i've been bitten by the bug ...

[headandhand]

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?

Comments

Thane Krios | ota

[wickedprayers]

Around/ the dorms

The Head has a startling amount of resources...that much is clear. He's seen what an organization can and will do when they have enough funds to pour into experiments and confidential projects. That's why he's not wholly surprised to find that he is no longer among the dead. Cerberus brought Shepard back with even less to work with, so how hard would it be to rebuild a terminally ill drell with a deep stab wound? AI or organic, no one should have this kind of power at their disposal. He can sympathize with the plight of one's planet being ravaged to the point of no return, but was all of this worth bringing it back from the brink of annihilation? Was that truly the case or was this a cover story to tug at heart strings? There were so many questions and so few answers. Naturally, he opts to stay away from any needles.

He spends the first couple of days attempting to get a feel for the unfamiliar city. The lights, synthetics, and general technology isn't foreign to him, but the way the city almost seems to morph (which he will later learn is quite literal) and confound even a seasoned individual such as himself is new to him. His memory is nothing to sneeze at; he would take a turn, recall the small pile of litter overflowing a trashcan sat beside a particular building, attempt to return to the spot only to find himself in a completely different area. However, once he came across a few landmarks it was a bit simpler to get around.

The dorms. His new would-be living quarters. He stops by his assigned room of course, checking every square inch of it, looking for alternative escape routes, etc, before doing a sweep of the building as well. Don't mind the green, leather clad alien wandering about the building — while he appears casual in the way he walks with his hands behind his back, almost as if on a leisurely stroll, his mind is at work as he scouts the place out. If he's to live here he's going to memorize every security flaw (and strength).

Axe hole [couple of days after arrival]

Axe hole. Charming.

If he were to continue on with his life, whatever has become of it now, and put his assassin days behind him, then it would be wise to get some sort of income. If he were to figure out anything about this place, it would be wise. The first thing he would have to focus on is getting some sort of weapon — a concealable gun, perhaps. But first he would have to find out where to get one. Not to mention, while he's steadily leaving that life behind, he's still working under a fake name. But, baby steps.

That being said, this wasn't how he pictured things going. He's done quite a bit of random work before but he can honestly say he's never worked at an axe throwing bar before. Supervising and making sure people didn't attempt to axe throw drunk wasn't the ideal but work is work. So, here he is, watching over things with a critical eye, occasionally having to stop a drunk from grabbing an axe. Or trying to talk someone into signing a waiver.

Wildcard

Shoot me a dm/pm/etc if you'd like them to meet anywhere/way not included in my prompts! Or just go for it.

Axe hole

[sociallychallenged]

"Everyone behaving so far?"

Hank walks up to the... strange... bug man? Hello, strange bug man, and asks how his day watching drunk people fling heavy bladed objects has been. Asked in Hank's booming deep voice after approaching with the laziest casual swagger a lack of general fucks can buy. He knows at some point this would go from nerve-racking to a normal day but damn, until it did?

Hank's done with his beer for now. He's waiting for his company to be ready to go, and just kinda lingering. But, honestly? He's a cop, and this seems like a more stressful job than even beat work. He's not sure the owners knew what they were getting into when they opened this thing up.

At least at the moment he's not in uniform. He just looks like a concerned patron trying to make conversation with the poor 'idiot wrangler' for this establishment.

[wickedprayers]

"The night is young," he replies with a smooth, deep rumble of his own voice. If he were phased at all by the surrounding chaos of drunks, flying axes, and general bar noises, he wasn't showing it.

Thane's attention is still on the axe throwers despite addressing the approaching man.

"Alcohol and sharp objects. I have my work cut out for me." Not that he has any doubts that he can face whatever troubles this occupation throws (maybe literally, depending on how things go) at him. Shepard had them risking their lives on an hourly basis and he did that gratis. But as he said, it's still early and he has only just started working here.

[sociallychallenged]

"I'm a cop from a city that was pretty shitty," at least Detroit started out shitty, it became less so. Marginally. The recent layoffs were not helping, and after one rough drug battle that he somehow managed to win he senses they might move to another. That's completely beside the point, though, other than he has a few stab scars here and there from it. "And even then? I don't envy you.

"I'm a cop here, too, so if you see anyone that's getting way too hostile with the equipment and not just fuck-stupid with it you can yell at me. I can help excuse 'em back to the station."

He's still bottom rung, but he's high enough to do an arrest and escort a guy to the station. And despite having developed a decent spare tire around the midsection during his years of depression, he can still restrain a perp with the... okay not the best of them. Connor is the best of them, in his opinion. But pretty high up there as far as humans go.

[wickedprayers]

Ah, a cop. Thane supposes that it's luck an officer happened to approach him. It's good to know the faces of the law around this place. He does wonder how effective law enforcement is in such a twisting, confusing, city just gathering people from different corners of the universe.

His gaze finally shifts to the other man. It only takes one horizontal and vertical blink of his lids for him to take in and memorize the other's appearance, how he's dressed, how he's carrying himself, etc, so a long and uncomfortable stare isn't necessary.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." Not that Thane is going to be calling on the law whenever someone gives him trouble, but perhaps displaying exactly how good he is at dispatching said trouble in front of everyone for a simple job should be kept to a minimum. He's starting to realize all of his precautions may not be necessary, but it doesn't hurt to be safe for a while longer.

"And to whom would I be yelling?" It would probably be a good idea to get his name. Consider him a person of interest at the moment.

Axe Hole

[helpdesk_hero]

He needed hobbies. This was something David was even more certain of since his best friend had left the city under mysterious circumstances. And after all of the month before he needed to unwind as well, contemplate new knowledge, determine where he was going to go with what he'd figured out.

He needed something physical, something frivolous, and something just close enough to his skill sets that it would be fun but also something he'd have to work at. So when he'd been walking down the street and seen the axe-throwing place, well, how could he resist. Time to see if all the weapons training he'd had extended to thrown axes.

And it was a question that wasn't getting answered. Hadn't been in the building for three minutes and completed his waiver paperwork he actually cared enough to read it all when he heard the shout of pain. Some idiot cutting themselves on the head of an axe while they were goofing around. And since the waiver said nothing about trained medical personnel providing assistance when something happened, he'd jumped into action to patch the idiot up and order them to go to a clinic.

Once all of it was done he started packing up his emergency kit and looked at the nearest employee.

"I'm sure you see that sort of thing all the time. You'd think people would put together that axes are sharp."

[wickedprayers]

Thane could tell when a customer was going to be trouble from the moment they stepped through the door, for the most part. He would watch them, hover just off to the side, and usually he could prevent an incident. He developed a routine fairly quickly. Of course, there was bound to be someone who slipped by his scrupulous watch.

Then again, his mind might be occupied with a lot of other things, hence that moment where some buffoon manages to cut himself on an axe. His reaction had been minimal — in fact he listed the number of infractions and mistakes the injured party committed while he was being patched up. He doubts a lesson will be learned of course.

"I haven't been here very long," he admits as he returns to his straightened, upright posture, glancing over the customers who haven't yet cut themselves. "But if I had to guess, I would say it's going to be a common occurrence."

[helpdesk_hero]

"And having a trained medic on staff might begin to yield more admission of liability than your waivers indicates," David agrees, stripping the sterile gloves off of his hands as he looks up to the employee. And he doesn't flinch or hesitate at all. Just smiles. Smiles like meeting someone like Thane is a common occurrence.

"New to the city then. Then I suppose I should welcome you and point out that I haven't finished signing my waiver paperwork yet, so I don't think I'm technically allowed to touch the axe the genius was handling. I'm David, by the way."

[wickedprayers]

It's a mixed bag whether or not someone would have some kind of reaction to Thane, usually. But so far since his arrival the scales have tipped largely towards "some kind of a reaction", as apparently no one has ever seen or heard of a drell before.

"Not technically, no. Though I doubt you'll manage to slice your palm open like that gentlemen very nearly did." If he were going to be honest, "one drink per hour" should really be cut down to "no drink". He gets the distinct impression that man was a lightweight.

"Thank you for your assistance, David. You're correct in your assumption that I'm new to the city. I'm Tannor."

the dorms

[morethanatrickster]

Loki, after his arrival, was in and out most days at the dorms, so focused was he on getting to know not only the known areas of his new home, but also the unknown. He'd spent the first few days, though, mapping the dormitory itself, in as much an effort to see whether or not it, like the rest of the city, exhibited subtle changes, but to no avail.

Today, he was actually reclining in the lobby with a book, on astronomy if anyone's curious, but he looks up as Thane passes through. This is a new one, a race he's never seen, and his eyebrows raise out of curiosity if nothing else. He slides a bookmark between his pages and closes the book, raising from his seat, approaching this stranger with a warm smile.

Allies are always better than enemies, after all.

"Hello. I don't believe we've met."

[wickedprayers]

So far with a quick glance around the lobby he can spot at least twelve vantage points, three "faults" that he could possibly take advantage of, and four places in which he could reasonably stay out of sight. This was all in the event some kind of fire fight break out, of course, and he was thinking more in specification to himself and his skills. Not to mention what he can see plainly. The downside to being in a completely unfamiliar area with technology that's relatively different than what he's used to (possibly) is that he simply can't account for all of that yet. Alas, that's all he has to go on until he learns more about this city.

He had indeed noticed the man sitting comfortably with a book (to which he briefly scanned the cover out of curiosity — astronomy, interesting), but continued on with his little walk through. He also paid attention to the sound of a book shutting and footsteps moving closer. And yet when he's greeted he looks relatively surprised. Or at the very least, he tries not to look as if he had a critical eye of everything within a fifteen foot radius.

He nods his head in greeting. "We have not." It's still an odd feeling to get used to people approaching at this frequency. Ironically, he spent most of his time reading like the man had been a moment ago — or mediating — as opposed to talking. Talking about murder, assassinations, and saving the galaxy notwithstanding. Thankfully Shepard gave him decent practice. He's been better at it since. "Then again I've only just arrived a few days ago. Tannor Nuara."

[morethanatrickster]

Loki has spent much time watching those around him, keenly aware of what everyone was doing while appearing demure and nonthreatening. He's skulked the secreted exits to a mythological world, he's slipped from the watchful gaze of the "All-Seer" more times than he could count. He wasn't overly suspicious of this man who was learning their new home, he'd done the same himself, feeling the boundaries of its magic, which were sorely lacking, and attempting to match the stars, get some idea where they were in the universe. That was proving even more difficult.

He had no reason to assume the man before him was offering him a false name, nor did it matter, really. They were all strangers here. He inclines his head, an amicable smile on his face, as he agrees.

"As have I. A pleasure, Tannor Nuara. I am Loki of Asgard."

[wickedprayers]

Thane appears to give the other's greeting some thought. His tone conveys a small bit of surprise. "Ah. Earth mythology — at least, that's where I have heard the names before." Specifically, there was a small paragraph dedicated to the subject in a book he read long ago. Just enough information for Thane to find the smallest thread of familiarity, albeit fleeting.

"At any rate," he begins, lowering his head yet again but this time with a slight bow for a more proper greeting. "It is good to meet you, Loki of Asgard." It's only proper to refer to someone by their name and origin of birth if that is what they please. The drell take great pride in where they come from — so much so that they live on a planet that slowly kills them, so it doesn't occur to Thane to do otherwise.

Axe Hole

[notalive]

He's decided since coming to Dualis that he should try anything once - within reason. And maybe axe-throwing isn't entirely within reason, but he's still going to make a go of it. But...paperwork, and he blinks in surprise at the man presenting him with the waiver.

"Tannor," he says with a faint smile. "Nice to see you again."

He pauses, then, head tilted, "I guess this is a kind of security."

[wickedprayers]

He inclined his head in greeting, having immediately recognized the android. "Connor."

His smirk is so brief it almost seems illusory as he holds the liability waiver out for the other. The paperwork is quite lengthy...trying to cover every base they can, he supposes, and there are a lot of bases to cover. Thane thinks it would be more effective if they reevaluated their rules regarding alcoholic beverages and safety, but what does he know?

"There is security in preventing others from accidentally cutting their fingers off, yes." He is not surprised at the amount of should-be-obvious-corrections that he's had to make so far. "I am obligated to ask if this is your first time." Granted, sometimes he doesn't because he can just tell.

[notalive]

He takes the paperwork and scans down the pages, a couple of seconds per page to absorb all of it. Most of it doesn't apply to Connor, but he's indulging it anyway. It's...interesting to learn about all the different ways that axe-throwing can go wrong when you're organic and squishy.

"You're securing drunk people from themselves." From what he can tell, that's pretty much vital work in here if you're going to let anybody drink and throw weapons at the same time.

"This is my first time throwing axes," he confirms, amused. "Do I need supervision?"

[wickedprayers]

"Aptly put."

Yes. That is pretty much what he's doing.

"Everyone requires some form of supervision, particularly if you are a newcomer. I don't doubt this city is colorful enough to have very sufficient axe throwers at every turn. I am merely doing my job."

He remembers working at a construction site on Kahje, the krogan foreman forgoing all sorts of safety measures and rules in favor of getting his men to work faster. Harder, not smarter. There were several accidents he could recall in vivid detail should he slip into those memories again.

Professionalism aside, he would very much like to avoid accidents like those from happening again. It's not pretty.

dorms

[hellofishies]

There was more to this place than what they were being told. There always was. If something had enough power to mess up her powers then that meant they had a lot of power themselves. More power than single things should have. It worried her. The others weren't here either. That worried her on it's own. No matter what she couldn't see if they were okay and safe. It was something she had never experienced and it frustrated her. Questions. There were a lot of questions she would need to look into by herself. It would mean really looking. Pushing hard with her powers to see if she could pick up anything. That would come.

First she needed to experience more of the city. She needed to know it better. It and the people in it like her that were brought from other places. They might know things. Or more things than her. All the questions and thoughts of what to do filled her head and made her not quite there. Back home everyone would say she was off again. Off in her own mind and being spacey. That spaceyness was why she didn't immediately notice Thane as she wandered the building. It took her almost bumping into him for her to stop and blink at what she saw.

"Froggy!" She pointed at him with a gleeful expression once she fully registered the green man. "Beautiful froggy!" She tilted her head as she looked him over. His skin was so colorful and brilliant. This was definitely worth coming out of her own thoughts for. "Hello, I'm Arkady!"

[wickedprayers]

He spotted her as soon as she came into view; spaced out, mind and body wandering in two different directions, and he could tell that if he didn't move she was liable to run right into him because she seemed so wrapped up in her own thoughts. He had been ready to avoid the collision when she finally snaps out of whatever thoughts she was having and noticed him.

Froggy. There were some continuous threads that Thane saw from world to world in which he found some existential comfort in. This is not one of them.

"Drell, actually," he corrects, no real hint of offense or upset. His arms are pulled behind his back still, bowing his head in greeting. She introduced herself, after all. "Hello, Arkady. I'm Tannor."

[hellofishies]

"Drell. That sounds lovely," she smiles warmly and gives a quick wave causing the barbies on her jacket to clank together. Drell. That was something she hadn't heard of which was exciting all on it's own. There was so much to find about this place. What was the real purpose in bringing so many different people together?

"It's ice to meet you Tannor." Tannor. Hmm. She paused for a moment and inclined her head to the left before offering another smile. There was a flash of something. Something he was hiding maybe? That was curious. "Where are Drell from?" She could look herself. It would be good practice to see how easy it was with the different people here. Or maybe she could try to fully read him after. Then it would tell her what pieces he left out. That was the thing most people never understood: the things people left out were usually the most important pieces.

[wickedprayers]

"Likewise."

That curious pause and tilt of her head doesn't go unnoticed, of course. While he files it away he doesn't dwell on it for too long, though.

"We live on a planet called Kahje, though we are originally from Rakhana." He gives a pause of his own, curious about something someone said to him not too long ago about the people here. "Are you from earth?"

Axe hole

[silentnarration]

Sure he's supposed to keep drunks from getting access to it but what about someone who's studying the axe a little too intently, almost like he's having trouble making sense of something. Lingering symptoms from head injuries are great.

He looks up when Thane approaches and eyes him suspiciously.

"I don't need that," he says, eyeing the waiver.

[wickedprayers]

If someone looks as if they are having trouble making sense of an axe while studying it intently then Thane is sure to be there, watching carefully with his stack of waivers ready in hand.

"Liability waivers are hardly for those signing them." He continues to hold them up as if expecting the other to eventually take one. "I must ask that if you plan on hurling sharp objects at a target on the far side of the room that you sign one."

[silentnarration]

Squall is staring at the waiver as if it'll come alive and bite him. The last time he signed something, he ended up stuck in his stupid job.

"No." He turns the axe in his hand.

"I know how to handle a weapon."

This is a perfectly reasonable statement to make. The only problem is he doesn't specialize in throwing weapons.

[wickedprayers]

It's a perfectly reasonable statement that, as far as Thane is concerned, matters very little. It's obvious he's going to have trouble conveying that. But if he's annoyed or frustrated he's certainly not showing it.

"That was never in doubt. I apologize if I made it seem as such." Was it never in doubt? Well, that's not important. But It's not as if the range of skill in this place isn't incredibly varied. You never knew what you were going to get with the people here. "But signing the waiver is mandatory for participation. It's for the company's sake, not yours."

Perhaps it's a strange battle to be fighting, but Thane was absolutely nothing if not professional.