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voidtreckerooc2021-05-06 04:50 am
voidtreckermods) wrote in voidtreckerooc2021-05-06 04:50 am
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Mission: What their Eyes See
On the morning of Day 5 of the month of Llama (ooc: 9th May) the train symbol on everyone’s Safety Control Apparatus will shimmer in many colours, almost like the void itself. A moment later a holo-screen will pop up with the following information:
Additional Information
All the information you will need for writing the mission is below. Remember that the only information characters know about IC before the mission is the blockquote section above, though they may learn the rest through play.
This mission will run from the 9th of May. A post will go up on the 9th May (L5) and will cover the Voidtreckers' arrival to Kamakan. An optional ongoing post will happen on the 15th May (L8). A final challenge for all teams on the 19th May (Forward dated to L11). The final this mission will be a little different and more information about that will go up soon.
Please feel free to use this as a plotting post. Remember there is nothing forcing your character to do the task assigned to their group so if you wish to do a different one, feel free! If your character decides to not do any of the tasks at all, that’s fine too, just let us know! Please reply under the colour you decide to go with once you decide.
Have fun plotting!
Destination: System #93426194992.
The city of Kamakan is a large population centre in an almost barren world. Constructed in four distinct tiers, the city is one of great wealth and desperate poverty. A series of strange events has been reported and void assistance has been requested.
Orange Team
On the very top level of the city is an information hub. As the information network of the city has reportedly been affected, this is a priority location. Infiltrate the facility and begin mapping the hub.
Purple Team
The second level is home to the elite. There have been a series of killings that have shaken the level, though news has been suppressed. Furthermore there are rumours of creatures stalking the plate: creatures from stories, or those extinct many years ago. Investigate and prevent any further fatalities.
Blue Team
The third level is where the bulk of workers live with cramped houses squeezed between factories. One of the main escapes of the youth in this sector is the Spectaura, a basic VR gaming system that uses goggles.
A few days ago those using the Spectaura began to fall unconscious and seem to be unable to log out. Use the Spectaura to enter the system, and rescue the players. .
Red Team
On the ground level of the city there have been murmurings of strange goings on connected to a fighting ring that operates throughout the plate. Rumours that a new prize has been offered: a prize of a dream come true. There are also more worrying rumours of fighters going berserk or victors going mad. Infiltrate and investigate.
Notes: The dressing carriage will be open for your convenience. The world was once part of a space-faring galaxy but has since lost this capability; it is not void active.
Your SCA will allow you access throughout the city and also hold a small amount of credits for lodging or other necessary purchases. All Voidtreckers should be on their guard and be as discreet as they can..
Additional Information
All the information you will need for writing the mission is below. Remember that the only information characters know about IC before the mission is the blockquote section above, though they may learn the rest through play.
Lay of the Land
Overview
Kamakan is a city in four distinct tiers, large plates built on top of each other with the narrowest at the top. The topmost layer hosts the centre of governance, command and information. The next holds the homes and workplaces of the elite and wealthy; the third is the industrial district, and the ground level is quite literally the underbelly of the city, being made up of slums and uninhabitable factory or power spaces.
The world outside the city is grey and lifeless. The city is covered in a thick smog, making the air hard to breathe and irritating the eyes. The air is hot and humid with thunder rumbling overhead and the occasional flash of lightning.
The city is very large. It would take the better part of a day to walk from one end to another, especially in the lower, wider tiers. The plates are held by large steel columns that double as lift shafts, allowing access between tiers. As explained by the train, their SCA's work to give them access through any checkpoints. They will notice that the citizens of the city wear watch-like devices of their own that seem to work as identity cards.
It is a large population hub and it seems a popular travelling point, with transports arriving into stations around the city from other cities or smaller settlements almost hourly.
The city is extremely noisy, especially on the lower tiers with billboards blaring advertisements and screens playing the latest music at all times of day and night. Nothing is beyond being sold, including canisters of breathable air with breathing masks.
The rarest commodity is food: no one is starving, but the average diet consists of a nutrient paste, a thin bland porridge that contains all the nutrients needed to survive. Or, as advertised on every street corner: Nutri-slime, a brand name version of the same substance that comes in an array of luminous colours and tastes almost sickly sweet. Consequently, a less-than-legal trade of actual food is in operation especially in the ground-level tier. Real food is a good way to buy information, though flaunting too much will attract the wrong kind of attention.
Tier One
This tier is the smallest and is covered completely in a large glass dome, protecting the tier from inclement weather and providing it with filtered air. It is kept at a pleasant temperature and there are even some simple plants around, mostly ornamental shrubs and hedges.
All the buildings here are sturdy metal, simple and practical, clearly all designed by a single architect or with severe planning restrictions in place. It also boasts the largest proportion of security staff.
Tier Two
The next tier down is covered in large houses and office blocks, connected by glass tubes that work as sealed streets - the smog would be unbearable otherwise. Alternatively, hovercars seem popular up here. Inside the houses and indeed some of the workplaces basic holograms are in fashion: a living room next to the ocean, cooking on a mountain top, sleeping in a forest. For the most part these holograms are very basic and don't stand up to much scrutiny, merely fancy decor for the very wealthy.
Tier Three
This layer is hot and crowded; factories make up the majority of this floor with cramped living quarters squashed between them. The air quality is worst in this sector because the fumes from the factory are trapped by the level above; circulation is poor, many of its residents wear gas masks with canisters of Breathe strapped on their backs or cover their faces with cloths.
The people who live here are those with jobs in the factories, and their families. The factories operate all day and night, with constant rotating shifts meaning the streets are always busy. There are a lot of checkpoints and security gates to pass through to move around the sector, though the SCA's will pass muster. The one hospital in the tier is currently overwhelmed by the amount of unconscious gamers; it is something that has shaken the population of the tier, making for a subdued and worried atmosphere. Very few people don't have a friend or family member affected.
Tier Four
This is the ground level, a warren of homes and shady establishments home to those who can or will not work in the factories of the tier above. Here there are barely any checkpoints or law enforcement of any kind.
It is incredibly claustrophobic, with large support columns, exposed wires and large pipes running alongside and over the 'roads'. At a guess this tier was never meant for people to live on, yet it seems to be the most densely populated tier.
Routes
Orange
Though their SCA's show a map of the tier, it does not show the inside of the buildings or give any clue as to what the buildings contain. The only way for them to learn more is to infiltrate.
Their SCA's will get them access but it is up to them how they wish to proceed: pretend to be scientists, full stealth, or another mad plan. Their main aim is to map the place and try to find the server hubs.
This is a difficult task that will be made even more difficult by the fact that sometimes the buildings seem to change. That is, one moment they are in the buildings and the next they are somewhere else. Perhaps their childhood street, their old school, the jungles of Nion or another mission-world. Perhaps they are back on the train.
Voidtreckers who are immune to illusions will not see these strange visions and those who are particularly strong willed will be able to fight them off. Once people know they are illusions they can focus through them to see reality even if it is overlaid with what their minds want to see. However they get more frequent as the mission progresses, it will take a lot of concentration to stay focused and get an accurate map.
Though at first people will see their own things, illusions will start to merge. They might see something from the world of the Voidtrecker next to them, or two scenes might mesh.
Back in reality! There are a lot of rooms and buildings to explore: labs, offices, meeting rooms. Everything is neat and clean, though there are many people out and about at all hours. Enough that people trying to blend in won't find it too difficult - as long as they don't do anything too obvious.
It seems that the Voidtreckers aren't the only people who are seeing the illusions; those working here seem to be affected too, which works in the Voidtreckers' favour as the employees begin avoiding the buildings, rumours springing up about them being haunted.
Purple
This tier is in a state of panic. Six people have been killed in the last week, all from inside their own locked houses, all showing signs of an animal attack.
In a world where anything larger than a housecat went extinct a generation ago, this is beyond unimaginable. The houses where the killings happened have been cordoned off but those guarding the place are as worried as anyone else, distracted and nervous, and so it won't take much to get through.
The first thing to notice is that the holograms in these houses seem… a lot more real. Almost like they really have walked into a forest, onto a beach or up a mountain. Voidtreckers who are immune to illusions will not see these strange visions and those who are particularly strong willed will be able to fight them off, seeing only the basic holograms in the homes.
More worrying are the reports about sightings of animals around the tier. People being chased, hunted. The more the Voidtreckers search the more evidence they will find that this is true. A large cat, a wolf, perhaps a bear. Maybe a creature unique to their world or something they have seen on a previous mission. These creatures prowl and will attack if provoked. Or sometimes even if not.
Because two things become certain pretty quickly: One- these creatures will attack Voidtreckers over citizens. Two- Even to those who can see through the illusions something is there. It's not very visible, a distortion of light. But these illusions are a lot more real than any they have seen before.
Their mission will quickly become one of hunting down these creatures and keeping the tier safe from them.
Blue
Spectaura is a simple googles-based VR game. It's not as advanced as the VR that is on the train, though that might be because it seems to be a cheaper range gaming system. It hosts many games though and is immersive enough to be a good distraction, perfect for young people to escape the drudgery of factory work.
Except around a week ago people using Spectaura began falling unconscious. They are alive, they seem to still be playing. However they can't be awoken. Unfortunately attempts to turn the game off in a couple of early cases led to the player's death and so subsequent cases have been left, transferred to the hospital or kept at home. Their bodies do not seem to be deteriorating despite the lack of food or water.
There are some spare Spectaura devices around, or they can be bought with credits (though any shop assistant will make them sign a waiver to show they understand the danger of entering the game system.)
There are a whole range of games to look through, though the two most popular ones where the majority of players can be found are an open-world farming MMO called AgriTopia VI Ultimate, with bright landscapes and calming diegetic music, and Aegis Force, a tournament team shooter with short battle scenarios and smaller maps.
Whichever game they enter the problem will be obvious, and perhaps familiar, straight away. Red vines, overgrown everywhere, tangling systems and people. Anyone entering the game will lose consciousness in reality, and inside the game will find themselves being attacked by red vines within moments. These are difficult to fight off but possible.
Inside the game world voidtreckers will not have their canon abilities but will gain game-appropriate abilities depending on what game they have entered. AgriTopia? Axes, hoes, and large secateurs can cut back the vines. Aegis Force? Gunfire forces them back to a degree. Additionally, Voidtreckers who entered the system of the Great Seasons in Jelly/January's mission will find they have the powers they were gifted then - most importantly, the ability to soothe the vines.
Those without this ability can still fight to free people, it will just take more brute force and quick thinking. Once the people have been freed from the vines they will need help to make it to the end of the level, game or nearest save point so that they can leave the game safely and wake up.
Red
The first rule of fight club is don't talk about fight club. The second rule is if you make enough of a scene in their territory, the fight club will find you.
Though our use of 'club' may sound singular, it is actually a whole network of fighting tournaments in various bars, basements and other establishments in the lowest tier. Entering is actually pretty simple: they will take anyone who wants to fight. Ranking higher is a bit harder.
The Voidtreckers won't be the only new faces. After all, a prize of dreams come true has enticed many who wouldn't normally be drawn in. There are combatants of all strengths and size, and it soon becomes apparent that winning isn't the aim of the game. What is? Putting on a good show. The flashier the better! The audience wants drama, and those with a flair for the theatrical will do just as well as those who are good in a fight.
The prize of a dream come true is one thing, but there are many more worrying rumours. One of the best fighters reportedly walked out of the city a day ago, no protective gear, no gear at all, out into the smog. They haven't been seen since.
There's also talk of people going berserk or breaking down in fights. As the Voidtreckers progress and move from the small bars to the larger establishments, they will start to see the problem.
Sometimes things… change. That opponent you are facing? They now look like your worst enemy, or perhaps your best friend, your lover. Sometimes you're no longer in the city but in a place of fond memories or your worst nightmares. Fights can very quickly go south when your opponent believes you their greatest foe.
Voidtreckers who are immune to illusions will not see these strange visions and those who are particularly strong willed will be able to fight them off. Once people know they are illusions they can focus through them to see reality even if it is overlaid with what their minds want to see.
For those who are not up for fighting, or don't wish to infiltrate in that way, there is plenty of gossip, petty crime and other ways to get in with those running the fighting ring. Schmoozing or bribery, fast-talking or gambling.
People
The people of the world are a bit of a mix. This world was once space-faring, and it shows in the population, with a variety of sapient species and a blend of genetics that tend towards the mutant. Personal aesthetics and appearances vary wildly, too, and in a poisonous world, coverings are the fashion. The nonhuman Voidtreckers do not need to worry about standing out. There are robotic and droids in the city though fully AI does not seem to exist with most being programmed to do basic tasks.
However, while the world is high technology, magic is non-existent. Obvious use of it will bring attention. Some positive, some negative. Mostly the latter. With subtle or intelligent use, it might prove beneficial in some situations, but flagrant use will quickly cause panic. That said, with all of the flashy billboards and loud music going on, it's easier than you'd think to pass off an effect as pyrotechnics.
Generally, the people of Kamakan are a people concerned with their own matters, who live in an inhospitable city with the faintest chance of elevating themselves to literal greater heights.
Other Information
The dressing carriage will open to provide clothing appropriate to the setting - think cyberpunk. There is food of a sort in the city, if you like nutrient paste, and all SCAs will have an amount of credits sufficient for food and housing for the week.
Though it is a work-in-progress it may be worth looking here for ‘background’ mission preparation. Other initiatives are listed here and here is the list of community supplies that you can assume characters have access to.
This mission will run from the 9th of May. A post will go up on the 9th May (L5) and will cover the Voidtreckers' arrival to Kamakan. An optional ongoing post will happen on the 15th May (L8). A final challenge for all teams on the 19th May (Forward dated to L11). The final this mission will be a little different and more information about that will go up soon.
Rewards.
Taking part in a mission in any way will earn you five team points. You claim those by submitting a link during AC.
Also threads of 10 comments or more where mission goals are being worked towards will also earn you 10 team points. To claim those please fill in the form below and reply to the rewards header.
Please feel free to use this as a plotting post. Remember there is nothing forcing your character to do the task assigned to their group so if you wish to do a different one, feel free! If your character decides to not do any of the tasks at all, that’s fine too, just let us know! Please reply under the colour you decide to go with once you decide.
Have fun plotting!
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