W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[strangerpeople]

[It looks like Vita came out of thin air, as if previously pushing through an invisible wall, before stumbling out of the doorway proper.]

[backuphero]

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, I've got you!

[Well, he's trying, anyway - if he does manage to catch her, does she actually feel like she's been out in the cold?]

[strangerpeople]

[She does.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Well, looks like she's been caught and is still cold and she's going to happily cuddle up with her warm Texan for now until she feels more normal.]

[backuphero]

So I'm gonna guess you didn't just get the ability to teleport in and out of a walk-in freezer. What happened?

[While they're standing here for a moment... if he glances over at the door and static-y nameplate fast enough, does it look like Vita reappearing had an effect on it?]

[strangerpeople]

[Ah, nope. Nothing. Sorry, Jonathan.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Still getting all cuddly with him and not caring that it's her doorway. She's just glad the nasty barrier brought her to a nice place.]

No, but the barriers have that ability if you touch them. I don't recommend trying for yourself though.

[backuphero]

I'll take your word for it... could be a quick way to get away from somebody if you always get tossed back here, though.

[They're standing on the threshold of a house, and they're newlyweds, and if it weren't for the fundamentally wrong colors of everything and the blank sky, it could almost be romantic.]

[illusionarymelody]

My thought exactly if my life depended on it. Especially if anyone who goes through it is tossed into their home. It would have been nice to have at the Base, that's for sure.

[backuphero]

Yeah, no kidding. Dunno that it would've saved everybody, but... well, we're here now. Hope it doesn't have to come down to that, but might as well be ready to use it if we have to, right?

[illusionarymelody]

Well, I know very well that I shouldn't try to fight someone obviously stronger than me or if I'm hurt again so avenues of escape are good to know.

[backuphero]

Exactly. Run first, only fight if you've absolutely got no choice, and if they try to catch up here you'll have me for backup.