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

004.

[misclassed]

[ He was gonna ignore the giant robot bullshit. He really was.

It's just, he can recognize when someone's doing a slipshod job of doing sword modification. Three foot long or thirty foot long, a sword is a sword, and this is painful to watch. ]

... What the hell are you doing?

[lostdestiny]

[ Shinn responds to judgment poorly. He cuts power to the hand welder, pushes up his goggles (meant for keeping sand out of his eyes, not for industrial tinkering), and glares back defiantly. ]

I'm trying out "kaiju bits for protection," what's it to you?

[misclassed]

[ You know that old man pose that they do when they're watching construction being done but not doing anything themselves? Yeah. It's that. ]

The silhouette's getting ruined by attaching it there! Pay better attention to the planes on each side and how your addition is interrupting the flow of the blade's shape.

[lostdestiny]

[ Shinn almost physically bristles at this continued criticism. He scowls at Muramasa from around the oversized sword -- which is lying flat on the ground and without the laser bits activated so he can work on it -- and snaps back reflexively. ]

Silhouette, shape -- it doesn't have to be pretty, it has to work!

[ Although he glances a bit guiltily up at the robot right after he says it. Shinn loves the sparkly butterfly murderbot built just for him (to bash people into accepting a genetic dystopia -- ), and the big sword is his go-to sparkly butterfly murderbot weapon. Destiny might not have to be pretty, but he would like it to be in the best shape it can be. ]

Like you know anything about mobile suits, anyway.

[ Probably? Shinn hasn't seen any new machines other than Athrun's, so there probably aren't any new pilots, and therefore this guy has no grounds to butt in. ]

[misclassed]

[ A year spent in the forge of the machine god of smithing wasn't for nothing, thanks! Muramasa just sighs roughly and makes quick work crossing the courtyard to stand across the blade from Shinn's workspace, his expression inscrutable. ]

Do you want to keep it as a blade or not? You're turning it into a kanabō like that.

[ He raps Shinn once on the top of his head with his knuckles (gently, but enough to smart), and crouches down to point at a lower point on the welded on bone protrusions. He doesn't shy away from the lingering welding heat, but instead moves to trace his fingers along a spot on the flat of the blade closer to the would be fuller. (If he's being attentive instead of Offended, Shinn might even catch the way Muramasa takes an extra moment to examine the metal edge of the giant blade with a very critical glance.) ]

Trim the bone down into planes before you attach them, and then mirror it on each side. It won't be wholly flush, but at least you won't risk snapping it off from a shoddy weld as much, and the symmetry will stay balanced.

[ The aesthetics Matter. ]

[lostdestiny]

[ It takes Shinn’s sleep-deprived brain a minute to dredge the meaning of kanabo up from the depths of his quasi-Japanese childhood, which gives Muramasa more than enough time to rap him upside the head. Shinn jumps back defensively as soon as soon as Muramasa’s knuckles make contact, and his eyes narrow, expecting something worse — and then rubs the top of his head, confused, when the rap is all there is. Weird? Normally he just gets punched?

He can get that Muramasa is focused on the big sword in a way that means the guy either knows what he's doing (or at least is super-deluded thinks he knows what he's doing). But what he's saying makes sense, and Shinn loves the robot enough to implement what he's saying... eventually. After grumbling. Because ughhhhh Shinn doesn't wanna take advice from a guy dishing out head-raps. ]

Who the hell wanders around being bossy about swords?

[misclassed]

Kid, if your employers have seen fit to furnish you lot with a master swordsmith, what else is he gonna do? Let you ruin a perfectly good sword?

[ With that, he rises from his crouch, taking a moment to brush the dust from the knees of his Everlight tracksuit. Even though Muramasa looks to be about Shinn's age, his affect is one of an older man that expects his experience to be listened to. And while he can tell from the initial outburst that Shinn might not want to hear what he has to say when he says it like that, he doesn't care. He knows swords, and even if it's a blade used by a giant mechanized suit of armor, the same principls apply. ]

Quit your bellyaching and hop to it.

[ There's an unsaid, well-meaning threat in the words: do it yourself, or I'll do it for you. ]

[lostdestiny]

Swordsmith? [ he echoes, cocking his head derisively. His initial impulse is that this is a ridiculously archaic and useless thing for LILITH to recruit for, when it could be bringing over more robot doctors....

But. Brasov and now this mess with the reactor have showed that kaiju can short-circuit technology. It makes sense to have an old-school backup -- that's the whole reason Shinn has been trying to revive childhood kendo skills and had his November DIY-smoke-bomb bake-a-thon. Maybe this guy is useful after all? Even so, that won't stop Shinn from being a pain-in-the-ass to someone who's bossing him around. ]

Destiny [ there's a tiny gesture here in the big robot's direction, indicating that yes, it has a name ] isn't some ancient hunk of metal, old man.

[ Old man, old man, old man -- it's a bit of a reflexive response to this guy's vibe and being called a kid.

And still. When he picks up another piece of bone, he also grabs one of his knives and tests whether the blade can shave off a sliver. He'll be a pain in the ass, but he will do what's best for his robot. ]

[misclassed]

Yeah?

[ Instead of just leaving it at that, with Shinn having more work to do without help, he leans down and scoops up one of the bones to assist in cutting out thinner cuts of the material. His knife, appearing in hand with some sort of slight of hand trick, bites into the white bone as he shifts the blade back and forth in a gentle seesaw motion. ]

All the more reason to not have a shitty sword making it look bad, then.

[ As he cuts, he looks at the rest of the Big Sword. The folding mechanism is interesting, for one thing. Clearly, whatever is supposed to create a blade when it's engaged (based on that receptor just below the tip) is meant to do the bulk of the cutting, but the sharp edge on the reverse side is clearly meant to be just as useful... or they wouldn't have sharpened it. He's got some concerns about the ability for any hinged mechanism to support the force of a giant machine like that, but... maybe he's wrong. It's not like he can just see things from a glance, anymore. ]

[lostdestiny]

[ While Muramasa is looking at the big ol' sword, Shinn sneaks a glance at how Muramasa is using the knife. All of Shinn's experience with knives is from combat and survival training, and the two knives he has on hand are LILITH-issued combat knives, so he's not doing this anywhere near as well as Muramasa is with, will, skill and a proper tool. But Shinn adjusts his own technique slightly based on what he thinks Muramasa is doing, and starts getting slightly better results. He does want what's best for the robot, even if he's a pain in the ass about everything.

When he thinks he's got as good a handle on what Muramasa is doing as he's going to get by just watching, he chimes in about Muramasa's sword examination. Surely even an old-timey old man must be thinking that the big ol' sword is awesome. ]

Pretty amazing, isn't it? It's made to cut up battleships and things like that, but it can take kaiju down, too.

[ He sounds the happiest and most relaxed that he has this whole conversation -- proud, almost affectionate. ]