TEST DRIVE MEME #1

[neosapienmods]

JANUARY TEST DRIVE

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1: SPRAWLING WASTELAND, GLOWING IN THE DARK

No sunlight reaches the Underground, but there is rain: grey, oily droplets that slowly trickle down from the city above, seeping through layers of concrete until they drip from broken light fixtures onto the aptly named black markets below. The glow of neon signs keeps the shadows at bay, just barely. What was once a system of utility tunnels and basement bunkers is now a warren of tiny shops offering reprogrammed ID chips and back-alley cybernetic upgrades, where hitmen and slave traders operate with lawless impunity. But someone is always watching... the eyes of Yakashbah, graffitied in bioluminescent paint, stare unblinking from the walls.

People come to this place for only two reasons: they're either looking for something, or they're trying not to be found. Whatever your reason, the Underground welcomes you.

2: A MIND OF DARKNESS, A HEART OF LIGHT

Outside of manicured parks and glass-enclosed vertical farms, green space is rare in New Gate City, so the elites flaunt their wealth in private rooftop gardens. Fragrant, exotic flowers bloom amidst strings of lanterns, and real grass - an extravagant luxury - carpets the ground beneath partygoers' feet as they sip champagne and admire the dark cityscape below. Tonight, one of the Douman Zaibatsu's myriad charity organizations hosts its annual fundraising gala... but this year, the special guests attract even more attention than the celebrities and fashionistas in attendance. Representatives from the Neo Sapien Organization have been invited to speak on the topic of Human/Meta-human relations, and to raise money on behalf of job placement programs for impoverished Metas in the Last Ward. Of course, most within the Douman Zaibatsu would prefer that these "job placement programs" send Metas to the farms far outside New Gate City (or better yet, to the lunar strip mines), but at least for tonight, members of both factions hide behind false smiles and false words.

3: AS FEAR'S REPLICATING, YOUR WORDS RESONATING

Someone gasps, and everyone looks up. Arcadia's central shopping district goes silent, save for the distant sound of pop tunes played over tinny speakers, as a massive black banner unfurls down the side of a building. A crudely drawn eye fills the banner, bisected by a line of white paint... the unofficial symbol of the Meta rights movement. People start to whisper, and somewhere, there's a cheer. Police drones buzz through the air above.

Meta rights protests aren't uncommon in this part of New Gate City, even though they're soon dispersed by local security forces. This banner, too, will be quickly taken down and destroyed, but the photos and videos of the event will be harder to suppress. Already, the bystanders are murmuring to each other, some in support and some in fear. Others keep their heads down, wary of expressing their true feelings about the rising numbers of Meta-humans. And as security forces move to block off the area, others are frantically trying to disappear.

4: A NEW HOPE GLISTENS OFF THE STREETS

The blocks surrounding the Neo Sapien Organization's headquarters in the Middle Ward are like an oasis at the center of an otherwise inhospitable city. Old buildings have been renovated into bright and cheerful apartments that accommodate a variety of Meta-human physiologies, Meta schools and Meta-owned businesses are flourishing, and Meta-friendly shops and cafes line the streets.

The best coffee in the Middle Ward can be found at The Mean Bean, just across from the NSO building, where the shop's fire-breathing Meta owner personally roasts every batch. NSO employees and and other patrons of the popular cafe congregate to discuss local news and gossip: a proposed Meta registration and identification law, rumors of vigilante gangs near the border with the Last Ward, and rivalries between NSO university sports teams. Arguments occasionally grow heated (especially when it comes to sports), but overall the atmosphere is friendly and congenial.

5: WITHIN THE CHAOS, I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE

The Last Ward's electrical grid is reliably unreliable, but blackouts on this scale are rare. Half the ward has been dark for the past three days, save for a few emergency generators and dwindling battery backups. As winter winds batter old, drafty concrete apartment blocks, the residents grow restless and frustrated. Police have already put down several riots, but there's no stopping the spike in looting and other petty crimes.

In the Parish, many people have opted to barricade themselves inside their homes until the blackout ends, but others are taking advantage of the chaos. Most, though, have chosen to band together to protect each other throughout the long nights. The people of the Parish may not have much, but at least they have a sense of community.

Comments

[jediparkour]

"Sure," Cal says, reaching over to grab the plug and pass it to him. Frankly, he thinks Andrei has as much right to complain about the blackout as anyone, but it was a relief to see that he wasn't doing badly. A bar could be just as tempting a target as any other kind of store, something that wasn't lost on Cal even if he wasn't quite old enough to drink yet.

"Our neighbors getting mugged is exactly why I'm out here." Cal settles back down on his perch, leaning forward slightly with his arms draped over his lap. "If there's more of us out on the streets to come running when there's trouble, then we won't be an easy target anymore. Once all the gangs around here figure that out, they'll go back to smashing in store windows and leave us alone."

Cal wasn't a stranger to getting into fights, usually because he couldn't stand to step back and let trouble happen right in front of him. Of course, most people that got a look at his face assumed he'd gotten cut up from doing something similar, and Cal never bothered to correct them.

[windblownrose]

"How many of us are there?" Andrei inquires, plugging in the LEDs. They blink a few times before remaining on in a steady, blue-white glow. "Because I'm afraid if you're a lone defender, you're just ensuring there will be two people with their kneecaps broken. No offense to your combat skills, of course.

"And I do hope they'll leave store windows alone -- not that I've gotten around to replacing the glass in ours yet..."

Enyart's isn't a usual target for violence, thanks to the owner's careful policy of never talking to the cops or choosing favorites between the local gangs, but that doesn't save them from nuisance vandalism. Or petty theft, for that matter. For the past half-year, the front window has been a sheet of plywood with a holographic open/closed sign nailed to it.

Andrei hangs the battery pack from a rusty nail driven into the side of the balcony and crosses his arms on the railing, resting his chin on them as he looks up at Cal.

"In short, if you're running around out there, you need company."

[jediparkour]

"Well, uh, right now it's mostly just me," Cal admits. "But my kneecaps are fine. I don't have to stick around and fight when I can shake them up and run away."

There was also the teensy little complication that, while Cal was armed, he didn't like drawing his weapon if he could help it. Any variety of plasma sword could be intimidating, but getting caught waving one around would be bad news for him. And in the dark like this, it would stand out just as much as a flashlight would. The smarter option would be not to carry it around at all, but Cal was more concerned with protecting the lightsaber than he was with using it.

Cal hops down to stand on the balcony, his expression brightening. "If you're offering to come with me, I don't mind the help... that is, if you don't have to stick close to the bar right now."

[windblownrose]

"We don't technically open for another few hours. I'll just lock up."

Luckily, the plywood does make for a sturdier barrier than glass, and a far less transparent one. A boarded-up, locked building has better than even odds of being ignored by opportunists.

Andrei unfolds his arms and hops down from his stepladder, pulling out a ring of old-fashioned metal keys and turning the three locks (latch, deadbolt, other deadbolt) on the sturdy carbon-plastic door.

"Shall we?" he inquired, sweeping one hand out in a dramatic gesture towards the street.

[jediparkour]

"Great! I won't keep you away for too long, Mr. Andrei."

Cal climbs down to street level while he's locking up, just as quickly as he'd gotten up there. Once he's back on solid ground, he stops to check both of his flashlights before offering Andrei the heavier one. Things could seem a lot different in the dark, but Cal has a good sense of where he's going, more or less.

"I've been going block by block, just making sure that anyone that needs to leave their apartment isn't out here alone. The police have a couple of stations set up, but I think they're way more worried about the riots right now." Cal couldn't blame them for that, not really, but it meant that the police weren't all that much of a deterrent to anything else.

[windblownrose]

"Good -- I do have to open at six," Andrei replied, and accepted the flashlight. He left it off, for now, ghosting along beside the younger man. Flashlights were useful, at times. When he didn't know what to point it at, it just made him an easy target.

"And the police? Ha." His tone was, briefly, unamused. "Of course they are worrying about the riots. Those damage property."

[jediparkour]

"Well, yeah..."

Cal doesn't keep his flashlight on constantly, either, but does briefly light it up to help lead the way when he knows there's obstacles ahead - like the hovercar that's been left on the side of the street for months, any parts that were worth something long since ripped out of it.

"I know the police aren't usually much help down here, but they have to be pushing for the power to get fixed, right? It's getting too dangerous even for them." Cal wasn't entirely an optimist, but he wanted to think that things would get better soon. The combined fear from the residents of the Parish nagged faintly at the back of his mind, and though he could distract himself from it, he couldn't completely block it out. He hated to think about what might happen if the blackout stretched on for much longer.

[windblownrose]

"Perhaps if the riots start spilling up into the Middle Ward," Andrei muses. "Not that I'm recommending that, you understand. But I think it's more likely it'll be fixed so that they can go back to billing us for it, in the end."

He skirts around the shattered hulk of the hovercar, pausing as a rustle of movement near his feet resolves into a skinny, mangy cat that darts under the car's bumper. He crouches, holding out his hand.

"Here, puss."

It shrinks back into the deeper shadow with a nervous growl. Andrei sighs, standing back up and looking down the street with his nearsighted physical eyes unfocused and his sharper meta-human senses on alert. A few tangles of bioelectricity linger at the next intersection: four humans, one distinguished by the brighter and more precisely organized electrical pulses of a bionic arm. No one he can recognize, at least not at this distance.

"There are some people down there," he notes to Cal. "Anyone you know?" It doesn't look like a dangerous situation. Yet.