middleofsomewhere | What their Eyes See: Start

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

“If you can get them to back off, yeah!” He kicks at a vine creeping towards his foot. “They’re really persistent, and I can’t find a source for them to dig out, either!”

He growls as one grabs his wrist, yanking him towards some other vines.

"Don't worry-- here, look!"

Madoka quickly rushes the last few steps over to him, covering the remaining distance between the two of them. She reaches out to the vines, and for some odd reason they seem to stop tugging on Ken when Madoka's hands land on them.

A moment later they even start to pull back entirely, releasing the boy, as they start to shrink back to their origin.

She realises how odd that most likely must look to him, so she figures she ought to explain.

"Um, I've dealt with these things before.. That's why." She gives him a slightly sheepish smile. "Are you okay?" With the way those things were tugging on him.. Madoka would have been scared if it had been her!

... Well that's not fair. He glares at the vines as they retreat, trying to soften his severe expression as he looks back at Madoka.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've faced things that look a lot scarier than these things." Some Shadows are just gross to look at. "If we follow them all the way back to the roots, do you think we can maybe burn it or get rid of it?"

Despite his age, Madoka instantly believes his claim about having faced things scarier than this. After all, she has faced things scarier than these vines as well. So she just nods, even though she feels a little sorry for him that he had to deal with that..

Though she's trying to not focus on that too hard right now. Instead she focuses on the mission in front of them right now, and starts walking.

"Let's go see!" All they have to do is follow the vines back to their root, right? "I'm sure that as long as we find out where they're coming from, we can find a way to get rid of them together."

"If you can keep them off of us long enough, we might be able to find it. I mean... we've got farming tools, right?" Hoes aren't just good for bashing things with.

"Uh-huh. Though I'm not sure if I can calm them all at once.."

After all, there do seem to be quite a few of these vines in some locations. And Madoka - unfortunately, in this case - only has two arms and two hands. That means there's only so many vines she can get to back off at once.

"Do you think you can give me some backup with those farming tools..?" That might just make it work. If he holds off the parts she can't handle, then she can work on driving them back, bit by bit.

Not that she knows Ken well, but.. they're both here on this mission. There's no way she's going to assume he's here to do anything but his best.

"Yeah. These things are stupid." He turns the hoe around and uses it to stab into the vine. He seems much more comfortable with it that way.

"How come you can make them fall back?" And why can't he do that?

At least Madoka seems okay with this vine-violence going on here. It's necessary to get to a point where they can fully drive away the vines and save the people who fell unconscious playing these games, after all!

In the meantime, Madoka does her best to do her part too. Trying to touch all the vines she can, soothing them and getting them to move back. She tries to move between vines, so he doesn't have as much to do by himself.

It takes a moment of focus, hence why she doesn't reply right away, but then the girl speaks up again.

"I saw these before.. as odd as that may sound." For a moment she actually looks over at Ken. "Not during the last mission, but the one before that. We went into some tree in an odd place, and these vines were everywhere as well.."

"Must've just missed it." He huffs and swings a torch at the vines again. "How'd you go into a tree?"

Because that doesn't make sense to him in the slightest.

Boy, isn't that exactly the question Madoka would like the answer to. Even now she's still not fully sure what was up with any part of that mission.. Other than the alpacas. The alpacas were not confusing and instead just adorable.

"I.. don't really know either. We touched a panel on the tree, and we went inside, and there was this.. this forest inside, and all these vines were there too, and all of us looked like holograms.." Madoka stops herself, realising how odd the story must sound to someone who hasn't gone through it.

Usually their missions are at least a tad more straightforward, after all.

So she offers Ken an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, it must sound confusing.. But it was confusing to all of us as well."

"... You know what, that's not the craziest thing I've heard." Considering how people react to being told about the Dark Hour...

He pushes through some vines, but they're starting to grow thick. "I don't know if we can get through this way... dammit, why are these things so annoying?!"

"It's like they're trying to block the way.."

And even though Madoka is forcing some back, it's hard when there's just so many of them at once in front of them. She frowns, trying to think of a better and quicker way to deal with this, but then she sees some vines lashing out again, shooting in Ken's direction once more.

So the girl moves by instinct. She grabs the boy's hand tightly, pulling him out of the way, closer towards her. The vines shoot right past him, rather than latching on to him, and Madoka quickly tries to use her other hand to force them back again.

.. but she's so focused on it that she doesn't realise until a moment later that she was still holding Ken's hand. Her jaw drops open, and she quickly releases her grip, with a clearly flustered: "S-Sorry, sorry!"

Ken squawks indignantly as his hand is grabbed, and when it's finally released he wipes it on his game-provided outfit. He doesn't respond to her apology with anything other than a huff, and shakes his head.

"It's like they're forming a wall or something. I can't even see through it. I don't think we can go this way... we should go and find more people to untangle."

Sorry for the accidental girl cooties, Ken.

Thankfully it's not like Madoka at all to get offended at that sort of reaction coming from him. No, it's not anger that bubbles up within her at the sight - instead it's something closer to worry or sadness, afraid she really did make him uncomfortable, especially when he lets out that huff.

But she tries to banish the feeling to her gut for now. She doesn't have time to feel bad when they're in such a tough situation. She has to focus.

"But what if there's people beyond here too? We can't just abandon them."

It's less girl cooties and more people cooties in general, sadly.

"We're not going to be able to untangle anyone if we get caught ourselves. We can free more people or we can get stuck - which is gonna be more productive?"

"I.. I guess the former.."

But Madoka sure doesn't look happy about it, even if it's the practical solution to this problem. She just hates the idea of abandoning anyone, and she looks at the vine near-wall apologetically, as if she can somehow see the people beyond it and feels bad for them already. The only thing she can do is promise herself that she'll come back to rescue them later, no matter what. She'll find a way.

"Let's hurry up then and see if there's anyone else nearby we can help..!"

"Yeah." He stamps his torch out - it's getting low and he doesn't want to burn his hand - and starts walking away from the plants. "You don't have to have that look. You're going to get back to them. And we're in virtual reality, it's not like they have to eat or drink in here."

Granted it's probably horrible in there, but he's trying to focus on the positives in this case.

"A-Ah.."

She sputters the moment she realises she's being called out by him like that - she didn't realise it was as visible on her face, but of course it was. Madoka is a totally open book when it comes to these things.

Madoka quickly moves to catch up with him and walk alongside him.

"I.. I just look that way because I feel sorry for them. I can only imagine how sad and scary it must be to be trapped here like that, without anyone by their side.."

"There's not much we can do. It's 'sad and scary', but you can survive that." He did, so they can. "It's not like we're leaving them to die. We've got to figure out a plan, and it's not going to happen with just two people."

Especially when he can't do much about the vines, himself.

Madoka tries to tell herself he's right. Because she knows he is. It's not like they'll die - because if they'd die in that situation, they would have done so already. There would no longer be any alive person left for them to save.

But something about it keeps feeling wrong. So much so that Madoka grows silent as she walks, listening to him, but then..

"S-Still!"

Her voice raises a bit in volume. She isn't angry - when does Madoka ever get angry? - but she does seem desperate to get this point across. She seems more upset in the direction of sadness than anger, really.

"How would you feel? If you were in that position, and you knew people just left you there like that because.. because it was more efficient? Wouldn't you feel so upset?"

He stops and turns to look at her. "... I'd understand. And it's not like I'd be expecting to rely on anyone else, anyway. The only person you can rely on for sure is yourself. Don't tell me you're older than me and haven't already realized that?"

"T-That's not true!"

She shakes her head. It feels oddly familiar. It's like when Kyoko had first appeared. It feels like ages ago, but Madoka still remembers it. How she said all sorts of things like this too, just how agitated it had gotten Sayaka back then.

Madoka definitely agreed with her friend's sentiment back there though. She understood why it had irked Sayaka so much.

"I know that there are other people here I can rely on. For sure. That they'd help me if I'd need it. And they'd help you too!" Even if they may not know Ken personally. Because they're just nice people like that, and Madoka knows it.

"And right now, these people need our help!"

"... You're an idiot." He shakes his head and looks back at the tangled web of vines.

"You probably think everyone is selfless and willing to help out if you only can convince them. That people being mean are only doing it because they don't understand, or some crap like that. You probably haven't even tried to think of what the train's getting out of us being here. ... You're wrong about all of it."

She shakes her head.

"I.. I don't trust the train either." Not fully. Sure, there are some good things to what it's doing. They really are helping people, and Madoka thinks that's a good thing, but.. the way the train goes about things is just so wrong. "But that doesn't mean I can't trust the people on it."

That's a different story entirely. None of those people are the ones who kidnapped her. Who hurt people by separating them.

"You must have noticed it too. There's always so many people willing to help you on the train."

"... There's some people. But I've... it's risky to trust people. You don't know if a stranger is going to hurt you for no reason." Aragaki was a stranger, and yet he'd destroyed Ken's entire life.

He crosses his arms and just stares Madoka down. "People are always going to hurt you."

What their Eyes See: Start

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