etrayalogs | MISSION 004 WRAP-UP

Entry tags:

MISSION 004 WRAP-UP

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: August 9th and going forward
WHERE: Returning to Etraya
WHAT: End of Mission 004 Log
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A

⏵ there's no place like home ⏴
On the morning of August 9th, every Etrayan’s earpiece receives a message from Eos: FAIL or PASS in big, bold letters with no further context. Players are free to choose which response their character gets; if they were able to go through Moorecroft without letting on that they were from Etraya, or another city bubble in general, they will receive a PASS. Those whose identities as Etrayans were spoiled, will get a FAIL. This response has no bearing on whether or not they participated in the midnight breakouts, nor what condition they’ve managed to get themselves into.

It wouldn’t be the first time some kids from Moorecroft tore up the town looking for answers, even if it is the first time in a while they’ve managed to get as far as they had and cause as much damage as they have.

Regardless, any responses sent to Eos will bounce right back to the original sender, with a RECEIVER UNAVAILABLE error: it seems that, shortly after sending through their results, all of those from Etraya have been disconnected from Eos’ network, and reconnected to Aurora’s by the friendly companion bots stepping through another portal in the middle of Moorecroft’s park. They’ll offer waves of their hands, and usher everyone back to Etraya proper. They’ll offer explanations similar to what Aurora would give to newcomers arriving to those who were dropped in with Eos, as well as offer to assist them in getting settled in Etraya.

The companion bots will allow Etrayans to step through the portal with items they can carry, minus the smaller android babies. If they insist, it will be explained to them that, much like the companion bots native to Etraya, these babies are meant to assist newcomers in settling, and they cannot take them from Eos.

Welcome home.

At the very least, everything looks normal on this side.

⏵ whispered secrets of the night ⏴
Or it seems normal enough. While previous excursions outside of Etraya have featured environmental changes, the city bubble now appears exactly as it had before everyone left. Buildings stand as pristine as ever, animals have been fed and cared for, and everyone is invited to return to their homes for a quick rest.

But as you meander through the familiar streets and over bridges, an unsettling stillness clings to the air. The usual sounds of Etraya–the rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds, and the chatter from the companion bots– feel slightly off. Shadows stretch a little too long, lingering in the corners of your vision, and the light, although warm, seems to cast an unnatural tint over everything. It’s as if the city itself had been holding its breath in everyone’s absence.

As days pass, the eerie stillness begins to ebb. The animals gradually resume their usual activities, and companion bots return to their routines, chatting with Etrayans as they wander the city and help set up new facilities.

Yet despite the return of normalcy, a sense of unease lingers. The city feels different as if it’s been touched by something while you were away. There are no curfews on Etraya, unlike Moorecroft, but those who wander in the dark may be unable to help but notice that it almost feels as if something is watching you, waiting for you to let your guard down. Etraya appears to be the same, but something has changed, shifted. And it’s only a matter of time before that change reveals itself.

Those who wander outside at night during their first several days back will feel like they are being watched, but will be unable to find what is watching them, regardless of the method they use to try and discern what it is.

⏵ sea la vie ⏴ The unsettling sensation of being watched gradually fades over the next few days. Etraya begins to feel more like the place you remember: slightly empty, but comfortably so. The weather shifts unpredictably, with cool breezes one day and almost stifling warmth the next.

The companion bots, seemingly oblivious to any lingering unease, appear to be in full vacation mode. They spend a significant amount of time on the two small, sandy islands that are just south of the hospital, setting up for what looks like the perfect beach day. Chairs are arranged in neat rows, colorful towels are spread out across the sand, and a small shack has been built just off the side of the bridge that offers swimsuits and any other beach-related item that they could need - or most of them! The narrow river means surfboards are out of the question; instead, the bots provide massive tube floaties, perfect for lazily drifting down the currents.

⏵ polaroid pandemonium ⏴ Everyone receives an invitation to Corrine’s Cafe, along with a table number. The invitation may arrive via a companion bot delivering it to them physically, or as a direct message from Aurora via their earpiece. The invitation instructs them to meet at the cafe at a specific time and sit at a designated table.

At each table, two envelopes sit in front of two chairs, each containing a collection of photos. These images capture significant moments from your history - events you may have forgotten or ones that have shaped who you are. On the back of each envelope, instructions for the task await: discuss the moment featured in the photo with your partner, and share what it means to you. Whether it’s a memory of a terrible ordeal, or one of your happiest times with your loved ones. The choice to participate is yours; however, Aurora and the companion bots make it clear that your place at the table is pre-reserved whether you show up or not - meaning, your photos may still be viewed by others, even if you decide not to show up.

⏵ NOTES ⏴

This log marks the end of their visit to Moorecroft! Characters return to Etraya on August 9th regardless of what shenanigans they were getting up to within the other city bubble. We'll be following up with the mission: breakout threads, as well as continuing to follow through with NPC threads and provide further information for those still participating in plotting.

For any questions relating to the contents of this log, please use the mod queries thread. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

⏵ whispered secrets of the night ⏴

The months since Rin got to Etraya have passed like a whirlwind, it feels. Exploding dolls here, labyrinths there, cities full of giant snakes yet elsewhere, with barely time to take a breath. In what little downtime they had, Rin had hung around where everyone else was, observing people and interacting as well.

Now that they're back from Moorecroft, she decides to put her focus more on exploring the place. Etraya has grown considerably since she first got here; all the new buildings popping up, seemingly out of thin air, have not passed her by.

There's an unshakable sense of unease as she traverses the land that Aurora grants them access to, something that wasn't there before. Rin decides to push through it, but she's even more alert than usual -- any small sound might make her jump.

It is in this eerie atmosphere that she stumbles upon a too familiar sight -- a traditional Japanese house, made of wood and clay and chalk paint, its curved roof looking elegant where it sits shadowed by trees.

The thing is, it's not just any house.

It's hers.

She stands there, in shock, in silence, for several moments. It's just like she remembered. There's the gate in the wall around the house and garden, the gable of the main house greeting her above. To the left, the roof of the dojo that hasn't really been used in years. Not by anyone but her.

But the sign saying Muten-ichi-ryu Asano Dojo is torn off, lying on the ground beside the gate, which is half off its hinges. Trepidation makes her skin crawl now, but -- she can't look away. She can't not go in.

So she does.

⏵ sea la vie ⏴

The discovery of her house, apparently in much the same state it had been after the night her life was destroyed, has rattled Rin. A social event might be just the thing to... maybe not quite pick her spirits back up, but at least give her something to do while she processes that particular experience. Sitting idly around certainly won't make it better.

Now, swimming in the ocean is not something Rin has, as such... done before. She's bathed in streams and small lakes while living with Manji or on the road, and taken good care not to be seen by strangers.

This, however, appears... different. She has already seen that this world has special clothes just for occasions like this, in stores, on magazine covers, on the television. Rin decides to try it out and goes for a bright red two-piece with a halter top.

Any other women in the changing rooms might hear her muttering to herself as she struggles to put it on for a moment, and as she walks toward the beach, she will still seem a bit uncomfortable in the unfamiliar clothes.

Eventually, she goes for the water and gently dips her toes in for a moment, letting the water move around them, feeling the cool wetness and the soft sand on her skin. Then, she wades in deeper.

⏵ polaroid pandemonium ⏴ cw: light gore, creepy dude being creepy

The invitation from the little companion bot certainly catches her attention. It seems quite personal, with the specific time and table. Aurora's up to something again, and Rin is not going to miss out.

So she makes her way to the café and sits down at the place designated hers. Of course, she can't stop herself from opening the envelope immediately.

As soon as she takes a glimpse at the contents, she freezes. Looking back at her is her own life, laid bare.

Her mother, bent crying over her father's corpse on the tatami in their living room, his shoulders cleft from his body, blood seeping from the wounds.

Visiting a festival with her grandfather when she was young.

Sitting next to Manji on the back porch of his shack.

Shira grabbing her upper arm, that one time when she was trying to train with him there.

Anotsu Kagehisa's recumbent, tetanus-addled body.

Doa, curled in on herself on the river shoal where the current had landed them.

Rin's hands begin to tremble, and she has to bite the inside of her lip in what seems like a pretty hopeless bid to keep it together.

Edited 2024-08-30 20:58 (UTC)

Asuka's stayed in touch with Rin as best she can - so she's not that surprised when she gets asked to come help out with a few things. And despite herself, she does. It's not a long walk, but she does have to pause because the very traditional Japanese house looks a bit out of place in this strange mixed city. There's a sign by the gate, in kanji she still has trouble reading. She gives it a glance and then steps up to the door.

After a moment of hesitation, she knocks.

"Hey! Rin! It's Asuka!"

At first, Rin hesitated to send out the invitation, but she figured it would be a good bonding activity for them. And after all, that's so important, according to Aurora. The actual truth is more that she doesn't want to do this all alone, but maybe Asuka doesn't need to know that. Rin didn't really expect her to answer positively, to be honest, but is glad when she does.

This means some scrambling to at least clear out the dirty tatami mats; the ones into which what might be her father's blood, or facsimile of it, has well seeped into and dried up. Asuka really doesn't need to see that. But there's plenty of others stuff to be done; hinges to fix, shoji to apply fresh paper to, dusting and cleaning, checking all the household items on intactness.

She was having a look at the state of the garden when Asuka comes in. Hastily, she turns, wiping her hands on the apron she's wrapped around her waist. Her hair is not in its usual twin braids; instead, she has put it up into a bun covered with a piece of cloth.

Rin greets Asuka with a smile. "Asuka-chan! You came."

Asuka had been told there was some "fixing-upping" to do so she's dressed appropriately. Jeans and a somewhat baggy t-shirt - stuff she won't care about getting dirt or dust on. She surveys the little entryway with her hands on her hips, her own hair tied back in her usual twin-tails.

"Well, as much as I'd rather not be cleaning, you having to do this whole place by yourself sounds like it'd be dumb. Why didn't they send it over all clean, anyway, if they can just create it?"

She really doesn't know the half of it.

Not in the least! Rin laughs a little too loudly, too sharply. "Ahhh, well, beats me! You never know what that Echo is up to, really." But then she quiets herself down again. She opens the sliding doors to the entryway and enters the house. "Please, come in!"

She takes off her shoes as she steps onto the wood flooring, which is elevated from the packed earth genkan. Said flooring is no longer covered in the thin sheet of dust Rin found it in, as she has already busied herself with clean a bit.

"Uhm, so, there's still some dusting to do, but I'm also going to need to repair some stuff. Like some of the shoji doors are torn and broken. That sort of stuff."

And if Asuka is very perceptive, she might notice some small bloodstains that Rin might have missed, no matter how thorough she tried to be in removing them.

Asuka has been in Japan long enough to know the no shoes rule, so she toes hers off and then steps up onto the wood floor. She stretches her hands over her had with a little groan.

"Never thought I'd volunteer to spend my free time cleaning..."

She shakes her head and goes to retrieve a dust rag, "Repairs I don't know much about. Not exactly a woodworker..."

But she does her best to help. Even if her eyes do detect some very curious stains in the wood here and there that she's not quite sure about. Hmmm.

"Hey, Rin. This is from home, right? Your home?"

"Hmmm, I didn't think you were," says Rin with an apologetic smile. "Guess I'll have to ask around for help with that."

She gets to cleaning alongside Asuka and is wiping down the floor in another corner when she hears Asuka's voice again, at which point she turns around to answer. "Yeah, it's my house. Just like I remember it. Why?"

"...just curious, I guess," Asuka shrugs, looking a little sidelong, "Just... isn't it a little weird to have them just rebuild it?"

She doesn't even know about the blood and everything.

"It's not... really the same."

Well, Rin might not know about that blood. She did clean up the worst of it, though.

A thoughtful look crosses her face. "Of course it's weird. What aspect of...," she waves her hands, gesticulating, "anything here isn't? But... now that I found it, I can't just let it sit here and do nothing. Because even if it's a copy, it's a very exact one."

Down to all the little uneven and imperfect spots and old house like this might have. It's belonged to her family for generations, after all.

The house where her great-grandfather, a man she never knew, presided over Anotsu Saburo's fate. About her fate, in a way.

It echoes down the generations.

For a moment, she freezes and her eyes go wide and glassy, remembering how she'd found the place. Like that night. Then she shakes her head, the motion strong enough to move her upper body along with it, and bends back down over the floor. She's about to start cleaning again, but then hesitates once more.

"S-so, either way, it's something from home. My home. A piece of me. I have to take care of it."

Asuka listens, half paying attention - and then her attention gets much more stringent as she watches Rin react to... something. A memory, maybe. Her brow furrows as she gives the doorframe a half-hearted scrub. She's not sure what to say for a few moments, mulling it over.

"...I guess. I wouldn't be doing this for my apartment or whatever."

She scowls.

"What's going on with you? You're a little weird today."

"What?" Rin turns to fully face Asuka. "No, no! I'm fine, don't worry about me!" She needs to be fine. How pathetic would it be if she started bawling in front of someone younger than her?

Why does she suddenly feel like crying?

She thought she was over this. Well, not over it. Just better. But finding her house in the state it was felt like a cruel joke. It felt personal.

A bitter look clouds her face, then she takes a deep breath and swallows hard. Okay. She's okay. She will be. All she has to do is not think about what else Aurora could come up with to tear her apart.

The smile she gives Asuka now is a bit tired, a bit sad, but it's a smile. "How have you been lately?"

"Well-"

Asuka frowns, mostly to herself, and then shakes her head. If Rin doesn't want to talk about whatever it is she's not going to pry. Not right now, anyway. She shifts her weight a little and her attention goes to the bit of wood she's trying to make sure is clean...ish.

She shrugs.

"...tired, I guess. Figuring out how to deal with this place. Everything changes every couple weeks."

"Mmh. It's very disorienting. Makes my head spin." Her voice, as she says this, is heavier than it would usually be. The frankly bizarre missions every couple of weeks, and now this.

It's too much. It feels like too much. Rin stops cleaning, and for a moment she just clenches the cleaning rag in her hand. She needs something to relieve the pressure building inside her.

"... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to come here," she finally says. Her mood is rapidly tanking, voices inside herself telling her she's being horrible and selfish for inviting Asuka and now being like this while Asuka is here.

Asuka is, it has to be said, not the best at comforting people (let alone herself) or even being that emotionally mature. Even so, she can sense the shift in the atmosphere. She settles for a moment, watching Rin, her jaw clenching.

What is she supposed to do about this?

"You wanted help, right?" She replies loudly - maybe a little too loud - but presses on regardless, "So I'm here! You're getting me this time, so you better make the best of it."

That does, actually, kind of help to snap Rin out of it. She tries her best to muster a smile, though she's smiling through unshed tears. "You're right. I'm sorry."

Finally, her shoulders slump, her hands relaxing around the rag. "I didn't want to burden you with this, but... some bad things happened in this house, and it's bringing up memories, being here."

Once more, she shudders. "I mean it, though. You can go, if you want."

"I'm not gonna run out just because of some bad vibes or whatever," Asuka sniffs, "Whatever happened, happened. But I said I'd do it. So I'm going to."

Asuka has her share of bad burdens in her life. She's not going to pry into this one - but she's also trying to help in her weird, roundabout way. She pops to her feet and moves on, starting to scrub a doorframe with renewed intensity.

Rin looks at Asuka in surprise, then breaks into a bright smile. "Okay. Thank you, Asuka."

Something settles in her, then. Maybe she was just nervous because she was holding back? Who knows. But it feels good to be accepted. Even if she does feel a bit pathetic, still, for needing that at all.

A few tiny teardrops do escape her eyes after all, and she just wipes at them with her finger, bittersweet smile still in place.

Briefly, her eyes linger just staring at her wet finger, then she puts her hand down and squares her shoulders. "Alright!" She's about to resume cleaning, but something occurs to her. "I do have some refreshments, if you want something. Tea and those rice balls from the convenience store."

"Huh?"

Asuka pauses mid-scrub. She hesitates for a moment and then shrugs, "...sure. Might as well eat. No point in putting it off."

She flips the rag over one shoulder.

"Lead the way."

Rin smiles and stands up, then turns to the part of the hallway that leads deeper into the house. The floor here is made up of wood planks, surrounded by walls made of wooden beams and plaster. She leads Asuka around a corner into a fairly large room that looks out onto the garden. Once there, she turns back around, stands a little to the side, and beckons Asuka in.

"Please make yourself comfortable. I'll be back with the tea shortly."

This room is a little different than the other rooms in the house; it is richly decorated in tapestries and decorations with geometric patterns all over them.

This really does look more like the older architecture she sort of associates with Japan. It's... fascinating, in a way. And very lived in. She pauses as they step inside, arms akimbo, and then nods as she finds somewhere to sit, propping herself on her hands as she calls over her shoulder, "Sure, sure. Take your time! I'm not going anywhere!"

Luckily, Rin has already heated up a kettle with water and kept it warm, so all she has to do is pour tea and arrange some of the snacks she got on the small lacquer trays traditionally used for meals. The snacks are a bit out of place next to her family's beautiful, masterfully crafted tea cups; plastic-wrapped rice balls and some candy bars.

Pondering this, Rin at least considers herself lucky the Itto-ryu weren't interested in tea cups. The only thing they raided the place of was weapons. Which was bad enough, but at least it left Rin with her household supplies mostly intact; even though some of it certainly suffered from the general lust for destruction her enemies displayed that night.

She shakes herself off, as if to shake off the memories, and stacks the trays, then walks with them to the sitting room where she left Asuka. "Here you go!" She says as she sets down the trays -- one in front of Asuka, and one a small distance away, facing her, behind which Rin takes a seat herself.

Asuka wouldn't complain about it, really (well, she might). She has her own memories that haunt her. At least for right now, though, she seems to just be sitting and thinking and absorbing the vibes of the place. She glances up as Rin comes back, offering a little half-smile. Almost shy. She's not entirely used to having - what? A friend? Not like this, anyway.

It's weird.

She reaches out to snag a wrapped snack and with a crinkle of plastic she starts to get it open.

"Thanks. I never actually got a chance to see a lot of traditional houses while I was in Japan... everything in Tokyo-3 was new construction."

"Hmmm," Rin hums thoughtfully as she takes dainty sips from her tea. "What do houses in the future look like? Like the ones here?" The whole future thing is still very bizarre to Rin, and a part of her might never get used to it. There's not much to like about Etraya, but something about being a person who gets to glimpse into the future makes Rin feel... special. Like she's experiencing a miracle.

She looks around at the old, familiar rooms. The beams that curve just so. Some spots where the plaster is coming off just a little. Is there someone in Etraya who'd know how to repair this? Does it matter? She'll have to think about it. "This house... has been my family's for generations. I was born here, as were my father and grandfather. So it's an old house, even to me!" She laughs a little.

"Some of them do... there's still older style houses around, too. And modern architecture varies a lot," Asuka purses her lips. The white blocks of apartments. The shining towers. Steel and concrete.

But in the end had it mattered that much? There was nothing for them to do.

"It's a mix. There's a lot of things going on... I wish I could show you a bit better, honestly."

"Hmmm," Rin thinks about it. "It is kind of a shame we're all here from all these different worlds, and yet we can't show it to each other. Unless the forces keeping us here decide to take us on a not-so-fun trip down memory lane." A wry smile appears on her lips. It's so strange to be here, and to have all these mixed feelings about it. She supposes there's a part of her that can't help but grasp at straws to find the positives in things. Even with a very... stretch definition of "positive".

Just a little bit, to help her go on.

Having Asuka here, in her house... she supposes that's one of those things. "Thank you again for coming. It's... nice being here together." No longer an empty house, belonging only to her and its ghosts. "Hey, do you have any ideas about how to decorate, once it's all clean and repaired? I don't know, maybe I could go for a little bit of change."

Asano Rin | Blade of the Immortal

Housekeeping

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