In Which Problems Begin: Intro

[whatevermaycome]

There's energy building around July's ruins. It's tangible even to humans as a bit of static in the air, enough to give a little shock if one touches metal, but it's enough that worms have fled the area entirely, not a wing to be seen. The occasional bird no longer lingers, either.

Sometimes, it is the sprawling city of July, in brick and desert mortar and adobe and scraps. Sometimes, it's the shining glittering spires of JuLai, a modern city sprouting out of a wrecked hull like a strange technological mushroom.

Sometimes it's ruins, or a giant hole. It used to switch seemingly at random, with no real rhyme or reason, though people only have ever left July, in the occasional vehicle or on tomases, oblivious until the switch happens with them on the outside. More people are leaving now, in families packed onto vehicles, nervous and apprehensive - there's something wrong with their plants, is the only thing they can say before they quickly vacate the area, heading anywhere, anywhere but near where a plant might unexpectedly blow. Watching their city flicker out and be replaced by another is a shock.

Nobody ever leaves JuLai. Nobody enters either, by the heavily armed trucks and guards at every normal point of entry. Sometimes someone makes a run for it, but they disappear like smoke in the wind as soon as they hit the edge of the city.

And the switch is increasing in speed. Weeks, sometimes, has now become days, occasionally mere hours.

A small camp of July's escapees has begun a few iles outside the city, in the lee of a sheltering rock, arguments frequent over whether or not they should try to get back and save their neighbors and friends, or if the only chance is heading for another big city.

The sense of power in the air is growing with every flicker of exchanging cities.

[OOC Note: This is an open prompt, even characters not joining directly in the later bits can interact with it as they please.]

Comments

on a cliff near the city, open to all!

[cowgoesmoo]

There is something very wrong with the city outside!

Ever since Nai disappeared, the city's been changing. The first time Vash looked outside and saw a pit in the ground where a pile of dusty rubble should have been, he freaked out and ran to find Rem. Even worse than the hole, though, is when it changes into a built city full of people, thousands and thousands of people, of humans, appearing right next door. There's a humming, too, like something electrical, and by the time the pretty city appears, full of neon and tall towers, the hum is so loud that Vash can't sleep anymore.

He's tempted to call big brother Knives, and ask to come stay with him... but what about Rem -- she certainly can't come to Knives's house! What about Nai, who will be coming back to the station when he returns?

Inside or outside, the noise is the same, so Vash is spending most of his time up on a rock ledge, attention shifting between the flicking city below and the little trails of smoke from the human settlement that formed just a little ways away. Everything's changing, and he doesn't know what to do about it. He doesn't know what he can do about it, other than sit and watch.