PLAYER PLOT - Kidnappings & Killswitches

[semilethal]

Kidnappings & Killswitches: Plotting Post

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Donatello has been working on a method to send people back to their home dimensions for the last two years (previous game & current game experience). He thinks he's finally figured it out (he hasn't). He needs data and he's decided not to ask permission to obtain it. He's going to try regardless, come hell or high water (and that will become everybody else's problem).

Star Children meeting certain criteria will be kidnapped and held in an underground lab for some (probably) harmless data collection. The lab itself will be heavily protected and fortified, and when the procedure for which that data is collected is finally executed, its effects will be felt far further than just the labs.

NOTE: The Memory Traps section is for general player involvement as desired, and doesn't require any coordination/sign-ups/etc. as it is a side-effect of what will occur during the player plot.

Kidnappings & Imprisonment

Content Warnings: Assault, imprisonment, non-consensual restraint & drug use, experimentation.

On January 31st, Donatello will post an anonymous network post asking questions about going home and interdimensional travel. Characters who respond confirming they've traveled to other dimensions before (whether it be their canon or CRAU from other games), or if a character has ever discussed having traveled between dimensions on an open network post, they will likely be on Donnie's list of people to kidnap, hold, and run a mostly harmless experiment on. If your character does not reply, and/or if you would like to handwave dimension-talk on the network to make them eligible, please just state in the sign-ups below!

A day or so after the Anon post goes up, your character may suddenly feel a sting on the back of their neck when they're walking around at night or somewhere deserted. Or perhaps they live alone, and they smell something sweet that makes them feel woozy. Maybe even your character is immune to sedatives or other knock-out drugs; maybe a quick, semi-harmless tazing will do! Whatever works to knock a character out with as little physical damage as possible, a drone will do its best to accomplish before bundling the character up in tarp and ropes and hauling it unsteadily off towards the farmlands in Willow.

Characters will awaken in holding cells lined up in Donnie's underground lab. They won't be particularly spacious but they're clean and reinforced for considerable above-human strength (but not indestructible). All sides save one of the cells are extremely thick and durable metal; the entryway is made up of hexagonal panels of purple light that seem almost more resilient than the metal walls.

Kidnapped characters will be held in relative comfort, with soft bedding and obfuscated sanitation facilities in each cell, fed and watered with reliable frequency by little purple drones seemingly made out of light (that easily shatter if assaulted), but otherwise don't have much interaction with their kidnapper. Occasionally one of the cameras in the corner of their cell will whir and occasionally a speaker in a cell wall will crackle to life in response to demands for answers, but characters are largely left alone to stew.

Except for the experiment. A procedure that Donnie doesn't anticipate causing lasting damage, but is likely uncomfortable, given that one-by-one characters will first be knocked out and then brought to a staging area where they'll be restrained in a chair next to a large metal structure that strongly resembles a Stargate (yes, that Stargate).

A construct made of bright purple light that looks like a robotic Donatello will be in the lab as well and will begin attaching various sensors. Nothing invasive; no insertion or pain, but a lot of connections to the forehead, base of the skull, and chest. The construct is capable of speech and will respond to questions; it sounds exactly like Donatello, and is extremely forthcoming with information. Maybe it even is Donatello, in some way.

Once the construct engages whatever machinery its fiddling with out of sight of the chair, a low, vibrating hum will engage and characters, depending on how they react to anything that probes or alters the soul may feel anything from a mild spiritual itching/discomfort to a pervasive, scratching ache. Think of it like the gradation of pain getting a tattoo; characters who are more spiritually powerful and/or are not spiritually inclined may hardly feel anything, whereas someone with a previously shattered soul might feel as if sharp claws are being dragged across their skin. The construct doesn't have the best bedside manner, but it clearly isn't there to bring characters any lasting harm and may stop the procedure if intense pain occurs (or is sufficiently faked).

Once the procedure is completed, characters will again be knocked out and will be returned to their cells for the duration of the event.

Escape is possible. There are ventilation shafts that lead outside, though they're too small for anything larger than a common housecat to fit in. Teleportation spells and like powers will work, but too much teleportation risks detection via energy signatures. There are dozens of purple light drones, purple light Donnie constructs, and physical purple turtle-like robots with various armaments patrolling every corner of the labs, including the vents. Constructs and robots will attempt to stop escapees with force, but will not use lethal force if escapees cannot be subdued.

If return escapees or any other characters try to break into the lab from the outside, however, all bets are off and lethal force is permitted.

IN SUMMARY:

⚛ Characters will be kidnapped according to sign-ups/IC details
⚛ Characters will be held in isolated cells for up to a week. Characters can talk to adjacent cells and are able to escape with planning/specific powers
⚛ Re-entry into the labs after escape will be exceedingly difficult
⚛ The Soul Data copying procedure is anywhere from mildly annoying to moderately painful
⚛ Robots, drones, and constructs will not use lethal force for escapees, but will use lethal force for trespassers/returning escapees
⚛ Donatello's voice will be delivered by various constructs and drones, but his original body cannot be found by either prisoners or escapees

TEXTBOX FOR KIDNAPPING SIGN-UPS:
<b>Character Name:</b> <b>Responding to the IC Post?</b> Y/N <b>Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior?</b> Y/N/I don't remember/handwave yes <b>Would you like them to escape?</b> <b>Any other questions/concerns:</b>

Lab Defense & Assault

Content Warnings: Violence, imprisonment, death (potential).

At some point after one of the following occurs, a huge dome of purple light will appear around the entirety of the land under which Donatello's lab sits:

• An escapee manages to leave
  
• Someone posts or mentions anywhere on the Network that they might think Donnie is responsible for any kidnapping(s)
  
• Someone tries to break into the lab
  
• February 8th comes to pass without any of the above taking place

The dome will be very noticable to anybody near Willow. The structure will act like the concept of 'hard light' structures in various sci-fi; it's like a near-transparent wall made out of purple light that is extremely difficult to break by conventional means. Powers that disrupt photonic light and extreme force can probably eliminate enough panels to allow people to enter.

After the dome erects around the lab, there will be even more patrols of light constructs, drones, and robots, and they will have no qualms with using lethal force. Constructs have all the abilities of the regular Donatello and will engage verbally with trespassers but are easier to destroy, and robots have intense firepower and durability but cannot be reasoned with.

Various bulkheads will also trap trespassers in singular rooms, which may or may not contain lethal traps such as poisonous gas, or even a good old-fashioned fire trap or descending/ascending spike walls.

The holding cells are far into the lab near the old manufacturing section. Cells are enclosed on all but one side by thick metal walls, with the entry blocked by light panels similar to the dome around the exterior of the lab. Enough concentrated force to a panel from both the interior and exterior simultaneously will cause it and the other panels to fail and will release the occupant.

Characters that manage to fight their way through all of the opposition both outside and inside of the labs, don't get caught and killed by traps or otherwise expelled by guards, and aren't waylaid by rescuing and releasing prisoners, might make their way to the staging area with the large ring structure sunk into a raised platform in the floor. The ring itself is obviously a massive and complex piece of technology, but nothing else in the room stands out. The platform beneath the ring hums with a near-constant buzz that almost feels like static.

The instant one or more characters make it into the staging area and near the ring, they will feel a tingle across their bodies that precludes a massive discharge of electricity, not unlike the hairs on one's arm raising before a lightning strike. Digits made out of purple light starting at 30 will appear within the ring's structure as the humming grows so loud it seems as if one's own insides are vibrating. The digits will begin counting down per second.

Characters who do not make it out of the room and seal the door shut before the countdown reaches 00 will instantly die. Maybe, just before they pass, they'll notice the gate is now pulsing a bright, brilliant white.

IN SUMMARY:

⚛ Pending specific criteria, a giant dome of light will appear over farmland in Willow
⚛ Inside the dome, any Star Children that have been kidnapped are being held captive
⚛ There are security measures in place both outside and inside the lab to prevent entry. Some of these measures are lethal (robots, Donatello constructs, traps)
⚛ The cells are the second deepest area in the lab
⚛ Past the cells is a curious gate, which will execute its final program the moment the room is breached

Memory Traps

Content Warnings: Unreality/dissociation.

Perhaps you were minding your business, talking a walk through Gram. Maybe you're enjoying a cup of hot chocolate in Wintermute, cozy by the fire in one of their welcoming taverns. It could even be that you're under the sea in Tides, somehow roped into modeling for another painting, again. You could've known about the kidnappings, about the strange dome that appeared in Willow, and you could've decided that it wasn't any of your business. Or maybe it was just the Fox again, up to her usual tricks and Trials, and you wanted no part of it. But maybe instead you're in the lab, bloodying your knuckles on panels made of light to try and reach one of your friends before the guards catch up to you-

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, something suddenly makes the hairs on your arms and the back of your neck stand on end.

And then, for some of you, no matter where you are, you're suddenly somewhere else.

Throughout Folkmore, as soon as the gate engages, pocket dimensions will tear open around Star Children reminiscent of Trial 18's escape rooms, only there's no trick to leaving and no instructions. These pocket dimensions were opened by Lavender, but as a means to contain the ill effects enacted upon Star Children by Donatello's gate rather than a test.

Within the pockets is an entire world generated by the memories of the host Star Child. It could be an exact duplicate of an entire city or a re-enactment of a months'-long journey, or it could be a kaleidoscope of the feelings associated with those feelings in a fever dream setting. Memories as they are associated with the soul are more malleable than those strictly from the mind, and can alter their surroundings within these pockets depending on how they affected the owner. The only caveat is that whatever the world, setting, or event must have already occurred to the host Star Child.

Nearby Star Children that are sucked into these pockets are not provided any instructions on how to get out...because they can't. Outside of the pockets, only a few seconds will pass, but within the pockets time moves differently. Star Children can feel as if they've been within the pockets for minutes, hours, days, even weeks with each other. Multiple different occurrences of the same or different events with different people take place, compartmentalized within these pockets in their infinite space and time.

It's up to the individual Star Child whether or not they realize that what they're experiencing isn't real...or at least, isn't lasting. Star Children who come to the conclusion that this is some sort of Trial or hallucination will find themselves returned to their bodies hale and whole, with nary a scratch. Other Star Children might not be so lucky; high-tension situations have a way of sticking to the most skeptical victims, after all. All this to say, essentially, wounds and deaths that occur within the pocket dimensions may be inflicted upon Star Children after they emerge. It's up to player discretion.

IN SUMMARY:

⚛ Lavender will open pocket dimensions around Folkmore to contain the gate's effects
⚛ The effects are, specifically, the creation of worlds/events that Star Children have already experienced; these worlds/events can be as accurate as the player likes, or can be exaggerated/muted in accordance with how it affected the Star Child in question
⚛ Each pocket dimension will form around a host Star Child, and nearby Star Children will be pulled in against their will
⚛ There is no specific goal in order to escape. Up to player discretion
⚛ Time moves differently within the pockets; it could be a loop of thirty seconds or several weeks
⚛ Wounds and lasting affects on Star Children after emerging from the pockets is up to player discretion

In the immediate aftermath of the gate engaging for those few seconds and the events of Memory Traps, all of the Donnie constructs and any other structures made up of the purple light will disappear. The lab will go silent, the robots will freeze in place before shutting down, and anyone still alive inside will be free to leave.

Top-level comments below for questions of specific sections! Please feel free to use this post to plot with others about different memories/worlds/etc!

IC anon post scheduled Jan 31st
Event/Log post scheduled Feb 1st

Comments

Kidnapping Sign-ups & Questions

[semilethal]

[apuckalypse]

Character Name: Casey Jones
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Donnie obv already knows what's up with junior ufufu
Would you like them to escape? he would try but make an effort to confront Donnie instead of getting out of the lab, so he'd just be caught again lol. put him in a bird box or something
Any other questions/concerns: i think i had a question but it's on my other computer >:[ i will come back after work to add in.

EDIT: DID NOT COME BACK AFTER WORK!!! SHAME!!! my question was actually about personal shit being yoinked, I see below weapons will likely be taken. i just want to know if Casey would keep his mask on him lmao

[semilethal]

donnie would actually very pointedly leave casey's mask alone and with him. weapon, relics, and items where donnie doesn't know their function will get yoinked. casey's free to think donnie just left his mask with him because donnie "knows" (assumes) he can't use it to escape, or he's ALSO free to consider that donnie did it to be kind in his own way

after. y'know. kidnapping him for experimentation

[amurderofcrow]

Casey seeing freedom and then turning around to go after donnie is so funny THIS BOY

[necrosavior]

Character Name: Gideon Nav
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Handwave yes because she has, but it might have predated Donnie. It would have been in a joking manner, squint whether or not to take seriously that she's been a barista in a bubble world.
Would you like them to escape? No. Though she will be annoying and snarky, and if you took her sword she is not leaving without it. Jerk ass Third House nerd.
Any other questions/concerns: Can she give him a noogie after the fact?

[semilethal]

yeah he'll probably store people's weapons etc nearby and easily found! as for noogies, absolutely, when he shows his face again after all this. she's also welcome to noogie a construct into dissolving while she's there also LMAO

[punderworldgod]

Character Name: Baphomet
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? He spoke with April about interdimensional travel, including plans to eventually figure out something similar (approach being more magical/Lore based) if possible, so he could go rescue Tech, his boyfriend. She mentioned passing some info on to Donnie. He can bring some of it up on the post potentially!
Would you like them to escape? Maybe. Woden figured out how to do anti-teleportation slippage in his canon, but it is different tech/design than Donnie's, so Baphomet can possibly... melt into a black pool that makes him wind up in the Underground. That said, he'd be interested in talking with Donnie and thus not prone to leave right away.
Any other questions/concerns: would love post-plot CR since these two nerds have similar interests

[miniroth]

Character Name: Sephiroth
Responding to the IC Post? Yes, probably
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Yeah, assuming 'home and back to folk' counts; as far as I know he's also the only one who's ever spoken of leaving, keeping his memories while gone, and coming back afterward.
Would you like them to escape? /handwobble. I'll roll with whatever's fun if picked.
Any other questions/concerns: May willingly volunteer if the option arises. Do lab experiments get fed pizza?

[whowillmourn]

Character Name: Mayerling
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Yes, he's openly discussed being in Trench (Deer Country) as well as Folkmore, repeatedly.
Would you like them to escape? No, he would not want to abandon people there.
Any other questions/concerns: Thoughts on property damage if he tried to help others escape? (canonically, he can use his turn into living organic metal ability to slice through structures).

[tooawesome]

Character Name: Alluka Zoldyck | Nanika
Responding to the IC Post? Unsure. Possibly!
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? She talks about the alternate lives from Everywhere All At Once Trial without it being clear it was from/about that trial. So it sure sounds like she has.
Would you like them to escape? I would like Nanika to help SOMEONE ELSE escape.
Any other questions/concerns: Technically, they have two souls in their body, and Nanika's comes from the Dark Continent, so there may be some interesting data there. More FYI than anything.

[shadowsincryo]

Character Name: Kaeya Alberich
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Yes, but it was before Donnie’s time. However, it is no secret Kaeya is a resident that’s been around for a while and talked about waking up from a coma with new memories more than once. His body is the only one to become more entwined with his familiar animal as a result of these comas.
Would you like them to escape? He is more likely to assist someone else in escaping. Another on the confronting list.
Any other questions/concerns: Kaeya’s soul has a portion of it that isn’t readable. Think of it as a kind of black box of the soul.

[dohaeris]

Character Name: sansa stark
Responding to the IC Post? probably y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? y
Would you like them to escape? she'll try? she'll combine short distance teleportation and superspeed to escape, and try to warg nearby animals to gather info on the space itself and look for weaknesses.
Any other questions/concerns: lady can track her down! depending on how much info she's able to gather on the lab security, sansa may send lady away and attempt to escape on her own or with local fauna

[faceblocks]

Character Name: Vi
Responding to the IC Post? Y, I plan on that!
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Yes! she's been really open about having been in Trench before this.
Would you like them to escape? Maybe but probably not unless she is helped. She will definitely try but even if she gets out with someone's help she is a dumbass and will go back for other people.
Any other questions/concerns: Probably but I will remember them after the fact.

[bossyboiler]

Character Name: Kate Cordello
Responding to the IC Post? Yes
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Yes. She has mentioned several times that she was in Hell/Hell-like dimension.
Would you like them to escape? Nah.
Any other questions/concerns: What is he gonna do when Rue finds out?

[heyunderoos]

Character Name: Peter Parker
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Y
Would you like them to escape? Yes.
Any other questions/concerns: he's very kidnappable, look at him.

[thefinalpower]

Character Name: Power!
Responding to the IC Post? maybe!
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Donnie knows she's done this stuff before!
Would you like them to escape? Power's blood is basically a concealed weapon, idk if she'd be able to get out of the lab itself, but if she got out of her holding cell, she would try to smash up as much of the lab as she could!
Any other questions/concerns: nah we good

[aquilasshadow]

Character Name: Altair
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimensional travel on the network prior? I don't think so. Altair tends to be very secretive and doesn't talk about himself much on the network where everyone can read it. Ironically he has decided to try hiding less when this happens.
Would you like them to escape? no, he wouldn't leave anyone behind again. He will try to help others escape though, maybe by acting as a distraction, or trying to set everyone else free. He's not tech savvy at all though so it will probably go terribly. He can travel through shadows, but he can only use his ability 3 times before he passes out. He will probably use one to try to escape the experiment since being restrained tends to trigger him, so he will likely only have two tries for anything else.
Any other questions/concerns: Altair will be an interesting test subject. He's a bit complicated so I'll give an explanation first before asking questions to make it easier.

Altair isn't entirely human. He's a being of magic that is tied to a human soul. Magic is too powerful for a normal human to contain so his body was transformed into a suitable vessel for his magic. His human self died in the process. His current body is crafted from his memories of when he was human. The base is the empty shell of his original body so it's still a physical vessel but since it's crafted from a memory some aspects don't feel quite real, when you look back at a memory and know how something should feel but the actual feeling has faded from your mind. Things that make one feel alive, breathing, heartbeat, etc, feel a bit off, sort of like how a mirage starts to vanish if you look at it too closely, which might mess up Donnatello's attempts to gather data.

Altair can influence the magic maintaining his body to create the illusion that he's living by focusing on the memories of when he was human but it's a conscious trigger. When he's unconscious, his human body is like that of a corpse, no breathing, heartbeat or warmth. However if Donnie can measure any kind of supernatural energy he will feel a very strong, otherworldly energy tied to Altair that is still very much alive despite his body feeling like a corpse. I'm open to however you want to interpret this scientifically or maybe Donatello thinks Altair is dead and gets a quite the surprise when he wakes up, whichever sounds best to you.

Also when his soul resonates with his magic enough to pull his consciousness to his magic side, which requires him to feel really strong emotions, then his body will lose the illusion of being a living human as well since there is no effort being made to maintain the illusion. The more emotional Altair is, the more he resonates with his magic more and therefore the less he will feel like a living person. Being restrained will trigger some awful memories so Altair it likely to be very emotional during the experiment, especially when he feels him messing with his soul. Have fun!

I'm sorry this is so long orz. I wanted to give you as much information as possible to work with.

Questions:

Altair is a shadow mage and he has a very strong connection to souls. Would someone with a strong affinity for souls learn anything from the stargate like structure?

Is the real Donatello in the lab somewhere? Altair's ability to travel through shadows is specifically tied to souls so he can only travel through the shadows of living things. (except if he cheats and merges his shadow with the shadow of an inanimate object, but he can only use this trick with his shadow. He can't manipulate anyone else's shadow) Altair would try to travel to Donatello's shadow to confront him. Is there anything in the lab that would mess with Altair's ability to travel through shadows, or maybe make him disoriented so he travels to the wrong shadow instead? I don't want it to be too easy for Altair to break free so I'm happy to nerf his abilities in whatever ways sound fun for you. Maybe the stargate that seems to have something to do with souls could confuse Altair's ability?

Please let me know if you have any questions or I need to clarify anything better.

[serendipitously]

Character Name: Betsy Braddock
Responding to the IC Post? Y will do
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Y. Has a post about it I think but is definitely just stupidly casual about talking openly about the many dimensions she's been too. Including a time she was on a team where they had the technology to jump around dimensions to 'fix' interdimensional problems
Would you like them to escape? She might try, but would be a dumbass who would stay or come back if she notices anyone she knows that can't take care of themselves as well as she can is around.
Any other questions/concerns: Are you adverse to her telepathically figuring out the network post was Donnie/that it's him doing this and that he's just a kid? She won't share that with anyone because that's rude but she'd be more gentle and chill about the situation. Because it's just a really poor kid having what's clearly a mental breakdown

she'd also wanna talk to him after because ...this...poor kid....

[hollystrike]

Character Name: Katie McCoy
Responding to the IC Post? Y! Or even if she doesn't, I'd be up for her to stumble across another drone and be like ?? ???? and follow it out of curiosity and get nabbed
Talked about interdimensional travel on the network prior? Nah she hasn't been here long enough
Would you like them to escape? Eventually, I could see her blipping out in panic when she wakes up strapped to a chair lmao. She's not staying to rescue everyone, RIP to everyone else but she's different. (She might try coming back once she's calmed down tho, bounce off his defenses)
Any other questions/concerns: This is clearly the best first meeting ever! Everyone else is like "poor Donnie" and Katie's just gonna be like >:T enemy sighted

[scienceofthearcane]

Character Name: Viktor
Responding to the IC Post? Yup!
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? Viktor and Donnie talked specifically about it, but Viktor hasn't talked about it on the network
Would you like them to escape? Not sure how to answer this so please see below
Any other questions/concerns: What we discussed on plurk is my plan. Viktor does get kidnapped but figures out what's up when he sees the Stargate. So then becomes invested in helping Donnie do live testing on people.

/Slides in late

[survivalthroughhate]

Character Name: Darth Maul
Responding to the IC Post? Y
Talked about interdimentional travel on the network prior? I'm pretty sure he has? But my pea brain can't remember at the moment!
Would you like them to escape? Yes. Maul will stick around long enough to ascertain what's going on to the best of his abilities, but after being experimented on, he's gonna try to bust out with the Force and the help of his inner spirit animal Venge, who he can mentally summon to a solid form which can be dissipated with enough force that would be lethal to a real animal but not actually killed. And he gets dramatic as fuck when it comes to using his powers to cause chaos and break out of places. He'll try to just yank walls and the like apart until he can find way out or constructs and robots find a way to subdue him.
Any other questions/concerns: Interested what the general vibes will be like if/when Donnie is discovered to be behind this? Maul will want to have Words and hold a grudge but how that ultimately goes down depends on how remorseful Donnie seems to be.

Lab Defense & Assault Questions

[semilethal]

Memory Traps Questions

[semilethal]

[theonewhofailed]

Would there be any way for others to find out these memory traps were the result of Donnie doing experiments? If so, One may wish to have a nice, calm discussion...with a crushing magical barrier on a turtle.

[ricochetingbullets]

Can characters take anything physically out of the memory trap and back to Folkmore?