MOD EVENT POST

[bequiet]

All teams have decided to share their footage and/or findings during routine supplies missions. It was compiled in chronological order and posted to the Bulletin Board for everyone to see.



Arrival Footage:

All over the world - in the middle of busy streets, empty homes, department stores - red dirt blew in and fell haphazardly into centralized mounds. The dirt settled. The footage begins as someone gets as close as they dare, zooming in and out repeatedly, the camera shaking in their hand as they move. The Matured come first. They climb up and out as asphalt and tile no longer exist beneath the red dirt. The young and the shifting come next. A matured Sound Eater raises its hand and points. They attack. The device falls to the ground and the owner's scream is silenced.

Attack Footage:

In standard news report fashion, a series of videos were compiled by Wall Street Journal reporter Maria Fillian, and her voice can be heard describing what she's seeing. Starting with clips from BBC News, LA Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, and even Google, the footage shows the Sound Eaters attacking Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York, and other cities - both big and small. Police and military forces are brought in but are no match for the Sound Eaters. They attack anyone and everything, seemingly at random and with brutality, leaving nothing moving in their wake. What was supposed to be a fight becomes a rescue and survival mission, groups of people evacuating and heading for less populated areas.

As the footage comes to an end, Maria focuses in on a clip from Times of India. A group of Young Sound Eaters are swarming and killing in any way that they can, completely ignoring a young boy who stands in the middle of the crowd frozen in fear. He doesn't move and they don't attack him.

Look at the way they avoid the boy. Why are they leaving him alone? Is it because he's a child and not a threat? It's clear that the reporter isn't sure but believes it's important. Wait. There. Did you see that? Now what was once a crowd of over a thousand, is down to the boy, the Sound Eaters and a woman kneeling on the ground. She rewinds the footage and plays it back. The Sound Eaters stand there aimlessly, breathing heavily, waiting for something and then the woman yells for the child to run and all the Sound Eaters converge on her. Maria gasps. They can't see.

The footage ends.

Reset Room Footage:

The attacks have begun to spread out, giving some survivors the chance to group up in areas outside of the major cities. A woman, using the webcam on her laptop, is recording the inside of a Macy's. While her and her group were looking for supplies before heading to her family's cabin, they noticed the red dirt in the men's clothing department. The footage pans from left to right slowly, showing how the floors and walls of that corner of the store are completely covered. One member of their group sticks their hand down into the dirt and yells back that the floor is gone. Rather, that where they should be able to find tile it's just dirt. The battery dies before anything else is filmed.

Mass Grave Footage:

By this time, the 7.442 billion people in the world has been knocked down to less than a million, spread out and all in hiding. Some have come to realize that sound attracts the invaders and others have not. The recording starts out zoomed in way too close to a group of pigeons that were all (violently) killed. The footage pans out and the person recording follows a trail of dead that leads to a mass grave. Carefully, they hold the camera up so that it can film quickly - inside are people, animals, radios, wind chimes, and many other bits of tech and machinery. The footage ends abruptly.

Biologist Notes:

From a bunker, Hendricks has recorded notes and opinions on the Sound Eaters, Reset Room, and the apocalypse. The recordings are corrupt, but some has been cleaned up enough to be read and watched. It's clear from the beginning that Hendricks believed that the 'end' was inevitable and had made preparations for this. He has a French accent and there are notes describing how the Sound Eaters are attracted to noise and have built a nest at the Eiffel Tower. Since the recording cuts in and out, it's unclear as to why he makes all of his assumptions. The native who compiled everything for the Bulletin Board, has written out what he could (Hendricks questions and comments), and it plays across everyone's devices.

- The Sound Eaters and Reset Rooms came at the same time.
- Hendricks is alone and possibly unwell.
- The Matured are in charge but rarely come out or if they do, they are better at hiding.
- The shifting are grotesque.
- The young are violent and lash out at anything.
- The Sound Eaters kill and attack everything; animals, cars, people.
- If it makes noise, they go for it.
- Their methods have changed.
- What was once an all out attack has become more calculated as people have learned to hide and be quiet.
- People are coming out of the red dust.
- Everything has grown so quiet.
- Even the crickets are gone.
- I'm alone now.

They seem to need us, but they don't want us.

Comments

Busts in here like the koolaid man

[flyguy]

Anyone else getting a bit of a Wonderland vibe? Anyone? Just me? Okay.

So. Item #1: how do they need us. Let's open the table for discussion.

[clarius]

Perhaps they view us as supply or fuel in a way? Food?

[justbeingknife]

I can get why the guy makin' those observations would want us around, but if he meant them monsters, I ain't got a clue.

Unless they are us.

[ yeah

wait

he doesn't actually want to think about that ]

[skyofreverie]

[Pinged by one word.]

The darker version of Wonderland, maybe. The other one was bad but not this much.

My question is: they look awfully human, don't they?

[warfares]

Does anyone know what became of the groups that came before us?

It's clear that whatever the Sound Eaters are they were human once.

un: willthewise

[deadboywalking]

to get where they want to go.

[He says this like there's no other possible reason.]

un: nymeria

[list_maker]

Food? To make more of them? They need something to make sound even if they hate it?

[lilithsoul]

[Rei was not the speculative sort. It wasn't in her nature to think deeply on the reasons why, so much as the how, where and when. She retaliated, acted and responded. Why was for researchers. However, without command HQ to give her directives, it was something that she needed to begin doing. now was as good a time as any.]

This assumes need. They may simply be exterminating all life to replace it.

un: nishizono

[nishizono]

what's wonderland?

[ because clearly this is the important take-away to this. ]

un: eraserhead

[dryeyes]

I'm still not confident in their level of intelligence. Hunting tactics don't guarantee a plan or a motive or any mental capacity capable of creating something like the reset rooms.

Then again, we don't really get to see much from those "Matured" ones. [So maybe they were the brains, while the feral offspring went to killing and silencing.]

UN: MadMax

[beyourzoomer]

To make more of them.

un: pipedreams

[laytheghost]

[Jan's still queasy from her recent experience with getting very sick and recovering in the reset room. these responses don't help. she lets people chat for a while before finally replying.]

this thread sucks

[for a moment she considers leaving it at that. it really sums things up, doesn't it? but no.]

it may not just be bodies they need but like
bodies + sth else
it depends on what the fuck that red dust shti IS

[justbeingknife]

What the fuck.

[ And then, slightly more helpfully: ]

Not feelin' real good about crawling out of that red dusty shit right now.

[whists]

It makes you wonder about how the dirt works and where the Sound Eaters came from originally.

un: socorro;

[warfares]

Did anyone gather samples of the red dust either at the tower or during the recent storm?

[flyguy]

I have some from the storm and examining them conveniently just moved to the top of my priority list. If anyone wants to join me we can make a social event of it.

un: nines; video attached

[twoaffirmations]

[It was awful. Seeing the humans flee in panic and be torn to shreds...

It made him so angry that he felt his hands tremble, but there was nowhere to direct that anger. He couldn't lash out, or he'd be killed. It could only boil inside him. There was no answer here. No way to defeat them. He couldn't even take joy in finding out new information, not when it was like this.

It was so vivid. Another endless war, pushing humanity to extinction.]

We came out of the red dust too. So what, are they trying to contaminate us? They even look so human at first... They're just toying with us.

[Or could it be that they were human once? No, how could that even be possible? They were just an imitation, that's all.]

Since we're sharing information, I have a video of A2 attempting to fight the Sound Eaters. I'm not sure why, but it cuts out before you can see them destroy her. 2B's video is from a different angle, and it cuts out in the same spot.

A2 v. Sound Eaters.avi

un: kyouken

[justbeingknife]

Didn't know A2 tried to fight those things. Any theories on how the hell they got her?

un: liaison.laurel

[clarius]

7.442 billion. I had no idea that many people could exist on Earth at once. I can't imagine what it'd be like to have it drop down to a mere million.

I also find it unnerving we found this now. Just now.

un: qetziah

[rou_gui]

Human civilization has always been known to wax and to wane.

un: nymeria

[list_maker]

It seems like none of them could figure out how to hurt or kill them. Surely they have a weakness. Aside from being blind. And rain.

un: kyouken

[justbeingknife]

We could always go back to the tower and try to figure one out, although that kinda seems like a bad idea for obvious reasons.

un: qetziah

[rou_gui]

[ In her youth, she had been to the seaside town where her father had lived. There had been people there, shops, movie theaters, pizza parlors... but that town had been an exception more than a rule in her knowledge of the world.

She has been secluded in the mountains so much more than that. Surrounded first by family, and then by ghosts... Watching this footage is like watching a movie, and she has to force herself to imprint on the images, to think about them as if they are a part of the world she now lives. ]

Their hierarchy suggests their existence before their arrival here. But they were not always here in our realm. Why did the door open?

un: kdanvers

[iisupergirlii]

[now that is an interesting question, and when Kara rereads and watches the footage shared on the bulletin board, it is obvious. They had to have come from somewhere.]

And where did they come from? Do you think anyone is left from their old world who could show up here?

un: johnpsmith

[ex_criticality719]

[ He has a lot of feelings about all this. But the one thing that sticks out to him the most is the one thing he doesn't really know how to come out and address in a straight forward way. ]

Ah.
The little ones look like a little... different.
I wonder if Mr. Hendricks had theories about that.

[ The implication that they start out human looking and warp is disturbing to him, in a personal way. ]

[lilithsoul]

We can only answer this if he can be found.

un: ryuoh

[countersway]

[Dying, screaming, mass graves -- all terrible things, but Kiryu's become so desensitized to violence that he has nothing left to say about it at this point. It's the researcher's notes that stick out to him.]

"Their methods have changed"? What does he mean by that? The videos don't make them seem any different from how we know them here.

un: kyouken

[justbeingknife]

Maybe it's like the difference between the opening moves and the rest of the game. When they first got here, there were so many people around makin' so much noise that all they had to do was show up and go to town. Now everyone knows to keep their damn heads down.

[ Assuming, of course, that the order of those notes were as the biologist had meant them. The guy seemed a little... stressed out... ]

[lilithsoul]

[She observed the footage dispassionately, and if anyone happened to be around when she looked at it, they wouldn't see any emotional reaction to the carnage or disturbing information. It all just washed over her as she filed the information away.

It was a decidedly different history than she was accustomed to, and yet there were similarities. A barely understood threat emerged out of the dust, assaulting humanity with minimal chances to fight back. Even if the specifics weren't the same, the environment of fear and death was familiar. Deciding a comment was worth it, she pulled out the device.]

How possible would it be to find this person's bunker? It may have information.

[Nothing else seemed relevant right now.]

[flyguy]

I can tool around with the tablet. See if there's a geocache. I'm not even sure the global satellite network is operational now, let alone then so don't hold your breath.

Still. It's worth a shot.

un: nishizono

[nishizono]

has anyone considered moving to the catacombs, or are those infested too?
maybe i'm repeating something that's already been covered before, but it's something to consider.
where else can they survive other than out in open air?

[lilithsoul]

Logical but impractical. Even if they are not there, soundproofing underground would be harder due to old construction. May be health hazards as well.

un: lucas

[scarecrowed]

has anyone tried using magic against them?

un: supergirl

[iisupergirlii]

What kind of magic? I'm not magical, but I don't have a lot of weaknesses. When the Sound Eaters killed me, they had somehow... gotten hold of the one thing that can take me out. I wonder if they could do that with magic users too - combat their magic with something of their own?

I'm not trying to be a downer. It's a great question! They're just so horrifying.

un: oneoftwelve

[musubitori]

[ Houou's scrolled through the videos, the notes and other peoples thoughts. The slaughter and graves have him shaken, but he takes the time to type up his thoughts, even as he begins to feel numb with the futility of it.

He's thought many creatures and battles in his time, but he's never experienced anything so quick and deadly as the sound eaters. ]

We've witnessed them using bodies to make more of their young. Perhaps it's their only form of propagation...That they are blind is useful, but the power of the red dust is unsettling however...

We may have to live with the realisation that they are here for no other purpose than to breed and destroy.

...I'm beginning to agree that they are akin to locusts.

[flyguy]

Ethical question for you: was brokering a deal with them ever on the table? Because I have to admit I'm feeling a bit of an hard pass. Do unto others as they do to you and all that.