[open] dinosaur event

[influxmod]

Who: everyone!
What: A catastrophic event kicks off the first stabilization.
When: 9/26 evening to 9/28 evening
Where: Anchor and beyond
Warnings: Violence, most likely

The evening of the 26th day of the 9th month settles in as usual at first, the sunset bathing the whole city, just recovering from the earthquake and mostly intact again, in red and orange light. It's warm, still, and the rain that drizzled steadily in the morning is abated, leaving the air muggy and thick with dampness. Everything feels damp and still - there is a moment of peace in the waning of the sunset, the onset of twilight. It's dinnertime, one of the first decent dinners the occupants have probably had in some time.

And then there's a sound. Loud, dissonant, heavy enough to shake the ground, a resonant rumble. Then another, and another, they take on the pacing of footsteps, the footsteps of something large. Something large and disoriented, the steps uneven, speeding and slowing, abating and then quickening, over and over.

Anyone leaving their dorms to investigate the noise will see it before disaster strikes - a dinosaur, like a T-rex, huge and looming, casting a shadow from the dying light over half of the city. It roars, a loud, gurgling noise that leaves its throat in a tearing howl. Then it falls. Collapsing forward, it slams downward, crushing most of the upper stories of the city, slamming downward in an almost slow-motion, its head slamming into the park, it's body convulsing, another roar tearing out of it, spit gurgling and foaming in its mouth, wide open, razor-sharp teeth visible. It convulses a few more times, kicks helplessly, tearing a chunk out of the south wall of the city before it dies, a torrent of blood and foam spattering out of its mouth and into the pond.

For a moment after it's gone, all is still.

Then the sirens start, a constant wailing over and over, rhythmic, the sound of danger, like an air raid, and Command's voice rings out:

Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Compound defenses compromised! Danger! Evacuate immediately!

The message plays over and over for five steady minutes until:

Defense measures engaging in 5 - 4 - 3 -

The siren keeps wailing over and over and over, and there's a rumbling through all the walls of the city.

2 - 1 -

And then every door in the city slams shut, ironclad and incapable of being opened. Every door but the doors that people are still behind, which stay open until the person leaves the room and then slams shut.

The wailing sirens stop. All that's left is a trail of destruction through the jungle in the direction the dinosaur came from, a trail of destruction that may give a clue to what happened to cause this.

Security systems malfunctioning. Please manually override once danger has passed.

Comments

[eagletears]

A) [ It figured the fossil would be first on the scene to the dinosaur. Steve had been prepared for a second earthquake, it was only logical that an aftershock would follow in the wake of the first wave.

Was a giant reptilian carcass better or worse than the wrath of mother nature, or were the two one in the same? Either way the newly refurbished pond was ruined which eliminated the only obvious source of drinking water outside of the locked units.

Whatever was happening wouldn't be fun or easy, but something told Steve it was only the beginning of their problems. Command had called them here to fight a war but it hadn't said against what. For all they knew it could be the dinosaurs, elements or something far worse. ]

B) Stark, Tony- Where the hell are you? [ Steve cursed beneath his breath. He had some idea where his comrade was hiding but it wasn't good enough. He should have kept better track of him and paid closer attention to whatever it was he was doing.

It wasn't safe for Tony out here, not without his armor.

He ran along a railing to avoid a section of fallen concrete without losing speed. As much as he wanted to blame this place and the disconcerting effect it had on people, there was no excuse for laziness or indifference. Instead of wallowing in a pool of self-pity and contemplating his own uncertain future he should have been thinking about the task at hand and the people who needed his protection.

Stupid. So stupid. If one of Steve's own had gotten hurt due to his lack of vigilance he would never forgive himself. ]

[cannedgoods]

[It had been over a week since Tony had retreated to the lower levels. In the wake of the earthquake, he'd decided to go directly to the root of their problem, and had holed himself up in a cozy little spot next to one of the control panels. Okay, so it may not have been the level of amenities he was accustomed to, but really, he slept on a cot in the corner of his workshop half the time anyway.

And that was when he remembered to sleep.

He'd known going in that this wasn't going to be a cakewalk. Command had dragged him into this mess without the suit - which was pretty stupid, he might add, given that their benevolent computer overlord claimed he wanted to build an army. Right. So, let's bring the hero without the thing that made him a hero. (Or was it one of the things? He found himself questioning that one a bit more frequently of late.) Tony could have claimed that he and the suit were one until he was blue in the face, but that wouldn't force one into existence.

Without JARVIS or Iron Man, he fell back on his other talents. Back in his world, he had the world's most advanced artificial intelligence working as his butler - figuring out the inner workings of this nineties cartoon villain reject shouldn't have been difficult. Once he'd broken into the source program, there was a good chance he could stabilize the environmental anomalies and, more importantly, he could book them their one-way ticket back home. In his mind, it was just a matter of when, not if; Command was just a program, and security was a temporary obstacle.

Had he actually been thinking about it, he would have realized just how off things were.

It wasn't unusual for Tony to get absorbed in his work. He spent days in his basement workshop, subsisting on coffee and hot pockets until Pepper dragged him back to the land of the living. Unfortunately, two of those variables were absent from this particular equation. Advanced system his ass, if it couldn't even replicate processed meat.

Either way, it made it hard to detect the effects of the station. Obsessively pursuing his goal was normal, and without Pepper to intervene, who was to say that he wouldn't have stayed down there until he found his resolution?

He'd long since lost track of time and the well of his patience was emptier than the various coffee cups strewn about the room. The shadows of exhaustion were dark under his eyes as he glared at the monitor, rows upon rows of coding scrolling down the screen, mocking him with stubborn resistance to his efforts. Command had even slipped in one or two passive aggressive messages in response to his smaller victories, backhanded congratulations for getting as far as he had.

When he finally cracked this, he was going to program this goddamned thing to sound like a seven-year-old girl with a lisp.

Down where he was, he'd barely noticed the ruckus from the prehistoric nightmare tramping about upstairs. He assumed it was another attempt on Command's part to distract him. Ha. Like that would work. That's what red-white, and brawny was there for - if it was anything actually serious, he could figure it out.

... Turning off the alarm might have jumped to the top of his to do list.]

[oneshallstand]

[he doesn't need to hear the message twice. or at all, for that matter; the minute the rumbling starts, he's on alert, and quickly rolling out in to the open. by the time the creature's visible, he's outright transforming, remaining in a crouch as it falls...and then springing in to action.

it's too late for the creature- he can see that upon first sight- but the falling debris, he can handle. even without a large population here, hazards are still hazards, and his first priority is securing the safety of his surroundings.

shoring up the lower levels with the largest pieces of debris may not be the neatest fix, but it'll work for now as he takes a grip on one of the metal tracks that rise upwards. it may support him, or at least give him a way of balancing himself while he climbs.

he's keenly aware that he's exposed himself, for good or ill- but if there's more of /those/ creatures, it's a risk that he has to take.]

[prophesiedgirl]

[Buffy has been loitering along an in hallways all day. The place has been quiet, and she almost feels at home. Well, not home home (because home is Dawn and Willow and Xander and Giles), but comfortable. After the first few days, she'd begun to feel like she should try getting used to the place. If it is indeed Purgatory or whatever, she guesses they'd (whoever was in charge, anyway) probably want to fill it up before sending the resident along to wherever was next. And the place is awfully empty.

So it happens she's walking down a hallway in the dormitory levels when the building starts freaking out and going all door-slammy. She instinctively braces in a doorway, but the rumbling and noise doesn't continue. Instead, a hush falls. Buffy rushes toward the origination of the noise, half to rubberneck and half to see if she can help.

What she finds, though, is a huge robot cleaning up. She gapes up at it, wondering if there are more hidden behind the walls of place, on tap to repair the huge, mostly-empty buildings. She sneaks along a wall, watching the robot work, looking and listening for people in need of aid. But (perhaps unsurprisingly) there are none, so she sits upon a low wall, marveling at it bending and lifting heavy items with ease.

Figuring she can't justify just staring, Buffy decides she should pitch in. She approaches, feeling the robot out for signs it might step on her, and lifts a girder, carrying it over to the pile the robot is making.]

[oneshallstand]

[at first he doesn't notice the human, but when he does- it's the movement that catches his attention, and he's spinning around, shifting his grip on the concrete in his hand as if to use it as a weapon. just as easily as the defensiveness comes up, though, it falters as he sights the source, and focuses his blue optics in on it.

then, barely a second later, his posture eases. it seems more confused than anything else, what with the fact she's carrying something that should be far too heavy. but there doesn't seem to be any hostility...if anything, it seems as though she's trying to help?

there's only one response for that, really.]

Thank you.

[and then reaching for the piece she's brought, if slowly]

[prophesiedgirl]

[Buffy looks up at the hulking robot, her eyes wide. Did he just talk? Oh, my gosh. Xander should be seeing this.]

Uh - yeah. No big, you know. [She smiles brightly, tossing another chuck of concrete wall into the pile.] They're, like, giving me food and a place to stay free of charge. It's the least I can do.

[She works in silence a few minutes longer, hefting and moving and stacking debris. Then she looks up the robot.]

So, do you like, work here?

[Hey, if the big guy had politeness programmed in, maybe he's conversational as well. It has been a few days since she's had a chat with anyone who isn't her mirror, and she is starting to long for companionship.]

[oneshallstand]

[he takes a glance towards the pile, blinking once- maybe she isn't human? but- that can be asked later, if at all, and right now he's more occupied with being alert for any more of those beasts and making sure the place won't collapse. the damage can only be so much repaired, though, with what they have at hand, and he's hardly skilled in construction; there comes a point where Optimus has to grimace and silently admit to himself that there's no more he can do.

-which is about the time the human speaks up. he looks back down at her in mild confusion...then shakes his head.]

No. I was brought here by means I still do not understand. [he pauses] Can the same be said of you?

sorry so late - I went out of town for a few days

[prophesiedgirl]

[Buffy nods, surprised by the robot's response. If this is Purgatory, does that mean everything has a soul? Buffy feels sudden regret for all the old electronics she'd just tossed into the garbage.

And if it's not Purgatory? Well, than that means something is up. Something big. Something she might have to find and fight.

After a few moments of stunned silence, she gathers her wits.]

I did kind of jump into a portal, though. Did you see a portal, too?

that's fine!

[oneshallstand]

No. One moment I was on my journey, the next...

[he glances back at the...dinosaur, is that what they're called? the creature in the middle of the terrain. he was /there/.

then he looks back.]

My name is Optimus Prime.

[prophesiedgirl]

[Again, Buffy marvels up at the giant robot called Optimus Prime. So. Cool.]

Hi, uh, Mr. Prime. I'm Buffy Summers.

[She waves up at him, feeling extra small. It's definitely cool to know a robot by name, though.]

Where were you journeying?

[oneshallstand]

Optimus will be fine. [he seems vaguely amused. there's only so many nomilitary humans he's met, but as of late, it seems to be a trend.

he's all right with this trend.

the amusement fades, though - if it was ever there in the first place - and he grows serious. how much to tell her?]

I was looking for those who would call themselves my Creators.

[you can practically hear the capital 'C', and that with his tone...well, he doesn't seem to be on friendly terms with them. in fact, that may very well be a note of finality.]

[prophesiedgirl]

[Creator? Eeesh. His tone gave her wiggins on par with Giles' intonation of 'portents'.]

That's -

[She falters, stops hard. "Journeying" to seek a "Creator" seems kind of deep for a robot. A typical one, at least. Looking up at Optimus, she starts to think maybe he's totally Johnny Five.]

- I'm sorry. It must really suck to get pulled away from, like, your quest. Like that guy in the Odyssey, you know? Get sidetracked by some singing, pretty ladies, and you almost get eaten.

[She babbles, then upon realizing the stream of her words has gone politely unchecked by Optimus, she rambles faster to wrap up her terribly analogy.]

Not that that's your particular thing. This is more, you know, random dinosaur rain.

[oneshallstand]

[Johnny Five given steroids, maybe, if he even was familiar with such a thing. or the Odyssey. and the singing. the eaten thing vaguely reminds him of the Driller, so at least he can nod very slightly.]

I hope it is not random. Then there would be a cause, and a problem to solve. [and that would presumably mean no more falling dinosaurs.] If it is random, then we could see more at any time.