hadriel_logs | Event Log: In the Eye of the Storm

Entry tags:

Event Log: In the Eye of the Storm

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the In the Eye of the Storm event
Where: All over the world
When: September 7th-15th
Warnings: Seasickness, probably

It's cloudy most of the time on this planet, but halfway through the day, the clouds grow darker. The wind picks up, the waves start to grow, and for the first time the city starts to get more than a little sprinkling of rain. This is a storm, a real one, one that's going to last for more than just a day or two. You better tie down anything that might blow away, board up your windows, and stay away from the ocean.

There's a lot to worry about during this storm. The wind outside blows in gusts strong enough to knock you over if you're not careful, the rain will soak anyone in a matter of minutes, and there's a constant threat of lightning. Thunder rumbles regularly, making sleep difficult, and anyone too near the shore might get pulled in by the very large waves. Let's hope you didn't build a beachfront shack.

As for those on the sea - it's no easier for them, and maybe even harder. Hadriel's brave explorers will find themselves battered by wind and rain and waves, with no safe harbor to be found. Masts might break, hulls might crack, and your supplies - or your crew - might end up overboard. Good luck, hope those swimming lessons went well!

► This log covers September 7th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you get washed out to sea, please let us know here.

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[The 7th | West Island]

[Connor has see rain before, but he's never--not really--seen a thunderstorm. Not like this one, at least.

New experiences have also absolutely not worn off as far as novelty goes, and so even the simplest of things are exciting and fascinating to him. The storm is anything but simple, which makes it even more interesting, and that's why he's outright ignoring the common sense that tells him not go out in it.

Instead, he wanders around the island, finding the best places to watch the lightning and experience the feeling of the wind and rain and the rumble of thunder. He does know better than to go stand out in the middle of a flat open space, or to stand next to anything tall and metal, but otherwise he's pretty fearless; androids don't have to worry about getting wet or cold unless it's extremely cold, and even if the wind does manage to knock him down it isn't going to hurt him.

But although he's taking basic lightning precautions, he isn't quite expecting to be affected by a lightning strike that's simply nearby. In hindsight, he'll realize he was too caught up in the new experience to even bother thinking about anything that would prevent him from enjoying it, but for now all he knows is that he feels the charge of electricity in the air and then finds himself staring up at the sky through a ton of error messages flashing in his vision.

He glances through them in confusion, noting none are critical and self-repair is already in progress, but there's a corrupted sector of memory--just the last few minutes, according to his internal clock--and his logs say several systems have rebooted. A few others are clearly in need of it, like motor function considering calibration has dropped to 65%, but those will have to wait until he's not laying on the ground out in the rain.

Getting up is a little easier said than done, though, due in no little part to the calibration problem, so if anyone would like to help he could--begrudgingly--use it. Just don't startle him; his scanners definitely aren't back up in working order just yet.]

[The 9th | Various]

[Okay, let's try this again.

Connor is definitely being a bit more careful--he's not at all interested in a repeat of two days ago--but he's not going to let one bad experience deter him. Besides, he's putting his desire to wander around to good use this time by making sure other people are safe, not stranded outside or on an island they don't want to be on or something like that.

So whenever he encounters someone who doesn't look like they're happy to be out in the storm, he asks--]

Hello, are you alright?

[Jane had never been one to plan ahead, so when the storm hit, she only had a couple of days' worth of food stowed away. now that's gone and she's screwed because she's going to have to go out in this madness, make her way to a shop, and drag some more food home.

the storm is brutal. she's heard stories about hurricanes, but never thought she'd actually experience one for herself. there are times when she has to grab at the walls of buildings to stay upright. she's soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold inside her now-soaked jacket.

she can barely see another person, or what looks like another person, in front of her, so she gambles on them being friendly and makes her way over to them. maybe they'll help her get to the shops and carry some food back?

when she gets close enough to realize it's Connor and hears his question, she does her best to put on a smile]

Not exactly. I was trying to get to the shops to bring back more food, but with all this rain, I can't see a thing. Am I close?

Throughout the Event | Whistler's Apartment

[It's like jolts to the spine. Erratic and unrelenting. A screechi of wind, a clatter of doors in the distance, a beastly belch of thunder and the rumbling shudder that follows and all these things in a cycle with no set order. Sometimes all at once, even.

It sets fire to Whistler's nerves. His breath stays too shallow, his heart beat alternating between thudding angrily against his chest and speeding far too light and quick as though it could race away to some place quieter.

He will not leave his apartment. He simply will not. Even if he runs out of food. Even water begins seeping in thick rivulets through the window panes gathering in small pools on the floor. He won't.

Perhaps after a particularly low thunderclap or one of the stronger shakes of the ground you might hear a frightened cry from behind his door, likely followed by the sound of shuffling and things getting knocked over as he tries to burrow further under blankets and under his table or bed.

Should you try it, the door is actually open. The water having warped the wood just enough that it doesn't close properly.]

[The storm makes it a little more difficult than usual to use his scanners, so he hasn't been bothering and therefore only recognizes her once he's close enough to see her and hear her voice.]

You're close, yes. Would you like me to show you the way there?

[ Drake's no stranger to storms but this sure is a doozy. And it seems to be gathering steam -- he was on patrol on another island when he saw it coming, saw the water getting almost too choppy to navigate and shot Nick a text that he needed to get back to west before it really got bad. He couldn't risk being stuck separated from Hope's temple if things didn't blow over quickly, which... it's Hadriel. This planet is new and unfamiliar to them still, but usually when weather happened it was sustained.

Starving again, potentially separated from anyone who could help, was just not an option. Nick understood, and Drake struggled through the trip back. By the time he finally moors the boat he's soaked through completely and the storm has hit in earnest, blinding rain and wind still not enough to obscure the huge lightning strikes. Yeah... he made the right call.

Still, he decides to sweep the island like a good Guardsman, in case anyone is stranded or just freaking. Make sure everyone gets inside and safe before he holes up. A strike hits close enough that he flinches back from the brightness of it, and in his peripheral vision he catches someone go down that he hadn't noticed was there through the rain before. Someone familiar. ]

Connor! Connor!!

[ Whether or not he's heard over all the racket is a crapshoot, but he keeps yelling the other man's name as he works his way over, blinking water out of his eyes. ]

Fuck, Connor, are you okay?

Edited 2018-09-08 16:03 (UTC)

[His audio system are among those that have rebooted successfully, so he vaguely recognizes that someone is shouting, but it's difficult to hear over the storm and it takes a moment before he can recognize the voice. He's managed to prop himself up on an arm by the time Drake makes it to him, eyebrows furrowed as he focuses on clearing out error messages again so he can actually see who it is.]

I'm okay.

[He says, trying to sound reassuring, but instead his voice comes out distinctly staticy and slightly modulated, the eerie undertone of mechanics underneath how he normally sounds. Alarmed, he sifts through the errors and finds the one for his voice synthesizer--minor damage, self repair complete in 32 minutes and 14 seconds--but that only alleviates one concern; the other, that Drake heard the inhuman quality to it despite the sound of the storm, he can't do anything about.]

[ Drake drops down to one knee beside Connor to check him over, and is already reaching for him when he speaks... even over the rain there's no mistaking that the words didn't come from human vocal cords.

...actually, this makes perfect sense, and in fact explains a thing or two.

It changes nothing, just makes it that much more important to get him out of the storm. So Drake's surprise doesn't translate to hesitation, and he's strong and sure as he pulls the man's arm over his shoulder to hustle him up. If he can't walk, he's getting carried. ]

Up we go, man, we need to get you inside in case you're attracting it. Do you live on this island?

[Connor almost informs him that he's not attracting the lightning any more than a human would be--he's not 60% water, after all, and his metal components are surrounded by much less conductive plastics--but on the off-chance the comment was not made because of hearing his messed up voice, he decides not to speak again yet. So instead he nods at the question, allowing Drake to pull his arm over his shoulders and focusing on getting his feet underneath himself.

His systems remind him immediately of his calibration issues, as well as a warning for gyroscopic malfunction and another for an excess of stored energy in his thirium; the latter is the most worrying but it doesn't say critical, so he cancels it out along with the others and glances around for good option for shelter. Getting back to Spire One would take a little while so an abandoned shop might be a better option for now, as he's pretty sure he can walk a bit but shouldn't overdo it. He needs to give his systems a little time to repair rather than overstressing them further.

What kind of an idiot android gets almost struck by lightning?]

[ Sorry, bud, cat's out of the bag. But that's not the important thing right now.

When the android doesn't tell him where to go, and seems so unsteady, Drake seems to come to the same conclusion on his own. The shops are closer, they can camp out until Connor's... well. Recovered? Does that apply for robots? Drake's a handy guy but he knows jack shit about this kind of thing, if his new friend is damaged somehow they'll have to get help. They were just talking about this, so he's sure Connor will know who to call, but it's still worrying.

He hustles them to the shops, picks one that isn't stocked in case people come looking for supplies. It's kind of a mess, but nobody will come in and freak Connor out worse... he leaves the other man leaning against the back wall and goes to brace the door closed, since the wind is slamming it back on its hinges. There. Safe as they're gonna get for the moment. Drake rakes his hair out of his face and returns to Connor's side, looking concerned. ]

What's the damage? Are you in pain?

[Connor keeps as aware of their surroundings as he can, just in case Drake's taking the opportunity to lead him off somewhere, but they get safely into a shop and he reminds himself that it's okay. This situation isn't ideal, and he can tell at this point that Drake definitely has figured out he's not human, but as far as people to find out it could be a lot worse. He has no reason to believe that Drake knowing is going to be dangerous for him.

But having spent his entire time as a deviant very aware that the wrong individual knowing what he is could be fatal, it's difficult to shake the fear; it's always been one of the strongest emotions he can feel, after all, and one of the few he can almost always identify. It doesn't help that although the damage isn't too serious he certainly isn't in perfect working order, which limits how effective he'd be if things go badly--

But that isn't going to happen, he firmly reminds himself, even as he warily watches Drake return from bracing the door. Everything's fine.]

I'm not in pain.

[His voice is still messed up, holding a mechanical echo that's even more obvious now that they're out of the wind and the rain, and it sounds so loud to him that he winces a little on reflex.]

I've sustained no critical damage. Self-repair is in progress and will be complete in several hours.

[And this is all totally normal, just completely ignoring the very obvious 'oh yeah so I'm an android, btw, as you've surely figured out' subject.]

[ It's absolutely not going to happen. He doesn't even react to the voice this time, now that the surprise has passed, just looks relieved at the information Connor relays to him. Good. He'll be okay on his own, that makes things much simpler. They just need to camp out for a little bit, probably. ]

That's a relief, I'm not a tech guy and it's pretty awful out there already. Do you need anything, though? Or just to rest?

[ Then his voice softens a little, despite the fact no one could possibly overhear them right now, in private and under the storm. ]

I won't tell anyone, Connor.

[Connor looks away at the questions and the last comment, subconsciously wrapping his arms around his abdomen and hunching his shoulders a little in a combination of distress and frustration. What a stupid mistake to have made, all because he wanted to go run around in the middle of a clearly dangerous storm, and what if it had been worse? What if a biocomponent or something was permanently damaged or destroyed, and what if it had been someone other than Drake who was nearby?

The combination of fear and anger is a difficult one to handle but at least it's also familiar, and he glares a hole in the wall he's staring at for several long seconds before he can manage to respond.]

Thank you.

[For agreeing not to tell anyone, for helping, for not immediately being angry with him for lying to everyone for the whole time he's been here. Of course, those things could all change at any time, but for now he should offer his appreciation.]

I just need time. The repair process--

[Another warning flashes up in his vision, warning about the excess energy again, and that siphoning is in progress. He's never seen that particular message, but before he can cross-check with his database he tastes burnt thirium and chokes up a mouthful of the blue liquid.

This is one of those things he's very aware would've not bothered him at all before he was deviant--it's a perfectly reasonable and effective way to get rid of the concentrated, overcharged thirium--but he finds distinctly unpleasant now. At least he's wearing his Jericho clothes, and not any of the better ones, so on the off chance he can't get all of the thirium out of the fabric it'll be no great loss.

But oh, right, Drake is here, he should probably say something.]

I'm okay.

[Nailed it. Definitely reassuring.]

[ Drake might not understand being synthetic, but he sure does understand having to hide what you are out of necessity or just fear. That's kind of his existence, the balance tipping back and forth between the two. He's listening to what he expects to be an explanation about self-repair and is considering whether or not to open up himself to put them on a more level playing field, but uh.

Then the android tips forward and pukes up something thick and blue and THAT IS VERY ALARMING, CONNOR. Drake's eyes go wide and he reaches to brace Connor by the shoulders, not caring that he gets splattered with blue blood too. He doesn't even have anything to offer the guy, and so glances around if there's anything at all in the shops... there isn't.

At the "I'm okay" he frowns, because it's unconvincing considering a second ago he said nothing was critical, but... alright. Drake eases his grip, then shifts to pull off the soaked button down he's wearing over his t-shirt. Connor's got blue fluid dripping from his chin. ]

Here. I've got a ton, don't worry about it... is that normal? That didn't look normal.

[ He is extremely out of his element, help. ]

[One warning message down, but it's replaced with another displaying is thirium levels; still within acceptable range, no great need to do anything about them, so dismissed. He's pretty oblivious to the thirium still on his face until Drake offers him the shirt, and he doesn't even bother trying to argue this time and just accepts it, although his lack of coordination makes wiping the blood off a more than slightly ungraceful event.

Now he's just kind of embarrassed on top of everything else, so he tries to distract them both with an explanation.]

It's normal for the specific issue being resolved. The lightning strike led to an excess of electrical charge in my blood, causing my systems to concentrate it into an amount of thirium that could be safely expelled.

[Which was unfun, and he doesn't like it.]

And as I was stating before, my self-repair features will handle the damage done by the electricity, but because it's affecting several systems at once the process will be slow.

[Even being a fancy supercomputer with a tone of processing power, doing too much at once causes some loss of speed.]

[ That makes sense within itself, at least, even if Drake isn't certain how it works. He'll just keep an eye on Connor just in case, the guy seems like he needs a reboot or something. ]

Right, okay. [ He breathes out, then glances around for something to sit on since they're going to be here awhile. ] I'm glad you didn't get hit straight on.

[He resists the urge to say it shouldn't have happened at all, straight on or not, but instead he sees what Drake's doing and even without everything working properly it's easy enough to guess what he's looking for.]

You don't have to stay.

[He's done enough, and it's going to be several hours before he's repaired plus time to calibrate. It's going to be boring enough for him, let alone someone else.]

[ Yeah, good luck with that, Connor. Drake quirks an eyebrow at him, then crosses to grab a few old crates for them to settle on. They seem sturdy enough, considering. It'll do. ]

Dude, you don't know me very well yet, but I don't leave people when they're in a bad way. I'm sure you're right and you'll fix yourself up soon, but company can't hurt, right? Talking to me won't slow the process down or anything?

If you kick me out I'll just worry until I hear from you again so really you're indulging me here.

[None of that is particularly convincing to Connor, especially since he's in a disagreeable mood considering everything, but he decides not to argue for now. Instead he finishes getting the blood off of his face, arm moving to settle against his middle again, but he stayed standing; since he won't get tired, locking his joints to stay upright provides the same end result as sitting, and it's something he can be stubborn about. If the secret of being an android is out, might as well act like one, and Connor's too fidgety to like sitting in one place when he doesn't have to.

He's quiet several seconds, not bothering to answer the questions and assuming that'll be answer enough, before finally deciding to ask--]

Why were you out in the storm?

[ It's for the best that Connor doesn't challenge him, because that'd be pretty damn insulting to question a statement Drake's making about his own nature. The lack of response and insistence on standing comes across as a stubborn kid not answering the question but not arguing either -- it reminds Drake of when he'd have to deal with teenagers as a beat cop, for some reason. When they knew better than to fight, at least.

He rolls with it for now, taking a seat and shrugging when Connor asks a question of his own instead. ]

I was on my way home, but decided to check that nobody was stranded out in it before I went to hole up.

Why were you out in the storm?

[That's a reasonable enough explanation, so he accept it without question for now even if it means that he's just delaying Drake from getting home. Might as well add another layer to his failures.

He's silent again, though it's for less time as he can actually answer the question honestly.]

I've never seen one.

[And he wanted to experience it. He still does, honestly, despite what happened.]

Never?

[ Drake tilts his head curiously, wondering where Connor might be from that it never stormed, then something else occurs to him as a possibility. ]

How old are you? You look my age but you're newer than that, aren't you?

[Despite so much processing being devoted to repair, he calculates and rattles off the answer immediately--]

Before arrival here, I had been active 89 days. I've also been here 59 days, for a total 148 days, or nearly five months.

[Of course, it feels like less than that; he's only been deviant for the 59 days, after all, and most of the 89 at home he'd spent in a storage room rather than in the field. But that wasn't what was asked, and he doesn't care to explain it.]

[ Holy shit, he's a baby robot. Drake blinks, trying to connect the dots so that this makes sense. The stubborn teenager vibe definitely fits more now but damn. Five months old? ]

So... really new, then. This is probably really rude, but I've only dealt with people like you here. Did somebody program you with this personality? Five months isn't long to figure out who you are, but you're incredibly developed. I don't think I would've figured it out.

[It's... Maybe a little rude, yeah, but Connor finds he's not really offended; it's clear Drake's just curious, and it's not like those sort of questions would even be really out of place in his world.]

It's complicated.

[As he says it, he realizes his voice is pretty much back to normal, just a little staticy. There's awhile to go on the repair still, but it's comforting in a way for the outward signs to have diminished.]

I'm a prototype model designed to integrate with humans, so as to be effective in serving as a partner during police investigations. A more elaborate and advanced personality program, as well as the capacity for independent decision-making within the confines of the mission and any direct orders, facilitate my effectiveness in that regard.

[Both in terms of making for a pleasant partner, and in handling witnesses and suspects. The more human he seems, and the more he can make quick decisions without a need for micromanaging, the better.

Of course, that isn't the whole story, though. He's quiet again, before finally looking back over at Drake.]

But androids have been recently deviating from their programming directives, developing full autonomy, free will, and emotions. This occurred for me just before arriving here.

Edited 2018-09-08 21:16 (UTC)

[The 7th | Bakery]

[Goku was on the beach when the storm started to come in. He'd been on the shoreline considering swimming, fishing, or combining the two to see if he could catch a fish by hand. Rain wasn't uncommon so he ignored it at first. If he thought to go swimming it wouldn't matter if he let himself get wet first.

The change from a normal rain to the storm was obvious. He ran away from the beach, when the down-pour and lightning started. The wind almost knocked him over as he ran, and the waves seemed to chase him with how far inland they managed to come.

He was in trouble now, he was soaked and his room wasn't even on this island. He managed to make it back to the city, and he ran into the first building he saw. The wind and rain were so bad he hadn't even been able to smell or see that it was the bakery before bursting in.]

[Throughout]
[After the initial onslaught, Goku prepared himself before going outside. He gave us on trying not to get wet, but he made sure to wait for breaks in the lightning before going from building to building. He even managed to make it to different islands occasionally.

He's ready anytime he sees someone struggling more against the wind than he does, or trying to board up a building.]

Can I help?

Edited 2018-09-08 21:55 (UTC)

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Event Log: In the Eye of the Storm

Connor | Open

the 9th

Whistler | OTA

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Goku | OTA