Intro Log - March 2014

[rekindlemods]

Who: Everyone
Where: The Welcome Center
When: 18th March, afternoon
Summary: The new arrivals, freshly pulled from their worlds or others, awaken in a strange place...
Warnings: Inbox death may occur. System overload at own risk. SOME NPC RESPONSES WILL BE SLOW UNTIL THE ONE WHO PLAYS THEM IS PRESENT.

It's a shuddering breath, a sensation of being pulled to elsewhere and finding oneself pressed against something on the soft and some place cozy. However, before one can fully stir, there is and odd, warm stirring sensation that lifts you up from wherever you've been dropped, when you begin to drift off once more.

Yet the feeling passes quickly, and when you awaken, you begin to realize your surroundings. It's a small room with what some might recognize as a Far Eastern theme when it comes to decor, from the walls to the sofa (or bed) you find yourself on. Illumination is provided by carefully crafted lamps, and even a candle flickering on a nearby desk. The doors are made from paper and wood, with a thin frame; through them it's easy to hear other people stirring, talking, or coming to.

You are not alone...

Close at hand there's a note that reads:

WELCOME CENTER
Newcomers: Please come downstairs to the lobby for refreshments and your welcome packets!

Odd... This wasn't written in your own language, and yet you find it easily understandable. Soon enough, if you don't enter on your own, there's a gentle knocking on the door as someone comes from downstairs to usher you along.

"Welcome to Saeng Seong! I know you must be confused as to where you are and what's going on, but we promise to explain this to you once you've had a chance to stretch your legs!"

Whether you go downstairs immediately or linger a little longer, eventually you must come down and get out of the small space, and sooner rather than later would probably be better. You'll find yourself in a well-lit lobby, filled with comfortable-looking couches and chairs. Along one wall are refreshment tables, loaded with all sorts of warming, comforting food and drink, including some you probably aren't familiar with. On the wall opposite are a pair of desks, each with a sign and a person seated behind them -

Irene, General Assistance
Devin, Technological Assistance

Unlike a few waves before, the only people in charge seem to be the people behind the desks. They look a bit busy.

However, before you can go over and give them a piece of your mind and ask questions, the same person who ushered you downstairs hands you a manilla envelope that contains your welcome packet, urging you to read this before asking the two figures questions that the packet likely answers.

Inside it, you will find: a ring with a key and apartment number on it, some kind of cash card, a map and informational guide to the city, and a letter folded neatly on the top -

Welcome to Saeng Seong!

You are among a new group of arrivals to our city, from many far-apart worlds.
We have gathered you here because our city is in a crisis, and we are at our last resorts. The energy of the city is in a slow downward spiral, and is dangerously close to expiring altogether.

That's where you come in - you and everyone else we've brought to the city. Unlike those of us here, you have the potential to generate the energy the city needs, but you'll need to work together to do it.

Why? Because the energy can only be generated when two people touch each other. Any touch will do, but it must be between two of you who are new to the city. If you don't keep in contact with someone, eventually your energy will begin to drain as well, making you dangerously ill.

A few other things:

The closed-off sections of the city are closed off for a reason; approaching them will cause your energy to drain very rapidly. We're working to open the rest of the city to you as soon as we can, but for now, please remain within the first five districts of the city.

You have been given a key to a one-bedroom apartment in a complex set aside for you and the other new arrivals, near the riverside in the 1st district. You're free to change your living quarters whenever you like, and we encourage you to move in with someone in one of the larger apartments. When you want to change, just come back to this building to exchange your key.

We've also included a cash card with a living stipend; if you're unfamiliar with this system, or the network established for new arrivals, you can talk to Devin in the lobby for help. It's what he's here for. If you need medical assistance, contact Mai, one of our nurses.

Again, welcome, and thank you for all your help.

Irene
Arrival Liaison

Outside, and through the translucent glass you can see a banner hanging from the tiled roof of the building across the street. It's looking bright against a mostly blue sky:

WELCOME TO SAENG SEONG
(ENJOY YOUR STAY!)

Comments

[fons_et_origo]

"Interesting. I can't wait to see what happens." He doesn't quite believe it, but if it's happened then it has to be true. He'll wait till they open another one before he passes judgment.

[shadowsgambit]

"It'll be a while. The fifth one opened up not long ago. A month or two, maybe?" It was hard to tell. Time was starting to run together to her, with no particular reason to mark its passing. "It's nothing special, just one day they announce it's open. But from what I heard, they needed to do some testing with the energy for the first one they opened."

[fons_et_origo]

"And once they're open, anyone can go inside?" Though the thought of going into an open district isn't terribly exciting, it would be like going anywhere else. "What about the closed ones? Are they guarded and off-limits?"

[shadowsgambit]

"Yeah, but...not for nothing. If you go in there, you won't last more than a couple minutes at best. I tried sending a drone over the wall and even that didn't protect me from the drain. Whatever the lack of energy is, it's..." She shrugs, not sure how else to describe it but to repeat herself. "It's not just a power outage, whatever it is is actively draining power from anything inside it."

[fons_et_origo]

That makes him more curious, though he puts that thought aside for the moment for something else more pressing.

"Drone? What do you mean by that?"

[shadowsgambit]

Figures, the one day she left them at home to keep people from tripping over them... "Short version, they're machines I run with my mind. I thought maybe since it wasn't me in there it wouldn't be so bad."

She couldn't have been more wrong.

[fons_et_origo]

"Machines you run with your mind?" The idea is fascinating. "I'd like to see at some point, if I may."

The other point, he puts away for future reference. Don't explore with clones unless he's prepared to deal with the energy drain...

[shadowsgambit]

"Sure, I get that a lot here. If you don't mind walking back to the apartments, I could show you."

Being unusual in a good way, being of note by simply performing however she might back home, was something she was getting used to, slowly. It wasn't quite so fun to show off anymore, but she'd still do so for the curious. It was something to do, at least.

[fons_et_origo]

"Ah, my apologies. I didn't mean to put you on as some sort of show..." Though if she'd done it enough times it was a very uncommon sort of skill. A shame, as it sounded rather useful, having remote eyes everywhere.

[shadowsgambit]

"Null sweat. Didn't take me long to get used to it." She gestured with a hand to follow her and began leading him back towards the apartments. "I guess I'm the only person from my world here. Or any world like mine."

[fons_et_origo]

He follows along, as he is curious about how it works above and beyond not wanting to be rude. "Ah, thank you. I don't think I've seen or heard of anything like that in my travels either, so it's a rather unique skill set. If I may ask, what is it for?"

[shadowsgambit]

She shrugs. "Pretty common at home. Some drones are used to deliver small objects or clean air ducts but I've got combat drones. Good for scouting or firefights, and one of 'em can carry medkits. Didn't get a chance to restock it before I came here though."

What she'd really like is a vehicle to get around in, but...drones are less expensive to maintain.

[fons_et_origo]

"Ah, so they are capable of combat as well?" The mental image he was building of them was quite curious indeed, and he was eager to see what they actually looked like. "And a medic. They're very useful devices, it sounds like. How do you control them?"

[shadowsgambit]

Fortuna stopped and pulled her hair back on one side, tilting her head a little to show him the coin-sized data port inserted in her head behind her ear.

"Through this. It's called a datajack. You'll see it in action soon enough."

[fons_et_origo]

He'd never seen anything like what she showed him, though the meaning of it wasn't too hard to glean. Metal in her head... perhaps it worked on telepathy or something similar? He would have to content himself with waiting until it was time to see.

"Data jack," he repeated. "Your world is quite technologically inclined."

[shadowsgambit]

"More than this, yeah." To an extent. There are some things she hasn't seen before but that's more an apples and oranges thing. She leads him up the stairs towards her apartment and opens the door.

Instead of going in, though, she takes the drones' controller from her coat. There's a wire attached to it already; she really should unplug both ends for cleaning every now and then. But it isn't an issue at this point anyway. The other end of the wire has a larger plug, one that fits perfectly into the port behind her ear as she lifts her hair away from it with the back of her hand. It's not telepathy, or it technically is, kind of, but most people would just call it wireless broadcasting. She presses something on the controller and her eyes lose focus for a moment.

Two drones come towards the door seemingly on their own then, the ground-bound one about the size of a cat, shaped like a tank with a dome-shaped top and running on six little wheels; and the airborne one hovering on what might be four fans, spherical and about the size of a person's head.

[fons_et_origo]

The control box doesn't seem too out of place, but when she plugs the wire coming out of it into her head he can't help but stop and gape for a moment.

The sight of the drones, however, changes his focus, and he kneels down in order to get a better look. They are almost like toys, though he knows better than to assume that they are.

"That's amazing..."

[shadowsgambit]

She gets that a lot here. The novelty of it's worn off, but she still obliges anyway. It's interesting in its own way, to see again and again that her world is different somehow.

"The Sundowner, that's the round one, is the one that can carry things. The other one's just extra firepower."

[fons_et_origo]

His eyes sparkled as he took it in. While he was cetain he would never be able to have something like this, he could at least figure out how it worked as well as he could.

"how do you control them? Do you simply think thoughts at them, or is it through that box?" and he pointed at the controller. "If so, why does it plug into your mind?"

[shadowsgambit]

"Uh...well it's the controller that sends the signal..."

She pauses, and the drones slow to a stop as she thinks of how best to word it. "It's more like they're a part of me. I can see through their cameras and things like that. Moving them is just like moving myself, I don't have to think about it too much most of the time."

Yes, she's looking at herself looking at herself, as long as the drones are facing her. That's a big part of being good at drone control, being able to properly process inputs that should by all rights be very disorienting. During combat, no less.

[fons_et_origo]

"So they're extensions of yourself..." he nodded in understanding. "You're very talented, to be able to manipulate so much all at once." He wasn't sure if he could do that sort of thing, but then again perhaps with experience...

"Thank you for demonstrating. My apologies for putting you on the spot like that."

[shadowsgambit]

"Don't worry about it. It's all about multitasking, really. There are people who can do it better than me. Handle more complicated drones, handle any drone with less effort, things like that. I don't think I'll ever be able to reach them. I'm at about the point where most trolls just hit a wall, no matter how hard they train. I don't think I've ever seen a troll with an S-class drone before, for example."

Is it frustrating? Absolutely. It's not like she was born a troll. But that's a dangerous line of thought in a place like this, where she can't distract herself from it. So she tries to take it in another direction, speaking as much for herself as for him though she does all she can to convince herself it's not for her.

"But you know, you can have all the best gear money can buy, but you won't compare if your opponent has a better battle plan, or a better crew."

[fons_et_origo]

"Trolls..." ah, the horns and such. That's what her world called them. He really hadn't thought much of it, given the sentient talking animals that were prevalent on many worlds he'd been to. "I see. It's unfortunate, but you are right. Gear is an asset, but it cannot make up for a lack of skill. Even with little, one can go quite far."

[shadowsgambit]

"Exactly. Sounds like you've seen some battle, yourself."

Or for all she knows he's talking about competition in a completely different field.