HAPPY MARCH, EVERYONE! This month's plot-with-me post will be going up momentarily, but first, here’s the March event!

WHO: everyone who uses Tron City’s public transportation system or any vehicle written for most versions of Flynn’s Grid.
WHAT: A minor system error renders standard transportation incompatible with the Free Grid.
WHERE: All over the Grid, but especially Tron City.
HOW LONG: This plot will last approximately four days (twelve millicycles) in gametime and ideally one to two weeks in realtime. (The previous event was scheduled for one week and took three, so let's give this one two weeks and see how it goes.)
TAG: The tag for this event is event: gridlocked.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN:

Midway into morning shift as of right about now, most transportation all over the Grid will just... stop. Ground vehicles will error out and slow, skid, or crash; pilots will have only a few micros (about fifteen minutes) to land or bail before Recognizers, helicopters, lightships, and lightjets will fall out of the sky; Solar Sailers and Light Rails will pause on their tracks and refuse to budge, even if they’re upside down, halfway between stations, or suspended over a chasm in the Outlands.

Some vehicles will not be affected. Anything not originally written for a mirror of Flynn’s Grid (say, a lightcycle imported from the ENCOM system, or a four-wheeler that rezzed in with someone from the Internet), or anything custom-built or modified to exclude the compatibility code causing the error (whether anyone knows this is why it still works or not -- keen-eyed mechanics or people who really know their vehicle code might be able to extrapolate the source of the problem from this), will be fine. Vehicles of this type will doubtless rapidly be pressed into service to transport programs and vital supplies to all corners of Tron City, since the regular supply vehicles don’t work. Reports, repairs, missions, and updates will be delayed; programs might find it difficult to get energy or complete their daily tasksets; worker absence due to commute interruptions will affect most departments, causing further delays in things like map updates and utility repairs. Moving walkways, escalators, elevators, transportation relays, and the like will still operate, but anything built for the Grid with wheels, wings, rotors, or ~magnetic drive~ (thank you SO much, Evolution) will not be able to operate until the source of the problem is found.

So: why is this happening? During the first millicycle of the event, a system report from Administration will explain that there is a compatibility issue and that they’re trying their best to locate the problem. But what is the issue? Is there anyone left on the Grid who actually knows how that works? Can instructions be found? Can it be fixed, and if so, how and by whom? Plot away in the plotting post; further information will be posted near the end of the first realtime week of the event, but until then, have fun exploring the possibilities... and getting around the vastness of Tron City without your usual ride.

Last month, the Free Grid’s shape and demographics were drastically changed by a severe storm. Some lost their homes, and some lost friends, but the storm also imported a patch of clean Sea (with some unexpected passengers) and put an end to death on the Grid. (Has... anybody actually tested this yet? Because this is a thing.)

This month, transportation across the Grid is stalling as a compatibility error makes most vehicles nonfunctional. Is your vehicle one of them? Are you frantically trying to get somewhere, or is this forcing you to slow down and smell the virtual roses for once? Are you interested in investigating the cause of the error, possibly via ancient Archive records or by exploring self-maintaining system utility facilities that have gone unvisited since before the Reintegration? Do you desperately need to get somewhere or else DISASTER? Are you part of a relief or rescue mission, or do you need one? Could you not care less about transportation because there are more important things going on in your life? Did you just rezz in and is this the worst system ever of all time?

Don't forget to use the Jobfair/Tasksets and Locations posts for ideas on what your character can do for others and they for you during this event.

Now get in here and plot! \o/