Operation: Roll Out

[initiates]

Date & Time: January 31st - February 4th, Present Day Exsilium Time
Location: Neo Las Vegas, in what formerly was called Turkey.
Characters: All Transports!
Summary: Transports have been sent to Neo Las Vegas to gather information on the origin point of the United Earth and the UE AI. Conference sabotage and the rest is expected and invited!
Warnings: Gambling and alcoholic beverages quite likely! Please PM the mod account for anything else.

By day, the landscape isn't desert, precisely, so much as it is dry. Winter's settled in and found in the biting chill of the wind when it finds you standing on the street. Hovercars and taxis thrum down the cobblestone streets, cavorting and honking like a noisy crowd of inelegant, overweight geese. Men walk by on stilts half in make-up, on their way back to their stage for the next night. Walks of shame are taken proudly in this district, one of the few approved and sanctioned vacation zones in the United Earth.

Evidence of law enforcement can be found all around, but they seem altogether too pleased to be there too. Talk with any one of them about crime rates, and they're liable to laugh at the idea. Those who come to gamble know the house is rigged to win. It's not about making or breaking the bank -- people whose funds dip too low are politely escorted back to their rooms and given a set of normal playing cards -- but it is about enjoyment.

Of the flesh too, and it'd be difficult to find anyone working in Neo Las Vegas who suffers from modesty, or anyone visiting who seems unwilling to politely ask visitors and staff if they'd like to keep them company for the night. In fact, Transports may find themselves needing to turn down multiple such requests! The refusal is always taken well. These are people looking to have a good time, and that's all.

No chance taken, nothing gained, right?

At night, the city really comes alive, the lights in all the hotels and casinos turning the Neo Las Vegas Strip into a carnival of sensation. Drinks and recreational drugs are freely passed around, men and women engage in a variety of sexual and other hedonistic excesses without regret, and the beautiful interiors and ostentatious or playful exteriors of the buildings hide and reveal a rich tapestry of events, delectables, and desires waiting to be fulfilled.

Neo Las Vegas is a fun place, and it is a safe place, and it is Where the Conferences For Our Future Are Made. Playtime is on, gang.

Comments

[lucency]

I think there are children here, but - it's not exactly ideal for you to be betting money. [ or drinking. or any of the other various things that happen in neo vegas. ]

[hornedomen]

So it really is just because there's money? Don't they have games that don't use money?

[lucency]

As far as I know - no. [ she's not going to explain the more adult-and-or-romantic notions to him just yet. ] Gambling seems to be its biggest source of entertainment.

[hornedomen]

It must be hard for the children living here. They should make games for them, too. How else can they have fun? There's nothing to climb or swim in around here.

[He looked serious while he chewed on the last pieces of pretzels. He was thinking.]

We'll be here for a few more days. If I see anyone my age, we can play our own games.

[lucency]

Well, there's a hotel. Hotels usually have pools. [ she says it like a suggestion, because really. why're they gonna make a kid come here when there's nothing really geared for them. ] For swimming.

[hornedomen]

They do? I guess that's better.

[The water in those pools smelled strange. He preferred natural pools compared to the concrete ones.]

They're not usually that big, so it needs games to make it more fun. Do you like swimming? We should swim together.

[lucency]

[ belle laughs. ]

Later, maybe. We're - ah - we're supposed to be doing a job.

[hornedomen]

[He scratched under his horn.]

I know, I meant after that. They can't keep talking all the time.

[lucency]

Of course not. [ and really, what's the harm in it? ] I'd love to.

Did you want to play out the swimming or handwave it?

[hornedomen]

I'm glad. Let's go tomorrow, or maybe the day after that, after they finish the conferences.

handwaving's fine with me, unless you want to play it!

[lucency]

[ she reaches down, squeezes his shoulder. ]

It's a deal.

There's not much time to continue cr so LET'S PLAY IT!

[hornedomen]

[The next day:]

Belle?

[The conferences were over for the day. He probably should have suggested a place to meet, but shouting was just as good, right?]

Hueeh!

[lucency]

[ belle doesn't have a bathing suit. as far as she knows, there's not even a public pool in storybrooke, and they didn't have modern swimwear in the enchanted forest, so that - kind of slips her mind. she's already at the pool when she hears him shout. ]

Ico! [ she waves. ]

[hornedomen]

[Neither did Ico. He did not bring any, but he assumed wearing shorts were good enough. As always, he kept his Mark on regardless of what he wore.

He was glad to see Belle, and that she was not wearing what most of the women wore around here. To him, what they wore looked more like underwear than swimwear.]

I couldn't find anyone to join us. Are you ready to swim? Do you want to start with a game?

[lucency]

A game? [ her eyebrows shoot up. she's not really intent on going in the water, just dangling her feet in, but she doesn't have a problem with playing chaperone. ] What kind?

[hornedomen]

[Her plans and Ico's plans were very different. He showed her a small variety of cheap plastic rings he had collected for the game. They were just large enough for him to wear around his arms.]

A finding game. [He looked at the clear water of the pool.] Well, I guess it's easy to find them in here. How about a racing game? Whoever gets the most rings wins.

[lucency]

[ she does look down at herself, at her dress, and then back to the boy. it's not that the game doesn't sound fun, but - ]

Do we have a time limit?

[hornedomen]

I guess not. It'll be over when the last ring's found.

[He looked at her dress when she did.] Can you swim in that? It'll make you slower.

[lucency]

[ there's a pause. it's a pretty nice dress. but a little chlorine never hurt anybody. ]

Absolutely. Believe me, I've seen worse.

[hornedomen]

[He smiled.] Okay. Get ready!

[With a flick of his arms, the rings fell into his hands. He held his arms out.] Go!

[He threw the rings in and soon followed after. One thing that was good about the pools here, the adults were more concerned about other matters and mostly stayed out of the water. That left a lot of room for their game.]