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epidemiology2018-04-28 11:39 pm
futurologists) wrote in epidemiology2018-04-28 11:39 pm
Entry tags:
- ! plot,
- ahad (the inheritance trilogy),
- fiona (borderlands),
- gorō majima (yakuza),
- hayame (jinba),
- inuyasha (inuyasha),
- jason grace (camp half-blood chronicles),
- jester (critical role),
- keith (voltron),
- korra (legend of korra),
- kylo ren (star wars),
- laphicet (tales of berseria),
- lissa (fire emblem: awakening),
- rey (star wars),
- rhys (borderlands),
- scott summers (marvel comics),
- veronica lodge (riverdale),
- wylan van eck (grishaverse),
- yusuke urameshi (yu yu hakusho)
EVENT ▸ ELECTRIC SHEEP
ELECTRIC SHEEP  After Ophelia spends some time getting the lay of the land and settling into Drakstadish life, Rost informs them that one of their secret sympathizers has gained access to information that has the potential to bring the Prime Minister down. One of his maids has found security footage of him talking to other governmental officials in his home about incriminating plans. There is no time to explain what's in the recording, Rost member Froken explains, only that it has something to do with taxes: citizens of Drakstaden have had to pay an increase in taxes with the understanding that it will be used for revitalizing the lower levels -- including the promised Vakdir presence that has yet to come to fruition. Ophelia will need to infiltrate the City-State Broadcasting Station in the upper levels, where another secret sympathizer is ready to get them into the the master control room and disseminate the incriminating recording for the entire city to see. Rost will be accompanying them, ready to act as distractions or sacrifice themselves to the Vakdir who patrol the station; Ophelia has a better chance of completing the mission, and that is the most important thing to the rebels. ▸ BROADCASTING STATION  The Vakdir presence here is noticeably heavier than in the middle levels, though the upper class citizens' reaction to them is markedly different: whereas the middle class tends to cringe away from the Vakdir and avert their gaze, the upper class either ignores the Vakdir entirely or engages them in friendly conversation. It seems as though the oppressive force of the Vakdir is not so oppressive for the wealthy. You may want to take the time to explore. The City-State Broadcasting Station is on the uppermost floors of one of the taller buildings, meaning that Ophelia and Rost will need to climb several flights of stairs to reach the doors. Once there, the "secret sympathizer" -- Petyr Larson, the janitor -- is there to let them in. It's the middle of the broadcast day, so everyone else will be busy in the broadcasting and control rooms, giving characters plenty of time to explore the station, though they'll still have to be on the lookout for the Vakdir patrolling the halls. Larson's iris scan allows him to enter any room in the Broadcasting Station, including offices, and he has made copies of his iris scan on credit card-sized discs: the infiltrators only need hold the disc up to the scanners in front of any locked room for access. This allows for the team to split up into smaller groups or head out solo, and it keeps Larson out of immediate danger; though he's sympathetic to the rebel cause, he's a very nervous sort and is not exactly equipped to explain to the Vakdir why he's accompanying roughly 80 people around the station. While exploring the whole station can potentially turn up useful information for Rost to use against the oppressive government, they'll insist that everyone's sights are set on the control booth so they can upload the Prime Minister's secret meeting. It'll have to be timed carefully -- there is a fifteen minute break between broadcast shifts where the majority of the staff breaks for lunch, and the control booth should be abandoned. Once inside, it's a small matter of plugging the drive into the console and hitting the button marked BROADCAST: The recording is grainy-looking and from a high angle. It's a spacious, many-windowed room where the Prime Minister is seated at a desk. Seated across from the desk are three men, all dressed impeccably; their high-end cybernetics gleam even in the low-quality recording.As this recorded "off the record" meeting continues, it seems to indicate that Prime Minister Ivarson does intend to stay true to his promise to fix the lower levels -- by jailing the majority of the lower class, thereby clearing the lower levels of crime and undesirables once and for all. The prisoners would then be used as a cheap labor force, driving the middle class into poverty as they try to compete with the unpaid workers, thereby establishing a new lower class and ridding the upper class of all competition. It's certainly damning to the Prime Minister and will likely disturb the lower and middle classes, but it begs the question -- is it enough to drive the upper class against him too? ▸ THE VAKDIR  Any safeguards against entering the broadcasting station don’t keep all of the Vakdir out; there are already several inside, searching the large building for anyone who doesn't belong there. You’ll need to be stealthy if you want to get out without being apprehended and arrested, which will obviously happen if you're found there. The Broadcasting Station has quite a lot of tech one might be able to hide behind, as well as rooms -- offices, closets, dressing rooms -- to duck into if the Vakdir are patrolling the halls. If caught, characters can struggle to break free -- although they will still be known as a fugitive if they escape, and their likeness will be broadcast frequently as a wanted person. The Vakdir are equipped with powerful stun guns that will disable the average person almost instantly, as well as body armor that protects them from most attacks. Characters who do not escape will be brought to the prison, a high-tech complex adjacent to the Vakdir Headquarters, where they will be required to relinquish their possessions (it's your choice if your character's jewelcomm and/or specialization magitek is included!) and change into the grey prisoner uniform provided. The prisoners are informed by a particularly slimy Vakdir officer that there will be no trial, and that their punishment will be severe; the Prime Minister is very displeased with their malicious attempts to destabilize a peaceful nation, and evil acts deserve justice. “Sleep well,” he tells them, locking the door to the cell. On the bright side, due to severe overpopulation in the prison, all the prisoners from the broadcasting station have been thrown into one -- cramped, uncomfortable -- cell. In addition to whatever guildmates have been imprisoned, there are a few Rost members in the cell as well, as well as some innocent bystanders -- and Petyr Larson, the Broadcast Station's inside man. It looks like it's sleepover time! But don't worry -- the Rost take care of their own, and rescue is surely on its way. ▸ OOC NOTES This log takes place over several hours, with the next log -- featuring a jailbreak! -- beginning a few days later. In other words, there will be time dilation in place, meaning that only two IC days will pass between this log and the next. Please note because this log has been posted so late in the month, you may use threads begun in April for May AC. You may not use the same thread for AC in both months. If you have questions about this log or the mission, please direct them to the dossier. Questions about the game in general can be directed to the FAQ. ▸ Up now:
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no subject
Simon could absolutely pass as her manservant. He might actually be getting a taste of what it would've been like if Catherine had been beside him, rather than stuck in the Omnitool, as they crept around PATHOS-II. ]
Not really, [ she says frankly. ] I'm not dealing with them, I'm stealing data from them. It's completely different.
I think it's kind of exciting.
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Are you even taking this seriously? [ he keeps his voice low, so as not to be overheard by the few upper-class citizens scattered around the windowed bridge they’re crossing, and trying to concentrate on the thought of dealing with the datastick. Because that’s the least intimidating part that’s still familiar.
...in the same tone: ] Cool prosthetic, by the way. Didn’t know you guys could make stuff that looks good.
[ Simon’s well-aware that PATHOS-II was made for industrial applications that only the people who elected to live at the bottom of the Atlantic to work there really needed to see, but he thinks he’s earned his right to throw a little bit of shade. ]
no subject
--Wait, what is that supposed to mean? Who's "you guys"?
[ Catherine is prepared to be miffed, but as this is Simon, also prepared to tolerate his blatantly wrong opinions. ]
no subject
[ Her first statement goes without comment. It’s true, although the fact that Simon starts to, if not match, at least approximate Catherine’s confidence has more to do with the distraction of talking to somebody familiar than practical advice. Even if he thinks he’s being very logical about this.
They’re on entirely equal footing here in this task, a dynamic that doesn’t feel as different from the Catherine-led mad science quests they ran on before as it probably should. Maybe because, even if Simon isn’t doing this at her behest, that disaster-cultivated spirit of “just do the damn thing already, oh look at that we didn’t die after all what did i say simon” won’t be stopped by petty barriers like other dimensions. ]
no subject
[ She can banter with Simon while keeping track of their goal, no problem. It's even familiar in an odd way, the dynamic the same no matter how the context shifts. Catherine impatiently hikes her skirt up a bit to walk more quickly, now a brisk clip, a woman with a destination if not necessarily a mission. No skulking about poking into desk drawers for her. ]
I think we're coming up on the DDC soon, so we should zip it.
no subject
[ If they had time to dwell on it, Simon might recall the snatches of Magitek conversations he’d heard where Catherine mentioned that she didn’t see PATHOS-II as the crumbling labyrinthine hellhole it was to Simon and probably everybody he’s mentioned it to. Whoops.
He surreptitiously glances at his jewelcomm to double-check the location of the Rost sympathizer’s apartment
because let’s just say they’re already there. The well-lit, gleaming infrastructure up here should be comforting, and it is in a way, but man Simon feels super exposed. He looks over at Catherine as if to say WELP HERE GOES, although the act alone of keeping up with her stride limits the nervous vibes he can give off. Even Simon can’t do both at once at 100% capacity. ]If she wants a handshake, that’s on you.
[ not sure how good catherine is with handshakes
but her hands are less weird than his situation so under the bus she goes ]
no subject
The surroundings here are still fascinating to her. They seem almost like what Taipei might be in a thousand years, if they're allowed to grow and develop under their own power. It's a nice dream to have, and worth the formal wear and espionage to see it.
Catherine is... okay with handshakes. Not thrilled with them, but she can deal. And obviously Simon can't do it without freaking someone out.
She hits the intercom at the front door of the apartment building and speaks into it with the calm, unbothered voice of the-woman-at-Lambda. ] This is Dr. Chun. A mutual friend of ours said you wanted a house call for a cybernetics consult? [ Lying with the almost truth is always easiest, and she thinks that will translate well enough. ]
no subject
[ There’s the Catherine he’d gotten used to, and the drawn-in corporeal Catherine she seems at odds with — less so, now that Simon is starting to be able to reconcile them as two sides of the same coin. But it’s been a while since he heard thank fuck, a competent person, who is this mystery woman who might somehow make me not die down here?? Catherine. The relief has lost the desperate, piece-of-driftwood-in-the-ocean edge it had whenever he plugged her in in PATHOS-II, but if Drakstaden has been anything, it’s been confirmation that OH GOOD CATHERINE IS HERE is alive and well.
And not that he’s disappointed that she’s good at this, but he is totally her manservant.
The woman inside apparently gets this impression as well, as after unlocking the door and offering a strained smile to Catherine and... the air several inches over Simon’s head, whatever, he’s gotten used to that, and leading them inside, she presses the datastick into Catherine’s hands.
then starts telling them about her brother, who spoke out against the government recently and whom she hasn’t heard from since... ]
We’re doing everything we can. It’ll be okay. [ as far as Simon is concerned, now they can’t leave because she’s tearing up. ]
no subject
As she'd said earlier, she doesn't think of this as interacting with people so much as achieving a mission, and is correspondingly caught flat-footed when she's suddenly expected to do the former.
She's carefully pocketing the datastick into her clutch purse when she glances up, frozen, for a moment. Oh God. She cannot be starting to cry. ]
Part of what we'll be looking for with this information is any detainees who haven't been killed. [ There's no comfort offered there, just a fact. ] We haven't forgotten them. [ It's about all she can offer. ]
no subject
The woman presses a hand to her mouth, but nods gamely as she gives them her wobbly thanks. Obviously Catherine’s words about dead people are Not Comforting, but she appears to have resolved to at least look like she can handle rough truth bombs; the position Rost and Ophelia are in luckily makes that look like what Catherine’s doing, akin to a homicide detective who is doing their best but has no choice but to be the bearer of bad news with no possible palatable delivery, rather than rudeness or social ineptitude. ]
We’ll find him. [ okay shit that might not be better, and she gives Simon a weak smile for it, but somebody has to be the good cop.
As soon as they’re outside, he bursts out with, ] Christ, Cath, you can’t just talk to everybody like they’re me.
no subject
She's just as mercilessly forthright with herself as she is with everyone else. Like a detective who constantly has bad news to tell, and nothing good.
That's just how life is.
She levels Simon a half-baffled, half-scornful look as they stride out, less assertively than she'd gone in. More cautious, now that she has the data. ] I don't talk to everyone like they're you, I talk to you like you're anyone else, [ she points out, in what seems to her to be a perfectly logical standpoint. If Simon thought he got special treatment, that sentiment is about to be thoroughly disabused. ]
no subject
Okay, that makes sense. Simon’s conflicting feelings about the continuous-but-not nature of his existence sometimes makes it feel like he and Catherine are, in some weird way, each the first person the other has ever met. Maybe it’s just easier to let it feel like that. ]
Well, it wouldn’t kill you to be a little more delicate about it.
[ They start passing Vakdir sooner than he would have expected on their way back, but the two Simon has spotted are chatting with unbothered civilians, so he averts his eyes to look forward instead. Wouldn’t be good to catch a Vakdir’s attention while you’re side-eyeing them with a decidedly lower-class, hunted look. ]
And don’t say it’s not— not realistic or logical. That’s not the point.
[ Who better, in the entire multiverse, to explain the merits of avoiding uncomfortable truths than Simon?? No one. ]
no subject
It's not about being logical, [ she complains openly, hitching her skirt up to walk more easily. ] Not everyone thinks it's kind to help someone perpetuate an illusion. [ There's some wry, black humor behind that, the sort Catherine is prone to tossing around without a second thought. ]