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

[warfares]

ok, so:

1. how would someone go about joining morningstar officially? would there be something they'd need to do to further prove their value/earn trust? would joining morningstar mean that they wouldn't be able to look for work elsewhere?

2. i remember there was mention of gangs and organized crime in the testdrive. that they would recruit people into their ranks provided they proved themselves. do the gangs have any official names? how would someone go about...getting involved/a meeting with whoever they need to in order to join?
also, sort of related: what's the illegal gambling like? cards and betting on fights, i'd assume, but do they have things like street racing as well.

3. is there some kind of courier service/job that someone could take that allows them to travel the city while garnering very little notice? legal or illegal?

4. how much would a hoverbike cost?

5. is there a library?

...and since i should have included this before:

6. what is the relationship between Earth and the colonies like? would it be possible for someone from the colonies to have been involved in some kind of military service? following on from that, if so, could they get involved in some kind of private security/contract work?

[forcevisions]

I'd like to get Rey set up working at some kind of vehicle repair shop that's owned by the criminal underground, preferably something low-level where organized crime (a) traffics stuff through, (b) gets their repair work done, (c) fence/scrap stolen vehicles. My hope (and Rey's) is that she might be able to use her mechanical know-how there and establish herself as an easily overlooked setpiece that allows her to overhear members of those groups talking about things like:

• the UNA


• the general political landscape between morningstar, una, etc.


• the weird "UNA weapons shipment" in which the characters arrived and/or if there's anything like that happening again


• important names in the New Amsterdam crime world (i.e., ppl who might be able to shed more light on these other topics)

so I'm basically wondering if this is an ok direction to go in getting started and if she'd overhear any interesting rumors, gossip, news that she could branch on from and share with others (incl morningstar).

and i'd like to see about getting her working on acquiring or building her own hoverbike from scrap there as part of a side project.

pls advise how much of this is feasible/if it gets her anything actionable.

[duskmeadow]

this is more a general question, but what's the reaction to elf ears going to be like? would they be dismissed as a body mod?

[secondnature]

Hi!

I'm interested in having Keith join Morningstar. He is one of the morons who decided to take down the Kaiju, so that may either be a point in his favor ... or against? I'm not sure. Either way, it would've been apparent during his background stuff that he's got experience as a field operative with a super secret organization (the Blade of Marmora in Voltron canon), as well as a humanitarian organization that runs around with a giant robot (Team Voltron itself). He would naturally default to wanting to join a rebel organization that wants to do good in the world, and he would also want to repay them for saving everyone's lives. My overall goal for him right now is to get down and dirty and learn the ropes of what Morningstar is doing, and go from there.

On the flip side, I'm having a hard time with Keith settling into civilian life for ... obvious reasons. Most of his training and experience, while he has both in spades, won't easily apply to most jobs that civilians have. He's not only a fighter, he's also a fighter pilot. So a few ideas I've been tossing around:

- A bouncer or someone's personal security?
- Security guard?
- Taxi driver (I'm not sure what the credentials are for this)
- If there's any kind of shuttle driver out into space? Again, not sure about credentials. Would Morningstar be able to help on that front?

[strove]

Hi ... again ...

This comment is for Clarke.

My long-term goal for her is to find who the fuck captured her and her friends and maybe do some bad stuff to them. Short term, though, is to get those test results back and begin looking into how to follow up on that lead. She won't want to join Morningstar and will make it clear that she wants to follow this lead and will work with them, but isn't interested in dealing with their interests (that last bit will be more implied than stated).

Otherwise, I'm not sure where someone like her can get a job. She has limited medical training and experience, mostly the equivalent of field medic training on the job. But she's 18, and I think that's pretty young in this world? I'm not sure if she can swing for being older looking and then have more of an explanation for this. I was thinking something like a medical assistant or tech of some kind, and I'm not sure if El would be able to set her up because of the age discrepancy.

So, in short:

1. What do the test results say?
2. What kind of medical-y job can she get, if she can get one?
and 3, unrelated but relevantish to Clarke's other stuff: What does she have to do so she can start doing art? This is a personal thing for her, but I'm not sure where to start with it in world.

[larkers]

Hi Eppy! As this is more of a general gameplay question, would you mind moving it over to the FAQ for us? This is so other players with similar queries can find the information in the appropriate place.

[frostedplum]

I'm not 100% sure yet if I'm going to keep Mei going down the climatologist route here in game because it could be fun to stretch beyond her comfort zone a little, however, I'd like to know what she could be in for if I do choose to fall back on that job.

1. What would her entry level position be if she worked with the atmospheric stabilization grid?

2. Would there be opportunities for advancement and what would the time frame be on that (I'm guessing probably a couple years at least for one promotion, but I'm trying to work out if Mei would think it was worth sticking with to advance)?

3. Same questions but for terraforming instead?


Okay, so those are my climate job questions. Now onto other possibilities.

1. Are there still language barriers in the world? I see the world capital is New Beijing, and seeing how Mei is Chinese, she could work as a translator in New Amsterdam if there isn't just one world language or anything. If this is a possibility, what organizations/groups/businesses would need translation work?

2. Any ideas what jobs might work for someone who's good at cobbling together something new from spare parts, or is there no market for that here?

[trample]

Hello there mods.

So I've got a rough plan for Eren's false history. I decided it would be best if it was something he came up with it after he decided what sort of job/role he wanted to fill in the city. A few questions I want to ask are:

1. In the faq it mentions personal weaponry is outright illegal. Would owning and carrying arms be permissible with the proper licensing, and if so does it require one to be a government/military worker such as a soldier or a police officer?

2. To add onto the first question, is this limit on weaponry strictly a New Amsterdam thing, or is it universal across Earth?

3. Now this might seem like a strangely specific question to ask here, but what is the state of the African continent and Madagascar at this time? It's mentioned that large parts of the Earth are now underwater, so I was wondering whether or not implementing this into his backstory would be viable or not.

To elaborate on why these questions particularly, it's because I feel like Eren's foremost priorities would be in being able to defend himself, and to play a role that's closest to home. Though the closest he could probably get would be to join the UNA, that idea felt more than a little restricting, not to mention a bit tough to implement into a false history. So the second option would be to supposedly have a history in the police force and working as private security in the present. It would give him some leeway with the law along with plenty of reason to do dirty work and go places he shouldn't.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer and giving the players so much to think about, you're all doing a great job with the world building and I can't wait to see more. Keep up the good work.

[selfimage]

Hey mods,

I've got a few questions for you. Some of them are related to Loki's exploits and a few are just general inquiries!

General things that tie up into other things:

1. The setting page says there's no paper, manuscripts, or books. Is there a way to access information to check the history of the world, political documents, and general, um, fictional romance novels??
   
2. It's mentioned on the wrap up that the videos of those who took down the monster were taken off of social media. What kind of social media is there? Is it like YouTube, Twitter, or some mix of the two? Can someone get an account through neural implants?
   
3. Is there a Norway? If so, is it ... ok ...?? Or is it one of those dead parts of the world?

My idea for Loki was to start him at one of the larger companies as an (eventual) understudy, or somewhere that he can really profile the more devious parts of his personality. I'd be looking for a way for him to eventually hit the underworld by starting somewhere on the corporate ladder. Specific to Loki's interests:

1. What do normal, entry-level jobs look like? Baristas, waiters/waitresses, is there a need for retail/service/stock workers? Do workers work on contract, or do they gain full employment?
   
2. What kind of qualifications would one of the larger companies be looking for to start somewhere with the promise of moving up? What's the corporate atmosphere like?
   
3. Following up with Morningstar, Loki's going to ask who would possibly censor the information about the giant monster?
   
4. Specific to Thor and Loki who are brothers, would it be possible for them to be half brothers, or brothers through another marriage to accommodate their own current story? (Loki has the feeling that Thor's just gonna call him "brother" no matter what they do ... best to work that into the cover somehow.)

I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS, so let me know if anything needs clarification. I think that's it! Thanks mods!

[deicider]

Hi! Here's all my stuff:

1. Sniper's going into sex work with an eye toward establishing cash flow—so this is assuming they can make a decent living doing it. They are actually experienced with high-level escort work so the skills are there. Eventually, they're going to try and use this as an avenue to access people with money AKA power.

2. They'll want to try and maintain a relationship with Morningstar. They'd refuse to be under a formal command structure but willing to be frank about the fact that they're skilled and open to doing one-off jobs in exchange for information. They did the sharpshooting in the kaiju takedown and will expect that to verify their credentials but like, they're flexible. Would Gaby pick up what they're putting down?

[timemachine]

Hi hi!

1. Akane will want to work closely with Morningstar! She's definitely not someone who is useful for any blue-collar skills so she'd work more analytically if there is a job for that! So what jobs would be available to her? Of course, she'd try to get information if she could from Morningstar itself.

She definitely wants to keep a relationship with them, that hopefully stays positive. But she'll also be that feisty worker that fights orders she doesn't agree with or finds glaring flaws in.

But overall, I'm trying to figure out a good job for her because she's used to being a boss of her own organization and being rich. That said, she is a very hard worker and has an amazing work ethic. Also stupidly intelligent even if she acts like an airhead.

All in all, she's used to remaining hidden so she won't go out much unless she feels the need to or wants to help others.

2. Will the cops take the car she stole, or can she keep it and figure out how to work it fully? She probably tried to keep it hidden if Gaby let her hide it or did Gaby take the car away?

[larkers]

Hi Mal!

1. For player characters to join Morningstar, the characters themselves need to express this interest to either Gaby or El (this can be handwaved) and the players need to let us know here! Recruitment is not necessarily immediate, with something of an unofficial provisional period for characters to better earn the trust of the organization. This will be done via them being tapped for tasks or jobs and carrying these out successfully.

Joining Morningstar does not mean not being able to work elsewhere – the opposite, in fact! As Morningstar are a rebel organization, it's necessary for its members to have normal, everyday lives and jobs so as to best remain undetected by the authorities.

(We're not entirely sure from your questions if this is a route you'd like Kylo Ren to go, so please let us know in response if you are interested in him joining Morningstar!)


2. New Amsterdam has two large crime organizations and a plethora of smaller street gangs. The two organizations are the Petrov Family and the Riverside Mob, and a few of the largest and most well known street gangs are the Kings, the 66, the Warlocks and the Hi-Jacks. While the Petrov Family and the Riverside Mob have been operating under truce for several years now, their decades long feud continues through the street gangs associated with their operations.

To get involved with any of the organized crime in the city, a character would need to start with being introduced to a gang. The best ways to go about this would be to spend time at a bar a gang frequents and befriending one of their members, or participating in one of the illegal sports the gangs run and impressing them that way. Those illegal sports are underground fighting rings, illegal robot dog fights, and street racing (hovercars, hoverbikes and hoverblades). They hold these sports for the gambling alongside the illegal card dens they also run.


3. There are both illegal and legal courier opportunities in New Amsterdam. Couriers commonly use hoverbikes or regular bicycles, and can be asked to carry packages both of the physical kind and of the digital kind. The latter is most commonly utilized by corporations and criminals needing to securely move data from one location to another, and is very high risk due to the dangers of storing such large data packets on an individuals' neural implant for too long a length of time.

There are several (legal) courier companies throughout New Amsterdam. Most of them operate on vehicles that they lease from the company itself, paying a monthly fee. Employees are allowed to bring these vehicles home, and they are registered to their neural implants for the duration of their employment. If the vehicle is damaged, wrecked or stolen, the employee is responsible for paying for repairs or a replacement.

These jobs require very little education or work experience. All employees of courier companies have to pass a basic background check to ensure that they don't have a criminal record, while illegal couriering is usually handled more informally by gang associated individuals.


4. Hoverbikes cost the equivalent of what a motorbike would cost now, so are very expensive. Bicycles are cheaper, but slower and ground-bound.


5. There are no physical libraries as there are no physical books except in the private collections of the very rich. We have answered a similar question here for more detail on how books and information can be accessed instead.


6. The relationship between Earth and the colonies is somewhat distant but otherwise fine. The colonies are not independent. They are run under the same government, and are reliant on Earth to send supplies. They have also only been populated quite recently, so are not culturally split from Earth. There is some resentment for Earth population living in better conditions and treated better, and many colonists feel they were deceived about what kind of lives they were leaving Earth to live. It is rare for a colony resident to move back to Earth, as this would cost a large amount of money (and would not have the possibility of government subsidy like moving the other way), but this background would not impede them from any jobs.

This said, it's unfortunately not possible for Morningstar to provide any characters with any backgrounds that involve military or police service, as these are not records they have the ability to alter or fake in a way that would hold up under any scrutiny. Characters hoping to go into this line of work, either officially or through private companies, would need to start from scratch.

[larkers]

Hi Tifa!

We do agree that Rey starting out as a mechanic is a great idea, but she wouldn't be able to immediately join a garage run by a criminal gang, as they tend to keep such work in-house and be cautious of outsiders. It may be best for her to pursue a job in a regular garage, becoming well known for her skills there, and find an in with the gangs through another route (either by socializing in the same spaces or participating in their illegal sports) which would then allow her to become employed by them.

All of that said, this isn't a route which would lead to much information on the topics you've listed.

The UNA are the United Nations Army, government operated military. They are frequently deployed as ground troops for situations where it's considered the local PD are not adequate, so have become something of a bogeyman to criminals and the public in general. They're known for their large armor and nearly anonymous handling of circumstances, as well as the fact that their soldiers are consigned for life to the job. The relationship between Morningstar and the UNA is antagonistic, as the UNA are an arm of the government which Morningstar in general opposes, and Morningstar have managed to survive as an organization for over fifty years despite ongoing attempts by the government to shut them down.

While the UNA commonly receive weapons shipments, as they are an army, there is no way to confirm that the bus characters were on was one intended for the UNA. This is what Morningstar believed they were hitting that day, but given what they actually discovered (being player characters), this not a theory they're holding to. Members of organized crime operations will not have any more answers as they will outright avoid anything to do with weapons or the UNA.

Any further information about the bus, its employees, and more will lead to a dead end initially. As even Morningstar lacks these answers, it won't be something easily obtained on the streets by keeping an ear to the ground. You can assume that Rey can easily find any of the information about the UNA or Morningstar on the setting page.

As for the hoverbike, she's unlikely to be able to build one from scrap as working parts will be worth money to her employer. They may, however, sell her parts at a reduced price or as reward for particularly impressive work.

[larkers]

Hi Alison!

Thanks for letting us know about Keith's interest in joining Morningstar! In-character, he will have had to let one of the NPCs know directly (we can consider this handwaved!) and they will pass his interest on to their higher-ups in the organization. Keith will not be considered a fully joined agent until he's earned more trust from Morningstar, so he will be in something of an unofficial provisional period. He will be tapped for tasks or jobs, and his success in completing them will go towards his reputation and status as a member.

Maintaining a good cover job is also a part of this! Of the potentials you've listed, bouncer and taxi driver will be the easiest to achieve. Both need some specific training credentials, but these are easy enough to get, or Keith can look for more informal positions where the lack of credentials will be overlooked. For security, either in a company or personal, he will need some experience in his background, and shuttle pilot work will require intensive training. We'd also note that while the latter would give him open access to the colonies, the work may impede on his playability in game as he would be piloting these very long journeys regularly.

[larkers]

Hi Alison, again!

Your long term goals are fine. Morningstar will be cooperative in sharing information with Clarke, though they may not be proactive about contacting her with new things or potential leads – it may be that they will only give her these in response to her bringing things she find to them first. Over time their relationship may become more stable as they settle into a better understanding.

To answer your questions:

1. The test results will confirm that characters were drugged with a synthetic substance with a degradation rate that indicates approximately twelve hours of effectiveness before it's cleared from the system completely. It has some similarities to known sedatives, but is much, much stronger. There are traces of some compounds which are unknown to the lab, and likely linked to the extreme compliance characters experienced. There was no chemical stamping found which could indicate the maker, but the lab notes that the make seems to have been clean and stable, which points to a professional.


2. You're right that Clarke is too young to have any medical qualifications, though she could be undergoing schooling currently if you'd like! Otherwise she will not be able to have much of a medical background other than that of a clinic assistant or receptionist. These are also the jobs she'll likely find the easiest to achieve. Clinics can range from general practice through the gamut of specialities we have nowadays, as well as the additions of wetware and cybernetics.


3. Clarke will be able to have the equivalent of photoshop on her implant, and can access this either through augmented reality interfaces or full VR simulations. This will only create digital art, but these pieces can be shown and displayed to others much like other media.

If she would prefer physical art, while paper is no longer used and graphite rare due to not being needed, paint, ink and canvas are still available, though a little costly!

[warfares]

thanks for these incredibly full and detailed responses. i am definitely interested in him joining morningstar and was mostly trying to figure out a: if his doing this would limit his finding employment elsewhere (which you have answered) and b: if it didn't, what sort of options would be available to him, as well as possible routes to take re: cover stories.

i think i'll probably go with the courier route, which is what i'd initially considered, with him being involved with morningstar as well, and look at ways to involve him with the gangs gradually. it will be a good way to give him something to do in between events.

[forcevisions]

Hey! Sorry quick clarifications:

Regarding organized crime, to check if this is an avenue even worth pursuing: it says there's a thriving black market for weapons, so I was trying to enter in at that angle and see if they'd heard about any weapons since they'd be trying to traffic them (and I was wondering if the PCs might be those weapons). Your current reply says the organized crime operations avoid anything to do w/weapons or UNA — do you mean avoid discussing it or do you mean not involved in it at all? Or is the black market somehow not connected to the organized crime? If it would be worth following up on weapons shipments there, I'd be interested to know what the route to socializing in the same spaces would look like to getting Rey a job w them eventually.

And one other follow-up question: what are the ic steps to joining Morningstar in an official capacity (assuming there are visible signs to support a need for anticapitalist/anticorruption attitudes in New Amsterdam — my main curiosity about the UNA/Morningstar questions were looking to examine if Rey would consider Morningstar's political stance to suit her ideals)?

[duskmeadow]

hey mods, i had some questions that piggyback somewhat off your answers to mal and tifa!

1. i just want to doublecheck that if vax were to join morningstar, he would still be able to pursue inroads with the organized crime elements in the city?

2. what's a realistic time frame on integrating/impressing a gang via the fighting pits? i can provide some details on vax's combat capability if that would be helpful to you guys wrt gauging how quickly he'd be able to make an impression.

3. as far as couriers, would a character be able to take on both legal and illegal jobs?

4. would characters be able to seek jobs with local law enforcement? could bellamy feasibly begin working his way towards becoming an officer and gaining access to their systems to look for any clues relating to their own arrival and/or any information on the monsters?

[secondnature]

Thanks for the responses for both my characters!

I have a follow up question about taxi driving. Is it safe to assume that it's similar to a courier position, where they get a vehicle that they have to pay a fee on to rent while they go around the city? And would futuristic taxis function more similarly to modern-day Ubers (IE people call via their neural transplant through an application)?

Also, I'm thinking of having Keith do both jobs to make end's meat. Would that be realistic in terms of credentials?

[larkers]

That's right that members of the street gangs will avoid discussing weapons or the UNA. The black market trading is handled by people further up the food chain, so to speak, in the two larger crime organizations in the city, as well as by independent arms dealers. You can read more about the landscape of organized crime in our reply to Mal, here. We have also mentioned there the spaces where Rey would be able to socialize with these criminals, such as the bars and clubs they run or frequent, and the illegal sports events they operate.

We'd still like to stress that this is still not a route which is going to get Rey any more answers than Morningstar already have. Though they believed the van they were attacking was a weapons shipment, it's clear now that it wasn't, and that finding answers on where the van was coming from or going to is firmly in an area they have no existing knowledge of.

To work for Morningstar, Rey will need to express this as an interest to one of the NPCs (this can be handwaved!). This will then be passed on to those higher up in the organization, and Rey will enter an informal provisional period where she will be tapped for tasks and jobs. These will progress as she earns more trust.

The need for an anti-capitalist and anti-corruption organization in New Amsterdam is not immediately apparent. It's much clearer in the colonies, though Rey will not be able to experience that environment (yet!). The government maintains a basic standard of living for the lower classes, with open access to full education and health care, so the class disparity is more clearly evident in general wealth and real estate. The rich also benefit in areas where their wealth allows them to grease some government wheels, being given preferential treatment in processes which are meant to be without bias, as well as having authorities turn a blind eye to illegal activity. In this way the damage done in New Amsterdam by the global political structure is insidious rather than overt, and Rey may need to spend some time living in the city to be able to start seeing it. That said, she may be able to find a clear and immediate example in the emergency housing for those displaced by the June 27 incident – which citizens are being given rooms in hotels and hostels, and which are having to live in the temporary group shelters (and the condition of those shelters).

[larkers]

There are a couple of companies in the city with visibly branded vehicles, similar to New York's yellow taxis and London's black cabs. These companies provide vehicles to their drivers on lease, but are very strict on their drivers's skills and credentials due to their reputation. These vehicles are also open hire and can be hailed on the street or found in taxi ranks at popular spots.

Other companies require the drivers to use their own vehicles, and are private hire, and are yes, ordered much like Uber through individuals's neural implants.

Alternatively there is also a culture of rickshaws in New Amsterdam, where the drivers can bring their own bicycles and hitch up the rickshaws from the garage on each shift. Rickshaws are both open and private hire.

Keith should be able to make ends meet on only one job! If he would like to try for both though, he should be able to manage it, though it will likely be stressful and tiring.

[larkers]

Hi Megan! Thanks for the questions. We'll handle these in two sections like you divided them!

For the first section, the atmospheric stabilization grid is technically a part of the terraforming industry, as it's the same technology being used for both. As such, a starting level job for either would be the same: a lab tech, assistant, or the equivalent, and she could decide which area to branch into later down the line. Advancement would take quite a while, probably about what you've estimated, but given that wouldn't necessarily be much fun to RP, opportunities can always open up – possibly her not-of-this-world knowledge would allow her some insight which could get the attention of the right person, or could allow for a breakthrough in some tech. We'd be happy to work on something like that with you once she's been in a role for long enough to get her feet under her, if you do decide to go this route!

For your second set of questions:

1. There are no language barriers in the world, and the neural implants work as universal translators for everyone. There's more information about this here on the FAQ. As such, translators are not needed.

2. Someone who's good at cobbling together parts would be able to find a job as a mechanic or engineer for most of the physical tech in the world, such vehicles, home appliances and construction equipment, though as before, they would start out in an entry-level job!

[forcevisions]

excellent! thanks for the clarity. i appreciate your straightforwardness about whether it'd be a productive path for that.

rey's gonna throw her lot in with morningstar, then, so i'd like to handwave her reaching out to el about that.

[larkers]

Hi Ivan! Thanks for your questions. We're going to address 1 and 2 together and then answer 3.

The entire world and colonies are all governed by the same government, and as such operate under the same law. Personal firearms are completely illegal. Police officers and members of the military undergo extensive training before they are allowed to use any weapons, with PD officers rarely carrying except in emergency situations or for specific operations, and only while on active duty. They also undergo thorough investigation if their firearm is discharged.

If you would like for Eren to have a weapon, he would either have to look into the criminal organizations in the city in order to gain access to the black market, or he could have picked one up during the August event and hidden it so it was not taken from him on entering the new safehouse.

We do have to note that characters unfortunately cannot have backgrounds in the police or military as part of their fake in-world history, as Morningstar are not be able to alter or create those records in a way which will hold up under scrutiny. Characters who would want to go this route will have to start from scratch. Unfortunately working in private security would need some existing background, so Eren may want to consider starting as a bouncer and working his way up that way, if not joining the police force.

For your third question, Africa and Madagascar have lost a lot of their current coastline to the rising oceans, but are not entirely underwater. However, the effects of climate change meant that much of the continent was uninhabitable for a long period of time due to extreme heat. While the atmospheric stabilization grid has mitigated some of this, most of the continent is unpopulated, with a relatively small amount (in comparison to elsewhere) of quite "young" mega cities situated in the most habitable areas.

[larkers]

Hi Veronica! Thanks for your questions. We'll answer them in the two sections as you've split them.

1. The most general answer for this would be "the internet"! Characters will be able to access digital versions of books through their neural implants (more on this in our answer to Eppy here), and will be able to do general research using websites equivalent to today's blogs and wikipedias. If they want to pursue specific fields of information more formally, education is handled virtually, and most higher education is open-source.

2. Social media options are equivalent to today's, with blogging, micro-blogging and video blogging options, as well as the more futuristic option of VR blogging. Accounts are available to anyone with access to the internet, so yes, characters will be able to sign up using their neural implants! The one thing to note is that usernames and generalized anonymity are no longer a thing - as an individual's neural implant is, essentially, their ID, any activity (including activity on the internet) is linked to it. As such, social media accounts are more like (the earlier days of) Facebook, in that they have to be tied to your real name and identity.

3. The countries as we know them don't really exist any more politically, but the land of Norway still exists, and survived the world's rising oceans better than its neighbor, Sweden. The effects of climate change have made it colder, but not entirely uninhabitable. There is one mega city there, New Oslo.

For your second set of questions:

1. Yes, all of those jobs still exist, and more which are the equivalent of entry-level, minimum wage jobs in modern times. Some jobs will be contract and some permanent, some will be salaried and some will be paid by the hour. The minimum wage is high enough for people to live comfortably enough, though not necessarily well.

2. And again, equivalent of today! Corporations are big money and big power, so the atmosphere is very wealth and work oriented, becoming more so the higher up you climb.

3. The government – or most specifically, in this case, the police. As not all videos are being censored, if Loki were to ask Gaby or El, they would theorize that the NAPD are having videos of the player characters defeating the monster removed as they don't want to endorse or encourage vigilante action, as well as that they are likely wanting to look into the individuals who were involved.

4. Half brothers is unlikely, as a parent approved for one child is not likely to be approved for another, especially if they have split from the previous relationship. Step-brothers would be fine, though!