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meadowlarklogs2019-03-09 11:10 am
- !arrival log,
- dark angel: max guevara,
- dogs b&c: nill,
- game of thrones: sansa stark,
- gangsta: alex benedetto,
- gdc: wei wuxian,
- kingdom hearts: riku,
- kingdom hearts: sora,
- mcu: daisy johnson,
- mcu: leo fitz,
- mcu: peggy carter,
- spider verse: peter b parker,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- starfighter: cain,
- the vampire diaries: caroline forbes,
- voltron: keith
ARRIVAL LOG 008
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of October 5 to night of October 8
WHAT: The eighth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, alcohol usage. Further notes at end of log.
Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.
You realize there are others next to you. All of you in blue short sleeve shirts and ill-fitting jeans, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.
The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with warm air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.
The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.
You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.
Around the corner of the alley, there is the smell of beer and a weird yodel-like sound – no, wait. That is definitely yodeling and beer. Further movement forward will lead to you finding yourself in a busy area filled with multiple people carrying reusable cups full of liquid. You've just shown up at a party with a bunch of people wearing nearly identical clothing. The good thing is that everyone is probably too drunk to notice.
◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.
The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.
I'm starting to think that the arrests last month mean that our friendly delivery men have had to change up what they're doing. Either way - the group waiting for you this time is huge. The get up? Blue shirts, all around. Let's see how long that lasts. Anyway. Arrival #8. You know the deal, don't you? I bet you're all already out there having a good time.
Although New Amsterdam is a mish-mash of world cultures, there are certain traditions that took root in the city as it began to form its identity. Yes, one was Anime Naexpo. Another? Oktoberfest. Hoping to capitalize on the heritage of the region, businesses throughout New Amsterdam pushed for the continued celebration of Oktoberfest. In fact, the only time it wasn't celebrated was during the Xelkoven War, as the fight between humans and AI meant that any celebrations were put by the wayside.
Perhaps even more so than having to work during an anime convention, Oktoberfest is not a fun time for customer service workers. All around, various different cashiers, food truck chefs and drivers, rickshawers, couriers and more find that they don't have a choice but to dress up in Dutch costumes recalling times of the past. These costumes are typically pulled out of some back closest and generally assigned to the employees, so some of them won't fit all that well. The problem is that it isn't cool enough to be dressed in these as the days cool off, and the only saving grace is that they get to work at night rather than the day. The early parts of their shifts are miserably hot, and things don't get better from there. If your character is a customer service employee, they can expect some uncomfortable days ahead.
Somehow, the discomfort of the various workers doesn't come in the way of the loud and festive activities. All around New Amsterdam, various tents go up selling a lot of different wares, many of which are probably second hand junk that people are trying to sell off for a few credits. This is the time when the Black Market stops working underground, instead opening temporary store fronts in tents that are far too nice for the wares they're providing (but at least they're trying to be a less obvious money laundering front). If someone's looking to get in good with the underground or get a sense of how to find these places for some actually illegal goods, Oktoberfest is a prime place to start.
Otherwise? Oktoberfest is likely full of what anyone would expect: a lot of beer, funny looking Bavarian clothing, a lot of live music, and a lot of opportunities for drunken folk to put on a good show. If your character is the type to look for an opening to grab some attention, this is the place to do it.
◉ There will be a lot of beers available in pretty much every single tent. The drinking age in New Amsterdam is 18, but it's equally unlikely that anyone will be checking implants with how busy everything will be. The most popular beer this year? "We're Lucky We're Not Cyborgs," an extremely hoppy IPA made by the most popular brewery in New Amsterdam. All of the beers are available in bottles that you can return for more, as businesses no longer sell alcohol by the can. Think of growlers – but in a far more manageable size! Feel free to come up with the cyberpunk name of your dreams for the beer. Or people can just drink the New Amsterdam River – which is the name of the beer with a picture of the man-made river on it. It's cheap, but reliable. Oh, and for those of you that don't like the taste of beer, there's cider and mead on tap at most places as well.
◉ There will be various stages all over for acts to perform, but the schedules will not be full. Before long, the characters will know that Oktoberfest is where some people plan to get discovered. And … it's also a place where some people become social media sensations, in either good or bad ways. Need to propose to someone? Need to show off your abs? These stages are the place to be. If someone's not up there, take the chance and make it your time to shine. Or … go down in infamy.
◉ Most of the food throughout the festival will harken back to its German heritage, albeit without a whole lot of success. There are sausages, but much like the hot dogs of today, it's likely better that you don't ask what's in them. A safe bet is the large array of potato dishes around. These are delicious – and cheap!
◉ There are some competitions, too! Virtual fencing – albeit in a very, very amateurish way – and virtual crossbow competitions happen throughout the three-day event. And then there's yodeling. One of the stages will be dedicated to this the entire time. Yes, people practice to win big, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to practice.
◉ Like with Oktoberfest of the past, celebrities will have their own VIP tent right in the heart of the financial district. If you have a favorite music, film, or movie star and they have a penchant for partying, this is the place to be. Sneaking in will be hard – but not impossible. Though some will find that they might have to work this tent. These celebrities can't go without their coffee or beer, after all.
Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.
◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.
◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.
◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.
◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.
◉ There will be shifts when Gaby isn't present in the safehouse because she's shorthanded following the UNA attacks in our January event. New characters will find that if they try to open the hatch to leave during this time, it'll be sealed shut for anyone without a registered implant.
◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.
◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.
◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until OCTOBER 9. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.
As everyone goes to sleep, a familiar stomp vibrates through New Tokyo on the other side of the world. The wall outside of the city is stable at first, holding up, but the vibrations continue. The creature this time is twice as large as the one that hit New Amsterdam – 800m high, yet not seen until right around when the vibrations began. It should have been, by all rights: New Tokyo is no less secure than the other cities around the world, with constant surveillance and a dedication toward maintaining an idyllic life for its citizens. Its behavior is similar: it slams its tail against the outer wall of the city before it gives way, the destruction nearly absolute. In a panic, New Tokyo's UNA forces and police force move into action to try to bring down the monster and protect its citizens.
At the same time, whether they're still awake or already asleep, something stirs inside of the displaced. Their chests will glow without anything to bring it about – no power drawn on, either innate or new, and no skin touching. This glow seems to fatigue any of them if they're still awake, and will send anyone already asleep into a deeper one. Once they're under, the stirring within will give way to unrest that foments dreams and visions for many of the displaced. If they had a dream while they slept, characters will wake up with a burning sensation in their chest.
As for New Tokyo: it will be left in ruins by the time the UNA soldiers there manage to take down the monster. Several sections of the city remain intact – almost out of luck – and the governor of New Tokyo reports that they believe this monster came from outside of the city, having been given life by the unsafe conditions outside of the megacity. Within a few hours, this statement will be revised, with the governor admitting that he doesn't know what the monster was or where it came from, only that their surveillance saw that it came from outside.
The three dreams below are what each character will experience, though you can feel free to assume they managed to jar themselves awake before the dream finished. To get a dream, please comment below to get an RNGed number for the dream that they'll be having. Since these are unnatural dreams, you can feel free to have your character remember it in its entirety – or not, if that's what you'd prefer.
If you have multiple characters, we suggest you only have one experience a dream, but it's ultimately up to you!
> DREAM 001
A blue glow illuminates the site – offering light on a foggy morning, with everyone having completed their journey to this final destination. A sense of fatigue and relief that washes over everyone there, but also an inner warmth that seems to radiate from the site itself. Huge rocks rise up on either side of the site, acting as shielding barriers for these followers and what lies ahead of them. Despite the lack of natural light cast through the thick fog, there's still a distant glow, leading them forward.
You find yourself among these people, well aware of the many miles you walked to get here, most of it on an incline. Around you, the clothes that people wear are worn, tattered, made from wool that's begun to wear down. How long have you all been traveling? It's hard to say – hard to guess, only that you know that you were all drawn here. No single story is the same. Some saw symbols: triangles that glowed when they saw them in the periphery, as well as bits of circles coming together. The tree of life. Perfect like nature in its finest form. Others could never put the words to what they experienced.
Each of you feel the draw now. It resonates within you, fills you up. Just ahead, there are structures that seem to float in space, and when you draw closer, a clear, light blue bridge appears. The walk forward requires a leap of faith – and there are some unwilling to take it. Afraid. They wonder if they've wasted their time.
But you haven't. You walk forward, and the bridge carries you forward. You can't tell if you're walking or literally carried, but eventually you come to an alcove where a strange circular structure stands. As you step closer, it comes to life, a mixture of lights and – no, not sounds. But the same resonating warmth.
You walk into it and –
– you find yourself somewhere else. Somewhere new.
> DREAM 002
– this is not where you belong where you've chosen to live – this is not it this is not it this is not it –
Your fingers spread, wrapping around the nearest metal instrument to drag it close. You test the edge against your skin, drawing out a sharp pain. You never asked for this particular experience. But every day, you feel it.
It's time to take back what you can. The walls around you are white, pristine. Somehow, you know that they weren't a day ago. One of the others you know got sick, doubled over after a bad interaction with a medication. You see them now, dark rings under their eyes, a shaved head. How do you know this? Your mind doesn't answer you. You just react. Someone in a coat as white as the room draws closer. Checking your vital signs. Your breathing picks up – your lungs hurt. You lash out with the instrument, cutting deep. A bright red spreads. A sick smile creeps over your lips. You know that color, deep within you. You know it.
And then there's nothing.
And then life moves on (your life moves on). Has time passed? The room is different. The person with the red splotch of color on their lab coat is gone, and your build is different. More gangly, uncontrolled. Deep down, you feel an unabiding frustration. You hear a shout: "Put them down!" It's too late. A fire erupts. The doors seal.
> DREAM 003
You recognize the walls. The building. But there's some barrier between you and it, a constant, subdued fog that lies between you and your surroundings. The lights are bright. Everyone moves in a single file, dressed in the same white scrubs. You're among them. The workers walk alongside you, occasionally checking your vital signs. Sometimes they make you grab each other's hands, noting the shift in reactions or responses.
The air here is cool. Stale. Your head is cold, recently shaven. Like everyone else, sans a few. It looks like it's been a while since they had a haircut. You don't recognize them, not like the others. You're certain that you recognize the others.
Thought is difficult to process. There's an IV into your arm. You try to make out more of your surroundings, but the fog encroaches and takes over. You're missing your chance. Your chance to know where you are – were? Who did this to you?
Distantly, you see a marking on a wall. Letters. P - R - O - PROJECT. You're certain of it. What else is there? Nothing. No. Something, but not another word. It's a symbol of some kind, or – an animal? There's a splotch of yellow, bright and prominent on its breast, with a dark V that cuts down. The fog obscures the rest.
This arrival log is a little different, as it doubles as a prologue for our monthly event! Everyone's character can have one of the dreams, and it'll hit them anytime within a day of the attack on New Tokyo. This does include anyone new to the game! So, please go ahead and comment below to have your dreaming character assigned a number. All assignments will be random on our part!
Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until OCTOBER 9 (MARCH 17). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.
All arrival logs act as mingles, so older players can please feel free to top level for the festivities described!
If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.
Please check out our March calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.
As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in March will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on April 1 and close on April 7. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.
no subject
[ which is A Lot, but jyn is not narrow-minded enough to believe there weren't other galaxies outside of their own, past the far reaches of the wild space. the idea of other universes is not so hard to believe after that. space is not finite. she's had a day to work it out and push everything that was too complicated and upsetting to think about down very deep to examine possibly never.
(why only her and cassian? why not the guardians? why not bodhi or tonc or melshi or sefla or any one of the rebels on scarif that deserved a second chance.) ]
It's a rubbish planet anyway, you're not missing anything. Just snow and ice. [ and prison. ]
no subject
And she can get to know about other worlds beyond this one. The multiverse, as matter-of-fact as their approach may be on the matter, is still an overwhelming thing. But utterly fascinating, too. ]
I've had my fair share of snow and ice, [ she murmurs with a quiet smile. The war was long, difficult, and often cold. She remembers Russia and Belgium in the dead of winter. Yes, more than enough snow and ice for her. ] Is that where you were before turning up here? Or were you on another — planet?
[ She knows someone from Mars. This shouldn't be too bizarre. (It still is, a little.) ]
no subject
I was only born there, we left when I was still an infant. Before all this I'd been at half a dozen planets over-- [ time is meaningless when you're sleep-deprived and hungry and half of it is spent in hyperspace. they'd told her, on yavin, how long it had been but can she remember? not exactly. ] Two weeks, I think. Maybe less.
[ she starts to peel her shirt off but waits this time for peggy to glance away before she yanks it off and tugs the new one on. fresh clothes have been very rare the past six months, honestly, and it feels like she's finally clean. ] Thanks for these.
no subject
Then she notices the other woman intends to change and she politely gives her some privacy, directing her comment to the exposed pipes in the ceiling. ]
You're quite welcome. [ And then, ] You talk about travelling between planets as I would countries. It's remarkable. It's common where you're from? Inter-planetary travel?
no subject
she tucks in the front of the shirt. ]
That's all there is. Obviously people travel over their own planets, at least I hope they do, but how else are you going to get from planet to planet? [ she perches back on to her cot, looking up at peggy. ] Take it you've not gone that far?
no subject
No. No, I haven't. And I consider myself reasonably well-travelled.
[ Traversing Europe from the Eastern and Western Front and all in between. Tibet, with the Howling Commandos. Across America. But never off planet. ]
In my day, taking a trip up to the moon was still a work in progress. Maybe even a pipe dream to some. [ But achievable in twenty years after her point in time. The miracle of science. ] But I wake up here and I'm told there are colonies up there, [ said with a gesture to the sky well above them, ] and I've got to carry on like it's normal because it is.
I suppose it isn't as big of an adjustment for you.
no subject
[ other parts, well. it seems unlikely jyn is going to adjust to being dead any time soon. good thing she is ignoring that facet of reality. never happened, it's fine. she's fine. ]
Everything else... [ her hands spread in front of her. everything else needs adjustment.
she had been at peace with her death. and then she hadn't died. ]
no subject
Perhaps I can help a little with everything else?
no subject
Can you get me out of here?
[ she knows the answer is no, it's why the question is bracketed with the huff of a laugh. ]
Is there anything the guide doesn't cover? [ another gesture, this time a little swirl by her head to indicate daisy's airdropped newbie guide. ]
no subject
That's a broad question.
[ Plenty. The history of the planet, which she's barely scratched the surface on. The structure of government, it's long and tense history with Morningstar. The colonies out in space, the overpopulation of the city, the impossible gap between incredibly wealthy and utterly destitute. Laws, the criminal underworld. The wetware hardwired into their brains. ]
And it varies depending on the sort of world you came from. You'll be able to search the network for a great deal of answers soon enough. I spent ages doing that when I got here, just trying to catch up.
[ A beat. Then she laughs a little, sheepish. ]
Although I suppose the guide doesn't cover my name. I mean, I did contribute to it, but — [ But her name on the network is Margaret, not — ] I'm Peggy Carter.
no subject
Jyn Erso. [ her mouth slants thoughtfully. ] What sort of job will get me the most money?
[ gotta get that bread... so she doesn't have to steal that bread. ]
no subject
That depends on where your strengths lie, Ms Erso.
no subject
I can fight. [ though she looks like a delicate english rose and daisy has repeatedly told her to not do that and to keep her head down. it's genuinely a struggle to think of skills that translate past war. she is not built for peace, she doesn't know how it works. ] I've been forging clearence codes and identification cards since I was ten though I'm not sure any of my skills translate to an entirely new galaxy.
[ what is first aid when medical miracles happen? any nature facts gleaned from her mother are fruitless when the nature isn't the same. ]
no subject
Peggy is working to rebuild the resistance network here. They can use all the help they can get. But she's not about to force that choice on an unsuspecting new arrival; it's important to her (and to Fitz and Gaby) that signing up to aid Morningstar is a decision made fully informed and freely. ]
You'd be surprised. You may have a bit of catching up to do, adjusting to how systems operate here, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. What was it you did in your world, if you don't mind me asking?
no subject
Duping Empire clearance codes so we wouldn't get shot out of the sky, forging Imperial documents so we wouldn't get shot at checkpoints, invitations and identification to match. I'd done an Imperial press release, but we never had much cause to use it.
[ she leans back on her hands, crossing her legs at the ankle in front of her. ]
Is there a market for that?
no subject
There is a thriving underground network here that would be interested in your services, should you get them up to scratch for New Amsterdam proper. [ There's a beat, weighing how to best present this next option. Well, nothing but to simply state it. ] There's also Morningstar, the resistance group here. Have you heard of them? They own this safehouse.
no subject
Only what I've briefly read.
[ they sounded much like the alliance, or like what the alliance was when jyn was a child; trying their best to help people and keep the encroaching tyranny from getting too far. it seemed like they always started too late. ]
no subject
Then you've got more than the five second debrief — I helped write that section. [ Her lips quirk. By way of explanation: ] I don't go by Margaret. But Fitz and I have been assisting Morningstar rebuild after their agents were arrested or evacuated last month.
no subject
There was something similar, in my galaxy. The Empire conflated tyranny with peace and some people thought to fight back. [ she can't hide the thread of bitterness in her words. they'd thought it, sure, but in the end the alliance hadn't acted until rogue one forced their hand.
maybe saw was right: bureaucracy kills freedom.
no, he was right about a lot but she still believes in the alliance, however tenuously. she had told cassian someone was out there listening and she believes that. their battle had no chance of being won, but the war still had a chance. ]
I'm a good forger but I'm shit for intelligence. More of a punch first ask questions never sort.
no subject
[ So she's from a similar organisation. Promising. ]
The trouble you'll see out in the world once you're out of here might seem familiar to you, then. Morningstar is always looking for an extra set of hands.
no subject
[ that's said with a kind of quiet, striking honesty, almost weaponized in the painful truth of it. she's dead, what the hell else is she going to do but keep fighting back. if she dies, well.
been there, done that. ]
no subject
We wouldn't turn down the help, [ she says after a moment, slowly. ] But give it time. Find your footing, get to know the city. I'm not interested in coercing anyone to join up, even if they've got nothing to lose. I don't believe that.
[ Everyone has something. Someone. ]
But if you've any questions, you can always talk to me or Leo Fitz if Gaby isn't available. All right?
no subject
[ she has so see if she can even do anything with this wildly different technology anyway. besides, it isn't like she's going anywhere anytime soon. ]
Thanks. For the clothes.