Plot post for July 30!

[theearth]

This format of plot post is designed for players to ask questions and find ways to influence the plot. Be bold and ask what you can or can't do; the worst that can happen is that I will say no. As plots in Save the Earth are not self resolving nor on a time limit they can evolve in many ways. Although some potential outcomes are given, they are little more than suggestion and can be changed by character action. What role you take is up to you.

The post is also open for players to plot and coordinate between one another.

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Events occurring currently;
• The Vermini swarms have disappeared for the most part, and there's no sign of Vermedi either. Some characters may glimpse hairy figures in dark alleys or in sewers, but the creatures always disappear as soon as they are spotted.

• There are an unusual amount of police patrols out and about in the city. Any suspicious activity will be noticed, though there are no immediate IC consequences.

• We also have two super secret event opportunities that have not been claimed. Two commenters to the thread below will be randomly selected for this plot.

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Events occurring in the immediate future;
• Beginning Friday, August 2, there will be something in the water. Drinking any tap water will result in occasional, uncontrollable fits of laughter, along with re-experiencing previous Echoes, especially memory Echoes. One Echo per 8oz glass of water, and the beginning of its effects can be delayed for up to an hour. Within six hours it'll be out of the character's system completely.

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Events potentially occurring;
• If PCs wish to investigate Thunder Corp this week, comment to the thread below with a general idea of how you plan to get in and what you plan to do once you're there. Details will be forthcoming on a case-by-case basis.

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Potential Echo Opportunities:
• Drinking the tainted water will grant one new Echo (and only one, no matter how much water is drunk) in addition to any re-experienced ones. Uncovering any secret information about Thunder Corp will also grant an Echo. Canon parallels are a constant.

Comments

GENERAL QUESTIONS

[theearth]

[espigeonage]

Does anything about the tainted water look odd to ten-billion-color eyes? Some kind of additive that might be invisible to humans?

[theearth]

Yes. It's very subtle even to Julien, but something has been added to the water.

[caosgo]

Does the laughter effect of the water affect NPCs/non reincarnates too?

[theearth]

No, it does not. Only reincarnates will be affected.

[seriallylucky]

Does boiling the water or running it through normal (i.e., for camping/hiking) water filters remove the effects?

Also, what would re-experiencing a non-memory Echo involve?

[theearth]

No, the additive cannot be filtered out.

As for re-experiencing a non-memory Echo, that depends. The heartbeat sensation occurs. You do not get copies of an item Echo, but the existing object appears in your hands. Mental and Ability Echoes are not strengthened, but the relevant information is brought to the forefront of the character's mind, and they will find themselves highly tempted to use the ability, no matter where they are.

[professorwolf]

Chiming in with the expected "does the water smell funny and if so what does it smell like" question XD

[theearth]

The water's smell is slight, barely noticeable even to Lyall. If he really really tries, though, he'll be able to pick up a scent like the one the snakes/wolf statues had.

[italktofish]

So what would happen if someone were to breathe the tainted water? Because Arthur's probably going to get that ability back for his water-drinking Echo.

[detectivetroll]

Are police officers told anything about why the increased need to monitor suspicious activity, or what to do if someone is showing really suspicious behavior? What would they be told if asked?

[formermagicalgirl]

Does the water still have any effect if mixed with something? Like if someone makes tea or lemonade or whatever with the water?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[not_good_not_wicked]

Assuming we figure out the water is tainted somehow, could we filter it out with a Brita or something?

STUFF RELATED TO THE GAME IN GENERAL

[reapsthewind]

So this has been brought up on Anon Meme but I figured someone should mention it in an official capacity because they had a good point

Y'all mods are lovely, but you guys do still seem to be having some issues with general maintenance of the game as the game gets bigger. Have you guys thought about taking on helpstaff? My thought is that it might be useful to have people in non-authoritative and non-plot positions who can do things like update the reserves and taken list, tag entries in the main comm that people have forgotten to tag with their character name, and maybe even assist with app processing. The game's getting pretty big and all.

My 2 cents.

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[entertainaplanb]

In terms of re-experiencing Echoes: Becky has two that involve the same person, though she doesn't know it yet. What I'm wondering is, would having the information brought to the forefront of her thoughts be enough to let her start connecting the lady to the statue? For now it's very likely she'd think it's just a statue of Helena, when in fact the truth is more D: than that. She can find out about bronzing later.

(Now, do I give her the Tesla charger with the water Echo or hold out for an epic memory... HMM.)

FOLLOW-UP QUESTION IN GENERAL: Is it possible to get more information out of re-experiencing a memory Echo (background details etc.) than you did the first time through?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[earnedmystripes]

HMMM so as far as re-experiencing echoes, how would physical ones work?

in my case there's just the burn scar on his shoulder and being in better physical shape with better reflexes, so i'm not sure how exactly that would be re-experienced :|a

EDIT: Does the echo from drinking the water come before the re-experienced echoes or does it happen at the end?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[testsonseashells]

What would one discover from chemical analysis of the water?

[reapsthewind]

What happens if a character decides to investigate the various water filtration/treatment plants around town?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[eras]

IDK if this would count for the above thing since it's not breaking in, so I'm asking here: if someone were to check the library/archives of old Locke newspapers for Thunder Corp info, would they find anything? And would that count as investigation?

Nature of the influence

[depolarized]

Hi! So I just wanted to check, how would the gigglewater work?

Would it just be like hiccups where giggles would escape you mid-sentence?

Or would it actually make you WANT to giggle/makes you lightheaded/giddy in general?

Riku as a former druggie would be very upset if the gigglewater actually... influenced you to want to giggle/made you lightheaded. It'd probably make him think he was drugged somehow. xD As a terrible mun, I would be up for those shenanigans but I'd like to check first since I can very well just do random hiccup-giggles as well. xD

[iustitia]

So, Teresa's been thinking about doing A Thing.

Teresa wants to figure out if the people of Locke City are the only ones who are experiencing these weird changes and suspicious happenings and whatnot. She is not entirely convinced everything is restricted to this one area.

She's been putting out feelers online, creating accounts at various websites to see if anyone else is talking about things that are similar to the ones the people of this secret network are going through. She'll occasionally make references to current events to try to get discussions going (but with details tweaked so as not to totally alert any unfriendlies who might be reading).

What kinds of things, if any, should she be hearing about? Is there anyone out there who pings her radar?

[espigeonage]

What kind of water supply system does Locke have? Aquifiers, taken from a river? Is there a reservoir out in the country? Are there a bunch of treatment plants or just one?

Could characters track the contamination to the source and what would they find?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[not_good_not_wicked]

So a while ago I came up with a few miles of marshy forest behind Marisa's house that was undeveloped because of zoning ordinances that had to do with protecting the city's water supply. Then, this tap water event happened.

Marisa and Sakazaki are going to go tramping around those woods looking for anything out of the ordinary. Will they find anything?

Re: GENERAL QUESTIONS

[depolarized]

Hullo modly ones, copying my question from the mod contact here: http://theearth.dreamwidth.org/3332.html?thread=1026308#cmt1026308

During the conversation Riku's having with Nick the Detective here: http://savetheearth.dreamwidth.org/162460.html?thread=14695580#cmt14695580 We determined that one idea to stop the supply from being contaminated is through exposing it to the media.

So yes. Possibly engage our hackers and programmers into making untracable anon tip offs to all the media outlets-- what would happen? can they get the dumping of toxins investigated? Would it cause grumbling amongst the public?

Also we'd be alerting environmental groups and health groups, etc. with the media. What would happen to that and would they be able to put a stop to it?

Annnnd more in the plot post: http://saveyourselves.dreamwidth.org/87106.html

Thanks in advance! c:

[lightsoflife]

Would analysis of the pure pink goop yield any additional results?