Introduction!

[utopiamods]

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!))

Comments

[trollofthree]

"You think they'd go through all this trouble if we could just walk back out?" He sounded, all in all, far too cheerful for the situation at hand. "Not that we shouldn't try."

[imperceptible]

... he really was. It was starting to get on Kevin's nerves.

Still, Gino had a point. No one would go to all this effort to capture them and then just let them waltz out the front door. What Kevin didn't understand, though, was how they had pulled it off and how they expected to continue to pull it off. How big was this school anyway? And where was it?

Weren't there other people their kidnappers would have to hide them from? And wouldn't people be looking?

"You have an idea?" He asked, craning his neck so that he could look up at Gino.

[trollofthree]

"Yup!" He gestured at the screen, which was still flashing his name amongst the other four. "We play along. No point getting our hosts' backs up by trying to leave this early, right? They'll be expecting that."

And anyway, he wanted his memories back. He tapped one finger against Kevin's shoulder, absently. He only recognised one of the names up on the screen, which meant he'd have to wait for the other three to show themselves. "I bet it won't take too long to win tokens."

[imperceptible]

At Gino's suggestion they play along, Kevin's eyebrows shot up. Being honest, playing along with their kidnappers was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He wanted to find whoever was responsible for taking him from his home and-

Yeah, that was the fast track to nowhere. He didn't even know who it was at this point.

So, with an aggravated sigh, he glanced back at the screen and frowned at Gino's name. "So anyone not on there is a weapon?" For some reason, Kevin didn't seem surprised. Something, deep down inside of him, seemed familiar with the concept. As if he had known all along since his arrival that he was capable of being a weapon.

... which freaked him out on an all new level, really.

[trollofthree]

"Convenient, right?" He grinned, and gestured around at the clumps of other 'students' with his free hand. "Looks like they're all figuring out the same thing..." They were, actually. And his pool of prospective weapons was dwindling; most of the uniformed girls were bunching together, and a small gaggle of kids had formed off to one side. Judging by the grouping, the pale kid with sunglasses was his third opponent. He glanced over at where Kallen had been until she'd fled, and then over at Lelouch. Neither were looking like good options.

Well, not like this was a problem. He leaned down, so Kevin wouldn't have such a job of looking up, and offered the hand that had until just then been in permanent residence on his shoulder. "Hey, let's join forces!"

[imperceptible]

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.

[trollofthree]

"Great!" He shook Kevin's hand amiably, then hmmed a little, glanced at the screen to give himself time to remember what the girl in the video had said, and then, suddenly serious and graceful with long practice, dropped to one knee. "I, Gino Weinberg, promise to own and protect you, Kevin Smith."

Clearly this was something he was used to doing. Part of him was unsure whether this somehow went against his oaths as a soldier of Britannia, but the rest of him shoved that first part into a closet and reminded it that this was a game. If someone called him on it, he'd review. Until then... He stood up after what he felt was an appropriate time for whatever the academy computers needed to do, and looked around. "D'you think that did it?"

[imperceptible]

"What are-!?" Kevin got out in the form of a yelp when Gino went down on one knee before him. For a horrible moment, Kevin thought the blond might be proposing to him and nearly had a heart attack. Fortunately, it was just a little less worse than that.

Fighting the blush that formed on his cheeks and failing, once Gino was on his feet Kevin yanked his hand back and rubbed at it like it was diseased. "It'd better have." He grumbled, quickly crossing his arms before Gino could do something else horribly embarrassing. Quietly, he shuddered at what the knight would do if it wasn't.