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

That's...true.

[There's a telling pause in her words, a nervous swallow. No, she's not really a veteran or a fighter. Just a kid. But she's here for a reason.]

Aliens, they said, right? Green men from mars or something should stand out at least.

[Nozomi...]

[Green men? Mars? There's a lot Riza is realizing she still doesn't understand, but if they were going against green men they wouldn't need to do more than just changing their clothes to blend in.]

Aren't we the aliens, though? This is their home, not ours, so we're the invaders.

[Frowning, Nozomi honestly, earnestly seems to think out the answer to that question...]

No, I don't think so. I mean they invaded our homes first. This is like a...counter invasion.

An invasion would suggest we plan on staying and taking over. Although, maybe that is a bit of what we're doing since I don't want them to keep taking people from their homes.

[Leaving this place in any other shape would only be doing half the job.]

Oh. You...think we should do something that drastic?

[She hadn't actually considered the possibility. But then, wait, actually she probably should have. Because Riza raises an excellent point.]

I guess we could probably break all their machines, for sure.

[Hopefully Riza isn't the only one who has thought of the possibility. She's already concerned about the success of the rescue, but that's no reason to stop short of putting those responsible out of business.]

If we only save those here now, what's to stop them from coming and taking them again? Or us next time?

Ah...but...you don't mean everyone, right?

[Surely not the entire planet?]

Not every person on this planet is a bad guy, I hope...

It's highly unlikely everyone is in on it. In most cases it's just those in power or who have the most to gain from their actions.

[In this case the record companies.]

Mmm. I suppose that makes sense.

[It definitely fits.]

This place doesn't even look all that bad. Like, just any other place, really.

Really? I've never seen any place that looks like this before, so I'll have to take your word on that.

[Not even Central could compare. Vista City itself is a whole new world as far as Riza's concerned.]

[It's a far cry from downtown Tokyo, though.]

Mmm. Probably. [There's a thoughtful pause as she tries to wrap her head around that...a person who didn't live in big cities was a little foreign to her, but then maybe this woman's a country girl.] I'm Nozomi.

Riza.

[She looks over Nozomi as they're walking, trying to figure out what the one in charge of recruitment was thinking.]

You've never had to deal with anything like this before have you? Are you sure you're going to be able to handle it?

[Not that she's so sure about herself given her lack of knowledge, she's going to be at a distinct disadvantage.]

No, I haven't. I'm just a musician.

[Nozomi answers that quickly, openly, and without reluctance. She knows better than to lie.]

And I don't know, but I don't think that I have much of a choice. My friends were taken, my other friend is here. I'm not willing to just sit and ignore it. So I'll have to learn on the move.

[And that's something she's good at.]

But to be fair, what do you know about the music industry?

The fact that you're determined and have a reason to be here is enough to help. It shouldn't be too hard for you to pick up the basics. How much you'll use is up to you however.

[Are you going to be able to kill someone if it comes down to it Nozomi? Are your friends worth that much to you?]

To be honest? Nothing. I don't even think we have one at home.

[Sure they have music: radio, records, and the like. But nothing as big as this. Then again, their biggest industry is the military.]

I'll use it however I have to. My friends are important to me. And stopping this from happening again is even more important.

[She'll hesitate to kill, she knows that, but she's mean enough that she'll do it in the end. It's not even necessarily about Maki and Nico. It's about everyone. They need to prevent these guys from coming back.]

And you don't? Then maybe I'll be more useful that way. Because I'm a part of a band, I know how these things go, y'know? Like a spy.

[She's glad Nozomi's thought that far ahead. Riza's sure that most people were only concerned with their specific friend, but they shouldn't let something like this continue to happen. She was going to get the colonel back; at the same time, she knew he'd never forgive her if she didn't stop those in charge. ]

Maybe we'll be able to help each other out then.

Mmm. Maybe. Might be good to stick together, ne?

[Cheerfully said, at least. This person was tough, but gentle too. Just the kind of lady Nozomi got on best with.]

Looks like you have a good head for plotting.

[There might be a hint of amusement in her tone no matter how straight Riza is playing it.]

We'll just have to see how things go.

☆TRACK VI: THE NEW AMERICANA

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