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Cain, Gabe, and others of the team who have suddenly returned to their homes — is gone… but by the evening, they have been replaced by one of the Companions, made to their exact liking, going silently about their business in perfect imitation of the one they are replacing.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

[ximilian]

[ At that, the Mayor stiffens. ]

The Companions... No, no one is controlling them. They are our own creations, made with pre-set conditions, to simply be around and take up space.

[ She looks mildly uncomfortable; she's never had to speak so plainly about the Companions before. ]

I am... not sure why they are acting the way they are now. A — glitch in the programming, perhaps. [ She doesn't sound so convinced of that, though. She sighs, frustrated. ] Frankly, the only thing that could be powerful enough to affect them is—

[ She quiets again. Then, very slowly, points up towards the sky. ]

[blindrun]

[ So they're fully autonomous with pre-sets, not dissimilar from droids, and there have always been a mix of them. Maybe to make the population look larger than it actually is? Hell of a glitch to suddenly come up, but it could be related to their group coming in. ]

So there's no fail safe in the event they go out of whack? [ He's guessing not because now would be a great time to activate it, so then... ] Is there any way to make it - [ pointing up like she did ] - stop them?

[ximilian]

[ By now, the purse in Chantilly's lips is so tight, they've practically disappeared. Nearby, her husband hovers nervously, but remains dutifully in his seat. ]

There is no making it do anything. There is pleasing it, and there is angering it. It has always been this way. Being perfect, being quiet, has always been enough to keep it happy. Right now, it's angry. And when it's angry, it starts to lash out.

[ She holds her arms around herself, suppressing a shudder. ]

Everyone we've lost to it... everyone we've had to replace with a Companion, to keep up appearances. They all angered the sun, somehow. Now I hear it is angry at all of us.

[blindrun]

I'm sorry. For those you've lost.

[ Whatever this sun thing is, it's clear to him that her and the other people here are being held hostage by it. The priority is to get the orb and go, but that would mean leaving them all to continue suffering under the watchful gaze of a tyrant. That doesn't sit right by him. Is there anything they can do about it? Kanan's fingers twitch, resisting the urge to rake into his hair, and he tries to think. ]

We can help you. Not just with getting things back to 'normal', but past that. This thing isn't going to leave you be even after leave. Maybe this is why we were sent here.

Our group is looking for an orb, or something that's at least shaped like that. If you can help us find it, we can help free you.

[ximilian]

An orb?

[ Confusion, clear as day, but some frustration too. ]

What does that even mean? Take whatever orb you like — take them all! Is there anything else you know of it other than its shape?

[blindrun]

Only that it's also causes disturbances wherever it is, and that's why we need it. It could be the thing causing all those glitches in the Companions.

[ He rubs the back of his neck, wishing he had a better answer. Though that makes him wonder... ]

Man, I hope the sun isn't the orb. That'd be... inconvenient...

[ Are they gonna have to fight the sun by the end of this?? ]

[ximilian]

[ Perhaps Kanan was just musing aloud, bearing no real weight to his words. But Chantilly, who has learned not to underestimate the whimsy of their sun, stares at Kanan like he had just uttered sacrilege.

When she speaks, it is barely a whisper. ]

Is that poss—

[ There comes, suddenly, an sharp sound of heavy metal clanging onto the ground. A scream follows soon after, then more clanging sounds and more screams. It's coming from outside; the Mayor has the wherewithal not to go running out but instead dash to one of the nearby windows and look out past the blinds. If Kanan were to follow, he'd see it too: the Companions, every single one of them that had been loitering outside, all fallen to the ground, motionless. Their eyes have closed shut, making their blank expressions look almost serene.

Chantilly whirls on Kanan. ]

You! This really is your fault! Whatever it is you're doing — you're only making it angrier!

[blindrun]

[ Kanan is following on her heels and he would be shoving his head out the window if he could. His heart is hammering from the sudden shock of noise, but seeing the Companions all on the ground gives him a moment of relief. Until the Mayor's yell makes him flinch back. ]

Yeah, well - maybe that's a good thing! Powerful systems don't get angry unless something is wrong. The Companions are down, that must mean whatever controls them is slipping.

[ximilian]

[ The Mayor looks mildly mollified by his words, if only because of the confidence with which he speaks them. It's clear she is feeling more than a little out of her depth here, the careful control she has over the town's goings-on slipping like water from her hands. Kanan, oddly enough, is providing something of a steadier ground to stand on, even if she still isn't entirely sure just what is going on here.

Though speaking of steady ground— ]

What now?

[ At Kanan's "slipping," there comes a low grumble from the earth beneath them. Chantilly's tone of exasperation does little to hide the panicked edge of her voice as the ground shudders beneath their feet. Another glance outside shows long cracks along the concrete and grass, cutting through the otherwise idyllic landscape like pages of a storybook ripped and torn. ]

I think, [ the Mayor says emphatically, ] you should stop talking now.

[blindrun]

[ Kanan braces a hand against the wall as the rumble comes and goes, in awe at the crack they can see outside. Just how much influence does this "sun" have? And how far will it go? He really should just shut up, right? But, more than ever before, he feels a need to help the people living in this town. Not just because of some orb, but because they can't keep living this way.

He grimaces tight, wracking his brain, then speaks quietly and low. ]

I'm sorry, I just... there must be something we can do to help you. You can't just... go on like this. Please, let us fix this.

[ Not just get things back to the way it was, but make it better. ]

[ximilian]

[ By now, Chantilly was holding her head in her hands. There are a few strands of hair that have fallen out of her otherwise perfect updo, which towns people would say is the most disheveled she's ever looked. After a heavy breath, the Mayor lifts her face out of her hands and turns a leveling stare at Kanan. ]

What could you possibly do? You can't even find the thing you're here for in the first place, how do you possibly think you can help any of us?

[ There is a slight tremble to her voice, which for her is downright hysterical. ]

Don't you understand? [ She gestures towards the sky. ] It will never stop watching us. It'll never stop judging us. It's too powerful, and we will never be free.

[blindrun]

...If that's what you really think, then why keep the note? The one with all the numbers on it.

[ Telling her that is all but an admission that he broke in with a couple others, but he feels the need to be honest about it. Putting all the cards on the table. ]

[ximilian]

[ At this point, Chantilly can't even be surprised by that. She simply looks defeated, shoulders sagging. ]

What else am I to do? The sun will take as many of us as it wants. That doesn't mean I can't try to save as many of us as possible.

[ She gestures all around them. ]

All of this, all these rules... Every mayor since this town's founding has done their best to chart out what will please the sun, and won't. Some with.. more success than others, I'll admit. But it's always been this way. We may not live free, but at least we live.

[blindrun]

Living for what though?

[ It's a question he's been asking himself since he met a rebel who was determined to help people no matter the risk. To fight against Imperial tyranny instead of running from it, the way he's been running for a decade.

Kanan glances back toward the window, knowing that he may well have put a target on his back, and then back to her. ]

We're going to try and find the orb, even if that is what it is. [ He won't even name it, in fear of it causing some sort of break in the ground that could swallow them. They'll have to be much more careful moving forward. ] If you think of something, or know anything, then tell us. Either way... I won't feel good about just leaving your town to oppression.

[ximilian]

[ The Mayor is quiet for a moment after he asks, before she spreads her hands out, palms up. It's not quite a shrug, but a defeated gesture nonetheless. ]

Can't living at all be enough? We may not always be happy, [ her voice falls to a hush, terrified to admit it out loud for the first time, ] but sometimes when you pretend hard enough at something, it starts to feel true... doesn't it?

[ It's not a rhetorical question. She looks to Kanan almost helplessly, before she turns a look towards her husband, the rest of the crowd that had gathered for the town hall. She only seems to realize now how many of them had been listening in. None seem to have an answer either... or perhaps have an answer they dare not say. Chantilly swallows a breath. ]

If... [ Another glance outside, another nervous twitch of her hands. If what you're looking for and what watches us is the same thing... If you take it... Does that mean we will be free?

[blindrun]

[ Yeah... he knows exactly what she means. That's why it hits too close to home. He feels like that bratty kid he buried years ago again, the stupid childish dreams of being a heroic Jedi because everything fell apart and they won. Fighting back against such a powerful force felt stupid, because survival was enough. He's such a hypocrite telling the Mayor otherwise. Or maybe he's just waking up too. ]

I hope it does. [ He can't promise anything or give guarantees, not when he doesn't know himself but he hopes what he's learned and can bring back to the rest will give them a clue on how to proceed. ] I won't cause you anymore trouble today. But maybe we can cause it together later.

[ So he'll move to leave, unless she has something else to say. ]

[ximilian]

[ She doesn't, not immediately. It's clear she wants to, though, but the words seem stuck in her throat. She has spent her entire life avoiding trouble and putting it out like extinguishing fires, that instinct would have her recoil from it. But what good has playing by the rules given her? There are still countless problems at her feet; there are still eyes and whispers that follow her everywhere.

She takes a step towards him, hand outstretched. ]

I —

— Tilly!

[ Chantilly turns at the sound of her husband's shout. He's out of his chair now, staring out the window beside him, expression aghast. She whirls back around to look back out the window she's next to, dread heavy like a stone in her gut.

Outside, chaos has erupted. It couldn't have been more than five, ten minutes since she'd last looked outside, but the scene couldn't have been any more different. Overhead, the sky is fluctuating. Bright, perfect blue flickers and appears to shatter like sugar glass in patches, fading to reveal a swath of muted grey across the horizon.

By now the townsfolk have spilled out of their homes, gathering into the streets, looking towards the fallen Companions, the cracks along the earth, and the sky slowly dissolving into endlessness. Even with the windows closed, their voices carry in a chorus of slowly rising emotion, each one louder and more intense than the last. ]

What the hell is going on?

Are we being punished?

I thought shit like this wasn't supposed to happen!

Roger! Language!

Fuck your language! What does it matter?

He's right... We've all been so good. The housespouses put over five names on the watchlist this month — they've all been extra careful since their reprimands!

Two months I took lessons on proper lawn care. And for what?!

— I don't even like golf!

Fuck this... I'm tired of perfect! I'm going to do what I want from now on!

Yeah! No more rules! No more being told how to act!

[ The Mayor steps back from the window, looking ashen. She looks to Kanan briefly. ]

I have to deal with this. Whatever it is you're here to do, do it, and do it fast.

[ She calls to her husband and her team, gathering them into a tight circle as she begins to administer directions. The townsfolk who have congregated inside the room with them have begun murmuring among themselves, also having heard everything going on outside. Their panic is slower to come, but no less inevitable.

Outside, the sky has finished changing. Like a veil being lifted or a covering being peeled back, the sky that's revealed now is a dull, unassuming pewter. The remaining cloud cover is sparse and scattered, and it does little to hide the bright ball of light hanging in suspension far overhead, a new addition to the horizon and noticeably lacking any pupils or irises.

That sun is still there, a little to its left. That eye is still watching, though now it looks much, much closer... and the twinkle in its unblinking stare looks downright giddy. ]

[ximilian]

This concludes the NPC thread.

From here, the conditions of the town are as follows:

• the Companions have all shut down and are nonresponsive
  
• several faults run throughout the town, cutting through every street and walkway
  
• with the barrier around the town dissolved, all one will observe is nothing surrounding the town but barren land and oceans of dark water; overhead the sky is unchanged, with a normal sun visible during the daytime and a normal moon visible during the nighttime; at every moment of the day, the giant eye (what the townsfolk used to call their sun) remains, hovering closer than it's ever been
  
• many of the townsfolk have begun to act out in violent, hysterical, and/or debauched ways
  
• there are a few who do not participate, instead remaining holed up in their homes in the hopes of avoiding attention and blowback (Players are free to assume any of the NPCs who have sheltered them during Log 2 would continue to do so after this thread)
  
• the Mayor and her team initially work hard to run interference and calm who they can, but ultimately become overpowered and are forced to board themselves up in her office for their own safety
  
• the giant eye continues to watch over them all

Please note that the voting post for the conclusion will go up on NOVEMBER 25, so any information you find relevant to ICly share must be done so before then.

[blindrun]

Thank you mods, I've made a network post for info sharing!