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

[gorb]

( That has Geto laughing, a rueful shake of his head. )

Perhaps that's Brimstones' signifier then. A dislike of the general populace. My daughters' referred to it as being terribly picky, but I think it's more discerning. People have to earn their place. I won't take your dislike to heart, Silco-san, I understand it a little.

( He appreciates a man who understands a hard call either way. )

[frostfist]

[ not their ☕🇲..............wao.

This would be the perfect opportunity to come clean about his background: how he was picked off the streets as an abandoned baby and raised to be sold, how he murdered his foster parents and then got shipped off to jail only to rise through the ranks and become its administrator. Truly an inspiring tale....

If only he could be bothered to tell it. Alas, Hiyori WILL have to work harder to unlock the Deep Lore.

Though maybe she can tell that there's something going on back there from the way his gaze flits away for a brief moment, expression dimming. ]

I just think it's important to fight for what you believe in. Most people aren't in a position where they can easily change their circumstances so...I figured I might as well step up. I didn't really have much else going on at the time.

[ Prison is boring, man.....0/10 experience, would not recommend. He peers back at Hiyori. ]

Surely you can say the same though. It's not exactly easy becoming a doctor.

[fastpaced]

Where there's a will, there's a way! I think I could run up there if I got a good start.

[ he rubs his chin - then, after a moment's contemplation, glances over at Tezcatlipoca. ]

You're a god, right? Got any powers of divine flight?

[ that seems like a normal thing for a god to be able to do. ]

[zauneyete]

Oh no. Burning down all the places where the creature could hide?

[ He asked, and looked up at the trees. ] Here? It's far too wet to burn. Trust me, I know exactly how much or how little it takes. I've been smoking since I was a boy.

[ How old? God, we're not going to make up an age but young™. After all, he was a kid working the mines, let's not imagine how many bad habits he got back then. ]

Don't worry, my cigar would be a minuscule spark, were I to be careless, and if there is anything you should know about me — I am not.

[ Sure, his tantrum on the flight might speak that he is, but no, Silco is just stubborn, and bull-headed, and refuses to accept when he is wrong. But careless? Never. ]

[busternaut]

[Dearka makes a choking noise, staring at him in disbelief.]

They have to wait until they're 21? Are you shitting me? No way that's true.

[blastedass]

And you're not able to turn the world into a utopia to remove negative thought.

[It's not the same as brainwashing all humanity into blissful compliance, but it's even more difficult to make a world that's perfect for everyone. Seems the gods in Yato's world are always one step behind, cleaning up the monsters that were born, but never having enough time to prevent them from being born in the first place. How ironic. Heroes are often forced into the reactive role, since predicting where villains would be or crime would occur is extremely difficult.]

There's a guy named Raidou Kuzunoha in Everlight. He wasn't able to bring any of his summons with him, but found out he could form contracts with certain Outsiders as a sort of stand-in. You should contact him and ask. Maybe there's a similarity between shinki and summon.

[It's certainly not a replacement, but it's always bothered Bakugo that some people were brought here with their powers nerfed or their summons/tech limited, but other people were completely stripped of what made them strong fighters back home.]

[zauneyete]

They tend to make up their own reasons for why things are, don't they?

[ Weird. Vague way to refer to either Geto's daughters — or daughters in general! — Silco the ever-secretive does not elaborate. lmao.

Though Geto's a smart guy. ]

I agree with you, actually. Even amongst us outsiders, hm? I wonder if the lot of them are used to earning anything.

[ Well. He has opinions about people with power. Don't worry about it. It' can't possibly be weird or messed up. ]

[yuwon]

[ akin to the book he wedged neatly between the others at the bookstore; he can see the same desire of perfection here. or at least, a thoroughness that not everyone possessed. he can tell each of bakugo's movements when cooking is methodical, even the way he stirs up the ingredients in the pot.

it makes for it's own entertainment, aside from the pepper he's been plopping into his mouth. he reaches for a second, even dipping it in some extra sauce they were given on the side, he then holds it out for bakugo. ] It's good with the sauce. [ but, he also gets not everyone wants to eat an entire pepper. that said, maybe it's good he's then distracted with the task of the cheese. ] I'll use what we have then.

[ before that: ] Do you cook on base often?

[gorb]

They do, but who can blame them? It's the right of the young.

( Says the twenty-seven year old, like he is somehow ancient. )

Thankfully I've only truly run in to the people who understand a purpose, who have to fight for it. But I keep myself to myself, I imagine the kind you're talking about are out there. Probably in Everlight. ( Not Itadori though, good boy that he is. )

[blastedass]

[if he's going to do something, he's going to give it the best of his ability and earn the perfect results he strives for. plus there's a silent not!intention to impress yuwon, but no one is aware of that, right? who the hell knows if this man's ever had someone cook for or with him? he sounds like he's come from a very lonely, or at least solo, background. yet it's nice to know yuwon's not a slouch in the kitchen. he has his own skills, knowing the ingredients and how the dish cooks them.

bakugo blinks when the pepper's offered to him. seriously? there's a difference between chopping them up and cooking them... and eating one like a damn shrimp in sauce. but he leans in and bites it, pulling the pepper out of yuwon's hand and the rest of the way into his mouth. crunching, but tasting, he samples it with the sauce and, with the use of his tongue, a moment raw. hn. that's... not something he would've ever done on his own, but-] Not bad. When'd you learn to use the sauce?

[Bakugo adds few more items and stirs it once the cheese is dotted in. The meat needs another minute or so before it's ready to be served.]

Aa. I don't go out to eat much. [he'd rather cook his own food and know what goes into what he's putting in his mouth. it's cheaper and better for him to monitor his health. besides, as yuwon found out just now, bakugo's friends can successfully wrangle him into eating out.]

[wwtd]

[ inspiring, maybe, after a fashion??? scary, though, too.

since she's practiced in the art of paying attention to others, him looking away with a far more somber air around him doesn't escape her. her stomach drops uncomfortably and some things click together all too late.

he worked in a prison. boxing was picked up in self-defense. he competed. not as an athlete. with other prisoners? was he a prisoner...? she was under the impression he might've been a guard. but with a username like "duke"? ]

Eh? [ she's so focused on wriothesley, she's shocked he turns it back on her. ] Oh, um. No, I guess not. [ but she had a supportive family and supportive friends. that made it easier. she fought to get where she was because it was what she wanted. it is important to fight for what you believe in, but this begs the question: ]

Hey, Wriothesley, what do you believe in...?

[frostfist]

[ Ain't that the million dollar question. But he doesn't shy away from it, having spent far too much of his life contemplating it in one form or another. His gaze shifts back to hers, a little upward tilt forming at the corners of his lips. He gives Hiyori a little half-shrug, one shoulder lifting and then dropping. ]

Just that everyone deserves to live a peaceful life free of fear. Nothing too complicated.

[ The faint smile drops, replaced by another frown. ]

Though I suppose that's easier said than done here.

[curingidiocy]

[ A creation god. There's so much Ratio wants to ask, but now isn't the time for scientific inquiries. ]

It is most certainly not by choice that the summoned have found their strength limited. If it was a matter of concentrating their resources on one powerful individual, they would have done that already. However, they've opted to call upon a number of people for aid. That suggests a bottleneck in their technology's ability to replicate an individual's full strength.

[ He's already personally confirmed a loss of control over Imaginary energy past a certain threshold, which could either be due to the link he maintains with his home world through LILITH's technology, or the universe itself having some sort of limitation that doesn't exist back home. It's hard to say which it is without getting his hands on LILITH's technology himself. ]

[wwtd]

[ as soon as it's out of her mouth, she questions if that wasn't too heavy a question to ask. as ever though, wrio takes it in stride like most things she's tossed at him. she's at least happier to see him not look so down in the dumps.

a small smile tugs at her mouth, too. he's right. they do. but it makes her wonder if his life wasn't peaceful and free of fear to believe in such a thing. like yukine. like yato. ]

Yeah, but that's why we're here. [ hiyori punches her open palm, suddenly fiery with determination. ] So we have to do it. Somehow.

[ yeah. WE. ]

[coordination]

It is! I think it bumps down to twenty in a couple of countries, but overall...

[ He idly swirls around the soju in his cup. ]

I'm sure plenty of them don't wait until then.

[intertwinedfates]

Nope, that's up to humans to do. Which means it may never happen, but we can still watch over them as they work towards a better world.

[It does seem that no matter the world, all the side of good can do is stay prepared and respond to outbreaks of trouble, be it from humans, villains, or ayakashi. Maybe someday there will be enough heroes and gods to launch preventive measures, but for now all they can do is maintain the status quo and work to keep the peace as best they're able. Definitely not ideal in a world this troubled, but what can they do?]

Oh, I know Raidou! I didn't realize he had that kind of connection with the supernatural, though. I'll have to hit him up and see how that kind of thing works for him.

[If they could combine their powers somehow, perhaps that would enable them to fight more efficiently? It's certainly worth a thought, that's for sure.]

[immortalpoet]

[He wishes strangling could be implemented in this game.]

...Homeless. [H uh] Where do we get these...bobbles, anyways. Selling apples nonstop?

[And


it is raining now and this is only adding to the grumpiness of this avatar, here. More bedraggled wet dog energy.]

[transmit]

[ The laugh lines are back… Elysium's trying to cope…

This really was a mistake. ]

Weeeeeeell… not entirely. We do have a tent.

[ The net and apple goes into his pockets. Out comes a miniature tent that he holds above his head—and as he places it down in front of them, it expands to one fully capable of housing their two avatars. There's no what if we put our Minecraft beds next to each other—the sleeping bags are already laid out as so. ]

But, yeah. Two-hundred fifty apples or whatever else we can get our hands on. [ why is this so grim ] If you want to progress the day, all we have to do is get into the tent and maybe there'll be better weather waiting for us tomorrow?

[immortalpoet]

A shame, indeed.

[But he shrugs.]

Then again...I don't think you'd make many friends, if you were big and scary. Tradeoffs.

[fursuit]

[ He nods, since he has more insight on this than most. Or at the very least, he feels like he does. ]

Yeah, that’s what I assume’s the case. Which, fair enough. Just usin’ myself as an example, you’d need the powers of a god to be able to replicate what I can do at home, even in this limited form. So, naturally, humans can’t do that. If they could, wouldn’t need us.

[ He grins just a little playfully, since he imagines that sharing this one little tidbit could make Ratio’s head spin. For a rational guy like him that’s studying the universe and the betterment of humanity, what Tezcatlipoca is capable of is the kind of thing that a rational person would assume is impossible. That’s the benefit of being a god, of course. ]

Can toy with probability, as just one example. If we were to lose a fight [ lmao ], I could just say “nope”, and boom, we’ve won it instead. My Authority is essentially unmatched even among all the gods of the world.

[vorous]

_{[ Laios isn't sure how he feels to be treated like this. He's.. very perceived right now and it's definitely a strange feeling. It kind of reminds him of his parents who tried to force him to be a certain way, act a certain way, dress a certain way.. but Laios finds that even if this should make him uncomfortable, having Kabru look at him like this is.. alright. He doesn't feel stressed about it. He even blushes a little bit. ]}

Um..
It looks good? I hope. I like the way it feels.

[vorous]

_{[ Sometimes, the way that Godzilla talks, reminds him of the Winged Lion (uh oh.) But it's good knowledge. He can imagine the kaiju is probably really old and knows a lot of stuff from being on the planet. His eyes look into the fire for a moment. Will he go back home with the mind computer still there? ]}

Yeah.. you're right. I should be spending my time looking up stuff about being a king rather than editing Wikipedia.

_{[ BUT EDITING WIKIPEDIA IS SO FUN. ]}

[yuwon]

[ it's odd in a sense. within the confines of the tower, despite being brought into it like many others were through the process of the "tutorial," it was easy to feel ostracised simply from not being born within it. especially, when everyone came from different worlds, or from entirely separate backgrounds. hence, the number of people in which one could relate with was rare. even rarer in that he could share a part of even his past with someone.

yet, they do so... easily here in south korea. he's not nearly sentimental enough to consider this home by any real measure, he does have a fondness for the food, and it likely shows even in his seemingly curt nod, or the touch of humor on his features. ] A long time ago. Before the tower. Especially, because I tend to like rich flavors and oily food. [ so he did like the food in the murim world a lot because of that.

alternatively, bakugo trusting only in what he himself cooks kind of made sense, too. ] Makes sense. You do seem like you want things a certain way. [ not in so much a picky way as it is in a more methodical, conscientious way. ]

[blastedass]

It won't ever happen. There's always going to be people wanting more.

[He won't deny there might come a time where people get the better world, but an improved world doesn't mean the inherent selfishness and pride in human beings would vanish. People will always want more, better, improvement, and the problem comes when they don't stop or think in getting it. Generally people are decent, but...

Bakugo knows far too much how responsive heroes have to be. Ready and waiting, prepared to go when a villain or disaster strikes. Predicting and stopping the potential break isn't impossible. There are plenty they've prevented simply by being around, the heroes' mere presence daunting villainy. Yet there are villains who haunt the heroes, the shades of the past and what if's in the future to lurk around them and force their vigilance. The status quo, working towards an ever-better status quo, is the world he wants to reach and maintain as best he can.]

Aa. If he gets mad at me for telling you, he can deal with it.

[But if both Raidou and Yato were able to form a powerful pair in battle, then he'll accept the summoner's momentary miff at him.]

[frostfist]

[ the power of WE-AMWORK……(no)

But Hiyori's upbeat and determined nature go quite a ways in pushing the frown off his face again. ]

Somehow. Very inspiring. [ Said dryly. No, he's kidding though. ] Guess we better get to work then if we want to accomplish that. Somehow.

[ i handwave the rest of this so we can both move on with our lives ]