WEEK 01

[modmachine]

Somewhere, a gear slips.

It's sunset on Halloween night; a night of celebration for the dead and the once-dead, a night of wariness for those bound closely to the spirits. Everything seems to move more freely on this night; the sensation of boundaries crossed is almost palpable.

A handful of those native to the city will certainly feel such. Between one step and the next, there's a feeling of pushing against something, something you didn't know was there before - and it gives. Physically, nothing changes, but you now know something is wrong, as though waking from a dream. Something has slipped, and you remember. Hajime will feel the sensation most keenly, as the things he recalls lack the sharp details of a demon's memory.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Sixth, the New Arrivals all also find themselves taking steps - the first thing the group will become aware of in the city is being shoved out the door of what seems to be some kind of broken down factory. The alley they step into is wide enough to get a truck through, but shows little sign of human habitation; only a cardboard box, half-dissolved by rain, and a few bits of stray glass from broken bottles can be seen. Their phones and any other communication devices they possess all beep loudly, once, after the door slams shut.

Except... What door? When they next blink, while there's still a vaguely door-like outline, the concrete wall has changed; where the door was, there's a metal sheet, machined with faint circular patterns, seamlessly integrated with the concrete. Banging a fist on it produces a solid sound, as though the metal was at least an inch thick. Though there is a feeling of being watched in the alleyway, no one will approach until they leave it, not even a passerby walking the not-quite-yet-dark street at either end. Until they step out of the alley, it's as though they don't exist.

And there's a good amount of foot traffic passing the alleyway by. Though it tends towards people in a college student age bracket and people in a vaguely street punk sort of fashion with odd accessories, neither is an absolute rule by any rule. Following the flow of traffic leads to a run-down park that's mostly skatepark with a few picnic tables and a small greenspace that's been taken over for a dancefloor. The tables are covered in odd junk and there seems to be some trading going on.

Haseo and Ryoji will both have better knowledge of what the place is, and have standing invitations to the party that's starting up as the Sin-Eater trading post winds down.

Elsewhere: On a beach bordering the bay, a group of changelings holds a bonfire. Periodically, someone throws a papercraft skull into it with extreme prejudice; almost all the skulls are inhuman in some way, though the craftmanship of the paper-mache makes it difficult to tell at times. Those in the know have to be aware that such an overt display won't pass unnoticed by the Autumn King... But the tall and built woman who seems to be the center of the festivities shows no fear in the season of fear.

In the Residential District and even a few places in the Sixth, trick-or-treaters are as much a feature as they are every year. Children in costume run about with little concern for who they approach, while their parents maintain appropriate wariness from sidewalks or cars. A small group of children, however, galivants with no supervision - and there is something uncanny about the trio. It's best to give them a treat if they approach you, else you might find yourself the recipient of a cruel trick in return. Unlike the other trick-or-treaters, they're out and about well past midnight; nearly to dawn, in fact. When the sky begins to lighten, however, all three stop immediately in the middle of what they're doing and - with the sound of mad, fey giggling - bolt off in the direction of the farming district.

The prompts from the Test Drive also remain available for interaction.

The rest of the week:

Weather forecast: Though Halloween is a clear night, clouds steadily roll in for most of the rest of the week, hanging overcast in the sky with occasional breaks and sprinkles of rain slotted in. Mornings are foggy and chill, warming slightly in the afternoons but not varying all too much in temperature. Frost has yet to set in, though, making it possible to sleep outside if you have adequate cover, but it won't be very fun.

Moon Phase: The 30th was a New Moon, so Halloween's sky is decorated by a fingernail crescent that grows to almost a half moon throughout the week.

The Clean-Up: After Halloween, of course, everything must slowly go back to normal. Most folks clean up their own messes throughout the first morning of November, but shards of gutted and thrown pumpkins can be found most everywhere, and at the park where the Sin-Eaters partied, a lone Security Officer inspects the aftermath for signs of unusual activity. Aside from the remains of pumpkins, which are mostly left to rot, decorations vanish over the course of the week and all but a few are gone by Thursday morning.

The College: Though enrollment for the fall semester is over, the deadlines for winter are fast approaching, and there are a number of tables set up in a large area to entice prospective students. Most of them are manned by undergraduates, but the English program's table is staffed most of the time by a single Tired Professor with mousy brown hair. Occasionally, the Tech Student at the next table over takes pity on the man, bringing him a hot-chocolate to help warm his fingers.

[Feel free to use this post as a jumping-off point for logs and interactions! You are also welcome to post your own logs to the community as needed. Mods will be available on plurk and discord to answer questions, and can be hailed for exploration logs off this post.]

Comments

Hajime Aikawa | Native | OTA

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's in a bad mood today. He usually isn't in what anyone might call a good mood, but today, he's on edge. Something strange is going on today, and he doesn't like it. Something's up with his memories, and that's somewhat of a cause for alarm.

Not that he's letting on--having perfect control of his facial expressions certainly helps. He's casually walking through the city with a camera around his neck, snapping pictures of all the Halloween goings-on. He's a photographer, he's taking photos, it's all normal. He's taking pictures of things like Halloween decorations and trick-or-treaters and a few of them will end up sold to some news outlet or another soon enough. Normal. Pardon the flash, he didn't realize he had it on.

Granted, his attempts at getting a little too close to that bonfire and taking pictures might not be the best idea. But hey, the camera's sort of a shield that way, right? He's just a normal human guy doing a normal human job...

[transient_specter]

No, it's definitely not a good idea. There's a person there, dressed in a blue and black jacket. He stands up tall, walking towards the photographer. He has one of his hands in his pocket and an annoyed expression on his face.

"Leave. This is a private party. Don't take pictures of us without permission." Like any of them would give permission for something that could be used to track them, anyway.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's expression is schooled into one of perfect innocent puzzlement. "I was just taking pictures for the newspaper. They want photos of local Halloween parties."

[transient_specter]

"Maybe they do, but you can't print someone's picture without permission, right?" ... He's pretty sure that's how it works. He doesn't actually know.

[chalicejoker]

"That's true," Hajime says conversationally, "but if it's just a general picture of things where no one's face is visible..."

Besides, this is just him being nosy, he's not actually planning on selling this set.

[transient_specter]

"Yeah, but we still don't want it. And I'm guessing you don't want me to break your camera -" Or melt it, or at least heat it up, but that would break the masquerade, so to speak - "- you should delete those. Right now."

[chalicejoker]

Hajime should probably just delete the pictures and leave. "I haven't taken any pictures clear enough that anyone can be identified." There's a pause. "And I'd like to see you try."

[transient_specter]

He knows he needs to keep a low profile. He can't risk bringing attention to himself. But he does lash out and try to close the distance to grab the camera.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime jerks the camera away with inhuman speed and reflexes.

Yep. Just a perfectly normal human with a camera here.

[transient_specter]

... Great. He's not got a Mask... so Makoto really doesn't have much of a clue what he is.

"One last chance." Before he starts getting serious, at least.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime, for his part, is not entirely certain what he's dealing with either. Not that he's willing to let on that he isn't quite sure about his opponent. He is instead tucking the camera back into its case. "I was about to tell you the same thing."

INTERVENTION YOU SAY

[modmachine]

The ruckus seems to have attracted some attention; the changelings nearby are quietly watching, most of them not willing to interfere, but it isn't long before a woman comes up. She's dark-skinned, but even in the flickering fire light, it's obvious that her dreadlocks have been dyed in an array of colors, and her arms are bare, revealing tattoos of stars and broken chains. She carries herself with distinct authority, and there's definitely the feeling that people move out of her way as she comes close. "What's goin' on here?"

[transient_specter]

Makoto hears the voice and instantly straightens up, taking a few steps away. "This... person... was taking pictures of us. I didn't think anyone would want to have our privacy invaded."

That said, he's trying to pick his words so that she can get the point without him saying something this guy will pick up on. He's definitely too fast to be normal, but he has no idea what to do...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Hello!"

Guess who likes cameras? And... people in general? This guy.

Ryoji noticed him flitting around the edge of the party in the skatepark- technically, it's not totally limited to Sin-Eaters, but you have to be known to them to actually get an invitation. And Ryoji doesn't know who this guy is. That doesn't mean no one does, of course, but Thanatos is not as much about the revelry as he is and is itchy to investigate. The geist didn't say Ryoji couldn't have fun while doing so, though. "What's your name? I'm Ryoji!"

[chalicejoker]

"...hello." Guess who's still kind of grumpy around people? This guy.

Hajime's not quite sure what to make of the teenager. "...I'm Hajime." He could have lied, could have given a false name, but Cover. Cover is important. Cover means giving the name that would go with the role of an innocent photographer trying to make a buck off of candid Halloween shots.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Grumpy does not dissuade Ryoji. If anything it tends to encourage him.

"It's nice to meet you, Hajime! What are you doing? Is that a camera?" It is pretty obviously a camera, but Ryoji would like to know what he thinks he's trying to take pictures of. Some of the 'nonsense' people hear about paranormal investigating can be real, after all, even if this guy probably isn't a Sin-Eater. ...He's probably something, though, his life span looks really long.

[chalicejoker]

Ryoji is lucky Hajime doesn't have enough of a sense of humor to be inclined towards sarcasm at a question like that. "Yes. I'm a photographer." Just a photographer doing his thing, nothing to see, nothing to see, please leave...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Oh, that's really cool! What kind of pictures do you take?" Tell him all about your job and your life and... everything! (Ryoji might, might have had a little bit to drink at this point.)

[chalicejoker]

"Whatever people will pay for." He is not quite well acquainted enough with being human to realize that there are all sorts of things that could cover.

[dangerouslyinlove]

Yeeeah, Ryoji's going to pause for a moment there. He's... not sure if this guy meant to imply what he just did, but.... "That's... nice..." he winds up awkwardly saying, "Um. What do you like doing best?"

[chalicejoker]

Hajime remains completely oblivious to anything weird he implied there, whoops. "Candid shots of the city, mostly."

And if he also used that to keep track of bits of infrastructure, well, nothing wrong with that.

[dangerouslyinlove]

That's kind of suspicious, since more people are more aware of stuff like than than Ryoji, not less. Hm. "Really? That's cool. What do people use those for?"

[chalicejoker]

"Advertisements, mostly." Hajime shrugs. "Or decoration. It's really not very interesting." No, he's boring, so boring, not at all worth bothering here...

[dangerouslyinlove]

"Why would you say that? That kind of thing is really interesting!" You're not shaking him off that easily. "Advertising pictures are really important, I had to take a media class as part of my general classes and they talked a lot about every piece of it. And decoration pieces... you must be pretty good!"

[chalicejoker]

This is not going how Hajime expected. "I do well enough, I suppose." The photography's the one thing he won't boast about; it's still a weird new thing for him. "I'm still learning even after all this time."