VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-01-11 05:58 am

Fierce New World- Mission Start!

"Good Morning passengers. Today is day six of the month of Jelly." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preparation and Arrival

They have a short time to prepare for their mission, enough time to read their briefs, make decisions, meet in their teams and gather anything they may need.

A few hours later there is another announcement. "Shortly arriving on System #2207385. All passengers get ready to disembark. Next stop world #2207385. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train judders as it leaves the void, the colours from the windows turn into the blackness of space but quickly white as the train descends into the entrance of the biosphere.

The doors of the train open and passengers can enter the large white-walled holding bay. Currently, they are the only vehicle inside. There are four large doors around the bay each labelled with where they lead. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

The doors open easily, and their SCA’s show a basic route, though the non-linear nature of the sectors mean that obstacles will need to be navigated. While they are in a closed world, there is a day and night cycle: the panels far up above are designed to make it seem like there is a natural sky, brightening and dimming every ten hours.

Red/Summer

Empty Streets

Wide streets divide sealed-off factories and manufacturing pods that tower up towards the ‘sky’. It is hot here, though the fumes from the factories are vented out, leaving the air breathable if overly warm.

Sometimes the pods are not yet finished, empty shells that can be sheltered in. There are also stations for living, with plumbing and basic amenities scattered through the sector. Places to rest as they move towards the center and the Great-Summer that they seek.

Helpmates

Where factories are still being built they will find Helpmates, operating machinery or moving materials.

They will not pause in their tasks for long but are programmed to answer questions so can be drawn into a conversation. Or, if the Voidtreckers are unfortunate, they will find those that are malfunctioning turning on them as they approach.

They aren’t too difficult to fight, but can do some damage with the machinery if they manage to take a Voidtrecker by surprise. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down outright.

Wild Weather

Though warm, the corridors remain a constant temperature that is not too unpleasant for people. For the most part. Unfortunately, due to the malfunctioning state of things routes may become impassable. Boiling air, freezing blasts, electricity crackling across a pathway.

Their SCA’s do a good job of warning them, allowing them to change direction or shelter in nearby buildings.

Purple/Autumn

Exploring

The Autumn sector is the least complete of the sectors, with shells of habitation pods and not much else. No one is expected to live here until nearing the end of construction, and so the pods are unfurnished, many missing doors, some missing internal walls.

Outside the streets are wide and clearly made to be pleasant to walk on; it is airy, bright and spacious, if a bit eerie due to the quiet.

There are panels on the walls, to call Helpmates to appear. Here they are primarily for helping citizens, giving directions and offering aid.

Malfunctions

Since there are more helpmates there is more risk of them malfunctioning. They attack with or without weapons, using any tools they can pick up to attack. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down.

They won’t chase people into the houses, their privacy programming preventing them from doing so.

Turned Around

The roads seem simple, built in a grid pattern around the houses. However, whatever is going wrong here is affecting the very streets themselves. Sometimes there will be a wall where there wasn’t before or roads go in circles. Sometimes they find themselves at a dead end, trapped until structures shift again.

Their SCA’s do their best to keep up but it can take a while for them to reroute and by the time they do, that path might be blocked too!

Blue/Spring

Patchwork Forest

The Spring sector houses the hydroponics and pastoral sections. It alternates between grazing land and more heavily forested areas with rows of pine-like trees in a checkerboard pattern, with empty plots interspersed. Walkways divide each square, but all squares appear able to move about as required, as though on a conveyor system.

There are clear walkways to avoid stepping on any newly growing plants. In the grazing land live flocks of camelid creatures resembling alpacas with blueish wool, on average a metre and a half tall at the shoulders. Helpmates appear here as if on a timer to feed the animals and tend to plants.

Destruction


If the Helpmates here malfunction they attack anyone nearby, cause havoc to any farming equipment and frightening the animals.

They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down. The panels here are less obvious than they are in the more urban sectors, low to the ground, looking almost like energy panels. But once they know what to look for they will be able to use them to shut down the Helpmates.

Stampede

Frightened animals are likely to flee and unfortunately in this case it means rampaging across the grazing land to the newly growing trees.

They will need to be calmed, returned to their grazing lands and the plants restored. Or it might be that the Voidtreckers can stop the Helpmates before the creatures get too spooked.

Orange/Winter

Exploring

The Winter sector’s primary concern is life support. Huge banks of air scrubbers form artificial cliffs, while other sections are tanks filled with water in varying stages of processing or recycling.

The paths here are a lot narrower than they are in other areas, sometimes requiring moving between pipes or scrambling over layers of railing.

There doesn’t seem to be any easy or straightforward path through the sector, their SCA takes them on wild winding routes through the machinery.

Help or Hindrance

The fluctuating temperatures here are causing problems with many of the pipes, several sections are flooded, others are in danger of being so.

There are patch kits in easily opened panels, designed to be used by the helpmates and indeed there are many helpmates out.

But some are less helpful, those that are malfunctioning are more likely to cause more damage than they are there to fix. They will attack any one who tries to interfere with them. They can be fought with weapons or magic, or for those that think to use the panels they can be shut down.

Patch Job

Once the malfunctioning Helpmates are dealt with the pipes still need to be fixed. The patch kits do not have any instructions but are simple enough that anyone with a basic knowledge of how to fix things should be able to figure them out- though the more knowledge and expertise they have the better the fix!

For those that don’t, many of the jobs will need more than one person and so for those that don’t mind taking instructions they will find an extra pair of hands is always welcome.
shadowslipping: (pic#13321640)

[personal profile] shadowslipping 2021-01-19 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Ah-" Oh, well then! "That's definitely much better..." Hmmm.... ...Well, the first thing she sees- "...It looks like despite everything, we are slowly getting closer....I doubt we'll be able to simply fly over everything like this without encountering barriers, but it's good to see that we're not being driven into circles."
myblueskies: (Alfredo is speaking!)

[personal profile] myblueskies 2021-01-19 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's not a very helpful dream..." Romeo sighed, and shook his head.

"Did you ever have a dream about missions sir? 'Cause I never have but they seem like memory dreams but of the future. But I don't know why we need to know 'bout bubbling water..."
shadowslipping: (Saddened)

its true.... u0u

[personal profile] shadowslipping 2021-01-19 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"How big? Ahhh...I believe about 7, 8 feet..? Incredibly tall of course, but even so..."

Ahem. "Ultimately, they wound up fleeing into the far north, chasing after their creator. Despite their attempts to learn things like reading, and communication...despite their friendship with those who had never seen their face, whenever they are seen, they are reacted to with hate. It's a very tragic tale, ultimately- as you can see, 'Frankenstein', rather than his 'creation', may well have been the true monster of the story."
myblueskies: (they really are delicious apples!)

[personal profile] myblueskies 2021-01-19 04:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Romeo watched as the alpacas began slowing down, calming down. "Wow is that Kaseri doing that?"

She was so good! Romeo grinned at Jonouchi!
azrthmtrnznthos: (on the comms)

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2021-01-19 04:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Up in the air, Raven tapped her SCA to try and talk to Kitty specifically. "Testing. Do you read me?"
azrthmtrnznthos: (Default)

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2021-01-19 04:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's probably part of why we're here." It was likely whatever was causing the problems with the biosphere and overseers, was also causing trouble with the Helpmates. "I'm Raven." Best to introduce herself, right?
blitzcheer: (sorrrRRRrrrrYyyyyyy)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2021-01-19 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Hmm, I dunno... I don't get them, but the last one I heard about was from the last mission we were on. It sounded like it had to do with that meteorite that was coming down... but then we stopped it, and it never happened. So I guess the dreams mean... this could happen unless we stop it?"

Is that what it meant?

"...but I don't have a clue either what water's got to do with anything!" Tidus admits, sounding resigned. "Let's be careful if we see water anywhere?"
blitzcheer: (arms folding galore!!)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2021-01-19 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Right - even Trunks flies. I didn't think about that! [ Him and his dad... what an easier way to travel! ]

Trunks did warn me he's the guy you call to break stuff up before fixin' it. Well, I got no clue what we're going in for this time. The missions aren't usually this vague... even the people that have dreams before we go out didn't have anything to tell us. There was just something about water near someone bubbling.

[ He raises his hands in a kind of shrug. ]

But I'm starting to think the dreams are only good for knowing we're having a mission soon!
flatteries: (but i have seen the same)

[personal profile] flatteries 2021-01-19 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"It should be fine as long as we're together. That thing mostly had the element of surprise on us. It didn't seem that strong." Since it did end up relatively easily dispatched compared to other things they've fought before - though probably even moreso if Inigo had been freaking a bit less, huh.

Though he frowns a little as he thinks on, looking around them.

"Unless there's bigger or stronger ones out there. I have no idea if they'd all look exactly like that."

After all, what does Inigo know about anything technology-related? He wouldn't even grasp the concept of a virus. He's just trying to think of them as Risen-Helpmates or something.
Edited 2021-01-24 15:31 (UTC)
deductiongeek: (really?)

[personal profile] deductiongeek 2021-01-19 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Meanwhile Conan has reached the panel. He quickly opens it up and searches through it for the controls.
happyends: (that can break)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Tidus, no! This is illegal! Especially since Madoka isn't a very strong girl at all. There's no way she can hold in her laughter when she's being pushed like that - practically verbally tickled by his continued jokes, by him throwing his voice that way.

"Did.."

Oh no, even relasing her hands from her mouth for a moment to say something is dangerous! It practically comes with a drift of air, the start of a 'pfff' before she smothers it again.

Okay, time to speak really quickly--

"Did he ever say that to you?!"

She looks so close to cracking though.

So close.
10billionpercent: (I Sense A Plot)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Based on my limited experience, yes, but as I was told at that big meeting, apparently as bad as last mission was, it wasn't the worst." Senku frowned a little bit. He didn't know what to think about that.

"So ultimately, I suppose, we need to be prepared for anything. But it's a bit annoying."
10billionpercent: (Avoiding Emotions)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
"I've been hurt a few times." Senku commented. "It doesn't make it hurt less, but I can kind of ignore it when I need to. I'll probably feel it more later."
10billionpercent: (This Is So Exciting)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:49 pm (UTC)(link)
He shrugged slightly at the insult. "My company is what it is." Senku commented with a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah sure. See you later." He offered a bit of a wave before dedicating himself to this obstacle course from hell.
10billionpercent: (I Sense A Plot)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:53 pm (UTC)(link)
"I can ramble about science all day long." Senku informed him. "So if that helps you get through this terrible maze for awhile, I can help with that."

There were some subjects he wouldn't talk about at all, if he could help it, but science was his most comforting topic.
10billionpercent: (Huh?)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"3700 years ago, give or take, every human on the planet at the time turned to stone, and almost four years ago I broke free. Civilization doesn't really exist, but we're working on it." Senku said, by way of summary.

"Considering I was by myself, that was about all I had. That, or die, since I didn't want to do the latter, here we are. But now I'm an expert."
10billionpercent: (Neutral)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
He was quick enough to secure it back into place. "There's no harm in asking them questions, just be careful about what you tell them about it." Senku advised. He put his journal back in his bag.

"Oh and I should probably also say don't try that alone, it's not safe to do in every place. At least. I don't think so."
sos_pilot: by <user name=noimpulsecontrol> (and he'll toot his flute for you)

[personal profile] sos_pilot 2021-01-19 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She gives him A Look. It's hard to trick someone who has little shame. ]

Tidus, please tell me someone eventually gave you the birds, bees, and insert tab A into hole B talk.
sos_pilot: by <user name=noimpulsecontrol> (you may hear angels cheer)

[personal profile] sos_pilot 2021-01-19 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
We gotta put a stop to this, before my beak falls off. I just wish there was... something I could fight or smash!

[ 'cause that she understands! ]
azrthmtrnznthos: (Default)

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2021-01-19 06:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"Just being pushed in certain ways." Raven wondered why--but that was probably part of the mission too.
blitzcheer: (the QUEEN)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2021-01-19 06:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh come on, who do you take me for? I'm not that young, y'know.

[ He knows, he knows!

But sigh, fine. ]
Yesss, we have the gross yelling and crying kind of birth without the eggs.
radishlobbyist: (Default)

Patchwork Forest

[personal profile] radishlobbyist 2021-01-19 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Wen Qing came to a halt next to him, silently offering a bottle of water to him while she joined Lan Wangji in taking in the patchwork landscape of fields and forests that they were traveling through.

"It is amazing," she agreed, voice quiet and a little pensive. "I keep expecting to be reminded of our own little farming village on the Burial Mounds but this... this is so lush, so vibrant. It's hard to believe it's all artificial."
melodiouspacifist: (Aw We Do Too Have Hearts)

[personal profile] melodiouspacifist 2021-01-19 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Probably a better plan!

[ Okay. Don't destroy them. He can do that. He rushes forward to take Roland's place and put himself between the helpmates and Roland. ]

Okay, then, let's do this!

[ He plays a few notes and raises his water up like a barrier, to keep them on the other side from them. Would that do it? Hopefully Roland moves quick, he's not used to using his water like this, and eventually he's going to not be able to hold them back. ]
melodiouspacifist: (Think Think Think)

[personal profile] melodiouspacifist 2021-01-19 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"That seems like a good idea to me. I can at least knock them over with water, or my sitar I guess." Demyx mused.

"You do the tricky bit."
firewalled: (Gonna disconnect from the hardwire)

[personal profile] firewalled 2021-01-19 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, well... still don't know if it'd count for too much against crazy powers. At least these stupid AI things are pretty weak."

He gives Trunks a wry little smile. "But repairs... never said I couldn't do it!" Though Rich had been doubting his abilities before getting here, he'd gotten the hang of the patch kits fairly quickly.