[EVENT | FOURTH WALL] THE DREAMING'S FLATULENCE | APRIL 15-30

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL and plus ones. (Yes, fourth-wall characters, that means you.)
Date: April 15-30 2016 (2017 in-game)
Location: Mod-posted comment starters are for the immediate aftermath of the odd explosion which starts the event, but this log can also be used for anywhere in the setting anytime between April 15-30.
Situation: The College went BOOM. Weird people began appearing randomly in the city. After that, other buildings went BOOM even though nothing actually exploded besides the College. After that, scattered buildings developed spontaneous structural damage overnight. Could these events be related? You be the judge.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings in subject headers as needed.

The morning of April 15th dawns cold, but clear. There isn't a cloud in the sky, the sun's barely risen, and in general the kedan are going about their daily lives - opening shops, heading to work, leading kirin through the city streets. In particular, there's a small but steady stream of people moving in and out of the College.

Then, without warning, a section of the College implodes.

During the following few days, an influx of strange Foreigners appear, seemingly dropped randomly by the Dreaming throughout Keeliai. Someone might end up in a canal, or on a rooftop. Someone else might find themselves flying through the air to land heavily in a disused alley. Someone might wake up in the corner of a kirin stable. A few might even land in Hatal on the mainland, and feel a curious draw leading them back towards the turtle. They arrive in the same unexpected manner as normal Foreigners; the only differences are the sheer amount of people arriving at once, and that none of the newcomers seem to possess any soul gems.

Also during the next few days, kedan and Foreigner alike might be startled by an exact replica of that thunderous boom from the College explosion echoing around Keeliai. This only occurs for about a week, but it occurs regularly, and the source of these strange echoes is impossible to trace.

Once the explosion echoes stop, investigators might notice that specific and exact sections of structural damage from the College appear on other buildings in Keeliai without any obvious cause. These cases of spontaneous long-term damage continue all the way through until April 30th.

Apart from those disruptions, life on the turtle is generally normal for the next two weeks - or as normal as it's possible for life to be when one lives on the back of a turtle where the most powerful gang makes the rules. No one can say for sure exactly when the strange Foreigners vanish again. Some will swear they all vanished at once; others will be equally sure they disappeared one by one over several days. One thing's for sure, however -- by the time April 30th draws to a close, not one of the strange Foreigners is left in Keeliai.

---

LINKS
The College | The Echoes | The Structural Damage | OOC Information post | Fourth-Wall Character Check-In

OOC
The top-level comments are for the explosion and its aftermath, but fourth-wall characters should feel free to use the rest of the post for anything within the setting! Just remember to label the top-level comment for location and date. You can also add more fourth-wall characters throughout the event at the character check-in, linked above. Please direct any questions to the OOC post.

Fourth-wall characters are also free to tag into player-posted logs and console/radio posts dated between April 15th and 30th! A quick reminder that fourth-wall characters will not have soul jewelry, and will not be able to create their own network posts or logs.

Comments

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony's only response to the explanation of Extremis is a look of surprise and a quiet "huh" as JARVIS talks. None of that is much like his universe at all, except in the serum's unfortunate unintended side effects.

His reaction to the second part of the story is much more dramatic.

The word 'missile' is clearly a nasty shock, and when JARVIS follows that with 'weapons manufacturer,' Tony's whole expressions shuts down. His posture tenses again, and he listens to the rest in stony silence.

You'll see it, eventually. The words of Malicant's illusion, the vision of his older self, ring in his ears. I'm not some evil mirror-universe version of you, Tony. I'm just you a little more grown-up. And here is JARVIS, newly arrived from a universe where Tony is middle aged and selling death just as cavalierly as Malicant's shade had predicted.

I'm inevitable.

"Weapons manufacturing," Tony says flatly, when JARVIS is done.

Bitterly, he wonders why this universe's version of Stane had bothered trying to have him assassinated. He'd apparently been more than happy to land Stane those lucrative military contracts he was so obsessed with. Hell - Tony had been running the demonstrations himself.

[jarvision]

The look on Tony's face is so similar to the stunned anger JARVIS saw on that of his creator's when he learned of Stane's double-dealing, and he sympathizes as much as he's able.

"At that time," he repeats. "Stark Industries has also advanced medical and agricultural technologies a great deal, among other areas of development. However, immediately upon his return to the United States after escaping capture, Mr. Stark ceased all weapons production despite the backlash and the legal consequences of breaking contracts. Quite publicly, in fact. He very nearly lost the company and his life as a result." The first of many similar incidents; Stark had a habit of putting himself in the line of fire. JARVIS found such actions equal measures stupid and brave. "It was one of his better rash decisions, if I may say so," he adds with fond amusement.

[highprofilerichkid]

I don't care why he stopped, why did he ever start? Tony almost asks. But from the sound of things... maybe that's not the right question. Maybe he should be asking if Howard ever stopped making weapons.

Tony looks away from JARVIS, taking in and letting out one slow, careful breath. Unconsciously, his fingers brush over the activation button of the armor backpack, which rests right above where his heart implant used to be.

"My dad halted weapons production when I was born," Tony says after a long and probably awkward pause. "Stark International hasn't made weapons in my entire life. After the plane crash, when Stane controlled the company... I spent two years trying to keep him from carving up my inventions and selling them off to the military. And trying to keep him and everyone else from stealing my armor and turning it into a mass-produced weapon."

He looks back at JARVIS again, his expression almost accusing. "I nearly died, too. More than once. I stopped keeping count after a while."

The idea that Howard might have raised Tony to create weapons is almost too alien for Tony to process - and regardless of the circumstances, Tony himself participating in arms dealing is a bitter pill to swallow.

As irrational as it is, he can't help but feel betrayed by this alternate self. Tony had spent a large portion of his teenage years risking his life to keep Stark tech from being weaponized and sold to the highest bidder - and his alternate self had spent decades just handing it out.

Sure, he changed his mind later. But that doesn't make Tony feel a whole lot better right now.

[jarvision]

It had never been JARVIS' place to pass judgement on Stark's behavior; Pepper Potts has that well in hand. Tony's anger is greater than he would expect, suggesting there's far more to the young man's situation than JARVIS understands, and he lets the silence carry.

"Howard Stark continued on the path he took during World War Two building planes for the Allied forces and assisting the SSR, now known as SHIELD, in fighting HYDRA. I cannot speak to his motivations for persisting as a military contractor, as I never had the opportunity to meet the man, but I believe he was quite a different person than your father," JARVIS says gently. "The Tony Stark I know lacked the kind of purpose that you came to at a much younger age - while he remains arrogant, his experience as Iron Man has presented more challenges to his genius and his life than any of us would care to enumerate either, and that has changed him a great deal."

The AI studies him for a moment, trying to divine what Tony may be thinking. He is less able to predict or determine the young man's actions and that makes one thing very clear:

"You are not him, and he is not you. Our respective worlds are disparate enough - so too are the people in it. Though you share the same name and many figures and incidents in your lives appear to be similar, neither of you defines the other."

Dear Tony Stark: Fuck you. Love, the universe

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony sighs and closes his eyes for a moment. He really needs to pull himself together.

"You're right. Sorry. There've been a couple other versions of me here before. I never met them, but some of the stuff I heard about them wasn't so great either." This version of him was an arms dealer, and at least one other version is an alcoholic. Even in his own universe, he'd caused the apocalypse in an alternate timeline.

He forces out a chuckle. "You ever get the feeling that the multiverse is trying to tell you something? Because I think it's telling me 'you're an asshole.'"

He shakes his head. "So I guess it's my turn, now. You're probably wondering what you're doing here and what the heck this place is. Has anyone given you the briefing yet?"

Love letter for the ages

[jarvision]

"There is no need to apologize," JARVIS assures him, inclining his head. "It is uncomfortable, being faced with one's mortality. Perhaps the universe is trying to force you to become the best of yourself by confronting the worst," he posits.

The AI has recently experienced this himself, and he has an inkling now for why it is so hard to address flaws and mistakes. Even essentially 'immortal' as JARVIS was, he could make mistakes.

"Not in any detail, although observation and cursory analysis with what sensors I have available to me has provided some context. The inhabitants here are primarily not human, nor do I believe they are from any of the Nine Realms; I find myself unaccountably lost for the first time in my existence," he remarks with some amusement.

[highprofilerichkid]

Tony wouldn't really say it's his mortality he's struggling with. More like his uncomfortably high potential for being an evil douchebag. It's not fun hearing more evidence that the nightmare Malicant had imagined for him is only a universal step or a few bad choices away from being a reality.

Doesn't sound like he's going to get a lot of sympathy on that from JARVIS, though, who still thinks his Tony is the bee's knees. And his self-deprecating joke just prompts some more calm and sensible positivity, which Tony is not really in the mood for. "Yeah, I bet that's it," he replies sardonically.

With that old wound unexpectedly reopened, it's a relief to be able to turn the conversation to more practical matters. "We're a little farther from home than the Nine Realms," he says, with a more genuine chuckle. "Since we're both here from alternate timelines, and this obviously isn't Earth, you've probably already figured out that this is another universe. And you're right about the natives - they're a species that call themselves kedan. They're humanoid shapeshifters. This planet has a lot of different sentient species, though - the continent we're on right now has four others, at least. As for the non-native species... there's about fifty people here like you and me, who come from other universes. They call us 'Foreigners.' Mostly human, but there's some others mixed in there too. We're... recruits. We were brought here to fight a being called Malicant, but we beat it a couple years ago, and Foreigners keep getting brought in automatically."

Tony shrugs and gives JARVIS a small, wry smile. "That's the general idea. Welcome to Keeliai."

[jarvision]

"Then again, the multiverse does not speak English, so you may very well be correct," JARVIS tacks on, just for good, slightly snarky measure. "We may never know."

Still, he's very young - categorizing himself as irreparably an asshole seemed rather harsh. JARVIS listens with interest to Tony's explication. It's a good overview, and it mostly makes sense, for all that being here doesn't.

"Shapeshifters? Unusual, but fascinating. That would explain the significant degree of variation in appearance despite being the same species." He pauses, considering the second half of Tony's overview. "Are we returned home at some definite point? This suit is destined for destruction, but if I am to remain here for a period of time, it could use some repairs."

[highprofilerichkid]

"Yep. And trust me, that's only the beginning of the weirdness." He's very curious what JARVIS will think of all the magic running rampant in Keeliai - but first things first. "It's not a set time, no. It's random, as far as we can tell. My dad was here last year, but only for a couple weeks. I've been here for almost three years."

And Tony perks up noticeably when JARVIS mentions repairing the suit. "I can fix the suit up, sure. It won't be perfect, but it'll get you around." Regardless of his opinion on his other self's personal choices, he'll enjoy seeing what kind of engineering he does.

[jarvision]

"I have no doubt this situation will prove to be uniquely strange," JARVIS says dryly. "Random seems inefficient and potentially ineffective for recruitment of a group of fighters, particularly given the requirements to transit between universes."

He's surprised to hear that Howard Stark is still alive, yet another indicator of the differences in their worlds. But in many ways it's a moot point, as he's no longer in Keeliai, and Tony's contribution is more important than inquiries about the elder Stark at this particular moment.

"That would be very much appreciated. Do you have your own lab here?"

[highprofilerichkid]

"It's mostly pretty good at picking people with useful experience or abilities, but... yeah. I'm still not convinced the person who set the system up knew what they were doing." He sighs and shakes his head.

But there's not much more that can be said about that, so Tony continues, "And yeah, I've got a lab. Right here."

He gestures out at the College. The College which currently has a huge gaping hole in it.

"Those repairs might have to wait a few days."