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

[out_of_time]

[By now Jack has finally given in to practicality and the developing odor of his NOHoPE uniform, and is now sporting his own bizarrely plated made-in-Metricog outfit. He has heard about the destruction of the Bellows and is worried. He doesn't know the details, just that there was some kind of fight, and that the air quality has dropped several levels thanks to the damage. Jack's developed several theories about what could have happened and why, none of them good.

Partly because of his worry, he hasn't gotten much sleep. All his instincts call on him to stay awake and alert in this unfamiliar situation. However, he isn't so tired that he's going to miss a familiarly grumpy face walking by near the place Imports have been allowed to dwell.]

Archer? Is that you?

[swordedpast]

[And in turn, Archer is grumpy as hell, but not so grumpy that he'll walk away from a familiar voice calling out to him. Besides, a long-time imPort is just who he needs to talk to (so he tells himself). He slows, stops, and glances back at Jack without actually turning to face him.]

Jack Bauer. Man, this'll be a real security nightmare sooner or later.

[out_of_time]

[Jack grunts in response and stops behind Archer, identity confirmed.]

It's a security nightmare already. I don't know if you've heard, but one of the machines providing air for this place was destroyed. It can't be a coincidence.

[swordedpast]

It's not a coincidence.

[ He doesn't sound like he's saying this on faith. ]

There was an attack by an agent of Vulcanus.

[ Why not get straight to the point? ]

[out_of_time]

What?

[Jack's reaction is loud and immediate. He looks around to see if anyone on the street is watching them- the way Metricog seems to work, the street itself could be watching them. Then he moves to pull Archer off the street and out of sight, talking low and fast as he does.]

By Vulcanus? Are you sure? I need to know everything that happened.

[swordedpast]

[Dark amusement flickers in Archer's eyes as he follows Jack off into a side alley.]

I don't think it's any safer here than out there, you know. No matter. I'll tell you: it was either Vulcanus, or someone intent on framing them, because their agent--a shapeshifter who became some sort of humanoid lizard after dying--mentioned the organization by name.

[out_of_time]

It's more private. We don't need everyone hearing this.

[Welcome to espionage Archer, 70% of it consists of Jack Bauer growling intensely at you for information.]

You're describing a Skrull. Vulcanus has used them before, they are extremely dangerous. What the hell are they doing in another universe? Did the agent say anything about how it got here?

[swordedpast]

[He rolls his eyes, but lets the first statement pass unchallenged. The second is more important anyway.]

A Skrull? What an ominous name for an ominous being. I can't say what they're doing in another universe, and he didn't mention a thing about the how, either.

[His eyes narrow, his gaze suddenly grows serious.]

But you're interested in the why too, right? He said something about that before dying.

...Vulcanus was looking for a "perfect world." Perfect to them, at least. And somewhere, they've found it.

[out_of_time]

They're shapeshifters, infiltrators, and they're very effective. The last time Vulcanus used them against us, they did a lot of damage before they were stopped.

[And already that old paranoia is roaring back. Jack can't help thinking: what if the Skrull won the fight and took Archer's form to spread misinformation? Once again, it's time to be careful what he says.]

That could mean they can travel to other worlds than this one. [Jack doesn't say it, but his first thought is that Vulcanus could now track every Import to their original universe and hit them where they live. Their families and loved ones could be under threat.]

Did he say anything about how this world was perfect? Was Vulcanus in control there, did they have allies, was there something there they needed?

[swordedpast]

[Archer's eyes flicker thoughtfully to Jack's face. He doesn't know exactly what thoughts are going through the other man's head, but he can tell they're unpleasant.]

You sure are brewing up some bad ideas about what's going on, aren't you? I don't blame you. You know more about Vulcanus than I do, and what I know isn't good already.

[He gives a shake of his head.]

'A world exact to Vulcanus's expectations.' He seemed pretty confident about it, but he didn't give more information.

[out_of_time]

Every time they make a play, people suffer. And if they're involved in this, it's the biggest thing they've ever done. [Serious Jack is very fucking serious right now.]

That could mean almost anything. A world where they have unlimited metahumans, or a world where they've wiped out all metahumans. We need more information.

[Pause.]

If that agent was targeting the Bellows, it might not have been his original mission. They could be improvising, trying to throw us off by attacking our air supply.

[swordedpast]

[He clicks his tongue thoughtfully and considers for a moment.]

He didn't do anything to the Bellows until I came near. Then he attacked me.

It sounds like their mission may have been already done, and they were trying to lie low until we passed.

[out_of_time]

[Jack narrows his eyes.]

Are you telling me the thing that produces our air just got caught in the crossfire?

[At least that lessens the possibility that Jack's talking to a Skrull: an impersonator wouldn't have a story that made him look that bad.]

[swordedpast]

[This is Jack Bauer. Whatever else he may be, he's a fellow seasoned fighter, battered down by bitter reality. Archer refuses to get defensive to him. So he just looks the other man calmly in the eyes.]

The Skrull was hiding inside the Bellows, and he launched an attack on my mind from there. Who knows? Maybe he chose that hiding place in the hopes it would protect him.

[He should have picked on someone less self-destructive.]

[out_of_time]

[Well, he's not making excuses. That counts for something.]

You should have found another way to take him out. If we lose enough Bellows, none of us are coming back from this alive.

[But there's no point in harping on that, so moving on.]

If Vulcanus has access to a place that's perfect for them, why send agents here? What do they need from this world?

[swordedpast]

[Archer's gaze flickers to the exit from the alleyway and the streets that lie beyond it.]

Parts. Some arcane technology. Obedient workers programmed using a difference engine. Fuel. Who knows? They could be scouring countless worlds as we speak, finding the different resources they need to make use of their perfect world.

[out_of_time]

Which means their perfect world doesn't have everything they need. Not yet. They've still got a weakness.

[Jack considers for a moment.]

What did you do with the Skrull's body?

[swordedpast]

Unless it's simply that we've been dumped here forever as part of their campaign. It could be over already.

[He's so cheerful. But the question gives him pause.]

...I was distracted. I left it by the Bellows.

[out_of_time]

No, that's not it. If they were going to dump us somewhere, it wouldn't be any place where the population was friendly.

[Jack can be just as cheerful as you Archer.]

All right, I'm going to head back there and take a look. If it's still there, there might be some clues.

[Although it's equally likely the locals have cleared away the biological waste by now.]

[swordedpast]

That's a fair point. Let's expect worse, the next time we wake up in a strange world.

[He gives a short nod.]

If you find out anything more, tell me.

[out_of_time]

I will. You got a way for me to contact you? The Network's in a different universe right now.

[And of course he didn't have his cell phone in his NOHoPE uniform.]

[swordedpast]

[Not that any of them would get reception here anyway. There's nothing steampunk about cellphones. Unless you slap some gears on them.]

I'll return to the east side of the corridor they're housing us in at sunset. Let's exchange information again then if we have anything more.