Chapter 4 OOC & Plotting

[thenine]

Chapter 4 Launch

Chapter 4 Event Log is up for your review. Please feel free to post there or your own logs for the event - whichever works best for you.

Chapter 4 Calendar / Timeline is available here for the expected timeline of the month.

To help you get started, here are some potential quick notes for things you could do with these prompts--but feel free to expand or come up with something entirely on your own!

Prompt Notes

The Nine

All with significant Qreshi ties have been summoned to a party thrown by Lady Kendry aboard a pleasure ship in orbit of Qresh itself. It's advertised as a social gathering, but in reality will be used to discuss and push forward an official response to the repeal of the Seventh Generation Accords.

RAC agents and Company employees have been tasked with the event's security, and will be stationed both aboard the ship and required to patrol the flightpath in their own vessels.

The Company

Bonuses are given to those who punished rioters with brutal force, while those deemed too 'soft' by the Company are given acclimation training. Those assigned to this training will be partnered with a stricter officer and sent to a volatile area to complete a mission. Finally, stress training has been offered to all - and made mandatory for some - in light of the worsening situation on the streets of Old Town.

Westies

The riots have waned, people splintering off to their own spheres. Some return to work, some join the Resistance, and some take advantage of the chaos to assert control. Gangs calling themselves 'Resistance' have sprung up all over town, and take their territory very seriously. Attacks on those with assumed Company sympathies grow more frequent, the lack of a side assumed by both the Company and the faux Resistance to be the wrong side.

Leithians

Ripples of the disorder gripping Westerley are beginning to rock the tenuous peace on Leith. The Resistance movement has spread, its righteous hatred with it, gathering groups - some independent and some connected to their sister organizations on Weaterley - focused on change. Strikes come and go, chants nothing but echos of those from weeks before, dispersing as quickly as they form. Neighbors grow distrustful as land reallocation drives funds away from humanitarian efforts to focus on security and familial financial safety. Scattered throughout this are kidnappings, a few members of closed societies disappearing with little trace. Towards the end of the chapter, a major hokk farm becomes the target of an arson attack, clogging the air with ash for days.

Even still, Leithians respond with near uniform disregard, keeping their heads down and hoping to avoid catching the Company's gaze--and authority--in the wrong light.

Resistance

The riots and discontent of the previous chapters have seen this faction's number swell. But with no clear pillar of leadership and only the myth of Hyperion available for most people, rival factions are born with their own political agendas. Many of them feed into the rumors about the mysterious Hyperion figure, painting a dark picture of a secretive and too-polished ruler who's too disconnected from the people to truly care about their plight.

Meanwhile, Hyperion allows the rumors to build without comment, growing its cells and continuing to hand out missions and intel from the shadows. Each team is given a compartmentalized mission with little connection between their last run, but when the parts come together to form a whole towards the end of the chapter... the future promised by Hyperion takes a dark, bloodier turn than some may be able to abide.

The RAC

With the lower level evaluations completed, it's time for the RAC to focus on both bolstering their top-most field ranks and weeding out and agents that have lost their ability to remain impartial. Any Level 4 killjoy that wants to test for level 5 needs to sign up for a Level 5 warrant on the warrant post. Additionally, there will be sign up threads for any killjoys that want to be ousted and lose their position within the RAC.

Please note - anyone who loses their position as a killjoy will be dropped into Westerley as a temporary citizen. It will be up to the character to find employment that allows for long term work visa status.

Major Plot Points

Metaplot: Digital Dreams

Due to the way the meshwork interacts with the memory modification chips implanted into characters' brains, their subconsciouses may be projected to any other character with modified memories. All characters may participate in this event, regardless of their level of activity on the network, though frequent users will find themselves the subject of more broadcasts.

These visions occur only when both parties are unconscious - this includes sleeping, high, or drunken states. You may take scenes from your character's AU history, canon history, or mere fantasies they have and work through them as you chose. The only requirements are as follows:

✗ There must be blue-green auras pervading where they should not, a dissonance with any memory or fantasy that is not your character's own subconscious creation. Some may also see an abandoned laboratory, though its presence will only be in disjointed flashes, and its purpose unclear.

✗ The observing character will be pervaded by the emotions of the character having the dream. Rather than this being a complete personality overwrite, it's more of an emotional resonance between the dreamer and the visiting character so that, if they find themselves in an urgent situation, both will feel the tension, or heartbreak will be felt by both, etc…

✗ The character having the dream will awaken with blurry memories of the event at most, while the character visiting the dream may remember things more vividly.

✗ Characters do not know, or care, that they are dreaming. Cognitive dissonance may enable them to have some idea that they're not conscious, but 'waking up' will not occur to them, nor will questioning how they've arrived to the dreamscape. As the location will seem natural to the character having the dream, the visitor will also feel 'right' being there in that moment.

✗ There is no limit to the amount of dreams you may have. As such, we encourage you to create your own logs for this part of the plot.

Resistance - Hyperion Missions & Recruitment

Due to some drops, we'll be opening up the Hyperion teams again for recruitment. Depending on the number of characters who sign up, we may create an additional team and safehouse set up. Please sign up using this top-level! Sign ups will remain open until 3/20.

New missions will be disseminated through the team NPCs (mod-controlled) on their respective calendar dates but will be much more subdued than the first and second waves in order to allow everyone time to continue working on their original missions.

RAC - Promotions (or Demotions)

We will be contacting players who signed up for last chapter's evaluations (Level 1-4) to find out the outcome! As long as you've started the thread, you're welcome to handwave/continue working on it in the meantime and we'll mark it as a success (or failure, if you like) when it's announced ICly on W7D3.

Level 5 evaluations will be open to all Level 4 characters--whether they were recently promoted or not--and announced ICly on W7D6. Level 5 evals will be done with the evaluating agent leading a Level 5 kill warrant (obtained from the monthly warrant posting) and at least one other killjoy. Since these evaluations will be handled by NPCs, you'll need to form temporary teams (if you're not already part of them). Similar to how we've handled the lower-level evals, we'll check in with you next chapter to see the success or failure of the evaluation!

(Note, however, that killjoys who have a marked history of psychological instability will encounter evaluations which specifically test their mental fortitude and ability to abide the RAC's oath of neutrality.)

Sign ups will be handled via the monthly warrant posting where you'll receive your customized warrant prompt. You are welcome to include non-killjoy characters in your team, but at least one of your teammates should be on the RAC roster.

Company Acclimation and Training

Based on your reports during last AC, characters who did not follow Company mandate or did so in a way that cost their employers punitive damages, characters have been assigned to stress and/or acclimation training. The specific details of what that training entails can be found in the chapter log, but outside of those parameters, you are free to create your own teams and particulars as best suits your interests. The only provision is that a character slotted for acclimation training should be paired with a character who is not -- i.e., someone who received accolades for their conduct by being granted higher weapon clearance.

If you're having trouble coming up with prompts to fit the missions, feel free to PM the mod account and one will be provided for you!

CR Meme Template

<b>Character</b>: <b>Location</b>: <b>Primary Faction Goals</b>: <b>Secondary Faction Goals</b>: <b>Desired CR</b>: <b>Offered CR</b>: <b>Anything else?</b>

Comments

inej ghafa | westie criminal

[sixsaints]

Character: Inej Ghafa
Location: Old Town
Primary Faction Goals: None! She's staying out of the resistance vs Company stuff for now. Her loyalty is to Kaz's gang, rip. Inej will be keeping a close eye on what's going on in Old Town, though, especially with the resistance, and she'll likely be trying to suss out who the actual resistance members are, and who's just an asshole trying to use their name to grab power.
Secondary Faction Goals: n/a, oops
Desired CR: Inej is brand new, so Everything. She's a criminal and a spy for her gang, so info brokers, other criminals, members of the resistance who don't mind being spied on, etc. I'd also like for her to make some actual, genuine Good People friends, but that might take a bit.

Offered CR: Inej is kind of complicated. She's one of those characters who was forced into doing horrible things to survive, so she has mixed feelings about the stuff she does, if that's of interest to you. She's not necessarily pessimistic or cynical about people, but she takes a while to trust. She comes off as pretty reserved and serious to strangers, but she's a hell of a lot nicer than most of the criminals in Old Town, probably. Inej also likes to keep an eye on pretty much anyone who could be a threat to or be of use to her gang, so if you think your character could fit into that slot, we can say she's been spying on them!

As for dreams, we can go the awful route (Inej has a lot of really traumatizing and violent memories) or the fun route! She used to be an acrobat, and she's done some really cool death defying shit in canon.

Anything else? Not that I can think of!

royce bracket | transistor

[decompiler]

Character: Royce Bracket
Location: Leith/Westerley/Qresh

Primary Faction Goals:
So Royce doesn't even kind of want to go to the Kendry fête but given the substantial changes that have come to Land Hyponia in recent weeks he eventually gives in. Something something "keep your friends close..." He's not exactly invested in the politics of it all, though, and his presence is more for appearances than anything. However, it is a decent opportunity to network and maybe rope more people into supporting his work, so it's not a total waste of time. As the dream plot shifts into high gear, Royce is probably going to show extreme interest in figuring out what's happening and why. This may form the basis of future research. For his part, he will most definitely be dreaming of the Country, so uh. If you need weird sword farms in your life...

Secondary Faction Goals:
As Royce has taken an interest in hack-mods who are no longer able to enjoy legal citizenship, this may bring him to Westerley for a while. He may stick out like a sore thumb depending on where he goes, since basically no one has ever looked more affiliated with the Company than he does. Exploitable! Hell, kidnap his ass for ransom for all I care. :'D

Desired CR:

◇ FRIENDS AND/OR BENEFACTORS; people who support his work, people who go on dinner dates with him from time to time, people who drag him out to parties he would truly rather not attend
◇ COMPANY PALS; maybe you work in the same department, or maybe they just happen to run into each other at the coffee pot.
◇ SCARBACKS?; Royce lives in the mountains of Leith because he doesn't care for distractions and the monastery is probably the nearest source of other people. He has a large amount of curiosity about the way they live and worship, but sorry in advance, y'all—you won't be finding a convert in Royce Bracket. He's already devoted to sweet lady tech.
◇ UNSAVORY SORTS; Dr. Bracket is juuuust fiiiine with mutually beneficial arrangements. He's not interested in data gathered from questionably consenting sources, uh, yet, but especially given his interest in the fringes of society he's pretty willing to associate with all manner of people.

Offered CR:

◇ ALL THINGS HACK-MOD; dude knows cybernetics. He's handy with tech in general, but his specialization is tech that goes into/is attached to/otherwise assists people.
◇ ALL THINGS AI/ROBOTICS; he's not an AI expert, mind you. He just really really really likes this shit ok.
◇ APOLITICAL NINE; Royce is willing to associate with anybody if the metaphorical price is right. Maybe you've got joy, resources. Maybe he just thinks you're an interesting person to talk to. From rival families to tunnel rats, he doesn't care too much about your background if you have something to offer. Indeed, the more of the world Royce sees, the more convinced he is that the distinctions are, at times, rather arbitrary.
◇ SLIGHTLY INSANE SECRET AGENDA; ...in fact, Royce is increasingly beginning to think that it would be better if all people, from Westie to Nine, could be united under the custodianship of, say, a worthy few. A worthy few what is probably an important question. The idea's a work in progress, though, so Royce keeps this one pretty close to the chest.

Anything else?

kate bishop | resistance

[fledges]

Character: Kate Bishop
Location: Old Town
Primary Faction Goals: Resistance stuff! With the Resistance splintering like it is, Kate will likely be trying to keep everyone together and prevent them from like, destroying themselves from the inside out. I assume she'll also be pulled into more Hyperion stuff, but I'm thinking with the way things are going she's going to start getting suspicious of them.
Secondary Faction Goals: None yet!

Desired CR: As usual, I am down for anything and everything! Kate always needs more friends, and I love having her play with pulling people into the resistance/trying to get all these heathens in game to Chill Out and be nicer.

Offered CR: Do you want a superhero who will totally chew your character out for getting too violent/sadistic? Do you want a detective who will find shit for you? Do you just want a girl who Really Cares and genuine loves people/wants to befriend them? Do you want your character to get bullied into joining the resistance? Kate's your girl!

Dream-wise, almost all of Kate's dreams will revolve around superhero stuff, whether that's working with the Young Avengers/THE Avengers, or doing street level stuff with Clint. That can run the gamut of really really messed up and awful (she was pulled to a few horrifying hell-like alternate universes with America Chavez, she's dealt with some terrifying near world ending events, had teammates die under her leadership, etc.) or your usual Big Damn Hero saving the day stuff.

Anything else? Not that I can think of!

crowley eusford | nine

[eusford]

Character: Crowley Eusford
Location: Qresh, Leith, occasionally Westerly.
Primary Faction Goals:
Crowley is a Nine, more specifically a Simms, and will be attending the pleasure ship so this is a call for any Company members or RAC agents! I'm so sorry for anyone who has to guard him because he'll get bored and then just do... whatever.
Secondary Faction Goals:
He's helping Rhys with his little plan by basically telling people "hey watch him fall straight on his ass lol", but besides that he's not doing much else? He'll be going to Leith and Westerly because that's where his Buddies are. Probably learn some about the Resistance that's cropping up while keeping quiet that he's a Simms because hearing everyone's hate for the Nine is a broken record and doesn't get him info. Probably start to help him crack out of this neutral standing.
Desired CR:
- Somebody's gotta bite the bullet and guard him at that fancy party. Positives is that he's a good dancer? Negatives is that he's an asshole.
- Give him friends!! He needs them...
- Negative CR and such is fine, too! I'm down for it all.
Offered CR:
he's a vampire i know one of y'all wants your character bitten. he's gonna have to have some people to rely on while he's doing it.
he's a guy with a grey morality and is actively trying to find where he falls because he hates being in between?

ALSO he'll be having dreams that range from lighthearted parties and conversations with his friends to... war... and watching all of them die. IF Y'ALL WANT ANGST WITH A GUY WHO'S JUST GONNA LAUGH AT HIS OWN MISFORTUNE SIGN UP TODAY.
Anything else? he cleans up just ignore the guy with white hair he's not important.

Badou Nails | all for one and one for one/westie

[brokeassgoing]

Character: Badou Nails
Location: Westerley/Old Town
Primary Faction Goals: taking care of his own shit, lowkey figuring out the Mysteries that plague not only his own level 7 sad backstory but the factions around here
Secondary Faction Goals: having enough cash to fill a sock or a pair of undies, making more connections not directly connected to the cash-in-undies
Desired CR: hey where those conspiracy theorists/paranoid as fuckists at???
people who squick him out in the Emotional Territory, be that terror or anger (please push his buttons when it comes to Being on the Fence about loyalties!!! so much)
people to kick his ass ect
yo resistance folks where you at too
company folks.........you smell like socks but ok where you at too (kidding I love ya'll)
Offered CR:
a screaming irritable bowel syndrome
a guy surprisingly good with the Know
he can keep a secret probably
a Sense of Humor?????
a leo, likes long runs away from thugs after his ass
depressing Dreams
Anything else?

handsome jack

[refactor]

Character: Handsome Jack
Location: Westerley
Primary Faction Goals: Company — As always, Jack's primary loyalty lies with the Company! He'll be staying with them for all general appearances, and I'd be potentially interested in opting into the extra stress training if someone wants to partner up. He's an overachiever! But otherwise, I might be making a prompt for him to test out his new weapons and bolster his power in Intake, so if you have a character that might be interested in getting aligned with that, let me know! I'd prefer to get the groundwork for that started before people try and work against it, though, so more positive CR is preferred first.
Secondary Faction Goals: Hyperion — Buuut of course Jack is actually more aligned with Hyperion nowandays! There's not quite as much for him to do this time around to that end, so I'll be focusing more on the primary faction goals + dreams this time around, which brings me to—
Desired CR:
Deeper CR! I'm going to be making some dream related prompts, some serious, some funnier, but I'm looking to solidify CR or start new pieces. Because of being busy, Jack doesn't quite have the CR base I'd like before starting to move into some of the ideas I have for getting/letting people to kick his ass. So. Positive CR!! yeah!!!
Offered CR: You need a shitposting extrovert? I've got a shitposting extrovert. Jack easily interacts with everyone even if he's annoying... Alternately, he's (probably surprisingly) a pretty smart and capable guy, so if any of those intrigue you, hit me up
Anything else? I'll be making a toplevel as soon as I get home from a trip, so!! soon!!!! in the meantime, COME TO ME

ryner lute | company enforcer

[somnusrex]

Character: Ryner Lute
Location: Westerly and sometimes Leith and other areas, depending on where he's assigned. Sion's trying to get him on security detail for the Qreshi summit thing, so he'll likely be on the ship.
Primary Faction Goals: Keeping as many people safe as he possibly can. That's pretty much all he cares about.
Secondary Faction Goals: Gathering information about everything ever and helping Sion with his whole "let's create a clubhouse in the Badlands" scheme. He's also super upset about the children and other innocents being hurt in the struggles and will do whatever he can to stop that.
Desired CR: more friends, people to grump at, people to protect, people to sleep on.
Offered CR: He's a pretty decent researcher despite appearances, so he's willing to help with just about any project that might strike his fancy if anyone needs someone to do that sort of thing. He can grump at anyone and yell a lot at anyone too, and fall asleep in the middle of conversations pretty well.
Anything else? I'm really going to try to be more active this chapter! Not quite sure how it will turn out since my eyes are still having intense issues that will need many and frequent treatments, but I'll do my bestest.

Angel | ?????

[r3f4c70r3d]

Character: Angel
Location: physically the badlands, but reachable through the network
Primary Faction Goals: As always, Angel's main faction is Jack, and whatever the heck he's up to
Secondary Faction Goals: However, with the accords abolished (and how Jack took the news) Angel is starting to feel the need to pull away, she has no hard preference to alliance, but she would like to make connections beyond her assigned contacts.
Desired CR: Deeper CR! I was really busy last month, and feel like some of the CR I've been building with resistance members and Company should be a bit further along then they are. I'd also love some CR with RAC members, either through dreams or if there is a way to work out something where she can get involved in helping complete a contract. If you're interested please HMU on plurk! (weirdtakoyaki)
Offered CR: With the dream event I can finally do a top level for Angel! So if anyone is interested in stopping by a very lonely girls dreamscape to keep her company I would appreciate it! Beyond that, Angel is an expert hacker and info broker, though it comes with the caveat A she works for Handsome Jack and B she's still designated to pose as an advanced AI. The only work-around for this is an anonymous kind of friendship with her (which I plan on setting up with a friend-seeking-friend style net post)
Anything else? Not really! I'd like to keep Angel on a steady path towards eventual resistance, so characters that can offer her a better viewpoint beyond the world that Jack has painted for her are helpful!