Atrophy

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Vashti never thought she’d put so much value in a quarter. Before, change was one of those things that she always considered inconsequential, a burden that she’d often leave behind in the coin deposit just because she didn’t want to walk around with jingling pockets. Actually, change was one of those things that she never even received, since anything and everything was put on daddy’s little black card and magically paid off by the end of the month. Yet now she kept a quarter with her wherever she went, employing Herik’s trick to keep the Leviathan at bay as liberally as possible. For a couple of days it had worked to help her reach gnosis and keep herself relatively chaos free.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work one hundred percent of the time. As far as she knew she had not injured anyone, but the Dairy Queen on 56th street would be closed until further notice after a “massive alligator” got into their walk-in and devoured all of the ice cream. Meanwhile, Vashti’s search for a Lavender Lux was going about as well as a giant alligator trying to digest tubs of dairy products. There was a creeping feeling of hopelessness that Vashti tried to ignore, just as she tried to ignore the news story from the first about a chihuahua being snapped up by the Gatorboy of Cypress Swamp.

Still, all things considered, just two Leviathan outbursts in a week and some change was pretty good. Except she’d been practically avoiding the Coven during that time, and they certainly elevated the level of chaos around her. Maybe that was why she kept pacing around outside of the beach house instead of going straight in. She was nervous. The last time she had seen the entire Coven she had yelled something to them about an orgy, and from that orgy they had acquired a beach house. The girls had insisted that Blake Schmidt had gifted it to them. Vashti didn’t want to know more. Too many questions were prompted by the idea, and none of them had answers that wouldn’t be upsetting.

However, it wasn’t those questions that were stopping Vashti from entering the beach house. She was worried about Madison. Vashti wanted to try and make amends with her. However, she just felt like there was a storm brewing, and with the Leviathan inside of her she had to keep herself from letting the hurricane out. She gripped the quarter in her pocket and ran her finger along the edge. She decided to do a loop of the neighborhood to give her head some time to clear, and to get the eyes off of her: she swore she saw blinds being peeled apart by suspicious baby boomers concerned by the appearance of a Muslim woman in their idllyic vacation spot.

By the time she was back, the blinds were shut and Emily’s moped was there. Good. With Emily there, Vashti would have some back up if Madison decided to be a hard ass. Even if Emily didn’t actually back her up, it would be nice to have her in the room—maybe Madison would split her fury between the two of them instead of unleashing it on one. Assuming that Madison got angry at all. Vashti shook her head. There was no space for negative thoughts like that. She’d talk to Madison, and they’d be cool. Easy peasy. She stepped up to the door and let herself in.

"Okay, yeah, who the fuck are you? More importantly, why is yo' boney ass here?"

Oh no. So much for catching Madison at a good time. Vashti stayed in the entrance way, lingering near the threshold into the common area. She peeked her head around the corner as the Middle Eastern girl in the yellow beanie talked, and talked, and talked, and—holy shit, did she not need to breath? It was a bit difficult with the accent but it sounded like the girl wanted to join. Why not? Vashti was pretty sure the Coven’s whole screening process was just a little song and dance to make the group seem more legit than it ever could possibly be. She walked around the corner to meet the newest member, the greeting dying in her mouth as Madison and Emily chucked the girl out the backdoor like a bag of garbage.

“Um, what?” Vashti felt her brain break as Madison and Emily gave each other a high five. Vashti, wide-eyed and slack jawed, gestured repeatedly to the door as the English language began to delete itself from her mind. “What-the-fucking, why-would-you-even, I-can’t, so-stupid, I, what? What? What!?”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

I fancied up the tab on Extra-Normals.

@The Ghost Note

I like how it looks. The clean, professional appearance clearly reflects the equally sophisticated contents of the IC.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

<Snipped quote by silvermist1116>

Odessa won't be around to boop tho

@The Ghost Note

Isla still gonna be on eggshells anytime she's around palm trees though.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

^{Greater Shill Zone
"NO MAN'S LAND"}

“...You know.”

“I don’t,” said Lott heavily. Finally, she admitted it. Her voice almost sounded human in its defeat. “Josh—”

But Gatch was gone, secretly promoting the facility manager to be the one to fix Lott with a quizzical glance before she returned her eyes to the monitors. Lott ignored both her and the screens. She stared blankly at the double doors while her eyes rewatched her conversation with Gatch. She wasn’t sure if what happened had really happened until she lived it again, and even then she wasn’t sure if she was smart enough to know how to process it. Lott played it again, like that would help her. All it did was elevate her heart rate to dangerously normal levels. Shit, she was panicking. Lott looked around the room. She needed something. She needed…

“...more info about what’s happening, and a drink or something.”

The latter, definitely. Lott mechanically stood from her chair and stiffly walked over to the dry bar. Vodka was too clear for the situation, this kind of thinking required something dark and heavy. The tumbler clacked on the countertop, was filled halfway with a whiskey that smelt either like campfire or a rioter’s molotov, and then drowned in bitters. For the first time in nearly a decade, Lott made a face as the glass touched her lips. It was a fittingly difficult drink to swallow.

Had Gatch really admitted to her that he’d knowingly committed voter fraud to win the last election?

“Yes…”

Lott inhaled. Did APEX know? What was she thinking, of course APEX knew. They hadn’t sent her there to determine whether or not Gatch had broken the rules to win the mayorship. They had sent her there to plug leaks and throw any stowaways overboard, not to question if the captain should be captain. She was the sheet for a magician to throw over and disappear a planted audience member underneath and little more. Lott’s hand shook. She should be honored. “You can see the people on the screens, Ramana.” Gatch was right. She was privileged. Most companies treated people like disposable paper towels, only used once to wipe up some dirt before being thrown into the landfill. Lott was special. She was used repeatedly, much like the tumbler in her hand.

Fuck it. She could feel the eyes on her, casting judgments, as she made another drink.

Lott knew one thing for certain: she had underestimated Gatch. She had never seen him as much of a player. Despite being the most important part of the Game, the king was typically one of the weakest pieces. She looked longingly at her reflection in the mirror over the bar, her eyes seeing ghost images of Gatch standing behind her. Something had changed about him. No, nothing had changed about him. Rather, she had only just realized. He, like Samsara Washington, was dangerous. In fact, he was more dangerous, because unlike Washington he had been able to hide his terrifying nature from her for so long. Perhaps that was why she couldn’t get a word in edgewise. She had been petrified.

Now, she just had to determine if that had been due to love or fear.

“Use the information available...”

A taunt. An invitation. A plea for mercy? She could use the information, but to what end? It couldn’t be enough to take Gatch down. In the end, the truth would bury Lott and Lott alone—unless she found someone else to be the truth for her. It was the right thing to do. Potentially stupid, definitely suicidal, but right. Maybe the only reason Gatch would tell her something like that would be to test her. Check her loyalty. But...maybe he wanted a way out of the Game. She had just been made into a pawn, and already she was unsure if she could keep playing. He’d been in it longer than her. If that was the case, shouldn’t she withhold the information? Keep him in the Game? Punish him for breaking the rules?

“What do they want?”

Lott didn’t know what she wanted to do.

“What do they really want?”

Not just in this situation, either. In everything.

“They want to spill each other’s blood and get away with it.”

The American Dream, right? She had once thought it respectable.

“They want to deface and destroy a corporate faction because it makes them feel powerful.”

But feeling isn’t being. Feeling is a forgery.

“They live all their lives—like us—giving into desires.”

She only desired to be.

“The desires are just different.”

She didn’t want to be a pawn in the Game.

“Is it you?”

But could she be more?

“Take over while I answer HQ.”

Impossible. King was never an option.

“Look at those people—‘at us’...” Us? “You and I...” Us. "—like us—giving into desires.”

Queen, now. Well, if not that then she certainly she could be promoted to a rook.

Lott felt like she was falling. She caught herself on the bar and checked her watch to administer a few doses to keep her equilibrium in check. Lifting her head, she gave the mirror a confident smile before immediately diving into a deep analysis of every single thing that was wrong with her appearance. She needed a haircut, a mud mask, a dangerous blast of uv radiation, and a new suit. She didn’t know where she could buy a personality, so she’d have to fake one. Lott leaned forward and lifted a lid to look at the bloodshot eye. Perhaps she needed to channel Adamantia Steele and have her become a part of her daily life.

The ritual was easy enough.

Lott poured herself another drink, and then whipped one up for Turkish. King’s orders were to become acquainted. Perhaps instead of serving Turkish up as the scapegoat, Lott could use him to help bolster her up a step or two. Lott herself took a topsy-turvy step or two and then she was following in Gatch’s footsteps, stepping out of the room and toward the elevator. She pushed the call button and waited on her opportunity to go down. Reflecting back on it, she didn’t like how the advisor had so easily peeled Gatch away from her. Jealously, for Gatch? Stupid. He had said it himself. Lott and Gatch?

They were an us now.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Vashti focused on the quarter that Herik placed in her hand and listened. It was difficult to think of Herik as the kind of guy who’d punch someone else, let alone punch them with enough anger to send them to the hospital. As for his advice, she was already trying something similar with her meditations in search of achieving gnosis. It had even worked a few times before, but being around the Coven made thinking—let alone trying to find an inner peace—impossible. A focal point might just do the trick. Still, she’d have to be cautious. The Leviathan wouldn’t just break a jaw; it’d rip the whole thing off.

“At this point, I’ll try anything. We never even got the chance to bring up finding someone who can break curses,” said Vashti, rubbed her nail against the edge of the quarter. She glanced over at Emily and frowned. Even with the other girl adding her voice to Vashti’s desires to search for an Adept with lavender Lux, she doubted they would be able to convince the rest of the Coven to offer a hand. Vashti was new enough to not yet have a firm grasp of the pecking order, but it was telling how nobody else had come to watchover Emily in case Babylon came back to finish the job.

Jesus, how could she be doing all of this complaining with Emily in the hospital like this? Vashti sighed, annoyed at herself for being so self-absorbed. Then she thought about Herik’s mother, and how being in a hospital must constantly remind him of her. Vashti couldn’t keep throwing herself a lame Leviathan pity party. Still, she had to keep talking, even if it were just to keep Herik distracted or let Emily’s subconscious know that there were people here for her.

“So, when exactly were you going to tell me you had a magical lion?”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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The hospital room was quiet except for the beep of the heart monitor and the nervous tapping of Vashti’s foot as she sat beside Emily. The tapping slowed as Vashti began breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, the annoying mantra of every cheap spa guru ever. Despite the cliche of the whole thing, it did have the calming effect she was looking for to give Vashti enough clarity to realize how big of an asshole she’d just made herself look. Madison had pull when it came to the Coven while Vashti had none. She didn’t regret the things that she said, but the way that she said it…shit. The fact that nobody came to watch over Emily was telling enough. Vashti ran her fingers through her hair and locked them behind her head as she breathed. In, out, in, out, in.

The door opened with a knock. Oh, great, it turned out Vashti was right and Babylon had come back to finish the job. What had been her plan, exactly? The Leviathan was tucked away wherever it went inside of her when it was scared, and even if it was around it wasn’t like Vashti could tell it to protect Emily. She held in her breath and looked up to seem Babylon striking down upon her, but was instead greeted by the sight of Herik limping toward the chair beside her. In a way that was worse than Babylon. Maybe they sent him to tell her that she was out. God, that’d be brutal. She smoothed out her hair to hide her malformed ears and rested her hands on her knees, slowly letting out the breath she had been holding.

She stared at the foot of Emily’s bed. That was the best greeting she could give him as he began to speak about Elise. Vashti frowned. She wasn’t even sure if she had ever truly spoken to Elise. She wasn’t even sure if she knew which girl Elise was, exactly. The blonde one, right? She was about to say something when Herik reached out and grabbed her hand. It shut her right up.

“...It won't get better with this group…”

“I’m getting that impression,” muttered Vashti as Herik continued.

“...I know it's a lot, but I hope you stay."

Vashti sighed, looked at his hand holding hers, and turned to Herik with a sad smile. “Thank you, but I…” Have nowhere else to go? Can’t leave, because it’d be too dangerous for her to be alone again? She continued slowly, “I don’t know if that’s my call anymore.”

In part, she was talking about Madison and the other girls, but there was something else too. Vashti let go of his hand.

“I owe you an explanation.”

She had been avoiding the conversation with Herik since the other night. Even after the doctors had patched her up she had seen to it to never be caught alone with the guy. She fidgeted nervously in her chair as she tried to formulate the thought in her head. She felt nauseous and lowered her head back in the chair until she was staring up at the fluorescent lights. Why was it so difficult to say it? Vashti closed her eyes so tightly that the back of her eyelids turned into a black, starless night sky being bombarded by fireworks.

“Dude, sometimes I think I’m out of control. Like just now? Or when I went off on Madison in the elevator the other day? I used to just shrug shit like that off, man. But ever since getting cursed I’ve...well, I haven’t been me and I’m not talking about the transformations. Herik I know it sounds like an excuse but I—it’s just—how can I…”

Vashti opened her eyes, her slitted pupils dancing around the room in a panicked confusion before she covered them with her hands.

“I know it helped us against the Outsider, but that was just dumb luck. It’s pure chaos. It could do anything, go after anyone. Herik, when I turn into the Leviathan I don’t control it at all. I used to think the reverse of that was true but now...now I’m pretty sure it's always has some sway.”

The Night Shift - Gas Station Horror Simulator (OPEN)

@Bork LazerWell shit I dunno about them being better ones. Still, I understand pulling the plug. Lemme know if you ever try a reboot.

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

Penny is going to find herself unreasonably attracted to houseplants and not know why.

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

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New York City wasn’t nearly as awe-inspiring as she had thought it would be, but by now Penny was absolutely tired of big cities. She pressed into an alcove as she lit a cigarette—screw it, if the world had another year she wasn’t going to spend it robbing herself of the simple pleasure of slowly poisoning herself. When she had come to, she had been back in O’Hare as if nothing had happened, albeit she was still covered in muck from her fight with the Apparition. A quick clean up session and outfit change in the airport bathroom held her off until she got to her AirBnB in NYC.

From there she immediately set to work informing the remaining members of the Support Group as to what she had experienced. Collaborating with Hagan and Zoey to fill in all of the details, she broke the news of Caelea’s death to the others. If Penny had her way she wouldn’t have done it over a stupid Snapchat message, but reality forced her to have to drop the niceties. After, she explained to them the Recollection that Rosalyn had shown them of the world ending. She asked for them to pass on any information they knew about a man named Luther Saul. The only thing she didn’t mention at all was Odessa’s true identity. The Apparition’s secret was safe with Penny.

Then she passed out on the couch, completely exhausted.

When Penny woke she had a text message from Rita on her phone. All it contained was a link to an interview. Penny watched in bemusement as the interviewer put the cult leader through the ringer. This loser was the one responsible for the end of the world? She doubted a cult with someone as easily flustered as him would truly ever get the power needed to end the world, but she couldn’t chance it. The interview had been done in Tampa, Florida. Penny frowned. She didn’t have the money to take a flight down to Florida. Fortunately, she knew someone who could help her out. Penny held up her phone and took a snapshot of the living room.

But first, she needed to fulfill her promise to Lynette, which brought her to the alcove. Crushing the cigarette under her heel, Penny walked up the steps of the apartment building and buzzed the door. A moment later, a voice crackled over the shoddy speaker. Penny paused. She had been planning to tell Lynette’s brother and sister everything just like her friend had asked her to, but she suddenly realized she didn’t actually have a plan when it came to how she was going to tell them. She frowned. Worse comes to worse, she could always try and show them a Recollection. Penny pushed the talk button.

“Hi, it’s Penny Lawson. I’m a friend of Lynette’s. Are you Cierra? We spoke online.”

There was no response but the buzzing of the door as it unlocked. With a sigh, Penny stepped into the lobby and made her way to the elevator. The image of the rope bridge and the black abyss flashed in her mind as she pressed the call button. She couldn’t show them that. Slowly, it was replaced by the Recollection of Lynette’s spirit forgiving Sharon, something that Penny had been unable to do. The vision faded as Penny collapsed against the wall of the elevator and shook. She saw Odessa’s face. Even after she had been forgiven, even as a different person, Odessa still beat herself up for her past crimes.

Penny sank to the floor and cradled her head. Britney had died and came back as an Apparition, but she had helped them escape from Paradise. Odessa had told her that all Awakened eventually returned as Apparitions. Lynette and Caelea would return, but so would Sharon. Penny choked on a cry. Sharon, who Penny had refused to forgive, who would likely hate and blame herself even more than Odessa did. Penny looked at her sobbing reflection in the elevator’s mirrored wall. God, she was disgusting. Was she truly so petty that she had to further ruin a tortured soul's afterlife? Was that the kind of person she wanted to be? If she pushed away everyone that wronged her, how long would it be until there was no one left to stand beside her?

“Sharon, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. What you did was awful, but I forgive you. I know it’s too late, but I forgive you.”

The sigil on Penny’s collarbone began to glow as the interlocked rhombuses shifted and rotated into squares. More and more squares appeared out from behind the others and shrunk as they formed a kind of vortex, each square slightly locking in with another. Penny smiled as the sigil faded and wiped her eyes. For once, the underlying feeling of disgust, both towards others and herself, seemed to fade. She accepted the fact that she needed other people to support her just as much as other people needed her for support. She hadn’t just come here to tell Lynette’s siblings about what had happened to their sister. She needed someone to talk to about the loss of her best friend. She needed someone who knew her just as well if not better than Penny did.

Penny pulled herself up and dusted herself off as the door chimed open, ignoring the weird look from the stranger that stood in front of the opening elevator doors. She made her way to the apartment door and knocked. She lowered her hand and rested it on Lynette’s sigil. It belonged to Lynette’s family. If they wanted it, they could have Penny didn’t need Lynette’s memories to know that she’d never forget her. She was no longer nervous about meeting Jaden and Cierra. It was funny. Penny had always acted like it was the case, but for the first time in her life she truly believed that no matter what happened she would persevere.

The door opened.

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The coin flipped over the edge of the balcony, catching the lights of the city as it rotated and hummed.

“Hey dude, it’s me. Mom and Dad still upset?”

A hand snatched out and caught the coin before it could go cascading down to the streets below.

“Yeah, well, tell them I’m sorry but I’ll understand if they don’t believe me. Thanks for the ride, by the way. Yeah, I’m okay. Yeah, yeah, no, it’s...it’ll be okay. She’s not really gone. Wait, what about Zoey?”

Again, the coin sang as it flew over the city.

“I am not telling her you said that. Why? Because that’s disgusting, dude. Don’t. Just, look, I don’t even want to think about the two of you together, let alone think about you with literally anyone in the world ever. Like, oh my god, why would you even put that image in my mind? Ugh, you are such a little—oh, shit!”

The coin slipped through her fingers, but froze in midair almost immediately instead of plummeting to the streets below.

“Huh? Oh, it was nothing. Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m just practicing. Anyway, look—no I’m not telling you if the other girls there were hot or not, shut the fuck up. Listen. I don’t need you to pick me up tomorrow. Because I’m not going back. Not yet.”

The coin levitated up so that she could grab it again. She flipped it again, but this time it continued to defy gravity as it circled around her.

“I don’t know just make up some dumb excuse. They're gonna chew me out when I get home anyway. Oh, hold on. I gotta go. My ride's here. No. No I’m not gonna tell her to call you. Shut up, dude. Yeah, whatever, I love you too. Bye.”

Penny reached out her hand and effortlessly snatched the coin orbiting her at high speeds from the air. She stepped through the sliding door into the living room, waving her hand to close it behind her.

“Hey there stranger. Been a minute. Lynette says hi, by the way. So, how’s the ghost busting?”

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Elsewhere

Boat drinks

Boys in the band ordered boat drinks

Visitors scored on the home rink

Everything seems to be wrong

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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“I meant like body bag him; a doubletap to the head and calling it suicide,” muttered Vashti darkly under her breath. She began to pull her knees up to her chest and winced at the spike of pain. Stupid. She stretched her legs out in front of her and propped her hands behind her like she was basking in the glow of the exit sign as Trevor continued to reinforce the idea that the government did not work for the people. It was refreshing to hear one of their own at least admit it.

Vashti closed her eyes and let out a low groan as Madison explained to her that Kayla wasn’t as reliable as she had seemed at the Dairy Queen. Vashti opened one eye and gave Madison a skeptical half-smile at the suggestion that she and Herik just wander around a college campus to find her. Yeah, right. If she was avoiding them on purpose then she wouldn’t want people snooping after her. Likewise, if she was working on something important then she definitely wouldn’t want people coming to bother her.

“...since you're clearly not okay with this...”

“I never said I wasn’t okay with this,” said Vashti, tilting her head towards Madison. She had just said it was stupid. It was a big difference. She ended up going along with stupid ideas all of the time, like meeting a stranger on the Internet to study magic under...or meeting with strangers from the Internet to join a Coven that caused chaos whenever more than three of them were within a square block of one another. Vashti chewed on her lip. Maybe she should stop meeting people from the Internet.

She turned her eyes back towards Lyss, who Vashti viewed as the de facto leader of the Coven despite Lyss’ apprehensions. Vashti let out a heavy sigh as Lyss sided with Madison, rolled her neck, and climbed up to her feet. She rubbed her forehead as the girl spoke. By the time Vashti dropped her hand to the side she had managed to force a smile.

“If anyone has any suggestions, I want to hear them now.”

“Yeah. Use protection,” said Vashti, her fake smile turning into a real grin as she shot a look at Maya. She turned back to Lyss and Madison as she relaxed her shoulders. Her voice hovered just below genuine, and was strangely calm for the normally frantic girl. “Look, I’m sorry if I came off as a jerk. I barely know any of you, but I still don’t want anyone else to get hurt. The Outsider couldn’t stop us, so a rich loser caught with his pants down will hardly be a problem for you girls. I guess that’s why I didn’t see it as something that should be such a priority. But I respect your decision. That said, I’d only be getting in the way. But I’m not gonna go look for Kayla or go home.”

“I’m going to go sit with Emily so that there’s someone there when she wakes,” clarified Vashti. As she turned and began walking towards the door back into the hospital, the dark wave of emotions swelling inside of her released as her voice grew more and more indignant. “Or, you know, in case Babylon comes back for her.” Vashti’s hand grabbed the door handle, cocked her head to the side, and tapped a finger against her temple. “Oh, did we all forget about the bitch that actually killed one of us and nearly murdered another!? Well, anyway...” Were they really so up their own ass with their want for revenge that they forgot the real danger to the Coven? Vashti opened the door, stepped through, and turned so that the rest of the Coven could see the angry disappointment on her face.

“Enjoy your FUCKING orgy!”

With a mocking salute, she slammed the door and stormed away.