a storm approaches.This log is for everyone who signed up for The Storm investigation. Feel free to use the here to plot further on how you plan on approaching The Storm, and the issue. The mod questions thread is also open, if you have anything you would like to run by us.
the investigation.It takes a day of preparation, and a day of discussion, before you are led further down into the tunnels. It's pitch black, but one of the BGs who you have become familiar enough with turns on a low light and continues further. You walk for ten, fifteen, twenty minutes, and then turn a corner into a large, open cavern. The BG explains that at one time, this had been an underground transportation system - old and unused for centuries, now, but still in working order.
They file each of you onto a single car - it seems to be large enough to fit nearly a hundred, possibly more, bodies - so everyone has a space. The BG explains that they have already input the coordinates into the system, and that once they close the door, you will be transported to the last known location. The car will be programmed to wait for 72 hours, and then will return to this location. There is food and water supplied, and already packed, in the car. If you are not back in the car by that time, it will leave you behind. They then give their farewells, thank you for your help and readiness, and step away from the door - letting it close behind them. The car travels down a pitch black tunnel, and while the inside is dimly lit enough for the Circle Members to see each other and move around without hinderance, you can see nothing through the windows. It continues for a few hours at this rate - nothing to see, no idea where you are going. That is, until it seems to break through the surface, the track running through buildings and another, unknown area of the city.
The streets and buildings are abandoned, the tech old and outdated, windows broken out and dust filling the street. The sky, like back in the city you knew before, is cloudy and grey. But these clouds are different - these clouds are dark in a way you haven't seen before. You travel for another half hour above ground before the cart comes to a stop, and during this time it happens twice. A low rumble, seeming to come from everywhere at once, and then a few heartbeats after, a disasterous flash of lighting - miles away, yes, but threatening and gigantic, brighter and more violent than you've ever seen lightning before. The crash shakes the ground under you, and the damage is immense.
But the buildings are abandoned, the streets empty save for crates, old mechanical bits, dusty remnants of a society long forgotten by the Struxta you came from just a couple of days prior.
This is The Storm you've been warned about. the storm.You have been asked to find out information that will help the BG's, and Struxta, to stop The Storm.
From what you can gather, it does seem to be a naturally occurring weather phenomenon, as far as weather systems seem to work on this planet. However, rather than scattered thunder and lightning strikes, it seems to almost recharge and strike with epic proportions. It can damage, or destroy, buildings. It shorts out any and all items (and people) who depend on electricity in any form to function (Sorry Daylight and Conner, sorry to anyone who brought along technology) within a three mile radius.
The 'darkness' the BGs were talking about does follow this storm, but they seem to have been referring to this electrical shortage that comes from the storm and it's strikes. If this storm does reach any of the still-occupied areas of the city, it will shut down the entire grid, as well as any of the robots, androids, or electrically based figures that exist there - essentially ending the life of every Struxta citizen that is effected.
Plot, plan, theorize, and see if you can find a way to stop The Storm. If not, be back on the train car in 72 hours time, to return to the BGs and report what you have found.PROMPT IDEAS
1.) Discussions on the train - do you have any ideas for what to prepare? Any discussions you may want to have? You and your fellow Circle Members are caught here together for a few hours, driving into a situation you know very little about. What do you want to make sure you're prepared to handle?
2.) Scouting missions - the heart of The Storm is very much in the distance, and it is not moving quickly, giving Circle Members plenty of time to set out and check out the surrounding city. What you will find won't be much - this is a robotic ghost town in every turn of the phrase. Buildings have been abandoned for hundreds of years, covered in dust and left entirely undisturbed, except for the breeze that now seems to flit through this entire area. There are stores, warehouses, apartments, and buildings you can't even tell what they were used for, cleared out. Whenever, or whoever, lived in this part of Struxta had evacuated, quickly but efficiently.
3.) The Storm - The Storm is still a distance away from where the cart has dropped you off, enough that when your 72 hours are up, the heart of the storm and the lightning strikes shouldn't reach the car, or the track. This does mean that to do any closer investigation, you will need to go to The Storm itself. But be careful - the electrical output from these lightning strikes are dangerous, and can have all sorts of effects on both natural and mechanical beings. The wind, the closer you get to The Storm, will also pick up - making any kind of flying or air travel impossible.
4.) Planning - the car leaves everyone off at an old train station, which a large room attached. This room can be used as a kind of home base, as well as a meeting location. What do you plan on doing? Simply taking down information, or trying to take the storm head on? How do you plan on doing that? Will your abilities help? This room attached onto the train station is a safe location - no effects of The Storm will make it inside. Use as you would like! |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-07-29 11:52 pm
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[There was... an infinite number of things she could say. Right? Should she talk about the... geography? But she didn't know much beyond her village and a few stories she's heard of the capital... Maybe the trade? No, that was Sha Gozen's business, she only worked for the woman, she hardly gets the specifics... How about her own job? No, that was dull, everyone else here had amazing sounding, important jobs, and she was a lumber worker...]
Let's see...
[Perhaps... her family! No, then she'd probably cry again. Gonta and Mikuni? Their arrival had been a pretty big deal in her eyes... but, that was probably just to her, right? And if she talked about Gonta she'd miss him, or mess up and blush, or-
After a long, long minute... Konoha admits defeat with a nervous attempt at laughter, wiping sweat from her forehead. Gods it was hot in here-]
How about... you ask the questions? I don't know what's interesting...
[TO A THREE MONTH OLD METAL BABY.
... at least she's distracted?]
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It's becoming very obvious that Connor is going to have to temper his questions to be more leading than open-ended. Thankfully, being as inquisitive as he is, that doesn't take much effort on his part.]
All right. [The brief spin of his LED, and then-] What did you do for a living?
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I work at a lumber yard- I'm the foreman, actually...
[Konoha tries to focus on talking and not the moving that's happening somehow, eyes still squeezed shut.]
I know I'm a woman, and- I don't look like much right now, but I'm a mountain jinba by birth, you know, so. I'm the best on site, guaranteed. I can haul more timber than anyone.
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Maybe.]
You say you don't look like much, but by a cursory glance, I know that you're stronger than me. Likely stronger than many of the Circle members here. [The physiology of her horse-like half would definitely make that a safe assumption, he thinks.] I have no reason to doubt what you're telling me.
Are mountain jinba inherently stronger in general?
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[She doesn't like to brag too much, and it feels a bit unfair to say when she isn't up against members of her own kind and instead comparing herself to humans... and... metal babies, but-]
I haven't seen anyone I think is stronger... looks-wise.
[Her human-looking half was already muscular, a good, sturdy working woman, but having those muscles anchored in the heavy equine base made her even more capable. ... Not to mention her kicks. (Not that she's ever really kicked anyone!!!)]
Of course. Do you not know anything about-
[She was going to say "jinba", but. He already said before his world didn't have those, and even though the comparison wasn't exactly... good...]
Horses?
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[If he were back home, and connected to Cyberlife's database, or just the internet in general, he could rifle through all the information he needed on horses. On anything that he was lacking, holes in his knowledge that his original programming didn't cover. That wouldn't be an issue at all.
Here? It's hardly an option. And so, yes, he knows of horses, of course. But not in any detailed manner -- certainly not an expert.]
...Nor am I quick to assume that jinba and horses are exactly alike.
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... Well, that was considerate. Now she feels a bit dumb. ... Not that that's new, for her. Still.]
We're definitely not!
[She's heard the stories about how... they were treated as no better than horses in some places, so she does want to make that clear, but.]
I just meant... there are different types. You know, like... thinner, lighter types that are faster at running, and stocky, muscular types that are stronger... like field jinba and mountain jinba.
[Did he get it now?]
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I see. Differing body types, you mean.
[A casual, gentle loop back to their original conversation, then.]
Are you satisfied with that kind of work? Being the foreman of a lumberyard, I mean.
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[Okay, so he got it. ... Not surprising, she supposes, even if he didn't know about horses he seemed pretty smart to her. Maybe compared to her- she wasn't sure.]
Satisfied?
[She almost cracks open an eye to check, but he said to keep them closed, so she squeezes them shut a little tighter, brow furrowing in effort.]
It pays really well, and the crew is mostly good men... and most days I can get home for dinner, so... ?
[She's not really familiar with... satisfaction and jobs going together so much as "not starving to death" and jobs, but... that was satisfied, right?]
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Happy, I should say. [A word easily thrown out to quantify it all, because humans (and jinba, he assumes) almost always inherently understood the idea of being happy with their lot in life, even if it didn't always apply.] Do you like what you do?
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I'm happy.
[She wasn't rich. There were times when she'd been hungry, when the harvests were bad. But her parents were good people. Sha Gozen had given her a job, trusted her. The men on the job site were rough and tumble, but they were mostly hard workers. She didn't have many jinba that she knew, but she'd met Mikuni, and Gonta, and Gonta was-
As the train shudders around a bend she purses her lips and tenses up until it passes. Until she has to remember that... it was past tense now. She didn't know if she'd ever get back home.
So she tries to force a laugh.]
I was happy, yeah.
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...Forgive me. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Would you-
[He frowns. He should probably adjust the route this conversation is taking.]
Would you like to speak on another subject?
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She's already had this conversation so many times, it seems. About her world. Her job. Her parents. And it didn't get easier, she didn't miss it any less, and she hates being so weak in front of the others. Everyone seems to be taking this so much better than her... and she doesn't know why.]
Yeah, um-
[Her train of thought was simple, she knew that at least... she didn't have any illusions about her own wit, so when asked about changing the topic... Maybe it's because he just doesn't seem the emotional type, but. She just flips it back.]
Did you like your job?
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He shouldn't be. It only made sense, and was only fair that she expect the same forthcoming answers from him; but that's a loaded question, even if it shouldn't be. Even if his answer should be automatic, cookie-cutter, easily spoken.
Hesitance, maybe, a half-second of it at the most. But if the conversation drifts in this direction to make her feel more comfortable, then so be it.]
I was created to serve a purpose. I am satisfied when I am able to do so; it was never a matter of like or dislike.
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... Though she maybe should be a little concerned that she'd had similar trouble as someone who claimed to be a three month old metal baby???]
Ah.
[Maybe she should try something totally different-]
What's your... favorite food?
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That’s not something I can answer, due to the fact that I don’t eat.
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Oh. ... Of course.
[Of course! There were people! Who talked and walked! Who just didn't eat food!
She forgot. And scrambles for a different question, scratching behind her ear awkwardly.]
Your favorite... season?
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May I make an approximate guess? I haven't existed long enough to experience all of the seasons in the year, but I can provide you with a preference based on what I know of them.
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A half-groan of embarrassment escapes before she can stop it, and Konoha sinks into a deflated posture. Her spine was quite flexible, and she ends up bowed over from the waist so deeply that her forehead nearly touches the ground between her forelegs, her fingers curling over her equine ankles as if in some odd centaur yoga pose]
No, it's fine... I can't think of a smart question, I'm sorry... I'll just lay here.
[Just leave her to die of motion sickness...]
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No, it’s fine. You’re not used to speaking to an android; having to realign your expectations to something so different isn’t an easy task.
[He tries to keep the momentum of the conversation going by turning the question around.]
What’s your favorite season? And tell me why; I'm curious.
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I like fall.
[Her voice is kind of muffled in between her bay forelegs, but she answers, rubbing her white hocks absently to try and focus on that sort of sensation and not the nausea.]
There's the harvest, so there's lots of fresh food... and the weather is so cool and crisp... and I like moon viewing, and the sound of all the crickets... and hot pot...
[All things completely absent in this metal, strange world.]
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You like the sound of crickets?
[A funny thing to clarify, but it seems so specific, so... unlike anything he's ever focused on. It must be a very fond kind of association.]
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[She asks without thinking at first, as usual, turning her head slightly to peek over her knee, but a moment later she realizes her mistake and turns her face back to the floor, groaning at herself.]
I mean... You probably haven't, right?
[He didn't eat food and he didn't know seasons... he was just a baby, and she keeps forgetting because he looks... not like a baby.]
They make this little... chirping sound. Like...
[She tries to mimic it... and does a somewhat poor job of it.]
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[Oh. Okay, that noise... he can't help himself. Even Connor has to huff out something that nearly sounds like a laugh at that. An airy and barely-there thing, but a laugh nonetheless. It edges into his words.]
No, I'm sorry, I should have clarified. I know what a cricket sounds like. I was just wondering why you enjoy the sound. They're very persistent.
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Konoha hangs her head even further in embarrassment, stretching out her forelegs with a frustrated wriggle, tail waving beneath the fabric she wore over her rear.]
It means fall is here! Just like... smelling fragrant olive, or seeing a bulbul.
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