( 003 » ENSEMBLE ) party time.

[reveriemod]

» WHO? Everyone
» WHEN? July 1 to July 8
» WHERE? Entire Station
» WHAT? 168 hours of being forced to listen to cheesy music on repeat…
» WARNINGS? the mundane and slightly ridiculous becoming terrible, cheesy pop music, forced sleep deprivation, anger, loss of control, emotions, potential for stabbing, hallucinations, mania, memory loss, confusion, seizures, depression.

0 0 1 » LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

It starts in the mess hall and it starts slowly. At first, it can barely be heard over the conversations that are happening but as the volume increases, it becomes apparent that music is playing. Not just any music: characters from Earth will recognise these pop hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s. They’re the kind of hits one might find on a Spotify playlist titled “Top 100 Cheesy Hits” or “Songs To Sing To In The Shower”. Power ballads. Boy bands. Girl bands. Woodstock.

Soon, the music can be heard all across the station, blasting from every speaker, audible in every room. Characters who were asleep in their quarters will be woken by the music’s volume, characters under the shower might want to start singing along (but remember, the walls might just be thin enough for the neighbours to hear) and if characters clear some chairs, there’s enough space in the bar for an impromptu dance floor.

Some characters have been working on improving the replicators, too, so while the alcohol supplies at the bar are dwindling and all but gone, the replicators are now capable of making something that’s palatable, even if it’s not quite up to scratch.

What’s the harm in having some fun? It’s just a little music, right?

( ♪ )

0 0 2 » I WANT OFF THIS RIDE

It’s just a little music, right? And it is — but it just won’t seem to stop. The first few hours may have been entertaining, at least for those who did not get woken up by the sound of decades (centuries, even) in the past, but the music keeps going long past the point of entertainment.

After two hours, the songs start repeating. After six hours, they’re still playing. After twelve? Still playing. Twenty-four? Still playing.

Sleep becomes all but impossible as the music keeps playing loudly in every room and every corridor of the station. Attempts to shut it down prove unsuccessful.

Forty-eight hours later, the music is still playing.

Characters will begin to suffer the effects of sleep deprivation, in addition to the general irritation that might come from hearing the same two hours worth of cheesy pop songs on a loop: headaches, exhaustion, tremors, irritability and confusion to begin with, followed by lapses in memory, muscle aches, malaise, violent behaviour, hallucinations or mania as cognitive effects set in, possibly also seizures and depression.

And still, the music keeps playing.

( ♪ )

0 0 3 » THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER

The music and the sleep deprivation it causes are the reason for many of the symptoms people are feeling, but something is happening that goes even beyond the music, beyond the lack of sleep: something has changed about the food replicators.

The food is slowly getting better, for one, thanks to a group of individuals who’ve been working on improving them. Beyond that, however, imperceptible, the composition of the food comes with something extra -- namely heightened emotions. Whatever causes it, it’s in the water, too.

Those who are already angry feel angrier and have a harder time controlling that anger. Those who are already sad feel sadder and have a harder time not bursting into tears. Those who are already apathetic feel more apathetic and have a harder time prompting themselves to so much as move. The effect holds for all emotions, heightening them, making them harder to control or counteract. Impulses become action far more quickly than usual. Irritation at the music may become anger at the person singing along under their breath and that, in turn, may lead to someone getting stabbed with a plastic fork.

It’s nearly impossible to keep a cool head, though some people seem more affected than others.

OOC: This part of the plot is completely opt-in. Whatever characters are feeling will be heightened and strengthened and their impulse control lowered. Make sure to get ooc permission for any stabby action of comparable deeds, and keep in mind that non-con is prohibited in game.

( ♪ )

0 0 4 » AFTERMATH

After 168 hours, the music stops. Whatever was in the water and the food is gone again, meaning characters may never know it was there in the first place. After all, some of the effects of it could have been down to the sleep deprivation as well…

Still, there’s something off about the whole thing. It might seem like someone is watching them. Toying with them. But surely that’s just paranoia, right?

In the aftermath of sleep deprivation and poor impulse control, characters might want to get some sleep or try to mend those relationships that were damaged by careless words or people getting creative with the cutlery.

( ♪ )

Please remember to put warnings in subject lines if so required.

Comments

[morethan084]

[It has gotten better. Thankfully. So he's run into one of the many powered people here. Yeah, she's still wondering why her power isn't working here.]

The James?

[charlieoscar]

The Nathan James. My ship.

[And the closest to home anymore. Which a thinking man (or woman) might notice, given he mentioned it and not anything else. Mike purposely doesn't think about it.]

DDG-151, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

[He almost smiles, something akin to pride flashing in his eyes.]

[morethan084]

[Yeah she notices, but she of all people doesn't press on about it. SHIELD was her home, before and after losing her parents.]

You're in the Navy?

[charlieoscar]

{Most people peg it so quickly, that he looks a little surprised she has to ask.
Amused, he offers her a nod.]

Captain Mike Slattery, at your service.

[morethan084]

Impressive.

[And in a way, it wasn't very surprising that he was a Captain.]

I'm guessing the Navy never went through the possibility of space travel?

[charlieoscar]

[He preens on cue, then offers a lazy look of amusement before shrugging it away at her question.]

Not since the plague. And even then, it wasn't anything like this.

[morethan084]

[Daisy sits up a little straighter when he mentions the plague. What did he mean by that?]

The plague?

[charlieoscar]

[He's stopped eating, and now pushes at what remains on his plate as he slowly nods.]

On - I guess, my version of Earth. We called it the Red Flu and it nearly brought an end to the whole damn world. It's been a couple years, but the planet's still recovering, especially after it got into the plants. It's gonna be a while before we build back the infrastructure of what we had before, much less start looking at something this ambitious.

[morethan084]

So it didn't just affect people, but everything else too?

[charlieoscar]

I'm not a Doctor. I don't understand how it all works. [Somewhere, Dr. Scott was preparing to spin in her too early grave.] But it started with plants, birds were the carriers. There it changed, and somehow jumped to us. After the cure was discovered and we became immune, I guess it jumped back to save itself.

[He hears it again in his head, how Fletcher had put it, and echoes it aloud, flatly.]

Clever.

[morethan084]

How quickly did this all happen?

[And Daisy is suddenly realizing that if someone becomes infected with something while they’re all here? They’re screwed.]

[charlieoscar]

Four months. [A chillingly pair of words. The world world, changed forever in less than half a year. His whole life gone in a matter of minutes....] When it started, it was remote, handfuls of cases.... I hadn't even heard of it when the orders came in, sending us to the Arctic.

[Here, he makes a noise. Not a snort, not a laugh. Almost a cough. A low, dry, tried sound.]

'Training mission,' we were told. With a couple CDC doctors tagging along for some bird research. We were ordered radio silent. We had no idea.... Not until the Russians hit us, looking for the cure. Then the docs finally clued us in as why we were really there. [He drops his fork down and leans back in his chair, shoulders hitting the back of the frame harshly.] After it was already too late.

[morethan084]

[Daisy stays silent while he explains how this all went down. It makes her feel sick to her stomach, especially with all the secrecy.]

They put you into danger like that without telling you? Why would they do that?

[Daisy understands some things being kept a secret, but something as important this?]

[charlieoscar]

Protection. Where we were and what the docs were doing was considered need to know, in case somebody got the idea to come after it for themselves. They couldn't risk anything happening to them.

[He's come to understand it. Mostly forgiven it. But right now... He's so tired. And so frustrated. It's bubbling in his veins again. The betrayal he'd felt back then.]

It wasn't even really that though. It was the not knowing what was going on back home. To find out what was happening to our families while we played wargames on the ice.

[morethan084]

[The fact that he’s never said anything about his family leads her to assume the worst happened.]

Kind of like what’s happening now.

[And she’s hating every minute of it. Coulson is dying and yet she’s stuck here with no means of communication.]

[charlieoscar]

[He folds his arms and nods sharply.]

Kind of.

[morethan084]

I'm sorry.

[And she means it. She can only assume this has to bring up a lot of bad memories for him.]

[charlieoscar]

[A muscle in his jaw squeezes, moving under his skin, but when he looks across the table to her and sees the sincerity in her eyes, it slowly sinks through to him. After a few moments, some of the tension in his shoulders relaxes.]

Yeah. Me too.

[There's another beat and he exhales a long breath.]

Well, now you know mine. What's your tragic backstory?

[morethan084]

[Daisy's eyes fall to the table, snorting softly when he asks her a very loaded question. One that she really doesn't want to answer.]

Let's not.

[Was it fair that he had opened up to her and she was shutting down? Probably not. But Daisy rarely talked about her past with anyone that didn't already know. And the only people who really knew about it weren't here.]

[charlieoscar]

[The longer the moment stretches, the more his face shifts. Softening with understanding, and a twinge of regret. He got it. Even with what he'd told her-- that still wasn't everything. He'd only told one person what had happened to his family. No one knew what had happened in Vietnam, that night in the club and all those days and nights in the jungle after.

Finally, he clears his throat, and nods again. A smaller, gentler movement.]

Smart. Better to keep some mystery in the relationship. If my bodyguard was already bored with me where would I be?

[morethan084]

[Daisy is relieved when he doesn't push it, and honestly she didn't expect him to either. She does laugh when he mentions her being his bodyguard.]

So now I'm your bodyguard?

[charlieoscar]

I'd call you my voice of reason, but you did put a man in a headlock.

[morethan084]

Yeah, well, as entertaining as it would've been to see, I didn't think you actually wanted to do any of that.

[It sure as hell seemed like he wanted it. At least at the time.]

[charlieoscar]

It'd be fun now, but I probably wouldn't respect myself in the morning.

[Mike wasn't a man that had any problem putting a fool in its place. But neither did he believe himself a bad man. A time and place for everything - and this really wasn't either, however the throbbing in the back of his head made him feel in the moment.]

[morethan084]

Usually how it goes.

[Which kind of implies that Daisy has been in her fair share of fights. Well, as if that headlock didn't showcase that.]

What happened anyway?