etrayalogs | MISSION 004 (part 1)

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: July 19th-July 27th.
WHERE: Moorecroft Village
WHAT: Enjoy life in your new suburban neighborhood!
NOTES\WARNINGS: Potential death.

⏵ welcome home ⏴
Welcome to Moorecroft Village, where the sun casts a gentle glow through soft white clouds. Pavement paths wind around the village, adorned with wildflowers in every hue. Birds sing a soothing melody, while a few content cats lounge in sunspots or on benches along the streets. Cars hum by, ferrying residents to work, the store, or back home after a busy day.

It looks almost perfect. The ideal little village, occupied by individuals from all over. Orcs, elves, faeries, werewolves, vampires, and dhampirs coexist harmoniously, each contributing to their quaint little town. Despite their varied backgrounds, they appear to embrace this place as their own. They take their baby carriages out during the day for a stroll, chatting with friends and neighbors about current happenings, discussing their most recent mission (a ‘game’ of Whodunit, in which one of theirs, Theo, was tasked with killing one of their own each day and they all had to figure out who had killed them before they could come back to life) and the difficulties therein, new job assignments, weird things the teens in their houses are getting up to... generic, neighborly conversations.

The village is full of life. There are numerous facilities to wander and things to do! The library houses a vast collection of books spanning history from countless other worlds and whimsical children's tales. Teens gather at the ice skating rink, while the movie theater screens films spanning generations. An aquarium full of wonders: glowing rainbow fish, miniature great white sharks, a colorful octopus with patterns running over it that almost look like ivy, and numerous others.

In the daytime, everyone can explore clothing stores, indulge in gourmet cakes from the grocers, and partake in leisurely pursuits without financial concerns; just like on Etraya, money does not exist here.

⏵ help wanted ⏴
Moorecroft surpasses Etraya in its development, offering attractions and activities to engage its inhabitants throughout the day. But with these advancements come additional responsibilities. By day, at least one adult from every household is expected to fulfill their shifts at 'day jobs', lasting anywhere from four to eight hours. Meanwhile, the youth are expected to go to school, absorbing knowledge in various disciplines.

Each job duty requires different skillsets, but whether or not those required skillsets are matched to those who are expected to work them... well. They’ll have plenty of time for training, won’t they? Or perhaps they’ll get dropped right into their job and be expected to figure it out all on their own.

For the younger residents, education is structured into two main institutions: "Sandalwood Lower" for those twelve and under, and "Maplewood Upper" for older students. These schools offer a broad curriculum encompassing Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education, Technology, Fine Arts, and a diverse array of Foreign Languages. Electives range widely, from specific sports to Survival Training, Creative Writing, Journalism, and Sociology.

At lunchtime, the school cafeteria presents an array of choices. Options range from standard fare like school pizza to other offerings such as vampire's blood, brains, and hearts—just in case an unexpected guest should drop in. After all, one never knows who might show up in Moorecroft.

⏵ honey do's ⏴
But life extends beyond work and school. A structured routine of what is expected of each household is kept on digital calendars, and installed on the wall in the kitchen of each house. These calendars update daily with smaller tasks, and weekly with larger ones, detailing what is expected of those residing within its walls.

Typical tasks include simple activities such as:

Take the child(ren) for a walk outdoors.
Visit the local park.
Bake a pie for the neighbors.
Tell your spouse(s) how important they are to you.
Share a secret.
Shop with your child(ren).
Mow the lawn.
Don’t forget to attend your child’s school’s PTA meeting!
Help with homework.
Take family photos.
Go on a date.

More complex tasks are found under weekly checklists, and may involve:

Host a neighborhood barbeque competition.
Volunteer at the hospital.
Teach your child a sport.
Start a soccer league.
Create a garage band.
Get a part time job.
Join a club.

Eos will check off each task as it is completed. At the bottom of each calendar, a tally records the completion of tasks, providing a visual measure of productivity and community involvement.

⏵ night watch ⏴
As the sun lowers over the horizon, everything shifts. Every long-term resident understands the consequences of curfew and the threats within. They retreat to their homes, urging those unfamiliar to them who may not understand the rules just yet that they, too, need to return indoors for the night.

Within the confines of their houses, life continues under a fragile veil of normalcy. A peek into some of the homes of long-term residents will find them playing board games with their family units, completing homework or work assignments they were unable to finish during the day, watching a few family-friendly shows on their couches, or enjoying a late dinner. Eventually, they’ll return to their beds and wait for the sound of their alarms.

In Moorecroft, no friendly companion bots roam the streets during the day. In their place, highly advanced robots emerge to enforce curfew once the time comes. They silently make their way through the streets, sweeping away anything that isn’t part of Eos’ design: trash left out on the street, bugs left by suspicious men wearing cowls that have ears on them, graffiti, new decor that Eos decides she doesn’t like. No winds shake the trees, there are no cars on the road, but noises can be heard coming from outside that don't sound... normal by any means. Croaks, whispers, scratches against doors and walls alike.

Those who defy curfew will be asked, once, to return to their homes. If they opt not to listen, they are met with force: physically restrained, subdued, and dragged back to their homes. If they decide to fight, the bots are not above killing them and dropping their limp bodies just inside the front door of their houses. They will revive after 48 hours but not without cost. Each return carries an absence—a missing memory, a lost skill, or a fragment of their very essence, stolen away in the process of their revival.

Even those who manage to evade capture will awaken in their beds with no recollection of their death or what they may have witnessed before dying. They will instead have a vague feeling that something horrifying happened.

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Daily and weekly tasks can be chosen by players! We won't be listing these out for each household, but relying on players to choose what's most fun for them to play with within their households.

As noted on Mission Plotting, we're open to one group successfully staying out past curfew, but would like to keep this to one thread.

We have a separate log for NPC interactions for this mission!

For any questions relating to the contents of this log, mod queries thread on the initial plotting post to assist us in keeping all mission-related information in one place. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.
⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[You never know what or who you're going to be running into out here, in the expanse of a dangerous nighttime suburbia. As he's on look-out, it's easy to see her from his vantage point: a scrappy-looking child walking down the street, a worn green backpack on her shoulders and her expression unfazed as she scans the area around her carefully. The bots are apparently dangerous — but she doesn't seem to care too much.

Not when there are people trying to tell her what to do, how to live. She's a terribly defiant child when there's a force attempting to keep her caged in anywhere, let alone a bedroom in a foreign city bubble.

The bots are not too far from her, though.

Haven't noticed her, but certainly might.]

[Hm. If she looked older, he might be willing to wait and see before interfering. There's people around here with all sorts of strange abilities, after all. Even a kid seems likely to have them - but that doesn't mean he should just stand back and watch. Otto descends carefully from the roof, silently and slower than he could go. He doesn't want to be the one to set those robots off.]

[If Otto watches long enough, he'll find that the child has found cover behind some brush — just so that one of the bots can meander past her. The metal creation looks left, looks right, and then suddenly jerked and spasmed where it stood. The cause happens to be this: Laura, leaping out and jamming something into its back before slicing the being into three pieces.

These pieces collapse into the grass, before she moves to drag the pieces out of the obvious line of sight. She only stops to turn sharply toward where Octavius quietly hovers in the darkness, her nose twitching.]

Who's there?

[There are no weapons in her hands, but her knuckles are specked with blood.]

[Well. Damn. There you go - this kid's some sort of ninja!

Otto still worries a bit, though. He knows, now, that Peter was in over his head back home. The younger one was too. Just look how things turned out, after all. He moves forward slowly and carefully, still on the actuators, his hands raised (for all that really means anymore).]

It's alright. I just wanted to keep an eye out.

[Ninja, bloodhound... she's a lot of things in spirit. One of the only perks of being raised in a laboratory, and only just. As he hovers a bit more into view with hands raised, her grouchy glower softens into something much less threatening. Is he a mutant? Or are those things coming out of his back a creation of his own making? She's not sure, but they are interesting.]

I'm not doing anything bad.

They just keep trying to take me back home when I don't want to go.

[... It's very much a 'trust me, I'm behaving' response, despite the fact that there are destroyed robot limbs at her feet.]

I see that.

[Dryly, glancing at the robot limbs. It's not that he cares particularly if she's out after curfew; he cares about the consequences.]

Are you alright? A friend of mine tried to fight them a few nights ago. He says they'll only keep coming - she's got more than she needs.

[She nods.]

I'm okay. I heal fast.

[That's... a way to put it, yeah. It's one hell of a truth. She doesn't seem too bothered, and in fact doesn't look concerned with her current robo-limbed company as she wanders closer toward him and the actuators.]

Are you a mutant?

Wh - no.

[What???

Well, he realizes after a second, it must be a thing in her world. Beyond, you know, an actual genetic mutant or the way people might use the term as an insult.]

I don't think we have those in my world.

[Oh. Then that makes him all the more interesting, then. Not born that way must mean he was built that way? Or maybe he built them himself. She finds herself immediately interested as she walks toward them, looking them up and down.]

Then you made them? They are not part of you? Or did scientists hurt you?

[Did scientists hurt him? Technically - yes - but that's an...interesting assumption to make on her part. It makes Otto feel a little more inclined to answer honestly, rather than avoid it.]

...I made them. They weren't...originally part of me, but there was a lab accident.

[She looks relieved, despite the fact that lab accident is not very great, either. Even so, it beats what her imagination is conjuring up. She moves to poke at the metal arms, seemingly unconcerned with the possibility of them being dangerous.]

Why did you make them?

To reach high shelves?

[Relax, he scolds them mentally, and the actuator in question only turns as if to watch Laura's movements from the light centered within its claws.]

They were intended to help me operate another invention of mine - a nuclear fusion reactor. [He's looking at her, with his eyes, but the other arms are on a swivel, looking up and down the street. No sign of anything just yet, but - ] Perhaps we ought to take this inside?

[Judging by Laura's blank stare, she has absolutely no clue what he's talking about. Nuclear fusion is not something brought up particularly often in Transigen, especially with the mutant children. Too busy being trained to kill people.]

... Do you have snacks?

[Important questions are being asked.]

Yes, we have some. And you're welcome to - the couch, I suppose, if you need a place to stay.

[He'd wanted to offer his bed, to be polite, but. Let's be real, he cannot sleep on a couch.]

[She looks amused.]

Just snacks. Then I can sneak home.

[The girl clearly has 0 concern for whatever the robots are capable of, as a mutant does.]

Who are you?

MISSION 004 (part 1)

iv. neighborhood watch

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