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

[icyspicy]

It's the alarm, isn't it? Dreadful way to get pulled out of sleep.

[ He has a little experience, thanks to his Dagger of Warning, but that blaring noise is certainly something else. ]

Hm? Hand-holding is what?

[elfsufficient]

Hmm...

[ It's... no, it's not really anything, is it? He's just being a helpful person, though he does have a natural suaveness about him that reminds her of Sein... which isn't necessarily a good thing... ]

It's nothing... you seem very comfortable with the idea.

[icyspicy]

[ Slowly arches a brow. Ah, yes, he speaks fluent teen, having been one himself at some point. ]

I promise you, my intentions are for nothing more than to make the journey through the portal easier.

[elfsufficient]

[ Sorry, Winter, she's just an awkward teen who was adopted by a priest and homeschooled... ]

Right... All right. Um...

[ She takes another moment to look around, just in case Stark is around... Before she shakes her head and then just holds her hand out. She's not his babysitter or anything! He can take care of himself... ]

[icyspicy]

[ Oh, honey... ]

Worried someone might see you?

[elfsufficient]

No... Not really. I was only wondering if Mister Stark was nearby, but he should be able to handle himself just fine.

[icyspicy]

Ah, I believe I've met him. Red hair, about so tall? [ Holds his hand at approximate Mister Stark height. ] I didn't know he was a friend of yours.

I'm sure there will be plenty of others to help him if he needs it. You should have no cause to worry.

[elfsufficient]

[ That sure is an accurate Mister Stark height... ]

We travel together back home with my teacher. He's our front liner...

[ Which means yes, they are friends, and she trusts him with her life, but will she say that out loud? Apparently not. ]

But you're right. He's the kind of person who can befriend everyone in town in an instant, so I shouldn't worry.

[ in fact, she holds her hand out even more decisively! ]

[icyspicy]

[ Ah, a melee fighter. Always good for a mage to have around. ]

Sounds like he'll be just fine, then.

[ So he will take her hand in his much larger one, and offer her a smile. ]

Shall we?

[elfsufficient]

[ As far as older men go, Fern has only ever held Master Heiter's, and his certainly... felt different, given his age. That feels like it was so long ago, too... It's strange, that she would think of that now.

But she offers just the slightest smile as she nods. ]

Let us go.

[ TO VEGAS ]

[icyspicy]

[ TO VEGAS. Insert Doctor Who/Stargate/whatever travel cutaway here as they step through the portal and zoop across the globe.

How's it going once they finally stumble through the other side? ]

[elfsufficient]

[ remember when u made a stargate reference abt the elderflower inn and i was like 'it's howl's moving castle'— anyway ZOOP.

The portal deposits the pair right into the chaos of Sin City itself, perhaps tucked into some alley that leads right out into the strip, but away from civilian eyes. Even so, it feels like immediate overload for poor Fern, and while the hand-holding did mitigate the effects of their journey, there's no escaping the disorientation of being in two entirely different places from one moment to the next. ]

It's... So loud...

[ As her hand tenses up in his. ]

[icyspicy]

[ look we both have very different points of reference and i've still never seen that movie

Oh, hells. It's not as bad as it was his first time through to Kyoto, and the contact did help him not want to immediately be sick all over the pavement, but the assault on the senses when they step through somehow almost makes it worse. ]

Gods above. [ He gives her hand a little squeeze back. He's right there with you, girl. ] And I thought Neo Tokyo was a lot.

[elfsufficient]

[ Just two lil (?) ye oldes, getting sensory overload in Lost Veggies... ]

This feels far worse. How is your head, Mister Winter?

[icyspicy]

Spinning a bit. I'm not certain if it's from the portal or the city. Perhaps we ought to find a place to sit down.

[ Somewhere in all this chaos. Why is everything in this world so bright? ]

[elfsufficient]

[ She's feeling a little woozy herself, but she manages to nod her head in agreement. ]

Yes. Surely there must be plazas with benches to sit on in the big cities here, too...

[ And it'll be nice and quiet and probably not full of street performers or giant glowing women or a big O R B right...?

When they both seem to be a little bit steadier, Fern will dutifully help move them along. Come on grandpa let's get you to a bench- ]

[icyspicy]

[ He's not a grandpa he's in the prime of his life!!

Anyway, before they head off, Winter untangles his hand from Fern's and offers her his arm instead, as both something to lean on and something a bit less familiar than handholding. ]

I really don't think we're going to find a quiet little alcove around here, do you?

[elfsufficient]

[ Oh yes, going together arm-in-arm does feel much more comfortable, more gentlemanly...

And as they come out of the alleyway they got dropped into, the answer to Winter's question becomes very clear. ]

Unfortunately, I... don't think that we will, Mister Winter. Goddess, there's people everywhere.

[icyspicy]

Let’s just do our best, then.

[ At least Fern has scary dog privilege, so they’re not likely to get harassed on their way to Glowy Lady Plaza or wherever. ]

Are there many large cities where you’re from?

[elfsufficient]

[ Come to think of it, scary dog privilege is something she's never really had the opportunity to enjoy... Perhaps she'd experienced it during the exam while being teamed up with Übel and Land - not that that stopped them from being attacked...

Here, however, it does seem to have an effect... the civilians seem more than happy to either steer clear of the statuesque man walking around or are simply stunned into inaction by his passive charm. His power is terrifying...

It takes her a moment to respond. ]

...No, not very many. Even the largest cities I've been to do not come close to the cities here. How about you, Mister Winter?

[icyspicy]

[ That's what 20 charisma will do for you. Winter's quite used to making waves by his mere presence, and doesn't remark on it. ]

The city I hail from is one of the largest, but this place puts even the Jewel of the Sword Coast to shame.

[elfsufficient]

The Jewel of the Sword Coast...

[ that sounds like it could be a generic Frierenverse name, even more so if it was just a German word, but, ]

It must be quite the place, to earn a name like that.

[icyspicy]

Its real name is Waterdeep. Jewel of the Sword Coast is one of its many nicknames, and it earns it. I thought it was the biggest and most grand city I would ever see, but... well...

[ Motions with his free hand. ]

For a world on the brink of ruin, what settlements they have left are impressive.

[elfsufficient]

Impressive is one word for it...

[ She would sooner say "overwhelming." She's not impressed of what she's seen and experienced in the cities here thus far as much as she has been... mildly horrified. (Modern plumbing has been nice, though,)

Almost as if on cue, however, something large and... orb-shaped begins to emerge into their view as they make their way through the streets of Vegas... ]

Mister Winter? Do you see that, up ahead?

[ Before she can make sense of the big yellow orb coming into view, she blurts out: ]

The sun..?!

[icyspicy]

[ It can be impressive and overwhelming at the same time. That's the camp Winter is in, constantly unaware of what he's looking at but very awed that it exists in the first place.

As with the giant orb that's suddenly coming into view. Fern is right to think it's the sun at first, but then a giant emoji face swings around in their direction. Winter stops dead in his tracks and stares, dumbfounded. ]

No... no I don't think that's correct.