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

[intertwinedfates]

You think so? That's kinda terrifying to imagine. [Given he's used to dealing with beings that don't directly affect the human world, the scale of destruction he's heard kaiju are capable of makes him worried for the people of Korea. But at least she's optimistic. Better to have a positive attitude than a negative one.

So he smiles a bit and nods.] They're a stubborn, determined bunch, that's for sure.

[If only people would stop fighting amongst themselves, it'd be even better.]

Yeah, amalgamations of negativity that incite humans to act on their harmful impulses. [Although that seems like nothing when she uses the term incinerated. She... can't really mean that, right??] People got toasted, like, literally? [So many different worlds out there with odd, horrifying circumstances.] How was one human able to fix something as major as that?

[queenofkur]

Amalgamations of negativity... [She nods. They don't have the same entities in her pantheon, but the idea is familiar.] Are you fighting them back?

[ She figures that's why he's fighting them back, right? But ah, oh no... She must explain her world now, doesn't she? And the incineration of humanity. What a nightmare...! ]

Yes and no. [A pause.] A Beast attacked humanity simultaneously by launching attacks in seven different key eras and locations. The result was the incineration of not only present-day humanity, but all humans who once lived or will live.

[ It's Fate/ lore, it's best not to question it lest you fall into a rabbit hole there is no coming back from. ]

Ritsuka was able to go to those eras to fix the damage with the help of heroic and divine spirits. [And she adds with a smile:] Like me!

[intertwinedfates]

I am! Along with the other gods of Japan. We work together and separately to keep the ayakashi down as much as possible, with a major cleansing taking place at the beginning of the year.

[While it's good to know the state of things for good or bad, there's something to be said about being able to talk about their successes. Though what her world went through seems like a massive loss, one that leaves him speechless for a moment.]

...damn. Makes my problems seem small by comparison. That's... a hell of a lot to try tackling, even for the prepared. None of the ayakashi we've faced have ever been capable of causing destruction on that kind of scale.

[Yeah, he's just gonna accept that it's a Bad Thing and move on from there No sense trying to twist his melon around it when it's fairly clear logic doesn't play a heavy part in the story. Thankfully it has a happy ending; that perks him up.]

That's incredible! You must make for one hell of a team together in order to be able to fix a tragedy like that. You're amazing, Ereshkigal.

[queenofkur]

[ He may think what she's saying makes his problems sound small, but quite at the contrary she thinks his work is impressive. Humanity is haunted by negative emotions and self-destructive tendencies. That he works to free them from entities that would encourage such behavior is very important. ]

Wow, you sound very coordinated!

[ The gods just aren't very coordinated any more in her era... Not that she ever worked with them to begin with, but that's a tad sad all things considered. She smiles confidently when he speaks of them being an amazing team. ]

W-Well, of course we do! Ritsuka and I are the best team there is. [Even if they only worked together on two missions so far, but details.] In fact I was supposed to be summoned by her, but I was summoned here instead.

[ Which made her sad at first, but she's gotten used to it. ]

[intertwinedfates]

[Truly, both of what they've accomplished is valuable in their own ways, to their own worlds. It's good to know there are other deities out there with similar goals of helping humanity rather than either sitting idly by or actively impeding their progress. And someone so nice, too!]

Heh, sometimes we are, sometimes not so much. But we each do our best and that's what matters!

[It sounds as though Ereshkigal and her human are truly close, which makes him beam at her, pleased that that's the case. It doesn't sound too different from how him and Yukine work together and are special to one another.]

I don't doubt that for a minute. [One would have to be to accomplish saving the world like that.] Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see her again, either when you go home or if she ends up here, too.

[At least, he has to have faith in that, otherwise his heart may break at the thought of never seeing Yukine again.]

[queenofkur]

[ Ah, to that Ereshkigal smiles brightly and sparkles. Speaking of her sweet little human is enough to make her happy. And she'll never pass on a chance to say how awesome and wonderful she is. ]

I know I will. [A pause.] She possesses the power to make the impossible come true.

[ Wait, maybe she should clarify... That makes it sound like she actually has a power that makes impossible things come true. That'd be a tad much. No, she has zero powers as a matter of fact. She's about as unremarkable as humans can be. And that's exactly what makes her so beautiful. ]

Well that's not a "power" per se... But the infinite potential of humanity shines so brightly through her. I have no doubt we will meet again.

[ ... Just not in that game, probably. ]

[intertwinedfates]

[In that regard they're both very much alike, wanting to sing the praises of their favorite person to any and all who might listen. Even from what little Yato's heard, he can fully believe Ereshkigal's words regarding her human's abilities. Humanity is impressive when given a chance to shine, after all.]

Truly a one-of-a-kind person, in that case. You're both very lucky to have one another.

[Truthfully, he wouldn't doubt it if there was a human being with such an ability. Both the best and worst of all beings shine through the prism of humanity to reveal what they're capable of. But even if Eresh's partner is as plain as can be, he knows what it's like to see them as the most splendid of all creation.]

Heh, don't worry, I get what you mean. Some humans just have a natural sparkle that makes them bright like beacons among their fellows. I've seen it a few times, myself. I hope it doesn't take too long for you to be reunited.

[He's infinitely grateful to have Hiyori here alongside him, so he knows Ereshkigal would like be just as happy to have her partner back, too.]

[queenofkur]

[ Ehehe, it seems he gets it totally. It's pretty rare for gods to get it usually... Just look at that annoying Tezcatlipoca! He doesn't get humans at all. Most gods in her time saw them as beneath gods... They saw her as ends to a mean.

For him to understand it so clearly, that can only mean: ]

You... You know a human like that, right?

[ It's so obvious! She wonders if his human is here though... ]

[intertwinedfates]

[She's right on the money about him knowing someone human like that, and it shows through his warm smile as he nods enthusiastically. Thankfully a fair number of gods from his world don't see humans as beneath them, unless it's perhaps as individuals in need of guidance and protection. Though that's hardly fair to them as well, seeing as so many are grown adults capable of living their lives without interference.]

I do. She's the most wonderful, inspiring person I know. So many times she's saved me, and while I've done the same for her, it feels like I'll never be able to live up to her strength and compassion. I want to try, though.

[There's an ever so slight hint of a blush to his cheeks as he speaks, detailing Hiyori's virtues. He just can't help himself when it comes to her. So yeah, he totally understands where she's coming from.]

[queenofkur]

[ Oh... Oh! She recognizes that looks and that tone when she sees it! That's the same way she is when she talks about her beloved little grape... Normally, she would argue they can never be together because a human needs someone who can grow old alongside them to be happy. But this is for herself because Ereshkigal is a professional at denying herself happiness.

Here? That's too adorable and she should encourage it! ]

She sounds wonderful.

[ She smiles brightly and marks a pause. ]

I know it may not be easy, but... [She closes her eyes.] You should tell her what you just told me. I think she would be really happy if she heard those words from you.

[intertwinedfates]

[Yato being something of an open book means Ereshkigal is right on the money with her guess, though he may be slightly reluctant to admit it outright despite actively trying to navigate the murky waters of Relationships with Hiyori. It's like if he gives voice to that fact, it might somehow spoil what they've achieved so far. Or maybe that's just his instinctive fear after having his father thwart his efforts left and right for a millennia.]

She really is.

[The most wonderful of all humans he's ever met, and that's saying something. Though he goes quiet at her suggestion, giving it serious thought.]

You... really think so? It wouldn't seem like too much or empty praises? [The last thing he wants to do is give off the wrong impression. But knowing Hiyori, she'd take his compliments as sincerely as he means them. But it's still nice to have someone's reassurance that it's the right thing to do.]

[queenofkur]

Absolutely.

[ Not a split second of hesitation here. It's cute how he is worried that she might misinterpret his words, and that's all the more proof that he truly means them. She's heard empty praises before, why, Nergal's shadow had showered her with them during his manipulation.

Even a good liar can't fake genuine love. And that's what she felt in his words. ]

If you say it to her the same way you did here, you have nothing to worry about.

[intertwinedfates]

Ah...

[That's one very fast vote of confidence! It's enough to take him momentarily by surprise, leaving him blinking before finally a smile creeps across his face. Somehow he feels like he can trust her words, like she knows what is necessary to make a heartfelt delivery of words of passion work.

Nodding, he can't help feeling enthusiasm for the idea bubbling up within.]

Yeah...! I'll do it--! I'll let her know as soon as we have a moment together. Thanks, Ereshkigal!