Plot Post/Big Echo Location Poll!

[drama8om8]

Voting is now closed! Stay tuned for updates on how the winning echoes will manifest!

Pretend this is from the mod account okay guys. Also pretend I didn't fuck up the first time. PRETEND HARDER.

Round up: United in fate, together in action, part I

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» Currently we have Eugen, Neil, Cecil, Jovan and Arthur involved in this plot. Please comment in the plotting thread below if you want in on the plot and handwave your involvement up to this point, or have your character join in at a later time (important since part of subsequent plotting might shift to plurk, should that be easier for everyone involved).
» Since the plot needs to be moderately resolved on the 5th at latest, we will move into the next stage of it tomorrow, no matter where the investigations are at that point. This does not mean that threads need to be cut short; it simply means that the next stage will be put up, since with the characters involved there is no question that it would happen eventually. The question is how it would come to be, and to decide that, we need the input of everyone involved: Would the reincarnates find Petunia's dog and let it lead them places once Eugen and Neil have been notified about the location of Petunia's phone; would the gundam pilotes after sunrise spot the gatherings of cultists and investigate them by interrogating some of the gathered cultists; or would they not do either before nine o'clock, at which point Arthur would receive information through his waterways search? Please leave your thoughts in the appropriate thread.

Preparation: United in fate, together in action, part II

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So. That mysterious Thunder Corp machine sure is mysterious, huh? Not for long, fair Earthicans. On the 5th, Thunder Corp employee Ellie Lyons will be informing the network that Project Jump (aka The Mysterious Machine of Mysterious Mystery) is going to be moved. Several people have expressed interest in having their characters be involved in the effort to get hold of the machine - a plotting thread for that can be found below, so anyone wanting to squeeze in at the last minute can offer their services there!

Upon snatching the machine, it will be moved to an accessible and Numbered-friendly location - namely Espresso Yourself. Should characters actually want to examine the machine instead of keeping it as a rather ugly trophy, they will find the following:

It is comprised of a metal booth roughly the size of a shower stall and a touchpad interface.

The touchpad displays a monochrome map of the world. Both Locke City and the echo boundary within Las Vegas are shown in colour, however.

If a reincarnate touches Locke on the map, nothing will happen. If they touch Las Vegas, the area will light up and a glowing sigil will appear on the floor of the metal booth. It looks like a weird crab-lobster-thing! How mysterious.

If a reincarnate steps onto the symbol, they will disappear in a flash of pink light.

In case it isn't glaringly obvious yet, Project Jump is a teleportation device. When fully activated, it will transport reincarnates between echo boundaries. Unfortunately, it won't be fully working right away - until shortly after midnight on the next day (so in any case for less than 24 hours), using the teleporter will send a reincarnate to the Shadow Realm into a state of limbo. They will disappear from Locke, but since there isn't yet a portal to emerge from in Las Vegas they will find themselves trapped in darkness, separated from their bodies and unable to communicate with anyone outside the void. They will still be able to communicate with others who are also trapped in the void.
Fun times.
Fortunately, something will be happening in Vegas which will create a portal there to set the reincarnates free. Hopefully they won't be too traumatised by their ordeal, since whatever they find on the other end might not be pleasant...

After this, the teleporter will work as intended and instantly transport reincarnates (and only reincarnates and beings echoed by them) between echo boundaries. Using the teleporter for the first time will grant one echo.

Poll for the big echoes!

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» Every player gets two votes.
» Voting will remain open until 23:59 GMT on the 5th of August.
» Keep in mind that echoes might show up in various locations and might get adjusted to the surroundings, though we'll try to make as few alterations as possible.
» All inanimate objects come with the places; living things come with the places as long as their sentience is low and they have a sufficiently low reason/ability to leave the place.

The Abyss | A parallel Alice in Wonderland-themed nightmare dimension that is full of gigantic horrible creatures and connects various places in space and time, accessible via gates or cracks in reality, more information here!
The Oublié Cathedral Old Tower | A chapel and catacombs full of monsters and eldritch creatures, prolonged exposure to whom causes acute hallucinations and the option to have occasional issues with reality for a long time to come, more information here!
Wammy's house | An orphanage/boarding school with Victorian aesthetics, high gates and high security, and (for 2004) top-notch computers, lab equipment, classrooms, and a beautiful library, more information here!
St. Pigeonation's Academy | A giant-pidgeon-sized, gated, well-appointed Japanese high school with multiple buildings on a well-equipped campus. Underground there is a medical center/laboratory. A great iron dome can be activated to seal the whole thing off from the outside world, more information here!
Venus Lighthouse | A cylindrical tower, roughly ten stories high, flared at the base, splitting into three parallel structures at the top. Inside is a video game dungeon, which means monsters and puzzles, more information here!
Yotsuba Compound | A huge mansion at the center of a large gated complex, with plenty of greenery outside, art and decorations inside, an audience room, as well as quite a bit of technology and security. Cameras everywhere, steel shutters on every window, and quite a bit of technological capability in the basement. More information here!
Narumi Detective agency slash billiard hall | The first floor is the billiard hall, and around the back is a detective agency with a kitchen, a sitting area, a small bed, and a bunch of dork books. There is also a secret hangar with lots of whiteboards, a cot, and a giant weird conveyance, more information here!
A Senkaimon | A way to travel between two points, for a while through a dangerous way called the Dangai, until Toushirou echoes back the ability to create an easier way, more information here!
Orbital elevator | A vertical elevator into space and also collector of sun energy, containing commercial & residential areas, a tourism center, a military base, a personnel station, mission control room, Mobile Suits hangar and linear trains. More information here!
The halls of the Woodland Realm | Carved into the mountain into lofty caves with natural light and air. The color scheme is brown, dark greens, and amber, more information here!
Caras Galadhon | A city that is built on and among and in coexistence with large trees and water, more information here!
The Lonely Mountain/Erebor | A giant mountain with a Dwarven Kingdom inside it. Huge forges, amazing statues, plenty of space to hide and stay if someone needs it. Comes with the literal ocean's worth of gold, gems, and other precious metals, more information here!
Suomenlinna | An island fortress made up of eight islands connected by bridges, more information here!
Hall of Justice | A quintessential superhero base, albeit one that's done up in a nice, accessible official-looking manner: Part museum, part ideally suited to fighting crime: A sophisticated crime-fighting super-computer with an extensive database, a simulation room for training, underground chambers for the storage of various super-vehicles, and trophy rooms, more information here!
Scarlet Devil Mansion | A big old mansion with a clock tower, reddish-brown with few red windows, many rooms don't have any windows, more information here!
The ghost Zone | A parallel dimension that's just green as far as the eye can see, filled with floating doors that can lead to ghosts' "lairs" and sometimes rocks that may or may not have stuff on them, filled with ghosts. Distances are shorter here than in reality. Portals to it can randomly pop up anywhere more information here!
Torent Forest | A big forest filled with various greenery and even a big waterfall. Various monsters roam the place, bush babies and one dragon are around, all of which drop gold or items. More information here!
The Blooming Rose | A two-story stone edifice equipped to serve as a brothel with stonework, marble decor, plush furnishings, spacious main room has numerous tables and a bar for socializing, plus many reception areas on the main floor (some with fireplaces), and plenty of storage. Most of the beds have velvet canopies, more information here!
Abysus | A castle with offices and labs and reactors inside, perhaps with half the upper floors in ruin. The basements are protected by nanite zombies, more information here!
The Precure Palace | An atypical fantasy castle, surrounded by a moat with a long bridge leading up to it, filled inside with beautiful architecture, dozens of stain glassed windows, and so forth. The courtyard contains dozens of statues displaying every Precure that was ever deemed worthy to wield its power. More information here!
Honnouji Academy | A high school built to act as a fortress slash training ground which sits atop a mountain and consists of a massive courtyard surrounded by a huge intimidating wall with a single gate. Opposite that is the school building itself which includes the towering spire that houses the student council quarters. By whatever mechanism, the courtyard can morph into a huge athletics field/ampitheater and grow spires out of the ground like trees. More information here!
Long Arch | Contains advanced facilities that can be used to scan for various threats and develop/maintain magical or non-magical based technologies, a medical center, housing for its various members and staff, a cafeteria, and a training facility that can be used for combat training, including reprogrammed dummy gadget drones that can be used as opponents. More information here!
Wall Sina | A 50-60 metres high wall four baileys that contain houses, sturdier than any other structure on earth, with rails and cannons on top. It would wrap completely around the city, more information here!
Rivendell | A hidden valley with much water and airy buildings that host communal residential areas, barns with horses and other livestock in them, offices, forges, an armoury, banquet areas, a library, many balconies and terraces, fountains and waterfalls and springs, a river, more information here!
Black Moon's Geofront/NERV Headquarters | An underground dome containing a forest, a lake and buildings that would reside under the city, connected to the surface by elevators. The buildings contain an area with a command room, changing rooms, a med bay, public baths, vending machines and a super computer, and another area containing a creepy room, a Dummy Plug Plant, failed alien clones. More information here!
Sundermount | A large mountain under which lies a cavern system and which is generally good for hiding. It houses a valuable mine and is haunted. More information here!

Poll #15755 POLL NUMBER TWO YAY

This poll is closed.
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 42

View Respondents

Select up to two locations!

View Answers

The Abyss
3 (7.1%)

The Oublié Cathedral Old Tower
8 (19.0%)

Wammy's House
2 (4.8%)

St. Pigeonation's Academy
1 (2.4%)

Venus Lighthouse
1 (2.4%)

Yotsuba Compound
1 (2.4%)

Narumi Detective Agency
2 (4.8%)

A Senkaimon
1 (2.4%)

Orbital Elevator
7 (16.7%)

The Halls of the Woodland Realm
2 (4.8%)

Caras Galadhon
1 (2.4%)

The Lonely Mountain/Erebor
8 (19.0%)

Suomenlinna
1 (2.4%)

Hall of Justice
4 (9.5%)

Scarlet Devil Mansion
1 (2.4%)

The Ghost Zone
9 (21.4%)

Torent Forest
1 (2.4%)

The Blooming Rose
0 (0.0%)

Abysus
0 (0.0%)

The Precure Palace
0 (0.0%)

Honnouji Academy
6 (14.3%)

Long Arch
2 (4.8%)

Wall Sina
4 (9.5%)

Rivendell
6 (14.3%)

NERV Headquarters
6 (14.3%)

Sundermount
3 (7.1%)

Comments

PLOTTING THREAD - Part 1/Petunia's Kidnapping

[theearth]

[grannyfucker]

I'm....gonna cast my vote for finding the dog, and the dog leading them (and/or Eugen or Neil getting info on Petunia's phone's location). That seems like it would be the fastest path, rather than everyone waiting until sunrise or 9am for the other options. The sooner they find out where Petunia is, the sooner they can rush in to help.

[hotshots]

I'm good with that.

(Apologies I've not tagged into the apartment threads yet, as an aside - rough few days. One can presume Neil is running back from speaking with the Feds at this point, though and will join... shortly.)

[buildyourworld]

Eugen will pass him the info about the dog that Eileen gave him earlier!!

[hotshots]

Also on the gatherings of cultists - I think Neil would go for "hey that looks suspicious lets bother them."

[theearth]

If they find the dog and bring it to the car that Eugen and Neil will have gotten informed about, it will lead them to Davie's apartment (the dog wouldn't be able to follow the car's path from where Petunia was taken, but it can find the path of the people once they left the car again). Until a bit before 8am, Petunia and her kidnappers will be there; they are planning on relocating into the sewers after that, which is what investigating the gathered cultists would lead them to (they could even find ones that could tell them the exact location at this point; once they enter the sewers, Arthur would be able to get information on them. There are still Vermini in the sewers, and a number of them are also in the cultist gathering spots which are sewer exits.

So if they find the dog and use it to get more information on the car before sunrise, the two other options would be void. I think that would indeed the fastest way, but it's up to you!

[senseandcecilbility]

Sewer adventures sound terribly fun, but following the puppy could be nice too.

PLOTTING THREAD - Part 1/Petunia's Kidnapping

[buildyourworld]

I'm volunteering Eugen to spot the gathering since he's going to be up there in the air with the helicopter. He can talk to the cultist (with Neil?) and get the clue, unless Arthur wants to get the clue, then I can have Eugen talks to them but fail to get the clue since he's not exactly a field agent in the first place.

[hotshots]

Looking at the current thread, there seems to be enough people fielding questions to Eileen and I don't have anything OFFHAND to add to it, so I'm thinking it's better to assume Neil's canvassing the general area outside once he arrives.

Either way, he's up for helping shake down some cultists.

[buildyourworld]

Alrighty! Then we can head straight into the next thread!

PLOTTING THREAD - Part 2/Stealing Project Jump

[theearth]

[gogoghostpowers]

Danny has volunteered (or rather, will volunteer) to use his intangibility to get the machine out of the transport and to safety, but as mentioned in the last plotting post, he is way too much of a weenie to carry the thing out himself, so he'll need support. I know people expressed interest in helping with that, but I don't know if anything was 100% set in stone with that!

[guitar_case_vagabond]

I imagine this kid is probably strong enough to lift and haul some heavy machinery around. Or if that role is taken, she can easily run interference while Danny and the crew bail with it.

[siesinddasessen]

I already offered Blaine for this last round, but they could work together - maybe take turns if the way is long, or pick one end each because the machine sounds a bit unwieldly? I'd say I can give the spot to you and let Blaine run interference, but she's not really useful when compared to all the magical firepower that the other people on the interference team have.

[guitar_case_vagabond]

I'm good for some teamwork! Raye doesn't have any of Senketsu's transformations yet so in this case others are probably more suited to distract the guards. Super strength is always good for heavy lifting though! I figure they could work together to carry the thing or one of them can run alongside and trash anything that gets past the interference team with brute strength.

Or, while Senketsu can't change to his alt modes, he can unwravel threads from himself to use as cables and junk. Maybe they use that to rig up some kind of... thing to carry the machine.

[siesinddasessen]

I think the easiest thing would be if they carried it together, one front one back, and Raye then takes over because Blaine's a bit too large to go inside when transformed, it's ridic even with the thing being intangible...

Would that work for you?

[guitar_case_vagabond]

Sure. Sounds fine by me!

[icy_heavens]

Toushirou would be so in for getting the machine away from Thundercorp. He can't help with the heavy lifting (because he's an itty bitty thing), but ice powers and super speed can be good for immobilizing stuff and/or distracting guards.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Lily - with presumably some more mahou back up if Winter and Jasmine are still in on this - will be there primarily to run distraction on the guards, but COULD feasibly help with the heavy lifting too... but I suspect you'll probably have others helping there too.

Still. Options!

[seed_of_memory]

I'm definitely still on for it. o/

[gogoghostpowers]

Hmmm, so it sounds like Winter/Jasmine/Fuyuka/Toushirou can be on distraction/fight patrol with the truck while Danny/Blaine/Raye make off with the machine?

[icy_heavens]

Seems that way. There's a bit of power overlap between Winter and Toushirou, but that's easy enough to work with.

[greenisthenewblack]

If Sheila catches wind of this, she'll probably volunteer to keep you brats out of trouble. And then probably wind up helping once she gets some thieving echoes back.

Re: PLOTTING THREAD - Part 2/Stealing Project Jump

[seed_of_memory]

I already have Jasmine involved, but I was wondering if Fuyuka could aid in terms of logistics or background support? She doesn't have a full handle on what she can do with Bardiche yet, so she'd be more suited to that kind of role, and she did help bring Project Jump to light...

[drama8om8]

Sure, we can work something out! Perhaps she could coordinate the attack on a strategic front?

For example, Ellie could keep a network feed open while she's riding in the truck with the machine so that the vehicle could be tracked and intercepted. Since rumours of network leaks would be circulating by then, she wouldn't want to do it openly - Fuyuka could be responsible for receiving all the information from her end, if that would suit you!

[jasminebloominginshadow]

That sounds perfectly fine to me, if the others are okay with it. :)

[dead_black_eyes]

As the owner of the place the machine will be stored, L will approach the whole thing a touch reluctantly, but commit to storing the device (especially after getting his trusted circle's input on it.)

He will not be one of the ones to poke at it, though. On the contrary, he'll ask that others also treat the thing with caution and keep their distance until everyone knows more about it. That being said, he cannot be everywhere at once and has a lot of his own business with the Mafia coming to a head, making it totally impossible to watch the machine like a hawk. If your character wants to get zapped into the teleportation device, they shouldn't have a problem; security will be high but it's not the thing is under lock and key regarding curious Numbered.

QUESTIONS

[theearth]

Call for cops, leak-volunteers, and anyone else interested!

[evowhisperer]

While you're all voting for the awesome things up above...

Cesar's leaks to the mafia are coming to an end over the next couple of weeks or so!! I need volunteers for people he can leak, or for people we can retroactively say he leaked before they were attacked by the mafia! I actually have kind of a backlog of empty space where I should have been submitting names so yes if anyone can help this would be great.

I also want to shout out to the cop-detective-FBI types! I don't want life to settle down for Cesar after all of this is over: if any of your characters would have figured out that there's been a leak in the network, whether by something the henchmen said or by sheer logic, please go right ahead! Cesar's been trying to cover his tracks as much as possible, but this kind of thing doesn't go away forever. I figure someday it will come back to bite him hard.

This said: Cesar may have been the one to be leaking names and stuff, but he's reaching a limit of how much crap he wants to take before he starts looking for ways to push back. Would anyone be interested if he put up a post making noise about this? Depending on the post's reception, he'd be up for volunteering for organizing some kind of emergency-responses/vigilantes in the future, particularly if everything with his brother's kidnapping plot ends up the way it will.

About that last plot point: is anyone already doing something like this? If so, what is there, and is there anything that that plot/group might need that Cesar could fill?

[seed_of_memory]

I would definitely be interested in having Fuyuka be one of the ones to spill the beans on realizing people have been leaking things. That said, I was wondering if there was any kind of smoking gun she could find? That's what's kind of been holding be back... she's not the type to vocalize an intuition that serious without proof.

[swissarmyjesus]

The smoking gun could come in the form of Chuck, who, y'know, kind of did openly admit to being a Key and being involved with the mafia. He'd be the easiest target to point to for this sort of thing.

[seed_of_memory]

Ha ha, there we go. I'm sorry that didn't come to me immediately, I've not been as sharp as I should be. x_x

[gogoghostpowers]

(I'm too lazy to log into Chuck right now)

Haha, no worries, but yeah! Whenever you want to point to him and be like "IT'S ALL HIS FAULT" I'm 100% down for that. C8

[evowhisperer]

oh god if you guys did that.... Yes, go for it.

[seed_of_memory]

I'll probably be later in the week then. I can probably work Fuyuka getting approached by the mafia into it too. That'd tip her over the edge.

[buildyourworld]

Just gonna put up what discussed on plurk before, if Cesar revealed himself to Eugen in the presence of Neil, Eric or Karl at some point, he'll be able to put 2 and 2 together since Cesar was so suspicious during the TC Inspection. Especially if he did not email him the follow up reports (your choice!!!).

p/s: Eugen and Neil are in Vegas now though, so might have to wait a little if you want this option.

[evowhisperer]

I definitely want to play with something like this, but I think I'd like to do it in the future, once there's been some time to build up the fact that people were actively looking for a leak in the first place! This way the reveal can be more of an 'It was you?!' than it would be if they found out now.

What do you think?

[buildyourworld]

Yup, definitely!

[flamberge]

Tossing in a cop-type if you still need them! Karl doesn't suspect Cesar of anything yet (their log is still young so you never know) but could potentially find something out through the police grapevine and is the sort to feasibly make the leak theory.

[evowhisperer]

I need all the cop-types, man. |D

Yeah, what is the likelihood of being able to spread something about a leak without Karl knowing it's him? I'm down for something suspenseful, with lots of pressure on Cesar to play it cool and lots of motivation for everyone else to find whodunnit.

[flamberge]

Ooo very possible! Maybe someone could have gotten some dirt on the mob and that they have an insider giving them info? And extra lol if he bumps into Cesar at some point, after finding that out, and they have a chat about it.

[evowhisperer]

Yeah, that could work! :3 And ffff, you mean about 'hey there's a leak somewhere in the network and we don't know who it is! :D'? Dude, I'd cheer for that kind of thread.

[flamberge]

Marvelous! Do you think one of his own officers could have even brought in the report or is someone network related going to mention a leak? And sweeet! I am game for this awkward log of awkward whenever it'd be plausible for it to happen! :3

[betterleftunsaid]

WHOMP WHOMP, GUESS WHO'S A DUMBASS (SPOILERS, IT'S ME)

Just in case it isn't obvious from the get-go, both votes on the big echo poll from this username are actually just Lisa! I was a dumb and thought I was logged into gogoghostpowers but I wasn't and didn't notice it until after I voted HAHA WHOOPS...SORRY GUYS...