etrayalogs | MISSION 009

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MISSION 009

⏵ CAMP ETRAYA ⏴
On May 16th, Aurora and the companion bots direct those not heading off to Solmara to make their way to Camp Etraya.

Nestled away from everything else in a large clearing full of wildflowers and redwoods, Camp Etraya is a nostalgic summer camp experience put together just for it's residents! Cabins are assigned, scary stories are told around campfires, gossiping happens among friends on the trails surrounding the cabins - and don't be surprised when something goes awry. After all, this is still Etraya.

While the rest of Etraya is still accessible and will not be blocked off, characters are discouraged from venturing far from camp for too long: Aurora will specify that they are on a mission, and that missions do require participation, but she has intentionally left them the freedom to wander. Not sleeping in their assigned cabins, not participating in events, and staying away from Camp Etraya will end with her having to take more extensive security measures, so please be on your best behavior! The last thing she wants to do is start enforcing boundaries, but she will if she has to.

Camp is set up much like your generic summer camp! Each cabin is named, housing is assigned to characters as they arrive, there are camp counselors, and rotating daily tasks and chores. There are also multiple activities that characters are expected to participate in, and each activity is worth points that goes toward their camp graduation score. This score will be visible on their earpiece, and follows the A-F grading system. We are not be monitoring this, and are leaving character scores up to players. We do, however, ask that you please report your characters' camp grade HERE for rewards and demerits to be handed out after the mission itself.

Cabin assignments can be found here, which also has their roles, and chores assigned to that cabin. Those who are participating in Solmara have received an assigned cabin, too, but their absence toward the beginning will not harm the cabin's ability to compete given how spread out their assignments are.

⏵ WELCOME TO CAMP ⏴

Camp life is meant to instill a sense of belonging, connection with nature, encouragement towards the creative, all on top of a firm foundation of responsibility. Upon arriving, campers will be escorted towards a table of white t-shirts and countless buckets of dye!

Each Etrayan will be invited to make three Tie-Dyed shirts- as well as required to wear one as part of their summer uniform. Camp counselors must wear 80s basketball shorts or cut-off jeans. Campers may wear cargo shorts or a skort. For those with physical limitations to what they can wear, accommodations will be provided.

Here, bonding is the camp runners' priority. They will be pushed into various ice-breaker activities, such as trust falls, two truths and a lie, and Never have I Ever. As the sun goes down, there will be weenies roasting over the bonfire, followed by s’mores and a sing-a-long! With the stars well-visible, it’s off to bed with campers.

Each day after will start much the same: with the ringing of the bell and raising of the flag (Aurora, while unfamiliar with flag designs but an understanding of the concept, has chosen a rainbow flag for the camp. Rainbows make people happy, right?), followed by a meal at the Great Hall, morning assembly, activities with counselors, chores, free time, and then an evening winding down by the great fire. An hour after sun down, campers will be escorted back to their cabins for curfew. Camp Counselors are expected to keep track of their campers, and ensure they're all within their cabins for bedtime. This is part of their grade, too! Curfew lifts an hour before the first bell.

⏵ CAMP ACTIVITIES ⏴

As with most summer camps, Camp Etraya offers a wide variety of activities to participate in. While some of these activities may be mandatory, others are optional. We'll be leaving this up to individual player discretion: perhaps Viktor is mandated to report to arts and crafts, whilst it's optional for Silco to show. Silco, on the other hand, may be mandated to report to the archery contest. Characters are encouraged to participate in a minimum of one camp activity per day.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of camp activities.

Three-Legged Race - You and a partner are tied together at your ankles, and you must race others to the finish line. Those with abilities that would give them an advantage will find that the rope that ties them together hinders those abilities from functioning.
Archery - This can be more traditional, magical, or include moving targets! If you're particularly unlucky, your target may even shoot back.
Softball - What instills a sense of camaraderie better than a bit of team sports? Games will be held on Wednesdays, the field is otherwise available for practice.
Dodge Ball - Standing diametrically opposed to Softball is dodge ball, the bully’s sport. This is a great opportunity to claim dominance or be sent to the Nurse’s Office.
Obstacle Course - You are directed into a large maze with multiple obstacles for them to overcome, such as rock climbing walls, ramps, tires, and nets.
Capture the Flag - Small teams are put together in order to take the flag from a particular bot, whose entire goal is to avoid being caught.
Canoe Race - Canoes are placed into the rivers just off of the camp, and characters must race to the finish line.
Chocobo Riding - Learn how to care for and ride these magnificent birds! Newbies will be taken around the corral, whereas more experienced riders can take the trail around the lake.
Arts and Crafts - Make friendship bracelets, bead lizards, paint rocks, learn origami! Or perhaps you're tasked with putting together an enchanted necklace. Don't know how to do enchantments? Now is as good of a time as any to learn.
Campfire stories - Share scary stories amongst yourselves around the campfire late into the night. If you're particularly unlucky, you may just hear the thing you were just warning others about..

⏵ NIGHT TIME ⏴

Once campers have been put to bed, the counselors can still stay up. Unwind with hidden beers and the strumming of a guitar. Don’t get too comfortable, though, since without supervision, no one is keeping the campers in bed.

After dark, should campers evade their counselors, they can go exploring in the dark. Eerie lights glimmer from the lake. There’s rumors of a headless spectre walking from the archery field to the edge of the forest. Should you behave, you still might hear a scratching at your bunk house window.

And on the very last night of camp, there will be a talent show. Show off your hidden talent and bask in the excitement of wowing your fellow campers!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Welcome to Camp Etraya! Please enjoy the s'mores and campfire songs. :)

Camp will last approximately two weeks, going from May 16th to May 30th.

For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the plotting post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

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You're not my real dad. [Wade spouts back at the attempt to teach him something. He hates learning lessons. God!]

But fine, I'll get the rest. Slowly. Like, painfully fucking slow. Time that could be better spent chucking these balloons at campers. Have it your way.

[His fur bristles when Wade suddenly goes "Boom". There's a loud SNAP! as the graham crackers crumble when he squeezed his s'mores abruptly. He glares at Wade while his s'mores falls apart. Really?]

It was. [There's...he can still eat what he made, even if it's mostly chocolate and marshmallow now. Great.]

Okay, that's a really good magic book, and it's not like he really stole it? Popp would love to get a peek at it, actually! Maybe he could even find the original place with a Zoom spell, if it's that real.

"Oh, not a book about magic! That sounds amazing, actually! It'd be great to visit somewhere nice and snowy in this weather for a little bit... shame we can't go out even the normal way."

He waves up to indicate the ever-present shield over the entire Etraya, camp included. It's even harder to notice than normal at night, but he knows it's out there.

"Hey, what was the best one?"

The mission is screwed if they have to keep sending people out there and my number is called so let's hope not for the mission's sake. [Maria knew that she was pretty useless on missions. she certainly wasn't strong enough or intelligent enough to be of much actual help. if a mission required them to be either of those things then she didn't think she could be good for it. going to camp had been the best possible choice for her. this had been the easiest mission for her yet even if it had left her worrying about some of her closest friends, Vander included. ]

Isn't dog just another word for that? Seems like my judgment stands. But see, that sounds like a challenge. Or more like you want to be one. [or more like Vander didn't want to take it easy. he had things he felt he needed to do and resting wasn't one of those things. Maria could argue with him that pushing himself wasn't going to do any good but it didn't matter. she had a hunch he wouldn't listen. best to treat the day he gave her as if it was a treat for her.] A challenge keeps things fresh. Even if you really think not going along with whatever I have in mind is your best bet. If your knee doesn't get better then I'll find a nice cane for you.

I doubt it will happen, but it depends on Aurora's brother, I suppose. He needs to maintain some sort of order there. I might suggest you don't volunteer if it Solmara comes up again. [Of course, Vander had been contemplating the idea that they may have visitation from other places or vice versa. They did not exist in isolation as they may have seen, and he did wonder if Maria's theory of fighting each other eventually meant actual experiments like theirs against others would hold more true. It was easier to other people one didn't know or hadn't built connection with.

He smirked at her comment, and it was extremely true just not what he wanted to be called.] It is, but Hound is my nickname. I prefer to be called that if you're brandying around dog names. [He held one hand up in a sign of peace to her accusation. He did like a good challenge now and again, he wouldn't deny it.] Oh you really are on the path to making me feel old, aren't you? It will be better with your tender loving care of me, don't worry. I'll be good. [Sort of.]

[ Carver makes a face at that. ]

Why.

[Pfft, it's nice to see that she can still get excited over something so simple.]

Yeah, sure. Cake with a candle.

Santa Claus isn't real.

[Blunt, yes, but in Shaw's defense, this may be the one situation where telling a kid that Santa is made-up is the nice thing to do.]

So you're off the hook there. Anyway, there are better reasons to try to be good. And better people to get presents from.

[ Hold the food? Gorgug wonders what's going on inside Chu Wenshan's head, but he takes the food without question. Just two guys passing back and forth a giant cooked bird.

He wonders if he should move, and he will if Chu Wenshan asks. But, for now: ]

Don't roll in it. You'll get dirty.

[ Because there's a possibility?? That's what Chu Wenshan's thinking?? ]

[That should not be as funny as it is, so she doesn't grin. But she does shoot him a wry sidelong glance.]

Seriously, have you never run into these people? I guess everyone really does have better things to do in the apocalypse.

Nunya.

[it's so reflexive. they couldn't help it. deadpanning that was as easy as breathing.

they nod, fine with that, and hop off the step into the outside to amble on to find somewhere nice and shady to nosh.]

Usually, people just try to kill each other back home, [ Carver mutters sourly. ] Or rob you, at least.

[ It’s all very simple. Everyone knows their place in the scheme. Here—

Well.

He sighs and stabs a marshmallow on his stick. It’s what they’re doing now, apparently. ]

People are treating this like vacation.

Gorgug feels satisfied by the promise, like he asked! And he eventually nods once Silver's done explaining. Paused for a second, before opening up his hoodie a smidge, to give more room for floating marshmallows to happen.

"Okay. That's a cool ability--I'm not psycho-anything, and I can't move anything with my mind. Yet." Yet, he says... "But it would be cool. Unless it just feels like I'm carrying stuff with my head instead of my arms."

That wouldn't be so cool. Carrying things is such a drag because they can get heavy!

Technically it is. A vacation with high stakes.

[Her own marshmallow is starting to brown in the fire; she leans forward and squints at it, but doesn't pull it out just yet.]

I'd take the train again over this; what about you?

"Oh, a replicator. Obviously." She should have expected that a fully sentient machina person would casually toss around terms that sounded fantastically distant to her.

She was of a mind to head back to the city now... maybe the sensible thing to do would be to wait until after dark and creep out of the cabin, but Paine couldn't honestly equate sneaking out of summer camp to the importance of a stealth mission. Or rather, she didn't want to. It felt like giving Aurora's mission a level of respect it didn't warrant.

But she wasn't about to interrupt the Custodian playing around with the camera. She held still as he prepared to take a picture of a nearby bird... and the bird, with an uncanny sense of timing, decided to turn to face the camera directly.

That's up to you.

[ Harold abruptly shuts his laptop and unplugs the device he'd made, angling awkwardly on his rough seat on a nearby rock to show Carver the screen on the device. It's difficult with his back, but he barely notices at this point; the pain is a constant. ]

This option here, press and hold, then say the word you want. Like setting a voicemail. You'll see they're labeled 1 and 2.

[ No other indicators, just options to select with numbers alone. ]

Once you've set them, it will work immediately. And you can re-set them as you wish.

[ At this point, it’s easier to move on reflex. To follow the orders even if they weren’t spoken out loud because God, at least that’s something. At least that’s real. And so Carver shifts closer, watching the screen as Harold sits down—awkwardly, Carver notes. ]

You’re in pain, [ he observes, a little distantly. There’s probably nothing he can do about that here. ] Okay. I’ll set them.

[ Two words. And then they’ll come, Carver thinks, even if he cannot allow himself to consider a moment when he’d need that extraction—or from whom. ]

If I get the chance to have a tail, I'll think about it. A big fluffy one would be cool.

[ He's even smiling while saying it since, wow... he wants a tail for a blanket!

He points a tusk poking out of his mouth, and even pokes it. ]

These aren't all that useful. They just get in the way, and I get food trapped behind them. They're, like... pointy decoration.

[ Or maybe he could. There's much more advanced technology here, even magic, and Harold knows several healers as well as a bog standard Earth trauma surgeon. But he's never asked. Not because he's punishing himself or something asinine like that -- he cannot make up for his mistakes with physical pain -- but because he has to think it would be more trouble than it's worth, especially when he always assumed he didn't have much longer to live anyway.

Maybe that's different now, but he's not ready to think about it.

Harold hands the device over and asks simply, ] Aren't you?

[ Emotionally, of course, and he wouldn't be surprised if he was physically in pain as well and hiding it, the kind of life he's led. ]

You don't...know? [ Just a quizzical look directed your way, Jayce, as Viktor tries to parse how that response makes him feel. His expression falls somewhat, and there's the beginning of inner turmoil trapped behind his eyes as he gets carried away with his thoughts. Of course, it's short-lived given the nature of this whole revelation and conversation now. Having said too much, having given away too much about something that Jayce probably doesn't even feel towards him, or so he thought.

Viktor flushes as he looks at Jayce and then looks away again, thinking much the same thing. Does Jayce really like him, as he is, like this? That's all he can think, and it takes all his strength not to ask that question, fearing it would ruin the moment. But what Jayce doesn't know is that Viktor feels much the same. He has always been so eager, so willing to help and do good. Viktor has only ever wanted Jayce. Wanted him to understand, wanted him to believe, wanted nothing more than to just work with him in the lab, and work on their dream. Viktor has more restraint than most and even now he finds himself holding back in taking everything he possibly can from Jayce. ] I-I am sure, Jayce. I have...always been sure, since we met.

[ Another revelation that's probably going to be hard for Jayce to swallow and to accept. But Viktor says it just as easily as if it's nothing. Viktor swallows thickly, his amber eyes locking with Jayce's. It's love because that familiar pang in his chest that he knows all too well sits deep inside his chest cavity and threatens to knock the air from his diseased lungs. ] I don't think I could change my feelings for you. [ A pause as he idly strokes Jayce's cheek with his thumb. Of course, there have been times, like on the bridge, or their talking of making hextech weapons. His feelings may have faltered there, but it always ended up with Viktor wanting nothing more than his partner back. ]

I don't want you to change either. [ Even if he knows deep down how strange and utterly weird this is. The knowledge of Jayce using the hexcore on him to keep him alive, the betrayal that he felt when he was turned into something inhuman. How the knowledge of Jayce's actions towards him were all because of his devotion and love. It's hard to pinpoint if it's wrong to continue feeling this way, or if there's something fundamentally wrong with them both. Viktor doesn't linger too much on it because, despite all of that, it just feels right.

They were right for each other ever since that day they met and the night they decided to change the world. Two outcasts the world didn't believe in, only to have each other to the bitter end, it seems. ] I just want you.

[ It's only ever been just you. ]

[ Carver takes the device, tracing his thumb along the surface. ]

Sure, [ he murmurs. He has blast injuries, too. Probably a TBI or two. Not like Harold’s, no, but enough that he feels it sometimes and knows it won’t ever feel better. It’ll only get worse. ] But that’s just how it goes.

[ For people like him, anyway. He probably deserves it.

He puffs out a breath, then clicks the button for the first word. ]

Alice.

[ Then the second. ]

Jenny.

[ And then it’s done. His grandmother’s name, and then his mother’s. Not words he’d speak casually. ]

Always.

[ Even with his unfortunate freak out in the storage compartment, he at least knew what his purpose was there. There was no doubt about what was required of him.

He holds his stick out to the fire, watching the marshmallow slowly start to burn. ]

I don’t miss Afghanistan. Except for the parts when I do. Everything was simpler then.

One cannot hope to promote progress without being a bit stubborn toward adversity.

[ How else was one to ever accomplish anything if they folded immediately at the first signs of resistance? ]

So he was already useless, isn't liked, and now we're saddled with him instead of just Solmara?

I'm failing to see how that mission was a 'success' under those circumstances.

I guess it depends if he does a better job now.

[ Depends. He opens his eyes, but just stares at the ceiling. ]

You know the AIs can leave you dead until you have to do a mission? [ ... ] His city was a mess for an AI obsessed with hygiene.

[ Connect the dots of how those two statements are related, Ardyn. ]

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MISSION 009

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