MISSION 007

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: January 24th - ???
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The Quantum Rail
NOTES\WARNINGS: Class warfare, potential death.

⏵ the quantum rail ⏴ The morning of January 24th dawns with a sharp chill in the air, under a pale, overcast sky. Characters are all summoned to arrive to the new train station perched at the edge of the South Eastern island right on the edge of Etraya's barrier. The station itself feels like an artifact from another time - polished steel and worn brass glint beneath the pale light. Beyond the barrier, the tracks stretch out impossibly, gliding over dead earth and extending beyond the curve of the planet's edge into the space beyond. No explanation is given for how the rails defy gravity, or why it's placed as such. Only the train may cross the barrier safely, and everyone must be inside of it before it begins it's trek. Aurora is present at the train station to see off everyone, and to remind them that they either need to take any companion animals along with them, or leave them in her direct care so she can bring them into the hospital where they will be safe until everyone returns. No one is allowed to stay behind, and any organic matter left outside of the hospital may not be the same when the citizens of Etraya return. The train itself pulls through the barrier with little problem: some may notice the paneling of the barrier sliding out of the way to allow it to come through, and how some of the more liquid elements of the barrier stick to a few areas outside the train as it pulls up - an element that looks misplaced on the seemingly ancient train. Aurora, along with her companion bots, direct the crowds to the correct carriages they'll need to board. The Elites are brought to carriages towards the front of the train, whereas everyone else is brought lower. Neons are dropped off to the beginning of their carriages, and Sprawls and Dregs are directed to board along with them. With the train stopped where it is, the only accessible carriages are those who belong to the upper class: the lower classes will have to travel backwards to get to their living quarters. Every Dreg is given a special pass, excusing their presence in areas of the train they may not usually be allowed, due to them assisting with an unspecified "mechanical issue". They will discover why upon boarding: it quickly becomes apparent that those already aboard were entirely unaware the train had stopped at all. It's been running ceaselessly for generations, the rhythmic hum of it's machinery woven into the very fabric of life aboard. Stories of a world before the train only linger in fragments - passed down as legends from the ancestors of those who currently reside on the train. Their world had been dying, they were told, and the only way to survive was to remain aboard the train as it sped along the Quantum Rail, drawing infinite power from the energy of it's movement. No one truly understands the mechanisms that keep it in motion, but everyone understands that stepping off the train means certain death. To survive, it must continue, and so must the passengers residing within it. ⏵ life on the train ⏴ Life on the train is dictated by the class one is born into. This does not change, unless an Elite takes pity on one of those below them. However, not even Elites have ultimate power! They are allowed to request to keep someone of lower ranking along with them, but cannot grant them any power. They may not take in more individuals than they can house, and any actions taken by those under their care become the Elite's responsibility—including crimes. But why would any Elites take advantage of this? Their lives are perfect, pristine, they want for nothing, and they have all the companions here that they could ever need. Their lifestyles show their status: their days are filled with elaborate social events, from masquerade balls to massive feasts and fun theater performances. Their carriages are lavish, with gold-inlaid floors, crystal chandeliers, and suites that look like miniature mansions all on their own. Elites live disconnected from the workings of the train, viewing it as a luxury liner rather than the lifeboat that it is. They may squabble between one another - Lady Lyra and Sir Grey have been known to fail to keep their quarrels on the quite side, and rumors of their affairs are often whispered between other socialites. But everything else? Well. The lower classes are there for their benefit, clearly. Why would they need to worry about anything? The Neons thrive on structure and order. Their carriages feature a minimalist design, focusing on productivity. Their children follow a strict school schedule, and are often and are often assigned to their future roles based on observed skills. Their schooling is then based wholly around what role they will be given. There is limited choice among the Neons, and it becomes obvious from a very young age. They are assigned life partners among other Neons, are expected to reproduce just enough to replace their numbers and no more. Doctors make their rounds, teachers hold their lessons for Elites, Neons, and Sprawls alike, and administrators enforce policies. Those who defy the regimented structure are quietly removed from their carriages and left with the Dregs, if they don't vanish entirely without explanation. Given this, not many are willing to step out of line, and most keep to themselves and their small family units. In the carriages just beyond, the Sprawls lead lives of steady labor. Their areas are a blend of workshops and homes, where families may share compact spaces surrounded by tools, the smell of grease, and half-finished projects that are never entirely put away. Their shared kitchens and small gardens provide a sense of community, where individuals get together to eat their meals between projects. The devices they create and projects they're given are solely meant to replace broken parts and keep the train moving and nothing more. Given the limited amount of materials available, their inventory is carefully guarded. Life isn't glamorous, but they have freedom to choose their spouses - or choose to not have one. If the number of Sprawls begins getting too low, a few children are selected from the Dregs to move up the ranks. While they are more free to make their own choices, they also seem to only have enough to go around; if famine hits, life among the Sprawls quickly turns awry. Food shortages may cause them to need to sacrifice one or two among them, and malfunctions of the more essential train pieces can cause significant stress on them and their numbers. Further down, the Dregs endure the harshest conditions. They are crowded into dim, rust-lined carriages near the end of the train. Their bed frames, crafted from scrap metal, are stacked tightly to conserve space. The air smells faintly of oil and stale water, and leaves an unpleasant taste on one's tongue. Food arrives in ration packets, each block made of bugs that are harvested from the Dregs themselves at the far end of the train. Previous years have seen their bug supply die off rapidly due to disease, leaving them desperate and starving while slowly regrowing their population using the spares kept in the Sprawls carriages. They are sent in to cover the jobs no one else on the train will do willingly. Children of the Dregs are sent to fill in empty space among the Sprawls when necessary, and they fill their days by cleaning the space between carriages, making sure the train continues it's trek without interruption. Some Dregs have gathered into small gangs, who fight each other for control of their supplies. Some secretly hoard parts scavenged from t he train, believing they might one day be able to use them to seize control and escape from their less than ideal circumstances. ⏵ connection interrupted ⏴ Once they've settled into their temporary lives among the train inhabitants, Accelerator gets the opportunity to utilize his Esper abilities. Though normally connected to Aurora's network, Accelerator's attempt to draw more power while on the train causes a system-wide outage. Everyone's earpieces will suddenly make a loud, shrill noise, before their access to the HUD and the rest of the network's functions cuts off entirely. For roughly ten minutes on Sunday, January 26th, the network will remain unavailable for everyone. Hopefully, no one was in the middle of an important conversation! If they were - well, there are always the letter carriers among the Sprawls who deliver important messages, but do you really want to try to communicate with someone else through a train native? ⏵ a gathering ⏴ There are not many parties that are open to multiple classes, but on Friday, January 31st, entertainment coordinators have managed to put together a massive get-together for the Elites, Neons, and Sprawls. Tables are set up in the Neons' common areas, each with name placards dedicated to specific individuals and large tea pots settled towards the center. The name placards are moved around between events, allowing individuals who may not normally socialize a chance to get to get to know new people. While many Sprawls and a few Neons are working, they are also given shifts so they can enjoy the gathering while others overtake their job duties. Now, the party itself has multiple sections set aside for everyone's enjoyment! The first, is a play, based on the legend of the ancient god Abdastartos and his lover, Salka Hannes. Abdastartos had fallen deeply, madly in love with one of his temple keepers, Salka. Salka had dedicated herself to taking care of the temple, spending every waking moment scrubbing marble clean and ensuring that all of those within the temple were well-cared for. She was truly a follower of Abdastartos' cause: peace, serenity, and healing. Her devotion and beautiful voice caught his attention. Abdastartos, who often descended to the mortal realm in disguise to be among his followers, would spend his time assisting her in caring for the temple. It is said that her kindness softened the very marble of the temple, and her touch was so gentle that flowers would bloom where her hands had lingered. The god, unable to resist his feelings, revealed himself to her one evening. He was not a towering figure, but a man of simple beauty who radiated calm like the dawn after a storm. Together, the two of them lived a beautiful but simple life within the temple. But their relationship was frowned upon by the other deities. Teo, the god of strife and discord, became enraged when he learned his brother had taken a mortal as his lover. He sought out Salka, and imprisoned her heart in embers of the temple's fires, thus destroying her mortal body. Abdastartos was not able to reverse Teo's actions, but he did have one consolation: the bright flames were fueled by Salka's love for Abdastartos, and as long as the flame remained lit, he knew her feelings for him remained strong. At the end of the play, they are given some time to discuss what they've watched, and meet with the actors playing the various parts from the play. The second segment was planned by event coordinator Fabian Seacaster. With newly developed technology, he introduces holographic displays of various animals! Partygoers are instructed to sit at their small tables which now feature small cages housing holographic birds. The smell of the outdoors is filtered into the carriages, allowing those who attend to feel like they're enjoying the birds in something close to their natural habitat. A third segment was also planned by Fabian Seacaster. Every attending individual is given a mask. As they all put on their masks, they are told about the mysterious King, and how one of the individuals wearing the mask must be the King. There are a few other mysteries that they are instructed to solve, making a game out of the segment. The fourth is simply for sitting and socializing towards the end of the night, giving them time to relax and enjoy their evening. ⏵ diversion ⏴ Using his position as a resource manager, Silco has been aiming to stoke the rebellion and get them up in arms. Unfortunately for many, it doesn't take much effort at all to get the Dregs in the mood for a good riot. Many of them have been waiting for the opportunity to get back at the upper classes who refuse to share the wealth. They take advantage of the party. While a significant portion of the train is out enjoying their night, the lower classes begin fighting the guards meant to ensure they stay in line. With dangerously low ammo and limited weapons, the guards quickly find themselves outmatched as the fighting escalates. Innocents become stuck in the cross fire, and before the Dregs and rebelling Sprawls have even managed to push through the Sprawls determined to protect their homes, many lives are lost. War is never pretty, and this is no different. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the plotting post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

scooby-doo teen investigations wildcard!

[possessum]

Somewhere along the journey, he's made contact with Chrissy already, maybe while she was being tasked to clean a section of the train or do some other kind of dirty work. Being in the Elite class, he's free to roam, and he's been pretty damn horrified to learn that some people are being forced to live down there in such awful conditions.

Now he's agreed to meet up with her again one night, and he slips down that way, quiet and unassuming. He's pretty nervous, but at the same time, more than ready to be done with this shit. They can't leave until they find this "king", so... why not work together to see if they can find some kind of clue, at the very least? There's rumours of some sealed carriage, and all sorts of other nooks and crannies to explore. While he has no idea if this "king" is an actual person who's just like around somewhere, or something else entirely, he's willing to do some snooping.

He's not sure if the Dregs are allowed to just leave and walk around on their own, but with his own Elite status, he should be able to take care of that. So Peter heads into Dreg Territory, wincing as he looks around the place, lingering anxiously outside one of the carriages as he waits for her. He has a bag slung over one shoulder, where he's brought her some food and fresh water, and he keeps the hood of his hoodie up, trying to seem inconspicuous. Nothing to see here...

[bubblegumheart]

Once the initial shock wears off, the days and nights all begin to blend together. Life in the Dregs isn't glamorous, and there isn't a lot of room for free time or fun activities. If she's not running around from cleaning job to cleaning job, fetching things for others, or running some kind of errand that nobody else is willing to do, she's stealing a moment here or there to eat or catch a nap when she can.

Even so, she manages to catch the odd tidbit by casually eavesdropping whenever the day's work takes her to the nicer sections. Fortunately, this tactic seems to be going well. Or at the very least, nobody has confronted her about it just yet, and that's enough of a win to convince her to keep going with it for now. There are rumors aplenty, and they've been sent here with a very clear mission. It's just that there hasn't been a lot of time to run off in search of mystery and adventure lately.

Wandering the train isn't technically something she's allowed to do, but she's been sent to clean something or other in the Elite section a handful of times by now, so if someone asks she is prepared to stretch the truth just a bit. Having Peter with her will probably eliminate the risk of being stopped altogether, but it's still nice to have a backup plan. Either way, she meets him at the appointed place and time with a smile.

"Hi! Have you been waiting long?"

[possessum]

Peter looks up as soon as Chrissy approaches, a smile of his own appearing — shy and a little nervous as always, but nonetheless genuine. She's one of the few people in this freaky new place that he's almost immediately felt more at ease with.

"Hey. Not long at all, you're right on time."

He tips his bag forwards a little, enough that he can show her some of what's inside — some bottles of water, fresh fruit, bread, cheese, and some other things he'd taken from the supply of Elite goods. There's even some desserts carefully wrapped up: some cake and cookies.

"I brought some snacks if you're hungry."

[bubblegumheart]

"My mom used to say that if you're on time you're actually late."

But her mother isn't here, and she never really believed that. Mostly she just nodded along whenever her mother decided to drop that on her because it was easier than questioning it.

Chrissy smiles and leans in to peek into the bag. It's more actual food than she's seen since they all boarded the train, and she can't help but feel slightly guilty about him taking it. "I think I'm alright for now. Did you bring enough for both of us?"

[possessum]

Peter pauses at that, working it out for a minute before — "Is your mom a perfectionist or something?" He smiles, meaning the question light-heartedly, not trying to like, drag her mom. Sounds like she might have been a stickler for the rules, in any case.

"Nah, this is all for you. I've got plenty back at Trump Tower." He rolls his eyes; the Elite section is so bizarre. They've got a pool and rec rooms and there are people out here who barely have enough to eat.

"You can keep it for later if you aren't hungry now. And I can bring more too, it's no problem." He looks around for somewhere to store the bag, finding a little closet tucked off to the side and moving to stuff the bag in there. It looks pretty unused; he doubts anyone's going to look inside.

"I'll just leave it in here and you can take it back with you later on, if you wanna."

[bubblegumheart]

"That's one word for it. She said a lot of things like that." There might have been a time, about a year or so ago, when she would have been more inclined to take offense to such a question. But she's had an abundance of time to think about things objectively, away from her mother, and it's honestly pretty easy to admit the truth about the woman now.

"Oh! Are you sure? That's way too much for me." She could probably make that bag last for a decent amount of time if she really worked at it. Or, more likely, she could always share it with some of the others. "Is that the name of the front section?"

It'll be nice to have food that's recognizable, either way. "I might take you up on that as long as you're not going to get in trouble for it." Given the choice of having to make do with the questionable resources in her section of the train or the possibility of him getting into trouble for taking things, she would always choose to make do.

"That's a good idea." Leaving it there for the time being is probably smarter than trying to carry it around the entire time anyway. "Thank you."

[possessum]

Peter offers a soft, almost grim nod, but it's of understanding. "My mom had some crazy rules of her own, sometimes. Sometimes I swear she was just making stuff up." He gives the breath of a laugh, not exactly humourous — and there's something in him that flinches a little, that hates using the word crazy, feels ashamed of himself for it, but it's the one that comes first.

But he smiles again as he carefully sets the bag onto a shelf in the little industrial-looking closet, tucking it towards the back. "I'm totally sure. They have so much food up there it's ridiculous." Then a beat as he realises, and his shy smile spreads a little into an actual grin— "Oh no, that was just a dumb joke. That's the only kind of joke I know actually, I'm sorry."

He closes the door to the cabinet and takes a step back, looking over at Chrissy. It's still so weird and uncomfortable to think that there are people struggling with food, and then there's areas that are drowning in it. "Definitely no problem, I promise. Better it goes to people who actually need it."

Peter casts a quick look around their surroundings, but there's no one patrolling the train right now, and no other passengers walking around. Still, he can't help an almost excitable feeling of nervous in his stomach, like he's about to do something dangerous.

"You ready to do some sleuthing? I actually have no idea where to even start, like... where would a king be hiding?"

[bubblegumheart]

"I think parents are obligated to come up with ridiculous rules to impose on us." Once upon a time, she'd believed that all of her mother's fun little rules were for her own benefit. But she'd never been allowed to question them, and the novelty eventually wore off. Maybe her mom was just making it all up as she went along. It doesn't matter now.

It occurs to her that she might need to have him retrieve the bag for her later, but that's a problem for future Chrissy to work out. For now, it looks like it'll be safe until they come back, at the very least. "Are there a lot of people up there?" It makes sense that there'd be more food if there are more people, which is what she's going to assume for now. "Don't be sorry. Dumb jokes are the best kind." She doesn't actually get it, though.

Chrissy sidesteps and smiles up at him. "Good." There's no way of knowing whether or not he'll actually get into trouble for it, so she's just going to take his word for it for the time being. She'll probably have to come up with a way to make it up to him later, too.

Things are pretty quiet right now, and Chrissy can't help wondering where everyone else is. With any luck, they'll all stay where they are for the duration. It would certainly help this trip to go smoothly.

"Ready as I'm going to be. I was kind of hoping you'd heard something." People have been talking, but Chrissy hasn't been able to find out much at all in the way of legitimately helpful information. "Do we think the king knows they're the king?" Does that make a difference? Maybe.

[possessum]

"There are a lot, but they definitely don't need all this stuff. Half the time it ends up getting thrown away." Saying that out loud makes the unpleasant coil in his stomach tighten more, and he frowns a little deeper. There's enough food that they have leftovers, and often times just end up throwing away the excess. "I'll bring more down."

But the little smile is returning at the other teen's words — 'Don't be sorry. Dumb jokes are the best kind' — and something in him relaxes a bit, a counter to that kneejerk self-deprecatory tendency Peter has, even in lighter times. He finds himself apologising more times than he can count, daily, for something or other.

"Trump Tower is this uh, huge expensive skyscraper thing owned by this billionaire guy. It's in New York— it's pretty ridiculous."

Comparing the "Elite" section of the train to such a thing felt too on-point. Peter grins again and rolls his eyes as he starts walking.

"That's... a good question, honestly. Maybe they don't know they're the king." Beat, as he considers something. "Maybe one of us got designated to be "the king" or something." He lifts both hands to make air quotes as he says it. "Like they're making us all play some dumb game or something. I mean— I don't understand what the point to any of this even is."

[bubblegumheart]

"It seems pretty unfair that they'd just keep everything up there and not want to share it with everyone. I guess that's kind of a universal thing, though." It hadn't been that way on the Serena Eterna, but that place had been kind of an outlier in a lot of ways. She'd been on the other side of it in Hawkins, but it was still fairly noticeable, and she didn't like it. "That's really kind of you."

He seems nice enough, and maybe there are more genuinely nice people in the Elites to balance out the not so nice ones.

Chrissy nods at the explanation and keeps quiet for a moment as she considers the reality of that. "Did he build it or just buy it?" Either way, it sounds like quite the landmark. She's almost a little sad that she'll never be able to go and see it for herself.

It does feel like a logical comparison, though, the ridiculous skyscraper and the front of the train. Idly, she wonders if there are any other similarities to the real world.

"I can't decide if the king not knowing they're the king would make it easier or harder to find them. Because like... on the one hand, it would be pretty funny if it turned out that the king was one of the people hunting the king all along." Funny, or frustrating. Or both, maybe. "I think you should be the king." It would make finding the king a lot easier, certainly. "Maybe that is the point. Getting us all here to keep us busy with a manhunt or something."