headandhand: (Default)
the head | the hand ([personal profile] headandhand) wrote in [community profile] dualislogs2019-09-09 10:14 pm

i've been bitten by the bug ...

WHO: Open to all residents
WHAT: Inoculation Season, plus your regular monthly NAPs session
WHERE: Throughout the city, with NAPs held at The Ax Hole.
WHEN: Sept. 10-30 for plague shots and associated side effects; Sept. 10-14 for NAPs
WARNINGS: Please use if applicable!

So tell me, what do you prescribe for these symptoms?

Remember that awful plague that wiped out the city's entire original population? You know, the entire reason you've been brought here? Well, the medical science community of Dualis has been hard at work concocting a cure for as long as anyone can remember, with minimal results. But during the morning of the 10th, news of a breakthrough is announced is a special city-wide bulletin. All media channels are overtaken with this message, and alerts hit every citizen's phone. The best part? Science needs your help!

There's no formal approval process for new vaccines and medications, just a series of volunteer trials before it's determined whether what's being tested is effective. All residents are invited to participate in these trials, with a bonus of 200 extra duos as compensation for their time and possible suffering. Simply head down to your nearest MedDualis clinic and inform the MedDroids supervising that you're reporting for your civic duty. Participants will be given a quick, easy, and practically painless inoculation shot in the arm, and will walk out the door 200 duos richer. Neat, huh?

Participants will be warned that like all experimental drugs, there may be side effects. A non-comprehensive list of those possible side effects includes: minor appearance changes (hair/skin/eye color), enhancing or reducing senses (smell, taste, hearing, sight, etc.), sudden mild development of extranormal abilities (telepathy, super strength, super speed, etc.), the ability to share dreams (if you're not tired of that sorta thing after last month), and/or loss of control over abilities you already possess, or those abilities misfiring. Hey, at least death isn't included on this list!

Any intrepid Dualizen who comes down with a case of weirdness as a result of doing their civic duty will find that weirdness will wear off by the end of the month. The Head thanks you for your sacrifice!

Don't you feel the fever like I do?

Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces - maybe even a few folks without 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, 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?!

This month’s event is held at an exciting new establishment called The Ax Hole! The 'Hole is an indoor ax-throwing range plus bar plus mid-price grill-type restaurant, the first of its kind to find a home here in Dualis. You must be at least 18 to drink and/or throw axes, and if you are throwing axes, there is a limit of one drink per hour. The bartenders are very strict about enforcing this rule, and employees are available to give safety instructions on proper ax-throwing technique and supervise activities.

This is a family-friendly establishment, so anyone under 18 is welcome in the restaurant section and the viewing room between the restaurant and range to watch the ax-throwing action, but they are absolutely not allowed inside the range, even just to watch. In fact, anyone who wishes admittance to the range must sign a waiver stating that they understand the risks of participating and agree to hold the Ax Hole free of liability in the event of any accidents that cause injury or death.

If that hasn't scared you off yet, come on down and meet your new neighbors! Oh, and do try to exit with at least as many fingers and limbs as when you entered, OK?
hellofishies: (pic#2857687)

[personal profile] hellofishies 2019-09-15 08:06 am (UTC)(link)
"How did the planet die?" Somewhere hidden behind her smile there was a touch of sadness and regret. It wasn't something she let linger long but it visited for long enough to sour her mood. The smile dropped to something softer and more subdued. Still a smile though, even if it was a bit forced now.

"There's a lot we don't know." And a lot she still wondered about. There were always questions and maybe they wouldn't get answers. "I was born on Earth. There were twelve of us that were born at the exact same time in the same place. Nobody knew why it happened or how it happened like that." And some people had come to the conclusion it meant they'd come from somewhere else. Tabloids liked to make big headlines out of anything they could. "So mostly, yes. There are things that come from something else though." Nobody really knew what that something else was though.
sociallychallenged: (0 2 3)

[personal profile] sociallychallenged 2019-09-15 08:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, but you had to get me first 'cause I walked into that trap like a stupid asshole. Luckily I'm better with guns than axes." He concedes easily, and then... alright. Yup. Connor right up against his back.

This time rather than slinging the ax in some impressive panic he does actually wait for Connor to stop positioning him and step fully away before he throws it. KOBE! And you know what? Much closer to the target. And it sticks.

He brushes his shoulders with mocking amusement at his own limited success. See, Connor, aren't you very impressed?
sociallychallenged: (021)

[personal profile] sociallychallenged 2019-09-15 08:56 am (UTC)(link)
"It's not easy. It brings dead people here and makes them alive..."

There's something a little distant there because the thought flickers through his mind again. Cole, his son. It's almost fuckin' offensive that somehow his DNA is somehow more valuable than his son's, when this fuckin' machine could bring him back from the dead.

"One guy showed up here covered in blood from having his throat slit and he was fine. That's definitely not a reason to get your hopes up 'cause lord knows I don't wanna give this place hope, but if someone shows up that you last saw in a casket, 'I'm not dead anymore' is a perfectly logical excuse.'"
notalive: (but i know who's gone)

[personal profile] notalive 2019-09-15 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
He smirks a little as he signs the bottom of the waver. His handwriting is perfect CyberLife Sans - it only occurs to him once he's written his name, as he looks at his name there, that he might want to change his handwriting to something more...him. It's something to keep in mind.

"I'll try to keep any sober disruptiveness to a minimum for you," he says as he snaps himself out of it, looking up at Tannor.

"I'm good at peace-keeping - by force if I really have to," he offers. "I told you, I was a detective. I'm still a cop - sort of."

Traffic cops are rarely needed for their peace-keeping abilities.

"But if you need any extra help, let me know."
notalive: (but you are so magnetic)

[personal profile] notalive 2019-09-15 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
In Connor's case, he doesn't even know just how adventurous this activity really is. People are doing it, though, and he's on a personal mission to try out everything people do and see how it suits him.

He's not sure what he expected from any explanation about how to teleport. Maybe he was never going to get scientific explanation of the transfer of matter from one spot to another with nothing more than a thought. Realising this is when he realises most of his other questions are pointless as well - the hows and whys, the fact-based questions.

"What sort of other things have you learned?" He steps away from the range so he's not running any risk of axes flying into him while he's not paying attention.
notalive: (you don't always have to be on top)

[personal profile] notalive 2019-09-15 01:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Every time Hank throws the axe, he's getting closer to the centre of the target. Connor thinks it's maybe that Hank's already got experience with a gun - he knows how aiming works and how to position his body with only slight help from Connor.

And he likes being able to step in close and help him adjust the aim and angle if he has to.

"Right, someone with my face, voice and memories told you to come with him and you did. What a dumbass." Connor's gotten good at inserting a lot of irony into his voice when he says the exact opposite of what he means.
helpdesk_hero: David Alleyne  / Prodigy - From Young Avengers (Change)

[personal profile] helpdesk_hero 2019-09-15 04:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. Brave. That earns a raised eyebrow from David. Never had someone look at it from that angle before. But there was something special that Loki had been. Contrite.

“That is one word for him. But prone to the follies of all of his previous iterations might be more accurate.”

He won’t talk about the killing another form of himself. Giving any Loki more ideas was a bad thing.

“I’m guessing your magic has been hampered enough to keep even you here.”
helpdesk_hero: David Alleyne  / Prodigy - From Young Avengers (Default)

[personal profile] helpdesk_hero 2019-09-15 05:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Perhaps just a mixture of experience and a lack of surety where his muscle memories came in. But he does head back over to his table and finish filling out the paperwork before returning to Thane to hand it over.

“Are you a betting man, Tannor?”
Edited 2019-09-16 03:38 (UTC)
morethanatrickster: (loki_096)

[personal profile] morethanatrickster 2019-09-15 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Neither." It was a rapid response, and one Loki hadn't really needed to think much upon before declaring. He'd never felt overly attached to any one place, not Asgard, not his secret places, certainly not Earth. His existence had always been a transient thing, fluid and malleable, or at least where he was existing at any given moment had been.

"Places are fleeting, aren't they? People matter, and they seem to matter even more in large groups, even when you didn't fully realize it." His ability to sacrifice, well, everything for Asgard, its people as the world had already been doomed, had come as something of a surprise even to him, after all, and yet, looking back, he still didn't regret it, and all he had was hope that they would somehow escape the wrath of the mad titan and make it to their destination, that Earth would accept them, work with them, allow them to found their new world in the place his father had wanted.

Hope was a odd feeling.
morethanatrickster: (loki_044)

[personal profile] morethanatrickster 2019-09-15 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"Humans do tell tales of us, yes. Mine were never overly kind, but my brother often lamented, usually when very drunk, the injustices he suffered at the hands of my magic. It was never my fault he fell for the same tricks over and over again." You'd think after a few hundred years one would learn to double-check whether something was, in fact, a snake or your mischievous little brother, but no. Not Thor. It'd taken him over a thousand years to figure it out. "But if he's anything, he's charismatic and convincing. The loud and boisterous humans took the loud and boisterous god's side. Such a surprise."

He spread his hands to the side as he approached, his smile suggesting he preferred the people preferring his elder brother, that he didn't take offense at all. "Nothing to be done for it, of course. It's more difficult to appreciate cunning and subversion. Easier to bash things over the head until they comply rather than talk something out, isn't it?" And once he's close enough, he offers Thane a hand. "And you, Tannor Nuara. You seem to appreciate subtlety, after all."

His keen green eyes darted toward the last place Thane had been casually not observing before looking back to the Drell. "Refreshing to be sure."
morethanatrickster: (loki_066)

[personal profile] morethanatrickster 2019-09-15 06:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"I have some idea." He smirked in bemusement and made a gesture between the two of them. "It is not you or I." And he beamed at the recognition, even more so at the respect it apparently commanded. He could still recall how annoying it was to be constantly recognized as the 'brother of Thor'.

"Oh, don't worry yourself too much. I've ended more than one, and this one has at least one mystery as yet unrevealed before I go about orchestrating its demise. I'll take that drink, though, Hank, as long as its not the barley water Americans pass for beer."

He may have been an adopted frost giant, but he was raised among Asgardians. He had a standard.
morethanatrickster: (loki_010)

[personal profile] morethanatrickster 2019-09-15 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
"But did he learn from them? That is just as important." And it had been a lesson he'd been forced to learn from Thor of all people. He'd done what he could to make right his own mistakes, though, and it had landed him here, still not worthy of the vaunted halls of Valhalla, but perhaps it had been enough to make certain few others suffered for his mistakes.

He could ask, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Not yet. He could still feel the vice of Thanos' grip choking the life from his, feel the crunch of his vertebrae as his neck snapped, watch his vision fill with red and go dark as the muffled sounds of Thor's vain protestations faded in his ears...

Faking one's death, it turned out, was far preferable to actually dying. That...hurt. A lot. And also frightened him. He didn't want to die again. Ever, though he also knew he would, for certain people, and that frightened him more.

His jaw worked to push down the emotions, but he played it off as annoyance at what this boy had guessed correctly. It didn't even take that much of an act. It was infuriating.

"Perceptive of you. What was your name again?"
helpdesk_hero: David Alleyne  / Prodigy - From Young Avengers (Default)

[personal profile] helpdesk_hero 2019-09-15 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
“I think he might have. He paid for our New Year’s Eve party before leaving.”

And the memory gets a brief look of confusion from David. Don’t mind him, just remembering getting probably hit on. Awkward and he would prefer not to repeat it.

“I was taken hours after that, so i cant say whether he has learned or not.”

Probably best Loki didn’t mention his recent death, though. Because David would feel bad for him. At least his own death had been quick.

“David Alleyne. Being perceptive was my job.”
wickedprayers: (5)

[personal profile] wickedprayers 2019-09-15 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't doubt your ability to keep the peace," he says, holding out a hand to take the waiver once he's done signing it. "But if you're here on leisure time you should not have to bother with petty drunken squabbles."

Android detective or not, if Thane could disarm a situation on his own there was no need to bother Connor at all. He assumes he's here on his free time, after all.

"I do appreciate the offer, though."
notalive: (when i finally won)

[personal profile] notalive 2019-09-15 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to," he says with a shrug. "It's not about my job, it's about me wanting to help out if you need me."

It's a nice distinction. He has these abilities from the job he was created for, and he can use them to do things he wants to so he can help people. No one telling him to - no task list in his peripheral vision giving him commands.

"I guess you don't throw axes in your spare time," he says, a question in his voice - he has no idea what kind of person would throw axes in their spare time unless they're just curious like he is, so it seems a fair guess.
wickedprayers: (13)

[personal profile] wickedprayers 2019-09-15 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
It takes Thane a moment to ground himself in the conversation. Magic being spoken about so casually, as if something injected into every day life, threw him just a bit. And that's a difficult thing to accomplish.

"Humans have a lot to prove. I suppose it's fitting." He has respect for humanity, though. They've proven themselves to be resilient in the face of danger...possible extinction, even. And he had the privilege of knowing one of the most resilient humans in the Milky way.

He doesn't have to follow Loki's gaze to know where he was looking. Or rather, that he was looking at the exact spot Thane had been meticulously eyeing mere moments ago. A very keen observation.

"I don't believe I'm the most subtle looking person in this building." It's a jest, of course. He knows what Loki is referring to. The man obviously noticed his attentive nature.
chaosvessel: Credit to <user name="vikael"> (✘ It's a long story)

[personal profile] chaosvessel 2019-09-15 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
He crossed his arms, watching the gathered throwing axes at targets, his expression neutral. His crimson eyes suggested something...else, but what was difficult to determine. He'd never been the competitive sort. Even in the Turks, he'd been something of an outsider, rather than rising to the challenge of being better than all the rest during his training, he'd thrown himself entirely into it. What resulted was a narrowed focus and a lack of concern for the prowess of others. He simply never compared himself to the other Turks.

Of course, he'd also been left with few friends, but at the time it hadn't seemed like a problem.

"I don't need a trophy."
sociallychallenged: (2 4 2)

[personal profile] sociallychallenged 2019-09-15 10:09 pm (UTC)(link)
"He wasn't like you, though." Hank says as he heads to get that ax thrown this time, gesturing with his free hand as he comes back. "When I last saw you at the station you were animated, passionate, a little scared. This fucker comes strolling up to my house and gives me a pretty flat," Lieutenant, I need you. If you don't come with me Cyberlife will destroy me." And he says it in a mockingly serious voice as he makes it back to the throwing line.

"I thought, 'Well okay but didn't we just go through this' and he fuckin' 'no time to explain'ed me all the way to the Cyberlife building. And that's when the gun ended up to my head.

"I should have known. He couldn't fake sounding like he gave a shit. I thought you had a fuckin' relapse."

He assumes the ax-throwing position, then, licking his lips as he concentrates.
sociallychallenged: (0 1 7)

I love that he's having this conversation with the voice of Surtur.

[personal profile] sociallychallenged 2019-09-15 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Hank's knowledge of comic books is fiercely limited. He knows them mostly by movies, by cartoons that were on as he was a kid, by posters on walls. He's not really a true fan, so a Loki that's in any shape for or fashion that's been slapped around by the Hulk has escaped bis awareness. He can remember the obvious, having been a person that retained basic World History in an American Public School.

To him, Loki is a god that, you know, is tricky and so happens to destroy worlds. And is apparently here.

"Try not to destroy this one. I fuckin' hate paperwork and I'm sure somehow I'd have to file a report at the end of everything." He jokes pretty lightly.

As for the beer, he makes a so so motion. "Tastes German so it seems about right. Gimme a moment." He puts his down so he can go grab another for Loki. It's just easier to snag it at the bar himself than wait for serving staff when it's just beer. Especially when it's on apparent playdate day.
wickedprayers: (9)

[personal profile] wickedprayers 2019-09-16 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Now that, he already knew. He can't imagine he's the only one who was recently brought back from death. Perhaps people like him were a target because they might not want to try and go back home — to escape whatever it was that had killed them.

It would be a reasonable strategy. Thane has reasons to consider both options. If he returns his sickly body would not allow him to aid Shepard the way he used to, which was the whole reason he stayed in Huerta Memorial Hospital and opted to spend whatever time was left with Kolyat. But it's a very tempting choice to try and return to see how is son is doing. Since awakening here it's been all he could think about. The state of the war and how it will affect the only family he left behind. And if...a rather big if, he presumes, they were telling the truth about their allowance to return in a year...what could he be going back to in a whole year?

Thane's gaze had trailed off to the far side of the room for a moment as these thoughts flooded his mind. "I have seen an organization bring back the dead for their own purpose. This person went on to do extraordinary things, but the organization's intentions were less than pure. Playing god is never a good sign."

Not that he wants to dash anyone's hope of seeing a deceased loved one again.
sociallychallenged: (2 2 9)

[personal profile] sociallychallenged 2019-09-16 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
"I've never seen anyone do it before, but honestly I'm inclined to agree."

To be honest, though, Hank would gladly make any deal with the devil or wannabe gods or whatever to get his son back. He's a moral man by miles. He has a code of ethics even if not a code of calm. His endgame always has all victims in mind, and he knows where the guilty lie.

"Just thought I'd fill you in on that happy little bit of dramatics, too, in case you stumble across that one." Then he adds, "Oh, and uh... I was here for a couple of months alone before Connor showed up. And to him? I hadn't even been gone a day. So the time thing is pretty fucked, I can tell you that."
skyward_eyes: Harry Shum Jr as Mike Chang in Glee (*Is There A Way To Help? (Worried))

[personal profile] skyward_eyes 2019-09-16 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Well, Finn isn't wrong. There are plenty of those 'ne'er-do-whatevers' in bars. Nida just felt like one of them right now. He does turn, though, when someone calls out to him a little. And more than that, he's left staring when he turns to look at the source.

Strangely enough, it's not the butterflies that does it either.

"Fern!" he says, rushing forward, concern clear on his face. "Fern, fuck ma, did the shot make you less grass?"

It's a logical conclusion!
hellofishies: (Default)

[personal profile] hellofishies 2019-09-16 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
"You didn't have to think." He'd answered so quickly and that told her quite a lot about him, even if he hadn't intended it to. Strangely it contradicted what he said next and she found that very curious. He seemed very curious all on his own and she couldn't quite decide if it was a good or bad thing. At least not yet.

"What made you realize how much they mattered?" He'd made a sacrifice. Something very big. It wouldn't be hard to look more, at least she didn't think it would. But maybe he would just tell her. It would be better just to be told. Maybe. Karl would probably say it was.
hellofishies: (Default)

[personal profile] hellofishies 2019-09-16 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh I could show you!" Her eyes went white for a second and she looked back at the ax range and sent an ax flying towards the target telekinetically. It hit straight in the middle and she grinned as she walked fully away from the range and off to the side with him.

"Things like that are some of the first things we learned. It's easy." And one of the more harmless things to tell people about. There were other things she could do of course, but they all had the potential to make people afraid. Start small and work up to bigger things. That's what she'd always heard was the best thing to do. If it didn't freak someone out then she could explain other things.
hellofishies: (Default)

[personal profile] hellofishies 2019-09-16 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
"No, it's not." But she would let it go. There was nothing either of them could do about the shocks right now. That was frustrating. There were too many things that she just couldn't do anything about. She sighed and shook her head as if to shake the thoughts out.

"Thank you. Your name is lovely too." It wasn't one she'd ever heard before. Then again she knew a lot of really weird names back where she was from.

"Ohh! I'd love that! Do you need people to pose? I can be really still." She seemed genuinely excited about the idea. There was a certain strangeness, and sadness, about being somewhere without her friends. They'd all been together since they were born and now they weren't. Maybe she could make new friends. They'd be different but different wasn't always bad. "Are your friends here?"

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