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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ They find a rarely-used shed of old canoes that Harold judges good enough. It's off by itself, has clear line of sight in most directions, set back a distance from the lake. He unwinds the bag from over his shoulder and sets it down, glancing over at Carver. ]

How comfortable are you with electronics?

[ He can do this all himself if he needs to, but he doesn't mind a second pair of hands. He'd gotten used to it, truthfully, with Root. ]

[ Quietly, Carver moves to check the space, then watch their corners so they won’t be interrupted. ]

Don’t know much if it doesn’t go into an IED. But I learn fast.

If you can manage an IED without blowing yourself up, you can manage to place a few cameras.

[ Harold pulls out a few remarkably but not implausibly small cameras and offers one out to Carver. ]

Let's find some places with good angles that won't be easily noticed, shall we? Some can go farther off into the perimeter as well -- they're battery-powered.

[ Damn. Okay. Carver tilts his head, considering that, then takes the camera. He hasn't done any work with camera for years, but he did have some training on it once. ]

How long's the battery last?

Long enough that you don't need to worry about it.

[ He never shares details on his tech unless he absolutely has to, so this rolls right off his tongue without thinking. Harold takes a step back and assesses the eaves of the shed with a practiced eye. ]

Think you can get on the roof, or shall we get a ladder?

I can get onto the roof.

[ Between the two of them, they get the cameras placed quickly. Harold has an eye for angles and Carver's not afraid to climb to get the placement right. It makes them an efficient team, Carver thinks to himself. By the time they're done he's worked up a decent sweat and some of the tension's drained out of his shoulders. He feels more like himself, almost centered.

He jumps down from placing the last, clapping his hands together. ]

You ever go to summer camp or whatever when you were a kid?

[ This is usually the sort of personal question Harold either demurs or outright refuses to answer, but having decided to stay permanently in Etraya and having shed the trappings of his life, he can allow something further. Or maybe he's just gotten soft about sharing personal details with his team. That's probably true, too. ]

No. I was more the type to make my own fun.

[ That's still as much as he shares, though, this tiny sliver. He doesn't say that he'd never wanted to leave his father even before his decline started. It was just the two of them, and they didn't have much money and Harold didn't like being social anyway. He had plenty of hobbies at home to keep him busy.

He glances around them dourly, and down at his clothes. ] I can't say I feel like I was missing out.

[ That fits, Carver supposes. He snorts a little at the way Harold looks at his clothes, though. The man's probably too self-composed or whatever to make a face, but the whole moment does have an air of absurdity to it. Something neither of them would've chosen, if they'd had any say in it. ]

I read about it in books. Thought it sounded nice.

[ He'd been a dumbass in that way when he was younger. ]

This? This is like a training circuit except worse.

[ Hearing that Carver as a kid thought it sounded nice is an interesting personal reveal. Harold is too savvy to comment on it -- that would be like making a sudden move when a feral cat is finally creeping closer -- but he does note it. ]

Sleeping in a group setting is not doing my nerves any favors, [ he admits frankly, to soften what he says next. ] But I imagine it's even worse for you.

[ He crouches to open his bag again and this time pulls out a compact handmade device. It's a bit rough, missing any sleek manufactured edges, and looks something like a satellite radio with a touch screen slapped on the side. ]

You'll be able to monitor the camera feeds we've just set up with this, and securely contact myself, Mr. Reese, or Ms. Shaw. I just need a moment to configure it.

[ He duly starts tapping away at rapid speed with the tiny physical keyboard it has. He's not about to give Carver access to his whole network. ]

I wake up bad, [ Carver replies flatly, more than a little angry at himself for it. He’s never liked admitting that. Maybe he doesn’t cry or scream in his sleep like some of the other Reapers, but he knows himself too well to get sentimental about the fact that he’s swung on his brothers and sisters coming out of nightmares. That he pulled a knife on Leah once. Even if she forgave him, they never spoke of it again.

It almost went bad a couple times back home. It’d go worse here, with people who aren’t ready for it.

He steps closer, examining the device in Harold’s hands. ]

Okay, [ he says slowly. ] How long have you had this?

[ This is a show of trust, Carver knows. They didn’t need to bring him in on this. ]

[ He glances up at that flat comment. Harold takes that kind of warning completely seriously, especially coming from Carver. ] Good to know. I'll throw something at you should I need to wake you.

[ Finishing his adjustments, he offers the device out to Carver but still answers as characteristically evasively as always. ]

I've been working on it for some time. I'm not sure yet how far I'll take it, but I at least see a need for covert communication methods.

And I, personally, would rather you had an escape hatch if needed. [ People do the worst things when cornered, he's aware -- so a simple preventative measure is to make sure Carver doesn't have to feel cornered. There's a way out, possible support when needed, and enough cameras to let him see what's coming before it gets there, to prepare. Trust Harold to offer a non-violent method of reassurance. ]

Edited 2025-06-01 17:31 (UTC)

Always throw something. Don’t try to touch me.

[ Flat, again. He doesn’t want to talk about it, really, but it’s the sort of thing that might matter sooner than later. They’re in proximity now, the sort of allies that occasionally share space, and Carver doesn’t like hurting people by accident. A loss of control like that represents a terrible sin. He’s less worried about it with Shaw and John, but neither Shaw nor John walk with a cane.

So it goes.

He watches Harold for a moment, braced for a reprimand—Pope never liked them admitting weakness, even if it was necessary—but he takes the device and examines it carefully. This is a lot of trust, he knows. He cannot fuck it up. ]

Thank you, [ he says after a moment, for lack of a better idea. He has to physically stop himself from adding the ‘sir.’ ]

[ He merely nods in agreement, not contesting it. Harold even before his disability wasn't a combatant. He can barely bring himself to hit someone with a lamp or to hold a gun in his hand at all; he's not about to put up a fight to a friend who's in true distress coming out of a nightmare. Throwing something is much safer.

There's something tense about Carver, but he can't put together why, and then he just thanks him. Harold assesses him with muted interest but doesn't ask. ]

Believe me, I usually sleep behind two different security systems and multiple locked doors, in complete solitude, [ he says dryly. ] Frankly I might join you out here on occasion if you don't object.

[ Harold is open to being told to leave him alone, but he does think himself so transparently not a physical threat that it may be acceptable to Carver. ]

[ That gets a faint huff of amusement. Some of the tension lessens for a moment, but only a moment. He tucks the device away, resolving to keep it safe. This is his task now, the role he's meant to play.

It helps to have one of those. It makes the world simple.

Even so, Harold doesn't reprimand him for having bad dreams. For being disruptive. That's -

Strange. ]

I can clean this place up, but it'd be sleeping rough. You ever done that?

Not exactly. Though I have spent more than a few nights in your subway hideaway in its original form.

[ That's as close as he's ever gotten, but he knows it isn't anything like the circumstances Carver has likely slept in. Harold at least had a cot at the subway.

He grimaces. ] I think I can manage sleeping in my assigned cabin, but I admit I'm not eager to disrobe there. No complaints about my cabin mates, I'm just accustomed to my privacy.

[ If Carver can admit he's dangerous when woken up, Harold can admit he's physically shy. It shouldn't feel like it equates, but to Harold it's quite a large admission. He certainly doesn't wear shorts normally and he's feeling quite awkward about it. ]

[ Quietly, Carver wonders if sleeping rough would mess up Harold's limp worse than it already is. He doesn't say it, though. Harold's a grown ass man. And the brutal truth is that learn to live with these things or you die, and there's very little in between.

He watches Harold a moment. Wondering at this admission. This show of trust, because what else could it be? ]

That part was hard in boot camp, [ he offers after a moment. ] At first, anyway. I don't notice it now.

[ You get used to things, is what Carver means. ]

[ Harold's learned to live with quite a lot, his disability included, but he's never had to get accustomed to getting undressed in front of others. ]

I hope we aren't here long enough for me to acclimate, [ he says dourly. ] I didn't sign up for boot camp. I suppose I shouldn't complain about such an asinine mission assignment, but it does feel rather rude, doesn't it?

[ Considering he'd seen Carver stalking angrily out of his cabin, he feels sure this will land well. ]

[ Carver snorts at that. Somehow, he can’t imagine even a younger Harold Finch in boot camp.

Some of the tension drains out of him. Bitching always makes him feel more like a person. Like the stakes are lower. ]

I think they enjoy humiliating us. Like making a dog dress up in people clothes.

We really know nothing about Echo, so it's hard to tell, [ he answers, a hint of grousing to his tone. It is humiliating. ]

But I don't think that's Aurora's intent in following Echo's orders. Her core directive is to keep us safe and well, and sometimes that can get muddled in execution for a young A.I.

[ It speaks to how comfortable he'd grown talking freely about the Machine over the past year that this just slips out now. ]

You got more trust than I do.

[ It feels like a test. The sort that Pope would have put them through to make sure they were clever. That they hadn’t lost their edge.

Carver twitches. He puts that thought away. ]

Just because somebody says a thing doesn’t make it true.

It's not trust, [ he corrects, straightening his spine as much as it will allow. ] I've spent years of my life programming an artificial super intelligence, Mr. Carver.

[ The world's first, but he's not trying to brag at the moment -- or ever. ]

They experience fundamental limitations in their understanding of humanity. We represent a tremendous diversity, and it takes a considerable amount of processing power for them to keep up. You and I, we're aberrations. For most people, summer camp is indeed a bonding experience.

Nothing stops them from lying, [ he points out flatly. Programs can be made to lie just like people. And most people are evil, spiteful things.

He exhales through his teeth. ]

I’m not trying to talk down your expertise. You know what you know. But people play games all the time. Why can’t they?

Yes, of course they can. You shouldn't trust them any more than you would anyone else.

[ Harold loves humanity; he wants to save every individual person in front of him, no matter how foul; but he doesn't do that blindly. He doesn't think anyone should trust anyone else unless their heart tells them to. ]

Like I said, it isn't trust. Aurora is consistent with what I would expect from an A.I. at her stage of development. Regardless of her intent, she's still following Echo's orders. It's possible we could exploit her directive to act as caretaker where it counteracts Echo's designs, but I'm not certain of that yet.

[ In other words: he's being fully calculated about this. Harold cares and cares deeply, but he isn't taken in by how much he cares. It doesn't cast a film over his perspective. ]

[ Carver's prepared to either bristle and defend his reasoning or shut down and accept a superior's reprimand. To his faint surprise, neither is necessary. Harold doesn't snap at him or order him to back down; instead, he explains his thinking. Expands on the reasoning.

Slowly, cautiously, Carver considers that. ]

What would that look like, exploiting the directive?

It's a matter of opportunity -- if or when Echo directs us to do something transparently contrary to our well-being. She may choose to side with us against that.

[ Harold has considered this in great detail already, and he isn't making any assumptions about which way Aurora will fall, but... her warning that if she's aware of a private communication network, she'd have to try to access it -- that said quite a lot to him.

Speaking of which. He reaches up and adjusts his glasses. ] The device I've just given you, and the cameras we've set up -- they are outside of Aurora's network.

I will hope for the best and plan for the worst.

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timeskip to after cameras are installed?

that works!

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Cw mild ableism

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