MISSION: RELEASE THEM BACK INTO THE WILD

[initiates]

Date & Time: April 27th - May 1st
Location: Wollongong, Australia, 2464.
Characters: All voluntary transports + maybe a few drafted ones.
Summary: Make those stay-at-homes leave their nerdcaves! My god, do they even know what sunshine looks like???
Warnings: none planned, will be updated accordingly!

The city is old, dark, and very, very quiet. A good deal of the buildings are crumbling and old, but the ones that are actually inhabited glow like candles in the dusk the Transporter has dropped you into. All of these buildings are infested by wiring pouring in from every angle, ensuring that each inhabitant in his or her little block of a room has every modern convenience available in 2464.

There is no one on the streets, no public transportation, and even cars look scarce. But that doesn't mean there's no movement. Maintenance drones, controlled remotely, run deliveries or work repairs. Armed law enforcement drones patrol on rounds through the city, although their mechanized attention is mostly turned outward. Still, they might come to investigate a ruckus within the city limits. And if the persons causing the ruckus don't respond to peaceful attempts to get them to cease, the drones might attempt to subdue them with paralyzing technology and haul them in for a night in the city jail — another dark, unused place.

If you get hungry, there are entire warehouses dedicated to the production of foods. It can't be that hard to sneak in and collect a meal, right? Or you can hack into the system and order whatever you want, if you're good with that kind of thing. Or you can just scavenge—or fast for four days, maybe—if thieving and hacking aren't your style.

And somewhere around here, in those glowing, secluded towers, behind the legions of automated drones, live the reclusive citizens of Wollongong. The methods are up to you, as long as you can get them to come out and breathe the fresh air somehow.

[[ ooc; Mission details are here! This will run from 27th of April to May 1st, with those on the mission returning to Exsilium at the same time that the new arrivals show up. It's an optional mission, but if you'd like your character to go along that would ICly sit it out, feel free to say that the Initiative drafted them for this one.

There aren't any teams or structured threads to this one, so go wild! ]]

Comments

[concealingeyes]

You're going to run a restaurant? That's really cool. [She smiles as she says it.] What made you want to do that?

[She doesn't want to assume it's a dream of his since he makes it sound like his life hasn't given him time for those.]

[bloodyashes]

[Nope, not much time for dreaming, or much inclination when you're being told that you're only useful for your fonon frequency and/or to die.]

It'll be a while before it's up and running. The building isn't in very good shape.

[He shrugs slightly.]

I'm a decent cook, and I don't like living off what the Initiative hands out. Might as well combine the two.

[concealingeyes]

[Wow Asch stop being so sad or you'll get awkwardly hugged someday.]

Do you need any help? I'm pretty handy at a lot of things. Well, and I've gotten pretty bored without regular missions to do.

[bloodyashes]

[AWKWARDLY HUG AWAY he needs it.]

That would be great, actually. Especially if you know someone who can fix a leaky roof.

[concealingeyes]

Seto would be better at it but me and Kano could probably do a decent job. We have to take care of the base back home.

[bloodyashes]

[Kido, you are an actual lifesaver. Congratulations, you have earned an Actual Smile.]

Anytime it would be convenient for you to do that would be fantastic. I can pay, if you need it.

[Since he's pretty frugal, especially now that he's got his wardrobe sorted out.]

[concealingeyes]

That'd be pretty nice. I've been working as a waitress to make some extra money.

[Well, they don't really spend it, either, but it's good to have just in case.]

[bloodyashes]

[Well, for the next while, he'll be spending most of his extra cash on tools and building supplies.]

Probably a good idea. I'd do so myself, but fixing up that building is going to be a full-time job in itself if I want it done any time soon.

[concealingeyes]

I could ask some other members of the Dan to help out, too. You're pretty much a member as far as I'm concerned anyway.

[bloodyashes]

The Dan?

[Member of what he did not sign up for this.]

[concealingeyes]

Ah, my gang. We're called the Mekakushi Dan. To us, it's basically a family. So it'd be strange not to at least think of you as an honourary member since we're friends. Well, I was going to invite you for real but I figured you might turn it down.

[bloodyashes]

...I see.

[A family, huh. It seems weird to even think about having one, of any kind; adoption isn't a foreign concept, but it's not very common in the noble families for obvious reasons. He doesn't really feel close enough to anyone to call them family, anymore.]

...I'll think about it.

[It's not exactly an outright no, either.]

[concealingeyes]

[Hey that's a lot better than she expected.]

No pressure. We've still got your back either way.

[That's just how it is. You grow up with the idea that family are people who make you happy, so anyone that fits that can be invited in.]

[bloodyashes]

[That makes him quiet a bit. Aside from one silly replica and company, he's not used to the idea of having anyone who would back him up, and in the case of Luke's group, most of them didn't really care for Asch himself all that much.

He makes a small noise of acknowledgement before peeling back the lid of another crateful of devices.]

So what are these?

[concealingeyes]

[Kido will take that acknowledgement. It's still something, after all. Plus she gets the feeling there's a lot in his past. But she won't ever ask.

For now she peeks into the crate and a long pause comes as she tilts her head. Her eyes widen and she jumps back from the crate.]

Th-Those are, uh- W-Well... I guess people here would... [Her face is going to match Asch's hair at this rate.] J-Just... think of them as... a kind of massager...

[bloodyashes]

[Her blushing only earns a pair of raised eyebrows, because he comes from a selective steampunk society and what is this.]

Massagers?

[concealingeyes]

[Kido groans and hangs her head. There is no good way of explaining this why does she have to? If she could hide right now, she would.]

Uh, they... 'massage' certain... areas of the body for... reasons. That are, you know, private and...stuff.

[bloodyashes]

...I see.

[There's a very slight blush, now, as he drops the lid of the crate back down. No need to be getting one of those, thanks.]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that advanced technology would be used for those purposes, too.

[concealingeyes]

Y-Yeah, it's weird.

[She rubs at her cheek. Calm down, the weird things are gone now.] Anyway... we can check another crate. There's probably more game systems and stuff around. People miss stuff like that. Cameras would probably be something people like, too.

[bloodyashes]

[Luckily you have peeled his interest away for the moment, Kido. He will consider the possibilities of vibrators another day.]

Cameras?

[And off he goes for another crate. Fun with looting ftw.]

[concealingeyes]

Yeah, cameras are pretty cool. They take pictures of anything. Most people use them to take pictures of fun memories with their friends or of places they like to visit. But some people use them for practical reasons like surveillance.

[bloodyashes]

[He nods, especially at her words about the practical aspect.]

There are machines with similar uses on Auldrant, but they're not very common. The average person would probably never encounter one.

[He has, but neither aspect of his life is exactly average.]

[concealingeyes]

Really? What kind of technology do you guys have anyway?

[Not that she knows he and Jade know each other yet but even then it's not like Jade's told her a lot. His world remains a mystery.]

[bloodyashes]

Not very much, compared to this. Most of our more advanced technology is pieced together from Dawn Age relics, or worked backwards from the same.

[Sans possibly the invention of fomicry - there hadn't been any mention of it in the Dawn Age texts that Asch had been able to get his hands on, but that didn't mean it hadn't existed under a different name. Either way, its current form was all to Jade's credit.]

Most fontech is still on the level of agriculture and transportation - there's not very much like this -

[He gestures to the warehouse around them.]

- that's just for pleasure.

[concealingeyes]

Huh... [Her brows furrow. That sounds familiar. Something she learned in school ages ago maybe?]

Technology's supposed to fit a need. I guess... once everyone's needs are filled, you make new ones because you get bored.