middleofsomewhere | Fierce New World- Mission Start!

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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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I wonder if people pass through here? We could leave them our information. That way if people stop here they can work at a more long-term fix."

Or they can evac the living beings, the ones that depend on the air scrubbers. She would hate to leave work only half-finished, or primed to immediately start the process of breaking down again as soon as they're gone. This is so nice! It can't just be lost.

"How long do missions usually last?"

She watches him haul himself up. She doesn't grab him this time, but she reaches into her rucksack with her hair and offers him a bottle of water from way up on the conduit she's chosen to crawl on.

"That's incredibly risky." Senku sighed. "In this world, this mess apparently the trains are governed by a Ministry. Currently, it's believed that we are considered fugitives, as is the Voidtrecker Express, and all signs suggest that if we're caught by the Ministry, nothing good would happen."

He tapped his finger on his hip as thought. "That's not to say we can't try to contact the outside world, but we have to be incredibly careful. The Ministry is apparently, bad news. We haven't sorted out what other factions or options there are yet, and many worlds we've been to are not void active, meaning that they know nothing about the train or the void."

"Usually, about a week." Senku said, after a moment. He accepted the bottle of water, and took a sip. "....thanks. But they've varied, I think. Depends on what happens on the mission."

Edited 2021-01-14 20:29 (UTC)

"Huh... Well sometimes people do that to keep you from finding out the truth about something," she ponders, which is probably the most nefarious thought she's had about the train. But! She thinks about it.

"We don't have to say who we are. And Vee gives us the ability to communicate in any of the languages, right? We're scientists and can leave adequate instructions, I would think.

"You've had to rescue people before, right? So those people know you exist."

She does her damndest to loophole a solution. Fixing this place and then abandoning it to collapse again would be unforgivable. Look at how much work this must have taken!

"We already know the train is controlling our access to information. Quite blatantly, in fact. It blocks books we attempt to order, and doesn't allow for documentary or educational programming in the cinema car." Senku pointed out. "There's a decent effort being made to understand how certain things work, but the information is not readily available to us."

Senku shook his head. "We don't have outside contact on the train. We've tried requesting things to make that happen, but that too is being restricted. So they would never get ahold of us. The odds of this world being void active, based on the missions we've been on, is pretty low. Void active worlds are worlds that know about the void."

"The world I went on that was inhabited, they thought we belonged, or were from the outskirts. For the safety of those on board who cannot defend themselves, we're being cautious." Senku sighed. He couldn't stop Entrapta, of course, but he was just explaining why they weren't willing to be reckless with their communication attempts.

"As for communication." Senku looked at his SCA. "This does the translating for us, when you don't have one, it doesn't. That much I can confirm about it. I don't know if it would allow for writing in one world's language or another. I've never tested it..." He paused a moment.

"I've never tested that. Of course!" Senku started rooting around in his knapsack, looking for his journal.

Edited 2021-01-15 19:51 (UTC)

She was born reckless, but she is kind of listening and that's the important part. She'd throw herself in the midst of danger for a corn chip worth of data. But she's at least eager to take on the challenge of passing on information that's difficult to track.

"Maybe we can find some of the functioning helpmates and tell them! They seem very autopiloted, but maybe we can give them the instructions to pass on so there's less of a chance of it getting lost, and they can write it down if we can't."

She hangs off the pipe next to Senku by her hair, legs crossed in mid air as if she's sitting on an invisible pillow, her hands casually on her knees like it's no strange thing.

"The restrictions are really interesting, though. If the worlds are void active do you think some of them might have information?" Not here, obviously, but somewhere.

"I'm not sure what to make of the helpmates. They don't seem manned but I haven't really talked to them."

"Possibly, but you have to find a way to ask without telling them who we are and what we're doing because apparently that's a problem and the last thing we want is to be attacked." Senku commented. "Since we're not yet prepared for that."

He found his journal and paused.

"What language do you speak?" Senku asked, tilting his head a little bit.

"Etherian. All the species on my planet share a language." That's why it took so long to translate First Ones text. Which is useful. But it means for the first time she realizes, really realizes, she may only understand Senku because they speak through a device that influences the way they hear it. Which is another thing that could potentially be affecting what information they learn from Vee.

"They Helpmates aren't good conversationalists but they can follow some instructions."

She watches him prepare his journal, curious about what he's going to try.

"Never heard of it." He said with a bit of a hum, flipping past a few pages and then, settling on a blank one, he held out the book and pen for her.

"Can you write something for me? Anything at all, I just want to see what happens when I remove the translation. And, if you happen to know a second language, please write something in that as well, just a word or two."

She blinks at the page, before jotting down a simple, nostalgic 'Imperfection is beautiful'. Then she hands it back to Senku.

"There you go."

"Great." Senku said, taking it back. "If I start to die, just put this back on." He said and then, recklessly without much regard, removed his SCA.

Fortunately...nothing strange happened. He did pause and considered how he felt. Everything seemed as it had been before.

"Well that was underwhelming." She would be able to understand him just fine, but likely he wouldn't understand her, especially when he looked at the words on the page. "Huh."

"So do you notice anything unusual? You still look and sound pretty normal to me," she comments, glancing him up and down and then craning to look at her own writing. Then at him again.

Senku tilted his head at her, and assumed she was asking if he was okay or some variation of that.

"I can no longer understand you." Senku informed her. "Or what you wrote, even though I could with the SCA. That's not unusual, we knew it was doing translation. No other poor effects though."

"Okay, so... we still write in our language, but not in this one." She's thinking out loud, not expecting him to understand her. But finally she taps her own SCA, nods her understanding, and waits for him to turn his back on.

"Then we'll have to check out the Helpmates- at least the healthy ones -and see what orders they can follow. They'll understand us and can retain the information in whatever language they were programmed with."

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."

"It's okay. I do a lot of unsafe things alone. It's nice to actually do this kind of thing with people around, though!"

She sounds genuinely happy about that. She never really gets along with people, but she's met more scientifically minded people here than she's ever met in her life.

"I only want them to know what problems there are to fix, and what to look out for. We're not going to be able to fix all of these before we go. It's just too big, and they don't have enough functioning Helpmates."

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."

"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!"

"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."

"That's completely fair. But I'd still like to observe, if that's okay! This technology has such potential, even understanding it a little bit could help us build our own materials. Right now we're dependent on resources we might not always have, and if there's any chance of keeping this knowledge, I want to!"

But, she pauses.

"Yeah, I've not either. I have no idea how it's spreading. My best guess is that the contaminated Helpmates are doing it, carrying it from panel to panel whenever they're doing their rounds.

"Then I think if we leave any info, we should do it in a 'clean' area, after we've cleared out the panels nearby. One the virus or whatever it is hasn't even reached yet, not just a place that we've taken care of."

Senku considered her request before nodding. "Sure, I wouldn't dissuade anyone from any scientific pursuit after all, it's the kind of thing I've dedicated my life to."

He tapped his hip idly, his hands resting there as he considered.

"I'm not sure. The infection's not quite as widespread. It's only certain helpmates in each area. There must be some other variable we haven't determined yet."

"It's really interesting. Most corruptions I've come across spread pretty evenly. It must have to do with the operating system."

Which, sadly, they know nothing about. Until they have a chance to talk to the overseers, anyway.

"Lets keep an eye out. Surely we'll find a clean area by the time we're done. If there's not..." She trails off, because that means there's a lot more problems than they can handle out here.

"Could be, but that assumes they're not all running the same system too." Senku mused on the problem. "You're right, it would usually target everything connected to one if it was a virus. Might be something else though."

It was really very hard to say without more information.

"Well then, I'm gonna keep moving because I want to find out."

"Right."

She stretches the word out as she ponders. Her castle was one thing, certainly, an outside force corrupting her robots for its bidding. But it corrupted all of her robots. There are quite a few Helpmates still trucking along.

"Maybe I need to think of it differently. There was someone attacking my planet, using chips to control citizens and convert them to follow him. It took people being restrained to be chipped.

"Maybe whatever is doing this is having to act manually rather than spreading through the system."

Up ahead a Helpmate is aggressively tearing up a conduit, wires sparking dangerously around it. She pushes her mask down over her face.

"It does seem to be individualized to a certain extent but as to the reason and method it's presently a mystery."

He saw her shift and looked in that direction.

"What a pain." Senku grumbled and sighed. He wasn't sure what to do about the helpmate that he probably couldn't disable, unless Entrapta could.

"Got any ideas?"

"Yeah, I mean. I think I can help. I hate to do it but we don't know where his panel is yet, so-"

She skitters over with her hair doing its grabby thing (like an octopus moving along the bottom of the ocean) takes a deep breath, and uses a whole pigtail to slap the Helpmate off.

Down. Down. Over the wall and onto a lower level.

"...Oh good! I didn't kill it. But we need to find the panel before he gets back up here."

Fierce New World- Mission Start!

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