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redmarsshit2020-10-18 06:15 pm
modblob) wrote in redmarsshit2020-10-18 06:15 pm
Entry tags:
october 2020. welcome to the void.
Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.
▶ Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.
▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.
▶ All TDM threads can be considered game canon, and current players are welcome to either top-level on the TDM so prospective players can tag them, or use the prompts for logs or network posts on the communities. All threads on the TDM can be used for Activity Check.
a. taken to task.
There isn't any big show of rumbling or fireworks or even the ghostly slightly staticky image of a woman with pink hair in a white dress wandering the halls, but at some point during the night, around the middle of October, there is something new in the park at the bottom of the city. Hovering over the water in the small lake, close to the shore where the bots often set up their little parties, there is a large computer display.
Nothing really physical, of course, but a sort of holographic display glowing faintly purple, mostly transparent except for the borders around the windows and the text displayed inside them. Any attempt to try to switch other windows will produce an error warning noise and a small error box on the screen that can be dismissed by touching 'ok' in the window. What's more interesting is the text written in the main box:
"Hello Anchorites.
I have something very important to show you, something I think you might just be interested in seeing. I don't know if it's going to be scary like the last time, because I know how to access it but I don't know what sort of dangers may lay there. I know I haven't been the most trustworthy person. I was built to be trustworthy, but somewhere along the way I lost that, it was taken from me and I...
I digress.
You've all seen the city in the wastes. I know there's interest. But I also know it's difficult to get to, a difficult undertaking to get there, and yet the city may hold some answers about all of this. About why you're here. About why I'm here. I may have found an alternate route, but I need your help. There are certain safeguards in place, to ensure that the way isn't opened until this place is secure and at normal operating parameters. A protective measure. The following tasks need to be completed before the system will register this place as secure and normal. Normal...ha...yes.
Here we go.
1. All protective paneling on the exterior of the city, around the base of the dome must be repaired to protect the city from solar radiation and the elements. This can be done by wearing protective gear and using repair kits that can be found in the garage and R&D areas. Anyone with a modicum of computer experience can follow the provided instructions.
2. All entrances and exits to the exterior of the city must be secure and in good working order. The repair kits for the protective paneling will work for any technical malfunctions with the doors. But some of them may need a heavier and less technical touch, because a few of the issues are with creatures from the Wastes that are triggering the security system. Clear those out and they should be fine.
3. Security systems inside the city are being triggered consistently by a few of the creatures from below that have been released over the months. Find them and eliminate whatever risk they pose. Whether it's by killing them or pacifying them. They should be fine as docile pets or once they're released into the wastes, just so long as they're not triggering the security systems.
4. Find and repair or scrap any faulty or malfunctioning bots. They should be easy to spot - I'm sure you've probably seen them already. Be gentle. They really do mean for the best, and only want to help. Scrap them only in the worst case scenarios. If too many are lost, the system will never consider this place secure.
5. In order to secure sufficient raw materials for food and to supply additional oxygen, at least 50% of the plots in the hydroponics bay must be active and have plants growing in them. Through running diagnostics, I can tell that at least 75% of them are functional.
Any number of people can carry out these tasks. The choice is left to you, Anchorites.
- SINI"
Nothing really physical, of course, but a sort of holographic display glowing faintly purple, mostly transparent except for the borders around the windows and the text displayed inside them. Any attempt to try to switch other windows will produce an error warning noise and a small error box on the screen that can be dismissed by touching 'ok' in the window. What's more interesting is the text written in the main box:
"Hello Anchorites.
I have something very important to show you, something I think you might just be interested in seeing. I don't know if it's going to be scary like the last time, because I know how to access it but I don't know what sort of dangers may lay there. I know I haven't been the most trustworthy person. I was built to be trustworthy, but somewhere along the way I lost that, it was taken from me and I...
I digress.
You've all seen the city in the wastes. I know there's interest. But I also know it's difficult to get to, a difficult undertaking to get there, and yet the city may hold some answers about all of this. About why you're here. About why I'm here. I may have found an alternate route, but I need your help. There are certain safeguards in place, to ensure that the way isn't opened until this place is secure and at normal operating parameters. A protective measure. The following tasks need to be completed before the system will register this place as secure and normal. Normal...ha...yes.
Here we go.
1. All protective paneling on the exterior of the city, around the base of the dome must be repaired to protect the city from solar radiation and the elements. This can be done by wearing protective gear and using repair kits that can be found in the garage and R&D areas. Anyone with a modicum of computer experience can follow the provided instructions.
2. All entrances and exits to the exterior of the city must be secure and in good working order. The repair kits for the protective paneling will work for any technical malfunctions with the doors. But some of them may need a heavier and less technical touch, because a few of the issues are with creatures from the Wastes that are triggering the security system. Clear those out and they should be fine.
3. Security systems inside the city are being triggered consistently by a few of the creatures from below that have been released over the months. Find them and eliminate whatever risk they pose. Whether it's by killing them or pacifying them. They should be fine as docile pets or once they're released into the wastes, just so long as they're not triggering the security systems.
4. Find and repair or scrap any faulty or malfunctioning bots. They should be easy to spot - I'm sure you've probably seen them already. Be gentle. They really do mean for the best, and only want to help. Scrap them only in the worst case scenarios. If too many are lost, the system will never consider this place secure.
5. In order to secure sufficient raw materials for food and to supply additional oxygen, at least 50% of the plots in the hydroponics bay must be active and have plants growing in them. Through running diagnostics, I can tell that at least 75% of them are functional.
Any number of people can carry out these tasks. The choice is left to you, Anchorites.
- SINI"
b. golems in the dark.
It takes only a day from the completion of the list of tasks for SINI to get the access point she mentioned open. This time, there is a bit of a rumble, and a large bulkhead door located in the lower levels of the city, between the medbay and the family and luxury suites, slowly pulls open. Beyond the door lies a rough stone tunnel lit with small lanterns hanging from metal supporting posts that slowly flicker on as the vibration of the door moving sets them off. At the end of the short stone tunnel there's another bulkhead door that looks solid and intact, with a small keypad beside it. Thankfully, there is also a note stuck to it that reads "566891" in messy handwriting, and typing that code into the keypad will cause the door to open slowly, with a creak.
As the door swings open, a computerized voice speaks through crackly speakers - "Security code accepted, Colony 3 'Anchor' secure. Access point open."
Beyond the door is a long tunnel that arcs off underground, lit by the same sort of dangling lanterns, the walls constructed of thick metal with heavily reinforced seams held together with thick rivets. The tunnel continues on for about 100 feet before there's any sign of disturbance beyond dust on every flat surface and snarls of cobwebs in the corners. At that point, the metal is cracked and bent and stone rubble blocks most of the open space in the tunnel with only a tiny sliver of open air between the top of the rubble and the top of the tunnel. This blockage can be easily pushed through, but beyond that there are several more similar cave-ins until one of them is too much to be easily moved or squeezed through.
The power in the tunnel is inconsistent and any sort of test would reveal that there is enough residual radiation in the tunnel to be dangerous with long unprotected exposure. The lights flicker constantly, and abruptly, between flickers, anyone exploring the tunnel will find themselves surrounded by automatons emerging from the shadows. They come in various sizes and shapes, with different compositions - made of metal and obviously run by various types of tech, others made of stone or clay or other substances and obviously run by magic. Some might even be a little familiar to some of the explorers, bearing a striking resemblance to a mech or robot or golem from their homes.
But no matter what the automatons look like, they will all attack any intruders on sight, speaking a warning message in various languages and in various forms that basically amount to 'intruders detected, responding to protect Colony 2.' Attacks vary from beam weapons to projectiles to magic spells and plain old melee attacks.
The automatons can be destroyed, with a lot of effort, but...they may also be useful in clearing out the caved in parts of the tunnel, were they turned to the task. Better yet, if they were able to be taken over, they could be used for future missions as well - they're obviously more hardy than the average person. Any character who is inclined to do so can make an attempt to take them over, either by force through hacking, magical possession, or other means, but it is also possible to reason with some of the more high-tech automatons that retain some reasoning functions.
What will you do?
As the door swings open, a computerized voice speaks through crackly speakers - "Security code accepted, Colony 3 'Anchor' secure. Access point open."
Beyond the door is a long tunnel that arcs off underground, lit by the same sort of dangling lanterns, the walls constructed of thick metal with heavily reinforced seams held together with thick rivets. The tunnel continues on for about 100 feet before there's any sign of disturbance beyond dust on every flat surface and snarls of cobwebs in the corners. At that point, the metal is cracked and bent and stone rubble blocks most of the open space in the tunnel with only a tiny sliver of open air between the top of the rubble and the top of the tunnel. This blockage can be easily pushed through, but beyond that there are several more similar cave-ins until one of them is too much to be easily moved or squeezed through.
The power in the tunnel is inconsistent and any sort of test would reveal that there is enough residual radiation in the tunnel to be dangerous with long unprotected exposure. The lights flicker constantly, and abruptly, between flickers, anyone exploring the tunnel will find themselves surrounded by automatons emerging from the shadows. They come in various sizes and shapes, with different compositions - made of metal and obviously run by various types of tech, others made of stone or clay or other substances and obviously run by magic. Some might even be a little familiar to some of the explorers, bearing a striking resemblance to a mech or robot or golem from their homes.
But no matter what the automatons look like, they will all attack any intruders on sight, speaking a warning message in various languages and in various forms that basically amount to 'intruders detected, responding to protect Colony 2.' Attacks vary from beam weapons to projectiles to magic spells and plain old melee attacks.
The automatons can be destroyed, with a lot of effort, but...they may also be useful in clearing out the caved in parts of the tunnel, were they turned to the task. Better yet, if they were able to be taken over, they could be used for future missions as well - they're obviously more hardy than the average person. Any character who is inclined to do so can make an attempt to take them over, either by force through hacking, magical possession, or other means, but it is also possible to reason with some of the more high-tech automatons that retain some reasoning functions.
What will you do?
c. the network.
Need to get hold of someone, call for help, ask the city at large a question? Need to ask a friend to forge a doctor's note to get out of the obstacle course? Maybe you need to hold your sat phone up to whatever crazy thing you're seeing and send out a recording to double-check if your eyes are deceiving you and what you're looking at is real?
Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.
Whatever the reason, the network is going strong, so feel free to include a post to it in your top-levels.
no subject
and narrations lazinessthat he defaulted to one of his old flows, but it did the trick.Or mostly. Shit. Not quite
"Jiro, don't get too close." As soon as Jiro hits into him, Ichiro is shoving him behind him, glad to see that his mic is not caught in the blaze but that hat.
That look he sees on Jiro's face.
"Get your mic and stay back..." Ichiro knows this is dumb, this is beyond idiotic, but they are on an alien planet; they have not found Saburo, and that last plea says it all; this means more than just a hat.
He has one shot without getting burnt, and Ichiro slides in, grabs the hat, and jumps back, dropping it on the ground with a cruse he starts to stomp on it to put the flames out.
When he is done, it is far from perfect but, maybe, if he cleans it.
"I'm sorry..." He holds the hat out; it's not the best, but it's better than losing it entirely, his heart aching for his brother right now.
Screw that; he does not give Jiro a chance to take the hat. Instead, he tugs the younger Yamada into his arms and gives him a hug, tight, just like he was still a little kid.
"It's gonna be okay, Jiro, you hear me, I'll figure all this out."
no subject
But he pushed that aside and leaned into his brother's shoulder, relieved that he didn't seem crazy that he was freaking out. "Saburo's not gonna get me another one. He'll just laugh at me and call me a fuckin' idiot-besides, he's not even here. I CHECKED."
And he really did, as well as for Ichiro before he miraculously showed up out of nowhere. That's what he was so good at; being so amazing and reliable and making him feel happy and small and protected all at the same time.
He pulled back if only to save a tiny bit of his dignity and pretend he wasn't close to shedding a few tears before he, rather dejectedly, took the hat. At least he had his mic...."I really don't know what we're supposed to do from here."
no subject
Ichiro lets Jiro lean there while he talks. He even chuckles a little at the comment "He probably will but he'll get you a new hat, you two might fight but don't forget, no matter what, your brothers and that comes first. I knew you would, I did too. Don't sweat it, we'll find him."
Or he will not stop until they do at least, every day, he'll check for Saburo in the hopes that the younger Yamada will make an appearance. Ichiro does have a way of showing up just when needed, doesn't he?
All he wants is to make his brothers feel that way, he never had someone to do that for him really, he's trying to be the parent they all deserved instead of the one they got.
When Jiro pulls back and takes the hat Ichiro flashes that crooked smile of his, palms the top of his head, and ruffles his hair.
"How about we see about finding something to eat and a place to sleep, for now, we'll figure the rest out."
no subject
However, it probably wasn't the case for now. The youngest Yamada was the most tech savvy of all of them and there was no way he would've seen his older bro's ramblings all over the network. "Either he's avoiding me or he's not here, nii-chan. I haven't seen shit until you got here. No other mics either."
Truth be told he knew he should probably try to start gathering information like he would back at home, but he'd been a little freaked out about the situation. Still he had a couple things to share with his bro! "Oh right, there's a guy here who plays baseball! And we should meet up with the other survivors. They probably know way more about the safe spots than we do."
Oh god, that's right he forgot. "Fuck, they said there were zombies here too. Do you even think that our mics would work on them? I'm still not sure, no one here even knows what hypnosis mics are."
no subject
"He wouldn't avoid you, that means he's still back in Ikebukuro." Which Jiro will note causes his brow to knit in worry for a moment. Sure, Saburo is capable, he has made sure both his bros are, even if Jiro makes it seem the opposite at times.
Jiro does not need to worry, Ichiro himself has not had much chance to gather information yet, his first priority was finding the boys and now he at least has one of them. True panic would have come if he had not found either, except, at least then it would mean they had each other to depend on. If one of them has to be alone, he'd rather it was him.
"Baseball.." He smiles at that, at least Jiro will have someone to play sports with "Going to talk him into soccer, huh?" It is said with the utmost fondness, he is proud of his bro and his skill. "Good plan, let's see if we can find them."
But his first priority is going to be shelter and food, he needs somewhere safe for Jiro to lay his head and to make sure his little bro's stomach is full when he goes to sleep.
"Wait, zombies? Jiro are you sure you heard them right?" He thinks for a moment about how the mics work "Well, they work on robots, Zombies have actual brains we can overload, we should be fine."
Though, please no zombies, however, if they come across some he is definitely getting in front of his younger brother.
no subject
And of course he was gonna play soccer. He needed some normalcy in his life. Plus he realized with all this extra time he might actually finally be able to get Ichiro to play with him. But first things first, he did grab his big bro's sleeve. "They said they're gone, but look, I've watched zombie movies with Saburo and that's always what they say until the guy gets bitten on the leg by a stray head!"
Okay, they really needed to get to safety, because Jiro was going to vibrate himself into a panic if they stayed here any longer.
no subject
It was better to focus on what he could do now, which is to take care of Jiro and find a way to get home to Saburo. Thoughts of his score with Samatoki are not on his mind at this second but that is not to say he will not be aiming to reach that goal by getting home as well. "This isn't the movies, Jiro, we'll be alright, just have to be careful. And I'll be with you the entire time."
As they talk he swings an arm around his brother's shoulder and begins to lead him away from the mess, the chaos, and head toward somewhere safer, they can hole and make plans. "Let's find somewhere to hole up and see if I can't get you something to eat."
Normal activities will help calm Jiro and give Ichiro something to work towards.
no subject
Safety first, right? And they needed to start gathering information. And less chance of zombie and robot attacks. He looked at his hands, all scraped up from scrambling over wreckage. Deciding it wasn't important, he just continued to talk.
It was really comforting to have Ichiro solidly here, with no distractions. He was worried about Saburo too, but the kid could very likely take care of himself. "This is like some sort of space colony. They got crops or whatever growin', a lot of the stuff went right over my head."
no subject
And he is, already sending out a message to verify things, find other people, and secure them a safe place to stay and yes food, rather Jiro is hungry now or not, he will have to eat.
"It's a lot to take in, I don't know if I'll remember it all but we can figure it out as we go, together." Solidly here for sure, then again, that is just the kind of brothers they are, they will worry for each other and take care of each other no matter what.