modmachine: (Default)
Hᴇx - ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇ ([personal profile] modmachine) wrote in [community profile] cityofhex2016-12-05 08:43 pm

WEEK 03

Preparation for the holidays continues at a steady - if slow - pace. Almost all traces of Halloween are gone by now, except for a few rotting pumpkins shoved into compost heaps, but with over a month until Christmas and the Day of Lights, nobody is yet in a hurry. Still, a few early holiday shoppers are out and about, usually in pairs if they aren't families with children, happily chattering about gift plans.

Weather forecast: The rain has passed, and days grow clear again for this week. Hex’s weather has been getting colder, and people are bundling up a bit more - even those who don’t need to, just in an effort to fit in. Hats and gloves are being prominently displayed in stores, even if they’re not strictly needed yet.

Moon phase: The moon is full on Monday the fourteenth, reaching peak fullness over the city at about 2AM. Afterwards, it begins to wane.

More employment: More decorations for the Day of Lights are going up, with some stronger-backed labor being recruited for the stockrooms in preparation for the incoming holiday rush. No one seems concerned about work history, a boon for people without a human paper trail. The park lights aren't finished yet, either, though things are on schedule to open next week.

Hitting the books: To prepare for the holidays, and raise funds for their community party, the library near the university is selling some of its used books. Most of them are fine, if an odd selection - you might find a cookbook, or you might find a book of poetry. There’s something weird about the books, though - a few of them smell faintly of mint. Watching over all of this is a sharp-eyed librarian. Don’t take a book without paying, or she’ll get up from her desk and try to block the door. She keeps having to chase away teenagers with dirty hands, too.

Bake sale: Some of the local schools are starting to take up donations for their holiday parties. One in particular in the residential district is holding a bake sale in front of the elementary school for an hour each day after classes let out. If you can fight through the sea of small children hoping someone will buy them something, you’ll find a variety of brownies, cookies, and tiny cakes. Many of them are lopsided, but a few look put together by expert hands. They cost more, of course, but it’s all for a good cause. A grouchy mother can be found near the cash box at all times, making sure no one steals the money.

Whoo are you?: Malin will notice that owls seem to be happening at her; they're hard to see, just shapes against the lesser-dark of the night sky, but they definitely seem to be watching her. They particularly seem to gather when she feeds. If she doesn't confront them, this will increase slowly but measurably throughout the week.

Time waits for no one: An old clock tower in the part of downtown leading into the Sixth has been restored to functionality... Mostly. The belltower stands empty, though there's a visible place where a bell should be hung, several stories above the floor. Ryoji might find the scene familiar. On Wednesday evening, there is some kind of reopening gathering at the church below it; the brief service and meet-and-greet is not particularly unusual, save that the young Acolyte handing out papers in the entry won't step into the congregation hall itself.

Like a dog with a bad...: In the Sixth, the construction is ongoing, still with the same handful of men, who rotate through almost like randomly generated NPCs. Lurking around outside is a thickly built man, who watches the whole goings-on with suspicion; strangely, he seems to be watching it mostly through the camera on his phone. On Friday morning, though it shouldn't be cold enough for frost, three of the strangely similar men slip on patches of ice and fall behind a half-finished wall... Where they vanish completely. They reappear after lunch, if it's even the same men, with no signs of injury. That afternoon, the man with his phone looks smug.

A touch of the season: And speaking of ice, passage into many of the city's Avernian Gates is blocked this week by a thick frost that seals the entries shut. An Unsettling Youth and his girlfriend can occasionally be seen investigating them; though they're constantly together, they don't seem much inclined to talk to each other. Occasionally, she'll drape her arm over his shoulders and giggle, while he looks confused; other times, she seems almost to shy away from him.
chalicejoker: (Uncertain)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-09 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
"What is it?" Knowing this kid, it could be anything. And Hajime has grown fond, despite himself.

(Probably a good thing for her, if something comes up where she needs an actual adult for anything...)
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-09 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
(Tobias and Ryoji are totally adults, too :| They're only half as ancient looking as Hajime though, so there's a point in that.)

"A friend of me found something." She pulls her commlink out and shows him a description. Author and location stay vague and anonymous. "Do you know what that is?"
chalicejoker: (Well that is a mild surprise)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
"Where did this friend find this?" This is significant enough for Hajime to communicate a bit of worry through his expression and tone. "It's...really better left alone. And stayed far away from."
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-11 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't know." Which isn't a lie. "What is it? And," she takes her commmlink back and pockets it again, "why can he still not see the wheels?"
chalicejoker: (Standard Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's something dangerous." There's a slight bit of hesitation. "Another corporate drone, you could say." Which is not something he is happy about. "I wouldn't know why whoever saw this could see it and not the wheels, no...unless it wanted to be seen."
runs: (I grew up down here)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-11 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"It wanted to talk to him, to tell him that it ...something about the person it talked to.

So it was like the things that fly around downtown and the Walls?"

She pauses and stares up at him. "You think it was an angel?"
chalicejoker: (Mopey)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 09:50 pm (UTC)(link)
There's a bit of hesitation. "I'm a demon," Hajime says flatly. "I know an angel when I see one."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-11 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a new word. The shopkeeper only mentioned angels.

"Can you imagine what it was trying to tell him, and why?"
chalicejoker: (Standard Expression)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-11 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"Can't have been anything good." Hajime shakes his head. "You can't trust angels." There's a pause. "That one may have been in the process of Falling, but even so..."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-12 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
"Failing at what?"

Nogee talks a lot about things not being good things being dangerous, things... and so on, all those vague warnings that don't contain any actual information, so that is some meat to latch onto.
chalicejoker: (Mopey)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-13 01:07 am (UTC)(link)
"When an angel falls, it breaks away from the system...becomes a demon." Hajime's expression has gone slack, mostly because he's forgetting to maintain it. "It goes against what it was programmed to do. Starts thinking for itself."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-13 03:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"So you think it broke while breaking away?"

Because by what Ryoji had said, it really hadn't been possible to make sense of the thing, and it had seemed rather disturbed.
chalicejoker: (BattleCloseup)

[personal profile] chalicejoker 2016-12-14 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Possibly...or it isn't finished breaking away." That's something to be poked at later on, certainly, if he can figure out where. If it's even still there. "It won't last long. Defects aren't tolerated. Others will come to finish it off."
runs: (considering all that)

[personal profile] runs 2016-12-14 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"But you managed to not be finished off."

Does this thing need help? Normally she'd just let it go, it's not her problem, but it seems to be Ryoji's problem and she kind of owes him. Even if she is starting to wonder if he remembers it.
Edited 2016-12-14 14:58 (UTC)