utopiamods: (The right way to fight Exaclan)
Rakuen Moderators ([personal profile] utopiamods) wrote in [community profile] rakuen2010-12-28 12:37 am

Introduction!

The tram quickly arrives at the academy station, and the students onboard are ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. They can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. There's a woman sitting at a desk ready to check everyone in, but she's not important right now; what the students should pay attention to is the large flat-screen TV set into one of the walls. As soon as everyone has gathered inside, it clicks on and starts to play a prerecorded video. A cheerful woman appears on-screen; when she speaks, she's so chipper you might just feel your teeth starting to rot.

"Good afternoon to our new students here at Utopia Academy! Thank you for choosing to enroll with us for this, our first semester of the new year. Our battle system is the best in the world, set up for you, our students! I hope that you all had a fun journey here, and that you've all made some new friends! You're going to need them soon, so keep them close, okay?

"Now, I'm going to explain the rules for you. Make sure to listen carefully, and remember, you can find all of this and more in the Exaclan manual!"

A map of the academy appears on-screen. The woman stands green-screened in front of the map.

"Our academy is fully integrated with a virtual network that includes several layers of tactile, empathic holographics geared toward the battle game Exaclan. Exaclan is a game fought between groups of Players using their respective Weapons; if a Player wins a battle, he or she takes possession of the opposing Player's Weapon. This way, Players can own many, many Weapons. Collect them all!

"As for the Weapons, you might be wondering where those come from. Well, as it turns out, only a few of you are going to be Players. The rest of you are Weapons! Players, if you equip your custom-fitted Exaclan gloves, you will be able to unsheathe your weapon from the chest of any Weapon you own."

Meanwhile, behind the woman as she speaks, a stylized cartoon sequence plays out in which a man in knight's garb pulls a sword from the chest of a woman in an elaborate princess gown.

"Now, since you're all just starting out here, you don't own any Weapons yet. In order to take possession of a Weapon, you must ask permission, and then promise to own and protect it. This is very important! Be nice to your Weapons, and in return, they will bring you to victory!

"The items you draw out of your Weapons' chests aren't real; they are part of the holographic Exaclan system. Each person's Weapon will be different, and they aren't just guns or knives, either. Their form is partly determined by the Weapon's personality, but it's partly randomized. Maybe you'll get lucky. Maybe not. It eliminates natural advantages!

"Now, like I said, the Weapons aren't real, but the damage you do in battle is real. You will feel every blow you take from an opponent's Weapon, and physical damage done to your Weapon will damage the person you drew it from, too. So be careful, or you could cause serious damage!"

The woman holds up one finger, grinning ear-to-ear;

"If you win a battle, ownership of the Weapon you fought against transfers to you. You also earn one Token, and you earn an additional Token for every five battles you fight, whether or not you win. Tokens can be used to buy Upgrades, Link Charms, Memory Charms, and Legend Fragments, so do your best to earn as many Tokens as you can!

"Oh, right, about the Memory Charms... you're probably wondering why there are some things you can't remember. That's just a little precaution we took to make sure that you would participate in Exaclan. You've each been stripped of ten memories: Some of them are very important, but some of them aren't. You can purchase a Memory Charm for five Tokens, which means to regain all of your memories will cost fifty Tokens. Ah, there's a catch, though: You can't use the Memory Charms you buy. You have to give them to other people. So get along with your fellow students and make as many friends as you can, okay?

"Now, if you have any other questions, make sure to consult your Exaclan manuals. They will tell you more about the rules of Exaclan, what you can and cannot do with your Weapons, and so forth. Following this video, the list of Players for this Round will be displayed. Anyone not on that list is a Weapon for this Round. Sorry!"

The woman holds one hand up in front of her face apologetically, but continues smiling as ever.

"In conclusion, welcome to Utopia Academy. Let's all do our best and achieve utopia together!"

The video clicks off, replaced by a pale blue screen stating the following:

PLAYERS FOR ROUND -2:
Dave Strider
Gino Weinberg
Grenn Atair
Koharu Izaki
Molly Hayes


((OOC: Feel free to post reactions and general mingling in this post. From here on, you're free to make posts, fight battles, attend class, etc.! If you have any questions, get in touch with a mod.

Edit: A mod mistook how much Memory Charms cost. They're five tokens, not ten. Oops! So the post has been edited slightly. That is all!))
thatguywhohasablog: i guess he's doing some splaining or something (check out these horrifying demon eyes)

[personal profile] thatguywhohasablog 2010-12-29 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"Cool," says Dave, as though something legitimate has just been agreed on. "So I guess I have to promise to own and protect you and shit. Which honestly is almost as creepy as wanting thirteen year old boys to take care of your 19th century detective pecker, but whatever. You cool with this?"
Edited 2010-12-29 23:06 (UTC)
summerstars: (not good)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-29 11:02 pm (UTC)(link)
"For now, anyway," Grenn rolled her eyes as she said it, uncertain why the almost-nice words had tumbled out. The only thing she knew about this guy was that he'd seen her lack of legs and decided she was not only incapable, but "broken". (And she had no reason being nice to people who looked down on her.)

You didn't need a whole body to materialize... discus. Grenn swallowed the choke, because at first she thought they were from the kiddy game, but no. It was worse than that. Why couldn't it just have been something clean, like a regular laser gun? Nothing wrong with laser guns.

"I hope these rounds go by fast," Grenn muttered, and knew it was wrong to feel defeated already, but how would she convince people that she would be a capable fighter? She could of course show her legs, but depending on their frame of reference, prostethics would maybe mean nothing to them.
tenwholeryou: (/ACTS ALL COOL)

[personal profile] tenwholeryou 2010-12-29 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Kotarou blinked at the smile, then grinned back. And, promptly, shifted gears into comfortable arrogance again. "Right! It'll be really useful later, so you'd better look after me."
imperceptible: (Stare / That Look)

[personal profile] imperceptible 2010-12-29 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
For a moment, Kevin simply looked at Gino's offered hand while keeping his own tucked into his pockets. It wasn't that he didn't wasn't that he didn't want to, it was just that he was uncertain of people who seemed overly friendly. After all, that was exactly how Coach Baker had acted and look where that had gotten him?

Still, Gino was offering to help him move ahead and since Kevin hadn't spotted anyone else he knew, he was clearly stuck. Who knew? Maybe Gino wouldn't be that bad.

"Yeah, okay." Kevin finally replied and stuck his hand out into Gino's.
bitofafiction: Looking down, pensive, unsure or regretful. (== come all the same)

[personal profile] bitofafiction 2010-12-29 11:15 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes," he decides, after a moment's thought.

On balance, agreeing to be owned by someone he just me is—however symbolic—probably a bad idea. But he has no doubt that it will be interesting.
swordofzero: Picture of Suzaku looking shocked (THAT'S NOT MEANT TO HAPPEN!)

[personal profile] swordofzero 2010-12-29 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Suzaku blinked sleepily, but ingrained military instincts forced him to wake up pretty quickly and take in the situation he found himself in. He was on a tram, or a train, but it wasn't moving and there was no-one else on it. He wondered if it was a dream but no, this seemed real, more real than the crystalline cave he could vaguely remember from the last time he woke up.

He blinked again, and realised that he had been woken by someone. That someone was a middle-aged Japanese woman. Where was he? In the crystal cave, he had decided that he was in a different world. But this was a normal tram, with a normal, bob-haired woman telling him that he had to get up and go over to the school for the new student orientation.

School? New student? He hadn't been to school since Lelouch became emperor. But Suzaku had decided it was best just to do as he was told until he could work out a way to escape from this place.

"Do I have to tell you again? Hurry up, dear!" Suzaku blinked at the woman. He hadn't been listening at all.

"Sorry, ma'am, I'll go now," he stood and hurried to jump off the tram. He soon saw where he was meant to go, and hurried towards it. Wondering where he was meant to be took most of the walk, and then he was pushing open the door into a huge lobby.
His eyes widened as he saw a girl there, a girl he knew! He opened his mouth to shout her name, but realised that he actually couldn't remember her name. At all.

He knew who she was though, and he listed what he knew methodically, in case there was a name in there somewhere: she was a terrorist; she had been in his class, as a Knight of the Round he had fought her, before he had become Lelouch's knight. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember why he was now Lelouch's knight or what Lelouch was doing being Emperor at all, but that was far too much information for him to take in in one moment.

He concentrated on the present; this girl, whatever her name was, she hated him. For good reason, but at least it was someone he recognised. Maybe he was still in his own world after all. The whole other world thing had been some kind of dream, maybe he had been captured and injected with Refrain after all. Or... something.

"Erm, hello miss..." he said, awkwardly, as he still couldn't remember her name. "Are you alright?" She didn't look alright, now he looked closer she seemed upset. Shocked, even.
frozen_desires: (quit throwin' trash in here)

[personal profile] frozen_desires 2010-12-29 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)
At Grenn's murmur, Tougyu glanced up at her again before walking towards her. Once at her side, he crouched in order to get a better look at her legs, staring at them unabashedly.

There really was no doubt about it, she'd never be picked as a weapon. Owners wanted toys who were mobile, able to come to them at a moment's notice. Able to follow them without trouble. Someone like her would be the exact opposite. The owner would have to take care of her.

"You want to be a player?" He inquired, glancing sideways up at her.
summerstars: (Default)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-29 11:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Grenn had the great urge to smack him in the face with what was left of her left leg, since it was the longest. That would feel way creepy though, considering... For a moment, everything crashed to a halt and Grenn realized, she didn't remember Lyra kissing her. At all. She knew it had happened, but she couldn't. remember. it. Of all the things---

Concentrate on something else. Like the guy staring at her legs. If she was someone else, she might have joked about where her face was. As it was, such a thing didn't even come to mind.

"For this round, I am a player," Grenn finally snapped, and, tired of the foolish attitude, hauled up the bag that she'd wrestled around the back of the wheelchair, so she could easily get it.
"If I need to, I'll use these," Grenn paused to pull out one of the prostethics. Damn whoever was in charge and hadn't brought her hover chair with her!

She didn't know why she bothered, though. People like him would probably always see her as "incapable", even though she was a full person with or without the prostethics.
thatguywhohasablog: thumbs upppp (8|b)

[personal profile] thatguywhohasablog 2010-12-30 12:02 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, okay." He could deal with that, right? Sure he could. This was a school, or at least pretending to be, so it wasn't like he'd have to be exclusively in charge of the kid. Anyway, he couldn't be worse than the crocodiles.

"Oh, hey, you might wanna tell me your name before I just pick one for you."
frozen_desires: (quit throwin' trash in here)

[personal profile] frozen_desires 2010-12-30 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
As Grenn brought out the metal limb, Tougyu's eyes drifted to that instead.

For a moment he seemed to be considering them, tilting his head this way and that before he straightened fully. "Put them on." He ordered, not realizing she would probably be offended by his tone. Instead, he began to weight the possibilities. She was a player and he was a weapon. She needed someone to protect her and he... well, his weapon... it was made for protecting. He knew that.
summerstars: (Default)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
For the love of the Name! Who did this guy think he was? Grenn felt her face do an involuntary snarl before smoothing out into a narrow stare. She leaned back in the wheelchair and crossed her arms.

"And what is that going to tell you? That I still am shorter than you?" She was rather proud that the comeback came so quickly and easily. Usually it didn't come so easily to her.

But really, why was he asking (demanding)? She'd obviosuly implied she could walk on them, so what was the use in asking for a "demonstration"? She didn't understand, and felt a great deal like leaving.
summerstars: (pout)

Re: ROOMING NOTIFICATIONS - !IMPORTANT!

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
She had just been here. Couldn't the receptionist have thought of this when she was there? Of course, maybe she should have remembered to ask, too.

"Umm, eh. Hi. About... the rooms?" Oh yes. Grenn gritted her teeth and tried to not shift in her seat. She couldn't even pop out a question to something that they'd already made an announcement they wanted people to come up to get information for.
frozen_desires: (aw fuck me silly)

[personal profile] frozen_desires 2010-12-30 12:38 am (UTC)(link)
"It'll tell me if I can use you." Tougyu replied in neutral tones as he leaned closer, nudging the prosthetic with his arm.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was offering to be her weapon. Why he even cared, really. But there was something in the back of his mind, something telling him that he had to protect something. Someone. That there was a girl out there that he should be beside no matter what and that it wasn't Shishido-senpai. Maybe it was because of that feeling that he was offering himself to this person now. Maybe, just maybe, if he helped her, that awful, gut wrenching feeling that he was forgetting something very important would go away for a little while.
tenwholeryou: (that's what HE said)

[personal profile] tenwholeryou 2010-12-30 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
Dave was vastly overestimating the relative irritation crocodiles were capable of in relation to Kotarou's talents. Not that that was Kotarou's problem; he was currently busy staring at the mark that had just appeared without fanfare or warning on the back of his right hand.

"It's Kotarou," he said, after a second of scowling down at the weird symbol. He made sure to stress each syllable, just in case he tried to pick one anyway. It would probably be something stupid that he wouldn't understand, anyway. "Got it? What's yours?"
thatguywhohasablog: possibly he is smiling a little possibly he is just indifferent hard to say (we challenge you to a rap battle)

[personal profile] thatguywhohasablog 2010-12-30 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
"Okay, awesome. Let's do this." He nodded to Sherlock. "Let's make this take place."
summerstars: (pout)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Grenn stared. Tugged at a clump of hair and stared some more. Fragging... She was..! The metal limb was demonstatively waved around in frustration with an ease that belied its denseness, if not absolute weight.

She needed at least one Weapon. She knew this. But this... mud-brained, fragging asshole--!

"Listen to me," Grenn snapped as she first put the left prostethic to the metal connectors, a slight tooth-aching buzz and whoosh of vacuum announcing the connection, and then did the same to the right. "And listen well," Grenn snarled as she stood up, ignoring racing flickers of pain going up her spine and into her brain, static electricity inside her head, her flesh.

"If I actually wore these usually, I'd probably be... useless by now. Most people need heavy pain-killers the like which will not exist for a few hundred years!" Grenn stabbed Tougyu in the chest several times as she spoke.

... Oops. Was she supposed to say something like that?
summerstars: (Default)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
Studying the screen, and recalling the map from earlier and the way they'd taken from the tram, Grenn nodded.

"Okay, thanks." Taking the keys, Grenn was about to turn around and leave when she actually came up with a question. It only took a bit to get her words in order, even.

"Are they group dorms?"
thatguywhohasablog: indifferent slouch (:/)

[personal profile] thatguywhohasablog 2010-12-30 01:04 am (UTC)(link)
"Kotarou. Okay. That's better than Viceroy Bubbles von Kidamancer or Doctor Kidgon Spengler anyway." He tilted his head to get a look at what the kid had been staring at. "Dave Strider. What's that?"
summerstars: (Default)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
Grenn looked back to the screen, remembering seeing that name there. So, for the moment, they were both players. The most important thing though... there was only one other person (for now). Grenn hoped she wouldn't mess up. More than usual anyway.

"Thanks." Grenn nodded, tossed a smile and left again. She hoped that would be it for now. She'd probably looked silly enough going back and forth like that, if anyone had been paying attention.
frozen_desires: (quit throwin' trash in here)

[personal profile] frozen_desires 2010-12-30 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
"You're useless without them." Tougyu remarked, tilting his head to the side as she jabbed her finger at his torso. Still, he seemed to approve of her mobility, even if it seemed a bit shaky. Stepping back, he circled her once like a vulture, mostly inspecting her legs before stopping behind her and stooping down, poking at the metal limb.

"Can you fight like this?"
tenwholeryou: (you what with the who where)

[personal profile] tenwholeryou 2010-12-30 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Like I know," he glanced up at Dave - what kind of name was that, anyway - and went back to scrubbing at the mark with one grubby sleeve. "It won't come off."
summerstars: (pout)

[personal profile] summerstars 2010-12-30 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
Was he really as stupid as he was making himself out to be? For once, Grenn gave in to a malicious little urge. She 'pretended' to stumble and stepped down on the toes of his right foot. Not with her whole weight, or even the whole weight of the two-kilo metal prostethics, but stepped either way. There'd be bruises. Hopefully she hadn't broken any bones and hopefully he wouldn't loose any nails, but she didn't think she'd stepped down hard enough for that.

There were needles where flesh and metal met as she shifted her stance, carefully got away from any vulnerable bits.

"I have run an obstacle course with these." Grenn's voice was sharp. "And with a ranged weapon, I could sit in that wheelchair and still win." She may have sounded a bit too sure on that, but hopefully that was true. She hoped there'd be Weapons when she was a player that she wouldn't have to use her prostethics for.

"

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