TRAVEL LOG #1

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #1

CONTENT WARNINGS: potential mentions of drugs, suspected mind-control, alcohol, and gambling, gore.

▶ 001. A RUDE AWAKENING.

On the morning of the 15th, the Outsiders will hear an alarm sound in the early hours. No matter what you’re doing, the alarm will not stop sounding, and it’s because they’re playing directly into your oculars. If one is sleeping, they may even be roused by the spark of colors on their oculars dictating an emergency. After a few minutes of this, the following message will appear:

PLEASE REPORT TO THE DATAPORTAL AT THE TOKYO BRANCH AND BE PREPARED FOR DEPARTURE.

"Captain Yamakawa speaking. You’ve done a great job in testing the data portals. Now that we are able to travel, we were sent a call for help in another city due to lack of personnel and resources abroad. You will be looking for evidence of a new kaiju around the rendezvous point. It may be a difficult journey, so prepare yourself. SYNTHIA will still be online to help you make it to the city. Report to the POD CHAMBER where we have installed an international dataportal and prepare for transportation."

Following the success of the dataportal testing, the engineering department was able to fine tune its abilities and widen the reach of the portals. The portals can connect even abroad now!

Despite their best efforts, however, they cannot guarantee that the same symptoms won’t appear, and ask all Outsiders who are utilizing them to practice caution. Additionally, through all their testing, they found that people who hold hands or make contact with others as they pass through will be hit with less issues.

▶ 002. WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS.

When one passes through the data portal, they will see the refuge city of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Similar to Neo Tokyo, it is also rich in life and known as the city that never sleeps. Incidentally, it is also famously noted as a place of endless vice. The city is built up around a strip of land of roughly 4.2 miles. A vast majority of the city was built up over the wreckage of the old, and some fixtures were simply made new with whatever was left preexisting. The Mojave Desert has expanded towards surrounding cities, though it will take a vehicle to get there in a timely manner.

The city has no shortage of hotels and with each hotel, a casino. While Outsiders here are on a mission, there’s no stating they couldn’t participate in the fun of Vegas while LILITH crew begin their investigation. While some hotels will be clearly abandoned or less traversed, there is no end to all card tables and slot machines, all asking for your KRYPTOS.

The hotel the Outsiders are slotted to stay over the course of the next few days is one where they built directly over the hotels of the old. While it offers a decent place to sleep, it’s not without a refurbished pirate themed bed, or the columns of what appears to have been from Caesars Palace. Is that a giant clown face staring at you in the room? Don’t worry about it. The hotel offers that this is the best place to depart into the desert from. For this mission, Outsiders may bunk up with whoever they would like, and each hotel provides two queen sized beds.

Excited to venture out into the city? Even under the threat of kaiju, the city doesn’t sleep. Outsiders may venture through the Las Vegas Strip and treat themselves to a fun night of drinking, gambling, shopping, partying and circle-style performances. The Grand Canal Shoppes, a Venetian-inspired high end mall, boasts a man-made canal with gondola rides for a fee, along with many retail outlets and restaurants. There are also numerous spas and carnival-style rides to enjoy. Las Vegas was once known as the ‘Marriage Capital of the World’, and in a world besieged by kaiju, the people don’t seem to think they have anything to lose. Outsiders may spot a few bride and grooms-to-be partying in the street.

(LILITH does not have a stance on whether or not Outsiders are permitted to get hitched as long as it does not affect their performance. )

▶ 003. TROUBLE BREWING.

It’s normal for fights to break out with so much alcohol being passed around, but something … isn’t quite right with some of the locals here. Outsiders who keep an eye open might notice people acting erratically, and not just from being intoxicated. There are people ready to pick a fight from just being looked at, people falling into despondent sadness and lethargy, people wandering mindlessly and people becoming distressed from seeing things that aren’t there. Ask the locals and they will tell you these cases seem to be popping up more often the past week.

The most concerning of all are the stories of people disappearing completely. One little girl will tell you she cried as she saw her mother mindlessly walk into the desert, as if called by a voice no one else can hear. There are many other accounts of this happening. In fact, all the people acting erratically seem to disappear within a few days …

Outsiders may interact with civilians who are acting erratic and aggressive, but asking questions they may receive answers that do not make sense, are perverse and inappropriate or may trigger aggression. Any Outsider to gets into a fight and is severely injured may report to a local hospital here and will find they are pretty packed with other civilians acting strange, hurting each other and themselves. Certainly, this was the main cause for concern that got LILITH's attention anyway.

▶ 004. FOUR FOR THE ROAD.

Within a day or two, the Outsiders will once again be called to action by a blaring notice in their implant.

YOUR VEHICLES ARE PREPARED. ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE THE CITY IMMEDIATELY.

When they gather at the location provided to them, they will find a fleet of armored campervans waiting for them. Each campervan comes equipped with beds, a kitchenette, and bathroom facilities, and will fit about 4 people. Within the campervans, they will find desert-appropriate attire designed to protect them from the scorching sun. These campervans also come with some basic artillery such as a mounted machine gun. There are also supplies in the form of water bottles and MRE ration packs.

Those who have driven large vehicles in the past are encouraged to take the driver’s seat. If the group does not have any driving experience, they will be given a crash course on driving recorded by the man himself, Seok Dang. (He probably shouldn’t be doing this with the stunts he’s pulled, but the Commander does not have any time to be teaching anyone driving, and Seok Dang volunteered so eagerly…)

"Listen. If you’ve ever handled a ▄▄ before, the joystick is exactly like that. You gotta tug it, but not too hard. Gently, yeah, like that, that’s the path to ecstasy … "

If it eases anyone’s worries, the campervans are armored and highly shock resistant, so they should withstand a crash or two.

(Those who finish his course and successfully drive 100km while supervised will receive an international driving license.)

▶ 005. THE HUNT IS ON.

With everyone settled into their campervan, the large scale road trip begins. LILITH has a general idea of where the biggest energy signal is located for the rift and they will feed the coordinates to the Outsiders. The journey will take about a few days into (and around as LILITH is searching for both people & the source of the rift energy) the Mojave Desert, and Outsiders will be permitted occasional rest stops to give drivers a break and to investigate the terrain. The terrain itself is a harsh desert, with cacti and small local fauna abundant. (Those not wanting to eat ration packs can take this time to hunt the local fauna such as birds, lizards and desert foxes.) While there is nothing else around, observant Outsiders may notice signs of human life - footprints in the sand, a shoe or torn piece of clothing being left behind, and even the odd human carcass being torn apart by vultures.

The logical conclusion would be that those missing humans have been here, and the only thing left to do is find them … but Outsiders and civilians aren't all that lurk here, and time will tell what lies beneath the desert surface ...

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our very first travel log! Each campervan will accommodate anywhere between 3-5 people, with 4 being the ideal and 5 being a squeeze. Players are encouraged to connect with each other to fill up a van but the mods will not be enforcing it. If you need help finding roommates, there is a FIND A ROOMMATE header below that you can make use of.

If you'd like to test your gambling luck, we also have an IC SLOTS HEADER for you to comment to for you to see how well your character does at the slot machines. This is entirely for fun, and of course you are always welcome to have your characters winning or losing at the slot machines as much as you want in your prompts so long as they aren't winning jackpots.

Following this log, all characters who have purchased style upgrades will receive an update to their chip enabling them access to desert attire and popular styles within Las Vegas.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points.

code

Comments

rest stop.

[frostfist]

[ girl help,

Fern's not the only one suffering ill effects from the heat. After so long spent in a gloomy (and honestly, pretty chilly) underwater prison, Wriothesley's finding it difficult to adjust to so much sunlight and raw heat. His skin is flushed, both from the heat as well as the onset of a sunburn, but he has enough clarity of mind to shoot out one hand and keep her from becoming a human pincushion.

Remarkably, his hand feels a lot cooler than the rest of him. Almost cold to the touch. ]

Steady there. Need some water?

[ By now, the importance of hydrating in warm weather has been impressed onto him. ]

[elfsufficient]

[ Has anyone told them to use sunscreen... TRAGEDY...

Anyhow, it's not until she's suddenly stopped that Fern realizes just how close she'd gotten to becoming a human pincushion, and she gasps, immediately straightening her stance and wobbling back one step, both to get away from the cactus and also because yikes, that felt cold!? ]

Y-Your hand, it's... freezing?

[ IS HE OK? ]

[frostfist]

[ Don't worry about him, he's good,

He doesn't seem to be worried in any case, only briefly glancing down at his hand with a puzzled expression before comprehension clicks into place. ]

Oh, that? Sorry, it's become force of habit by now, what with the heat and all. [ A man's gotta cool himself down somehow.... ] I thought it might help cool you down a bit, but if it's too much I'll let you.

[ Ignore the part where he didn't explain any of how it works. ]

[elfsufficient]

I.. I was surprised, is all.

[ But no that does not explain anything at all, so she asks: ]

Was that... magic? Or "technology"...?

[ With audible quotation marks... ]

[frostfist]

[ Not the quotation marks....

He takes a moment to mull over her question, his hand falling back to his side now that she's not in any further danger of accidentally getting stabbed. After five months spent here in Neo-Tokyo, there's less reason to be cagey about his Vision and the root of his powers.

But old habits are hard to break, and in the end he settles for skimming off the top of a lengthier explanation. ]

Closer to magic than technology. But unfortunately, this is the only thing I can do. Cool things down and—

[ He throws his hand out in a lazy punch and sends a small strip of ice forming across the desert sand. ]

—make some decorations.

[elfsufficient]

[ She can hardly fault him for any cageyness, when she's been trained to conceal the true depths of her own ability, too, but here at least she reads his momentary pause as him trying to discern the best way to explain his abilities to someone who's not of the same world.

In any case, this topic is a nice distraction from how wobbly she feels. That little ice strip reminds her of Lawine's magic... ]

I see. Closer to magic, but not quite magic? I have seen spells that can do something like this, too... It must be very helpful out here in the desert.

[ . . . ]

Thank you for stopping me from walking into that plant.

[frostfist]

[ He appreciates the lack of nosiness from her, and offers up a slightly bigger smile in response. ]

If you ever need cooling down the next few days [ weeks ] feel free to give me a call.

[ It's not too much work, all things considered. Much better than draining himself dry fighting hordes of oversized kaiju. Besides, she seems like a nice girl. Polite and courteous. ]

Though...is this not a type of magic you can do?

[elfsufficient]

[ She shakes her head. ]

No. Ice magic isn't something that I specialize in. Or any elemental magic, for that matter...

[frostfist]

[ Huh. ]

What kind of destructive magic do you specialize in then? [ that was how she described it, right.... ]

[elfsufficient]

[ Ah. She'd been purposely vague when they spoke over their implants back then, hadn't she? Seeing as he'd just shared a little bit about his own abilities, then... She should share, too. Especially as it's become clearer to her since her arrival how much they'll all be depending on each other. ]

Demon-killing magic.

[ Plainly. ]

not my html failure.....

[frostfist]

[ A very specific answer, though not in a bad way. It has the gears in his head rotating a bit as he tries to puzzle out the details from that single line. ]

Does it work on creatures that aren't demons?

[elfsufficient]

[ She nods. ]

Yes. It works on most anything, although it was originally developed to kill demons. I was able to use it against those boar-like monsters here a little while ago, as well.

[frostfist]

Sounds handy then.

[ Decisively, with a nod. ]

Maybe I should team up with you the next time we have to fight kaiju.

[elfsufficient]

I work best when I'm able to attack from a distance. Mister Wriothesley, you seem like a frontliner type. Is that accurate...?

[ he looks buff ]

[frostfist]

[ He is buff despite what his in-game model might claim otherwise. ]

That's right. I work with my fists most of the time. [ Emphasized with a small jab into the air in front of him, quick and crisp. ] If you ever need someone to watch your front, I can lend a hand.

[elfsufficient]

[ we believe in the buff wrio agenda!! ]

I see. I'll keep that in mind.

[ which reminds her— ]

Mister Wriothesley? I should let you know, since I had asked you to look out for a few people for me. Mister Stark is here, too, so there's no need to let me know if you run into him. He's someone who can fight in the front lines, too.

[frostfist]

[ Stark.....give him a sec. ]

The red-headed young man, correct? [ Note to self: casually sidle up to the guy one of these days and strike up a conversation. ] It must be a relief to have him here with you.

[elfsufficient]

[ One would think that, and yet Fern puffs up into a pout unlike any other expression she's shown before. She's been rather soft-spoken up until this point, but now her voice has a bit more bite to it, even as she mumbles: ]

He keeps breaking things in our van because he doesn't realize how strong he is. He's hopeless.

[frostfist]

[ Damn, where is the LOVE instead there's just grousing? But he vaguely remembers their conversation back on the network and her penchant for watching over the various members of her party. So this is what she's usually like, huh....? He can't help but smile a bit. ]

Have you tried handcuffing him? [ Don't actually do this. ] Though I suppose if he's that strong, he'd just break through those too.

[elfsufficient]

[ She immediately pulls a bigger frown at his suggestion because?? Sir??? Keep your gross suggestions to yourself. Fern is here to kinkshame. ]

Don't be ridiculous. What I would like is for Mister Stark to be more careful! It's not like he doesn't know he's strong.

[ He just doesn't really believe it. ]

[frostfist]

[ Handcuffing is a perfectly viable way of restraining someone?? Broaden your horizons, Fern. :/ It's a good thing he can't be shamed so easily though, unflappale in the wake of that even bigger frown. ]

What's preventing him from handling objects more carefully then, if he's aware of his own strength?

[elfsufficient]

[ Flatly: ]

Fear. He's a coward who panics easily, which makes him forget himself.

[frostfist]

Ouch.

[ She really had to straight-up say it like that, huh. ]

Surely you and your group has been taking steps to help him overcome that?

[ Mostly because it seems real inconvenient during a fight........ ]

[elfsufficient]

No, he's a coward through and through.

[ There is no mercy when it comes to Stark.




However, there at least is also this: ]

...But still, he always perseveres and proves himself capable when he's needed.

[frostfist]

[ The duality of man (Stark). Still, he feels the need to ask: ]

I hope that means he won't be running away when it comes time for our next mission.