☆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

[interstellarebels]

The ideal method would be kneecapping their slavers and bringing the whole thing down. I don't know how likely that is to happen, though.

Second best is getting as many people out as we can and making a run for it. It would probably set them back. But...there are plenty of people here that know what's going on, but choose to follow anyway. So they'd probably just fall back on those guys.

[eba02]

And what's it gonna take to pull off the ideal? [As far as J's concerned, that's the goal: leave nobody behind, and make sure they can't do it again. You see the mission through all the way or not at all - halfway done doesn't cut it.]

Hang on, they got a support system here?

...that's why you don't want us talkin' to anyone, ain't it. [No sense giving information away to the enemy.]

[interstellarebels]

Mmm.

[It's a low buzz on the digitizer, a sound of resentful agreement.]

A lot of them are people that used to be their slaves, but managed to prove they were worth while enough to not be constantly under the exec's heels. A lot of them have the magic just talking about. They're just as big of threats as anybody else.

[eba02]

Any way to figure out who's a victim and who's an accomplice?

[And because this is too big to let go:] An' you didn't answer me - what do we need to do to win it all? 'Cause I ain't leavin' anyone behind.

[interstellarebels]

Not really, in my experience. It's complicated. [Their tone becomes a little more sharp.] Just like trying to figure out how to win the whole game without sacrifices. Complicated.

I don't know what you're looking for, here. You want it to stop? You kill Santiago and Blanche. Hope nobody tries to follow in their footsteps. That's all there is.

[eba02]

[That sharpness in Silver's tone reflects in his tune, and it nearly drops J to his knees. It's through sheer willpower alone that he stays standing.]

[And then his knees nearly give out anyway, for a completely different reason. Death is an ugly pronouncement coming from someone who's supposed to be spearheading this whole operation. J falls silent, trying to process that - trying to imagine a tune going silent, leaving a gap in the Music-]

[Nope. Nothing doing.]

You brought me here to save these people, and that's what I'm gonna do. You want someone dead, you talk to someone else, 'cause I am not doing that.

[interstellarebels]

[At that last assertion, that tune is only going to get worse - more violent. As opposed to J just getting battered by the ambient energy of Silver's presence, their aura seems to become pointedly dangerous. There is an anger there, and one that's deep.]

You asked me a question.

[They step towards him.]

You asked what you have to do to make it stop, and I told you. Don't you dare ride in on your high horse and act like I am making unreasonable demands of you when I haven't demanded a single god damned thing.

[eba02]

[J had only just barely been standing as it was; when the tune shifts and surges into anger, he crumples, dropping to his knees and gasping for breath. His first instinct is to roll to his feet - you make a misstep, you take a hit, you get back up and keep going because the mission isn't going to stop for you - but he can't. He can barely find his own beat under the smothering anger that Silver's tune has become.]

[But he still can't let go, managing words between breaths.]

I told you- I hear souls- an' you told me- to end- two of 'em. Forgive me- for not likin'- your answer!

[Answering anger with anger is probably not the smartest move, but J's filter is dead in the water and it's all he can think right now.]

[interstellarebels]

[Silver isn't even sure what J is doing now. Is this some kind of delicate empathic freak out? They don't have the patience for this. They snarl.]

Some souls aren't worth a hell of a lot. I thought you'd be more interested in protecting the innocent ones.

The fuck are you even doing?

[eba02]

[J ignores the first question and cuts to the chase - if this goes on for too much longer, he's going to go under. Anger isn't going to help him with that.]

Tryin'- not- to pass out.

[It's hard to debate philosophy when you can't catch your breath.]

[interstellarebels]

[They don't actually know how to not do what they are doing, especially with how little information J is giving them.]

Why? Are you ill?

[Mentally ill, perhaps.]

[eba02]

[Why are you asking him to think right now. Why.]

It's- your tune. Back- off!

[interstellarebels]

[It takes a moment for that to click, but when it does...Silver freezes for a moment, staring down at him. Then they turn and march off.]

Idiot.

[eba02]

[Oh, thank God.]

[The anger cuts out and J slumps, taking deep breaths and trying to get himself back in tempo. Silver's tune is still there, large and imposing as ever, but after surviving his anger, J could deal with the shift back to neutral. It wasn't fun, but he'd live.]

[He finally catches his breath and pushes himself to his feet, unsteady but still upright, looking to where Silver's gone. When he speaks, it's quiet, but it carries.]

What are you?

[Some days, he just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut. This is obviously one of them.]

[interstellarebels]

[This man never stops. Silver is aghast. They stop mid stride, their fists clenching.]

That's complicated. Why don't you take a nap and think about it.

[eba02]

[You know what, maybe he doesn't want to wind up back on the floor.]

Point taken.

[It's about as neutral as he can make it, now that his common sense is back in gear.]