ever since you’ve been my ace of hearts -

[uprisenheart]

WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: A heart-to-heart with the Heart
WHERE: A run-down warehouse on the outskirts of town.
WHEN: Sept. 21-22
WARNINGS: Please use these in comment subject lines if applicable!



Random text messages happen sometimes, though maybe not as often in Dualis as where you’re from. But there’s one today, and this one comes to your inbox from the number 432-78, which is definitely not a standard phone number. If you open it, there’s an image file, one you likely recognize - an anatomical heart. You’ll need to zoom in on the image a bit, because there’s a short message written along one of the veins, and it’s very small: LET’S TALK.

Below the image is a shortlink, and if you click it, you’ll be taken to a page that is blank except for one of those “Prove you’re not a robot!” messages with a box to check. Once checked, a series of six images appears - five are cartoon hearts, and the sixth is the same anatomical heart illustration that led you to this page. The instructions to pass through this virtual gate are to “Click on the Heart,” and choosing any image except the anatomical illustration redirects to an error message that bricks your phone until you perform a hard reboot.

Choosing the correct image takes you to a page of strange clusters of colored dots. If you look closely (and aren’t color blind), you’ll be able to read the real message: TOMORROW, AT SUNSET and a set of coordinates. A blinking banner scrolls along the top of the page and warns THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 10 MINUTES, and the 10 counts down after one minute to 9, then 8, and so on. It’s probably a good idea to write this information down somewhere else!

The inbox message also deletes itself 10 minutes after it’s been opened. All unopened messages are auto-erased 12 hours after the original sent timestamp.

If you happen to be interested in following this rabbit down the rabbit hole, plug in those coordinates on your phone’s Dualis GPS app, and you’ll be directed to a run-down, empty warehouse on the outskirts of town. Be sure to take the time estimate to get there into consideration!

The warehouse is mostly dark inside, lit only by sparse flickering overhead lights; it’s dusty, empty except for the people gathered. When the sunlight outside has all but disappeared behind the horizon, a burst of loud electrical humming echoes through the warehouse, and the lights shut off. All electronic devices inside the perimeter of the warehouse have also been disabled, albeit temporarily.

Comments

not to be dramatic, but [THUNDER & LIGHTNING, ENTER 3 NPCS]

[uprisenheart]

From on top of a loading platform, three points of light appear, and behind them are three figures dressed in black, wearing plain black masks that cover the top half of their faces. Each carries a single small lit candle, white with a drip guard, the kind you typically see at candlelight vigils. The figure in the center steps forward - a woman of average height and build, with long red hair. The likely leader of the group.

“Please - we don’t have much time,” she says, calling out to the crowd in a voice with a pleasant tone and a light French accent. “We are the Heart, and we need your help.”

1/2 - tifa + cloud

[final7thheaven]

Tifa knows even less about this group than most of the other people here and what she does know, she heard from Cloud. So she glances at him to see his reaction before she looks back to the woman at the top of the platform.

"Help with what?" she asks, wondering what this group is really fighting for. Maybe they are finally willing to actually offer up a reason behind their actions. "What are your plans?"

2/2

[bravers]

When Tifa had received her message, she hadn't taken long in contacting him. They'd talked about it, of course, perhaps he'd said that going would be too dangerous, (of course) and eventually, they'd reached the compromise that if she was going, he'd go with her.

He had what V had told him to consider, anyway.

What he hadn't expected was that she'd actually be pretty vocal while she was there. When the woman had taken the podium, he'd half expected for some speech to be rattled off, expected for this entire thing to be some kind of call to arms that he'd silently watch, out of focus, out of any form of interaction and... he was uneasy.

But he was here, and when Tifa speaks, he instinctively moves closer to her, eyebrows knitting at the fact that... well. That she had. He chews on the inside of his mouth thoughtfully, lifting his eyes to the podium for the response.

1/2 - Honk and Cannor

[sociallychallenged]

Okay.

Red hair. French accent. Or whatever passes for French in her language, who the fuck knows if a translator is rubbing its balls over their eardrums and converting something. That said, he's pretty sure he knows that voice and that hair and they're all pulling a Clark Kent number with the mask.

"I think I recognize the red-head," Hank mutters near Connor's ear, before leaning away. He's pretty sure they damn well knew who got the invitations to show up here. She's going to know who he is. Up in the air whether she wants him there.

Hank's done the disguise thing before for undercover work. He knows how to work with his strengths, and that's that he generally looks like he could be someone's muscle. He made sure they weren't being followed, took the most roundabout way he could manage, and has showed up looking very much different in a T-shirt and a battered leather jacket and work-boots to suit the get-up. With his hair slicked back he's just looking like the old hand secretary of some MC out there. Completely passing if someone don't know him. Bizarre and worthy of a double-take if you do.

"Is it just that you wanna stop the censorship and control? Or is there somethin' more to this?" Considering people don't stay dead, he's suspected that there is.

[notalive]

This isn't Connor's first rodeo (a phrase he heard somewhere and was deeply confused about until he looked it up, but now it's in his vocabulary) - he's already deciphered one so-called terrorist group's cryptic instructions and followed them to a dark, abandoned-looking structure. Maybe he can list that as a special skill somewhere.

And just like last time, he's come...sort of undercover. His LED in particular marks him out in a crowd - so he's got a beanie pulled down over it. Several layers of clothing make him seem... No, he thought they might make him seem bigger, but he just looks like a skinny person in several layers of baggy clothing. Just like he did the last time. He wasn't quite so capable of being self-conscious last time, though.

He nods minutely at Hank. None of the three look familiar to him - even without a facial recognition database at his disposal, he would still recognise the bottom half of somebody's face if he saw it.

"What exactly do you need us for?"

Not that hearing he has to do something dangerous has ever been a deal-breaker for Connor in uprisings. In fact, that's why he's getting it out of the way first. Besides, surely they've got more members than this, more sympathisers - what does a group of total unknown quantities have that nobody else does?

Sharon da Silva (Heather Mason)

[merged]

Heather stands silently towards the front, a frown settled into her features, sharp blue eyes taking in everything before her. Some ask questions, others stay silent, and Heather narrows her eyes. Everything about this whole damn city has put her on edge, fucked with her head, and now this.

They're the Heart. She scoffs under her breath before she finally speaks up, loud and verging on demanding,"So, what the fuck do you expect us to do?"

Someone is salty!

[uprisenheart]

The woman speaking - she seems to be the leader, or a leader, from the way she presents herself - appears slightly taken aback by the outburst. Her lips purse tightly for a moment, like she hadn't expected quite such a volatile response.

"We don't expect anything of you - that's not why we asked you to come here tonight. We are not forcing you to join us - we are asking. Politely."

She looks back up and addresses the crowd: "All revolutions begin with an idea, but they are not carried out by one person alone. We are not so many in number, but if you choose to join us, you will greatly strengthen our resources."

[magneticfields]

"Bonjour," Erik drawls from where he's leaned against the wall. Arms crossed, gaze flickering over the motley assembly. He is, to put it mildly, unimpressed with this charade. He continues in French because why not? "Was there any sort of screening process to this? Or did you just cast as wide a net as possible. See what came in with the tide."

[itwasworthit]

"Bonjour, mon ami." Sure, language wasn't a problem here, but one of the masked individuals walked forward and replied in french to Erik. Will himself, keeping perfectly up with Erik spoke in reply. "A bit of both if I am to be perfectly honest. Trying to recruit one on one simply wasn't working. A revolution does not happen over night."

The voice and both body suggest a rather young man on the cusp of adulthood but not much more.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua isn't as suspicious as a lot of the people on this world seem to be, even after the last world and even after being roommates with someone like Seifer. She hasn't developed that healthy bit of cynicism and maybe she never will. But a lot of things she has learned since being rescued from the Realm of Darkness have started to make her think and this is one of those.

She lifts one hand to her chin thoughtfully, the other cupping her elbow. "Then tell us: what can we do to help you? What is your goal?" She pauses again and then adds on, "I don't want to see anyone else get hurt. I was there a few months ago. So many of us were hurt or saw people who were. What purpose does hurting people serve?"

[zwischenzugs]

"Got your attention, didn't it?" The answering voice comes not from the center of the platform, but from the ledge of it, where the blond, black-clad young man sits perched. The aura he projects is one of boredom with these proceedings, but he's actually paying close attention to those who speak up, and those who don't.

"Our goal isn't actually to hurt people," he continues, "but sometimes, in service of the greater good, extreme action is necessary. And you hero types are incredibly predictable. Ask yourself - would you have accepted our invitation to come here tonight if we hadn't made such a splashy display?"

[punchpunchkisskiss]

Finn raises a metal hand before speaking up, as is right and proper. He scratches his neck with his fleshy hand, letting the other settle on his hip.

"Hey, so... I don't know, really, what's going on? But it sounds like you're trying to help people, probably. Only, people keep getting hurt instead. I think maybe you're going about this the wrong way, you know? I know everybody is human here, and maybe this is how humans do things, but I dunno... Have you tried anything else?"

[really_sketchy]

"Me too?"

Naminé constantly felt like she was relying on the kindness of others. She tried to help where she could and when she was able too but she wasn't strong in the way that Sora, Riku and the others were. She didn't really know what was going on in this place or why these people needed them but she wanted too help, even if it was only in some small capacity.

"How can I help you?"

[orren]

"Help doing what, exactly?" Orren asks, stepping forward from the crowd, arms folded across his stomach and into the sleeves of his robe. His tone is diplomatic enough - there's some force behind his words, but no hostility at present.

"You've made your displeasure, to put it mildly, with the city and the Head in charge of it abundantly clear, but you've yet to tell us anything about what it is that you're after." He continues. "Or what you want of us, for that matter."

[mrsarcastic003]

This is all entertainingly dramatic. It's not that he doesn't see the sense in the theatrics--when you're opposing an AI that seems to control every aspect of life around you through various technologies, it makes sense to disable all electronics while you have your meeting. It's just that it's also really entertaining, and as someone who has spent a lot of time with one of his worlds biggest goth drama queens... Well. They're doing a great job.

They're asking for help. Okay, fine, but nothing he's heard so far has been anything anyone can do.

"Do you have any concrete suggestions that we can take to people who didn't make it tonight? Aside from 'wake up.' I mean, we're all here, so I'd say we're at least a little awake."

tifa | ota

[final7thheaven]

Tifa hadn't honestly known what to expect with the "Heart." The second she'd found that message and read it, she'd written down what she'd learned. Then she'd gone to find Cloud to talk to him about it all. They'd decided to come find these coordinates at the specified time to see if they could learn anything about this secret group and their motives.

So, here Tifa is, waiting among the crowd. She's nervous. In some ways, this reminds her of AVALANCHE. Unlike that group, this one hasn't been very forthcoming about why they're fighting and what goals they want to accomplish with their terrorist activities. Tifa doesn't really know what to think or feel about them.

For the most part, she's quiet and she doesn't stray far from Cloud's side. He's the only stable part of her life right now and she doesn't want to get separated from him. Even if they both could fight their way through a crowd like this alone, there's no good to be had of it. They'd both end up fighting to get back to each other anyway.

The gathering crowd has her attention. If anyone addresses her directly, she turns her attention to them, but otherwise remains fairly still with the only sign of her lingering nerves being the way her fingers keep twitching, rolling, almost balling up halfway to a fist before relaxing again.

This just feels like a bad idea.

[orren]

"You seem as uncertain about this as I am."

A casual remark from the man next to her - a tall, slim fellow with long hair and a well-trimmed beard, dressed in simple robes. At first glance, the only thing that really sticks out about him is the metal prosthesis he has for a right hand and the foot-and-a-half metal cylinder he has hanging from his hip.

He looks calm enough, given how suspicious the situation is, but look a little closer and she'll see through that and notice the slow sweeps of the room that his eyes are making - vigilance hidden by a seemingly casual attitude to avoid drawing attention.

aqua | ota

[aguidingkey]

Aqua doesn't have the healthy sense of cynicism that a lot of people here do. That just isn't in her nature. She's wary, to be sure, but she isn't jumping straight to the idea that these people are going to be betray them all. Still, she remembers that bombing when she'd been so new; she remembers how many people had been hurt and the chaos that ensued. She doesn't want to see anyone else get hurt again.

So she'd come to listen and ask questions, see what the "Heart" has to say. And around that, she takes in the crowd, trying to gauge what everyone else thinks about it all. Her brow furrows as she listens and eventually, she says, "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," loud enough that the people around her will easily be able to hear.

[fuckregularpeople]

In contrast Jane's sense of cynicism is dialed so far past 10 it's broken the meter. Involuntarily being brought anywhere for medical experimentation was automatically a betrayal; that's how you ended up with people like her in the first place. She doesn't trust the Heart either, because revolutionary groups are almost always willing to throw people into the grinder to preserve their message, but fighting back is a much more enticing option than being a lab rat.

"Yeah, probably not. Guess we're better off bending over for the robot who sucked us into a quarantine zone to harvest our DNA, right?" She rolls her eyes. Aqua isn't wrong to be worried or skeptical, but Jane isn't throwing away a chance to change things.

[hellofishies]

Arkady hadn't come to talk to the "Heart." Sometimes she didn't need to ask questions to get answers. For this she thought she would learn more if she just listened. She hadn't been here long enough to have cynicism or understanding about who these people were. Even if she had been here a while she wouldn't have been cynical about it. It wasn't in her nature either. She tried to blend into the crowd but no matter what she stood out. Bald and purple eyes tended to have that effect on people.

Turned out to be worth it. There were a lot of stray thoughts to take in and a lot of things she couldn't actually get to. That was interesting. Maybe if she'd been here longer she'd try to push into the minds of the people from the Heart. For now she just wanted to listen and see where this went. And maybe be here if something bad happened.

"Why do you think that?" That was a question born of genuine curiosity.

OTA

[ichoosefight]

Steph arrived, as one does, from the roof. She climbed in through a window on the top floor and has since taken a perch on top of a support beam well within hearing of the platform. She keeps quiet for the most part, watching faces and taking note of everything she sees.

She's easy enough to miss in the dark building wearing her Batgirl gear, but anyone who thinks to look up will see cape, cowl and blonde hair hanging over the proceedings.

[aleifr]

Aleifr, for his part, had taken the more pedestrian route of the front door, and he'd done so with his knife belted around his waist. Needless to say, he didn't trust one damned bit of any of this. He didn't trust the Heart or their motives, and he didn't trust that this whole thing wasn't some sort of trap ... but this was the first chance he was going to have to actually see the Heart. To hear what they have to say, take the measure of them when he can look them in they eye, and maybe get some slightly greater understanding of what in the hell is going on in this city.

Too much potential upside to simply ignore, in his mind.

So he came, albeit with the expectation that this would turn into a fight. The warehouse certainly looked like an ideal place for an ambush. Secluded, lots dark corners where people could hide ... made him even more uneasy with the whole thing than he already was and set his eyes wandering, searching for any sign of treachery. The ground seemed to be clear aside from the other residents of Dualis that had been called here, but the ceiling was raised high and was crossed with support beams, and so he looked up ...

And wasn't exactly sure what it was he'd found when he did.

Blonde hair, some sort of cloak ... whoever it was looked small, but he didn't have a good enough angle to make any more than that out.

[demonic_divinity]

Oh someone noticed the cape and cowl, a head of silver hair tipped up seeing the outline at the ceiling, the mask doesn't hide the lower half of his face, all he does is give half a smirk before continuing for a moment to stand next to the others, he was one of the last to step forward, lifting a hand up to motion the cowled woman down.

"If you came to speak. Come speak." He had no idea it was anyone he might know, but the blond hair reminded him of a close shade the same slipping through a window in a far to hot house. He didn't have time for fond memories though, the revolution would not be televised.

OTA; Late with Starbucks

[minus1twin]

Wanda stood at the back of the class with her arms folded over her chest. It wasn't that she didn't have questions but the questions she wanted to ask were already being addressed. So she stood sentry and listened, watching those who had gathered. She was on a look out for her brother but she honestly didn't expect him to show up to this kind of thing.

It was tedious.

She made a mental note of everything, sighing only when it seemed that her suspicions about this city, the head and the hand, had been true.

Life was never so easy.

[soundspeed]

Pietro, watch Wanda go off to some clandestine and likely dangerous meeting alone? Yeah, right. He trusts his beloved twin to take care of herself, of course, but the fierce protective instinct toward her that's sat in his heart for as long as he can remember is difficult to shake, and not something Pietro's even sure he wants to shake. He makes a quick dash around the perimeter of the warehouse, then slips in, nearly silent except for the breeze that follows after him.

Only when he finds Wanda does he truly slow down, coming to a standstill just to the side of her. "What did I miss?" he quietly asks.