WEEK 5 DAY 2: MISSION

[wonderful_mods]

Mission: The Reapers shall show you the way.
Time Limit: Long
Noise Plane: Solo
Wall Instructions: Key walls around the Saks and Bloomingdales in midtown. Mission objectives given to Reapers are to be told to players upon clearing walls or defeating harrier Noise.
Wall Rewards: Walk On, Walk Off
Reaped Rewards: Sexy Beam
Mission Rewards: $5000

[There's another strange mission today, but the timer on the players' hands suggest that it is indeed a mission. Reapers will find something quite different on their phones, however - ones assigned to Wall Duty in front of the stores will find that the mission today is to make the store they're guarding more popular than the competition. Apparently there's a fashion turf war going on.

Harrier reapers have specific instructions to offer decoy missions and advice to not trust the wall reapers. It also mentions bonus points for the Reaper who tricks someone into doing a decoy mission...

Oh, would you look at the date.]

Comments

[cruel_kindness]

[Oh, this is going to be fun. Cruelly's never really one any pranks before. She usually lets Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Diane do them, but why not give it a start? After all, those two are her friends, and they might enjoy a third pony to join in once she escapes this game. But until then, she'll just do her Reaper duties.

She's harrying today, so she's to misdirect. It's not so cruel. It's only to help the players get better.]

[theworstluck]

[Misora is still trying to figure out this mission thing, but that. That sure is a technicolored pegasus up there. Consider her immediately distracted and very bewildered.]

[cruel_kindness]

[The Flutters are bewildering, alright. After all, who would encounter a talking pony with multiple personalities?

'Cruel spots Misora and that smirk grows wide. She casually swoops down, reclining on her back in the air beside her.]

...Sup?

[theworstluck]

[And there's more - Equines do not recline. What the hell is that?! It's positively anthropomorphic. The absurdity of the whole package makes it not even surprising when she talks. Though apparently she's taken a stroll into Toon Town.

The cat has her tongue for another good minute, but when it keeps looking at her expectantly she replies with a half-hearted,]

Nothing much.

[Just going crazy, that's all.]

[cruel_kindness]

Good. Good.

[Some period of silence.]

So, you a newbie?

[theworstluck]

[Misora looks from the timer on her hand to the pegasus.]

I guess I am. That's such a casual way to put it though... I mean, I just died. It's not like I joined a club. Not on purpose, anyway.

[Although she says that, it's ironic considering the way she died.

She considers the message on her phone again. "The Reapers will show you the way"... for someone this new, the mission almost makes it sound more like Purgatory than a game.]

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji is wandering past Cruelly without much of a glance in her direction. He'd be happy to take some time to talk to her if he was able to feel happiness at the moment. As he is, he's more focused on the mission. He's guessing the walls are a good indication of where he's supposed to go...]

[cruel_kindness]

[Cruelly catches sight of Ryoji.]

Hey there, Ryo. You doing the mission?

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji looks over at them, pausing to nod.]

I am. I think from what the mission mail says, I need to follow the path the Reapers set out. I think the walls must have something to do with that.

[theworstluck]

[Misora ducks into a secluded area as she double checks her phone. Reapers, huh? She's still having trouble wrapping her mind around the concept.

... But she's fresh meat. She'll be an easy target for decoy missions.]

[vexed_snake]

[Well, well, well. Is that a new Player Asakura spies? Someone who doesn't know to keep an eye on any reflective surfaces in the area? He'll call out to her.]

I haven't seen you around here before.

[theworstluck]

[She won't know to keep an eye on reflective surfaces, but the way he looks is striking enough that she's got her eye on him. Not very often you see someone walking around dressed like that, and her guesses for the type of person who would aren't terribly flattering. She closes her phone and faces him, giving a slightly sarcastic reply.]

It's a big city. I'd be surprised if you knew everyone in it.

[She's noticing the wings now. And staring just a bit. Definitely a newbie.]

[vexed_snake]

[What, snakeskin print and leather aren't reassuring?

But I know just about everyone in this game...it's a much smaller group of people than the population of the city.

[Yeah, he sees that staring at his wings. He'll kind of flare them out to show off.]

[theworstluck]

[Leather is one thing; she's wearing a leather jacket herself, as she used to ride motorcycles. It's literally everything else that's making her judge him - he seems like he's roughly her age, but he still dresses like some punk teenager. Those wings are apparently real, though, so she is forced to take him seriously regardless.]

I see. Well, I don't remember signing up for any Game, but I'll take your word for it. You're a Reaper, aren't you?

[vexed_snake]

[Hey, this is what happens when you spend most of your teenage years in and out of the juvenile justice system...and he'll have her know he took all the care in the world when he selected these clothes from the military surplus store he robbed when he broke out of jail. Though the presence of snakeskin there is a mystery.]

That's right. Takeshi Asakura, at your service.

[There's a mocking tone to his words. He keeps hoping someone from his world will roll through here and recognize his name; he always got the best reactions when he suddenly appeared places.]

[theworstluck]

[She doesn't react in any big way, so it's safe to say that she hasn't heard of his legendary bad self. Naomi doesn't look pleased because of his tone, but she supposes he expects her to introduce herself as well. She says confidently,]

And I'm Shoko Maki.

[She has no idea why she gave him an alias. It's not like Kira can kill her twice, and even if he could, she already knows that this guy isn't him. But somehow, the experience made her hyper vigilant, and who could really blame her for that?]

I was told you can show me the way. To what, I'm still not sure.

[She says it in a bit of a joking way, as she'll decide for herself if she wants to be shown.]

[vexed_snake]

Nice to meet you, then.

[Like he'd care one way or another about that being an alias if he knew. He'd probably find it hilarious.]

I certainly can show you the way--those guys manning the walls are vexing. They'll just delay you from completing the real mission, and that's not any fun.

[No, it's much more fun to watch people run off on fake missions.]

It's simple. You complete my mission, then you get a reward.

[The reward of falling for whatever Asakura thinks is a good fake mission. Adventure! Excitement! Possible disgust!]

[theworstluck]

[Sounds like the runaround to her. Why couldn't they just put it in the text? And what was that about walls? ... She'd better just keep asking questions.]

What kind of mission?

[vexed_snake]

Well, a lot of these guys, they're going to try to waste your time, see? Get you all distracted with the clothes the living are wearing right now. It's stupid.

The real mission? There's a giant snake loose in the area. Someone has to find him before he causes too much trouble.

[theworstluck]

A giant snake? Are you serious?

[Because it sounds serious. A lot more serious than clothes. Congratulations, she's believing him for now, if only because she has enough cynicism to believe in other people's stupidity even more.]

[vexed_snake]

Is a giant snake really the strangest possible thing there could be in the afterlife? Of course I'm serious.

[If she's observant, she'll see Venosnaker slithering by at the end of the street. The snake's in the UG, and every now and then, it'll try to snap at an RG-er. Asakura's back is to that end of the street, making it perfectly plausible for him not to have seen the building-sized purple cobra.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora... just has a feeling about this one, but she doesn't have the strength or emotional fortitude any more to approach it with her usual vibrance and cheer. She simply plods on ahead, looking for the nearest Reaper to accept a task from... regardless of how sincere it might be.]

[wonderful_mods]

[And what do you know, it's the least trustworthy Reaper ever. Would Zecora like to take her chances?]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Given the alternatives, what choices does she really have? She steps up, inhaling to brace herself.]

As we enter this new day,
Oh Reaper, please, guide the way.

[wonderful_mods]

Hmph, that's cute.

[...Her reaction to the usual rhyming is said mockingly, but somehow there's a sense that it's what's really in her heart. She checks her cell phone, reviewing her orders, although it may look like she's reciting from it.]

As for the mission, go ride the ferris wheel in Toys R' Us. Maybe you'll see something.

[And maybe she won't.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

"Toys R Us?" A place for foals
Contains the path to all our goals?

[She's thinking out loud, not intending to sound skeptical, but...]

[wonderful_mods]

Yep. This mission's pretty childish...

[that's not a lie, technically.]

Oh yeah, by the way? Only Harrier reapers like me know what the mission is. So don't waste your time on the supporting ones!

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Oh, really now?]

I assure you I will waste no time
Doing so would be a crime.

[And off she trots... looking for supporting reapers on the way...]

[emotionaldeath]

[Another mission today. They haven't been too difficult so far, but Ryoji supposes this is just the beginning of the week.

If the Reapers are supposed to show the way, then he'll spend most of his time speaking to them, though he does suppose he should find a partner for when the missions get more intense.

For now, he's got nothing to do but start walking.]

[wonderful_mods]

[Here's a Reaper with a wall just outside of Sak's Fifth Avenue. He is simply waiting, nothing too special.]

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji approaches him, hand already up to his pin, just in case.]

Hello. What do I need to do to get past this wall?

[wonderful_mods]

You're gonna need my help to do this mission, so I'll make it quick with a trivia question. What's the smallest sentence containing all of the letters in the English alphabet?

[emotionaldeath]

[Ryoji's wondering why he'll need the Reaper's help, but he remembers to focus on the question. He does recall discussing this in class once, and after a few moments, he sorts through that lecture to find the right sentence. Thank goodness he was paying attention for that one.]

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.

[There are actually shorter ones, but that one is the one most people remember...]

[wonderful_mods]

[And that is indeed the one the Reaper was looking for. It's trivia about a new country on only the second day, so he's keeping it simple.]

All right, wall clear. Now let me get on with the real mission - you see this store behind me? You have to make it more popular than the other one. The clothes you wear can influence the living. If you start a trend, it can become popular. ...On the other hand, if you follow the trends, you might find your psychs have more punch. It's worth doing.