epidemiology | EVENT ▸ WELCOME TO HANABIRA

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EVENT ▸ WELCOME TO HANABIRA

LAND OF CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS

Following guild Ophelia's first mission, after which the temporal shard was found and safely disposed of back on Headquarters, Guild Master Imogen informs them they've received a contract to help ease tensions in a land known as Hanabira, on an unnamed planet designated as Hathaway-484. However, the contract is from a third party and the Hanabirans themselves do not know about interdimensional travel, she explains, so it'll be best to announce Ophelia as visitors from a foreign land. Any strange appearances or abilities will be able to be brushed off as magic, as the Hanabirans are no strangers to things such as ogres and imps. They're given five days to look over the dossier, and then it's through the rift they go.

Those who are new to rift travel may find themselves a bit dizzy on the way out, but overall, everything seems to have gone according to plan. Upon arrival, their magitek projects words in front of their eyes that only they can see:

Location reached: HANABIRA.

No events scheduled. You may wish to survey the surrounding area.

» LAND OF CELESTIAL MOUNTAINS
A militaristic society that values strength. Main sources of income: mining, foresting, hunting, blacksmithing. Heavy matriarchal ideals. Empress NAMA resides at the HEAVENLY SUMMIT.

Those who attempt to reach the Heavenly Summit, which turns out to be the name of a castle situated on the tallest mountain peak, will not make it very far. Empress Nama's guards have no time for foreign strangers attempting to enter the castle without an audience, and there are plenty of them. It looks like that plan of action is going to take some time to rethink.

There's still much more to look at, though. In the Merchant's District, you can stock up on everything you'll need to blend in. A cursory look at all the clothing and it's clear that the Mountain Clan style focuses on a more powerful look, with broad shoulder accents and thick fabrics. Both men and women wear kimonos, but it seems men's fashion changes depending on their age and marital status. Time to figure out those backstories! There are several more items for sale as well, as long as you're willing to pay -- or if you're particularly good at sleight of hand.

The Commoner's District, derogatorily called the Slums by some, is where many of the lower class Mountain Clan work and live. Those who don't have the coin to buy a space in the Merchant's District sell their wares here; they are at a lower price, but often of lower quality as well, unless you're particularly lucky. This is the most densely populated area of the Celestial Mountains, and also the most egalitarian. Here, both men and women must do the same work to provide for their families. However, you will still find that the prevailing cultural attitude supports the matriarchy.

On the other side of town is the Noble's District, which is patrolled by guards on regular routes. Men on their own will arouse suspicion in this area, as will anyone in any garb but the noble disguise. Troublemakers will be asked to leave and unceremoniously escorted out. Those who manage to stay will be able to find conversation with the nobility, many of whom are high-ranking military leaders.

The rest of the town belongs to the lower to upper middle class, who are friendliest to women or groups with at least one woman in them. Women's reactions to sole men may range from dismissive to awkward, although men alone are not in any danger of angry or violent reactions (as long as they don't provoke anyone).

▸ SPRING FESTIVAL

After a bit of time for exploring, a new message flashes in front of recruits' eyes.

New event scheduled: MOUNTAIN CLAN FESTIVAL.

» INFORMATION: Analysis of all mentions of 'festival' since the arrival of OPHELIA suggests heavy HANABIRAN presence at this time, during which guild members may wish to gather intel.

It appears as though Ophelia has arrived just in time for the Spring Festival, a yearly celebration in honor of the changing of seasons. Plum and cherry trees throughout the Celestial Mountains flower in white and pink blossoms, creating a cheerful atmosphere as the population goes about their daily business during the day. Workers view the flowers during their lunch and tea times, and nobles can be found strolling through gardens in the Noble's District at all times.

In the early afternoon, food stalls begin to appear in the Merchant's District, and by the late afternoon, the festival is in full swing: dumplings, noodles, persimmons, and skewered meat are available at various stalls, as well as plenty of sake. Other stalls sell beautifully designed kites, fans, and kimonos, and as the sun begins to sink down, some stalls begin to sell incense-stick fireworks.

There are also games to take part in, from the light-hearted collaborative ball game kemari, to an archery competition, the winners of which are rewarded with plums and sake. An old man near the archery competition invites any passersby to join him in a game of Go, and he'll even offer to teach foreigners the rules of the game. There is also a falconry competition for the nobles, but unless you have a disguise, you'll just have to content yourself with watching.

With so many people milling around, it's a good time to ask questions and try to get a feel for the political opinions of the people of the mountain clan. They are all in favor of their empress ruling Hanabira, supporting the spread of their traditional culture over the more lax culture of the sea clan. If asked their opinions on how to ensure there is no war, suggestions will range from preemptively killing the sea empress and her army, to banishing them across the sea. It should be noted that the mountain clan is not especially known for their expertise in diplomacy.

As the sky darkens, fireworks light up the sky. It's very beautiful, but also very distracting -- the perfect time for something to go wrong.

▸ AN AMBUSH

The fireworks are loud, and everyone -- even guards milling around -- are looking skyward toward the display. No one notices the danger until it's too late.

A scream pierces the air, and everything after that happens quick and sudden: people are running in all directions, panicked, trying to escape. Stands are knocked over and food goes flying through the air. A merchant struggles to reach her wife, caught across the fearful throng of festivalgoers. It's chaos.

As the panicked crowd begins to thin, those of Ophelia who stay behind to help will see the cause -- women wearing clothes of the sea clan and masks covering their faces are laying waste to the festival ground. They begin to set stalls ablaze, and though they aren't targeting any civilians, a handful lay dead or injured, crushed by the panicked stampede.

Guards rush in to stop the women, and they could probably use help; they will be trying to capture them, but if your character is killing an ambusher instead, please let the mods know with a link to the thread.

For those who aren't the fighting type, there are plenty of other things to do -- direct traffic, try to rescue civilians from the stampede, or go find someplace to hide yourself. Once the immediate trouble is dealt with, the festival unceremoniously ended, the civilians drift back to their homes to begin a restless sleep. If your character hasn't found lodgings for the night yet, they'd better get that matter settled soon.

The morning after the ambush, there is tension and unease in the air. The people of the mountain clan mutter about taking revenge or continuing peaceably; the ambush and its effect on their relations with the sea clan is the topic of the day. Was this an attack sanctioned by the Empress of the Crashing Wave? Were these sea people acting of their own volition? Does it matter?

The festival grounds could use cleaning up, and tending to the injured can be a good way to ingratiate foreigners (that's you) to the mountain clan. Otherwise, the forests of the Celestial Mountains are open for exploration, or the Flowerlands and its farms below.

▸ OOC NOTES

Welcome to the first mission of the season! Apps are now closed and will remain closed until the mission is over. If you have questions about this log or the overall mission, please ask them on the dossier. Questions about Futurology in general should be directed to the FAQ.

▸ The festival and ambush lasts one IC day, after which characters may continue to explore. Areas currently open are the Land of Celestial Mountains or the Flowerlands. The Empire of the Crashing Wave will be introduced in the next log on 3 February.

▸ The Bounty Board is now live, as well as an items page. The February calendar will go live in late January.

▸ January AC will go up on 1 February. You will only need to supply one proof. February AC will require full activity.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ To that, 9S gives a snort. ]

If you're looking to avoid attention, I'm not so sure a mask is the way to go.

[ Speaking from personal experience.... He could count the number of interactions he's had where it didn't come up on one hand. ]

Okay, got any better ideas? I’m pretty sure I can’t just leave my eyes in my room.

[ -Quote from man who recently found a pair of disembodied eyes in a room ]

Uhmm...

[ Well, it would be too convenient if they found another pair of disembodied eyes, wouldn't it. ]

Glasses? [ 9S sounds a little uncertain about the suggestion, but there you have it. ] Aren't there ones that... [ He gestures vaguely in front of him, unable to nail the proper word for them down. ] Kinda hide your eyes or something?

[ Sunglasses. He means sunglasses. ]

... Oh, sunglasses? [ There’s amusement in Simon’s voice — not mean-spirited, honest. ] Pretty sure those haven’t been invented yet here, but good idea. I’ll look out for anything similar.

[ he glances around, clenches and unclenches his fists at his sides absently. 9S looks far more human than he does, but he’s glad for his presence anyway, even if things with 9S can get a little weird. Sure, Simon can’t hide not being human, but at least with other robots he doesn’t have to feel as freakish for it. Not many people in Hathaway with whom you can have casual conversations about rebooting yourself. ] So, what’s your take on... all this? You know, the mission.

Edited 2018-01-17 02:36 (UTC)

[ Haven't been invented yet...? They look so basic, though; surely even a society such as this one should have something like them.

The thought goes forgotten for the time being when posed with a question. Right—the mission on hand, not that 9S has been doing much beyond marveling at everything.

9S slowly turns on his feet, as if to get a better angle to survey their current surroundings. He has to take a moment to figure out how to answer that. ]

There... sure are a lot of people. [ Which, yeah, and 9S has had time to get used to being around them—but stepping foot within a whole town full of humans going to and fro between well maintained buildings without a worry in the world is still incredible in itself. ] It doesn't feel like there's anything wrong going on at all.

Yeah. When things are going wrong, we walk around pretending everything’s fine for as long as we can manage it. Festivals on schedule, everything. Sometimes we even double down on that stuff.

[ ... So, he figures, no surprise that 9S is unfamiliar with the sight of such a phenomenon. ]

... Really didn’t expect this mission to make me miss the pirates and cave bugs, but this “prevent war and murder” stuff is kind of doing it.

[ And 9S and 2B? Rescued by Hathaway from fighting humans’ wars for them and then dropped into another one. Man. At least 9S is having a good time looking at stuff. ]

[ Oh. That's... weird, but okay. The more 9S learns about people, the more baffling they become. ]

Yeah, but it's a problem we caused in the first place. [ General 'we', of course. ] So... I guess there's gotta be some way to fix it, too.

[ Granted, 9S is really hoping neither war nor murder break out before they're finished here. He could kill a machine without hesitation, but he has no idea what he would do should anything serious spark between the people here. ]

Yeah. Gotta be. [ finally someone who shares both his surface optimism about this situation and his sense of shared responsibility for this mess ]

We just have to figure it out. I’d really like a break from mass death scenarios.

[ Way to phrase that in the most self-centered way possible, Simon. ]

[ 'Mass death', huh... 9S looks up, settling his gaze on a family passing by, then turns his head toward a couple sharing their festival food together up ahead. His mouth purses into a thin line, before he speaks again. ]

What're the chances it'll come to that? [ 9S almost feels as if he wouldn't expect it, but Simon speaks as if it'll eventually become an inevitability—and he's the... former human, here. ] If they're pretending everything's fine, doesn't that mean they don't want a war, either?

Civilians, yeah, but... if their empress wants war, they won’t get a choice.

[ Simon watches 9S’s reactions, the way he observes the locals, the way he’s learning about humans and it’s some of their absolute worst traits first and foremost. He feels a little bad for explaining all this, both in the sense that describing it all to someone so human but not throws humanity’s dark side into seriously sharp relief, and the ‘guess what Santa Claus isn’t real’ sense. ]

Humans have a good side too, but we can be pretty awful sometimes. I mean... we created androids like you, with feelings and personalities, to make you fight a war for us. That’s pretty bad.

[ 9S shoots Simon his own surprised look from over his shoulder; even with half of his face covered up, it doesn't take much to see that Simon's said something he hadn't expected to hear. ]

But that's—not really the same. [ Humanity was driven away from their rightful home, thanks to invaders from another world—or so the story went. It's a different matter entirely. ] Our survival was at stake back on Earth. At least here, they have a choice in the matter.

Somebody does, but it’s usually not the ones who have to do the fighting.

[ Simon’s pretty certain of his own feelings on the matter of 9S and 2B’s situation, namely that it’s appalling, on humanity’s part. But from the androids themselves, he can’t infer anything unambiguous. Even from 9S’s response he can’t tell how his own stance on it is going over at this very moment.

Either way, war fucks people up. He knows that, even if he doesn’t know the ins and outs of it, so his tone is as careful as he can make it. ] Do you ever think it’s unfair? The way humans... use you, on your Earth? I could’ve heard this stuff as a human and I’d still think it was horrible.

[ Unfair? There was a lot about his and 2B's and the rest of YoRHa's existence that was unfair, but when it came down to it, it was nothing he could blame on humanity. Even if they were at fault, well... 9S doesn't think he could ever bring himself to admit it. ]

I... no, I don't. [ It's the best he could give without getting into how insanely screwed up everything else had been. ] I've never thought of it that way.

[ But programming is to blame there, really. It's tough to think ill of humanity when you're wired to be utterly devoted to them. ]

[ Simon cannot wrap his head around it, but when it comes to war and loyalty — well, flesh-and-blood minds can be programmed, too. This could be anything. ] I know to you and 2B it’s normal, but I just keep thinking—

[ palms upturned, his voice gets emphatic, directionlessly frustrated, ] You’re just— both of you are just... so... human.

[ And he doesn’t even know where to begin explaining the weight he’s giving that word, whether it warrants it or not. ]

[ Perhaps Simon can't quite explain it, but 9S can certainly feel it—like one's heart dropping to their stomach, rather than feeling praise. There was undoubtedly a sense of pride to the comparison, to a degree, because if there was one thing any and all YoRHa units knew, it's that they shouldn't—and couldn't—be too much like the beings they regarded so highly of.

9S' composure falls into something uneasy, gaze averting away. ]

You really shouldn't. [ Maybe it's why Simon sounds so frustrated about it; he and all the others who talk as if they're voicing displeasure about it. It's always humans who do this, but they also look and treat him as if he's one of them. Of course they would never want any of their kind to do what 9S has had to, yet if they would just understand what he is... ] We're not human, Simon. We're androids.

[ He says, as if that's all that needs to be to convey we can't be on the same level. ]

[ His gaze lingers on 9S, trying to understand the denial he’s seeing. Which he doesn’t succeed at doing, and he looks away. ] I don’t even know what a human is anymore. I don’t even know what— or who I am.

[ If 9S and 2B aren’t just not human, but vehemently not human, what the fuck is Simon? His memories belonged to someone else — his body belonged to someone else. These guys are so sure of what they are and why they exist, and the answer they’re stuck on is sad, but their certainty is so enviable. ]

[ This again...

9S didn't have an answer last time, and he isn't so sure he has one now. Simon is such a bewildering anomaly that he hasn't the faintest idea on where to place him, but he doesn't seem to be any less clueless about the issue, either. Still— ]

If you keep thinking 2B and I are so human, why can't you think the same for yourself? You're the one who was one.

[ Wouldn't he want to hold on to that, despite everything? ]

[ this again and this always. sorry 9S ]

Yeah, that’s what it feels like, most of the time. I mean, I feel human, mostly — I feel like I’m continuing my previous existence in a new body, but sometimes I just can’t stop thinking about how little of me is... real. I’m a copy of somebody who died a long time ago, and every person I ever knew, everywhere I’ve ever been, all just got wiped off the face of the earth. Like I never existed.

[ Have you heard the good news..... about Simon’s many robot feelings, let him keep his social awareness in a hostage-style chokehold while he tells you all about them because the only person who ever tells him to shut up is not here. ]

[ Even the Actual Robot here is beginning to think there are a lot of damn robot feelings emitting from this guy like, all the time. It's a little hard to relate; 9S has cycled through so many new bodies and never thought anything of it, while Simon has clearly been languishing over this for some time now.

Rather than be any sympathetic toward his dilemma, 9S lets out a sharp exhale, a touch exasperated. ]

Why does it matter if your data's a copy? Is that supposed to make someone less "real"?

[ look at who you're talking to Simon........ ]

[ Local Man Doesn’t Even 10% Get It ]

I don’t know. I mean, you and 2B are completely different people with different identities, you just... look similar. You’re... yourselves.

[ Local Man Totally Convinced Situation He Doesn’t Know A Thing About Is Not Like Another One

It does not occur to him to think that 9S’s data may, in fact, be a copy. He knows 9S can’t relate; it’s... the reason for it that he’s fuzzy on... ]

[ Good grief. ]

Er. We're not even based off the same personality data—

[ A beat. No, let's set that aside for now. ]

Nevermind. That... isn't the point. [ But 9S is beginning to wonder if there's any reasoning this Obviously Complicated Issue with someone who's this caught up in it. Just how hard could it be to pick one? ] Look—you're here, and you still have your memories. Isn't that what actually matters?

Based off the same personality data? What do you mean?

[ Simon’s priorities are the inverse of 9S’s, because let’s back up to that other thing for a second. No, it doesn’t sound efficient to give all your android soldiers unique personalities, but it also doesn’t sound efficient to make whole entire synthetic teenagers with feelings for war when you could just build some fucking drones, so yes that is what Simon assumed the process was because he hadn’t really thought about it.

Now he has to know what that means, but he’s feeling a faint sense of dread about it. ]

[ —Huh? ... Well, 9S figures it's something he can answer a whole lot easier than Simon's existential problems, at least. Not that it feels particularly important at this moment, but... ]

It means we're not rolled out as blank slates. We're programmed to be the way we are, and start off with one of the various base personality data sets that have been created. So... hypothetically speaking, if you met another 9S, they'd be nearly identical to myself—the only thing that'd set us apart is our own experiences. On the other hand, 2B is a Number Two model, so we don't act anything alike because of that. Neither one of us also wouldn't be the same as, uh—a Number Six model. [ For example. ] ... Make sense?

Oh.

[ Simon stares at 9S as he processes this. It turns out that slight sense of dread was precognition of two things: one, you’re about to hear another thing about which 9S’s blasé acceptance will seem entirely alien; two, you’re about to feel like an asshole.

Simon doesn’t comprehend all the reasons 9S might have to be exasperated by his brooding, but he does have the capacity to contrast what he just heard with what he was just complaining about.

When he looks away it heralds a long pause thick with sheepishness. ] Yeah. Uh, I didn’t know it worked like that.

Yeah, that's how it works.

[ Granted, 9S has no idea what it's like to be human; perhaps that individuality was really, really important to them, and he's just completely failing to grasp why. ]

But you said it yourself—we're still ourselves.

[ And that includes you, Simon, so shut up and live your life already, god. ]

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