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10:14, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Part 3: Road to Nowhere.

Posted by RefereeFor group 0
Referee
GM, 164 posts
Thu 27 Jan 2022
at 00:20
  • msg #1

Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Wednesday, June 8.

The Incident at The Obelisk was last Friday.  Your parents, guardians, friends, etc., effectively lost track of you until yesterday, when each of you arrived "home" after a night in the safe house and at least two days in Minerva's bunker.  You are returning to school after suffering through whatever consequences you each had to go through for the disappearance and are operating under whatever penalty/restriction was imposed as a result.  It could be nothing, as it seems for Hunter, who rolls up on his plank as though nothing had happened...

Life at the school, on the surface at least, seems normal.  Passing by on the way to school (if you go that way) the Obelisk is still closed.
Shin-Ji Han
Street Fighter, 78 posts
Use Red Speech
Thu 27 Jan 2022
at 00:42
  • msg #2

Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Shin-Ji wasn't a great liar, at least not to his mother. It didn't help that she thought that most of the people at school were weird criminal scum: she'd been raised in the pure corporate culture where the level of social stratification was more rigidly enforced.

He was "grounded" for three weeks and banned from attending his dojo ever again. Not that that mattered, because his claat was gone, his sifu was dead, and the dojo itself was closed. She'd suggested a McDojo that practiced a heavily bastardized corporate version of Gongkwon Yusul. He respected the marital art, but not this version of it, with senseis who were obviously picked for biosculpt attractiveness, and sparring that made him cringe. He kept to the heavy bags and katas. One good news was that the place didn't have gi of any kind, just gym clothes, so he was able to wear a body suit with gloves and slip ons for his feet. He obviously couldn't afford to let anyone grab or see his arms or legs.

Still, it was a workout at least. The gym was ok. He'd have to find a new claat when he had a little more freedom. He still had some contacts: not everyone had been grabbed or killed. A few had been let loose. He'd guessed that they'd tested negative for CP, or were immune, but Shin-Ji was very careful to avoid saying anything to them: he didn't think any of his Claat would go corp, but if the alternative was prison or death? Some might be weak.

Assuming he was being watched, he avoided the politos he'd been asking about. After vanishing, it would be too obvious. It might bring heat to him or them that weren't warranted. Besides, he already had a much better connection to the struggle now then he'd ever had before.

School was hard for him.

He'd never been a bad student, but he'd never been a great one either. It was something that had to be done, but he found it hard to concentrate on it with all the other stuff that was happening. His mind kept going back to his friends and that night and those frakkers with the Genius guns... he took a few tutoring sessions to help catch up, but he wasn't finding it easy.

Working out was one of his few stress relievers. He found a lot of his excercises no longer worked. How did you "work out" muscles that weren't there any more? And of course he was incredibly paranoid about his mom walking in on him morphing his arm and testing his abilities. Hell, who knows if she set up a camera...
Jai
player, 78 posts
Mall Brat
Thu 27 Jan 2022
at 09:53
  • msg #3

Part 3: Road to Nowhere

While he hadn't been punished directly for the shell game he'd played with his own whereabouts over the last two days, neither parent seemed entirely satisfied with his rapid-fire explanations and were (to be fair, understandably) paranoid. His only saving grace is that they almost never spoke to one another unless it involved his younger brother.

He'd been to nervous to do anything but seek out transmissions with his... whatever it was in his head. Bio-antenna? Cyberdeck slash nanosludge slash brain? He knew he'd have to work harder at the applied stuff, but without the educational background in CompSci all he had to go on was the copy of the messenger daemon Minerva had lent him in case she needed to be contacted.

One had to hit the ground running, though. People who saw him at the now-closed club and noticed his disappearance would have an increased number of questions if he kept to himself and started zoning out on programming edutainment. So for the moment, he was trying to hock the never-used appliance cube that was currently taking up space on his bed at home, and generally keeping up the hustle. Work would be a great time to zone out and actually learn something.
Valeriya
player, 163 posts
Glitter Girl
Thu 27 Jan 2022
at 13:28
  • msg #4

Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Most kids get punished with expulsion from school.
Valeriya got punished with expulsion to school.

Two enormous 'security consultants' escorted Valeriya to school, making sure she got in before they left. Even then, Val suspected they might be surveilling some perimeter to ensure she didn't skip school. That hadn't been a problem before because Val had been privately tutored at home, but now her parents decided making her go to school was a better way to piss her off.

Mum had been in tears, a surprising development. Father had yelled his lungs out, not surprising at all. Between the two of them it was a cacophony of sound and feelings, threats and fear, suplications and disguised guilt, and Val had been barely able to stand there and mutter something. It was a good thing that they really didn't want the whole story, just the bits they cared about: had she signed anything or been recorded anywhere, had she done drugs or sex? As long as the answer was No To All Of The Above, they could skip to the punishment and fast-track her to the marketing guy.

The marketing guy had been pleased, of all things.

"Do not pull this shit on me ever again, you hear me? But, all things considered - we are exactly were we wanted, branding-positioning-wise. This is how we pivot from Vallie to valKer1a - the whole 'illegal party-police raid-lowkey homoerotic thingie' with Kat? Just what we needed to give you that bad girl cred, I told them we were being waaay too tame with your psychographic positioning. And now? Now we're frontpage news, we have a decent shot at the lace and leather Eiji collection, not to mention the music collab. I've been on the phone with Kat's marketing rep all morning, she was gushing. I don't care if you two release two hours of meowling cats or whatever, you gotta record something with that chick. But also - you pull this shit on me again, you kiss your allowance goodbye, capish?"

Val was back to school, Val was pissed off. Val was wearing the school uniform in the worst possible way that still didn't get her kicked out, because she knew they'd just send her back in with a new one: knee-highs mismatched, plaid skirt a bit too short, button-up shirt not quite buttoned-up. She went through the corridor with eyes almost closed, ignoring frothers left and right, until she found some of the others yoboys.

"What's up, losers?" she greeteed them casually.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:29, Thu 27 Jan 2022.
Vamp
player, 90 posts
Goth
Sun 30 Jan 2022
at 00:19
  • msg #5

Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Going home was easy when it was a clubhouse hidden in a derelict building in a free-fire zone. Vamp had waited and watched and, when she was convinced it was safe to go inside, had made her way in to see if any of her friends had survived and made their way back.

Now she was back in school which, as long as she went, kept the foster system happy and off her back. They didn't ask where she was living and she didn't tell. The school sent her grades off to a case worker she never saw and that was the extent of government intrusion into her life.

She had, to the surprise of all, actually sought out some of the others from the Obelisk and was hanging with them when Val walked up. "Losers? That's a step up from you," she said to Val but this time her voice lacked the normal venom and her aura showed a streak of humour when she had said it as well as...happiness? when she saw her.

"Another day in paradise. I'd say you look like shite but I think I've told you that enough times that you know it already. I'm liking the rebel thing you have going on. The missing buttons really do a good job of telling the Man to piss off."
Tailgate
player, 74 posts
Go Ganger
Tue 1 Feb 2022
at 04:49
  • msg #6

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

TTailgate had gone home and...well...his parents hadn't been happy with him. Granted, they had gotten used to him coming home late or sometimes not at all, even to the fact that he didn't always reach out to let them know if he'd be late or absent. But more than one night without any sign of him and no word? They were pretty pissed.

And they used the line he hated more than anything, that actually made him angry. They said they weren't 'angry, just disappointed'. He wasn't proud of it, but all he'd been through over the weekend, he lost his cool and blew up at them. Harsh words were said on both sides. Finally he stormed out of the room and slammed the door to his bedroom after he entered it.

He stared at the screen for a while, occasionally starting to type a message to Val before scrapping it each time. Finally he gave up and crashed out until morning.

After showering and dressing, he scarfed down like the equivalent of two breakfasts and then left. He'd gone back to school on Monday, expecting the worst, wondering if anything would be strange or weird - but the only weird thing was that nothing seemed different. He had a sour mood most of the day and a frown on his face.

He didn't reach out to any of the others yet, and he alternated between trying to listen in on conversations from a distance and desperately trying to shut out almost all noise for a while. He idly wondered how Val was doing. How Vamp was doing. How...well...the others were doing really. He didn't think he considered them friends, not yet at least, but they had gone through stuff together. He adopted a wait and see attitude for the moment.
Valeriya
player, 164 posts
Glitter Girl
Scanner
Tue 1 Feb 2022
at 17:39
  • msg #7

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

"I've met garbage cans that were a step up from you," Val replies, no heat in her voice. Val bent to adjust one of her socks, pulling it over the knee.

"You doing Blue Lace again? I'm not trying to express fracking shit here, I just couldn't be bothered," she shrugs, meaning her very carefully calculated outfit, planned to perfection to look unprepared in a sexily chaotic way. "Wanna check my undies too, see if you find a trascendent message in them?"

She took a look around, trying to look casual.

"Any of the yoboys around today?"
Vamp
player, 91 posts
Goth
Tue 1 Feb 2022
at 18:02
  • msg #8

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

"Last time I did Blue Lace I hallucinated that we did an album together. I was so sick I damn near threw myself off the nearest building," Vamp said with a grin. "I've seen your knickers and the only message there was 'Open 24 hours, parking in rear.'"

She nodded down the hall. "Thought I saw Tailgate but he didn't come by to say hi. Nikola is here doing whatever it is Nikola does and Shin-Ji was in the gym when I walked by."

Referee
GM, 165 posts
Thu 3 Feb 2022
at 01:06
  • msg #9

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

As you move through the day two things becomes clear.  First, there are kids missing; it will take some asking around or other form of investigating to find out precisely who, but enough to make an impression: empty seats in classes, not enough to form two teams in gym class, etc.  Second, there is a related tension among the students, as though everyone senses it but no one wants to talk about it.  Most of the teachers ignore both and seem to try and carry on.  One of the guidance counselors, Mr. Mushingi, is the only one who seems concerned.
Valeriya
player, 165 posts
Glitter Girl
Scanner
Thu 3 Feb 2022
at 18:32
  • msg #10

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

"You've been dreaming about my knickers? Ugh, get away from me, you perv," she waved in faux disgust and headed for English, which was as boring as expected. PE was boring and exhausting on top, and had the added charm of having to wear those stupid shorts. Recess couldn't come soon enough.

"So," she sighed, when it finally did, to whomever of the gang was haging close enough for conversation. "Are we gonna talk about the mutant mammooth in the room or what? Anyone knows if the missing kids where at the O-B-Leesk? Or do we pretend to give zero point zero fracks about it like the zombieguys?"
Nikola Net
player, 85 posts
Eco Raider
Fri 4 Feb 2022
at 12:12
  • msg #11

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Nikola  finally showed up at school one day after her new "teammates" did, she approached them in the hallways as Valeriya was making her point "I agree with Val, We should get busy with the missing ones,  Hi again by the way guys. I hope things were not that hard on you these days"

When she came back home a couple of days ago, her parents got relieved that she was fine, they did complain about not letting them know of her whereabouts but the feeling of knowing she was fine surpassed their willing to ground her or anything. they were used to Nikola dissapearing for a few days, she would usually go away to take part on her Ecoraider activities, they respected the fact that she wanted to save the Planet.

The fact that Nikola told them that she went through the plague  also made her previous conduct less important, she decided to show them all of that because it would have been impossible to hide her new "body parts" to them. She told them the  whole plague process made difficult for her to notify them , which was not entirely the truth , but she was used to hide things from them plus she stated she "was affraid of transmitting somehow the plague, which would have been deadly to them"

Nikola's parents allowed her to miss school one more day to they could all find a way she could keep her "extentions" hidden while being outside, also they forged some papers to justify the fact that she missed clases.
Shin-Ji Han
Street Fighter, 79 posts
Use Red Speech
Fri 4 Feb 2022
at 22:25
  • msg #12

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Shin-Ji looked grim and kind of PO'ed. He had been on edge since he'd gotten back. The single largest source of tranquillity and meaning for him had been wiped out, and he had been unable to take revenge or act meaningfully against those who had taken his friends... and in some cases, his friend's lives.

Plus, without sparring, and acknowledging that discipline was the key to victory, he had to admit that he very badly wanted to take out his anger and frustration physically on something.


"I've noticed a lot of missing people: more than the ones who died in the dojo and on the way out. I'm guessing they got a list of the dojo attendees or if they sweated it out of someone they took.

Not that I blame any juveganger for not resisting when adults were gunning people down with genius guns, but I'm not sure if any of them flipped or not.

I took a brief hold from talking to the rads I was dealing with in case I was being tracked, but it doesn't look like I was. I might be able to get a bit of info off them, but that's not exactly my art.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:11, Fri 04 Feb 2022.
Vamp
player, 94 posts
Goth
Fri 4 Feb 2022
at 22:46
  • msg #13

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

"What can I say - you are kind of hot. For a corporate slave, fashion victim who makes music to kill by," Vamp called after Val. She shook her head and laughed, feeling about three stone lighter since her breakdown and talk with Val.

She plopped her bag down and sat down next to Shin-Ji. "Half my band didn't come back to our squat. The three that did are pretty sure one was shot by the bloody corpses and no one knows anything about the other two. Definitely missing and all of us were at the club that night."
Shin-Ji Han
Street Fighter, 80 posts
Fri 4 Feb 2022
at 23:10
  • [deleted]
  • msg #14

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

This message was deleted by the player at 23:11, Fri 04 Feb 2022.
Tailgate
player, 75 posts
Go Ganger
Sat 5 Feb 2022
at 21:10
  • msg #15

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Tailgate was 'lucky' in a way. His gang hadn't been at the obelisk for the most part, he hadn't been with them that night. He'd been out for some fun on his own - and if he hadn't been alone, he would have never been caught with Val. He'd never have heard the end of it from the others in the gang.

But at school...there were missing faces. Some he knew, most he didn't. It was...disturbing to see how 'easy' it was for a bunch of kids to be just 'gone' suddenly and not be that big of a deal for the school and news. It made him think of how quick life and freedom could be snatched away. It made his new...'gifts'...weigh heavily on him.

After a small hesitation, he moved to join the others outside. He glanced at them, their faces, and then looked down. "Uh. Hey." He rubbed his cheek for a moment absently. "We...gonna try an' find 'em? We could maybe, uh, ask...Minerva?" He got even quieter when he said her name.
Valeriya
player, 166 posts
Glitter Girl
Scanner
Mon 7 Feb 2022
at 19:08
  • msg #16

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Val crossed arms and legs, feeling a lit more upbeat now that her yogang had showed up, but not wanting to let it be too obvious. It was a good thing she was the team Scanner, and not someone else.

"Things haven't gotten any shittier than normal, Nikki. Which isn't much, but hey. We're still alive. Not everyone can say the same," she adds grimly, nodding to Shin-Ji and Vamp in turns. "They weren't exactly my friends, probably not even my fans? But still. I could have been randomly shot that night too, and I'd like someone to at least look into my death. The Simba sure ain't."

She made a brief pause to survey the others. She got readings of firm decision coming from the Eco Raider, barely suppressed anger from the Street Fighter; the Goth seemed to have her shit surprisingly together considering she had lost actual friends at the Obelisk, and the Go Ganger... She didn't even need her Scanner powers. For a bikeboi he was subdued, all cockiness gone, almost whispering when he did finally speak. And when he did, Val had to look down at her v-term to hide a flash of unexpected anger.

Minerva.

The way he had said it.

That little Bambi-eyed bitch in her underground bunker.

"Yeah, good point, T, I will ask her straight away," she said a bit too keenly, her fingers already moving in the empty air, pushing virtuality keys:

Minerva - we are looking for leads on the missing kids from you know where. Make yourself useful and give us a hand, huh?

"There. Any other ideas?"

This message was last edited by the player at 19:08, Mon 07 Feb 2022.
Shin-Ji Han
Street Fighter, 81 posts
Use Red Speech
Mon 7 Feb 2022
at 19:33
  • msg #17

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

"I could ask some other dojos and some of the rads.

I've been trying to make sure I'm not being tracked before I did that. I don't know them to well.

Honestly, I'm about ready to try anything at this stage.

Those empty chairs and everyone going along like it was nothing just make me so fucking angry. No one is even talking bout them."


A lot of things were pissing him off. His dojo, and his claat, the friends in it, had helped keep him sane. He couldn't ask his sifu - they were dead. There was no way he was going to say anything of this to his mother.

Even the superficial releases of working out kind of sucked: core exercises still worked, but anything involving his arms or legs barely registered as effort, thanks to his new limbs. He didn't know if his new limbs would trigger CIRS or Cyberspychosis or if it was just body dysmorphia, but that wasn't exactly helping anyway.

His new yogang were the only people he could be reasonably honest with, and he was having enough trouble describing his feelings to them.

Doing something useful would probably help. It was past time they actually started working against the machine.
Jai
player, 79 posts
Mall Brat
Mon 7 Feb 2022
at 23:46
  • msg #18

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Jai walked up, catching the last bit of the conversation as he zipped his hooded sweatshirt back up.

"Obviously the mall crew didn't know much. They were stand up, for once, but by the way they reacted, they're as surprised by all this as we are."
Vamp
player, 95 posts
Goth
Tue 8 Feb 2022
at 00:03
  • msg #19

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Vamp nodded when Shin-Ji spoke. "You and me both, Karate Kid. One of my friends is all but confirmed dead and two others are missing. They're all the family I have left and to think that all three of them might be dead? That makes me very, very angry."

Her hands curled into fists. "We have these...gifts...we need to use them. If we don't then what was the point of surviving and going through what we went through?"
Tailgate
player, 76 posts
Go Ganger
Wed 9 Feb 2022
at 04:01
  • msg #20

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Tailgate, not being able to sense what was going on in Valeriya's head when she replied to him, took the words as spoken. He brightened a little at what he thought was praise for a good idea, though he immediately tried to play it off and act a bit cool again.

He didn't really care one or the other for Minerva, but she had helped them out and seemed to be pretty connected.

At Val's further quest for ideas, however, he frowned lightly. He ran a hand lightly through his mohawk unconsciously, causing it to stand up a bit better in the process. But in giving his mind something to ponder more proactively, his body language returned to a bit of it's former normality.
Valeriya
player, 167 posts
Glitter Girl
Scanner
Fri 11 Feb 2022
at 19:20
  • msg #21

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

Val’s eyes were darting from one juve to the other, as they spoke and their auras shifted subtly in hue and intensity, some sparkling, some pulsing, some shimmering or fading. Shin-Ji was frustrated to the edge of violence, Jai was keeping his cool, Vamp was keeping it together but obviously the Street Fighter’s rage was starting to bleed into her. Tailgate… was happy. But not that way, and not about Minerva, Val thought, although she was pretty new to her powers and nuances like that were hard to read. But that little flare of pink in his aura? That had been when she had said “good point, T,” not at the mention of Minerva’s name, right?

So she thought.

And why does that matter all of a sudden? Fracking hell, V.

“I mean, someone should talk to Mr. Mushingi maybe,” she said in a tone of ‘someone who is a teacher’s pet, not me’. “Maybe he’s that one mythical zombie with the heart of gold, or maybe he’s just pretending so we like him and open up to him. Like shrinks do, whatever. One way or the other, maybe we can suss him out.”
Referee
GM, 167 posts
Sat 12 Feb 2022
at 00:31
  • msg #22

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

The bell for last class/period rings and the knots of juvies that were hanging around (like you guys) start to break up.  Everyone can roll Get a Clue.
Valeriya
player, 168 posts
Glitter Girl
Scanner
Sat 12 Feb 2022
at 05:59
  • msg #23

Re: Part 3: Road to Nowhere

For a moment, Val sighed in relief: it was bliss to be spared all that emotional background noise. But then she frowned: was this normal, or was someone creating that aura silence...?

Valeriya rolled 14 using 1d10+10, rerolling max with rolls of 4.  Get a Clue+Int
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