epidemiology | EVENT ▸ RESCUERS DOWN UNDER

Entry tags:

EVENT ▸ RESCUERS DOWN UNDER

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Though Hayame's lips purse at the blatant naming of said company... she does not say anything against it. There had been... decisions, that she has made, after much time in contemplation. After being stung by the words his brother had flung at her, in his absence. To care in action... meant little, if you denied it in words. So though it is yet difficult for her, feels yet shameful...]

... yes.

[It takes effort, just agreeing, but she manages it. There was no denying that they were... intimate. Anyone who'd happened to be looking in the right direction in Azeria had already seen her embarrassing display, so to deny it further would be folly. Though that doesn't mean she doesn't redden for it, discarding her pants (but no underwear? human undergarments here were too strange) before she quickly returns to her initial intent and pulls the ring from her finger to return her to proper jinba form.

There. That was better. The human body had grown suffocating over the days she had been unable to get relief from it, and though she knew it was still a bad idea to remove the disguise even in the hotel room... she wanted to so badly. While she was using it, it was weirdly easier to forget the discomfort of the suffocating frame, but in quiet moments and alone... she longed for hooves instead of feet.]

Do not worry- I am unoccupied. [Er- finished.] Had you business?

[ That's fine. Rey's going to infer her own explanation for why Hayame doesn't have underwear on based on that. Something something easy access. (Is that a thing people do? It seems impractical, and Hayame is nothing if not practical.)

She decides not to think too long and hard about it. ]

What? Oh. Yes. [ She looks back over when she sees Hayame shift out of the corner of her eye. It's the first time she's actually seen the change, and it's — well, fascinating, honestly. She'd have to ask to get her hands on that ring at some point. She's curious about the technology. Anyway. ]

Well, a— [ A friend ?? ? Recent events make that feel woefully inadequate, and Ben hates any such descriptors pretty definitively because they walk the line of explaining. ] … Someone that I know, who was in the prison with you, he's having a difficult time recovering from his injuries. I wanted to come check on you, but it looks like I was worried for nothing. You seem to be doing much better.

Edited 2018-05-17 15:01 (UTC)

[Automatically, Hayame moves to return the ring to where she usually kept such things, the small leather pouch she wore on the harness fastened about her equine chest, but- she recalls belatedly that she is the equivalent of half-dressed for a jinba, and awkwardly... just keeps holding it.

At the vague description, though, Hayame pauses halfway through adjusting the fit of her top now that her "hips" were back to being broad horse shoulders.]

... Kylo Ren?

["Someone that I know"? There were only so many people that could be.

Her own state she is more than happy to skip rather than dwell on the fact that she'd been forced to call upon one of those healing sorcerers.]

[ Oh. That's where we're sticking? Okay. Rey has the look in her eyes of someone who's just come to an abrupt halt from a comfortable stride. But, well, of course Hayame would have talked to him in there, and he had been sprawled uselessly in the lobby a few times since the prison break. It stood to reason. ]

Uh, yeah.

[ Rey offers nothing else. She has learned to offer nothing else. Hayame, however, is obviously using this to side-step Rey's concern over her. So she doesn't pry either, resulting in a silence that is awkward nearly to pain. ]

[The silence stretches on.

And on.

As Hayame considers her next words rather carefully, keeping in mind the "conversation" she'd had with said Kylo Ren in the lobby not- well, she'd made a detour to another room first, but. Not long ago.]

... he said your name is "Rey".

[So obviously... that was a good place to start.]

[ Confusion sets in. Rey's forehead creases with it, and she suddenly feels like she has stepped into a conversation she didn't know was coming.

This must be how Ben feels all the time with her. This is it. She gets it. ]

It is, yeah.

[ Didn't … Hayame … know that? Had Rey never said? She's running a catalogue of their interactions. Well, it had never come up, she supposed. And Hayame had always taken to calling her that nickname in her own language, whatever it meant. Idiot, she'd guessed, which had steadily transitioned from disgruntled to affectionate.

Right? ]

[No, it most definitely has never come up. And with Hayame's avoidance of groups in general, let alone talking about people with other people (usually)...

There's a moment when she just keeps staring. Surely... she has not been calling her by the wrong name this entire time?]

Why... did you not tell me your name was not Taka...

[It had been... in her "user name". That phrase had name in it-]

That's a name?

[ Oh my god linguistic barriers. Rey is too used to them. She had just assumed. Why would she do that? ? ?? Okay. No. It's not that bad. She's just been letting her friend think another name is her name for … months … that's really low stakes, actually. ]

I thought it was just a thing your people called each other. [ She's not going to say out LOUD that she thought Hayame was just calling her a dumbass. ] You always said it a certain way, so I thought … It's not a big deal.

It is your "user name" of course it is a name!

[Language has proven to be a confusing matter more than once among ALASTAIR, particularly when she'd first arrived and cast her magitech away from her, but... this... has been... a long time...

Is that not a big deal, it's her name? She's gotten used to some people having absolutely ridiculous entries into the "user name" field, but those could usually be spotted easily-]

Why would I call everyone Taka?

[Otaka, when being respectful. What a waste of an honorific.]

I guess … I thought you were calling me stupid.

[ But like in a nice way ? ?? ? Oh my god this is the worst conversation she's had to be a part of lately. Rey shrugs her shoulders widely, trying hard to dismiss it. Surely this hadn't found a way to offend Hayame. Rey was the one who'd been called by the wrong name! ]

And my username isn't 'Taka.' It's 'falcon.' That's the name of the ship I fly for the Resistance, the Millennium Falcon. I thought if anyone from home came looking for me, they'd recognize the call sign, or — [ Or mostly she just didn't want to let go of Han, once she had let go of Jakku. ]

Taka is written with "falcon"-

[... Oh.

Wait.

She... kind of sees what happened now. She didn't know how to write that kanji, but the magitech read text allowed for her. And Lance had explained to her that to him, her username read as a literal meaning of the characters that made up her own name, ("quick fish"), so...]

...

[Her face finds her bandaged palm, though the three fingers bound straight sort of ruin the gesture.]

[ Oh. Goodness. That makes sense. Rey rubs her hand over her mouth. Well, this is kind of embarrassing for both of them, isn't it? ]

So Hayame is 'quick fish,' then? [ That makes sense. She probably should have reasoned through this at some point earlier. She knows the basic concepts of language well enough through experience. Well enough, it becomes clear, to ask good questions and draw good inferences — ] Why did you add "o" to Taka, then?

[So even Otaka (Rey) saw her "user name" in such a butchered, literal meaning of the name... Hathaway...]

The way you... write it is, yes...

[Did other people not name their people after such things in the idea that it would inspire the child's future? She'd always assumed that everyone's names meant something in their native tongues.]

You add the "o" as a gesture of respect.

[But also somewhat distancing, in that sense. She'd been considering dropping it, actually, since... they were "friends" now... but that was moot now, she supposes.]

[ Rey flushes a little. She'd thought it was … begrudgingly endearing over time, but ultimately a disrespectful thing to be called. She'd misread Hayame out of the gate. And then she realizes— ]

Isn't that what 'san' is for? Should I call you "Ohayame" instead?

"O" is for women, no-

[Well, she knows she is... a woman, technically, but she has shunned any reminders of that fact once she was old enough to know it was an unfortunate state in a world like hers.]

Just call me Hayame.

[And... she supposes she would call her... Rey?

Bewildered, Hayame moves to the corner of the room and walks a tight circle before lowering herself down to her dun belly, stretching out forelegs before she awkwardly pushes slightly disheveled hair from her face.]

[ There's something there. Some vulnerability, something cultural that Rey doesn't quite grasp. She can't, therefore, help Hayame with it. All she can do is act as Hayame has asked, and expect that if for some reason she needs something else from Rey, that she will ask for that too.

Still. She sobers up considerably, noticing it, and decides to offer in kind — ]

You can call me Otaka still, if you want. Or Taka.

[ Rey pushes hair behind her ear. ]

Rey is … a name I gave myself. [ She tries to step cautiously around this admission. ] I didn't have parents around. [ She doesn't explain why, but Hayame can probably conclude the connection given their conversation in the hot springs. ] But Taka — the Falcon, that's something I chose for myself too because of someone who meant very much to me.

[ He's gone now too. But he had been like a father to her — more of one than her own ever had been. Han hadn't sold her. It was a low bar. ]

Whatever is more comfortable for you, that's fine.

[Hayame remembers those hot springs, and the conversation they'd had. Misses those hot springs. And that world, where things had made so much sense to her. They said the team was to gather soon to discuss their plan of action, but...

She will not go. Not after what happened last time, when she was sure she was in the right. Let alone now, in the midst of a culture that makes little sense to her.]

If that is the name you chose for yourself, then that is the name I will use.

["Rey", she means. That sort of thing... it was important. Far more so than a linguistic snafu between translator devices. As she considers her next words, Hayame stretches out her legs again with a twist of hock, both... pleased and displeased that her physical state transferred so seamlessly between the human and natural shape. At the moment... as comfortable as she was in this shape compared to the other... she'd sort of doubled the number of sore legs.

But that brings her back to a certain lobby-occupying man in black, and Hayame's lips purse slightly.]

About that man-

[... Kylo Ren. Before they'd been sidetracked.]

[ A good segue because Rey has the good sense to ask— ]

Did you ... Were the two of you talking about me? Is that where this came from?

[ Surely she had to come up, in order for her name to be corrected? For reasons she couldn't entirely grasp, she felt an uncomfortable twist and flutter in her stomach. She'd developed an instinctive dislike for people talking about her, after what had happened with Keith. Surely it wasn't that bad if Hayame hadn't said something sooner. And … surely neither Ben nor Hayame had anything unkind to fuss over without her present?

But did that mean it was kind? She had a hard time imagining Ben saying anything kind about anyone that wasn't a functional compliment to their face in context, framed as practically as possible. Hayame too, honestly. They had so much in common ... and that spirals her into wondering what that conversation even looked like. Did they speak at all, or just stare at each other? ]

We had words. Some of which involved you.

[... Probably less than a hundred words, because honestly, neither of the were the chatty type, apparently. Once it had become obvious to her that he was as, if not more, private than she was... she'd not wasted her time speaking to him further.

Rather convinced now that her instincts had been right, and that Kylo Ren was the name of the person that she had simply categorized in her mind as "the man Rey had confused feelings for who was both hot and cold", she debates asking why Rey had not said he came from the same world, but... in the end, refrains. They had not been... "friends" then.]

I did not realize he was your... [the word "master" leaves a sour taste in her mouth] teacher.

[ Rey visibly balks at that in a telling way that makes it entirely pointless to try to salvage her reaction. Her expression does not confirm any version of events Ben had relayed — rather, if anything she looks angry with this account. ]

He's not.

[ When Keith had explained as much to Poe, it had been Keith's understanding of a complicated thing that simplified what would have otherwise meant explaining the complications of feelings in the equation. Coming from him, it was his best understanding of the role Ben played in her life right now. She hadn't begrudged him that — if anything, she'd found herself grateful. It made things easy.

From Ben it is presumptuous and aggravating. ]

Did he tell you that? [ She's going to punch him. ] I have a teacher: Kisuke Urahara.

[The reaction was... interesting. Hayame, in the midst of an attempt at becoming better at listening, only watches at first, absently moving to begin gently stretching out her back legs.]

... It was the impression he gave, when I sought to put a name to the description you gave me.

[Large, muscular chest. Cold, but capable of secret? warmth. Confusing. Not the best description, but coupled with that embrace she'd seen within the prison... it had seemed her best guess.

And she had been... somewhat concerned for that possibility of that guess being correct, after what she had seen before Rey and the rest of the cavalry arrived. And what she had heard from Odinson.]

When you—

[ This time, the color (red, for the record) drains out of Rey's face. Oh no. She hadn't put a lot of thought towards that night, so it takes her a moment to catch up, but when she gets there she recognizes exactly the mistake she has made.

The description she'd given. Kriffing — Private and distant as Hayame was about it all, she'd never even thought that Hayame would be interested to go looking into who she'd meant. And what she'd said never would have come out if she hadn't been so deep in her sake that she'd spilled her conflict all over.

She couldn't blame Hayame, though. She had done it to herself. Only now she was mortified, trying to remember the particulars of what she'd said. That he was hot-and-cold, that she had tried to get too much from him, that he was — however conventionally — quite attractive. ]

You spoke with him about that?

[Otaka (Rey) had made a correct assessment the first time around. Hayame has certainly possessed no desire to investigate her story nor need to put a name to the face. It hadn't been her business then- but then they had become "friends", and in accepting that offer... that business had become her business as well.]

Briefly. He was not forthcoming.

[Had even tried to pass it off like he was nothing to her, as if she was blind?

But she isn't, and she also doesn't miss the change in color in Otaka (Rey's) face, pausing halfway towards letting down her hastily tied up hair and redoing it.]T

- I did not provide any of your description beyond the broad chest, so do not worry.

[That single physical detail was the only one she felt wasn't quite as private as the rest. Anyone could talk about how tall or shaped a person was... but the rest had been personal, and so when asked what else there had been... Hayame colors slightly herself, in belated realization of how she had replied, hoping to shame him into dropping the question. Two mares at a wedding, honestly-

It had worked at least.]

[ Somehow, Rey still looks vaguely worried. For a moment, at least. She's pretty sure Ben wouldn't appreciate hearing that she'd been talking to Hayame about how broad his chest was. No matter how big his ego, it still gave an impression that he didn't want to give. Well. At least it wasn't anything more damning.

Still. She's a little flustered over the news that someone else has told him that she was commenting on his body. There's some pink in her cheeks and her ears. ]

He's never forthcoming. Kylo is a … private person. [ She wrangles with this. ] Like you, a bit. Talking to you about his chest isn't much better than the rest, I'm pretty sure. [ She stops abruptly and raises a hand. ] Which isn't to say you should tell him the rest!

[ She takes this opportunity to … go invite herself to sit on Hayame's bed and sort of exhale. She needs to process this. Okay. Like, obviously, he'd noticed that she thought he had a nice … body … (R'iia's shorts, why was this so embarrassing?). It shouldn't be new information, and she can't help having eyes. ]

I'm sorry. You haven't done anything wrong. [ A big departure from when this had happened with Keith, in fact. ] I'm just terrible at this. I never should have said anything in the first place.

[Hayame feels equally terrible at this... so it's bound to go well.]

I merely said that he'd been described as large-chested for a human.

[She doesn't quite get any implication to that beyond a description... surely it wasn't as "bad" as the rest of what she'd been told... but the fact that she called it "bad", and that she seemed to imply the man wouldn't be pleased to know she had spoken to another woman... leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Hayame was not so open with her own... relationships... but not at all because those people had given her reason to think she should keep quiet. (The opposite, really.)

Frowning, Hayame finishes the motion she'd been in the process of and lets down her unkempt mane, carefully pulling the ankle length black hair over one shoulder so she could use her right hand to gesture for Otaka (Rey, damn it) to toss her the comb on the bedside table.]

We are now... "friends", are we not?

[Did such people not speak of such things?]

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

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject