week 8

[biteys]

WEEK 8

da boaty

For the remaining survivors, the path ahead is relatively straightforward, even if it means they’re going to have to become seafarers to get there. There’s only one last destination to get to, and that’s Alcatraz, or what used to be a historic prison on an island many, many years ago in this world.

As the group will have already discovered, there are a number of abandoned boats nearby the campsite which have fuel that can be siphoned; there should be a boat that’s big enough for everyone to squeeze onto. The even better news? The ride is only a short, crisp fifteen minutes in the bay’s morning fog.

Upon getting to the island, the group will notice that while the buildings of the prison definitely shown signs of wear and tear… it’s not as bad as some of the other buildings they’ve come across on their trip. Perhaps the isolation by water has kept the prison from deteriorating to a more extreme state, and kept increased threats over the years from getting in…

The doors to the prison are unguarded and unlocked, and interestingly, unpopulated. Whatever used to roam these halls is no more: you can hear some distant growling a far ways away from where you are, but it is almost as though anything that could make a sound has all been concentrated into some distant part of the prison somehow.

And similar to the bunker the group stayed in all those weeks ago, it seems that there’s electricity here, if the lights are anything to go by. Lines of individual cells are abandoned and empty, and yet, light burns in each of them.

Venturing further into the prison, the party will come across a printer stationed in a guard’s office, that seems to have a litany of papers strewn about it, as if things had been printed and left there to fall off the stand… searching through them, there’ll be some puzzling messages typed out on them. Who could have written these?

da prisony

No further instructions come from the doctor, but as this is the last place on the map, and as the party may be emboldened by the strange messages they’ve found, it’s only a matter of time before the party finds the place they’re destined to go: the warden’s quarters. Much of the previous infrastructure has been replaced by futuristic looking machinery and tubes, some filled with similar looking liquids to the one the party has been carrying all this time.

And as the party enters… something strange happens with the bracelets they’ve all been carrying.

From each bracelet of a deceased party member, a hologram begins to be projected, three dimensional and semi-corporeal. They are not completely solid, but can be touched: they will disperse into pixels and reform if hugged or hit too hard. For those who have been waiting here for the rest of the party, they’ve finally found a way out of the machines and into a place they couldn’t access before. Reunite, hug, cry! Catch up!

As the doctor is still nowhere to be found, and it’s difficult to tell what you’re supposed to do with the ‘cure’ you’ve lugged all this way, you might as well spend some time sniffing about. As promised, there does seem to be an identical portal to the one that had been in Dr. Bei’s house. There are plenty of cots to sleep in, and the food here, while bland as it is mostly rations and nutritional bars, is abundant.

Deceased characters retain the ability to conjure holograms of items and images, and alive characters gain this ability through their bracelet. Neat!

da doctory

It might have felt like the doctor had abandoned you all, but she appears herself as a hologram eventually, simply to give a final message. As the residents here have already discovered, she seems an intimidating and cold woman, as her messages would have given off.

Place the container on the stand to the west of this room, and your mission is complete. From there, it’ll be dispersed into the air around this city as an aerosol… though it’s far from being able to eliminate all infected from the entire world, and immunize all who are left. The city will be an alright start. Those bracelets were programmed as keys to the portal; you needed all of them to be able to access it. While I didn’t expect my colleague to have reserved my consciousness, nor all of yours within their data… be grateful she did. Now even the dead among you should be capable of rejoining with an existing body of yours in the timeline. I’ve ensured the portal won’t activate until my aerosol is done administering. Don’t try to break out. Wait a few days, then you can go — time and place you want, like I said.

… and not even a thank you! Well, to be fair, she didn’t expect to be alive at this point to thank them, so maybe that plays a role. But, it’s as she says: they’ll need to wait a few days before they’re able to make it back to where they came from. Might be a good time to discuss where and when you’ll be going…?

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Comments

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[venomnom]

[Despite the typical curl of Reiju's smile, her eyes crinkle a touch more than usual at the sight of Ninety-Nine. There's a glow about the latter that imbues her with a feeling like relief as she answers lightly:] How should I describe it? I suppose the most apt word would be home.

[insinnerate]

["Home"... she rolls the word around in her mind, letting it wash over her. That's what it feels like, isn't it?]

And you'll see your brothers there?

[Different people can't all want the same things. Ninety-Nine might think that Reiju deserves a home that's excited to welcome and have her, where maybe someone like the Chief will come forward and tell her that she doesn't have to just be defined by her circumstances forever. Still, she can't force that feeling onto anyone else.]

[venomnom]

Yes, and my father. He should be in high spirits now that we'll all be together again.

[It's a wonder what will happen from here on out. She folds her arms, clasping them just above the elbows.]

Where will you go?

[insinnerate]

But he's... [Ninety-Nine trails off, the uncertainty spilling across her expression in small, fumbling pixels. The one who hurt you, is what should fill that silence, but it doesn't come out. Reiju is free to choose something different for herself, maybe for the first time ever, but Ninety-Nine isn't stupid, for all the things in the world she still doesn't understand. She doesn't think for a second that Reiju doesn't already know that. No, she's sure her choice comes with that knowledge.]

I'll go back. I'm going to follow my home. I don't care that much about Dis...but there are important things.

[Her gaze flicks to the portal. There are other places she'd like to see, too. What if Kotoha's town was a place where they really could all be happy and not feared or hated? But it's not that important.]

[venomnom]

[Judge is many things. For better or worse, he values his children. The consequences will be dire if she disappears out of the blue, to say nothing of NEO MADS' intentions. Selfishly, there are also things she wants to know. In summation, there is no other option.

Even so, the world is kind enough to grant her this moment. With the luxury of time they've been given, Reiju wonders if that "home" is Hella.]

What are those?

[insinnerate]

[In a universe that was a little kinder and a little fairer, there would always be another option. There would always be people like the Chief. There would be people who see alternatives to the road most often traveled and try to help people step off that path. Even people like that, however, will recognize when nothing can be done to change that fate. Sometimes paths only cross for a little while. It's a lesson she doesn't want to admit she's learned: Forever has many different lengths.

There's nothing she can do about that, and Ninety-Nine isn't good at talking about these things. Someone who was better at this could have at least tried. She just answers the question.]

Some people are trying their best even with the whole world turned against them. Some groups have found one another and are working together to change things. Maybe I've only seen a portion of what there actually is out there, but I'm glad that I get to try candy and soft drinks and stargazing. Maybe... those are things many places have in common.

[venomnom]

[Her eyes soften.]

Maybe. There are stars and people fighting everywhere, after all.

[And it's not always about violence. Some people fight for their freedom and their friends. Those, not senseless wars waged over greed, are the battles worth fighting. Most of all, though, Ninety-Nine will finally be free again.]

Just remember that you don't have to do those things alone.