the end of a long road [ open ]

[resetbutton]

WHO: Pilgrims. Anyone who was on the Pilgrimage is assumed to be somewhere in this log.
WHAT: Arriving to the Diamond City.
WHERE: Diamond City, which is due northeast of the Cave.
WHEN: Backdated to the evening of May 7th through May 11th.
WARNINGS: None so far.

Among the ruins and tattered memories of the world outside, the Diamond City stood in untouched splendor. Its buildings reached greedily toward the sky, higher and higher toward the center ring. The tallest building of all was a skyscraper supporting what appeared to be a gigantic diamond atop the ornate spire at its highest point. It shone onto the rest of the City below, adding an ethereal prism to whatever surfaces it touched and only serving to highlight the the strange feeling that the Diamond City once lived and thrived as a beautiful metropolis.

This reputation was no more. The streets were empty: clean and untouched for a century, looking as if the residents had simply up and left mere days before. Water flowed freely through the canals that sometimes ran underneath the roads or suspended living districts, thick in the east and thinning out in frequency toward the west. The waters seemed surprisingly clean, although no manner of living creature appeared in their depths.

Comments

May 7th

[resetbutton]

The night is quiet. The night is still. Thin clouds shifted their way across the sky as the Sleepers approached the City. Their goal was reached at last... but there was no welcoming party, no greeters at the gates, nothing to mark their arrival but their own weary bodies. Their only hints remain in the maps provided and markers of where to keep looking, markers that would split up the group who had spent the last week in such close company.

[deshabille]

This was not at all what Mal had been expecting.

Maybe it had never been explicitly said, only ever implied, but she'd pictured the City as a big, loud, full city, sort of like how she'd always imagined Ankh-Morporkh but with better sanitation. The buildings were all there, and it was huge, certainly, but the silence as they approached was starting to get to her. There was no way an inhabited city could stay this quiet, even at night. Especially at night. Night was busier than people thought.

On the whole, and given the conversations she'd had in the past several weeks, not to mention the hardships they'd gone through to get here, she couldn't help but wonder if they were walking into some sort of trap. Still, nothing jumped out at them once they reached the gates. They entered with no ill effects.

"What the hell?" she muttered under her breath, stopping in the middle of the street to stare up at the surrounding buildings. They were all at least twice as tall as what she was used to, and none of them had lights in the windows.

[whowillsaveyou]

The silence didn't bother the Doctor at all. He'd half expected the place to be empty, while the other half expected it to be overrun by beasts or more of those obnoxious robot things. When neither leapt out at them, he afforded himself a chance to relax, pace slow as he examined the buildings.

"Looks like we may be the first to arrive," he commented to himself, trying not to sound too giddy. They were the first to get there, they'd be the first to explore, see what there was to see, investigate the city's technology...

He heard the woman's muttering as he passed by, paused and turned towards her. "Something the matter, my dear?"

[trickntreats]

At some point on their approach Gabriel and Re-l met up with some of the others--or at least got close enough for all of them to know each other was there. Now, as they came to the city, the archangel didn't even care that there was no welcoming party, and was too relieved, too exhausted, to quite register the utter silence.

When he reached the gates he shrugged off his pack, let it drop and spread his arms blissfully. "Made it! Shotgun the bubble-bath."

Though he probably could snap that up ... but only if he wanted to sink into oblivion again.

[antecedent]

It might have been a quiet and empty city for the others, but it was very much not for Ken. To him, people were walking on the sidewalks, chatting and going about their evening as if the newcomers weren't there. What Ken couldn't tell was that these were the ghosts of the people who once lived in the city.

"I thought there was nobody here," he said as he looked at the ghosts and then at the Sleepers, noticing that none of them seem to be aware of the people. "Can't any of you see them?"

[inequal]

Liam slowed when Ken spoke, turning to regard him. He raised a brow, automatically scanning the empty street before them as if it was possible he somehow missed something, then shook his head. "Not a thing," he replied. Worry began to churn in his gut; Ken was definitely more mischievous than anyone would have taken him for, but this wasn't the sort of thing he joked about. "See who? Where?"

May 8th

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Creature comforts are all well and good, things like air conditioning and showers or even a soft,warm bed. Complacency is easy to fall into. However, there were still no other people within the borders and the ghosts of questions unanswered hung like a pall over the City. Exploration was only natural.

[trickntreats]

Now the silence was beginning to get to Gabriel. The thing about the archangel was that he liked company. Real or not, human or not, he wanted there to be other things around. This absolute stillness? Well, he'd slept, but only because he'd been exhausted. It hadn't been restful.

Too quiet. Too still. It made his back prickle wildly, and even after he'd found his way to the tiny little caravan, tucked away in a park, which the map told him was his, true rest had been almost impossible. It had taken him most of the morning to figure out just how the caravan worked, but after he had he manoeuvred it out of the park and onto the road with the odd sort of skill of someone who knew what they were doing but weren't quite awake enough to do it properly.

And then he leaned back in the seat, one hand resting on the long control stick, the tie-dyed chef's hat he'd found in the caravan half over his face to block the sun. At the height he was, he could still quite easily peer under the brim to see people--even if it didn't look it. It mean that he could take the caravan around the roads while giving off the air of being asleep.

Which, frankly, wasn't that far-fetched an outcome. At least the crunch of wheels on the road was a sound, and the sway of the caravan was strangely soothing. Some sudden course corrections may wind up being in order.

Re: May 8th

[brightblueeyeshadow]

Re-l had wandered the streets for hours, walking among the parks and the canals, admiring the architecture and the layout of the city. It was simple and elegant, at least as she neared the centre.

She was sure she had living quarters somewhere, but her memory was faded and fuzzy. For once, she didn't complain. The thrill of the new overrode her exhaustion, and as the sun rose she felt refreshed rather than drained. She would need to find her apartment at some point today, but for now she was content merely to keep walking, noting every street and alley, carving the city into her memory.

[whowillsaveyou]

With as large as the city was, it was no wonder finding anything would be difficult. Not that the Doctor had put a whole lot of effort into actually finding anything just yet. There was too much to see, too many streets, too many buildings. He wandered the streets, checking doors of buildings, all of which were locked, much to his annoyance. Still, with as many buildings as there were, something had to be unlocked somewhere. Right?

Even if not, it was an entirely new place for him, and just seeing what there was out on the streets or in the parks was plenty to entertain the old man. It wasn't entirely surprising to find someone else had had a similar idea when he spotted Re-l doing much the same as he.

Smiling, and perhaps eager to hear what another thought of the place, the Doctor approached the woman. "Masa, wasn't it?" That was the name she'd given him back at the supply depot, at any rate. "Doing some exploring of your own, I see."

[itemfinder]

After taking full advantage of a safe place to sleep, Chivy paid a visit to the daycare he was supposedly working for before... whatever had happened. The walk there wasn't a long one, but it still reminded him that he really wanted his bike back. A lot. So once he'd finished taking a look around, he set off in a random direction, on a quest to find a replacement.

Even if there weren't any people around, most of their stuff was still present, which meant he should be able to find something. Unfortunately, most of what he was finding had been secured, generally with a bike lock.

He had to stop when he found a store that seemed to specialize in bikes, though. Hands pressed to the glass, he peered inside and sighed to himself. Of course whoever owned it wasn't around. And even if they were, how was he going to pay for it?

[deshabille]

By the second day, Mal was restless. She'd more or less recuperated from the trek - she'd lived on less sleep, although not in conditions quite as unpleasant, and so she'd slept for fourteen hours and woken up refreshed enough - but she needed to move, because she was used to it and because there really was a great deal to see. She'd made it from her apartment to the middle ring and was walking about more or less aimlessly when she came across a young man with his nose pressed to the glass of a shop.

He looked familiar. He'd certainly been on the journey over, but she didn't think they'd spoken or gotten stuck huddled together in a sandstorm or anything ridiculous like that. She leaned against the glass next to him and glanced inside. "See something you like, do you?"

[trickntreats]

Syl's caravan was making its slow way down the road. Gabriel had discovered that the seat, while not exactly reclining, did extend so that he could essentially recline anyway. Which he did. The steering-stick tucked nicely against his elbow, and with the regular curve of the circular roads it meant that he just needed to keep it at a specific angle and he could, literally, drive with his eyes closed.

Which he did. It was just that he didn't quite reckon for the habit of a sleeping body to relax in its seat, and thus shift the once perfectly aligned angles of a steering-stick. Watch out for that caravan, Chivy.

May 9th

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Dark and heavy clouds began to move in from over the eastern bay, the ocean visible from one of the higher vantage points in the City. The air rumbled with discontent and the afternoon was spent with a clean, chilled drizzle spilling into the streets. Nothing readily harmful in the tiny droplets, simply a reprieve from the musty and difficult week behind them.

Later that night, in the cooled air, a siren broke out. It wailed through all corners of the City, seeming to emanate from the outside and move inward. Whatever had accidentally been tripped seemed to activate all of the sirens at once, rather than a simple glitch in whatever system that remained.

[trickntreats]

The drawback of having a caravan as a home: Gabriel couldn't find the friggin' tarp for the driver's seat. Which meant the archangel more resembled a wet rat as he grumpily steered the caravan under a convenient bridge's overhang, not caring one whit about the 'no standing' sign he kinda maybe knocked over.

He'd just gotten the caravan nice and situated when the sirens rang out. They made him jump in his seat and, while his heart was getting itself sorted, he looked skyward and threw up his hands. "You've got to be freaking kidding!"

Well, at least it implied there was something still around in this damned city.

[brightblueeyeshadow]

Re-l had been walking again. Not for any particular purpose. Simply because she liked it, and she needed something to do. Unlike the other Sleepers, her job was impossible to undertake at the moment. What could she possibly report on in this empty and rain-drenched city?

She had been quite enjoying the rain, after the endless sun and heat of the desert, but it showed no signs of stopping, and she was beginning to feel cold. Shaking her head to flick the raindrops from her hood she moved towards the nearest shelter, the dark shadow of a bridge.

Only when she arrived did she realise that there was someone there already. Or rather, there was a large contraption. An old caravan, fitted with machinery but still obviously hundreds of years out of date with the world. Re-l almost laughed. Then she spotted the figure in the driver's seat.

"Just my luck," she said, her mouth pulling instinctively down.

[inequal]

Speaking of higher vantage points... Liam had not managed to get himself access into one of the buildings where he could manage a bird's eye view. The extent of his new ability, a replacement for something much simpler and easier to understand, was something he was not willing to test by fire just yet. He instead found himself sitting on top of a three-story building in the southern slums, an umbrella propped up at his side to keep out the worst of the damp. It didn't afford him a good view of the stars, but the freedom of choice to be there for as long as he could stand was something he needed. For now, he would be content to watch the rest of the City awash under the weather's whims.

The siren going off was enough to startle him, jostle him into movement, and the umbrella soon tumbled down onto the street below. With a light curse, he scooted closer to the edge of the building to peer down, heedless of how wet he was beginning to get. "Just my luck," he growled in irritation. Wailing from an unknown source piercing his ears was probably the worst way to destroy the small moment of peace he'd been gearing up to. He glanced about, trying to see if any of the motley crew from the Cave might suddenly stumble upon him and help him out with his sudden lack of umbrella. Weirder things had happened.

[oilyhands]

Having spent most of the previous day getting to know his (Neil's?) motorbike, White decided it was time to take it out for a spin. For the morning he was just riding, getting a sense of the city and the bike, but by the afternoon he started making stops at a few random storefronts to break the glass or damage the doors. He wasn't in search of anything in particular, but seeing things in pieces was calming, in an odd sort of way. He hadn't seen Sable since sometime midway through the Pilgrimage, and the other (former) Horseperson's absence was making him more antsy than he was comfortable admitting to.

[deshabille]

The rain was a nice change. Mal was growing somewhat weary of walking around the City. It was still fascinating, no doubt about that, but monotonous. While the buildings differed and there were clear delineations between the well-to-do and less affluent sections of the City, everything was equally empty and silent and lifeless.

This was interesting, though. A young man on one of those propelled vehicles was making his way up the street she was walking down. She watched, and continued walking forward, as he shattered the window of a shoe store. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but it was out of the ordinary and she was bored, so she walked casually to stand in the middle of the narrow street and stood more or less to attention.

May 10th

[resetbutton]

The morning is greeted with a knock at the door. It didn’t matter where a Sleeper was staying by then, indoors or out, something had located them and clambered for attention. Outside stood a very skeletal but obviously person-shaped robot. Anyone who had seen them would recognize the police force uniform hanging off the gangly limbs. Upon giving the robot any sort of attention, it gave a large salute and thrust something out with its free hand.

“Please do accept this offering from the Sir Caretaker! He wishes you only the best in your mission to rebuild all of the systems that were unfortunately taken offline during the Disaster one hundred and fifty-three years ago!”

The item, as it turned out, appeared to be nothing more than a handheld cellular device. Inspection would reveal that it possessed a touch screen and very user-friendly interface, along with a hard keyboard in place should one slide the screen out of the way first. Relieved of its package, the robot gave another salute (the other hand, this time) and turned to take its leave.

Strange.

[ Please see this post for the message that will be awaiting anyone brave enough to access the network with their new device. ]

[trickntreats]

Standing in the half-unfolded doorway of the caravan he was just figuring out how to open into a cafe, Gabriel took the device with bemusement, staring at the robot. "You know, the least they could do is give you a uniform that fits," he said finally, and snapped his fingers.

There. Now the robot had a uniform nicely tailored to its skeletal form. It just happened to include a miniskirt. And be bright pink.

Re: May 10th

[brightblueeyeshadow]

Re-l opened the door of her apartment slowly, feeling distinctly rumpled. She was ready to lash out at the person on the other side, and finding only a skeleton shaped robot pulled the wind from her sails and made her frown sharply. Her frown faded quickly, though, on receipt of the device. It was clumsier than the instruments she had known in Romdeau, but it was still a communication tool, and one with data stored.

A spark of interest flared. This could be the first step to unlocking the mysteries of the city. What she needed now was someone to take it apart.

Quickly she shrugged on a coat and headed out into the city, looking for a scientist or an engineer. Anyone who knew machines.

May 11th

[resetbutton]

Contrary to the drizzle a few days prior, today was quite dry and hot. The sun beat down without care and it felt almost like being out on the Overworld all over again. There was no helping it, except perhaps for dressing appropriately and staying indoors. But... wait. Representative Anselmo had said something about a surprise at the southwestern metro line, hadn’t he?

To any who would venture out in curiosity, they would find all of the stops along the southwest lines seemed to have gained a double-width stairway down into a subway station. It was nearly identical to the metro above, except for the fact that its color was a simple black instead of something bright from the rainbow spectrum.

Only one end destination was listed: Hiberna.

[deshabille]

Mal's growing irritation and the oppressive heat were (unfortunately) not enough to stifle her curiosity. Calling something a 'surprise' and not elaborating on it was, in her opinion, a seven on the scale on ominous things to say, but she might as well find out what the potentially ominous thing was.

She had a bit of a problem with tickling sleeping dragons. (Not literally. Not yet, anyway.)

The southwest metro was not terribly far from her apartment in the outer ring, so she made her way there on the foot. The walk gave her some time to speculate on what she was about to see, but the entrance looked fairly innocuous. She paused at the top of the stairway, then descended into the station.

[trickntreats]

The rain was better. Gabriel wanted the rain back. After being out in that desert, rain was so much better, even if he had gotten soaked. The archangel didn't appreciate the little reminder about that oven.

The good thing about having a moving home was that he didn't even have to leave home in order to go out. Gabriel and his caravan trundled up to the metro and parked in a 'no standing' zone just because he could, then eyed the new entrance from under the tarp shading his seat.

"Well, this is interesting," he murmured out loud.