larkers: (pic#12386245)
MEADOWLARK MODS ([personal profile] larkers) wrote in [community profile] meadowlarklogs2020-10-17 12:01 pm

MINI-EVENT #001

WHO: Everyone participating in the mini-event this month.
WHERE: New Beijing
WHEN: July 10-17 2512.
WHAT: Diagnostics, heists, and whatever else.
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Medical procedures (and anxiety associated therein).

> MINI-EVENT #001

The trip between New Amsterdam and New Beijing takes about half a day by train. If someone has agreed to participate in Riverstone's experiment, they'll be given first class seating on the maglev train taking them to their destination. This includes meals, a bed to sleep in, as well as a ride away from the train station once they've arrived in New Beijing. Even if someone spoke out against Rey on the various network posts, they'll be given the same treatment. Riverstone doesn't care about any Displaced squabbles, after all. The same goes for anyone who may be tagging along on their own dime. If they show up on the train and take the ride, odds are they'll be spotted by Riverstone's representatives. After all, they practically run New Beijing themselves.

As the capital of the United Nations, New Beijing is a sight to behold. It's the closest in location to its original namesake, and one of the most preserved. The surface levels of New Beijing are pristine, meant for tourism and visits from other megacities, while the lower levels remain hidden from the rest of the world. This is where the impoverished people of New Beijing struggle to survive, cast aside and forgotten by the wealthy people near the surface of the city.

Recent troubles related to monster attacks have left the surface of New Beijing in a permanent state of rebuilding, but that simply matches the rest of the world. Even with that, it's difficult to miss how much of the past has been preserved in New Beijing itself. There is a dam on its eastern-most border that was built as soon as the sea level began to rise and slowly envelop the city of Tianjin. While Tianjin was lost to the sea, the Chinese government acted to protect Beijing from further damage. The dam has since made up the border wall around the city, remaining the sole stable fixture for New Beijing for years to come. Now, New Beijing's borders stretch inland for miles upon miles, and it's the largest megacity in the entire world. Those same walls show a lot of recent wear and tear, but they were the first to be repaired following the monster attacks.

As for the rest of New Beijing? Here are some updates since our last gamewide visit to the city:

> THE SURFACE LEVELS
Unsurprisingly, the monsters hit New Beijing pretty hard. Since there was little assistance from the Displaced beyond shutting off monster travel from time to time, most of the city was forced to fend for itself. The only good news is that newly discharged UN soldiers have amassed in New Beijing because it's where they were when they were discharged, and they were able to act to help the citizens there.

Most of New Beijing's initial reconstruction efforts were focused on its historic district, where citizens can find restored landmarks such as the Tiananmen Square and Temple of Heaven stand. Other landmarks, such as the Great Wall of Badaling. Even Riverstone set aside prioritizing its own landmarks to help bring New Beijing's historical landmarks back to their previous glory. Needless to say, they look great now.

Like many cities in 2512, New Beijing is both sprawling, as well as still built upward and downward, with the three uppermost levels of the city being the most appealing to the eye. Needless to say, after the historic district was completed, all reconstruction efforts moved to these upper three levels to help make them appealing to the eye once more. UN politicians claimed that it was because New Beijing needed to continue to promote its burgeoning tourist tradition, but groups like Morningstar have used social media and street graffiti to bring attention to the hypocrisy of New Beijing's upper class.

◉ On the upper levels of New Beijing, everything is shockingly pristine, with most ongoing construction concealed from the public eye. The city might be rebuilding, but there's no need to look ugly at the same time.

◉ Every building in the city is pristine, with clear glass windows that allow a large degree of transparency. It appears that far fewer people live in the upper levels of the city. If anyone looked into housing prices, they would notice that even with all of the recent damage, they appear to have doubled since the Displaced's last visit. There are some articles indicating that there is a boom for people moving from New Amsterdam and New Prague to New Beijing to start a new life.

◉ Numerous AR displays around the city announce codes of conduct. Littering leads to a fine of 1000 credits, having been raised since the recent monster attacks in an effort to bring the city back up to its previous condition. There is no curfew, but only public transport vehicles and licensed car-sharing providers are allowed to be in the sky after 9PM. Around 11PM, public transit only comes every half hour to an hour, making it difficult to get across the city in the late hours of the night. There are also rigid noise restrictions.

◉ Even during the day, most people prefer to get around via public transit, bikes, or simply by foot.

◉ Most businesses close by 9PM, making it difficult for someone who might seek out a late night snack.

◉ There are no businesses on the upper levels that would be referred to as "dives" or "holes in the wall." While they were rare before, it now appears that Riverstone has a stake in nearly every single business in the top three levels of the city. In order to continue, they've all taken a loan from Riverstone, essentially giving the corporation part ownership. Even independent businesses that largely avoided partnering with Riverstone had no choice but to join up after the monster attacks.

◉ The surface is also where the United Nations government is housed, as well as the UNA Headquarters. The government is housed within the historic district, while the base is on the opposite end of the city, making up its western-most wall.

> SPACEPORT
At the northern end of New Beijing is the most heavily trafficked spaceport in the world. Most of the shipments for the colonies come through New Beijing, having been officially checked through customs and approved for transit before they're sent off. Thanks to the technology available in 2512, most of these shipments rarely have any impact on the city as a whole, making their liftoffs unnoticeable in a lot of ways (as they are silent and don't cause any other environmental problems).

◉ Between the uprisings on the Mars colony and the monster attacks, the spaceport is no longer as easy to access. A lot of this has to do with reporters traveling to New Beijing in hopes that they would be able to find some information about the status of the Mars colony, which has largely gone silent. All efforts for peace seem to be brushed aside after the worldwide crisis. No one even knows if they're still getting shipments out there.

> THE FORGOTTEN LEVELS
After all, beyond those three upper levels, New Beijing is in bad shape. The mole monsters that tore up the underground and built tunnels all throughout New Amsterdam destroyed countless homes throughout New Beijing. Many people are huddled together wherever they can, often offering whatever they can to their neighbors who no longer have somewhere to live.

◉ There are very few businesses running "as usual" in the lower levels of the city. Thanks to the lack of assistance from Riverstone and the UN, people are just trying to survive while using the resources they have available to them. That also means that a lot of businesses are also fronts for drug trafficking since crime currently runs rampant.

◉ The Red Light District and Morningstar's local chapters always worked in tandem to provide a better life for the people of New Beijing, but now they are able to work more openly and freely than ever before. All throughout the lower levels, there is a new language developing so that people know where they can get help and protection from Morningstar. The sex workers still act as information brokers, but they also do everything they can to keep the impoverished people around them from being forced into a life of crime.

◉ Why is this allowed? The New Beijing Police Department is also running on far less staff since the UN put out a call for new soldiers. The previous sketchy business of taking children out of their homes just to force them into "better situations" to meet a quota of "cleaning up the lower levels" has mostly come to a halt because there aren't enough officers to make it down there.

◉ The downside is this: gangs are now becoming a constant presence in the lower levels, and some believe they've contracted with businesses on the upper levels to traffic guns, weapons, and help enforce a rigid control down below. However, this isn't quite true. Some opportunistic gang leaders have tried to reach out to Riverstone, but they've been turned away. As a result, they find themselves both at odds with Riverstone and with Morningstar's efforts to help people out down below. But as long as they don't encroach on Riverstone's "territory," it seems that they'll be left alone to bully people who have been left in horrible conditions following the monster attacks.

> RIVERSTONE

Ah, the reason why everyone is in New Beijing this time around. If there were any doubts about Riverstone's significance in this world, they would be squashed by time someone stepped out into New Beijing this time around. Since the monster attacks, Riverstone has used the fallout to assert their dominance throughout the capital city, claiming up property and buying a stake in every single upper level city. Any and all money spent in New Beijing ends up in Riverstone's pocket in some way.

> OUTSIDE OF THE FACILITY
Want to really grasp what Riverstone's done here? In many ways, they've built an entire megacity with their own money. They've been a part of Beijing's identity since the early 22nd century, having located their headquarters from Shanghai following the end of World War III. They're a large proponent of the historical district, and they were one of the first oligarchical superpowers in this world. Their CEO? Turns out it's still someone with the surname Ling. Currently, that's Meredith Ling, who is definitely related to Ricky Ling, the hero of the human/AI war at the end of the 21st century.

◉ Prior to World War III, Riverstone was primarily known as an entertainment mogul. Throughout the early part of the 21st century, they snapped up a lot of media properties before turning their attention to technology corporations. Loosened antitrust laws meant that they could begin to devour numerous industries.

◉ Riverstone was very different from a lot of businesses in the early 21st century because of its vocal opposition to utilizing artificial intelligence to promote line production. They experimented a great deal in this field to find alternatives to the same problems that would not involve creating artificial life.

◉ To the 2512 world, Riverstone was the only corporation that was "right" about the problem with AIs. It's a big part of why they're so powerful several hundred years later.

◉ Riverstone owns the entirety of New Beijing's hotel chains, restaurants, and small businesses. While it was only a majority when the Displaced visited earlier in 2512, this has rapidly changed in the past month since the monster attacks. Businesses in New Beijing are Riverstone at this stage.

◉ Riverstone also runs and maintains New Beijing's public transit.

◉ Riverstone's Dream River is currently closed while Riverstone focuses on helping reconstruct and renovate other portions of the city's upper level. There are still gift shops open throughout the city where you can purchase a souvenir with Otto the Otter. Of course, people could try to break in while it's closed. Because why not?

> THE FACILITY
Located a ten minute walk from the UNA headquarters, Riverstone's primary research facility reaches over two-thousand feet into the sky. There are numerous bridges running between its various sections, and they appear to be full of Riverstone employees all day and night. This facility is the site of most of Riverstone's scientific accomplishments, and numerous employees on loan from Giles Bell, Pulsar, and other worldwide corporations end up visiting this exact facility to work on projects. Of course, that's only promising employees with these corporations that Riverstone likely plans to poach for themselves.

Getting into the facility does not guarantee entry into the entire building. The Displaced visiting will have exact directions sent to their neural implant, along with an AR-display map to ensure they don't run into any doors that they can't open for themselves.

◉ The Displaced's final destination for this trip is the Robert Ling Biological Progress Wing of the research facility. Named after Ricky Ling's first child, Robert was key in finding biological advancements for humanity that would help them set aside any designs on playing god via cloning. Of course, "key" means "he paid the best researchers and claimed credit," but that won't be actively available to anyone around.

◉ Most personnel have been cleared out for the Displaced's visit. Because of the security risk that the Displaced pose, there are few people working in the labs during this week. It seems everyone has a paid vacation.

◉ The Head of Security, Montague Finnley, has assigned his best officers around the building to keep an eye on the Displaced.

◉ All of the scientists present only know about the Displaced from social media and other various reports out of New Amsterdam. They are not aware of any of the answers that Riverstone has promised. They're not aware of anything else beyond that, and don't have inside knowledge about anything that the Displaced might not know, themselves.

◉ Elsewhere in the facility, work proceeds as normal. Those wings will be far more difficult to reach because of the lack of access granted.

◉ Remember all those monster carcasses? It's safe to say that if anyone hopes to do something with them, this building is one of the places where that work might start. That is, if anyone has the means to find out in the first place.

◉ What else is happening here? What else can be found? Well … first, the Displaced are going to have to figure out how to sneak away. Good luck with that.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

For any and all questions for this mini-event, please refer to our questions thread on the OOC planning post.

Please make sure to sign up so we have a record of who went. You don't have to be signed up to enter Riverstone to participate in this log! We just want to know who went inside for later plotting purposes.

Our turn-ins for Riverstone's probing questionnaire will close on OCTOBER 31, 2020.

Finally, on OCTOBER 24, 2020, we'll be posting a poll of the various AU ideas we've come up with for our year-ending event. This will be a radio-button poll that will be open for one week!

Thanks everyone!

championofsnark: (Default)

Riverstone

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-10-27 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hawke seems, externally, like she's doing just fine through this process. When they get to New Beijing, she cheerfully points out all the vivid sights, the good food. Her finances have been covered here and she made Cassandra come with her, so she gets to enjoy that aspect too. Hawke's never cared much about the finer things in life but she doesn't reject them when she sees them.

If she's more nervous when they get down to it, it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. Hawke's never actually been a lab rat. The only time she even remotely was she doesn't remember because it was before she was dropped off as a member of the Displaced. She understands there will be some poking and prodding and since she's been stabbed and beaten before, really this is nothing in comparison.

She answers questions cheerfully but once they let up and focus on someone else, she goes looking for Cassandra. She hears her trying to talk someone out of doing it, and waits for that particular conversation to run out, crossing arms against her chest. ]


I don't think anyone's going to back down now. [She says, when Cassandra is free again, lifting an eyebrow.]
stabsbooks: (pic#9976403)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-10-30 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
All the same, they should be given the chance.

[ Cassandra thinks Hawke's probably right - it's unlikely that anyone would volunteer in the first place, travel all this way, knowing the risks the whole time, only to change their minds now. Even so, she feels compelled to remind them that the option is there, if they want it. That just because they've invested the time in getting here doesn't mean they have to continue with anything they don't want to do.

She turns to survey Hawke, frowning faintly - while Hawke isn't one to complain, her usual cheerful demeanor seems dampened slightly. ]


What about you?
championofsnark: (close up face)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-11-08 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
We know what we're getting into. They were fairly direct about it.

[ Now, to be fair, that doesn't mean it won't go horribly wrong, but Hawke is fairly confident it will not. As she mentioned before, it would be insane to mess with them when they have a small superpowered army. The people there to supervise and everyone else in New Amsterdam. She thinks these people could still end up being bastards, but in terms of feeling safe at the moment, she genuinely does. The aftermath will likely come later.

Perhaps other people are unsettled now that they're there, but Hawke has a feeling they're all just stubborn enough not to turn back. Those who volunteered? Have good reasons why. She only knows her own, but she can only guess they haven't signed up for a lark. ]


I'm fine. An arrow nearly took my eye out once. [ She has a scar on her eyebrow as proof. ] Being poked and prodded by these chaps isn't worse than that.

[ Her fake cheeriness isn't there though, that's true. She's more somber but it's because she really wishes no one else signed up. If it was just her, Hawke would feel better. At the moment she's more worried for them than she is for her. ]

They mentioned dream studies too, I'm hoping if nothing else to see if there's a bloody way to pinpoint what that's about.
stabsbooks: (pic#9997743)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-11-11 05:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cassandra scoffs, shaking her head. Not any worse than nearly being half-blinded by an arrow. It's a low bar, even for Hawke. ]

How reassuring.

[ But she's noticed that Hawke is more serious than usual, and it's...even less reassuring. Trying to ignore the knot of unease in her gut, she raises an eyebrow. ]

Do you think...do you think it is the Fade? That it is the realm of dreams, even here?
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-11-16 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
A less creepy version, possibly.

[ Hawke hates the Fade. She hates that a version of her died in it too, bloody typical. It's an unnerving place. She finds these dreams odd but not unsettling. It's more an annoyance for her, and she feels guilty when it happens. Maybe she'll find a way to get out of them and stop walking in someone else's head. ]

This world is nothing like ours, Cassandra, not really.

[ She knows that Cassandra is struggling more than she is, what with the Maker situation, them having magic, etc. But Hawke is having no such conflict, outside of feeling terrible about the blood magic aspect. And that's more because of their prejudices and her own concerns about her ruthlessness. ]
stabsbooks: (pic#10422979)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-11-17 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ Cassandra turns her head to look at her, eyes sharp. She's already on edge, and feeling like she's being condescended to does nothing to improve her mood. ]

I know that, Hawke.

[ She looks away, shaking her head. ]

But that does not mean they are completely unconnected.

[ It doesn't mean that the Maker couldn't reach them here, if He wished to. And it doesn't, necessarily, mean that the Fade can't be accessed from both. They simply don't know enough to say. ]
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-11-20 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hawke feels that rebuke like a slap to the face, and not one that she would argue with. She's tense too, considering, and well aware that the only reason both of them are in this place is because of her. And if anything happens there, if anything happens to Cassandra, it's due to her reckless desperation. It's something of a vicious neverending cycle with her. ]

I'm sorry. I'm a twat.

[ She says quietly, and she means it. Hawke isn't so stubborn she never admits to faults. She admits to faults readily. Hawke runs her fingers through her dark hair, frowning as she looks around. ]

I think it's more to do with this sodding glowing we've got. We're mentally connected in some way too, so our minds go on bizarre jaunts together.
stabsbooks: (pic#9997768)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-11-22 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
You are not.

[ Cassandra looks at the floor, discouraged. She doesn't want to fight with Hawke. She hates when Hawke speaks of herself in such disparaging terms. But she also hates being treated like she's stupid, just because she has faith. Just because she's trying to find a way to make this all make sense, in a way she understands.

She raises a hand to her chest, absently touching the spot where it had glowed during the festival. It hasn't done so since, and she doesn't know if she should be relieved or not. ]


It is possible.

Is it only the Displaced who experience these shared dreams?
championofsnark: (close on mark)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-11-28 10:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hawke's faith never really existed outside of knowing general things about Andraste and the Maker. The most she talks about them is in curses. It's not that she's a nonbeliever, more that she focuses on believing in herself and her friends and trying to survive, whether that's a divine will or not. Here she's been faced with the potential of some active divine intervention, and it's been baffling, but she's also shrugged and accepted it.

She told Lance she had no idea how to handle Cassandra and what she's going with, and then immediately ignored his advice because Hawke is not good at thinking before she acts. Or talks. She feels bad about it though. One of those soul searching issues for later.]


I think so, from what we've heard. It makes sense, we're the chosen ones and all.

[ There was an air of destiny to the Inquisitor, but Hawke's not a fabled leader like the Warden or Cecily, in her eyes. She doesn't think destiny had any part in her life before now. ]

If this goes to shit, I'm sorry I got you involved.
stabsbooks: (pic#9976379)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-11-30 03:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ The chosen ones. Cassandra looks away, shaking her head. She still doesn't feel entirely comfortable with the designation, though it's certainly understandable why the people of this world had branded them that way. Is this how the Inquisitor had felt? So unworthy of the title, so helpless as to how to proceed? Everyone looking to him for guidance, when he had no idea what the answers really were?

She looks back at Hawke, shaking her head firmly. ]


I chose to be here.
championofsnark: (pic#14332885)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-12-03 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's how Hawke would've felt in the Inquisition and one of the many reasons it wasn't going to work out. She was not the chosen one, she was the one who accidentally kept doing things in Kirkwall to survive until they just gave her a fancy title. She might be using the term casually, but she's really like to go 'no thank you' to the concept even here. The last time she was given responsibility, they both know how that literally blew up.

It is partially her own fault though. She's been doing excellent at choosing non-involvement and avoiding standing out in their little crowd. This is her reckless streak showing itself. ]


I know there's a very low chance they can do anything to help us and this is probably going to bite us on the arse.

[ Hawke folds her arms and looks away. Her voice lowers, partially so there aren't people listening, and because she's admitting to some of her irrational intentions here.]

But if there's even the slightest risk that Fenris and Cecily are still here somewhere, taken back by the people who drugged us, I have to at least try. I promised Fenris .... [ She sighs. ] Not this one, but mine, but I promised him. I wouldn't let anyone take him.

[ That was about slavers, but it's too tied up in her mind. ]
stabsbooks: (pic#9997769)

[personal profile] stabsbooks 2020-12-07 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ For all her suspicions and paranoia, it's not a possibility that had even occurred to Cassandra. The majority of her thoughts, and the reason why she'd so much as agreed to allow Hawke to volunteer for this ridiculous and dangerous test in the first place, had been centered on the Displaced's powers, and on Hawke's blood magic in particular. Perhaps an insight into how they had been brought here in the first place, or another mystery, like the shared dreams.

But not this. She goes suddenly and completely still at Hawke's side, not so much as breathing for a moment. ]


Do you - think...

[ She can't bring herself to ask the question out loud. ]
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-12-14 10:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The powers are a part of it. Hawke would like to trade hers in, thanks. She knows inevitably she'll have to learn how to use them so she doesn't accidentally do it, but if there's a way to reverse it, she'll take it. She's concerned about what she'll do with that power. She tries harder than people knows to stay on the side of the light, but she's a violent and angry person too, a survivor. She's not sure she trusts herself.

It didn't occur to her that it's not something Cassandra has thought of, but now she sees her surprise and she's glad she said something. She slowly nods. ]


I think it's possible. [ Hawke scrubs a hand through her short hair. ] Everyone just assumes people go home but the fellow who messages us and says when new people are here? He said something about keeping us on ice, as if he keeps us somewhere.

[ Hawke doesn't read much, but she does pay attention to things that ping her interest enough to remember. She read that one a few times, scowling, concerned. Now it seems relevant. ]

If there's a chance they're still here, I have to try and get answers.