ya gotta wanna be a battering ram

[headandhand]

WHO: The entire dang city.
WHAT: Dualis Days, a week-long summer celebration.
WHERE: Central Square Park and the rest of the city.
WHEN: June 17-23.
WARNINGS: Terrorist violence, likely some blood and injuries. Please warn in individual threads!

June 17; Central Square Park.

Every year for as far back as anyone can remember, the start of summer is heralded by the week-long festival known as Dualis Days. This celebration officially kicks off at midday in the middle of Central Square Park with a commencement speech by the current mayor. This year marks Marcelina Dubanowski's third term as mayor of Dualis; she is an average-sized, middle-aged human-presenting woman with blonde hair styled in a short bob and a plastic, toothy smile that never seems to turn entirely off.

"Welcome, one and all!" she begins, with the practiced cadence of someone who is quite comfortable with public speaking. She invites all citizens, new and old, to spend the next week indulging in festivities in all districts of the city and getting to know their neighbors a little better. This is a joyous time of celebration, and the crowd responds with enthusiastic applause as the mayor finishes her speech and introduces this year's parade marshall, Peshtigo Tengfei.

Tengfei blows a whistle six times to signal the start of the parade - and this is where the celebration goes sideways.

A loud explosion tears through the air, and it's followed by panicked screams and the sharp screech of microphone feedback. A bomb has gone off at the platform where the mayor was standing, collapsing the wood and tearing it to splinters and dust. Chaos erupts in the gathered crowd, and as the people shift in all directions to get clear of any possible additional bombs, a loud siren cuts through the cacophony, calling attention to the sudden crackle of video feed present on all television screens throughout the city, including those set up in the park to broadcast the mayor's speech for those standing far from the stage. The picture is plain, a black background and bold white block letters filling the screen:

WAKE UP
WAKE UP
DON'T BELIEVE THE LIES

The final image is an anatomical graphic of a human heart, displayed for about three seconds, and then the feed goes black again.

Confused murmurs sweep through the crowd as citizens resume tending to the injured and evacuating the area until official first responders arrive.

June 17-23; aftermath around the city.

Dualis Days continues as scheduled, though Mayor Dubanowski is unable to enjoy the festival, as she is spending the week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. A team of Iterations guard her door - no visitors allowed - but the news media frequently report updates on her condition. Nothing to worry about, folks! Return to your celebrations, and don't mind the increased visible presence of the Hand as Iterations are stationed every few blocks throughout the city. It's only for your protection, after all.

Comments

[firacrux]

Helping was great, the circumstances weren't. Thanks to Garden Seifer was very capable of turning off any kind of panic, or even right now righteous anger over what had just happened. Cold, military training took hold. Almost automatically he'd redirect people running past them toward exits they'd passed that were clear, stop to lift a fallen person to their feet and determine if they could be sent on their way or moved to the side to wait for emergency services to arrive.

When he spotted the Iterations arriving and taking control of the situation something uncomfortable stirred in his gut. An uncertainty about their motivations, or the way they'd read the situation. "Better put the weapon away," He warned quietly. They didn't look like they'd care much for excuses. Then, back to a lighter conversation to distract from all that was going on around them. Multi-tasking was easy when you were trained into it. "Humans don't really naturally have magic where I'm from. Not like this anyway, there are some odd cases but it still doesn't work the same. So we learned to use external sources."

At least, in his case, if he had 100 Curagas he'd have 100 Curagas, all identical, all the same. Utilizing paramagic was draining in a different way, once trained sufficiently however they could more easily ignore the fatigue.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua might have combat experience, but she doesn't have the same kind of training or experience that Seifer has. The Iterations give her an interesting feeling, nothing more, and she doesn't immediately think of them as a threat. She shoots Seifer a slightly confused glance at first before she nods.

"All right." Fortunately, her weapon is easy to hide and it disappears with a flash of light. It will be there if she needs it again.

"I guess that makes sense," she comments, back on their original topic. "Anyone can use magic where I'm from, if you're taught it first. I guess you can also pick it up as you go, take after other people who use it, because some things can't be taught. Some things you just learn with practice."

Like some of her higher-level spells and abilities. She just remembers working with the basic spells until she got something that really worked. Sometimes it took a lot of time, but it was always worth it.

[firacrux]

Sometimes that paranoia and always being on guard training came in handy. Especially in unfamiliar situations where they might really need to curb their behavior. Now felt like one of those moments, with the strange and aggressive robots rolling in rapidly to take control of the situation. He's not watching her when she shoots the glance, instead he's watching the robots warily. At least they're not there without backup, but what were the odds they might be seen as potential perpetrators?

Thank goodness Aqua can just poof it out of existence. And recall it back in, if necessary.

"Only Sorceresses and monsters are capable of true magic." And Hyne, what a mess can they create. "Like I said there's the kinda weird exceptions to the rule thing, but overall willful manipulation ain't common." Not like what they do with paramagic. "I'm not sure how much more useful we're gonna be out here for long." He observed, still scowling at the robots, then his eyes traveled back to the screen where the weird announcement was made.

"'Wake up.' The hell was that all about d'you think?"

[aguidingkey]

Aqua just nods, filing all of that information away for later. She and Seifer have developed a surprising friendship and this is only strengthening that friendship. Aqua has more questions, of course, but she knows now is probably not the best time.

"I don't know," she admits, following his glance to the screen. "But I don't like it. I want to stay to search for clues, but I'm not sure that will be welcome."

[firacrux]

They have time. Little did they realize but they'd been put together as roommates, so they'll have plenty of time for idle conversation about Paramagic and the details surrounding it. His eyes swept the scene, highly aggressive Iteration bots taking over efficiently, and he nodded grimly.

"Yeah, I'm startin' to think maybe we should just high tail it outta here. They've got things well in hand." And he didn't want to get hauled anywhere for questioning.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua nods absently. "I'm going to stay long enough to make sure everyone has been taken care of." Most likely on the edges of the action, but close enough that she can see what's going on. "I'll see you later."

[firacrux]

He returns the nod. "Alright, don't wear yourself out." He's fairly confident in assuming that Aqua might be the type to over-extend herself in the effort to help people. It's admirable, but also foolhardy. "If I don't hear back from you I'm gonna come lookin'" He threatens with a faint smirk.

It's his side-ways way of saying he'll worry so don't make him do that. By now he thinks the authorities have things well enough in hand, and he'll just be in the way. But he'll still be ready to go find Aqua if she doesn't make herself known within a reasonable time frame.

"Later."