let fury have the hour,

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Agoge's third TDM! And the death of an important guy. And some very upset royalty.
WHEN? Late 1792, Paris.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

IT'LL BE FINE;

Paris, 1792: revolutionary france.

read the France setting infopages

arrival for new recruits

(Note: If you were one of the people who used the previous TDM and want to use that as canon while still participating in this one, feel free! The following will still happen, though the guide will apologize for a malfunction in your BCE causing you to zap through the intervening month instead of joining your comrades like you should have. You'll be assured the glitch is fixed now, and it probably is. Probably.)

You wake up in a Parisian hotel room with a kind woman standing near the door, waiting for you to awaken. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.

The woman by the door speaks French, and if you didn't understand the language before, you do now. If you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.

She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in at this time, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this time period and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck.

KILL THE KING

It doesn't matter if you're new, or if you've been here a while. You'll hear about the execution going on today. It's as though the barely restrained urban chaos of Paris has ground to a halt. Everything is about the king. Is it really going to happen? Are they really going to do it? Can they do it? Is it even possible?

Anyone out of the loop will be filled in, but with no small amount of ridicule: Today is the day of the king's execution. His trial has wrapped up, and the National Convention voted to execute him for treason and tyranny.

The crowd at the execution is enormous, a riotous mob of passion barely restrained. Everyone is jockeying for a better view, with children and adults climbing up on nearby statues, lampposts, the sides of houses, rooves, some even hang from windows. Everyone watches the scaffold.

The prison cart arrives with no fanfare save the yells of the crowd. Within it sits a small, fat little man, looking like he's doing his best to remain composed. He's brought to the scaffold, and his crimes are read out: colluding with foreign powers, and the crime of royalty, which is anathema to the republic of France.

When asked for his final words, Louis Capet, known to some as King Louis XVI, speaks in a quiet voice. "I forgive my enemies."

When the blade comes down, the crowd errupts into cheers. Many rush forward to touch the blood of a king, dipping bits of cloth in it in an attempt to save it.

I PREDICT A RIOT

It's as though all the built up tension in Paris exploded when the king was killed.

Who knows what started it. Rumors spread like wildfire, and it doesn't matter, does it? In the end, most of Paris is swarmed with chaos, especially in the areas nearest to where the king was executed. There's no doubt that the riot and the king's death are directly related; no peasant currently throwing stones and breaking windows will deny it.

Fights are happening with great frequency. It only takes a word, a half sentence, for someone to decide you're some kind of counter-revolutionary. There is a current of anxiety in Paris that hasn't gone away; after reaching a fever pitch, it has expressed itself with violence and chaos.

let's visit the tuileries

The Tuileries was the royal palace in Paris, the last residence of the king before his death. Of course the people of France end up clamoring at its gates, screaming profanities and attempting to scale them.

The majority of the guard let them do this, making only the most token of efforts to keep the peasantry back. But one guard, a man by the name of Antoine Colin, seems to become spooked and shoots repeatedly into the crowd before someone knocks him out.

By then, though, it's too late. The crowd was rambunctious, but not murderous. Now it's bloodthirsty, and the gates are stormed. It isn't long before the common people of France are trampling through the corridors of power. Inside, they'll mostly find servants running and hiding, and lots of valuables to steal.

Most are content with that, but not all. Some clamor for the deaths of the queen and the royal children-- per the laws of inheritance, Marie Capet's remaining son is now King of France. Should he not die as well?

The queen is hidden in a safe room, a hollow wall inside her apartments. Do you try to find her? Try to save her? Try to kill her yourself?

...And what about those kids hiding in there with her?

BRING IN THE TROOPS

The riot in the Tuileries lasts several hours, well past nightfall. It's beginning to peter off, people loosing their energy or vigor, when the sound of gunfire echoes from the front courtyard.

General Lafayette has arrived to save the queen, and brought with him a retinue of personal soldiers. All on horseback, brandishing firearms and sabers, they stream through the expansive halls of the Tuileries and attack anyone who looks out of place. They're here to clean up this mess with no concern for more filthy peasants getting in the way.

Aftermath

The night is a long one. Several fires break out in various parts of Paris, shops are looted, and several die in the Tuileries. The queen has disappeared, along with Lafayette. Some say she and Lafayette died, and they'll show you the bodies for a couple sou. Others claim they saw them riding off into safety just before sunrise. There are already talks of hunting them down, trying to find the traitors.

Only one thing is known for sure: It may be advisable to stay inside for the foreseeable future.

read the France setting infopages

NAV NETWORK LOGS OOC PLURK DISCORD

Comments

[mylawn]

i. riots/tuileries

[76 is no historian, but he certainly knows how this goes in the books. Learning about it in school and experiencing it first hand, however, are two entirely different things. He can’t be sure that the riots are worse because they’re occurring earlier than they should be, but it’s hard not to feel at least partially responsible for the chaos.

Their orders are to survive. The best way to do that seems to be going with the flow and keeping his mouth shut, doing his best not to interfere unless he’s certain it’s a COST agent who’s gotten themselves into trouble.

The advantageous thing about his training—and his enhancements—is that he’s pretty good at crowd control. If worse comes to worse, he can clear a path to allow a fellow agent to make a break for it, if they need.]

This way, come on.

[He’s talking to you—and if you don’t heed the instruction, he’ll try a second time, a little less nicely.]

Move.

ii. aftermath (closed to arthur)

[76 hasn’t quite had time to re-connect with Arthur after Robespierre flipped his decision, but it’s certainly something that weighs on his mind, especially now. Given the way the other votes fell, it likely wouldn’t have made a difference, and though 76 on some level knows they had a solid approach and were as convincing as they could be without outright harming the man, there’s no accounting for free will. He knows that they weren’t the ones responsible for the initial deviation, and he can’t be sure if the riots would have been worse if the king was killed on time, but it’s hard not to feel partially responsible for the current destruction.

Even if it was going to happen anyway. He supposes this is something he’ll need to get used to.

Still, he doesn’t have to do it alone, as much as he might like to. Sometimes, however, it’s nice to commiserate, and that’s what has him sending Arthur a message. When they meet in an abandoned house, there’s a view of the dying fires. 76 has brought a bottle of whatever kind of alcohol he could scrounge, and the first thing he does is offer it.]

Sort of hoping he thinks of what we told him, when it’s his turn.

[Arthur strikes him as a man who knows his history. He’ll know what 76 means.]

iii. wildcard

[Hit me up for whatever you like, or drop me a line at whitticus.]

i, hey old timer

[dipolar]

(the trouble 76 spots is what it is.

someone's caught hei by the collar and by all intents and purposes is trying to throw him off-balance. hard to do, despite the difference in size, but it's hard to shake someone this large without activating his abilities. heavy-set with enough testosterone for three men and now that's coupled with the riot's contagious rush of adrenaline. this isn't new and this isn't life-threatening, so when the gruff voice cuts through the din and he's spoken to over a shoulder, he tips his head back.)

Busy. (a bit snide, albeit true.

he can't really move, clutching meaty wrists with bloody hands, trying to disengage the frenchman with a grit of teeth behind a firm pinch of lips. in a few seconds he's going to do something this cochon will regret, but it might be a necessary risk for COST he has to take or wind up trampled into the cobblestone street awash with red footprints and debris.

but alternately?)

You don't look it. Get this off me.

howdy friendo

[mylawn]

[Okay, fair enough. In his defense, it's difficult to get anything done in the chaos, but 76 catches on quickly enough. Hei can't move because Hei is currently being held by the collar by some random bystander--a random bystander who's just gone and made a terrible mistake, even if he doesn't know it yet. All it takes is the request on the kid's part for 76 to spring into action, ripples in the timeline be damned.

It's difficult to push through the crowd and close the distance, but as soon as he does, he's delivering a solid body-check to the man holding Hei's collar. From the outside, it might not look at all out of the ordinary, but there's a surprising strength behind the maneuver, to the point where the man is almost knocked off balance entirely. It's certainly enough for him to release his grip.]

Now we move.

[He isn't about to waste any more time.]

[dipolar]

(well, now another towering man's joined the fray. throwing a very considerable amount of muscle-bound weight in a heavy strike to the frenchman's side. one that jars the hold enough for hei to dip away with a sharp twist of his torso and a follow-up slam of his boot's heel into the staggered man's kneecap. looks petty, but is simply a bid for him to stay down before he regrets it.

one sweep of his hands down the front of his tunic, eyelids low, before hei leans into a quick stride ahead of 76.

the kinetic energy stored up in that body is impressive, as was the move that toppled an aggressor like they were some dummy made of burlap and packed cotton. inconsequential and in the way — can't say he doesn't appreciate that kind of mindset that keeps them gunning for the edge of the crowd. then figures that soldier: 76 should be leading... he'll leave bulldozing a path through the crowd to broader-shouldered beasts, halting for less than a second to lag behind and pick his pace back up just as smoothly.)

COST doesn't want the head?

(yeah, now it's petty.)

[mylawn]

[He makes quick work of it, trying not to think about how he might be body-checking the ancestor of someone who will eventually be very important. Luckily, the kid gets the hint, and they make swift work of it, bailing on the situation as quickly as possible. It's a fairly clean escape, all things considered, but 76 knows they might not be so lucky again.

So he tries to put as much distance between them and the crowd as he can, shoving their way through the throng of people until the mob starts to thin. He offers a cursory glance back to make sure that Hei has kept up.]

Wasn't part of the orders.

[Then again, their orders are to survive the night. Even if COST wanted the head, 76 is certain it wouldn't be worth the risk.]

[dipolar]

(he's kept up and sticking close enough to step on 76's heels — if he were any less confident in his footwork. it's with ease that he weaves through the crowd with the soldier, almost snorting at the response.

no, it wasn't.)

"Wait for evac" is broad. Know any place to lie low?

(doesn't want to get chased the whole night through, but knows that's likely inevitable if he doesn't find a secure area to rest in.)

[mylawn]

Yeah.

[He imagines by now that the inn he was staying at is compromised—bars and hotels seem ripe for discourse, and the last thing he wants to do is put himself in that kind of unnecessary danger. Still, his rented room is not the only place they can go, and he’s sure he can come up with something, as long as they keep heading away from the riots.]

We’ll want to get out of the city center. Stick with me.

[dipolar]

(it's logical, so hei follows and elbows anyone who gets too close to him.

out of the plazas and through narrowing streets, he feels far more at ease without the crowd. it enables him to pay attention to the cityscape and not the stragglers sizing up stores and homes to ransack.)

An American? (has to take a wild guess.) What'd they do about this Revolution?

[mylawn]

Not much, if I remember correctly.

[76 keeps glancing backward over his shoulder, ostensibly making sure they aren’t being followed. He’s more concerned with that than talking about his nationality, but perhaps the kid just wants something to focus on that isn’t ruined houses and looters.]

I’m not exactly a historian.

[He knows more about the subject than he might let on, given the nature of his career, but he still imagines that most academics would run circles around him.]

[dipolar]

(hei's too aware of the things happening around him. his focus deviates greatly, spreads to many different things that converge after he's had seconds of silence — their backs will be fine. can't convey this and, even if he did it's likely 76 wouldn't buy into it.

dubbed a waste of time, he says nothing on the matter.

at the very least it's not long before they find an abandoned storefront, leather goods, and hei's quick to point it out.)

Door's ajar, still intact. Windows are broken, though. Someone's been in and out...

[mylawn]

We’ll just have to hope they don’t come back.

[76 is already pushing his way into the store, making sure to go first so that he can case the room. He proceeds carefully, looking for any sign of movement and wishing that he had his environment scanner—but after a long moment he seems satisfied, and waves Hei in. The whole place is dark—shelves and drawers upended, but there might be a few things to scavenge if they look.]

It’s clear.

[For now.]

[dipolar]

(pushing through on the go-ahead, performing his own cursory check. can't beat the habit out of him and it's saved his life countless times before.

hums a short affirmative before allowing the tension to eke from his shoulders, busying himself instead with finding provisions. manages a candle, its stick, and a patchwork quilt for the window to block out their light. they're not out of the water yet, but this is as good as it's going to get until evac.)

You're tall. Hang this. (flapping the dust from the blanket with a low exhale, narrowing his eyes at the too-high window frame.) I'll take care of the light.

...

I'm Hei. It seems we'll be working together.

[mylawn]

[76’s attention is mostly on making sure they’re really alone, but the way Hei conducts his own scan of the room doesn't go unnoticed. It speaks to some kind of training, though 76 wouldn't be able to say just what, exactly, until he sees a little more. Perhaps the kid is just cautious, which of course he can appreciate, too.

He takes the blanket without complaint, certainly not arguing with the assessment that he's tall. 76 hangs it fairly effortlessly, adjusting it a little to make sure that the whole window is blocked. Better safe than sorry.]

76.

[He's not exactly one for introductions, as Hei might realize. If he finds the fact that he goes by a number kind of weird, he doesn't show it at all.]

We should check upstairs.

aftermath

[pointedlook]

[ When they'd finished talking to Robespierre, he and 76 had split ways fairly quickly. No use in hanging around and talking about things they had no power over, in any case. They'd said their bit and hopefully it had been enough.

It wasn't, as he sees the votes come in.

There's a pang of disappointment in failing to sway Robespierre. He'd looked convinced by the end, but some convictions are difficult to shake.

(the most potent virus is an idea–)

Things obviously shook out differently in his history books, so there's a guilt and responsibility that weighs on him as well. With the regency poking their nose in, he knows that things were bound to change. Two people couldn't control everything, as much as he would've liked to have the power to keep the time on the correct path. When all was said and done though, it was out of their hands.

He meets with 76 at the appointed place, ducking under a fallen beam and walking carefully into the room. There's a couple windows open, another shattered, and beyond that, the sounds of the riot, smoke from fires that haven't gone out completely. ]

Some people have no concept of karma. Maybe he'll regret it, though.

[ He shrugs and goes closer to the open window, peering onto the street. It's empty aside from a few people slinking through the alleys nearby. Most of the chaos was further in. ]

What do you think happens now?

[mylawn]

[With little else to do but watch this play out, 76 is trying to do his best to occupy himself. He doesn’t do well with idleness, even less-so after he’s failed an objective. Drinking doesn’t do much for him either, but at this point he’ll take something to busy himself and the placebo effect. If their orders are to survive the night, then he should do his best to keep his hands off—keep himself from screwing anything else up.

He knows it’s best not to dwell on it, but he’ll allow himself the small indulgence. Sometimes, he just needs to commiserate.]

I’m sure most of them will regret this.

[76 knows the broad strokes, enough to know that what comes next is not at all pretty. Killing the king early might only exacerbate things. He offers a shrug.]

No idea. All this is way above my pay grade.

[pointedlook]

[ And commiserate he does. Arthur is just as bad at being idle, more content to be in the thick of things. In silence like this, all he can do is turn the situation over in his head, over and over. It's not the most relaxing thing to be doing.

Pulling away from the window, he snags a nearby chair and plops down, close enough to 76 to remain polite. Out of habit, he tips his chair back on two legs, hands in his lap. ]

Yeah, pretty likely. [ No revolution is pretty. The one in France, right now, was even less so, as he remembers. ]

Maybe they'll send us to a nice island next. [ A joke, just a small one. ] What'd you do before here?

[mylawn]

[76 stays standing, his focus out the window and on the riots closer to the center of town. He doesn't expect to be bothered, but he's too antsy to sit. Who knows if the people who abandoned this house will find their way back? He wants to be ready in case that happens.

It takes him a moment to respond, as if he's weight how he's going to handle a personal question.]

I'm a soldier.

[Which is the only thing he really wants to use to describe himself, even though he knows it might raise some eyebrows. He's certainly too old for active duty, for one thing, but he isn't about to get into his own past with someone who's still a relative stranger. The fact that he's military is all that people really need to know about him, he thinks.]

You?

[pointedlook]

[ There's a moment of weighted silence and Arthur wonders if he asked something too personal. If maybe 76 was the type to remain silent and close lipped on any personal information. It would make sense in a way. And he's met plenty of people like that in dreamshare. Sharing the past made it easier for people to catch up with you in the present.

So he doesn't outwardly blink at the admission of being military. He seems a bit older to be in it, but maybe things were different where he was from. ]

Was it work you enjoyed?

[ After, he offers his own answer, with a shrug. ] Corporate acquisitions. Just a high paid haggler, really.

[mylawn]

I'm good at it.

[Probably the only thing he's good at, is what he tells himself when he's feeling particularly self-loathing. Nobody enjoys this kind of work, but someone has to do it.]

Nobody likes fighting wars.

[Just like he imagines nobody likes being a high-paid corporate haggler, but who is he to judge? All he really has to compare it to is his own stint as a high-profile diplomat, and he's not sure the two are comparable, aside from the 'haggling' bit.]

This must be a change for you.

[He says it wryly, like it's supposed to be a joke--maybe it is. 76 has met his fair share of suits.]

[pointedlook]

Some do.

[ Those people aren't necessarily good, but they're out there. Just like he's seen his share of bad people in dreamshare, using it for things they really shouldn't. But then, stealing ideas and things out of people's heads by technology and trickery isn't exactly going to get him golden boy status. ]

There's more shooting, but approximately about the same amount of people yelling angrily.

[ Arthur takes it as a joke, returns it. After all, he knows what image a suit gives off. Corporate, cold, no real knowledge of the world. Eventually he'll need to break character, since a normal suit wouldn't know how to handle a gun, fight hand to hand, or know to look for all the escape routes in a room. Until then, he's content with this– he isn't sure 76 is telling him the whole truth anyway. ]

Do you believe them? Cost, I mean.

[mylawn]

Nobody who isn't a sociopath likes fighting wars.

[He says that with something of a wry grin, but he sobers up pretty quickly. This is not something Arthur doesn't already know--that much is clear, and it's difficult to take his mind off the riots anyway, even as they casually prod each other.]

Can't be sure. I want to.

[Because it is a good cause, even if it's not his.]

Might change my mind if they start having us tamper with things.

[More than they already are, but so far the mission objectives seem to be preserving history. He's okay with that, even if his lack of memory is more than a little disconcerting.]

[pointedlook]

[ And there's the point. Only the unstable, ambitious, and near sociopathic like to participate in war. The rest of the populous could honestly deal without the strife and tragedy that surely follows on its heels.

(But then, there's something to be said about revolutions and what they do for morale, what they do for change, for the people). ]

Seems like they're generally trying to keep things on track. Don't know how successful that will be with a ragtag group like this.

[ There's too many moving parts, too much free will. Most of the people here he's sure have good intentions, but it's hard to keep track of it all. For once, he's glad he isn't running point on a job like this. He thought the Fischer job had a spiderweb of details, but it pales in comparison. ]

I'm just hoping we're on the right side of things. I wanna believe COST, but...

[ Arthur trails off, lets the silence speak his thoughts. ]

[mylawn]

But you don't remember joining. There's something at home more important that you wouldn't have left behind.

[76 finishes the sentence, assuming that Arthur is in a similar situation to he is--still, it reveals a little more about where he's coming from than he probably should. All he can hope is that they're sort of in the same boat, where that's concerned.]

It's a legitimate concern.

[What if they're the evil regime?]

[pointedlook]

I was tricked into it, yeah. [ Not his best day, if he's going to be honest. A point man should be better than that. He should've done more research. Dug deeper into the paperwork and the electronic trail. Should've– well, there's no point in going back down that path. He's here now. ]

Wouldn't say I had anything extremely pertinent, thankfully. Sort of resolved that recently.

[ Cobb back home with his kids. It's the one thing he's glad he got to complete before getting stuck here. Without him, he isn't sure Cobb would've made it home. Or out of inception with his life. ]

Kind of hate to rain on anyone's parade who thinks we're doing good, since the premise is promising. [ He spreads his hands, feeling like 76 is on the same page. ] But you know, convincing villains think they're doing the right thing.

[mylawn]

[76 hasn't gone so far to say that he's been tricked--he just can't remember the circumstances by which he came here. He wants to believe that Grothia is telling the truth about Regency interference, and she hasn't actually given him reason to doubt it, yet, but he's still waiting for the other shoe to drop.]

So far we're just maintaining the way things should be.

[Which he considers good. Straightforward. He doesn't expect the missions to stay this way, however.]

No telling when that might change.