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

[quire]

Quentin smiles a smug kind of smile as soon as he lays eyes on the familiar redhead. It's one part delighted by the way Kyle looks and one part incredibly self-satisfied to see how right he was about the whole thing.

"Well?" he asks. "Do you like it? 'Cause you look like a complete snack."

[kyley_b]

"Oh my god, Q," Kyle says, rolling his eyes. He gives Roxy a little turn so she can see the back before he goes to Quentin and leans down to kiss him.

"I like it. Thank you for telling them what to do."

[quire]

Quentin beams about that kiss like Kyle's just pinned a medal on him.

"Course. Just looking out for my leggy redhead with the gorgeous virgin locks," he shrugs. "I'm getting this jacket. I need a blazer and this on looks amazing on me."

[kyley_b]

"It does," Kyle agrees. He's looking at Quentin with a level of adoration that's almost sickening. "You look very uhm, post-anarcho-nerd or whatever. You should get boots, too."

He kisses the top of Quentin's head. "Did you two behave?"

[quire]

"Definitely. We should have gone to the record store or something first. I kind of want to see this saleswoman's face when I put a bunch of pins in this jacket," he muses outloud.

"Course we did. We got drinks and talked elitism."

[gravity_grrl]

"Quentin tried to explain rich people secret jerk off handshakes or whatever to me." Roxy interjects, making a jerk off motion with her hand. Whether she's doing the gesture to further explain coded luxury or to make sure of Quentin it's unclear.

"Can we go to a lingerie store after this? I need bras and underpants."

[kyley_b]

"Of course he did," Kyle says, smirking as Roxy continues to be crude. He takes Quentin's hand absently.

"Fine by me. Quentin will probably want some ridiculous briefs." He knows the man decently well by now. "I'll just like... hang out and look awkward. I'm great at that."

He smiles. "Can I just say I'm happy you guys get along so well?"

[quire]

"That's just how it is," he says with a shrug, pulling the tags off his new jacket and pocketing them.

"Ridiculous is not how I'd describe my taste in underwear, but hey. If the mall has a store with gitch I'd actually gird my loins with, I'll check it out," he assures.

With a couple of jogged steps he beckons his drink back from the clerk and catches up to his crew, grabbing Kyle's hand on the way out. "Is that a lowkey dig at me?"

[kyley_b]

"Quentin, your taste in many things is ridiculous. Especially men." A cheek kiss before he jogs off.

Kyle shakes his head. "Actually, no. It's difficult to blend friends sometimes is all. And you're both loud and opinionated, just like me, so the possibility of explosions is a good one."

[quire]

Slurping his orange Julius as he follows along, he's prepared to call Kyle a liar for padding this with some post-rationalization about Quentin's character. Ironically though that would sort of just prove the Kyle's point.

"We all may be loud and opinionated but so far as I've seen, we're all also the type of people who know how to get over some run of the mill argument," he shrugs.

[kyley_b]

"Which is awesome," Kyle says, sounding genuinely pleased. He looks at his hand, linked with Quentin's.

"You both know I kinda was a loser back home. So. I dunno, this is just really nice. Shut up and let me be mushy, you dick."

[quire]

"Were you?" he thinks about that a little and supposes it tracks. "I never really thought about it like that because it sounded like you had friends. But I guess it's like Freaks & Geeks right? Even misfits find their people," he smirks when he realizes his think out loud reaches some backhanded conclusions but doesn't suppose Kyle will disagree, or even mind really.

"We also bonded over growing up broke, but I'm not gonna lie there was a moment a thought she was going to confess to me that she was into you and then there was going to be drama."

[kyley_b]

Kyle nods. "In University, anyway, not back home. Back home I'm... okay, not COOL, but it's different in small towns. But yeah, that's it exactly."

Kyle looks at Roxy and cackles. He can't think of anything more absurd. "Dude, I think you're the only one here with taste that awful," he says, giggling.

[quire]

That's something Quentin can understand. His own waxing and waning popularity has made his inner circle a strange conglomeration of outcasts more than not.

"My taste is impeccable," he says plainly. "And also you would have thought that too if you'd heard the way she started that lead sentence. She was all "ok confession time..." almost as soon as we were alone. I'd have to be oblivious to not think it was going to be about you."

[kyley_b]

Kyle cracks up again, looking at Roxy and shaking his head. "Wow. Wow, you're the jealous type, who knew." He squeezes Quentin's hand. "Don't worry, you're stuck with me. I fully intend to only sleep in weird furniture display beds with you for the duration of this stay on the Isle of Mass Consumerism."

He looks at Roxy. "Look at this, isn't he the fucking cutest? He's like an angry chihuahua, I love it. Or one of those weird dogs with the mohawks, uhm, Chinese crested? Yeah. That."

[quire]

He rolls his eyes at that Chihuahua remark. "It's not jealousy, it's paranoia. There's a difference," he mutters.

[kyley_b]

"Awwww, c'mere." Kyle stops walking just to haul Quentin into his arms and nuzzle him. He's probably grossing Roxy out but how can he resist that pout?

sorry for disappearing! I was at my boyfriends place

[gravity_grrl]

The nuzzling doesn't gross Roxy out at all, she's a die hard romantic and thinks it's the cutest thing ever.
What does gross her out is the thought of being into Kyle because, uh....yeah no.

"Yeah you don't have to worry about biting my ankles like a jealous chihuahua. I'm SO not into Kyle that way."

She blows Kyle a kiss, "No offence to you sweets, but you're not my type at all, plus I've already got my eye on someone else on the island...."

She motions towards a lingerie store. "Which is another reason for me to go in there, I want some sexy strappy things."

unforgiveable

[kyley_b]

Kyle's eyebrows lift up.

"Who? You can't not tell us WHO."

rubbing those social skills in our faces like WOW.

[quire]

"I get it! I get it! I believe you! I could tell if you were lying anyway," he grumps like a stubborn kindergartener when Kyle kisses him and Roxy reminds him again how much she's not appreciative of his boyfriend's distinctive look.

One of the quickest ways to arrest Quentin's attention though is to offer information he doesn't already know. His eyebrows damn near leap off his face. "Really? Who?"

I know, I suck.

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy's cheeks go pink and she tries to look anywhere but at either of them.

"I don't know if I should say. It....might make things...awkward."

Re: I know, I suck.

[kyley_b]

Kyle's eyes go huge. "Is it David?!"

[gravity_grrl]

Part of her is tempted to just lie and say that yes, it was totally David, but she knows that David won't support that lie. He doesn't feel like that towards Roxy, hell sometimes she doesn't even know if he even likes her very much....

"Noooo."

[quire]

"Is it Loki? Is it Batman? It is that doe eyed android Chloe?" he's full of guesses but soon he's narrowing his eyes suspiciously and stops dead outside the lingerie store.

"Ok but you have to tell us because there's literally some people it's not allowed to be, understand?"

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy looks at Quentin definatly, hands on her hips.

"Excuuuuuuse me? Since when do you get to dictate who I like?"