interstellar5555 | ☆TRACK VI: THE NEW AMERICANA

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☆TRACK VI: THE NEW AMERICANA

Who: All the rescuers...and DAFT PUNK.
What: The rescuers enter Vista City for the first time.
When: January 20th, 2055
Where: The ship, the coast, and outer Vista City.
Warnings: Could basically be anything.

“Viral mess turned dreams into an empire.
Self-made success now she rolls with Rockefellers.
Survival of the richest, the city's ours until the fall.
But we don't feel like outsiders at all.”

☆THE NEW AMERICANA

Your arrival on Tera doesn’t exactly happen with a bang – though maybe that’s a good thing, given that this is supposedly a stealth operation. The ship firsts touches down somewhere in the ocean, at which point it hovers above the waves for a few hours while Shep “touches base” with some “contacts.”

This is your time to get ready, to collect any gear you’ve been assigned, and to talk over initial plans with your new teammates. You’ve been given a rough outline of what to expect upon reaching actual land. You’re going to be dropped off in the ring of forested land outside of the city, at which point you are to access a hidden stash of supplies that has been planted there for you and head into the city, where a second stash of supplies will be waiting for you in the outer ring of the city.

It will probably be a long walk. From the onboard supplies everyone will be given the following:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING: if your character doesn’t already speak English, they will be given some time with a crown like technological device that seems the be able to psychically teach people languages at a rapid pace. Whatever has been enabling communication so far won’t cover you once you enter the city, so it’s important that you’re prepared. How easily a person’s brain accepts this information will vary based on unseen neurological factors, and can range from perfect fluency to an uneasy second language. (On an OOC level, whether or not your character struggles with picking up English is completely up to you.) Most of this training will be done on the trip to Tera.
THEIR DESIGNATED TOOLS: any items your character was designated on your application will be given to them now. They’ll have some degree of choice in what they get, but everything is limited in supply. There are manuals for everything, but how much you can be fucked to read them will vary. Also, some of them aren’t in English or anything else even remotely recognizable.
COMMUNICATION DEVICES: Everybody will get a communicator, which are worn around the back of your ear and project a holographic field over your eyes when activated. The device itself must be manually switched on with your fingers, and from there on out your exact method of controlling it depends on the settings. Some of the more basic functions can be manipulated with “brain waves” (though nothing very complicated) and the rest is mostly voice or touch activated, though you can also set it up to be controlled with blinking and eye movement if you are a “pro”. Its functions include voice, voice-to-text, and a sort of janky manual text mode that you have to touch the screen to use. Video chat is not available, though it is capable of recording video from your POV to be shared manually after the fact. It can also share still images. Various channels can be set up and accessed, both private and public, much like a Teamspeak server is used in gaming.
HOLO EMITTERS (LIMITED): The amount of these available are limited by “plot convenience.” Do you want your character to have to struggle with their alien appearance to get by constantly? Then imagine there wasn’t enough of them to go around and your character was unlikely or benevolent enough to not receive one. Would you rather they have access to one? Then you can have one. A holo emitter is capable of projecting a holographic image around your character and disguising their appearance, the complexity of which is entirely up to you. The major problems with it are that 1) it can’t conceal things that the hologram doesn’t actually touch – cow horns could be covered in a hologram to look like a hat, but it couldn’t make them look as if there is nothing there at all, and 2) the holograms have no mass, and so if anyone tries to touch them they’ll realize they are just light projections. Also, like most of the equipment, they only work for a few hours before running out of power.

☆STASH NUMBER ONE: THE FOREST

Once Shep has made sure things are prepared and everyone has their stuff, the ship will very briefly skirt close enough to the shore for people to disembark. The beach seems totally free of witnesses, and once you’ve hit land it’s a short run to the tree line. A few random people will have map information uploaded into their communicators (Usagi, Saitama, Reborn, Pearl, and Sparks Nevada are the lucky winners) and will be put in charge of making sure everyone navigates to the first stash correctly, and then into the outskirts of the city where a meet-up point and a second stash of equipment is located. The directions are not complicated, but it’s a lot of people to shepherd around incognito. How everybody handles this is completely up to the characters.

Meanwhile, Shep is piloting the ship back off into the ocean to hide it somewhere. He says he’ll meet you in the city at some point, and that he’ll keep in contact via the communicators. Stay safe, and good luck!

The first stash is about a twenty minute walk into the forest, and should be found with relative ease. It is basically just a few large, plastic tubs buried beneath soil and moss, and has to be dug up like treasure. Inside of it lies the following:

AMERICANA DISGUISES: Clothing, make up, the works – everything the average joe needs to pass themselves off as a resident of Vista City. Outfits are perhaps a bit more eccentric and flashy than you’re used to...or maybe a bit less, depending where you come from. Either way, it’s a specific look, and there should be enough here to accommodate new outfits for all the humanoids. If you’re a horse, you’re sort of on your own. What your character ends up with is up to you, though “space rave” is a good way to describe common aesthetics. There are also a lot of hooded coats, hats, and other articles that would be good for hiding inhuman characteristics.
RATIONS: Enough food at water, tightly compact, to last everyone for a few days. It’s going to start to run out quickly, though, so the group is going to need some breadwinners sooner rather than later.
A WELCOME CARD: A welcome message from these two with their selfie printed on the front. Written inside are the following messages: “Glad you could make It! ♥ –Gold” and ”Welcome to hell. ☺ -Silver”. They are both in the same handwriting.

From there, the maps only lead further into the city.

☆STASH NUMBER TWO: CITY BOUND

You'll quickly notice that Vista City comes with multiple levels - the ground level, that actually touches the earth, and then a second level of streets and walkways that occurs halfway up the mountainous buildings. Cars streak down both sets of speedways, and the signs of life scatter every inch of the towers surrounding you. At the same time, though, a city of this magnitude leaves a lot of nooks and crannies left frequently unseen - something you'll definitely have to take advantage of. In the outer ring of the city the population is less dense than it gets towards the center, so at the least it gives you the opportunity to get your bearings.

You'll find that there is no shortage of people stalking around in the darkness, even as the sun sets and night totally takes hold. A lot of them are dressed pretty funny, too, and any insecurities you had about looking ridiculous can tentatively be put aside. The costumes you were left do allow you to blend in about as well as you could hope. If the navigation team holds true, you'll be able to make it to the next stash in good time. You've been advised to avoid talking to locals as much as possible, at least until you've figured things out better. There is a notable absence of homeless people on the streets, which could mean any number of things.

The place you end up at is, unsurprisingly, a warehouse. One of the few entirely flat buildings in the cityscape, the maps will lead into the center of the building. You try the door. It opens. When you go inside, you aren't alone.

The floor is littered in blankets and what passes for foam mattresses. Waiting with them is the silver helmeted figure from the welcome card earlier. They usher you in hastily and ask you some cursory questions about whether you've been followed. When they seem satisfied, they'll tell you that you can spend the night here.

"This is the first and last time you can stay here," they'll say, gesturing around. "This was Gold and I's launchpad for the last little while, and we're junking it after this. I recommend you follow our example. Don't stay any one place too long, and don't travel in one huge group. If you do that, one bad night will pin you all down."

Silver will pass out what is apparently enough fake IDs for everyone in the ship - complete with each individual's image (or a human approximation) and a made up name. It's enough info to get a job with, they'll explain, if you can manage it. Avoid pushing the forgery's limits, though, if you can. They made them themselves so they expect they are excellent quality, but you can never be too careful.

"...Most importantly," they'll finish. "Don't go looking for the prisoners right now, as much as you might want to. If you fuck that up, you'll fuck this up for everyone - and I'll tell you right now, other people have already invested a lot more blood and tears into this than you have. Respect that."

Silver will stay for a few more hours, and then Gold will appear to take over, bringing snacks and hot chocolate with them. Get a good sleep, you'll need it.

“We are the new Americana.
High on legal marijuana,
Raised on Biggie and Nirvana.
We are the new Americana.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Forest

"There's so much land and so many trees!"

Agent 3 took to learning English well. It's the language from the Word on High that inspires the Splatfests. Her voice still has a very aquatic sound to it. She'll complain a little about having to walk instead of swim, but she follows along near the map holders. Her gun is poised and ready to shoot the whole time.

When they reach the first stash, she helps to keep watch as others dig out the buried goods. She shoots her bright green ink up the trunk of a tree and swims up into the branches.

Later, she'll look for a large jacket with a hood to help hide her pointed ears (though her Hero Headset will do the work for her) and tentacle hair. She has no problem going for the brighter colors. Her Hero Suit has bright yellows and greens already. She feels weird adding a hat to her headset (Isn't that illegal to double up?), but she chooses something that can hold her tentacles tied up like a boy Inkling does. Oh! Goggles! If it's okay to double up, it'll be okay to triple up, right?

City

Agent 3 can't keep her eyes still once they finally reach the city. There's so much to see, so many humans. Is this what the past looked like? It's amazing! Even the warehouse is interesting to her, and she wants to explore every bit.

Her card says Emma Skidd. It's kind of strange to have a fake name for a code name, but she shrugs and pockets the ID. Picking a spot and a blanket, she pulls out her Hero Shot and shoots ink onto the floor. Then it's a bloop and into the ink she goes. When she pokes out her head, she's a squid and not her kid form.

"Are there Ink Battles here or whatever humans do like it? If I can do that, I can earn us money."

"You'll probably find less trees when we hit the city proper."

Mammon deals with all the excitement fairly easily, not particularly surprised. This is a squid. Or a kid? Squidkid. Either way, she seems pretty aquatic in nature.

"Although I suppose there should be parks somewhere in it," they muse. "But we'd have to get a proper feel for the city first."

"It'll be more like home then but with a lot less water." 3 pokes her head out of the leaves. "Well. Maybe. The polar ice caps must not have melted yet if we can keep walking this long and not see water again."

Again, she's trying to picture what a human city will look like.

"There might be libraries here, for us to see just what the state of the world is like..." It seems similar enough to Mammon's own home that they imagine they could get past things well enough, but they don't want to make a fool of themself.

...Speaking of which. "Do they have that back where you're from? Libraries?"

"We do. I studied in there all the time for school. It's one of the few places I know where inking everything isn't a good idea." Sure, the ink will eventually disappear, but in the meantime, the books can't be read!

She... wasn't the one responsible for discovering that. Just one of the victims in the prank.

"Do you think they'll let us have a library card?"

"Most likely." Mammon shrugs as they keep going, curious about the city that waits for them. "It's not something you exactly need a background check for. Out of this whole mission, that will probably be the easiest thing to get, in fact."

A thought occurs to them, and they cross their arms. "And there might be computers for use as well there..."

"I know how to use those, and it's not suspicious for people to look up their favorite singers." There are many bands back home, and it would be hard to keep up with all of them without the use of technology. Everyone loves to talk about the newest album release or TV performance.

"It sounds like a good first mission: locate a library."

"We can split up for that." Mammon reaches up to tug back their hood enough to show off the device curled around their ear. "It'll be easy to alert each other when we've found the appropriate place with these, at least."

Thank goodness for easy communication.

"And we can start looking for the city's power source and radio towers." Agent 3 hasn't forgotten about what they talked about previously.

\o/

avidita - 2016-01-28 08:54 (UTC) - Expand

Agent 3 | OTA

Forest

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/connects this to the other thread =U

City

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City

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