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.
springforth: (281)

[personal profile] springforth 2021-01-19 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't tell you this to get teased! You're the worst!" She huffs and wags her finger.

"I just didn't want a whole 'why didn't you tell me this' if you hear this from someone else. Or Gaia forbid, Thanatos himself."
flatteries: (there's method in my madness)

[personal profile] flatteries 2021-01-19 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Delllaaaaaaaaa. Please.

Look at this face Inigo is starting to make over here. Like she just kicked him with her words. A guilty puppy. ]


Is it that bad to just walk around? [ What's wrong with wanting to do the safe thing when it's keeping her safe! ] Do you want me to have to explain to everyone why you're super hurt? I can't do that! Don't put it on my shoulders!
happyends: (my feelings are all i can rely on)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Alright!"

Look at them go, determined to go pet these animals.

Except these two children haven't considered one thing: exactly because these alpaca-like beings aren't used to seeing humans around, they also aren't too keen on being approached like this.

So the moment Madoka and Romeo get relatively close to the alpacas.. They start walking away.

In the opposite direction.
happyends: (my feelings are all i can rely on)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"On a wall.."

She repeats, while looking around. Of course Madoka knows she's not going to find any walls if she looks - she's been wandering around this sector for long enough now to know they just aren't there. But maybe she can find something else like a switch, or a button..

Madoka takes a few hurried steps, trying to find something, but then--

Beep.

Without realising it, the girl accidentally steps on one of the panels, considering it's so low to the ground. And it happens to be the right button for shutting down the glitched Helpmate too, making it disappear.

"Ah-- What?"
happyends: (lies in the palm)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
What is this, Do You Want To Be A Millionaire?! An edition of the show that's oddly alpaca-themed? Madoka wonders if maybe someone programmed these Helpmates to spew helpful facts like this.. Maybe in case the people who end up coming here would end up bored..?

Still, even though Madoka doesn't dislike the alpaca talk, she knows that what Alfredo is bringing up is a lot more helpful to their situation, so she's rather glad for the shift in conversation.

Or well, the potential shift, anyway. She has no idea what the Helpmate may say. So Madoka just keeps walking on, staying quiet so to not distract the helper from the question.
happyends: (lies in the palm)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"My intentions.."

She repeats the words, seeming to overthink them. He must be right - it's a little like meeting a stray cat on the street, right? Sometimes they just walk away from you because they're scared of people they don't know, since they don't know who will be friendly and who won't...

"I guess that means I should figure out how to convey my intentions to the alpacas.. From afar." That may be hard. It's not like they can understand human talk, and she can't even pet them to show she's nice! What is a girl like Madoka to do.
happyends: (better than the rest)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-01-19 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, Yugi. Just throwing her out to the wolves alpacas by herself, huh? If they turn out to be bloodthirsty, then Madoka's death is on your hands, man!!

"Ah.. Well.. Okay. I'll go do that then."

She bows.

"I'm sorry for bothering you with the question.."
10billionpercent: (Avoiding Emotions)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 10:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"No." Senku said as he moved to the next patch spot and had to jump up a little bit onto a ledge to reach.

"I went to deal with the other problem, they'd damaged a control station. We blew up a little bit but prevented a much bigger explosion. I had to be evacuated though, the injuries I took were too much to go on."
10billionpercent: (I Sense A Plot)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Senku hummed a moment. "Well I can tell you that people don't take kindly to unsafe experiments. I got screamed at a lot last time for taking off my SCA. If people knew I'd turned that into an experiment I would probably hear no end to it."

That was why he didn't tell certain people his experiments.

"That shouldn't be a problem at least, and you're right, there's no way we can hit up every inch of this place. It's huge."
10billionpercent: (Default)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, I think it's definitely meant to be populated at some point." Senku agreed with a thought.

"But I don't know who made it, and there don't seem to be people around here now."
10billionpercent: (Avoiding Emotions)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's true, I do hate being cooped up on the train, I can't go anywhere." Senku hummed.

"Fortunately I've been making up my own projects."
voidtreckernpcs: (Default)

[personal profile] voidtreckernpcs 2021-01-19 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
There was nothing this Helpmate could do, at least, except to try and push at Nita's knees in an attempt to escape, although from its position it had no leverage at all.

It appeared to be well and truly stuck at the moment.
lucklessgege: (embarressed)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-19 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
He looks down at his own. He hasn't been using this very often but he will make sure to remember those instructions just in case. Having an escape plan is always important.

"Thank you for that. That is probably something I should have asked before getting off the train..."
sciencegirl: (035)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-19 11:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"I won't tell if you won't. I also can't guarantee I'll keep you safe, so no promises. I can be a witness, though. Science is worth the danger, in my humble opinion."

She'll take it into account some people won't be happy with expirements, and she will also take it into account that she doesn't actually care that muchl

"When something like this happened to my robots it was interference from a foreign artifact I introduced, it invaded my system with a hostile program. I'm sure something is influencing the Helpmates. There are just too many that are broken!"
lucklessgege: (Default)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-19 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Working as a team is always better then being alone." He smiles, hoping that his bad luck doesn't play it's hand while they are on the mission. He would hate for it to rub off on her.
lucklessgege: (worries)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-19 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Xie Lian flattens against the wall next to Tidus. He really hopes that Tidus has some good luck on his side and that this plan will work. He knows they could try to fight the creature but it might just alert more of them if they take it down.

He holds his breath as he hears it getting closer.
lucklessgege: (Default)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-19 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
He bows his head to her, "Xie Lian. It is nice to meet you Raven. And I appreciate the assistance with that thing." He waves his hand towards the helpmate.

"Have you done may of these missions?"
10billionpercent: (This Is So Exciting)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2021-01-19 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
"Fair enough. I plan on doing that experiment with someone else at least, because if something does go wrong, I might need help to rectify the situation." Senku looked thoughtful at her comments about the helpmates.

"Like a virus, yeah, but so far I haven't seen any indication as to how to access the networks. Those panels seem to be small areas, and it only seems to affect a certan number of robots in the area. Not a great design really."
dreamtamer: (faith)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2021-01-20 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, okay? I don't understand everything about it, but I can try to explain."

Takato slips the card back into his deck.

"What next?"
lucklessgege: (Default)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-20 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
"Ah really? I'm so glad you like it!" Xie Lian of course things there isn't anything wrong with the meal even though he never actually eats any of it himself. He is just glad the other man seems to enjoy it.

He is content to simply munch on one of the vegetables that had been put into the soup having not much of an appetite. He simply watches Hua Cheng eat happily.
achickenformylove: (mdzs 34)

[personal profile] achickenformylove 2021-01-20 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
"You have seen the panels?" WangJi hadn't been so lucky. He had also been more focused on trying to keep the Helpmates at bay.

"If you know where one of the panels might be, I can try to guide the animals or at least keep them together in the meantime."
dreamtamer: (dreamer)

[personal profile] dreamtamer 2021-01-20 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
Guilmon has no objections. In fact, he considers this to be a great game, and waves happily at Takato as he is picked up.

Takato conceals a fond smile as he waves back.

"I'll meet you up there, okay?"
achickenformylove: (mdzs 55)

[personal profile] achickenformylove 2021-01-20 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
WangJi knew that was basically an impossible task since he could clearly see that there were no walls as well. But in her search, she had done something since the Helpmate stopped trying to fight him and disappeared. He walked over to where she was, looking down at the ground since that seemed to be how she had turned it off.

"Looks like you found it."
schrodingersghost: (pic#6326414)

[personal profile] schrodingersghost 2021-01-20 12:15 am (UTC)(link)
Danny considers this.

"You know what? Great idea! I bet that would work better than just running through trying to find people."
lucklessgege: (Default)

[personal profile] lucklessgege 2021-01-20 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
Xie Lian doesn't know if it is particularly tricky. He mostly is just using his strength to crack them open.

"It's a good plan for now until we have more information about why they are behaving that way."