Watching the people get lairy / It's not very pretty I tell you /Walking through town is quite scary

[irishthor]

Characters: Open Log
Date: 20/08 - Mid afternoon
Location: Courtyard of Public Opinion / Healer's Guild
Situation: Did someone say riot?!
Warnings/Rating: Extreme violence, Drug use mentions. Please include individual warnings in sub-headers, if needed.


It was a mostly quiet day, all things considered. There was the general crowd in the courtyard, people milling around, some making their opinions vocally known... Just another day.

At least, that is until mid-afternoon. Some time after 3pm, there were several muted noises from different points of the courtyard. Black smoke suddenly pours from these locations, spilling out and spreading across the courtyard in a manner of minutes. People are confused, their visibility reduced somewhat, and someone makes the realisation.

"Hey! It isn't smoke! It's some kind of powder."

Her realisation is cut short as someone takes offense to her loud tones and shoves her in the back and to the floor. The female kedan gets up and, without warning, punches her assailant in the cheek. Other people start gathering, all sounding incredibly angry.

Soon enough, there's a full-blown riot going on in the city, people attacking each other, screeching accusations at each other, flailing at things that aren't there. Windows and doors are getting shattered and broken, and it's starting to spill out into the surrounding area.

After twenty or so minutes, the air is mostly clear, but everything is coated in a fine, black powder... including everyone who has been exposed to it. It's like sand, it gets everywhere.


((OOC: Kick-off of the Dust and Riot plot detailed here. Please use the OOC post to ask any questions you may have.))

Comments

[pompous_today]

As soon as Simon had heard what was going on, he'd donned a medical mask and tentatively ventured out, hoping it would help him filter out the worst of... whatever was causing this. He carried a supply of masks in a bag, as well, though he intended to bring any injured patients back to the Guild in order to avoid contamination of his equipment and thus traveled lightly as far as medical supplies went.

However, being the obvious healer and quite clearly lacking skills that would allow him to defend himself made him a pretty easy target for angry people affected by the dust, foreigner and kedan alike.

"Look, I am just trying to do my job," he pleaded. "Please, leave me be."

[spoilsfun]

The confrontation is suddenly interrupted by a flying soccerball that impacts the kedan's head and knocks it out.

[pompous_today]

Simon blinked hard as the kedan went down from a flying soccer ball, before turning to shoot a glance at the small boy who had kicked it before kneeling down to check their pulse.

"... I appreciate the effort, but there are better ways to knock someone out than a soccer ball," he told Conan with a grimace.

[spoilsfun]

Between his oversized glasses and the makeshift cloth tied over his mouth and nose to filter out the dust, it is difficult to make many details out from the approaching boy's face.

"Right now? Name one."

And when it came to this skill, Conan knew exactly what he was doing.

[pompous_today]

Simon leaned down and offered the boy a proper medical mask from his kit.

"Here- this will help you breathe a little easier," he replied. "And there are medical means. Although... I suppose, to be entirely fair, I left a lot of my instruments behind for fear of contamination."

[spoilsfun]

"Thanks." He quickly swaps the mask. "Even if you had the supplies here, would there be enough to make a difference?"

Conan shrugs. "I've used my soccerball for this before. I know how much strength to use. And I thought a headache later would be better than letting them hurt each other."

[pompous_today]

"I'd at least like to try," Simon sighed. "And I do appreciate the rescue." He looked around to make sure no more aggressors were headed their way before adding, "Well, I don't think I can argue with that. Wherever this dust came from, it's making people quite violent."

[spoilsfun]

"I noticed that. Has anyone identified it yet?"

Conan was troubled at how much this scenario reminded him of the scenario of the Golden Mansion. That had ended in far too many deaths.

[pompous_today]

Simon shook his head.

"Not that I know of," he replied. "I've never known of anything to have this kind of effect before. Chemistry was never my strong suit, but I may have to try and analyze some and figure out how to cure it if more information isn't forthcoming."

[spoilsfun]

"Is there anyone here who has worked in forensics? That would probably be the best chance."

Conan knew the basics, but he'd focused on the kinds of chemical reactions he could expect to find at crime scenes. He would have had a better chance of identifying the dust if it had been some kind of poison.

[pompous_today]

"Not that I know of, but it would be worth asking," Simon said thoughtfully, before he heard the sounds of another nearby fight and added, "If people can stop going at each others' throats long enough."

[spoilsfun]

Conan stoops down long enough to turn a dial on his right shoe. He concentrates for a moment, then kicks precisely aimed soccerball that drops one of the persons involved in the altercation, ricochets back off a nearby wall, and knocks out the second person.

[pompous_today]

Simon rasied an eyebrow at the kick, almost not believing what he saw, before remembering that unbelievable things were getting more and more believable by the day here.

"That was quite a shot- you must be a prodigy, young sir," he observed.

[spoilsfun]

"I like soccer," Conan tells him. "And when you get down to it, the only thing that really matters is angles."

[pompous_today]

Simon had to chuckle, despite the seriousness of that situation.

"It's all math, right? Once you figure out where to kick the ball, the rest is angles and physics. My sister would appreciate that logic."

[spoilsfun]

"Does your sister like math?"

[pompous_today]

"You could say that," Simon said, his grin hidden by his mask. "She's highly intelligent and loved school- she was in advanced physics classes when she was 14. She is a very logical person."

[spoilsfun]

"She sounds interesting." Conan makes a note to look her up some time. It might be useful if he could find someone else here who was interested in finding patterns. A lover of math and logic sounded promising."

[pompous_today]

"Her name's River," Simon replied, eyes still darting around to keep watch for any more assailants. "We live in the Sky sector... in case things ever get back to normal."

[spoilsfun]

Conan makes a note, and then kicks out again to send a soccer ball to interrupt a starting fight.

[pompous_today]

"You know," Simon hesitated, trying hard not to go into Parent Mode, but ventured anyway, "It's not that I don't appreciate the help, but... are you sure you will be OK out here?"

[spoilsfun]

"I'll be fine. I've had lots of practice at taking care of myself."

[pompous_today]

"Really?" Simon sounded skeptical. "For one so young, that's... not necessarily a good thing."

[spoilsfun]

"Isn't self-sufficiency a good thing for kids?"

[pompous_today]

"To a degree! Not when there are lots of grown people attacking each other walking around."