THE ALLIANCE EXPO

[metamods]

Who: EVERYONE
What: A crisis occurs at the Alliance Expo.
When: April 13
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: character death, loss of autonomy/self, mass destruction

THE ALLIANCE EXPO

Every April, Central City hosts a guild publicity event known as the annual Alliance Expo, ostensibly to memorialize the Godfall Incident.

Most people will have heard this major historical event referenced by now — the name is inscribed on city monuments, evoked in political debates, taught in a history class, and reimagined for movies. If not, at the Expo itself, informational booths paint a very black and white picture of how good triumphed over evil.

On April 3rd, 1985, a young metahuman named Starstruck nearly obliterated Central City. Seeing the risk of his unchecked rage unraveling reality itself, heroes and villains joined forces to stop Starstruck and save the world from its certain destruction.

In the wake of the incident, Metahuman survivors came together — not as heroes and villains, but as citizens of the planet. At this first Alliance Expo, they created the Guilds with the common goal of protecting this universe.

Since the 80s, the Expo has opened to the public. Like the Alliance itself, it has evolved (or devolved?) to be more commercialized. Nowadays, the Expo is a publicity event where vendors sell branded merchandise and knockoffs of licensed and unlicensed heroes alike.

OPENING CEREMONIES —

In the spirit of its early days, when the Expo was meant to be a point of connection for all metas, it still offers free entry to metahumans who are in costume (or whose identities/meta status are known). As with any convention, inside the crowded Central City Convention Center, attendees must wear their badges on lanyards as they navigate booths and schedules. The show floor provides curated museum-style exhibits about the Godfall Incident and other pieces of metahuman history, as well as art installations and even some branded food and merch stands that venerate the heroes who saved the day.

Of course, non-metas attend as well, but in smaller numbers. Many of them are fans of capes, who arrive dressed in dated costumes of their favorites and chat about their favorite era of a particular hero's career. Having paid for the rare opportunity to rub shoulders with their idols at this prestigious event, they may overwhelm new heroes with requests for autographs or comments (or critiques!) about their wardrobe. In addition to fans, meta attendees may run into investors sidling up to heroes with hopes of getting in on the ground floor to make a mascot of the next big hero under the guise of altruism.

A speech from Frances Starling kickstarts the opening ceremonies. Following her scathing, undisguised criticism for the commercialization of a tragic event (and reference to the particular surprises it posed to its stakeholders), she acknowledges that she feels an obligation to be here. She devotes most of her speech to addressing the new Confluence-created metas about the danger that comes with being a metahuman and a citizen of this world, emphasizing that no meta is obligated to throw themselves headlong into danger. Metahumans, she says, deserve the chance to live a quiet, modest life as much as anyone else.

The dazzling display that follows is anything but modest. The Expo's opening ceremonies continue apace with indoor fireworks, a hologram movie, and a band with a lightshow. In addition, new metas get the chance to perform in a variety of ways:

• The Alliance's staffers are more than happy to facilitate any talented metas who wish to show off their skills during the ostentatious opening ceremonies.



• Some time later, new Alliance heroes are ushered onstage to debut their hero identities to the world. An announcer excitedly reads code names as facilitators nudge the new heroes onto the stage to parade around the catwalk and show off their costumes and gadgetry. Stars explode around them, and time is made for anyone who wants to give a little speech.



• The Expo has also pre-arranged a dramatic performance with the new guild members: just as the new Alliance heroes make their debut, new Society members arrive to "crash" the celebration and cause mischief. In the loose scripting that prepared participants for the event in advance, staffers encourage them to ham it up and mug for the cameras. Some may have pre-arranged choreography — of their own, or at the behest of the Alliance's marketing team. For playing along and making the heroes look good, Society members will be rewarded handsomely ... off the record, of course.

THE SIMULATION —

Squat in the center of the show floor is this year’s big draw: a virtual-reality simulation recreating the Godfall Event, developed using the memories of witnesses and edited for gamification. According to the brochures, it's part training exercise and part memorial for all the superheroes who fell against Starstruck.

The marketing team of the Alliance clearly had a field day. Programmed using state of the art Winters Industries technology, the simulation allows anyone to step into the role of a hero and relive the Godfall Incident — or at least, a heavily sanitized version of it. Even the marketing team recognizes that it would be upsetting to faithfully recreate the carnage of that day and market it to the world. Though it claims to be recreated from the memories of those who lived it, the introductory cutscene provides a more palatable version that plays out like a Saturday morning cartoon:

You are a hero of the 1980s. The costumes are bright and colorful, the hair enormous and flowing. The hues of the simulation are oversaturated and vaguely psychedelic. You may find yourself delivering bombastic, alliterative catchphrases or striking dramatic poses for no particular reason. It’s fun! Just go with it!

At the center of all of this, Starstruck destroys (random, and of course) unoccupied buildings with his energy blast powers. A classic 1980s cartoon villain, his hair is the biggest and the pointiest, and he’s wearing spikes and eyeliner. The VR replica doesn't quite match the brochures outside, but it’s close enough, right? As soon as he spots heroes approaching, Starstruck stops destroying (random and, of course, unoccupied) buildings to monologue at length, cackling about his plans to destroy the world and how you heroes can do nothing to stop him! This is a VR game, not just a cutscene — participants can interact with Starstruck. Go on! Walk up and punch him mid-speech!

Any attack will start the battle in earnest. As promised, this is just a silly sort of beat-em-up game. Starstruck has several different patterns of energy attack, which he’ll mix up some. In his second phase — indicated by him getting angry and glowing red — he whips out some larger attacks, but he’s never too difficult to defeat. You came in here to play a fun game, maybe try out some new powers, and ultimately feel like heroes, and that’s what the game is going to deliver.

You know. Probably.

Notably, Atomight appears to be perturbed by all of this. The hero does not stay on the show floor long, excusing himself curtly after the simulation is announced. Any who linger too close to Conference Room C may hear an explosive argument between the leader of the Alliance and the head of marketing. It seems that Atomight painted a very different picture of what this event would be, and the marketing team of the Alliance ran wild without the input of its chair. He returns to the event, though. Obligation keeps him rooted here, unhappy but unwilling to abandon the dream that founded this.

A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX —

As everyone is distracted by the glitz and glam the Expo offers, no one notices as someone makes their way to the simulator’s core console and slip a USB into the drive.

Inside the simulation, something subtly shifts. The bright colors dull to something more realistic. The punches and kicks lose their sound effects. The screen tears briefly as the simulation splits, duplicating itself into multiple instances. Then it all goes dark.

When the lights come back on, participants stand in the midst of a mostly destroyed Central City. A massive column of light shines in the center of the city, so bright it hurts to look at. The air sears your lungs. People scream, racing away from the slowly expanding field of energy, leveling buildings as it goes.

At the epicenter stands Starstruck, and the energy that is destroying the city is radiating out of his form. However, on closer inspection, he's changed too. This is no longer some over-the-top, dramatic villain. This is a teenage boy, looking terrified, alone, and unstoppable.

And you know he can’t stop.

He wants to, you can tell he does, but he can’t.

So you need to stop him.

It’s no wonder Atomight didn't want this celebrated.

You struggle to remember that this is a simulation - for some, the thought may slip away entirely. It feels real enough. Hero, villain, unaligned — however you think of yourself doesn’t matter. You’re standing shoulder to shoulder with friends, lovers, and enemies to do the unthinkable. Some of you may be freshly sprung from the maximum security metahuman jail. Some may have bolted away from parents, donning makeshift costumes, knowing that this may very well be your last stand. Others still may be in plainclothes, your metahuman status hidden to the world until this exact moment.

While some participants may retain their own values and minds others can be compelled by the AI of the hero role they're placed into in any of the following ways:

• TURN AWAY AND RESCUE CIVILIANS — Some heroes can't face the moral quandary posed by Starstruck's fall. Maybe you leave the hard choices to others and focus on what you can do and who you can save.



• CONVINCE OTHERS TO TRY TO REACH STARSTRUCK (OR DO IT YOURSELF) — If you've taken on the role of one of Starstruck's teammates, you may stand between your friend and the adult heroes trying to take him down. You're driven by the sense that if you could just get within earshot and talk to him, you could reach your friend and calm this whole thing down.



• FIGHT THROUGH YOUR FRIENDS TO STOP THE VILLAIN — Those in the position of grizzled heroes or cynical villains may believe the situation is well past something that words can solve. You've seen the reports, and you know you have less than an hour to stop this kid from destroying the planet. You’ve weighed his life against the billions on the planet and have made your choice, no matter how much it sickens you to do so. And now you have to snuff out this child’s terrible light, even if you have to fight your way through your own loved ones to do it.
  
  
• DESTROY THE WORLD? — Especially unlucky participants may get shuffled into Starstruck's AI and stand as the harbinger of this apocalypse, right at the epicenter of the blast.
  
  His emotional state — your emotional state — swings wildly between anger, horror, grief, and regret. But one thing is clear: he never wanted this. And neither did you. Loss weighs heavily on you, dragging up your own dark feelings and memories of loss, inadequacy, pain. It assails the senses and doubles you over. As the darkness encroaches, the energy around you pulses and expands further.
  
  You can't hold the energy in; your powers are out of control. Will you ask someone to end it — and you with it? Or will you decide that if you have to die, the world should go with you? Or maybe your friends can find the right words to talk you down, miraculously saving you from your own might.

OUTSIDE

It takes time to notice. At first, the party continues apace — until alarms blare. The technicians and technopaths stop what they’re doing and run for the simulation room. Those who run after them and can read the monitor data can't quite determine what exactly has gone awry — but on thing is clear: the participants aren't responding to reality, and many seem to be in genuine distress.

The technicians are also distressed as they declare that the simulation can't be shut down. Pulling the power could cause serious damage to those still inside — the safety protocols, after all, also rely on that power, and people inside are throwing around attacks that could seriously injure each other if they weren’t safely within a VR space.

Those on the outside can work to save the trapped participants:

• Can you help the technicians diagnose the problem?


• Can you convince them that you should go in and pull people out yourself like in Sunset Falls? Careful - that might not exactly work the way you expect, but it’ll be easy to slip past the distracted workers if you really want to try.


• Maybe you want to investigate what triggered the failing in the first place and go for the convention center's security footage, which reveals the masked figure with the USB. How will you track them down?


• Got another plan? To pursue these and other options, please collaborate with other players to develop a plan and pitch your approach to the mods HERE.

AFTERMATH —

Maybe you defeat Starstruck, or whatever unlucky person happened to be playing him today. Maybe you somehow manage to talk them down this time. Maybe you stood by and let him destroy everything, unwilling to sacrifice one life for millions. One way or another, thanks to the work of those outside, the simulation reaches its end.

For those emerging from the simulation, the VR Hall comes back into focus. Medical staff run inside — mercifully, the safeties didn’t fail. As real as it all felt, no matter what powers were being thrown around, no one comes out physically hurt. After a brief check-up to ensure that there’s no lingering side-effects, the healers and medics determined that any scarring you’ll walk away with on this day is all mental.

Those who return to enjoy the rest of the Expo will find the mood sobered. However, plenty of vendors still need to offload their wares, and plenty of attendees want their money's worth. Nothing even really happened, right? Just a glitch? In spite of all you’ve just seen and felt, the Expo kicks back into full swing pretty quickly after the situation’s resolved, as if nothing even really happened.

The booths and informational posters with their shiny, marketable version of the Godfall Incident are still firmly in place. Knowing what you know now, can you really rejoin the party...?

Not wanting any negative PR, the Expo organizers are offering everyone involved in the VR incident a free goodie bag of convention swag! Enjoy your branded lanyards and tea cozies. If that isn’t enough, they may be able to slip you a little hush money.

IN SUMMARY...

• The Alliance Expo is part job conference, part tech conference, and part comic-con, and all metahumans attend for free. New guild heroes and villains will be publicly introduced.


• While operating as intended, expo attendees can relive a light-hearted, propaganda version of the Godfall Event via VR simulation, where participants step into the shoes of a real hero who existed during this time to experience a light-hearted, Saturday morning cartoon version of events.


• After someone sabotages the simulation, the simulation becomes realistic recreation of the Godfall Event. Participants may be overwhelmed by the programmed AI's memories and motives, and can take the role of either any hero or of Starstruck himself, a terrified teenager who lost control of his powers.


• The simulation runs multiple simultaneous instances, so multiple characters can take on the role of Starstruck or the role of his savior and/or killer.


• Those outside the simulation can work together to investigate or fix the crisis. To pursue these and other options, players should use the OOC community to collaborate and develop a plan to pitch to the mods HERE.

Please direct any questions regarding this log HERE.

Comments

C - i should just rename this icon 'for peter'

[portolan]

[ CW: Balthier mixing up own identity with previous name/dead name ]

He's in an absolute daze as he stumbles out of the VR equipment and away from that horrid room. For the first time in weeks he's looking around for Fran, trying to remember where the Strahl is. All he wants is to recede into the farthest corner of the sky where no one can reach him.

Which of course he can't have. And in a momentary panic, he wonders if that was ever real. His whole body feels hot and he misses a step, stumbling into someone. Was Balthier real? All he can remember is being Ffamran -- dreams of escape, hurting inside as he listened to what he was told, constructing a person he wished he was-- That was real. He knows that was real.

But wasn't Nolan real too? And he couldn't stop Thunderclap. He couldn't save Starstruck. Couldn't save his friend.

Couldn't.
Couldn't.
Couldn't.
Couldn't.
Wouldn't.

He stumbles into the main room, eyes desperately searching for someone he knows. An anchor to which set of memories he should be listening to. He wanders through the people, panic rising with every face he doesn't know. How did he get here? Is he still in a simulation, a spell, a--

The crowd shifts and he sees Peter huddled against a wall. Peter. He knows Peter. And scions, Peter looks terrible. His feet take him there without him really knowing what he's doing, only to see Peter is breathing too fast, too shallow. "Peter?" His voice is weak. Hardly his own.

And he hates seeing him like this. Memories screaming -- their disagreement, worrying about the kid, that time Peter overshared about losing everyone, Nolan so terrified for his friend, standing in Judge's armor being told to murder a schoolmate -- Balthier wraps his arms around Peter, enveloping him in a hug.

"You're alright. You're safe." But it's just as much for him as it is for Peter.

[tinglesense]

Peter has barely moved away from the console. He stumbled over here out of the way, but there's nowhere else he can think of to go. He can't trust himself to get there. The lingering feedback from the fucked up AI has his regular senses all out of whack, leaving his danger sense still haywire. He can hear and feel too much most of the time anyway, but especially now, with so little way to regulate it.

He'll figure it out, but dying in a simulation sure isn't a good time.

He hears Balthier's voice say his name and it snags him enough to pay attention, looking up at the pirate for a moment. Balthier wraps him in a hug and his arms come up around the older man without thought.

"They're lying to us," he says.

[portolan]

Bless Peter for hugging him back. That hadn't factored into his decision to hug the lad, but he's immensely grateful for the human contact. It's a reminder that there is kindness in his life, that there are people who trust him. People he hasn't failed.

Yet.

"I know," he says, and his voice is hard. He'd meant to leave that voice behind in Ivalice. "These structures of peace and power -- they always lie to us."

[tinglesense]

Like the last time they hugged, a million years ago now or so it seems to Peter, who has precious little physical contact with people he's not fighting. If he holds on too tight, surely Balthier will forgive him.

"I mean, the government lies to people but...I wanted to trust them. Atomight. Frances Starling."

He thinks of Starstruck's overwhelming fury. Betrayal. At who? He's not sure yet.

"They killed that kid's family," he says, softly. Balthier already knows about Peter's aunt. The parallel is unmistakable, though heroes hadn't killed May.

"Then they killed him. Because he lost control. And I get it. He couldn't stop even when he wanted to. But then why are they celebrating? Who has a whole fucking festival for killing someone?"

[portolan]

In fact, he matches the tightness of Peter's hug. Nothing else had helped when his own mother had died.

"We're missing some piece," Balthier agrees. He hadn't trusted them, but this went further. "The tone, the effort to erase the history, all of them working together on it -- something isn't right."

But now he's talking like a captain, not like a friend. Nolan is still so fresh in his memory, Ffamran. They may be younger than Peter, but, well, Peter was Starstruck too. And all of them need support, not politics -- especially politics that had failed them so thoroughly.

"I think the simulation knew how to target our worst fears and memories," he says very gently. "I'm so sorry, Peter. You shouldn't be carrying the things you carry, and you shouldn't be carrying Starstruck on top of that. I was his friend. He tried to get to you. Tried to get the adults to listen."

Was it comfort that someone tried? Or that much worse that the adults had killed -- and erased -- another child?

[tinglesense]

Peter takes a deep breath and lets it out in a world weary sigh that belongs on someone twice his age. Man, it's been a rough day. This isn't doing any favours for all the shit Peter already holds onto, either. He doesn't have the kind of power Starstruck does, and he sure as hell wouldn't want it. But he really could have killed Norman. He's told Balthier about that already.

What would have happened if he did have power he couldn't control? Like that electric guy's power or whatever? Too easy to go haywire, lose control.

He's not sure what happened to the real Starstruck, who it was that killed him or how. It doesn't matter in the end. Someone had that kid's parents killed. Someone killed Starstruck when there was no longer any other way to reach him. How many others are complicit in it now?

Being a hero is such bullshit. He knows that already but Christ.

"There was a guy who tried to get me — Starstruck — to stop. It didn't work, and he…"

He swallows. He knows who was stuck inside that guy, actually. The terrible irony of it isn't lost on him. Harry Osborn. Some other alternate timeline version, related to another Norman Osborn, the man who had killed May. What the hell.

He shakes his head, though he's still got his face against Balthier.

"It was too late. That whole thing, by the time they tried to stop him, he couldn't stop himself. Part of him didn't want to stop. But he wasn't a supervillain or a lunatic. He was just some messed up kid."

Like me, he doesn't say. He doesn't need to.

"I want to find out what really happened. Someone has to know."

[portolan]

"I think looking into this is reasonable, but so is recovering yourself first. You're shaking." So is Balthier, he's just better at hiding it.

He pulls back from the embrace to hold Peter's shoulders. "Peter, look at me. You aren't Starstruck, even if he's tangled up in that head right now. And even if you would have made the same decisions in the same situation, that isn't on the table. You are here, and there are people who want to take care of you."

Peter told him about May, about losing his friends, about how much he felt like a failure. He'd secluded himself to try to protect. Balthier understood all of that, and now he's searching for what he needed to hear seven years ago. The irony is, he probably wouldn't have listened. But he didn't have the luxury to choose, so he wants to give it to Peter anyway.

"I was a messed up kid too. It got better. I got better. But the lows are frightening. Seeing yourself in someone you don't want to be is frightening. It still scares me." He's still scared, honestly. He's trying not to think about what he did or what he didn't do.

And Peter's entirely right. He doesn't like the implications of this being covered up by so many people.

[tinglesense]

Peter has enough sense not to point out that Balthier is trembling a little, too.

"I know I'm not. I'm not confused about who I am now. Really! I'm not." This is not a lie, at least. Starstruck's memories, if that's what they were, are vivid in his mind. But he's aware of the difference. Small blessings, really.

"I'm okay. I don't…man, I don't need someone to take care of me. What I need is someone to help me figure out the rest of it. The simulation didn't tell us everything, and the big heroes obviously don't wanna talk about it." It isn't that Peter isn't listening. Sometimes things you need to hear aren't easy to actually absorb.

But he does nod.

"You seem like someone who isn't scared of anything," he says, softly. He knows better. Everyone is afraid of something. Even Captain America, even Iron Man. They're all human with human desires and fears and hopes. Balthier, too. Peter's sure he'll never be anywhere near as cool as any of them.

[portolan]

Balthier clenches his jaw, lips pursed even as he sighs. He sees what's happening: insistence on being fine on one's own, a fixation on some external crisis that will somehow fix everything, hells, a fixation on conspiracy, even if it's in all likelihood an actual conspiracy.

And it hurts, because Balthier knows that being able to trace the shape of all this doesn't make him any more equipped to help Peter through it. And maybe no one could have helped him through it, even if they'd tried. Maybe people had tried and he'd brushed them away too.

What was the point of empathy if it didn't let him reach someone else? Why was he still fighting for a kinder existence when this was all there ever was?

No. Not right now.

"Well you are more clever or more committed to yourself than I am; Nolan is very much still mixed up in mine." And Ffamran.

Peter's voice softens for the last bit. Well, he'll take getting through in some way.

"I am constantly afraid," Balthier says. His voice is low; it's more honest than he means. "I just got used to it at some point. If I felt miserable either way, I might as well get something for it, right? Though -- lately there have been more good days." He gives a weak smile, aware how utterly unheroic he sounds. That's the other way he's gotten through. Bravado. "Also I had top notch acting lessons."

[tinglesense]

Despite his words, Peter isn't sure he can entirely let go of Starstruck's memories. They were so real. Who had done this? How had they known this much anyway? How had they gotten past the Alliance to hack into this in the first place? Well, that last one is probably the easiest to answer; nothing is air tight.

He's shocked by Balthier's admission. Balthier is always so cool. He talks easily, he stands like he owns a room, he dresses like a weird rich person. He's a pirate, which seems like cool just comes along with it.

But in the end, like Peter's biggest heroes, he's just a man. He's not an Asgardian or a god or even a sorcerer. He's just a person, with all the messy crap that entails.

"Well, you got me fooled," he says, softly. "I'm always afraid, too. I wasn't! I mean, like, when I started…"

Being Spider-Man. They're still in public.

"Anyway. I think I wasn't because I just was too young to think about consequences and all the bad things that happen when you choose something, even if you didn't mean to make a choice to hurt other people. Now I'm just afraid of losing everything again. And I'm shit at acting, by the way. I think any lessons I had would just be a total waste!" It's an attempt at humour, if not a great one.

[portolan]

Just a man indeed. And one who has never had this little magic or social awareness before, especially surrounded by people more powerful than him. It's humbling, and there are days it terrifies him. Today is one of those days.

"I wasn't afraid when I started either. I don't think I knew what to be afraid of yet, as you said. It gets worse the more people you lose." Well, that's uplifting and comforting. "It makes them more precious, too. Which is why I'm always harping on you to come over or get an apartment." His own attempt at a weak smile. "I've claimed you as my crew, alright? You at least have that."

He's not sure if that means anything, but it's what he has to offer.

[tinglesense]

Peter knows what it's like to be surrounded by people who are better adapted and more powerful. He sort of downplays the amount of power he has, even in every day exchanges. He can hear and feel things much better than other people, and he's just used to…dialling it down. And that has nothing on how strong he actually is. There'd been a learning curve at the start, and he always feels like other people must adapt faster. But that's just teenage inadequacy talking.

"I guess that's how everyone starts whatever they're doing, huh? Seems exciting and then someone dies and you tear a hole in the multiverse or something." He tries to make that sound lighthearted but he doesn't manage at all. B minus for effort.

"Crew seems like a pretty strong word if you're a pirate."

It does mean something, because it means something to Balthier. Peter has no idea how he stumbled into this friendship, but he's grateful for it anyway.

[portolan]

"Multiverses took a few more years for me, but we got to the same place." He's not complaining. And he knows Peter is still carrying a large wound from the multiverse situation back home that Balthier didn't understand.

"It is a pretty strong word if you're a pirate," he agrees. "And I always choose my words carefully." As he does his friends. Which are in short supply here. Maybe he wouldn't have realized he wanted Peter as one if it hadn't been for that absurd oversharing spell, but he was glad for it now. It was easier to talk, knowing Peter already knew things about him, and knowing Peter was struggling too. Not that he wished that on the other man, but there was a sort of peace in bringing similar things to the table.

"Ah, look there, there's some color back in your cheeks. You don't look quite so much like a ghost."

[tinglesense]

He wonders how many people here did have some multiverse experience. Is that what makes them so bound to be pulled in by the Confluence? Who knows.

Peter hopes he one day learns the ability to choose his words carefully, but if his older alternate universe counterparts are anything to go by, that's a lost cause. Oh well. He still recognises that words matter, especially when it really counts.

"Thank you," he says. "For…I dunno. Lots of stuff."

im picturing balthier in that thor (?) outfit thanks

[portolan]

Well Balthier hadn't had multiverse experiences before this, but who knew. He had interacted with gods and the fate of time and history, so maybe that was enough.

"You're always welcome, Peter. I hope you know I mean that. Now, I see my boyfriend and he looks like death so I'm going to go check on him."