biteys: (Default)
NIMBO ([personal profile] biteys) wrote in [community profile] turnout2024-06-29 09:53 am

WEEK 1

WEEK ONE


!
the beginning of the end

That’s what’s playing on repeat on a tape recorder, when the survivors come to.

Characters will find themselves in a humble, American townhouse, which other than being a bit dusty, is still mostly clean. All characters will be sprawled out on the floor and furniture of the living room, in front of what looks to be a giant portal. Characters will also notice they have a seemingly indestructible silver wristband around their wrists, and they have nothing with them but the clothes on their back.

Take a look around, and you'll realize that everyone in the room is likely a stranger. Aside from the tape playing, there's little explanation or proof that what's being said to you is even true. For all you know, one of the people in the room could be responsible for you being suddenly taken here.

Exploring the house's many rooms will reveal that there are small stockpiles food, water, weapons (a few guns, a few bats, a few knives), and maps, along with a large, strange container of blue liquid. The maps all chart a route from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and sport detailed recommended time stamps on them. Strangely, the recommended path occasionally diverges into two separate routes.

Upon searching the house, Haru Okumura finds a set of notes, while Leontuzzo Bellone finds a separate set. They are free to keep these notes to themselves, or share them with the group.

Nothing has anyone's names on it — not the notes, and certainly not the supplies. Everyone will have to compete for the same things. Or maybe all of you can be civilized about this, before anyone goes hoarding weapons and food? Maybe you can even introduce yourselves, while you're at it. For some strange reason, every window and door in this place is locked (and impossible to break), and will be for at least 72 hours, as if someone wanted you all to be cooped up together for a time before heading out.

Most interestingly, in the deepest basement of the house, there's a room with a large, heavy dresser shoved in front of it… and a low moaning and banging emanating from the other side. The door’s slightly ajar, and a closer look reveals a zombie is the source of the sound. Context clues around the basement, like the PhD in interdimensional travel hung up on the wall (for a Dr. Bei), hint that the woman inside is whoever left you this cryptic message - the woman who brought you here, allegedly. But she's long long gone, only this monster left in her wake. It seems she was smart enough to lock herself away to prevent you from being harmed, at least... and it'll give you a preview of the threat that looms outside.
sewer diving
After 72 hours have passed, one and only one door unlocks – in the very same basement that the zombie of Dr. Bei can be found. It leads down to a dark, dingy tunnel that connects to the sewers. Not only is the smell awful, but (non-infected) rats scurry about, keeping to the shadows – but the smell of any of the food you've taken from the house will attract them. Careful!

The party will need to create some light to navigate their way out and keep the rats at bay, or they’ll be bumping around in the dark for quite a while. Now might be a good time to share if you have some matches, or a special talent for being a lantern. Mercifully, there's only one exit that actually opens down in this labyrinth, as if it's a route the Doctor designed to take all the time.

At one point, Puppy falls into the sewage, and loses something they brought from the house.

oh! that's a baseball

Once characters make it out of the sewers, they’ll be a day’s travel to the first mark on the party’s map: “Dodger’s Stadium.” The road they’ll have to hike to get there is winding, curvy, and uphill, which will give the party a good overview of the now dilapidated Los Angeles, along with the many abandoned buildings and cars that litter the place. The stadium itself looks to have been cleared of threats and fashioned into a safe spot a long time ago, as all entrances but one have been completely welded shut. The high walls keep zombies out, and the winding path up here deters most of them from even approaching.

Inside the stadium, there’s some baseball merch (and equipment) to scavenge, not to mention some really old peanuts! Delicious. Maybe there are even some old fireworks laying around this place. Setting up camp here won’t be very comfortable… but at least it’s very safe. A luxury the party won’t have for much longer, if the map is anything to go by. You'll be heading through the city, next, so rest up while you can.

!
week one objectives

➤ make acquaintances with your fellow travelers
➤ decide what to do with the zombie of dr. bei
➤ arm yourself with what you can find
➤ scavenge some portable food from the house and while traveling
➤ make camp at the stadium
mediator: (pic#17265661)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-06-30 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure how many people are here yet, but I'm curious what the purpose behind this all is. And how we will get home too.

[ that strange machine in the living room didn't look like it had a switch to turn back on... he would like to go home at some point please. ]
mediator: (pic#17265659)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-06-30 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah!

[ the sound escapes right as he tosses, but he kicks off the ground and snatches it with both hands. ]

Huh. I guess that's why players use the gloves. [ a lesson learnt! ] Ok. Let me know when you're ready to swing.
mediator: (pic#17265654)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-06-30 07:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Really? I didn't know that. [ he didn't think there were downsides to drinking hot water with a tea bag to flavor it. alice seems to almost exclusively drink tea too... ] That's good to know. Thank you. I drink water more often - I only have a cup of tea a day normally.

[ this is all very serious, he does not want to get sick. ]
hydrotherapy: (pic#17268248)

[personal profile] hydrotherapy 2024-06-30 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ HELP ME I DIDN'T EVEN THINK OF THAT....pretends there's the tiniest ledge she's walking on, save her. How long will this miracle ledge last for, stay tuned. ]

Mmm, it's not perfect and it'd be a lot better if I had my Bubble Gun with me here [ her what ] but I should be able to make something.

[ Please hold while she pauses, focuses reeeeeeaal hard, and then slowly produces a bubble that expands and expands until it's large enough to fit a normal-sized person. Slowly, the bubble floats towards Shoko. Does she:

> pop the bubble using excessive force? ( :( why would she do this )
> wait for the bubble to envelop her warmly and gently? ( :) the correct option ) ]
organfarm: (✚ 007)

[personal profile] organfarm 2024-06-30 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Uh. [ That earns a little cock of the head and a blink, but hey, he can take a hint and will refrain from prying. He's no stranger to people wanting to keep things on the down low for various reasons. ] Right. Got it.

[ But like, now that that matter's out of the way, he can't help the way his thoughts drift to a very different subject.

Yes his gaze flits towards Leon's tail before forcibly being dragged away. ]


Ummm. [ 'Where are you from?' 'Does everyone have tails where you're from?' He wants to ask those so badly. But they're maybe a little too forward, so -- ] It, uh, really feels like people here're from all sorts of places, huh? Just, like. In terms of atmosphere. Everyone feels so different ... if that makes sense?
mediator: (pic#17268333)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-06-30 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
They might have. Either that or we're trapped and they're watching us from afar.

[ this feels like the sort of thing alice would do with a ploy, like that awful mirror he's wandered into once or twice by accident. he sighs soft. ]

I'm going to be late for work. This is bad.

[ they're going to dock his pay for not giving any warning, or fire him at worst. ]
venomnom: (033)

[personal profile] venomnom 2024-06-30 07:44 pm (UTC)(link)
[She can know anything she wants.]

Of the three in your notes, I'd say that I'm most likely to be an offensive candidate.
organfarm: (✚ 005)

[personal profile] organfarm 2024-06-30 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh. Right. Most people here probably had their own lives and priorities before getting dragged into this, huh. The reminder is sobering, and Jion gives a small nod in response. ]

... mm. Sorry. It really is rough that we all just ended up here. I bet people back where you're from must really miss you too, huh.

[ A pause in thought before he gives an awkward laugh. ]

Stuff like this is my job. Well -- not this sort of delivery, exactly? But I'm a soldier. So. Y'know. If there's something I can do to help people, then of course I gotta do it? And I kinda assumed a lot of other people would be from similar situation, but I guess it's not like that? Whoever brought us here really could've chosen better ...

[ Oh, he's rambling. Jion pauses with a little clear of the throat before trying to change tack. ] -- um, what kinda place are you from? Maybe things'll be okay if we get this job done as fast as we can and you can get back?
rifare: (Default)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ For some people, maybe. For Leon it would be a small nod and a simple "yeah, of course, an Arts summon. Obviously." There's going to be a culture shock for him the more people he talks to, because some of them did not come from worlds where having powers of this nature is the normal.

As if the lack of furries wasn't already a culture shock enough.
]

We can hope. I won't be able to fire these forever if I don't find more bullets for them.

[ He pushes back his ostentatious, long coat to reveal the two handguns he managed to talk two separate people into letting him take charge of in the house. Then again, Leontuzzo isn't the biggest, physically most imposing man in the world. His aim is good, but he doesn't relish the idea of having to switch to something like a bat himself. ]
organfarm: (✚ 008)

[personal profile] organfarm 2024-06-30 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Four hundred and fifty ... at least. And three categories. Around fifteen hundred candidates, huh. The scale of it feels pretty nutty. And if B stands for something like -- you know, round A, round B? Maybe we're the second round?

[ Even nuttier, if, by some chance, this has already happened before. There's a solemn pause before he looks back to her. ]

-- um. You think you're any of the ones listed here?
rifare: (free hearts are never broken)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Leon's fingers twitch for a moment at the impulse to reach into his pocket for the note he found, but he doesn't, not for now. ]

It may not be a bad idea. For my own part I have already admitted to at least one of my skills. My others are far more... clerical, so I don't know how much that will help in what we're being asked to do.
rifare: (like a wolf)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The responding sigh he offers is heavy, though he can't argue with that kind of caution. ]

I understand the doctor's circumstances were... difficult, but I do wish she had given us more information about the sort of obstacles we would be facing.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (pic#17252731)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-06-30 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Shoko should probably ask what the Bubble Gun thing means, but she figures it's probably part of this whole... thing Sigewinne has got going on. Like, why wouldn't this adorable little creature have something called a Bubble Gun? It might as well happen.

Just like the giant bubble that she forms that slowly drifts towards Shoko. What a cute power... of course she's going to let it envelop her warmly and gently. Floating in a giant bubble is the kind of cute whimsical thing that could never happen to her before... even if in this particular instance, it's happening in the sewers. ]


Uwaaah...

[ Once she's inside, she moves very carefully so as not to accidentally pop the thing. It's sturdier than it looks, to be able to carry a person... ]

Just like in a fairy tale or something~. Hey, Chibi-chan, could you be some kind of little fairy?
empression: (If only you weren't a dickweed)

[personal profile] empression 2024-06-30 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
From that recording, if we're to believe it, we should be able to get home, but I'd be curious about the method, too.

We may just have to wait to receive more information from that woman.

[ Boy, they're in for a surprise. ]
rifare: (keep your monsters)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Leontuzzo is quiet for a minute as he continues to walk along. He doesn't fault Mark's logic here in the slightest, and in all honesty the less then encounter the happier he is too. He's just not optimistic enough to believe they won't be stumbling across their fair share of them over the next several weeks.

There's another reason he's quiet though, his ears twisting this way and that as he listens to the sound of their fellow survivors' footsteps, to the sound of the scurrying rats, listens out for the sound of the strange, clumsy, shuffling gate that he'd heard coming from the closet Dr. Bei had shoved herself into.
]

It's possible... I suspect my hearing is better than most of you though, and if there is anything strange up ahead I should be able to notice it.

[ Should, unless too many competing sounds drown it out. ]

Though it doesn't hurt to stay on guard anyway.
organfarm: (✚ 008)

[personal profile] organfarm 2024-06-30 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Got it. I'll do another sweep once this task is done.

[ He's just going to take her gentle suggestion as an order, don't worry about it.

For the moment, he gets right to work snipping longs strips out of the bedsheet and setting them aside in a pile. Busywork is nice! Way easier to mentally digest than everything else going on, at least. So that question earns a supremely awkward laugh and a cant of the head. ]


Mmmm ... well. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I understand much more than what was playing on that tape when we woke up? I've been looking around the house since it feels like the right thing to do, but nothing's really sticking in my brains. It's been hard just accepting this is all really happening, you know ... ah, or maybe that's just me?
irreversal: 🧃 teen (23)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-06-30 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ yeah, this ought to be a good workout for him. ]

Yeah. Thanks, Shizuki-kun.

[ for all this all seems to be a con, she does at least sound sincere in her thanks. ]

Don't feel like you have to carry me the whole time, though. There's no point in you getting exhausted.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (121)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-06-30 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Right. There's enough out there that'll try to kill us, and we're stuck in here for three days, anyway. It'd be kinda pathetic if she worked so hard to get all of us here from different worlds only for us to never make it out of her house 'cause we didn't take care of her.
empression: (We serve the hottest ones)

[personal profile] empression 2024-06-30 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Don't worry, Haru is living proof that you don't have to be big or look imposing to Bring The Pain-- ]

Then perhaps I can assist in looking for ammunition as we go? I'm certain we'll have to go on supply runs every so often, and bats don't require bullets. [ Not in her canon, anyway.

At least one of them looks a little more well-dressed for sitting outside at night, given she has no ridiculously cool long coat, she's just in a pink summer dress. Again, very intimidating. ]
empression: (How good could it be)

[personal profile] empression 2024-06-30 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
That... ah.

[ Hm. Her eyebrows furrow, lightly. ]

I wonder. I wouldn't describe myself as a survivalist and, while I'm familiar with combat, to say I have any kind of great prowess... would be arrogance. I don't have much medical experience, either.
rifare: (by way of selfless means)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, it does.

[ Something that really doesn't endear him much to Dr. Bei, though he supposes the fate she's suffering now is cruel punishment enough for all of it. ]

I can take a guess only for myself, but some parts of the note concern me. "It is unknown how the virus will react to their biology" for example, or the fact that she has chosen to represent us with chess pieces. It could mean nothing, but...

[ He looks at the pawn on the note for the resiliency candidates. He knows for sure that this is not the group he would be included in, but it doesn't keep the bad taste out of his mouth. ]

You are the first I have shown these too, but it seems someone else has found notes on the other half of us as well.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (104)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-06-30 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ literally what just happened? her power is to create objects... with her tongue... by describing them as specifically as possible?

okay. well. it's not as if she literally opened her mouth and spat out some sheet masks, so...?? ]


Ehhh... So that's your power?
irreversal: (118)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-06-30 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ I'll protect you, huh... ]

...Gojo. Don't think you have to be my personal bodyguard here or something.
rifare: (i hunt down what we need)

[personal profile] rifare 2024-06-30 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ There's a pause on Leontuzzo's part, where he tries to decide how gentle he wants to be with his words for the sake of the boy, or how realistic. In the end he opts for something in the middle. ]

Perhaps we don't count on it, but we can certainly hope still.

[ He says it all while moving to take a seat. One of the conveniences of finding this area is there's plenty of hard benches around to perch on top of. Maybe not the most comfortable, but if that's the worst of their problems currently, it's not so bad. ]
killboss: (pic#16242314)

[personal profile] killboss 2024-06-30 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ripping apart the kitchen might be only the beginning, he notes to himself; Puppy isn't aware of how many souls there are in this house, but if they all need to be outfitted with weapons? He'll take the walls apart, rip up the floorboards, tear down the roof itself for rebar, cast iron, solid wood bannisters he'll pound nails into to ensure everyone has something to use. This is the effort he's charged himself with — protecting people, by making them able to protect themselves until he can reach them in a pinch.

He slowly works his way closer to Henry, thinking about the flinching, pathetic things in Rengkok South's cramped streets and alleyways. Third Children, Virtuality HOSTS riding empty pleasure and bliss rather than acknowledge they're afraid of vanishing. Knowing if they show fear, their Karma will tank and they'll be gone. Snatched in the night. This guy who flinches from him wouldn't last, he'd be devoured, but because he's not running away it makes it easier not to diminish him.

Instead, Puppy turns the tool around and offers it to him. On his mask, a small white poodle lowers its front half, and wiggles its tail — a dog wanting to play, an eager animal happy to serve. ]