dualislogs | you understand, i got a plan for us.

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you understand, i got a plan for us.

WHO: Errybody in the city
WHAT: Marker tag and NAPs
WHERE: Everywhere in the city for marker tag; the Spenny’s near the dorms for NAPs
WHEN: July 10-31 for marker tag; July 10-14 for NAPs
WARNINGS: Please use these if applicable!

To tag or not to tag - that is the question.

Welcome, one and all, to a long-running Dualis summer tradition: the annual city-wide Dualis Marker Tag Competition! For the next three weeks, all participants who accept the challenge will be given a marker and set free to tag any other participant in the city by making a mark on their skin, while attempting to avoid being tagged themselves. Careful, though - the ink marks last three weeks, so you’ll have to wait until the competition concludes to wash everything off.

Markers come in all colors, even fluorescent, glitter, and glow-in-the-dark, and you can use however many markers your inner child’s heart desires. These markers will leave marks even on people who have chosen not to play, but you can easily purchase an armband, headband, or similar accessory that says NONPARTICIPANT if you so desire. Marking nonparticipants is considered extremely bad form and wins you no prizes, but "misfires" do still happen, on occasion. It’s usually considered polite to offer a mistaken nonparticipant that you’ve marked a small reparation, like coffee or a more adult beverage.

Safe zones do exist! Any establishment can put out a sign that marks it as such - signs in shop windows, chalkboards outside bars, and the like; many do this, just to keep the general chaos and injury/property damage liability down. Tenants of private residences typically agree that their spaces are also safe zones, but that's up to y’all to hash out.

Have fun! And maybe try not to put anyone’s eye out, yeah?

I like to party and by party I mean NAPs.

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces, but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis, and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, then the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

Plus, you get to hang out for a while at the intergalactically renowned Spenny’s Diner! Spenny’s is a declared safe zone from marker tag shenanigans - until you roll out of the door, at least. So pull up a chair, get to know your new neighbors, and enjoy a cup or two of Spenny’s famous Electric Shock coffee, which contains 900 milligrams of caffeine per cup. Hope you didn’t plan on sleeping tonight!

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Jason is one hundred percent not into this marker tag bullshit either, and though he's aware of it, he hasn't bothered to make it visibly known that he's a nonparticipant. Like Aleifr, his size means most people don't try to get in his space, and the permascowl in his expression doesn't exactly create an inviting aura to strangers on the street. This is fine; he's not here to make friends.

He happens to be passing by Aleifr when his unlucky assailant makes their ill-timed move, and Jason is knocked into the wall of the nearby building when Aleifr whips around to voice his displeasure at the kid with the marker. The back of his skull cracks against the brick, momentarily stunning him, and he drops to the sidewalk in an ungainly heap. It takes him a moment to catch his breath and shake the stars out of his eyes, but when he recovers, he's quick to yell up at Aleifr, indignant:

"The fuck do you think you're doing?"

Fairness and Tommy don’t belong in the same breath. Which Nida sighs over.

“One mark and I promise not to make out with Billy in front of you for a month.”

Edited (dammit wrong icons) 2019-07-22 18:02 (UTC)

It's clear almost immediately what's happened when Aleifr gets a look at the boy he's got pinned against the wall. The kid's white as fresh snow, and on second glance it's clear what he's holding is a marker - something that jogs Aleifr's memory as to the whole bloody game going on. His snarl subsides, and he releases his grip.

"Don't do it again." He growls through gritted teeth, irritated that he's been made to look like a fool for his overreaction. Only angering him further is the fact that someone else got bowled over in this mess.

"Telling an idiot not to fucking sneak up on people." He grunts, turning towards the man on the ground. He does, however, extend a hand towards the smaller man - offering to help him up.

"You alright?"

A month, maybe he has some useful information...

She considers him, a little curious about the blue. He looks normal, more or less, otherwise. Funny looking thing on his head, but he could be enhanced. She's seen plenty of people with cybernetic upgrades to their person, but he's the least "normal" looking person so far. Probably nothing, but now she's fixating on the blue.

"It's good, just tired as hell of being in this place." She gestures the fork around the points it at him, "You always blue before this place or something funky happen?"

"Yeah, that's the usual thought unless you're one of the population that seems fine with puttin' on a happy, smilin' face."

And Yondu's face doesn't seem like it's done much smiling in a while. Or if it does, it was probably at the very best case in a fit of schadenfreude. "Yeah, I just come in blue. At least it didn't turn me Krylorian pink or nothin', for all the other ways it breaks things all to hell."

[ Revan seems to take the odd question with a sense of humor and it helps ease the tickle of nerves that have long since settled into the pit of her belly. Heather smiles, albeit somewhat shyly, as if she's unused to such an expression. ]

Hey, at least you know the important things. [ She points out, clearly indicating that neither the signs or the peanut butter really matter—at least not to her. ] I'm personally not a fan of astrology—signs that people on Earth are assigned based on shit like star alignment on the day they were born, or even peanut butter, really, so you're not missing out.

[ Both the signs and peanut butter seem like things everyone should know about. She's still having a hard time adjusting to the city. ]

So... Have you been here a long time? I think it's been about a month for me, though it feels like it's been so much longer. [ An anger, a fury, lies deep under her words. ]

"I'll be happy and smiling when I get outta here." She's not a bubbly, giggly person, but she smiles plenty and is happy enough with what she does back home. She's not anticipating much smiles here.

Though that thought does draw a smirk, even if she doesn't know what the hell Krylorian is, she knows pink.

"Now that'd be a sight, a pink person running around." What a silly thought, the only odd colored beings she's seen has been the Convenient, it'd be hilarious to see someone who was pink. Though thinking of the Covvies makes her have to ask, "So are you, like, human otherwise?" Human-ish?

"Definitely not calling you Speed." She rolls her eyes, it sounds like a ridiculous name to her. Then again, being able to vibrate sounds dumb, she's not taking it serious or literally.

"I'm great at pick-up lines, but I know a guy who is obsessed with cheesy as hell ones." Okay, she knows he's asking about a name, as he just gave his own, but what's it hurt to be a pain?

[She'd insist she wasn't upset, she doesn't care, really, it's the rookie, why would she give a shit about him or any of them not being here? She can stretch her legs here, screw the rest.]

Find any hints on how to not be stuck here with the computer bullshit overlord?

[Could she ask more subtly? Yes, but she's getting pretty fucking impatient with people not having anything useful for her]

Then screw this place, lets go outside, throw someone with force powers or whatever, cut a tree in half with a saber, c'mon!

[No, she's not an excitable child about it all, of course not!]

Seriously, you can't just have this shit and not do anything with it!

Unfortunately not, and I am quite good with computers.

[Sorry, but there is only so much he can do, South. And he's been searching. He wants to go home, because he doesn't belong here. None of them do.]

Thing is, it's not that simple. The real question is the tech used to get us here, that I'm trying to get to the bottom of.

"You call that mug pretty?"

He's not ugly, not exactly her type but she's not really looking, either. She's more focused on deciding where she'll mark him, because she's definitely going to, she's entirely sure of it.

"You're not getting off that easily, pal." Is all the warning she gives before she tugs on his wrist, both to try and mess with his balance, and to use the momentum as she lunges towards him. She takes a swipe with the marker in her other hand, keeping her grip on his wrist in an attempt to guide him where she wants.

[And there's another heavy sigh, she's been doing that a lot sitting here. But he does bring up a good point]

I'm not my team's hacker, but I know my way around computers. Think there's a way to reverse it?

[She leans in over the table now, no need broadcasting the conversation. Her guard is up, she's not going to just go and trust some rando at a table during a meet-and-greet nonsense thing. But if he has information she can look into and verify, it'd be worth asking]

Oh man, that's a burn. Oh wait, no, Nida isn't even remotely phased by it. He just smiles. The grip on his wrist is definitely a problem, but when she pulls he charges, intending to shoulder check her, even as his empty hand thrusts forward and with it comes a powerful blast of air, as if storm-force winds just abruptly rose out of nowhere. Spells were great.

"I get off easy enough, but not for you."

If I could get at the tech? Maybe. But I can't. So I don't know.

[He leans back, he doesn't care about broadcasting. How many hundreds of thousands of times has this conversation played out in this city? Different people, different promises. No, the Head has to know some people always push. Instead he sips his coffee.]

I've only been here a month. You're pushing for more than I have at the moment.

She more or less can dodge the shoulder charge easily enough, it's the blast of air that throws her for a loop. Or rather, causes her to finally let go and take a good step back to assess the new situation. Because, what the fuck, and how the fuck, thank you.

"What the hell was that?" She demands, thrown off but keeping a defensive stance as she looks at him. It doesn't appear he has any equipment that could do it...

Useful.

[She puffs out what would be a sigh, scrunching her nose as she sits back up. A whole month and no information that can help, goddamn it. Was he that bad at collecting info, or was it that rare and hard to find?]

What do you have?

[She'd add 'if anything' but she figures that's implied]

"Magic," Nida chuckles, backing up a few steps and pushing up the sleeve of the arm she had grabbed. Along that arm is a tattoo, one made of swirling blues and greens and violets, a complex pattern of lines that seemed to dance with the colors and evoke the idea of wind in motion. "You should really consider redeeming your coupon. Granted it's simpler than back home, but I like it."

[Rare, hard to find, and his computer sucks.]

That's hardly the tone you should take with someone you're asking to give you information. And I'm not sure why I should tell you what I know.

A blur, a whoosh of air, and a marker tag on his skin are a pretty good indication that Tim is dealing with a speedster. Superspeed is one hundred percent cheating, but it's not like this is his first rodeo. Apparently he's going to have to try. It would help if he knew the person better, but he can give it a shot.

"Cheater!" he calls after the blur laughing.

[Revan catches the powerful anger bubbling underneath those last few words, deep but strong enough the Force carries a whiff of it to her, and she masks her moment of consternation with a sip of coffee. What had Heather been pulled away from that could drive such rage?]

About a day. [She sighs.] As much as I'd like to help, I really can't spare them the year.

Edited 2019-07-24 03:53 (UTC)

Okay. [Revan shrugs and knocks back the rest of her now-tepid coffee.]

Not inside city limits, though. I haven't been arrested in almost a month and I'm looking to keep my streak going.

[Deadpan humor? Yes, but it's also the truth. She has an adversarial relationship with some forms of authority. Most forms of authority, really. Revan slides out of the booth, her lightsaber a flash of silver at her hip before her outer robe falls back into place, concealing it.]

"We usually call 'em Terrans but yeah, somethin' along those lines."

"Quite a few of 'em out there, actually. An' if someone that ain't Krylorian has kids with 'em, they turn out pink, too. Never figured that'n out an' didn't really care to go lookin' for more info." He holds his hands up in resignation. He wasn't planning to have kids. No pink baby research for him.

"Actually I only talk as much as I do 'cause I got used to it. Natural sorta Centurians just wanna click an' whistle. Talkin' takes a lot out of 'em. And we like meat a fair amount better. Ah... yeah, I figure that's about it."

It's not that he's not grateful to Aleifr for freeing him the first time they met but the guy's an obvious target and seems like someone who'd be a challenge to mark, so Squall follows him. It's only a short distance before he's close enough that a good burst of speed will get him an edge on a surprise attack. He makes his move.

And is summarily and effectively pinned. Ow.

He instinctively grabs at the hand around his throat, glaring at the giant for a moment. The man clearly did not get the memo. He looks up at his hand that's still holding the yellow marker with glitter - he's trained enough to not lose his grip on his 'weapon' that easily - shimmies the tip forward and defiantly swipes a mark across Aleifr's arm while staring him dead in the eyes.

That's what he thinks he's doing, dammit.

Squall is ready. He's trained for combat, for life-and-death situations. Sure, this is a game but he has a competitive streak too. The moment he picked up his yellow glittery marker and steps out of the dorm, he's ready for anything. He's already marked a few people by the time his shift ended (and gotten marked himself because unfortunately he can't play at work and his employers didn't mark it a safe zone. There's an unstated understanding that classy individuals don't play these games. They were wrong.)

He's been prepared (and hoping for) a sneak attack so when she emerges from the corner, his movements are instinctive. He avoids her attack and ducks around it to try and mark her arm in turn.

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you understand, i got a plan for us.

causing trouble, i.e., marker tag

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TAG

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Marker tag

tag!!