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Post by Twillie on Jun 21, 2017 5:53:07 GMT -5
What was that ringing? “S’nothing….” Liz mumbled to herself, rolling over in bed. No… No, it was definitely something. And whatever that “something” was, its buzzing wouldn’t stop, instead growing in intensity. This something was urgent. “Wai… Oh, shoot-” Liz bolted up from her bed, fumbling blindly on the floor for her phone. “Crap, crap, crap…” What time was it? Her phone’s answer knocked her right awake and sent her bolting to her feet, rushing towards her closet. How could she be this late, she never slept through her alarm before… While figuring out any good explanation for her boss, Liz tried to frantically remember last night’s events, what happened, how she could’ve forgotten-- “Wait…” What day was it? She checked her phone again. Stickied on her homepage was a small note that read: “Took the day off from work for the fair, stop getting dressed and go back to bed, it’s too early for this” “Oh…” Liz slumped back onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow. Well, at least she was wrong about one thing; it definitely wasn’t early now. But she should’ve guessed. She swore, sometimes she got too defensive about this dumb job… The buzzing didn’t go away, though. There was still something, something in the back of her mind, telling her it was important... With a quick gasp, her hands suddenly flew to her chest, searching for the tiny key. Thankfully, it still faithfully hung from its chain. What was it, then? Liz stared across her room, trying to remember. Maybe if she just… What was that? Something small lay near her door. It looked like a slip of paper. How long had that been there? She went to pick it up, and upon discovery, found it not a page, but just the corner piece of one. Scrawled across it were jumbled letters, forming either nonsense or some kind of code. If the latter, though, Liz hadn’t the faintest clue what it was saying. She should’ve just crumpled the scrap then, tossed it out as a clearly insignificant thing, but… she couldn’t. This was it. Whatever it was, she didn’t know, but the itch in the back of her mind finally got some closure. Just… she needed to know what it meant now. …Ro might remember. If Liz had to guess, this was from long past hangout that took a turn for the stranger,which meant that it wasn’t super important, but still, figuring it out would put her mind at some ease. Grabbing her phone, Liz took the paper with her to the window seat, having a sit down while opening a message for Ro and taking a small glance outside. What she saw made her do a double take, though. She decided now was a good time for a vape. --- Little but the crinkling of paper filled the silence as Liz took in that morning’s headlines over a smoke by the window. Admittedly, it didn’t sit super well with her. Strange for her, she thought, taking a glance at her candle altar then towards the woods out the window. The unknown, the supernatural, she never took much issue with. She welcomed it, more than anything, but something about this, perhaps its suddenness and her lack of control over it, made her slightly more hesitant to get excited. She toyed with ideas on what might have caused this dome. Government secret? Aliens? Senior prank? Never mind, though, she told herself, shaking her head, There are other people to worry about it. I’ve got to figure out this code.Remembering Ro, she pulled out her phone again and wrote a quick message. With a quick press of “send,” Liz was down the stairs and out the door. --- On her way out, Liz rolled her bike down the drive and noticed something strange. A woman she didn’t recognize stood just a ways down the road, apparently investigating the dome overhead. Liz didn’t know if she was someone official or just a random townsperson, but she couldn’t help but give her a strange glance as she biked past. If people were starting to gather around here, that didn’t bode well for when she entered the center of town. --- The gawkers didn’t stop as Liz rode into town, instead growing in size and lining the sidewalks, forcing her to blaze down the road’s edge towards her destination. She took the most direct route from her house, down by Town Hall and eventually through the park, but by the time she reached the enclosement of trees, she screeched to a stop. It seemed the foot traffic It wasn’t necessarily an excited event -- save for what in the distance somewhere sounded like a jazz performance-- but either way, Liz would have a much easier time parking her bike and making the rest of the way on foot. Quickly, she snapped her bike’s lock into place, and, ensuring that the paper slip still rested in her purse, threw the strap over her shoulder and headed towards the park area. Except--! Her eyes darted to the side, head turned around-- was that... “Ro?” Liz called, making a 180 and looking around at the crowd. “Ro?” She thought she caught a glance of her friend disappearing into the dozens of unfamiliar faces, but she couldn’t be for sure. Still, with no reply to her text yet, Liz took the chance. The added inch or two her platform boots gave to Liz’s already above average height gave her an extra edge in poking above and between passing heads, making her hyperfocused on catching any sign of Ro. However, this also made her completely oblivious to anyone else nearby. Before it could register, Liz had crashed into a sudden and great force, knocking her down to the ground and sending her purse sliding across the pavement. With a pained grunt upon impact, her immediate reaction was to curse herself and glare at whatever landed her in the dirt. She saw a large man above her, a saxophone strapped around him. Come on, she berated herself, You even missed his playing ? “Oh- uh, sorry I, I didn’t see where I was going…” Liz uttered, her hand reaching for her purse. “Oh, shoot!” The paper had fallen out and was at risk of blowing away or getting stepped on and ruined. She desperately reached for it, unfolding it and checking just for a second to make sure none of the letters had been tarnished. When it passed examination, she placed it back in her purse, got to her feet, made one last glance at the man, and hurried away while grumbling another, “Sorry.” --- “Come on, Ro, where are you?” Liz mumbled under her breath while searching through the stalls. She should’ve remembered by now where Ro set up shop each day, but directions sadly failed her in the best (and most) of times. Suddenly, a familiar face caught her attention. Not Ro, but rather someone Liz met more recently, the girl she showed LePouf to. Unconcerned with her, Liz was ready to look her over, but then she caught sight of something between the girl’s fingers. What looked like a small slip of paper... Shoot, quick, what was her name? A… Ally, A-Alliso... Alex- “Alexis!” She shouted from across the way, “Alexis, wait! What is that?” Pulling her own paper out of her bag, she quickly blazed it above her head to catch the girl’s attention. “Alexis!” Liz wakes up to a strange buzzing in her head, signalling to her something urgent. After mistakenly thinking she's late for work, she lays back in bed, only to catch sight of a small paper scrap on her floor. She doesn't recognize the code on it, but still has the feeling its important and decides to figure it out. She assumes it has something to do with a past get together with her and Ro ( Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) ), so she texts her saying she'll meet Ro and show her. Liz also gets a first hand look at the dome and makes a quick catch up with the paper, getting not-so-great feelings from it all despite her usual interest in the strange. She decides not to worry, though, putting the note at top priority. On her way to the fair, Liz gives a woman near her house a strange look ( Tiger ) and discovers more pedestrians out and about near Town Hall. She decides then to head into the park on foot, but after a false chase after Ro, runs into a sax-playing man ( Celestial ) and briefly drops her paper. She apologizes and leaves, but there's no telling how much of the note the man saw. Nearby Ro's stall, Liz catches sight of Alexis ( Gelquie ) and doesn't make much of it; that is, until she sees the girl holding a paper similar to her own. Liz calls out to Alexis, hoping to find out what it is she's got.
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Post by Celestial on Jun 21, 2017 7:40:33 GMT -5
Fionn almost bit down on the saxophone's mouthpiece as somebody knocked into him, making him stumble and catch himself before he could fall. He glanced down at the person who had ran into him, only to see a young woman with black hair and heavy makeup glaring back. Was she...he did not know her name but he had definitely seen her around the cathedral. "Are you okay, miss?" he called to her and offered his hand but she did not see it, instead focusing on something behind him. Fionn turned his eyes towards where she was looking and saw her purse along with...was that a note? It was! Blowing in the breeze was a note. He could not quite make out the words, but it seemed like there were no words he could recognise. Exactly like the note he had found in his dresser that morning! Was she the one who he got the note from during Happy Hour? "Miss, where did you-" Fionn tried to ask the young woman but she did not hear him. Instead she leapt to her feet and grabbed the note, stuffing it into her purse before running away. "Wait!" Fionn called after her and headed in the direction that she was heading. Despite her platform heels, she was fast, or perhaps he was just slow due to his weight. Either way, he ended up losing sight of her pretty quickly. The man paused and bent over double to catch his breath and relieve the stitch that was beginning to develop in his side. Once he had regained some composure, he looked around, trying to see who else was in the square who might have seenwhere the young woman with the note had gone. A cursory scan revealed Holly talking to another person, one he knew was not very talkative to say the least. Fionn smiled. Holly was a police officer, she would have a good eye for people. Maybe he could find out if he saw her. Carefully, the approached and cleared his throat when he was within a respectful distance. "Excuse me, ladies, did you happen to see somebody run by? A young woman with black hair and platform shoes? She bumped into me and dropped a note that I would like to talk about." He dug into his pockets, producing a scrap of a note, partly to show them what he was talking about to alleviate any suspicion on Holly's part that his intentions were not completely pure. In this case, they were. "See, normally I wouldn't care but this thing has been bugging me. I don't remember where I got it or from who. I was wondering if she could help me but she ran off." Fionn is knocked back by Liz( Twillie) and he tries to help her up but she ignores him, leading him to catch a glimpse of the note. He chases after her trying to find out what she has to do with it but loses her. Like a sensible person, he goes to ask a police officer( Shinko), which means Ani( Rabbit ♠) would probably also see him.
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Post by Shinko on Jun 21, 2017 8:14:15 GMT -5
Holly frowned as the young woman stared at her without responding. She looked panicked, her eyes flitting towards Dunkin as if he were a tiger and not a dog. Then, she abruptly lunged forwards, snatching up the notebook Dunkin had been sniffing at so that the dog startled backwards. Holly tensed, but it seemed the girl wasn't making any aggressive moves- on the contrary, she started to scribble in the notebook instead. ...Deaf maybe? Holly wondered. It would account for the lack of a response. The police officer had once been asked for directions by a deaf man, and their entire conversation had been carried out by typing back and forth on the notepad app of the man's cell phone. However, when the girl turned the notepad towards Holly, it was clear she had heard the police woman's questions. So not deaf, but mute perhaps. "You need to get handle breaks," the police officer advised. "And pump them the entire time you're going down a hill. It'll stop you from building up so much momentum. If you're going too fast to stop yourself without getting hurt, you're going too fast to stop if someone cuts out in front of you, keep that in mind." She shook her head, reaching down to scratch Dunkin's ears. "As for-" Before she could continue the thought, however, Holly was interrupted by the arrival of Fionn. She was about to tell him that she wasn't familiar with whoever he was looking for- until he flashed his own scrap of paper. "What- you too?" she asked incredulously. She glanced towards the red haired girl, saying, "This young lady apparently also has one. And..." She reached into her shirt pocket, coming up with a tiny piece of paper covered in nonsense letters. "So do I. I found it this morning wedged in my apartment's AC closet, though I can't for the life of me say why I even went in there looking for it. It's been nagging at me all day." She looked down at the paper again, then back up at Fionn and Ani. "And the edges are ripped- are these scraps are all pieces of one whole? How in blazes did they get scattered across all of our houses, unless this is some elaborate prank?" Holly glanced down at her phone as the treasure-chest music played again. A text from Caden? He knew better than to text her when she was working, so if he was doing so now it had to be legitimately important... As her fingers flew, sending a response to Caden letting him know she was near Town Hall and the Park and would be there for an indefinite amount of time, she added to Fionn and Ani, "Something's up here. I'm not sure what, but I don't care for it." Holly had the feeling she would be texting the deputy chief next to inform him she wouldn't be resuming the scent-investigation along the dome. She had another lead to follow, and something was telling her it was a far more important one. Fun fact, that anecdote about a conversation with a deaf person over their cell phone's notepad app actually happened to me once. Retail work, you never know what'll happen from one day to the next. Anyway! Holly talks to Ani and Fionn about MYSTERIOUS NOTES because that's the trendy thing to do amirite? Then she invites Caden to join the party. Celestial Rabbit ♠ Kyn
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Post by Elcie on Jun 21, 2017 8:31:47 GMT -5
In spite of her lingering embarrassment about her outburst to the blue-haired woman - Beatrice - Anise couldn't help but feel some relief when she showed her another, similar note, and her relief only intensified as a third person approached and shared that they, too, had one of the pieces of paper. For a minute, all she could think was, I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. Maybe it was silly to feel so anxious over something as mundane as a piece of paper while the dome glistened overhead, far stranger and more mysterious - but she was terribly glad not to be alone with it. As if picking up on her feelings, a small orange tabby rubbed against the newcomer's legs and purred. She laid the piece of paper down flat on the table, smoothing out the creases she'd caused by clenching it in her fist before. "I don't know much about codes, but this certainly looks like one," she said. "Part of one, anyway. I wonder how many more there are?" She glanced at the young, colorful-haired person who had just approached them. "Did you - this is going to sound strange, but did you just remember it? Because I could swear that I had it all along, I just don't know where it came from. Or what it is. Or... or anything about it." Anise knew her memory was unreliable, but Beatrice had experienced the same thing, and if this person had as well... maybe this was something else. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. Either way, it felt good to discuss it with others, even if they were just as confused as she was. It was unusual for her to socialize outside the safe structured interactions of running her business, but this weird conversation was somehow more reassuring than anxiety-provoking. Anise is increasingly relieved that both Harper (@tiger) and Beatrice ( June Scarlet) have the same notes, and wonders how many others have them too. She asks Harper if they too spontaneously remembered the paper the way she and Beatrice did.
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Post by Moni on Jun 21, 2017 12:03:51 GMT -5
When he was younger, Christian Vu kicked and screamed and cried when his mother dragged him to the fair, and as an adult, he did much of the same, except that, instead of kicking and screaming, he huffed and puffed and glared at everybody instead. It was a very adult and professional way of protest in comparison. He would have much rather locked himself in his office to spend some time writing stock algorithms instead of... well, whatever it was that his mother wanted him to do. "Chris, look, there's the banana chips you like," Fabienne Vu said, tugging at his hand. The chips in question were presented on flat triangular plates wrapped in saran, posters advertising them in handwritten lettering. "Do you want them? I'll buy some for you." Christian smiled a little. "I think I have enough to buy them for myself." "Oh, but you simply must let me treat you. How about ice cream? Or jellybeans? Or your favorite... we can go and try to find a stall that sells toner!" "I do need toner," replied Christian. "But that's a little steep for what we want to spend." Christian said this without an ounce awareness that he regularly dropped thousands of Euros, Dollars, Yen, Pounds, Rands, and other such currencies feeding his walk-in closet to the brim with suits, vests, socks, silk robes, medieval-style trousers, fur hems, and other such clothing. All of this somehow managed to disappear into a miniature wormhole, where it was probably transported to an alien orphanage halfway across the universe, or at least, this was Fabienne's best conclusion. Though the giant bubble currently encapsulating Wrighton would have probably blocked such an arrangement--or it was probably caused by such an arrangement, perhaps a tunneling-in of the same wormhole that Christian used to smuggle earthern contraband to that alien orphanage. At least, it made for a nice enough story--and Fabienne needed to come up with all sorts of stories, at the very least to entertain her son, who never seemed to be enraptured with much of anything. "We can just buy the banana chips," she replied, rolling her eyes at Christian's parsimony. "They're only ever sold here." "We always buy banana chips." Vu sighed. He lay his arms supine to the side, the long, blood-red cuffs of his suit dangling like the sleeves of an Imperial emperor. "Our lives are so repetitive and boring, don't you think? We ought to get the strawberry and plantain chips this time around. Then we can make a few phone calls... or maybe even treat ourselves to the nearest Office Space! Get a nice red stapler, too, my desk has been looking bland for a while." The very definition of excitement. Christian is very bored and so is his mom. Also, dome? What dome?
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Jun 21, 2017 12:39:27 GMT -5
Get handle breaks and pump them as she does downhill… That was a good idea. Ani was going to find a place to get those after all of this was taken care of. She had some money to spare and she doesn’t want to go down the hill at mach 4 next time. Ani wrote that down in her notebook so she wouldn’t forget. Just as the police officer was about to address the slip of paper, this man came running up to the officer. Ani didn’t know this man, but it appeared that he knew the officer. Why was he here? It was clear that he wanted something. Then the man showed a slip of paper similar to her own. Was that what he was here for? That note of his? The police officer pulled out one of her own. So there was more than one slip of paper. The police officer, this man, and Ani all had similar pieces of paper. Why them? Was there more? There had to be more. Ani was asking so many questions that she knew wouldn’t be answered. She wrote down one more question down in her notebook and handed it to the man and the officer. “ Do you know if anybody else has these notes?” Ani listens to Holly's ( Shinko ) advice when Fionn ( Celestial ) comes up and shows a piece of paper. She learns that Holly has one, too. Ani asks if they know if anyone else has them. (Not my best work, I've been running around all morning. XD)
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Post by Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) on Jun 21, 2017 12:51:19 GMT -5
Rowena’s body ached. She blearily opened her eyes, noting there was a bit more ache than usual. Eh. “Every hour, you’re a little bit closer, hang in there,” she kept reminding herself as she rolled out of bed, put a hunk of cooked rabbit in Yodel’s bowl, and fled out the door in her business casual clothes. Amid her frantic race to her car, a hint of a smile tipped her lips. Liz would certainly say something about her sleeping in work clothes on a particularly long night. She could see it now... ”Guuuurl, you’ve a long way to go. I mean, look at all those wrinkles!” The festival had started with a bang, leaving the town hall mercifully closed for the first day, but after news of the town hall being open the next day, Ro had slept prepared. Liz could say whatever she wanted about it. There was work to get to. ---- “Ma’am, you know we can’t use our cars right now, right?” a complete stranger said to her, as she did indeed pry open her car door to run to Town Hall. “What do you mean?” Rowena asked, startled at being addressed so suddenly and the odd authority in this guy’s voice. He pointed upward, and Rowena did indeed notice the slight shimmer in the sky. “What’s that?” she asked, mentally kicking herself for not being able to say much more than was absolutely necessary. “That dome right there just appeared this morning," he explained, offering no more explanation than he possibly could in a situation like this. “In case it’s airproof, the City doesn’t want us to operate cars unless it’s an absolute emergency. Welp. The folks at Policy would definitely understand why Rowena was late, for once. She thanked him and went on her way. ------ Several hours of phone-call saturated and pains in her bones and stomach later, Ro exited Town Hall, tired of saying the same thing over and over. Yes, there’s a dome, yes, it really does make a broioioing sound, no, we don’t know where it came from, no, there is definitely no need to panic. Oh, and one couple who wanted a divorce. Rowena belatedly realized she had her stall full of paintings and fresh food at the fair! Welp. There was still work to be done, she thought, through a pang of fire searing her core. At the festival, Rowena remained somewhat doubled over, attempting to gain some composure. The business casual, if a bit rumpled, blouse, did help with her posture...but something wasn’t right. Why were these pains coming now and not in a few days?! The Old Farmer’s Almanac, that might help things! Rowena fumbled in her bag, ripping out the book filled with as many advertisements definitely not targeted towards her age group as useful information, leafing through it frantically until she found the page she was looking for. “Come on, which day, which day..." her eyes scanned the page and her heart sank. This didn’t sit right... Rowena dropped the book, which was from another year altogether. The year seemed familiar...significant...for a reason she couldn’t name. This was bad. It meant far more than needing to request the next few days off, it also meant that her basement-- And there was a page she was certainly not looking for. Rowena started, picking up the page from the almanac. Well. It didn’t look like a dentures ad, that was for sure. Rowena glanced at her phone for what seemed like the first time in an eternity--no sense in having different music for each contact blaring in a work environment. Just as she’d expected, there was a text from Liz, as comforting and familiar as a warm sweater on a freezing spring day. Rowena’s thick eyebrows sprang straight to her springy hair. Well. This would be intriguing. Without even checking if there was a potential customer nearby, Rowena replied, No sooner had Rowena finished sending the text than she whipped her head up, her body protesting from such an abrupt action. No customers right now. But what snapped her out of her search wasn’t her friend, or even anyone she recognized, but someone she specifically didn’t recognize. Such a snappy suit...someone who was new to Town Hall, perhaps? An instinct stirred in her core amidst the bubbling pain. “Hey!” she called out, feeling her heart race at reaching out to a complete stranger. “Do I know you? Town Hall?” At that moment, Rowena wished she was LePouf so she could hide inside a jacket--no one thought a rabbit was weird, after all. Ro’s in more pain than usual, she is dismayed by the no cars rule, and answers a bunch of questions from clueless people and tells them the mayor and everyone else is just as clueless and DON’T PANIC. She discovers the full moon date is NOT accurate, and will come sooner rather than later, so the plants in her basement need care sooner--alas, so does she. Poor thing gets the worst of cramps. In the Old Farmer’s Almanac from another year which she still has...for some reason, Ro also finds a page with lots of letters on it. While she’s at the fair selling her food and shadingless paintings ( Nut? see me after class) Ro texts Liz ( Twillie) back, saying that no, LePouf couldn't make it today. As she does this, she notices someone else in the near distance--someone else in businessy clothes, but more professional ( Moni). She calls out to him, asking if he just started working in Town Hall.
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Post by Thundy on Jun 21, 2017 13:39:00 GMT -5
Randolf reached the building of the post office, a concrete monolith with a handsome facade of brick and glass. He walked through the double doors and upstairs to where the offices were. There was already sounds of argument coming from the meeting room. This was unusual. Through the frosted glass he could make out the figures of his boss, and the department heads excitedly engaged in some sort of heated debate. Slowly he let himself in. The room quietened down slightly. "Randy!" His boss exclaimed, "We needed you here half an hour ago?" Randolf examined his watch, he was on time for his shift. "It's only 9 AM, sir." He replied quizzically. "What, do you live under a rock? Look at this, then take a look out the window." He said, handing over a copy of the paper to Randolf. Randolf took it and studied it for some moments. Then he looked over to the window, and cautiously took a few steps towards it. Yep, there it was in the distance, the bubble covering the town. "Uh what..." "It gets worse. We've lost all our lines going out of the town, landline, telegraph, and cellular signals are completely cut off. Within the town, everything is functioning normally. But we can't even reach the Central Sorting Office in the Capital!" Some of the color drained away from Randy's face. The Post Office was responsible for the publicly owned phone network in Wrighton, if all the lines were down the repair bill would be astronomical, and departments with overextended budgets didn't fare very will in the Central Sorting Office's annual review. "Buried cables too?" "I'm telling you, everything. One of the 3rd shift managers is busy trying to get a shortwave radio from the museum, of all places..." His boss was visibly worried. Failure to resolve this would almost certainly lead to at the very least, a reassignment, say, to some isolated outpost in the wilderness if not outright termination of his contract. Randolf couldn't exactly guarantee his job security under the circumstances either. At least they could still... "And of course, no mail trucks have been able to get through. We've got priority deliveries to ship and no way to move them out of the town. It's a complete standstill." Randolf groaned, and leaned on the table. "Well that's it then, we're ground beef!" "Well we're just going to have to find a way around it. By the way, there is still a lot of internal mail left. I'm putting you in charge of that while I head up a team with department heads for the telephone network to try and reestablish a connection." "Fair enough, anything else you want me on?" "A lot of wire transfers going from the bank have been halted, you'll need to need to be my mouthpiece over there if they get too antsy about having their money just sitting around." "You got it, sir." Randolf straightened himself up, this was turning out to be a tricky day. "Well you know our motto, "The mail never halts" Randolf glanced out the window again. "We'll see about that." Randolf arrives at work to learn that the bubble is preventing the mail from being delivered, which could put his job in jeopardy
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Jun 21, 2017 13:41:17 GMT -5
Despite the strange situation, Atif was more confused than surprised. A huge dome over the town- well, Wrighton had always had its share of urban legends, but this was the first he could remember seeing something so obviously strange. And yet- why did he have this unshakable feeling that he'd forgotten something at home, something important? He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost ran into two people. He jolted to a stop when he noticed someone unfamiliar in his yard, and in doing so noticed he'd narrowly missed Cade. "I'm sorry!" he panted. Leaning over to catch his breath, he addressed both. "Caden, are you all right there?" And, turning to the unknown person- ah, that was a uniform, wasn't it. "Good morning. Delivery today?" Atif nearly bowls over both Cade ( Kyn) and Ari ( icon) and apologizes to both of them, asking if he can help them.
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Post by Kyn on Jun 21, 2017 14:12:44 GMT -5
Cade's jaw dropped in shock when he recognised the voice speaking to him. "Dr K! You're still home? I thought you were supposed to be taking your missus to the fair!" It sounded like the Khouris were expecting a delivery, though, so maybe that was the reason? "I need to go to the park too right now to meet a friend, see you there! And don't forget to buy the missus lots of flowers; hers all sold out yesterday!" The only stop Cade made along the way was when he met Mrs Khouri waiting for her husband. He mentioned the delivery and congratulated Mina — in a tone brimming with adolescent glee — on her success in asking the "handsome doctor" out on a "date". As Cade continued down the streets at a brisk pace, he couldn't help but notice the increased frequency of hushed voices and concerned whispers. To no one's surprise, the townsfolk were discussing the strange recent events, although Cade gleaned no fresh insights from the conversations he overheard. He found no obstruction in his path from gawkers, however; people tended to move out of the way for him, either out of consideration for his disability or the fact that he had a dog. He could tell from the general buzz that there was a large number of people milling about the park as he neared, but he never worried that this would hinder his ability to locate Holly. As it were, he had an advantage that even sighted people couldn't claim. Dunkin would certainly be with Holly, and Peaches was familiar with his scent. Cade stooped down and stroked the Yellow Labrador's head. "Peaches, busca Dunkin." Peaches gave an answering back and a delighted wag of the tail (the latter response was unfortunately lost on Cade). She started to move almost immediately, signalling that she'd already scented her canine compatriot. By the time Peaches stopped and greeted Dunkin with a friendly bark, Cade was already clued in by the distinctive smell of herbs and goat's milk that he knew could only belong to Holly. He eschewed the usual pleasantries with a candid, "I'll get straight to the point." He reached into one of his jacket pockets and held out the cryptic message in his hand. "Could you tell me what this note says? I think it might be connected to the dome that I'm sure the police are investigating," he added, to justify approaching his police officer friend. Cade is surprised to see Dr Atif ( ♥ Azzie) still at home but thinks he was waiting for a delivery, and informs his wife of this when he encounters her later. He meets Holly ( Shinko) at the park and shows her his message. He has not noticed either Fionn ( Celestial) or Ani ( Rabbit ♠) yet.
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Post by Moni on Jun 21, 2017 15:51:00 GMT -5
Christian and his dear mother were about to decide exactly what it was they wanted to do, but were suddenly interrupted by a small voice calling out from one of the stalls. The stall donned a bunch of unshaded paintings and a short little woman who barely stood out from them. “Hey! Do I know you? Town Hall?”The woman did not look particularly comfortable. Like a small rabbit darting into a hole, she appeared to shrink the moment the Vus looked in her direction. They exchanged glances for a few seconds, trying to decide which of the two the woman had addressed. When Fabienne shrugged, Christian figured that he was the one who looked boring and stuffy, cleared his throat, walked up to the stall, and waved mechanically. "Hello, was there anything I could help you with?" he asked. "But, uh, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. My name is Christian Vu. Are you quite all right, Ms...?" He had never seen her before, and Christian wasn't the sort to go through town hall if he could help it--he paid someone else to do that. Though if she worked at the town hall, it was highly probable that she had a boring job like him, someone who spent a great deal of time filing papers and the like--though she must have had some sort of interesting life outside of that, judging by what she was selling. If only Christian had anything to do.
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Post by Liou on Jun 21, 2017 17:50:11 GMT -5
It wasn't the gas, it wasn't the water, it wasn't the oven, it wasn't an important appointment, a person locked in the house or even a light. Whatever they had forgotten, it had brought them home several nights in a row. After spending an embarrassing amount of time simply wallowing in bed, Ayo had grown too bored for Wrighton. They could have been in an amusement park. They could have been at a lingerie fashion show or an exclusive nightclub. Their friends-of-friends-of-friends were still uploading hundreds of pictures of the parties Ayo was missing, for them to scroll through all day long with their trusty tub of raspberry and white chocolate ice cream. Then they had decided that they would go to a club, if you please, and no one could stop them. It had been such a relief to drive right out of Wrighton at dusk, and let the final row of houses speed past them - just over the limit - and get lost far behind, where they couldn't see. The rest of the world was open to them once again. The relief had been short-lived. As soon as they were far enough to get rid of the town, Ayo had been struck by dread. The calm, friendly nocturnal world became menacing and unfamiliar. And something had been missing. Ayo had rushed home to check the gas and other such things, only to realise that they'd been a bloody fool, and vow to reach a nightclub the following night. Then the night after that. And the next. On the night of the first day of the fair, Ayo drove around for a short time, gave up, parked somewhere behind the town's park, and decreed that their car was now the club. Why not? They had the music. They had the DJ. (It was them.) They had the drink. The dancefloor was a little cramped and the audience was pathetic, but one couldn't have everything. Pictures of Ayo's exes on their screen blended into much more intimate, lovingly shot photos of the same exes, and Ayo's voice screaming along with the music about how their heart was a ghost town, and the feeling of sinking into something soft and yielding, smooth and syrupy. It was a comfortable feeling until expanded into something too large, overwhelming, oozing rapidly past their arms and into their mouth. The hand they were still trying to get through slapped against the car's window. That is how Ayo woke up, sore, coated in sweaty glitter, crammed into the seat of a very stale car, with their bare feet propped on top of the dashboard. It was fortunate that they still had water in the car, left over from their roadtrip. As it was still early and very quiet, they had time to ease their eyes open in the morning light, which was about as soft as a donkey's carefully manicured hoof to the face. Eventually, with much coaxing, they emerged from the car, holding their strappy six-inch heels in one hand. They'd found an alarming note in the glove box, covered in drunken scribbles. Could they have had an accident on the road and tried to note down the other driver's number? The night hadn't been that bad. Ayo knew that they mustn't drive home because driving after drinking was super-duper-bad. If Ayo did that, they might end up getting stopped. Maybe that strapping lady cop they'd spotted with a dog the other day would come and grab them with her strong arms, and shove them up against a wall, and put them in handcuffs, because they'd been sooo bad. Ayo giggled. Then trotted to the nearest bathroom in the park as quickly as they could. The sky was rather shimmery that morning, so shimmery that people kept staring up and looking rather silly. At least Ayo wasn't the only one seeing it. Still worried about the chicken scratch note, they checked their phone for missed calls. It seemed to have lost all reception some time during the night. Now how would Ayo gaze at their exes' current life? On the bright side, the shaky video of them twerking in their car had not been uploaded for the world to see. The lack of a phone also made it difficult to check the news. Frowning, Ayo glanced around at the people engrossed either in their newspapers - who still read newspapers in this day and age, seriously - or in the glittery sky. The laconic headline caught their eye. Was something cool being built? Ayo found an abandoned copy on a bench and glanced at the front page. Their frown grew deeper. Then they shrugged and raised their hands. "Well it ain't my fault," they told everyone in particular. Too sore and tired to bother reading the full article, they presumed that Wrighton had finally invested in proper sound and light technology, and got carried away. The article on suspended cars was more relevant. "Well how'm I going to get my bloody groceries home now?" said Ayo. They were strolling unsteadily through the park in their tiny denim shorts and shimmery purple leather jacket, squinting behind designer sunglasses. "Oh brilliant. I'm gonna starve. Real cool." They walked past a familiar looking girl and did a double take. She was peering into a trash can. Ayo strutted up to her with a grin. "What are you, the trash inspector?" They walked in a semi-circle around her, amazed, before continuing on their way. "You should inspect me sometime." Ayo wasn't sure exactly where they were going, but a horrible whistling sound had punched them in the ear earlier, so they had wisely decided to go Not That Way. The other way would hopefully lead them to greasy food and coffee. There was coffee, but it was trapped in packs, and you couldn't drink those. Ayo squinted up at the stall owner, wondering if she could also make them a cup on the spot. At this point, they wouldn't mind swallowing a few spoonfuls of coffee powder and drinking hot water to wash it down. The coffeemonger was talking to a kid with cool enough dyed hair, and a bluenette. Ayo did another double take. They all had chicken scratch notes. Ayo whipped their own scrap of paper out of their strappy shoes and abruptly set it down on Anise's table, with the other notes. "Hey, is this yours? Thought it was a really weird way of noting down a number. Nothing happened between our cars last night, did it?" A lot of pointless boring solo stuff, and then they kiiind of flirt with Thorn, and then they bring their codynote to the notesharing party of Elcie June Scarlet and Tiger, but that puzzle's already done anyway so idk
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Post by Celestial on Jun 21, 2017 17:59:52 GMT -5
Fionn blinked, looking closely at the note that Holly now had in her hand. He glanced between it and his own note, then towards Ani, as if expecting her to pull out her own strange little slip of paper. "This is so weird," he adjusted his coat around his elbows so it sat more comfortably on his body and did not drag across the ground. He grinned at the suggestion that it was a prank, however. "Maybe we're all on an elaborate reality TV show and the dome and the paper are all part of it? That would be so cool! You think they hid cameras all around the town?" Fionn babbled excitedly before the writing in Ani's notebook distracted him. "Well, I know the girl I was looking for had one but that's it. Not seen anyone else yet, but I bet they're out there," he snapped his fingers. "We should ask around. There's tons of people at the festival, they might know something, or even have some of these notes." Just then, a bark sounded from by Dunkin and Fionn glanced down to find a yellow labrador by the belgian malinois. He smiled widely, reaching out to the lab to give it a stroke or a pat on the head before realising it had a harness on saying it was a working. Best not then. Nevertheless, he gaxed at the dog, taking in how pretty and cute she was. "Hi Cade!" Fionn exclaimed, still looking at the dog. "This must be Peaches then. Hello girl!" he said, giving her a wave. The note in Cade's hand, however, absorbed his attention. "You got one too, huh? That makes four of us, including me, Holly and Ani here," he pointed with his thumb back at the girl, though he realised within moments that was a futile gesture. Fionn laughed awkwardly. "This might just all be part of some crazy prank show. I'm betting your note is gibberish like the rest, but if we can get them all together, maybe we'll be able to figure it out," he sighed. "Wonder if the show's got prizes." Fionn thinks the notes are weird but, building off what Holly( Shinko) said, theorises the notes and the dome are all park of some prank show. He tells Ani( Rabbit ♠) that he saw Liz with the note but doesn't know anyone else, though suggests going to the festival to try to find people. He is then promptly distracted by Peaches, but when Cade( Kyn) tells Holly he's got a note too, chimes in, saying him, Holly and Ani also have notes and wondering if they could put the notes together.
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Post by Tiger on Jun 21, 2017 18:39:25 GMT -5
Three pieces of a puzzle sounded pretty good to Harper, though they supposed their piece - barely two rows of letters and not even taking up the whole page - wasn’t especially useful. ...Except, maybe as a marker of a corner. That was good, actually - wasn’t the trick for solving jigsaw puzzles to put all the corner and pieces together first? Though this was maybe not quite the same as a jigsaw puzzle. ”Oh, also, nice hair. I'm Beatrice, Beatrice Bizelli." Harper beamed. “Thanks! I like yours, too - it must take forever to dye all of it! ...Oh, I’m Harper. Kulkarni. Call me ‘they’, please.” Harper was distracted at that moment by one of the cats coming up to them and rubbing against their leg. While trying to be very Adult and Mature and Pay Attention to the Important Conversation, Harper stooped a little so they could pet the cat’s striped back. So cute! And little! Anise’s question brought them back to the present. "Did you - this is going to sound strange, but did you just remember it? Because I could swear that I had it all along, I just don't know where it came from. Or what it is. Or... or anything about it." Rising back to their full height, they answered, “I...sort of did. I knew I had something in a drawer that just made sense to find?” They rubbed the back of their neck self-consciously, but soldiered on, “This whole thing feels...weird. Kind of like deja vu, except not really like I’ve seen it happen before? ...Does that make any sense?” And then a newcomer arrived and added their paper to the pile. ” Nothing happened between our cars last night, did it?" “I don’t have a car,” Harper offered. “...That’s a good question, though - whose message is this? I don’t remember writing this…” Their unspoken implication hung (hopefully clearly) in the air - that if they hadn’t remembered the paper’s existence until this morning, not recalling writing it didn’t exactly mean much. Harper chats with Beatrice ( June Scarlet), Anise ( Elcie), and Ayo ( Liou) about the vague memories of the paper that suddenly came back to everyone. Also there is a kitty and Harper pets it. Only the most important facts in these post summaries, yo.
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Post by Shinko on Jun 21, 2017 19:02:18 GMT -5
Holly snorted. "A prank show. I really don't think so, Fionn, that comment was meant hyperbolically. Prank shows are obligate to contact the local authorities- police and government- to get clearance for their activities. Otherwise they are acting outside the law and can be arrested for creating a public disturbance, commercial filming without a permit, and given we keep finding these notes in our houses, trespassing. And the fact that I was dragged out of bed at dawn to investigate the dome is evidence that no such permit has been acquired." Turning to Caden, she added, "The note doesn't say anything legible- it's a random assortment of gibberish letters. But like Fionn said, all of us here have a shred of what seems to be the same paper, which we found mysteriously this morning." After a moment's mulling she added, "Do you guys know what a cryptogram is? Or a cipher? I get the feeling if we put these all together with the missing bits, that's what we'll get- a message in code. For what purpose I can't say, but I think you're right, Cade, it's related to what's going on above our heads. Somehow. The timing is a little too convenient." Holly debunks Fionn's ( Celestial) theory about a reality show, pointing out that as a cop if this was a reality show she'd have been told and kept from interfering. She helps explain the situation more to Caden ( Kyn) then suggests what I believe Ani ( Rabbit ♠) already guessed about the message being a code of some kind
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