citylogs | [MINGLE, ESPECIALLY TO NEWCOMERS] ROOFTOP FESTIVITIES!!!

[MINGLE, ESPECIALLY TO NEWCOMERS] ROOFTOP FESTIVITIES!!!

WHO: All!
WHAT: Rooftop festivities!
WHERE: On a rooftop of an office building in the second open district!
WHEN: 8/14, evening!
WARNINGS: alcohol, tba as it goes

Banner displayed inside the train station, outside city hall, and on the most used residence buildings.

Follow the arrows.
So you're unaware. Maybe new. Or maybe you just didn't care the first time you saw it. That's fine. Between the banners hanging around key areas, and the flyers quickly drawn up in a similar fashion scattered across the city, it's hard not to know something is going on -- and there's helpful arrows, chalked on building walls and the streets the day of the party, to let people know where to go.

The Rooftop

A splendid scene awaits those who travel heavensward. Fairy lights connect the corners of the roof access building to metal poles at the corners of the building itself, lifted by cylindrical supports where needed, each one held straight by pots filled with well-packed dirty and stone. There's multicolored stars hanging from some of the lights, while various painted flowers hang on others, and what greets the ears first is some royalty free party music played from a CD player off the the side.

There's a long folded out table in the center for those who'd like to share cuisine, just set and serve yourself! Nearby is a space for Daan to do some bartending as well, a man who can make a multitude of cocktails and mocktails for those who want something less alcoholic. Also, pints of various ice cream flavors in a cooler!

Don't worry -- they won't have any odd effects on them, Don verified the lack of them herself. Not all of them are normal. Think loaded baked potato weird.

For those who'd like a quieter space, there's beanbags and a swirly, fuzzy carpet to sit on more away from the center of the party area. This'll be a great time to play some games, such as truth or dare, spin the bottle, and... whatever else you play at parties. Get to know your fellow man and such. Play the violin.

Naturally, no party... hosted... by Don Quixote would be without a space to fight, if one wishes to show off a little! It's also taking place on a swirly fuzzy carpet, just so no one smashes their head in, and there's a neat little banner hanging down from a string of lights that says thus:

WIN THREE MATCHES AND A PRIZE AWAITS THEE!!!!!!!
- NO KILLING
- HANDS ONLY

What the prize is, no one knows. But come find Don Quixote with your battle scars and she'll grant it -- and stick around a while, 'cause this party's gonna end with a bang... that is, with homemade fireworks donated by "a friend" through Junpei.

Anyway, have fun!!! Share words about your worlds!!! The society your characters are from, the cuisine they've brought, how they're working out in the city -- help the new kids along, too. There's more vets here now than there were a few months ago, after all.

Navi: Truth or Dare - Two Truths and a Lie - Hydra Storytelling w/Junpei - Drink Up With Daan - Qixi Festivites

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[ wtf is a credchip. from context clues Reno will assume some kind of currency situation—payoffs and blackmail do sometimes go hand in hand. ] Sure, that's one way of doin' it. But those are easy to fuck up.

[ money moving between accounts, documents being requisitioned... even for ShinRa, the de facto government of the world, there were situations in which it was better not to risk it. the origin story of Administrative Research: doing the jobs you don't want to leave a trail. ]

Plus, if you bribe somebody then ya gotta send someone in like, [ here he puts on his best middle management, corporate shill impression, ] "The President has considered your position thoroughly and is prepared to make an offer that we sincerely hope will encourage amicable relations between our companies," blah blah.

I mean, ya gotta put somebody's name on it so they know what the bribe's for. Sometimes it's better to send in the folks who'll get it done without leaving fingerprints, y'know?

[ Emerick felt that a bribe was probably the easiest route to go when you were as violence avoidant as he was, but he had never really considered what it would be like to have to try to bribe someone while actually on some corporate payroll. He laughed at the impression, though his smile didn't last too long after as he pondered on it more. ]

I suppose - I feel this is a difference in where we're from. If you don't want to leave fingerprints, you typically hire some edgerunner to do it for you. If they die then no personnel are lost, and if they get caught then there's nothing that ties them back to the corp trying to run the job.

But that does have a lot of risk, too. Some merc won't have the loyalty to the company a suit would, and they could be bought off or bribed themselves. Companies usually have the kinda scratch they can afford the edgerunners with the best reps, though, so that usually doesn't happen unless they pick a merc with some particularly strong anti-corpo sentiment. Someone'd probably be fired for failing to do their research if that happened, I imagine.

Just depends on what type of job it is, I suppose. [ He smiled a little, apologetic in tone. ] I haven't worked much with the megacorps so take my impressions with a grain of salt.

[ even as Emerick's smile fades, Reno's just grows. he props his cheek in one hand, braced against the back of his seat, and his expression is all open interest and fascination as Emerick talks. ]

Definitely a difference in where we're from. [ he studies Emerick's face, gaze sharp, putting together the information he's received into a clearer picture of the kind of world he hails from. learning to strip a pistol as a kid, the amount he knows about the underbelly of these kinds of corporate deals. ] Now, megacorp I get. Credchip, I think I figured out. But what does an edgerunner do? Merc work? What edges are they running on?

[ okay, that last one is a little facetious, but Reno really is interested. ]

[ For as comfortable as Emerick was, as relaxed and chill he acted toward Reno, there was the same attention and focus reflected back at the other man. He acted the way he did to be purposefully disarming: an unfortunate habit, but useful when his entire job was soaking up information like a sponge.

The question as to what an edgerunner was made Emerick's brows lift a little. ]

Well, a credchip's easy... [ He shifted and pulled his wallet out - yes, he still carried it; he felt fucking weird without it, okay? - and pulled a credchip out and showed it to Reno. ] Just a card with eddies - uh, Euro Dollars, my home's currency - on it. More common for large amounts of money where cash isn't convenient.

[ Reno could take it and look it over, if he wanted. It was worthless here so if Reno decided to be an ass then it was no real loss, but Emerick would want it back if the other wasn't so inclined to be a jerk. Either way, the wallet would be folded back up and put back in the pocket it came from and Emerick settled back in his chair. ]

I guess if you want a dictionary definition of edgerunner... It's someone who lives outside of the edges of what society deems polite or acceptable - anyone who lives a not quite legal lifestyle. The more common usage is just synonymous with mercenary, really.

Once upon a time, edgerunner meant someone who was railing against the megacorps, but that war was lost decades ago.

[ Reno takes the offered card, turning it over in his fingers. ] Huh. [ it does look just like a chip, in the electronics sense of the word, which he supposes shouldn't be surprising given its name. ] We're still pretty cash-heavy where I'm from, unless you're a real big shot.

[ once upon a time, old man Shinra had gotten nearly everything on credit—after Meteorfall, not so much. banks were reluctant to lend in the wake of an almost-apocalypse, turns out.

he hands the card back—no desire nor need to keep it, especially given the fact that there's no currency required here, and Reno's only an ass when he has something to gain from being so. ]

Interesting. [ he means that—even if it's very clear to him that they're both dancing around the subject of how each of them fit into their respective worlds, Reno is fascinated by hearing about others. ] And megacorps are big companies, I take it?

[ Emerick was glad that his world was mostly wireless transfers and cards - cash was always something of a hassle. Having to count it out, get change, you know. It was a whole to do in an almost otherwise wireless world. Sort of. Tech's weird. ]

Yeah, big transnational corporations. They're more or less sovereign entities on their own. I'm from a city called Night City, and we're more or less owned by a Japanese company called Arasaka because they have the most money to throw around.

[ There was a whole discussion on what was and wasn't an independent sovereign state when it came to the Californias as Night City but he hardly wanted to ramble on about that unless Reno asked. As for Arasaka itself, Emerick certainly spoke in a way that suggested he had thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the subject, despite seeming to be pretty neutral when it came to other topics they'd discussed. ]

Aha. [ hearing the word itself, "megacorp," certainly called to mind the kind of company that wielded power on the scale of a small nation—so Reno's not surprised to hear Emerick confirm it. ]

I know the type. [ not the same company, obviously, he doesn't even know what Japan is, but the concept. in fact, he knows it intimately.

in comparison to the carefully dispassionate way Emerick has talked about other things so far tonight, the tone of his voice when he mentions Arasaka is interesting. Reno lifts an eyebrow, curious. ] Not a fan, I take it?

I don't think anyone but Arasaka is, really, [ he admitted. ]

I might not mind it as much if it didn't feel like they were using Night City as a strategic way to expand power to another continent. While they deal in banking and manufacturing - who doesn't, really - they also deal in corporate security. Security firms like them or the NUSA's Militech are highly militarized entities.

[ He stopped for a moment to rub his jaw in thought, his gaze unfocusing as he stared out into the middle distance. ]

From what I've found digging around on the net, while Militech keeps a presence in Night City just because it's good business sense, they also do it to keep an eye on Arasaka. The two were at each other's throats before the Fourth Corporate War, and I just don't think the war really solved any of it - especially not with the fact that someone was gonk enough to bomb Arasaka in Night City. There'll be hell to pay for that once Arasaka gets their shit back together, I imagine.

[ His gaze finally refocused on Reno. ]

I think Arasaka keeps its chokehold on Night City because it's strategic for them. [ Yes, he'd said that already, but he had managed to get his thoughts together. ] It's the closest to NUSA soil they can get, which puts pressure on Militech and other weapons and security corps that are more closely tied to the NUSA. In addition, it allows Arasaka a second head should the Kang Tao - a Chinese weapons company - decide to attack Arasaka's home office in Japan. A two-headed dragon's harder to fight than one.

[ He paused thoughtfully. There was more Emerick could get into, but Reno wasn't from his home, so he wasn't sure how much of this was even sticking. At best the other man at least knew the countries he was mentioning even if the corporations didn't exist, at worst? Well, this conversation could end up being rather drawn out. He decided to stop with the details, for now, and just finish with his sentiment. ]

I don't really care what the corporations do to each other, but I already live in an active war zone with the gangs scrambling for as much territory as they can wrestle from each other. I hardly need these corps making it worse.

[ well, that certainly solidifies for Reno the fact that he and Emerick are definitely not from the same world—none of these names ring bells for him, Night City or Arasaka or China or Japan or the Fourth Corporate War.

but Reno, for all that he plays at incompetence sometimes, isn't an idiot. he can put the picture together from what Emerick says: companies with the same interests, eyeing the same territory for various reasons. the need to maintain intel on on each other, and others in the same or adjacent markets. the strategy that goes into it, the violence, and the way the people eventually become little more than statistics, numbers on paper within acceptable limits.

it's a little close to home, and Reno can get why Emerick wouldn't love having two superpowers playing tug-of-war on his turf. he tugs absently at the ponytail hanging over his shoulder and says, ] It ain't easy being a footnote in an expansion plan, huh?

[ saying that shit out loud would have made him a traitor, three years ago. ]

How's being here for you, then? [ this feels like a natural follow-up. ] Way quieter, I bet.

[ The ask about being a footnote pulled a humorless chuckle out of Emerick. ] Nothing about Night City is easy. You get used to it when you grow up in it.

[ The follow up makes Emerick fall silent and shift in his seat as he thinks. He's been here for two and a half months give or take some change, and he still wasn't sure how he felt. There were a lot of things that were much better than when he was at home, but the unknowns about being here made him uncomfortable and he missed his sister and Torrent every single day. He hated not knowing whether or not they were okay. ]

There are a lot of things about being here that are objectively better. It's nice to be able to walk down the street and not be worried for your life, and to be able to sleep without hearing gunfire all night. There's no rent and the apartment I have here is better than anything I could ever hope to afford back home, the food's free and all of our needs are being met. [ He paused, clearly still thinking about how he felt about it all. ]

It's just... The nature of how we all arrived here, the lack of explanation or transparency -- even if it were a lie, which I would, admittedly, expect. I don't know why we're here, or why any of us were picked. I don't trust it. I don't trust being here. On the surface things are a lot better, but I have this nag at the back of my neck that this place is hollow, or, worse, rotten. [ He had deeper thoughts about this, too, that he decided not to dip into without prompting. ]

On a less serious note, I hate that there aren't any books to read. I miss books. I miss having a net that I could really dig into and find wacky conspiracy bullshit to laugh at. I miss news feeds, and reading about corporate blunders. I miss the neon lights and the sound of the city traffic outside my window.

I don't know that I miss Night City itself, but I sure miss aspects of my life before here. [ What he really missed, outside of his sister, was the absolutely constant stimulation that bombarded him in Night City. He'd never been somewhere so still before, he'd never been bored before coming here. ]

[ smart man, Reno thinks. on the surface this city is an anticapitalist wet dream: free rent, free food, all needs met, no threats of violence or dispossession. comforts provided not just to keep them alive but to keep them content, keep them from needing the weapons that had been taken away from them on arrival.

and yet the very nature of it, in itself, feels rotten to the core. why provide for them this way unless there was something to gain? why pluck them from their lives and drop them here unless there was something about them that was worth observing?

Reno still hasn't decided if they're the control or the variable, but either way he doesn't like it. ]

I heard there's no books. No TV either? I ain't much of a hobbies guy but those would have been my go-tos. [ he understands the boredom, though; Reno thinks that's probably gonna come for him too, pretty soon. ]

Hard to broadcast when there aren't any people, and I don't know if any of us that were brought here know how? I also haven't seen any chatter about a broadcasting station, but sometimes I don't pay close attention to the network and may have missed something. [ Idle thoughts absently shared. ]

And what of you? I know it's an unfair question since you're new here, but you glad you turned up here? Waiting to see?

Seems like there's gotta be something... 'course, I also heard there's a lot more of the city than what we can actually get to right now. Maybe it's out there [ he waves a hand vaguely in what he thinks is the direction of the nearest current city limit, although he might be wrong, who knows! ] somewhere.

[ having the question turned back on him isn't surprising, but Reno still isn't totally sure how to answer. he's been thinking about it since the day he got here—weighing pros and cons, trying to find silver linings.

he admires the optimism of some that he's met so far, but Reno's not convinced he believes it yet. ]

Tough question. [ he grins crookedly, thinking about how much he's willing to give away—the things that any grown adult in Midgar would know are probably fair game, right? ] The lifestyle I'm used to is... well, it ain't this. First we were at war, then the world almost ended, then we started rebuilding and the world almost ended again...

[ and that's just the last ten years of Reno's life. go back even further and it's not much more chill. ]

So, y'know. Being disarmed ain't my favorite, and I don't love not knowing what the hell's going on. But more than that I'm gonna have to work hard at not losing my shit for being bored. So I think we're pretty much in the same boat.

Absolutely - who knows what's out in the further reaches of the city. [ He shrugged a little. He was curious, yes, he wanted to know what else was in the city, but they weren't allowed to look outside of whatever bounds the thing that brought them here had decided. It was clear there was a schedule to such things and they were at the mercy of whoever ran things.

Emerick was perhaps a little less surprised than he should have been with the summary Reno gave. It was definitely the case he assumed Reno was talking the same way he would (overwhelming capitalistic greed and at least one nuclear war causing a total ecological collapse seemed to be the equivalent of the end of the world, really) rather than something that could quite literally be the end of the entire world. ]

That sounds like one hectic and stressful as hell life. [ He recognized it was an understatement, but what does one say to that? It was like when he talked about his own conditions of arriving here, how he was initially confused. Regardless, he gave a wry smile. ] Maybe you were chosen 'cause you were overdue for a vacation.

I feel you though, about being disarmed. Even to this day I still habitually check for my gun and find it not there. It still makes me feel more exposed than I could ever care for. I want to say that things here are relatively calm and you really don't need it, but you never really need to be armed until suddenly you do.

At least there's some particularly extroverted types that want and have the skills to organize shit like this, but the times between can get real rough. I know you said you're not a hobby guy but it might be worth it just to kill time when you're a little too alone with your thoughts.

[ apocalypse, and not at all in the figurative way—Meteor absolutely would have decimated the planet if it hadn't been for Holy and the Lifestream's devastating intervention. (turns out that forcing the very lifeblood of the planet to erupt from its surface does quite a bit of damage, too—almost as much as Meteor had.)

but to be honest, Reno doesn't really want to get into the specifics of it. he just shrugs, grins a little at the idea that this is just all an elaborate way to get him to take time off. ] Hey, maybe. The PTO bank for us is usually one way—all accrual.

[ the only way the Turks get leave is if they're injured and forced out for medical reasons. this has been the case for Reno before, but it's hard to really consider that a vacation.

it's easy to nod agreement about the weapons—Reno's first night here was the first in twelve years he'd slept without four weapons in arm's reach. even now, he feels naked without a sidearm under his jacket and his stun baton at his hip. ]

I'm plenty extroverted at least. [ ...as Emerick has probably gathered. ] Maybe this is my chance to find my real passion. Knitting or some shit. [ lol as if ] What do you do? To keep from being alone with your thoughts.

[ Emerick had to smile when his joke landed. There was a lot of negativity here among everyone - understandably so, certainly - and it tended to get a little old. Everyone had the same questions, nobody had any answers. It still sure beat home (in some ways at least) - there was no break when you worked contract to contract and had the crushing weight of capitalism on your shoulders.

It was the knitting that made Emerick almost snort as he inhaled sharply out of amusement. The idea of this guy knitting was funny to him - just as funny as trying to imagine himself doing something so incredibly domestic. ]

Yeah, think you'd do real well with a pair of needles and yarn. [ He chuckled a little more as he let himself finally fully relax into the seat, the humor finally diffusing whatever leftover tension he was holding onto. He calms with a smile comfortable on his face. ]

One of my novels has been returned to me so sometimes I read, though I have it memorized so it's more just something to do with my hands than really stimulating. I've taken up drawing again, which I haven't done since I was a younger man with more time on my hands. I have a standing coffee date each week or so with a friend I've made here, where we just talk. Sometimes I just sit around and listen to music, or talk to my agent. [ A small shrug. ]

I also spend a lot of time collating the data I've collected and that people share on the network and wade through our conspiracy theories as much as anyone else, but that's a dead end for now.

[ Reno isn't exactly an optimist, not in the glass-half-full, look-at-the-bright-side way, but he does think there's a time and a place for raging against the machine. he hasn't met all that many people yet, but among the ones Reno has encountered, nobody seems stupid—if there were a way to easily get out of this situation, surely someone would have found one in three months.

thus: no point in being an asshole about it unless he's also effecting change, which Reno isn't yet in a position to be doing. ]

I could definitely do something with the needles, it's the yarn that gives me pause. [ is that a joke about being a merc of sorts? maybe yes.

Emerick saying "since I was a younger man" when he's almost definitely Reno's age or younger does make Reno grin, but he doesn't comment—there's a difference between being young and feeling young, the latter mostly being a byproduct of the kind of life you've lived, and it doesn't sound like Emerick's has been easy. ]

Not a bad bunch of hobbies. Sounds like you're the guy to come to when I end up with questions, huh?

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[MINGLE, ESPECIALLY TO NEWCOMERS] ROOFTOP FESTIVITIES!!!

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