TDM 001. WELCOME TO THE CITY

[headandhand]

» 01. WELCOME WAGON

Wow, what a bunch of new faces! The city of Dualis hasn't seen anything like this in a long time, and they've seen some pretty crazy things. Chances are you're seeing some pretty crazy things, too, unless you're used to a lot of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in juuuuust fine. But for the rest of you, the Head knows this has gotta be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis, and welcome to your first monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating! Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask queries and receive results, or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship! But don't be too shy, you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, then the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right?

» 02. A BUG IN THE CODE

Remember how the Head mentioned that whole plague thing? Well, don't worry, this isn't that.

It is, however, a really, really terrible flu circulating through the residents of Dualis. Symptoms include fever, chills, vomiting, hallucinations and even in some cases seizures. Bad news, all around. Luckily, this is something the Head knows how to deal with! Time for vaccinations, everyone~

The vaccination process is pretty straightforward: just head to your local clinic and get innoculated! You'll be in and out in less than ten minutes, MedDualis is pretty efficient that way. There isn't even a copay. The MedDroids will tell you, however, that there might be some minor side effects** to watch out for, including physical reactions and odd dreams, but don't worry--those will wear off within forty-eight hours. Nothing to concern yourself about! Of course, if that worries you, you could always run the risk of getting the flu--or passing it on to your loved ones...

**Possible side effects include: Gender or sex change, positive or negative size change, appearance alterations, shared dreams, and mild telepathic links, among others. Please contact your local MedDroid if these symptoms become too severe, or other side effects such as death occur.

» 03. TANSTAAFL

Well, you're settling in just fine, and the basic accommodations and amenities are okay, but maybe you've got a hankering to see that new VR Film: SHARKS IN SPACE 85: BLACK HOLE SHARK DO DO DO DO DO DO DO. Or maybe you want some sweet new duds to wear around town, or even just an actual slab of steak. Sorry, those cost extra, pal, which means it's time for...

JOB HUNTING.

Fortunately, Dualis makes this pretty easy! There's a job fair on this week, down at the Central Hub! Plug your certifications and skills into any of the EmployMe terminals in the Dualis Central Hub, and the computer will auto-generate a currently open job that it feels you'd be best suited for. No resume writing or lengthy application process required! Of course, whether or not this job sounds like the right job for you is another matter...but hey, how could an AI with millions of years of learning be wrong? Time to get started, or try and switch waivers with another unhappy new employee--but be warned, some unforeseen consequences may occur if you try swapping identities with someone else...

Comments

[aleifr]

Don't expect trouble. [He grunts.] I expect idiots.

[cadiastands]

Those are in generous supply everywhere, I'm afraid.

[Since there are no answers for her here, Mira tucks her own card away into one of her many pockets and pouches.]

[aleifr]

Everywhere I've been.

[He concedes with a nod and a sigh. Doesn't make encountering them any less aggravating, though. Another quick glance down at his own card and he follows her lead, stuffing it into one of his trouser pockets.

[Then, he holds out one massive hand towards her.]

Aleifr. Son of Bjorn.

[cadiastands]

[Mira accepts the handshake...or tries to; if he's going for the wrist clasp it'll be a bit awkward.]

Second Lieutenant ["lef-tenant"] Miranda Nero, Cadian 203rd.

[aleifr]

[He is, but he adjusts quickly enough and gives her hand a firm shake. He does, however, look a little perplexed. A lot of unfamiliar terms in that.]

Lieutenant?

[cadiastands]

[Hoo boy.]

My rank is 2nd Lieutenant [the most useless kind of lieutenant] and I'm assigned to the 203rd infantry regiment out of Cadia. My name is Miranda Nero...Miranda, from the Nero family.

[That should do it. She thinks.]

[aleifr]

[Another nod, but his brow's still furrowed. The picture's somewhat clearer, but there's still a good bit of it that's managing to go over his head.]

I don't know what an infantry regiment is - or Cadia - but well met.

[cadiastands]

Well met.

[She mirrors both the phrase and the expression. His Gothic is far too good for this kind of confusion about military basics.]

How recently were you levied?

[That awkward moment when you understand a situation, but not quite well enough.]

[aleifr]

"Levied?"

[You've lost him again, Nero.]

[cadiastands]

When were you taken from your homeworld?

[She's being almost supernaturally patient for a Guard officer...but getting snotty won't magically dump the information she wants into his mind.]

[aleifr]

Before now, never.

[Before now, he'd never known that it was a possibility.]

You talk as though you've done it before.

[cadiastands]

I'm an Imperial Guardsman, Aleifr. I go where the Emperor's enemies are, wherever that may be.

[Be born on Cadia, get an all-expenses paid trip to the worst places in the galaxy!]

[aleifr]

[At that, his eyes widen.]

You're one of the Sky Warriors?

[She ... she wasn't what he'd have expected. His tribe's gothi had always described them as giants among men - bigger, stronger, and faster than any mortal could ever hope to be - and that they were all men, at that.]

[cadiastands]

"Sky Warriors?"

[Mira's as confused as he is. She knows things get heterodox on feral worlds, but she's no religious scholar and can't figure out what Aleifr means by that. "The Adeptus Astartes" doesn't occur to her, because, as he's noticed, she's normal height and female.]

[aleifr]

[She'll understand his confusion, then.]

The chosen of Russ and the Allfather. The warriors they've taken to serve them and fight alongside them at the end of all things.

[cadiastands]

[Good thing she wasn't drinking anything, because Mira almost manages to choke on her own breath when she hears what the translation renders as "Russ and the Emperor."]

You think I'm a Space Wolf? [She's saved from having to decide what to say to that when the obvious corollary occurs to her.] ...By the Throne, you're from Fenris.

[It's her turn to look at him with widened eyes. A Fenrisian out and about the galaxy who isn't a Space Wolf or one of their Chapter serfs is a rare creature indeed.]

[aleifr]

I don't know what you are.

[There's a little frustration creeping into his voice at that, but it fades fairly quickly as they change tracks, and he nods.]

But yes, I am.

[She seems ... surprised by that. Apparently people from Fenris don't get 'levied' often.]

[cadiastands]

That explains a lot.

[What do you even do with a Fenrisian? Check his shirt for a tag reading "if found, please return to the nearest Space Wolf Company?"

Well, she can at least clear up the confusion about Astartes.]

I'm not a Spa--Sky Warrior. They only come from Fenris...and they're all men. [Because Games Workshop are COWARDS] The rest of the Imperium knows them as the Space Wolves, and I wouldn't have expected to see a Fenrisian who wasn't in their service.

[aleifr]

So the gothi said.

[At least about the Sky Warriors being all men and thus GW being cowards. The rest ... the rest just makes a good deal of sense. He's heard stories of people who sailed among the stars the way the Allfather did, but they were always just stories told around the bonfire. there was no substance to them ... or so he thought, at least.]

[Apparently there was a great deal more out there than he'd thought.]

You fight in the Allfather's name too, then? And his ... 'Imperium'.

[He says the unfamiliar word slowly. Almost tentatively.]

[cadiastands]

[The translation renders "gothi" as "shaman," and Mira doesn't inquire further. How the Wolves run their homeworld is up to them.]

I'm an Imperial Guardsman, yes. [She brushes her fingers over the Aquila insignia on one side of her chest.] We can't compare to the Space Wolves and their brethren in the other Space Marine Chapters...but there are a lot more of us.

[aleifr]

[There's another flicker of surprise at 'other Sky Warriors'. It makes sense, of course. If there are other worlds, other warriors are needed to protect them. The Allfather had sons beside Russ, it follows that they'd have armies of their own - their own Sky Warriors.]

I see ...

[Thinking about it, it seems so obvious, but he'd never even thought about the possibility before. It was ... strangely disorienting, hearing how much bigger the world was than he'd thought. A little less so than it might have been before he wound up in Dualis, but he was still having trouble wrapping his mind around it - actually seeing it in his mind's eye.]

[cadiastands]

[This is clearly all a lot for a feral worlder to take in, so Mira makes conversation.]

Fenris isn't far from my homeworld, you know.

[In some of the worst real estate in the galaxy.]

[aleifr]

[If it's near Fenris, he'd expect nothing less. It does pique his interest, though. Offers him a bit of distraction from the sudden ... vastness of the world, even if he isn't quite reeling from it the way that he had been on his arrival.]

Anything like Fenris? Or more like ... [he gestures vaguely at the cityscape around them] ... this?

[cadiastands]

Nowhere's like Fenris.

[Not that Mira knows the exact details, but your homeworld is kind of legendarily shitty, Aleifr.]

We have wilderness, but Cadia is heavily fortified, and our cities are defensible. Not like this.

[She gestures dismissively at a place not designed to withstand years of sustained assault by the forces of Chaos. Wimps.]

[aleifr]

[He snorts. Whether it's at her stating that nowhere's like Fenris or her disdain for the city is open to interpretation.]

I think whoever built this place cared more about it looking pretty than anything else.