voidtreckermods: (train)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] middleofsomewhere2021-05-09 06:48 am

What their Eyes See: Start

"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.
fightcreamsundae: (005)

Cherry + Blue Team

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-05-09 04:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Dressing Car
As usual Cherry is up and about just before the alarm for the day went off. She ate breakfast with an enthusiasm that rivaled children on Christmas, she poured over what scant pieces of information they were given and searched among the scraps for all of the info she could. She settled into going with blue team to help them because they had so few people and went to all appropriate team meetings and let appropriate people know this. She had never actually touched any of the video games in the train so she had no clue what to expect on world, but at the worst case she could always help make sure the youths were taken care of and settled down after their ordeal. She was good at that.

It was choosing an outfit that put her at a huge impasse. She didn't care to wear so much black: it was antithetical to who she was and what she was about. She found so much black depressing - it was a color that was best used when hunting at night when Menphina hid her face form the world. She'd been searching for just about anything in the dressing car that wasn't black before she finally sat back with an exasperated sigh.

"Everything here is so depressing. If this really is the way the people of this world dresses I don't know how anyone can be happy."
Tier 3 - arrival, games
Stepping out of the station is no small culture shock to Cherry. First? The air is absolutely deplorable. Even with something covering her face she still had to stop and cough as she stepped out of the station. She couldn't get herself moving as she noticed the city before them and she froze. There was far too much sensory input going on. Everything was so loud and there were so many flashing lights and so many people and... It made Kugane look like some tiny village in the middle of nowhere. She's not afraid as much as she's just trying to take it all in and it may be definitely overloading her a little bit. She'd never seen so many people in one place before, much less had to deal with all of this stimulation at once. At least she finally settled on an outfit and felt like she at least looked the part even if she absolutely didn't feel it.

Once she was over her initial shock on the city and she got settled in with the rest of the blue team she would unbox her VR set and... Have no clue what to do with it. Also, like, she could't read, so she couldn't even read the instructions on what to do. Team members may have noticed Cherry watching them to figure out how to work the dang thing, though she wouldn't approach and just ask because she didn't want to disturb anyone.
Wildcard
[ OOC: I haven't gotten much sleep so I may have forgotten a prompt I needed to write up so please just poke me or respond with it if that's the case. Otherwise she will be in games - either of the two popular ones or catch her in a rhythm game of some kind. I'm open to whatever if you wanna write up another prompt so feel free, otherwise you can find me in the discord as Coop or on plurk at [plurk.com profile] coopyey if you wanna talk and figure something else out! ]
Edited 2021-05-09 16:32 (UTC)
runicfeathers: (Best day ever)

Wildcard, naturally

[personal profile] runicfeathers 2021-05-09 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Willow has already gotten herself ready aside from her long mess of recently brushed out hair, knowing that Cherry enjoys playing with the long scarlet hair. Although a full foot and a half shorter now since the last mission where a demon had taken a swipe at her and got a chunk of hair instead, and then having to fix it to not look like a mess.

She wanders and then spots Cherry, brush and a handful of hair ties in hand, and sneaks up on her with a smile.

"Cherry, would you mind? This is all I need left to be ready for when we depart, and I know you'd be sad if I did it myself." The last bit is a playful jab at the youth, wide grin showing that.
hotheadwarmheart: (Attentive)

Tier 3- Arrival

[personal profile] hotheadwarmheart 2021-05-11 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
The air was indeed awful. Lea hoped it would be at least a bit better inside buildings or some of them might have lung problems by the time the mission was over. The noise and light pollution was almost as bad as the air pollution though, and he wasn't surprised when he saw that some people were overwhelmed by it. "You OK, there?", he asked the cat-eared young woman. He had to get fairly close to be heard properly amid all the noise, especially with a bandana over his mouth and nose, though he tried to avoid bumping into her for now.
fightcreamsundae: (049)

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-05-16 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
Cherry's ears flicked in the man's direction for only a split second before going back to moving this way - no, that way - no, no, over here... And those lights, and the people, there were so many people...

Eventually his question registers with her and she looks up to him.

"There's... There's just so much. It's so loud and there's so many people and all of the lights and the air..."
hotheadwarmheart: (Attentive)

[personal profile] hotheadwarmheart 2021-05-18 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
Lea nodded. "It's definitely a lot," he said. He rested a hand on her shoulder in hopes of providing something simple and grounding. "Just try closing your eyes for a minute, and... well normally I'd say take deep breaths, but not here. But try to keep your breathing steady, OK? Just try and focus on that."
achickenformylove: (mdzs 1)

Dressing car

[personal profile] achickenformylove 2021-05-12 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
WangJi himself had struggled with an outfit for this mission. He hated giving up his robes, but he stood out like a sore thumb if he didn't most of the time. Unfortunately, black was also not his color. White was his color because it was one of his sect's colors. Oh well... he'd have to deal with it for a bit.

"It does some rather disappointing," WangJi remarked as he browsed as well. "Black is not this common in my world except for what some wear in mourning."
fightcreamsundae: (047)

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-05-16 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
Cherry ran her fingers through her hair as she listened to WangJi speak. Her hands eventually folded together at the back of her head and remained there as she spoke. She seemed content to take a momentary break from her search.

"Black's the color for mourning in Othard as well. A lot of people try to avoid wearing it where possible." A pause. "My people wear dark colors when hunting because we're nocturnal by nature. If we can get black fabric it is really nice for when the moon is dark."

"For myself I really like bright and happy colors, but I guess where we're going doesn't believe in happy."
achickenformylove: (mdzs 4)

[personal profile] achickenformylove 2021-05-17 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
"I see. Black would make a good hunting color indeed. There are a number of rogue cultivators who wear dark colors, perhaps for the reason of not being as visible."

He assessed the garments again before nodding. "It seems so. We can learn a lot just from their clothes and it doesn't seem they have much desire for bright colors here."