TEAM BUILDING EVENT #1

[synfluxmods]

TEAM BUILDING EVENT #1

CONTENT WARNINGS: forced scenarios, violence & action scenarios, thalassophobia, mass death & injury from natural disaster.

▶ 001. GET ALONG PROMPT

LILITH is highly invested in the physical and mental well-being of its employees. A happy and connected workforce is a strong workforce, after all. However, SYNTHIA has picked up on many instances of discontent between Outsiders - people being blocked by each other on LINE, or teetering on the edge of having a fight (you know who you are and so does SYNTHIA, surprise!) That just won't do. Outsiders who cannot get along will fail miserably when it's time for teamwork. That is why this month's team-building exercise aims to spread positivity amongst the Outsiders. We all gotta get along in the middle of a crisis.

Whether you are looking someone in the face, texting them, or staring at their profile on the network, you receive a prompt from SYNTHIA, followed by an image (exactly as pictured, Shutterstock watermark and all):

"LILITH promotes a positive working environment. Why don't you pay this Outsider a compliment or do something nice for them? Or else :) Noncompliance will result in disciplinary action."

True enough, ignoring the prompt a total of 5 times will result in characters being transported to their rooms and put under house arrest - ahem, time out for a total of 2 days. It doesn't hurt to play along, right? As a note, the prompts become especially persistent when you're faced with someone you dislike. Should Outsiders try to leave their room during this time, they will find the automatic doors do not open the typical way (retina scan and thumb print.) They are trapped! Perhaps asking SYNTHIA for some mercy with positive compliments directed her way will do the trick (it won't, bu you can try!) Remember, Outsiders can speak to SYNTHIA anytime. She's everywhere all the time. Consider her your prettier Alexa. In fact, she might be flattered by that compliment.

▶ 002. TEAM ACTIVITIES.

You've had your fun back at the MAIN BASE. Now it's time to work. Outsiders will be sent back out towards Tokyo Bay while LILITH's research crew continues to try and detect the source of the strong waves. The city is in disarray after the tsunami, with the less secured buildings torn down and many lives lost. Morale within Neo Tokyo is at an all time low even with civilians comforting one another. Each Outsider will receive a small mission brief marked in the colours of their respective team as they are once again flown via helicopter to the designated area.

REDEMPTION:
Outsiders within REDEMPTION are tasked to spread joy in the streets and at the hospital. Be creative in how you wish to do this, whether it's putting on a performance, a skit, or spreading kindness with gifts and sweet gestures. Those with a Style Upgrade are encouraged to use their chip to don funny and eye catching costumes to entertain the civilians. Those with a healing upgrade are highly encouraged to help medical staff.

REVELATION:
Outsiders within REVELATION are tasked with babysitting duties. Many parents are still recovering in the hospital and there's no one to watch their children while they recover. A lot of pets need looking after too! Make sure the children and furbabies are fed, clothed and getting enough sleep. This can even include filling in for classrooms that have recently lost their teacher. Outsiders in REVELATION are encouraged to keep a tally of the census and go looking for lost children if someone seems to be missing.

EVERLIGHT:
Outsiders within EVERLIGHT will be tasked with keeping the people fed and the local businesses running. This can mean organising a soup kitchen, preparing homecooked meals for the civilians and delivering hot meals door to door. It can also mean helping local businesses with repairs to their shops, bringing them supplies and filling in for the staff they might have lost. The city might have just been hit with a tsunami, but that doesn't mean it needs to shut down!

BRIMSTONE:
Outsiders within BRIMSTONE are the luckiest of the lot - they get to be clean up crew. They will be mandated to wear hazmat suits in outrageous colours along with breathing gear. Why? Because they will be scrubbing the whole place of rubble, dirt, debris and corpses. Yes, corpses. Outsiders within BRIMSTONE will be given a census and tasked with identifying any dead body they find. They will then need to transport the corpse to the nearest LILITH disposal truck on a stretcher, where LILITH will cremate it properly. Note that they will be some survivors in the mix, so be prepared to administer first aid and conduct rescue operations accordingly.

Within certain parts of the city (the sewers, in particular, which have flooded with water), the natural flora seems to have been poisoned by a mysterious element. Toxic, monstrous plants are coming alive and attacking anything they see! They bind and strangle Outsiders with their vines and sting them with their nettles. These plants need to be dealt with before they overgrow. Fire & ice works well on them.

"Good afternoon, Angels of LILITH. Please pay close attention to the brief sent to you. We have specific duties for each team. Once you have done enough work, you will be prompted to help another team with their tasks if you desire. Our research crew is searching for the source of the kaiju and we have received information it is in the ocean. Please be ready in case it makes an appearance again before we can find it. You will be staying in Moonlight Inn & 11 Hours hostel once again as we should remain close by. Thank you for the cooperation."

Outsiders will need to finish their team missions. However, if they have time afterward and want to do some overtime, they are more than welcome to help the other teams on their missions.

▶ 003. IT ISN'T OVER YET.

Those who remember the mission brief two weeks ago will know that the first shockwaves are usually the sign of an impending kaiju. LILITH is conducting their own investigations, but with a fresh and energetic workforce it only makes sense to ultilize it. All Outsiders will be given orders to collect samples and bring it back for ongoing testing. By samples, they mean contaminated fish or ocean life remains, or samples of the toxic plants appearing in the sewers.

For Outsiders braving the sewers, they will need to don the silly hazmat suits issued to BRIMSTONE for their own protection and fight off the monstrous plants to clip some samples. It's encouraged to get leaves, stems, seeds, flowers or the whole plant if you can manage it. (Note that collecting the whole plant in a sample container will result in said plant hissing and striking you through the glass.)

For Outsiders who feel like taking a swim, they will be given diving suits and ordered to take a dive in Tokyo Bay. Once in the waters, they are to hunt down and capture any contaminated fish or marine life they can find. This means tuna fish with three eyes or octopi with two heads and 16 legs. It's encouraged to capture them live, but LILITH will also accept remains or waste samples. (Note that the available oxygen in the tank is limited and attempting to swim too far from Neo Tokyo will likely result in an Outsider drowning. )

▶ 004. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our first CR Building event! All prompts are highly encouraged but OOCly optional. Characters are encouraged to participate in their team-specific missions but can help out the other teams if they have time. Feel free to ask any event-related questions below!

As always, you are free to check out our main base and locations page and make up your own prompts!

Please note that all tags in this log will count for 2 reward points each. Have fun! The next log will feature the kaiju fight and will be posted on FEBRUARY 1st in lieu of a TDM.

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Comments

[blindspotting]

Ah...

[ Any other questions he might have dissolve under the expectant faces turned his way, and Shion allows himself to be led over without putting up much of a fight. He's promptly bullied into sitting down near where Yuwon is stationed, and one side of his mouth ticks up as he settles in, cross-legged. ]

Well. At least we seem to have a goal in mind.

[ The kids are very determined, at least. But as they bicker amongst themselves about next steps, he does pause to tip his head back in the other adult's direction. ]

What exactly does this game consist of?

[yuwon]

[ he's a bit surprised at the man's ability to simply go with the flow, being ushered by the children without so much as a word of dissatisfaction. it didn't seem ingenuine, either. he supposed that was probably fortunate, especially as the kids seem to being pretty far in their little set-up.

with the father decided, yuwon is now being... pressured into being the mother. which, he seems to be keen on simply ignoring. he simply speaks over the arguing children (rude)— ] You just have to pretend to be a family. Normally, you fit into the role of a specific family memeber. But, it doesn't have to be that serious. [ the child speaks up again, tugging on yuwon's pants as if to encourage him to get into the role, or else he has to be the baby...

or the dog. ]

[blindspotting]

[ Pretend to be family. Well, that's something Shion has very little frame of reference for, and he doubts what little he does know would be particularly welcome in a child's game. Still, he can follow instructions easily enough.

Though he can't help but arch a faintly amused eyebrow at Yuwon's apparently selective deafness. ]

Not a game for you?

[ He could, conceivably, redirect the children's attention off the man without too much trouble. But he would need a fairly good reason. Or at least one that's funny. ]

[yuwon]

[ if it's deafness he'd have to feign in order to retain some amount of control over the situation, so be it. not that the kids find this acceptable though as they are clearly not throwing in the metaphorical towel here. they're persistent, he'll definitely give them that. but, there's an obvious neutrality in his voice that shows...

it didn't actually bother him too much. ] Not really. You can say I don't like getting into things without the proper preparation. [ which isn't untrue, but he knows this land probably isn't as inflexible as the tower.

also one could only erect plans when they had enough insight. obviously, playing house isn't anywhere this serious, and so he supposes it was time to accept his fate. ] But, if I knew these were the other options...

[blindspotting]

[ Shion can't help a huff of a laugh at that, even if it earns him a pout or two. He pats the heads nearest to him in apology, but his own attention is still turned towards Yuwon. ]

No plan entirely survives and encounter, I'm afraid. [ Especially not with small children, a few of which already seem to be losing interest in the idea. One of them is going to have to go corral them if they start to wander of, and Shion is beginning to suspect it's going to be him.

Well, he is the father here. Apparently. ]

We could always redirect, if there's something you'd prefer.

[yuwon]

[ that's probably true. the more variables they were, the more the scales could be tipped, especially when the decisions appeared far more minute in hindsight. which is why he doesn't put up much of an argument against it. ]

Like what? [ he cocks his head slightly. even he thinks, he's not sure if much will come to mind. despite being raised in an orphanage for a time, it isn't like he got along well with others kids. so he's pretty out of his element here.

hence, he does seem to be taking an apron they're handing to him. he sighs as he places it on. if he thinks it's for a mission, it did make the concept a bit easier to swallow. ] But, I'm fine. Who knows if the other games are... [ he wants to say "worse," but he guesses he could bite his tongue for now.

but, as they're saying this, he grabs a kid by the back of their shirt, keeping them from tripping over some building blocks on the floor. ]

[blindspotting]

[ Well, there's certainly something to be said for what he can guess Yuwon is getting it. Especially since, despite the enthusiasm for assigning roles, the children seem not to need much in the way of participation. He does startle a little as the one nearly falls, only to suppress a smile when Yuwon catches them. Good reflexes. ]

I don't know. What sorts of games did you play as a child?

[ Shion isn't particularly going to be much help there, considering he's not sure if he ever played with other children once. First it had just been him and his mother, and then with the clan it had been nothing but training.

He supposes he could try to teach the small horde around them something, but they don't seem to be in much of a mood to focus. Fair enough. ]

Though letting them run out their energy might not be the worst idea. [ Added with a wince as one of them goes screaming by. Something about a baby? ]

[yuwon]

[ the question isn't exactly unexpected considering their current task. but, he still seems to mull over it a second too long. ] I didn't really play with other kids. [ which even he realizes sounds kind of depressing. he's self-aware if nothing else (even if this awareness probably only really sparked after he regressed), but he seems to shake it off.

but, that said, he wonders if the man is similar to himself.

he presumes if he knew of a lot of games, he probably would have suggested it by now, and hence, he seems to nod along at his words. though, the "baby" comment does make him look around. oh...

he sighs as they are flapping around a little bib they dug out from who knows where. idk if this is truly the thread we wanted here, but he leans down, letting them even tie it around his neck, but his expression couldn't be flatter. ]

This is ridiculous. [ they are even handing shion a milk bottle....

this is getting weird. but, all he's getting is scolding from the kids for "speaking like an adult." ]

[blindspotting]

[ One of Shion's eyebrows lifts at the sudden change in roles, and despite the amusement flickering across his expression, it's probably time for a bit of redirecting.

He leans forward a little to gather the small pack's attention, smiling faintly as he holds his hands out. ]

Here. We don't know these sorts of games, why don't you show us how it's done?

[ If there's anything he knows about people of any age, its that they generally love showing off when they know something. And right on cue, the bottle is almost instantly snatched back out of his hands as a few others start arguing over who gets to be the example baby.

Well. Better the kids than him or Yuwon. ]

[yuwon]

[ thanks to shion's expertise, the kids seem to latch onto this new activity. he supposed he never really thought of how everything seemed in the perspective of a child, if just because he was probably wasn't the most average example of a child, either. unlike the more sociable kids here who are now in the midst of a heated argument on who is the best baby feeder and diaper changer. ... were those things to be so proud of?

he releases an obvious sigh of relief, as he turns to him. there's silent gratitude likely mixed in somewhere, but: ] You're not bad. [ whether he means character-wise or with kids is unknown, and he doesn't seem to make any motions to actually provide clarification, either. ]

Do you get put on the spot like this a lot?

[blindspotting]

I've had some experience.

[ Generally not this young, but some things about being a teacher do tend to carry over regardless of how old the charges are. It tips the corner of his mouth into a small, fond smile even as he watches the group of them squabble. They may need to step in if it looks like emotions are running too high but for the moment the kids seem to be entertaining themselves. ]

If we're lucky, they'll run themselves out of energy relatively soon.

[ And if not, well. Shion can probably manage that too. They can't be too young to learn the basics of swordplay, right? ]

[yuwon]

[ some experience.

his eyes seem to analyze him from head to toe, as if he was actually scanning his body for the answer. except, he doesn't actually his his eyes to garner more insight. instead, he simply asks: ] So you're a father. [ he guesses it wouldn't be unheard of. (even if it may have contradicted their mutual understanding seconds prior).

if zeus could foster hundreds of offsprings, why couldn't this guy have one or two kids. that said, he doesn't seem to settle on the topic for long as he smoothly moves on to his next inquiry. ] Is that really how it works? You just tire them out? [ maybe being a parent is easier than he suspected. except, he knows that's probably just one very specific facet of childrearing. ]

What if they're not tired?

[blindspotting]

[ That startles a laugh out of him, even as Shion shakes his head. ] Hardly. A teacher, if anything.

[ In some ways they may not be all that different, but Shion isn't going to lay claim to familial connections when the only ones he might give it to are...complicated, to say the least. But that's something that will do no good to think about for the moment, so he won't. ]

They will be, eventually. [ Some of them are even starting to flag a bit already, though still clinging to the argument with the stubbornness of youth. Ah well, Shion will keep an eye out. So to speak. ] And if not, well. I suppose we find them a new game.

[yuwon]

[ as with most individuals here, he could only presume when the other man mentions he's a "teacher," that is likely was in reference to martial art or something adjacent to that. ... maybe swordmanship? curious enough, he does ask: ] What did you teach?

[ he figures it would work better than operating purely on assumptions.

look where assuming he was a father got him. as they are starting to argue, yuwon stands between them, placing a hand on one of their heads with a sigh. ] This is more out of my element than just fighting monsters... [ but, it's a weakness he only admits in a brief huff of exasperation. though, he shakes it off easily enough. ]

You can always teach them...? [ is that how it works... ]