THE THINGS I GAVE YOU.
» THE BANK — INTRODUCTORY NOTES
District 2 is open, bringing with it access to new and interesting locations—including the city's main bank branch. The bank is a large building with a stone exterior, wrought iron grating on the windows, and large, heavy metal doors that take surprisingly little effort to open, their hinges silent and well-oiled.
Early in the day on July 19, characters in the vicinity of the bank will hear first a low, metallic creaking sound from inside the building, like metal straining against metal. This is followed by the sharper noise of locks disengaging, and then the large, heavy doors on the front of the building swing open slightly, enough to let a person through.
Directly inside the doors is the bank lobby, and beyond that is the main banking floor, with elegant marble flooring and dimly lit chandeliers. It would appear that this was once the main commercial bank of the city, although it is now completely empty, with no tellers behind the counters and no cash in any of the drawers.
You may rifle through the tills and filing cabinets to your heart's content, but similar to the files in City Hall, there is no useful information to be found—all the papers are blank, or are empty forms without any personally identifying information. There are no monetary devices to be found either; this is, after all, not a city that operates on a cash system, so there are no coins or paper bills in any of the tills or, indeed, anywhere within the bank.
What you might be able to find, though, is a rack of delicate, burnished brass keys on a wall toward the back of the main banking hall. Each of these keys is attached to a stamped metal keychain bearing a name on one side and a number on the other. Some of these may be names you recognize, and some of them may not, but they are all names belonging to current residents of the city, and each key corresponds to a safety deposit box within the vault at the back of the building. Can you remember what you stored in that box for safekeeping? Maybe you had better go find out.
At the back of the main banking hall is a vault secured with a large circular metal door. The door is currently unlocked and propped open; it can be closed, but cannot be locked (intentionally, anyway) from either the inside or the outside. The vault contains row upon row of safety deposit boxes, each locked. Participating characters who are in possession of a key can open their own safety deposit box, but it is not currently possible to force open any safety deposit box that does not belong to them. After August 1, players will be able to use their safety deposit boxes to store their own belongings, and break-ins will become possible with prior player permission and appropriate consequences.
Below sections detail the safety deposit boxes for both choose-your-own-adventure players and randomized players! Please see the randomized matches for this event HERE.
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IT'S TRUE, PEOPLE TAKE THINGS BUT RARELY.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A SELF-GUIDED TOUR
For some of you, getting into your safety deposit box is quite straightforward.
You take your key from the rack behind the teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—something that shouldn't be there. It's yours, that much you're sure of, but you didn't bring it with you to the city. You reach into the box to pick it up, and the surge of memory is immediate, sending your mind back to your strongest memory associated with the item in your hand.
Then the vault door swings shut, trapping you inside with whoever else has the misfortune of sharing the vault with you right now. No matter what force you try, the door won't open again. There doesn't appear to even be a mechanism that unlocks the door from the inside, and from within several feet of metal and stone, no one on the outside will be able to hear you shout. It seems hopeless—how long can anyone last, trapped in a place like this?
Should you turn back to the open safety deposit box, you might notice a slip of paper resting on the bottom. The paper looks aged, like it's been in the box for quite some time, and in printed text it reads: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it."
Maybe it means you should let another hold the item you've retrieved from the box… or maybe it means you should share the weight of memory. Try to interpret the meaning in whatever way you can. But should you decide to unburden yourself, and share with someone else the weight of the item you're holding in your hands, you may find that there's a means of escape after all.
Once you free yourself from the vault, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who wish to participate in the event, but who do not wish to randomize the contents of their safety deposit boxes, can open their safety deposit boxes to find an emotionally significant item belonging to the character—player's choice as to what the item is. The only guidelines are that it should be small enough to fit reasonably in a pocket and may not have any magical or weapon properties. Similarly, players are able to choose the memories associated with the items in the safety deposit boxes. The vault door will remain closed until the characters in the vault explain to each other the significance of their items and the memory associated with them, at which point it the vault mechanisms will disengage and the door will swing open as if it had never closed to begin with. However, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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A CRASH-SITE IS SACRED, WE'RE FAITHFUL.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A JOINT VENTURE
For others of you, the contents of the safety deposit box may be considerably more disconcerting.
You also take your safety deposit box key from the rack behind the bank teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—wait, what is that? It certainly doesn't belong to you. Tucked inside the safety deposit box alongside the item is a slip of paper with another name on it, as well as a cryptic message: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it." The item isn't yours, but it does appear to belong to another resident of the city. Maybe your safety deposit boxes somehow got mixed up? It seems like it would be a good idea to find this person and return their property to them.
Whether you encounter the owner of the item in the vault or elsewhere in the city, when it comes time to hand the item over, two things happen. One—the doors are locked tight, refusing to allow either you or the item's owner out until you both understand what the item is and what it means to the other. To unburden your heart is the only way to free yourself.
And two—as the owner of the item explains its significance, you find yourself oddly captivated, resonating strongly with whatever emotion the item's owner most closely associates with it. You may not be able to see the memory that the other person describes, but you can certainly feel the emotions they felt—after all, the easiest way to unburden oneself is to share the load with another. Isn't that right?
Once you free yourself from your enthralled state, and once you have your own belongings returned to you, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who opted to randomize the contents of their safety deposit box during the plotting post, or who plotted a joint experience with another character, will open their safety deposit boxes to find a small, non-magical but emotionally significant item belonging to another player character in the city. They will need to find the owner of that item and return it to them—this can either be inside the bank vault or in another location within the city. Regardless of where the meeting takes place, the character holding the item will find themselves unable to leave until the character who owns the item explains its significance; as they do, the holder of the item will find themselves swept up in the emotional highs and lows of the memories associated with that item, allowing them to share all of the feelings, regrets, joys, griefs, and rages that the owner experiences in the telling. Additionally, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.
This month's event headers come from "The Things" and "The Gatherer," two poems by Brendan Constantine. The text of the paper slip comes from Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed.
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citylogs2023-07-19 08:45 pm
no subject
[Junpei himself has a whole dossier of Theories at this point, ranging from "it's magic, which is real now by the way!!" to "we are in a simulation and the software is updating real slow." It's his hobby, which—well, he should get more hobbies, absolutely. One of these days.
Still; he too is relieved to have some noise in the room other than the noise of opening these boxes, and the otherwise-oppressive silence. Small talk (theorycrafting version) is great, and—
—And the door is shutting?! He whips around at the sound of it, jerking his own arm stuck in the wall and swearing at it, as the door clicks its locks shut.]
Wait, what? There's nothing in here! [He slides his arm back and forth in the space for emphasis; he wishes there was a switch in here, because then he could just press it again! But no.] That wasn't me, I swear!
[And now he addresses... the ceiling, figuring if someone is listening and/or watching them, it'll be from there somehow:] And if I did, that doesn't count! Come on, man, do-over!
no subject
This kind of thing usually has some sort of cryptic clue, or a key somewhere we're not seeing, ...something! Let's be quick about it because I'm not keen on giving enough time for us to learn if it's a do-or-die affair.
[ Nodding to him, Lenore decides to cover different ground by moving over to the table to slide her hands along the bottom side of it. Finding nothing, she ducks underneath it to take a direct look for good measure. Her voice comes up from there a second later. ]
Do you see anything?
no subject
[Unless they're hidden around here somewhere else, which might just be the case. He lets out a short sigh, frustrated, and after one last glare up at the ceiling he more vigorously continues feeling around inside of the wall. There's nothing in there, either - not even a crack to try and pry a fingernail into - and so after a moment he tugs his arm free and rubs at his shoulder, squinting into the open slot instead.]
Nothing in here. I wonder if we should have grabbed more keys on the way in.
[But that would have been a dick move, and Junpei's firmly on the side of not starting shit with their fellow captives lest he be the next one to get murdered and forget about it, so - dick move.
He leaves the slot in the wall open but moves over to his box on the table, swinging the cover shut so he can pick the whole thing up and hold it up, scrutinizing every side for something that stands out.]
Anything under the table? Hey, does it move?
no subject
[ Thumpthumpthump BANG. She's rattling and hitting around the underside of that poor piece of furniture with a vengeance, but alas. Nothing. A heavy silence follows as it settles in that brute forcing the table to reveal a switch, secret compartment, ANYTHING won't work.
Then a deeply felt sigh rises as Lenore extricates herself from under the table; shaking the ache out of her hand as she stands. Not one to give up when knocked down--metaphorically--she immediately jumps into trying to push the heavy set table. It doesn't budge at all. Rather her shoes squeak on the pristine floors as those slip instead. When Lenore gives up on the prospect she slumps against the table of the wooden surface.
In all that commotion a little piece of paper flutters from the top of the table to the ground without her notice. ]
So, no. I can't say that it does either of those things. Perhaps we could just,
[ A fist to open palm motion. ]
Force it open?
no subject
Rip the door open? Yeah, I'll try that. Hold on, let me grab this stupid thing—
[And he does, and he makes a face as he is very briefly elsewhere, and then he shoves the chunky watch-bracelet-thing into a pocket of his jacket and shakes his hands out, like touching it was super disgusting in a more literal, visceral way. Ugh.
But that's an issue for another time—after trying to rip open a vault door, specifically. He heads for it, leaning close to peer at it and take a wild guess at which side of it would be the best to pull on.]
How about we each pull a side? C'mon, I'll get this one. It can't be that hard to open...
[If he thinks that hard enough, it'll come true!! Anyway - pull time.]
SORRY I fell off the side of the earth
Right then, let's give this a go. If there ever was a time for some bravado it would be now.
[ Planting a leg on the wall for leverage alongside grabbing holding of the other side of the door she promptly joins him in the effort. It takes some adjusting to get a good hand hold in the grooves in the bank door, but once achieved she's confident it's a strong grip she's got. Casting an encouraging smile and nod over at Junpei, she's also checking to see if he looks ready. ]
On the count of three. One, Two—
[ —But on "Two" Lenore is already jumping the gun by pulling on the metal door already. ]
welcome back to the world
And then he has to let go, swearing under his breath and shaking out his hands. Ouch.]
It must be locked from the other side.
[Surely there's something over here though, a card reader or a- a coin slot or something!! He's looking again, getting more and more frustrated until he raises a fist like he might just try and punch this metal door—but no, he just sort of thunks his hand into it, sighing.]
Okay. We're locked in. And there wasn't any kind of announcement... shit.
[aaaAAAAA--he's fine.] Does your phone work? I mean, we're in a big metal box, but let's cross off all hope of rescue just to be sure.
tyty
Crestfallen, Lenore slides down the surface of her half of the door to fall into sit on the floor. She sighs. ]
Presumably so. Unfamiliar as I am with it I've been using it sparingly— ...
[ ... ]
[ There sits that slip of paper that had fluttered off the table earlier. It really would be SOMETHING if they'd both missed it earlier, so she spends this stunned silence squinting at it to determine if it's really there. ]
no subject
[Junpei gives the door two- no, three more listless thunks with the side of his fist, before he truly gives up on it moving. Not a card reader in sight, and they've already inspected the only piece of furniture in the room. That leaves the many, many deposit boxes, but he doesn't have anything he could lockpick...
Actually. Well—first he too gives up and sits on the floor, opposite his vault companion, to take that ugly bracelet out of his pocket again and start fiddling with it. This thing's supposed to have needles in it, so if he can get it to pop them out maybe he can snap one off and make a lockpick! He doesn't know how to make a lockpick!
So:] This is still on topic, I swear: do you know how to make lockpicks? Maybe... uh.
[Oh, nope, he's seen it. There's a piece of paper sitting there, right on the floor.]
Is that yours?
no subject
[ No don't call? No. No she doesn't know? No. No, it shouldn't be hers. The distracted sounding denial is indeed an automatic one while she shuffles along the nice marble floors to retrieve it. That impropriety lasts for about half way before she sticks her leg out to slide the slip of paper the rest of the way with the ball of her foot. Now a little wrinkled the paper is expeditiously flipped over and Lenore's eyes quickly flit over the lines imprinted on the page. ]
...Yes? Apparently so. It looks to be a hint. Albeit not a very helpful one.
[ Hurrying back over to their makeshift rest area—this time properly standing and walking to get there—Lenore sits cross-legged nearby to hold the note for him to see.
"Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it." What does THAT mean? ]
[ Her gaze is drawn to the bracelet only because he's been fiddling with it so. More-so to look through it as the cogs turn rather than look at it. ]
no subject
Well good, because he didn't want this stupid bracelet anyway— which he'll think in a moment, after he clues in. He's thinking about it like a riddle for a solid beat at first, before he too looks down at the bracelet.
Hmm.]
Bullshit. What the hell is the point of that? I want to use the door, not anything in here!
[UUGGHHHHHHH--he's fine. He's got it. He's looking up to bitch at the ceiling again:]
What's the third option, huh?! What about just getting out of here without this trash?
no subject
[ It's just a matter of fact that they've both stared down at the bracelet now. That is until she glowers over at the vial of ether she'd left on the table top in all of the commotion earlier. There is a correlation there. For all she knows this is a stab in the dark; there was a raven that once accused her of being perception, often entirely by accident. So there is also that. ]
Did you happen to receive something unpleasant in your deposit box?
no subject
[It's the bracelet!! In a shocking turn of events. He holds it up, even though they've both stared at it already. Even though it doesn't seem to be working, he's still hesitant to let anyone else touch it—it might just want to turn on and start stabbing people in the arm when those people aren't him, who knows.
But it's the bracelet. He glances up at the table.]
You?