☆TRACK VI: THE NEW AMERICANA

[interdimanagers]

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.”

Comments

[lightthedarkness]

Usagi was holding onto Minako's hand, if only to have the support of her senshi nearby. She could do this, she had to do this, for Rei and everyone, and all the people she was leading.

"I wish they had asked if I wanted the map..." they should have given it to Haruka, she drove cars for a living, for goodness sake.

[hearted]

"Yeah, I would've done it!" Minako protested with a gentle squeeze of Usagi's hand. Not that she would've been much better at navigating, but it was always worth a try. "Anything confusing you? I'll keep my eyes peeled if your readout gets too weird."

[lightthedarkness]

"I know," she smiled, knowing that Minako would have done everything she could. "But it's okay! I can do this!" she just needed to remember that no matter what, everything was for Rei and the others. "I won't let anyone down... or uh... lost." Which was more important at the moment.

"It's just that, even though it's an alien planet, it looks just like home, you know? So I wonder what else will be just like home."

[hearted]

Minako found herself humming as she thought. What could be so familiar? She thought for a moment, then smiled.

"Cute guys? Not that we're gonna let ourselves get distracted!"

[lightthedarkness]

As if she had eyes for anyone except Mamoru.

"We'll have to be careful they don't all fall in love with you and Haruka-san!" she's being 100% sincere. "How are we going to stay incognito if you two are going around breaking hearts and getting your own fan clubs?"

[hearted]

Minako has to laugh. "Oh, I think Haruka-san has a bigger appeal than I do...but it might come in handy! My charms might be perfect for a job."

She grins widely.

"But shouldn't we be thinking about joining Rei-chan's fanclub? They'll know all about her."

[lightthedarkness]

"Well, a different appeal, but Minako-chan is the goddess of love and beauty! How could you not attract followers?" Usagi never held back on her praise for her loved ones, not once, not ever.

Just talking about all this made her feel better and more confident, knowing that Minako and the others were beside her. She linked their arms as she looked at the map, seeing where they were to go next.

"Ah, that's right, Minako-chan is an expert on idols."

[hearted]

"And I want to see them all. They have their part to play, to rile up the crowd...but they're hurting. I felt it, once." That dream...she won't ever forget it. She holds tighter to Usagi as they go along.

"I hope we can show them another way and set them free."

[lightthedarkness]

"In those dreams, right?" she smiled, even though it was a sad one as she thought back to the many she had. Rei and all those others at the Galaxy Cauldron.

They could save them all. They would save them all. She had to.

"We will, I know we will," her unshakable faith. "We're going to do everything we can to get them home, Minako."

[hearted]

It was true. She'd hold onto that feeling, that memory. "Yeah...I'm usually not the one with dreams like that, but she's always strong enough to reach me..."

Even like this. Their beautiful, powerful, unshakable Rei. She would find them, Minako knew it.

[lightthedarkness]

"I know... I don't, only around Rei and Mamo-chan do I even have those dreams. But I kept having them for so long. Of her, of so many others here. I- we have to save them," she swallowed as she felt a deep pang in her heart.

"But first we have to get there."

[hearted]

"And we will. I swear it."

Minako was making a vow now, a hand clasped over her chest. She would absolutely not fail Usagi and Rei and everyone with love in their hearts.

[lightthedarkness]

She moved to hug onto Minako's arm and nodded, trusting in the leader of her senshi. She bent at the waist to cuddle in closer before moving back up. How could she fail with Minako and Haruka by her side? How could they fail when they could all work together?

"I wonder what it will be like? Do you think it will be as modern as Crystal Tokyo or more like home?" An alien planet capable of kidnapping people and able to bring others here to rescue them?

She suddenly had an idea, and perhaps one that she thought was quite a good one.

"We should find the senshi of this planet and ask her to help us!"

[hearted]

"Like the future, I think...if they can really keep everyone under control like that, it has to be pretty creepy." Minako couldn't entirely fight back a grimace, but she held tight to Usagi. They would solve this together.

But...a senshi of this world? It was a possibility that made sense. Every planet in the galaxy had a shining light, a warrior entrusted to protect it. But if so...how had this been allowed to happen?

"Do you think she's awake? She should be, with her planet in crisis...but what if the evil managers got her too?" They could know about the senshi from whatever they did to Rei, couldn't they?

[lightthedarkness]

"Uwaaah, don't say creepy!" she frowned, as she led the group further on the map and sighed as she gave a small nod. It was creepy. They hadn't even been able to fight back when she was taken, just... one moment they had Rei and then the next?

She felt sick to her stomach at how she had failed her senshi of fire.

But she wanted to remain upbeat and positive, she wanted to stay strong for others and because it wasn't right for her to be upset. Rei was the one getting hurt by this place and by those people.

"Well, maybe not. But perhaps we can awaken her." If anyone caused a senshi to awaken, it seemed to be Usagi and company. "I bet we could find her and help her! Maybe that's the problem though, is that on this planet, it isn't considered a crisis. She may not even know anything is wrong!" Usagi hadn't known about the dark kingdom for years.

"It's too bad we don't have Michiru-san's mirror! That would point out the senshi of this planet in a heartbeat if we found her!" although she did wonder if the senshi would feel drawn to Rei or if Rei's powers had been so tampered with that she couldn't be sensed?

[hearted]

"Yeah, or Rei's fortune-telling..." Minako whispered. "But we have to believe in ourselves and our power, right? No matter what separates us, we always find each other again."

She'll hold onto that like a lifeline, for Usagi's sake if nothing else.

[lightthedarkness]

"I believe in us," she said, pressing a hand to her heart, and in return, she could feel the warmth of her own crystal pulse in return. Within her was the ability to call upon all the senshi of the universe to aid her, to summon the chalice in the greatest of needs.

Hopefully, it would never come to such an extreme. She prayed these were not aspects of Chaos and just corrupted individuals. That didn't necessarily make it better, but it did mean things were to be handled differently.

"No matter how long it takes, we'll always be together in the end.

[hearted]

Minako could only solemnly nod her agreement, thinking a prayer for their victory. She held tight to Usagi as they walked along.

"I swear it."