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

Kairi blinked, startled, when she saw a familiar blond head. No way. But her heart... in her heart she knew it was true. She rushed over and hugged Namine.

"We're both here!" she said. "We can save Sora together! Riku's here too...."

And then a thought hit her. Hit her hard.

"If... if they messed with Sora's memories, if they did something to his heart... Roxas....?"

Namine is surprised when she feels arms wrap around her, utterly surprised and astonished because she's only just getting used to the constant contact of people and things like hugs. Usagi and Minako and Riku have helped her begin to realize what it's like to have people around that frequently touch and interact with you, but it's still fairly new for her, so she tenses up, before relaxing into her somebodies' hug.

"Kairi!"

For all that one of the first emotions she could name was jealousy towards her somebody, she's come to realize how much Kairi is a part of her, and how much she misses her when she can't sense or see her.

"He's here." She said, "And Sora's heart is still the same as it ever was. He's the brightest thing here. They can't hide that, no matter what they do."

She beamed a bright smile at her. "Sora is always going to be Sora, I suppose!" She was so relieved to hear it.

"Roxas is here to help save Sora and the others, or does he need saving too?" Really, she'd believe either. It could be that what they did to Sora sent Roxas off to help him, or that changing one changed both. Either made sense. She'd love to get to know Roxas, that side of Sora, and have his help, but if he needed saving, she'd do that too.

As for Namine... Well, she was part of Kairi. It was like having a little sister. She never really got to spend as much time with her as she liked, though in so many ways, the blond was always in her heart. Would always be in her heart.

"Roxas is trapped too. He's...I've met him."

She sounds almost sad talking about it, even if she's smiling. Roxas is someone she cares for in a way she barely knows how to explain. They're tied, somehow. Much like all of them are. Connected, by the heart, even if she and Roxas don't really have their own and share theirs with Sora and Kairi.

Namine instead of letting go when they broke to talk, continued holding on to Kairi's hand, almost without realizing it.

"He and Sora both need us, and lots of other people, too. The work they did to try and hide who they were, it wasn't very good." Namine, once again, might be a little biased, but she and Riku both are of the opinion that the people who stole their friends are somewhat sloppy compared to her. She doesn't know if that's something to be proud of or not.

Kairi nodded. "We'll get them back, and they'll help us get everyone else back," she agreed, squeezing her hand warmly, and not letting go. "Together. You. Me. Riku. Everyone here to save them, we'll all work together. We'll save them all. You'll see!"

"We will." Namine nodded and her smile reached her eyes for once.

"Riku and I have made friends as well, they all want to help as well."

She thought everyone in the house would like Kairi, most everyone likes Kairi. It's almost impossible not to like her.

"Of course you two made friends. How could you two not be?" She grinned brightly. "He needs someone who can remind him he's a good person, and you can see that in him. And you need someone who can love you, and he can see all the thing in you worth loving!"

To her it wasn't because of her relationship with Riku, it was because of who Namine was. As herself. Brave, strong, resourceful, sweet. If she was part of Kairi, in many ways, she was the part of Kairi that was her hope for who she could eventually become. She was sure that Sora wouldn't have left Namine behind to wait for him, after all. She was strong and ready to help. It took Kairi to get to that point, if she had even reached it yet.

Having Namine here meant she had her sister, her friend, and a living example to live up to.

Namine's eyes widened at that, and she hunched a little, like she's unsure. She doesn't know what to do with the fact that Kairi is quite so willing to talk about her being worthy of things. It's so odd for her, really, on a lot of levels. But odd doesn't mean bad.

She's starting to understand that. She's starting to get that maybe, just maybe, she's allowed to be something else. And people like her for it. It's a nice thing to learn, really.

"He's very hard on himself." She said, after a moment, still holding Kairi's hand even with her being unsure of how to take compliments. Usagi has been a very good influence, really. "But I think he's starting to get a little better."

"I think you'll like our friends. They're very nice, and Usagi is sort of like a princess. She's very kind."

"Riku's always been hard on himself. If you've been helping him to get better, then thank you!" she said, happily.

"I can't wait to meet them! And a Princess! How wonderful! Will you introduce us?" she asked, unaware they were discussing one of the people she had met before she came here. The one, specifically, who had been so quick to defend Namine, who had thought Kairi was attacking her. But she'd figure it out as soon as she met her, if not before.

☆TRACK VI: THE NEW AMERICANA

Stash one, because this had to happen!!!!

I MISSED THIS TOTALLY I AM SO SORRY

No problem, seems I was poking old stuff anyway without realizing it. >.<

No worries! As long as we get to play out their hello I am all good :3

YAY! Where do we want to put this timewise, where Kairi is now, having spoken to Sora?

Want to throw it somewhere in the earlier part of things? Fairly soon after Kairi arrived?

Sure. :D

Awesome!! And Kairi ;~;

She's Kairi. :D And I sent you a plurk invite!