piper90npcs: (Richard Washburn)
piper90npcs ([personal profile] piper90npcs) wrote in [community profile] piper902021-01-14 07:28 pm

Jorgmund Emergency Announcement

[In the middle of the night, when even the night watch shifts should be pacing through the dorm area, there’s a peal of noise from the communicators impossible to ignore or sleep through. It’s clearly an alarm of some sort, like tornado alerts back on Earth. It goes on for solid three minutes, long enough for everyone to move on from being woken by it to loathing it, before a message shows up on the communicators-

-and the doorways out of each of the dorms are sealed with a semi-translucent forcefield.

On the communicator screen, Richard Washburn shows up and straightens his tie.
]

Hello, employees. Believe me, I’m not any happier about this midnight interruption than you are, but we’re currently in a state of – mild – emergency. I don’t want anyone to get overly excited, but until the situation is resolved, you will remain in your dorms. Depending on how long this takes, all activities scheduled for tomorrow morning have been suspended.

The reason for this is that we have an intruder in your living quarters. We have this footage from a few weeks ago.

[A new image shows up on the communicator: a security camera video of a Santa Claus with a line of the highest executive-level parents and their small children waiting to tell him their wishlist. A little girl in pigtails and a sparkly t-shirt of a Christmas tree hops up onto his lap.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Santa says, and he boops her nose. “Aren’t you a peach? Tell me, little one. What would you like for Christmas?”

“I want a big plastic spider!” the girl says excitedly.

“A creepy little child, aren’t you? Well, that’s just swell, because that’s my favorite flavor,” Santa says, and then – blurry on the security camera footage – transforms into a mass of black goo, latching onto the little girl’s face and suctioning to stay on. The child’s mother screams and yanks her daughter away, and the footage shows pure pandemonium as some parents lunge forward to help the mother with her daughter while other parents snatch their own children and start running. In all the chaos, the black goo vanishes.

Washburn flicks the footage away and reappears on the screen.
]

Thankfully, there were no fatalities in this incident, and after we couldn’t find any evidence of the attacker, we assumed that it was a freak incident of the Stuff. However, there was recently another unsuccessful attack on a teenager by this same creature posing as one of the tutors on the Rig, and then again on another thankfully unharmed child disguised as another child, and then on another child under the guise of a children’s television show host named “Mr. Rogers”, and tonight-

[He takes a deep breath, annoyed, as if this is somehow the Hires’ faults.]

-tonight we found a security breach to your floor, and we have good reason to believe that the shapeshifter is posing as one of you.

We know this: we know it poses as figures appealing to children, so for obvious reasons, you won’t be allowed anywhere near any Jorgmund staff whatsoever until this is resolved. We know that its ability to disguise itself is relatively seamless. And we know that it preys on minors.

If you can determine who among you isn’t at all appealing to children, we can consider releasing you from your dorm and discussing next steps to search out whoever’s been replaced.

If this starts taking long enough that it jeopardizes the Jorgmund’s mission, we may start taking more drastic measures to ensure that we aren’t harboring any imposters.

I’ll keep you updated if you keep me updated.
hallelujahjunction: (Default)

[personal profile] hallelujahjunction 2021-01-15 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
If you have a way you're confirming that, we'd love to be able to use it to clear others here.
runes_brand: (RBF)

[personal profile] runes_brand 2021-01-15 06:40 am (UTC)(link)
We do, but it only lets the two of us confirm the other's identity.

[Companion bond: the metaphysical duct tape that binds two people together for their entire unnatural lives.]

Doesn't work on other people, and I don't [BEEP]ing think they'd want it to either.
hallelujahjunction: (Basic - Considering)

[personal profile] hallelujahjunction 2021-01-15 06:46 am (UTC)(link)
Then - and I'm real sorry about this, Brand, I honestly am - until Rune logs on to confirm we can't take that as conclusive.
hot_dad: (pic#14360162)

[personal profile] hot_dad 2021-01-15 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
[Here is Rune appearing over Brand's shoulder, hair still sleep-mussed but expression alert. Even he couldn't sleep through this shit.]

I can confirm it. It's a magic thing, so the details probably aren't helpful to anyone else, but either of us would know immediately if the other was a fake.
hallelujahjunction: (Basic - Shadow in Profile)

[personal profile] hallelujahjunction 2021-01-15 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
Alright. Corroborating information is enough for me.
runes_brand: (Default)

[personal profile] runes_brand 2021-01-15 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
[Brand snorts.]

[BEEP], I wish everyone would be more suspicious of other people at all times. I'd have fewer headaches.

[He almost wishes this thing had come after him. Rune would have immediately lit it on fire and they could all still be asleep now.]
runes_brand: (RBF)

[personal profile] runes_brand 2021-01-17 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Brand follows up a moment later.]

Anyone confirm your identity? Since you're the one providing the [BEEP]ing information here.

[Dan's the only one who knows about this thing, being the only one who knows about the thing would be a real fucking good way to throw suspicion off oneself.]
hallelujahjunction: (Basic - Breaking It Down)

[personal profile] hallelujahjunction 2021-01-17 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Sam and Ric have been in this room at the breach time two hours ago, but either way, I'm staying put here. I ain't holding myself out to be cleared.
runes_brand: (Default)

[personal profile] runes_brand 2021-01-17 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Good. If we can't trust the person providing us intel, we're [BEEP]ed.