synflux | KAIJU FIGHT #3

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KAIJU FIGHT #3

KAIJU FIGHT #3

CONTENT WARNINGS: mind control, parasitic worms, gore

▶ 001. POSITIVE THINKING.

The aftermath of the last kaiju battle, has had LILITH researchers scrambling to find an adequate way to combat the aftereffects of the kaiju discovered in the desert. While their research is still very much a work in progress, for now… it’ll have to do. In the early hours of the morning, a message will appear on everyone’s oculars, asking them to suit up immediately and meet at the given coordinates, which will act as the Outsiders rendezvous point. These coordinates lead to an abandoned hotel within 1 mile to the outskirts of the strip.

"The system is updating…

The system is updating…

Downloading: ⇓"

A new update awaits each Outsider on their oculars. There is no option to decline, and right away it prompts you through several steps. This update was all in part thanks to the various dreams that the oculars have been reacting to. The researchers for LILITH figured out a way to combat these pesky mental side effects by forcing the mind into a state of equilibrium. In order to do this, Outsiders will be asked to think of their happiest memories. Perhaps, due in part to everyone downloading this update at the same time, people will automatically feel an odd sensation as they think back on these memories, almost as if their mind is connected to a collective. These memories will leave each Outsider feeling fulfilled, or even a temporary sense of high as the download continues. As a result, Outsiders may feel giddy or a sense of calm. Some may be motivated to talk about their happy memories with others the first time they do this.

▶ 002. BREACH OF THE CITY.

Once the download is completed, there’s zero time to rest. It looks like whatever they found in the desert isn’t interested in just sitting and waiting. They’ve come to the city with clear intentions of gradually infiltrating its borders. Who are they? Why, the missing people of course.

Apparently, as part of the kaijus life cycle, it lays eggs, which then hatch into younger worms, similar to actual earthworms. These young worms, unable to protect themselves, control the minds of other living entities in order to do their bidding and keep their own bodies safe. Once infected, their hosts become vicious and hungry for meat, attacking any living thing in sight and trying to eat its flesh to nourish the parasite within.

It’ll be up to the Outsiders in order to scope out these young worms controlling the people of the desert, while simultaneously knocking those individuals out of commission. In some rare circumstances, there will be no turning back for these individuals; if the young worm actually burrows themselves into the bodies of the controlled, they are no more than a reanimated corpse, and will need to be eliminated immediately. The longer these worms exist within these people’s bodies, the larger they grow, and by extension, the more influence they can exert over a larger net of people.

Instead of the camper vans, LILITH has provided other sleeker vehicles in order to quickly traverse the city. The vehicles are equipped for speed and are meant to assist in getting to the various coordinates LILITH sends out to everyone’s oculars. The coordinates all mark where these “controlled people” have been seen via drone footage.

▶ 003. WORM ON THE MIND.

While the attention will be focused on destroying the monsters that have come up to the city, there will be occasional tremors that can be felt that seem to come from far below— almost as if they were cries from the old city that lay forgotten below. Unfortunately, it’s much worse.

In the middle of staving off the attacks from the mysterious creatures, there will suddenly be the sound of the defense alarm blaring, and without any additional warning, something breaks through the center of the city. This will first be punctuated by the sounds of the building around them crumbling, followed by the clear visual of the large serpentine creature they’ve encountered in the desert. The large sand worm doesn’t even pause to regain its bearings. As soon as it recognizes the presence of other organisms, it begins glowing a fluorescent shade in varying indefinable colors—

Thanks to the updates on the oculars, there will no longer be hallucinations that follow any contact with the worm, however, if one stares too long, they will still be met with splitting headaches and a pressing sense of agitation, so Outsiders are cautioned against prolonged exposure. That said, it won’t always be easy to take a breather against such a large creature.

█ █ █ MONSTER DEBRIEF SHEET
NAME: ALITTA VIRENS
HEIGHT: 400 metres
WEIGHT: 1,900,000 kg
CLASS: Extremely Dangerous
LOCATION: Las Vegas, USA
ABILITIES: Mind control. Although full details are UNKNOWN, its young can take control of human and animal hosts. Once under their control, the hosts will become aggressive and hungry for meat, which is theorized to feed and nourish the young worms until they are ready to emerge.
EXTRA NOTES: According to what the researchers have surmised, similar kaiju have appeared on a much smaller scale and are susceptible to water poisoning and electrical shocks. LILITH has not found a way to fully free the hosts from the parasite, but they can be stunned after receiving multiple electric shocks.

"
YAMAKAWA: Angels of LILITH, please be advised of your roles moving forward. With the city already infiltrated, we will need to be quick."

A brief is sent along with her message.

█ █ █ MISSION ROLES:

✖ GROUP ONE: Those who fulfill this role will need to be equipped with brute strength and the ability to survive the attacks in a city that is the midst of being destroyed. They will also need the stamina to keep the worm at bay as the others complete their tasks before also gathering to exterminate the kaiju.
✖ GROUP TWO: With strong mental fortitude, these individuals will be expected to clean up the group of controlled individuals; not all will be able to be saved, and the ability to make that distinction is imperative for this role. Those who appear too far gone will not be able to regain their senses. They will need to be killed.
✖ GROUP THREE: This group will be concentrated on being able to property evacuate the citizens that remain in the city of Las Vegas. Preferably those who are quick on their feet, or are able to stealthily circumvent the dangers in the city in order to get the people to safety would be ideal for this role.
✖ GROUP FOUR: Those with support skills or a medical background will be expected to assist those in the other groups, whether by healing, additional abilities, or by assisting the other groups as needed.

Note: Roles can be decided by the characters themselves as to what they figure is appropriate and most fitted to their skill set. Everyone will eventually fight the worm (so this does not affect the fight mechanics of the worm itself) and people can also jump from one role to another.

▶ 004. LET'S WRAP UP.

The areas the worm has traversed leaves the ground above it weak and unsteady. Due in part to this, those who have evacuated will need to remain in the shelter until further notice. As a result, it’s up to the Outsiders to clean up the city. Aside from the large gaping hole in the center of the city that they can’t address immediately, they are first expected to get rid of the carcasses of the larvae.

Each Outsider will be provided with a suit and will even be given hover packs to scale down the side of these large holes. They will also be given traditional ropes and lines for those who want to get creative with scaling, or who simply didn’t make it there quickly enough to grab a hover pack (with the destruction to the city, some supplies are still in transit). They will be expected to review each carcass and tag which ones can be sent to the lab for further review, and which should simply be discarded as being unusable.

A coordinated effort is needed to adequately dispose of the largest kaiju. The alitta virens will need to be cut into several thousands of pieces, and so work needs to begin immediately. It’s not like the people can return to everyday life with a giant serpent-like entity laying on top of their city. Outsiders should be particularly cautious with it; even when dead, as it still seems to have strange tendrils inside of its body that appear to be writhing even after its death.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our third kaiju log!
Feel free to NPC your characters' fights with the smaller kaijus. The main fight with the largest one will be determined via a HP-based system (See below). Feel free to ask any other questions below!

All tags on this log are worth 2 points.

EVENT BREAKDOWN (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. POSITIVE THINKING: LILITH has updated everyone's implants and encourage them to think of their happiest thoughts to give the technology the mental boost they need. Some characters may feel high or giddy and want to express their happy memories to someone else.

2. BREACH OF THE CITY: The worm larvae have a parasitic nature and are taking over the bodies of civilians. Outsiders are tasks to seek out those affected, killing worm larvae or civilians with parasites who are beyond help.

3. WORM ON THE MIND: The largest worm breaks through the ground in the heart of the city and Outsiders are encouraged to attack within their arranged group.

4. LET'S WRAP UP: After the sandworm monster is killed, Outsiders will be tasked with clean up efforts.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ramune?

[ She has no idea who this man is or why he's talking to her (well, because she's there, perhaps), but it's not the kind of conversation Gebura would pivot and walk away from immediately, so she lingers.

There's not much else to do and she hasn't exactly pinpointed her own happy thoughts yet. Things like that weren't the easiest to come by, but she doesn't see a need in feeling depressed about it either. ]

Is that some kind of snack?

A drink. Usually citrussy. Though I've had ramune flavoured candies too.

( He doesn't exactly know what's inspiring him to talk, only that there's a strange warmth filtering through his body as he does so, a bubbling ease that loosens his tongue. )

I had a friend that would try to find the most bizarre flavours he could get his hands on. It got so bad he had to trick us into trying them. The takoyaki one was one of the worst. They're fizzy, and you don't expect them to taste like octopus.

( He pulls a face, almost boyish. )

Maybe they don't even make them in the future. But I'd like to try and find some.

[ Octopus-flavored fizzy drink. Despite herself, Gebura's nose scrunches up just slightly, imagining it. But he said they were normally citrussy so maybe normal flavors exist and this friend of his is just insane.

... Not that she doesn't know a few people like that, herself. ]

I don't see why you couldn't find them, especially if you can ask for them by name. Worse comes to worst, you maybe find them being sold for more than they're worth.

[ Wouldn't be the first time. ]

Or figure out a way to make your own, though that'd probably be a pain.

Hm. I'm sure there's a knack to it. And it would probably require equipment. I don't know how to carbonise anything, do you?

( It wouldn't hurt to find out if any of their number could. He's already been thinking about how he might lessen his interactions with humans. He avoids the cafeteria as a point of pride, though he's not sure surviving off of cup noodles is any better. He can cook a little though, but making his own beverages? That's new.

He files it away for now either way. )

I hadn't done much shopping before we were brought here, but the stores mostly looked the same. I hold out hope there isn't a black market for snacks anyway. I might have to get a job if there is. ( A twitch of a smile. ) But no, I was just trying what LILITH suggested. It's funny, what comes to mind then.

It wasn't my area of expertise or anything [ truly, so very far from it ] but I don't see why there wouldn't be some kind of source of information lying around here somewhere.

Either way, you're talking about the happy memory thing, huh? It's not the best thing to say I can't think of much, I know, but...

[ She shrugs. ]

Well, they clearly don't have to be spectacular if mine involves ... candy?

( It's more than that, he knows. It's Shoko and Satoru and the hazy warmth of summer. It just makes him feel better, narrowing it down to something that does not hurt to think of. )

And I still think we'll win the fight even if we can't come up with too many positive memories. It probably doesn't have much of an effect.

Did you have a rough time with it earlier? I imagine the people who were lured in by it in the first place probably need to focus more on that kind of preventative measure.

[ And Gebura was fine, but you know. She's aware even the ones who seemed tough did actually succumb to it, so it's not just that. ]

... Also, in your case, it seemed to be more the memories with your friends that the ramune talk brought about, more than the flavor itself.

No, but I had to rescue a few people who were under it's spell. I don't exactly want it to use those same tricks on me.

( Because he's trying very hard to control how people perceive him here, any lapse in that might actually make him lose it. Which is why when she brings up the fact that it might be the people he misses and not ... sugar he has to pull a little face, almost petulant. )

Ah, bittersweet then. Though I suppose we all must hold our teenage years in hazy fondness. Do you think you'll try what LILITH recommends?

[ She pulls a little face of her own, because her teenage years weren't exactly fond for her. Or maybe it's just at his question; it's difficult to tell. ]

If you mean drawing on the happier memories, that's hard to say. I'd be fine thinking about what I'm looking forward to more than anything; at this point, I'm pretty sick of this place.

[ And how many times she's had to scruff people, either because of their alcohol adventures or their worm problems. ]

If we actually get to fight that kaiju this time, I'd consider that a nice workout, too.

Not a fan of Vegas? Or is it just the desert?

( He doesn't like this place either, which is reasonably funny. He hadn't been fully fond of Tokyo too, if only because it was so strange yet so similar. He'd prefer it to this place in a heartbeat though. )

Hopefully we deal with the worm, we leave the people to clear up their own mess. I don't mind fighting, but I'm not here for handholding.

( And he hates people, so. )

Have you fought many since you've been here?

Kaiju or people? There were some pig-like ones earlier last month and that was at least something. As for people, the ones in Vegas who got all hostile for no reason, I knocked out a couple. I'm not much for hand-holding, either.

[ And it sucked. Like, at least she could kill the ones who tried to kill her first, but these ones were just kind of... pitiful. And just raging mindlessly more than anything. ]

But yeah, as much as I enjoy a good place to drink or have a smoke, this place is too... glitzy and gaudy for me. I didn't exactly grow up in a fancy place or anything like that.

Ah. Well, they deserved it.

( Funny, the different kinds of people he runs into here. Geto certainly got read the riot act for dealing with the crazy monkeys along the Vegas Strip. Then again, maybe that was the vicious glee in which he approached it. The mania isn't quite here right now though, he's doing his best at the zen approach.

Which means pleasant conversation with someone he's assuming is human. He's very good at pretending. )

Oh? Where are you from? I'm a little of the same. I came from somewhere smaller. But then I moved to Tokyo to attend a school and never truly lost the city living in me. I don't mind it as much back at base. But this is a little hm, gaudy's the right word for it.

[ He could be spared some effort if he just asked her, tbh-- ]

The Backstreets--I guess you'd call them something like the slums of the City. Never went to school or anything like that, just survived long enough to know I couldn't keep relying on luck and started learning how to survive on my own terms. And after I... [ hm ] ... Unlocked my potential, I guess, that got even easier.

But even when I could take better care of myself, I never really traveled all that far. Neo Tokyo itself, though, I'm used to at this point. Just your average city, probably even a little nicer than the one I knew.

It's bright, I'll give it that.

( Though her story has him a little curious. There's not exactly a way to ask without just throwing himself bullheaded into the topic. ) It's interesting, isn't it? How LILITH chooses people to come here from world's that have similar problems. It makes sense, of course. You don't want soldiers who don't know how to fight. But as of yet I've not met anyone who fell through the cracks. They must run a tight ship.

It means they're desperate, but experienced. Ideally not because they've messed it up before, though I have to admit, not everyone they've brought is used to combat.

[ Like, why they brought Yesod and Netzach from before the Library... she has no idea why. ]

Either way, I'm not exactly willing to trust another organization anytime soon; it's never entirely what they claim.

So there is some fallacy there?

( He wishes he had the answers. Not entirely because they'd be useful, he just doesn't like the unknown. It's always something he's missing that gets him caught in the end. )

Why don't you trust them? Despite the obvious reason of indenture?

If they were going to give us implants, don't you think there's something off about them doing it before giving us the rundown? You wake up and it's already done. And is everyone really okay with being here to focus on saving humanity?

I've dealt with things trying to sway my mind in one direction before. I know the way things feel off. This isn't to that extent, but it's still there.

( It isn't anything he hasn't thought about himself. But he still hums as though he's giving it great thought. )

Ah, the thing about enslavement is you're not supposed to have a choice. There's the illusion of it only so we don't see LILITH as a common enemy. It's much easier to amass help if you're being oppressed together, and they mustn't want that. ( He wonders if the looming headache is imaginary or not. The perceived threat. ) I certainly don't mind hunting monsters though.

( He just doesn't care about people.

... Though thinking on it, he wonders why he keeps helping. Irritation creases his features, a momentary lapse. )

Well, we can't remove them. At least not safely. Or if we can I don't wish to be the experimental one.

I wouldn't mind, but I'd like to learn more about the situation first before I risk it.

And if nothing else, looks like we're both equipped to deal with hunting monsters.

[ A shrug. ] And I'm fine with that.

Not too attached to your eyes?

( Well, it's her funeral. )

Thankfully, yes. The kaiju are a little different from what I'm used to but it's fairly easy to adapt and overcome. At least they seem fairly stupid. Brute strength works.

[ In response, Gebura lightly taps the scar running from the top of her right eye to the bottom of it, curving towards her cheek. Unlike the other eye, a golden iris, this one is grey. ]

There were more important things. There are always more important things.

[ So no, not terribly attached. ]

But I'd agree with that. At least these ones stay dead. Brute strength does go a long way.

Ah.

( He thinks of an arm, torn off before he had even arrived, sewn back on by LILITH's ways. He doesn't think he'd be in much of a rush to repeat the trauma but then what does he know. )

It does. Though I do wish we had been better outfitted besides just positive thinking and whatever we have to hand.

From what I've heard, you can acquire different kinds of weapons here. Though not being presented with them at the start might make things harder for some people.

It's a lot of work for little reward.

( Especially when they're fighting on LILITH's behest. Even when he sent other members of his family out on missions he'd make sure to run through it with them mentally first. There's too wide a margin of error here. )

Especially when they apparently have the weaponry in the first place, but ah, who am I to question the whims of the gods? ( A little snide, like he doesn't actually consider them in good faith. ) Oh well, it's not like we can complain.

[ A snort. ]

I'm the last person to want to put my faith in something like that, believe me. If you're trying to be polite for my sake, don't bother.

[ She's not exactly delicate. ]

▶ 001. POSITIVE THINKING.

▶ 002. BREACH OF THE CITY.

▶ 003. WORM ON THE MIND.

▶ 004. LET'S WRAP UP.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

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