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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citycenter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
citylogs2023-07-19 08:45 pm
no subject
Well, I heard if you go far enough up top, things get foggy and you end up turned around. [ Soo- ] Won't be bad to see how far we go though. Measure the distance if anything happens.
[ It's not spoken like a question, but he looks at the other guy to see what he thinks. See what's down there, see how far they get, right? ]
no subject
[That's actually a little disheartening for Izuku to hear. He'd been so hopeful that this could be a decent lead to get him and everyone out of this empty place and yet to hear that there's yet another trick that turns them around at the end has Izuku feeling... some kind of way. He needed that hope.
But he quickly swallows his doubt and nods.]
If that's the case it wouldn't be a bad idea to see how far we can go to travel before that happens, yeah. I ... I still want to see if all of that's true, too.
[He smiles sheepishly.]
I'm Izuku, by the way. It's nice not going alone.
no subject
Misery loves company. Lost people, too. ]
Robby, [ he offers back, tips his head with the exchange, and pulls a humoured smile. ] None of this makes sense to me either, so the company's great.
[ The similar company, that is. He raises the bag in his hand, the plastic crinkling. ]
I got some paper, pen and a tape. I don't know if it'll stick around, but we'll know if we get turned back if we see it again.
no subject
Yeah, I think so too.
[And the not-being-alone thing.]
That's a great idea, we could put some markers up as we go. I also have a map where we can mark which way we've gone as well as where exactly we get turned around.
[He looks down the empty and cold looking train tunnel.]
Let's start with this way.
no subject
[ Because they can decide quickly how they want to measure the distance--do it every twenty feet? Twenty five?--by guesstimating via the map. Just a quick decision, and Robby will peer at the map if Izuku shows it too.
Things that can be handwaved.And with that done, Robby will give the train tunnel a look in each direction himself, the feeling there that a train might come from nowhere, despite the lack of sound. He ignores it, hopping down onto the tracks, walking over to the wall where the space starts to close it, and puts up in marker pen the first sheet.
[STATION NAME] TO [STATION NAME]
0 [FEET]
It's stuck up with simple tape, enough that it shouldn't just fall off. When Robby's done, he looks back at Izuku, and huffs. ]
First time for everything, huh.
[ Like tunnel searching and keeping track of the distance. ]
no subject
That works well. Okay. Let's go.
[He nods.]
I never expected I'd be tracking train station tunnels in a strange empty city, no. That's a first for me too.
[It's a little depressing.]
no subject
[ Robby can't be exactly sure of the guy's age, but maybe the thought of it's been in his mind. If he comes from the normal kind of life that Robby can imagine, anyway. ]
no subject
After I get through high school, yeah. I'm in a hero course so college is a bit different for me.
[So, he's high school aged and Izuku is thinking Robby looks about the same age? Seventeen or so?]
Ah, I've noticed a lot of people here haven't heard of hero courses. It means I'm taking regular classes on top of training to be a professional hero. It's like... police and military combined.
no subject
Really? You just started that? [ ...maybe he's a little older, or just at the time that someone can enrol in something like that? Not that Robby really knows the exact age someone can enrol in the army where he's from, but--that sounds pretty big, to Robby.
(Also, a professional hero? Cringe title.) ]
no subject
Hm! I'm in my first year going into my second year. Once I finish my third year in high school I'll move on to college courses and internships to become a pro.
[Cringe, but Izuku is free.]
What about you, Robby-san? Are you in school? Studying anything you like?
[As they walk along nothing much happens. It's such a long dark tunnel of nothingness. But the farther they go they'll start to feel the weight of metal and stale air...]
no subject
Robby will need to keep some attention on how far they go in. He at least knows his measurements, stopping around the agreed measurement, and taking out the sketchpad and marker pen for the next point. A simply written message as: ]
Nope, I got expelled last year. I was trying to get back in my old school, or doing something else.
[ And he'll tear that off, and tape it onto the wall. ]
But it's cool, [ he says with a one-shouldered shrug. ] I'll get a GED, go into community college.
[ But, with a humoured raise of his brows: ]
Don't think I'd get into a hero school.
[ Granted, he can still probably sign up for the army anyway..... ]
no subject
But Izuku doesn't try to judge too hard. Robby seems like a nice person. He has no reason to think he's actually a bad kid. Just stopping to wait for Robby to tape the measurement to the wall makes him think so too.]
There's all sorts of things that fall into the category of being a hero, Robby-san. I'm sure you'd have a fair chance.
no subject
Yeah? Sounds too exciting for me, anyway. [ Naah, no thanks. But there's nothing self-deprecating or else in his tone about it. He puts the marker pen back away, the paper pad too. ]
But I guess uh, this is the first time you've heard of...different worlds existing, coming here. Different realities?
[ Is that what's meant to be happening? But Robby questions it, not sure exactly if he's even describing the apparent events right. Someone doesn't think about sci-fi very hard... ]
no subject
As they start walking again they will notice that the tunnel seems to get darker. And a strange sort of lightheadedness starts to fill their heads. Like the air is thin...]
Ahh... This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me. I've been thrown through warp portals before but this is nothing like that. Different worlds... I only dreamed about that sort of thing before.
[This isn't exactly what he dreamed of, though. This is way creepier.]
I think I've always thought that other worlds existed but... Coming together like this?
no subject
Though, sorry. He does need to stop to keep track, but also look at Midoriya with a puzzled expression. ]
Warp...portals?
no subject
Ahh... Yeah. It was a villain's quirk that was used on me once or twice before.
[He tilts his head.]
A quirk. It's like ... a superpower.
no subject
[ Apparently, 'hero' alone is innocent enough not to ding Robby's brain. ]
What power can you do?
[ Also, very important question? Even if Robby's asking it more baffled than anything. ]
no subject
Erm, well...! In my world almost everyone has something like a power so using the term "super" isn't as common these days. Since... "super" has become ... normal?
[He laughs sheepishly and then lifts a hand to clench into a fist.]
But for my quirk, I can augment my strength to increase in different percentage levels.
[It means he's really strong if he wants to be!]
no subject
no, Robby, they didn't. And he seems to realise this, as he looks back at Izuku...uncertainly, but: ] Can you show me later?
[ There's got to be a great way to prove this.... time to find some cinder blocks around here. ]
no subject
... Ah, I could... try punching the cement wall right now?
[Not later! Because sometimes boys will be boys even in weird "dark tunnel" situations like this one.]
I'll admit my power isn't as strong as it usually is. My quirk hasn't been working at full capacity since I got here. I think it has something to do with this place... But I can still try showing you.
no subject
[ There's a way Robby asks it--or rather, says it with an unbelieving tone. 25% curiosity, the rest of it Doubt when he looks at Izuku's frame and is making assumptions over here. Even if this guy is saying he has superpower-slash-quirks... ]
We can try something easier. [ ''Easier''. You know, that isn't a concrete wall. What if he hurts himself?
Robby truly has little experience with superheroes, here. ]
no subject
Izuku glances around curiously. They're in a blank tunnel with nothing around but darkness and the odd dust bunny. So he simply shrugs and goes towards the tunnel wall.]
It's ... It's alright. I'll try it here. Although I hope no one minds a bit of damage to the cement. How about ... three percent.
[But then again he's slowly learning it's okay to do things like this because no one is going to reprimand him for it. Therefore Izuku clenches a fist and lets power cycle through his body. A light green crackle of electricity will crawl all over his skin before Izuku winds up and punches a sizable crater into the cement wall. Pow!!]
Ahhh!!
no subject
If this is what he wants to try and do, well... he knows the guy's unlikely to do permanent damage to himself. Most likely.
But if there's a way to prove you have powers?
Yeah, all of what Izuku just did? Pretty fucking good proof.
Because even the glow that crackles around Izuku's limbs is enough to get Robby's eyes widening, even before the fist hits stone, and it's the stone that buckles for Izuku. He's stunned silent, until a small 'what the fuck?' can escape under his breath that--honestly, he was holding onto for no good reason.
But also: what the fuck? Please, just let him look between Izuku, the wall, Izuku...
... and slowly walk towards the wall, so he can just...see that his eyes aren't playing tricks on him?
But finally, finally, he'll look at Izuku and say: ]
Holy shit?
[ holy shit, dude. ]
no subject
He turns to Robby and sheepishly rubs the back of his head.]
Ahah... Yeah! So, that's my quirk. Or my superpower, I guess.
[He guesses! At least now Robby knows if he ever needs like- a heavy fridge moved or something- Izuku can do it.]
no subject
[ Okay, Robby can get the mood here, but also, dude? Dude.
Robby will come down from his surprise (some), making a huff sound as he looks at the wall one last time, and then their surroundings. ]
Too bad we're not being trapped by one large wall around the city. [ Honestly. And looking down the tunnel... ]
Guess you don't, uh, have any experience with getting your mind messed with either? If we end up turned around...
[ Would Izuku even notice? ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
🎀 going to wrap this one up here with some handwaving!