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.

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Comments

[blastedass]

[he can keep the umbrellas. actually, bakugo's not going to be surprised if those things end up in choso's hair like geisha decorations. he'll make sure the bartender doesn't sweep the umbrellas away or anything. but it's only water and snacks for choso going forward. bakugo tilts his head to the side slightly at the hiccup. pina colada breath...] I said yes, don't rush me!

[he did not say yes, but he is going to hit those cheese sticks on sticks.]

[gimu]

Ho'khay.

[ for some reason, this seems to please choso. there is something about feeding the animals providing sustenance sharing in strange-but-delicious food that lifts the curse's spirits, those which were already buoyed upward on a gentle tide of rum and coconut. before he knows it, his mouth is making a Shape, facial muscles tugging in directions that feel about right, that feel about familiar. the narrowing of his eyes is a cat's slow blink, a slivering of a gaze that refuses to blink half as much as it should. ]

I'nn'it delishish?

[blastedass]

[now he's playing guardian for this guy. great. at some point he'll have to either text yuji to let him know, or just show up at the door to their room and drop him off. bakugo made sure to get the hotel room adjacent to his friend's because he's used to rooming beside yuji now. hm... nah, he won't text him. that'll just make yuji worry even if he knows choso's in good hands.

bakugo bites into the fried cheese. it's definitely not something he'd eat with any regularity, but once in a while, party junk food isn't bad. this one's really fucking good. spices in the batter, a light dusting once out of the fryer, something he can't quite place in the cheese itself.]

It's good.

[he catches the bartender's eye and gives a slight shake of his head with a subtle motion of his hand to indicate no more drink this way. choso's getting a glass of cold water. with an umbrella in it for shits and giggles apparently.]

[gimu]

[ choso seems happy to follow suit, taking Bakugo’s snacktime as a cue to engage in his own chow down. for a moment, choso is deafened by the Crunch and grind of the breading between his molars, delightfully distracted by the flavour of the cheese squeezing free of its crispy prison.

like this, eyes mostly closed in the bliss of eating and breaded stick pinched with care, choso looks all the world like an overgrown guinea pig, hair tufts all awry. ]

Thish ish sho good. Why has no one thought to fry cheeshe in Tokyo? Shquid but not cheeshe? Why?

[blastedass]

[choso's the kind of guy to think all new food is a marvel, huh. things that most people would take for granted. watching him bask off in some heavenly rapture over the simple appetizer known as fried cheesestick is both endearing and a brief reality check. but it passes quickly enough when choso opens his mouth and reminds bakugo he's drunk as fuck... gross.

he's missing the guinea pig comparison. mostly cause chosos looks like a drunk messy choso with a problem downstairs.]

Cause we're not Americans who deep fry anything that's not bolted to the fucking floor.

[gimu]

Americansh? [ ah, wait, that’s right; that’s what this country is called: Ame-rika. with crumbs stuck to the side of his mouth, choso looks up with fresh surprise widening his eyes. ]

Everything?

[blastedass]

Feels like it. Meat, vegetables, cookies, a fucking stick of butter.

[Not that everything that comes out of the American deep fryer is edible. Some people fry shit for no other reason than to see what'll happen.]

[gimu]

Grossh. [ simple, heartfelt! ]

That’sh like frying eye-shh cream. Or bacon. These Americansh are unnecessary with their frying.

[blastedass]

There's a difference between frying and deep frying, Odango Mess.

[Just sauteing vegetables in a pan is a form of frying. That's why it's falled stir fry.]

[gimu]

[ choso’s eyes light up in unnatural neons, as if he were consulting brain-google on the matter immediately. ]

I shee.

[ is all he says, staring at Bakugo without quite seeing him, eyes following some unseen lines of text overlaid on the hero’s scowly face. another ponderous moment later, and then: ]

I don’t think theshe Americansh give much of a care asth long as it’sth edible. How shad.

[blastedass]

[there are pros to having google behind your eyes, and major cons. watching choso's eyes light up like that, figuring he was doing a search online, erred more towards the latter. couldn't just ask... though bakugo's always been a risk to ask anything of, given his temper.

choso's drunken slur earns him a narrow-eyed glare, as if bakugo's trying to decipher what he's saying. takes a few seconds, but then he grunts in agreement and takes a glass of water to his lips.]

That's their reputation at least.

[gimu]

Oh. What'sh oursh, then?

[ 'ours', what does he mean by that? japan? the outsiders? humanity? does choso, in this positively pickled moment, even know? he absolutely does not.

it seems the umbrella in the water is an excellent ploy as well: choso reaches for it without thought, allows the splash of colour in his periphery to guide his big paw into pulling the glass in for a sip of his own. likely it isn't the first time he's mimicked bakugo in these little things, in timing and manner both, an unthinking following of this other, louder beat. ]

[blastedass]

Rice, seafood, and green stuff.

[and a host of other strange things people think it's weird to eat. bakugo doesn't really give a shit about what other nations or cultures think of japan's cuisine; he's far more concerned with how other nations view japan's heroes and strength. which is not a glowing review right now in his world...

ugh, is this bastard copying him? fucking annoying. though, guess it's not the worst if it means he's content not to ask for more alcohol. cause he's not getting any.]

[gimu]

Not tohfu or misho? Damn.

[ in this moment, choso seems truly Bummed about it, wilting a little over his water. ]

Did you know the old nashtion of Breet-tayn ate blood in shaushagesh? I wonder what deep-fried blood would tashte like...

[blastedass]

Half of them wouldn't recognize those words.

[that's definitely a dig at the americans, but really, they're going to say rice and seafood and seaweed, and even that last one's a bit of a stretch. kind of like american's having a reputation for fries and burgers.]

How the fuck are you NOT gonna have blood in sausage? It's meat!