove the oppressive of the Clock.

But it's more complicated than we'd expected.

[ A real name. He wasn't expecting a real name. This is already a lot more helpful then the woman who looked like porcelain - named A. Worst name ever. ]

Was there someone above them?

[ Okay. ] What did you do with them? [ They want to make it so that people can come and go? ]

Right. Your first try at helping us got everyone sick.

You better believe there's someone above them. A lot of someone's. In the scheme of things, they're the low men on the totem pole. That's kind of why they got stuck here.

We deposed them. They're dictators and we deposed them. We kicked them out and we're keeping them out. I dunno, do you want them back?

[And so it begins. And he groans.]

Look, and I'm sorry that happened! We didn't expect it to happen! We had the blocks set up, they were working, it was great. It looked like we had the perfect solution. I mean, the "Deities" had been acting under orders, right? They were required to throw curses down on you, right? Turns out it's more of a built-in system. Ha ha fucking ha. We just didn't know that this place seems to take the whole thing about "life is suffering" literally.

You guys just keep getting a raw deal and I'm as sick of it as you are.

I wasn't here when they were. [ He was just making sure you didn't kill them or wound them or even capture them? Those aren't nice things to do. ]

Why? Why were they required? Is it some kind of experiment?

You're kind of required to do things for your job if you want to keep said job, you know? That's kind of why they were doing it. Because it was part of their job description.

Yeah, the Man was working for the Man. Ironic, isn't it?

Messing with everyone was their job?

That's how it goes, though, right? The Man always works for the Man. It's why they're called the man. [ If he read his seventies history right. ]

It's like I'm talking into a vacuum here.

Yeah, pretty much that was is. They were charged with maintaining the City. And that, as we have now learned, involves curses happening.

You know the story about the City, right? It's connected to every world everywhere and everywhen. The Clock is ticking its way down to the Apocalypse of every world. If the City stands, your world stands. If the City falls, your world falls. Think about it for a little while.

Now think about us: we're not here to destroy the Clock. We're here to get the City so it can run on its own without the curses happening to anyone who wants to stay here. Not a simple task. But it's what we want to do.

[ Rude. You are not talking to a vacuum. You're talking to an inquisitive, smart teenager. Who is trying to learn everything he can, establish an animal clinic and get it up and running enough to run without him. Eventually. Also, he wants to keep his best friend safe. And Derek safe. And everyone safe. ]

It's just, job implies they were being paid. I guess I don't know what they'd be paid in. [ That's his thought process. ] I read about it. Heard things. [ So, every world ends at the same time? How coincidental. Or, not. It's probably not. ]

And, to help those who don't want to stay, get back. [ So, you're SAYING you're the good guys. ]

Oh, I'm Scott.

They were probably paid in something. Money, maybe. Or life. Or power. There's a lot of possibilities. You have to wonder if maybe they were working off a debt.

Yeah, you got it. If you want to go, if you want to stay, you can do either.

[ Now he'd have to wonder that. How would he know? ]

How can we help?

Just...bear with us right now. Because things are probably going to suck pretty soon and just know that I'm beyond sorry about that. Bear with us and hang on, because I hope we'll have better news for you soon. We're going to try and give you advance warning for incoming curses and maybe even try to find a way to lighten them up for anyone who's dealing with a bad one. We'll try again.

So...just bear with us.

[ You want them to sit back.

Scott's not always good at that unless someone's in danger or being threatened and he has to. But, he's probably learned all he could. This is a nice change from the nonanswers they got. It's also a nice change from the carnage he'd seen lately. The danger everyone had been in. But, this sounds like a separate danger. One, he'll need to brace for.

Curses. Worse

They'll get through it.

He nods. ]

Thanks. For waiting.

Sure thing.

And, hey. You too. Thanks for waiting.

[ He takes precisely five beats to absorb the info. He'd allow himself more time, but it's better not to get caught up in the technicalities of ... This. Magic, science, the Frankenstein-monster it breeds. It makes him uncomfortable. ]

Since it's Q&A session, I want an explanation on what the City actually is. [ A beat. ] Preferably in less than 100 words.

This is your major concern?

It's a City. It's connected to every world everywhere and everywhen. The Clock is ticking its way down to the Apocalypse of every world. If the City stands, your world stands. If the City falls, your world falls. Think about it for a little while.

That's 45.

One of them. Hm. A convenient way to discourage attacks on the City, for fear of damaging your own world. [ doot doot ] I'm not sure I believe you.

You don't have to. I'm only repeating what everyone's always said. There's more than a little truth in it.

There's more than a little truth to Pinocchio too. No reason to look for talking crickets on my shoulder. Didn't the 'old order' leave behind any notes? Some type of schematic to better understand the curses?

They did, but it's fragmented. Different people were responsible for different aspects of it. No one person here had total control or complete information. We're having to reconstruct and reverse engineer some of it.

I see. Too many chefs, spoiled kimchi etc. Who were the Deities working under?

[ The arrangement seems as familiar and hierarchical as the different factions under the Syndicate. Or what's left of it, back home. ]

Their bosses. [Duh.]

One of 'em is named Ferocia Coutura. Laszlo Jamf was immediately under him for a while--coffee bitch, you know? Then he wound up here when Coutura came to visit the City and another one of the Deities--called Paulie--ended up being transformed into a red sports car and driving that Coutura guy back out of the City again. Got to wonder if that was a promotion or a demotion. For both of them.

I doxed all three of them.

[ The name -- Coutura -- matches with the one in old Network entries. Still, the information, like everything else about the City, is dubious. He's left with more questions than answers. ]

How does one 'drive' out of the City? A magic Route 66?

[ A pause, as he mulls the last factoid over. ]

You're a hacker?

Sure. Why not?

Yeah, sometimes.

[ Hnnnnnngh. ]

You and that Talking Dog must be very good friends. What's your name?

Pretty much BFFs 5eva, as they say on the Network.

Tristero. He's Blackdog. There's also A. and Deacon. You might've met them around too.

I have. Has it a always been just this Fourfecta? Or are there other major players in your Anonymous movement?

[ Where did you come from? Who are you working for? What is your true objective? What color underwear are you wearing? THE LIST GOES ON!!! ]

"Fourfecta." I like that. At least you didn't call us "The Gang of Four."

No, there's a lot of us. We just wound up being the unofficial leaders and spokesmen (or spokeswomen). We prefer to think of ourselves as a collective.

Too obvious. And let's not get started on the Chinese 4/Death homophone. I see. But collectives can become clusterfucks if they're not careful.

你很聪明。

[Ní hěn cōngmíng. You're very clever.]

Yeah, believe us, we know. And familiarity breeds contempt. So we try not to fuck it up.

A hacker and a polyglot too. Will wonders never cease.

[ Except Hei's not from a world that puts stock in wonders, or in good intentions. (Is anyone, really?) ]

Keep trying. The Citizens will keep watching. Life in the City's a waiting game; this should at least take the edge off it.

[oh god he had to run this like five times to get an understanding of it. he'd ask for a transcription, but words are difficult to read for a street rat like him.

He sighs and rubs his temples as he emits the feed. Bo sure picked a good time to leave.]

That woman who spoke to us about the curses earlier— you're in touch with her, aren't you?

Yeah, absolutely. We're working together--her, Deacon, Blackdog, me, some others, hopefully a lot of people in the City.

Hey, sorry to data-dump you like I did up there. Seems like everyone wants answers around here, but sometimes it's more than you want, right?

[He shrugs, appearing thoughtful.]

Leaves less to the imagination. My— [girlfriend. That's wrong, though it continues to be on the edge of his tongue.] —friend jumped on her request to help you guys out earlier. You know how the missions she mentioned will play into adjusting to the curses?

Awesome--we're gonna need her help.

I don't have all the details yet, but it'll probably end up being something to do with adjusting the energy flow that would otherwise cause the curses. Or ways that we can let a curse start and then cut it off before it really gets going. Or we might be able to reconstruct some of the methods the "Deities" had been using to adjust things. It's going to be a lot of different stuff, I'll say that. We've learned what doesn't work, but we've also learned a whole series of things that could work instead. A little help and we can get them tested and going.

[Mako remains pensive. He wishes he could hop on board like Korra, but he doesn't have enough time and experience here to make an accurate judgment. All he knows is that this guy possesses a wealth of information, and he doesn't appear to be shy about sharing it.

He wishes he were more prepared.]

You guys sound like you know way more than anyone who was ever transferred here. You're native to this place, aren't you.

Lots of kids are born here.

But I'm not. Native to the City, I mean.

[But is he really telling the truth? He told a long story about "his world," but one has to wonder. Could he have been born here? And then somehow smuggled out? Could there be some means of going in and out of the City? Perhaps other beings like the Deities exist... They could come and go as they pleased, perhaps, so long as they obeyed certain rules.

How long has the Anonymous Movement of resistance been going on, really?]

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