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week 4
WEEK FOUR
road trip!
As the doctor mentioned, the next leg of your trip is quite long, so walking isn't advised; hopefully, you've all secured alternative methods of travel between the abandoned cars and the wild pack of horses you found last week.
These cars are long abandoned, and most of them still have things like CDs and magazines in the gloveboxes and trunks - so at least you’ll have some entertainment for the trip! Conveniently, music you can find comes from the year 2024 and earlier, because in the Turnout universe, CDs were still widely a thing in modern times because I said so.
Be aware that there are not enough cars and horsies for everyone to go solo; you’ll need to group up and decide who’s driving! And, more notably...
Your drive won't be entirely peaceful! There are bound to be some zombies littering the street, which characters will need to clear in order to keep going. Whether that's through running them over, sniping them with your newfound long-range gun skills, or doing it the old fashioned way by hopping out of the car and beating them to a pulp, they've gotta move! Be careful not to let the horseys get bit.
These cars are long abandoned, and most of them still have things like CDs and magazines in the gloveboxes and trunks - so at least you’ll have some entertainment for the trip! Conveniently, music you can find comes from the year 2024 and earlier, because in the Turnout universe, CDs were still widely a thing in modern times because I said so.
Be aware that there are not enough cars and horsies for everyone to go solo; you’ll need to group up and decide who’s driving! And, more notably...
Your drive won't be entirely peaceful! There are bound to be some zombies littering the street, which characters will need to clear in order to keep going. Whether that's through running them over, sniping them with your newfound long-range gun skills, or doing it the old fashioned way by hopping out of the car and beating them to a pulp, they've gotta move! Be careful not to let the horseys get bit.
respite
Whether or not you were suspicious of whatever the “SAFE” marked on the map was supposed to mean, when you come to the coordinates that are marked, you’ll be in front of a door that opens down into the earth — it's a bunker. The entrance is slightly hidden by foliage, seemingly intentionally so.
Inside, it’s obvious this place is not like the places you’ve been traveling to thus far. It’s clean, well stocked, and nicely furnished. Judging by the pictures on the wall, it’s a safe house that’s been used many times by Dr. Bei and her five associates. So, it was built by a bunch of super nerds surviving the apocalypse, meaning that it's pretty well fortified and self sufficient. It seems like the Doctor must have been here at least a few weeks ago, judging by the dust levels and quality of the food.
That means there’s clean running (and hot!) water, as well as a freezer that’s stocked up with some raw meat, vegetables, and a rare ice cream treat. Also in the kitchen are some seasonings and other staples: flour, rice, etc. There are cooking utensils too, of course! Characters well versed in cooking may just be able to throw together a nice feast for everyone.
There’s also, you know. Alcohol. Not a ton of mixers, though!
It seems like the nerds had simple things for means of entertainment: there are some party and card games hidden away in drawers — think pictionary, uno and twister, or other such party games. Of course, only your imagination is holding you back: while you have a safe place to rest, it might be easier to let loose and have fun.
The six rooms in the bunker all have one bed and a connected bathroom - each one is identical but decorated with sparse things, like stray trinkets or a picture frame. Only Dr. Bei's really has anything different about it, because in it, there's still a working computer.
Characters will be able to open basic programs like wordpad, MS paint, or iTunes for music purposes. Like everyone who had iTunes, she has U2 songs on there. There's still no internet, but there are some saved messages from her and another colleague using an alternative connection method.
While exploring, characters can discover a chat log between ♛, which appears to be Dr. Bei's display name, and ♝, another user.
Aside from the beds in the six rooms, there are also sofas and armchairs to rest on.
Inside, it’s obvious this place is not like the places you’ve been traveling to thus far. It’s clean, well stocked, and nicely furnished. Judging by the pictures on the wall, it’s a safe house that’s been used many times by Dr. Bei and her five associates. So, it was built by a bunch of super nerds surviving the apocalypse, meaning that it's pretty well fortified and self sufficient. It seems like the Doctor must have been here at least a few weeks ago, judging by the dust levels and quality of the food.
That means there’s clean running (and hot!) water, as well as a freezer that’s stocked up with some raw meat, vegetables, and a rare ice cream treat. Also in the kitchen are some seasonings and other staples: flour, rice, etc. There are cooking utensils too, of course! Characters well versed in cooking may just be able to throw together a nice feast for everyone.
There’s also, you know. Alcohol. Not a ton of mixers, though!
It seems like the nerds had simple things for means of entertainment: there are some party and card games hidden away in drawers — think pictionary, uno and twister, or other such party games. Of course, only your imagination is holding you back: while you have a safe place to rest, it might be easier to let loose and have fun.
The six rooms in the bunker all have one bed and a connected bathroom - each one is identical but decorated with sparse things, like stray trinkets or a picture frame. Only Dr. Bei's really has anything different about it, because in it, there's still a working computer.
Characters will be able to open basic programs like wordpad, MS paint, or iTunes for music purposes. Like everyone who had iTunes, she has U2 songs on there. There's still no internet, but there are some saved messages from her and another colleague using an alternative connection method.
While exploring, characters can discover a chat log between ♛, which appears to be Dr. Bei's display name, and ♝, another user.
Aside from the beds in the six rooms, there are also sofas and armchairs to rest on.
oops all memshare
While within the safe house, your bracelets will start acting strange. It might have to do with being underground, or perhaps just the highly advanced technology at work down here, but at inopportune times, you’ll find your mind linking with other party members’, especially when initiating physical contact.
When connected to another survivor, you may exchange memories, which may come with 1) the physical sensations you felt at the time, 2) the emotions you felt at the time, or 3) the thoughts you had at that time. Players can be creative with this mechanic and have the memshares be like watching a movie, or physically acted out — whichever is your preference. There’s no prerequisite on the type of memory that might accidentally spill over, and characters may share multiple memories with one person.
According to the map's schedule, you have some time to rest your weary feet from the long ride… you’re not scheduled to leave for two or three days. It seems the Doctor might want you to fill up and face the second half of the trip with your most well rested selves. So, why not relax while you can? What’s the worst that could happen???
When connected to another survivor, you may exchange memories, which may come with 1) the physical sensations you felt at the time, 2) the emotions you felt at the time, or 3) the thoughts you had at that time. Players can be creative with this mechanic and have the memshares be like watching a movie, or physically acted out — whichever is your preference. There’s no prerequisite on the type of memory that might accidentally spill over, and characters may share multiple memories with one person.
According to the map's schedule, you have some time to rest your weary feet from the long ride… you’re not scheduled to leave for two or three days. It seems the Doctor might want you to fill up and face the second half of the trip with your most well rested selves. So, why not relax while you can? What’s the worst that could happen???
no subject
It's not nothing... it means you didn't let them get away with it.
[ She mutters, pulling her jacket sleeves back up on her shoulders. Maybe it couldn't literally make a difference to her, but the distinction is important to Hella — that he hadn't just left and escaped on his own. ]
You cared about her, right?
no subject
[ Given what she saw, it's easy to own up to that much. Riko wasn't a sorcerer, their mission to protect her had been a pain even before it all went to shit, and yet...
He and Suguru made the decision together. To save her from her own ill-begotten fate, the one they were supposed to deliver her to. The higher-ups couldn't force her to merge with Tengen and give up her sense of self. She had a right to live her life, and they would protect her in that, too. After all, who could have stopped them? They were the two strongest.
...He'd never really felt so much like a normal teenager ever before. ]
But there's no point in getting all worked up about it now, so don't you go feeling sorry for me or anything, got it?
[ The last thing he wants is to be pitied. For not being strong enough, no less. ]
cw: torture, experimentation
[ She frowns, though it's less bossy and petulant than before, more thoughtful and pensive. She gets it, he doesn't want to show any weakness in front of her, probably, or admit that any of it hurt or affected him. And she can respect that, because she's the same way. ]
Am I not allowed to feel sad a pretty, nice girl was killed for some stupid reason? Damn.
[ Because it is sad, and she wishes things were different, but she knows that's just not how the world works all the time, much as she tries to swim against the current. Looking down, she rubs at her forehead with her wrist, which seems to trigger one of her own memories — a vision of her handcuffed to a cold, metal chair in front of table, hooked up to all sorts of monitors. There's a figure in front of her with evidence laid out on the table, who seems to be interrogating her (through 16:53). In the memory, she explains the origins of her powers, the experiments at Parma, and defends a certain "monster" who, according to evidence, played a major role in her torture. For those who have been around them both, noticeably, she speaks of the "monster" with the same defensive and protective quality which she speaks about Ninety-Nine ...
Her answering the long string of questions posed to her by the Chief is intercut with flashes of her time at Parma: enduring things no human should be able to survive, all while her body tirelessly repaired any damage in seconds. Bones re-growing, sinew knitting back together. Her own memory of the events is hard to discern from one another, which explains the faulty playback of it all — most of the agony she felt then is a blur. But she remembers the other experiments dying off one by one, and Ninety-Nine's blade cutting into mercilessly, time and time again. ]
no subject
...It leaves him with a tight pit in his stomach. He doesn't exactly feel...sad for her. That's not the emotion. Instead — ]
...Why didn't you fight back? Against the ones who experimented on you.
[ She should have killed them all. He would have. ]
no subject
Don't you think I tried? [ She offers, casually. ] Well, when I could move and wasn't drugged up.
[ It's as morbid as she makes it sound; most of the time, she was either in restraints, pumped full of chemicals, or in such bad shape that fighting back wouldn't be possible. Not for someone of her experience anyway. She was a street rat with a knack for surviving, never an all powerful warrior like so many of the people among their group. Even still, in whatever small ways she could, she had resisted — refusing to go in her restraints, biting when they came too close, disobeying.... she never let them break her spirit in there, even if she lacked the power to get out on her own. ]
I broke myself and Ninety-Nine out, then we blew up their shit as we left. I'd call that pretty successful "fighting back."