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.

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[ Madoka hardly even notices Mono at first. It's hard to do so when it's difficult to notice much of anything in a crowd like this, filled with so many constantly moving people.

But it's then that she does notice a little shape walking after them, and she quickly stops, bending down to look at him - and to help shield him a little, so no one accidentally steps on him. That could go wrong really quickly. ]

Ah..! Do you maybe need a little help..?

[ Getting through the crowd, she means, but it could easily be interpreted any other way. ]

[The screen in the nearby shop is on the fritz, hissing a shrill horrible noise and changing colors. The shopkeeper is banging on it, calling it a hunk of junk, and yet the picture instantly clears when Madoka's change in direction shakes Mono from his thoughts.

Oh. It's her. The girl he accidentally scared his first day. Mono startles when she whirls around unexpectedly, not wanting to bump into her. She's right, it is hard to navigate these crowds.]

"Maddo... um." [It had started with that sound, he had heard her name at the art party, what was it? After careful consideration Mono points back to the direction opposite where the rest of blue look to be headed.]

"T-tier 4?" [He makes a four with his fingers, trusting his actions over his mangled vocabulary. If he could just find his way back to the lifts...]

[ .. Tier 4?

That's definitely not where their team is headed, so Madoka has to think for a moment which tier that was, what team was heading there..

And then she realises that it's the red team's tier. The red team, who usually have the toughest missions, involving a lot of fighting. Does someone like Mono really want to go along with them..?

It's something she'll have to question later though, when they're not rushing in the middle of a crowd. So Madoka nods, even though it's a little uneasy, and holds out her cupped hands towards the other. ]

Please, um.. let me carry you, if that's okay? It'll be easier to get you through the crowds that way..

[ Because otherwise she's going to be so anxious that he might get trampled. ]

You can sit on my shoulder, if that's better. But I'll take you there, I promise.

[It's a familiar gesture, those cupped hands. The number of times he and Six dropped into that exact same pose to boost one another to climb in or out of danger remain fresh in Mono's mind. He gingerly steps onto the makeshift platform, giving a nod for her to lift.]

"'Kay."

[He only wobbles a little, finding his balance quick enough as she raises back up. Already it's much easier to see where they should head, maybe this will be faster too! Sitting on her shoulder is actually looking like a pretty good idea, if he can manage to get to it.]

"...Can't do blue." [He admits sheepishly.]

[ Madoka makes sure to lift him up gently, rather than rising back up to her feet too quickly. She can only imagine how quick that speed might seem for someone as small as him. But once she's upright, she starts looking around to see if there are any signs pointing out the elevators - and once she finds some, she starts heading in that direction.

She makes sure to keep him close to her though, like she's carrying a treasure. (And really, isn't life the biggest treasure of all?)

It's certainly high up enough that he could climb up over to her shoulder, if he'd want to try. ]

.. you can't? [ Madoka seems a little confused, but then seems to have a realisation. ] Ah, it'd probably be hard for you to use the system, huh..

[ Since he's so tiny. That's the conclusion she's reaching, anyway. ]

[On second thought, her holding him so close and carefully like this does feel nicer, Mono settles more comfortably into her grasp.]

"Mm'mm." [He shakes his head, sadly, looking down at his hands. 'Huh, it was just working' comes a murmur from the shop, another screen in the nearest building fizzles over with the same static issue. Mono points them out so Madoka sees.

He takes a deep breathe and tries to concentrate, the pictures momentarily stabilize as he inhales... only to grow distorted again. She remembers just how he entered her room, right?]

"Might.. might break it." [He doesn't have enough control. The televisions back in Pale City never used to react to his presence that strongly, but ever since he arrived on the voidtrecker, Mono has noticed just how much more he seems to mess with signals. What if something gets corrupted?]

[ She does remember what happened in her room. It was too startling to forget, really.

But even so, as she glances to the side, at the screen that's starting to fizzle.. She looks a little confused all the same. Even if Mono can travel through screens somehow, she's not entirely sure how that would extend towards making electronics in this place act so odd. ]

Is it out of your control..? [ She frowns, but it doesn't look angry.

No, the tone in her voice makes it very clear it's more just concern. ]

Those things just happen around you?

[A quiet nod of affirmation.]

"Always." [It thankfully isn't all electronics, merely ones with displays and who is to say if the superficial static layer over them actually impedes their use, the signal frequency he seems to be cursedly aligned with never reacted 100% predictably.]

"'s me." [Mono never gave much thought to the how or why he can do what he can do. It had been the least of his concerned whether other children could travel as he could, he had only ever met a few scarcely able to communicate. Still it was undeniably a part of him, not something he just wielded.]

"Don't know if... if it can." [Everyone on the train had their own form of 'magic;' things only they could do. Perhaps this was his. Mono holds out a hand, a somewhat digital, purple glow of glitchy lines overlaying the surface.]

"Only used to. To have to touch." [But it's like he's getting stronger somehow...]

[ Even with his way of talking, Madoka does manage to understand most of what he's saying. It's happening around him, whereas previously it'd only happen when he'd touch things - but he is not touching any of these screens, and it's still happening.

Maybe something like his power growing..? Though it might not necessarily be a good thing, when he can't control it himself. ]

I see.. I think you should try to be careful during this mission then. There seem to be a lot of these screens all around..

[ And who knows what kind of trouble he could get into if too many malfunctioned at once. ]

I'm not sure who else is going all the way down to that tier, but.. um, please find someone you can trust, okay? It's good to have someone to look out for you when that happens..

[Mono had asked once how it was possible to know who to trust and even Della didn't have a perfect answer for it. All the same, the concept of even having a team to rely on in the first place was something he had to digest.]

"Find Reds." [Better to go with people he knew, if nothing else. Trust could come later.]

"H-have you, um. You ever." [He wrings his hands, getting them to return to normal.]

"Had things you. Can't control?"

[ Finding Reds sounds good. Madoka doesn't know all of them, but some of them have seemed nice and reliable enough. Surely he'll be able to find someone who can help him.

But-- ]

.. Oh..

[ It's the question that renders her quiet for a moment as they walk. Mostly since she's trying to think. She's mostly worried that it's too different, but it'd feel rude not to share if he's asking.. ]

Not.. really like a power I couldn't control. But.. um.. back home, really bad things kept happening to my friends. And since they had special powers and I didn't, I was the only one who couldn't do anything about it.. [ She lets out a deep breath. It's clearly not too fun of a topic for her. ] So I guess.. I kind of felt like that too back then. Like everything was out of my control, and it was a little scary..

"Couldn't fight." [Mono muses in agreement, feeling helpless IS scary. That is something the child could feel on a deeply personal level. Even with his abilities, he used them to run only once did he get cornered enough to even think he stood a chance taking something on in a battle.]

"Seems here. Everyone does. Though." [It was one of the most common topics that came up in conversation when he met people on the train. Hardly anyone seemed to just be a civilian. Did Madoka still feel that way? There was an emphasis on this being past tense...]

"..And now?"

Now.. I still think I can't contribute as much as everyone else.

[ It's a very honest admission. Maybe a little too honest, considering she doesn't know Mono all that well. But on the other hand, if he's confiding in her about his powers and the lack of control over them, then it wouldn't be right for her to just hold her own vulnerability back, right?

Especially since he's noticed the most important thing already. Most people on the train are powerful, or can fight.

Madoka arrived with neither.

The thought makes her chew her lower lip a little. ]

I taught myself how to fight a little bit, I can fire a bow now, but.. I'm nowhere near anyone else's level. I've wondered a lot of times why the train even drew me in, of all people..

[It was both comforting and concerning to hear Madoka share so much of the same worry. For a while, the boy remains silent before answering in a tiny murmur.]

"..D'you. Think the train. Makes mistakes?" [Mono had been so relieved to find his name on a ticket, it meant he was supposed to be there, despite his thinking he had originally boarded of his own accord. That somehow, he was worth getting picked up for. It was easier to believe it was possible that he might belong if the choice wasn't on him.]

"I don't. Wanna go back." [He looks up to her with unease. Do you think the train will send him away if he can't fight? Madoka managed to stay this long even without fighting, so..!]

[ .. oh, Mono.

Madoka's entire expression seems to reflect that thought. Her gaze turns softer, almost more worried.. but almost sympathetic. Because she gets what it's like. She keeps wondering about it too, thinking that surely the train must have made a mistake when it dragged her here, rather than some capable warrior.

She holds him the tiniest bit closer out of sheer instinct. ]

I don't think there's anything that impacts how long we do or don't stay here..

[ After all, Madoka thinks she's not very useful, yet she's been here for so long. It must be totally random. ]

But.. maybe you can ask the train to let you stay, once we're back there..? You can send messages to the train through the ICP terminals, and--

[ .. oh.

Right, his unique little problem. ]

U-Um, if you have trouble using one, I could write a message for you.

"Yeah?" [Mono looks up hopefully. Admittedly being held closer makes it less easier to see Madoka but it's hardly a complaint. Since first boarding Mono has gotten used to being lifted or temporarily brought over to things he couldn't reach, but he hasn't been held quite like this. It soothes some of his worry.]

"I can." [Yeah. Maybe they can ask the train. He just... has to tell whoever thought he should come along that he wants to stay. The boy hasn't tried writing with the ICP yet, but Mono was able to eventually interact with the one in the music room. Sending a message has to be possible with some practice!.. Probably. Madoka will definitely be the first person he asks.]

"Mission first." [He looks ahead to their destination, steeling his resolve. If he can just be helpful to someone, maybe he won't have to ask.]

Right..!

[ They can't forget the mission, especially with how they're trying to make their way through a busy crowd for it right now.

But still - Madoka is determined to help the other out when they're back on the train if he ends up needing help with it. She's been on the train for so long now, the least she can do is try to look out for the newer people. ]

I think the elevator is right up ahead.. Do you think you'll be alright if I just put you in an elevator going down to the tier the red team is visiting? Could you find your own way from there..?

[She's right, it looks they are at the lifts. They arrived here so much quicker and safer than Mono would have managed to do on his own. The tiny passenger primes himself to be set back down, stretching his legs out to make the motion easier.]

"Mmhmm." [The answering nod is full of determination. He can do this. He has to. Yes he might encounter people who want to hurt him but that's how it has always been. At worst this will just be normal. He can survive normal.]

"Find a way. Find the Reds." [And it's not a phrase that feels natural to hear let alone say just yet, but he's going to try any way.]

"Th-thank you?"

[ She nods at him. Mono may be tiny, but he does seem like a determined little thing - and so Madoka is choosing to put some trust in him here. She always likes it when people trust her too despite her being small - for a human, anyway - and young too, so she figures she might as well pay it forward.

Slowly the girl squats to the ground, putting him back down there. ]

You're welcome. [ She smiles, glad that she was able to help. ] Good luck with everything..!

[ And almost right after she says it, the door to the elevator going down to the fourth tier opens. ]

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What their Eyes See: Start

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