The decision has been made. LILITH Japan orders the Outsiders to mobilize to pursue the Imugi.
Given that they are in a foreign country, they are largely dependent on LILITH Koreaโs resources. In response to the decision, the Korean branch provides some assistance: the Outsiders are given just enough vehicles to help transport them, essential supplies, and only a few operatives to help guide them. This is the most the Korean branch is able to give, as they must focus on relocating people and restoring peace following the attack.
LILITH announces that the Imugi is currently resting near Gangneung on the east coast and they must move quickly. The effects of Rift poisoning will grow stronger as they approach the source; a sign that they are close to a kaiju. Upon reaching the mountains just outside the city, LILITH informs them that they are right on top of its location.
However, there is no Imugi to be found. After searching the area, Outsiders will discover the source of the trace and the poisoning: eggs. They will find about twelve eggs. When they report their findings, Seokdang will curse. In their rush, they had followed the wrong trace. They didnโt track down an injured and resting Imugi—they tracked down the Imugiโs nest. So where is the Imugi?
Not long after, Outsiders will receive an update on their implants: the Imugi reappeared in Seoul. After seeing the corpse of its mate, it went berserk and attacked the city again. While many of the citizens were evacuated to nearby Incheon and remaining shelters, just as many perished, with the death toll at 168,000 and rising. LILITHโs Korean base is destroyed.
The Imugi was last seen flying north, but the Korean government prohibits the Outsiders from pursuing it again through their territory. By choosing to pursue the kaiju, the Outsiders have abandoned humanity and thus will receive no further support. They are ordered to leave the country immediately.
LILITH Japan will order them to collect as many eggs as possible and continue to the abandoned city of Gangneung, where they will arrange pick up and return to base in Tokyo.
โถ AFTERWORD.
Thanks everyone for participating in our first major Event Decision! We hope you had fun discussing what to do both ICly and OOCly.
After failing to capture the second Imugi and also failing to save a large portion of Seoul's population, characters will be shipped back to Japan. The events of the TDM will springboard from there. Feel free to use this post to thread out any aftermath threads if you would like.
All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.
[ Aki had given chase, after all, and it doesn't seem as if Tsurumaru is happy about the idea of it. He's quiet for a moment, before he leans down with a sigh, eyes closed. ]
Or do you just need to get it out? Either one is fine.
[ Amidst the stunned silence, those are the first words she hears. And it doesn't take a genius to guess who they belong to. There is but one person she has talked to who has such callous disregard towards life, whose perceptions of humanity are so lacking in every way that matters. Not even Tezcatlipoca compares.
At least, she now can place a face on the man who murdered Quetzalcoatl. ]
Be silent, fiend. I will silence you if you spews any more poison.
The risk of them hatching is too high, or them ending up on the black market like other kaiju we've seen.
[ Aki is quiet, tense, frustratingly so, and he's feeling an emotional numbness that he can't quite deal with right now. He's used to death on a grand scale, thanks to devils, but even this is too much for him, and he doesn't quite know how to deal with it.
Focusing on a mission helps. ]
Especially with no base in Korea for the foreseeable future.
[ Aki is standing, cigarette held in his prosthetic hand, looking out at the ocean with a deadpan, closed-off expression on his face. He's used to death, too, but that doesn't make it that much easier. What he wants is a drink, but he doesn't imagine his usual drinking partners are up for it right now. ]
There might not be a Korea in the future regardless.
[ which is the ... worst case scenario. yes they're dealing with over a hundred thousand dead, but at least there's a possibility of survival no matter how slim the chances are, and recuperation, no matter how imperfect the odds are. but a kaiju mother who suddenly comes back to find her nest empty, and her partner dead ... in her experience, it bodes for something worse.
she just sighs, exhausted. whatever frustration that she has has left her. she's just tired. ]
... but there are risks, regardless, to this difficult situation. You also have a point.
Why do those simple words sting so? He did not mean it, of course. But she's not cool. She's not even a dignified goddess. Right now she is nothing but another soul who failed.
[ Finally, she plops down onto the ground and lifts her head to look at the ocean. The waves. It's comforting. ]
... There's an ocean in the Underworld. The abyss. But there are no waves, no noise, no light reflecting upon it. No fishes, no foam, no life. Only a primordial sea that separates my realm from the final destination of the souls.
[ The root of everything. The beginning and the end. Where souls go to be reborn. She tries to smile, but it's hard. ]
You're the first person who's ever heard me scream, you know.
[ But it's not the first time she's screamed like that. It's an important distinction. She's not a dignified goddess when no one can look at her. It's just the image she tries to project. ]
Wrestling with himself, trying to rationalise it all, he struggles desperately with the loss of life. It's worse than Shibuya, where his hands caused the death of thousands of people - directly his fault for his loss of control, his inability to keep Sukuna buried inside of him. This was a collective choice, but he was part of it, and the blame lies heavy on his shoulders all the same.
He believed it was the right choice. He thought they'd be able to do it, and stupidly, foolishly, he'd trusted LILITH again. Even when they'd taken Megumi and Kugisaki from him, even when it felt like a punishment, he had wanted to believe in them, and this is what he got in return.
It hurts, but he feels as if he deserves it. They made this choice, they'd abandoned humanity, and there's no going back or undoing it. The blood is on his hands again, and it makes him lift his cursed fingers to cover his mouth, resisting the urge to vomit.
This isn't right, but they have to deal with the consequences now.
If anyone he knows approchaes, he'll nod - strangers get nothing, just a Yuji gazing out at the ocean, innocence torn from him again. ]
NEO TOKYO.
[ Back at the base, Yuji disappears.
Barely coming out for meals, he sneaks through to the kitchen, grabs what he can and then heads back to his room, isolating himself completely. The only people allowed inside are the people closest to him, and even then it's a toss up whether or not he opens the door (Choso, as his 'roommate', might be able to sneak you in). More time is spent curled up in bed than doing anything else as he tries to find the strength to push himself through it and find his determination once again.
It's hard, impossibly hard, and it takes him a long time to log himself back into the network: ]
[ The way the world recovered after the Gun Devil attacked is an example of that to Aki, but his frustration is obvious. The loss of life is immense, and the anger of the people is obvious, too - he can't blame them for their hurt. This organisation was meant to help them, and instead left them to die.
He'd be angry too.
Nodding his head, he runs a hand through his hair, tugging out his topknot absently. ]
I don't think this was a situation we could've won.
[In trying to keep busy, Yato has taken to running simple errands for petty cash, such as it is, and thus isn't paying as much mind to his surroundings as perhaps he should be after their battle. So when he happens to go through a booby-trapped door it unleashes a veritable avalanche of glitter upon the god, making him truly sparkle divinely.
Yet all he can do is stand rooted to the spot, blinking in disbelief at what's just occurred.
We couldn't have predicted the outcome. That's the problem with these kinds of decisions.
[ Moving closer, Aki hesitates for a moment before he turns his hand, offering it out. He won't be offended if Tsurumaru doesn't take it, but he'd like the comfort - for the both of them.
Things are hard. Too hard. ]
I'm here to listen, Tsuru, if you want to scream or shout, or... Anything. I'm not going anywhere.
[ Yuji spends enough time in his own room, mourning and grieving his choice, that he feels as if he has let Raidou down; his partner had been there for him in his grief, and he hasn't done the same in return. He knows just how much this is going to have hurt the other boy, and he drags himself out of bed and makes his way down the hall to the other room, hovering outside the door.
What right does he have, to come and offer comfort? He's not sure, but... He has to try all the same. He has to do something.
Leaning his head on the door, he knocks quietly. ]
I spent my entire life hunting the Gun Devil and saw dozens of people die working with Public Safety. I cried for a lot of them, but it's not as if I could stop. Devils needed to die, and people needed to be saved.
[ Maybe he shouldn't be going off on a tangent, but - ]
We made a bad choice, but it was the one we thought was right. I've done that before, too. [ Sacrificing himself to Makima to try and save Denji. ] We have to do better next time.
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