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𝚂𝚢𝚗𝚏𝚕𝚞𝚡 𝙼𝚘𝚍𝚜 ([personal profile] synfluxmods) wrote in [community profile] synflux2024-05-13 03:41 pm

TRAVEL LOG #1

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.


cranekin: (pic#15469465)

[personal profile] cranekin 2024-05-18 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
(You're on your own, Akechi. He's not taking that girl's hand unless she offers it to him. He's polite like that.

But he'll nod along, listen to her story, and give her a reassuring smile.
)

Mhm, we'll help find her.

(No promises on how they might find her, though. Maybe Akechi will notice that.)

Is there someone you can stay with until she comes home? She'll be worried if you're by yourself.

(And if they can drop her off with someone... they can set Akechi free.)
laevateinns: (》11)

[personal profile] laevateinns 2024-05-18 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ PLEASE HELP. and yet... as uncomfortable as akechi is, he can relate to the feeling of a child's mom moving on without them.

goddamit. ]


That's right. [ he insists despite his innner monologue. ] We can try to find her if you tell us. ...Do you have anywhere else to go while we do?

[ he sure does notice that there's no promise on finding her, but... man. he gets it, as awful as it is.

he nods. ]


Right. We'll try and see where she went. [ which is ALSO a cheating answer... but the little girl seems happy with their answers, nodding as she sniffles. ]

She went that way, [ she points. ] I can... go try to see my aunt.

[ oh, thank god. she has someone she can go to. akechi nods enthusiastically. ]

Perfect. You go see her, and we'll try to find your mom.
cranekin: (pic#15469893)

[personal profile] cranekin 2024-05-18 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Mhm, you know how to find her, right?

(The optic in his eye flickers and he holds out his hand,)

Just in case... if you need help, you can call us. (Maybe it's careless but he's happy to send his contact information to her. "Rindou Adachi" who can be contacted at "Shiro" and whatever identifying numbers or system they need to keep in touch with civilians.) Big brother is a little shy.

("Big brother" he says as he tilts his head in Akechi's direction,)

But I'll make sure we keep in touch, okay?

(If anything... Tsurumaru has a way with children.)

Right?

(Looking up at Akechi. Right???)
laevateinns: (》147)

[personal profile] laevateinns 2024-05-20 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ right?? right??

akechi is. at a loss. and apparently shy. what the fuck.

it's not that he doesn't want to help this kid find their mom- of course he does. he... relates, a lot more than he probably should.

but the fact is, if she's gone into the desert already... hmm.

still, he shakes his head and tries to follow tsurumaru's lead. ]


Right. [ he says, trying to have spme conviction. ] I'm sure we'll see her out there, and we'll tell her how much you miss her.

[ ...as if that even means anything, he thinks cynically. ]
cranekin: (pic#15469967)

[personal profile] cranekin 2024-05-21 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
(The little girl looks between the two of them, holding onto Akechi's hand like he's her last hope.... and she nods before finally relenting. She lets go, wiping at her face and stammers that she'll go stay with her aunt... but reminds them that they promised to find her mother.

Did they promise? Well, it's a promise now.
)

You should run home and pack. Can you give us your aunt's information? We'll let her know you're coming.

(And the exchange happens smoothly. The girl runs off to pack and Tsurumaru waves. Still crouching down,)

... Well, that was easy.

(He makes it sound like it was easy.)
laevateinns: (》147)

[personal profile] laevateinns 2024-05-25 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ akechi flexes his hand, then watches as the girl runs off.

he sort of... feels like making sure she makes it there okay. surely it wasn't safe for her, right? what if her aunt didn't want to deal with her? what if-

he blinks back to reality and looks at tsurumaru. ]


Right. Easy for you to say. [ he says flatly. ] I don't have... a lot of experience with children.

[ is what he'll add by way of explanation. sure, there were kids younger than him in the foster homes he grew up in, but that's not the same as now being this old with a child running to him for help. ]
cranekin: (pic#15469723)

[personal profile] cranekin 2024-05-27 06:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Then I'll let you practice the next time this happens.

(He's teasing, trying to lighten the mood some. Standing back upright, he stretches his back and raises his arms up high over his head. )

... Would you like me to keep you up to date?

(Since he got her information...)
laevateinns: (》139)

[personal profile] laevateinns 2024-05-29 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ akechi WANTS to say no, he doesn't give a shit. but... that wouldn't be true.

the fight is clear on his face for a second before he smooths it out. ]


That... would be nice. Thank you. [ he responds stiffly, glancing away. ] I... understand what it is to be separated like that. That's all.

[ as for practicing... he snorts. ]

I think they'd be more comfortable with you. [ he points out, despite the fact that she'd grabbed akechi's hand. ]
cranekin: (pic#15469893)

[personal profile] cranekin 2024-05-29 06:53 pm (UTC)(link)
(Watching Akechi, it's hard to tell if he notices anything on him or not. Did he notice any conflict dancing across his expressions? Or is he just watching him because he's waiting for an answer?)

Do you? (It's rhetorical, just a question to ask as he sends Akechi his information through their implants. Tsurumaru Kuninaga. Everlight. @/ Shiro. ) That makes the two of us, then!

(Curiously chipper considering what they're apparently bonding over.)

I don't mind children. I'm quite fond of them, really. (So yes, he could handle them if he had to however--) But between us... maybe you have the more comforting face.

(Holding up his hand in the air, fingers fanned out and then closing into a fist as if to motion grabbing something... just like the girl had.)
laevateinns: (》140)

[personal profile] laevateinns 2024-06-05 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ akechi nods slowly at that. of course, he knows he's far from the only one, but to hear it is always...

a strange feeling. ]


Thank you. [ he says again upon receiving the information.

but then- ]


I highly doubt that's the case. [ he says, as if he didn't spend a lot of time trying to make his face appeal to the masses.

it's hard to tell if he's preening at the compliment or scowling at the thoughts it gives him, but he's interrupted at the hand motion.

he takes a step back. ]


I'm not holding your hand. [ he promises. ]