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.
reluctantjinrou: (You Better Not Be Talking About Me)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, as I had the unfortunate displeasure of finding out." Natsuno commented.

"And then of course, if you try and tell people they just think you're crazy."
bakegarasu: (death carnivore)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-13 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah. Saw that firsthand. Even the people who saw the yokai after Eko's battle probably don't really believe what they saw. Not sure how they'll cover up some of the stuff, but they probably will..."
reluctantjinrou: (Sleepy)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
"I wouldn't have believed it either, I think, if I wasn't suspicious. I suppose in that regard, Shimizu's penchant for stalking me was particularly helpful." He frowned, yeah that had been annoying on its face.
bakegarasu: (quietly listening)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-13 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Shimizu? Is that who... did that to you?" That's how vampires work, right? He's pretty sure.
reluctantjinrou: (Who's Following Me?)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-13 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, actually." Natsuno shook his head. "She killed Tohru-chan. He's the one who killed me, on the orders of the ones running things."

He grimaced and frowned and ran a hand through his hair, exhaling. What was with him?

He was going beyond sullen teen to potentially being overwhelmed fast, but Natsuno was not having any of that. No. He was going to refuse to deal with his thoughts on the matter for as long as the train deemed him necessary to be alive.
bakegarasu: (as i pondered weak and weary)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-13 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Killed and brought back?" It was kind of a question. "I... know that routine. Happened to me twice. Maybe? I don't know if I was actually dead yet."
reluctantjinrou: (Sleepy)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-14 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah. Vampires typically die, for a few days, and come back as the monsters people know. That's not quite what happened to me, I'm some kind of variant." Natsuno explained. "I have a lot less weaknesses. But Tohru wasn't. She killed him because I liked him better than her. She was crazy as a human too."
bakegarasu: (brooding like a demon)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-14 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
He wrinkles his nose. "I've seen stalkers do some crazy stuff, but that's on the more extreme end of things..." Though not one he hasn't seen before, at least.
reluctantjinrou: (Glancing Around Corners)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-14 07:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"You could say she rather enjoyed being a vampire. With any luck, she's dead." Natsuno snorted.

"I honestly don't know why she was so fixated on me in the first place, but it was incredibly troublesome. She would hide in the bushes and trees outside my room." He grumbled. "Part of what she did when she turned was torment me with nightmares and visions."

Shimizu was a bitch, frankly, but he was far too polite to say so. "She did those things, revealing them to me, and then they targeted me because I wanted to destroy them. They killed my best friend."
bakegarasu: (quietly listening)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-14 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
He flinched and let out a long breath. "Losing your best friend is... always one of the hardest things to get over." He'd never been in love with anyone, but he definitely wanted to rip down his entire old organization because they killed Reiji, never mind that they were terrible for the city overall.
reluctantjinrou: (Stoic)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-14 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"I didn't." He said, a little flatly. "That's why I am where I am." Natsuno huffed.

"They made him kill me, I turned too, and then I worked to destroy all of them."
bakegarasu: (brooding like a demon)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-14 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
"... I can't... imagine what that's like. The best friend hurting you part. Destroying a whole organization... that I understand." He sighs and flicks his gaze away. "How long ago was it?"
reluctantjinrou: (Mournful Glance)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-15 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's unpleasant. If I never hear him cry again..." Natsuno shook his head.

"It happed before I arrived so perhaps...two months? A bit more than that? We'd essentially met the victory conditions when I destroyed myself and Tatsumi so...I can only hope that's what happened."
bakegarasu: (dream a little dream)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-15 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah. "It's... been a week since I lost my friend." He feels a little weird opening up, but this guy would understand. "Took down the head of my old group, the guy who killed him. My brother."
reluctantjinrou: (Default)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-16 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
"My condolences." He was polite enough to offer that much.

"I was mostly angry when he was killed." He admitted. "And I let that drive my actions going forward. It probably paid off. He'd been put to rest, I saw that, before I met Tatsumi. He's not out there biting people against his will anymore."
bakegarasu: (brooding like a demon)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-16 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
"It sounds like a complicated situation." Probably too complicated for him to really understand. "At least it sounds like it's mostly resolved?" Hopefully.
reluctantjinrou: (Glancing Around Corners)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-16 07:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes, it should be." Natsuno nodded. If it wasn't, there was nothing he could do about it.

"I don't know if you're coming with the red team, but good luck." Natsuno said sincerely. "This mission didn't give very much information, anything could happen."
bakegarasu: (i hear you)

[personal profile] bakegarasu 2021-01-16 09:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"I figured I'd stick with my team. From what I hear we tend to get the most combat-heavy missions, which suits me just fine." He doesn't go anywhere without his sword anyway.
reluctantjinrou: (Sleepy)

[personal profile] reluctantjinrou 2021-01-17 02:54 pm (UTC)(link)
"Probably a good idea for your first mission. I've gone red every time." Natsuno admitted. "I don't know why, I just can't be bothered perhaps."