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[color=b89383][sub]HELSTON  [color=a8a8a8]▎[/color]  FRIDAY  [color=a8a8a8]▎[/color]  26 OCTOBER[/sub]
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[color=a8a8a8]It was just like any other morning. A thousand of the same kind had come and gone time and time again. One never expected that particular day to be different from the one before. It was late October. The warm winds of summer had since long gone to rest. The brisk air of autumn had fallen upon the lands, but it was not awfully cold just yet. The [i]Festival of the Quiet[/i] was just around the corner. It was the best time of the year for some. Such was the case for Alice Darina. The late moths of the year were her favorites. They were so colorful and silent. The early morning stroll to work became a delight. She could see every breath in a playful swirl of mist. A thick scarf was rolled around her neck in addition to the typical attire. This Friday was going to be better than all the others, she thought.

Alice was one of the few who were up and about at this hour of the morning. It was her duty to open the supermarket this day. It was a rather large space in a downtown building. From the front entrance there was a nice view of center square parking lot and main street. The rising sun broke through the misty clouds above. It still had a fair bit of warmth to it. Alice took a moment to bask in its energy with a tiny smirk on her lips. Her [i]kind[/i] had a special relationship with that glowing, celestial orb. It was one that she never really cared to mention unless asked about it. However, back in High School it was a big deal among the students. Alice’s kind had existed for all time, yet it remained a mixed feelings kind of issue for many.

The lights flickered on. The store was empty and quiet. Alice made her way to the staff offices. She booted up all the systems they needed every day. The power cell for the week still had juice in it left over. While things were warming up, she slipped out of her jacket and put her work clothes on. There was not much to it, really. It consisted of a warm, bright-red jacket and black gloves. Alice was on stocking duty today and store management. That is, she did not have to be nice and pretty at the checkout. Twenty minutes later, the coworkers began to pour in. There was about ten people working at the store at any one time. The supermarket had just about anything one could ever need at home, so everyone, including Alice, had their own little area of knowledge. Alice’s specialty was the gardening section of the store. Growing things was a bit of a hobby of hers, anyway.

Typical shooting of the breeze always happened in the morning. Alice just put herself on autopilot and remained polite. At least her coworkers appreciated it, or they did not know any better as to what Alice actually thought. The tiny chatter lasted a few minutes with most of the staff. The owner of the store, Mr. Watson, was in good spirits as always. He was a true veteran of Helston. Life before the unions was something that many of the staff asked about when speaking with him. Alice enjoyed listening to his old stories as well. However, today was not one of those days. Everyone simply found their way to their duties. Alice had already begun to count the hours. She got off early on Fridays, around two in the afternoon. Plans for the weekend had already been made. She was going to have dinner with the family in the evening. The next day, she would spend time downtown for the [i]Lunar Hail[/i]. And on Sunday, the [i]Festival of the Quiet[/i] would begin. Everything was set for a comfy weekend. Alas, something tragic would interfere.


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It was just half an hour before quitting time for Alice that it happened. A bright light from outside briefly illuminated the streets and parts of the store inside. Alice was stocking items close to the exit and all of the front windows. She was able to quickly turn around and see the object fall from the sky. The light faded just seconds later. People at the checkouts moved towards the windows with curiosity. A distant explosion pop followed by quite serious tremors ensued, which rattled the windows something fierce. It was unlike what they had felt before. This was no ordinary missile attack. Everyone began to call their friends and family. Usually there would be an air raid siren sounding, but this time around it had been silent. Helston had a couple of sirens for different purposes. One of them was for incoming attacks, another for citizen call to arms, and a third for general alertness. A coworker named Lina approached Alice.

[color=c2abab]“What was that? The unions at it again?”[/color] Lina asked while observing the sky outside the front windows of the supermarket.
[color=b89383]“I’m not sure. Missiles surely don’t light up the sky like that,”[/color] Alice said while stepping down from a tiny ladder, which she used to reach the top shelves.
[color=c2abab]“Yeah, maybe you’re right. But, what do you think? Call to Arms or Gen-Alert?”[/color] Lina asked as if they were betting on which siren that would follow the incident.
[color=b89383]“Gen-Alert, probably.”[/color] Alice began to make herself ready to quit for the day, putting the ladder and pricing tagger away.
[color=c2abab]“You going to respond to it?”[/color]
[color=b89383]“Maybe. I could use some extra cash,”[/color] Alice remarked before leaving her coworker to it.

Surely enough, ten minutes later the general alertness siren sounded throughout Helston. It was an order usually issued by the Mayor. Its purpose was for citizens to be alert of danger and either protect the town or join the resistance forces in defense efforts. The latter usually resulted in a reward if the citizen made significant contributions or displayed excellence. The resistance forces were usually quick on their feet when responding to sudden threats. They had a dedicated radio frequency for non-sensitive information, but also closed channels over the Net that only citizens had access to. Alice checked her phone as she came out of the supermarket. The coordinates for the impact was already posted on the Net channel. It was just outside of town, near a ranch that provided Helston and Eastbourne with various goods.

Alice hurried back home. All of the gear that she needed for participating in General Alertness calls were there. She would change as quickly as possible, and then take her car out to the coordinates posted on the closed Net channel.[/color]

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[color=79629b][b]QUEST STEPS[/b][/color][color=9a8bb0]: Introduce your character. React to the meteor impact. Respond to the General Alert siren. The Resistance coordinates will take you outside of town. At most, end your first post with being on the way there.[/color]
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