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

Metal Sonic | Brimstone

[mechspeed]

[1]

[While Metal doesn't really have the brain necessary for a Dopamine Rush everything about a casino is meant to invoke in you to get you gambling, he is extremely familiar with them as a locale. His creator's love of (evil) theme parks went hand in hand with the propsect of a casino, which...let's face it, they're a literal manifestation of a theme park but evil, it isn't much of a surprise a would be dictator would want to have his own. He regards the setting with some disinterest, never quite understanding Eggman's fascination with the aesthetic, but still remarks on it at some point.]

It has long been known that places such as these operate on unfair distribution of profit to loss on behalf of the casino itself. Yet it does not appear to dissuade patrons.

[Organics are weird.......whaddahell.......]

[2]

[It's unlikely Metal want to investigate the source of the civilian disturbances himself; he is prompted to help Lilith, he's just being selective about only things he cares about with regards to helping and..."people" aren't really a thing he does. But he ends up accompanying you at least and he's handy to have as far as wingmen go.

Well, to an extent, because while he is good at moving fast to restrain a civlian about to get violent, he also appears to be Escalating To Extreme Force so you have about .5 seconds to stop him before he does something he probably shouldn't.

At the very least all you have to do is vocally object, he will stop before doing something he shouldn't.]

[3]
a.
[Whatever group he ends up with, when the issue of driving props up, Metal looks around at everyone silently before raising an arm.]

I am fully capable of piloting this vehicle.

[But how he reach the pedals when he's so small...a mystery.]

b.
[The cool thing about Metal's current canon point skillset is his form is pretty malleable right now. When the issue of whether or not he could pilot the vehicle with his small stature came up, he looked to the nearest person and just...morphed into them, T-1000 style, climbed into the driver's seat and got to it.*

And honestly? This is one of those instances where when someone says they can drive, they can drive. He avoids any obstacles, he handles the controls with a machine-like confidence and...yeah, he goes as fast as he can without risking losing control. This thing is soooo slow compared to him that it's kind of irritating...

*if you're not comfortable with him being your character's doppleganger just pretend it's someone else!]

c.
[Metal doesn't even consider the idea of taking a break, so he'll only pull over to the side of the road to allow for that when someone else prompts him to do so. However, he pretty much remains in the driver's seat and appears to be just waiting for everyone to finish...whatever weird organic things everyone else is doing.]

d.
[Stopping to investigate is something he can get behind, however. He's on one knee and observing some tattered clothing that were easily trackable via footprints in the sand. As he looks at the evidence there, he comments to nobody in particular.]

Male. Estimated six feet tall, roughly within 170lbs. Parameters correlate to several missing persons from the city.

While his identity is unknown exactly, it indicates this is where they went.

[See, for all his quirks (anti-social and violent) he's useful.]

(His civilian form is the design on the far right sans ears, which for people who have met Sonic will realise they're basically identical save for the fact Metal's form has red eyes instead. He's also, y'know, monotone and mostly expressionless compared to his shounen energy counterpart.

Lastly, Here's my CR comment and I'm also at obscureinternetreference for plotting or whatever else!)

1

[queenofkur]

[ Ereshkigal is observing but not participating. No gambling for her, no thanks. She knows herself, she knows she'd start getting whiny and angry upon losing and nope. Still, she tilts her head upon hearing that comment. ]

They all believe they'll be the one to win against all odds. [Humans aren't logical. Ironically, it would be illogical to expect them to be. Yet again, they're not the only ones. Gods can be very illogical too.] My sister would probably be here if she was amongst us...

[ Wow, mentions of Ishtar within the first ten seconds of speaking to someone new? That's a new record, even for her. ]

[mechspeed]

[He remains silent not only as Ereshkigal answers, but for a few seconds afterwards too; there isn't much to consider however, as her response merely reaffirms what he was sure he already knew.]

It is something I do not understand with regards to organic life. [Says the normal looking teenage boy, but the implication should be enough he thinks.] I ensure all parameters are within acceptable margins prior to everything I do. It is the only way to guarantee success.

[This is entirely untrue, but if he believes it it's not exactly a lie.........maybe.]

[queenofkur]

[ She smiles and closes her eyes. Ah, he's a human-made machine, isn't he? That reminds her of Enkidu shortly after his creation. ]

What if something is not within acceptable margins and no means exist to improve upon those margins? [She raises a finger.] We would probably not do it then. But humans still would. And that's why sometimes, they make the impossible come true.

[ And that's why humans are very cool. ]

[mechspeed]

[It isn't something he entirely disregards; he'd certainly like to, but his arrival is off the back of the most Optimal Parameters Achieved scenario he could have come up with to defeat Sonic, yet he stil lost. In his own creator's words it was "nothing short of a miracle".

But why? He has no room in his digital heart for something like faith or belief, he needs cold hard data to rely on. He can't comprehend the kind of abstract she's talking about.

It's frustrating.]

I cannot accept "doing it because you can". [There's a sort of cadence to those five words that breaks his monotone, which she may one day understand the significance of if she talks to Sonic long enough to realise Metal's imitating him. Why? Old habits.] There is no basis to it. No foundation.

[For comprehension, left unsaid.]

[queenofkur]

[ Okay, he's probably worse than Enkidu. Still intriguing. He's the first man-made machine she's seen! Or she thinks he's one anyway? ]

Well, there are results.

[ From that you can infer there is a foundation, she supposes. Even if it's beyond the reach of certain people - like gods. For how powerful and knowledgeable her kind is, they can never achieve the wonders humans are capable of.

Though from a logic standpoint... She's not the best to comment on the topic. She cants her head to the side. ]

You are a mechanical entity, are you not? Are you human-made?

1

[saudadist]

High risk, high reward. Humans like the endorphin rush of the "maybe."

[ She can't really get behind it, personally. Why risk money for nothing when you could just spend it on something nice? Like donuts or macarons. ]

[mechspeed]

It is something I cannot understand. "Maybes" are unacceptable conditions to operate by.

[Internally, even if he isn't aware of it, there's a conflict of logic. He bets every encounter with Sonic on the promise of "maybe", even if he's always sure this time he'll win. He'd just never admit to being remotely similar to organic life if he can help it.]

To weigh the odds in one's favour as much as possible prior to any task is merely logical.

[saudadist]

Dunno if you've noticed, but humans aren't exactly purely logical. A lot of their decisions are based solely on emotion.

[ Or lack thereof. She's not immune to such irrationality, but she's not keen to bring that up either. ]

[mechspeed]

..... I have.

It is not merely restricted to humans. [As illogical as his creator could be, so he isn't disagreeing.] It is a pattern all organic life adheres to.

[saudadist]

[ She'd argue otherwise, thinking about it, but nature is itself a cortez of chaos. There are patterns it follows, but really, anything could happen at any time. ]

Guess you could consider it a blessing that it's not something you could get as addicted to.

2

[kubricks]

[Oh, that seems to have gotten out of hand rather quickly...

Somebody should probably do something. Unfortunately, the somebody around is Makima and not someone who's probably more keen on immediately deescalating the situation. Which she is interested in, just not as necessarily urgent as someone else might be about it.]

What are you doing?

[She can see obviously, but she still asks.]

[mechspeed]

[Well, he's got the civilian in a Probably Very Uncomfortable Grip, those disguised human hands of his hiding the very real and tight claws beneath the guise of "normality" LILITH seems to want him to have. Her interruption at least puts them in between "restraint" and "something worse".

Metal turns his head calmly to address her.]

They have escalated to violence. I am responding in kind.

[kubricks]

I see.

[There's no judgment in her tone here, admittedly she thinks closer to "restraint" and further away from "something worse" might be more ideal, but she does understand that sometimes the latter is the correct approach.]

I wonder if that might negatively impact our attempts to get information from others.

[She's not really wondering, but she figures someone should bring up the possibility.]</small<

[mechspeed]

[.................he's not gonna say it, but he kind of misses Eggman's laissez-faire approach to problem solving. His stupid dad who he hates now would have let him kill guys.

Not that Makima's trying to stop him, but he understands the implication and he can't really disagree. His grip moves decidedly into uncomfortable restraint over possible violence.]

...understood. Given this man poses no threat, his elimination holds no value.

[Some reluctance. He does push the guy over though, since he's still pretty aggressive.]

[kubricks]

Exactly.

[A nod as things move into uncomfortable restraint and then pushed over. It's fine, maybe not the best response, but it's also not the worst.]

It helps foster cooperation too, for what it's worth. I don't think too many around here would want to answer questions if they saw you do something like that.

[No that would probably scare people away. ...more than they might've already been scared away already anyways.]

[3] d.

[blastedass]

[This isn't the same as taking a bus to the forest encampment for training. THAT was only a few hours, he only had to share the seat with a girl who just listened to her ipod, and he almost murdered a few of his shitty classmates for teasing him along the way. No big deal. THIS, on the other hand, was fucked up. You stick six people in a damn van and then drive them around the desert looking for clues to where people might have gone or been dragged off?! DO THEY EVEN KNOW HOW DESERTS WORK?! One good wind and the tracks are gone!

... Though being from Japan, there is very little desert in his country. Really, the only "one" they have is more a huge sand dune. Bakugo's certainly never been there. His views on deserts are learned from books and documentaries, with the occasional overseas movie adding to the mix. The reality of it, however, is almost depressing. But hey, at least it's hot? Optimal conditions for his Quirk.

All that to say, Bakugo's glad to stop, get out, and stretch his legs while taking a break from the five other guys he got smashed into the campervan with. He approaches the other guy looking at something, only to find out he's facing footprints. What the hell? Is this why they stopped? ... Tch, aren't they lucky. Hands on his hips, he listens to the rationalizing, unable to help feel like it's pretty robotic. He doesn't recognize this Outsider either (hasn't seen Sonic's human form yet).]

So they weren't dragged out here. That matches with what the kid said about her mom wandering out into the desert.

[mechspeed]

[Conversely, Bakugo will be spared any irritation sent his way because as a Guy With No Face, Metal's disguised human form wears a perpetually blank expression and his voice maintains its monotone. Still, it's also because Bakugo doesn't seem to show any hostility that Metal doesn't either beyond his rancid vibes of generally being a little hate machine. He just offers a nod and maintains his gaze down at the evidence they have.]

I had initially written off the civilian's unusual behaviour back in Vegas, as operations such as those operate on heightened aggression and lowered inhibitions in order to extract wealth from those in vulnerable mental states.

However, taking witness statements into account, it is apparent something is interfering with the mental faculties of those who dwell there. It is purposeful.

[blastedass]

[Bakugo trades his attention between the other guy and the tracks in front of them. There's something strange about him. The blue hair, the lankier limbs, dark sclera and red eyes... Robotic voice, a monotone expression and tone, spitting out facts like a computer... It only takes a second iteration of those words for his mind to suddenly put all the pieces together.]

Not all those people were drunk scammers, Bolthog.

[Granted, he can see how the robot would have come to those conclusions, if going only on a factual-based assumptions. Certainly no empathy going on in that metal core of his.]

It's not just screwing with their minds, but it's taking people too.

[mechspeed]

There are no signs of remains. It is unlikely they have been devoured.

...yet.

[That would be his first guess; there's all this talk of kaiju, even if he hasn't seen any yet, so some sort of beast...would eat, right? Makes sense to him.

Still, he isn't going to rule it out.]

[blastedass]

[Thanks for being a ball of optimistic sunshine, Metal. Setting the comforts of so many people.]

Can you tell if there are other tracks under the sand?

[Perhaps just a dusting of breeze wouldn't ruin them completely, but Metal has scanners that work better than Bakugo brushing through the sand with his hand.]

omg late... but 3b

[gundemn]

[ At one of the rest stops along the journey, Elan stands in the shade of his campervan downing a bottle of water when he glimpses who is in the other vehicle. He nearly spits out his drink. ]

You've got to be kidding.

[ It's not impossible. Recently two mobile suit pilots had been snatched here so it stands to reason someone he knew could have arrived, too. He rubs his eyes, because what? The desert heat better not be playing tricks on him. ]

we're all late.......

[mechspeed]

[It's entirely possible Elan was simply the first guy he saw once he decided to volunteer as driver, but given the small group size the chances weren't that bad for this kind of outcome. When he's clearly remarked upon, Metal simply turns in response.]

I do not "kid".

[That's more flesh sonic's wheelhouse.]

[gundemn]

When did they pull you here?

[ And which of them? He can probably rule out the First through Fourth, which leaves...

"Elan" crosses over to him, grabbing him by the shoulder to get a better look. They may share the same face but not the same eyes. Look closely enough and you'll see a different brand of haunted. ]

[mechspeed]

[It's true; Metal's "eyes" compared to Elan's are completely hollow, because unless he's actively trying to pretend his shapeshifted form is genuine, he doesn't bother faking there's anything really there. It's different from someone who's simply inexpressive, it's the facade of something that's completely fake.

What does spark a reaction is being grabbed abruptly however, as you must understand this is a guy built for enmity and violence. A sudden gesture like that causes Metal to half stand from the driver's seat, back up against the door behind him and raise his fists into a fighting stance, completely expecting escalation.]