agogelogs | KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

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KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

WHO? Everybody! Including fourth wall visitors.
WHAT? Time to kiss the spiders goodbye and strike out for greener pastures.
WHEN? 10 XI, Year 6 of Sanaliel's reign (as of arrival in Lemuria).
ANYTHING ELSE? Please warn for anything besides physical violence and move to a personal journal if it's beyond PG-13.

this is a public service announcement;

with guitar

ESCAPE TACTICS

READ THE JHASHCH INFOPAGE.

The departure from Jhashch has none of the ceremony of arrival. A few hours after the last of the mission teams report in, a bulletin goes out. It's the only forewarning for the time-step.

@SCOUT | @ALL

emergency time-step approved
expect it within the hour

you won't be returning to base; we'll port in supplies after arrival
if you have your standard cost clothing, change into it now
cover your face and hide the cost patch

It's hurried and without embellishment, and for good reason. While the teams have deterred and distracted the Regency and burned House Shaiy's residence, it hasn't stemmed the chaos. If anything, it encourages it.

Princess Chch still lives, but Queen Thsh is viewed as the Aranean ideal of a tyrant, confidence only bolstered by surviving the Regency's assassination attempts. COST has her blessing — and that of the Twin Generals and Prince Shch. Aranean soldiers throw themselves into brutal confrontation at their generals' behest, dragging Ythaway further into bloodshed; the male Araneans decline direct involvement, but they're skilled saboteurs. And the public watches; while the media teams couldn't completely convince them of the cause and House Oujh still maintains its influence, they spare the Regency no love.

This is the fate of the weak.

Young has already sent Serket ahead with the mines' valuable deposits of Ymir. And, with the queen's position assured amidst all the gore, COST wants to evacuate as quickly as possible.

» THE TIME-STEP

The transfer begins like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, just a hum of sensation.

But the vibration spreads. Veteran recruits often refer to this phenomenon as "the buzz". The feeling builds, not unlike standing near a great engine or the wind-rattled branches of a massive tree. There is a long moment of motion sickness and you can't be sure if the world is shaking you from the inside out or the outside in. It may be better to close your eyes against the growing nausea, as the world blurs out of focus.

A star shines in the distance. You may hear the faint rustling of leaves. Some swear they hear voices in this moment, indistinct words echoing off nothingness. Others say they feel a touch of the divine, that the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle and nothing more than the suggestion of sound. Or maybe it's only an illusion, brought on by the powerful technology grafted into your skin.

One thing is for sure: One moment you are here and the next you are not.

WELCOME, GHOSTS

A siren blares in the distance, accompanied by unintelligible shouting and the low rumble of engines. The air is chill, no matter where you arrive; the ground beneath your feet is like ice if the soles of your shoes have worn too thin. Closer, there's the crackle of an air quality alert and the creak of swaying metal. A nearby terminal declares the date to be 10 XI, 6 SNL.

The time-step has scattered the cell throughout the districts of Lemuria.

@SCOUT | @ALL

now that i have more time
if you weren't briefed by your commander already, this is an emergency time-step, possible through the efforts on jhashch
for those of you with my cell, the sergeant and i won't be present, at least not physically; we can't be
you can contact us, but the regency carefully monitors this time stream so excessive communication through time and space could be dangerous

you can ask the scouts available for more information
@ASHOLE @STARBOY the two of you are the most accessible

Almost immediately, a second bulletin pops up.

@STARBOY | @ALL

are you shitting me

[And that's it, until five minutes later:]

lets get this out of the way
read the 1st attachment
its not done but dwi

if youre new read that and the 2nd attachment
and if youre looking for us for some bullshit reason
x marks the spot on the 3rd attachment
we got clothes and weapons since no one sent you in w shit
(lmao ofc)

[ATTACHMENT: lemuria.html, beginnersguidetodumbfuckery.html, map.png]

The files are succinct, establishing COST's mission and role as opposed to that of the Regency. The beginner's guide even addresses the side effects of BCE glitches and wiped memories, for newbies who don't remember joining COST. These scouts want you up to speed as quickly as possible, because fucking up could have dire consequences. And they also really don't want to explain it to you; this shit is not in their purview.

The map indicates a cellar in one of the low districts, identified as the Skhan District. If you're missing an outfit of your own, the scouts have several bins of secondhand clothing and more than their fair share of weaponry. It's a mismatched collection and far from the height of fashion (unless scavenger chic is in), but be careful: while most of the patches have been torn off, some clothes still bear the insignia of COST. You'll want to get rid of that.

POST-APOCALYPTIC WEAR IS IN THIS SEASON

Blasters load six to fifteen rounds, depending on model; none are larger than a shotgun. And, because of the dangers of porting in and out of Lemuria, the bolthole has its own revivicator installed. Which means if you die in Lemuria, you revive in Lemuria. It isn't as refined as BASE's rundown tech; chances are, when you wake up, you'll feel echoes of whatever killed you.

READ THE LEMURIA INFOPAGE.

» NEW RECRUITS.

New arrivals, here by virtue of the fourth wall, can arrive in one of two ways.

The first is as a fresh recruit, in COST-issued athletic underwear and holding whatever item you chose to bring. Hopefully your clothes and circumstances don't embarrass you too much, because you're stuck with them until you can rendezvous with a scout or steal your own.

The second way for fourth wall characters to arrive is as a seasoned member of another COST cell. Their assumed missions can be to your tastes, as fantastical or historical as you like. Need ideas? Feel free to read back through the game's logs and infopages for inspiration.

HIDE YOUR SHIT

Welcome to COST's little bolthole in Lemuria. It's a cramped space, a basement's basement in an abandoned factory overrun by squatters. The community doesn't make much notice of anyone moving through as a rule, so it's easy to weave by the masses huddled together in rags and find the long, dingy staircase, leading down, down, down to a padlocked door.

The padlock will twist and open as soon as you tap the corresponding app on your BCE. It automatically loaded when you got to Lemuria and reads FUCKINGPADLOCK.IO.

And then there's the bolthole. Dug into the ground, it's not unlike being in a submarine; it's certainly cramped enough. It could hold maybe four people, very uncomfortably.

It has a selection of security cameras and terminals on one end and the rest of the walls are decked with cabinets and drawers, all locked by various means. Some are traditional and some ask for eye scans or fingerprints or "identity samples", whatever that means.

There is a not insignificant number of empty takeout containers in one corner.

And, thanks to the staircase, you can at least hear whenever someone's coming.

GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER

You can't hide in the bolthole forever — the scouts, for one, will kick you out — and Lemuria is a restless city. Many of the low districts are overflowing, too many people packed in too small spaces. And everywhere is an air of discontent, evident from disgruntled muttering.

It's often hard to tell what's news and what's rumor, even surrounded by terminals with easy access to the Lemurian network. Fafnir is causing a ruckus at the city limits; maybe someone will ask Jörmungandr to "deal" with him. Terrapin Labs is dumping genetic waste in the sewers. The Crosslands are already drained dry and the war is a coverup. A red dragon ate someone near the upper districts. Sanaliel's advisor is a shape-shifter. The list goes on.

For now, your orders are to keep an ear to the ground and maintain a low profile. In general, the scouts would really like you not to make their lives any harder.

» THE ANTS GO MARCHING.

If you manage to find your way into the Pyramid District, the Lemurian upper class is having a military parade and even the lower rungs of society have dragged themselves to see it. The crowd is mixed, though it naturally segregates itself, with the richer moving away from the poorer. Myths fit themselves in where they can; faeries flit through the crowd and a few kappa saunter through, promising eternal blessings for a few spare cucumbers.

The parade itself is a magnificent thing to behold, if you like gaudy splendor and overzealous displays of wealth. Each regiment walks in unified steps, their battalion announced. At various points, the parade stops and the soldiers perform demonstrations of will and might, shooting rockets into the polluted fog of the sky, shredding dummies with advanced weaponry, and sparring with one another.

Occasionally, radicals break through the crowd, throwing smoke bombs that bleed colored mist and sting the eye. They shout slogans like "Freedom for the Crosslands!" and "Justice for Lemuria!" and "Food for the poor!" Sometimes they cause a riot. Sometimes they escape back into the crowd. Sometimes they get shot in the head.

The bodies are dragged away without much comment, like it's a common occurrence.

The parade continues.

» I PREDICT A RIOT.

If you wander into the low districts, you'll find something else entire. Some would argue it's a coincidence that there are bread riots the same day as a military parade. Some wouldn't.

Basic sustenance — rice, bread, beans, and lentils — have skyrocketed in price. Fueled by tax increases and missing supply vans, what it means is the poor are poorer. People slink back to their hovels to beg or barter. And the rest, well...

The rioters come prepared, stomping boots and guns fired into the sky. The majority are teenagers and young adults, commandeering food shops and carts, scaring away (or killing) the owners and giving out food for free (or at a lowered price). Other people try to stop them and the scuffle quickly becomes untenable, escalating into bloodier violence.

What do you do?

» THIS IS SO ILLEGAL.

Maybe you got involved in a riot. Maybe your fingers were a little sticky. Or maybe you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time; the police force is largely apathetic to crime in the low districts and reacts all too readily with violence in the upper districts.

Whatever the case, you've gotten yourself on the wrong side of the Lemurian law and you're handcuffed to (or sharing a cell with) a comrade-in-arms. Maybe it's fortunate that Lemuria has only just begun to distribute power nullification tech to deal with the influx of myths; most officers don't carry it and even fewer would think to use it on someone who looks human.

The guards make no comment, if asked how long they'll hold you. Other prisoners, filthy and dressed in rags, remark they've gone months without knowing.

Escape is really the only feasible option.

» SPECIAL DELIVERY.

If you left items behind at BASE, you can handwave filing a request and COST will deliver them to the bolthole. The scouts will send an alert if necessary and you can pick it up at any time. Just preferably sooner than later, because there isn't exactly a lot of space in that cellar.

Alternatively, if you're a veteran recruit, maybe you just received an unexpected delivery.

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I. GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER

Genji's located the bolthole and gotten himself a new change of clothes (a loose and nondescript cloak allows him to keep his cyborg body mainly hidden), but the sudden time-step to a new mission site has thrown a wrench into his plans. He'd assumed that the return to BASE would give him the time and resources to get his right arm replaced, but now he'll have to navigate a new city and a new set of rules. He won't be of much use to the mission until he's found some sort of solution, and so his first goal is to hit the streets of the lower districts in search of a body mod place that can help him.

Of course, with the run down state of the areas he's searching in, it's hard to be sure of where to go, and what place might actually be reputable. This is his own body that he's talking about, and given that he'd had the top scientists at Overwatch handling him before, it's difficult not to be wary.

He's standing outside of a shop that looks a little cleaner than the others he's passed, weighing his options, when another recruit approaches him. Genji turns toward them; his cloak hides the fact that he's missing an arm, but he doesn't have anything to hide from a fellow COST member.

"Would you mind accompanying me inside? In case something goes wrong, it would be helpful to have back-up."

He hides his nervousness fairly well, at least.

II. SPECIAL DELIVERY

The replacement arm that Genji's received is hardly top-of-the-line, but it will get the job done, at least until they return back to BASE and it can be fine-tuned. It has a full range of movement, even if it's missing the shuriken holder that he's become so used to. He would claim it doesn't matter, as he doesn't even have any shuriken with him, but when he returns to the bolthole and finds a package addressed to him, only able to be opened once it's in contact with his BCE, that all changes.

There's a whole collection of items inside. It's his katana that he grabs first. While his wakizashi has served him well in his time here, he's been missing his other sword greatly, and he takes a few seconds to simply enjoy having it in his hand again. He might take a few testing swings with it (only after making sure no one else is near him, of course). A set of shuriken are there as well, along with some other more miscellaneous items (hair dye, a set of instant ramen), and then...

A photo.

He sheathes his sword at his back and grabs for it. It's a photo he's all too familiar with, having placed it in his room at Nepal as a reminder of simpler days. It's him and his brother when they were younger, and he stares at it for quite a while, unaware of who might be watching him.

III. I PREDICT A RIOT

It's not as if Genji can blame people for beginning to riot, and for being so desperate. If they're literally being deprived of food, then what other option do they have, but to resist? Especially given the opulence that he'd seen at the parade earlier in the day, the disparities here are sickening.

All the same, the violence is senseless. These people are lashing out against each other, for lack of a better option or solution, and it's hard not to feel helpless when watching it. Genji really doesn't have much to offer, but...

Much as he might have looked forward to enjoying the ramen he received in his delivery, he doesn't need it as much as these people. His cyborg body doesn't require much in the way of nutrition these days.

So he stands among the rioters, attempting to catch someone's attention as he holds out the containers of instant ramen.

"You can have this. I know it isn't much, but... please, take it."

IV. THIS IS SO ILLEGAL

Not everyone had been able to take Genji's attempts at kindness and generosity at face value, and so he'd ended up dragged into a fight against his will. There weren't many options when you ended up with a gun pointed point-blank at your face. Even if all he'd done was deflect the bullets shot at him, that had been enough to get him seized and tossed into prison.

Is there anything fair or just in this development? No. But it's clear that the police here don't care to decide who has actually committed a crime or not. Simply being in the vicinity of a riot was enough to get you landed behind bars.

Genji can't help but think of the strange, too-vivid dream he'd had after his death. The cell isn't nearly as high-tech as the one he'd dreamed of, but it's impossible not to wonder if it had been a strange sort of premontion. Given how fluid time is with COST, it's entirely possible.

When one of the guards leaves the vicinity, Genji quickly turns to his cell mate. "This is our chance. We need to devise a plan to escape."

V. WILDCARD

Want something else? Let's do it. Feel free to toss me a prompt or hit me up at

demonology or PM if you'd like to plot!

"I could try to kick the hinges off," Chiron says, strangely calm about the whole thing. He had been mostly trying to offer medical assistance and threw quite a few punches to make sure he could continue to do so, hence well, being here.

He walks over, examining the door in question, before turning his attention to Genji.

"How quickly can you run once we're out?"

Genji is calm himself, if urgent in wanting to take advantage of having been left alone. The sooner they get out of here the better, as it's possible they could be transferred to a more secure prison. He refuses to be a liability yet again.

"I'm fast, you don't need to worry about that," Genji assures Chiron. Recalling how well the two of them worked together before, he doesn't think there's much to worry about here.

There is one problem, though. "But they confiscated my weapons when they brought me in. I need to recover them." Which means that it's likely they'll have to fight their way out, one way or another.

"Can you improvise?" Chiron asks, reaching into his pocket. In there is the runestone he needs to transition to horse mode, and that'll make all the difference from here on out.

"Incidentally: how are you at horseback riding?"

Those series of questions, combined with the way that Chiron is digging around in his pocket for something, is reason enough for Genji to feel confused and alarmed.

"I don't have much in the way of experience, but in an emergency, I'm sure I could manage," Genji insists. Does he know that that's true? No, not exactly, but he gets the feeling that he won't have much of a choice.

Is Chiron about to summon a horse to their aid, somehow?

"Very good. Stand back, please."

The runestone's an easy thing to use, and Chiron's transformed into his usual horse-bottomed self time and again with it. In a moment, there's a flash of...something...and Chiron is standing several feet taller, with all of his horsey half on display.

"I'm going to go for the hinges. Be ready to hop on when I'm done."

Genji doesn't question Chiron's words and gives him whatever room that he needs, but he isn't prepared for what happens next. The flash causes him to blink a few times, and when his vision clears, Chiron has transformed.

It's not as extreme as when he'd seen Jack in Aranean disguise, but it is still shocking. "What -- you?!" Genji stares in awe for a few seconds. No matter how long he's been with COST, some things never fail to amaze.

There's no time to have a long chat about this now, though. Those hooves should be more than capable of breaking them out of here, and after that is when the fun starts. So Genji nods, balling both hands into fists. "I'm ready!"

genji shimada | overwatch

IV

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special delivery

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I PREDICT A REUNION

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ii

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