TRAVEL LOG #5

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #5

CONTENT WARNINGS: death, nightmares, gun violence, survival scenario

▶ 001. EYES WIDE OPEN.

"Angels of Lilith, report for duty in the DISPATCH."

The day starts off with alarms blaring and oculars shining bright lights in the Outsiders' heads, waking them up early for an emergency dispatch. Although the current Rift at Mt. Fuji needs to be explored and examined, the Rifts continue to appear in different parts of the world, and this Rift is no different. Captain Yamakawa continues,

"We have received a distress call from EGYPT. Much of the region fell during the first kaiju crisis. Now it is a desolate land that survives with the help of a generator called an ESSENCE which is currently malfunctioning. We assume the cause is Rift energy—according to our radar, there is a heavy amount of Rift energy coming from that area. We will move out immediately. Pack all the things you may need, but each Outsider will be supplied with a care package of their own containing essentials."

Even though it is 4:00 AM Tokyo time, LILITH hopes you all have slept well. It could be the very last good sleep in awhile. While the dataportal to Egypt is operational on Japan's end, because of the malfunctioning generator, Outsiders are unable to come out on the other side. The old method of using the flying cruiser will be used once again.

There will not be assigned seating for this other than by teams. Everlights will sit with Everlights, Brimstones with Brimstones, and so on. The Outsiders will be encouraged to rest on the flight, and a few hours before landing, an in-flight meal will be provided. The meal is surprisingly delicious and consists of chicken or pork katsu cutlet, but with the warning that all Outsiders will know about: it contains high amount of cyber caffeine. This sort of newly innovative caffeine can keep Outsiders awake for several days, but sometimes it may cause restlessness or hyperactivity, causing characters to have a jittery amount of energy but razor sharp focus. Other times, it simply keeps characters awake and they feel no different. The cutlet will be served with KAIJU™ Energy Drink. Any Outsiders that require a different diet will be provided with what they need, and the cyber caffeine will be added to it if they would like.

Yamakawa gives instructions again:

"We have received more information about the kaiju. Civilians have died in their sleep from horrible nightmares, and we are encouraging Outsiders to sleep together in pairs or groups, or disregard sleeping at all until we obtain more information. We are still receiving facts about this monster, but this meal will help with keeping everyone awake as a safety measure."

Those who do not want to have the highly caffeinated meal can have everyone's favorite: a ration bar that isn't spiked with any energy, but it doesn't taste good at all. Outsiders may be more likely to fall asleep and be in danger by choosing this meal. The balance of a dystopian society.

▶ 002. ARRIVAL IN EGYPT.

When they finally arrive, the air is temperate and dry in Alexandria. The Outsiders might have to check their clocks once more to make sure everything is right; everyone is expected to land in the late afternoon and every clock says it should be close to evening, but the city is already growing dark with the sun setting quite early. Because of the ESSENCE disruption, Alexandria is running on back up energy, which makes for spotty lighting and loss of basic power.

LILITH will be greeted by a small group of researchers at the airport and they will help take the Outsiders to their base: the Alexandria Institute which was once the University of Alexandria. They will give the Outsiders a quick run down of the situation and some background.

1. LILITH does not have a strong defense branch in the region any more. Instead, the branch here seems more focused on research, especially on the origin of kaiju and rifts.
2. This region is extremely prone to spontaneous Rifts. Many of them are small and pass quickly but this most recent one is unprecedented.
3. One evening, in the final week of March, the Alexandria Institute received a corrupt file from their fellow researchers in Greece. It shut down much of their research facility (including their warp portal) and all they have been able to recover so far are the words, "Do Not Go To Sleep."
4. The next morning, they awoke to find the sun rising later and setting earlier. It feels like the days are getting significantly shorter.
5. Many locals developed a fear of the dark and going to sleep. They would then die in their sleep within the next few days.
6. The autopsy of these victims have shown no cause of death, puzzling coroners.

Progress has been slow because the corrupt file shut down many of their facilities. They have not been able to track the source of the Rift or identify the kaiju responsible for it. They believe the answers may be within the corrupt file and will be happy to receive any help they can get from the Outsiders.

When they arrive at the Institute, Outsiders will be set up in the old student dormitories. Each room has 2-4 beds depending on the room, with a common shared area on each floor. Given the current threat, there is also a supply of energy drinks and bars boosted with cyber caffeine. Outsiders have two options:

1. OPTION ONE: Stay in Alexandria and help the researchers with the generators, while keeping themselves and teammates awake during the night by playing games.
2. OPTION TWO: Go out into the Egyptian desert on camel-back, spending time getting to know their camel before heading out.

OOC NOTE: While players may write prompts for both options, we ask that you submit for a clue only once per player (not per character, as we have a lot of characters in game now!)

▶ 003. LEARN & EXPLORE. (ALEXANDRIA RESEARCH.)

Times are hard in Alexandria right now with their generators malfunctioning and efforts being split. The researchers are trying to get the generators back up and uncorrupt the data they received from Greece. LILITH will instruct the Outsiders to help with the research but also warn that they cannot afford to just sit around and wait to crack codes. The researchers also agree. Sometimes the best way to get research data is to go out into the field, but they haven't been able to do it due to not having much protection. The desert is vast, and there have been sightings of other small kaiju lurking beneath the sand and in some smaller cities.

Outsiders can decide to stay in the city of Alexandria to help crack the codes, or they can opt to go out into the field. For the latter, they can choose to stay close to home and investigate within Alexandria.

Those who wish to help with the ESSENCE generators and researchers will stay in Alexandria, using any downtime when not investigating to try and stay awake, slumber-party style. Two Truths and a Lie? Maybe Spin The Bottle? Perhaps some games can keep Outsiders enticed so they don't doze off.

▶ 004. FEELING SANDY (DESERT EXPLORATION.)

For those who wish to explore the desert and smaller cities, Alexandria Institute will supply what they need, such as water, food, essential tools for digging, sleeping bags (no sleeping, but maybe for resting!) and anything else. To conserve energy, the researchers supply camels for the Outsiders to use. The camels are mostly tame, but have their own distinct personalities, so they may need a little more handling and can be coaxed to behave with treats like artificial carrots and bananas. Outsiders can spend time getting to know their camel if they are going to explore the desert or cities. A camel can seat two people on its back comfortably, but also carry any essentials that travelers need to bring along.

In the distant small cities and across the desert, Outsiders will come across Sand Crocodiles, one of the smaller kaiju that have been inhabiting the desert. These monsters are basically crocodiles but with a twist: they can spit fire if angered and they can camouflage in the sand. They hide strategically, and one wrong step will cause them to push their jaws out of the ground, harming a person or camel. The stubby quills along their backs or rounds of their horns aren't entirely covered while hiding, so watch carefully. Fortunately, Outsiders will be supplied with a shotgun. Aiming between the eyes or in the mouth will kill it, but also beating it with the back of the shotgun will also do the trick. And yes, they also taste like crocodile too, if anyone is hungry.

After exploring, Outsiders are requested to report their findings back in Alexandria.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our fourth travel log!

Welcome to the new and improved Travel Log! Below, you will see the link to the MONSTER DEBRIEF SHEET post that has information about the kaiju below along with RIFT EFFECTS. Fill out the form for RNG Attacks and whether you would like to receive a RIFT EFFECT. This should give characters some ideas for the status of their character in the next log, which will have more action and monsters in it. Outsiders may use the CHAT to report and discuss any findings.

We thank you in advance for your patience as we try out this new format!

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

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. EYES WIDE OPEN: Outsiders travel to Egypt after receiving reports of their power generator, ESSENCE, being unstable and malfunctioning, leaving citizens in peril. They are instructed to "stay awake." They are supplied cyberpunk caffeine and told to try not to sleep or stay in pairs to be watchful of any danger.

2. ARRIVING IN EGYPT: Arriving in Alexandria, the Outsiders are confirmed that citizens have been dying in their sleep, with coroners unable to determine the cause. The days are mysteriously getting shorter and people are unable to stay awake.

3. LEARN & EXPLORE: Outsiders are given options to stay in Alexandria to help with the generator or find clues to assist the research team. Between researching, they are asked to continue to stay awake by any means possible. Those who will be exploring the desert and smaller cities for clues are given a camel for transportation. Outsiders are encouraged to get to know their camel before traveling.

4. FEELING SANDY: While looking for any clues out in the desert, Outsiders encounter smaller kaiju known as Sand Crocodiles. They hide in the sand and attack at the opportune time, snapping jaws and spitting fire. Shooting them between the eyes or in the mouth will K.O. them.

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Comments

[blastedass]

[Vash is a face hugger.

Look, the camel might be fine with it, so Vash should continue to do so if the thing's not responding badly. Or it'll spit at him at some point. Gross. Bakugo turns to check the arriving saddle, stepping back as the local pair begin outfitting the camel with its back blanket and padding before securing the saddle with straps.]

Hmph. Maybe tonight. [Is he offering? Yeah, kind of. Not right now, since getting someone's hand in your face while you're baking in the sun sound real fucking uncomfortable.]

I'm gonna learn. [Good thing he totally missed Vash checking out the camel's junk, or lack there of. Bakugo's listening to the local's lesson about handling a camel mount. From where to sit, how to sit, how to hold the reins, the motions the camel's trained to recognize and follow, all that fun shit.]

[zauneyete]

[ In the cave, Silco looks perfectly at home, somehow. The crystals shine bright, but Silco's pitch eye still glows eerily in the dark. He watches, he waits, he listens. He's been through something like this before, enough that he feels like a familiar passenger. Is this a nightmare? Is it a memory/ Jinwoo is young next to him, but he looks younger than he was before.

Someone asks him to kill him, and he wonders what's the part he's supposed to play in this?

His limbs move without him, dragging them up, and turning. Power starts to burst forth, and Silco sees — feels — experiences the surge of power as he turns to kill the man at someone else's bidding.

Silco, for all that he is not in control, looks... Neutral about it. He hears words, but it's like he's superimposed over them, he doesn't speak them. His unblinking eye meets Jinwoo's when he "attacks", but it's not him. His other eye lowered into an observant half-mast, his pupils dancing about as he drinks it all in.

His lips twitch, as the power hits him.

He tries to step away. He cannot. His body is not his. He watches, as he surges back. His heart pounds — is it his heart? — with elation. ]

[blastedass]

[Coming down from the adrenaline rush is difficult. His heart slams in his chest, his mind quickly trying to settle as he angrily rebukes it for believing that shit was real. He wasn't scared, dammit! Just a shitty memory. That's all!]

Che. I'm fine. Just a fucking bad dream.

[And there he goes, the traditional hero's "fine" thrown about so often by their types.]

Did something happen?

003—

[belli]

[ whereas most are either fighting the smaller kaiju or attempting to investigate the desert for any clues on the latest mission target, aodh is solely focused on locating and procuring treasures for his steadily growing hoard. is he having any luck with it so far? no. but the lack of findings hasn't deterred him whatsoever.

unlike the many sleep-deprived (or overly energized), he seems pretty much unaffected, sleep being more of an option than a necessity for him.

hair tied up into a messy bun, he comes across his human servant now, red hues lowering down to his injury and then his catch. ]

Did you not pack enough food? [ he is 100% assuming that laios got so hungry and desperate that he decided to risk brawling with the crocs alone. ]

[cosmarchy]

[ HIS CAR??? let's make it happen. ]

You really won't search for me?

[ Technically, Jinwoo can just get himself back. Maybe. He'll figure it out. ]

desert i—

[belli]

[ all in all, aodh is rather impartial about the desert.

he has visited many worlds, traversed upon innumerous landscapes and, in the end, they simply are just that — another environment on yet another planet. but with that said, he finds that he doesn't mind watching the way the plant's face lights up at all the sand. ]

Are you not worried that the heat will shrivel you up?

[ he follows closely behind him, even as he skids down the dune and almost immediately get sidetracked by a herd of camels. ]

Perhaps, they are our next meal.

[hachikai]

You're not worth the effort.

[zauneyete]

All natural.

[ he repeats, a look on Silco's face as if he thinks that Dante is spouting bullshit.

Look, he's a drug dealer. He knows what this is. ]

You do not need to sugar-coat it, you know. I'm well aware of the consequences. Why else do you think I'm up, and here?

[ Mind, he probably would be anyway. His pen taps on paper, considering. He's written nothing in some time, the words an inarticulate scrawl that looks half illegible.

He might be feeling the effects more than he has let on. ]

[blastedass]

[YEAH?! the same one he drove jinwoo's ass to the hospital in!]

I'm not gonna have to.


RIGHT?

[threatening]

[blastedass]

So you have in the past.

[Suck's a romantic artist.]

004.

[cosmarchy]

[ The desert is not all that new to him, technically. One of the many dungeons he'd been subjected to landed him in the middle of a desert, all sand and heat. He'd also been to literal hell, so the sweltering temperature isn't too difficult to deal with. The camels, though...

They're nothing compared to Kaisel, more temperamental and picky. The one assigned to Jinwoo is currently snubbing him, which wouldn't have been a big deal if it wasn't needed to make desert travel easier.

He glances over at Cagalli. ]

How'd you manage to get it to listen to you?

[hachikai]

Why do you want one?

003.

[cosmarchy]

[ The warning comes, allowing Jinwoo to jump away from the crocodile's reach. It wasn't something he needed, his mouth ready to say as much, but as soon as he realizes who it's from, he decides not too say anything anymore. Besides, he'd wanted to see Vash in action, right?

So this opportunity couldn't have come at a better time. ]

Thanks.

[ A quick gratitude before his body melts into shadows, appearing moments later by Vash's side. ]

Are you just trying to scare them away?

[zauneyete]

[ Silco followed his gaze to the window outside — hey, he's got a window open, it is an achievement — but after a brief moment, he only turned back. The darkness doesn't make him feel all that concerned. Zaun had always had its dark, deep corners. Working in the fissures as a youth had rewritten his sense of time as well. He didn't use the day or night to judge much. His lips twitched, and he focused his eyes back on the boy. His eyes are mismatched, and one is like a pinprick of light in the dark, an eerie point.

He focuses it on him. ]

About a day and a half. Give or take.

[ He says it with a slow roll of his shoulders. A few hours off, perhaps.

Silco is old, like leather that's been pulled through one too many accidents, punctured and pulled apart, and like something that never should have lasted this long, but he is. What's a little sleep deprivation? ]

And you? You don't seem to be showing many signs of it.

[blastedass]

You already started it.

["maybe beyond the horizon"]

alexandria nights ii—

[belli]

[ aodh isn't nearly a good enough being to lend a helping hand without due gain and/or whimsy, so please don't mistake his next course of action as such. he just happens to derive a certain level of entertainment in jostling the sleep-deprived up, like some sick twisted joy.

looking down at the troubled human, he casually flicks his finger in an upward motion, levitating him off of the lounge chair and giving him a hearty few shakes. ]

Wake up, human, before you die.

[followyourstar]

< Oh. No, I meant the poisoning is all... > [sigh] < Nevermind. >

[Not that it really matters because it's Silco, but why is it that their attempts to lighten the mood never go over well?

Change of subject then.]

< What are you working on over there? >

[zauneyete]

[ Silco, in contrast, has his own pistol holstered (it may be a little more gold, and red, to reflect him, but you get the gist) but when he sees the gun, his hands drift toward it instinctively, before he drops it. Flat footed?

Silco doesn't even know what he means.

He picks up a foot, and puts it back down, and it sinks about an inch into the ground.

His lips peel back in an annoyed grimace. Ugh. ]

Why? They're hostile, aren't they?

[ Because...? ]

I'll be fine, regardless.

[ He takes another step. Sinks again.

Yep. Fine. ]

HELP...

[zauneyete]

Obviously.

[ He says with a roll of his eyes.

His lighter plinks! again with his fingers, but he doesn't light it. He's being so much more restrained this time around.

He rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious. ]

Our last trip was much quicker. This is already four times the length.

[hachikai]

Are you an idiot?

[ He doesn't follow. You damn kids and your not flowery words. ]

[penaltypoints]

It is a starting point, particularly if others share similar accounts.

In terms of precautions, it should be adequate to conduct your investigations with a partner who would remain entirely unaffected.

[hachikai]

[ There's is no way he believes it's by chance. Because Gojo is a stalker. Not unwarranted, granted, but a stalker nonetheless.

Sukuna doesn't give in to the taunts, though a vein in his eyelid throbs a little from the disrespect. All he does physically is attempt to wipe the blood from his mouth with minimal results. ]

Are you not entertained, Gojo Satoru?

Gigan | Godzilla | Brimstone

[kaizou]

I. ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' awake (pt. 1)

[Gigan has a unique nature in a lot of ways—physically, mentally, you name it. It's his good fortune that in many cases these differences in his constitution mean he doesn't suffer quite as much as many of the other Outsiders through the various trials this world puts them through.

Sleep deprivation is no exception: he does not actually require sleep in the same way fully organic types do, which makes him the perfect candidate to help everyone else stay awake or, failing that, watch over them in their sleep. (Do you really want that, though?) More good luck? Or is it just bad luck for everyone else?

Because if you're nodding off anywhere in his vicinity, you're getting a gleeful thwack right on the head . . . with this.

That's right. Only one of them survived the destruction of the base, but here it is, coming in clutch once again in annoying people into wakefulness. Thank you, LILITH!]


II. ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin' awake (pt. 2)

[Or maybe you're already awake and looking for good ways to pass the time while you stay that way. Here's Gigan sitting at a table—he's spending most of his time at the research base in human form—arranging a dozen or so cans of KAIJU™ in front of himself.]

Hey, what d'you think happens if we play a drinking game with these? Like Never Have I Ever! You think you'd die if you drank too much? But that happens with alcohol too, right? So it's basically the same thing!


III. behind the wall

[Gigan is only somewhat lucky when it comes to coping with everything this Earth has to throw at him. His biological and constitutional makeup don't provide him with any immunity from rift or kaiju effects.

That's why, closer to the end of this research period, and outside of the base, around the city proper or the edges of the desert at night, you just might run into him and experience an unexpected snippet of his memories . . . ]


(( re: memory share, hit me up for plotting in PM, Discord, or Plurk if desired, or just tag and I'll surprise you with one! Note that Gigan's memories here will actually be largely positive in nature and not traumatizing, because the sharing of these specific memories in and of itself is the nature of the trauma for him! He will be pretty fucking upset they were accessed! Note also that these will be CRAU memories unless you want to hit me up for a canon memory specifically, for the same reason, though they will not involve any possibility of recognizing other-canon characters someone could app someday—again unless we discuss that specifically, e.g. if Laios wants to see Falin or something. ANYWAY.

Also, feel free to wildcard me too if none of these prompts work for you! ))

nah you gotta suck on those like a jawbreaker first

[hachikai]

[ Sukuna watches her without blinking, still smirking, not moving. He holds his hand out toward her, two fingers pointed directly at her, and swipes them suddenly to his left. As he does so, there's a soft pair of "pah" sounds.

If she looks, there's half of a scorpion on the ground by her feet. It had been on her leg before he Dismantled it from his spot. ]

I "wouldn't dare" what?

[zauneyete]

[ it's because silco's humor is only: mean. Otherwise, he's a boring stick in the mud. ]

Why?

[ He asked, automatically. It's not quite a snap, but it's close. His fingers shift over the paper, but it doesn't really do much to prevent it. ]

If you must know, I'm working on something for when we return. For the agency.

[ The "crime fighting" one. ]