PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

[larkers]

> PLOT ENGAGEMENT (ARCHIVED)

What is Plot Engagement and how does it work within Meadowlark? This is the page where players can come discuss with us how to facilitate plots within the setting. However, there will be occasions where a plot doesn't work within Meadowlark's world, and we'll suggest alternative routes. For small worldbuilding or gameplay details, please direct your question to the FAQ. If you're ever not sure if you're at the right page, don't worry—we'll help you get it sorted out. We know we have a load of info!

WHEN WILL YOU HEAR BACK?

◉ All Plot Engagement answers go out on Sunday, except during events.
◉ The deadline to submit a question and ensure you'll hear back from us on Sunday is 11:59 PM UTC on Saturday.

PLOT ENGAGEMENT INCLUDES

◉ Player plots! If you'd like your character to become a mafia boss, this is your place to start. Typically, this involves anything that could impact the setting or other player characters.
◉ Character career advancement that gives the character additional power or status within the setting.
◉ Metaplot exploration and information! We plan all events to give characters something to explore after the event ends. This is the place to do it!

SUBMISSION TIPS

◉ Specify what your character is looking for when they're investigating. What questions are they asking and what angle are they trying to explore?
◉ If you have a specific goal in mind but don't know how to reach it, please let us know.
◉ If you link a thread to us, please summarize it! That helps us process the plot in question.
◉ Don't worry about not knowing the setting like the back of your hand before you submit the plot—that's up to us! We're here to help you with any adjustments to get you on the right track.

NOTES & THINGS THAT YOU CAN HANDWAVE

◉ Characters always start out in entry level positions. Characters can update their skill sets to the 2512 standard through paid apprenticeships or internships.

◈ If a character is advancing within a major corporation (as noted on the Setting or Locations page) or one of its subsidiaries, we will need to approve this advancement.
◈ If a character becomes a supervisor at a local bar or other small business, we do not need to approve this advancement.

◉ Joining the police force within a city requires three months of IC training (six months OOC).
◉ We'll approve whether someone has social media fame, but we will not be providing social media follower counts. Once you have a plot for how to use those followers, that's where we step in!
◉ All Morningstar business goes on our Morningstar page. Please feel free to discuss specific plots here (including joining), and go there for signups and anything else.
◉ Characters getting jobs, finding apartments, participating in the fighting rings, getting married, making workplace friends, the creation of minor NPCs, etc. do not need to be run by us. Please let us know if these expand into player plots or other plot bits!

QUICK LINKS

◉ FAQ: For small worldbuilding or gameplay details.
◉ Setting: Our setting page! We'll update as needed.
◉ Jobs: A reference for who's working where!
◉ Locations: Both major and minor locations within New Amsterdam, as well as outlines for other megacities.
◉ Mod Contact: For wider game concerns.
◉ The Story So Far: Gamewide plot events up to current (your CTRL+F best friend!).
◉ NPC page: Includes NPC blurbs and inboxes.
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> NAVIGATION

Comments

[strove]

Hey mods!

1. Following up on a UNA question from a while ago - is there any information on where the money goes after they sign up for life? Does the money return to their families?

2. ETA: My mind blanked when I made this comment, and I forgot about another question. Riku is trying to find the source of the facility in the dreamworld. Thanks to his abilities—and some of the information you passed on to other players—he would know (I think?) that the facility and the cityscape were at least somewhat similar in their source. As such, he believes that there is a good reason to think that the facility has a source in reality, even if it's likely not ... how it was.

Essentially: he wants to look into underwater marine biology facilities. He knows that he might need to be broad about his search. I saw that you mentioned that there were some research centers outside of the cities, and I was wondering if one of these facilities would be like that. Is there any information about a facility of that sort? Can they maintain something like that? He thinks it's probable—especially after seeing the construction of New Tokyo and how it scaled from an underwater section of the city to above ground.

He'll also be looking into major scientific accidents or any information about missing scientists who may have died in these, but he's sharp and aware that this world loves censorship, so he's not expecting much of a return on this part.

Thanks!

[deicider]

Hello!

With the election stuff going on, I am interested in having Sniper work with Simone Durcell doing political espionage and help with the campaign in general. I have touched base with Alex's player, Laura, so Alex can act as Sniper's "in".

My ideas are pretty lose right now. The general plan:
- Sniper (possibly also Alex depending on what we decide) will meet with Simone or Simone's people and as a good faith start they will give Durcell + co some information they have from hanging around city hall that will be useful to them. They got access to city hall via the Dream Plot, and are starting to build a clientele there.
- Sniper will present it that they want to throw in with Durcell in order to better the lot of sex workers. They will definitely make good on this angle but their actual goal is simply to get in good with Simone's people with the assumption they have ties to Mars--or will, if they win.
- When they were volunteering at the tents post-monster attack, Sniper made a point of making connections with people dissatisfied with the current government. Some of those people may already be working for Simone and can give them further legitimacy, but if not Sniper will look at looping these people in to expand their information/campaigning network.
- As for the actual espionage work-- I'm not sure how much structure you want to give versus how much I should make up! For Sniper, I think this would involve what you would expect: getting into elite parties and/or bedrooms, possibly getting info from Peggy and Ardyn (I will reach out to both once I have this initial plan hammered out). Giving out false information to the opposition. Sniper is adept at balancing their presentation to appear harmless and has a sophisticated understanding of political analysis to help them here.

Let me know if that sounds okay! I know Cain's player, Julia, is also pursuing some things in this vein and we've touched base about potential partnership opportunities.

[saviorexe]

Hello mods! I have a few questions pertaining to all of my characters.

1. For V, I was wondering how his arrangement with Riko will work from a logistical standpoint? As I understand that he’s going to fulfill an informant role, I was wondering if instances of exchanging information would require threading out or handwaving? And if we needed to coordinate just what kind of information V would be sharing about the Displaced and what he’s learned from Gaby? Basically, I don’t want to step on any toes and have him say something that will compromise too much of the game, or shift things in the wrong direction! So maybe an overall idea of what’s expected of him might be helpful to know!

2. Also, V needs to start looking for a job, and I was wondering if there’s still any need for voice work in the city? Anything from narrating commercials, being on a podcast, reading audiobooks, recording lines for announcements, being the voice for a random NPC in a video game, etc etc? Is this something he’d be able to pursue if he did the research on how to get started, and moved forward from there? Basically just how viable is this job for a newcomer to New Amsterdam?

3. For Markus, I’d like to follow up on the art auction inquiry now that events how settled down and everyone’s back in New Amsterdam. (Original plot engagement thread for it located waaaay back here.) Peggy and Markus will definitely attend one, once they have their invites figuratively in-hand. And while they will be out of their socioeconomic depth, their priorities will be to simply leave a good impression with the company they’re in — once they’ve realized that the investment in the shrines don’t run very deep, beyond a passing interest for the elite.

To accomplish this, they will be very fashionably dressed (both have an eye for it) and know how to conduct themselves even under scrutiny. They will both rely heavily on their personal experiences from the timelines they hail from to exude a sense of expertise in whatever subject they choose to talk about. (And it will be subjects that they pointedly choose to start, not wanting to stumble into something they’re ignorant about.) This includes art, literature, music, history — mostly relating to the 20th/21st century and how its influence is seen today. Basically, they’re here to impress in idle conversation by leaning heavily on what they know, striking up intellectual conversation focused solely on this alone.

That being said, would they leave a good impression, maybe get the attention of notable NPCs? They won’t approach Maeda herself, but they’re not beyond making their names known. Secondly, would they hear any gossip about current events, especially relating to the current atmosphere of the upcoming elections? They’re here to snoop and dig up dirt if they can… but with class.

4. And finally, for Ardyn, what information would he be able to unearth about the elections and the candidates? Would his job allow for a different perspective in regards to how it might play out, who is backing whom, and if there are rumors flying around among other politicians that he would pick up on?

Thanks!

[stabilis]

Hi mods!

Just a quick one re: this thread, will Johnny find anything if he does a bunch of wild google searches for "project" and a symbol with yellow at its center and a dark V cutting down?

edit: he'd also search whatever back channels/dark web stuff he has access to at this point.

Thank you!

[doubledoctornocitrus]

Hello! Query!

I would like to have Rodney get into an R&D position in one of the major companies as part of the information network for Morningstar, which I gather is being called a contact? I'm...not actually sure what the questions are I should be asking regarding this. :D He'd likely try to find the most bleeding-edge technology he can possibly work on and be as obnoxiously/arrogantly ambitious without really...trying to be with the aim of getting into a position of authority. He'd want his own little team of minions eventually (he's really quite fond of having minions, though he would never admit it) and a nice juicy project that he could be lauded for making work. I figure he would need to work his way up from lab tech (as suggested by the jobs page) not just because he's an unknown, but because he's going to be learning many years worth of an entirely different technological trajectory. How...how might this play out? I saw there were a couple/few large companies that do things (but now that I say that I can't find them again).

But yes! Thank you! Your game is a delight!

[revlon]

Hi mods! Just checking in / following up on two points here: the gubernatorial elections and the progress of Peggy’s career in local government.

The Elections:

1. What’s the chatter around City Hall regarding the top three candidates? Who are people generally in favour of within government and does this sentiment reflect the public opinion? Are there rumours that would stand out, such as who might be financially backing any of the three (as Maeda did Gill-Jade)?
2. As noted in a previous plot engagement, Peggy now has a friend and ally in a superior (Neema Seif) since her proposal to aid New Tokyo was put forward and acted upon; they now regularly do lunch together, sometimes with colleagues of Neema’s rank in City Hall (they all partied together during the Halloween festival too!). What would Peggy be told in confidence about the elections and Gill-Jade, outside water cooler gossip? (Why did Gill-Jade decide against running for reelection, who do the higher ups in City Hall like/dislike with the new candidates and why?)
3. Related to the previous question, Peggy has also made friends within the UN Embassy during her weekly meetings with officials (as noted in a previous engagement from Feb here) since her committee — customs and border security — directly overlaps with UN duties related to travel regulation. During drinks with these friends, she would inquire about embassy staff opinions regarding the upcoming elections. Who’s the projected favourite? Who do they dislike? What would they like to see change (or stay the same, even) in New Amsterdam? Are they at all concerned?
4. I’m curious about Joseph Lynch! Specifically, what philanthropies is he known for? What’s his focus, what platform is he running on? What information would be publicly available about him and his life?
5. When are the elections? (This may already be stated somewhere, apologies if I've missed it in all my rereading!)

Peggy’s Career:

As you noted in the plot engagement I’d linked above (and my first one back in December), it would take a “few IC months” for Peggy to make a name for herself in City Hall before making the jump to the UN Embassy (since she couldn’t immediately start working there when she got to the game). So I’m curious how the dream event muddling with some IC timelines has affected the trajectory of Peggy’s career! A few preliminary questions re: that —

1. During the aftermath of the dream event, I’d asked about this and you clarified “her coworkers would know her longer” and “the conditions of her employment would be similar, only they would start earlier.” How much earlier? The aftermath post stated she received her promotion due to, in part, her “heroic and selfless efforts during the June 27 monster attacks.” Does this mean her employment record now states she’s worked for City Hall since at least May, possibly earlier? What does this mean for the timeline you gave me of “a few IC months”?
2. In another comment from our Feb engagement thread, you stated that cocktail parties and the like do happen amongst local government but Peggy’s entry-level position at City Hall at the time would mean she, understandably, would not be on the invite list. Given her promotion, stellar reputation of being a hard worker (bolstered by the monster attacks and her efforts for New Tokyo), and the extensive networking she’s done within City Hall and the embassy as mentioned above (it’s worth noting she also occasionally has lunch or coffee/tea with Ardyn since his promotion), how has this changed? Does she now have her foot in the door with these events?

I’m especially interested given that your reply back in Feb also said this — attending parties, networking — would be a strong step towards getting a job at the embassy. So I just wanted to check if I was on the right track with everything I’ve done since December! Thank you!

[impavid]

So, my question is about hovercar or bike, etc, racing as a career! I realise he's been here less than a week, I'm feeling out future ideas!

I can see it noted that illegal street racing is a thing that you can engage with by firstly hanging out in a bar and getting into a low level gang, etc, and I guess there's a degree of gambling there on the winners which might net you some money depending on luck and not-getting-arrested!

I was wondering if there are legal racing circuits in New Amsterdam! I was imagining like FIA & Formula 1 (I'm European, sorry, but Amsterdam was in Europe anyway) where big corporations build test racing vehicles and emblazon it with sponsorships and make them go fast in circles a whole bunch! Obviously he'd have to start waaaay back at like, Formula F level and get some local mechanic training before he drives, and it'd be a bit before he jumped up to Formula 3 and began climbing in races people care about but! At least he has nonsense protag experience learning alien vehicles and flying them in battle situations, so he'd reasonably be able to pick up driving a hover-thing well?

i) is this feasible! I realise at half time in a game starting a career that normally takes like, several years to get to the top in is asking for pain but I'm fine assuming he might never make it past the lower ranks. Any racing is fun racing! Who doesn't love risking their life driving?
ii) is this worth investing in! I'm in it about 60% for the 'it sounds fun' value, but I also figure eventually he'd start mixing with people who have enough money to sponsor nonsensical events like 'travel at death-defying speeds in circles'. I'm hoping learning about who meets who and who sponsors what, along with learning some engine things, might eventually get him something useful! Like what major corps work together, which ones have bad blood, who they give their fancy box tickets to! Tell me if I am wrong!

ETA: I realise his cover backstory would influence this! John would tell Morningstar he's a pilot if they asked, unsure what they'd translate that to in cyberpunk future terms

[gasping]

as part of this thread with clarke, caroline is going to be chatting up the volunteers at the festival — though it won't be to find out more about any cool tattoos or religious beliefs. she wants to know how people get involved in helping to put on the cool festivals in new amsterdam, both as a volunteer and potentially any paid positions that are in charge of city events.

my ideal aim is to try and get caroline a job on the city hall equivalent of an events committee, so that she can be aware of big festivals going on in the city in coming months and potentially give heads up to the displaced for any big events that might be drop off spots for new arrivals.

is this something that could be feasible for her? she doesn't expect to run any festivals on her own or have any major "power" in the role, but being trusted to set up tents, wrangle vendors, delegate responsibilities to volunteers, etc would all be in her wheelhouse of experience!

[ex_dictator317]

hello! sorry if any of this has been answered before and i've missed it, but i have a few questions concerning different avenues.

1. not to steal from the plot engagement post, but i'm genuinely interested in possibly pushing the crime boss angle for octavia. where would i get started with that?

also: would it be possible to work up the chain of an already established gang/mob and take over, either by force or earning it? is it possible to start her own, and what would that take to gain traction and repute? can you tell me a bit more about each notable organization and what they stand for and dabble in, what their reputation is like, how they treat their own, etc?

2. does meadowlark have a bounty hunting scene at all, either legally or illegally? if so, how would someone go about getting started with either route (getting licensed if legal, proving one's worth, etc) and what kind of work would it entail (requisition, murder, simple capture?) if there is no scene, are there any avenues for enforcers or mercenary work?

[mutriarchy]

ok ok ok i have a bunch of things.

1. what are the current trends on social media? mukbangs? are challenges still in vogue? is it possible to start a challenge like the cinnamon spice challenge?

2. how popular would the channel be at this point? and, depending on that, would it be possible to collab with any vloggers/content makers of the same level? are there any specific ones that could be reached out to in the area?

3. fabricated drama. still a thing? is it possible to start some (relatively harmless and mostly for shock value) fake-beef with another content creator to ramp up both viewcounts?

4. assuming they're being somewhat wise about accepting sponserships, what brands would be most interested and how much would they be able to make? is it at a point where this could be a full time thing?

5. livestreaming video games / vr, is that a thing? and if so, is it at all profitable if you have an existing audience?

[personalwar]

Hi there, mods! I'm here with two separate things.

1. Jack and Diana have a thread right over here which involves them interfering in a burglary and then scaring the thieves off before they can snatch anything. Except that one of the criminals got knocked out so they're going to shake him up and try to get some information out of him! Jack will likely ask a) what they were aiming to steal (I'm not sure what this would be since it'd have to be a physical item and so much of this world runs digitally, so let me know if there's anything that would make sense!) and b) if they work for anyone. Totally fine if they're just random punks with no affiliations, just thought it might be an interesting way to pull at a plot thread or something! (For the record, this thread takes place before the event.)

2. For Jack's employment, I've been thinking about having him work as a security guard! I wasn't 100% sure on where, though he'd want it to be a place where he might be able to pick up on / eavesdrop on things or eventually get access to restricted areas that are of interest. Would there be any places where he could get hired for this kind of work? Also, would the event that's going on now affect that hiring in any way? I would imagine people would be more on edge and paranoid in light of the power surge, but let me know what you think!

[impede]

Hi mods!

I realize it's the middle of an event, but I wanted to get Akechi started once it ended.

One of the key things I've been going over in my mind is that he tries to work for Katelin Jovavich's campaign. In canon, he has the knack for ensuring someone's rise to power, and in this case, he believes that by being on the side of a sure winner, he'll be able to get himself into a better position in the world. Veronica mentioned that she'd be down to have Loki sponsor his attempt to get in good with her, especially since Loki is gaining some clout at Pulsar on the business end of things.

I'm not looking for some advisor position for Akechi. My aim is for him to, essentially, get a foot in to the room where it happens. He'll be happy to take secure messages by hand, get drinks, organize lunches, or anything else that might be expected of an eighteen year old with an interest in politics. So, he'll just be the guy who does the menial jobs while occasionally dropping insights and thoughts, hoping to get attention that way. He knows he needs to start small.

I am thinking he might use his power in this position: set the right people off, show them to be irrational. But that's all spitballing at this point. I mostly want to know if he can do that job right now, and see where the inspiration takes me!

[followhim]

HELLO MODS, I come post-event with job-type questions.

I've envisioned /sort of vaguely mentioned Poe doing odd-job type things in addition to being a normal run-of-the-mill courier. Would he (over time, as it's been awhile) be able to use that sort of to hopscotch to making less than legal deliveries for gangs and then to get recruited for street racing? MAYBE IT DOESN'T MATTER SO MUCH NOW but just… so i know… if it can happen/ever happened/in what way/something.

ALSO: He hotwired a car during the outage. Looking at other people's stuff I know it'd be able to be reclaimed pretty quickly because of neural implants — is that still true after the event? Or if the person it was registered under was one of the large amount of people who died, what would happen to it then? Does it just link to the next of kin's implant? 😮

Would there be comparable positions to a courier, transporting, escorting, etc that one of the companies would offer him as part of the reward for helping with the pyramid? (WOULD THEY GIVE HIM A CAR OR ACCESS TO A CAR LMAO)

Related to all of the above, does NA have rideshare services like an equivalent to Uber, Lyft, etc?

[selfimage]

Hey there mods! Post event, both Loki and Jason are going to head to the Black Bliss to see how Gaby's doing!! Both of them, being idiots, are kinda worried for her after everything has happened but won't admit it. EVEN THO SHE TOLD LOKI NOT TO SHOW HIS FACE THERE AGAIN, he will show up with Jason, in his civvies, playing Normal and ordering a drink. If she lets them, they'll stay and try to cheer her up, no talk of the Displaced or Morningstar. They may even try to get her to go out and party (well, Loki will).

Let me know about Gaby, ok. :(

[athousandwords]

Hi, mods! gently adds to the growing pile of questions

When thinking about getting Eiji's foot in the door for a job, I was wondering if working secretarial stuff for an already established event planner is feasible, since I know other artistic paths require portfolios and work. Granted, he wouldn't be doing the event planning as his own business, and he'd only be handling appointments, initial meetings, and juggling business contacting for the boss.

I was hoping this would give him a way to better learn the city/locations and, oocly, give him a wide enough opening to run in with all kinds of things since people and businesses tend to have organized events. Also, he has a good disposition for civil service!

[heliophilous]

hello mods!

first of all, my apologies for dumping that question on the aftermath when it's stated to follow up on the plot engagement page. i read that and then just forgot. basically i'm dumb sorry about that.

anyway, as a follow up and after talking with jenna, marcos and caroline probably wouldn't act any differently until they knew something was up. so, he'd go to his job as a courier on the daily, and then probably grab something to eat before he either headed to the safehouse, where he's been staying since he's saving for an apartment or he'd go to jyn erso's place, where he sometimes sleeps because she offered him a couch. caroline would have similar movements in that she'd be at the safehouse mornings and nights but would be out in the city during the day to both do random errands.

they would probably be together during at least once a day because they do live in the same place and they are friends. they'd both help with relief efforts (helping those without homes, cooking for those that are injured, cleanup, etc). caroline is, i believe, getting some aide from el for the blood she needs and she did steal some blood from a blood bank during the event.

so, they definitely wouldn't be hiding at all. when they did figure out that something had gone awry, they'd probably try and stick together but wouldn't want to endanger too many other people. maybe one or two close contacts to stay with so they didn't put big groups of people in the bullseye. they wouldn't go after the criminal underground themselves but they wouldn't be shy about fighting back or causing a stir if they were provoked.

once they're discovered and alerted to the knowledge that the criminal underground ain't too happy, what kind of relatiation could they expect? would the gangs use weapons on them? would they be safer not going back to the safehouse in case some braver members of certain gangs tried to creep up in there? what would happen if, in self defense (or otherwise), other gang members ended up not alive?

[lighthearted]

Hi mods!

So, given the sheer amount of lives lost and the state that the city is in, Sora is going to believe that more work needs to be done to help out New Amsterdam with clean-up, assisting people in need, and so on.

He will therefore be looking for PRESERVE offices and dropping by in person to see if he can offer his services as a volunteer, along with his "friends" (that is, in case any other Displaced want to pitch in as well).

Would PRESERVE be open to this? Would there be anything logistically that I need to be aware of? Also, assuming this all works out, now that Sora knows that his power is mental healing, he would want to use that to help people during these relief efforts. I realize that the chest glowing is something that people are wary about right now, so what would the reaction be like? Would he need to layer up so that it wasn't visible?

Thanks for your help!

[dragonwarder]

Hello mods!

I'd like to get Daenerys more on track to look into the halted research down of the new species of the warm blooded reptiles in the antarctic region (as mentioned/shared by james holden on peter's post). Prior to the event, Kylo Ren introduced Daenerys to what he could of the kaiju attacks and, while he essentially confirmed for her that it was a creature different from her dragons, she's gained a bit of obsessive interest their origins/researching them. Her main aim would be to study what she can of their behavior/breeding/hunting patterns as well as how they have evolved, with the goals of (a) seeking some kind of sentience/higher brain function (b) ways to contain them to keep from attacking in the future and a potential (c) of learning how to communicate with them herself. (and also (d) making absolutely doubly sure that they're not actually her dragons)

Obviously, she is not much of a scientist herself and more inclined to diplomacy, but I figure with her high charisma stat, she could probably wordsmith her way into a research division somewhere (thinking like MONARCH from the Legendary Films Godzilla/King of the Monsters series) as long as her focus sticks to kaiju and not climate/terraforming science (though I guess she could learn that VERY SLOWLY along the way -- I am more interested in the kaiju angle).

I'd love some guidance on where to start.

[realists]

in a numbered list so i don't forget anything:

1. would the pygmy marmosets that prompto and jyn brought back with them die at the same accelerated rate of the other animals that sneaked in from the forest? just wondering how long they get to hang out with their wild bitey buddies.

2. on the work front, even though she is relatively new to the office, is there any way jyn could slide into the higher up job of someone who is recently deceased or on extended leave due to injuries/bereavement? ain't no shame in her game, the show must go on, etc etc etc

3. sort of on the work front and presuming that pulsar has an email directory, once word of joseph lynch's charity starts circulating, jyn would shoot an email to katelin jovavich suggesting that she plant some trees! maybe, say, one tree for everyone killed in the attack as a gesture of remembrance and also because reforestation is good for the planet in this trying time and it would give grieving families something tangible to look at, rebirth from tragedy. obviously there is no room for 100,000 brand new trees within the city itself, but outside the wall would be just as beneficial :) jyn really wants more trees because ecological restoration is important! but it would be a baller political move and she is just casually offering it to jovavich, gratis, her own "To Begin Anew..." a la eugene mccarthy 1968.

4. if jyn buys people compost in bulk does she get a discount? her plants suffered in the heat and they need love.

[evite]

hey mods!

in the aftermath of the emp event, and in general "i've been here for a while, upward mobility should be a thing i consider" lines of thought, daisy is interested in transitioning into some kind of promoted position.

to clarify: she is not looking to take over her direct manager's role. while she's hopeful that the bugs she and cassian planted in his office will provide insight onto his sketchy activities, she is not intending to use them for direct leverage on him in order to get him to bequeath the role to her. daisy has never thought of herself as a director/manager type person, and wouldn't be angling for direct supervisory positions.

instead, she would be hoping to take advantage of the emp's aftermath to potentially slide into a more specialized/niche role, ideally something that has its own office (even a small one!) so she can work a little more privately.

as a note, in case it's relevant, daisy is currently working a ton of voluntary overtime in the aftermath of the emp event — to the extent that illya has come at least once very late in the evening to drag her home — and will continue to do so after her ic meeting with vyonation management and cassian.

please let me know if this is possible! ♥

[reneger]

Hello, mods!

Pardon any mess, I'm trying to figure out how to get all of this down in one post and still be coherent with it! Per Jason's conversation with El here, he's looking to get a few resources from El to help along his other goal: overtaking the underground bits and pieces at a time, which was slotted to happen at a much later date, but given the direction some of the last event took, Jason's trying to speed it up to take the gangs' attentions off of Morningstar itself. And with Roni's comment here to the plot engagement, it looks like you guys have a plan on where to start with that!

With the last event, Loki got hold of a few of the ID scrambler masks for Jason; he also has an engineer, Abel, who will be offering his assistance to break them down and sort them out so whether or not El does provide a hand won't quite dictate if Jason does go forward with his plans, just the when, how, and how much prep time he needs to accomplish it! I'm including this just in case El intends to say no, because:

He's fully intending on taking down the gang heads he's aware of, killing them off, and establishing himself as head of the Warlocks and Kings, before moving his way around the underground and taking over the rest of it. Jason has experience in canon pulling apart drug rings and organizations, he's had a few months to note down who is who and who he would need to tear down to get to where he wants, he's willing to be ruthless and put them down (the ones with known histories committing acts Jason personally doesn't approve of, he wouldn't kill anyone who doesn't meet his standards of death-worthy) and has supplies (from Loki's personal hidden stash and things he's been building up himself) to help him along. In addition, Jason has a few friends (Kovacs, Laura, (possibly) Caroline) who he would ask for a more direct hand in taking them down--and he's working on picking up a few additional folks, too.

For efficiency, he'd keep most of his large hits down to a single night so that the underground wouldn't suspect he was coming for them until it was a bit too late. The kills would be one hit (he's got his shadows he can use, knives, etc) so they couldn't call for help, and would be (for as much as he can help it) while they were alone. Jason would be using an edited ID scrambler that would not match the ID of the scrambler tech Morningstar uses for this, too.

Given the amount of deaths, he'd used the instability among the gangs' ranks to work his way up and in to overtake their criminal rings, merge the two gangs together and create something new for himself. Of course--this would all take a lot of time, but those are his longterm goals with it. And Jason is looking less for watching over every corner of those two gangs, and more for keeping their noses out of shit he doesn't want them messing with (Morningstar in particular) and into things he is interested in getting more information on (the displaced's circumstance).



Additionally! He also asked Dawn/Cassius to contact him here so he could 'help' find the other AI Cassius was looking for. Jason does not have intentions of actually being helpful, his plan is to more figure out what the hell Cassius is doing and figure out how to take down Cassius himself, because he really doesn't appreciate all the bodies. He wants the information he mentioned early on, and would go as far as to find the AIs to get it.

I've had a few players reach out to me regarding this so I'm curious as to where that'd go, too!

[forcevisions]

1. rey will be taking incidental advantage of her modest social media following (resulting from being spotted on the monster attack videos post-dreams) as she goes on rants about the various news reports on kurt fischers' death and the decrying of morningstar. most of her posts will be about how it's a bunch of bullshit and no one should believe it, though she isn't providing details of how she knows this. she'll lean hard into morningstar didn't kill anybody and the un is lying to everyone. she'll also point out that she knows for a fact morningstar was helping during the emp and during the monster attacks.

this is more emotional/desperate than it is incisive pursuit of her goal of improving morningstar's public perception, but she's very apparently Not Afraid of becoming the posterchild for that. i don't know if this will produce anything, but i wanted to alert y'all since the una is scary. good luck rey hope you don't die or get arrested.

2. to that end, rey wants to prove that the un is lying to everyone! she'd like to follow-up by watching fischer's parents closely in the next two weeks. she will be keeping her distance for the most part, and since she already has considerable commitments, she'll mostly be doing it in the evening/night and early morning intermittently, trying to see if they're being contacted by anyone.

she will also head to the crematoriums around the city where bodies are processed and ask around about whether or not a man of fischer's description ever came through.

her main goal here is to try and confirm that he's not dead and then (hopefully) move forward to trying to figure out where they've rezzed him and reassigned him to. her ultimate goal on this is to get a picture/video of kurt fischer alive and well and working for the una still so she can broadcast it on social media as proof of the un's lies, but that's a multi-step process lol. i think if she can affirm he's alive, then she'll maybe try to roll this in with jon's drone surveillance idea? that's where i'm at presently.

3. something else rey is working on is how to get to the research outposts. since being promoted at giles bell to apprentice mechanical engineer (she has all the practical skill but none of the math, so she's shadowing someone currently following her work on the pyramid), she's going to look into some of the projects her department is working on and see if any of them are from the research outposts outside of town, especially the one that is faking similar reports to the arrival log (which she'll be digging up with daisy). she'll also use her current good favor to solicit her new coworkers on if they've done work out there before, or if it's mostly pulsar and vyonation that gets out-of-city projects.

she wants to know the nature of those projects with the implicit (she wouldn't share this with her coworkers, obviously) goal of using her giles-bell repair credentials to get travel papers out to the research outposts ostensibly to repair or check on their equipment so she can skulk around and spy and get information on where people may have been moved or what different nearby outposts function as prisons and which do not.

OR given the arrival log she can try to reach out to cassius at the ID they used to talk to the displaced about the train from the july arrival and how to get to the other outposts. hopefully one of these gets info on how to scope out the others for where to find the agents before they're moved (or info on where they've been moved to). rey's thinking is they can't have been moved far because they still need a prison. she's spaghetti at the wall right now trying to follow any possible option for how to get to them.

once she knows where they're going and how to get there she's gonna bring other people in on this obviously, this time via open network post because she thinks that ... making it MS-only was a mistake because it wound up negatively impacting everyone.

[apathet]

Hey mods!

Just following up from the event, Laura is indeed going to sell those hoverbikes! Jason's given her the regular haunt, name and description of a guy who buys for the Kings so she'll track him down and invite him to view the wares: three bikes that she's hidden in an abandoned warehouse building in one of the run down areas of the city, carefully distant from the new safehouse.

[kgbs]

heya mods, just a quick one for you!

with the passage of the fighting ring tournament, i wanted to check in with you all about a few things. since the pc part didn't happen (i.e. the voting for the winner), is it still okay to say that illya participated and that he did fairly well? i'm not asking to crown him the winner but based on his skill, his past experience and how often he's been at the rings, i think he would have at least gone fairly far though i don't want to say he would have won because there were other pc players signed up that remain in the game.

and if it is okay to say that he'd gotten fairly far, would he have received any sort of attention in and out of the fighting rings for that?

so, just checking in to see if that's okay to say since i think it could be important for illya in future plot engagement inquiries.

[batricide]

hey mods, so with damian being damian i've got some questions relating to what he can find in the world.

1. is it possible to take one of the abandoned buildings in the city and change it into something that can be used as a secure training facility? obviously a lot of time would have to be put into this, so if it is, what's a reasonable timeframe to do this in?

2. in the line above, they'd need building supplies. what can be found in local shops? are they able to order any specialty things online or find them on the black market?

3. same as above, but in reference to body armor. would he be able to recreate something like this if given enough time and the right toolset? what would he need to do so?

4. would damian be able to change his idenity from [Bad username or site: hafid @ alghul] to [Bad username or site: damian @ wayne]? it's not a pressing concern of his but considering the maeda family knows 'hafid' he's thinking it might be smart to transition away from it where possible.

5. would it be possible for damian to transition into law enforcement, or will his past as an illegal underground fighter prevent him from doing so?

6. SPEAKING OF THE MAEDAS, damian wants to look into the husband - since they have a beat on hideki, and aoi has already bested him and he needs to bide his time. he'll have been trying to keep track of all of them where possible. is there any news he'd find about aoi? what can be found out about her husband on pulsar's board?