interstellar5555 | ☆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

Nope! [she takes a seat, holding up her front hooves while still smiling at him] Just paws an' hooves! Ain't never seen a hu-man before, neither.

[ Whaaaaaat. Humans are the super coolest, who doesn't know about humans. ] Well, you're gonna be gettin' an eyeful of 'em now, I reckon. We got horses and the like here, but ain't usually the chatty type. Usually

[AJ rubs the back of her head, sheepish] So they don't talk?

Not unless some type'a alien event's going on. It happens. But yeah, no, usually they stick to, like... neigh, and whinny, and all that.

[oh, how boring. AJ can neigh and whinny with the best of them, but there's not much communication involved]

Ah see. [a pause as she rubs her chin thoughtfully] Well, what about the other critters? Do any o'them talk to hu-mans?

Nah. Well. The spider. What was it, Kyle? Special case, anyway.

Sorta depends on your definition of "critter," anyway. Gets into fuzzy territory once you get off planet.

Off... planet? What'chu mean?

...Well, guess if you ain't got thumbs, probably ain't figured out space travel, huh.

[hey, the ponies in Equestria do pretty well without thumbs]

Nope... haven't figured that out, yet. Earth ponies, like me, primarily stay on the ground. Ah mean, one time Ah went up to Cloudsdale in a hot air balloon, but never to space.

[ They get by, but they aren't in space. ]

Yeah, hot air balloons... don't go that high. You got non-Earth ponies?

Oh, yeah! [right, AJ has to remember that these people have never seen her world] There're Earth ponies, an' Pegasi... They have wings an' can fly. An' there are Unicorns. They have a horn on their head, an' they can use magic. An' then, there are Alicorns, like mah friend Twilight, who have a horn and wings. But there are very few o'them, Alicorns.

......That sounds made up. [ He's not very good at thinking before he speaks. ] Ain't never met a magic nothing, let alone a horse.

[that knocks the wind out of her sails. for a moment, AJ's a bit too stunned to speak. everypony knows her as the holder of the Element of Honesty, she never fibs! even tiny white lies make AJ nervous.

so she stares, jaw hanging open for a moment before she snaps it shut]

Now, why would Ah make somethin' like that up?

[ What? It does. It sounds super made up. I mean, there's a pony right here talking to him, so it's clearly not, but that doesn't make it sound any less silly. ]

Ain't sayin' you did. Jus' weird, is all. Magic horses...

[ He waves a hand, wholly dismissive of how rude he's being. ]

Got here on a giant guitar through spacetime to stop fellas using melody radiation to take over the world. Everything here sounds made up.

[for a moment, AJ thought Sparks was... well, calling her a liar. maybe he wasn't! but it sure did throw her for a loop. she almost pouts, was totally ready to chew him out but he changes the subject, sort of]

...A while ago, Ah woulda said that goin' into space sounded silly. An' in my world, ponies talk. In yours, they don't. In my world, hu-mans don't even exist. Ah ain't callin' you weird or made up.

Well yeah, that's 'cause humans are cool.

[ Is he trying to joke with her? It's hard to tell. His joking voice is the same as his normal one. ]

[a slow blink. she wants to like this guy! he's a cowpony, like her. she can appreciate his bluntness. but right now, she finds him grating]

If you were so cool, there'd be books about y'all in our libraries.

Yeah well. Postage on interdimensional shipping is murder.

Aaaaanyway. Back on topic. You still need help with this tech? Made for humans.

[she wants to tell him no, she's fine. but that would be a lie. so AJ sighs and pushes the communicator forward. gotta be the bigger pony here]

Ah don't know how t'use this.

[ He, meanwhile, has moved right on. ]

Lemme see... Hmm. Straightforward communicator tech. Sorta bulky. See here, this button's for...

[ He falters, glancing down at her hooves, and clears his throat. ]

Good news, got a hands-free setting. You all right if I put this on your ear?

[oh, hands-free, huh? AJ eyes Sparks before bowing her head towards him]

Yeah, sure. Didn't know that was where it went.

Mmyep Built for a different species, but I've fixed up my cyberhorse enough times for this to work.

Arright. There y'go. Oughta be voice activated. Might have some trouble turnin' it on and off, but past that it'll let you comm with us wherever you're at.

[cyberhorse... what kind of horse is that?

though, once Sparks has helped her, AJ can't help but give him a small grin. perhaps all is forgiven for now] Thanks. But, um. Ah didn't quite catch yer name.

[ Sparks tips his hat back to her. ] Sparks Nevada. Call me Sparks. Or Nevada. Whatever suits your fancy.

[and she tips her hat right back] Gladd t'meet'cha, Sparks. Ah'm Applejack. Friends call me AJ, which is fine, too.

(no subject)

fromearth - 2016-01-26 19:37 (UTC) - Expand