MISSION: WOODHURST

[futurologists]

MISSION: WOODHURST All characters, established or new, will receive a form of this dossier to their devices. Thus, consider all information hereon as ICly available to all characters. Please direct questions here. Refer to Woodhurst locations for mission areas. The Bounty Board for Woodhurst will have extra side-missions for your character to take until the end of the mission, which is currently slated for early April. WOODHURST BRIEFING The mission will take recruits to Woodhurst, a suburb of the larger city Wakefield, located in an alternate version of New England. The year is 1993, and for all intents and purposes, it closely matches the world we're familiar with... except for one thing. The Bristol virus, named after patient zero Adam Bristol, has begun to appear in the population. Transmitted by bodily fluids and with no known cure, the virus causes: Encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain Sunken eyes and sallow skin Varicose veins Irritability followed by intense, heightened aggression Decreased stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus, leading to uncontrollable hunger Finally, complete loss of individuality and sense of self, with violent, cannibalistic tendencies Estimates put approximately 1% of the population (approx. 2,500 people) in Woodhurst as infected, but the number is quickly growing; the disease is highly contagious, with sufferers originally indistinguishable from the regular population. It takes 3 to 5 weeks for the infected to descend into pure animalistic hunger, but they can pass on the virus at any time. Doctors have also discovered the existence of asymptomatic carriers within the population. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: Stop the virus from spreading. While it's unknown if a cure is at all possible, the most important end goal is to protect those who remain uninfected from the spread of the disease. Should the virus be allowed to make its way outside of Woodhurst, the universe would quickly and surely descend into madness, finally collapsing in on itself when it no longer has any humanity left on it. SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: Eliminate the virus entirely. Whether this is through finding a cure (which includes rounding up the infected and administering it to them) or killing all of the infected, eliminating the virus is the only way to ensure complete stability of the timeline. Should this not occur, recruits may find themselves visiting again later. OPTIONAL OBJECTIVE: Discover the origin of the virus. While the virus can be traced back to patient zero, little is known of its actual origin. If its source is found, ALASTAIR can be sure it will not pop up on any other worlds. WOODHURST OVERVIEW Until just a couple months ago, Woodhurst -- like the rest of this universe -- was, by all accounts, mundane. When Adam Bristol showed up to the mall in a frothing rage and bit six people, however, everything changed. The Bristol virus quickly spread, and has been directly responsible for multiple deaths in the area; those in the latest stages of the disease don't hesitate to kill in order to sate their hunger. Those who escape with their lives will soon find themselves unlucky as well. The virus is transmitted through all bodily fluids, and being bitten by a hungry Bristol sufferer is highly likely to infect you as well. If not infected, you might still not be safe -- you could be an asymptomatic carrier, infecting your friends and teammates while remaining unaware. Of course, being bitten's not the only way to contract the disease. Even innocently kissing someone who has come into contact with a sufferer can spread the virus, so be careful. While those native to this universe usually reach the latest stages of the disease within 3 to 5 weeks, the slightly different biology of Audentes recruits gives them a little more time: if they are infected, they have 6 to 8 weeks before they descend into insanity. Of course, they'll realize they're infected much sooner than that, and waiting for the inevitable insanity isn't much better. The disease will progress as follows: 1-2 WEEKS: The disease begins with an insatiable hunger. At this stage, characters will find themselves craving meat in particular, although they will also crave any and all food available to them. At this point in time, they will have no increased aggression, cannibalistic desires, or personality changes (aside from being hangry). 3-4 WEEKS: On top of their hunger, characters will begin to feel crabby and irritable, possibly even lashing out in violence. Their skin will begin becoming pallid, with dark circles forming under their eyes. Of course, if you're trying to hide it, it's nothing a little make-up can't help. 5-6 WEEKS: By this point, characters will begin to feel a ravenous desire to attack and consume. They may be still in possession of their mental faculties, but they'll be able to feel their sense of self slipping away with each passing second. Thinking about anything for extended periods of time will become difficult, and eventually, they will find themselves obsessing over the uncontrollable hunger. They will still have their sense of morality, although they will begin to have difficulties listening to it. 7-8 WEEKS: By this point, characters will be lucky to have short periods of sanity and lucidity. They will be overtaken by pure animal instinct and the desire to satiate their hunger by whatever means necessary. At this moment in time, there is no known way to deal with a sufferer aside from death. One way to make the symptoms subside, however, is human physical contact. Oxytocin released by non-violent physical contact with another person seems to dull the hunger and bring them back to sanity, albeit temporarily. For those who don't wish to kill and are less physically capable than others, this is the only way to subdue a Bristol sufferer, although it comes with many risks. When touching a sufferer, you run a high risk of being bitten or killed. In many cases, it may be better to just run. This is neither a safe nor long-term solution, but it does relieve symptoms for a short period of time. Because of the danger posed by sufferers, everyone has been encouraged never to travel alone, and to stay indoors after sundown. Even if these conditions are followed, there is still a slight chance of running into one of the infected. Nearby police will attempt to subdue and possibly kill any who attack during the day, but in lesser-populated areas or at night, you're on your own. Might want to invest in some night-vision goggles! Woodhurst, as opposed to some of the other mission locales, is largely unfamiliar with the concept of interdimensional travel outside the confines of science fiction books. For this reason, characters will be expected to keep their involvement with ALASTAIR on the down low. While you can tell the citizens, none will believe it, and trying to convince too many people will lead to unpopularity within the city. What does this mean? Audentes will be posing as newcomers moving into a growing city, spread out in apartments and houses across Woodhurst. They will need to dress and act according to the universe's standards; this means anyone incapable of appearing outwardly human on their own will receive a cloaking device, which, when activated, will make them appear human to the people of Woodhurst (and, if you choose, to their other team members as well). Backstories aren't necessary, but they are encouraged to ward off nosy neighbors. ALASTAIR will be able to place characters into temporary jobs such as a hospital worker, police officer, etc. using their government connections as long as they have good reason to be there; if you're interested in doing this, please contact a mod! As we have received many requests for police work, we are capping police at 8 people (10%) - currently 8/8.

Comments

[apoptotic]

Unsure if this is the place for this, anyway! Anakin has been keeping track of incident reports that cross his desk or speaking with others on the force trying to the best of his ability to find any and all data related to the epidemic and the victims. What could he and the others at the department learn this way if anything new?

[futurologists]

Unfortunately, the police are stretched extremely thin by the unrest in Woodhurst. They are currently working only to keep the peace and don't have the manpower to investigate the virus, so there is nothing important to glean from them.

[feytality]

Quick question re: the last log! If someone were to be thrown into jail, how long would they be in there/what would happen?

[futurologists]

Quite simply, they'll be put in jail! Or, more accurately, the holding cells at the police station. They won't be heavily guarded, so it will be easy to escape with the help of teammates on the outside -- particularly if they're police officers themselves.

Re: QUESTIONS?

[secondnature]

Hey there! I have a belated follow up question for this: here!

Would anyone be able to locate fingerprints of any kind on the scrubs?

Thanks!

[futurologists]

Strangely, no. There is some makeup (foundation) on the edge of the sleeves, though.

[feytality]

thank you, mods! I also have another question: if a character is acting as a distraction rather than investigating, is it okay to participate in more than one group?

[secondnature]

Thank you!!

[futurologists]

In order to give everyone an even chance to "win" a clue, all characters may only sign up for the RNG once! You may of course thread out as many investigations as you'd like, but please only have your character involved in one "official" group.

Re: QUESTIONS?

[p66]

Hello!

Is there any part of the sewers that eventually connect to the hospital? If characters were to move through the sewers in the direction to the hospital, would there be any doors?

[futurologists]

Hello! As revealed here, yes there is. However, as this clue was given to characters via RNG, please do not have your characters find it.

[p66]

Lovely! Thank you!

[predomination]

/cracks knuckles

Since we now have information on some of the doctors who are involved, would it be possible for Urahara to speak to any of them (obviously not Percy, probably, but at least Chapman and Wong)? Particularly going off Keats' lead of Percy being the assisting physician or the lead physician assisted by others to determine if Chapman or Wong are in on it or just unwitting accomplices. He wouldn't be fishing for information per say (because he wants to maintain his cover but also knows if any of them ARE Zymandis it would put him at risk to suggest he's on to them), but rather gauging their reactions by asking them about questions related to their patients' medical history since they have patients that have been confirmed infected. The kind of things a virologist would ask confirmation on, etc. That is assuming he can even find them, which is its own kind of tell.

[futurologists]

Urahara's sudden prying into confidential patient medical information will be met with raised brows from Chapman and Wong, but they'll humour his questions in light of the unfolding pandemic. Aside from being visibly stressed and overworked, both doctor are completely normal, and there is absolutely no connection between them and Zymandis.

[predomination]

Thank you mods! Keats will be so happy.

/CHA CHA SLIDES IN HERE AGAIN

[predomination]

I ALMOST FORGOT. With the knowledge that this is an alien virus obviously affecting the cure search, is it reasonable to assume that no real forward progress can be made until any Zymandis operatives can be found and interrogated about it?

Mostly for flavor stuff regarding TEAM CURE, because this could make them focus more on preventative vaccines and pause their cure stuff until more information comes out.

[futurologists]

The origin of the virus should have no bearing on the process of finding a cure or a vaccine. Once those working on a cure feel they have spent enough time on it, please let us know so we can let you proceed!

[predomination]

Oooh. Thank you! We've been working pretty diligently on it since the beginning of the mission, but I'm not sure if that's quite long enough yet.

[cachemoney]

Hi, mods! There's been some confusion about further symptoms of the virus. As stated here, Adam Bristol is currently comatose. Is this something that infected persons need to worry about?

[competing]

hello mods! i was wondering if it would be possible to potentially set up a "quarantine space" for the infected among audentes? i'm planning on making a log for it that will span for the rest of the mission, for anyone whose characters would put themselves there (or... get put there... tough love) but be available for people who idk want to visit. or network chat. i am also considering making an ooc planning post for it! if this is okay, my only concern is finding an actual physical space for it... would it be plausible to say some abandoned warehouse could be used or something?

—OH ALSO. would infected feel compelled to... eat each other?? or are they only after dat pure angus beef.

[futurologists]

All symptoms are listed in the dossier. For Adam Bristol specifically, he was placed in a medically-induced coma before being moved to DC.

[futurologists]

That sounds great! Good thinking. As for a location, a warehouse works, or maybe a tennis court -- something that's hard to break out of. (A dog park??)

Regarding their hunger, it's up to players to determine how far along their character's symptoms are, but one of the symptoms is cannibalistic tendencies, as listed in the dossier. This includes other infected.

[moneyballer]

Thank you, mods!

[assent]

Hello mods!

Sorry to just tab onto this but I am a little confused as here you stated that this would be addressed more clearly with this log so I just wanted to check if there was anything we were missing as I had thought the rng was going to provide differrent answers or is it just that it is related to Zymandis that would be the clue you meant?

Sorry for the extra questions!

[competing]

thank you, mods!