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

[gravity_grrl]

She raises an eyebrow at him, "Tunnel of love stuff hrm? Does that mean you...you know..."

She makes a few creative and lewd gestures with her hands. "...with someone?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Wow, fuck no," David protested immediately. "Sephiroth and I barely made out!"

And he's not mentioning the Hawk one.

[gravity_grrl]

She laughs at his expression, "Hey no judgement even if you had! Where do you think me and Wade had sex?"

She also kissed Malcolm in the tunnel but that was before she rode it with Wade, who lets face it, has blown everyone else out of the water.

[helpdesk_hero]

"TOO MUCH!" DAvid insisted. "Oh god that is way too much information, Roxy."

Please spare him. God he hopes he rode that thing well before they did.

[gravity_grrl]

She laughs even harder, "Sorry!! I won't say anything else except... You don't have to be grossed out about riding in it after us, I promise you that we were the last."

She's sure of this for two reasons; it was early morning when they finally left the tunnel together and also....the guy running it had to do some repairs after they were done. Powerful earth shattering orgasms and gravity powers tend to cause some damage.....

[helpdesk_hero]

"Do. Not want. To know."

Seriously, that was one of the very few lines he drew with his friends.

[gravity_grrl]

"That's all I'm gonna say! Just to put your mind at ease, I swear!"

She exclaims and then grins. "So which one is Sephiroth? Is he the guy with the long gorgeous white silver hair?"

[helpdesk_hero]

As if his mind would be at ease like that.

"Yeah, that one. The one that Wade I think wants to have kill him as pride points?"

[gravity_grrl]

"I've never talked to him before, is he cool?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"He's... I don't think he's known a lot of people to treat him as friends. That's about all I can say about it."

He had the same sort of sadness for Sephiroth that he had for Loki.

[gravity_grrl]

"Awww, poor guy." She says but then brightens. "But now he knows you, so that's probably an improvement. I'll keep an eye out for him too, say hi and stuff."

[helpdesk_hero]

Yes, knowing him means he knows some people.

"Just be careful. Sephiroth is testy, and I expect Wade levels of fangirling over him could get him to snap at you. He's very private I think."

That's the read he got.

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy waves a hand dismissively, "I ain't gonna fangirl over him. I'll just be my usual friendly and charming self."

[helpdesk_hero]

That... would be a bad idea. But he won't stop her.

"As you will. I just have a feeling you should not touch his hair."

[gravity_grrl]

She rolls her eyes, "Omg David. I might not be the smartest person around but I'm not a fucking moron. I know not to just randomly touch people's hair."

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh the things he could say about the people who were not fucking morons who have touched his hair before, without consent.

"Well then, don't worry."

[gravity_grrl]

"I'm not." She says with a smile, "So.....was he a good kisser?"

[helpdesk_hero]

Sephiroth? David flushes a little. If he had to be honest, he'd think that Sephiroth had never been kissed before.

"You expect me to kiss and tell? That's not gentlemanly."

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy laughs and points at the blush, "Yeah and you never said you were a gentleman. So spill! Your cheeks are all red so I think that's an indication that he was a good kisser."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I'm definitely a gentleman," David insisted. "And I'm blushing because you're prying. Like, we barely know each other Roxy. And I wouldn't even tell Kyle this stuff."

And he'd declared Kyle a friend from the word go.

[gravity_grrl]

"I'm not prying, I'm just asking but fiiiiiiine. Keep it to yourself."

She motions for him to hand over her other books. "And we barely know one another because you slap up a wall anytime I ask you personal questions. So whatever, gimme my books and I'll leave you alone."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I'm a private person, Roxy. I don't tend to share those sorts of things without knowing someone VERY deeply. It's who I am. I've got so many mistakes in my life that I don't want them all out there to be discussed."

So yes, he puts up walls.

"Can you maybe pick personal questions that don't involve my romantic history? Like, ask me something else."

[gravity_grrl]

"Tell me about your family, your favorite color, what you're scared of, what you think about when you're alone."

She runs a hand through her hair, "I like you David but getting to know you is like pulling teeth sometimes and if you'd rather I just leave you alone then just say so."

cw: referenced demons/murder

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh man, those are all things he can do. So which to start with?

"Well, if you can't tell from what I'm wearing, I'll confirm that yellow is my color of choice, though there's a fondness in my heart for a specific shade of green and a specific shade of blue. I'm scared of demons, and that comes from the fact that I literally had one kill me. I can go into that story if you want, but that requires a cup of hot coffee or soup for comfort. And I'm scared of making no impression on the world. When I'm alone I think about how I'm alone, which is horribly stupid I know."

But that's who he was. But the other thing.

"My family... I miss my family. Fuck I miss them so much. My dad is a chef in Chicago, and he's really good at what he does. But he always had this dream of me going to Harvard and it was not something he took well when I stopped chasing after it for their racism. My mom is about the sweetest woman you could know. She gives hugs tha makes you feel like you're being wrapped up in a warm blanket. And my sister... I know her name is Kim, and she wanted to be like me. To save the lives of people in the last world I was in, I had to give up something precious to me, and there was nothing more potent than all of my memories of my little sister. I'm sorta on a quest here to find those memories again."

[gravity_grrl]

Out of all of those things there's one thing that hits Roxy right in the heart and it's the mention of his sister, even though she didn't grow up knowing her half sister Caitlin the time they spent together is some of her most treasured moments and she can't even imagine how awful it would be to give those memories up.

"Do you have any clues as to how to get those memories back?"