acatalepsy_logs | World Jump #2: Struxta

World Jump #2: Struxta

I ▫ main	IV ▫ premise			XI ▫ applications	XIV ▫ activity
II ▫ logs	V ▫ rules	VII ▫ bestiary	IX ▫ canon updates	XII ▫ taken	XV ▫ drop/hiatus
III ▫ ooc	VI ▫ faq	VIII ▫ setting	X ▫ mods	XIII ▫ reserves	XVI ▫ players

welcome to
the collected nations of struxta.

It will happen at random- you could be asleep, or wandering the Temple, or a variety of other options. It will feel a little strange, like a sudden warmth spreading across your skin, and then your bracelet will light up. When you blink again, everything has shifted - changed, developed, like in that blink of an eye you have advanced thousands of years into the future.

Around you is a city, a technological marvel. Buildings rise up from the dirt and through the clouds, figures of all shapes and sizes buzz around you. They seem to pay you little mind - a quick glance, maybe a pause, and then they will continue on their away. Ahead, there is a low rumble of thunder, a dim flash of light. It doesn't seem to be raining, but there is an electric hum in the air.

A NOTE FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD WITCH

But before anything too weird can happen . . . your watch flashes again, beeps once, and on it has a new message, a hologram-sparkly image with a young woman who (to some individuals!) looks a fair bit brighter than she did a few weeks ago. To those who are new, you will recognize the voice -- Astoria, the guardian of the Temple (or, if you're a bit more pessimistic, your effervescent kidnapper).

"Hello, my beloved travelers ♥ and new ones, too! My name is Lady Astoria the Witchess-san." The way she says it, though, it is very clearly something of a joke. "I'm so glad you are settling in, adjusting to your new powers . . . I apologize for not coming forward and greeting you all like last time. But I am feeling much more like myself, and ready to send you to a new world ♥

This one is named Struxta . . . Struxa? No, I think it's Struxta. It's very metal. I'm not sure what's wrong in this world . . . but I can feel something building. Pulsing, it's very chaotic. I'm afraid I can't be more detailed than that, I did have a headache earlier . . . Akira told me I was fine ♥" And, again, you can likely guess that Akira definitely did no such thing. Astoria clasps her hands, her bright blue eyes shining, with a bright smile. "Now! Please be safe, and please mind your manners, and tell me all about it when you return! I'll see you soon. ♥"

And, just like that? The humming in the air grows louder, you feel an odd tug in your stomach, and before you can properly adjust yourself to the sensation of being cast across the universe . . . you find yourself in Struxta. (Astoria, it seems, did have it right the first time.)

THE HOSTEL

Just as it was in El Minha, it appears that upon arrival, each character is outfitted with a room at one of the largest, arguably most impressive skyscrapers in the city. Nearly two hundred stories tall, and with each floor containing nearly sixty rooms. Every floor, every room, every door is of the highest tech and the more advanced security. The watches that Astoria has given each of the Circle Members act, in many ways, like a key, a credit card, an ID, and any other form of identification the players will need during their stay.

The rooms themselves are simple - one bed, roughly full sized, with a light, a desk, a chair, and a variety of plugs and buttons. Characters are welcome, if they are able to find the appropriate plug, to charge any and all devices they may have. There is a TV of sorts in the room as well, with access to all manner of shows and news stations.

The bottom floor of the building is almost as large as a city block. It is open, sleek, and clean-cut. A kind of open meeting room, which has - upon inspection - been modified to include what appears to be a restaurant. Which, given the fact the group of Circle members who have arrived in the city are the only natural bodies around? Includes the fact you are the only members of the city who have to consume food and nutrients. Upon even closer inspection, the technology used to make the food seems a few decades behind that of the rest of the city, but it still works, and the food can still be produced. It might taste a little weird and turn out to be some sort of glorified goop, but it has some nutritional value.

The rest of the floor has a variety of seating arrangements and places to sit and chat with your other Circle members, but beyond the Welcome Committee, who is set up on the far northern corner, there doesn't seem to be many of the natives walking through.

THE SUPER CENTER

Have you ever wanted to go shopping in the most technologically advanced superstore possible? Here is your chance! It appears that if you use your watch, you have been given a moderate amount of credit to buy clothing, toys, electronics, items, and anything else that might suit your fancy. You will not have enough to buy anything significant, such as limbs, organs, advanced computer technology, etc. But you are more than welcome to find a job to help collected more credits! Many of the stores within the Supercenter are hiring - greeters, cashiers, manual labor, errand runners, and everything in between!

The Supercenter is attached, as most of the buildings seem to be in this city, by a roadway of interlocking bridges and stairways- to a point that you could, if you wanted to, move about the entire city without stepping foot outside. There are bridges on every level of the Supercenter, as well as a network of pathways and semi-roadways within the center itself.

There are no restaurants or bars, but there are plenty of areas to relax and ~~people~~ robot watch if you so desire. Otherwise, shop, explore, find weird mechanical devices of the likes you could never imagine back home. There are all manner of stores, some art galleries, music centers, arcades, and more here. There is no limit to what you can find and what you can experience.

Everything is automated, but there are still helpful employees of various appearances at each of the stories to help you decide and browse- small, flying blocks that speak in primarily beeping noises that (thanks to Astoria's wonderful watches) you can somehow understand, completely human-appearing androids of the utmost style and elegance, and everything in between. Take your time, do a little shopping or go to work, and enjoy the pique of futuristic capitalism.

THE RACES

In the south-eastern district of the city, a large section of the city has been modified into a multi-level, vast, complicated race track of sorts. Think Tron, meets Speed Racer, meets a type of racing that is something all their own. It's fun as hell, fast as hell, and dangerous as hell. Sounds great, right?

What is simply known as ‘Racing’ here in Struxta is complicated, but at its heart is exactly what it says: it is a race. A race of cars, bikes, and everything in between through an obstacle course of everything you can imagine. It seems to all be linked, electronically, to a motherboard that decides - each race - what the drivers will find. Each race was drastically different, with dangers galore. One day you might find that the road is full of spikes, the next it might be slick as oil, there could be loops that defy gravity and breaks in the road that seem to be impossible to cross, but that's what the modifications and specialists in the garages are for, right?

The rules are simple: if you have a vehicle, and you have a driver, you are allowed to race. First one to complete the track, wins.

Surrounding the main track is an entire industry of shops, stores, garages, meeting places, lounge areas, and viewing rooms. There are robots who make entire livings on the industry surrounding the Races, without ever having to step food onto the course. Some of the areas will be cleaner, like the rest of the city, while others may air on the side of back-house garages. While there won't be any dirt or natural life forms, for the first time you might catch sight of rusted metal, oil slicks, broken down previous versions of what's out on the road. There are some practice tracks, some experimental safety sections to test out new additions, etc.

The one thing that holds everyone together, here, is the excitement around watching. The excitement around the competition. There are Races every five days, so that gives you just enough to get settled. And maybe find a car.

THE LIBRARY

As many have already come to hear, there are plenty of libraries and museums all across Struxta. However, there is one that is known as The Library, which archives anything and everything in the history of all of Struxta, spanning back its entire history, over thousands and thousands of years. The building itself is as large and impressive as The Hostel, nearly two hundred stories tall, possibly more, and as wide and long as a city block. But where in the Hostel each floor had been made up of rooms, each of these floors are large, open areas, with dark, imposing servers held behind tight, clean cabinets.

No one else seems to be here, which gives the impression that The Library is not open to just any native of Struxta, and that in fact - as members of the Circle you are being given special access to what would normally be off-limits.

In the middle of each floor, there is a small collection of tables, with large screens. These touch-screens will be your access into the Library archives. And that is the thing - you will have access to everything, but as it turns out, everything really means everything, and with backups spanning the course of thousands of years in the past, it will take a lot of time and a lot of energy and a lot of research determination to find anything of use. Not because it is difficult, just because it is so massive and so overwhelming.

The only natives you will find will be on the first floor, as a kind of secretarial position for the building. They are more than happy to try and help guide you through the search process, but they will not follow you up to any of the other floors, and there is a distinct feeling of being entirely alone when you do go up to begin your search. Alone, but watched, somehow.

Remember- if there is something that you wish to look up specifically, please ask over on the world interactions post so we can be sure that the correct information is shared! The best way to go about finding something in the Library will be going at search terms in teams, as there is so much information there is no way one person will be able to wade through it all.

Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the mod questions thread back in the OOC post from before! And if you have any ideas regarding how your character will interact with the world, also feel free to check back into the world interactions comment from the OOC post from before, as well!

From this point forward, the Circle has become involved with the Collected Nations of Struxta. What your character finds out, decides, and does from here on out will affect the future of this city- one way or another! But what you do is completely up to you. What you discover, explore, and uncover will be yours to discover, explore, and uncover. Who knows what you might find? :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ they didn't put enough effort forth, clearly they should have tryed harder

but dammit!! He'd been banking on the puns derailing her. Despite his efforts, she remains set on finding out what he's up to, and, well...there's really no harm in telling her, is there?

After all, he's given her no reason to suspect that this might be more personal for him. ]

This building...it's a place where the androids that live here are made. Thought I'd...head inside and scope it out.

[ ah, i hate you, i will remember this :nife:

at last he gives her an answer, though, which of course makes perfect sense. why else would he be walking right up to the front doors? but.. why is he checking it out to begin with? maybe he's just being proactive. ]

Oh. Well I suppose there is no harm in that.

[ even if it's sort of creepy. robots making robots. but people make more people so.. maybe it's not.. all that weird. ]

I shall accompany you.

[ it isn't a question, but a statement. ]

[ She says that so matter-of-factly, like it's a done deal, and part of him is instantly relieved. This world may not be Niflheim, but going into this place still hits a little too close to home for comfort, and Prompto doesn't relish the idea of going in their alone, to be haunted by the ghosts that still cling to him here. But all the same, he shouldn't drag her into it. Or, since she's volunteered, he shouldn't make her feel obligated to come with him. They might see some horrific things in there and he...

Will she ask questions? About why he's so invested in this? He's not - he trusts her, of course, but -

Even his friends from Eos here don't know. If they did, he'd like to think they'd react the same way they did when he told them back home, but it...

It shouldn't matter.

Cautiously, his posture a bit cagey: ]

You really don't have to do that.

[ But he has a feeling he knows how this is going to go anyway. ]

[ she very much likes this boy and enjoys his company, but gods, he can wear on her patience at times with this behavior. alisaie plants one hand firmly on her hip. ]

No? And here I had thought you were forcing my hand. Silly me.

[ without preamble, she gives him a whack on the arm with her fist, which shoves him back in the general direction of the factory again. does she feel obligated to look after him, because he is a soft, kind boy? yes, a little. but she also has nothing better to do, and the sooner they unravel the mystery of how they need help this place, the sooner they get away from this place and its horrible much that is meant to pass for food. ]

Do not make me go without you.

It's just—ow!

[ Did she just??? Punch him???? Well, if she wants to keep him company because she's got nothing better to do, then he won't try to stop her again! He will be her last resort buddy.

His mouth thins into a flat line - he still doesn't like this, and it has nothing to do with faith in Alisaie's skill - but by now he's learned that when she makes up her mind about something, it is soundly made up. So grumbling a bit, he steps back towards the door. ]

Weren't you the one who was just dragging me away from here a few minutes ago?

[ He shoots her a look. If she's going to be bossy, he's going to be sassy! ]

[ oh come on it was the lightest punch of all time, stop being such a big guppy, prompto!! it doesn't impress girls!! that face is pretty impressive, though. if he frowns any harder his mouth is going to fall right off of his face.

but this stupid boy, sassing the sass queen. ]

Yes, and if I go on my way, you will go right back in there, will you not? Best you at least have company.

[ and someone to pull him out of a machine if he falls in. ]

[ He makes a noncommittal grumbling noise, but it's obvious she's one this one, since they're approaching the doors again. Maybe...it'll be fine. They probably won't find anything, and there won't be any reason for him to get too...real. He trusts her, but he's not ready to cross that bridge yet. ]

No talkin' you out of it, is there. [ It's not a question. ] Good thing I know I don't have anything to worry about with you watching my back.

[ Like, if it has to be with anyone, may as well be her.

He stops in front of the open doors. ]

It was...weird. These just sprung open for me, like we're supposed to come inside.

[ Or he is, anyway. Had it reacted to his barcode somehow? It's not visible, but maybe their tech still picked it up somehow. But that wouldn't really make any sense, would it? ]

[ grumbling or not, he seems to have accepted her demand, which is good enough for her, and so off they go back to the front of the building, where the doors are just as welcoming as they were before.

with a curious hmm, alisaie studies the space around them, but there seems to be no other method of identification necessary - no guard to ask their name, no fancy machine to move a card over, nothing at all. only empty space.

normally she wouldn't suggest charging right in through the front doors but i mean, there's no one.. here. at least if they are caught, they can fabricate a lie; if they're found sneaking in a side door or through a window, there's really no properly explaining that.

so. on she goes! strolling right through the doors, casting a glance over her shoulder toward prompto. ]

Come on, then. Or shall I go ahead without you?

Wh-what, and let you have all the fun? I don't think so!

[ And so in they go. Nervousness still shakes his voice, and there's really no avoiding that. Open doors or not, this still doesn't really strike him as the sort of place they should be, and even Alisaie's presence isn't enough to combat the knot of fear burrowed in his heart.

But even from their first steps into the facility, it is a stark contrast from the cold, dark hallways of Niflheim. The architecture here is still focused on form and function, but it is...gentler, somehow. More welcoming.

He swallows against a tight throat. There's a sort of reception desk up ahead, where an android acknowledges them as they approach. How can I help you today? ]

O-oh! Well...

[ she notes his jitters of course, but i mean, prompto is.. always jittery. this is nothing new. that he's worried about war flashbacks from his past isn't something that even crosses her mind.

so in they go, though after waiting for him to draw apace to her, she gestures for him to go ahead. this is his plan, after all. especially once the.. receptionist begins to speak - better to, uh, let prompto handle the talking. ]

[ He glances to Alisaie for back-up, which evidently is not going to give! Guess it's up to him, then...

Prompto approaches the desk, fingers dancing nervously along its metal surface. ]

S-salutations! [ what the hell ] We, uh, we're here to...inspect, the, uh...

[ save him ]

...DOORS!!!

[ The receptionist looks at them blankly for a moment...before she claps her hands together and nods! "Oh, at last! We've been waiting you. Please, go right on through! You have free access to the building."

...Well, that was easy! ]

[ ah... maybe she should have done the talking, after all. but look, this is his expedition, anyway!!

alisaie fairly jumps out of her skin when he shouts DOORS!!! so loudly, her heart starting up into her throat. omg prompto please!! yet her jaw nearly drops when the receptionist one hundred percent buys the story, without question or even a hint of suspicion. alisaie cannot hide her incredulous expression, but thankfully the android is not looking her way. ]

Well - we shall be off, then.

[ she says, snagging prompto by the elbow and all but dragging him away from the desk, before he says anything wildly incriminating. ]

[ As if could incriminate them when he got away with a lie like that...Prompto salutes the receptionist as Alisaie drags him down the hallway, but then he's focusing again, glancing up and down the corridor to learn the lay of the land. There's a sign up ahead that points towards "assembly", and Prompto turns them down that way. ]

Got any androids in your world, Alisaie?

[ May as well if she has any hunches about this place herself. ]

[ she knows what that word means, now! ]

Not by that name, but yes, we have plenty of clockwork automatons, though none quite so advanced as the people here..

[ though the allagans certainly might have, given all she had seen in the coils. ]

Whoa...clockwork? Like, life-sized wind-up toys? [ Or...something like that. It's what he pictures, anyway. ] But the ones here through you for quite a loop, huh? Some of 'em look so...human.

[ If they hadn't been told up front that every native here was an android, Prompto wouldn't have believed it. ]

Well.. something like that, I suppose?

[ i mean as far as she's concerned the androids here are no different, even if they're a bit more advanced and streamlined as what she's found here. ]

Though they have personality and intelligence as well, like those here. suffice it to say though, that I have never encountered any so realistic as these, no.

[ It's strange, to think that in Alisaie's worlds the androids were more similar to the ones here than the ones in Prompto's world were - but, well. The MTs may have had personalities once upon a time. Maybe, if the people they came from hadn't been farmed like crops. Maybe they would have had a chance to flourish, if more than one of them had made it out.

As they turn the corner, his heart rate starts to pick up again. He keeps talking, and maybe he shouldn't, but he's too anxious to stop himself. ]

That so, huh? In my world, they're...mindless. Powered by Magitek and used in war. Gotta say...it's made me a little jumpy about this place.

[ Perhaps unfairly so, but it is what it is. ]

We've plenty of Magitek, and plenty of simple machines, but I suppose that most of them are not person-shaped. Mayhaps a few old Allagan structures..

[ the clockwork knight and soldiers come to mind, though they seemed little more than tools of war, and nothing like a mammer, no sense of memory or growth, only metal and mechanisms.

peering over her shoulder, she frowns thoughtfully. ]

Is everything all right?

[ he's so jumpy!! but they made it in just fine.. ]

[ Damn, this was exactly the sort of question he'd been hoping to avoid. Is he okay? No, not really. But explaining why to her is...it's complicated. He can't tell her everything, can't even think about it, really, but he doesn't want to lie, either. Not when they've been so open and trusting with one another. Not when she'd insisted he can talk to her.

But this topic is even more tangled up around his heart than his friends' missing memories. It's had so long to grow and fester. Uncoiling it—well...

It's not important here anyway, is it? This isn't Eos. Where he came from...wouldn't matter to her. It holds no meaning for her.

They come to a stop in front of the door to the production line. ]

I, uh, I...I've been in a place like this before. Can't say it was...super awesome. The Magitek Troopers are—well, let's just say how they're made is a pretty bad business.

[ Maybe that will suffice. ]

[ the way he hesitates, and halts in his words, hints that there is more to it all than what he has explained, but it will do, and alisaie has always maintained that she will never pry. besides, here is really not the place for an active discussion. ]

Fair enough.

[ she says, stopping beside him, turning to look into his face. ]

I am sorry to hear that you have suffered. Are those the androids you mentioned, from your world? Magitek.. troopers?

...Yeah.

[ It's strange, to talk about them like this, because she's never heard of them before. No one on Eos wouldn't know an MT if they saw one, from the way the Empire had ravaged the land with them. And yet...so few knew the terrible secrets behind those masks and gears. That there were innocent souls that had been corrupted to fuel these machines, that they had once been people. Alisaie only knows of them what he tells her, and maybe...he can be a bit more fair than he might've once been. ]

They're tools of the Niflheim Empire. You know the type—big, bad global superpower that wanted to dominate the world. Killed our king and took the Crystal. [ He doesn't elaborate on that right now, but it's clear from his tone that it's a big deal. ] But the MTs...just followed order. They're mindless. Didn't really even know what they were doing.

[ His gaze slides back to the glass door, and the production line that chugs on beyond it. ]

Remind you of anything?

Hmm..

[ she's not moved through the doors yet, and she won't, until he is ready, since it's quite clear that subject is disturbing to him on some level. so instead she crosses her arms, lifting a hand to knock one knuckle thoughtfully against her chin. ]

Well, the Garleans have plenty of magitek, plenty of them in something of the shape of a man, and completely autonomous, so yes, similar enough things.

[ she arches a brow. ]

Unless you are referring to us, blindly taking orders from that bimbo of a witch, but I imagine that is not what you were thinking.

[ He slants a grin at her. So salty about Astoria all the time!! But no, that's not what he was thinking of, sorry Alisaie. ]

Actually, I was thinkin' of the...what'd they call it? The "Mass Subconscious".

[ A beat, before he elaborates. ]

What if...I-I know this might sound crazy, but what if the only reason they all get along like that is because there's something more powerful that's making them think that way?

[ sorry she doesn't enjoy being stolen from her home!! cool story, still kidnapping. if she were an ugly old crone prompto would be far less understanding..

but anyway!! ]

Well, I suppose that is possible, but.. you are diving into a tricky philosophical pool, with that. Who are we to say that that is 'wrong,' per se? Would you just as quickly fault honeybees for their natural hivemind social structure? Or sheep, for their mindless desire to cluster and follow?

[ she does not sound critical, only thoughtful. ]

If that is their lifestyle, what is natural for them - as natural as anything can be, for such creatures - then who are we to judge?

[ Maybe she's right. In fact, she's most likely right. Prompto can't really fit his own standards fo this world and expect them to make sense, especially for one so radically advanced as the one. Still, he can't shake it, that lingering feeling of doubt, of worry. Of wondering what this place might be like without the Mass Subconscious. ]

Hm...yeah, I get what you mean. It's not really our place to call the shots, is it?

[ He steps up to the glass, reaching out to press his palms against it. ]

Still...shouldn't they have the choice? To...to choose?

[ Yeah, he knows how that sounded, but you get the idea. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject