KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.

[agogemod]

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

Comments

[doublejumps]

Having worn the fake skin that COST provided during his time in Gallipoli, Genji is quite familiar with it and how convincing it can be. It's more alarming on someone like Zenyatta as he's never had a human form, whereas Genji had merely been reverted back to looking the way he did before his clash with Hanzo -- along with some scarring and some more lines on his face.

All the same, there's no doubt in Genji's mind that this is Zenyatta, regardless of his appearance. This is his second mission? That must mean that he'd been recruited into a different COST cell. Are all of them congregating here now?

But then someone bumps into Zenyatta in a rush to get at the ramen. Genji doesn't mind that they took it, but there was no need to harm his master in the process. He almost yells after the person, but the last thing he needs to do is make more of a scene. So he buries his anger. Who knows, maybe he can work through it later, if they get the chance to meditate. Oh, just the thought of being able to meditate with Zenyatta at his side again is exciting!

Genji doesn't mind at all that Zenyatta takes the lead in searching for a place where it will be easier for them to talk. He follows along dutifully, eyes peeled for anyone else who might try to give them trouble. He would jump to his master's defense in an instant.

"I can barely believe that you're here! I can't understand why COST would put us in different cells..."

[tekhartha]

Tension flashes through the ninja's body like a fire, out as swiftly as it ignites; bury it though he might, Zenyatta knows Genji too well for him to hide anything from his master, least of all his emotions. Call it small-minded, but there is something comforting in knowing that, universe to universe, timeline to timeline, some things never change.

The way Genji moves, for instance, like a metal guard dog loping along at his side. Perhaps he simply seems more vulnerable like this, with skin to be torn, or perhaps he thinks Zenyatta might vanish if he does not keep a close enough eye on him.

If Zenyatta is being honest, so does he.

"Nor I you. Deep down, I knew our paths would converge once more, but I could never have guessed that it would be here." In COST, in Lemuria, in this great, wide, infinitely faceted universe.

For now, he'll settle for this tiny slice of it: a quieter offshoot of an alleyway, steamy from the heat generated by its surrounding buildings. The walls are a mess of graffiti, some of it half-heartedly washed away, most of it fresh.

Neatly tucked away, he finally lets himself take all of Genji in.

"They had their reasons, I am sure," Zenyatta answers mildly, eyes flickering up and down, "good or otherwise. I suppose they could have thought our abilities would be best spread- your arm!"

Automatically he moves to take Genji's forearm all over again, hands hovering over the unfamiliar metal and wiring. He is whole, and seemingly unharmed now, yes, but he cannot keep the alarm from his voice. "What happened?"

[doublejumps]

It's a combination of feeling like Zenyatta might be fragile in this place that's marked with dissent and discord, and the simple fact that his presence here seems so impossible that it feels like he might disappear the moment Genji looks away from him. No doubt that feeling will wear off the longer they spend together, but for the moment Genji may as well be Zenyatta's shadow.

Genji had also known that he would see Zenyatta again eventually, but he had expected that it would be after his mission with COST had ended and he had returned home. While he's glad that it's turned out to be much sooner than that, he also worries for how his master will fare in this place. No doubt he'll be trying to help those who are in pain however he can, which is also bound to get him into trouble.

In that case, he'll need to remain by his side so that he can bail him out of said trouble.

They manage to find a quiet place, and while it's a far cry from the serene mountains of Nepal, it will do for now. Genji also takes this chances to study Zenyatta's new appearance again. If he's honest, it is more or less what he would have imagined his master would look like, if given human form. It's not so difficult to adjust to, when all of Zenyatta's teachings were about how one's physical appearance mattered little when compared to their soul.

Yet despite that, Zenyatta reacts strongly to seeing that something about Genji's appearance has changed. Genji doesn't resist when Zenyatta reaches out for his new arm, letting him study it as much as he wants.

"It's... a long story," he responds sheepishly. "My previous mission with COST was not such an easy one."

[tekhartha]

Ah yes. Form is little more than an accident of birth. In some small way, even knowing that deep down he is still himself, Zenyatta is eating those words now that he has radically changed his own. But what would life be, without challenge or complication? Even before meeting Genji again it occurred to him that this might bring him closer to his student's experiences. Walking in a new skin... from a certain perspective it was a rare and frankly unprecedented opportunity for enlightenment.

But. To the present and far more pressing issue of Genji's arm. He does not have to explain himself for Zenyatta to shake his head, wondering.

Genji is a patient and pliant model for him as he turns the new prosthetic over in his hands; now that he can see rather than simply feel it there is no question that it is a recent addition.

"You had this replaced here, didn't you?" he comments. By their standards it is positively primitive, but it has been assembled with the clever hodge-podge pragmatism he's come to recognise as typical of Lemurian tech. It is not a neat job, but it is solid.

Seamlessly, Zenyatta shifts his grip from Genji's forearm to his hand, clasping it gently.

"I would very much like to hear your story in full, once we are off-duty. Given the choice," he adds, heartfelt, "I am glad you left your arm in another world rather than the rest of you."

[doublejumps]

It's one thing to teach a way of thought, and it's another thing to be forced to experience it. Zenyatta can at least take comfort in the fact that his new skin is little more than that: skin. He can take it off at any time, even if it is a painstaking process. He hasn't been changed in any permanent way, which is what matters. If he had been, COST would have had to answer to Genji.

The new prosthetic is hardly what Genji is used to, but it moves the way that he needs it to and that's all that he could ask. He hadn't been that comfortable getting a limb replaced in a new and unknown place, but at least Lemuria is advanced enough that he had this option available to him. It could have been much worse. All the same, he nods to Zenyatta's question when asked, though he likely doesn't need the confirmation.

When Zenyatta grips his hand, Genji is quick to squeeze back, though not too hard. The artificial skin is sturdy and convincing to the eye, but he wants to be gentle just in case. "I would also like to hear of your previous mission, Master," he admits. While they'd been told there were other COST cells, it hadn't truly felt real until now, and his head is buzzing with wondering what other times and places Zenyatta might have visited.

"And I'm glad as well." That he is in one piece (now, anyway), and that he could make it here to Lemuria so that the two of them could reunite. "I only wish we had more time to sit and talk. This place seems to be on the brink of revolt. I expect we have a lot of work ahead of us."

[tekhartha]

There is care in Genji's touch, moreso than usual; still there is something strange and wonderful in the thought of how changed he is from their first meeting, how that tense aggression has been bled from his body. The thought had occurred to him that COST might well have veered too near to Genji's experiences in Blackwatch, yet here he is, still the man he remembers after who knew how many missions here.

Zenyatta lets go and smiles: a wide, honest smile, the kind he finds he enjoys wearing on his new face.

"Ah, yes. An excursion to a prison colony on a space station- we were tasked with breaking out one or two individuals. I am sure," he adds playfully, "you would find the details rather dull. Another time."

Nonetheless, his expression does flicker at the thought of what is to come. "Indeed. This city is a fuse awaiting the strike of a match. I still do not know if it is possible to achieve our goals here without causing considerable damage, strive though we must to prevent it. But," he adds, "if you are here, our odds are considerably better!"

[doublejumps]

There's no denying that there are parts of his work with COST that reminds Genji of Blackwatch. While it had been strange reverting back to a position where he had to consider whether or not to kill someone (and in most cases, circumstances required that he did), Genji no longer feels as if he's a dog being dragged around on a leash and sicced on Overwatch's enemies. He has the freedom to make his own choices, even if there are also orders to be followed.

If he can save others having to stain their hands in blood by taking on that burden, then that's what he'll do. He's already covered in it, as much as Zenyatta has made efforts to redeem him.

The mention of prison reminds Genji of a dream that he still remembers far too clearly, but he isn't going to bring that up now. He's of the belief that Zenyatta could make any story fascinating simply by how he tells it, but he won't push him on it, at least not yet.

When Zenyatta offers him praise, Genji's back straightens and he vehemently shakes his head. "What are you talking about, master? If there's anyone who could help the people here stay calm, it's you! I'm more likely to make things worse..." Fighting is what he knows, rather than peace; as much as he's trained under Zenyatta, this is still true.

[tekhartha]

Zenyatta offers praise, Genji deflects it, he brushes it off in return with a quiet, musical little laugh... the world about them could scarcely be more hostile, yet there is something wonderfully warm and familiar about this.

"I will not deny that I may be the more peaceful influence of the two of us," he concedes; the amusement in his voice fades as he continues, his attention drifting back to the mouth of the alleyway, "but we are not here to bring about immediate peace as such."

Strange, to think that they are here to kill a man. Stranger still to think that he has allowed himself to become a party to an assassination of all things.

He gives a soft, metallic sigh. "As one man falls, another will rise in his place. Even if we complete our mission, I fear for what we will leave in our wake."

[doublejumps]

That laugh is something that Genji has missed dearly, without even realizing it. It sounds more or less the same, even with Zenyatta's new skin, and the familiarity is something that Genji basks in as well.

It's true that immediate peace is an impossibility in a place like Lemuria, that is on the brink of war or something like it. The assassination may defuse some of the tension, but it might also act as a conductor for something much worse.

Zenyatta expresses concerns about their orders, and no doubt he has misgivings about the fact that they've been asked to murder someone, even if that someone will put the pieces in place that would allow the Regency to be born.

"Sometimes all it takes is the loss of one person for events to change entirely. I know that COST has put a lot of work into their goal of stopping the Regency. If that man is the key, then..."

He looks away, almost ashamed. They will do what must be done.