dualislogs | 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?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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!"

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."

"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.

"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?"

"Why did you have to leave Rakhana?" She never hesitated in asking questions. Maybe she should have. Maybe she should have considered politeness or if someone even wanted to talk about things, but she didn't.

She nods to his question. "Yes Mostly I think I'm from Earth."

At the very least it doesn't seem like a particularly difficult thing for Thane to talk about, at least on the surface. It's been a long time for his people that it is quite literally history. What would normally be sadness is instead more of an underlying disappointment. "The planet eventually died. The drell were close to extinction, but we got another chance on Kahje. It is a beautiful planet."

Though her answer is really what piques his curiosity. Could she possibly have some sort of memory issue, or perhaps she had been too young when living on her planet of origin to fully remember. "Mostly," he repeats, before adding: "You think."

Admittedly, that caught him off guard somewhat. "A peculiar answer."

"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.

He offers a nod of his head at her explanation. Intriguing, but it somewhat explains her uncertainty of her heritage.

"Overpopulation and over industrialization — mostly the latter, made living on Rakhana impossible. The soil depleted and the waters became acidic. There was no saving it." But he continues to explain it easily enough. For all of his life, home was Kahje, after all. While he appreciates the history of his people that is where his heart is. "My people were nearly driven to extinction as we hadn't the capabilities for interstellar flight at the time. Rakhana is a desolate planet now. Drell population never exceeds the thousands."

"I'm sorry," she offers a sympathetic expression to his explanation. "Who saved you?" She assumed someone had to have come to save them. That had to be how it worked, right? Which was actually pretty lucky for them actually.

"The hanar. They helped us escape and gave us shelter on their homeworld, Kahje."

He crosses hid hands and holds them to his chin as he explains, a reverence to his tone.

"The drell have been indebted to them ever since. While the hanar move beautifully underwater they are much slower on land. We help them with tasks they cannot do themselves. It is considered an honor among the drell to be able to serve them."

"Hanar is a fun name." Interesting to say. She likes it. If she really saw one she would definitely like it a lot more.

"Do you get paid for helping them?" There's no judgement in her voice, just curiosity. "Or is it just your price for being saved?"

A tiny smile flickers into existence for a brief moment before disappearing. "Indeed."

"That would depend on the work, the drell, and the hanar. But we are afforded the same opportunities to rise in their society. Some are more than happy to simply serve in their homes and ask of nothing in return."

i've been bitten by the bug ...

dorms

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