#isola event: data corrupt

[isolaradiale]

Weeks ticked on after the Spiramonster incident without much fanfare. The typical "normalcy" that came after a big event had arrived as it always did through the eyes of those that lived within the project. But for those who worked on it, the Stars? Not so much. To host the data created by the sheer number of Spiramonsters that had been created that data had been hidden away on the servers of the Selene Space Station, but...

"The data is already at capacity!? But no new Spiramonsters have been created in the past three weeks, have they!?" The monitors in the control room flashed red to indicate the rapidly escalating emergency. It had already been known that an outsider had compromised the data of this intentionally harmless creatures, yet apparently the many backdoors into their system that they had closed had not been enough to prevent the tampering.

The amount of data had been growing exponentially over the past several hours and their access had been revoked. They desperately attempted to regain control to no avail, only for the clock to eventually roll over to midnight.

A familiar melody played in a music box rendition, not only through the speakers of the Stars' computers, but it could be heard all throughout Spirale and Selene. "Happy Birthday!? Is this some type of joke!?" It wasn't funny. But a realization struck them immediately after. "Ofiuco? What's wrong?" The android had stopped typing furiously in the corner. Another sound came over the comms.

No, a number of them. It almost sounded like a pod of whales attempting to communicate with each other with distorted songs. Could this have been the source of the sound that had been playing erratically through the city over the course of the week? But that wasn't right. Their song rang out across the island for about a minute before cutting to silence.

And the entire island shook as a number of beasts burrowed up from beneath.

"I'm taking them off the island!" There wasn't any choice. Those monsters were not something that the citizens could handle.

And so the citizens of Spirale suddenly found themselves stolen from their beds, dropped into the Selene Shopping District with only a recollection of the song and sounds prior. But something was wrong. The lights were in disarray and no NPCs were out. It was clear the inside of the space station had accrued some sort of damage. And the same sounds that could be heard down on the island... could be heard singing from the moon.

"Thank goodness... I managed to transport you all in time. Things are... complicated at the moment, but I assure you that you're in the safest possible place at the moment. I managed to manifest your Spiramonsters there too, but the corruption... Actually I don't have time to explain in detail right now." Love her or hate her, it was Ofiuco's voice that sounded over the intercom. Around the same time, a number of Ofiuclones could be seen buzzing around the district in an attempt to clean up the mess.

A hologram monitor appeared in the sky showing what almost looked like helicopter footage of the city and branches. While the city itself seemed to be largely intact, shadowy figures as large as mountains stomped and flew through some of the branches. "You need to find your Spiramonsters. They may... attack you, but if you reason with them or worst case knock them unconscious you should be able to break through to them. They have properties that will help deal with the threat down on the island, but the one behind all this is trying to make sure that-"

The transmission cut out prematurely, only for another woman's voice to speak briefly before signal was completely lost.

"I hope you don't think it's going to be that easy."

----------

Welcome to our 25th original event, DATA CORRUPT! As we mentioned during THE CHALLENGER'S PATH this event is a continuation of the previous event. This event will be split into two phases with phase 2 going up a week from now!

SO WHAT'S GOING ON?

The threat established in the last event has finally made her move, unleashing terrible monsters on the island. While they have yet to reach the city proper, as a safety measure everyone had been brought up to Selene Space Station only for it to be made clear that the culprit had already foreseen this possibility. It is in Selene where the Spiramonster data had been stored, but she managed to get to it first.

For reasons currently unexplained the Spiramonsters created in TCP seem to be the one thing capable of helping defeat the monsters on the ground. Noting this but unable to delete them, she has corrupted them into shadowy versions of themselves that have inverted their natures. Your character will be able to sense where they are in the space station, but on sight they will attack any who draw close, and the only way to snap them out of it is to reason with them or having their partner defeat them in battle... you just need to knock them unconscious though!

But there are other critters about. Strange, alien-like beasts no larger than a dog. They have four sharp, pointed legs and too many eyes. They're small enough to run through the space station's vents and pounce on their prey that they attempt to consume with circular, sharp-toothed mouths on their undersides. Factor in the damaged state of the space station with flickering lights and damaged hallways, and it feels like something out of a space horror scenario.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

While navigating Selene in phase 1 your characters will still have access to the powers and weapons they have unlocked to help deal with any threats. If you find and save your Spiramonster then that's another weapon in your arsenal!

For those characters without powers access to their Fantasia forms has been permitted. For those who weren't in the group at the time, you can pick a player race from this page and use spells from this page!

Phase 1 is not mandatory for participation! If you'd prefer to only write in Phase 2 while implying they reunited with their Spiramonster at some point that will be absolutely fine! For reference Phase 2 will be a more traditional combat and survival scenario with everyone's powers unlocked temporarily.

If your character was not in the group during The Challenger's Path you can still create a Spiramonster! Relevant information can be found in the previous event's post. Despite having never met, your character will feel the same strong bond pulling them towards their new friend.

You can skip over saving your Spiramonster if you want to do something else in the Phase 1 setting like fighting the little alien critters or helping reinforce save zones. Much of the station is damaged and infested, but by working together it will be possible to survive!

The respawn system remains active, though upon death you will respawn in the Selene Shopping District.

Your character will not be able to return to the island during phase 1 and will be stuck on Selene. Of course threads not set during the event can continue as usual!

There will be an event reward and Spiramonsters will be becoming a permanent fixture of the group in some capacity, but we'll have more information on these things in the Phase 2 post and conclusion respectively!

The event ends at 11:59:59PM EST on Friday, September 1st.

[troubleisafriend]

Kinda late, but let’s get an event starter call going! Jester’s no stranger to fighting giant scary monsters, so she’s fine being wherever she’s needed to get work done. If you have a particular dweller you’d like to fight and want a pretty dang powerful trickery cleric there to help you, she’s your gal- just let me know where you want to be! Uncapped because these are going to be so fun!

[inheritai]

Now this was the sort of thing Mizuki had been looking forward to when she joined Lionheart. The whole creepy alien invasion was a surprise for sure, but handling emergency work to keep safe those who couldn't do so for themselves was right up her alley. That this particular situation involved a whole horde of ugly beasts she could beat the snot out of just sweetened the deal.

While it wasn't quite so glamorous as helping deal with the Dwellers, warding off the Latchers that threatened innocents had been perhaps an even more active role. They were much more numerous, and getting to help out alongside her coworkers was an exciting experience. Interaction with some had been minimal, but this was a great chance to learn how each other did things in the field, especially since all their powers and equipment had been returned!

And oh, how Mizuki was enjoying it to the FULLEST. Uppercutting a latcher up off the ground with her pipe, she did a jumping spin kick to rocket it like a bullet into a couple of its kind, splattering the one she attacked and harming the other two as well. A bright grin was on her face, clearly enjoying this probably more than she should-

"Mizuki! Underground, nine o'clock!"

"Huh?" Head quickly whipping to look to her left, Mizuki looked on as her vision from Aiba shifted into X-ray mode. Sure enough, a pair of Latchers were burrowing underneath the surface, aiming up at an angle toward some civilians.

"Hunter!" She called out to the ally she'd been fighting in the same area as for a few minutes- a pretty well-trained, formidable guy as far as she could tell. He was also closer to the imminent site of breakthrough than she was. "There's two that are gonna come up from the ground over there!" She threw a hand out to point where they looked like they'd come out from. Hopefully the remaining 'take care of them' wouldn't have to go spoken.

@grimflyer liked x for a starter!

[sweetretribution]

Here’s a kinda-but-not-entirely-late event pt 2 starter call! With her aura and semblance back, plus her weapon, Neo’s definitely ready to slice up some latchers! She’s honestly much more suited to fighting people, but at least she’s doing this much to help out- the dwellers are certainly something she’s not totally equipped for. But hey, if she were put into a situation…….. Anyway, uncapped for this one!

[tremorstep]

Still some days left- time for an event pt 2 starter call! With her full power restored, Toph is all too eager to help kick some butt! …Unfortunately, due to the circumstances the dwellers are in, the only one she’ll be able to fight is in Yesteryear, and a lot of her concentration will be in keeping everything stable. She' can still be helpful in fighting latchers that creep into the settlements, and if you're fighting off ones that have snuck the station, she can show off her metalbending! (She really wants to show off her metalbending guys)

Uncapped for these, feel free to let me know which you'd prefer to do or I could just decide.

[thenameoftheflame]

@baddestdangerboy liked x for an event starter!

With her whole set of powers AND her guitar returned to her even amidst this invasion, Ember couldn't have cared less about helping the city at first. She wanted to just kick off her comeback tour and get the foothold from which she'd go to take over this place and bust out.

Unfortunately, her first stop had competition in the form of some giant ugly fish, its tail swinging around at those who tried to attack it and smashing up the place. Not to mention its voice...! She didn't think anything could sing worse than that kid who'd interrupted her global concert and ruined her whole first go at world domination. Seemed this city would just be full of surprises.

"That fishfaced freak is ruining what I was about to get going!! Looks like I'll have to make a filet out of it." She caught sight of some guy with an eyepatch nearby- no flames or otherworldly powers seeming to emanate from him- and decided he'd be perfect to help her out. Wouldn't be the first time she'd allied with a pirate. Swiftly she flies to him, hovering just a couple feet out of reach of him. "Hey, you look like you can get a crowd going- or some kinda riot, at least. See about getting together everyone you can in this branch. I can try and hold Flounder off, but I'm gonna need an audience to give it the grand finale it deserves."

[corvidconniver]

alright, i've decided: this is goro's spiramonster! it doesn't have a name just yet, but it's a little spitfire.

its flames have a necrotic effect where it drains someone's vitality and health and replenishes a bit of the spiramonster's own! it can't see very well through its dense fur, but when it does spy something, it chases it with gusto!

[badluckgoboom]

“Yep, agree to disagree! I find it easier to skip the reasons with people who already are whining about the murder anyway.” Shockingly, such people were very common, especially across the multiverse. There were a couple here who had been cool about it at least…she wished she’d gotten to be around them more before the eclipse had taken them. They take everyone who’s worth something in her life…

Much as this girl was unperturbed by her threat, Jinx was equally unperturbed by her proclamation of suspicion. “You know, I kinda prefer it that way. If you know someone doesn’t like or trust you, you don’t have to worry about liking or trusting them. Saves a loooot of trouble that comes when you find out that was a mistake.” The gun was stowed as lightning-fast as it had been drawn. “But if I went around shooting everyone at the first sign of disagreement…well, it’d be pretty lonely back home.”

"Because last I checked, murder is still murder even in self-defense. It's not something you should strive to commit unless entirely necessary, but I see that we'll have to agree to disagree." She'll ignore that comment about the stick, sighing it away. Kokomi doesn't flinch at having something so dangerous pointed at her, instead she just looks highly unamused. "...Right. Threatening me doesn't really solve anything either. If anything, you're just giving me more of a reason to be both suspicious and wary of you."

[isolaradiale]

You can find Phase 1 here!

ALERT. ALERT. ALERT. PREPARATORY PHASE COMPLETED. SELENE'S SYSTEMS RESTORED. SATELLITE CANNONS REACTIVATED. SWITCHING DEFENSE RESPONSE PROTOCOL TO PHASE 2.

Red lights flashed across Selene as this announcement was broadcasted. For some reason it was enough to drive the swarm that had plagued the station back into hiding as lights and life support systems came whirring back online along with the portal in the Shopping District that could return everyone to the city.

The battle was far from over though, both for the island and the space station. Hologram broadcasts returned, showing clearly the enemies they faced. Terrible monsters located in the branches. Kaiju of a sort with swarms of small and medium sized variations of the aliens they had already fought flying about with wings. While in space? A massive beast could be seen in the crater of the moon with its maw pointed at the space station, swarms of its own sailing through space.

NPCs could be heard fretting. What were they supposed to do? Their home was under siege by creatures beyond their wildest dreams. "We have means of removing them now that the cannons are active but the Dwellers, the big ones, are still too strong for us to do enough on our own." A projection of Ofiuco could be seen wearing fake glasses and a lab coat while she awkwardly pointed at things she had scribbled on a white board. Evidently she'd gotten a little too into things.

"We'll need some of you to stay on the space station, but those of you who are able to fight? We need to secure the branches around the city and deal enough damage to the Dwellers so that the cannons will work. It won't be easy, especially not with the Latchers, the smaller ones, respawning in swarms, but... your Spiramonsters."

"We're going to unlock your powers temporarily." The Spiramonster partners of everyone began to glow with rainbow colours before the light dimmed. But everyone could still feel it. Some kind of connection with their critter. "Whoever caused this problem tampered with the data of the Spiramonsters, but that allowed us to construct a... We'll call it an "antidote" for simplicity's sake. That connection you feel means all of your attacks will have the capacity to slowly whittle down their strength."

"The city itself has a barrier around it so none of the Dwellers can damage it. Think of it as a safe zone for now, but Latchers might be able to slip in through cracks in the barrier. We've managed to set up smaller barriers around the settlements in the branches too but who knows how long those will hold. I know we're asking a lot of you but, please..."

———

SO WHAT'S GOING ON?

The Selene Space Station seems to be secure for the moment, and countermeasures for the attack have been realized. But there are some caveats in the defenses of the kaiju known as Dwellers that walk some of the branches. The Stars need those who are able to stave off the Latchers and deal as much damage to the Dwellers as possible so that their countermeasures will be effective.

To help, everyone's abilities and weapons have been completely unlocked for the duration of phase 2 and they'll need them. The Dwellers cannot be truly defeated by any characters regardless of damage as they can regenerate from nothing, and the Latchers are numerous, respawn after about an hour, are varied in size, and can now fly.

For those who can't or do not wish to fight the city and settlements in the branches are protected by barriers. Latchers may slip in but it is still safer than being out on the battlefield. As for the space station, swarms approach from the moon which hosts a Dweller of its own although it seems to be incapable of uprooting itself from the crater it is trapped within.

THE DWELLERS

Giant monsters that communicate with eerie, whale-like noises and lead Latchers. Very territorial, they will not leave the branches they are in but those that are close to the city have made attempts to attack the barrier surrounding it.

SKY-STREWN DWELLER Looks like a cross between a huge eel and one of those eastern dragons that are long and noodly. This one flies, and it's high in the air. Sends out huge gusts of wind which hurls debris like projectiles. May or may not have wings? Beautifully iridescent but Watch Out!

LAND OF BURNT UMBER DWELLER Very scorpion-like? Multiple eyes, a hard shell for armor, pincers, a tail that sprays acid from a huge stinger? Can bury into the sand and play the worst game of peek-a-boo. Looks like its made of black glass.

SUNSET CIRCUIT DWELLER Obnoxiously colorful and has coral growing on it that it uses like spines and blades. Probably venomous? Have you ever seen a sarcastic fringehead fish? Like that. Has a long tail for sweeping and emits a super-sonic shriek that sounds like every bad guitar pitch all in one.

THE ECHO DWELLER A mass of writhing tentacles that are dark and inky, covered in eyes that look in all directions and mouths full of human teeth that are constantly chattering, giggling, screaming, whispering, all in a cacophony of voices. Will occasionally say someone's last words before their previous deaths (if they've died in the city.) Shit your pants instantly if all the eyes look at you at once.

DWELLER OF YESTERYEAR The worn city already unstable, the presence of a wasp-like creature as big as an airplane with eyes on its back has made things even more dangerous by digging its nest into the city itself. Its Latchers are more wasp-like than other regions with stingers, each about as big as a car. Be careful not to fall into the tunnels of the city where the queen has nested else you may not see the surface again without a respawn.

MOON DWELLER Everything above its "waist" has emerged from a crater on the moon itself, and even what sticks out is about half the moon's size. It resembles a praying mantis with giant claws and a giant maw with row after row of teeth in an almost leech-like mouth. It is colored the same gray as the moon. Facing Selene, it fortunately isn't close enough to reach it and instead sends swarms of Latchers to try and destroy it. But once in a while it launches a powerful laser beam from its mouth...

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Phase 2 is not mandatory for participation if you have done Phase 1. Likewise you can do Phase 2 for participation instead of Phase 1 if you'd prefer!

If you didn't design a Spiramonster you don't need to write your character as not having the "antidote". You can just off-screen a supposed Spiramonster!

There will be a power / weapon unlock for participating in this event that will be available after the event ends. We'll have more information at that time, but you only need to participate in one part to be eligible!

The event ends at 11:59:59PM EST on Friday, September 1st.

[inheritai]

I still have plenty of replies I intend to get to, if people still wish to continue the things from them, but I’m also going to be putting up this uncapped event pt 2 starter call for Mizuki and Aiba!! Their full set of equipment and abilities is uncapped, but they won’t exactly be ready to deal with huge-ass threats like the dwellers. You wanna bust up some latchers though, she’s more than willing to help! I’d actually LOVE to get some threads of this nature in with fellow Lionheart employees!! Y’all will have priority when I get to these.

[sweetretribution]

Securing an advantage, helping out her partner, survival, revenge...there had hardly been a fight Neopolitan had engaged in that didn't have a justification such as one of those. Self-interest always at the heart of it. Not once to help somebody in need. She was well aware of this, naturally.

That awareness made her appreciate just how bizarre the current circumstances were. She didn't have to be among the lives imperiled by the latchers. She could have just let the strong fighters around here do the fighting while she disappeared to hunker down until the danger passed. Yet as she caught one of the beasts' claw against the canopy of Hush, the blade in its tip extending to pierce the shell and make it gurgle aloud in pain, she was aware as she had been the whole time she was out here that fighting them off was doing something good for the city, for its people

Whatever that meant, she didn't let herself dwell on it. A yank of the parasol down and to the side sent the monster down to the ground, after which an elegant frontflip saw her heel driven into its head, with the bladed tip of her parasol doing the same to its back afterward. Once she knew it would no longer move- something that didn't take long- the blade was pulled free, now turned toward the one that was leaping toward her...and was swiftly sliced in half by another. Blinking a couple times, Neo looked curiously to this woman who had... perhaps just entered the scene or already been here, she wasn't quite sure.

...And of course she was a scythe wielder. Seemed she'd never have enough of them in her life.

@crimsonharvests liked x for an event starter!

[perledelalune]

“Well, as someone who doesn’t wish to become an unsightly little creature’s delicious face filet, I could benefit from tracking it down too. Two makes for a rather small hunting party, but we could still make some good headway.”

"as a servant it would be in my best interest to go look for the nest, but it would be beneficial for more than one person to go and search for it."

[deadlydevotion]

Stalking through the broken corridors of the apparently derelict space station was strangely reminiscent of home; it reminded him of walking through shattered pieces of the great ships meant to carry humanity to a new home across the stars. There were plenty of strange, alien creatures there too, only the Worms tended not to try sinking far too many teeth into him quite so frequently. He was avoiding them fairly well after a first, narrow escape, but he knew he wasn't going to be nearly as well equipped to handle this place and its dangers as some would.

He needed to find backup, someone of greater fighting ability who could help him reach the source of the tugging sensation in his chest. At least he could feel the little menaces coming and avoid them but that wouldn't last forever.

He headed for the first person his threads sensed, hoping it would be someone he could tolerate. Or at least someone who could escort him elsewhere.

[thenameoftheflame]

Putting out an event pt 2 starter call at last! Selfish as she may usually be, Ember’s really not big on the giant ugly monsters cramping her style. With her full power suite available, she may just be able to help out in beating them back, especially if theres’s a nearby crowd for her to get going. Uncapped for this one!

[corvidconniver]

VIII. // sorry y'all, i've been really fuckin busy. i'm going to do replies asap—i know we have until the 1st to get stuff done regarding the event, but i'm trying to pick a proper spiramonster for goro.

[tarantucutie]

🕸 //    her question couldn’t be further from the truth, and mimi makes that very clear with the squeal of frightened confusion.  what even is this thing?!  it looks like some kind of horrible fusion, a monster with traits of many creatures he’s seen before, but none of the charm.  ( or he’s just being rude because this thing is biting him.  that’s also an option. )

            he looks up at the lady with pleading eyes, begging for her to help somehow.  he hates to stoop so low that he’s asking a human for any sort of assistance, but everyone’s yelling and screaming and there are bigger monsters destroying everything—and he’s oh-so-very small, so very squishable!  if he stays with her, maybe he’ll have a better chance of survival—

           —and of course, with one little tug, the tiny dragon-chick pulls mimi away from mélusine’s hip.  just his luck.  he screeches in fright, trying to spit string in its eyes, but it burns the webs away effortlessly.  oh.  oh no.  fire.

           mimi only screams louder, wriggling away with all of his might, but the little monster simply sees that as a challenge to fight.  it pecks at him with a scratchy giggle, nothing but delight and mirth in its eyes, but mimi is having none of that, taking out his poison barb and swinging wildly.

Judging from their actions Mélusine felt it was safe to say the creature didn't quite know where to go. Under normal circumstances she probably would've freaked out somewhat from a spider jumping onto the fairy's hip like their life depended on it. But it did seem scared, especially given the chicken-like creature roaring towards the two of them.

"Are they someone you know?" Without much hesitation the fae knight pushed the other honking creature away, hoping that the spider would somehow explain whether it was friend or foe.

"The two of you don't seem to be on good talking terms..."