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sandsculpturebox2024-01-04 02:54 pm
sandsculptor) wrote in sandsculpturebox2024-01-04 02:54 pm
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The Jar- let's jam.
You awaken to blurry, pink sights of unclear lights and muffled sounds. Warm liquid, thick as jam, surrounds you, yet you do not drown somehow. The cosy ooze is quite comfortable, but you are slowly freed from its warm embrace as the goo drains, clearing your vision and revealing you are in a clear, cylindrical tube. That too descends into the floor, and hot water sprays from above to cleanse you of your stickiness. Once that ceases, the sterile white room buzzes to life as a translucent holographic interface appears, one made to appeal specifically to you as a source of comfort.
"Welcome to The Jar," the hologram greets you, as soft or stern as your emotional needs require. "Your new home."
The Jar is a panfandom sandbox setting modelled on the concept of a jamjar game where characters are pulled from their canon setting and deposited into a mysterious new realm from which there is no escape. Curious events occur frequently, and there's an overarching plot with which you may or may not engage. Players are free to do whatever they wish without asking permission, as all continuity here is optional.
Setting-
The setting is a large city, The Jar, surrounded by an unforgiving wilderness. Both are enclosed in an energy shield that prevents exit. Beneath the surface lies eerie ruins from which sinister forces emerge.
The energy dome simulates a horizon and sky, though the shimmering sheen makes it clear it is artificial. Nevertheless, the technology allows it to simulate weather, day and night.
The Jar
The Jar-
The Jar is a high-tech sci-fi city designed so inhabitants never need to step outside. All of the buildings are towering sky-scrapers interlinked by bridges and transportation tubes. In essence, the entire city is one giant complex that can fulfil all your needs. From arcades to zen gardens, it's all there. The whole facility is mysteriously devoid of life, aside from those brought there against their will. Even the aquariums and zoos are strangely empty. There is no trace of who built The Jar nor why they are no longer there.
A staff of Neo-Plastoid Companions, or NPCs, meticulously maintains the city. Artificial lifeforms with limited personality and intelligence do all the jobs you don't want to but aren't much for conversation. NPCs come in every size and shape suitable for their job, from floating spheres that act as couriers to anatomically correct recreations of humanoids.
The Jar's many technological marvels are presided over by a powerful master computer known as Master of Domain, or M.o.D, that interacts with characters through holographic interfaces that change to match its tone. M.o.D presents itself as a benevolent, kindly overseer who wants nothing more than the occupants to be happy. However, it does its best to distract people from the hard questions like 'Why are we here?' and 'What happened to the people?'
The Jar is roughly the size of New York City in surface area, though its universally vertical construction means more space is taken up.
The Surface
The Surface-
Nothing stops the occupants from leaving The Jar, though M.o.D will try their best to convince them not to. The surface is a sharp contrast to the sterile city, a vibrant and dangerous jungle. Old brick and concrete buildings similar to the modern day, far more primitive than The Jar, have been reclaimed by nature and covered in greenery. Creatures of every description roam the surface, an incongruous mixture from across time, space and dimensions- you're as likely to meet a deer, a dinosaur or a dragon.
There is evidence of elusive civilisation on the surface, freshly extinguished firepits and spears lodged in creatures' hides. A feeling of being watched if one lingers too long in one place. Arrangements of salvage into shrines. But who they are and why they prefer to hide is unknown.
The surface is about 50,000 square miles in a perfect circle before contact with the dome prevents further exploration.
The Labyrinth
The Labyrinth-
Beneath the surface are ancient ruins, a complex ant nest of buildings and interconnected tunnels. Accessible through caves or conspicuously dug entrances on the surface, the ruins go as deep as The Jar is tall, and the further one travels, the more eerie it becomes. Near the surface, it is little more than an abandoned fortress, but the descent brings mystical and sinister forces with it. Tormented spirits, magical constructs and bizarre monstrosities guard the magical treasures below. The geography seems less reliable the lower the level. Corridors shift, and doorways sometimes lead to different places. Occasionally the stone carved walls break out into underground nature, vast cave systems with underground rivers or magma flows. And yet, it is perhaps the only way to bypass the energy field that keeps inhabitants trapped.
The Labyrinth is below the entirety of the surface, and goes incredibly deep.
The Network
The Network-
Upon awakening, all characters are given a unique device called a Connector, allowing users to connect to the in-game network. It takes on a form familiar and intuitive to the owner. For example, Gandalf may have a replica palantír, Luke Skywalker may have a datapad and a modern teen might have a smartphone. Connectors are self-repairing and always follow their owners, refusing to be left behind by floating over their owner's shoulders. Connectors have an attitude and like to play up on their users by broadcasting embarrassing moments or sassing the user when responding to voice commands. All Connectors can be used for text, voice or video communication regardless of form. They can also be used as diaries, recorders and play Snake, amongst other uses.
Optional Prompts
A) House Warming-
M.o.D is trying their best to make sure everyone is comfortable in their new home, whether they like it or not. A city-wide welcome party finds characters wherever they go. M.o.D wants to encourage a sense of community, and residents may find themselves locked in rooms with each other until they complete a party game, dance with someone or otherwise socialise. The party 'encouragement' only intensifies whenever the residents try to escape or investigate. They'll play joyful party music louder when asked difficult questions and use moving walkways to send them elsewhere. M.o.D might even dump you into other people's rooms.
Speaking of rooms, M.o.D has tried to create cosy apartments for each resident. In the same way they draw from the mind to create the Connector, M.o.D has attempted to make things familiar- how good a job have they done for you?
B) A Sound of Thunder-
For those who are more adventurous, need a break from the festivities or don't trust M.o.D, going outside might seem like a good idea. The dense foliage has plenty to explore, but it also happens to be t.rex feeding frenzy season. Almost anywhere you go, you'll be faced with the rumbling of massive feet. They're curiously avoiding a few special spots, though, those old dilapidated buildings that may hold hints to the nature of the... nature.
And the activity in The Jar seems to have riled up the local wildlife. While normally they're content to ignore the buildings, the signs of life has led to a break-in! Dinos of all sizes and shape are roaming the lower halls, chasing down residents. Or perhaps being adopted, if you're the pet taming type.
C) The Test-
For those who enter the Labyrinth, they'll find it wants to test would-be explorers. It begins subtly, as whispers and shadows, but amongst the old artefacts and dust there's worse. Much worse. The corridors conjure the worst fear of their invader, to chase them out of the hallowed halls. This might be as simple as a giant spider for an arachnophobe, or as revealing as an illusionary depiction of failing to live up to their father's expectations.
Can they overcome this fear or will they flee? Is it simply embarrassing or horribly life threatening?
Piccolo 🪈 Dragon Ball
[ Piccolo has no intention of hanging around. He’s not getting answers from the machines and he's not taking it lying down. The irritating party vibe gets on his nerves enough as it is, and even a return to nature doesn't soothe them. So his plan is perhaps more direct than it'd normally be.
Those who can sense energy will feel it first, as in the sky of The Jar Piccolo places two fingers to his forehead. Gathering power into his signature technique. The energy shield had defied smaller blasts, but the penetrating punch of the Special Beam Cannon should do the trick. By the time it's ready to fire, the light is visible nearly anywhere. An orange beam with a corkscrew whirling around it.
It bounces off, like a grain of rice off a tank. Piccolo has just enough time to gasp before he takes off after the ricochet. It could land anywhere! ]
2) Home Sour Home
[ In light of his original plan failing, Piccolo decides to regroup and reconsider. He's not opposed to living in the wilderness, but this unfamiliar world and its strange ways make it seem unwise. Returning to The Jar is the better option, as he's more likely to obtain intel even if M.o.D seems hellbent on preventing it. After being welcomed back by the machines, Piccolo visits the apartment which has been arranged for him.
A minute later, some unfortunate soul is smacked in the face by a thrown penguin cat plushie, followed by a rapid-fire barrage of them. ]
I never liked these things! I don't believe it!
[ His apartment is otherwise fine- the austere room with little more than a throne-like chair suited him. But all those plushies gotta go. The plushie pummelled person might also notice that his Connector, hovering over his shoulder, is of a similar theme. ]
3) Networking- Username "Demon Junior"
[ Much later in the day, or possibly early the following morning, whenever the welcome party's music dies down, Piccolo gives the network a try. ]
I don't intend to stay here any longer than necessary. Does anyone have any leads?
4) Wildcard, any ideas, let me know.
3
[Aubrey and her Connector have not been getting along. Its sass got very tiring a very long time ago (read: practically on arrival), and she’s on the verge of using it for target practice when, abruptly, it rings to signal a new message.]
Ugh. Fine. Pick up. But [and the rest will be sent to Piccolo, transcribed as speech-to-text without the speaker’s full awareness] this better not be some kind of——!
[A pause, as the incoming message is read aloud.]
[Still aggravated, Aubrey snatches the Connector—a brick of a phone, albeit capable of far more than any device like it has the right to be—and writes the rest manually.]
Hey. Can you prove you’re a real person?
[The username, by the way, is “Rambunctious Rabbit”. She’s been too busy trying to swat the device away to realize she has a username, let alone how to change it.]
no subject
This means Aubrey gets- ]
Jhdfjweuiryfnvjkwueyfncmxbdvnkasdfg
[ Before Piccolo can read her actual comment. Rambunctious Rabbit... RR... Red Ribbon? Maybe. ]
Ignore that.
I don't see why you'd assume I wasn't real. What sort of proof are you expecting?
no subject
[Incidentally, Piccolo gets to uno reverse card Aubrey on the technological-ignorance jumpscare; she’s trying to figure out if that garbled string of letters is some kind of cipher when the the properly-written message comes through.
What was that first part?
I meant “real” as in “not one of the… weird smiley floaty fuckers [the Connector flashes a “:/“ face but this is blessedly not sent] that seem to be everywhere in this city.
[To Piccolo’s credit, questioning how to escape and Aubrey’s counter-inquiry are giving him lots of points as-is. It occurs to Aubrey she could be playing this a lot safer, being less obvious about her own outsider status in case “Demon Junior” has worse intentions… but who has time for that.]
no subject
[ He can be embarrassed if he wants to; you can't stop him. He can't stop him. He tries to retain his dignity, but he has only a scrap left to work with. ]
They're some kind of android. I can't sense their energy. They're no help- even less than that computer that runs the place.
[ M.o.D really rubs him the wrong way! Piccolo was god once, and while being enigmatic is the right of gods, getting all up in people's business about it is so wrong... ]
There's barely any life energy in the city at all.
no subject
[She will ignore that for now, if only because the rest of Piccolo’s message catches her attention far more.]
You can sense “life energy”?
[This Connector sure seems to be full of “life.” But everything being run by computers would make sense… insofar as Aubrey barely knows anything about them.]
Not that I doubt you. I just can’t get anything useful out of these fake android people, either.
[A pause. Badmouthing the computer overlords doesn’t seem to be invoking immediate retaliation… yet, anyway. Not like there’s an escape from them in sight, never mind the Connector itself. How far does this city go, anyway?]
Who are you?
E-102 γ 🐦 Sonic Adventure
Gamma isn't built for this sort of situation, but overcoming their limitations is how they ended up a rogue machine in the first place. He might be mistaken for an NPC at first, aside from the way that the other machines treat him the same as other residents- instead of fussing over him with drinks they offer oil.
When he spots another resident, one that stands out from the crowd of NPCs, Gamma clanks over to them and in his reverberating mono-tone, speaks.
"Identify yourself." Which is his way of greeting them. "We can then proceed with the mission."
The mission is to play a social game.
B)
"Intruder alert." E-102 has begun systematically exploring the massive city, tucking his legs in as he enters wheel mode and rolls about. It was logical to start at the bottom and work his way up, which is where he encounters another resident who apparently had the same idea.
Gamma's legs unfurl to his 7'1 height and his blaster points at the fellow resident, his quiet monotone repeating. "Intruder alert."
Ignoring any protests or explanations, he opens fire, a surprisingly soft 'pow' as a homing rocket blasts out, to pass around the other person in a graceful curve. The 'skreeeaw' shriek of the surprisingly stealthy raptor-like dinosaur comes only a second later.
C) Wild card
(( HMU with your own or an idea! ))
A
If Aubrey hasn’t gotten Gamma’s attention from appearance alone—and, really, even pink hair and a teal bow stand out less in a city straight out of a sci-fi—then it might be from the swarming welcome party. They are not answering her questions, and the music is getting very, very loud.
Or at least it was, until the crowd quiets and parts to make way for the incoming robot. It might give Gamma the sense that he’s kind of a big deal—which, far as the objective is concerned, he is. He’s going to prompt a socialization!
Aubrey’s going to be difficult about it, however. At least to start. Slowly her hands drop from around her ears, and she eyes the newcomer with a substantial amount of suspicion.
“What ‘mission’?”
no subject
His body shudders in place for a moment, a glitch.
"Mission perimeters: Accumulate data. Register allies." Gamma's head swivels around, a complete 360, sweeping over the crowd of NPCs. They seem to be watching expectantly. Their mission is to facilitate the social interaction- are they also unwilling servants, like all the E-Series? Once his lenses lock onto Aubrey again, Gamma rephrase. "Make friends."
no subject
Even without facial expressions, the shuddering strikes Aubrey as weird. The robot doesn’t look particularly worn-down… Maybe that indicates a thought process? She assumes as much when it’s followed by words.
Thank hell they’re words that make sense, too. No high-tech jargon, no happy-smiley-welcome nonsense. The mission rephrase even gets a light smirk—although it fades just as quickly as the NPCs’ attention swivels over to her, like a silent ‘your turn!’ Somehow that’s more unnerving than the questions.
“Well… I don’t know about data.” Or friendship, for that matter. Aubrey keeps that part to herself. “But allies would be nice, I guess.
“You’re lost here, too?”