The Day After Doomsday, Wednesday, Period 4

[raspberryturk]

"Aaaalright." So, Reno had missed a few classes, and now the term was over. He licked his lips as he looked over the students gathered in the Danger Shop. "So I was a bit AWOL back there. I trust my Rookie and Rikku had you in pretty good hands the past couple weeks. If they didn't... Hey, means you get a trial by fire now, don't you."

The entire room shimmered, taking the students back to a scenario similar to the one that Reno had set up for their introductions class several weeks back. They were surrounded by a vast expanse of desert with no readily available water in sight. The sky was a sickly shade of spinach green, and in their immediate area, they were standing in what had presumably once been a thriving city, considering how huge it was. It was a pity that it was all sitting in ruins now, a sort of double-decker heap of twisted metal and shattered glass with very little that was still recognizable as a livable building or functional vehicle.

"Welcome to my home," Reno said, his tone almost eerily devoid of inflection, today. "Midgar, at ground zero. Millions dead, literally nothing will grow in the dirt in and around the city. No food, very little shelter, no water, the place is crawling with monsters, the entire city is radioactive, our best fuel source has been rendered impossible to use, and the world government was located at the middle of that city full of wreckage. Presumably, the guy in charge is dead. Try not to die. Anything else you do today is up to you, but you're going to want to do it as a group, aren't you?"

And then he turned around and walked away, taking a seat among the ruins to watch.

Yeah, that was it.

[Open!]

Comments

Sign In!

[raspberryturk]

The world has ended. Well then.

Re: Sign In!

[pulseof_life]

Paddra Nsu-Yeul

Re: Sign In!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry Ween

Re: Sign In!

[not_every_mage]

Anders

Lecture!

[raspberryturk]

Such as it is, anyway. It's short, but to the point. Reno has given you all the warning he figures you'll need. You know know about as much about your current situation as the handful of survivors left, with the added bonus of not having to stare down a falling meteor for several weeks, first.

Survive.

[raspberryturk]

So, now what? Set out alone? Stick together? The entire city's infrastructure has been destroyed, and it's safe to assume that there's no rescue coming in from Kalm, the nearest human settlement to here, which will take days of walking through a toxic desert to get to, anyway. Not that you'll know that unless you happen to find a map in the ruins. Entirely possible, maybe, so long as you pick one of the buildings on the top of the wreckage. The ones that are buried under the rubble are from the slums below, and won't offer much that you'll find helpful.

Yes, this was once a two-tier city. Yes, the wealthy used to live on the top. No, there probably aren't any survivors in the slums at all.

Be careful of monsters, while you're at it. Reno has kept it simple today, limiting it to packs of desperate, roaming hounds. You should thank him. It could always have been much worse, around here. The hounds are about as easy to kill as any starving mutated freak dog genetically engineered specifically to be more dangerous, and will only attack with their teeth and their... head-tentacle. Thing.

You won't get any sunlight to work by. And if this wasn't a simulation, the air would most certainly hurt to breathe. You won't find any NPCs out there, either. There aren't enough survivors for that to be terribly likely right away.

Do something.

Re: Survive.

[pulseof_life]

Yeul took in the surroundings quietly, with her face set to her usual unflappable serenity. She made no effort to explore the city, which was probably for the best if she was to follow the instructions of 'try not to die'.

She just watched, and thought, and kept her own counsel. At one point, she turned her head in the direction the teacher had gone, taking a single step in the same direction before stopping and, with a headshake that sent her hair flying about her shoulders, turned away.

This was a sad place, a painful place, but it was not Yeul's first sad, painful place. (Not her last either.)

But on second thought, saying anything to the teacher seemed... presumptuous.

She went back to her watching, quietly.

Re: Survive.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey," Kathy said, deliberately making noise as she approached. She didn't want to startle Yeul, not when she seemed so contemplative. "Do you still have a million crazy-useful things in your pockets?"

Kathy needed to find out where Yeul shopped. She was way tired of tiny, useless girl pockets.

Re: Survive.

[pulseof_life]

Yeul's pockets were much superior to what passed for pockets around Fandom Island, it was true...

She blinked, looking vague for a moment before refocusing on Kathy.

"I would not say they're all useful," she said, smiling slightly. "But yes, I suppose I do. Were you looking for something in particular?"

Go on, Kathy. Ask for a tent. Ask for ninety-nine tents, even, and then try to figure out how those fit in Yeul's pockets.

Re: Survive.

[not_every_mage]

Anders didn't know where to start. This much loss, the devastation ... it took his breath away.

He went into the blasted remains of what had once been a store and started sorting through the rubble. He wasn't expecting to find anything useful, but if he didn't start to move he was going to cry.

Re: Survive.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy gave Anders an apologetic smile as she approached. She was guessing he wouldn't want to hear what she was about to say. "So, hey fearless leader. Any thoughts?"

This was 100% time for direction, though.

Re: Survive.

[not_every_mage]

Anders blinked at her several times before he had any idea what she was referring to. "Er," he said, and swallowed. Right. He and Joker were officially class leaders, so...

"We need water and shelter before we need anything else," he said crisply. "Someone should ask Professor Reno if he literally means no water or if he just means not much."

Re: Survive.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not trying to take charge," Kathy said diffidently, more than willing to defer to Anders or Joker, "but maybe we should figure out what we want to do? I think it will be easier to face all of that if we have some kind of plan in mind."

Something more concrete than stare at it in horror.

Re: Survive.

[livebytherules.livejournal.com]

"Plan seems like a good start," Will agreed, nodding. "Maybe try and figure out essentials first? Food, water, anyone injured?"

Re: Survive.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Shelter, too. It's hot out, and if we don't get into the shade, we're gonna dehydrate faster. Maybe get heatstroke or something." She was already pulling her hair up in a ponytail to get it off of her neck.

Sure, they only had an hour simulation, but in a desert, you could get heatstroke fast.

Talk to the TA!

[raspberryturk]

He might have some sort of useful idea. He might not. Maybe he'll just have radioactive coffee for the Boss today.

Re: Talk to the TA!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry probably had a few ideas but he was holding back unless asked. The class had established leadership and Barry was going to follow it.

Re: Talk to the TA!

[spin_kick_snap]

After class, Kathy approached Barry. "Hey. Do you have a second?"

Re: Talk to the TA!

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Sure thing," Barry replied. "What's up?"

Talk to Reno.

[raspberryturk]

He won't be any help at all.

He's already done this.

If you're lucky, maybe his girlfriend will show up today to give you all a few pointers. Maybe she won't. Isn't the end of the world so fun and full of the unknown?

He will be around after class if you have any questions about what you should have done, or what the few survivors of Midgar managed to do, at least.

Re: Talk to Reno.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Coffee, Boss?" Barry said with a wicked grin.

To be honest... there was nothing wrong with today's coffee. Just normal coffee. No additives, no special beans.

Normal.

"I made it extra special for our last class."

Reno might be a little wary by now.

Re: Talk to Reno.

[raspberryturk]

Maybe a little. He was still a bit sedate as he gave the coffee a side-eye.

"Yeah? You piss in it or something this morning?"

Seemed worth asking.

Re: Talk to Reno.

[dauntless-four.livejournal.com]

"So how'd it actually go down?" Four asked. "Or did you just move here instead?"

Re: Talk to Reno.

[raspberryturk]

"You're lookin' at it," Reno said, nodding out at the wreckage. "Maybe a couple thousand survived in a city of millions. Out of that, people were droppin' like flies because of radiation poisoning and... another, more hostile poison that got right into their blood, attacked 'em from the inside, yo. Took two years to make that shit stop. That was around the time we started almost bein' able to feed everyone again, too. Built a new city on the outskirts of the ruins, usin' the ruins. We call it Edge."

He drummed his fingers against his knee.

"It's been a long time since then, yo," he added. "We've got a few scattered plants growin' here and there, now. A regular courier system bringing food and med supplies into the city across the desert. A few people are even pickin' up the orphans off the streets, cleaning 'em up, givin' 'em homes. It's almost startin' to look like something again, if you look in the right direction and squint. I go back and forth, now, between Rikku's world and there, but they don't need me around. Most of 'em don't want me around, yo.."

OOC!

[raspberryturk]

Back from Edmonton JUST in time for the final. I timed that well, right?

If you have any questions, feel free to run 'em by me here. There won't be any game mechanics at play today, if you're worried about stomping over FFVII this-or-that. Feel free to take what's been presented at face value. Ruined city, surrounded by desert, full of pollution, monsters, and presumably also dead bodies.

Reno didn't program in the dead bodies. They aren't pretty at all. You're welcome.