EARTH 5746JK1278!W welcomes you, hero.

[capemods]

WHO: Any imPort transported to Metricog of Earth 5746JK1278!W.
WHERE: The city of Metricog.
WHEN: The moment of midnight February 24th, 2013 to the moment of midnight February 28th, 2013.
SUMMARY: Now stolen away to a strange city of a strange world, our heroes are left to their own devices in their efforts for answers!
FORMAT: Whatever the player chooses.



This is the city Metricog. It is quite unlike the City you were living in but a few moments ago. However, in terms of global placement, it IS the City. Metricog belongs to a steampunk world with towering buildings of steel and smoke stacks rising to the sun. Streets are paved with bolts. Cogs and copper clocks and brass valves are etched into every alley, every concave. You will be sequestered from your world to this strange land FOR FOUR DAYS and greeted by stranger inhabitants: natives of Metricog are sentient and can communicate with you in a verbal-to-audio manner that you can understand (how strange), but they are not fleshed. They are natives made of oil, of coal, of natural gas – or of mechanics. There are androids so very human-like with their follicle wires or they are bodiless walls of machinery lining rooms and halls that see and listen and speak. The range is as wild as your imagination.

The atmosphere of Metricog twins what your City atmosphere is like – but not for the same reasons. Your very ability to breathe oxygen at ground level is dependent on the fifty house-sized bellows scattered about the cityscape. These provide a frequency of communication unique to the citizens of Metricog, no imPort can understand it directly. The fact that imPorts can survive the byproduct of these machines is pure coincidence. If anything were to happen to even one of these bellows, your oxygen levels would suffer. If two? You would find it hard to focus, to think, your blood would slow. If three? Try not to think about if three.

Any flora or fauna you might be remotely familiar with are secluded to well-protected glass biomes. Rabbits, pigeons and rats are collected under flower bushes and stubby shrubs and young groves in three separate biomes. Each biome is differentiated from the other in some way, even if they have overlapping elements. All are where Central Park would be.

Suffice to say, organic organisms like most (BUT NOTABLY, NOT ALL) imPorts are a rarity. So you will find it VERY peculiar when the native mayor of Metricog greets you and tells you that your flesh-and-blood brothers who had come just the day before!

Wait, what?

Yes, you’re only the second group to debut EARTH 5746JK1278!W. There's a reason why you were brought here by the omnipotent Lachesis (who gained her superior power and changed the world -- and the universe -- two years ago). You may not know it, but you're on the tail of five Vulcanus Skrull agents. They are all empowered in a special way that only Vulcanus can connive, and they are hiding from you. They do not want you here, it was never planned for you to come here. These agents have their own mission for Vulcanus, and it's to learn how to mine this world for fuel. After all, a war against imPorts needs fuel, and half the natives of Metricog are just the ticket. But you don't know that. All you know is what you're told from the mechanic and fueled denizens of Metricog: that your brothers had already come!

If there are people like you here, you need to find them. What if they're other imPorts? What if they're City natives? What if they can help you?

What if they have answers?

Comments

METRICOG: CENTRAL HEATING PARK: BIOME THREE: SUBTHREAD

[capemods]

[Oh, here are all the trees. Birches and young redwoods and teenaged oaks -- forbidden to be hacked down, you've been told. Birds flutter about them, and you think you might see a few rodent-familial creatures stalk around the brush. But outside of the miniature forest is a shallow, grassed valley with moles and voles. Squirrels stick to their trees, but the ADORABLE BUNNIES are all around.]

[invoking]

[ Gil has to wonder what he's doing here. Why, even. And why there are so many rabbits around this place.

At least it's pretty, he thinks. Alive, too. The technology in the City throws him off quite often, so this world is beyond his understanding and how it can function when everything and everyone appears to be made out of metal and other machine parts.

Gil really wants a smoke to soothe his nerves. He restrains his urges, conscious of the animals and trees. He moves a bit closer to one of the bunnies hanging around, squatting low to take a good look. ]

There seem to be more rabbits than anything else here...

[muskettear]

[ There are a lot of bunnies! More than she's ever seen in one place, that's for sure.

For a moment she forgets she's supposed to be a serious senpai and magical girl mentor and starts giggling as she picks up bunnies and does nothing more nefarious than cuddle them and bury her face in soft, warm fur. It's comforting.

She gently deposits her held animal back on the ground, spotting Gilbert. ]

Ah, hello.

[invoking]

[ He's aware of others around, but he doesn't realize how close this girl is until she's spoken up. He tears his eyes off the rabbit in front of him and looks over at her, eyebrows raised. ]

Hello.

[muskettear]

[ she's...not really sure how to continue, but she did start the conversation! it would just be impolite to peter off. She perseveres. ]

...It's really nice here, isn't it..? It seems really peaceful here. [ she beats up muggers on a daily basis pretty much ]

[invoking]

It's the only part of this city that looks... proper. [ Machines are foreign to him for the most part. Being in some sort of steampunk-like city? He's a fish out of water, even more so than other imPorts. ]

But it is peaceful, I agree. The animals don't fear us. [ Wouldn't they run if they saw people approaching? Natural survival instincts.

Instead, he has a few rabbits hopping around him sniffing at his feet. ]

[muskettear]

Ah, I guess it does look sort of strange... [ she's seen weirder, though, and at least everyone is friendly! not like, uh, every witch barrier ever.

She kind of giggles at the rabbits. ]

Maybe they're used to mechanical people, so they're not afraid of humans. [ reaching down to pat one '^' ]

[invoking]

Be careful! [ He takes a step closer. ] They could bite.

[muskettear]

Some of them let me pick them up before... [ The rabbit sniffs her hand, nose twitching, before it lets her pat it. ] I think they're just used to not having predators. Metal people wouldn't need to eat, right?

[invoking]

I don't think so. [ He wonders if any of these animals may carry disease, but that thought is quickly thrown away remembering the biomes are meant to be clean. ]

... There are so many rabbits.

[wisecracked]

[Out of nowhere Kenzi drops into the grass next to Gil and scares off the rabbits. Well, maybe not out of nowhere. It's likely he felt her coming since she was floating along with her powers prior to dropping in.

She's without her shoes and there's mud strains on her pants and some on her shirt and jacket. She still stinks of said mud too, she's not at all happy about that.]

[invoking]

What the--?! [ Luckily, he's already so low to the ground when he falls over in shock it's just to the side. No hard banging of the elbow or shoulder as he hits the grass. Urgently rising up, he looks to the body that just dropped in and recognizes them instantly. ] Kenzi?!

[wisecracked]

[She gives a lazy wave and grins.] Sup.

[invoking]

[ He surveys her quickly, eyes fixating onto the lack of shoes and mud all over. ]

Where did you-- no, why are you covered in mud?!

[wisecracked]

I was so kindly dropped into the mud when I arrived. [Her response is flat, annoyed.]

[invoking]

[ He scrunches up his face for a second, understanding how unpleasant that is. ]

Are you alright, though? You didn't get hurt, did you? [ His worry doesn't cease yet, needing to know the answer or see for himself. ]

[wisecracked]

I'm fine. A little tired and hungry, but fine. [She flashes a smile.] And glad I wasn't in the shower when this happened, could you imagine? [She gives a little laugh before looking him over.]

You're okay, right?

[aggressiveapathy]

[April is looking particularly disgruntled in her bathrobe and bunny slippers. It's not even about the interdimensional thing now. That's just old news. She may even get a few days off of work if she played it right. No. That isn't the problem of the hour.

There are no freaking raccoons.

She'd wandered into the garden area almost by accident, calling out with her powers and her voice both as she wandered, seeking the tiny manservant's. But nothing. So it is, perhaps, a testament to how terrible Gil's luck has become that she happens across him at the moment she's seeking servants. The human raccoon, in the world of April Ludgate.]

What happened to oooh, animals are terrible and scary and want to eat my eyeballs. Are you just, like, raccoon racist.

1/2

[invoking]

You?! [ He barely even whips around, registering her voice quickly. ]

2/2

[invoking]

[ With her using her powers, too, Gil's own power sensing ability began to act up. Of course, he doesn't link it to April yet. He rubs his left hand, trying to soothe the sharp pain away. ]

What are you doing here?

[aggressiveapathy]

Burying bodies.

[No matter the world, the deadpan never changes. Really, Gil? No denying of raccoon racism? She knew it. Her arms cross over her chest as she huffs at his shameful prejudice.]

[invoking]

Again with the ridiculous talk.

[ One of the rabbits gets too close, so he sets it aside so he can begin walking away from April. ]

[aggressiveapathy]

You're ridiculous.

[She has legs, too. Which she can use to walk after him.]

Hey, jerk. Leaving a lady alone in the woods? Did you learn manners from Ted Bundy or something.

[invoking]

[ He slows down for a second. ]

I don't even know who that is!

[aggressiveapathy]

It's not my fault you can't read.

[And that second is all it takes for her to catch up. Sorry, bro.]