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

[myownfuture]

That was a plan? "What are you going to do when you talk to me, then? Or if you need to talk to someone about me?" Something else occurred to her. "Did you forget anyone else?"

[allurprincess]

"I could give you a nickname!" That was an even better idea. She beamed, as though that would help convince Reiko of how good that plan was. And then paused as she caught up to the second question in her head. She nodded, but, "I haven't told them yet."

In an effort to change the subject from something unavoidably painful, she turned to eye the dark-haired boy her princess had been talking to. "Ah, who's this?"

[myownfuture]

She sighed again. A nickname. And what if she forgot that, too?

Changing the subject was a good idea... it was hurting Reiko, too. She turned to Lelouch. "Lelouch vi Britannia. Lelouch, this is Sora Himoto."

[veepofchess]

Lelouch looked on at the strange conversation, and assumed that her friends' names had been one of the memories this place had locked away. He ran trough the names of those most important to him, and he had no trouble associating names to faces, Suzaku Kururugi, Nunnally, C.C.... what had her real name been again? Dammit! Kallen Stadtfeld... It was ironic how the Elevens' hero and his ace pilot had not a drop of Japanese blood in them. Charles zi Britannia... Marianne-- what did his mother's face look like? Sure, she'd wanted to reset the world just as Charles had, but that didn't mean he would push her face away so easily.

He kept his face schooled into a friendly look, despite the internal turmoil. This was something he was good at. He would save it for when he and Suzaku were alone. "It's good to meet you, Miss Himoto," he replied politely. "Did you attend this school previously like Miss Date had?" Another person that could provide information was always welcome.

[allurprincess]

"Ah, yes," it was hard not to warm to him; he reminded her a lot of Karin. "It's a little different than I remember, though..."

Maybe she'd forgotten? But no, that wasn't it. This was somewhere else, she'd checked. "Oh, right!" She turned to face him fully, whilst one hand stayed resting lightly on her princess's shoulder, the other found its way to hovering over Sora's heart, "I'm a Knight, and even if it's different here, I've promised to save everyone. If you're ever in trouble, let me know, and I'll save you. No matter what." She tilted her head to include Reiko in her following grin, "Right?"

[myownfuture]

Despite everything else complicating matters, Reiko had to smile a bit. "Right. That's what Sora Himoto is best at."

[veepofchess]

These two seemed to be taking the game to heart. "I have my own Knight," he replied. If only they knew how literal that was. "But thank you." He smiled a bit at them, in hopes that they would not actually think he was being serious. The less strangers knew about his world, the better.

[allurprincess]

Sora leaned into Reiko gratefully, glad that the older girl wasn't taking the memory loss to heart. And there was another knight?

"That's great!" She didn't sound even slightly sarcastic, "Are they here?"

[veepofchess]

"I have not found him yet," Lelouch replied. "But I haven't been able to search thoroughly yet."

[myownfuture]

"Ah." More knights? Not a literal one, surely. But that was interesting.

...and Lelouch, a boy, had a knight? He would be someone to keep an eye on.

"Good luck," she said, nodding to him. And then something else came to mind, speaking of knights -- "Sora. Did you see that Koharu is a Player...?"

[allurprincess]

"Who?" It slipped out before she thought about it. It only occurred to her a few seconds later that the name might have belonged to one of the others, from the stress she'd put on it. "Uh, I mean..."

[myownfuture]

Not even Koharu. Reiko sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Nevermind for now."

[veepofchess]

He noticed that they have a lot to catch up on, and he had people to find. "If you'll excuse me, ladies. I have a knight to find."

[allurprincess]

Sora blinked out of her embarrassed pause, and nodded. The idea of more people having knights made her unreasonably happy, and more than made up for the complications of this new Exaclan. In her opinion. "Good luck, Lelouch!"