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]

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?"

[helpdesk_hero]

Oh man. If there were less books he would have squeezed them close. It hurt, to think about it, the hole in his mind, and in his heart.

"No. I asked the Flower Oracle about it, and she gave me a single memory back. The others I have came from friends who had met her, when she visited our school. When they found out what happened, mostly because one of them mentioned her and I didn't know who she was, they got a telepath I trained under to copy their memories into my mind, altering them just enough to make me feel like they were mine."

It was just like that. He knew all but one of his memories were false and that's frustrating.

"The Oracle said I could recover them, but it would be a journey. Jean-Paul has promised to help me, but I don't even know what the first step would be."

[gravity_grrl]

"Maybe there's a clue in the memory the Oracle gave you?" She suggests, thinking that David has probably already thought of this but it doesn't hurt to check.

[helpdesk_hero]

Huh, what a thought. He hadn't even begun to consider that.

"It was when my parents brought her home from the hospital and I held her for the first time. But damn, now I need to go get a telepath to help me dive into it to check for something hidden there."

So no, he hadn't thought of it.

[gravity_grrl]

The memory David describes is so lovely and further touches Roxy's heart which just makes her want to try even harder to help David with this.

"Well it's a good thing you know two telepaths then!" She says with a grin, "I dunno if you want Pinky in yer head so maybe ask Carter? He seems real sweet."

[helpdesk_hero]

"I definitely don't want Quire in my head for that, if I'm honest. And Carter is so nervous about his gift."

So he doesn't know that he'd turn to Carter for help either. So he was nervous about that.

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy nods, thinking hard.

"Maybe you don't need a telepath.... What if you found like a witch or something? Or did some kind of dream drug trip to try and open yer mind?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"I mean, if the witch could do it sans drugs, sure, I can do that. I don't fully like magic, but I don't distrust it either."

But that sort of soul quest doesn't seem likely here.

"That said, I'll definitely look into it. Trust me on that."

[gravity_grrl]

"I'll keep my eyes open as well." She says with a warm smile.

"Just to be sure you should check and see if this mall has a tarot reader or something. Oh! Or we could look for books, we're already in the astrology section so I'm sure the occult section is near by."

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, at least she has more of an idea than David does, so he figures he'll let himself get pulled along.

"Sure. I mean, at this point I'd do just about anything to get my memories of her back."

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy bops over to the next section and motions for David to join her, "Here we go! Dream interpretation books. There's also a few on dream magic....we should check all of them to see if they will help."

[helpdesk_hero]

"Dream interpretation? I'm not sure that's fit since it's a memory?"

But he supposes he is willing to try just about anything. Though he didn't hold a lot of faith in dreams being a key to this.

[gravity_grrl]

"Dreams and memories might be connected, haven't you ever had a dream that was like part of something that happened to you in the past?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"They're not as connected as that. Dreams are misfirings of neurons and synapses as they record the data of the day."

Science, Roxy. He believes in science.

[gravity_grrl]

"Yeah yeah yeah, science blah blah blah. I'm just saying it can't hurt to check."

She pulls out a few books, "Sides it might help jog something loose. What are some of the key points to your memory? Any colors, smells, images?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"It's the day she was brought home from the hospital after she was born. I don't really remember in scents beyond new baby smell."

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy smiles and puts a hand over her heart, "Awwwww! Okay so you were at home....new baby smell....do you remember what color blanket she was wrapped in?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"I think it was yellow?" he said, but he wasn't sure. He'd have to spend a lot more time meditating on the memory.

[gravity_grrl]

"Awww maybe that's why you like that color so much." She offers and on a whim flips to a section in one of the books.

"It says here that the color yellow in a good dream is symbolic of intellect, energy and agility. It's also believed to be connected to the third Chakra which is about manifesting creativity and being comfortable in one's skin. It is also a color of miracles and magic."

[helpdesk_hero]

"No, I wasn't very big on yellow until high school and my team was assigned the white and yellow," David answered. And the color sort of lingered with him.

Intellect and energy huh?

"Well, I'm not magical, even when I know lots of magic I just can't do it. And I'm not sure I'm creative so much as analytical. AS for energy..."

He smiled as a hedgehog of golden light appeared on his shoulder.

"Definitely got that down."

[gravity_grrl]

Roxy giggles and pets the little golden hedgehog with her finger but then looks back up at David, "Okay so maybe this has something to do with your energy then? Like....urmm...you have a block somewhere that's keeping you from getting your memories back of her?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"I really don't know how it works. If it's a proper telepathic block, then there were people who could have cracked it. So if it exists, it's probably magic."

But given the way it was taken...

"They were given to one of the Greek fates. Greek gods and goddesses can be very literal. I expect it's a tangible thing at the moment, held somewhere else."

[gravity_grrl]

"Huhn...okay." She says, mulling over the information. "Maybe we should keep an eye open for any Greek gods or beings that show up on the island then. Like I know Thor is here and stuff but that's the wrong...uhhh, what do you call it, pantheon?"

[helpdesk_hero]

"Yeah, very wrong. And I know the pantheon he's from. Not very useful here."

Loki was powerless, so clearly Thor was too.

[gravity_grrl]

She nods and continues to flip through the book.

"Okay so we've got the color yellow as a possible lead, energy...urmm...it says here that dreaming of a sister can refer to chance or a renewal and regeneration coming in your life."