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Entry tags:
Time for a Cinnabon!
✖ 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…?
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.
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!
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.
Come on Jessica, come on Tori! Let's go to the mall, you won't be sorry!
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.
II
He's perusing the camping section at the department store. None of the knives are particularly fancy, but they're built to serve a more utilitarian purpose. Malcolm is examining a small hunting knife when he notices the strange noise around him. At first it sounds like rain falling on the roof. Malcolm glances up, confused.
When the hoard starts to make its way through the store, he follows a man with a bat to the end of the aisle. With numb shock, he watches as the man swings the bat at the head of the nearest creature. He can tell that these aren't really people, but it's still a shock to hear the thing's head thump like a basketball and then watch the body drop to the floor.
The sound of the man's voice breaks Malcolm's reverie. They've got to get out of here. With a nod, he grips his knife in his hand and hurries after the man. ]
no subject
Heading back the way he came would be the smart thing, potentially escaping into the wider mall, but they're already surrounded. That limits safe choices somewhat, but there's another out Joel has in mind.
He knocks another raving, eyeless monster to the ground when it tries to dart down the aisle toward them - or maybe some meaningless item on the shelves beyond. Either way, he steps over the body without a second thought, pausing only to check the way is clear before crossing another gap between aisles.
Tucked back into the corner, behind more camping gear displays, there's a plain door marked Employees Only. He saw it earlier, but didn't have any reason to give it a try - now that he does, of course, it's locked. He almost reaches for a shiv in his back pocket that isn't there, before glancing back at the other man. And the knife in his hand. ]
You know how to use that? [ He gestures to the door as he takes a hasty step back, gaze flinching away as another few shoppers race past the end of the far aisle. Luckily they're looking for something a little further on. ]
no subject
Panting, he nods at his question. ] Yeah.
[ He does know how to use it. The problem is that Malcolm is not a killer. He couldn't even kill the man who tried to frame him for murder and take down his entire family. These creatures might be people. Malcolm isn't sure. He doesn't want to have to kill them, and if the time comes, will he be able to?
It's a question he can't answer right now. Malcolm steps next to the man. ]
What's your plan to get out of here?
no subject
[ Storeroom or a loading bay, maybe. Finding creative ways in and out of places like this is a skill one develops naturally, when navigating the broken down remnants of the world left between Quarantine Zones.
He nods back toward the sounds of shrieking and fighting, a short jerk of his head. ]
Watch my back. They're gonna hear this.
[ Battering open locked doors is more of a uniquely Joel skill. He turns the bat in his grip, and uses the heavier end to slam against the Employees Only door just above the knob, rattling it and knocking it loose. It's cheap, thin wood and splintering, already - but it'll take another couple blows. And if one of those things raving and clawing its way through the store decides it'd like to fight them for what they're holding... ]
no subject
The hand not holding the knife comes up and smacks the mindless man in the face. The man stumbles backward with a groan. While he's stunned, Malcolm glances over his shoulder at Joel. ]
How's it going there? [ A slight note of panic in his voice. ]
no subject
[ Joel doesn't glance back, focus narrowed down to just getting through the door, finding a way out of this place, before they're overrun. It doesn't take long, but those fleeting seconds feel stretched to their limit, far beyond the time the whole rough operation takes up.
The door rattles inward, wobbling on its hinges with the force of that last blow, and and he turns back just in time to see that briefly stunned, eyeless thing take another lunge at them. ]
no subject
When the man's in range, Malcolm jabs him in the face with his elbow. He staggers back and Malcolm turns again, seeing how Joel is getting on with the door. ]
no subject
Go!
[ There's no break between the gruff order and the sound of the bat connecting with the customer who has them cornered, as Joel knocks him viciously to the ground without batting an eye. ]
no subject
At the sound of Joel's shout, Malcolm takes off for the door, hearing the sickening crack of the bat against the zombie's head as he runs. Just inside the door, Malcolm stops and looks back, wanting to make sure that the other man is able to follow him. ]
no subject
They're drawing more attention, now, as he sprints through the door after Malcolm, slamming it shut behind them just in time to stop another shopper from making it through with them. The door rattles at his back, but he's barricaded against worse (and more), before. ]
Find something to block the door! [ Maybe he can at least do that right. There's a scattering of chairs down the other end of the hall, and a few other doors branching off it - breakrooms? bathrooms? Probably not the ones they want. ]
no subject
He can barricade a door though. Malcolm starts with the furniture that's easier to move and piles two chairs up against the door. It's already rattling from the other side and it appears that more shoppers have joined their one zombie.
Malcolm rushes off into one of the adjoining rooms. ] There's a table! Help me move it!
no subject
Paint and cheap wood chip as he wastes no time manhandling the table through the open door, but there's already a gap where a few enterprising zombie shoppers have begun to claw their way into their narrow back hall. At least they pull back when their arms are crushed by the added weight of the table, blocking them out.
Joel leans on his side for a second to catch his breath, as the rattling loses some of its urgent, dangerous edge. That was a whole lot closer than he'd have liked. ]
no subject
We probably need to keep moving. What the hell do they want?
[ The knife in his hand? The bat in Joel's? There are others just like them on the shelves. ]
no subject
Things like that? Rip you to shreds, most likely.
[ At least in his experience. Which has heavily colored his response to this whole situation, clearly, as he starts toward the far end of the hall. ]
You didn't get scratched, did you? Bit?
no subject
Do you think they're actual zombies?
[ He's never encountered real zombies before, but something tells him that the other man has. He seemed to know exactly what to do. The two of them keep moving down the hallway, trying to put more space between them and the mob. ]
no subject
[ Not even mentioning the way they look— Sure, cordyceps goes for the eyes pretty quick - but they don't just disappear, once a runner starts to go blind. Those things, though...
The dim hallway grows a little quieter as they leave the open floor of the department store behind. More doors pass, but the few Joel stops to peek in through are more of the same - supply closets, a bathroom, somebody's cluttered office. But he keeps on. This hall's gotta let out somewhere. ]
no subject
The Infected? Is that what they call them where you come from?
no subject
[ Joel's just as happy not to see any strangers, odd as it is to find the place so empty - they don't need more complications.
Finally, though, some hastily taped-up signage points the way - stock rooms, hopefully the out they're looking for. ]
This way. [ The large, swinging doors are as dead a giveaway as any, large and wide enough to move the bigger ticket items through, where the hallway widens out to meet them. The sounds of the riot on the floor are getting closer again, too, though, muffled but far too audible. He's cautious around the next bend, peering past their destination to the narrow windows in the doors that lead out into the greater shopping area. A few dark blurs dart past, accompanied by those incoherent shouts, but they're moving too fast to take note of the doors, or anything beyond. Probably not for long.
Joel nudges open the store room doors, but it's dark and quiet on the other side - the room a mess, full of empty shelves and torn packaging. The work of employees or customers? Impossible to tell. But it looks clear, for now. ]
Try the doors at the back. Should lead out into the parking lot, if we can wedge one open.
no subject
He's mildly fascinated by the blur of the people running past the doors that lead out to the floor. Malcolm wishes he could study them, but there's no way he would be able to without them seeing him and coming after him. For now, he's going to have to let his curiosity go.
At Joel's suggestion, Malcolm crosses the store room and pushes one of the doors at the back. He squints as the light from outside pours into the room. ]
Let's go.
no subject
He nods stiffly, following along without a word, still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
But the world outside the mall is the same as it was, before, empty and vast - an island of concrete, lampposts and parking spaces. No crazed mobs to be seen. ]
Better find a way to block that door. If those things haven't gotten around the whole mall, yet, then we definitely don't want 'em out here.