Event Log: Dead Men Walking

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Dead Men Walking event!
Where: All around the city
When: September 14th-September 20th
Warnings: Zombies. Walkers. The Infected. Zeds. The undead. Risen.

Everything seems more or less normal in Hadriel on the 14th - at least at first. But wait, who's that over there? Why are they walking so weird? Are they feeling okay? Wow, did they just try to bite you? Oh shit, you might've seen a movie like this before. That was definitely a zombie.

But hey, it's no big deal. A few zombies here and there are pretty easy to avoid, especially when you can outrun them without too much trouble. They're only really dangerous if they're fast or if there are a lot of them, and they sure aren't fast! Only - well, before long, there are a lot of them. You can hardly go outside without running into one, and mobs form quickly. Went out for supplies? Let's hope they didn't follow you - you might get stuck in that shop, mobile corpses pounding on the door. Oh, and don't stand too close to the windows of your house. They'll be more than happy to smash the glass trying to get you.

Don't worry, though! A hard blow to the head will take these zombies out, and you'll be sitting pretty, as long as none of them bite you. None of them bit you... right? Wow, what a relief. We're all glad you're not concealing a life-threatening zombie bite from your friends! Who would do that, anyway? Now if you can manage that until the 20th, you'll be safe and sound as the zombies shamble out of the city. Hopefully you won't be shambling with them.

► This log covers September 14th-September 20th.
► 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 join the zombie party, please let us know here!

Comments

[foundafamily]

Both of his eyebrows bounce up. Is it really all them? That almost reminds him more of Ennis than of his own situation; much of her knowledge flowed into her from Szilard. At least until recently. He finds himself a little skeptical that Rey would be so lacking in her own experiences, but he still doesn't have the whole story. "Sounds like you get a lot out of it."

So does he. He reminds himself that he never would've been able to save Ennis without Szilard's knowledge.

[circumitus]

One could argue (or at least Rey most definitely can) that what few personal experiences she does have aren't worth keeping. Firo had seen how things started out for her, and that isn't a mental space she ever wants to go back to.

"You could say that we all do. Every one of them is part of me in some way or another. Horrible as it was at first, things got... clearer, after a few years."

Which goes to say that those were likely, without a doubt, the hardest years of her entire lives.

[foundafamily]

He shakes his head slowly. Is he even understanding what she's getting at? He doesn't think that even he could be confused with how simply she's explaining it, but the conclusion seems so strange to him. "It still seems weird to think you're sharin' your head with people. Not just memories, but... actual people."

[circumitus]

"And yet you said that it sounded 'familiar' a moment ago."

Yeah, Firo. What was up with that?

[foundafamily]

He cants his head to the side. It's true what she says, but how best to put it? He supposes the ship has sailed on keeping anything hidden about this situation. "It's the way you talk about it that's weird. I've got other people's memories in my head too. Szilard and everybody he 'ate.'"

In the few seconds it takes him to take a drink, he realizes how weird that sounds.

"Not like he actually ate 'em. It's something different that comes with being an immortal."

[circumitus]

It's good of Firo to clarify. If she didn't know him any better, she might've just assumed he was bullshitting and stick to the cannibal theory as the more viable truth.

Strange. Other than Nick, Rey never would've thought she'd meet another person who has dealt with similar problems. And he's always seemed to have his head on straight, too. Then again, so does Nick. What must it have been like for both of them?

"So, immortals can 'eat' people? How does that work?"

Better explain this one, Firo.

[foundafamily]

Firo holds his right hand up. "You use your right hand. And then... it's like they just get sucked into it. It only works on other immortals."

Ladd had been hungry for this information, believing it might help him kill Huey. Firo assumes Rey doesn't have the same interest.

[circumitus]

It's good to know that Firo a.) isn't a cannibal, and b.) not the type of guy who would go around sucking people into his hand. And that the latter ability is limited.

She does wonder if this would apply to the other immortals Rey knows of in this place, though. Not that she can see him going on an immortal-eating spree.

"And you get their memories this way?"

[foundafamily]

"Yeah. Their whole lives, even anything they'd learned."

He shrugs one shoulder. "You can even learn physical skills they had. Sometimes it comes in handy."

Even Firo has to admit that. He's dipped into Szilard's knowledge or had it spring to mind when he needed it.

[circumitus]

It really doesn't sound much different from what Rey has had to live with. The skills she had learned from those memories she has is ultimately what helped her survive, kept her alive and pressing forward in more recent years.

"How many are there? People, whose memories you can remember?"

[foundafamily]

Eighteen of Maiza's fellow alchemists, Barnes, Scott, and Szilard himself. Those are the ones that come to mind most easily, given that Szilard boasted about it soon before he died. Firo doesn't care to dig any deeper.

"21, give or take. It's a little hard to keep track of."

[circumitus]

That gets a stunned look out of even her.

"Shit, that many? Don't they ever get--" Rey waves a hand in circular motions, trying to think up the right phrasing and most inoffensive way to say it. "--mixed up?"

Simple and blunt, without having to dredge up any personal anecdotes of her own struggles.

[foundafamily]

Firo smiles a little wryly. Great, good to know that he's outstanding in this way.

"Mixed up? Depends on what you mean. Sometimes with the older ones it's hard to figure out what belongs to who, but some of it just... feels different. It's hard to explain."

For instance, if someone's a bad, bad guy, he can tell the memories come with a sort of unique 'stain.'

[circumitus]

It would be easier to assume that it's just different for everyone. Comparing her situation to Firo's is as fair as paralleling Nick's to her own, all of which have had very different experiences.

Still, she can't help but feel a punch of inadequacy in her own case. Except that perhaps the one thing she has going for her is the fact that she's still trying to figure out who she is. Which 'Rey' she chooses to be, if any of them at all.

"No, think I have a pretty good idea on what you're talking about."

[foundafamily]

"Yeah?" His mouth twists a little. Sure, it could be nice to have someone who gets it, but he wouldn't wish what's going on in his head on anybody.

A question comes to mind, not without a healthy helping of trepidation. If they're similar enough, then his concerns about Szilard taking him over could apply to Rey too. Actually she sounds much more tied to the people in her head than he is to his. He hopes that's not a bad sign.

"How long has it been for you?"

[circumitus]

Similarly Rey could say the same. She is already bonded with Nick over being saddled with comparable problems, but knowing that someone like Firo is in the same boat makes it all the more substantiating.

"Four years, give or take, since the memories were all unlocked. Before that, things were a little more difficult to figure out."

That was the point. Keeping her in the dark about who and what she really was only made most of her easier for Gregory to control.

[foundafamily]

"Yeah? It's been about the same for me.

"Whaddaya mean by that?" He supposes one difference he can see between them is that Rey does seem to have a stronger connection to her memories; at least it sounds like she was that way from the start. Firo's accepted Szilard's presence in his head, but he doesn't quite accept him as a part of him.

If it happens that Szilard does become a part of his personality... well, he supposes that'll be okay if his friends are okay. But that would be in doubt, knowing Szilard.

[circumitus]

Her jaw tenses, mouth going dry before she speaks. "As in, none of those people I was before had any idea who or what they really were. Most of them, anyway. The ones who did... They weren't very well put together in the head."

Having to carry those pieces of her old selves with her at all times now is like carrying a heavy weight on her back. She tries not to think about the things they thought and felt while committing a widespread of atrocities, but it's a little more difficult in practice.

"With the others, sometimes the memories would unravel. Overlap. Once the truth would become clear to them, or even came close to it, they had to be terminated or reset."

[foundafamily]

His mouth thins to a line at her language. It's not the coldness of the terms 'terminated' and 'reset' that bother him but the way that they seem to dodge the very real issue. He waves one hand at her. "Just say 'killed' if that's what you mean."

It's too much like Ennis's analogy at having her "company branch shut down" if Szilard decided to "fire" her.

With that said, he's quick to move on, still curious about her relationship to all these memories. "You still think those memories are worth the trouble?"

[circumitus]

Being 'killed' is a more accurate description. One that Rey had always found herself remiss to admit. She doesn't add much beyond a simple nod of acknowledgment to Firo's suggestion. Considering that not all of her selves were terrible monsters, it was a cold way of referring to their sacrifices and misfortunes.

"Yes, I do. Even if I didn't think they were, it isn't like I have much of a choice but to live with them anymore. What with technology in this place sorely lacking."

And Rey not wanting to strike up another deal with the gods over something she sees trifling.

[foundafamily]

Firo shrugs. If she's thinking of it that way, he supposes it makes a little more sense. Can't get rid of it, so you have to live with it. "Technology has nothing to do with it. I just don't get thinking about 'em the way you do."

Newsflash: Rey's weird.

[circumitus]

Story at 11.

"It isn't that simple. Didn't always have control over them, if you could even consider this 'control' right now." She ducks her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sometimes it feels like they're just screaming, on and on and on..."

[foundafamily]

"So even in your head they can still do whatever they want?" He says it lightly, but inside his heart feels like cold stone. That's not good at all.

[circumitus]

"Not really."

But then she looks a little more uncertain, casting a brief look away. She isn't ignorant to the occasional bloodlust in passing, which has usually been sated with a little action and death. Keeps it quiet -- keeps it tame.

Even Rey knows that she can only keep that up for so long, though.

"I'm not really sure. I'd rather not risk it."

[foundafamily]

He nods, understanding immediately. Yep, he gets that. "Just asking. Believe me, I get not wanting to push the envelope on shit like this."

He takes a drink. "I don't think mine are like that, but--" He cuts himself off with more booze. Should he be sharing this much? He's never met someone who can relate to him on this, and the feelings he's kept bottled up just want to come bursting out. "...but it's hard to tell. If they change you, how're you gonna know?"

General 'you' there. He's sure this could be a problem for both of them.