f2020 | SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2020: THE SYNOD IS CONVENING.

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2020: THE SYNOD IS CONVENING.

All fourteen Gates simultaneously reverse polarity. For the next seven days, and only these seven days, any imPort stepping through a Gate will arrive safely in the Porter building: the only place on this fractured planet that can safely contain the energy of the imPort community in its entirety.

SO IT BEGINS
THE SYNOD

THE

DEATH

TRAIN

While the Gates are the simplest form of transportation, those making the journey to the Synod from the White Tower have the option of travelling by train, if they wish. Despite the playfully grim moniker, there haven't been any recorded fatalities on board the Death Train in many years. Or ever, really. Raw, untamed entropy doesn't do anything as simple as kill.

For that delightful reason, passengers will be reminded at frequent intervals not to attempt to leave the train once it enters the active zone of the Porter's defenses, or to do anything that could jeopardise the integrity of its shielding.

The journey is relatively comfortable and takes approximately two and a half hours. A limited menu of pastries and alcohol is available from the buffet car. The smallest tables seat two.

As the train passes through the entropy-saturated wasteland of the Deathdome, the view from the heavily tinted windows of each of the train's four-person cars is impossible to comprehend: every atom of the landscape is in a constant state of flux, scattered in endless possibilities across the multiverse.

WELCOME CARPET

Inside, you get the impression of three towers; no view from outside is possible. You're totally sealed inside for the week, by the same Fate-built tech that shields this place from the ravages of cosmic radiation— the train station is built into the structure, entrance tunnel hermetically sealed.

You're greeted by welcome robots, primitive little things full endless enthusiasm and covered in dents. What they lack in intelligence they make up for in persistence and durability. Each and every ImPort is assigned their own personal robutler.

Though they tend to hinder more than help.

Boop boop boop boop. They provide you with a complimentary swag bag. Inside is one (1) t-shirt, one (1) top of the line tablet (pre-loaded with this year's Agenda and a simple game app that looks suspiciously like 2048), a stress ball, personalised souvenir pen and eraser (but no pencil), and of course, a lanyard keycard for accessing the comfortably adequate accommodations provided for all attendees.

Given the week-long Synod, your room itself is a decent suite, furnished with dark colors, redolent with a smell you can't quite place. You may find yourself assigned an unexpected roommate, which may feel awkward considering you'll find arrayed on the beds, a half-dozen complimentary tickets to the spa, restaurants and the power gym, with its preternaturally durable equipment.

Robutlers constantly remind: do not attempt to leave the Porter facility or do anything to jeopardise the integrity of its shielding.

CONVENTION

Talks and panels take place in the convention area, which feels like a miniature city within the Porter's defenses, a hive with padded audience seats, wide stages, and complete with holographic audiovisual equipment that's curiously compatible with presentation software from every city.

Here, ImPorts will present and debate various topics regarded as major concerns for all. [OOCly, players are invited to suggest topics! Scroll down; they will be added below.]

This is also something of an expo, where cities practically demonstrate— or show off their good works. From the latest hovertechnology models to demonstrations of healing powers, playful duels in the forcefield-enclosed stages to magical books that temporarily transfer skills on touch, this is the place to pretend you're showing off your cards... while playing the most important ones close to your chest.

PANELS AND DEBATES

PRESENTERS

TOPIC

Joseph Kavinsky vs [N/PC]

White Tower ImPort Overpopulation and Dimensional Instability

Tony Stark and other technopaths

How Technology Will Save Us

Joshua Foley

The Mysteries and Intricacies of ImPort Physiology

Count Dooku and volunteers

ImPort Factions Must Align Against the Shared 'Resistance' Threat

Jin Bubaigawara (x3)

The Twin Cities are NOT Dimensionally Unstable No Matter What You Heard

Kang

Bridging Old and New: Maintaining Infrastructure with Limited Modern Resources

EVENING

EVENTS

Every night of the Synod, ImPorts gather to dine in a grand hall with a ballroom party. Each dinner is hosted by one ImPort city, gruntwork complete with robutlers-- which guarantees food safety, and complete with multiple cuisine options, cultural decor, and entertainment.

Given the range of cities represented, food options vary from greasy burgers to six courses of seafood and blue venison, and rarefied vegan fare.

When ImPorts aren't here eating, they're most often talking. Ergo, it's not uncommon for low-key drama to break out, but this year, the majority of Synod days seem to be passing uneventfully.

Fortunately, speeches are reserved for daytime. After dinner, it's time to dance.

The last song of the night is always obscure music no one can quite remember the words or melody to afterward. It's a slow dance song meant for two or more partners; the ballroom grows dark and the world seems to fade away. Or rather, it just fades back into one's hotel room.

THE BLACKOUT

On Monday, September 21st, shortly before the Gates are due to resume ordinary function and allow attendees to leave, the Porter building suffers a power cut.

Abruptly, all the lights cut out. Music stops. Your faithful robutler freezes in place, unresponsive— though its internal systems appear to be running, the centralised command hub that it relies on has fallen silent.

Though the robutlers are out of comission, technology-minded ImPorts and their tech drones hasten to reassure that systems analyses are underway. Within a few hours, repairs begin, the estimated time being two days.

In the meantime, thanks to the diversity of powers on hand, there is enough food and water. Candles start to circulate. It might even be a little romantic, if it weren't for the chaos outside. Characters might find themselves trapped in an elevator for a few hours, or compelled to seek comfort from one another.

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Xue Yang had the pastry in hand and it was almost to his mouth when the sound of a familiar voice gave him pause. His eyes widen slightly and he drops the pastry. He stands up out of his seat so that he can look around the car until his eyes fall on the familiar white clothing.

It feels like forever since he has seen that face, that telltale blind fold over his eyes. How long has it even been since he has had to disguise his own voice. He never expected to see this man again. He thinks back to his conversation with the god at the faction he had just joined. Certainly he hadn't actually been able to fulfill that unsaid wish...and yet there is the very person he would have wished for.

"Daozhang!" His youthful exuberance is clear even with the disguised voice as he takes a step closer to the other man. But when he notices that line across the man's neck it gives him pause and his steps stop before he can get too close.

He freezes in place, pressing his stick on the floor before he goes further down the car. He heard a familiar voice as he jogs his memory as to what happened before his death, and he deeply regrets it. Setting aside his sorrow and guilt, he remembers. It belongs to the boy that he was kind to, given candy, and...it's complicated. Very complicated, but he was betrayed by him.

It's definitely the daozhang he remembers. Wearing a white robe long at the sleeves, tall, slim, and ethereal in his appearance and strapped to his back is his sword, Shuanghua. Still, for a moment, given his new life. He wondered who is the one calling him to be certain. So he blindly turn to his direction but cannot see, voice soft as his features. "Who is there?"

Xue Yang doesn't have any memories of a betrayal. For him such things haven't happened. All he knows about the him on this world is that he had lost his Xingchen. He wasn't aware of the circumstances, nor did he really care to. But he had joined a faction that had promised to fulfill all his desires. And so the thought that perhaps someone who was dead could be brought back had entered his mind.

So the line across the man's neck is a question that he doesn't dare ask. Perhaps it is a wound of the Xingchen of this world. He doesn't know but it doesn't matter as he takes another couple steps closer.

"It's me daozhang! From Yi City." Perhaps this one doesn't remember. Is that possible in this place?

He remembers. For now, the past seems like a distant memory. His wounds are healing over, but his heart is very wounded. And...what's done is done. Being a soft-hearted man, he still dwells on his mistakes, and everything is raw upon his awakening in this new world.

He swallows thickly. He died too quickly in haste that he didn't give him a fair chance to explain, but then again it's an overwhelming grief over Song Lan, the very man whom he given his eyes, and other circumstances.

Taking a deep breath. "Xue Yang. If you could let me sit. This train is making me dizzy." Voice soft, a gentle breeze. Being too kind, he never holds anger in his thoughts, just sadness. "It moves and I cannot see."

Xue Yang freezes. Xingchen knows who he is by name. Not as the little friend at Yi City. He doesn't know how that is possible or how to process all of this. All of a sudden this confusing world is making everything even more complicated. But he will reach out and guide the man to a seat.

"Daozhang...how..." The question stops on his lips. He doesn't really know how to voice the question that is on the tip of his tongue. How did he come here? HOw did he know his name?

He has never been uncertain about anything as much as he is uncertain about this moment and how to proceed.

He sat on the seat. How he managed to navigate around blind in a crowded train, takes a lot more getting used to. He place the cane stick on his lap. He heard his voice before, and how hard he tries to disguise it to keep himself from being discovered.

"In Yi City," He began. "I found a young man who has fallen on the side of the road, severely injured and near-death. I can't allow him to die, so I saved him. I healed him and gave him candy since it's his favorite. Is he not you?"

"Yes..how long have you known?" Certainly it hadn't been obvious for all these years. He had been so careful to keep himself hidden. He figured he would reveal himself someday but it never seemed the right time. How could his identity have been so easily discovered?

He doesn't sit down. Rather stays standing almost as if needing that easy escape if he has to. He isn't afraid of the man but rather afraid of what he might do if Xingchen tries to confront him.

He thought carefully before he speaks. Did Xue Yang not know he died? The thin scar around his neck is evidence of his uncontrollable grief. However, he is calm now. He is alive and breathing. He sat still feeling his own breath and looking as to where Xue Yang is standing, and he wants him to be hold accountable for his crimes.

He speaks slowly, thinking Xue Yang remembered, wanting to go over what happened since they met last. "It took me years. Eventually, I found out who you really are. You tricked me into killing innocent people and my best friend, Song Lan once he found who you really are and we tried to stop you. Don't you remember anything of what you did?"

Xue Yang can only believe that these were memories of the Xingchen of this world. He hasn't seen Song Lan since he took the man's eyes. He shakes his head quickly even though the man can't see it.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I did trick you..in the beginning. But I never tricked you about Song Lan!"

He remembers everything he has done but he does not remember that. He is sure that he hasn't done such a thing. It does sound like what he would do if cornered but it certainly isn't a part of his memories.

cw: suicidal ideation

Part of him is not sure if he's telling the truth. True, he admitted into tricking him. Years of being manipulated by him, having believed everything he said but being blind to who he really was, and then the guilt he harbored from the years. No, he doesn't want to fall into the same habits as before, never again. Not wanting to make the same mistakes again. He wished he could believe him. He was naive.

He's trembling. Not out of anger, but out of grief. He swallowed thickly, and he could feel a phantom hurt across his neck, where the mark of his injury when he took his own life. He doesn't want to reach for his sword and do it again. He died for his own sins.

"Y-you're lying. If you do not remember, then what are we..." His breathing becomes harsh as the heavy emotions in his chest swims to his head suddenly feels light-head. "Song Lan..."

Then and there, sitting where he is at, he fainted on his seat from the sheer exhaustion of being alive again, feeling the emotions from that previous life where he is a blinded fool.

"Daozhang!" He hurries back to him when he sees him pass out, catching him before his head could hit the table. He carefully laid him down across the seats. It's not the most wonderful of beds but it is all they have.

He then sinks into the seat across from him and stares at the table. For once he wasn't lying..And what frustrates him even more is the fact that his name was on his lips as he fainted. Even after all these years why can't Xingchen just forget him?

His hands clench into fists. He doesn't know what he did to cause so much pain to Xingchen. But he knows there are a few people he could ask if he really wants to seek out members of the Lan clan.

It will take a few long minutes to pass until he finally recovered and realizing he is breathing and not dead. He has sinned, so that doesn't make him feel any better. He needs to take responsibility for himself and gathering what weak courage that he has eroded from his own naivete and blindness. He realized the man before him has no memory of what he has done other than tricking him, so there must be more to his story and he has to take it.

"My apologies." With a shaky breath, he needs to calm himself. He knew he was blind and wretched. It won't happen again, making the same mistake.

"What do you last remember when we arrived here? Remember, the house we live in with the girl? Do you remember her?"

He sits quickly while Xingchen composes himself. When he finally addresses him, he considers his answer. he has been here awhile so pinpointing the exact moment he left is hard.

"Of course I remember. We were living there when I was pulled away to come here. I went out to go shopping and instead of coming back, I ended up in this place."

Basing on his answer, he considers it and pieced together the events to jog his memory. When he died, his mind was flooded with emotions in that moment, and he is still recovering from that. But eventually, he remembered clearly of the girl, A-Qing, and Song Lan in his mind.

But even now, he couldn't trust him. Trembling less, the question is what to do? Xue Yang waited for so long for him to return. He comes from the future, and he comes from his past.

Shaking his head, "That doesn't change anything. I know who you are now. I'm from your future. You committed terrible crimes and you will do so in the future. I tried to capture you before and arrest you." But he isn't so certain if he could.

"The question is, what should I do with you in this world now?" He doesn't want to cause a scene on a crowded train, and he already was greeted by fans and he found them difficult to escape, not wanting to be remembered as a celebrity.

"You can't do anything to me on this world." Xue Yang regains some of that cocky attitude that he had kept hidden during his time with Xingchen at Yi City. He has behaved himself so well for the last couple years and now that his secret is out it doesn't seem like he has to hold back at all. He doesn't know what he did to screw things up so badly but whatever it is, it can't be changed.

"Just because I committed crimes on our world, it doesn't matter here. I have a clean slate and no one will back you up if you decide to pursue me for crimes I haven't committed."

Which he hasn't and he will never admit to.

Perhaps it's good that he reveals who he is truthfully, to peel away the lies and manipulation that he puts him under the veil because he has taken advantage of his blindness and that of the girl's, and pull it over so he doesn't have to pretend who he is.

"..." It's true. He's ignorant of the laws in this world, and there's nothing he can do to him. He's a clean slate. As long he follows the laws or at least doesn't get caught, then...he is free.

Instead of anger, there's only a sad resignation, more of his permissive nature. "All right." For the rest of the trip on the train, he's going to sit there, not knowing what to do.

After some silence, maybe a sliver of hope that is trying to breathe and reborn again. "...I suppose you're starting all over again in this world?"

"I don't have much of a choice do I? I'm stuck here so all I can do is start over." That doesn't mean he is any better behaved. He joined a faction of trouble makers for a reason. It was because he didn't want to have to confirm to any rules.

"I can do whatever I want to on this world." He hasn't really made many allies nor does he have any interest in doing so. It's more fun to run wild.

That's the troubling thing that concerns him, that he is free and wild without restraint. "Try to behave and follow the rules. Or you'll be captured."

He remains quiet for the most part of the journey. He isn't going anywhere. It's hard to think or feel because of being alive again. In a way he is emotionally numb. He's not running, however, a part of him wanted to flee. It's not his nature to seek revenge as to what happened over Song Lan. In a way, he felt responsible for the lives he killed because of him and he felt guilty for the massacre.

Eventually, the train stops and there's a PA announcement for everyone to get off. Using the cane stick, he navigates his way off the train, following the crowd toward the main building, seeking the door.

It's really crowded and noisy, that the noise and voices of the crowd overwhelms him, and he'll have a hard navigating his way around in the lobby area.

He trails after Xingchen like a puppy before finally going ahead and using his normal less then friendly tactics to make people get out of the way. He always had his ways of making sure they got the best vegetables for the best price when they were at the market without actually letting Xingchen know how. This is much like that only with traffic control.

The nanites helps him have an increased heighten sense of hearing, so he could hear better than most. He can hear his footsteps following close to him, his voice shooing the people close to him away. "If you're making a path, try to be kind to others." He instructs him. Still, he can sense there's more space for him to navigate through to make it easier to walk.

He then hears a sound. Boop boop boop boop. It's the welcome robots, and he's being assigned a robobutler. He felt something given in his hand, which is a complimentary swag bag. Xue Yang received one too, both robobutler and bag.

"What is this? What's happening...?" He follows the sound of the robotbutler hassling him to provide service.

He stares at the bag he was just given and then back at the weird things following them. He gives his a kick and tries to knock it away from him but it only comes back.

"I think we've been assigned guardians.." He doesn't like it. It's bad enough he is being forced to come to this event, he doesn't need a strange babysitter too.

He can hear that kick, what sound like a thump on a metal body. "Try to be kind." He reminds him. "Those are machines?" He can hear the whirls and the synthetic voice. "They meant no harm."

Still, the robobutler follows him at least, since he didn't give an order to dismiss it. The robot constantly talking about rules, do not leave the facility, and do not temper and tamper with the shield. Eventually, he finds his way to the elevator and the robot instructed that he will lead him to his assigned room and helping him with checking in.

Turning to Xue Yang, "You...you don't have to come. We shall part for now." Even if he does remember him not under the best of circumstances, he is still polite and kind to him despite everything.

He knows that Xingchen doesn't particularly trust him considering what apparently happened to him on their world so he isn't surprised when the other says it is time to part. Xue Yang shrugs and steps away from the elevator.

"I want to explore more anyway." He needs to get the lay of the land and see what is around. He wants to make sure this place doesn't have an ulterior motives that he can find upon investigating.

So he turns away from the elevator, still being followed by the robot.

"..." He only nods. When he steps inside the elevator with just him and the robot butler, he breathes a sigh of relief once he senses he's out of Xue Yang's presence. Breathing and being alive again is what he needs to get used to.

As the elevator rose, there's no telling when fate decides if they ever meet again. But once he reached his room and he sat on his bed, he instinctively touched the scar that ran across his neck. Even though he can only see only darkness, what would his future in this world will bring?

Even though he can't see the future, just like his vision it's dark, and he can't see. For now, there's the rest of the week that he needs to get adjusted to, and only time will tell.

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SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2020: THE SYNOD IS CONVENING.

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