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.
light_of_willpower: (long hair profile talking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-22 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
Trunks followed, alternately climbing or flying along the pipes too. Listening, he said a soft "I'm sorry for your loss." even if she didn't seem too sad about it.

Once they're up over the edge though...

He notices the charge too. "Let's worry about that, after we turn off the conduits. They're charged!" Trunks could probably take the shock and be fine, even if it'd be unpleasant. He didn't know about his companion though.
sciencegirl: (103)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-22 01:46 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't remember much about them, just that they were smart and enthusiastic." Pretty much like her. But the memory is very faded. She can recall that her mother had similar abilities in her hair.

Entrapta has a bad history of taking shocks and being fine, even if she logically shouldn't be. Her survival instinct leaves much to be desired. But on Trunks words she hangs back rather than rush in.

She makes a little noise as she looks around. "Where do I disable the charge, oh man..." She pushes her buglike mask down over her face. "Alright! I've got an idea. You're pretty strong. There's a big loose drainage pipe I passed on the way up. I think it's too heavy for the Helpmates to move easily. But it might not be too heavy for you to move."

They can block off the part getting torn up until they can turn off the power.
light_of_willpower: (long-hair speaking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-22 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
"I can do that." Trunks agreed, figuring out what she was suggesting. Studying the helpmates for a bit, Trunks turned back to her. "Alright, point me at the pipe and then see if you can get the helpmates away from the conduits. Just don't hurt yourself, either, alright?"

Back over the edge of the wall, Trunks having little trouble with the pipes as he half-flew, half-climbed over them and between them. Finding the set of drainage pipes, he pointed to one. "That one?"
sciencegirl: (091)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-22 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yeah! That one." She hangs to watch him from another pipe by her hair alone, carelessly dangling at an incredible height. She's obviously very used to getting around this way. She follows him back up and starts looking for their panel.

"They are really cute. It's unfortunate this is happening to them! But whatever is going on- it's not acting like any corruption that I've ever seen. It's not spreading in a way I can make sense of."
light_of_willpower: (long-hair speaking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-23 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
With the confirmation of the right pipe, Trunks floats closer and moves to get a good grip. Before heaving, and hauling the pipe up with him, with no trouble at the weight. "We probably don't have enough information just yet."
sciencegirl: (082)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-23 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"No, not yet. Not until we talk to the overseers. But! I want to keep an eye out for anomalies. You know, besides the ones that are breaking stuff."

She starts looking for the panel, then.

"You said your mom worked in a lab? What did she do?"
light_of_willpower: (long hair profile talking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-24 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
Trunks meanwhile, is trying to use the pipe to herd the helpmates away from the charged conduits. It's not easy, as the pipe is easily longer than he is. He's managing pretty alright, but the sooner Entrapta finds that panel, the better. "She's an inventor, like her father, my grandfather."
sciencegirl: (091)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-24 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean what was her focus? Robotics? Agriculture? Medicine? All of it? I love when people get into a little bit of everything. It makes their observations so much more thorough! It was one of my favorite things about being lab partners with Hordak."

And boy does she miss Hordak. She thinks about him again as she finds the panel.
light_of_willpower: (long hair profile talking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-25 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Robotics, computer engineering and programming, mechanical engineering? She also dabbled in other things." Trunks responded easily, most of his attention on continuing to herd the helpmates just enough that he could put the pipe down. There! Blocking the charged sub-circuit, although it wasn't unlikely the pipe might just mute the charge instead.
sciencegirl: (081)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-25 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Ooooh, neat! I bet if there are more fighters in your world as strong as you are, then they have some fascinating data collected. Oh! You got it blocked off. Thanks."

A Helpmate comes at her while her back is turned, brandishing a wrench. She completely doesn't notice. Utterly oblivious. In fact she's so oblivious she turns out of its path to look at Trunks, continuing to speak as it misses its charge.

"Do you still help them out? I hope when I eventually have kids they'll help me. If I do, anyway."
light_of_willpower: (long hair profile talking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-01-30 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
"Mom doesn't really need my help, but she always has it anyways if she wants." Trunks responds, moving to corral the Helpmate away from her further. "Think you can find a way to shut these guys off?"
sciencegirl: (046)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-01-30 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh yeah! Right."

Such is the pain of being easily distractable. She turns back to the panel and disables the helpmates, the one Trunks is wrangling also diminishing as it's deactivated.

"Just because someone doesn't need your help doesn't mean they can't use it. I know some scientists that were pretty sure everyone was an intruder in their lab."

Some scientists=Hordak almost exclusively.

"He didn't know how much help a second pair of eyes or just a safety net could be. If I had a chance I'd tell your mom how much you helped me out here today."
light_of_willpower: (long-hair looking down)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2021-02-01 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
"I mean, you might still meet her. She's on Orange Team too, and here. I helped her earlier against a rogue helpmate too." Trunks offered, although Entrapta really didn't need to go bragging about him to his mother.