( 004 » ENSEMBLE ) decay

[reveriemod]

» WHO? EVERYONE
» WHEN? August 1 - 31
» WHERE? the entire station
» WHAT? Characters begin suffering mysterious and varied symptoms. (More info can be found HERE.)
» WARNINGS? illness, body transformation, loss of limb, general body horror, blood, gore

0 0 1 » STAGE 1

Characters start suffering from a light fever. They’ll feel tired and achy, more inclined to bundle up in a warm sweater (if they have one) and drink tea or have chicken soup in bed than anything else. Unfortunately, the food fabricators still don’t provide the best comfort food.

Admittedly: some people are more affected than others. Some don’t seem to be affected at all.

0 0 2 » STAGE 2

For some characters, the fever will go away and they will feel fine for a brief period. It was probably just a cold, right? And then new symptoms set in: something dark and black spreads from their heart toward their extremities through their veins, making them stand out strongly. It hurts a little, or maybe a lot and no one knows what causes this or what it is that is spreading so darkly through their veins.

For some other characters, the fever will also go away and they will feel fine for a brief period before different symptoms set in: something hard starts spreading beneath their skin, making movements just a little more difficult for affected areas. The pain of this ranges from light discomfort to severe.

For yet other characters, the fever grows worse. They experience hallucinations of their extremities turning to dust, just the way it looks when someone arrives on or disappears from the station. They lose sensation in their extremities during those hallucinatory episodes, so if they reach out to touch something with a hand they think has disappeared, they’ll feel nothing. If they try to walk and then hallucinate their legs disappearing, they’ll stumble and fall to the floor.

0 0 3 » STAGE 3

For some characters, the blackness spreads and brings additional symptoms and worsening conditions with it: their skin starts to rot and fall off, toe or fingernails or entire toes or fingers might rot and fall off, wounds open that ooze a black and foul smelling, thick fluid dripping without looking to stop even if pressure is applied. It’s painful, and the open, infected looking wounds will not close, however much characters try to treat them.

Slowly, these characters’ bodies seem to rot and decay while they still live. For non-organic characters, it’s as if their wires are melting down, metals merging together and seeping through components.

For other characters, the hardness spreads and brings additional symptoms and worsening conditions with it: some of their joints may no longer move at all, their skin turning hard and impenetrable. Characters will also their sensory perception of affected limbs/surfaces, becoming unable to notice when someone touches them on an affected area. They may also lose any other sense if the infection spreads to their eyes, their ears, their mouths. Moving is slow, difficult, painful, until it becomes practically impossible. The noises their joints make seem robotic.

Slowly, these characters seem to turn into something else. Something hard and metallic, something unfeeling and impenetrable. Something inhuman?

For those who were still suffering from the fever, it seems like there is finally some good news: the fever lets up - but then affected characters find first their skin and increasingly the entirety of their body turning translucent and insubstantial. It will start with their skin and spread to the tissue beneath. One moment, they are able to see their own organs working, their heart pumping as their ribcage turns see-through… and a while later, well. Have you ever watched someone’s heart disappear? Now’s your chance.

It might reappear for a moment, as though flickering in and out of existence. It might disappear entirely. Slowly, these characters seem to fade from existence.

0 0 4 » STAGE 4

The tables turn as characters’ bodies gain ground in the fight to return back to normal, but some changes disappear sooner than others and some might even seem to be permanent.

0 0 5 » INVESTIGATION

What is wrong with you? What is wrong with everyone? What caused it and how can these symptoms be treated, halted, reversed?

Is there a cure or is it possible to at least understand what’s going on?

Comments

[adjy]

No. [ alarmed, she shakes her head, which is full of phlegm and it hurts but nothing weird is happening that she can discern. after the brief wince she's grabbing for his arm again. ] Come on, let me help you.

[onlydoubts]

Oh. That's... that's good. [ Bodhi believes her, she seems better off, if not for the remains of the fever and illness. regardless, he doesn't try to shake off the help, or the pressure of her hand on his arm that he should be able to feel more of. and slowly pushes himself up on his aching legs, using the desk for purchase. ]

[adjy]

[ she leaves one arm on his and works the other around his shoulder when he stands, encouraging him to lean on her. she hates the idea of anything happening to him, but even less so while she watches on helplessly. ]

Perhaps you just need rest. [ she reiterates, as if she's trying to make herself believe it, helping him along towards the elevator now. ]

[onlydoubts]

[ he doesn't protest the offer, and finds himself leaning into Jyn as they walk to the lift. he feels... tired, and heavy with whatever seems to be happening.

if she actually believes that or is only saying it for his benefit, Bodhi isn't sure. he's not sure what resting would do in this situation, but well. ]

Rest sounds good. We could both use that, I think.

[adjy]

[ she nods, feeling the weariness that sinks into every one of her bones and drags her down with the one simple movement. she hits the button for their floor and hangs in close, not letting go of him even when 0 gravity engages and she floats a few feet off the ground momentarily. ]

Do you think we're ever getting off this station, Bodhi?

[ it isn't an emotionally charged question the way she asks it. their futures are uncertain, but look grim, and yet living on this station for as hostile as it is isn't a true alternative. she helps him out of the elevator when gravity turns back on and starts leading him down the corridor towards his room. ]

[onlydoubts]

[ Bodhi focuses on putting one foot in front of the other, and not leaning too much and putting all his weight on her. it throws his balance, and when the lift stops, he stumbles. ]

I don't know, Jyn.

[ the reply comes after a beat. he's thought about that, she has too probably. but it's an honest answer, he doesn't know. people come and go, but it's been months and things like this, well.

it's tiring. ]

Sometimes... it doesn't really seem like it.

[adjy]

[ she nods, commiserating with him easily. she does her best to catch him and keep supporting him on their way back to his room. ]

Even so, we mustn't give up. Promise me you won't.

[onlydoubts]

[ it'd be easy, to do just that. even still trying to fight it, find a way to fix all of this, it could be permanent. or it could kill him, and anyone else that had been infected with this.

but, they've faced terrible odds before and hadn't given up then. it'd be a shame to start now. after a long moment, Bodhi nods. ]

I won't. Promise.

[adjy]

[ satisfied with that answer, she helps him inside the room and onto the bed, helping him out of his boots before toeing out of her own and leaving her jacket and scarf on his chair. without much pretense, she's climbing in too and wrapping her arms tightly around his middle. ]

I'll hold you to that. [ she reminds him before they both drift off ]