Time for a Cinnabon!

[polymods]

✖ THE MALL

Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
You step off the ferry and find there is no beach. No, the concrete wharf opens up to a vast, flat plain of pavement. It goes on, and on, and on. Sodium lights on tall poles are spaced at regular intervals, and as you move forward you notice white lines painted in neat rows.Those of you from a typical earth world might recognise almost immediately that you are, in fact, in a giant parking lot.

Up ahead you can see a vast building, a long rectangle flanked on either end by an even larger square. In the very center there is a large, triangular glass awning hanging over an entranceway composed of several automatic doors. There is neon tubing running along the inside of the awning, lighting up the glass so it is a beacon shining across the expanse of pavement you’re crossing.

That’s right, Travellers. We’re going to The Mall.

The building is huge - it takes a good hour to walk from one anchor store to the other at the opposite end. There are stores selling damn near everything - clothes, housewares, books, kitchen supplies, movies and music, electronics - as well as hair salons, nail salons, and a ton of kiosks. The merchandise being sold seems to be from different decades - anywhere from the 1970s to the late 2000s. You can find almost anything you could want!

The flooring is faux marble, the pillars decorated with brass detailing halfway up their length. Potted palms are set at regular intervals. The mall’s concourse is huge and open, with a glass ceiling criss-crossed with metal supports. A fountain jets water coloured by lights into the air over and over in the center of the concourse.

Escalators and an elevator run up and down to the second floor, where the food court is, which is a heaven, provided you’re too worried about MSG. Food from across every conceivable world exists here - no matter where you’re from, you can find a fast-food version of something you’re familiar with. And there’s an Orange Julius!

Truly, a paradise. Kind of weird that the automatic doors won’t let you out the way you came in, but you have everything you need right here! Just be really careful on those escalators - wouldn’t want to get sucked under. And by the way, what’s that noise…?

Notes:
1. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

2. These prompts are a jumping off point - how they affect your character and their development is up to you.

3. Any food is safe to eat, and is consumable by non-human entities.

4. The people inside the mall are normal humans unless otherwise indicated. Killing them is possible and will affect the colour grading of your Scrywatch depending on the situation.

5. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. BLACK FRIDAY
CW: violence, mob mentality
One of the mall anchors is a huge department store that sells everything under the sun. As you walk through the empty aisles, you’ll notice that there are signs hung everywhere that read “SALE!” Indeed, prices seem to have been drastically reduced. The place seems eerily calm, however; you can’t see any shoppers anywhere.

But if you walk close to the exterior entrance on the far side of the store, you will see them if you look outside.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people pressed up against the glass doors. With a start you see that all of them, from children to the elderly, are missing their eyes. Black, empty sockets stare sightlessly ahead. Store employees, recognisable by their red smocks, stand at the ready.

“Alright, let’s open her up!” one of them shouts, and the employees move to unlock the doors. Immediately the crowd surges forward. The employees pull each other out of the way moments before they can be trampled. The mob rushes through the entranceways, stampeding towards… towards…

Oh. You.

The mob lacks any empathy; people push and climb over one another, uncaring if anyone falls to the ground. You’re pretty sure several of them are actually being crushed beneath people’s feet. Oddly, they aren’t screaming in pain. People’s mouths are moving, but only to form certain words:

“FLATSCREEN!”

“INTELLIVISION!”

“TICKLE-ME-ELMO!”

They are only screaming what it is that they want. They are single minded in their purpose, and don’t care who they hurt in their pursuit.

Make your way to the entrance that opens into the mall and you’ll be greeted with a nasty sight: the gates are closed. No matter what you do to them, they won’t budge an inch, impervious to brute strength, magic, superpowers. That means you’ll have to find another way out if you don’t want to join in the bloodshed. Maybe there’s a ventilation system or a loading bay...

There’s a chance you could just hide out until the sale ends - a store this vast has more than enough food and drink to sustain you, and you could probably get a good night’s sleep in a camping display if it isn’t torn apart by rabid consumers. Just be careful, because the longer you spend trapped in the department store the more likely you are to turn into one of them: mindlessly screaming what it is you want as you tear the store apart.

Notes:
1. There may be a few Black Friday shoppers loose in the mall, but primarily they stick to the department store.

2. Your character might find a way into the mall again, or the parking lot outside. However they manage that is up to you!

3. If your character does turn into a consumer drone, they can be changed back by being taken out of the department store. Maybe go chill out by the fountain in the concourse or get some chilli fries in the food court.

---

Ⅲ. UNDERGROUND PARKING
CW: potential starvation, dehydration
If the two floors of the mall are for eating and shopping, where do the down escalators go? Unsurprisingly they lead to an underground parking lot. More surprisingly, if you choose to enter the lot you’ll find yourself suddenly transported to the inside of a car. What car? Any car! It sure isn’t yours! It’s locked and you can’t get the doors or windows to open. Even trying to break your way out is futile.

Thank goodness you have a way to call for help: your ScryWatch! Although you can still access the public network, your ScryWatch will also now function as a private one-to-one device like a phone or a walkie talkie. You can ask a friend to come and help you!

The second person entering the lot won’t be magicked away, but a friendly mall employee will stop you and hand you a set of keys. Clearly they go to a car… but which one? Better start pressing that alarm button, huh?

The parking lot is massive. The party in the car would be wise to describe what they can see to their seeker. After all, teamwork makes the dream work! You sure don’t want to be stuck in a warm car for a couple of days!

Notes:
1. Your character can post/call the network or text/call an individual - in the latter case nobody else can read or hear the conversation.

2. The car might have some goldfish crackers or something in the glove box, or maybe an old gatorade bottle on the floor, but there’s not going to be enough to survive on for any length of time.

---

Ⅳ. MANNEQUIN
CW: automatonophobia
As you walk through the mall, you’ll see plenty of window displays. Gleaming cookware turning on pedestals under mellow lights, toys going round and round in fake wonderlands, personalised miniature license plates - although they’re all out of Borts - and of course plenty of stylish clothes draped over countless mannequins.

It’s always fun to window shop, isn’t it? Which is how you will come to notice that some of the mannequins look awfully familiar.

Everyone has, at some point in their life, treated someone like they weren’t real outside of what you wanted them to be. The romantic interest you put on a pedestal, the friend you only called when you needed them, or the poor bastard in the office who never did anything to you but who you hated on because it made you feel better. The mannequins greatly resemble that person or persons.

No matter which window you pass, they’re there. It looks like they’re watching you. But that’s silly, isn’t it?

With every mannequin you pass, the more your unease grows. Eventually the feeling of being watched is so great that it’s overwhelming. A sense of guilt grows alongside your paranoia, gnawing at your guts until you feel physically ill. Maybe if you apologise to the dummies for treating them like objects?

Or maybe if you just break all of them into pieces.

Notes:
1. Stating how you have wronged the person the mannequin resembles and apologising will cause the guilt and paranoia to vanish. But then, so will breaking them.

2. Could the mannequins sneak up on you? Move when you’re not looking? Sure! the floor, but there’s not going to be enough to survive on for any length of time.

Come on Jessica, come on Tori! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

[unkindled_madness]

It's an odachi.

[Which basically does mean "big sword" anyway. Sephiroth pockets the knife and grabs the Masamune, drawing it free of the car with one hand. He steps back, looking very much like he's considering doing more damage to the car, with the sword.]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Yeah, David absolutely knows the meaning and he's raising an eyebrow at that.]

There's a chance that if you mess this thing up more, you could end up in trouble. Is it worth it?

[unkindled_madness]

You think I'm going to be punished for damaging one car? There are thousands of them.

[helpdesk_hero]

It's another person's property. Theoretically.

[But he considers it all rather carefully and steps further back. There is NO WAY Sephiroth is going to listen.

[unkindled_madness]

How unfortunate.

[He absolutely doesn't care. It's just a stupid car that no one was ever going to drive anywhere anyway.

He slashes out the front tires and scores a few lines across the hood and the front bumper, breaking the lights in the process. Then he gives it a kick for good measure, actually making it bump into the car behind it.]

[helpdesk_hero]

[That kick had David staring, wide eyed. Hot and dangerous. Oh dear.]

ARe you ready to go now?

[unkindled_madness]

...yes.

[He steps back from the car, moving the Masamune into its neutral position, vertical behind his back. He is totally fine and calm now.]

Which way?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Yeah, he's DEFINITELY watching Sephiroth's motions. That's so smooth. He's clearly deadly with that.]

This way. I'll show you the way.

[He hopes Sepiroth doesn't run off.]

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth nods, turning to walk with David. Then, noticing the attention but somewhat mistaking it, he offers:]

I am not going to cut you with it.

[helpdesk_hero]

I really didn't think you would. I've known a nice amount of swordsmen in my life, hell, I know how to use a blade too. But that? That's something else. You're strong too.

[He doesn't say that Sephiroth is beyond impressive.]

[unkindled_madness]

[Oh. It's that kind of staring.]

...what sorts of blades have you used?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Wow, he didn't SAY he had used a sword.]

Honestly, I haven't had a chance to use them. But I know longswords and katanas best.

[unkindled_madness]

[Look, David. When most people say they know how to do something, it implies experience doing that thing. You are a weird outlier.]

Ah.

Well, if you should happen to obtain one, I would be interested to see your skill.

[helpdesk_hero]

[He is the WEIRDEST outlier]

Pretty sure the mall doesn't have any, otherwise I would be happy to show.

[His fingers came up to tap his glasses instead.]

Seemed like whoever is giving us things back thought that this was, to me, what that sword is to you. Which is to say 'important enough to return'

[unkindled_madness]

It is important to me, yes, but why our captors should have seen fit to return it...

[Arming him seems like a bad choice on their part? Or was it meant to mollify him somehow? One would think they'd been paying more attention.

He glances at David's glasses.]

You said there was a tiny computer in those?

[helpdesk_hero]

[Yeah, Sephiroth and Quentin sure made David worried violence was going to come soon, and in an aggressive sort of warfare.]

Microcomputer, yes. Most of it is embedded in the arms. It's not as strong as it could be though. I wish I had my data pad to interface it with. But there are still a few things on here and given I can rewrite large portions of code at a thought, it works for now.

[unkindled_madness]

[Computers are still kind of clunky in his world. He can understand the concept but the execution is new.]

...do you interface with it entirely with your mind, or do the lenses function as some sort of screen?

[helpdesk_hero]

[The execution is something David had worked hard at, so he knew it wasn't like something a lot of people would have seen.]

The lenses are a screen. I personally control them with my technopathy. Without the datapad these don't have the processing power to do full on eye-tracking control like I used to use.

[unkindled_madness]

But they do have data stored on them?

[Including whatever memes are.]

[helpdesk_hero]

Some, yes. Old episodes of a thing I was on, saved images, a few audio recordings. Nothing at the highest quality. But with how small large capacity storage chips are, it was easy for me to give these a good bit of it. Storage isn't processing, though.

[unkindled_madness]

...I admit, I have never been terribly interested in computers.

[helpdesk_hero]

Not everyone is. That's okay. The world needs all sorts of people. People who are good with computers, and people who are good with their hands and people who make jokes. You know, lots of sorts.

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth gives him a quizzical look. He wasn't looking for some manner of reassurance.]

...yes, well. I was more interested in the fact that they still contain information from prior to your arrival here.

[helpdesk_hero]

Why wouldn't they? They're the ones I built in the last world. They are mine. I mean, that sword there, is it yours or just one like yours?

[unkindled_madness]

It feels like mine. But data can be erased, and equipment removed.

[He tilts the hilt up so that David can see the six empty materia slots embedded in it.]