etrayalogs | MISSION 008

MISSION 008

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: March 14th - April 11th
WHERE: Aphaia
WHAT: Mission 008
NOTES\WARNINGS: Survival horror elements, violence, (mild) body horror, potential death.

⏵ APHAIA ⏴

At the request of those inhabiting Etraya, Aurora has adjusted the mission schedule a little in order to send everyone into a world that is actively dying. Which means that, on the morning of March 14th, everyone will be directed to a glowing, purple portal situated just outside the hospital. Aurora will recommend that those with pets leave them behind; given the mission parameters of survive, she anticipates that it will not be a place for companion animals to accompany their owners to. She will not, however, force this: people are welcome to bring their companions if they'd like!

Once they have stepped through the portal, it will become clear that survival will not come easily. The sky overhead is fractured into a kaleidoscope of neon colors, artificial stars blinking in and out of existence among shards. Towering structures resembling stadiums and coliseums stretch endlessly into the horizon, their surfaces plastered with massive holographic advertisements displaying the face of past "champions" - many of whom appear to be long-since deceased.

From the moment they step through the portal, cameras whir to life around them, zooming in on their expressions while loudly announcing their names, their specialties, and what they are capable of. Applause echoes through unseen speakers when talents worth the excitement are announced: those with fighting capabilities, unique extraordinary powers, or odd talents seem to get the loudest reaction.

And once introductions are complete, a loud, booming voice cuts through the noise:

WELCOME, CONTESTANTS! ARE YOU PREPARED TO SEE WHO AMONG YOU IS THE SMARTEST, THE HOTTEST, THE STRONGEST, AND THE SHINIEST? ONLY THOSE AMONG YOU WHO ARE WORTHY WILL SURVIVE. KALI TYCHI!!

There is no introduction to the voice. No explanation.

Welcome to Aphaia.

⏵ SURVIVAL SPOTLIGHT ⏴

Aphaia is a dying world. Once vibrant, now it is little more than a stage - an arena where survival meets spectacle and death is a form of entertainment. Cameras are everywhere, their mechanical eyes dissecting every action, hesitation, every moment of weakness. To the residents of Aphaia, it's all a game. After all, they know they are living on borrowed time - why not make it fun?

Towering holograms flicker with advertisements for upcoming challenges, massive leaderboards shift constantly, tracking the contestants' popularity in real time. Every move is judged, and every breath is measured.

Participation is not mandatory, but refusal comes with some hefty consequences. Those who refuse to play fade into the background, their scores slowly dropping closer and closer to zero.

And when it does bottom out? They disappear. No body, no remains, just - erased entirely from existence.

Now, survival is not just about brute force (although there is some of that too!), but about entertainment. Contestants are not simply fighters, but performers earning the favor of other contestants.

Each contestant has a score, visible using the HUD of their earpiece. Scores range from 1-100, with 80+ reserved for crowd favorites. The moment scores hit zero, they disappear, presumed (and are) dead.

New contestants start with a randomized score, assigned the moment they step onto Aphaia's surface. From there, their survival depends on strategy, skill, and showmanship.

Nanotechnology laces the very air they breathe, embedding itself into their bodies. It monitors oxygen, tracks food intake, measures every potential need for everyone, including alien species whose needs differ. Supplies are scarce - meaning only those who keep their scores up receive rations, shelter, and medical aid. The lower one's score? The less they get.

And there are no second chances.

⏵ DISTRICTS ⏴

Aphaia is separated into four districts.

The Colosseum is where blood is currency. A high-tech battle arena where combatants are pitted against each other for entertainment, the Colosseum is always prepared for any battle one may wish to take part of. The floors shift, and the environment changes at the whim of the audience. It's built to support any challenge that requires physicality: the floors will break into massive labyrinths meant to confuse individuals, or the walls will raise to create rooms that are difficult to escape to test one's intellect. Within the Colosseum, contestants are invited to battle one another and others for glory. Are you a warrior? Built for combat? Do you have capabilities that shine through with physical action, rather than mental stimulation? This is the place for you.

A place of luxury, the Symposium is where alliances are forged - and broken. Here, the highest-rated contestants (those who rank Luminary or higher) are invited to partake in fine dining and lavish parties. Violence is not permitted within the walls of the Symposium; while this may provide the false illusion of safety, it is anything but. Whispered betrayals are passed between contestants within the walls of the Symposium, with deals struck to ensure that those who rank high enough to enjoy all the benefits it offers continue to be able to visit.

In the heart of Aphaia is the Agora. Pulsing with flashing billboards featuring the faces of many past and current contestants and live polls of the current scores of those who are still alive, the Agora is where contestants are invited to engage with the public to shape their own narrative.

In the streets, many contestants can be found putting on quirky performances, participating in challenges, or conducting interviews with other contestants. Charisma can be just as valuable as brute strength, and this is the place for those who rely on their ability to sweet-talk others to make sure their points remain high. This is where the facilities for the non-physical challenges resides, such as Echoes of the Past and Tychaios.

The Agora contains the housing district in which contestants reside. There are a few massive apartment towers stacked to the sky. The high-ranking live in luxury, enjoying rooms up to two bedrooms with plenty of space - the lower ranking individuals reside in smaller apartments, with significantly less amenities.

On the edges of Aphaia are the Backalleys, where rules are meant to be broken. A maze of shadowed corridors and hidden tunnels, there are multiple "convenient" corners where camera blind spots can be found. Here is where people come to converse between one another outside the eyes of the audience or to find temporary sanctuary from their lives being consistently narrated. However, it is also well-known that while they may be able to find areas where the cameras cannot reach, the Gamerunner is also aware of these blind spots.

⏵ RATED & REVIEWED ⏴

While the highest rated contestants get to go to The Symposium, those middling or in danger of falling off get invited to only the finest of trashy talk shows.

Anyone can see how this daily, midday TV show plays out. Stand in front of a television long enough and you’ll see reruns of bruised competitors hashing it out in front of an audience over failed plans, ruined alliances, and broken friendships. If you want to see the worst in others Kathiki Pidón is the show to watch.

Though one might wonder why anyone would ever go on this thing, it is a nearly universal guilty pleasure. There is a chance to raise one’s own rating without risking one’s life. But say the wrong things, and you may become more unpopular than ever. It is a desperate place to go- but they do always give a hot meal to anyone who agrees to come on. It might be your only chance to recuperate.

This is also a great opportunity to try to lower someone else’s ranking by airing out private grievances very publicly. Was the only reason you lost because you were tricked or betrayed? Is there a secret alliance you want people to know about? Or perhaps you need a platform to earn a little sympathy.

Kathiki will be more than happy to host you, donning his usual black and gold suit and holding his slim microphone for you to speak into.

For those who are a little shier, Kathiki has a private booth in the back of the studio where you can pour your heart out in front of a camera. This can have the same benefits, but it may be edited in very unfortunate ways before the public sees it.

⏵ NOTES ⏴
Please use our NPC Threads toplevel on this post for any NPC interactions you'd like! This includes Kathiki.

For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the plotting post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Maybe a few too many engagements at the Colosseum for him where he chose to take a different path. He actually had no idea what a VR headset was or how the technology worked, so he considered himself going in blind on this particular challenge. All he knew was that there was an out of place detail that he needed to find.

How hard could that be? He was perceptive. The fact that they were doing this with another person seemed to indicate cooperation, and that was another fact that he could do well for the most part.

He was pulling on his own mask, fitting it comfortably over his eyes and tightening the strap. "See you on the other side, pal." This was... interesting.

Jason's recognition of Vander is only very vague. It's only in the sense they were both from Etraya and the older man had done a recent network post. So with little sense of what he was in for, Jason puts on his headset.

The simulation pulls both men into a scene of Gotham at night. True to its name, much of the city's architecture is of older buildings made of stone and spires. Under the darkness, much of the area doesn't look very welcoming.

On one rooftop is a lone figure dressed very similar to Jason. The only difference is the Jason in the simulation is wearing his signature Red Hood helmet while the real Jason isn't. The outfit is the same though.

"Okay, no surprise here," Jason says, though with a furrowed brow. He gets the sense that something is supposed to be out of place here. But he doesn't know yet what it is.

The simulation Jason appears to be scanning the area, searching for something. With his body armor on, guns visibly holstered at his hips, and an helmet that betrays no facial expression, the Red Hood might cut as an intimidating figure for some people.

He'd made a point of scanning the network, and he had faint familiarity with this person based on appearance alone. He couldn't claim to know anything about him, and that meant that his attention was far more interested in the device he was wearing. It felt as if he were in another place, and his hands automatically reached out as if he could touch the buildings.

It looked and sounded so real. What sort of strange magic was this device? This was so over and above the technology that he knew that he was marveled by the whole experience already.

Still, they were here for a purpose and as invigorated as he was by being in a simulation by headset, his attention did move around as if he could determine a flaw or difference. This place was old, architecture reminded him only faintly of Zaun; it looked like Piltover more. The city of iron and glass was more like a steampunk defiance of all that held them in check.

"What's with the mask? Are you hiding from someone?"

"It comes with the job," Jason replies. "Plus, you need head protection for the kind of work I do."

The simulation's Jason then begins to move. The figure parkours his way across rooftops. He's acrobatic in a way that would be surprising to most people, given his size. His agility and unwavering confidence as he makes one landing after another suggests he's well experienced.

Not too far behind the Red Hood though is a smaller cloaked figure. A child perhaps? Whoever he is, he's following after Jason. Just like Jason, the child uses parkour to get across rooftops. He too is completely confident that he won't fall. There are a few flashes of red from the boy's costume as he leaps.

Again, the real Jason furrows his brow, trying to rack up which memory this is. It's starting to feel familiar.

"And what kind of work do you do?"

Oh. That was parkour. Jinx had rattled off about it and the similarities between the moves he noted here and those of everyday fissure folk. It was true that there were moves that one might use, and the buildings in this part of town were built closer together to make the motions easier to gain and keep momentum. It took a lot of body strength to keep that looking smooth as Jason did it.

Practiced.

Of course, he noticed the kid too, and it reminded him of the times that Vi had once tried to keep up with him when she was small. They always thought they were being so subtle, yet to keep sight of someone they were following, they had to put themselves at risk of detection. Kid was good, but not that good.

"You appear to have a tag-along. I assume you know him?" And Vander was also starting to think he knew the kid too. Wasn't that...?

"Yeah, I know exactly who that is now," Jason says, deliberately ignoring the question about work. "And I think I know what this is about now?"

The simulation's Red Hood and Robin continue to parkour. Both are equally competent. Then at one leap, the Red Hood should've come up short and fall straight to the ground. A blip is heard and suddenly the Red Hood still manages to land on the next rooftop. Neither he or Robin seem to have noticed the blip sound.

The rest of the memory continues to play as the Red Hood makes a couple of more jumps and safely lands on the ground. He takes a nearby gasoline can and starts to carefully pour. The way he's doing it suggests a deliberate pattern and not just a pool.

And then he strikes a match, throws it over his shoulder, and lights up the gasoline.

Nearby, Robin clicks his tongue in annoyance.

"Care to share?" He was starting to at least understand the realness of this technology and it did feel like he was following along. He was confirming to himself that the size, shape, and uniform meant it was probably Damian.

He turned his head - his VR head? - at the strange blip. Unfortunately, he was so technologically inexperienced that he couldn't tell that was the issue or perhaps this place was glitchy. Still, he did make note yet said nothing; he was rather invested in the storyline of what seemed to be a memory.

He followed along, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth at the theatrics. This reminded him of some of the stupid nonsense he, Silco or Benzo would do. Sometimes Felicia if she was in a particularly playful mood.

"You two are clearly brothers if that's how you tell him off."

Jason snorts. He still can't pinpoint what is it about this memory that seems off but that particular dramatic moment sounds about right for him and Damian.

"Yeah. It serves him right for thinking I wouldn't notice a tail," he says. "Needed to make the message loud and clear to him."

The simulated Red Hood keeps walking, leaving the fiery message behind him. He then fires off a grapple gun and shoots himself up to the top of a rooftop.

This was exactly the kind of antics that some Zaunites had with each other, a sort of familiar decision for brief chaos and danger. If they had the materials, why not? Sometimes it was about making the statement, and it seemed to him that these two had a similar report with each other.

"He was being obvious about it, yeah. Age and experience counts for more than people realize," he remarked as he followed along. He was hitting the point of 'just happy to be here' as he experienced everything that VR had to offer.

"Huh, that's a useful device. Ours require more muscle usually."

“Yeah, it’s great when you’re a non-flier,” Jason grins. Most of the time, Jason doesn’t feel like he’s missing anything critical as a non-superpowered human. Frankly, it was just more fun doing acrobatics across rooftops and swinging around with grapple guns.

Robin seems to take a moment to think about his next move before leaving in the opposite direction of Red Hood. Both costumed vigilantes again use their acrobatic skills. Their movements are smooth and confident for a bit until there are jittery unnatural glitches again.

"Non-flier? You have people with the ability to free-fly?" That sounded like magic to him, but that was forbidden in Piltover. It was supposed to be in Zaun, but they also made a point of never playing too much by the Piltover rulership whenever and wherever they could. "I suppose there wouldn't be much room for a free flier except on the surface level."

He followed along with the simulation, though this time he took more note of the glitching and turned his head as if this were actually real and not some visual illusion projected on him. "This technology is jumpy. Is that normal?"

Jason frowns, feeling unsure how to answer that.

"I... don't know?" He says.

It's strange. Jason knows for a fact how well he and Damian can parkour across a cityscape. So why was this feeling off? He should have a definitive answer to that.

The figures doing their acrobatics are inconsistent now. For a few moves they're graceful like professionals and then suddenly there are illogical jumps.

"Oh." Well, Vander was stumped.

He continued to move with the storyline that they were observing, but he too noticed that it was no longer smooth or even believable. This had to be part of what they were meant to find, right? He assumed that this wasn't part of the original memory, since the man next to him appeared to move well.

He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand.

"This doesn't seem right. People don't move like that normally. Can you confirm this is inaccurate?"

He just realized he had no ideas this guy's name.

Jason keeps furrowing his brow. It's like the harder he thinks about it, the harder the block. It's almost giving him a headache.

Then there's a cheerful ding-ding sound and the simulation pauses.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" The Gamerunner booms in an equally cheerful tone. "THAT'S CORRECT!"

The crowd's applause can be heard despite the simulation not running.

"AS A REWARD FOR THE QUICK DETECTIVE WORK, HERE'S A BONUS SCENE WITH NO CATCH."

The simulation suddenly fast forwards and then cuts to the Red Hood coming back to one of his safehouses and turning on the light.

"You are in so much trouble," The simulation's Jason scolds at simulation Damian.

The audience laughs like they're in a sitcom.

The rest of the memory plays out with no glitches and the audience continues to laugh at certain moments like they're in a TV studio for a sitcom. When the memory concludes, they applause.

Wait, what? That was it? Vander was perplexed by the sudden acknowledgement of his question, and the fact that the crowd was cheering. Perhaps he should have mentioned the glitch the first time, but it seemed that they had arrived to solving the whole matter eventually. Points for trying, right?

He looked at the guy he happened to be experiencing the simulation with, watching the scene and not laughing but amused all the same. He moved around the house so he could read a bit of the book that Damian happened to be engrossed in eventually.

"Well, that wasn't terrible. One of your better memories, I assume?"

The safehouse looks fairly neat and organized for the most part. Probably the most notable items in Jason's bedroom are the swords, knives, and guns hanging on his wall.

"Thankfully, yeah," Jason snorts in mild amusement. "The brat was just being a snoop."

He had taken note of the significant cache of various weapons, and he had no doubt that the collection was fully functional. It spoke of someone that either knew their way around the weapons black market, was wealthy, or had been collecting trophies from others for a significant amount of time. Perhaps all three.

"What did you say that you did for a living, Mister...?" They may as well approach introductions at this point, since they apparently 'won' the VR and now were lingering in the actual memory. "Snoop being used fondly, I imagine."

"Name's Jason. And you can call me an independent investigator."

The answer comes out with ease. Jason gestures the simulated version of his weapons cache. He knows Vander had noticed it too.

"Sometimes a case can get messy."

"And with skills like what I observed, what kind of investigating is your primary focus?"

He made a point not to cool off his demeanor despite the parallel between a young upstart enforcer who wanted to bury unprivileged people and this young man who had seemed perfectly pleasant to deal with on the short-term. The fact that there was a high potential for violence that required that many weapons did leave questions.

"Very messy if you need that much to your arsenal. You have enough here to arm a small gang."

"Yeah, it's messy when you deal with some of the rogues in my city," Jason says. His casual demeanor is still on as the VR finally comes to an end. The simulation shuts off and the background noise of the arena is much louder again.

"What's your name?"

He might as well ask after giving his name.

"As in investigating them? Or...?" It sounded like dangerous work if that was the case, though he still had the sneaky suspicion there might be more than investigation happening. Who knew. People looked into things all the time; information was a form of currency in most cities he assumed.

He reached up and pulled the VR mask off now that the simulation was often, blinking his eyes rapidly to allow them to grow used to the light of the room.

"Yeah, sorry. It's Vander," he remarked. "Been around a few months. You?"

"Jason," he smiles after taking off his headset. "Been around for about 5 or 6 months."

He indicates with his head the exit before he starts walking.

"Thanks for not making this too long for us."

"Ah, so you've been around the block in terms of missions more than the rest of us. They seem... eclectic."

He had no idea where he was supposed to leave the head set so he simply set it down and hoped the next participants didn't trip on it. Or maybe that would be preferred. He expected there were people with memories that they not wish to share.

"All I did was question why it was jumping around. I'm not familiar with the technology."

"I don't think the tech was really the point," Jason says, still walking. He hopes the next contestants would be as lucky as him and Vander. "It's a means, sure, but I think the entertainment was trying to see if you can work things out or if you were gonna permanently screw up my memory."

"It was interesting. I've never been part of something like that. It felt so real," he said conversationally as they walked together. This was all very new to him, and he was learning of the capabilities of technology based on meeting so many people and experiencing missions.

"That would be unfortunate. That seemed like a nice memory and one that should stay intact as you recall it."

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