MISSION: THE SUN NEVER SETS ON AMARYLLIS GROVE, PART 2

[ximilian]

● ● ● M I S S I O N   1 7 . 2

THOSE AMONG YOU • HARVEST THY GOOD WILL • GOOD FENCES & GOOD NEIGHBOURS • ALL EYE ON YOU • FYI

// INTRO. Those Among You  

After weeks spent in the ever-sunny town of Amaryllis Grove, the Orbers are surely used to their way of life: days spent focusing on living as perfect a life as possible, regardless of how real it is, under the watchful eye of the sun and the moon.

However, some Orbers may wake up one day to find that whoever they were living with — Joel, Harley, Cain, Gabe, and others of the team who have suddenly returned to their homes — is gone… but by the evening, they have been replaced by one of the Companions, made to their exact liking, going silently about their business in perfect imitation of the one they are replacing.

Furthermore, those who were found to be on the list of names of people to be watched will one day, while at work, receive a talking-to by their superiors, giving them a warning that their behaviour has given reason for concern — each talking-to ends with similarly, too:

“The sun is always very bright leading up to the Harvest Festival.”

// PART I.Harvest Thy Good Will  

The day of the Harvest Festival dawns with clear skies, the autumn wind rustling the newly-turned red and gold leaves in the trees and on the streets. The Housespouses have been hard at work arranging everything for the festival, from seating arrangements, decorations, and booths for different activities. Everyone is expected to attend, and with the day being an official holiday, there is no excuse not to show up.

1.0   During the weeks leading up to the festival, neighbourhoods have been abuzz with trying all the new recipes, all in preparation for this one day: bringing their very best pies, cakes, stews and roasts for everyone to taste. Many housespouses (whether part of the association or not) are eager to show off their cooking skills, either by making as many people try their foods as possible, or by participating in some of the traditional competitions that look for the the best dish of this harvest.

However, there is plenty to do for those whose main interest in cooking lies in eating: there are games to try, like apple bobbing, and a fun take on darts where rather than aiming for the middle, the goal is to state which ring you are going to hit and receive points for accuracy. There is also a whole table for decorating gourds — and if you are very happy with your result, you can also enter the contest for the most extravagant decorating.

2.0   When the time comes for all to gather around the long tables set in the town square, each table brimming with delicious dishes, the tablecloths and centerpieces in bright oranges and reds, some of the people around the tables may cause you to be surprised: it is not just the townspeople who are invited, but also the Companions, sitting in their assigned seats silently, eerily. There are more of them than one might expect: almost every other family attending has at least one Companion among them, a family member lost and replaced. However, questions about their presence are not tolerated, and those who may try and bring undue attention to them are quickly shushed.

One might also notice that despite the beautiful weather (or perhaps because of it), the atmosphere of the festival seems tense — smiles are strained, words carefully chosen, discussion remaining on the surface level.

Overhearing the different families speaking to one another, something to note is the way they refer to their distant relatives: it seems that Mr Willowby’s cousins, living out of town, were not able to make it this year; just like Mrs Reyes’ great-aunt, who is again missing out on a wonderful festival. The more you listen, the more you notice that there are no relatives visiting from out of town… and that it seems to be a yearly occurrence.

3.0   While the general atmosphere is very genial and welcoming, a few of the Orbers — mainly, Newt, Daisy, Yzak, Ryunosuke, John and Chishiya — will find that them, along with their (fake) spouses or family, are treated almost outright coldly.

Some of the townspeople will quite simply avoid associating with them, while others will exchange a few hasty pleasantries before making an excuse and leaving them alone, glancing fearfully at the bright sun in the sky as they do so. The dishes they or their families have brought go largely untasted, and other Orbers may catch the townspeople warning them against associating with “those kinds of people” too closely — after all, best to take care of yourself, right?

TOP

// PART II.Good Fences & Good Neighbours  

When you wake up the next morning, you’ll find that Amaryllis Grove suddenly feels a little … different. The Harvest had gone seemingly without a hitch (at least for those who hadn’t wound up on the list), but the tension that remained since your arrival here seems to have grown a little more intense. It’s quiet when you step out of your house expecting to see your neighbour greeting you by the mailbox, or to be down at the end of the driveway collecting their daily paper. You note the absence of the neighbour who lives down the block who often walks this way to get to the park with her daughter.

Things feel too eerily still, and as you peer up into the sky, you’ll notice that the cloud cover makes it impossible now to see the sun.

4.0   When someone screams, the first thing that may come to mind is how the last time you’d heard something so bone-chillingly devastating in this town alone was the night that Mr Myrsden had died. It’s broad daylight now, and the cry is still no less terrifying. You might decide to wait, or to hide wherever you are, or for those of you with a plethora of experience in dealing with life-ending screams, you may decide to investigate. After all, someone could be in very real trouble and they could need your help.

A small crowd has already gathered by the time you arrive, dressed in whatever you went to bed in. A woman in her plush pink robe and curlers still haphazardly rolled into her hair is lying on the asphalt in another neighbour’s arms, expression fearful and pained but still – thankfully – breathing.

“She’s just fainted, she’ll be all right,” Mr Barker says in relief, helping to sit her properly so that some of the other neighbours could tend to the fainted woman.

Within the crowd, several statements could be heard in hushed murmurs: “Said that her husband isn’t moving right,” someone says, while someone else begins, “Something feels wrong with my Betsy, too.”

There’s an air of unrest and discomfort amongst the crowd gathered at the side of the street, but at least the worst of it appears to be over. And so you’ll try to continue your life in Amaryllis Grove with the rest of your family (the Mayor has called for some volunteers to help with the clean-up from the Harvest, after all!), but you begin to notice strange things occurring throughout the day: Companions that had been programmed to follow a painstakingly careful path of activity appear to either stop moving, or begin actions on their own accord. Spouses or family members look between the overcast sky and their Companion in panic, shaking at their arms or shoulders, or tugging at their sleeves in fear. In fact, the town suddenly feels more populated than ever now as more and more people and their Companions mill into the streets in a truly unprecedented gathering, unraveling the meticulous routine they’d been living up until this point. Orbers may observe the familiar figures of Finn Mertens, Cain, and Joel Miller joining the throng. Harley Quinn and The Spot, done up in perfect likeness appear outside of their programmed routine.

And from above, even through thick cloud, the sky feels brighter somehow.

5.0   The initial shock of the Silent Companions moving out of sync wears off so long as they wander throughout town looking like they’ve lost their way. It’s easy enough to sidestep them if they cross into your path, and their former spouses and family members have largely appeared to have given into the malfunction, allowing them to meander the neighbourhood without aim. The Mayor announces that she’ll hold a town meeting for all people with a Companion this afternoon, hoping to reestablish a little order and assure comfort for the fearful and worried residents of the town. This is, after all, an unprecedented occurrence and no amount of convincing, magic or otherwise, has had an effect on the Companions out and about in town.

But then … the Silent Companions suddenly begin to move differently, the perfectly pleasant expressions carefully molded onto their faces remain unchanging as they lift their hands or quicken their pace, approaching anyone within close distance with menacing intent. They appear to stalk their targets, reaching out to close an iron-grip on a wrist or a shoulder, largely undetected except by those who recognize their faces and know them to be deceased in a former life. Orbers might find that aside from recent deaths, as well as the disappearance of some of their own crewmates, that from first glance it’s difficult to tell a Silent Companion from a living resident until their intent is made clear.

Anyone that reaches out to one of the Companions on their own, or is intercepted by one, will find that the interaction feels far more potent than ever. Mild feelings of paranoia are heightened into active and aggressive feelings of paranoia. Every negative and intrusive thought feels as though it might choke you, and the only way to stop it is to do it yourself – by whatever means necessary, even if they are violent. You might find yourself believing that your own family wants you dead and the only way to survive is to kill them before they kill you. The effects of nausea and discomfort make you immediately sick, and wanting to scratch incessantly at an itch that doesn’t exist, as if your very skin makes you deeply uncomfortable.

Cloud cover slowly begins to part now, and the bright, cheerful glow of the sun peeks through. It bathes the town in its perfectly pleasant light.

6.0   The last thing anyone can think of now is the Mayor’s town hall meeting. People begin to barricade themselves in spaces that seem devoid of a Silent Companion’s physical presence. Companions will pace hover nearby but so long as you remain out of their sightline, they don’t come directly after you. Orbers that have made friends and connections with their neighbours or any of the other townsfolk might consider sheltering together, finding an empty house or office, or seeking safety in a cellar with the windows and doors blocked off.

Of course, some of you might find that the doors to your own home are blocked off, the handle simply refusing to turn, or your keys suddenly snap in half, jamming the keyhole. Windows are locked shut as though the house itself is trying to keep you out, leaving you and your fellow crewmates exposed beneath the ever-brightening sky.

And even if you do manage to break into your own home, either by smashing the in the glass of the windows, or physically kicking the doors in, the house itself might feel as cold and unwelcoming as though it knows full well who you really are, why you’re really here, and what you’ve come to do. You feel more seen in your own living room than you do in the open street, the discomfort of being hunted and exploited wearing on you like a slippery, wet blanket. The walls feel suffocating, the food in your pantry and your fridge tastes like ash and rots within hours, and you feel as though the ceiling above you might cave in on you at any given moment just because you’re here.

TOP

// PART III.All Eye On You  

The sky now has cleared completely, leaving nothing but the harsh white and golden glow of the sun hanging high above within the bright, beautiful blue overhead. The town itself is a reflection of something much darker and more chaotic, but the temperatures are warm and pleasant and there is very little shadow being cast by the sun itself as it greedily swivels around on its axis in watch.

7.0   Amaryllis Grove suddenly feels like a whole different town when compared to the Orbers' initial arrival. What had been a quiet and well-orchestrated little town without a single hitch for every perfect day of every perfect month, every cog in the machine a well-oiled one, suddenly seems to have crumbled apart. Doors, windows, and cellar entrances have been blocked off and barricaded with heavy household appliances such as refrigerators, laundry machines, and meticulously-crafted furniture. Shattered glass and broken parts of a Silent Companion that had met some partially-successful retaliation are strewn across the asphalt. Cars are left abandoned at the sides of the streets, doors hanging wide open and groceries spilling out from bags and onto the pavement. People still left stranded in the streets, locked out of their own homes, become helpless victims to their very creations, driven to madness and tortured by a familiar and well-loved face that never wears any other expression except that of perfect unfeeling neutrality.

For those that manage to make it to the town hall and the office of the Mayor, they’ll find her pacing back and forth, scrubbing at her face in deep thought. Her husband, Stuart, sits poised and tense on one end of a long chaise against one wall, watching his wife in concern. Any resident is welcome into the overly large room, of course, and luckily for the group no Companion has caught on to the location just yet. The Mayor has posted her very best magic-users at the doors, however, just in case. It isn’t going to do much more than slow them down but it’ll buy them some time to escape at least.

The Mayor, looking uncharacteristically flustered and stressed, turns to you.

“Well? I hope you’ve brought a genius idea with you, because I truly am at a loss.”

TOP

F Y I

• The events in this log take place during the month of November.

• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.

• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪

TOP

▶ NAV

Comments

PART I.HARVEST THY GOOD WILL

[deaddrop]

1.0

[Natasha Romanoff is a very serious and professional spy, and she has a job to do. She's looking for the orb, of course, just like they all are, but there's another task, too—a personal goal. Commit an act of vandalism, the orbs said, and she needs to do that part too if she wants to undo her regret, right?

In light of that, Natasha arrives at the harvest festivities with a few special supplies, which she discreetly uses to deface such diverse targets as pumpkins, local landmarks, and even food.

Natasha is discreet about her mission, but if someone were paying close attention, and if they knew what to look for, if they were very looking, they might notice her putting a mustache and googly eyes on a slow cooker, turning it into a rather surprised old man, or gently defacing picture of one of the town's prominent citizens.]

2.0

[Occasionally Natasha dips into the conversations around her, especially those about the lack of visitors, but mostly she listens in.

Somehow, it doesn't come as a surprise.

On the other hand...]

Honestly, probably a good thing my parents can't visit.

1.0

[servesyouwright]

[ He's definitely not looking for anyone doing vandalism, and more for signs of anything that might tell them about the orb, but he's definitely paying close attention and no matter how natural and relaxed Natasha seems, it doesn't look like she's just looking at that picture. Not from this close. So he squints a little, leaning in, and when she steps aside to reveal what she's done he can't help the brief laugh. ]

Well-- I guess they deserve it.

[deaddrop]

[Natasha flashes a quick, private smile in return, somewhat impressed that she's been caught.]

It's a victimless crime. Mostly.

[Her voice is pitched low, and joking.]

Someone had to liven things up around here.

[servesyouwright]

Your sacrifice will be remembered.

[ Honestly, it could be a sacrifice. The citizens might really not appreciate it and could put her on the shitlist. And who knows what happens then.

They sure haven't worked that out yet. ]

[deaddrop]

Careful with your word choice. It's not too late for this to turn out to be a cult thing.

[She's mostly joking as she says that. Mostly.

She does glance over her shoulder, though.]

So far, I think you're the only one who's notice.

[servesyouwright]

I dunno, it might just be too late.

[ If he's the only one who's noticed yet, though, it might be a good idea to get away. So he turns to start walking, expecting her to catch on. ]

[deaddrop]

[Natasha follows, as though it was mutually decided, shrugging as she puts her hands in her pockets.

Very innocent.]

I think people's attention is mostly elsewhere.

[servesyouwright]

No, they're very focused on the foods and games. But I was mostly talking about the cult thing.

[deaddrop]

Hm. As far as that goes, probably. But we're not in the Wicker Man yet?

2.0

[endofcompliance]

[Bucky wasn't exactly part of the conversation either. He's listening to some of what's being said around him, and mostly there...because they were still pretending to be a family, weren't they?]

[It's a good thing he isn't eating or drinking when he hears Natasha's words. First he just turns to her and stares. Intently. Then, in a hissed whisper.]

What? You have parents? [And if Bucky's "lucky" enough he'll meet one of them in his future.]

[deaddrop]

Everyone has parents.

[You know, technically. And that's true of Natasha, too, though she has no idea who her biological parents were or what it would be like to have them show up here.

Instead, Natasha angles a look at Bucky, fluttering her lashes ironically.]

Just like I have a husband. And a sister.

[endofcompliance]

[He levels a look at her, full of annoyance and sarcasm.]

Sure. Like I have parents. [In the ground.]

There's a difference if visiting is even an option.

[deaddrop]

Kind of seems like no one is going to be visiting anytime soon.

[Natasha shrugs, putting on a smile but pitching her voice low not to carry.]

Honestly, you might have heard of Yelena and my dad. The two of you work in similar fields.

[endofcompliance]

Probably better that way.

[Bucky's eyebrows furrow. And Yelena. Noted.]

And he is?

[deaddrop]

[Sorry, Bucky. Natasha's life is complicated.

She considers shrugging it off. She hadn't really meant to dig into the details, just to reference her real life to support her story.

The best lies are usually based in truth.

But now here they are. Natasha switches to text, relying on the earpiece because saying out loud would break her cover.]

The Red Guardian.

[endofcompliance]

[He figured her life was complicated, more than he could understand. Bucky still gives Natasha wide eyes as the information reaches him. Bucky raises an eyebrow, then replies in the same manner.]

I've only heard of him.*

[Something needs to be said outloud, though. Appearances and all of that.]

Yeah. It's probably best your parents can't show up. Not sure how the in-laws would take to me. [He gives her a cheeky smile after.]


[ooc: *I feel I can get away with this. Thunderbolts won't be happening until after the game is closed, so...I won't have to retcon if that is incorrect.]

[deaddrop]

Well. I can handle my parents if they do show up.

[Highly unlikely at this point, Natasha figures, still.]

Besides, what's not to like?

2

[blackfire]

（ like her, he is more a shadow. listening, observing. his participation is mechanical. say the right things, laugh at the right times, touch someone's shoulder or elbow to demonstrate investment in conversation. but in the hush and quiet of unguarded moments captured between the natural lulling heartbeat of a crowd, he gives her a sidelong glance. given where some of their conversations have wandered, those unyielding ancient histories... hm. ）

Would they disapprove of your taste in company?

（ himself, obviously.

for legal purposes this is a joke. ）

[deaddrop]

Believe me, they have the least room to judge the company I keep imaginable.

[Natasha almost smirks, because she's picturing if Itachi and Alexei met.

They would almost certainly hate each other, but especially when the likelihood of it ever happening is so low as to be mathematically indistinguishable from 0, she allows herself to find it funny.

Alexei would deserve it, whatever fondness she might have in herself for him. He deserves to be casually shown up by a someone half his weight and a third his age.]

Especially since I enjoy it.

[blackfire]

（ natasha gets a very faint flicker of a smile, smoothed away to stoicism more out of habit than any express desire to have pretended it never happened. ）

I suppose I haven't found yours an undue hardship.

（ oh, now he's just being sassy. ）

Are you enjoying the... festivities otherwise?

[deaddrop]

Oh yeah, enjoying.

[She glances around them, her expression arranged artfully casual and pleasant, smiling through a little sarcasm.]

It's all something, isn't it? Maybe a little anticlimactic considering all the build up. I was hoping for a little more than green bean casserole.

1.0

[rootlessly]

[Vash is perhaps quite literally the personification of the meme about how the horrors are unceasing but we stay silly, but as might be expected of a particularly long-lived person who's also spent time with a bounty on his head, he's observant, too. So when he happens to spot someone messing around with the slow-cooker, he grins, and with a smudge of cranberry sauce, adds some downward-slanted eyebrows above the googly eyes. Now the slow-cooker is an Angry old man. Perhaps because of these shenanigans.

These whippersnappers best be getting off its lawn soon ok.]

[deaddrop]

Nice.

[Natasha catches that and smiles, though she doesn't look up until they're both safely away from the slowcooker.

No need to risk being caught.]

I knew he was missing something.

[rootlessly]

He's very unimpressed with the situation!

[Much like certain people who may or may not be named Vash. Ahem.]

[deaddrop]

I can't say I see why. Who wouldn't be impressed with a tater tot and tuna casserole?

[Heavy on the sarcasm, but tater tot casserole brings that out of her.]