[OPEN] Earthquake Event

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Death City
Rating: Varied
Time: Jan 22
Description: OOC post here.



It's early in the morning -- just after morning training -- when the ground beneath Death City shakes violently in what most of you might recognize as an earthquake. It's not a particularly huge one for the more experienced of the guests, but it sends cracks shooting through the cobblestoned ground of Death City and up the sides of some buildings. A small handful of structures, mostly those that have been abandoned in the course of this war or the very old ones, take the most damage and topple over or crumble at their foundations.

The earthquake lasts no more than half a minute, but the vibrations and aftershocks last through the day. Death City's streets become full of holes, from those the size of apples to what could be described as deep ditches. The greatest damage, however, is the commercial sector, which becomes flooded as the waterways take damage and spill water into the streets. Shibusen's alarms blare out and quick, urgent orders to fix the waterways and search for the injured or anyone trapped in rubble filter in through all networks.


ooc: Like always, please feel free to start your own threads. Follow the subject line format:
[Character(s)] [Location/Time] [Close/Open]
This in-game day will last a week irl.

Comments

[socialbutterfly]

No... [He shook his head. Nobody here was from the first batch, technically. They all died.] There are others here who have been around longer than I have.

[sayatakagi]

[she shakes her head. Damnit. As far as she could tell, they'd all stay there for years and years and wouldn't be going home anytime soon]

Let's hope I don't stay here long enough to turn fifty. [she mutters, but doesn't really care if he hears]

[socialbutterfly]

[Minato laughs. He really does loves tsunderes, you know that?]

That'll only happen if we don't try find the answer ourselves.

[sayatakagi]

[you are one of the few]

An answer...? To what exactly, I wonder.

[socialbutterfly]

To the question of how to bring all of us home.

[sayatakagi]

According to Shibusen, all we have to do is to end the war.

It's much easier to be said than done.

[socialbutterfly]

[He nods. No argument there, but hold on. There's a fissure ahead on this road and a lot of water being sprayed everywhere from a busted fire hydrant.

Minato surveys the street.] Even after half a year... How to end the war and even who our enemy is hasn't become clear. Instead of becoming easier, now that Death City isn't always under attack, the truth feels much farther away...

[Heh.] ... Would you believe me if I said, even if a Kishin Egg attacked us now, that this is still much safer than it used to be? [His eyes soften as he smiles. He pushes his palm over the small of her back and gestures with his head a side alley. Wouldn't want you getting wet. as fun as that might be.]

[sayatakagi]

I don't doubt it. People learn from their mistakes, understand what they are lacking and reinforce their weaknesses. They become strong at each attack, instead of weakening. [which is a good thing. Saya is actually praising Shibusen.]

[The girl turns to look at the alley and follows, looking at the floor to avoid falling. She keeps close to Minato, as she walks]

Not only that but, with the influx of people coming from other worlds - many that are at war or in a crisis -, Shibusen can learn even more as well. Guests have different take on things, and eventually different ideas Shibusen hasn't thought of yet. They do well listening to us from time to time. [The Watch, SEES, morning practice and so on. Guests were in charge of those, and that meant they most likely were the ones to develop those ideas too]

[socialbutterfly]

So you're saying we are brought here for our ideas, or to provoke ideas, instead of our roles as weapons and meisters? [Which, in a strange way, makes sense. He's always been saying that everyone is brought for a purpose, but never anything definite like that. It explains the Watch, which was formed in reaction to the misdeeds of another guest, but now acts as the reason they no longer become trapped in the communal for weeks on end. It explains SEES, which exists very different from how Minato intended it because of Souji's custodianship. It explains...

He stops walking--can't look at her and avoid crevices at the same time, after all--and shakes his head appreciatively.] You're really smart, Takagi-san. I would never have thought of that on my own...

[sayatakagi]

[she kept going even if Minato stopped] I'm quite sure we were also brought in to physically fight, and that's what many of us are doing. But there are those who refuse to fight. There are children too. There is a frog alien who thinks he'll conquer Earth by collecting Gundam figures. How does that even work in an actual fight? [Saya shakes her head] Even myself.

It makes no sense for BREW to bring us here just to fight when most of us don't know how. We might be training as new recruits, but let's admit it, we'll never reach Spirit-san's level or Maka-san's level on time for-

[Saya stops and looks back at him, blinking, after she hears his words.]

Of course. I'm a genius. [and really modest too!]

[socialbutterfly]

[That gets a chuckle from him as he hurries to catch up.] Have you thought much about what else you can do..? What BREW brought you to do?

[sayatakagi]

[Saya's expression darkens a little and she nods] I have. But I'm hoping I'm wrong.

[socialbutterfly]

[Unexpected...

Minato tilts his head in askance.] What was your theory?

[sayatakagi]

[She doesn't look at him and actually hurries her pace a little] I'm an apocalypse survivor.

[socialbutterfly]

[Hey... What are you doing? He moves to match her pace.] So in your Japan... the world ended?

[sayatakagi]

It's more complicated than that. [telling someone "oh a zombie apocalypse happened" wasn't exactly easy. And telling someone that she expected it to happen here too would probably make them laugh]

[socialbutterfly]

[But it might be where this conversation is going.] So how does that affect your purpose here?

[sayatakagi]

[For a moment, Saya worries about the ground she is stepping on] I'm not saying BREW brought me here for a specific purpose. I'm saying it's a possibility, not a dogma.

[She then turns her attention to him again] We were brought here to end this war, but you see, there are many ways of ending a war, Minato-san. A war doesn't have to end with a winner and a loser, or it can end with both.

I always wondered if they specified which side they wanted to win and to lose when they asked BREW that wish.

[socialbutterfly]

Hou... [He scratches his chin while he pieces it all together. When he's done, he bops both fists together.]

So what you're saying is that, because we are without knowledge of the original wish, we cannot be certain if BREW's intent is to end the conflict favorably for Shibusen or for Shibusen's enemies. Moreover, because of your experience as an apocalypse survivor, you've also come to the conclusion that there is a third way of ending the war, which would be the total annihilation of both sides. Furthermore, following that third possibility and your role here, you are worried that you have been brought here to either as a mentor to impart the knowledge necessary for survival now or... as a guide in a future in which, even with the war ended, we are all held prisoner on this world.

[He puts his hands back down and looks to Saya.] Is that correct?

[sayatakagi]

Yes. [She nods] Telling this possibility to anyone would make them burst out laughing. In my world, three weeks ago, if I was told we’d have to live through what I’ve lived, I’d laugh too. Until it happened… and then, there is nothing funny about it.

I don’t imagine anyone to take the same precautions as I do or expect it to happen at all. I never expected it either, after all. [she shakes her head] But every morning I look around and ask myself how long it’ll take until suddenly everyone is dying or eating each other. That’s why this option won’t ever leave my head.

[and she probably said too much already. Saya shakes her head] In the end, it doesn’t matter. Not yet, at least. And I hope it won’t matter ever, I really do.

1/2

[socialbutterfly]

[Minato just heard all of it, but he's not laughing. He reaches over and pats her twice on the back.] We'll keep it from mattering, Takagi-san. Don't worry. The End is never something inevitable. Our futures are not written down by fate to be followed unerringly towards disaster or despair.

[He maneuvers to step in front of her, to force her to stop and to look at him.] If BREW brought you because you're an apocalypse survivor, then it brought me for a different reason...

Saya-chan...

[socialbutterfly]

[And with the easiest, calmest smile.] I've stopped an apocalypse before.

[sayatakagi]

[She stops, listening to him. At his last words, Saya stares at him for a moment, and then smiles just a little.]

Aha. I guess it’d have been nice to have someone like you in my world.

[socialbutterfly]

I'd have asked you out a lot... I'm not sure if you'd have enjoyed that.

[sayatakagi]

Tsu-! What the hell?! Don't say those things!

[she huffs and moves, so they'd keep walking]