Voice; Mirrornet

[bindsthedead]

This is Commander Sabriel, of RISE. [The speaker is a young woman, speaking in a clear, commanding tone. There's the sound of papers being shuffled in the background.]

Over the past week, someone with my appearance and at least one of my powers has been running around, giving interviews, and raising the Dead with a form of necromancy unique to my world. While they've retained their living personalities for a time, that time is over. The Dead of my world feed on life force, and grow stronger the more lives they take. They are dangerous foes, and I urge any imPorts in De Chima unable to fight them to find safety immediately, and to help others do the same. [Behind the calm, there's an urgency in Sabriel's voice.] If you are one of the Dead, I urge you to avoid my double- she may lack the bells, but even without them she can exert a certain amount of control over you.

I know some of you come from worlds troubled by the Dead, or have seen films featuring him, so let me prevent some misunderstandings. These are corrupted spirits inhabiting corpses- shooting them in the head won't kill them, and cutting their heads off will just slow them down- you need to destroy the entire body, though taking out the arms and legs will immobilize them unless they abandon the corpse entirely. Their presence will disrupt technology, especially if there's a group of them- watch for blackouts and cars and guns becoming unreliable. Sunlight and running water will destroy them, and going over or under running water will get rid of them as well, so run onto a bridge if you need somewhere safe at night- failing that, fire will scare the weaker ones off.

They're not contagious- don't panic if you're bitten, but get medical attention because the wounds tend to fester. They're also not mindless- their intelligence varies, and they can get stupid if they're desperate, but they have a sense of self-preservation. Don't expect to be able to trick them into jumping into a river. And just because they can talk, don't assume they have any humanity left to appeal to.

But I'm not the only one with a doppelganger. Multiple imPorts have reported people resembling them, with their powers, acting in ways that seem designed to harm their reputation. At this point, At this point, evidence suggests a legion of copies, rather than a single shapeshifter is behind this. And until we identify the source, there's no sign these incidents will stop.

If anyone has more information or further questions, please contact RISE- and honestly, everyone else, if you're willing. The more people who understand what's going on, the better.

[Filtered to RISE members]

We have several related problems. First of all the Dead- and secondly, whoever's been wearing my face. If she's not disposed of, she'll keep creating more Dead. If you see me acting oddly, detain me, and if you can confirm it's not me, incapacitate her. Or kill her if necessary. [There's a cold anger in Sabriel's tone. She has no love for anyone who'd bring the horrors of the Old Kingdom elsewhere.]

Also, if you can identify any of the copies causing problems, make sure to question them- and detain them, if you can do it legally. Maybe one of them will let something slip about what's going on. Veronica, Kang, Yusuke, possibly Inanna and Utena- we need to get a list together. I don't know if there's a pattern yet.

Comments

RISE filter

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

This is a nightmare. We don't know who we can trust, with all these copies in the mix.

I had an idea for dealing with... her. She really seems to enjoy your powers. Maybe if we gave her a chance to get her hands on your bells, she'd come after them- and then we could get the drop on her.

RISE filter

[bindsthedead]

As long as she can't actually get her hands on them- if she does, things are going to get far worse- she'll be able to control and coordinate the Dead.

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

Right. We'd have to keep the real bells off the field. But I don't think she's that bright, whoever she is. We should be able to fool her.

Otherwise, we'll just keep having to follow the undead and hope we get lucky.

[bindsthedead]

Trust me, at the rate she's using Free Magic, it will be affecting her mind. It won't make her stupid, just more unpleasant.

voice;

[deadkord]

Soooo, when you say "if you are one of the Dead", just how dead are you talking?

voice;

[bindsthedead]

What people here call undead. If the Porter brought you back to life, you're safe. 'Zombies', vampires, ghosts, they're what she can control- to a limited extent, since she doesn't have the bells.

[deadkord]

Well, that's a relief.

[ A beat. ]

I mean, the whole "impending horde of zombies" thing still sucks, but at least I'm not a zombie.

Permavid

[governorkang]

Copies. You mean clones? With all of the same abilities that we have?

[Shit, that's bad.]

Re: Permavid

[bindsthedead]

I- you think that's what they are, clones?

And mine doesn't have my bells, and no one's seen her cast a Charter spell- not that she'd have maintained any ties to the Charter with what she's done- but yes, I think they have our powers. Or some of them anyway.

[governorkang]

The bells and the Charter aren't genetic. Biology isn't my strong suit, but I at least know those wouldn't carry over in a clone. I haven't heard any reports of my copy using magic, which isgenetic for bozaks. It does take time and practice, though.

[He pauses, remembering something.]

There were strange incidents at a couple of the places my copy was spotted at. A fire started that couldn't possibly have happened by natural means, and at another, there was a flash of light no one could explain. Young bozaks tend to have magical mishaps until they learn to control it.

Video;

[reexamined]

Define "disrupt technology."

[Since he's a whole lot of technology.]

Video;

[bindsthedead]

Unless the Porter gave you a human form, you should probably stay away from them.

Video;

[reexamined]

Hm.

[He does have a "human form," and he's never used it, and he never intends to.]

Noted. I'll have to avoid my house, then. Good luck.

[Text]

[d33tached]

What is RISE?

[Text]

[bindsthedead]

We're an organization tasked with bringing criminal imPorts and metahumans to justice. We also deal with events like this- events ordinary law enforcement and emergency response can't handle alone.

[PermaText]

[d33tached]

I see.

Would you say that events such as these are rather common in the Porter cities?

[He almost doesn't want to know the answer.]

voice;

[snarkbot]

[ Distinctly a robot: ] Thank you for the information. It's a shame that the bodies have to be destroyed completely, I know humans put a lot of stock in finding a respectful place for the remains.

Re: voice;

[bindsthedead]

Well, some groups of humans. In the Old Kingdom cremation is considered rather respectable.

[snarkbot]

Cremation is often an accepted form of body disposal, but I have found that often people prefer to keep the ashes or find an emotionally significant place to lay them to rest. I have my doubts that would be possible in the kind of fight the zombies will undoubtedly be involved in.

{Video}

[tauraran]

{He is, frankly, horrified and he doesn't mind showing her his disgust.}

This is what happens when you meddle with the dead.

{Video}

[bindsthedead]

I promise, the individual responsible will pay, and the Dead will be dealt with.

{Video}

[tauraran]

If you did not practice such Dark magic to begin with, there would be no need to deal with them.

{He will not be happy if he encounters a walking corpse.}

[video]

[majorlyugh]

When you say "the Dead," do you mean .. zombies?

[video]

[bindsthedead]

It's what people here like to call them, although it sometimes gives them the wrong impression.

[video]

[majorlyugh]

How so? Are there .. different definitions of what constitutes a "zombie" here?