What their Eyes See: Start

[voidtreckermods]

"Good Morning Voidtreckers, today is day five of the month of Llama." 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.

Preperation and Arrival

As usual they have a couple of hours before arrival to ready themselves for the mission ahead. As promised the dressing carriage is open for them to find suitable clothing. Trench coats, a lot of leather, a lot of black with neon colours thrown in here and there. There is a lot of choice in a variety of sizes so everyone is bound to find something to fit. Hopefully something they like, though some passengers may be more comfortable with the fashion choices than others.

A couple of hours after the announcement of the mission the voice speaks again. "Shortly arriving in system #93426194992. Arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." The train shakes as it leaves the void, colours fading to be replaced to a grey thick smog outside the windows.

The train bumps slightly as it hits rails, snaking its way towards the city before entering a tunnel. A few moments and they come to a stop, the doors open onto a platform. Stepping out into the station the first thing to hit them is noise, it sounds like there are ten different advertisements blaring, someone or something is playing loud music. There's a lot of flashing signs, screens with advertisements, bright lights that change colour for no real apparant reason. Heavy on the senses as they make their way to the gates.

They will find that their SCAs allow them through the barriers and into the wider train station, which is somehow even louder. It is busy as well, people hurrying from place to place. There are signs declaring this to be Tier Three, Home of Manufacturing. as well as signs pointing the way to lifts, to take them to other tiers.

Tier One

Mapping

For those travelling up to tier one the first thing they will notice when they leave the lift is, it is a lot quieter up here. Peaceful even, there are people around, all looking official and busy. None will pay the Voidtreckers any mind unless they are acting particularly suspicious.

The air feels better here, probably because the whole tier is encased with a dome that they will be able to see as they enter, coming from a lift near the edge of the tier. The buildings are all harsh dark metal, almost uniform in design. The streets are clean and there has been an attempt at greenery with some shrubs and simple plants.

The buildings all need to be accessed using their SCA's. Their SCA maps show them where the buildings are but give no information about them, nor do they have maps of inside. Once the voidtreckers enter they will find that their maps fill in as they explore.

There are plenty of different buildings, offices, labs and meeting rooms. There are also a lot of security staff and anyone acting too suspiciously will be approached and questioned. Hopefully they have a plan, blend in or sneak around.

Flickers

Sometimes though that is a little harder, they might enter a room to find themselves on their old street, in a world they have visited before on the train or somewhere else that is decidedly not here. These illusions get more common as time goes on and people will begin seeing the illusions of others or find the two scenes merging together.

Voidtreckers who are immune to illusions will not see these strange visions and those who are particularly strong willed will be able to fight them off. Once people know they are illusions they can focus through them to see reality even if it is overlaid with what their minds want to see. It will take a lot of concentration to stay focused and get an accurate map.

Tier Two

A Mystery

The lift here brings them out into a glass covered corridor. Outside the glass the air is thick with smog but the filtration systems means that the air seems fine inside, especially with their SCA's helping out. Outside the tunnels they will be able to see the lights of hovercars zipping around and the silhouettes of buildings. Office blocks and large houses make up this sector. Large billboards blare out advertisements at all hours, neon lights shining through the smog.

The atmosphere of the sector is one of fear, people hurry about their business, keeping an wary eye on their surroundings. The newcomers won't get too much scrutiny but people are likely to be very wary if approached or questioned.

But they will talk once they guage them to not be a threat. Murders. Six people dead, from inside their own houses. Locked doors, security systems, all for nothing. Is it a serial killer? But the reports suggested an animal attack? From what animals?

Getting access to the houses will take some negotiating or breaking and entering. The bodies themselves have been cleared by law enforcement, caution tape still up to keep out any nosy public.

The rooms the bodies were found in were all rooms that used holograms as decoration and the voidtreckers will realise when they enter them that these holograms seem a lot more realistic than some of the others they might have seen in their stay in the sector so far.

Creatures

As they talk to people, or overhear gossip they will hear more about animal attacks. Someone swears they saw a lion prowling the streets. A hovercar crashed and the driver swore they had been attacked by an eagle. Neither of those creatures live in the city. Neither of those creatures exist on this world anymore.

But the Voidtreckers will quickly learn there is something to these rumours, especially as dark falls, the feeling they are being hunted. A paw tread, a tail disappearing around a corner. As days go on they may get attacked by a bear, a tiger or perhaps a creature from their own world, one that should not exist here at all...

Tier Three

A Crisis

Leaving the station brings them into crowded streets, air thick with smog, Up above them is the floor of the plate above, set with bright lights to offset the lack of natural light getting through. Billboards and screens blare advertisements, traders yell their wares. Life is fast and swirls around them as they step out into the streets.

Here also there is an air of worry. The talk is all of Spectura, kids unconcious after playing video games, hospital overflowing. Spectura's fault, there are calls for accountability, claims of sabotage. No person gives the same story and it becomes clear that most people don't know what has happened but almost everyone knows someone who has been affected. Fear, blame, tensions are high.

But life must go on, the factories never stop, people can't not work and with so many people unconscious people have to pick up the slack. The whole sector feels at breaking point.

If they try and buy Spectura systems they will not be stopped though they will need to sign a waiver, to take on all responsibility for what might happen to them if they go into the system.

Spectura


There are a whole range of games to look through, though the two most popular ones where the majority of players can be found are an open-world farming MMO called AgriTopia VI Ultimate, with bright landscapes and calming diegetic music, and Aegis Force, a tournament team shooter with short battle scenarios and smaller maps.

Those entering the system will fall unconscious in the real world and as they enter the problem will be pretty obvious straight away. Red vines, covering everything, tangling trees, creeping up buildings, coming straight for them to attack.

Anyone who gets overwhelmed by them will be stuck, unable to move or progress. It is possible to fight them off and for those voidtreckers who have faced the vines before they will find their soothing powers will work here as well.

People are tangled throughout many different games and once they are freed will need some help to find the next save point or exit. They need to help plant the final hundred potatoes, or team up to take down the level boss or solve the next puzzle, keep the vines away and free as many people as they can.

Tier Four

A Way In

As they leave the lifts they will find this tier is dark, dim lighting barely penetrating the smog. Homes are makeshift and all on top of each other. The streets are crowded, loud and people don't stop to chat. It is incredibly claustrophobic, with large support columns, exposed wires and large pipes running alongside and over the 'roads'.

Here there are plenty of stores selling anything and everything, certainly not above board. Credits are sometimes accepted but more often store keepers will prefer to trade in barters, food is popular. Anything that isn't nutri slime or the even worse unbranded basic version.

Bars and other seedy establishments are open all hours, neon signs beckoning. It is here that they will find the entry points to the fighting rings.

People don't talk about it openly but you look big enough, mean enough or dramatic enough then it will be slipped into conversation. Have you heard? Winners get a dream come true.

The fights are a mix of one on one and group fights. All terms are negotiated before hand with an overseer and fights are to the yield. The crowd wants a show and so dramatics are encouraged.

What was that?

The rumours about people going berserk are spoken in whispers. No one really knows what has gone on. A few fights have gotten out of control, a couple of fighters broke down after fights, at least one has quit for good. Most spoken about is The Crimson Fist. The best fighter in the ring who two days prior just left. Left the city with no protective gear, no word to anyone. No one knows what happened to them.

As the voidtreckers get further into their fights they will begin to realise something strange is going on. That opponent you are facing? They now look like your worst enemy, or perhaps your best friend, your lover. Sometimes you're no longer in the city but in a place of fond memories or your worst nightmares. Fights can very quickly go south when your opponent believes you their greatest foe.

Advancing the ranks now seems like it might be more difficult than first it appeared.

Comments

Alvin Murphy | Tier Four CW: Mind-control and probably zombie things

[zombiemessiah]

Getting Acquainted

Look at all these people! How many are here? The last time he's felt this crowded is a horde and he's somewhere between hating the jostle of unfamiliar bodies and loving it because they're so alive. Sure they're their own brand of half-dead, subsisting on fumes as nearly nothing shambling hell-creatures, but they're alive, and he misses being surrounded by that.

Murphy has few credits, but he has a plan and he has a little bit of shitty food to get him what he wants. Not that he has a huge priority to solve any mysteries, he mostly wants to slip into a familiar role for a few days, but it's still a plan and the train can't bitch because technically? It'll help. And that's what it wants, right? RIGHT, TRAIN? RIGHT?

Take that.

He's going to go buy himself a new suit with the full knowledge that he's slowly going insane and mentally dolling himself up for sapient but only marginally communcative interdimensional vehicle whims.

Someone might find him in his new suit, possibly buying some fingerless gloves and boots to go with it, or getting his room. A little bit of strategic trading of some of his more garbage food and he's feeling 100% more like himself.

Flashy Bartender

The bar he's chosen to work at is bustling. Somewhere backstage there's a manager fully convinced that Murphy's just the funniest damn man he's ever met and charming to boot. That man hadn't even hesitated to try the drink that Murphy made for him when he was trying out for the job which really made that a whole hell of a lot easier.

He's been here for a few hours, taking his time with the drinks meant for the fighters. They get served quick and he works extra hard to make them perfectly. Just on the nose. Brilliant work. And once they get drinking? They love them.

He finds himself making a couple of the same drink for both a crew member and one of the local fighters, but when he puts them down he sets them far apart and without breaking his customer-pleasing smile even for a moment he says sternly, "Yours is on the right." So they don't pick the one intended for the competitor.

The Shutdown

Murphy is calmly partaking in some janky future earth rum, watching a fight, listening to the rattle of minds around him. They don't know he's listening, they're just passing by. Constant whispers, almost comforting in their familiarity. All of them attached, just a little reach away. A small shove and he has them where he needs them but for now he just listens, hoping one will say something interesting.

It's not something he expects, then, when suddenly one of the fighters is mentally just hating the man in front of him. A bitter, real, spiteful hatred for, what, someone he just met tonight?! No, that doesn't make sense. The other guy? The other guy has a sense of 'what are you doing here'?

Murphy doesn't know what was going on, but he turns his back to the crowd as if he's going to get a couple of drinks. Closing his eyes in concentration he finally uses that push he's been holding back all night. Look. Look harder. Hold back. Look harder. Look harder.

He can hear the tension in the crowd behind him shift to shock that the fighters have stopped. Murphy turns back to the bar then, wiping it down and getting ready to make another drink. "Come on, friend," he mutters to himself. Or rather, he speaks aloud the subtle inclinations he's sending towards the fighters. "That was a big surprise, wasn't it? Why don't you come have a drink with your nice friendly bartender, and we'll have a chat. That's right. Over here."

*Fighters being infected are meant to be NPCs, not PCs.

bartender

[irrationally]

Alice has mostly been avoiding directly heading to the bar-part of these clubs. Even if she may realise it might be a good place to get information, she just doesn't really like the idea of being near so much alcohol. Or maybe being near so many alcohol-filled men. Ugh, those are just the worst.

But right now she happens to spot a familiar face standing behind the bar through the crowd of people. So Alice makes her way through it, thankfully helped by the fact that she's so tiny compared to a lot of the people here and therefore more easily able to slip through said crowd - all the way until she can move to sit on one of the run-down barstools.

"I didn't realise they had such a familiar bartender here."

But even as she says that, slightly dryly, there's a hint of another question in it. One that she can't ask out loud, since people may be able to overhear them. What is he doing, did he decide to earn some pocket change on a mission?

[zombiemessiah]

"Heeey, do I have to card you?" He leans on the bar, wearing a more genuine grin than his customer-pleasing one.

"Drunk people love to talk and this just happened to be a job that I could do." He glances around at the fighters. "Almost reminds me of home but the clientele is a little more lively."

He laugh-cackles, leaning back again, knowing it's an awful joke and reveling in it.

"So, what would the lady like to drink? You're probably legal in most places that aren't the US, right?" Not that he cares that much but, y'know, appearances.

[irrationally]

"That might be one of the more concerning questions I've heard from a guy your age," Alice says, dryly. Of course it's just a deadpan joke though, since she's already waving a hand a moment later. "I don't really care much for alcohol."

Despite, yes, very much being legal where she comes from.

"Don't you have something a bit lighter?" She isn't sure whether to hope for much there - this doesn't exactly seem like the type of place that would serve a lot of drinks that weren't meant to knock out a person as soon as possible. "Besides, I don't think it's the best idea to go fight after I've been drinking like that."

[zombiemessiah]

"Whaaat? I'm totally trustworthy. You see this face." He points to his satan-face. "Completely. But the unfortunate thing is all I can offer that's not alcoholic that you might feel good to fight on is the water."

He pours her a glass of that and puts it on the bar.

"The 'juice' they have is more of that algae crap. They feed us algae on the train, they take us to the place with the nutrient sludge that's more algae. Honestly, it's like the train is making me actually want to crave brains."

He sticks out his tongue and makes a grossed-out face like a very mature adult as he shows her the bottle of questionable 'juice' meant for the mixed drinks.

DRINKS DRINKS DRINKS,

[shadowslipping]

"A surprise isn't even the half of it..." Credit to Yuume, she tried really hard to talk down her opponent once it became obvious that they weren't seeing who they were fighting- or at least, Yuume has no idea WHAT the fighter was seeing, but it definitely wasn't her given the sudden mood switch.

Unfortunately it had to end in a pin, and a chokehold, and while she may have gotten through to the guy while whispering not so sweet platitudes in the fellow's ear, the combatant walked off looking for all the world like he'd been punched in the gut by his grandmother.

"I don't think anything too strong will be a good idea, but a good drink is definitely what I need now," she laments, pinching the bridge of her nose.

At least this lady doesn't seem affected by the illusions. Somehow? She DID have that brief blink of a moment but... ...Nothing else, oddly.

[zombiemessiah]

"Stayin' under 20 proof it is. CyberCity MaiTai coming up." He starts grabbing the bottles for the drink.

That fight did look like it'd gone really off the rails. "So what did you see?" he asks as he fills the mixer and then shakes it up. "Probably nothing good, but the trend's been very 'eliminate the competitors'.

"So has there been anyone affected by this while they were out of the ring? I haven't heard anyone mention it if they have been."

[shadowslipping]

A feeble nod- fancy future MaiTais sounds delightful. "Fortunately for me, breaking through illusions is a specialty of mine; a necessary one for my field," she mutters, looking around her to make certain she's not being listened in on. "Very briefly my opponent resembled someone I had to face in battle at home, but I broke it before it amounted to much... ...it felt strangely similar to the illusions of the last mission but I can't be certain; those ones were only over the city itself, not on the people...certainly not like this at least..."

A sigh. "I haven't seen anyone acting in that way outside of the ring just yet, but I suspect it hasn't become necessary...regardless, I don't imagine this is either entirely automatic or targeted in its infliction."

... "...I don't know exactly who he viewed me as... ...but I don't look forward to being seen that way again."

[zombiemessiah]

He puts it down in front of her.

"So if you know it's there and you've broken it before, you can break it."

He starts washing a glass to keep his hands busy. "Why do they think they want to control who wins and who loses so badly? Are they trying to get at who is offering whatever this prize is?"

His compassion towards the opponent is probably not what it should be. If people are getting in the ring at this point, they know the risks. They're practically inviting trauma in on themselves.

[voidtreckernpcs]

The man that has come out of the ring is huffing and puffing, sweat dripping off his forehead as he glares back over his shoulder at his opponent. He isn’t terribly big, but he’s muscular and based on the performance he’s quick on his feet. He doesn’t have many defining features, just an unusual mohawk style that was dyed with strips of orange, yellow and fluorescent red.

He’s less exhausted and more irritated, dragging his arm across his forehead. It does not look like his loss is appreciated.

He is steady on his feet, a bruise already darkening on his collarbone as he walked up to the bar.

“Gimme something with a kick to it.” He said, it wasn’t a polite request, he was glancing back at the ring as he tapped the bar top.

[zombiemessiah]

"Whiskey on the rocks, then."

He goes to pour his new friend what he needs. "What happened up there? That looked crazy, man!" He slides the drink across the bar to him.

[voidtreckernpcs]

“I don’t know.” The man grunts, accepting the drink and taking a generous gulp to begin with. “It was a load of bullshit is what it was.” He scoffs.

“I should’ve won that fight.” He tsks and shakes his head. “Hope he gets beat down in the next round.”

[zombiemessiah]

"How often do you even get a chance for a prize like that? Those stakes are crazy."

He leans on the bar, wincing with sympathy.

"What makes everyone so sure that they're even going to get it this time? With whatever's been messing with people's heads? The living nightmare flu or something- Fuck if I know. Isn't it only hitting you guys?"

bartending

[oncedriven]

Even with his obnoxiously bright hair, it's somehow difficult to notice Asch until he's right up on the bar itself, taking a seat and propping one elbow on the counter. He looks, for all the world, like he's an old hand at this, relaxed and totally at ease in this environment.

"Hey, Red," he says, familiar as though he's been a regular here every day of his life. (He can act the act a little bit. Murphy will know what he really means by 'red' anyway.) "Do they have that blue stuff that does a little billow of fog when you pour it in the glass, here?"

Okay, so maybe he's interested in some of the weirder drinks, too. (He thinks Jade might be able to get that effect with a hard enough temp drop.) But mostly, Asch waits for a a moment when there's enough of a gap for an actual conversation, and drops some of his act, his face getting serious even if his body language doesn't change much. He says, "So how's information gathering going on your end? I've been running around town looking into the fighters who already got taken out."

[zombiemessiah]

Asch himself and his own impressive hue saturated hair, a perfect shocking red. Even a dude with crimson skin has to still marvel at that caution signal color on a romance novel cover level 'do.

But all that's beside the point.

"Sure, I can do that." He's figured out what's what so far, grabbing a blue bottle and dropping what looks like a piece of rock candy in the glass. Then pouring the drink in over it.

"Just the usual, what people already knew. I did figure out who the last opponent of the Crimson Fist was. If I can get to his body I think I could figure out some more information."

[oncedriven]

"Thanks." There's still a few ways around the city to get cash, so it's probably not that much of a surprise when Asch drops one of that to the counter instead of any kind of billing. He takes the glass and blows the mist off the top, letting it twist and curl around his fingers.

"I talked around a few of the others," Asch says. "People in the shit that passes for a hospital, that sort of thing. Pretty much the same story everywhere."

He swirls the drink in such a way that the ice clinks under the fog over his fingers, which is starting to dissipate, and says, "You know where the body is?"

[zombiemessiah]

"Morgue. But I'll have to move soon because the bodies are removed from the city."

He gives Asch his drink while Murphy pours something for himself.

"I did see a fight go bad. Seemed to come out of nowhere. No one that stood out in some special way."

And he'd been watching hard for any sign of psychic aggression. He'd felt nothing from anyone. Not that he was experienced with anything outside of other zombies before getting here, but thanks to Ghost and Tannis he'd been honing his own networking abilities. Whoever, whatever this was? It was subtle.

Wildcard--fetching a brain

[azrthmtrnznthos]

With the address, but mostly Murphy's aid with a psychic beacon, Raven finds him easily nearby. Thankfully he's somewhere secluded, but not out of the main crush of people. So one more person showing up won't draw too much notice, even if no one would be able to say how they got there. All part of the crowd and crush.

It's a swirl of dark energy on the ground, before Raven rises out of it. Her cloak and coat flaring around her slightly. Her cowl is up, but her method of teleporting is silent, at least.

Re: Wildcard--fetching a brain

[zombiemessiah]

Murphy's indeed waiting, and to those perceptive enough his ability rolls off of him like waves of heated air off concrete, a scorching spot behind a no name bar in a useless city.

He's back in his leather jacket, his train uniform, something a little lower key than the bar gear. And when he feels Raven's presence he turns down his own efforts.

He's stopped paying attention to any of the fighters to be able to do that. Hopefully they'll still be alive when he gets back. For a man that often doesn't give a fuck about the people around him, he certainly starts to give one when he's had days of listening to their thoughts and emotions, experiencing their fears and the burden of their wants.

But the tiny threads of the connections still exist, even relaxed as they are. He's obviously spread out as he comes over to join her. "I'm ready to go."

Re: Wildcard--fetching a brain

[azrthmtrnznthos]

"Lead the way." Raven is all business, although she does give him a once over. "How're you managing, besides needing this for information." And possibly a snack--although she's trying to not think about that part.

[zombiemessiah]

He gives her the morgue's general address, direction. "And, I dunno, somewhere inside where people won't see us right off."

He's been thinking of sending someone to be a distraction out front, but he honestly doesn't think people will be spending that much time guarding bodies from the slums.

GETTING ACQUAINTED

[gentle_jim]

Yes, this is the guy that bit into a human brain right in front of him a bit ago, but Jack can't deny the guy also has a flashy sense of style and that's exactly what he needs right now. So when he notices Murphy paying for some gloves, he beckons with a finger once he has the other's attention.

"Y'mind helping me out with -- ....Haha, I said 'mind'. Heh. Anyway. I could use your sense of style for a bit, if you got time?"

[zombiemessiah]

"Heeey hey! It's the lunch thief!"

He puts on his gloves right there, as soon as the stickers are off 'cause god he misses his gloves. Fortunately, Jack is talking to a man that so enjoys the task of dressing people up he'd dress up zombies when he was first figuring out how his powers worked.

"I'm in. What are we doin' for you?"

[gentle_jim]

"Look, it was for science. How was I supposed to know someone on the train ate brains? It's not something you just assume. Unless you're on Pandora."

Jack's gaze sweeps over Murphy's new outfit. The gloves really do complete the look.

"Need to be attention getting. Even more than I already am. Flashy to the point of tacky. Though real clothes'll probably just get torn up. And clothing damage in a fight is only sexy if you have some skin to show underneath."

[zombiemessiah]

"Yeaaaah, I can see how that'd not quite work out."

Most people don't like to see his scars, either, so he feels the need to keep the clothes over them as tidy as possible to make up for it.

"You probably don't know who Indiana Jones is, but trust me. Go bomber jacket. The look works with most tough guy get-ups."