etrayalogs | MISSION 004 (part 1)

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⏴

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Izuku is patient as he waits for Accelerator to speak. He doesn't know a lot about how it happened or even why.

"They made it feel real. Whatever emotions we had before were used in service to them. I've always wanted to protect others, so I felt like I had to protect that toy with my life. Until someone destroyed it."

A dark shadow passes over his face, a serious expression out of place on such a kindly-looking guy. He should be in school without a care in the world besides his grades. But—and his fighting skill is evidence—he has a lot more on his plate.

"'Who is she?" he asks softly.

Accelerator watches Izuku's expression quietly, feeling kind of bad for him. Being manipulated into protecting the toys... he can admit that's rough, even though he'd like to remain firmly in denial that protecting the Sister had been entirely of his own volition.

"She...." How the hell is he supposed to answer that? That was #10 031, the one who wasn't lucky enough to receive an intervention from that Level 0 and survive. No, he just mutilated her. She died alone in an alley like some trash, and probably scared, even if she wouldn't have realized it herself.

He finds himself not wanting to get into the details, but he still wants to be honest. Drawing in a slow breath, he answers lowly. "She was an innocent person I killed."

"I don't know what to say."

He could say he's sorry, and it definitely shows in his eyes, but that feels trite. He could ask if he's okay, but obviously he's not. Izuku once spoke to a child who had lost his parents and was still dealing with the anger and loss. Nothing he could say helped. It was only being there for him when it mattered that did anything.

He doesn't want to pry into the details of his past either. It'd be rude, and Izuku is polite to a fault. Whether manslaughter or murder, Izuku isn't interested in punishing Accelerator. If he wants to talk, that doesn't help.

"Do you know why she was attacking me? Er, well, the toy that looked like her..."

Being unsure of what to say is a far kinder reaction than Accelerator is expecting. The main thought going through his head is that Izuku is being incredibly charitable in not extending any hollow pity, and is instead trying to talk it out in order to understand. So Accelerator doesn't mind explaining what he can as long as it isn't going to re-victimize any of the Sisters, including all of the gory parts that make him look like a monster. Especially those parts. The dead Sister deserves that much.

"I think it may have been part of the mission," he replies, a little uncertain. It's the best guess he has based on his own limited information. "The real was never programmed to be hostile or aggressive towards bystanders, so she wouldn't have attacked anyone but me. There must have been some additional programming added, either that or her original instructions were altered to allow her to do that."

"'Programmed'?" he asks uneasily. If a robot, he could understand programming... but she seemed so real. If a person... that didn't bode well. Izuku is the sort of person who would have liked to talk properly to her and get to know her story in her own words.

"She seemed to be your ally back there yeah. I had no idea you were enemies... kind of."

One doesn't choose their programming.

Accelerator nods slightly, confirming that he meant to use that term. He knows it isn't normal for a flesh-and-blood human, but that's how it was for the Sisters: speed-grown in big vats, then their entire minds downloaded using complicated equipment.

Very dehumanising.

"It's complicated," he replies, trying to find a way to explain the clones' role in Level 6 Shift. "She was artificially made solely to be killed by me for an experiment, so those fucking scientists only programmed her - all of them - for combat. Anything else, like being able to express her feelings, was deemed unnecessary, so they left it out."

Which also explains why #10 031 had been so deadpan and monotone the entire time.

Izuku encountered the bodies of people who underwent unethical science experimentation. They were essentially turned into monsters, and it was unclear whether they had completely died beforehand. There was some evidence that they retained some of their self deep down, but mostly they were rampaging beasts who only obeyed the one set as their master. Izuku wants to save everyone, but he's not so naive as to think that a Hero never has to decide whether to abandon live capture when the other option is the deaths of many innocent bystanders.

"I'm not saying it couldn't be helped, since there are ways to defend oneself without killing. And I wasn't there anyway; I don't really have the right to say anything. But I'm more concerned about who did the programming in the first place, who caused all this."

Who made everyone involved suffer. He presses his lips tightly together, something he does when he's worried or thinking. In this case, it's both.

"There isn't any chance they're here in this world, is there?"

Accelerator doesn't clarify that killing, not just disabling, the clones had been deemed necessary by the scientists running the experiment. In the end a detail like that doesn't matter, what matters is that he went through with it.

He shifts and shakes his head. That's definitely the question of someone more concerned for the Sisters' wellbeing than anything else, even though none of them are here. "No, there isn't. They would've made themselves known to me by now if they were," he replies. "Or I would've found them. It isn't that hard to pick an Academy City scientist out of a crowd when you've been surrounded by them your entire life."

Whether or not the Sisters are here, Izuku is concerned for Accelerator's wellbeing. His account reinforces Izuku's belief that the hurt done to Accelerator can't be ignored. He isn't concerned about what is or isn't deserved as much as this. His line of questioning confirms it:

"Did you escape? Someone as powerful as you..."

Yeah, he's not forgetting that broken leg anytime soon.

Accelerator gives Izuku a serious look at that question.

"I run the entire fucking city now." That's the answer he's giving Izuku, so he can take it however he wants.

Izuku is capable of the appropriate gravitas these subjects deserve--but he's also a teenager. He blinks stupidly.

"What?" he blurts out. "A whole city? That's possible for a kid where you come from? Wait, how old are you?"

"Fifteen," Accelerator replies with a sigh. He isn't happy, but that's just the reality of the situation. "It's possible because the piece of shit that founded the place had rules in place that gave her totalitarian power. Then she handed it all over to me right before fucking dying."

It was just as big a mess as it sounds like.

Izuku's concerns about both Accelerator's autonomy and life choices are not abated.

"Do you want to do all that?"

Izuku is a hypocrite who feels like he's the only one who can stop his mortal enemies from hurting the ones he loves. He constantly puts that before his own well-being. Everyone else should get to choose what they do with their lives, but not him, not the wielder of One For All.

"Doesn't matter."

That answer is coming immediately, no hesitation whatsoever. He has a similar mindset to Izuku when it comes to agency; in fact, most of the reason he took the job was to give others agency they normally wouldn't have. He explains that in a blunt tone, "Someone had to step up, and if I hadn't then another piece of shit adult would have and nothing would change."

Not a matter of can or can't, want or not want, it's something he has to do. Hasn't Izuku thought this many times? Izuku is very still and calm now, unlike his more casual conversations.

"I felt the same way whenever someone needed saving. It seems bad to say, but it didn't matter what happened to me. I'd ask you if it was worth it, but... I think you just answered that."

If Izuku can save even one life, it's worth it. When his loved ones brought their concerns to him about this, he was forced to think more about ensuring he had a future. He wants to tell Accelerator that he's not alone here, but he's not sure how.

There's a creeping dread that's crawling up Accelerator's spine, and Izuku's next words confirm it. The other boy is acting so calm and asking him questions without even a rise in his voice....

Yeah, it's empathy. He's insane enough to be empathizing with a monster such as himself. Sure, he's been trying to move past that label, but with all the killing he's done in Etraya he isn't sure how successful he's been. The point is, Izuku shouldn't be trying to relate to him.

"You're obviously a good person," he replies bluntly. "You should care about your own wellbeing, if only because the people who care about you would get worried if you end up hurting yourself."

And clearly Izuku's the kind of kid who must have people who care about him, family or friends or whatever.

"When it comes to the people who worry about me, I think my only concern is if you're going to break my leg again. That's not happening, so it's fine."

Izuku is crazy. His friends (Katsuki in particular) have established this. Izuku believes that even a monster can try to redeem themselves, but all the while he doesn't look after himself nearly as much as he should.

"But speaking of... If word gets out that you beat me in a fight, I think my friend might come after you. N-not for revenge, don't worry! He's my rival, so if he wins against someone who beat me, it's like... he's winning against me... or something." Izuku understands how Katsuki's mind works on an emotional level, but trying to explain it aloud with words is always awkward.

"Anyway, sorry in advance if that happens, and please try not to break his limbs. He's my friend, and I care about him a lot."

Oh, God. Accelerator feels confident in his assessment of Izuku (even going as far as to think this kid really needs to work on his own wellbeing), but this friend of his sounds like something else. Something, unfortunately, very familiar to him.

His mouth twists and he resists the overwhelming urge to curse Izuku out. It isn't his fault his friend is like all those other assholes back home, so there wouldn't be any point. Instead he sighs, displaying an indifference that isn't actually there. "I'm used to that kind of thing, so I don't care."

Fighting (well, more like slaughtering) people who want to fight and kill him because he's the strongest has been his life for years. It's ridiculous to think he could get away from that.

"I can't make any promises, though," he adds. "If he fights me however he ends up will be his own problem, not mine."

Until now, Izuku had either been in an all-out fight with Accelerator, or holding a sensitive conversation with him about feelings. A third secret thing emerges, something quiet and made of steel. The artlessness in his honesty leaves no room for mollification now.

"That's different from our fight. Practicing restraint and keeping it to a friendly spar is your problem. If you can't do that with your power, just refuse to fight him, and he can deal with it."

The old Katsuki would throw a tantrum about it, but ultimately there was nothing he could do. New and improved Katsuki, for all his usual bluster, has his priorities in a different context. And he has more self-preservation than Izuku, which isn't saying much, but it's something.

Izuku holds up his right hand, showing Accelerator the scars on it. "I have to be careful with my arms because of past injuries. I won't let either of you get permanently injured like this over something stupid. I'm sure he'll understand."

Accelerator is silent for several moments. Being able to restrain his powers hasn't been an issue for him in years, so that isn't something he's concerned about. Nor is he concerned about getting injured.

Nah, he's worried about the other guy. With his past experiences, he's holding exactly zero hopes that he'll be a pleasant person.

"You seriously don't need to worry about me getting permanently injured. Is he the kind of person who'd accept a refusal?" He asks, his tone serious. He's perfectly fine with refusing. Lord knows he has enough experience attempting it, the problem is that it always fell on deaf ears until it got to the point where he just... didn't bother. Why put in the effort when it isn't going to work? If someone wants to fight him they're going to do it, whether he wants to fight back or not.

Katsuki is deeply not a pleasant person. He has all the bedside manner of a brick to the head. Izuku twists his mouth dubiously, and it's in these moments that he seems less the Hero who had to grow up too fast and more the teenager still in training.

"Hm... Not really, but he's not interested in getting permanently injured either. And there's not much he can do if you just don't want to fight. If your heart's not in it, then there's no way it could be a real fight like he'd want."

This could all just be a non-starter, but Izuku has to look out for his friend.

"This may sound weird, and it's hard for me to explain, but he has his own sense of conviction. It's not just hunger for power. He's dear to me, someone I admire. A good Hero, and a good friend."

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MISSION 004 (part 1)

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deku really did just say 'skill issue'

haha he did

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