EVENT ▸ RESCUERS DOWN UNDER

[futurologists]

RESCUERS Tensions are high in the Democratic City-State of Drakstaden. It's been two days since the infiltration of the Broadcasting Station, where a secret recording of the Prime Minister laying out plans to enslave the lower classes was broadcast to the entire city -- leading to a number of bystanders, Ophelia, and Rost to get arrested and thrown in prison. Of course, no one's useful to the resistance effort behind bars, so Rost makes contact and explains that they've been spending the past two days planning a prison break -- and it's time to put it in action. ▸ VAKDIR PRISON Rost’s most studious member, Brynja, proposes that the prison break effort be split into two groups: a distraction group and an infiltration group. The infiltration group will need members familiar with technology who will be able to use -- and if necessary, manipulate -- the Vakdir security tech. Stealth and speed are of the essence, as being caught could blow the entire operation. It’s possible there will be run-ins with stray Vakdir who will need to be dispatched quickly and quietly, then hidden; fighters who specialize in guns, explosives, or other loud weaponry might want to join the other group. The distraction group will have to busy the Vakdir on guard duty and, in the worst-case scenario, take them out before they can investigate or stop the break-in. Good conversationalists are required, but good fighters are necessary, too. Most importantly, creative minds who can think on their feet and get themselves out of tight spots are ideal for the distraction group. The main Vakdir security is positioned in the lobby near the entrance and around the perimeter of the building. The minimum number of guards at any given area is two; the Vakdir do guard duty in groups. The most important thing while there are no alarms going off is to keep the guards busy and in place -- you don’t want them heading back and finding a group of infiltrators. Whatever it takes to keep them there! Each guard is a different person and has a different personality, so what works for one may not work for another. If an alarm goes off -- when an alarm goes off, since one does near the end of the operation -- it’s time to pull out all the stops. This is when it likely gets violent, unless you’re particularly persuasive. The security camera footage will be deleted and the released inmates won’t be taking any prisoners themselves, so no one will be left to remember your face; don’t worry about becoming a fugitive. The infiltration part is a little trickier. Brynja knows the location of an alternate entrance, but it's locked. The only hope is a small, impossibly high window. Looks like you’ll have to do some teamwork! With some standing on each other’s shoulders -- and a good lookout -- someone will be able to drop in through the window (watch your landing!) and unlock the door from the inside. Unluckily, one of the first obstacles they’ll run into is a retina scanner. Luckily, a few of those retinas are nearby... some Vakdir officers have accidentally stumbled upon the team. They’re unprepared, but armed; take them out quickly, before they can alert anyone. Once they’re out, you can hold them up to the retina scanner. The door to the holding cells is the next obstacle. It appears there’s a password, one that changes daily if the TODAY’S PASSCODE IS... is any indication. For a moment, it looks like they’re out of luck, before a prompt pops up: WOULD YOU LIKE A HINT? If pressed, it will bring up the following hint: 6 16 1611 111621 31161211 THE PASSCODE IS THE NEXT NUMBER IN THE SEQUENCE. Eventually, someone’s bound to figure it out -- the answer is 132116111221; each number describes the number before it. In this case, one three, two ones, one six, one one, one two, and two ones. Once inside, it’s up to inventors to hack the locks or bruisers to brute force their way in. Either way, free the prisoners! Yes, all of them -- not only are most of them probably locked up for bogus charges, but the more people on your side, the better your chances are for winning not just this battle, but the war. Once they’re all free, it’s time to lead them all back the way you came so nobody trips an alarm. Except... everyone’s a little bit worked up about being freed and running amok. And it looks like someone just tripped an alarm all on their own. Well, no one said it would be easy! ▸ DISCUSSION After the break-in and escape, you'll need to lie low. Go back to the hotel, hide with Rost, spread throughout the city with your newly freed friends -- whatever you like. But wherever you go, you'll notice that Vakdir presence has increased, even in the previously unguarded lowest levels. If you're wanted for crimes, you'll need to be especially careful, unless you want to constantly be running for your life. With the sudden surge in criminal and treasonous behavior, the entire city has gone on lockdown. There is now a curfew in place: everyone must be in their homes by an hour after sunset, which, given the short daylight hours on this part of the planet, means citizens only have ten hours per day of freedom. This curfew applies to the rebels of Rost and Ophelia, of course, though with your combined resources, you should be able to find a way to get around it and continue your work throughout the city, whatever that may be. Still, things are bad. And despite the combined efforts of Rost and Ophelia, things keep getting worse; Rost worries that the Vakdir will increase its efforts to root them out, pulling innocent citizens into the thick of everything and bringing the lower class ever closer to the Prime Minister's planned subjugation. Purple-haired Rost agent Froken stops by the hotel one day before curfew, surreptitiously letting Ophelia know they're ready to do whatever it takes to finish this once and for all; Rost is prepared to hear any suggestions that Ophelia may come up with, trusting them as experts in this matter (whether or not that's true for the individuals in the guild). But first, you'll need to discuss what to do. ▸ OOC NOTES This log takes place over one day, with the next log beginning two weeks later. Get ready to get serious! Please note: due to a dip in activity, we have shifted some plot points, combining this log and the next. The next planned !plot log on 26 May will be the final log of this mission. 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: Player Plot: Mayission Impossible (sign-ups closed). ▸ Coming next (Futurology runs on timezone UTC): 19 May: Resolution submissions and voting begins. 23 May: Resolution submissions and voting ends. 26 May: Final log of Mission: Drakstaden. ▸ CR/Welcome Meme ▸ Drakstaden Dossier ▸ Drakstaden Locations ▸ Drakstaden Bounty Board ▸ May Calendar

Comments

[damnpire]

[Slowly, D follows Rey's gaze out of the lobby and back into Drakstaden. He may be a Hunter, and he may be sympathetic to the human cause, but he never went out to purposefully save everyone or the world.

He takes each town one at a time, and he never takes a job that doesn't offer him monetary compensation. (Usually.) Maybe he's not quite the best to ask about saving others unconditionally.]

Are you sure you're okay with that much responsibility? Saving others.

[forcevisions]

Yes. [ Automatic, bordering on fervent. Then she puts some more thought towards it and admits, as though somehow confessing selfishness in what is ostensibly an altruistic act — ] I share their fate.

[damnpire]

[This makes D looks back to Rey actually.]

What do you mean?

[He can infer, but would prefer if she explained.]

[forcevisions]

If my galaxy is lost to the darkness, I'll suffer with them. If I save them, I save myself. If anyone fights for balance, they're fighting for themselves too.

[ That seems straightforward, right? ]

The people on the upper levels here like to pretend they're immune, but even some of them know it. No one really is.

[damnpire]

I see. [It doesn't sound dismissive, only an indication he is hearing what she's saying. If he can reasonably assume Kylo and Rey are from the same world space, he wonders what Kylo would say about this. Just as a comparison of views.]

Some of the Nobility and the humans tried to coexist, but it was futile. [He isn't the only dhampir. There are others. Vampires and humans, both feeling love, and hate, and sorrow. Coming together, being together. That's how he was born.] In the end, that world did not come.

Will you still fight against those odds?

[forcevisions]

I have to.

[ Because if she doesn't, it means accepting a defeat that she has been running from, avoiding grappling with, for months now. ]

It'll come.

[damnpire]

[D can't see the future, so he can't call Rey's vision of it stupidly hopeful. There have been plenty of times he's seen a miraculously great end come out of the ashes of pain and suffering. He's more the type to see where the path leads anyway.

If people didn't have anything to fight for, he wouldn't have a job as a Hunter.]

What is your plan? Are you going to decide with the Guild?

[forcevisions]

[ She nods. ]

There's a path to balance. To righting the wrongs that have been plaguing my galaxy. Every place like this we go is a lesson. [ She gestures again out the lobby door. ] When I've seen enough, I'll return with an answer.

[damnpire]

[After her words, he's quiet. His eyes look out of the lobby, but they don't seem to be focusing on Drakstaden this time. He looks through it at something else.]

Some people believe the Prime Minister should be killed to help this city. Do you believe that, too?

[forcevisions]

Without a better solution, yes.

[ She doesn't sound unfeeling about it, though. She understands what it means to take a life and make the decision that someone can't be saved from their own corruption. She hates having to say that — particularly because of what she had done in Perdition's Rest, where she had been too quick on the trigger. But ... ]

He's hurting too many people. They don't deserve to suffer because of his madness.

[damnpire]

Who here do you believe should be the one to do it?

[Really, he is honest to God not trying to be a philosophical ass. He's merely curiously where Rey thinks she stands.]

[forcevisions]

Whoever's got the skill to do it right the first attempt. I doubt there would be a shortage of volunteers from Rost or Hathaway.

[damnpire]

We should try for a better solution. If he's killed, someone will take his place. There won't be any repercussions established in their system. Responsibility.

[forcevisions]

Sure there is. Responsibility to the people, who will have shown that they are willing and able to rise up and remove anyone who doesn't act in their interests.

[ Is this naive, oversimplified, and painfully optimistic? Probably. ]

[damnpire]

No one will want that position if those are the terms. They will be too scared. Any perceived misstep may end their life.

But without rules, the city will fall into disarray. [Hm.] Before the Frontier became the Frontier, it was a world run by mankind's government. It had a system of checks and balances to ensure its regulation.

[forcevisions]

Like ... money?

[ She doesn't quite follow 'checks and balances' in this context. Not everyone got a high school education, D. Bring it down a little further. ]

[damnpire]

[Thankfully, D isn't prone to ridicule or tease for misunderstandings. On the other hand, he's wondering how he's going to fully explain this without getting into a bunch of information Rey might not understand... from various countries that don't exist anymore.] No, not money.

A format that promoted checking to create governmental equality. One of the places using this method divided the government into three branches. Each one had certain powers, but only with other branches could they make lawful decisions.

Another one offered leadership to both a monarch and an elected official.

Those practices have long since vanished on the Frontier.

[forcevisions]

[ She digests this not just for the good of Drakstaden, but for the good of her galaxy. The New Republic had crumbled under the weight of its own failures and inaction. Would 'checks and balances' have prevented it? She'll have to talk it over with Poe later. ]

So you're saying that the problem isn't the Prime Minister alone, but the fact that he has no one else to keep him in line? But he is the elected official. Technically, at least.

[damnpire]

Even the most stable forms of government have loopholes.

[Don't forget.]

If the Prime Minister can appoint others himself, he will always appoint those who agree with him, those with similar views. An election of officials can be rigged.

Perhaps each level can give up a certain number of officials to a committee, making the representation even. Regardless, it will be difficult to distinguish regions. They're all Drakstaden residents. There's no official census for what level they are from that I'm aware.

[forcevisions]

There would be no way for them to find that information. So many on the lower levels don't have homes.

[ This, Rey understands well, even if the rest is out of her depth. ]

[damnpire]

I know.

Keith isn't wrong in his endeavour. The lower two levels require a great deal of inner reform. Without it, this city will again return to how it exists currently.

[forcevisions]

[ Something in the way he acknowledges this placates her into a greater degree of comfort. He cares about the people in the places like Jakku too, and he knows Keith. So she puts further thought towards his idea.

Representatives to form a committee using official census is a pretty fair way to get reform, from what she can tell. She's trying to imagine how that would apply in her own galaxy and it's just … the Republic. ]

What if the representatives become corrupt? Or … if they can't agree to get anything done? I know that we can't make it corruption-proof, but we want to set them up with their best chance of finding that reform.

[damnpire]

[There's no real way for him to sooth Rey's worries over the corruption any government can face.]

A few of them most certainly will. [He doesn't really lie. In the end, maybe it's better to just be straight-forward anyway.] To balance, there would need to be a few from each level. Any corruption can potentially be overruled.

Using a majority vote would perhaps bypass a stalemate.