shardofwinter: (Ice)
Reynard North ([personal profile] shardofwinter) wrote in [community profile] nexus_crossings2019-01-03 10:57 am
Entry tags:

The Start of the Storm

The god hosted Yule party left the Nexus in the state of beautiful Winter Wonderland. With the snow falling softly and steadily, and the beautiful festive lights twinkling in the darkness, the Nexus is left with a sense of serene nostalgia hanging in the cold air. This peace and joy clings to the streets for several weeks, buoying everyone’s mood as they look back on the past year and forward to ringing in the new one. 

It starts in the Wilds, and the outskirts. The cold air suddenly feels like it freezes everything it touches in an instant. Light doesn’t quite pierce the gloom. Gentle snowfall becomes thick and falls hard. One or two people looking for shelter from their uninhabitable homes isn’t too noticeable. People can still enjoy their pretty Winter, blissfully unaware. Pipes freeze solid, paths become impassable, power cuts out, simple walks become baffling in the poor visibility. Soon it’s not one or two people, it’s many, it’s families. There are people coming in, bloody, bruised and scared, saying they were chased. Eventually the kindness of friends and strangers becomes strained. Spare rooms are packed to the brim and the storm that stays just shy of the bizarre torches somehow seems to have a slow, but unmistakable march closer towards a point where the Plaza, Industrial sector and Downtown meet. On top of that, people are complaining about PINpoints acting up or portals freezing over. 

Streets are becoming packed full of people with far more problems than solutions. Huddling together and whispering about ghosts and monsters moving about in the shadows. In a place with no government, no organisation, no collaborative emergency services, chaos and confusion reigns supreme. And with chaos, comes panic. With confusion, comes frustration and anger. The Nexus is a powder keg waiting to blow.

That’s certainly how one Durant sees it. As a manager, Isidor is keen on organisation and order. Both things that are lacking in the Nexus at the moment. Groups pop up to help, but struggle to communicate effectively, or work together. Some people get free food twice, some people are still waiting for some at all. It’s madness, and Isidor can’t stand it. Particularly because she, her brother and sister-in-law are stuck here. So, when nobody else takes the mantle, Isidor Durant takes it upon herself to inject some order into this scrum.

In her fur hat and long coat, leather gloves and thick boots, Isidor can be seen directing people this way and that. There’s something about a confident person taking charge that means people instinctively defer to them. She becomes the point of contact quite easily, with people soon taking her direction regardless of whether or not they know her. Under her instruction, people are directed to a building that has tables set up, queues in front of them, and volunteers behind them taking names and telling people where to go. It might still be chaos, but at least now it’s organised chaos.

The question is: Where will your character go?

❅-❅-❅-❅

((Below are comments for each desk. Tag any of them, threadhop, or post with your own character. I suggest putting your character’s name in the subject to help keep things clear. Comments marked with a snowflake ( ❅  ) have been coordinated with the mods and I as official event comments. The OOC Post is here! If you have any questions, feel free to message me or one of the mods!))

Threads of Note
Medicine/Illness | Shelter/Heat | Food | Security/CrimeLost items/people | Misc resources/Donations | Volunteers | Expeditions | Planning Table/The woman in charge | Drulb's Deelz | A Ship in the Outskirts 
rekindledtitan: (Understood)

[personal profile] rekindledtitan 2019-01-03 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Blaze gives him a nod of respect. "I'll check in with the security team, but we're heading back out into the field ASAP. In the meantime, I can offer you access to our sensor beacons. Some of them have gone dark but they're scattered across the Nexus and most of them are still transmitting environmental data."

"For now, at least..."
smartass_captain: (Profile in chair (beyond))

[personal profile] smartass_captain 2019-01-05 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
"What kind of data are they collecting?"

Jim's grabbing up a clipboard left on the table--his PADD is there for other purposes and he'd really rather not waste its limited power on taking notes--so he can start writing all of this down. It's information they could sorely use. Environmental scans aren't something he's got with his equipment being sketchy at best out there.

"I doubt crunching numbers and playing at meteorology in the Nexus is going to work out so easily but data's data. We might be able to figure out something."
rekindledtitan: (Reporting)

[personal profile] rekindledtitan 2019-01-05 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ambient temperature and pressure, anenometry, electromagnetic fields, cloud cover, light levels, vibrations..." Blaze rattles off a list before shrugging those padded shoulders of hers. "I'm not suggesting we've got time for any clever data parsing, but as long as they work they can give you some idea where conditions are most severe. We installed them to warn of dangerous weather phenomena after Reynard's last snowstorm. Got patrol beacons out there, too: I'd offer to rejig them to help relay your field comms but most of those are already down. Easy to guess who's behind that, but I'm gonna dig a few out to check."
smartass_captain: (Moment of Truth (captain face))

[personal profile] smartass_captain 2019-01-06 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Jim nods and head over to grab one of the short range radios he's got on hand. It and Jim's own PADD will be handed over to Blaze for Ghost to inspect at his leisure.

"My PADD won't stay charged indefinitely but I'm not sure the radio's going to be new enough for you to interface with to relay back data. Only options I've got, aside from my own faulty PINpoint. Which also isn't going to hold charge forever."
rekindledtitan: (Partners)

[personal profile] rekindledtitan 2019-01-08 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
"I'll add an access program to your PADD for the beacons," Ghost says, already running his shimmering blue light over it. Whatever security Jim has on it, the little bot apparently doesn't even think to ask before sidestepping it. Ghosts. "I can transmit audio comms to your radio directly to save on power, though if the beacon network degrades any further our range will be limited."

"Sometimes we just have to get a little old-fashioned," Blaze remarks to the captain, smacking fist into palm in a way that says this highly-advanced artificial life-form has no problem with old-fashioned.
smartass_captain: (WTF just happened)

[personal profile] smartass_captain 2019-01-11 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Bwuh.

Excuse Jim a half second to be mildly offended and kind of shocked at Ghost's ability to do that. Not offended that he didn't ask Jim first, mind. Just offended that Ghost did it so easily. Jim considers himself kind of an expert when it comes to this kind of thing and hadn't thought twice to bringing his device with him because it was secure.

And then, like it was nothing, beep boop here you go!

The Nexus really is cruel sometimes.

"R-right. That would be appreciated. Make sure you two take a couple of flares out if you're heading out there for rescue or supply runs. Even if range is limited on the radios, those should help someone find you if you need backup."
rekindledtitan: (Roger that)

[personal profile] rekindledtitan 2019-01-11 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry, Jim. It probably looked much easier from the outside than it really was, but on top of being an advanced alien AI, Ghost has had a ridiculous amount of practice breaking past clever humans' security. More than a thousand years' worth, in fact.

"Hah, flares." Blaze laughs, but Ghost spins and looks up at her patiently.

"We might meet other people who need them." They may find very practical use for flares themselves, but this is the easiest way to persuade his Guardian.

"Oh, right. We'll pick some up." Blaze gives Jim a salute. "Thank you, captain. And good luck."