Extreme Makeover: Keeliai Edition - March Log

[wrathfulkhan]

Characters: Everyone who's interested in pitching in!
Date: Throughout March, until the 21st
Location: The Palace of Landed Sky and surrounding environs
Situation: Let's tear this bitch down.
Warnings/Rating: Drug addiction/withdrawal references in the Dust threads, most likely

The demolition is now in full swing and will last until late March, largely run by Zanru and the Metalworkers (as part of the deal), though individual Foreigners can be hired to help (and the help would likely be appreciated, as the Foreigners are going to get some of this too). Hired Foreigners will report to Xuiyu, as Zanru herself is too busy to be on-site. Gene can be found helping with the destruction, in his armor more often than not, over the course of the demolition project, and answering questions and taking suggestions from Foreigners and kedan about what to do with the newly freed land.

However, from the 4th to the 11th, there is Dust contamination, which is sickening some of the workers - Foreigner and kedan alike. It's not too much of a hindrance, and the demolition seems to be on track to finish on-schedule, by March 21st.

---

OOC Note: If you need a big-name NPC, please contact the mods directly! Kedan workers can be NPCed by anyone. If you want Gene specifically, please make a note in the subject line and I will throw him at you! (Also, I apologize for not getting to last month's starters; February got away from me. Please feel free to reuse them!)

Comments

[looksfine]

[It was...strange.]

[Aya had never been sick before. Her systems had been drained by the yellow crystals more than once, yes, leaving her weak and experiencing system-wide microfailures. The cause, however, had been identified easily enough and the symptoms gone once she left their influence presence. Her programming had been hacked, temporarily bringing her off-line. But that, of course, had been even easier to locate the source behind.]

[This was different. The symptoms this time were more organic. Subtle. She had little concept of hot or cold, and yet her construct skin somehow felt...feverish. Her powers remained unaffected, but activating them took significantly more effort than usual. Visual receptors, active but occasionally blurred. Certain auditory stimuli caused less than pleasurable waves throughout her head. But most unusual was the fact that she was drained. Physically and mentally.]

[But there were no yellow crystals in the area. And each of the symptoms were not severe enough to completely hinder her ability to be productive. So Aya did what any stubborn, organic being would do in her situation:]

[She tried to keep working.]

[wrathfulkhan]

[It's funny, but Gene still hadn't really...met Aya yet. They'd exchanged a word or two, here and there, and he knew that she and Tony were friends, but they'd never had any interaction of note.

He aimed to fix that.]

Hey, Aya, [he said, walking up to her as she worked. He'd done away with his armor for now, preferring to walk around as a normal human. It was still strange to be using his armor so publicly.]

[looksfine]

[Similarly, her systems recognized Gene as a regular presence in the city. A...very close acquaintance/ally of Tony's. And even then, there were certain data points that...were fuzzy. Except that did not make sense. How could data be fuzzy?]

Is there... [Her systems froze. A split second's pause, noticeable only because she had been right in the middle of a sentence.] ...something I can assist you with?

[And continued on, as if nothing had happened.

Vergil : Open (can has Gene too?)

[walkthedarkpath]

Vergil needed money, he was hard up for it too. So he was taking any work he thought had a good price. It kept him from being social, but that was perfectly fine with him. He didn't really care for people anyway. He was helping with the demolition, which wasn't all that hard with his power and Dante's Rebellion sword. He knew just how much damage the sword could take, after all it had belonged to their father first and he's watched how Dante uses it. It was not Yamato, but it would do.

It was stress relieving to destroy something. To have a job and be very good at it and in this case he feels he is. Though after a few days there he started to feel a little off, which was strange considering he never gets sick. Late in one afternoon he finds himself staring up at the sky spaced.]

you can haz!

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene had been making it a point to check in with all the Foreigners working on the demolition, if only to see who was involved. So seeing Vergil there...didn't quite surprise him, but the sight wasn't exactly welcome, either. He was still trying to come to terms with the aftermath of his involvement in the Sparda family drama, after all.

And what the hell was he doing, looking up at the sky like that? Gene glanced upwards, to cover his bases, but no, there was nothing up there of note. Not even an interesting-looking cloud.

"Vergil," he said when he got close enough. "Didn't expect to see you here."

[walkthedarkpath]

Vergil and Dante had always been such polar opposites that those that actually knew both twins and lived would know better than to believe Dante when it came to Vergil. Dante was weak to family, where Vergil was weak to power... In the end to Vergil it was the same thing, the power was to protect what he cared about, Dante had been all that was left despite his number of attempts on his twins life. Now he had no purpose, nothing to do but work and try to be self sufficient.

Hearing Gene's voice, Vergil looked to the other. He seemed more spaced than not. Almost the way Nelo Angelo would get when confused. He was never good with drinking and he oddly felt tipsy but would never admit to it. What was illness to him? Hell he couldn't remember ever getting sick in his years. "Gene." he nodded in return, before shrugging some, his voice a bit slurred. "It's a means of income, why not?"

I'm breathing in the chemicals [Imagine Dragons dramatic inhale]

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene's been working hard, both in the armor and out of it, pitching in the long hours he's opted to work out of a sense of duty. He'd been the self-appointed head of this entire exercise; it only made sense that he'd get down into the weeds.

He hasn't been sleeping much, so at first, that's all he attributes his inability to focus to, and his dizziness. But working outside of the armor and its air filter is taking more of a toll on him than it should, and his emotional control, usually so tight these days, is slipping. But he soldiers on, more out of stubbornness than anything, and a severe aversion to having the kedan see him as weak. No matter how strange and unwell he feels, he needs to keep working. He's powered through worse, he knows.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony, workaholic that he is, is not the best judge of when someone is overworking themselves. And Gene's good at hiding when he's not feeling well. So it takes Tony a while to notice that Gene's looking a bit peaked, and acting a bit off.

He gives it a couple days, but when Gene doesn't seem to be getting better, Tony starts to worry.

One day around lunchtime, he pulls Gene aside. He's looking worse than usual. He's been supervising the site sans armor all morning, and it's obvious it's worn him out.

"Hey. You look pretty wiped. Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Tony suggests. "You've been at this all week. Nobody's going to notice if you leave a couple hours early."

[wrathfulkhan]

Honestly, Gene thinks that he's been doing pretty well with hiding how off he feels, so when Tony finally takes him aside for a sidebar, he's a little irritated that he hasn't been holding up the charade quite as well as he'd thought - which is cause for alarm in and of itself - and a little bewildered. Why would he need to stop working just because he feels weird? If he'd thrown in the towel every time he'd had a headache or an injury...well, he probably wouldn't have pushed himself to the edge of madness, lost all his friends, and nearly ended the world. But that's a moot point.

"I'm fine," he says. Then the reason Tony might have suggested that he bunk off early occurs to him, and he smirks a little, feeling unusually bold and even a little bit reckless. It's not like their relationship is a secret here, but this isn't something they usually do; PDA is not generally on the menu. "Unless you have some other reason for wanting me to take off early. In which case..." They're far enough away from the kedan and secluded enough - behind a building not yet slated for demolition - that Gene feels comfortable gently pushing Tony up against the wall and kissing him.

Definitely unusual behavior - not so much the push or the kiss themselves, but the fact that he's doing them blithely - almost brazenly - in public. Gene's a very private individual by nature and necessity. This kind of thing just isn't something he ever does.

[theideaguy]

Sokka is no better in this situation. While he hasn't exactly been in the space to physically assist with the actual moving of stone or the demolition of things aside from the impromptu explosives he's been able to prep for a few things, he's still be at the front lines helping plan the demolition and running reports back to Zanru's selected officers on the ground.

But as time has worn on, he's just more and more bothered by everything. There's been a nagging cough and a general malaise that's just weakened him down to nothing, pretty much making it looks like he's shuffling his feet and dragging his body from place to place. And there's that lack of focus and blurry vision he's getting.

It totally explains how, despite the fact that he's looking straight ahead, that he totally runs straight into Gene. And then practically falls straight backwards.

"How are you... not like... two feet that way?" Sokka says, pointing to his right.

[wrathfulkhan]

Well that's hard to ignore.

Luckily for Sokka and unluckily for Gene's health, Gene's out of the armor when Sokka smacks into him. He turns, about to bark out an insult - he's been very on edge lately - when he sees it's Sokka, and bites down on whatever scathing invective he'd been about to deliver.

"Because I'm right here," he says dryly, and holds out a hand to help Sokka up. "If you were aiming for me, good job."

Open

[raavashing]

General for the whole of construction
Wan only reported to Xuiyu because that's who was in charge of the demolition. Wan didn't like the idea of tearing it all down, but the kedan groups had agreed to leave the old Palace Gardens and the halls of the palace immediately surrounding them alone. Wan had asked for that much so there was a clear border around them to avoid any crew coming in and just destroying what they could without thought. It also allowed for the gardens to remain in their wild state and any animals in the area a place to retreat to.

The area of the gardens was rather large and Wan knew his request was giving the non-kedan (and himself and Zuko especially) a decent stretch of acreage. Of course, Wan didn't plan on actually building anything there. He wanted it left alone. But that's where the 'border' of halls came in. They could be built on and altered to allow for some very nice apartments along the outer edges of the gardens should anyone want to do that. And Wan would be requesting help in that area from the Metalworkers later so that Zuko finally had a nice place to live. And it was very much for Zuko's sake. Wan was more than content to sleep under the stars the rest of his life.

That was the 'payment' he hoped to get out of the deal. His own power over earth and water came in handy during the February stretch of demolition and he was happy to help. He started splitting time between the palace district and the farms after the Bonfire Night, as in keeping with his deal with Heojin. But since he slept in the gardens, he was still around for at least part of the day everyday, doing what he could to help and reporting his progress as he went.

Quarantine Blues: Open to anyone also in quarantine between March 4th and 11th
[When the quarantine went into effect, Wan submitted himself for examination the same as everyone else was asked to do. He was surprised to learn that they thought him effected by the Dust. He didn't feel any different than normal. Maybe a little tired. But they insisted that he showed clear signs of the Dust poisoning. The doctors insisted he stay in the Palace District and not go outside while the source of the problem was found and everyone who showed symptoms were treated.

It meant he couldn't help out at the farms and that made him even more worried. He asked that a message be taken to both Heojin and Jackie Ma. The first to apologize to the leader of the Woodsmen and inform him of why he wouldn't be around for however long it took to clear this. And the second because Jackie Ma could copy powers and Wan was hoping he hadn't been near the Palace grounds enough to be infected. If Wan could demonstrate from a distance what he needed done at the farms, then the farms could still be helped.

Once that was done, Wan just did what he could to keep himself busy. Mostly practicing his forms and wishing that there was a working console so he could at least talk to people who weren't in quarantine. Maybe work on that riddle.]

Re: Open

[fearlessherosheart]

Tazendra had been one of the first to be tested and quarantined, under the basis that she had been dangerous under the taint and because anyone with destructive magic shouldn't be allowed to run around without that sort of awareness.

Now she was pacing the areas she was allowed to stay in. "Bah. This is so irksome."

Open

[raavashing]

Wan had his notes on the riddle spread out in front of him. The doctors had let him gather them up from where he camped out and tested them. They were safe, no residual Dust on them. Clean.

He looked up at Tazendra's words, raising an eyebrow, "Didn't they let you bring something to do?"

[seismometrics]

Wan's practice did not go unnoticed.

In fact, it attracted attention rather quickly.

The Avatar might soon find himself with an audience of one -- a small girl with a blank, pale stare that never quite seemed to follow him . . . even though the small furrow of her brow indicated that she was concentrating keenly, even studying. For a few minutes she might only be a shadow . . .

And then, suddenly, abruptly, Wan would find the ground trying to escape one of his feet, with the potential to pull him into a split if he wasn't careful.

[raavashing]

Wan adjusted to the sudden slip with a surprised yelp and a quick air gust to lift him up and over two feet to a more stable section of ground. As he landed he studied the earth where he'd just been at, frowning and confused. He could have sworn it felt like the earth moved away from him on it's own. But it looked and felt fine now.

The girl hadn't moved as far as he could tell and she was obviously blind. Between how milky her eyes were and how she couldn't quite follow him, he'd figured it out a little while after she joined him. He suspected she'd probably heard him moving about and was curious. But for the moment, his focus was on the earth, not her.

[jinzhong]

[Jackie'd been a little confused by the message from Wan. He hadn't interacted much with his fellow parent recently, and he got even more confused when he read the note and realized that Wan didn't know that his ability to mimic powers wasn't inborn, it had just been a boon from Malicant. Even thinking about the betrayal still hurt.

No way to clear it up but to talk to him, Jackie supposed, and went to the quarantine zone, loitering around outside, as close as he could get, asking a kedan on the other side of the barrier to please fetch Wan. She complied, possibly because of his Snake badge.]

[raavashing]

[Wan was escorted to the barrier the kedan doctors had set up for the quarantine. He was surprised to see Jackie, but happy to and waved at him. Fortunately the 'barrier' was little more than a thin fence that Wan was asked to keep back about three feet from and they could talk fairly normally.]

Hi. You got my message?

Open?

[seismometrics]

Toph couldn't say if she had any feelings about the Palace coming down. It wasn't as though she'd ever been deeply attached to Eshai. (Honestly, the woman had been a pain in the butt from the beginning, even if she'd ventured towards being someone almost likeable.) And the Palace had always been off-limits in her time -- never part of the constellation of important places in Toph's version of Keelai.

In the end, more than anything else, it was something to do -- something to take her mind off things that wanted to press in more, things she didn't want to think about.

And so Toph threw herself into the things she knew and did understand: Stone. Metal, in the places she could find it. Taking apart a building was her cup of tea, and it showed. She had the earthbending precision to take down just a wall and leave the others standing . . . and the power to take out large sections at once by herself.

The girl pried apart her pieces of the Palace one step at a time and found contentment in the raining dust.

Re: Open?

[gathersnomoss]

Zel was dividing his time between the clinic and destruction, and had managed to finagle maps that he's adding to. "Can I borrow you for a moment? I want to know if this wall has a space behind it, or if it's solid."

[seismometrics]

She recognized him immediately. Hard not to -- there were only so many stone men running about, and voices weren't something she easily forgot. Each individual was an imprint in her mind.

. . . Unfortunately, she also remembered that last time she'd talked to him, she'd cut off conversation with a finely articulated stone middle finger.

Oops. Well, she'd been upset, okay? And not about to talk to everyone just because they asked. Not like they were entitled.

"Yeah, sure." She kept her voice casual, trailing after him towards the wall in question. "This one?"

[valevectorian]

March 1-3

The idea had come to him when he first heard about the demolition jobs. Accelerator wasn't particularly motivated by the idea of work, particularly anything in the realm of the physically demanding. If he could get away with freeloading off of someone, he would. Here... not really an option. So when he read up on the job descriptions, his thoughts drifted back to the incident on that fateful day in Hawaii. The Trigger. A special device that could be used to control the eruptions of volcanoes through the use of directional explosives.

Demolishing an entire palace would require things like dynamite or wrecking balls, or methods in the same vein as those. Those things cost money, be it for the goods themselves or the power sources used. Accelerator had very few marketable skills, but one thing he could do was change the vector values of anything he touched. It would be easy for him to do on his own what others would need the wrecking ball or explosives for.

All he had to do was convince the kedan it was worth it to them to hire him, one of those drasted Foreigners, for that. A few demonstrations here and there in front of the guys in charge to show off his high level of precision and control. A little negotiation on the terms of wages. Definitive compromises as to how much supervision someone with his abilities would need lest he destroy too much. That kind of shit. It hadn't been easy, and the kedan made their opinion of Foreigners perfectly clear, but Accelerator was used to being loathed and shunned by all. This was actually both comfortable, and a step up from Academy City. Here it wasn't because of who he was as a person. It was just because he, like the others who were stuck here, was a Foreigner. That was doable.

Those first few days he could be found on the grounds waiting with the crew while everything was set up, areas were marked off, etc. Most of his role was to come in when they were ready, activate his ability and use his fingers to direct the carefully controlled amounts of force wherever it was needed. The laws of physics still applied, so there were also some precautions he had to take to control where broken pieces fell or shot off, the depth of the cracks, the flow of the dust as it messed with the air flow... all manageable as long as he paid the entirety of his attention to it all. Sometimes a large piece of structure (half of an entire floor or section of wall) he'd just rip off with both hands and set it gently down somewhere out of the way. Whatever the situation required. Once done, he'd fuck off and leave the rest for the crew to take care of. He'd already done the brunt of the breakdown work. Time to let others cart the debris and salvageable materials off elsewhere.


March 4th and onward

It had taken a few days of being on site before the symptoms really began to affect him and make themselves noticeable. This was probably due to his moments of exposure being both short and intermittent, and the protection he had when his Redirection was activated. In spite of this, by the 4th his ability to concentrate had dropped by a sheer amount. It persisted long after he would leave the site for the day. And when the quarantine was put into effect, even he couldn't find it in himself to complain. If he had to choose between working while feeling like shit and having only partial concentration when it was most needed versus holing up in his room for a few days to try and recover from whatever had gotten to him? He'd take the latter, thank you very much.

While affected by whatever was the mystery contaminant, his usefulness had dropped by a lot. He could still use his ability. He had used it under worse conditions. There were just a few... issues. He was jittery. His vision could be better. His senses in general were questionable. At one point he'd wondered if someone had drugged the air. Sometimes it'd make him feel sluggish and twitchy and tipsy, which was irritating. Drunks were a pain in the ass.

So for the first few days he definitely wanted to take things easy so this shit would go away.

Prior to the Dust contamination

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene had been watching the white-haired kid work (there sure were a lot of them, these days). It was interesting to see what he was doing to make the demolition easier, though he couldn't quite figure it out.

During one of the points in time where they had both taken a break, Gene took it upon himself to go meet this guy. "Hey," he said, walking up to Accel. "Pretty neat trick, what you're doing there."

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust - March 5

[theideaguy]

Sokka had been seeing Accelerator work prior to the quarantine went into effect. He had been one of the helpers marking everything, measuring how to tear down the building, and then delivering the reports to the other managers so that they could then get carried out. He'd enjoyed quite immensely seeing how each of the various foreigners and the kedan did their thing, though Accelerator—despite having not talked to him yet outside of that one time—was one that was most fascinating. That guy could give Toph a run for her money, he reckoned.

But all things considered, he hadn't gotten a chance to talk to him before the contamination had done its duty, and now Sokka was practically feeling terrible. In the makeshift hospital that was constructed for those affected by the Dust, Sokka is just lying on a couch, looking up lazily when Accelerator comes in.

"Hey... you're that... tear down everything... with your fingers... guy..."

Yeah, Sokka is totally drunk on power Dust.

Around March 2nd

[skeletonenigma]

It was impossible not to notice the white haired-man doing the work of twenty people in under a minute, especially when one spent almost all day at the demolition sites and gossip spread among the kedan like wildfire.

There was, Skulduggery reflected as he watched, an abnormally large proportion of white-haired Foreigners in Keeliai. He had to wonder if that was important.

Magic and other supernatural abilities had so far been reasonably within the bounds of logic. Even Valdis, for all her impressive control over death, was still bound to the laws of physics, flexible though she might find those laws. So when Skulduggery's first impression of the newcomer's magic was some form of enhanced strength, he quickly discarded that idea in favour of... something else entirely.

The man was using his hands, but that didn't necessarily mean he needed to. He'd called them 'psychic' abilities the last time they spoke.

Towards the end of the day, Skulduggery had to admit temporary defeat, and caught the psychic man before he could leave. "That was impressive work," he commented. "If you don't mind my asking, how did you manage it?"