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

[zauneyete]

It doesn't.

[ He says. He hedges.

Describing what happened before is complicated. It feels like a betrayal, to Zaun, to everything he'd spent so long trying to work for. How did he even explain that? That there was something more important than even Zaun, and that it was her?

No, that's not something he thinks he can share. (he thinks. The fool.) ]

I supposed what changed for Set and I is that we understood one another. We both had something very important to protect. [ they'd both had children that they would burn the world for. ]

We made a promise. To protect them if something happened to either of us.

[powderkegs]

[ oh. that wasn't subtle at all. jinx crosses her arms, hugging herself. ]

Me. You meant me.

[zauneyete]

[ He doesn't even lie about it, is the thing. ]

Yes. Of course I do.

[ It didn't matter that Silco hasn't experienced those dreadful, final day(s). He's already made that same choice, independent of the council's deal or anything else.

What else was there, in the end? ]

[powderkegs]

[ nothing has changed.

so jinx doesn't move. wasn't sure how. she can feel it pressing against her. silco's wish. his dream. the one she let slip through her fingers. and even so, he'd still pick her. her. jinx. when no one else would. and that's why she chose jinx in the end. she may have saved vi, but she knows what choice she made.

so. she's — she's not sure what to do. so she stands there. in place. ]

[zauneyete]

[ How could anything change? Silco was as intransigent as ever, the change happened so long ago that he'd not even realized it happened, that he would do anything for Jinx.

She stops. He only takes two steps, before he turns, and looks at her. His only mobile eyebrow drew down in thought. ]

What is it?

[ He reaches out for her, a hand on her shoulder. ]

[powderkegs]

[ she doesn't respond, looking down. ]

. . . Do you ever think you made a mistake?

With . . . me?

[zauneyete]

[ He sighed, and his hands drift, around her shoulders. ]

A mistake? I've made plenty of them.

[ Mistakes. He bears the weight of one of them on his face — was it the mistake of trust? Or the mistake of lashing out? It's a complicated thing. It's his mistake, it's Vander's rage, forcing him to pay for it. The mistake he'd made on the bridge, and there were plenty of others.

But Jinx? ]

Not you. You're perfect, you know that. How could you be a mistake?

[ He'd said it before, after all. Over, and over again. The delusions of a man who couldn't do more than wrap his daughter up in affirmations of her perfections, instill confidence — but did it work like that? Did it really work like that? ]

[powderkegs]

[ of she is. look at where vander ended up. where silco ended up. how everyone around her ends up. vi only escaped that catastrophe because she changed. and learned to choose other people. and now it bubbles up that he still looks at her like this. and it kills her. it killed him.

a tear wells up, slipping past. ]

And what if you're wrong? What if — you've always been wrong about me?

[zauneyete]

[ he hates not knowing.

He hates it because he can see something in her face that makes him think of guilt, and shame. Like those early days, when the high of invention always came with that crushing screaming and crying. Silco hearing exactly known what to do, what was right to do, and Jinx had been so difficult, and so upset, all of the time.

Sometimes, he wondered if she hated him, for killing her other father — for making the circumstances to kill him, perhaps — if she blamed him for the deaths of her temporary siblings.

It was only long after that he realized that it was something different. That she still blamed herself. Does she blame herself for whatever happened to him, too?

He reaches out, to brush her tear away. He doesn't look away from her. ]

Come now. Give me a little bit more credit than that. [ A beat. ]

You were always worth everything I could give you. [ How could she know? That he'd flayed his soul — something he hadn't even believed in — and had given everything for her. Everything. He made so many enemies, had been so willing to alternate nearly everyone that the only people left in the end had been... The god of war and a god of conflict, before arriving here. How fitting. He would have fought tooth and nail for it, to see her alive. He'd done everything he could. And now here she was.

He'd been mad with grief then. He knows it for what it is. Completely, and utterly mad. How was it he'd come out of that so broken, and shattered, and can given everything he could ever want? When asked to have a Zaun without her, he decided to save his entire world, her. The rest of it could be kindling for the cosmic fire. The rest of it had never mattered, in the end.]

[powderkegs]

[ silco lies.

this much, she knows. that's why she found kaladin's remarks so funny. she knows how silco lies. to others, to the world. and even to himself. she knows what he spins in his head. like gossamer silk. spider webs of varying beauty and fragility. she knows. and she drank the same water. helped spin the webs. because what did it matter that silco lies, as long as he didn't lie to her?

but he has. he does. he still is.

this isn't one of them. this has never been one of them. because she saw it then and she sees it now. the look in his eyes when she grieves. his instinct to shield her from her own pain. she wonders what he sees in hers. what is reflected back that made him so sure of the monster he made is beautiful to the eye?

and jinx — she broke him. the one person who ever thought she was — worth something more. and for what? for what?

silently and impulsively, she circles her arms around him, hugging him. her voice, fragile as a spider thread. ]

I don't want everything. I just want you.

[zauneyete]

[ Oh.

He's been confronted with the weight of being gone plenty since Jinx arrived. Something that lingers in the distance, a reality that he can only guess means he's dead. There's no other reason he would abandon both Zaun and Jinx. He knows this for a fact. Where would he even go? What would he do? Captured? No, he suspects even though things were fractured before, Jinx would have made sure that he wouldn't be left to rot in Stillwater.

So that's the only answer. He knows it.

He's told everyone that Death is an old friend, someone who stops by, but never seems to quite manage to drag him along with it. How many times has he nearly died? How many times did he die in the last world? (Too many, too reckless, with how Jinx would have nobody, if he'd died. But he had to. He had no choice.

Lies, always lies. He lies to himself. Silco could have changed himself there. He could change himself here. He is changed. He thinks he isn't. Is he actually changed at his core? Yes and no, no and yes. It's all a mash of confusion and anger and despair at the idea of leaving her all alone. He'd always promised he never would.

But he'd left. Even if he was taken from her, he'd left. How could she forgive it?

He wraps his arm around her back, holding her close. ]

It's okay. I'm not going anywhere.

[ Can he promise this? This world is strange, people vanish all the time. When will his time come? Will he leave Jinx in the end again? He can't bear the thought of it. ]

I promise.

end ;;

[powderkegs]

[ like clockwork.

like a loop.

the pattern repeats. jinx can see it in her mind's eye. they are hurtling towards tragedy. ]

I know. Me too.