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]

[Bakugo's expression darkens. Is this bastard challenging him? There's a brief period of silence, where it's obvious he's running over the ideas. It's not like he hasn't thought about how to deal with the potential hypnotic effects.]

Cover your damn mouth and nose. The plugsuits filter the air we breathe. If you're not wearing one, use a cloth you can't blow a candle out through. [It should be assumed if they're gonna be fighting in the desert, there's the potential for sandstorms, which suggests they'd already be prepared to cover their mouths.] You saying you don't know your own memories well enough to realize someone's fucking with them? Lame. A sharp blow or pain should be enough to knock someone out of brainwashing.

[The latter is a lot more troublesome than the first, since there's no real way to "prepare" for a mental attack you don't see coming. Something stupid like "don't look into its eyes" or "don't go into the light" won't work unless you know it's a visually-induced hypnosis. But considering what he knows about Shinso's Brainwashing Quirk, escaping a mental grip shouldn't be too hard... in theory, if it works like the Quirk

But damn if Bakugo hasn't seen plenty of comic books and movies dealing with brainwashing. It's a fun trope to exploit to challenge heroes in those media for the viewers.]

If you're that scared of a mental attack, wear a blindfold and either focus on locating it with your other senses or follow someone else's spacial directions. [He says this like he's certainly done that before. And he has.]

[curingidiocy]

[ Yes, he absolutely is challenging Bakugo, because one must be challenged to grow and become better. Both of them are no exceptions to this.

But he's pleased to learn that Bakugo has indeed taken the time to think about some mitigation strategies. It even sounds like he's had personal experience with mental attacks. Still, it's not as if they've verified which method the kaiju's influence uses. ]

And on the chance that regardless of your preparation, you do end up falling under the kaiju's influence? You appear to be a capable fighter. If you were to become influenced and attack us, your strength would become a sizable threat to us.

Do not tell me that will not happen. Can you truly say that the probability of such an incident is zero percent?

[blastedass]

[There's plenty of challenge in his life. He doesn't need some random guy coming in and setting challenges to his face for the hell of it. Especially when it's about shit that only an idiot would race into.

If Ratio thinks he's not already given thought about this, he's sorely mistaken. Ever since learning about the weird things going on in the city, he started gathering data and hypothesizing. Preparing for what's a more probable result.

For the monster to be able to lure people without being spotted, there are only a handful of possible methods.]

If that happens, then you fucking extras better stop me or I'll kill you all when I wake up.

[And cracks his knuckles as if the prove the point.]

[curingidiocy]

[ There's something about that response that, instead of irritating him, like idiotic statements normally would, actually amuses him. Perhaps it's because he's starting to grasp that this teen is far more intelligent than he gave him credit for. Perhaps a bit of a loner, with how he clearly dislikes having to explain himself.

But also righteous, considering his insistence that they stay at the scene. ]

Extra, hm? Well, this extra will need all the information he can get to even hope of achieving victory over a hero like yourself. But—

[ There are sirens wailing in the distance, growing louder, and the murmurs of the witnesses around them grow louder. The police, it seems, will be here in just a moment. ]

—Perhaps that is a conversation better discussed in private.

[blastedass]

[He wouldn't use the word "righteous" because that's just fucking weird, but heroic? Duh. He's a hero. Plus he doesn't want to deal with the hassle of false accusation. That's a pain in the ass. At least Ratio's turning out to be less of a weird knowledge-grubbing prick than Bakugo thought him to be. He's staying for the cops, so that's a fair hit in reevaluation.

It's obvious his intelligence isn't just arrogance either; he's obviously thought about the kaiju problem as well and isn't asking questions just to be obstinate.]

Don't start sucking up with cheap flattery.

[Damn sycophant. Whether Ratio is teasing him or really meaning it can be left for another moment as the sirens herald the approach of law enforcement and ambulance. Bakugo reaches into his pocket and pulls out his badge. The information's available on the police network, but still... good to have physical proof too.]

I'll make this fast.

[He'll handle most of the talking, giving a quick summary of the culprits chasing Ratio to the current state, then letting Ratio give his side of the story. A few witnesses in the crowd can easily corroborate their stories, and with all the other shit happening around the city, including bouts of spontaneous, unprovoked aggression, it's not hard to clear their proverbial slates, and put a wrap on the entire thing. Bakugo sticks around long enough to make sure the men are getting treated and loaded in the ambulance, wanting verbal reassurance they're not going to kick the bucket on the way there (no, there's no risk of death here, just heavier injuries than thought, fucking glass bones, hah) before the hero's satisfied.

Unless Ratio wants to add anything or ask questions of his own, he and Bakugo are free to continue on their way.]

[curingidiocy]

[ It was not flattery. He was being quite sarcastic, but his tone never varies by much, making it difficult for people to discern his intentions. He's been told this many times, but he's never bothered to change himself to please others. ]

I was merely following your lead.

[ Ratio remains silent as Bakugo talks to the cops, only speaking when his account of events is required. Through this, more of Bakugo's personality and intelligence is revealed, and he is more than happy to revise his initial impression of the teen.

He does have questions for the police, however, and he badgers them about the rising incidences of violence, the states the aggressors were in, if there was any pattern in the aggressors or victims both, and even more, all detailed and carefully considered.

Once he's satisfied (which is to say, not at all, because even the police don't have very much information to offer besides what he has already managed to gather himself), he turns away from them to see if Bakugo has concluded with his business. ]

Shall we continue our conversation from earlier?

[blastedass]

[Either way, sarcastic or sincere, is going to get the grouchy retort from Bakugo. At least he'd respect Ratio for his decision not to change himself please others. The blonde's had the same gripes foisted at him and he's kicked them aside each time. Best Jeanist did his damnest and didn't get Bakugo to so much as budge after a week of it.

His hair even refused to stay combed.

Not wanting to get into the mess Midoriya got into when he was falsely accused while in another country, Bakugo makes sure to knock all the details in place and thoroughly absolve him and Ratio of any further prosecution or suspicions. It helps even more when the cops realize they're Outsiders. Apparently LILITH's even further spread than Neo Tokyo. Good to know... suspicious too.

The police try to work with Ratio as much as possible, but they're both sides facing the same experience and information. Aggression out of nowhere, lethargic people, vanishing citizens, everything the Outsiders have already seen. Once the ambulance is packed and the thugs are on their way to the hospital, Bakugo sees the cops off and then finally turns back to his previous walk. Where? Who the hell knows. He's gonna aim for a restaurant since it's boiling out here and now he's getting hangry.]

Go for it.