[Martha will be short and to the point.]

If anyone is going there and needs patching up after, 626 Topper. If it's too bad to get here, have someone come get me. Martha Jones.

[All responses, unless noted, will be action.]

[Phone; BEFORE the Dairy opens up.]

Do you believe in souls?

And yes this is a serious question. That machine they are talking about on that phone may or may not be a machine powered on the "souls" of the droned members of Mayfield. Both the ones we knew and the ones we did not know. So, if we are to believe the phonecalls which have a very frequent rate of being unfiltered to the public, the machine is malfunctioning and the Smith family husband must go to fix it.

However, are there really "souls" in there? It depends if you believe lifeforms have souls. What is a soul anyway? Is it you as an individual, your lifeforce, or something abstract that resides in a heart? Or do you fool yourself into believing you have a soul because you are afraid of being nothing but a vessel, almost akin to the drones. Are the drones soulless then? What do they take away when someone drifts off and goes into that mysterious machine that no one truly knows about. Maybe it is not even the machine in question that they spoke of.

So really it boils down to two choices, which relate to the first question. If you can answer this question, then you can decide if you want to go and take the risk of entering the lion's den.

Do you believe in souls?

If you believe in souls, then go into the dairy. Maybe you will find something worth of interest?
If you don't believe in souls, then you may as well just go on with your daily life the way it is and wait for others to report.

Think of that before you run into something headfirst and get your head blown off, or something equally unpleasant. From experience I find that a lot can happen in two hours. Make yours count.

[ooc: housemates feel free to action, he will be staying in.]

A. Action: Mayfield High School; Start of the day.

[Having received a call a day or so back about her apparent new job in this town, Mindfang's finally decided to show. It was a waste of her time really, but no one said she ever had to actually stick with the curriculum given to her.

In fact her first act had been to throw that out one of the windows. Mindfang makes her own lesson plans thank you. Lesson plans in kicking ass and not being a loser like a certain douchefins or redeyes. And after that was all done she had taken a seat, chin on her hands as she watched children slowly trickle in, eyes half lidded, her appearance still disturbing despite the 50's clothes, considering her troll body.

When everyone was seated she finally stood, flicking her eyes over the lot] Well then. This is life skills blah blah blah, it really doesn't matter. The life skills they want you to learn are useless, so we're not doing them, got it? We'll be following my plans, and if anyone has a problem with that you can leave now. If anyone considers them too weak, go too. I don't have time for people who don't want to be the best, and I don't need to sit around talking to idiots about blah blah why did you crush my wiggler, swords aren't appropriate learning materials blah blah he was bleeding everyone blah. Waste of my time. Understand?

[She flicks her eyes over the class again, coming to stand in front of the desk] Now, I'm Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, Captain of the Gamblignants. You will call me Marquise, nothing else unless I allow you.

Now. Introduce yourself because I threw that stupid list of names out too.

B. Phone: After school

I'm looking for a Vriska. If anyone sees her, tell her to come to 952 Beulah Street right away. If I'm not there she can wait.

...And will anyone care to enlighten me about this dairy place.

C. Action: Out the front of 952 Beulah Street

[Dualscar's gone. Dolorosa's gone. Both smile at her with the face of a drone, and the fact that Dualscar smiles at her at all is wrong. Even if he never regained his troll body, the features of this human man are similar enough that it makes her ill. She had missed him, for all the sweeps after his death, missed their battles, missed winning against him, missed the hitting and scratching until both their bloods covered them. He had been a decent kismesis despite his stupidity to try and flip into a red romance, and for a moment she had thought they could regain what they had once had.

And now he's a drone. A drone lying unconscious on the front lawn of their home, Mindfang having finally snapped at the petnames and smiles. Sitting next to him, she takes a swig from a bottle of some alcohol she's found,  before lazily drawing one yellow nail down his his cheeks, sneering at the red blood that comes.

Worse than the real Dualscar really. She should leave him here to die, even if the drone will just return. At least she'll have a night of peace.

Instead she'll just kick the body, rolling it onto his face as the sun starts to set]

Phone: Filtered from Drones, town authorities

I take it everyone heard the phone call. Is anyone interested on storming that place?

Action: High School entrance

[Shepard's a high school gym teacher. Today's actually her first day, and she is going to push all you kids hard.]

Listen up and pay attention.

[She's had them all lined up facing her as she paces in front of them.]

I'm sure at least some of you have heard the phone call about what's going on at 3 pm tomorrow. Regardless of whether you are going to be charging the dairy, or whether you'll be staying away from that place, you need to prepare yourself just in case the whole thing goes to Hell. People might get hurt, droned even. It's going to be messy, because there will be people who are going to that dairy at 3 pm. The town's not going to like that, and when it does strike back, everyone's going to be punished.

I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you: you kids have the right to know what's going to happen. And that's why I'm going to run through a basic escape plan with you in case you need a way out. Simply running around, or hiding in your homes, isn't going to save you. What you need to do is to stick together, run together, and fight together.

We're going to time how fast you all can run from the High School to Makeout point. I've scouted out the fastest way from here to there, and I've left markers for them, so you won't get lost. Imagine that this is a real life scenario, that you're really running for your life. At the same time, remember: no one gets left behind. You see a team mate lagging behind you? Drag him with you if you have to. We're all in this together, so we have to do this as a team.

So, you kids ready? Three, two, one, GO!

Action: While running through the town

[Shepard's running with the kids, making sure that they all stick to the route. She'll be shouting out encouragements to those slowing down, grabbing those who are trying to take this opportunity to skip school, and just generally ensuring that the whole activity goes well. Do you want to complain about this exercise? Or are you one of those starting to huff and puff?]

Action: Makeout Point

[Somehow, you got here to the Point. Shepard's there, checking that all of the students are around, before she speaks to them again.]

Good job kids. I'm proud that you all got up here. This may have just been an exercise, but it may just save your life if things go as badly as I think they could. Make sure that you head here in a group of people. You see anyone other group? Join up. There's always strength in numbers. And when you get here, make sure you stay vigilant. Before 3pm, make sure you pack some food, water and medical supplies. Get together in groups, so that if the alarm's going off again, you can just start running. I'll come up here once things start to calm down, and if not me, then I'll get someone else. But just make sure you stay together, and stay safe.

Oh, and if I see ANY of you at that dairy...I will make you run so many laps around Mayfield you won't be able to walk for the rest of the week. This isn't the time to play hero; this is the time to protect each other.

[Phone; backdated to the 20th]

There isn't a single fuckin' safe place in this whole damn town, is there? Ya'd think a school would be fine, what with all the people roamin' around, but nope! Goddamn maniacs can get ya anywhere!

Kid! You'll know if you're the one! I want ya to fall into a pit, break every single fuckin' bone in your body, and get a big damn rusty rake shoved up your ass!

.... That's all.

-- Wait, no, shit, it isn't. Satou, you're listenin', right?

I don't care what ya say, I'm not lettin' ya be alone at school anymore.


[Action; near the Dairy; some time before the raid]


[Normally, Clover would be all up for an attack like this, but what happened last Christmas - and specifically, the 24-hour droning - still weighs on her mind. Plus, the leaked phone call was so ominous, there's no way there isn't something terrible awaiting everyone in there.

If she knows you and sees you coming close, you can count on her trying to talk you into leaving.]

[Phone; Noon before the Dairy Opens]

I'm sure there are plenty of you planning on sneaking in there to nose around and if you're smart you've at least considered the idea that the idea that this is a trap. This of course means that there could be nasty consequences for those of you who try to go inside. Who knows what kind of shape you'll all be in when you come out.

Honestly, considering the way death works here, suicide is probably the quickest and easiest path to a full recovery, but obviously not all wounds warrant that sort of treatment - oh, and I suppose not everyone has the required determination to do it. So I'm offering medical services to any who might need it after this - with the right to refuse service without explanation if I deem it necessary, such as too many patients. I'm a certified surgeon [No she's not, but she's as good as one] and all I ask in return is information. Thanks to recent regains, my basement is fairly well stocked.

I'm located at 1664 Nelson Street and can keep operating hours all night if necessary. To be clear, this isn't any sort of charity or good will - I'm genuinely interested in what kind of damage the town will do to you all and your stories of what did it.

If there are any other doctor-types in need of equipment and with a desire to work on patients, feel free to swing on by as well - I can't guarantee there will be space and supplies enough for everyone, but if everything goes down terribly, just having more of you on hand should be of use keeping me from becoming too swamped with the injured.

[Phone; After the Dairysplosion and mod announcement]

Well, if not a trap, it seems like I was right that there will be a major need for medical services. And if anything, I'm more interested than ever in your injuries. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement: I get to satisfy my curiosity about the cause of your wounds, and you get the satisfy your curiosity as to whether you can survive them with medical aid.

Which is to say, my offer for medical and surgical assistance from earlier today still stands. 1664 Nelson Street, in the basement.

[Action; 1164 Nelson Street, After the above phonecall]

[And Naze is sitting in a chair out on the front lawn, arms crossed as always and looking rather pleased about this whole situation.]

[Phone]

[After this, guess who has two thumbs, no horns, and issues, Mayfield, and isn't afraid to let you know it? Yeah, it's that one guy with the lisp.]

Tho, in the middle of a thudden thurge of bumbling newbieth, no one cared to mention- anywhere at all- that there are thertain placeth which are automatic death trapth? I would have liked to know that beforehand. [His voice hitches in a sarcastic snarl.] That would have been lovely.

Tho! Anything elthe you incompetent wathteth of thpace would like to inform me of?

[A pause, and just heavy breathing can be heard, a combination of all the running around he's had to do and how he's trying to calm himself down. When he manages even a little, his voice is just a little calmer, and maybe a little... regretful?]

If you know Milla Vidello, then you and me need to talk. Raz, Lili?

Altho, I've heard there are people capable of healing woundth around here. My writht ith broken becauthe I thlipped- [That's his excuse and he's sticking to it.] -and it ith getting to be a pain. I'll pay you back.

[Action; Mayfield Hospital; open to any]

[After ranting at the phone, the Psiioniic is standing against a wall, staring intently at one room in particular. His jaw is clenched and his mismatched gaze is hard to read. He's missing most of his outer clothes, leaving just a white button up and his slacks. Both are covered in crimson blood.]

[Occasionally, he looks down at his hands for a long while, and they start to shake.]

[Action; a little later in a private room, still Mayfield Hospital. Closed to Milla and Signless]

[When he's finally allowed inside, he immediately goes to Milla's bedside, already on one knee. His expression is full of self hatred and worry. He may have known Milla only briefly, but she's a good person. He should have done something. He should have known better than to trust this place.]

[Why is he always ruining things?]

[ MacCready & Sons Law Office: Tuesday Morning ]

[ Ilsa's heard the phone call, and is reasonably sure some of the others have as well. No bets on whether Tarvek has heard the message. ]

[ She finds him that morning, and under the cover of bringing coffee and taking notes for the day's tasks, she gives him warning. ]

You aren't going in alone, you know.

(( OOC: If you are working at the law office, feel free to eavesdrop and comment on the excursion, perhaps invite yourself along. ))

[PHONE, filtered to Hal, Almaz and Barton]

Hey, you three. You heard about the dairy, right? I'm going in--there's no way I'd pass up something like this. I bet there's all sorts of new stuff to find there... [huff, huff, drool]

Anyway, meet me at the dairy. Now.

[ACTION, open]

[Clearly, Mao is set on going to the Dairy while he's got a window of opportunity. Part of it is, of course, for scientific purposes (then again, when is it not?), but the other part of it is that he does not take kindly to being called a fool. And since this Diary place is going to open up anyway, he might as well grab it and go!

But first, time to get some practice in. There is now a carnage of mangled and frozen over trees in the park, and if you track the source, you'll find that there is a certain mad scientist causing it.

Better get out of the way, lest you want to get a face full of tree bark.]

5723 Cunningham: Closed to Household

[Tsubaki made doughnuts, and she sits in the kitchen waiting nervously for one Tony Stark to join her, so she can apologize for his missing liquor. She hadn't known he was going to take it, but she's made up her mind to tell him it was her fault, and that she'll do extra chores or something to make up for it.]

[She'll look up as each person enters the kitchen, both hoping it's Tony, and hoping it's not.]

[Phone: Filtered to The Captain]

That wasn't very nice of you, even if he's part of an elitist group. I just hope you didn't drink it all in one night.

[She's also kind of worried since she saw him go into the dairy, and wants to make sure he's okay.]

[Mayfield High]

[Halls]

[Tsubaki has a couple of giant pink boxes stacked up in her hands. If she sees a familiar face, or someone asks about said boxes, the will receive a hand made doughnut. She hopes they help people brighten up after that radio announcement]

[Spiderman's Chemistry Class]

[With all the talk of doughnuts, she figured she might as well make extra ones to take in to class since she was making some as an apology to Tony. So, before class starts, she will be giving out doughnuts to her classmates, and teacher, as long as he doesn't already have one, that is.]

You know, out of all the things you could have done to a mysterious machine in the dairy, blowing it up was the most idiotic thing that was done.

Especially when people could have actually investigated it, see how exactly it works, and possibly get us a way out of here! Dummies. So, whoever did it will have to face me and my wrath. And maybe even the wrath of a whole bunch of us.

So. Who's calling shenanigans? Because I definitely am.

Tuesday, Five hours after raid

1. 1130 Taylor Road

[Just before she steps into bed, Bazett falls to her knees, gasping. Her memories of her home universe and Mayfield come flooding back into her mind. She shakes her head, trying to gather her thoughts. The last thing she clearly remembers is trying to punch the machine in the dairy. Everything between then and now is more or less a blank.]

[She frowns and looks down at her nightgown. She does not remember putting it on. What's more, she would not have worn such a frilly nightgown out of her own volition.]

[She rushes out of the room to check to clock and the date. She finds that she has missed five hours. Combined with the fact that she was wearing the nightgown and ready to get in bed with her drone husband, she deduces that she had been droned.]

[It makes her feel uneasy. Before this, she had thought that the droning during the previous dairy raid was bad. However, during that time, she was still able to think though she could not control her body. This time, whatever forces at work had completely overwhelmed her mind. The only reason that she knew she had been droned was because the droning had worn off.]

[The forces at work...seem stronger than she had thought.]

2. Phone; filtered from drones

Can anyone tell me what happened to the machine at the dairy? I am afraid that I was droned trying to investigate it.

3. Wednesday, outside the dairy

[Bazett is walking around the dairy, trying to see if the now locked building still contains any clues as to what the machine was. However, before she can get anything done, she doubles over in pain.]

[This evening, after a certain machine has been destroyed, every radio in Mayfield turns on the same time, cutting to an announcement from a furious and shaken Mayor Doe.]

You unbelievable dumbasses! What kind of fucking imbeciles see a machine that they have no idea does what and decide to smash it?! Do you have any idea what you've all fucking --

[He cuts himself off, breathing deeply.] No, you know what? This is good. We've let you people slide for too long. You created this mess, now you have to deal with it. Maybe you'll all finally learn how good you've been having it here so far and why trying to fight us will just make things worse for you. You're just lucky she likes you all so much for some bizarre reason, otherwise I wouldn't even let Jack try to fix the goddamn thing for you ungrateful bastards.

[Claire is not happy. He was there the whole time and was going to go inside after scouting out the area. Unfortunately the little explosion kind of put a damper on his plans so he just decided to go home.]

Considerin' that little announcement, it seems like someone messed somethin' pretty important up back there. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not sayin' I like this place. I don't not one bit, especially since it seems to have the power to overwrite what I try to bring into this temporary world of mine. Oh 'n I congratulate whoever came up with the plan to blow up the place. But still, couldn't you have just held off just a little bit longer? I mean I bet that...ahh...what's her face...the one-eyed chick...would've had a little more self control than what you people had. 'N believe me, that's sayin' somethin'.

Now, anyone care to explain why my left arm's suddenly decided to stop workin' 'n start beedin' all over the place?

[Phone]

Heh.

Heh heh heh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


Woooo~ Can you feel it?! Can you feel it guys?! The suspense, the dramatic flair, the explosions, and now a big turning point to put us all in this disadvantaged situation! Now THIS is what you need in an adventure! Now, most likely a wave of gimmick enemies and small fry will start to come out of nowhere and try to attack us, right?! Right?! Or this could be the great starting stage of fighting a series of bosses, maybe!

I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty obvious that some changes and the like will happen and it's going to be a royal rumble for sure. No point in going at each other's throats when that announcement pretty much made it clear that something will most likely come and try to 'teach us a lesson' or something like that. Might as well get ready for the worst to come!

Ooooooh man, I'm getting excited and can't contain myself! Pamela! We'll need to start recruiting party members and get ready for the next battle! Meet me at my place so we can get started!

[Action; Outside at 917 Bilko Boulevard]

[There will be a man with a large shaped sword seen at the front yard at the 917 residence sitting at very shoddy and poorly made booth. Along with a sign at the front that says in big letters: ["LOOKING FOR RECRUITS.
THE DAIRY HAS BEEN BLOWN UP BY SHADOW NINJA MONKEYS. FROM SPACE!!!
ARE YOU HIGH LEVELED A SECRET CHARACTER LOVE INTEREST AN OWNER OF A SUPER COOL ARMY BRAVE ENOUGH TO JOIN A DEMON?!

APPLY HERE!"]

... yes, he's that optimistic about this.]

Phone

I heard that explosion, and I'm guessing it had something to do with the dairy from that radio broadcast. Free drinks at the tavern to anyone who'll tell me what the hell is going on, because this sounds bad. Just ask for Greed.

Olney's Tavern

Greed stands behind the bar, watching as people enter. He figures at least a couple of them will be telling him what happened. And from the looks of the crowd nothing is wrong with the drones, all the regulars are there. He just waits, his ears perked up for the mention of his name. But, while he waits he'll be pouring drinks for the regulars and occasionally for himself.]

Phone

Okay, that was probably one of the most boneheaded things any of us could have done! What were any of you thinking?! Especially not letting any of us find out what it was for ourselves?! That could have been a way out and you've doomed us all to live the rest of our lives in this miserable dump!

You're no better than that miserable hedgehog!

...

The other one, Shadow!