Stern Algorithm

Arknights: 5S

@Lemons

Great post, though slight correction: Jericho did not come with. He stayed at the office and forced Minimalist to go with you all instead. The party is currently Ash Girl, Seven, Minimalist and Baltasar.

Being around any number of Victorians now was enough to make her skin start to itch, and certainly enough to stay well and truly silent. Ideally, to never see or interact with them at all.

Ash Girl

I have some bad news...

Arknights: 5S

@Nanolyte

If Seven uses her 'sight' on someone like Ptilopsis, would she see something different from a normal human, given that Ptilopsis' consciousness is partially (if not completely) computerized by an originium device?

Arknights: 5S

Baltasar, reassured by both Ash Girl and Seven's recommendations, nodded, and asked one of the orphans to lead them to the bazaar to point out the tent's location.

Sargon - Hisn-ul-Zahra City Plate - Bazaar - Early afternoon

At the market, there was definitely a spot, now vacated, between two other stalls: a dried fruits merchant and a textiles merchant. The space was narrow and kept open due to it being a utility access point, meaning that setting up a stall in this in-between spot was illegal, even with a vendor's permit. Baltasar went up to the fruit merchant, a portly middle-aged, male perro, and asked, "Was there a tent in this spot earlier today?"

"Oh, you poor boy, you missed it! At first, I didn't like them setting up shop so close, but they paid me for the trouble, so I let them carry on with whatever they were doing. As it turns out, they were just giving away dinars, which ended up bringing a lot of foot traffic once the word spread, so it actually helped my business!" The man explained jovially, clearly overjoyed at the profits he had made that morning.

"What kind of people were they? Do you know where they went?" Baltasar pushed on.

"Oh, I don't know, foreigners...? They packed up pretty quickly all of a sudden. I didn't stick my nose into it. It seems like a terrible business model, if you ask me," The fruit merchant replied, then shouted across to the neighboring textile merchant, "Hey, Samer! You know where that tent went? You know where they're from?" The perro turned back to Baltasar and whispered, "Samer's a lot nosier than I am."

It was the hottest time of the day, so it was understandable that business would be slow. During such times, merchants usually took a break. Those that stayed at their stalls tended to shoot the breeze like this. "Don't know where they went." Samer the textile merchant replied, "You know they're not supposed to open a stall here, right? Gets in the way of emergency services. I tried to tell them, but they just kept trying to pay me to get me to shut up, the nerve!"

"Did you take the money?"

"Of course I did! As for where they're from, they wouldn't tell me that either. But I can tell you they spoke better Victorian than anyone here, so my guess would be they're Victorians."

The perro turned back to Baltasar, "Well, either way, if they're from out-of-town, they couldn't get into the city without going through customs. Or out of the city, for that matter."

Baltasar weighed his options, "I could go to the city watch and file a missing child case, but those usually take a while, so I've heard. I'm just really worried and for some reason, I don't want to waste any time. I really want to go to the main gate and see if there are any groups of Victorians trying to leave, but there's always a line and they're not going to let me just walk up to the front and hold up the port. They're also not going to just tell me what foreign groups are moving in and out of the city if it's not my business."

Arknights: 5S

"Hey, so have you heard of 'Pasta Pioneer' movies? They're movies based in the Pioneer Era of Columbia's history when they sent pioneers out into the untamed wasteland to claim large swaths of territory, establishing the foothold for modern Columbia. But unlike normal pioneer movies, Pasta Pioneer movies are made by Siracusans, adding their own take to the genre. One criticism of classic pioneer movies is that they're too 'campy' and 'overly optimistic', even though the reality of being a pioneer was often harsh and lawless. The Siracusans, who have their own history of lawlessness, made the genre more 'dark' and 'gritty', but significantly more engaging and interesting. Add to that the Siracusan's own unique cinematography techniques and moving orchestral pieces and you get quite a few amazing, genre-redefining movies. You should check them out when you have the chance. I've got a few recommendations..."

Excerpt from Operator Jericho's ramblings

Arknights: 5S

Sorry for holding the rp back, but probably only able to post tomorrow, have some stuff going on.

@Nanolyte

No worries, I expect a fairly chill posting schedule.

Arknights: 5S

BTW, @Stern Algorithm, is the nationality of the tent identifiable?

@Nanolyte

The kids were not able to identify the nationality of the tent. I should point out that the kids recall that the people in the tent spoke Victorian, but that is considered the 'common tongue'.

@Lemons, I also wanted to mention that the supposed prize for touching the jar were the dinars that every participant was given.

Arknights: 5S

Interestingly enough, the main plot of the RP is also about an extinct nation, if the whole ancient Egypt vibe hasn't been a dead giveaway.

Arknights: 5S

Is this still accepting?

@Kero

Yes, were still accepting, though I may not slow down the current pace. I will try to find a point to bring your character in once they have been accepted.

Arknights: 5S

Baltasar's eyes flitted from Ash Girl to Seven, sizing up the two that had been assigned to help him. His eyes narrowed at Seven's remark, but he held his tongue; he had seen her helping out at the orphanage and didn't want any perceived rudeness on his part to push away her aid.

Selim smiled, seemingly unphased by Seven's antics, having had plenty of experience dealing with snarky, but well-meaning, coworkers. But before he sat back down, he suddenly perked up. "Minimalist!"

"Huh?!" The small, black-haired Durin jolted at suddenly being called, the house of cards he had been making crumbling down in the process.

"Go with them," Selim demanded.

"Why?" Minimalist retorted, irked at the setback to his little card project.

"'Wh-why?' All you've done since you got here is complain about the architecture. You're an operator too, aren't you? Go on out there and do something useful! 'Git!" Selim randomly picked up a stapler and brandished it menacingly, though it wasn't clear whether he was going to throw it or do something else with it.

"Fine, FINE!" Minimalist got up out of his seat and followed Ash Girl, Seven, and Baltasar out of the office into the scorching Sargonian sun.

As the group walked over to the orphanage, Baltasar explained, "Nur is pretty absent-minded. Hisn-ul-Zahra isn't the biggest nomadic city, consisting only of a single plate, so even if he's lost, there are only so many places he could be. But it's still fairly new, and there are still a lot of parts under construction which can be...dangerous."

At the orphanage Baltasar checked the chores calendar and found the other two children that had gone with Nur to the market. After a small amount of questioning, the following details came to light: there was a foreign military tent set up in the market with a 'hawker' outside inviting people into the tent to 'win a prize'. Word had spread that the people in the tent simply wanted passersby to 'touch a jar', paid them some dinars, and let them on their way. Hoping to make some quick change, the children had gone in one-by-one and touched the jar. As they left the tent, dinars in hand, the two children suddenly lost track of Nur, and assumed he had gone somewhere to spend his money. Though the children had described the tent as 'foreign', unfortunately the tent was giving out the local currency, and the children either were unfamiliar with or could not recognize any identifying symbols.

"I was just at the market looking for Nur," Baltasar explained, "But I didn't see any suspicious tent. Did they pack up and leave already?" Baltasar wasn't sure if this was even a worthwhile lead to follow. It could just be a coincidence that Nur disappeared after visiting the tent. But besides Rhodes Island, Baltasar generally assumed that the intentions of foreign powers were sinister in nature.

Arknights: 5S

Aoife's time at Rhodes Island so far...

Aoife's prognosis wasn't good. Not only had she received a massive dose of originium, but she had gone without treatment during the most crucial stages. It took a few weeks on the landship to stabilize her condition and get her orientated as an operator, but the medical team was starting to consider more drastic, experimental treatments for her. A caprinae operator named 'Polka', who had been assigned to a newly-established clinic in Sargon, possessed arts surrounding originium that could be the key to extending Aoife's life. Operator Earthspirit had been planning to head to the Hisn-ul-Zahra clinic for research into the catastrophe patterns unique to Sargon and was willing to take Aoife along with her. Aoife has been at the clinic for about a week, undergoing treatment with Polka. Next to the clinic, Rhodes Island also established an orphanage, primarily to care for infected children.

Seven's time at Rhodes Island so far...

Though distant, Dr. Kal'tsit demonstrated an awareness of Seven's condition and seemed, every once in a while, to assign Seven on missions that lay outside of Rhodes islands stated goals; missions that appeared to be personal projects for the doctor involving relics of the past. Few and far between, these missions, expectedly, had not provided Seven with an answer nor a solution. One day, Kal'tsit approached Seven wordlessly and handed her a dossier. In it were photocopies of a letter and a photograph. The photograph seemed to show the inside of a massive, artificial cavern. A large, imposing, obsidian octahedron was suspended from the ceiling of the cave via chains. The letter came from a 'Catch Lightrace' and was addressed to 'Stitch Canvas', AKA operator Minimalist. Catch was apparently still on his quest to look for their mentor, and had been wandering the Durin underground. He had recently happened upon another abandoned city, and took a picture of the strange object, as he knew that Catch "liked geometric shapes". What the letter failed to mention, most likely thanks to Catch's naivete, were the catwalks, scaffolds, and military equipment that seemed to surround the object, clearly evident in the photo.

"This was Catch's last letter. Take Minimalist with you. Head to Hisn-ul-Zahra to prepare and gather a team. Determine what nations may be involved before going to Acahualla." Kal'tsit offered these instructions cryptically, but what remained unspoken was the usual, 'secure the object or destroy it'. Given the size of the artifact, destruction seemed to be the only option.

Mood piece

Sargon - Hisn-ul-Zahra City Plate - Rhodes Island Branch Office - Early afternoon

The lunch rush due to activity at the neighboring orphanage was dying down as Rhodes Island personnel went back to their business. A young, local, Rebbah male, Baltasar El-Kabti, entered the office, looking worried and agitated. He had been working part-time for the Branch office for a while now, taking care of the children at the orphanage. He was an orphan himself, and infected, but he had grown up before the branch office had been established. Still, it was clear he cared for the children and admired what Rhodes Island was doing to help the unfortunate in the city.

"E-excuse me, but has anyone seen Nur?" he asked in a thick Sargonian accent, wasting no time as he wandered the office, looking for anywhere that the child he was looking for could be hiding. "I didn't see him at lunch today." Nur was one of the infected orphans that Baltasar looked after; a quiet, Liberi boy who often had his head in the clouds.

Selim, AKA operator Jericho, a large but older Aegirian gentleman who mostly helped with fixing old appliances, stood up and approached Baltasar, offering a reassuring hand on the young man's shoulder. "Calm down Baltasar, when did you last see him?"

"At breakfast," Baltasar explained, "I know he went on an errand to the market, but I don't think he's returned yet. I went to the market already, but I couldn't find him in the crowd. I was hoping maybe he'd be here."

Selim took a long draw from his cigarette-shaped medical inhalation device before citing protocol, "He must have gone with some of the other kids, did you ask them?" Selim didn't seem too worried; the streets of Hisn-ul-Zahra were pretty safe, Lady Ameera Zainab kept the city clean and prosperous.

"I-I haven't," Baltasar replied, feeling ashamed that his panic had blinded him to this obvious step.

Sensing the boy's plight, Selim looked around the office. Everyone was pretty busy, but there were a few newcomers who didn't have assigned roles yet. To be fair, one of them was just Polka's patient, and the other was just passing through, but they were Rhodes Island operators all the same. "Hey, Ash Girl, Seven, do you two mind helping Baltasar find Nur?"