Event Log: Dazed and Confused

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Dazed and Confused event!
Where: All around the city
When: September 24th-October 2nd
Warnings: None!

On the 24th of September, you wake up and everything seems pretty normal. You've got to head in for your shift at the guard, or at the clinic, or wherever else people go- maybe you're visiting a friend, maybe you're checking out the library, but either way as soon as you step out onto your street, you're in a foreign location.

No, you haven't been transported anywhere weird. Well, not by anything other than your own two feet. And hey, you could recognize a landmark and know your way back from there! But somehow you turn left instead of right and now everything is confusing again. It's not that the city itself is changing, but rather, it's your ability to take direction and move in the way that you think you should.

On top of all that, of course, is the strange inversion of most abilities. Everything is topsy turvy with your various powers or individual skills, so be on the lookout for some odd changes. Maybe you're usually pretty good at reasoning and now you can't think your way out of a paper bag, or maybe you have fire powers that start shooting icicles instead- either way, it's weird. Hopefully you can deal with it without injuring yourself too much, but... well, it's kind of difficult to make any guarantees when you can't even find your way to the clinic when you accidentally break something.

► This log covers September 24th-October 2nd.
► 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 walk into the lake and drown or have some other unfortunate mishap, please let us know here!

Comments

[circumitus]

All things considered, what she deserves is far worse than a punch. Nick has every right to land a blow.

Unfortunately, her instincts take over. She reacts. Bending her knees low to allow Nick's throw to miss by a hair's breadth. Then moves to grab his torso with both arms.

And then hurl him to the ground on his back.

Truth be told, he probably would have done more damage to his hand if she had let him strike a blow, anyway. It's bad enough that he isn't letting her do what needs to be done in order to fix his leg -- he doesn't need a bum arm as well. Not so soon after she had reattached the damn thing.

[synthedick]

Nick hits the floor heavily, his metal frame making more of an impact than any regular man ever would. Though Rey's quick reaction clearly knocks some of the fight out of him, he rolls away from her and as getting back on his feet in no time, wrath fueling him far more than reason ever could at that moment.

Unfortunately, his own fervor isn't doing him any favors, given the general state of his body. There's a quiet beep that comes from him -- quiet to her, though plenty loud within the confines of his own head. Nick's eyes dart around, trying to determine the source of the noise; he only gets a second to try to find it before he hears it again. He puts a hand to his head, struggling to process whatever it is his synthetic brain is trying to tell him -- trying to remember.

[circumitus]

The moment Nick hits the ground, Rey is immediately regretting her reaction. Not only did she let her instincts get the better of her, but she also could've done some serious damage to her friend as well.

It isn't long enough for her to process the horror of what she just did. Not before she hears that faint beeping sound coming from Nick, and he himself trying to figure out the source of the noise.

This time, she brings her hands up. Only slightly, so as to try and ease the tension.

"Something's wrong. I can figure it out. Try to fix it."

Probably not the best suggestion to make after throwing a guy down, but it wasn't like he was giving her much choice.

[synthedick]

Though Rey's offer is genuine, it seems to aggravate Nick further.

"I don't need your help," he spits, his voice a low rumble in his throat; at least his voice modulator is still working.

[circumitus]

It doesn't take a genius to predict that Nick isn't going to be so eager to accept her aid. Especially after what she had said and did.

"There could be a serious malfunction. It'll probably get worse if you just ignore it."

(Doesn't stop her from trying, though.)

[synthedick]

"I'm not—!"

But he is a machine, no matter how much he wants to deny it at that moment, and his body reminds him as it beeps again. His metal fingers tighten on the grip of his pistol, his lips curling in frustration as he scans the room again.

"The hell is that noise?!"

[circumitus]

This must have been what it was like for him, back when Nick first discovered the truth of what he was. Rey can sympathize -- as some of her past selves learned their own truths in such similar and horrible ways.

If she can, she'd like to be able to spare a friend that experience a second time. But she isn't holding her breath. Seems that the original Nick Valentine was a stubborn man.

"It has to be a system warning of some sort. Could be anything, really. Whatever it is, I can help."

She takes a step forward, hands out where Nick can see them. If she can get close enough, maybe she can try to subdue him before he retaliates again.

[synthedick]

Given that he doesn't remember his first awakening as a synth -- his first time struggling to reconcile what he'd become -- Nick doesn't realize what trouble he's getting himself into. By arguing with Rey, he's pushing himself farther from the help he doesn't realize he needs. His body knows, though: it knows when he's pushing himself too hard, when he's trying to sort through too many commands, too many files all at once. It knows when there's damage done and when he needs to make repairs. It knows better than he does what the gods are doing to him.

Unfortunately, he's not listening; he's not even sure how at this point, given he's so sure that just hours before, he was a man of flesh and blood.

Rey's step forward is a step too far -- he brings his gun back up, trained on her, his hands quivering as he takes a backward step toward the door.

"You stay the hell away from me! I said I don't need your help!"

[circumitus]

Despite the gun's aim on her again, Rey doesn't hesitate to take another step towards Nick. And another. Even though she's more than proven herself to be a capable threat with her hands alone, she doesn't make to assault him a second time.

"Come on, Nick. We can't have you losing it like this I can't..."

Nope. Not even going to finish that terrible thought.

[synthedick]

The sincerity in Rey's tone doesn't go unnoticed, but what she says hits too close to home. Even without the god-created confusion, Nick can barely remember the last time someone said that to him. A memory flashes through his mind, a brief flickering of images and emotions as he lowers his gun a fraction of an inch: it was his superior, his Captain telling Nick he was losing it. Told him Jenny's death was more than one man could handled. He'd insisted Nick needed help, and that he go to some lab to get it.

But at the time, he didn't want help. He wanted action. He wanted results. He wanted justice to be served so that she could rest -- and so he could maybe find some peace with what life he'd have without her.

It's different here, with this woman and his machine-of-a-body, but his gut tells him the same thing it did back then. His eyes burn with the fire stoked in his chest, his hands curling around his gun once more.

"You take one more step, and I'll drop you like a stone. You don't know who I am, or what I've been through."

[circumitus]

The strangest thing is that Rey has seen that fire before. Not in the Nick that she knows now, but the one she had met inside his mind. And, in that light, she'd like to think that she does know him -- contrary to what the current Nick believes.

"I know that you want someone dead because of what he did. I know that it doesn't matter to me. Because whatever happened, I believe you have your reasons."

Against her better judgement, she goes to reach for Nick's forearm. To try and push down the gun he has on her again.

Whatever happens, it doesn't matter. She would do whatever it would take to help him. Even if it ends up at the cost her own life. His means more than hers, as far as she is concerned.

[synthedick]

As his eyes lock on her, the barest instant of recognition flits across Nick's face, lost somewhere in his mind as soon as it'd come within his grasp. Just what does she know about him? About what happened? Have they spoken about this before? Is any of what she said true?

And then, a question he's asked himself many times before: why can't he remember?

Rey steps toward Nick again, her hand reaching to push down his gun... and in spite of what he said, finds himself unable to pull the trigger. Something in his gut keeps him from it, something he still can't remember, no matter how much he wants to.

He allows her to push the gun down, but takes another step back at the same time, closing the last bit of distance between himself and the door. She knows enough about him to keep him from firing, but not enough to keep him from leaving, from going out there to do what needs to be done for Jenny and himself. He might be only a facsimile of a man, but as far as he knows, he still has a job to do. It's all he has now.

Nick shakes his head, his internal battle with his own apprehension written across his brow as he grabs the knob and turns it, pulling the door open.

"If that's the truth, then don't follow me. I'm doing this on my own."

And that's when he takes quick aim at her thigh and pulls the trigger, hoping to slow her down. He doesn't even wait to see if it connects, taking advantage of any momentary distraction: out the door he goes as fast as his clockwork body will carry him, one last beep following him out, echoing into the evening air.