You are at the Park, or near the Park, when the siren sounds. A hatch has opened in the Park’s lowest level -- there’s a level below that no one has seen before.

Security will quickly cordon off the main entrance, but that doesn't mean you haven't been in there already or found a secondary hatch at the outskirts of the action.

Things you may find in various rooms in there:

A bank of unlabeled controls (if someone touches them, there will be consequences)
A very large chamber full of discs left over from the Occupation (whose were they? is one of them yours? the Archive programs are going to have a field day with this)
A hall of mirrors (really, Flynn)
A whole load of abandoned schematics and layout plans

All or any of this might interest your character, or they may wander off into the mirror-maze and get lost for half an hour. But just as importantly, when the hatch opens, the first thing to emerge will be a ton of Bits. Thousands of Bits. Big Bits and baby Bits. Inquisitive, unsocialized, badly behaved Bits, and they are very, very interested in you. Maybe they need you to help a beta or new rerezz out of a hole, maybe they get mad at you for not letting them “dance” with everyone in the club; maybe you’re looking particularly winsome today; who knows? Whatever the reason, Bits suddenly love you, and there is a flock of them following you wherever you go, providing binary commentary on your activities and getting into your business. This may be inconvenient, or it may be the best thing ever. Enjoy!

The tag for this event will be: event: The Chamber of Bits

At least one IC mod-character post will go up tomorrow, but you're free to make posts for your characters before that!

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.

too lazy to switch accounts whoops

As everyone works on wrapping the storm event, it's just about time for the follow-up. What does your character think of the changes on the Grid? Did they lose someone? Did the storm leave any scars, physical or mental? Who has an opinion about the new geography? Have they noticed the new bit of Sea yet? Are the ones who think it's good news still talking to the ones who think it's bad news?

Also, opinions on event frequency? Shaking up the Grid like this once a (realtime) week would be too often. What about once every three to four weeks, with optional mini-memes in between to keep things moving? (While events will affect the entire Grid, in-game memes would be optional individual scenarios you could use to jumpstart CR for your character(s), possibly with different options, like "this week your character might be stuck in an elevator OR writing a really awkward letter OR forming a protest group about something that happened recently; now post so we can tag you plz<3".) There could also be Bakerstreet-style memes in the ooc comm, for fun and games that wouldn't fit in the main comm's continuity. What do you think?


In other news, the Grid-jobs post was supposed to be up today, but I'm still picking at it; hopefully it'll be up tomorrow Friday and then GRID JOB FAIR FOR EVERYONE.

Under the cuts are the conditions on the Grid during the third day of the storm, and the immediate aftermath. While cleaning crews will be out after the storm, getting transportation running again, repairing power and communication channels damaged in the deluge, and clearing away debris, and Tron City will be back to operating condition two days (six millicycles) after the storm, there will be permanent large-scale changes in the Grid’s geography.


( Weather on the third day ) ( After the storm )

HAPPY FEBRUARY, EVERYONE. The player check-in has already gone up, and the plot-with-me post will be going up momentarily, but first of all, welcome to this week's event!

WHO: everyone who wants something to do. There will be safe places for those who just want to wait out the weather.
WHAT: Huge storm. Things happen.
WHEN: current.
WHERE: All over the Grid.
HOW LONG: This plot will last three days in game-time (approximately nine millicycles), and ideally one week in realtime. Any damage the storm causes will be considered to have been cleared away two game-days later.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN:

On the first day, a storm will gather from the Outlands. Rain, lightning, you know the drill. However, it will quickly become worse. There will be several lightning strikes around the city. The rain will reduce visibility and impede traffic. Deliveries will be delayed. Outside of Tron City, other cities and colonies will also be subjected to unusually bad weather.

On the second day, the weather will get worse. You thought rain and lightning was bad? Try high winds and thick sleet. Not quite cold enough to freeze, but hello slush everywhere. You might be trapped in your home or workplace, or in a stalled vehicle, or outside. You probably won’t die unless something falls on you, but you might lock up and have a miserable old time.

On the third day….. well. That’d be telling. Once the first two days have developed a little, there’ll be a new post here for the events of the third day.

It’s going to be quite a ride.

Weather conditions like these are frustrating, and often scary, but believe it or not, the Grid's not out to kill your character. It's just having some growing pains. So: what will you do? Are you with friends, or with strangers, or alone until someone finds you? Are you rescuing trapped programs, or do you need help yourself? Are you working frantically to keep the local utilities operating? Who's working with you? Are you huddling for safety? Are you worried about the architecture? Do you know someone who needs some extra energy?

Note: in the interests of developing and redeveloping CR, try to tag in when open posts start appearing, especially with characters you don't often tag. This week will be about restoring CR among our PCs -- as well as surviving some of the worst weather conditions Tron City has seen in many cycles. Have at!

By popular(?) demand, the mirrorverse event will now extend through Monday, Sept. 10th.

The Portal has glitched.

The reverse side has been touched.

A sudden influx of new arrivals hits the city, familiar faces, but different attitudes.

The Mirrorverse is here!



Feel free to start posting with your altered characters, or with normal ones for responses! Don't forget to tag for the event, and have fun. The event will run through Sept. 3rd.

Announcing Grid_Lined's very first game-wide event!

Inspired by a meme going around Plurk recently, we're having a Mirrorverse Event here on the Grid.

The Portal has glitched badly and is bringing in even more programs and Users than usual. However, it's not just pulling them from the "normal" locations, oh no. This time, the Portal is bringing in "mirrorverse" versions of programs and Users who already exist in the Grid.

What does this mean? Well, if your character is a good-aligned character, this means their mirrorverse version can be evil. Conversely, team bad guy characters might suddenly find their mirrored versions to be good versions of themselves. Basically, a true reversal of your character might appear at any time to confuse your friends, allies... and enemies.

GAMEPLAY:

1. This event will take place from August 20-September 3. Obviously, backtagging can occur longer.

2. You may create new journals for "mirrored" characters or simply make new icons in your current journal, whichever is easiest. If using your current journal, please do note when tagging or posting as a mirrorverse character.

3. If you like, you can use D&D alignment to figure out the mirrored shifts your character will take. (For example, Tron = Lawful Good, so mirror!Tron = Chaotic Evil oooh dear.) The disadvantage to this would obviously be for Neutral characters, so they can be shifted however you'd like. You can be creative in how you decide the mirrorverse of your character will have developed... but think of the Classic Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror" for how the idea came about.

4. To keep things a little less crazy, please have your characters change circuit colors (if they have them) to match their alignment. Do whatever you want with your circuit colors, switching colors if it's appropriate.

5. All mirrorverse characters will be pulled back through the Portal on September 3rd. (Though there will always be the option for them to return later as characters in their own right.)

Any questions? Plotting? Feel free to do so here!