synflux | TRAVEL LOG #1

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.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[What the ever-loving fuck.

Dearka's initial reaction is much quieter, but he still physically recoils back from the doorway once it opens and those bright colors come bursting forth to stab into his eyes.

Once he recovers from the initial shock, with Yzak's squawking still ringing in his ears, he's stuck desperately searching for something, anything to say in response.]

Well... At least it's not maid themed...?

[Small comfort!]

[ That small comfort does nothing for Yzak right now. ]

That doesn't make this any better!

[ He does step (stomp) into the room though, the receptionist's words echoing in his mind that they were just lucky enough to get the rooms that they had. Here they are, and here they shall unfortunately have to stay. And ultimately, logically, Yzak knows this and will deal with it. But in true Yzak fashion, he has to be dramatic and loud about it first. ]

It's absolutely atrocious in here! As if this entire situation we're in doesn't feel like a circus already!

[ Yzak tosses the bag he's carrying onto one of the beds, claiming it for himself. (the one closer to the door, so he can sleep facing it) ]

[He sighs and follows Yzak in, smiling wearily to himself. Typical... Predictable and typical. He takes the remaining bed without any fuss, both because he truly does not care which he gets in this case, and also because he and Yzak both have shared quarters enough for him to know that he's not going to win any arguments about who gets what. It's not his first rodeo.]

You're telling me. The damn colors are so loud, we ought to file a noise complaint.

[He tosses his bag on the floor instead, opting to flop backwards onto the bed himself and lay there for a second with his eyes closed. The springs squeal gently from the impact. After a second, he opens his eyes again, only to discover that one of the Wall Clowns appears to be staring him right in the eyes from where it lurks above the bed.]

Eeegh...

Edited 2024-06-01 02:03 (UTC)

Ugh ... I am not staying in here if I don't have to!

[ He still doesn't have much, but he's still unpacking like a proper gentleman, so he can hang up what few articles of clothing that he has. ]

Let's leave to get something to eat as soon as possible! We can get a lay of the land as well, and pinpoint anything we want to check out closer later.

[ He hears Dearka's noise of disgust as he makes his way over to the closet, looking over at the wall clown making eyes at him, and he, too, grimaces heavily. Doing that draws his eyes to the huge ugly one looming between and over their beds. Yzak's never had a sleep paralysis demon before, but this mission may change that. ]

It's a good thing that this place comes alive at night. We'll have an excuse to get out of here.

[ And then he opens the closet ... and lets out a blood-curdling scream because there's a fucking clown plastered on the back wall behind the hangers like a cryptid. ]

God ... DAMN IT!

[ He is SLAMMING THOSE CLOSET DOORS CLOSED and then just bracing both hands on it for a moment, hunched over. ]

[While Yzak's talking, Dearka closes his eyes again, deciding the wall clown cannot hurt him if he's not actively looking at it. (Even though he can totally still feel those eyes on him.)

He groans audibly in protest at the notion of leaving again right away. Yes he's used to having to get up early and yes they should be trying to adjust their sleep schedules as quickly as possible, but the stupid mission alert woke them up so early when they weren't expecting it. Can't they at least take like, a 20 minute nap or something--?

Yzak's blood curdling scream has him losing that thought and sitting bolt-upright in an instant. Luckily he knows the difference between Yzak's various flavors of offended shrieking well enough to pick up on instinct that there's probably no actual threat present?? But his hand still twitches and hovers over the gun that he has at his hip on reflex.

There's a long moment where they're both catching their breaths, before he finally speaks up:]

...What the fuck was that!?!?!

[ His voice still a few octaves higher than normal: ] There was a clown in the closet!

[ Technically, with them in this hotel room that would make three clowns in the closet here, but, ya know.

He pulls in a long, deep breath and heaves it out loudly to shake himself out of it. Yzak no longer wants to immediately hang his clothes up in there, so perhaps Dearka will get the brief rest he desires, as the other man walks back over to his bed and dramatically drops himself down to sit on the edge of it next to his bag. ]

This is like a horror movie...!

[Ah... And he sure knows how Yzak feels about horror movies. Maybe he shouldn't have dragged him to that screening of "Klowns with Knives 7: This Time it's Pierrot-sonal".

Dearka relaxes a little, but he still doesn't remove his hand from where his gun is, hesitating before asking:]

Just to be clear... You mean like. A painted clown. Like,

[He jerks his head towards the one on the wall and makes a clicking noise with his tongue.]

...Not an actual real flesh and blood man in clown makeup. Right.

[ Horror movies suck! He has enough killing and blood in his life to want to see it on the big screen! And ghost/haunting movies... look he's into folklore and spirits and all that but when it starts to feel a little too close to real life... ]

Of course it's not! I'd have throw him through the window if it were a real guy!

[ He sounds disgusted. And he finds his eyes moving over to the small couch the room has, trying to make out just how much room is behind it... ]

Don't even put the idea of that out there!

[Okay now he takes his hand off his gun, purely so he can put his hands up in front of him defensively.]

Just making sure! You made such a racket about it, seemed like a lot for just a painting...

[He trails off, following Yzak's gaze.]

...I doubt there's one behind the couch. But if you're going to meticulously clown-check the whole room, I'm gonna go ahead and take a quick nap.

[He is not asking for permission. He is already laying back down.]

I just don't want to be surprised like that again!

[ Are there any in the bathroom? The shower? Oh, God. Here's a clown check: there's a very real one on the bed next to Yzak's, trying to take a nap. ]

You're really going to nap when we just got here? [ There's an incredulousness to his tone, but he doesn't argue it more than that. This room is so colorful and loud, though, that he wonders how easy it'll be to sleep. Painted wall-clowns serving as sleep paralysis demons in the middle of the night aside.

Yzak lets out a huff through his nose. And he doesn't follow suit and recline back onto his bed, but he does turn his head to look at Dearka, because the mention of taking a nap makes him realize... ]

... it's been a while, since we've roomed together like this.

[He lifts one hand and waves it around in the air as if to nonchalantly sweep away the criticism, and still doesn't make any moves to rise.]

'Course I am. You have any idea what time it is back in Tokyo right now?

[Rhetorical question. Of course Yzak knows.

There's that pause, and Yzak huffs, and somehow, Dearka feels those blue eyes on him before his friend even opens his mouth to say anything. He cracks an eye open too, glancing over to try and get a read on his expression...

...Something about that angle. The sideways glance with hooded eyes under that curtain of silver hair. Dearka does not appreciate the stupid little pang of longing that escapes the containment zone of his heart; he closes that eye again and forces a wheezy little chuckle, trying to cover up for the way Yzak just literally stole his breath away.]

Yeah... Heh. Not since our redcoat days, right? Probably while we were still on the Vesalius... Or maybe Carpentaria.

[ Yzak, unaware of the stunning, dirty little breath thief that he is, just sympathizes with Dearka. Clearly he's just a little thrown and wheezy due to how cursed their current lodging is. That's something very understandable as Yzak's own heart hasn't quite returned to its usual speed after that closet scare.

Lost breath and racing hearts, what a combination that usually isn't so mismatched like it unfortunately is in this moment. ]

And on that underwater tin can, the [ WHATEVER THE FUCK THEIR SUBMARINE'S NAME WAS thanks Gundam SEED. They were on and under the water long enough that it counts (even if Yzak's own time on those subs was primarily spent Alone, but shh).

There's for sure more of an intimacy when it comes to really sharing a space like this for a window of time. But perhaps because Dearka is constantly in his spaces even without being roomies anymore - in his office during work hours since they still more or less move as a single unit, sticking around in his room if they're off doing work on the Voltaire, even dropping in on one another when they're at home - is why even though it's been a while, nothing feels very new or different about this. Except for the passage of time and the fact that the two of them aren't the same people that they were back then. But even that difference is a growth that they've both cultivated together, side by side.

... the clown thing does invoke some of those old vibes, like Yzak slamming doors and yelling angrily about things. But even that's harmless, no longer steeped in the rancid, untamed atmosphere that they constantly kept themselves in. ]

[It helps quite a bit that neither of them are shitty teenagers serving under a commander who is actively encouraging them to be shitty and as vicious as possible. Like... Rau is absolutely NOT 100% responsible for their behavior back then, but he sure didn't help.

Anyway... Dearka chuckles.]

That damn submarine... Like a freaking underwater casket. Why we still haven't figured out how to make an underwater vessel that's at least as comfortable as a Nazca class ship is beyond me.

And yet I think I'd take that over this abomination of a room.

Anyway ... take your nap. We'll head out later.

[ Though it's been a while since they're roomed together, little things still come to him like it was only yesterday. He still knows how quiet he needs to be when moving about while Dearka is sleeping. So he takes the time to unpack his things and hang them up in the closet - prepared this time, for the horror within it.

He also makes to grab an extra sheet from said closet and then throw it over the giant clown head that looms between and over both of their beds. But don't worry, somehow the sheet will keep slipping off.

Yzak steps into the bathroom at some point, and it will forever be a mystery whether Dearka dreamt or just vaguely drifted back to consciousness enough to hear a grumbling of "I am not pissing into a clown's mouth like we're at some god damned carnival...!" and the careful sounds of the unscrewing of a toilet seat.

By the time Dearka wakes Yzak's all unpacked and comfortable, sitting at the small desk close to the door of the hotel, pen in hand and going over a map/brochure. ]

Oh~kayyy.

[Said with a smirk and a thumbs up flashed while he's still reclined on the bed. The good news is, Dearka is capable of resting soundly pretty much whenever and wherever he wants, so long as he puts his mind to it... That includes "beneath the watchful eyes of a horrible clown." Or... clowns, plural, including Yzak. BA-DUM TSHHH.

Still, he appreciates his buddy's efforts to stay quiet. Even just laying there with his eyes closed for a bit would have been refreshing enough, but this way he is able to get some proper sleep.

When he wakes up again, he doesn't yawn and stretch or sit up or anything obvious like that. He kind of continues to just, lay there? Awake, but with his eyes still closed, both hands behind his head. He does crack one eye open to see what Yzak is doing, but then he closes it again, and speaks up without any kind of warning.]

Did I hear you muttering something about a toilet seat while I was out...?

[ Yzak is so considerate of the people around him - or at least, the people he likes. He truly is like a cat, sometimes, silent and careful when he's not yelling or hissing at someone about something silly.

His head comes up, pulling him from his work on the map (which is only circling places that seem like they'll have good amounts of people to gather intel from if so many of the natives here are starting to act strange), and he half turns in his chair to look at Dearka.

Yzak scowls, looking disgusted. ]

You'll thank me when you go into the bathroom!

[ The red toilet seat has been removed, and sits against the wall in there. There wasn't much Yzak could do about the lid, the inside of which sports the image of the upper half of the clown's face that completed the picture. So he improvised by tightly wrapping a spare towel around it. ]

[That's. An ominous fucking thing to say, Yzak? Dearka stares at him quizzically for a long moment, but when no answers are immediately forthcoming, he hoists himself up out of bed with a groan and shuffles to the bathroom, stretching lightly as he goes. Gotta take a leak anyway.

Imagine, if you will, the camera lingering on Yzak while he works, while Dearka disappears off-screen. There's the sound of the bathroom door closing, the fan whirring on automatically with the lights. Beyond that, there is utter silence. A few beats pass. One, two, three...

Dearka's voice, raised to project through the door, registers a complaint:]

Hey, I appreciate your creative attempt at problem solving here, but how's a guy supposed to take a crap with the seat dismantled like this?

[ Wow it sounds like you are doubting him??? Doubting???? Yzak???????????

He was turning back to his work to wrap it up, now that Dearka is awake. But just as he goes to do that, the complaint comes to strike through the silence and he shoots A Look to the door instead. ]

How...?

Carefully? You can figure it out!

Or you can put the damned thing back on but it's not staying on!

[ Because the red seat also has teeth painted on to the inner rim and that is not something he feels comfortable putting his ass on, thank u. ]

[With his voice still raised so it can carry through the door:]

It just seems like kind of a needless complication...! But, fine, whatever...

[It's not like he's COMPLETELY unfamiliar with the concept of a squat toilet at least. But honestly, though the seat IS unsettling and would NOT be his first choice in home decor, he's also pretty sure he can just suck it up and disregard it for the sake of comfort? So he feels like Yzak is maybe being a bit over-dramatic about this...

Whatever. He doesn't even need the seat right now, since the business he has to take care of is something he can do standing. So he does that, and yes, he does make sure to wash his hands afterward, although the length of time he spends scrubbing is like... A little bit less than the recommended span of time? Blame him being distracted by the unfortunate discovery that even the soap dispenser and hand towels have goddamn clowns on them.

He steps out of the bathroom again afterwards, stretching casually and raring to go.]

So... Where to first, boss?

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TRAVEL LOG #1

▶ 001. A RUDE AWAKENING.

▶ 002. WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS.

▶ 003. TROUBLE BREWING.

▶ 004. FOUR FOR THE ROAD.

▶ 005. THE HUNT IS ON.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

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