meadowlarklogs | ARRIVAL LOG 009

ARRIVAL LOG 009

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Tokyo
WHEN: October 10
WHAT: The ninth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #009

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 sharp, cold breeze that blisters your cheeks as you walk through a thick, cold snow. That soon fades, replaced with warmth. 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 heavy winter coats, water-resistant pants, and snow boots, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth and haphazardly tucked under warm winter hats. You're all 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, though due to the storm there's hardly any visibility through the 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, landing gingerly in the snow. 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, there's the sound of a high howling wind and that same blast of cold that signals at being somewhere else, combined with a sea of white as far as your eyes can see. 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, most of them climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. One stays behind, pointing you and whoever else is near you to one of the closest buildings. "In there," he orders, just before he interfaces with the doors and they slide open. "Stick around until your buddies come to find you. You'll know who they are."

Snow comes up to your knees on this city street, and you're left with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here. But you'll feel compelled to move toward the building that the guard pointed at and step inside. In fact, you'll have no choice but to follow that order. Once you're in, he closes the doors behind you and hops back inside the vehicle. The engine powers up again, and then the large truck lifts up slowly and flies off.

Inside you'll find the lobby of what seems to be a corporate building. After taking note of the fact that there's a small group of other people dressed in similar clothes who are also confused about how they got to this place, you'll be able to warm up and try to figure out what's going on. For now, it's impossible to exit the building. The same door you came in won't open no matter what you try, so you're all stuck for now.

But don't worry, help is on the way.

◉ 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.

> WATANABE CORPORATE BUILDING

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 know you all were wondering what would happen if we had a batch of new arrivals while you're all out on your little field trip, but it turns out that they've all landed in New Tokyo too. They're holed up in the lobby of a corporate building, so make your way over and escort them to the PRESERVE dorms. Try for a warm welcome, okay?

At the lobby where the new arrivals have been dumped, they'll find that there's a check-in desk which is currently unmanned, and on the wall behind it there's a logo mounted which reads "Watanabe Corporation." There's no one to be found here and no one to greet them. The good news is that the building is heated, meaning that those heavy coats can probably come off for now. Further in on the ground floor, there's a set of six elevators that presumably lead up to the many floors of the skyscraper, but they're non-functional, and there don't seem to be any accessible stairs either.

For now, all the newcomers can do is make use of the comfortable chairs in the lobby and commiserate among themselves about what's going on. There's a water cooler and some cups to make use of as well, all of it made of biodegradable material, but there's only so much. Try to share.

The Displaced who received a message from El will have also received a GPS pin showing the location of the new arrivals. At this point, the promised supplies (which includes clothing appropriate for the harsh weather, along with additional foodstuffs to stock the dormitory kitchen) have come in compliments of PRESERVE. Everyone will be allowed to leave the dorms where they've been cooped up for the last two days to explore the city or go help out the newcomers.

Getting around a city covered in snow is a little more of a challenge. Going by foot is an option, although most of the streets haven't been shoveled yet and it will be slow-going. It's more feasible to make use of a hover bike. There's a garage connected to the dormitory that's stocked with twenty-some bikes. While they don't function perfectly well over snow and reckless driving with such poor visibility could easily lead to a cold and painful crash, it has to beat walking. If you don't how to drive, guess you'll have to find someone who does. (The bikes can seat two.)

> PRESERVE DORMS

With the help of the current Displaced, the new arrivals will be brought back to a dormitory building managed by PRESERVE. PRESERVE is a world-wide relief organization that focuses on environmental conservation and disaster relief. While a good number of Morningstar agents have joined up with PRESERVE thanks to their charitable activities and because they're UN sanctioned, it is not an organization that's affiliated with Morningstar. As a group, they are entirely pacifistic in their ideals – they believe the world can be saved through being conscientious.

The Displaced are here because they agreed to help PRESERVE with a very different disaster, but that's now a very severe and uncommon snowstorm. This is where they're all staying during the trip, so while this isn't anything close to home, it will have to do for now. A representative from PRESERVE by the name of Nico has been hanging around the dorms, ready to answer any questions from any of the Displaced, new or old. Nico is also a member of Morningstar, as well, though she'll be very hush hush about this fact when around her fellow PRESERVE members.

Newbies will be allowed to pick out additional clothes and gear from a cache of supplies (there's coats, thermal underwear, boots, scarves, hats, gloves, and anything else that would be needed to survive the intense cold), and they'll also need to figure out which of the rooms has an opening where they can sleep. It's four people to a room, with the use of two sets of bunk beds, and space was already limited before the newcomers got added to the mix. Hopefully peace can be maintained and there won't be too much fighting over who gets top bunk.

Other than the rooms, the dorm building has a kitchen, a large common area with comfortable couches and chairs, communal bathrooms, and a small, modestly stocked infirmary. There's also a viewing room which is a large space furnished with bean bag chairs and other comfortable things to lounge on, and a large blank wall that's meant to be used for group viewings of movies, shows, etc. This requires one character to "throw out" their feed from their neural implant onto the wall, and anyone who wanted to watch with them would need to sync up with their ID to watch along. Anyone not synced would just see a blank wall – and unfortunately, that does include anyone new.

There are other PRESERVE volunteers staying in this dormitory and milling about. Many of them already had supplies, so they've been in and out since the Displaced arrived.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the dorms 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 to the dorms, 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.

◉ Normally, new characters are confined to a safehouse for 4 days before they can leave and explore the city. Given that these newbies have arrived under unorthodox circumstances, that won't be the case for them. They'll be able to come and go from the dorms, but given that it's a frozen tundra outside, they'll at least want to prep first. At some point during this adjustment period, you can assume that El will contact them and work on setting up their IDs. There is no law enforcement around in these conditions, so anyone wanting to head out can.

◉ New characters won't be able to abscond to somewhere else in the world, as a lack of ID means no tickets or travel papers.

◉ While most businesses in New Tokyo are shuttered, a few convenience shops remain open near PRESERVE's dormitories because they know they can make money off volunteers. New characters won't have any means of paying, as they don't have a registered ID. They'll have to see if a kind soul will spot them the credits if they want something.

> RELIEF EFFORTS

With the new arrivals successfully recovered and supplies delivered to keep everyone warm in the harsh conditions, it's time to set out and fulfill the reason for everyone being here: to offer support and relief to the population affected by the harrowing storm. Nico will provide the Displaced with the information they need to get their boots on the ground and make a difference. There are a number of ways that she'll suggest to help out.

◉ First, she'll deliver a word of caution. While New Tokyo is a large, entirely steel city that runs deep underwater, most of its citizens have evacuated to the upper levels and are huddling down in various locations hoping for some relief. Heading deeper in the large city structure could prove dangerous. In this emergency, heating is centralized on the upper levels of the entire man-made metal city structure, while the lower levels are frigid and dangerous at this time. The only heating revolves around the trains coming and going, and their schedules have been largely delayed thanks to the storm.

◉ Delivering food, clothing, and medical supplies. With power cut off from most homes and all of the citizens having been cautioned to stay indoors and conserve warmth, there are a lot of people running low on food stores. Those who live in impoverished areas are even worse off, with little insulation in their homes. The threat of some people freezing to death is real, so getting the needed supplies to those people could allow them to hold out until power is restored or the storm has passed. Nico encourages people to travel to these neighborhoods in pairs for safety reasons, and again, the hover bikes will come in handy here. Supplies can be carried in heavy-duty backpacks or in a side-car attached to the bike, and all of this is provided by PRESERVE.

◉ Shoveling snow. For those of the Displaced who aren't opposed to grueling manual labor, one of the largest concerns is getting the major streets cleared of snow so that transportation is easier. The train lines also need to be cleared off so public transit can eventually be reinstated, so assuming they're not afraid of heights, the Displaced will get access onto the train tracks that crisscross above the city to clear the snow off. Some homes are also completely snowed in, trapping the residents inside, so those will also need to be cleared. There's no shortage of work to be done. PRESERVE will provide the snow shovels, and they have access to a single snow plow that can be used in shifts by anyone who's got a driver's license (also found in the garage). Nico will also hand out hot packs. Everyone should be bundling up, but in the event that someone takes a fall or ends up with too much snow-to-skin contact, the hot packs will help stave off the cold and prevent frostbite.

◉ Missing persons. There have been multiple reports of missing persons sent into PRESERVE, and the Displaced will be assigned particular people to go look for, if they let Nico know they're interested in this task. She'll give them the description of the missing person and their last known location. This could be anywhere within the city of New Tokyo -- a shopping district, a residential area, a park, etc. If they manage to find the missing person, they'll be instructed to take them to the closest PRESERVE relief center so they can receive medical attention and be reunited with their families.

◉ Restoring power. Turbines are jammed due to ice build-up past any conceivable norm, and need to be carefully thawed and given a jump from a backup battery pack. This is a highly dangerous, but necessary endeavor. The turbines are located offshore due to the fact that New Tokyo primarily generates energy through tidal power. When working correctly, these offshore turbines then feed energy into local sources within the city. For those who have any sort of experience with electrical work, they'll be directed toward areas in the city where covered electrical boards interconnected with the city's branched power source have been buried. They'll need to be cleared of snow, checked, reconnected, and made ready for when the turbines begin to flow again.

While the new arrivals are welcome to help out with these relief efforts if they wish, it certainly won't be expected, given that they're still getting adjusted to everything that's going on. They're allowed to stay in the warm confines of the dormitory building until everyone returns to New Amsterdam, if that's what they would prefer. As for the rest of the Displaced, there will be some expectation that they're going to contribute. That's the whole reason they came all this way, isn't it? And it's not like Nico knows that some of them didn't actually sign up for this.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

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 until October 14th (OOCly, April 25th). All posts they make on the network until that point will be anonymous. During this time 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.

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 April/May 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 April 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 May 1 and close on May 8 at midnight UTC. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

In danger? Because of the monsters?

[ It's the event that Sora's heard about that seems the most likely to lead to that kind of situation. But to pull for something in a moment of desperation as a way to save yourself, it makes sense. That's sort of how Sora's Keyblade had come to him, too. ]

So you have control over gravity! That's so cool. I used to be able to cast a spell like that. [ Before all his powers got taken. He lets out a sigh, but there's no point in dwelling on it. ] So what do we do now?

[ She nods. The monsters, indeed. It had come easily later too when fighting the UNA. But by then, she'd already begun to train it. It's good to feel like he's had something in the past too--on some level it helps contextualize why Sora feels so kindred to her. Like they're the same, in some way she can't define. ]

Try to jump the panel, I guess. [ She looks back at the bike they'd arrived on for the back-up battery pack. ] We'll need clean, dry ports to attach it to.

[ The idea of giving the panel a jump is something Sora can wrap his head around, but it's not like he has a Thunder spell that he can use to charge it up or anything like that. It would be nice, but they're going to have to get a little more creative than that and it seems like Rey knows what she's doing.

He turns to her, his cheeks red from the cold, and smiles sheepishly. ]

Honestly, I don't really know a lot about this kind of stuff, so you're going to have to take the lead here. Just let me know how I can help and I'll do it!

[ It's not that he's got a problem with getting his hands dirty. He just needs some direction. ]

[ Her smile widens, gentle. ]

That's alright.

[ All reassuring patience. ] The battery we brought on the bike, and the cables. Will you go grab them?

[ She points. ] I'll finish cleaning the panel off. Then we just hook it up.

[ Sora appreciates that Rey isn't impatient with him, and that she's also willing to explain things. Not so much that his head starts to spin, but enough that he can actually help her instead of just having to stand around.

He nods and runs (as fast as one can in snow, anyway) back to the bike, grabbing the battery and the loop of cables.

He makes it back to her, setting both things down in the snow next to the panel. ]

Are you used to doing this kind of stuff, Rey?

[ They've talked a number of times by now, but he still doesn't know much about her. ]

I work as a mechanic at Giles Bell.

[ She answers this while she finishes clearing the panel's ports. When it's good to go, she turns around and follows the cables of the battery to the end, clipping them on. ]

This isn't so different from what I do at work most days. You'd be surprised how many things just need a jumpstart.

Uhh, what's Giles Bell?

[ Is this something that he should know already? Probably. But it had just been a day or so after he was let out of the safehouse that they'd left on this trip to New Tokyo, so he hadn't really had a chance to learn much about New Amsterdam.

He moves closer, mainly to watch what Rey does and how she works. He's going to remain hands off, but at least this way he might learn something.

Unsurprisingly, Sora's better at learning like this than in a classroom. ]

One of the three companies that seems to control most of what's going on with this planet.

[ She offers this explanation while hooking the battery up. It's a mindless task for her, anyway. ]

We thought it'd be useful to have someone in each of them. I guess because they probably have some ties to the UN, if I had to guess, and they're the most likely candidates for who has the facilities for something like what was done to us.

[ It's all sort of above Rey's pay grade. Investigating isn't her work. ]

[ Companies, huh? Sora's heard a little about the UN and he's pretty sure that he read about it on that newbie guide too, but he still doesn't really understand what they do. It seems like they run things, and maybe that's all he needs to know. ]

Hmm... [ He raises a gloved fist up to his chin as he considers Rey's words. ] So you think one of them might be behind all this, so you're trying to make sure we have ways to check into all of them.

[ It makes sense, but it's also not the kind of work that he's used to. Sora's approach is always a little more straightforward. ]

Have you noticed anything weird while working for them, then?

Not so far.

[ She sounds disappointed by that. Work is work, but it's hard not to feel like she could be doing more. ]

I'm just a repair technician. I don't see much of the people in charge, the kind of people who'd be doing experiments like those that were done on us.

Right...

[ Sora can't imagine it would be easy to get access to those kinds of people, not without sneaking into places they weren't supposed to be. And it's not like when he normally goes to a world, where he can get himself in trouble but it doesn't matter so much because he'll be leaving the world soon after. They're stuck here, so they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Bummer. ]

Well, I guess we just have to keep at it! I need to get a job when we go back...

[ Double bummer. ]

[ The turbine starts moving. Rey pulls the battery off and looks at him. ]

All set. What kinds of things have you done in the past?

[ When the turbine comes back to life, Sora grins, relieved that their trip out here hadn't been for nothing. While he still feels like he didn't help much, at least he'd been able to keep Rey company. ]

Should we head back, then?

[ It's freezing out here and neither of them seem too comfortable with it. As he moves back toward the hover bike, he considers Rey's question. ]

Nothing that easily translates into a job, I don't think. I did a lot of traveling to various words to protect them from monsters called Heartless, which were invading.

Fighting monsters?

[ She crinkles her nose a little bit. Hm. No. That doesn't exactly translate to a job. It'll be useful in case there's another invasion, which they now have reason to believe there might be, since there had been another one before the dreams, but ... ]

What did that take? What kind of weapons did you use?

Oh, it's called a Keyblade. It's too bad we didn't run into each other during the dreams, or I could have showed you.

[ Nor is he much of an artist, so trying to draw it for her probably won't work out that well. Then again, the name itself is fairly self-explanatory. ]

If I'm going to fight in this place, I'll have to learn how to use something else. I can't summon it here.

[ Despite their efforts in the Sleeping World, they hadn't been able to transfer the use of their powers to their waking selves. ]

A ... key blade?

[ If it's half as descriptive as lightsaber, she's confused. But she leaves it at that. Shakes her head, accepts it. A blade of some kind is a blade of some kind. ]

I had someone helping me learn with Earth's blasters. [ Guns. ] But he's gone, I think. Vanished. Did you do anything other than fight while you were traveling?

Someone offered to help me learn other ways to fight, too.

[ It shouldn't be that hard, Sora thinks, to adjust to a different kind of weapon, or another fighting style. It's just about putting the time in to train and learn, and there hasn't been a chance for it yet.

At Rey's question, he nods, pausing in the snow to wait for her to get on the bike. ]

The people we met on our travels, we tried to help them however we could. Sometimes that meant finding someone, or confronting someone else who was causing problems.

[ So it usually ended in a fight, but there were sometimes other steps that led to that. ] Oh! And I helped Pooh Bear and his friends sort vegetables and gather honey and things like that. [ Just as an example. ]

Maybe you could be a courier.

[ She suggests this as she climbs onto the back of the bike. The sooner they're out of this weather, the happier they'll all be. She looks down to make sure the battery is secure where she'd packed it, then glances back at him. ]

Running errands for people. Odd jobs, you know.

That might work! And these bikes are cool -- I've ridden one like it before.

[ In a computer program, but Sora doesn't think that the transition will be that difficult. While Rey had chosen to drive them here, he can't help but wonder... ]

Hey, do you think it'd be okay if I drove on the way back? You know, get my practice in!

[ That might not sound too encouraging, but he's got this under control. Probably. ]

[ She looks him over with a vague unease. It's not that she doesn't trust him because of his age--he's not that much younger than her. But she doesn't like the sound of 'practice.'

Still. He's right. And even if Rey is in no position to teach, she can't deny him the opportunity to learn. She thinks of how unfair it had felt for Luke to turn her down as she slides back on the hoverbike and makes room for him at the front. ]

Do you know what you're doing?

Yeah, I've got this!

[ Sora at least sounds confident in that moment, and he does appreciate that Rey trusts him and doesn't want to treat him like some kid who doesn't know anything. Young as he might look, he's been through experiences far beyond what his age might imply.

He settles onto the front seat of the bike, taking just a second to get himself familiar with the console before he starts it up and steers them forward. The weather isn't great for trying to do this, but he'll get them back to the dormitories with only a few close calls. All in all, a good test run. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ARRIVAL LOG 009

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

i'm gonna wrap this up if that's cool!