[Nexus LOL] Technomagic was Never meant to work like this

[chocolatechipbadass]

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood Nexus. A really beautiful day.

Six-winged birds singing, flowers blooming everywhere one looks. From far off in the distance on the other side of the Nexus people wandering the Plaza will hear a sudden loud noise and feel a very minor shake but there's no invading force. No colossal calamity to be bested. Now for the poor sod who used to own the internet cafe that's just been blown to smithereens in a cascade of firework trails raining down it's a very bad day. Tina's still swearing about Aimbots and cheaters while waving around a game controller that isn't plugged into anything while the fire burns. She's not going to stop when the potions shop next door catches flame either.

But alllll the way back in the plaza? There's no sign of trouble. Maybe the faintest glimpse of fireworks. The smell of gunpowder mingling with a bitter herb and a touch of...ozone? Honestly with all the pollen in the air it's difficult to tell. Precisely Because it's the Nexus the fallout from this ill conceived haze may not be easily noticed at first.

A flicker of a little symbol over someone's head while they're reading a book. People cutting off mid conversation to glance at their conversation partners. Or rather, over their heads. So many little 😮 popping up over heads as confusion starts to spread only to rapidly dissipate into a myriad of other little pictures when people seem to realize that whatever the flavor of the day weirdness is, it's not seemingly dangerous. Is there a rhyme or a reason to them? What could it mean? Are you affected?


[Please refer to THIS POST in the OOC comm for an explanation of what's going on. The TL;DR to this Nexus LOL is that a character's innermost thoughts will be visible to anyone who is observing them whether they're speaking or not, but they will exclusively be communicated via Emojis. The OOC post has some guidelines for using these emojis in tags and some rules so please check there before posting in. Threadhopping and mingling are required for this post as there is no real Question Asker so Have fun!]

Comments

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Matt Murdock is sitting at one of the little cafe-style tables in the Plaza, his laptop and Braille reader set up to review some legal documents while enjoying the warm sunshine and the fresh air, so much cleaner than back home in Hell's Kitchen. He seems to have recovered well from his injuries during the winter, bones mended and scars healed over, and the spring weather seems pleasant enough that he's not afraid there'll be a sudden repeat of the storm anytime soon.

The explosion catches him off-guard, louder in his sensitive hearing than most of the humans around, and his head snaps up as the Braille under his fingertips is forgotten. There's a crackle of flames and... a swearing child? What's even odder than that is the sudden murmur of what sounds like everyone suddenly enabling text-to-speech on their phones, a cacophony of emotions and symbols being read out in the most dull, dry tone imaginable.

Above his own head, unbeknownst to Matt, a few symbols begin to appear in rapid succession.





[OOC note: Because Matt is blind, he will perceive emojis as text-to-speech instead of visual images. His own emojis are visible to everyone else.]

[chocolatechipbadass]

Amid all of the text-to-speech droning that's going to be threatening to deafen poor Mister Murdock (and really that would just be cruel since he's already blind) the strange combination of smells will get stronger from a certain direction. He'll hear a child's footsteps against the sidewalk and the sound of plastic being drug along the ground carelessly as it catches and tumbles on every bump and crack.

Tina's still sulking when she wanders into the Plaza dragging her broken controller by the cord out behind her. She's in a bad mood and the Plaza has only one thing that interests her. Over her head there's only one thing on repeat, spammed over and over until it fills the entire little space above her head.

🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

There's usually free food in the plaza and this sulky Young lady demands a snackrifice.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

If nothing else, she has his attention solely because it is the same thing over and over again, a constant bland beat of cookie cookie cookie like an annoying stuck record. That aside, he's pretty sure this is the same child he'd heard swearing up a storm in the middle of whatever exploded.

and pop up over his own head, rather quickly, and are followed somewhat belatedly with a .

"Are you all right?" He can't smell blood, or hear broken bones, but that doesn't mean this child is fine.

[fiveofnone]

On his way through the Plaza, Caspar has a single goal in mind, an almost laser-guided focus that might stand out above the other text-to-speech noise that is giving Matt a headache.



This symbol is unwavering, at least until he spots the blind lawyer at the café table. Oh hey, he knows that guy. What's with the weird symbols above his head? Caspar glances reflexively upward and --

Oh great. Another Nexus LOL. The question is, does the blind guy know what's going on? Maybe he should say something.

"Hey. There's some sort of weird magical nonsense going on, you've got emojis floating above your head." There, nailed it. "How's it going? Did you get lost again?"

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

The single, bland declaration of hot beverage does little to grab Matt's attention until he hears someone approaching, and he's paying attention just in time for the mystery voice to tonelessly add weary thinking before Caspar speaks.



He's run into a lot of people here, especially over the winter, but the subtle smells and sounds help narrow down the list. "It's... Caspar, right?" Matt sure hopes that was the name, as they've only run into each other the once, so far.

"So I've heard," Matt says, not without a healthy dollop of irony. "It's all noise to me." Lost, though? "No, I'm here on purpose this time. Thought I'd catch up on some work where it's quieter, though that's sort of backfired on me now."

[rockandrollvampire]

For someone who's used to very strange and supernatural things happening around him all the time, Toby is comically ill prepared to deal with random explosions happening in his general vicinity. He jumps as he looks around to find the source, if only so he can get away from it as quickly as possible. Not terribly possible when so many things are happening all at once? Which might be why appears over his head suddenly as he curses and stumbles backwards into Matt's table.

"Fuck!"

Graceful, Toby. Really. Such an apex predator you are.

"Oh Hell! I'm so sorry." The vampire turns around a little too quickly for a human to steady the table and grab a few of the papers he knocked onto the ground for Matt. He doesn't notice there's no legible writing on it as he sets it back down as he turns his attention to the man he almost ran over instead, the and emoji appearing over his head a few times. "Are you all right? I didn't ruin any of your papers, did I?" That would be bad to do to a stranger in a place that doesn't seem to kill him the way his London seems to want to from time to time.

Strangely, though, there's no rushed or fearful heartbeat to go along with the shock in Toby's voice. No sweat on his brow or any of the other usual reactions to fear. Just an obviously panicked voice and a bit of flailing in the vampire's limbs.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

Matt has slowly been getting used to the strangely diverse population here in the Nexus, aliens and animals and whatnot, but no matter how oddly they're shaped they usually have some kind of pulse he can track them with, passive indications that they aren't just potential obstacles if he doesn't take care to avoid running into them.

His first thought is, unfortunately, that somehow the Hand have followed him here.

He's on his feet and halfway into a fighting stance when all the swearing registers, and Matt's eyebrows fly up towards his hairline. Okay, no, the Hand would not be concerned about his paperwork. Nor would they be this loud.

"I'm not hurt," he assures the stranger, but he has to take a moment to locate the papers on the table and run his fingers across them quickly, trying to see if any of the raised dots have been smashed down. "I don't think there's any harm done."

[outpostcook]

Kinner notices the explosion first, but returns to work, a 🎣 symbol floating over his head. Then he starts noticing the strange symbols over the people around him. The Nexus is being weird again, but at least this time it's harmless. Better than the Anti-Violence Field going on the fritz again. He doesn't recognize them as emojis. Emojis aren't a thing where Kinner's from. Cell phones weren't even invented yet in 1938. He makes note of the symbols he sees.

And it's spreading, too. He probably has one. Kinner sighs. Apparently a few weeks' peace is too much to ask for in the Nexus. He needs a drink. And then, sure enough, a 🍺 appears over his head. Kinner continues to observe his customers' symbols. They aren't going away.

Where had they come from? The strange symbols only appeared after the explosion. Kinner puts two and two together, a floating 🤔 over his head all the while.

"Ha ha, very funny." He smiles slightly, trying to get a look at the symbol over his head. Nobody got hurt at least. If these strange pictures aren't going to last, he can try and have some fun with this while they do. "Okay, what blew up? I gotta say, this is a real good one. Well played." He's wondering what was in that explosion, anyway. Nothing normal.

[coffee_elf]

Rondo just happened to be in this area of the Plaza, and he's utterly unfamiliar with fish, so he stopped to watch commerce at Kinner's shop. He's not brave enough to try anything yet, but he's a polite guest.

The explosion startled him, and he's been craning his neck to see if he can see any smoke from here, or flames. Getting involved seems like a bad idea, but standing around doing nothing isn't right if people are hurt...

at some point ⁉️ 🤨 🤔 and 😟 have begun circling his head. It takes him until Kinner speaks to take note of the emojis cropping up everywhere. He's not unfamiliar with the concept, but video calls are more popular on Arraka'ar than text, so they strike him as quaint and antiquated.

"...some kind of magic," he says. "Mind magic. It's making peoples' mental state appear visually around them."

He scratches his head, and another 🤨 flutters up as if his touch has startled an emoji that was hiding in his hair. "Not sure why the little pixel pictures are the form it's taking, though."

[outpostcook]

"Magic?" Kinner breathes in. "Can't say I'm an expert on magic. If this is magic, it's pretty harmless, though I don't really like having my thoughts out in the open. Can't say I'm a fan of that part of it. If you ask me, it had somethin' to do with that explosion over there." Kinner's pretty sure no one was hurt except for people's dignity.

There are 🤔 emojis around Kinner. He's deep in thought. The explosion had to have something to do with this, but he doesn't know who could've done this.

"If you've seen Rocket anywhere, he's a fan of explosions. Not sure this is him, though. He hasn't really been himself lately. He's one of the many people who lost someone to Thanos." As a 🚀 floats over his head, Kinner says the name quietly. It's not as if saying the Mad Titan's name will summon him, but it never pays to be careless.

"If it's magic, it'll take magic to fix it. That's how these things need to work. Maybe Hermione, Danny, or Horvath could figure this out. We might have to find out what kind of magic it is first. Hermione's magic is different from Horvath's magic is different from your magic, if that makes sense."

Two emojis appear: 🧙🧙‍♀️. Kinner catches a faint glimpse of the wizard and wonders what his sorcerer friend would make of the cartoonish imagery.

[contrivings]

All right, so Penelope was out getting some thread for weaving (she needs to work with her hands as it's a good distraction for what's going on in Ithaca) when the explosion occurs.

It's a little strange, to see the fireworks, and smell the smoke, but Penelope tries to remain calm, despite her confusion. After all, she's unfamiliar with the smell of gunpowder. She sniffs the air briefly, before carrying on with the hunt for thread.

Unbeknownst to her, a few symbols appear above her head:

❗😕 🤔

[outpostcook]

Kinner's left his stand, wandering around to see how far the strange explosion's effects go. There are a lot of these strange symbols floating around, and he can figure out what they mean sometimes. His guess is that they mesh up with people's thoughts and feelings, but he's never seen anything like this. He can't help but panic a little.

"You, too?" Kinner turns to Penelope. "There's an exclamation mark over your head. Thought you might want to know. Do I have one? I think it's got something to do with that explosion." He sniffs the air, picking up the faint scent. "Not an ordinary explosion, that's for sure."

There's a ❓ and 💥 symbol over his own head.

[iamnotagun]

The Giant hears explosions and is immediately worried. He hopes humans aren't getting hurt! They seem to have a tendency to get themselves into bad situations.

He looks up at the sky, then around him, searching for intruders.

Giant (and we mean giant) symbols appear over his head. He's blissfully unaware.

😬 😟

[eumenis]

The sound of the explosion had Furiosa running toward the area it came from at once, with a command to her entourage to stay where they are and wait for orders. It might be something minor, in which case she'll back off and let someone else handle the cleanup. It might be an attack, in which case--

well, the War Boys with her are likely to try to drag her home.

She starts noticing the symbols appearing as she gets closer to the fire, and slows down to assess what the hell they might mean, and that's about the time she catches sight of the Giant.

Hers have been all 🔥 😬 up until now, but he effectively diverts her attention, because she has never seen anything quite like him, even in the Nexus.

🤩 🤩 🤩 💖 "Glory me..." she murmurs.

[readvondaniken]

Palmer's been hard at work at his shop downtown, but he's not too out of it to notice the explosion. He jumps, then relaxes. Well, it looks like things just got interesting around here, the mechanic thinks with a smile. A 😏 appears above his head. Palmer likes excitement...just not the kind where he gets shot at.

If he ever bumps into the person who did this, he'll personally thank them. No, he isn't a good influence.

Well, he didn't do it, he thinks as he rummages underneath his worktable for his wrench, symbols hovering over him. Though he won't say it was a bad idea. The Nexus could use some harmless livening up.

❓🔧

[not_the_question]

The Doctor has faced 'emotions on display' before. Even in the form of emojis. He can't say he's pleased to have to go through this all again.

Palmer's shop is one of the first places the Doctor reaches. His own emoji shows something of being puzzled.


It will remain like that unless the man can distract him enough - it takes a lot of mental energy to bury how he really feels while displaying the image he wants others to see.

He sees the images over Palmer's head. And is glad he's encountered someone who likes to do some work first. After all, it's fastest to contact the workforce to learn if the Vardy are involved or not. And if they are how deadly this might turn.

"Excuse me. Yes, you. Hello. Do you have any tiny microbots that help you with your tasks."

No, he's not going to beat around the bush this time. He's just going to figure it out and move on.

[not_the_question]

The Doctor is taking a shower when the TARDIS rocks slightly. Most humans would have passed off such an event as a large truck rumbling by, but this was the TARDIS and such things rarely causes problems. He exits the cube and towels off. He feels squeaky-clean, which he hasn't in awhile, if he were honest. Then looks into the mirror debating if he was going to need to shave or not which is when he noticed something above his head: ✨.

He scowls. And the shape changes: 😖

Both River and Bill had tried to teach him to use emojis, and of course encountering the Vardies had definitely taught him a thing or two about them. "No! Not again! There's not even a badge! The least you could do is give a badge!"

He hears the TARDIS giggle softly in his mind. "Don't you start!"

He quickly finishes dressing and decides that he had mostly fooled the Vardy, he could pull this off. After all 'wet-brains/dry-brains', tricking humans was far easier. So unless the speaker can distract him well enough, the Doctor's emoji will be reminiscent of the image from his encounter with the Vardy:


He exits the TARDIS and looks around. He notices a lot of other people have them too. "The Nexus is far more human than anyone realises. Emojis. Communications on easy display. This is the utopia of vacuous teens."

Yes, he did just insult everyone. Get used to it. He's more than a little displeased to be facing this again. The only thing he wants to do is figure out if the Vardy are involved - and if their emotions will lead to their deaths. But either way, sort it as quickly as possible. He hates how hard he has to work to confuse whatever power it is that displays such things.

[outpostcook]

"Well, a lot of people here in the Nexus are human. Though I haven't seen many teenagers here."

Kinner notices the older gentleman, stops in his tracks and listens to his comment. Emojis. So that's what the strange faces and symbols are. Granted, that doesn't tell him much. Emojis are a far way in the future from Kinner's time period.

"So these floating things are called emojis?" The cook's pretty sure there's one over his own head, though he can't see it. It's actually a swarm of 🤔 emojis. "It was cute at first, but now they're kinda getting on my nerves. If I find whoever did this, I'm gonna give 'em a talking to. That explosion gave me a fright. Did you hear it, too?"

He sighs. At least the weirdness is pretty harmless this time, if extremely annoying. When he notices the Doctor's emoji, he wonders if they're physical objects, and if not, what they are.

"I'll say this - the Nexus has pulled meaner stunts on us. At least the Anti-Violence Field's still up." He manages a smile and offers a hand. "My name's Joseph Kinner. Good to meet you."

[control_the_fear]

He should not be here without Forrest's say-so. Jack knows this. He agreed to it. Because he wanted to run right off and find Cricket as soon as he heard he was alive (ish?) somewhere, but Forrest was very very firm with his No. You Stay Put, and after watching him recover from not one but two terrible near-death experiences (one of which was at least partly Jack's fault), he's gained a new appreciation for his older brother.

Forrest seems solid as the mountains themselves, but that doesn't mean he ought to be taken for granted. Even mountains can crumble and collapse.

The thing is, Jack's pretty sure by now that Forrest doesn't intend to ever give him permission to come here, and after hearing a whiff of how the winter went here, and packing all kinds of food to take to Cricket, he can't stand it any longer. He's got to see him.

Boy, did he pick the wrong damn day.

The first thing that pops into his head when he hears the explosion is shit, did someone's still blow up?. Such things happen with relative frequency in the world he comes from. He doesn't notice when the Nexus helpfully translates his inner monologue to 🥃 💥 🔥 ⁉️

It may take him a minute to pick up on the floating emojis. He's never heard of an emoji and this is his first exposure to Nexus strangeness.

[outpostcook]

"They're called 'emojis'. No, I don't know what they are, either. Something after my time."

Kinner notices Jack - he recognizes the description he got from Cricket, and he comes over to introduce himself, strange emoji curse be damned. Kinner's not going to stop something like this get in the way of meeting a friend of a friend. He tries to ignore the floating symbols around them.

"Reckon I know who you are." He offers a hand. "You must be Jack Bondurant. The name's Joseph Kinner. I'm a friend of Cricket's. I'd say welcome, but I think the Nexus is doing it for me."

Sure enough, Kinner's head has a 👋 emoji floating over it. Several of them appear, as well as a few scattered 🦗. Well, he's Cricket's friend, and he's sure if Cricket was here he'd get a real kick out of this. As things are, Kinner can't help but smile a little. It's harmless, as far as Nexus unpredictability goes. As long as it doesn't last, hey, he can play along.

"The Nexus is a nice place, most of the time, but it takes some getting used to. Mostly because of things like this. It's unpredictable."

[iwillcatchup]

When Peter hears the sudden loud noise ... he takes a second to investigate the cause. Doesn't look like anyone needs saving this time.

So he heads back to where he started, a little 💣 floating over his head.

And a few 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔 over his head. But those are quickly replaced by 🤨 😲👌 👌. And those are just as quickly replaced by 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️ 🏃‍♂️.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

This is getting ridiculous. It's so damn loud, and some of these people seem like they're stuck on the same thing over and over again.

"Isn't that driving you nuts?" Matt asks, when Peter's path crosses his own.

[betashiftblues]

Of all the days to go shopping in the multiverse.

Norn doesn't arrive until well after things have started to calm down ever so slightly. He can hear more chatter than normal in the plaza but no one's panicking or running for their lives. Nothing that would indicate any real threat. Just busier than normal. Not ideal for the introverted officer but hardly anything to worry about.

At least until the little holo images catch his attention. At first he'd just assumed they were adverts or the like but there are so many hovering over just about everyone as far as he can see. How are so many people just okay with this? Does this just kind of happen in the Nexus? Unbeknownst to the Andorian he's not at all immune to the effect. 💊🤦‍♂️ have been lingering over his own antennae for several seconds but they change once he starts walking again.

🍻✨🧙🗺️

If he can find an answer to this then he should probably try but his motivations are more clear to others than he's realizing.

[he_put_the_devil_in_me]

hovers above Matt's head as he tries to listen his way through the crowd. Everything sounds the same, from everyone, and it's hard for him to pin down which robotic voice goes with who.

It's giving him a headache, honestly.



The word pill catches his attention, and he tries to narrow down his focus to find the person it belongs to before they can get too far. "Excuse me," he calls out, facing in the direction of his best guess. "You wouldn't happen to have some aspirin, would you?"

[andshesaid_i_amnotapuppet]

There is, strangely enough, suddenly a 😴... near a tree? More particularly, just above a shadow of a tree.

But nobody appears to be sleeping there? Or if they are, they're good at hiding.