riverviewlogs | monthly mingle: MEMORIA

Entry tags:

monthly mingle: MEMORIA

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: monthly mingle: memoria
when: the month of may
where: anywhere around the city
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

memoria

In the days leading up to May 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: Memoria. A more solemn celebration than Sampremi or the Flower Festival, Memoria is a week-long time of remembrance for those lost in the Great War and the epidemic that decimated Riverview Quarantine's population 10 years ago. Memoria traditions include lighting lanterns for the dead, telling stories about lost loved ones or lost homes, eating meals with loved ones, and a special gathering to send floating lanterns down the river in honor of those lost.

a solemn commemoration of those lost

While the main city-wide event associated with Memoria is the floating of lanterns down the river on each Sunday evening of the month, the holiday is generally seen as a time of reflection on and appreciation of things that have been lost - people, homes, cultures, and planets. It is also a celebration of the things that remain. Many locally-owned shops will host displays of culturally-significant food, and will hand out informational flyers sharing the unique customs of their own homeworlds and inviting others to share those customs. There is a heavy emphasis on sharing time with family, friends, and lovers, and anyone who is able to will cook meals or treats for loved ones, or at least purchase them something good to eat.

i. hanging lanterns

Throughout the entire week of Memoria, residents will be hanging lanterns around the city. Lanterns are generally placed in greater number in places of passage - streets, bridges, and all alongside the train lines are particularly well-decorated, as are any trees alongside paths, and most homes and businesses have a profusion of lanterns around their doors and windows. This tradition is twofold; some people believe that the lanterns are hung in these places in order to guide the spirits of the dead back to those who still love them, other people believe that the lanterns are to give light for living loved ones to find their doors in times of darkness...many people believe both.

No matter what your character might believe, you can be sure they will find themselves offered a lantern for free from various businesses or friendly citizens passing by, and invited to hang it before the sun sets, or they may be handed a bundle of lanterns and asked to help share them with others.

ii. sharing life

Throughout the city, characters will find groups of people gathering to share hot drinks and talk about their loved ones lost, their homes and planets, or their experiences during the Great War and the epidemic. Anyone who has lost someone, who has fought to survive, who is feeling cut off and homesick, is welcome to sit and share their story. If your character chooses to sit and to share their story, they will find that people will gather to listen, will generally be respectful of the telling, and may share their own similar experiences in return. This is an excellent time to air grief in an environment where most people understand and respect grief, and a good time to deepen the connections to others around you, to understand them better.

There is also a very large focus on cooking or purchasing meals or treats for loved ones during Memoria, with many people taking meals with everyone they care about during the week of the holiday. Some go the extra mile and will hand out baked goods (usually chocolate or cinnamon), packets of candy, or other little treats to acquaintances, especially if they would like to form a closer bond with them. This is a great time for characters to reach out to someone they would like to get to know better with a surprise treat!

iii. floating of the lanterns

On the evening of May 8th, just before sundown, many of the city's residents will head toward the banks of the river, where they will light lanterns in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, in honor of their dead loved ones. The types of lanterns vary wildly, based on personality (either of the person floating it or the person they are honoring), culture, and many other factors. Some lanterns are very simple, others are incredibly complex, but the one common feature they all have is that people write on the shades of them - they write about their feelings for their loved ones, their wishes for their relationships and friendships, a memory from childhood or home, or even just lines of poetry or lyrics from songs that express something they miss, or something that hurts them.

Once those emotions are written on the lanterns, the lanterns are set free, floating down the river in the darkening evening, in a cathartic gesture shared by most residents of the city. Waves of lantern floating will start around 7 pm and continue until the sun rises on each Sunday evening of May.

iv. down with the sickness

The epidemic that happened 10 years ago was an incredibly traumatic experience for the people living in the Quarantine, on a cultural scale as well as a personal one. While most people who live in the Quarantine are able to leave after 5 years, the trauma lingers in any number of invisible ways in the city. Besides that, there is a small population of people who have chosen to live permanently in the Quarantine, who have made it their home and embraced its melting pot of cultural diversity as their own. Many of these people are survivors of the epidemic, and have a particularly poignant connection to the Memoria celebration.

One of these long-term residents is an engineer specializing in magically-enhanced robotics who lost most of her family in the epidemic, and as each year passes she becomes more and more distraught by how the population turns over and slowly loses track of the importance of Memoria. In her eyes, it's become symbolic, commercialized, a celebration of general grief and not the very specific grief the Quarantine experienced 10 years ago. And she has decided to do something about it, something to make the specific trauma of the epidemic very real and very current to everyone in the city.

On May 1st, she will be releasing a small cloud of self-replicating magically-enhanced nanites near City Hall. The nanites are drawn to warm, living bodies, and once they enter, they find their way to the brain and central nervous system (or equivalent, depending on physiology) and start to take effect on the parts of the brain (or equivalent) that control a person's sensory experiences and psychosomatic responses. In effect, the nanites work as an artificial virus that makes residents horribly ill, and which can be passed from person to person like a contagion.

Throughout the month, reports of this mysterious illness will sweep through the Quarantine, with residents uncertain of how to cure it. Symptoms vary widely depending on the person, with each affected person facing a uniquely personal set of symptoms - but each case has the same thing in common: it ends with the victim losing consciousness and lapsing into a coma.

How It Works

● Participation is opt-in, and while the "epidemic" can't be ignored in the city, characters are not required to get ill even if they are exposed.
● The "disease" can be spread from person to person by skin-to-skin contact or exchange of fluids (kissing, coughing, spitting, etc.) There is no set symptoms for the "disease," and how much or little a character is affected or in what ways is up to player discretion. Incubation period (time between exposure and first symptoms appearing) is also up to player discretion.
● Since the nanites are based in both tech and mgaic, they are much harder to defeat than they would be otherwise. However, they can be deactivated and destroyed through a combination of electromagnetic pulses and magical nullification or spell-dispersing abilities. Players are also welcome to come up with other ways to deactivate the nanites, keeping in mind that it should not be too easy.
● Affected characters can be sick for as long or short a time as the player decides, and once they lapse into a coma it can last as long as the player decides. Once the character wakes from the coma, they will no longer be sick and the nanites will no longer be present in their system.
● Once a character has been infected, they will be immune and cannot be reinfected.
● All sick characters will be well again by May 31st and there will be no long-term effects.

● If any players wish to pursue or bring to justice the perpetrator, please send the mod a PM and we can discuss your ideas!

v. roommates or wildcard

Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during Memoria, feel free to write it up!

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: RAW Visual, image ii: by trenchmaker, image iv: Bianca Draghici; image iii: found uncredited on Pinterest - please let the mod know if you find credit!

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Community housing is not the ideal place for Breq to spend all of her time. Even without the need to find something to do, it's simply not secure. She's lived in worse conditions over the course of her life, of course, and with no access to privacy, but it's not entirely pleasant, nor is it relaxing. She can't sleep out on the streets of the Quarantine, but she can at least wander them to get a feel for the place, and the people, that inhabit it.

She's out on one such walk, going nowhere in particular, when she turns a corner to see a glimpse of color on the ground-- a glimpse that immediately resolves itself into a body.

With a hissed intake of breath she steps forward, kneeling next to the person. Quickly, but not ungently, she reaches out. Checks for signs of a pulse, for signs of breathing. After that, for signs of injury. What she wouldn't give for a corrective, at the moment. Instead, she has to make do with a stern but not ungentle, "Hey. Hey."

Pulse and breathing are normal, thankfully, and the only injuries are a few minor scrapes from the fall itself. This is just... pure exhaustion. Beverly stirs after a moment, the world feeling blurry and distant as she tries to make sense of where she is and whose voice is speaking. "I'm..."

Rolling over with a groan, she looks up into the face of a concerned-looking stranger. She doesn't recognize them but she does at least recognize the building behind them. She closes her eyes for a moment to try to recenter herself. "My apartment....sixth floor..."

Recognizing the movement, Breq leans back so that she isn't looming quite so much over the stranger. She keeps one hand on Dr. Crusher's shoulder as she watches her collect herself. The good thing, the words are coherent, which is good on the concussion front, though Breq isn't entirely sure what to make of them.

She'll let Beverly stay where she is and keep her eyes closed, for the moment, rather than try and make her move and disorient her further. But she doesn't let the matter rest. "My name is Breq," she says. "I found you collapsed. Can you tell me your name?"

The world stops spinning so much as Beverly opens her eyes and forces herself to focus on Breq's face and her voice. "Beverly. Doctor." One, two, three, she counts her breaths slowly. "My feet... elevate."

It's a rather more put-together response than Breq was expecting. But put together is good. Beverly opening her eyes is also good. And the advice is sound. Nodding, Breq pulls back for a moment, unslinging the bag from around her shoulders to slide it under Beverley's ankles. "Does this happen to you often?"

"No," she smiles weakly. "Never. I think it's... the bots."

Now her smile turns into a frown. "Probably best not to be too close to me." At least the sneezing has stopped, so she's probably not as contagious as she had been.

"The bots?" Breq frowns. Not something she's heard about, but the, after having recovered from the injuries that brought her here she hasn't spent much time around the hospital, has focused mostly on understanding the Quarantine as a whole. She hadn't had much attention to spare for anything other than official news, and her links in the gossip chain aren't in place yet. Briefly, she wishes for the time she had thousands of ears to listen for this sort of thing, the times when nothing went on in or around Justice of Toren that she wasn't aware of.

"I already have been," Breq points out, though she remains obligingly distant, now that Beverly is awake. "And you will need help getting to your destination. You mentioned your apartment?"

"Nanobots. Microscopic, like a virus or bacteria. Except, this illness... it's not natural. Someone... someone has set the bots on us." She sighs. As much progress as she's made in trying to understand the disease, she's still missing that critical piece of who started this and why. Meanwhile, she's fading. This spell is sure to be only the start.

"My apartment's just here." Where's a teleporter when you need one? "Only a few floors up."

"I'm familiar with the concept of nanotechnology, and biological weapons," Breq says. The Radch wasn't fond of them, but the Radch wasn't the only group in the universe, weren't even the only humans in the universe. That's less important, however, than the last part of what Beverly says. 'Someone has set the bots on us.' She doesn't know enough about this place yet to say who, or why, but somehow she's not surprised that Dorian's assertion in her conversation with him (that the Quarantine doesn't have the kind of problems she's used to happening everywhere with people who have disagreements) is already proving wrong. "I'll get myself checked once you're all right."

She intends to keep that promise, but for now, there's something more important to deal with. "Are you ready to get up?" she asks Beverley.

The light-headedness has in fact dissipated so Beverly very cautiously tries to sit up, resting on her elbows for a minute before sitting the rest of the way up. She sits for a moment more and when her wooziness remains at bay she nods. "I think so."

She's a bit wobbly getting to her feet but manages to get up without too much trouble. She sighs. "All right, let's go."

Breq doesn't reach out to steady her through the process, though she remains nearby, a steady presence that Beverly can brace herself against if she feels the need. She rises when the doctor does, pausing only long enough to scoop up her bag of things and put it over her shoulder.

"Is there a lift?" she asks, as they take the first few steps toward the building.

She nods, takes a deep breath, and starts to walk. For now, she remains steady enough on her feet to lead Breq to the elevators. She rests against the wall while they wait for the lift to arrive. More than anything, she's scared - scared that the next time, she'll fall into a coma, like many others have already, scared that she won't be able to finish her work before that happens, and scared most of all for what that might mean for Lucretia.

"Lucretia... she's at work." She fumbles for the phone in her pocket. "I need to call her..."

Breq looks away from the wait for the elevator toward Beverly. "A friend?" she asks. "I'm sure you're recovering but having someone with you seems like a good idea." Contagious or not.

If they were on a station, Breq would be able to trust that the Station AI was monitoring Dr. Crusher's condition, making sure she got to her rooms safe and sound. The Station could alert Lucretia, rather than forcing Beverly to focus on staying upright as well as making the call. But they're not on a station, and it would be impolite of Breq to offer to make the call for her companion, or to suggest she stay until Beverly's friend arrives.

Beverly's laugh is weak, but she is smiling at least. "Girlfriend. Lucretia's my girlfriend." The elevator doors open. She steps in and presses the appropriate button for her floor. "She lives with me. I'm sure as soon as she gets my mess-" A coughing fit keeps her from finishing her sentence as the elevator begins to move.

Truth is, she's not recovering, and she knows it. She's going to need to call Victor too.

Breq looks blank at that-- what point is there in specifying the gender of the friend? It must be some nuance that she's not picking up-- but the mention of living together gives her enough of a picture to assume. Someone important, to be a part of Beverly's household, and not named as a relative of some sort. "Good," she responds.

The coughing keeps her from saying anything else, but she watches Beverly for any signs of wavering, then reaches into her bag to pull out a bottle of water, keeping it in one hand to give to her once the coughing fit subsides. Hopefully, it subsides.

Another day, Beverly might have picked up on that look and Breq's confusion, but not today. She takes the water bottle gratefully and her coughing fit soon subsides, for now. She can't decide if the coughing is better or worse than the sneezing was. It's all just so... tiring. She feels as if she could sleep forever. "Thank you. Again."

They reach Beverly's door and she pauses, debating over the best course of action. "If you wouldn't mind staying... just until Lucretia comes? We have food you can help yourself to or tea or coffee. And there are the cats, if you like cats. Well... one cat at least." She smiles. "Christie will probably run away, but Agatha likes new friends."

It's a trusting offer, but it's also an understandable one. Breq won't protest the decision, considering the trend of her thoughts before Beverly made the offer, but she remains silent for three seconds, the proper length to pause to give a human the impression she's thinking it over and not agreeing too quickly to enter a stranger's home. She shifts her bag to the opposite shoulder, then finally nods.

"It seems best. I don't need food or tea, though." Given the circumstances, Beverly can be excused from the prospect of being a poor host. "If Lucretia likes I can contact her until she gets here." So that Beverly doesn't have to be responsible for the updates, and can focus on resting.

Beverly's found that here her trust is usually well founded: the people of Riverview have proven time and time again their willingness to work together. (Save, she supposes, for whoever made these nanobots. That continues to eat at her.)

"Thank you, that would be very helpful." She doesn't want Lucretia to worry more than necessary. "I promise, it won't be very long."

She turns to unlock the door and as soon as they step inside, there is Agatha, as promised. Though still a kitten, she's almost adult sized now. Her meows are loud and insistent - which in fairness to her, it has been a while since she's been fed.

Breq's look around the apartment is a bit more than cursory, as Beverly allows her inside. Exits, pathways, hiding places-- looking for all of them is a matter of habit, not suspicion, and once she's satisfied she turns her attention to Agatha, offering a few fingers for her inspection.

"I apologize for the bluntness, but you should lie down," she says, straightening again to look Beverly over. The coughing fit from the elevator is thankfully done, but bouncing back from a collapse like that isn't so easy. "Is there anything I should know before Lucretia arrives?"

There's not much space to hide in here, unless you're a cat, but there are lots of windows, if one was desperate. The apartment is mostly tidy, save for the perpetual pile of coffee mugs around the kitchen sink. Agatha sniffs Breq curiously before butting her head against her hand with a soft "mrrp!"

"You're right, of course." And she is tired, so she sinks down into the couch with a sigh. Agatha immediately trots over to take her customary place on Beverly's lap. "And I don't think so - I plan on telling her everything myself."

Breq indulges Agatha with a single pat, but her attention isn't fully into it. Most of it is focused on Beverly, making sure she isn't fading too quickly. If this were one of her lieutenants, she would have helped prepare the bed, or a trip to Medical, or simply monitored the biometrics until she'd recovered. But she doesn't have that kind of information, and the kind of help an ancillary could have offered is the help of a servant, not a stranger. In the end, she only sits down on the couch herself.

"Of course," she says pleasantly, with a nod. "I can reassure her. Though you'd know better than I would if it will do any good."

"She'll be relieved to know I'm not alone," Beverly says as she gently rubs Agatha's ears. "Thank you, again. I'm sorry this has interrupted your day."

Breq flicks her fingers in a dismissive gesture, brushing off the concerns. "I would have had nothing to do all night," she says. "I'm glad to help." Another look at Beverly, just long enough to speak for itself. "And I'll be glad to continue to do so while you rest."

"Still," she says, giving Breq an apologetic smile, "I'll have to make it up to you. When this is all over."

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monthly mingle: MEMORIA

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