thecapitol | Once Upon A Dream

The Tributes will not be warned for when their injections will occur. For those who are known to be compliant and willing to work with the capitol, they may be taken aside and told they are getting a shot or whatever else may convince them. Others may be injected within their sleep (and have been drugged earlier to keep them that way).

If you are not a tribute, your injection comes on your decision, having cashed in your ticket at Hypnogogia for a good rest and stay.

Everyone is ushered to bed at once and everyone will be quick to discover why.

The first effect is a sort of paralysis - not the terrifying inability to move, but a signal to the brain that says why move? Moving is so much effort. It's quickly followed by drowsiness, and then a chill that radiates from the needle into the body, and finally, unconsciousness.

This shared dreaming carries on whenever you sleep for seven total days, with the Expos running during their waking hours. Those with Vistors will meet them within the dream.

Day 1: It starts as a typical day in the tower. You may very well not realise it to be a dream. The only difference is that there are others here, ones who won't be around when you wake. They've been instructed to wait for you. You can show them the whole of the Capitol in this time, if you wish.

Day 2: On this day, the world is... yours. Some of the world will bleed into the mini worlds of others, so long as you have the wish in mind to visit them. Some details about the worlds may be off but it will initially seem as though you've finally returned home.

Day 3: A paradise. Any paradise. Whatever your characters would personally deem as a paradise. Like with day 2, the dream worlds will bleed into one another.

Day 4: On day four, it starts off somewhere inspired by a District. It's been tailored to suit the Capitol of course but

̨̙̟͒̒̔ͬ̄̌̓̓s̋͒ͩ̈́ͯ́̾ͭ͑͘҉̮͈̪̲̼̜̟͡ó͔͔͖̼̂̓̌̓m̰̹ͩ͑̽̆̽̚͟͞e͙̰̬̻̋ͣ͑ͭ̄̌̀ṭ̡͈͔̺̀͂̈́ͯ̎͛̓́́ḣ̍̉͌҉̮̖͔͉̜͉̘͓į̶̥̼͙͒̏́̈n̼̬̼͖͖̳͊͐̈g̷̱͈̦̀ͣ͒̒̅͛ͯ̐̿ ̵̡̻̳̯ͫ̓̃ͭͨg̵͚͚͖̏̒̏ͨ̐̏ͦ͞͡ȏ͚̳͓̱̩̞͚͙ͮ̊̄̐̂͊e͇͇̦̳̦ͥ̽͌̆͂̇͆ͤͅs͙͙̠̝͍̹͔͓͛̽̾͑͂͆ ̠͖̘̥̤̑ͧ͘w̛̰̰̗͕̻̯̰͕̃͌͘r͖̰͚̋o̵̭̺̺̘͈͕͆̐̇̌ͣ͆͗͟n̷̫ͦ̆ͯ̀g̛̥͖͎̺͙͈ͮ̓͐̄̇.

The dream world seems to distort. From the setting, to those in it, for five seconds everything is warped and wrong, caught in an echo chamber. Then it goes dark and silent. From the dark, the nightmares crawl out. The nightmares may have things taken from memory, but most of it is a new and horrible scene where making sense isn't mandatory.

Capitolites are quickly awoken and refunded. They are given a (poor-tasting) drink that will offer them totally dreamless sleep. But they don't have to drink it if they do not wish...

[OOC: This is the day that D13 players will finally be able to participate and on every day following. You are allowed to post for this early.]

Day 5: The Capitol tries again to take back control of the dream, starting out with a fun and cute arena with super-soakers, glitter bombs, and weapons made from foam. It's happy and colorful. But it doesn't last long.

Soon enough, the dream warps again into a nightmare. The arena loses its harmlessness, becoming one that's very much a threat. This may be an arena from memory or something totally new.

Day 6: The Capitol hasn't given up fighting District thirteen's interference but they've taken to a new tactic. In attempt to drive them out, or at least pin some of the blame on thirteen, the sixth round of sleep is set in a bad memory. It can be any memory at all; something in the arena, something offworld, even things around the capitol or area around so long as it could've been caught on camera. Essentially, unless it's a blind spot, it's fair game.

Individuals who are free of or manage to fight through this torment are free to help the dreaming characters as they will-- or make things worse.

Day 7: War. Terrible war. This is what will be heard on the final day. It will echo out over the dream world. And that dream world will reflect the very terrible war spoken of. Is that your friend over there, looking shell-shocked? Is that your family laying there motionless? Who is that in the fray crying out? Could it be the one you love most?

This dream will leave very few survivors and will not last long. Those that do, will hear this: "Know the cost of selfish acts. Consider what you stand for."

[OOC: With this you may consider the fourth wall live! All tributes and any guests, Capitolites, and D13ers who are signed up may tag in here. Alternately, you may make your own logs! If you are tagging in here, you MUST warn with headers for any relevant topics that may upset players.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The chair closes around him and Albert takes a slow breath, careful not to let his lungs expand too much against the restraints lest they trigger something he hasn't taken into account. It seems to do nothing more than center him though, a breath in, a breath out and then stillness.

"Naturally, though I have to congratulate you on your resolve. You could have just killed me and moved on." He smirks wryly, well aware that a joke like that with so much truth to it will likely make Sigma uncomfortable, but there's also a note of gratitude there, a knowledge that they do both know one another for their real identities and are playing a very dangerous game. But they are playing, which bodes well. Even moreso with Sigma's request to talk. If they're able to actually communicate any information, that's where it will be, in the seemingly random ramblings of a terrified dream Tribute.

"By all means. Whatever makes things easier." Though he does wish he wouldn't drum his fingers on the collar. Any unnecessary touching of the thing should probably be avoided.

Sigma had nearly waited out his patience searching for a window of opportunity, a chance to share his message with the Rebellion, and here it was at last. If it were the Capitol that put him here to waste away in his terror, they would know how it felt when the dog bit back. "I guess you could say trust is important to me." It would be a comical statement to anyone who knew about his history of lies and betrayal, but after all this time, Sigma still considers it the truth. "You put your life in my hands - literally." Even at the end the road Sigma takes time to dwell on his stupid jokes. "...So I think I can do the same with you." He finds himself staring off into the edges of the nightmare, lost in thought, stepping backwards link by link through the chain of events that led him here. "Man, where to begin..." It was probably for the best that Albert sat in the chair. He wonders if he'd been the one down there now, if Albert wouldn't have just pulled the trigger the moment he opened his mouth.

"I should say I know where you're from, and I'm glad you're here. I've been waiting a damn long time to talk to someone from Thirteen," he says finally. "I want to help. I have information. You don't even have to do anything, just say that you'll listen." After such an exercise, he's done with making bargains.

It would be important, if preying on the trust of others is how you keep yourself going. Manipulating people into decisions they wouldn't otherwise end up making based on their trust in you. So yes, Albert does believe Sigma, though perhaps not in the exact way he's thinking.

Sigma says the name of Thirteen and Albert frowns deeply. If they're being monitored by the Capitol in any way, Sigma's just given himself up, which is a stupid move no matter who's side he's on but especially so if he's truly playing this game for the Rebellion. He half expects the dream to wink out around them, but perhaps Sigma knows something he doesn't. Perhaps he knows who's watching. Or, more accurately, who isn't.

Even so, he doesn't nod, just waits with rapt attention for Sigma to continue.

"I'll listen."

For a Nobel-laureate, Sigma was not particularly intelligent. Insightful and occasionally clever, perhaps, but any man could win himself an award if he spent five decades imprisoned in research. He is more than willing to press on blindly based on a hunch - even when the penalty is death, and especially when the opportunity may never come again. Perhaps there was something to be said in the fact that he still saw himself as an impulsive, emotional young man instead of the wise old doctor he’d been coached into becoming.

At any rate, he's having difficulty reading Albert's credulity, and prefaces himself. “I’m not sure what I could say to convince you to believe me. Hell, maybe you already know, and I'm putting a noose around my neck for nothing," he begins, darkly sarcastic. "Anyway, I couldn't live with myself if someone died 'coz I kept my stupid mouth shut, so here goes: almost every street in the Capitol has been set with traps to ward off an invasion. Mines, gas, homing missiles... Sick shit you couldn’t begin to imagine. They are prepared to annihilate the rebels at any cost. I don't think they care how many of their own people get caught in the crossfire." Just like his nonary game: an orderly, autonomous set of dominoes rigged to fall in just the right way. Difficult to predict unless one could, somehow, preview the pattern. "It'll be impossible to get to Snow without massive loss of life on both sides... Unless you know the layout going in." He feels, for the first time since his conversation with the Initiate, useful. Like he's actively holding back the death count instead of contributing to it. Comparatively, he doesn't know much, but what he does know will be invaluable to someone.

"Uh, I'd draw you a map, but my dominant hand is sorta occupied, you know?" He clicks his tongue between his teeth disapprovingly. There's a 'that's what she said' joke in there somewhere. "Let's hope your memory is as good as your composure..."

This is something Albert's discovered about people in general. He's not a genius himself, but give anyone the time to apply themselves to an intellectual pursuit and they retain the knowledge. It's why he can pass himself off as something of a scholar; that didn't happen thanks to a natural aptitude, but instead because he's just so old that he's had the time to read up on most things. It's not the mark of natural intelligence, but instead of a lonely life. One they've both lead in their disparate ways.

Because of this but in spite of himself, Albert believes him. He believes him because there is little to gain but everything to lose for Sigma unless he's being coached to spread this information. Which is something to gain, so when Albert passes this information to Barnes he'll preface it with that remark, but it's too important to ignore so out of hand that he doesn't hear it. If Sigma is being truthful, then it's invaluable.

"I can't say I'm surprised Snow doesn't care who suffers for his safety. Luckily I have an exceptional memory." Thanks to being able to play back things that he hears through the brainwave recorder implanted in his head. He's now sure how that will translate to the waking world, but if he retains even a fraction of the information he's about to hear, it will be a help. "Go ahead."

Once Upon A Dream - 4th wall

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