return to exsilium | a whole new spin on 'down to earth'

[initiates]

Return to Exsilium... Here's a few quick facts: ☑ The Transports outnumber the Initiative Members roughly 31 to 1. ☑ What the Transports decide to do goes. ☑ Outside of nixing the space program historically, there's very little they can do to make things worse. Supposedly. (They could wipe themselves out earlier, but good job breaking it even more, heroes.) ☑ There is no idea too crazy or too sane to theoretically try. ☑ All ideas are proposed ICly either onscreen or handwaved. ☑ Should all else fail, the moderators have a back-up plan to instigate a move back to Earth. ☑ We trust you guys to not have all else fail! This post is meant to be a place for players to brainstorm together OOCly about IC responses. Put forth any and all IC ideas your characters might or could have, or even ideas that you want to coordinate with others to have a "Eureka! We can try this!" moment. When you have an idea solidified, post it in simple summary to the thread below called Finalized Suggestions. There is no limit to how many ideas can be finalized. Give us everything you've got, no matter how silly! After proposals are posted to the Finalized Suggestions thread, the moderators will let you know how feasible it is (some ideas may not be able to work) along with potential success rate and changes to Exsilium world history. On November 14th, all proposed plans will be put to an OOC Community-wide vote for the game majority to choose the idea that ultimately works. This does not mean that the other ideas can't then be played out -- in fact, we encourage it! They will not offer full success, or in some cases, even partial success. There will hopefully be enough ideas proposed to have a slew of awesome and fun failures along the way to a working solution.

Listen to me, no, listen! They ran down all the roads long ago...

Comments

FINALIZED SUGGESTIONS

[initiates]

These should be brief summations of the finalized ideas (silly, sweet, or serious) your characters might come up with to solve the problem of returning back to Exsilium. How much, or little, will they try to change in order to alter Exsilium's fate?

[maddeninghatter]

what I'd love to see is for the lawyer/non-violent/clever/calculating characters to concoct some scheme for making ungodly amounts of money in the past and then figure out how to carry that forward into the present so that the Transports (or some subset thereof) have enormous financial power, which generally translates to political power. They could then simply buy the military-industrial complex or something like that.

it could work as an adjunct/support structure to more action-oriented plans for securing the future. Also a possibility for corruption because putting trillions of dollars into the hands of certain Transports might nooooooot be the best idea....

[boundbydevotion]

I DON'T PLAY ANY CHARAS THAT CAN DO THIS

but since I was thinking about it because of the funding thing mentioned in the moon missions post, maybe they could research heists and like... CORPORATE SWINDLING... that happened... :|a And I guess I was thinking they could send people back to all these various points to... basically replace the people who did it and steal their stolen money somehow?? :|a I'm sure there are problems with this method but I guess THAT'S A THOUGHT...

[commentboxtroll]

I wasn't quite thinking in the way of making ungodly amounts of money, but the fixing the military-industrial business of the past to make sure Exsilium has secret stores of defensive weaponry or what have you to be discovered by the Exiles (also in the past) was something I've had on my mind! Either that or infiltrating/messing with stuff to upgrade the moonbase with anti-missile weapons to defend Exsilium from afar.

Though that would probably still require ungodly amounts of money, so, yes.

[controlledvariable]

Max has already set herself up an estate of sorts in 1969, and plans to expand her portfolio and basically become a billionnaire again, so that could work with this.

She'd suggest things like going back to buy art pieces before they got famous, buying property in areas that'll become prime estate later, insider trading etc.

[legal_eagle]

Oh my GOD I love that idea! It could even be something as simple as, like, going back in time and wagering on horses or something. If anyone's keen on dressing up in fancy things and going to the Kentucky Derby and drinking mint juleps...

[devilsfruitdoctor]

And at the same time trying to track the UE's money sources and pauper those people/corporations/governments before they even got started? Anyone up for a Casino Royale mission?

[velveteened]

vegas mission time!!!!

[have_hat_will_travel]

With Pidonus' magic, she could definitely do this, and it would absolutely be a horrible horrible idea.

[bodilesswarrior]

Barbara is so ready for this.

And completely willing to be suspicious of everyone and spy on her peers.

Oh, speaking of, what about a sort of corporate espionage? Getting ingratiated into an early UE's workforce and learning their secrets?

[5055034455]

/belatedly slides over here

'SUP

[concealingeyes]

Since this is partly IC one thing Kido would be thinking is to aim for the scientists. They control the technology so if they could eliminate that somehow...

It could be a variety of ways. I mean for characters who like slashing there's that method but then you could have methods involving encouraging scientists out of the UE, freeing them, suggesting they go into different fields because they always wanted to do art right???

Though since the scientists might just be replaced getting rid of bases that would have the reach to nuke the UE. Striking multiple bases with faulty technology basically so that the nukes would never get made or get tossed.

ALTERNATIVELY

Erika would probably suggest something along the lines of going back, investing in technology that could stop a nuclear blast and just saving the city that way. A good defense is the best offense! And then they would have a way to block the UE from future incidents as well.

How to pull that off idk....

[boundbydevotion]

There must be characters from various canons with barrier technologies that maybe they could plant in the past to be adapted/developed in Exsilium, though there would have to be some way to prevent it from falling into UE hands maybe. I know in Dgray there are definitely "scientifically" designed barriers like that but TRAGICALLY WE DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT IN EXSILIUM YET someone out there app us Komui or Reever or Bak or-- (I guess we have Cross though...). There must be other more sci-fi canons that also have energy shields and stuff??

[governorkang]

Or magical spells that can be laid down, and activated at just the right time to pop up a barrier/make technology fail!

[crocodilesmiles]

Because someone should ask but WHAT IF PEOPLE TRIED TO MAKE OTHER VIABLE ENERGY SOURCES BEFORE NUCLEAR HUH HUH sure we invent other weapons of mass destruction but perhaps those won't destroy the planet for millenia

[commentboxtroll]

ENSURE THE ACCEPTANCE AND USAGE OF TESLA'S FREE ENERGY FROM THE AIR MACHINE and then we get giant steampunk death rays instead......

no don't listen to me idek

[vibrant]

Or sort of going off that-- what if they went back to WWII and ~interfered~ with the whole nuclear weapon deal. They mess with the testing stages and make it seem like things won't work the way they need to, so the US is forced to go a different route. While they're there, they can recruit a really smart scientist or six to make sure things keep "not working" thus giving the Initiative the hold (hurhur) on nuclear tech. And if it looks like someone else somewhere down the line will discover this shit actually works, they can have a few agents in place to fix that...

idk

[fe_male]

/casually sort of drops an arc reactor just after the end of WW1

[noelleno]

Soldier Blue wants to find the point in time where the UE's instated the AI as head of government for not-very-objective reasons, but he means frickin well. I've confirmed there's no knowledge of this point yet, so my thought is for several dips back in time during key moments known already to try and pinpoint precisely when it's happened. He wants to observe and understand the rationale, and, if possible, convince the folks in charge otherwise.

He'd want support bc he's old as dirt, so I figure he'd put his feelers out (and have his lady help him) to find reasonable candidates that won't...blow everyone up......

[legal_eagle]

Mademoiselle, count me in.

[dawningsun]

Why don't we just get rid of Vanadi?

Okay, in all seriousness, what if they went back and got rid of the UE's cache of nukes? What if they detonated all of them? What if they managed to fiddle with the UE's computers or something to make them launch nukes at themselves?????

[fintastic]

Throw Vanadi at the UE and run like hell.

[fintastic]

What if they all just went way back in time and built a big bubble underneath the ocean for everyone to live in. Problem solved!

For real though, what about putting some plants back in the UE's history to kind of spend some time in the UE, work on their systems (ie get to know them and put in some back doors for the Initiative? Kind of along the same lines of just taking their technology, but with the added bonus of coming back with more familiarity.

[controlledvariable]

This is something I think would be really fun to play out!

(The infiltration, although ocean bubble sounds pretty cool too)

We could have smaller group missions where people have to work together and look out for each other to find information w/o getting caught. They could be preselected or randomized and a great way to build/develop CR :|a

[clinical]

Since having Transport-powered UE soldiers is going to be a total bitch, Jade might suggest a strategy that would avoid the entire kidnapping scenario altogether.

In the short term, that would maybe be stopping the events that lead up to the kidnappings—which would also prevent a nuclear strike because there is no reason for it, but Jade wants long-term solutions to both the whole nuclear strike thing and the idea of kidnapping and cloning the Transports, so crippling the technology that allows both would be his suggestion (...and possibly encouraging more cultural acceptance of the rights of clones WHOOPS PERSONAL BIAS RIGHT THERE).

+1

[khajidont]

Jaime wants to help with this! He's compiling a document of all the information he's gathering about the clones (and will be doing some independent research like a good little blue beetle on historical backgrounds) so they can get informed before even getting started. This is mostly pertinent to:

A: People who have info on the Chimera Project (which he has publicly expressed interest in)

and

B: Scientist types who he will be passing off the document to! If there's no printers or paper here, it will be made of his dead skin cells but he won't tell you if you don't ask

...but yes aside from the busywork preceding it he also wants to help with mission things 8)

Return to Exsilium: oops

[maddeninghatter]

I was thinking perhaps one of the failed attempts could include a "wrong" version of Exsilium, in time to be visited in mid-December: one where it snows constantly and the Thames is frozen over and massive conifers grow out of the civic gardens…

After a fairly routine mission, it's noted unexpectedly that the radioactivity readings from Exsilium have dropped to zero - which is very fortunate (???) as suddenly the alloys used to construct the moon base deteriorate and the oxygen begins venting. There are casualties, of course, but hopefully those Transports with super powers can create a force field long enough for at least some people to survive long enough to escape to the surface on the space ship. As for saving the rest, some clever solution will be needed to avoid, you know, moon Titanic.

I have all sorts of ideas for an arctic Exsilium where everything is familiar yet wrong, with Time Accidents and sentient everything and ice-skating on the Thames and Yeti. This version of Ex exists because of something someone did on a mission, but exactly what and why is the mystery.

Curious if this would be feasible or something people would be interested in.

Re: Return to Exsilium: oops

[rittersjuwel]

holy shit, yes, I'd be interested. I have a thing for "time traveling makes the future go wrong" as long as it can be set right again eventually. Particularly since the Transports are getting more free reign on what type of missions they do I can see something like this happening.

[anotheryosuke]

Totally wild idea but hear us out: Replacing the U.E. president with an undercover Exsilium version. 8D...

Contrary to Naoya's expectations, it wouldn't fix everything super-quickly; the A.I. could probably only make minor adjustments to the U.E.'s general trajectory to avoid detection -- small incidents of sabotage, etc. but it would kind of be like working on the U.E. in small increments from both sides?? At least that would be the plan. o9

This could definitely go wrong in a lot of fun ways, fufu. Other means of interfering with the A.I. without blowing it up could be fun too! (See Soldier Blue's thread. o/)

[maddeninghatter]

Who: EVERYONE who wants to go.
When: Three hundred years ago
Where: LAS VEGAS
Mission Objective: To disrupt the annual Transformative Genetics conference, which is where the idea for Project Chimera first began.

Background:A genetics grad student from 20 years ago starts working on her PhD thesis, an idea for splicing together genetic material from different species in order to enhance and accelerate the acquisition of various talents. In doing her literature review, she discovers, to her horror, that everything she was planning to study for her thesis was actually worked out in detail hundreds of years ago. The idea for how to accomplish this was novel and clever (at the time) and was sparked at a scientific conference held in Las Vegas. Somehow the combination of booze, excitement, and fun contributed to an idea notable for its creativity — and its questionable ethics.

In the end, the idea was picked up by the government, and after fifty years of intensive research, the technique was perfected, only to be soundly criticized because of the ethics problems. In the end, all funding for this and similar projects was cut off, and the work was lost to obscurity, until this grad student rediscovers the research.

Our grad student is devastated at first that somebody already did this and she has nothing to study. But after a few days, she realizes she can build on the research, and thus Project Chimera was born. Had she not been able to build on prior research, Project Chimera would be thirty years behind where it is now, and thus unable to make or even contemplate creating hybrid clones from Transports. Thus the kidnapping plot never happens, and Exsilium remains un-nuked.

This plot, if approved, could also spin off various subplots including stealing UE documents from recent history, investigating this genetics society, scoping out Las Vegas, and even making fake ID’s so the underage characters can go and gamble.

Success or Failure?: Depends on the vote!