TRAVEL LOG #2

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #2

CONTENT WARNINGS: natural disaster, acid rain, vehicle crash.

▶ 001. WINGING IT.

In the early morning hours of the 1st, Outsiders will receive a rude awakening blaring through their implants. No matter what they do, the alarm will not stop sounding until they are forced to get up. A message will flash through their vision:

ALL OUTSIDERS ARE TO REPORT TO THE HANGAR IMMEDIATELY FOR DEPARTURE

Get up, get dressed in your plugsuit, and it’s time to go! Once they report at the hangar, they will be met with a huge spacecraft, large enough to fit at least 80 people. This will be their mode of transport to their next location.

"My Angels of Lilith. You are needed once again. We have received distress signals from the neighbouring country of South Korea. Unfortunately, since we have not established data portals in that country, we require you to embark via air. Your aircraft is ready for you and your seats have been assigned. I bid you a safe journey."

True enough, there are more than enough seats on the LILITH SKY CRUISER to accommodate every Outsider, and to get everyone organized quickly for departure, all Outsiders will receive a seat number. Like any plane, seats are rather cramped and there isn’t much leg room. Once the seatbelt sign is off, Outsiders are free to stand up and move around the cruiser, but they might have to climb over other people or make the whole row stand up to give them room. The aircraft is serviced by robotic stewards serving light snacks of nuts and crackers, and coconut crab kimbap and seaweed soup at meal time. Any characters who use a cloaking device will be instructed to use it during the flight to accommodate the aircraft. Also, any characters who rely on a weapon or anything else (such as a Gundam), it will be loaded onto the cargo of the aircraft.

The flight will take about 2-3 hours. Outsiders may take a nap, chat or try the inflight entertainment available. This inflight entertainment is delivered through a virtual reality headset. Outsiders may pick a selection of AI movies of questionable quality, along with several virtual reality games. There are single player or multiplayer options available for every game.

Available games include:

• The Sims 30: One player gets to become the ‘god’ of a world and build houses or dictate the lives of other players and NPCs within the game as they see fit.
  
• Farm Crossing: A farming simulator game where players get to build and manage their own farms. Harvest your crops and tend to your animals! Impress the friendly villagers in the town with your beautiful ranch!
  
• Tales of Heroes: A fantasy game where players are reborn into a world of monsters and magic and have to level up by fighting monsters and slaying demons.
  
• And many more … (Feel free to design your own VR games.)

Eventually, the sky cruiser will touch down on Incheon Airport. There’s no need to be stuck waiting in line at immigration... it appears as if the Incheon Airport has not been used in decades and seems completely abandoned with the exception of the Outsiders. The old scanning machines and luggage belts are simply collecting dust. Outsiders will be ushered immediately to the nearest train station, where they will continue their journey by train.

▶ 002. WELCOME TO SEOUL.

Once descended from the train ride, they will have arrived in the city of Seoul, South Korea. Similar to Neo Tokyo, a lot of the people on the outskirts moved to this area in order to receive shelter and the benefits of being amongst civilization, rather than fending for themselves. As such, there is a certain hustle and bustle, but considering the state of their dilapidated airports and most of the other cities falling to ruin, there definitely is a more somber vibe to the city. Despite that, the residents carry on and there is no shortage of shopping, food stalls (mostly with foods that are not easy to perish), cafes, pojangmacha to have a late night food or drink at, and many more smaller businesses. The people are resilient and have every single desire to continue making a living. As such the prices here are competitive and Outsiders will find if they look hard enough, there are some fairly good deals to be made. Currency exchange is no issue, as KRYPTOS is the universal currency.

Since a lot of efforts were made to keep Seoul intact, there are still some important sights that were kept up and can be visited if desired. While LILITH urges people to keep their eyes peeled out for any clues to the next kaiju’s whereabouts, Seok Dang may or may not have sent each Outsider a map of the best sightseeing amongst many other not-so-innocent suggestions. He calls it the difference of experiences and “doesn’t want anyone missing out!” If people check back on the message a day later, they will find it was almost as if it didn’t exist at all. On the list, however, includes sights like the Gyeongbokgung Palace, COEX mall and aquarium, Seoul Sky, and many others. However, some of them may or may not exist anymore. How long was he out of the country for? For an extra “freebie” he throws in, Outsiders will find an odd message on their style upgrade saying there is a new outfit available, when opened, it will download a hanbok that they can wear at any time.

"Well, well. Unfortunately, whatever fun could have been planned will need to be halted just a mere two and a half days to get settled. Once again, a message will be produced on everyone’s oculars suggesting an emergency is on the horizon. Guess we better get to that instead of showing you my home country!"

And Seok Dang wonders why he is the Commander's least favorite.

Beep! An alert pops up on the Outsiders' ocular devices. According to the information LILITH just received, there is not just one large kaiju occupying this region, but two. In order to chase both of these leads, Outsiders are split into two groups in order to chase these two kaiju. They have described these kaiju as being very agile and fast, but resembling a serpent from the few sightings that have been spotted. As for the rift that it originated from, there is no sign of a rift in South Korea. Did it migrate here from somewhere else? More details will pour into the Outsider's devices as soon as possible, but for now, Outsiders are called to pursue the hunt.

▶ 003. TEAM SEOUL.
_{EVERLIGHT & REDEMPTION}

Within the next hour, rain will begin to fall upon the city, but this is far from the average summer shower. The precipitation doesn’t seem weather-related as much as it does seem to be a proponent of the kaiju’s abilities. They find this when studying the rain itself, which is acidic to the touch. While the buildings and other structures will remain sound, the people will need to evacuate quickly in order to avoid any lingering effects to the skin. Skin contact with the acid rain will cause both minor and severe burning, depending on how quickly it is rinsed off with normal water. At the first discovery of the acid rain's danger, Outsiders will be commanded to press a button on their plugsuit on the left shoulder, activating an invisible helmet to keep their heads and faces safe.

The Outsiders’ plug suits prevent them from receiving any damages from the rain, but that’s certainly not the case for everyone else. The first team, made up of the members of Everlight and Redemption are to prioritize the initial evacuation of the people, especially those who live slightly outside of the city limits of Seoul. They are the most vulnerable during crises like these and will need to be pulled from their homes, and those who live in the basement shelters will need to be pulled to one higher ground in case of potential flooding with the acid rain. Individuals who have skills in healing will also be called forth in order to tend to the injuries of those who are saved.

Between evacuation, there will also be tidbits of information provided to those on the team that remains in Seoul to check out specific locations in order to figure out more about this kaiju. The first location listed is Gyeongbokgung Palace. Outsiders that remain in Seoul will be utilizing that as their base. They are set to look at any remains the kaiju may have left behind. Any findings are commanded to be surrendered to LILITH. Emergency response of South Korea will use this palace as a safe haven, providing cots for sleeping overnight and other emergency supplies.

▶ 004. TEAM BUSAN.
_{BRIMSTONE & REVELATION}

The second team will depart via train on a journey to the city of Busan. The journey is expected to take 2 hours, and while there are comfortable seats available on the train, any luxuries beyond that are minimal. At least LILITH has brought along a few VR headsets for whoever wants to kill time with games or bad movies? Anyone can sit where they'd like for this ride.

An hour into the trip, a loud crash is suddenly heard, with the entire train rocking and falling to its side. This causes a complete blackout throughout the train and it stops functioning completely, leaving Outsiders stranded within the pitch black tunnel. The train system is completely inoperable in this condition. Outsiders will need to make their own journey to the city, following the rails by foot and helping any Outsiders who happened to be injured in the crash. It’ll be dark within the tunnel, but light will soon emerge once they exit it, and they will find themselves at the foot of Mount Geumjeong.

From then on, they’ll need to put their trekking skills to the test and cross the mountainous, forested region, where they will encounter various local fauna such as snakes, deer and black bears. They will also spot many destroyed villages and temples on their way to Busan. However, evidence of the Kaiju can be found in both the subway tunnel and throughout the mountain trek, suggesting that the kaiju has moved through here. This encourages LILITH to keep Outsiders in this area. The Outsiders will need to make a campsite in one of the destroyed villages, though emergency response will also pay them a visit several days later with sleeping cots and emergency supplies. In the meantime, hopefully they brought enough food with them or know how to forage and hunt for food in the wilderness. Some of those berries out there are poisonous....

The team here will be encouraged to explore the area to find further traces of the kaiju and help any villagers who are still alive.

▶ 005. STATUS REPORT.

Promptly, at the same time, all Outsiders will receive a text message and be put in an encrypted chat-room: OPERATION: RED/BLUE
CODENAME:
LOCATION:
STATUS:
FINDINGS:
Outsiders are instructed to fill out this information and send it into the chat to communicate with one another.

▶ 006. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our second travel log!

Characters do have ASSIGNED SEATS for the duration of their flight to Incheon airport, though there are just enough empty seats that some characters can move around if they really don't like their seat buddies. Teams BRIMSTONE and REVELATION will be traveling to Busan, while teams EVERLIGHT and REDEMPTION will be staying in Seoul.

RNG below to discover what your character will find in both Seoul and Busan respectively. For the STATUS REPORT Prompt, treat it as an open chat room for all Outsiders and respond to the HEADER COMMENT. Feel free to threadjack and discuss among yourselves. You may also include this as a text prompt in your top level if you would like for people just to reply to you instead of using the header comment.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. WINGING IT: Characters are told to head to the hangar for DISPATCH to SOUTH KOREA where reports of a kaiju have been seen. Characters sit in their assigned seats for a short air travel ride.

2. WELCOME TO SEOUL: We arrive in Seoul and are given orders to split into two teams: Everlight & Redemption in Seoul, Brimstone & Revelation in Busan. Seok Dang has tried to sneak in some sight seeing in between mission briefs, but it looks like there won't be much time for that, as two kaiju have been found in South Korea.

3. TEAM SEOUL: Everlight & Redemption deal with acid rain in Seoul, ushering civilians to refuge, tending to acidic burns and using Gyeongbokgung Palace as a makeshift base. Investigation hints at the kaiju being somewhere in this area as Outsiders find claws, teeth, droppings and other things that belong to a dragon-like creature.

4. TEAM BUSAN: Brimstone & Revelation board a train to Busan which has an outage, trapping them to travel along the tunnel in the dark. They arrive at the end of the tunnel at the foot of Mount Geumjeong and create a makeshift base in the village there. Investigation hints at the kaiju being somewhere in this area as Outsiders find claws, teeth, droppings and other things that belong to a dragon-like creature.

5. STATUS REPORT: Outsiders are encouraged to share their findings and speculations on the kaiju in an encrypted chat room.

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Comments

[coordination]

[ Yzak's expression shifts into something more somber at that comment. Because it's very true, there are so many who he knew, friends and allies alike, who never made it off of a battlefield with him.

And for a time, Dearka was one of those people, as Yzak thought him dead for a good stretch of time. That, too, is why he understands how lucky he is that it wasn't he case, a near miracle that anyone would wish for when it comes to someone they cared about so much.

And being alone... well, he's been there too, even though he's lucky not to be there now. So he simply nods at Rover with an understanding. ]

I'm sorry to hear that. Familiarity of that sort is a definite comfort in a bullshit situation like the one we're all in. Helps adjusting to things much easier.

However, I'm sure you've found that there are many on this team more than willing to do what they can to make up for that. So if you ever have any questions or need something, I'll provide anything within in my power to.

[30storieshigh]

I will have to take you at your word on this.

[ He's never really been shot in a way that was anything other than Vaguely Annoying so he'll leave that to the experts. ]

Your kind is ill-suited for the desert, yes. It is pleasant in my judgement, one of the few places on land where I can rest undisturbed. [ It's kind of weird amphibian boy doesn't dry out hiding under sand banks but hey when did Godzilla make any scientific sense. ] Though an entire planet of sand would grow tiresome quite quickly. You have my sympathy for that.

[30storieshigh]

Hateful individuals are predisposed to continue spreading their hate, as they say. [ Godzilla really said "haters gonna hate". ]

There are few motivations greater than proving such individuals wrong. You must be a force worth reckoning with by your kind's standards.

[tokakujuho]

[ well, he likes to think being stockholm syndrom'd by his former schoolmates has made him immune to falling into the same trap with LILITH. ]

Yes.
If it's not too much trouble.

[uncourteous]

[ ... ]

What sort of meal do you typically enjoy?

[queenofkur]

S-Sort of...?

[ T-The audacity! And here she thought he wanted to comfort her. ]

It is absolutely terrifying and bone-chilling, I'll have you know!

[photosympathies]

Oh, actually I guess that makes sense. We have some worms that are your size. Your other size, and they mostly get left alone.

( Unless they're disturbed by hunters, but having been swallowed by a worm himself Vash is finding it a little hard to sympathise with the creatures. He's always more fond of humans anyway, they inspire that in him. Wisely, he doesn't bring this up to Mr. Lizard, maybe he'd feel an affinity with Zazzie. ) And thanks, it's not so bad though! People have adapted! Lots of towns about, so you get to brush off the dust every now and again.

( He likes Neo Tokyo, but it's a little strange to feel homesick for No Man's Land. )

What about pizza? Have you ever tried that?

[immortalpoet]

There are Whales where I come from that are sea-bound cetacean monstrosities hundreds of feet long, who swallow ships whole and whose secretions and membranes dissolve men into shambling corpses and make them do their bidding. Can you do that?

[immortalpoet]

It was your first mistake in looking at me and thinking I was anywhere near "wholesome".

[Like, seriously.]

[He will let him go, folding his arms with a little grimace.]

Which objective do you want?

[lifeprice]

I don't think it would matter that much to them.

[ It's more like Denji and Tsurumaru might complain. Aki peers into one of the train carriages with a sigh. ]

[immortalpoet]

[Yeah, he can tell you're checking out, man.]

...So. A monk like you. Do you actually pray?

[gorb]

No.

( It's not like he's going to get in trouble with his own following here. It's not like he's doing anything beyond vaguely pretending. )

It's more I believe in the enlightenment part. Good living, doing your best to better society, all of that. ( Via murder. ) I had something I needed to do, being a temple leader helps that.

[immortalpoet]

And yet you didn't?

[Like. Just saying.]

....Are you going to go cook it? Don't tell me ghosts eat fish raw.

[siffriend]

[ He must be workshopping ideas... ]

Hm... I'll eat anything that's put in front of me, except pineapples and croissants... but I like more filling things. Breads, meats, stews... and I like sweet things, too, like desserts or snacks. Bonnie makes all kinds of things for us on the road, with what they've got and what we buy in towns, so I've tried a lot of stuff I never did before...

[ Or, at least, what they don't remember ever having. ]

... But I think... the sort of meal I enjoy the most, is one that someone likes and wants to share.

[gundemn]

Yeah, I thought so.

[ He facepalms with his uninjured hand when Dearka drags the answer out only to say he hasn't actually set an arm before. Elan's feeling not so fucking confident about letting him mess with his body, but it doesn't change his decision. Pragmatically, they're stranded in the middle of god knows where and he won't be seeing a real doctor anytime soon. He exhales and waves his good arm dismissively. ]

Just do it. It's not like you can make it much worse! Only watch that weird supersoldier strength of yours. I'd like to keep my arm, thanks!

Fjfkfkfjf oh my god...

[curingidiocy]

[ There's little point in guessing what abilities the Kaiju might have right now, considering they have no information on the creatures themselves. But mentally preparing for the possibility of such disruptive abilities would help them react faster.

And—right, their forces would be split up this time. Considering how few they are, it doesn't make Ratio feel at ease. He trusts in the strength of the Outsiders, but with so few Kaiju to compare to, he can't be sure the next one won't set a precedent in some way. ]

We will have to be cautious.

[ There's nothing else they can do for now. ]

[curingidiocy]

Imaginary energy is the fundamental building block of the universe. Clusters of the energy on a cosmic scale spawn star systems and planets along space-time. Thus, it is capable of transforming into any kind of matter or energy, provided you understand how to arrange the energy and how much is required to power the conversion.

[ His tone has taken on that of a lecturer, even though this explanation is too basic for his usual classes. ]

[immortalpoet]

A temple leader? Ah. So you had little...what are they called? Not lectures, assuredly. Homilies?

[what is religion]

[coordination]

[ His ongoing health and happiness... Being a Coordinator nearly assures the first thing. But happiness?

Well, this pleasantly surprising moment is happiness enough for Yzak. A literal and figurative light in an unknown darkness all around them, like a beacon of safety, of familiarity and comfort. Dearka is so often the source for those feelings, isn't he? Almost like a light himself that Yzak can be assured that he'll find no matter how lost and in the dark he may end up.

He likewise downs his drink, takes a moment to let the taste really hit him. Lowering his cup slightly, his eyebrows go up, impressed. ]

This is good. How the hell'd you manage to find this on such short notice?

[frostfist]

[ What the heck.

He's already tensing as she readies herself, heels digging into the (imaginary) floor in case he needs to drop to the ground or pivot. Wrestling and boxing are just different enough that he keeps an open mind to the type of hit she'll strike him with first, but thankfully her frame is small enough that he doesn't think she'll do any serious damage if she does hit him. Probably. Unless she's been hiding something or holding back on him all this time.

Still, all the open mindedness in the world doesn't prepare him for the fact that she actually shouts out a name - it's definitely the move name, right?? - and the surprise of it all has him ducking out of the way a hair slower than he normally would have. The toes of her (virtual) shoe graze his side.

Good job, Hiyori!!

He doesn't actually push back, mostly because he'd only asked for a demonstration and also because he has to ask one very pointed question first. ]

Do you usually shout out a name like that beforehand?

[gimu]

[ the little circles on his back are, in fact, very soothing, and yor’s instruction for continued existence work wonders for keeping all the things inside him inside. so, naturally, he doesn’t really want her to stop, but she’s been full of wisdom so far.

he makes a Noise, somewhere between a grunt and a wheeze. ]

I will manage. I can do it. I will be fine.

[ behold, the mantra of the suffering. ]

[hitokiller]

( y'know what. nevermind. who said this bitch could catch fish AND make fun of him?

time to toss the fish back into the river. right


NOW!!!!!!!!!


so hard the flesh and scales might as well slap off once it collides with the water's surface. )

1/2

[immortalpoet]

[Oh.]



[There goes his hard-caught fish. Back in the river. Wheeeeee.]

2/2 i'm so sorry

[immortalpoet]

[He comes over to Izou.]






[And in one quick move he's scrunching him by the collar and tossing him forward into the water, too.]

[hitokiller]

Wh—GETHOFF—

( but his scream is only a scream for a second.

it quickly warps into a wail as he goes sailing through the air, straight

into the water.

with a massive

splash

good fucking bye. )