synflux | TRAVEL LOG #2

TRAVEL LOG #2

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ in the middle of them taking off for south korea, as the plane begins to lift into the air, maki will reel back her right leg--

--and deliver a hard stomp to the back of geto's seat.

because if they put her behind this asshole, she's going to run with it for flight entertainment. ]

( The minute she'd taken her seat is the minute that Geto's blood pressure had begun to skyrocket. It's not that he'd forgotten she was a part of LILITH's retinue, it's just that he likes to pretend otherwise. He's been doing better at that lately, playing mild-mannered and kinder than he ever is. But of course when there's old irritations lingering around that can hardly last.

The slowest rise of a hand, a middle finger offered through the gap between seats. )

[ bawhahaha ]

They have such a bad sense of humor putting us in striking distance. What were they thinking?

[ her voice is hushed and low so it's just between the two of them, even if it seems like the rest of this flight might end up being lively with all of them together like this. ]

( He thinks about ignoring her. It would be easy. Or it had been, when he was able to sneak in and out of his room like a delinquent and not see her in the hall. This is too close for comfort. )

Probably the same thing they were thinking when they brought you here. Why not? We're already practically neighbours.

( Maybe he could slip a mean curse under her door ... Now, there's a thought. )

[ send curses to her room and she'll send them back crying. ]

That's rude. We arrived at the same time. Do you think I was brought over just to torment you? [ A dark chuckle comes out, low and amused. ] Then again, I thought the same when I saw you alive and well. Guess we're both full of ourselves.

[ neither of them are that important in the long arc of history. they're failures of different colors. the only difference is she succeeded in killing all the people she hated, and he didn't. (killing a single clan vs most of humanity can't compare) ]

You were very low on my list of worries, actually.

( Mean with it, because out of all things he remains spiteful. Maki was just another knock, Geto spiralling after being so very close to death. Sometimes he touches the scar on his arm where it should be missing and thinks about LILITH's reasoning, but that's more to do with him than anything else. )

But I'm glad I have that effect on you. ( It's not very turning over a new leaf of him but, oh well. ) I should.

Hard to forget a guy who nearly killed me. [ Maki isn't so proud that she can't admit an obvious defeat. ] Not that you should gloat so much. I was a newbie who didn't even have a cursed technique. It's like gloating that you almost killed a cat.

I wouldn't kill a cat. They're cute.

( You know what's probably worse than having a guy who tried to kill you in your vicinity? Said guy being huffily offended. )

Now, a monkey ...

[ siiiiigh. ]

You're a broken record. [ this is so lame. ] Even my shit cousin could do better. Wanna call me a womb to be filled or that I'm a shit stain on my family? Throw in some insults about my looks?

( The heaviest of sighs, a singular glance backwards. )

No. For one, I have daughters and if anyone said that to them I'd hold the perpetrator down while they eviscerated them, for another your family are all terrible. The major clans generally are. They hide behind their prestige while the rest of us drown. My problems with you are actually nothing to do with who you are as a person.

( It makes sense to him, okay. )

It's what you represent.

[ daughters -- oh, those two annoying girls he rode in with a year ago? she just thought they were a couple dimwit groupies. that's one mystery that wasn't a mystery resolved. ]

What, not having cursed energy? Like that's my fault? [ and she'll give his seat another kick for that, lighter and childish compared to the hard stomp. ] Y'know, it's because my sister and I were twins. She's the one who got the cursed energy and a technique. I just got a stronger body for it.

Mimiko and Nanako are twins, so that's no excuse.

( Also they're better behaved? His irritated noise reaches new volume, uncaring for anyone around them. Shifting in his seat, Geto dearly thinks about throwing something at her. )

I suppose you are doing your part to make up for the problems your peers cause, but it's certainly not enough. I can't have exceptions, you know that.

( Parent murder, u feel. )

I'm not doing anything for anyone but me. [ and mai, who is truly part of her now. ] I don't care about your exceptions or your twisted ideology. You're wrong.

...

By the way, your daughters? They're weaklings.

[ she heard about their techniques in the aftermath and really? weak shit. whack. she could take them both easy. ]

( Anger lifts, sharp and bright. Geto stills even further in his seat. But it's there and then gone, killing intent snuffed out just as quickly. )

Brave, trying to pick a fight with everyone watching. I wouldn't expect anything less from a worm like you.

( Pleasantly, still pitched low enough to avoid being overheard. He thinks his seatmates are sleeping or otherwise occupied anyway. )

Scramble up the pecking order all you'd like, you'll never be anything real.

Aww, are you mad cause I insulted your girls? [ she's so smug and happy he's mad about it. ] I'm right though. I could beat them even if they ran at me at the same time. Their techniques aren't anything special.

[ maki is absolutely a juggernaut now, but she was no pushover before. she read the notes on his daughter's cursed techniques in the aftermath, as they were branded enemies of the school following geto's death. plus they didn't look like they did any strength training, which is typical of sorcerers really. ]

As if I'd let you. As if any of the family would.

( It's said with a certainty he can't really back up. He's no longer alive. He cannot possibly know what happens to them. But if there is a man wearing his body like an old coat then he should certainly be worried. )

It must be hard for you, seeing someone being loved. No wonder you're bitter.

[ if only maki knew that miguel said geto went to hell....... shame. ]

Yeah, yeah, nobody loved me growing up. Oh well. [ it does bristle her, because she always wanted her father's recognition and had to learn the hard way that it was never going to happen. then she killed him. ] You hate me for being a monkey. My family hated me for being a monkey. Now you're all dead and I'm still alive. Funny how it shakes out!

( Et tu, Miguel? )

It's nothing new. Jujutsu sorcerers have been dying for the likes of you for so long. Didn't you ever consider why I might have done the things I did? I had a reason for it.

[ oh, this should be good for a laugh ]

Ok. Tell me your reason, if it's so great and noble.

No more curses.

( Clear, concise. It's not a massive leap. )

I grew tired of my kind dying.

[ ???? ]

And how does killing non-sorcerers make that happen?

( Slowly, like she's very dumb. )

No non-shamans, no curses.

[ :/// ]

...Isn't this the thing Tsukumo wanted to do too? [ yeah, she remembers they chatted about it a little before the group reconvened after the shibuya incident. ] But hold on, she never said killing humans would get rid of curses. She's not a crazy person like you.

Mm. We spoke, once.

( A hum, mild and unconcerned. ) She told me it was either education or extermination. I only have time for one.

( And actually humans are TERRIBLE. )

Huh.

[ ok, she gets it now. she presses her foot against the back of his seat again, rocking it a little with a hum. ]

Yeah, you're just crazy. As I thought.

▶ 001. WINGING IT.

▶ 002. WELCOME TO SEOUL.

▶ 003. TEAM SEOUL.EVERLIGHT & REDEMPTION

▶ 004. TEAM BUSAN.BRIMSTONE & REVELATION

▶ 005. STATUS REPORT.

▶ 006. AFTERWORD.

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▶ 003. TEAM SEOUL.
_EVERLIGHT_&_REDEMPTION

▶ 004. TEAM BUSAN.
_BRIMSTONE_&_REVELATION