(april intro) WELCOME TO WAYWARD PINES!

[officialnotice]

INTRODUCTION LOG

waking up

There was an accident. That's basically the only thing you know for certain. Maybe a car wreck - metal and broken glass everywhere, and the sirens and the screaming. Or maybe there was an explosion. Maybe your bike hit a rock and you careened uncontrollably off a mountain path. You can't can't quite make out the details, not who was at fault or why. Try as you might, the chaos is all you can remember.

It's also the last thing you remember from before you wake up here.

When you open your eyes, the accident is gone. Instead, you're in a hospital bed. You're sluggish, covered in a scattering of minor injuries you only vaguely remember getting, not to mention the vaguely-healed remnants of any wounds you might've had before.

It's a shame you won't be able to tell the difference between the two. Your memories are an indiscernible fog if not absent altogether, only a few standing out in your mind with any kind of certainty.

Whether or not the room's empty when you wake, it's not for long. Nurses bustle in looking a bit tired and worn at the edges, like a blurred photograph. They take your vitals and ask your name and anything else you might remember with an air of exhausted distraction about them, and maybe even eye your bed with a look of vacant yearning for a moment before managing to rouse themselves again. Welcome to Wayward Pines, they tell you. You'll make a full recovery here.

Much of what you say (especially anything unusual, anything about monsters or magic or outlandish technology) will earn placating speculation of head trauma “from the accident”. You'll be told to stay put, not to push yourself, and to wait for the doctor to clear you before you leave... though it might be awhile. Then you'll be left alone. The hospital's population is quadruple the usual, and you get the impression the nurses are working themselves ragged just running damage control. You can even leave your room without much fuss - whichever doctor or nurse intercepts you gets called away almost immediately to deal with something even more pressing.

There was an outbreak last week after all, some of the more chatty staff might be persuaded to share. Oh, nothing to worry about now, it's all been taken care of, but there's always so many details to take care of after a scare like that and, look, you should probably come straight back to the hospital if you start feeling sick, okay? Just in case. But honestly, you have nothing to worry about.

Mingle, visit your fellow patients, worry a bit anyway, even poke around for a few basic answers. Or maybe, maybe just stroll right on out the front door.

heading outside

One step outside and it's perfectly clear that your hospital gown simply isn't going to cut it for long. A crisp winter wind whips at you through the thin cloth and all around your is the slowly melting evidence of an earlier snow storm, clumps of dirty snow along the edges of buildings and sidewalks, sad misshapen snowmen sliding into slush across a few front lawns. You're probably standing in a small puddle right now, just by a simple law of averages. Geez that water's cold.

Trees line the street at regular intervals, carefully manicured and lightly dusted in snow. Cars cruise by at a safe and respectable speed. Pedestrians spare you glances, some wary and some concerned.

This isn't even the picturesque city center, though a colorful nearby sign reads "Main Street" with an arrow pointing due south, followed in smaller font by a list of businesses you don't recognize and one that you might: Wayward Pines Police Department. Whether you asked for yourself or simply overheard, you've likely caught wind by now that all of your earthly possessions now lie with the Sheriff until you see fit to claim them.

Might as well head that way, right?

items reclaimed

So you've visited the Wayward Pines Police Department and reclaimed... well. Most of your stuff, anyway, though you can't quite remember what's missing, and asking the sheriff only gets you a harried look and a form to fill out if you have any concerns. Best to put it out of mind, as you head down the steps toward the Main Street sidewalk. At the very least, pedestrians have stopped looking at you like you're sick or crazy. (Then again, depending on what you're wearing, maybe it's gotten worse.)

The sheriff also forked over what looks like the key to a house ("A cozy place to stay while you're here in town."), and a general direction to start looking for the house that key belongs to, the sheriff pulled away to deal with some other pressing issue before he could give you more detailed instructions. You could check it out, see what kind of digs they're putting you up in. If you can even find it, that is.

Or you could stick around Main Street and sight-see a little. Also a perfectly viable option. Hell, maybe it'll jog your memory a little. A few of the shops do feel inexplicably familiar...

MOD NOTES

Welcome to the third newbie mingle log!

This log is meant to cover characters' first day in Wayward Pines. For the most part, only the five memories detailed in your character's application are remembered throughout the duration of this log, although the first couple of false Wayward Pines memories might begin to surface (in those who've opted to utilize this mechanic) as the day wears on. These memories, as noted in the FAQ, feel very real and are accompanied by as much emotion or sentiment as a real memory would be.

PLEASE INCLUDE IN SUBJECT LINE: Character Name, location, and Open or Closed, to help keep things a bit more organized.

If you have any questions regarding this intro log, feel free to ask them on the FAQ or the relevant plurk.

Comments

Sissel | OTA

[corenundrum]

Here, there, everywhere
There's a small black kitten taking up an entire sick bed in the hospital, appearing even smaller on the human-sized mattress. He seems unharmed though with how he looks, he may even appear dead. His body hardly seems to move with any signs of breathing. Maybe touching him would help?

Once he's awake, he just opens his eyes and sits up, peering around calmly, then doing the cat thing by jumping right out the window. (They really shouldn't have kept that thing open.) After that, he can be found wandering around Main Street, meowing at people and getting underfoot to get their attention, lounging atop a bench, staring with wide eyes at people passing by from his perch by a store front, or lying prone and unmoving. Again. Is he dead?

He'll eventually find his way to the police station to retrieve his trademark bandanna, leaping atop the counter to allow a poor unfortunate soul to tie it around his neck while giving him directions and a key to his house. Thankfully, he does get the key tucked into the bandanna but how is a cat supposed to get into his house?!


Spoopy things
Whether it's near or far away from the prone body of a black kitten, there are spooky things underway. Maybe that service bell on your table just rang without you touching it, maybe a ball just rolled seemingly of its own volition, maybe a cabinet door snapped open to knock a bottle of pepper off the counter and onto the floor, or maybe a piece of paper came loose from its tack on a board. The little things start to add up eventually.


Option for dead people
Since he woke up, Sissel has been hopping in and out of the ghost world, where time is frozen and the 'cores' of each inanimate object is visible for him to travel to. It does have the unfortunate side effect of leaving his kitten body prone and unmoving, but the things he can do from there are pretty exhilarating. Particular the parts where he can knock stuff over. That's always a joy.

Eventually, he does come across people with those same cores, if of a slightly different color. It's fascinating enough that he will try to get physically close to the person and link his spirit to their cores. The link allows everything he's thinking to be transferred into the other person's mind and the first thing he says is:

Hello?

Main Street

[toten_sie]

The second he hears the 'meow' from below him, Randel's looking and crouching down to offer a hand for a sniff and perhaps a pet. He gives the kitten a warm, friendly smile.

"Hello there. How're you doing, little one?"

He doesn't have any food on him, but he'll help him look for some if it seems like he wants something. Otherwise, he's happy to offer scritches and affection; Randel doesn't know why, but the cat seems familiar. Or maybe just cats in general seem familiar. Did he own a cat? He's not sure. Can't tell. But the idea sounds nice.

[corenundrum]

Lost, actually. He thinks inaudibly. He makes a pleasured mew at the scritches, even purring as he rubs against that hand. He thinks he likes this part about being a cat. I'd say this is what every cat lives for. He declares, once again inaudibly.

Since Randel has crouched down, he's going to wander and brush up against his ankles too.

[toten_sie]

There is a lot of weird going on right now and his head is a mess, but if there's on thing that feels right in this place, it's scritching a cat and the feel of fur around his ankles. Careful not to hurt the little creature, he settles down on the ground to sit and offers his lap and both hands for more scritching.

"You're the first familiar thing I've found in this whole place, it feels like," he murmurs to himself. "I wish I had something to feed you, but all I have is my pack and my clothes and... well, apparently, a house."

[corenundrum]

Sissel climbs onto his lap obligingly. No sense saying no when there's an offer right there. While he takes a moment to just shut his eyes and purr, his sharp yellow eyes open as Randel talks. Lucky. I haven't found anything familiar yet. And don't worry. I'm not hungry.

He perks up at the mention of a house and clothes though. Cats don't wear clothes, that's for sure. But something does feel like it's missing. Getting to his feet, he's going to circle the seated Randel and reach up on his hind legs to pat at his pack.

[toten_sie]

Sissel may not be the first and will definitely not be the last to discover that despite Randel's size, he is quite literally a pushover. He turns with a bit of a blink at the cat's behavior before frowning and carefully pulling himself to his feet, looking to the cat again with a tilt of his head towards the street.

"Are we going somewhere, kitten?"

[corenundrum]

Sissel lets out a heartfelt mew and does a good impression of attempting to climb up his leg, staring pointedly at his pack. That. I want to find that. Guess it's a bit of a problem when I can't talk to you.

[appetitive]

Now that Magnus is feeling a little more settled in, wearing his usual style of clothing in the form of a black velvet three-piece suit and loudly-patterned silk shirt, he feels much more comfortable while walking around. It's strange to think that he has to explore the town that he's made his home, something that should be intimately familiar and yet without a single spark of nostalgia attached to the sights or people. Without many concrete recollections to guide him, he's making the best of the situation and simply meandering in hopes that he'll stumble upon something to jar his memory. At least the weather is nice enough that he's enjoying a stroll down Main Street.

His steps slow as he comes across what looks like a tiny black puddle to one side of the sidewalk that, as he approaches, solidifies into the shape of a kitten. Rushing forward and crouching down, he runs a hand through the air above the feline, not touching so much as sensing. Theoretically, he knows that he can perform magic, but everything he's done so far has been thanks to instinct rather than conscious effort. Now, he reaches out and tries to do... well, anything. He can feel energy in the little body, which makes him sigh with relief before glancing from side to side and scooping the kitten into his hand.

"It's not safe for you on the side of the road, gumdrop" he said softly, walking over to a bench in front of one of the main stores lining the street. Sitting down, he carefully laid the kitten in his lap. "I wonder where the rest of you has gone?"

[corenundrum]

Sissel has gone on a little adventure of his own. He does consider that leaving his body prone like that can be dangerous but the urge for discovery is also strong. He's lying next to a flower shop, having zipped his spirit onto a core of a pot. He's wandered into the shop with its closed door that way but thankfully, not far enough that he doesn't catch sight of Magnus picking his kitten body up.

Bidding goodbye to the door bell by ringing it, he zips back onto his body, repossessing it and manipulating it back to life. Or at least, in the semblance of life. His large yellow eyes open. He stretches and meows, peering up at Magnus curiously.

Don't move my body. It's the only one I have.

[appetitive]

Attention drawn over his shoulder by the sound of a bell somewhere, Magnus feels something brush past his shoulder before the cat stirs in his lap. Peering back down at the kitten, he smiles to see cat eyes not unlike his own golden ones, slitted pupils dilating at the sight below him. Maybe it was the abnormality of his eyes that was the source of his fondness for felines, or maybe they were just more suited to her personality than dogs were.

Rubbing his thumb over the back of the cat's ear, his eyes widen and mouth falls open slightly as a voice reaches out to him. "Well," he says, trying to find words. The statement was so casual, so perhaps it was best to respond in kind. "It would be strange to have more than one body, wouldn't it?"

[corenundrum]

The words are thoughts really. His blinks at Magnus, tail swaying with interest as he sits up in his lap.

"Maybe. I wouldn't know." He tilts his head. "You can hear me. That's interesting."

[appetitive]

A thought crosses his mind that it might be strange to have a conversation with a cat while petting it—perhaps no odder than a conversation with a cat in the first place—but he hasn't received a protest. "I suppose it depends on which definition of 'body' we're working with," he replied with a laugh. Tilting his head to one side, he smiled down at the cat. "Don't talk to many people?"

[corenundrum]

The way his tail flicked about seemed to indicate he was enjoying it. Or what little of it he could feel.

"Not since I woke up," he answered. "I can possess objects. Would that count as a body?"

Hospital

[babyhunter]

Clary was taking her time and exploring the long daunting halls of the hospital. They told her to wait for the doctor to discharge her before leaving which Clary interrupted as, don’t leave the hospital. That meant that everything inside of the hospital was fair game. She didn’t feel so weird in the hospital gown, not while she was in the hospital anyway. She’d asked a nurse about her own clothes and had been told it’s at the sheirff’s station before the woman hurried off.

That was a stupid place to take someone’s clothes.

Her time moving through the hospital was rather uneventful so she began peeking into the different rooms just to see who was there. Clary wasn’t good at leaving well enough alone. She paused when she spotted the small black cat.

"I didn’t know they treated animals here." It seemed odd.

Clary stepped forward, running her fingers along the cats back when she got close enough. It looked like it was alive… maybe?

[corenundrum]

The body was neither warm nor cold and it didn't move with every breath. But upon her touching him, the kitten stirred to life, lifting his head and peering at her with large yellow eyes. He let out a soft mew and got to his feet, turning in place before nudging at her hand with his head. Hello.

[babyhunter]

Clary felt her lips tug into a warm smile. That was cute. Her fingers brushed over the cat's head and then scratched affectionately beneath his chin. She liked animals though it was still rather confusing to see a cat in a hospital.

It was probably fine.

"Hi there." She greeted the cat in a normal voice. She was never one for baby talk. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

[corenundrum]

Me too. Guess I do have nine lives. He answered, not knowing she can't hear him. His head angled upwards at the affectionate scritch and he even purred in encouragement. Though the general hubbub outside got his attention again. His tail perked up and he peered around her towards the door as a nurse walked past, alert.

[babyhunter]

Clary can't hear him but he did sounds pleased as she brushed her fingers along his fur.

"I bet you want to leave too. Where is you owner? I can help you find them." It'd give her a little something more to do but it wasn't as if the cat could really give her a description of anyone he might be looking for.

[corenundrum]

That's nice of you. Don't think I have any though.

He meowed again in response, looking around the room before focusing his attention on the open window. His tail flicked once in response and he very much looked like he was tempted to jump right out of there.

everywhere → spoopy?

[paragon]

[ The first lands on a Saturday this month. Which means it's not a school day, and Steve is free to keep an eye out as the day goes on — if last month was any indication, coming to in the hospital surrounded by others presumably admitted at the same time hadn't just been an accident by any definition, but rather a planned, deliberate occurrence. Sure enough, people start wandering from that direction in various states of dress and confusion not long after Steve returns home from his morning run.

When he looks out of the kitchen window sometime in the afternoon and sees an unfamiliar cat circling one of the houses across the street, he doesn't think much of it.

It's not much later in the day that a bell jingles, and Steve looks down to see a cat toy roll out from beneath the sofa. ] Liho? What are you doing under the couch, buddy?

[ The most rhetorical of questions, but not even nonagenarian supersoldiers are exempt from the urge to make pointless conversation with their pets. Only, when he glances back up, Liho is sitting in the door to the hallway, looking at Steve with slow blinking eyes like he heard his name and is wondering if his nap was interrupted for anything of consequence. ] Huh.

[ Steve goes over to him and leans over to scratch his head, Liho nearly falling over all four of his own paws trying to press himself to Steve's leg. ]

[corenundrum]

That must be Liho. [Comes an amused thought that Sissel has stopped expecting to be heard since his escape from the hospital. He's possessing the cat toy right now. His physical body conveniently lying outside the window. Looking around the room, he looks for some other things to possess. A lot of them are unfamiliar to him, being a cat and all. The toy rolls forward a few more inches then stops just under the TV.

At which point, the screen flickers to life as if someone has just pressed the power button.]

[paragon]

[ Straightening again at the sound of the bell, Steve frowns over at it once again as it rolls to a stop, the expression deepening at the static sound of the screen coming on. Liho shows no trepidation as it does so (probably always as mysterious to him as it is now to Steve), instead shaking off his sleepiness to trot over to the ball and nudge it sideways with his paw.

Steve follows behind him and presses the button to turn the TV off again. It seems Sissel wasn't heard this time either. ]

[corenundrum]

[Hey. wait. He was intrigued by that. Moving pictures in a box! With unseen effort, he flicks the TV on again.]

[paragon]

[ All right, most of these houses are pretty old. The heat stops working sometimes, among other things. Though if Wanda weren't in the hospital he'd wonder if she was messing with him right now.

He crosses his arms and looks down at the TV. ]

Okay, but can you change the channel?

[corenundrum]

[Change the channel? What does that even mean? Though in an effort to do something, he decides to press a different button. The volume goes down by one bar! Success?]