[Mafia] The Aurora Project - [END]

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

Reisen watches in horror as Nikei drops dead in front of her so suddenly...

... Nikei? Nikei?!

Reisen puts her hands on her face....

We were supposed to do this together... Why?

[KungFuCutbug]

[Ruby's introduction catches Sherry's attention, who now looks incredibly embarrassed as well as on-edge.] "A-aye! Right, introductions. This is, ah, not how I wanted this to go in the slightest! But... ack. Might as well get this out of the way. ¡Soy Sherry Jeréz! Hola from Punta Ceniza, year 2512. I am so fucking sorry about what happened to that kid over there."

[Kennifer]

Holly, trying to mentally process whatever just happened, just waves kind of meekly to the newcomer.

"My name's Holly."

[Caret]

Sherry is then greeted by a strange pink and white catdogfox... thingy wearing a blue cape and a necklace with a bow tie attached to it. It appears that Bow is deep in thought after witnessing Nikei's unfortunate demise.

"Tratiors!" Bow exclaims to herself. "So my suspicions are indeed confirmed. Now, if only there was a way to..."

Her train of thought is suddenly derailed upon noticing the newcomer.

"Oh!... I didn't notice you for a moment there! You're Sherry, the new person, right? Well, I better give you a proper introduction. I'm Bow. You... come from 2152? You're another time traveler. huh?"

[PointMaid]

...I seem to be from the future of this timeline myself. ¿Qué coincidencia, huh?

[Zanreo]

Wait, someone got killed already? Was this even supposed to happen...? And they instantly got a newcomer for a replacement... seemed strangely convenient. Anyway, KMIY thought they might as well introduce themselves...

"Sherry, was it? I'm K-13!"

"So... you must have travelled back in time? Oh, and I'm I-25!"

[Despair's Archon of Memes]

The name's Reisen Udongein Inaba. Pleased to meet you.

[Dookie]

[Speaking of the new person who just got here by chopper!

A tall, gangly Hispanic woman with reddish-brown/blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and dusty brown bandages over her right eye is standing outside the cabin, staring through the doorway right at Nikei's corpse with an absolutely horrified expression. She briefly looks over her shoulder, looking to see if the helicopter that brought her here is still there so that she could hitch a ride back... but alas, it left a while ago. So she turns around, defeated, and says in an exasperated, slightly-fearing-for-her-life tone:]

"Esto fue un error."

June stares silently at the scene for a few minutes, before talking to the new girl.

“…Good luck.”

[KungFuCutbug]

"2512. Not 2152." [Upon hearing Ruby's comment, Sherry manages to crack a smile.] "Pfft. Two Spanish-speaking time-travelers, aye? ¡Supongo que solo estamos destinadas a ser amigas! I don't normally do time-travel or timeline hopping or any of that shit though. Demasiado peligrosa. Too dangerous." [She then crosses her arms and gives a brief wave to the crowd.] "Well, pleased to meetcha, everybody. Still pissed it had to be like that, though. Agh, Jesucristo, I need something to get that off my mind for a minute..."

[She loudly whistles to Heeko to grab their attention.] "Aye! You're the boss here, right? You match who the copter pilot said to look for. What am I supposed to be doing here?"

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Voi glares at the new person who had just arrived. Huh, didn't seem like the corp type. Seemed more like something out of a familiar dream, or an old story. She had heard rumors about people living in the unimaginable wastes outside the electric hum of the city, barely being able to make a life for themselves. But those were just that. Rumors. No one could survive outside of a city or some corp outpost like this one.

Honestly, considering how shitty any sort of transmission or electricity was, plus the fact a guy got shot dead right in front of her, Voi figured that they weren't gonna be long for this place anyway. She speaks to the newcomer, trying not to focus on yet another lost and dead soul. The fuck-shit! Well, then...the name's Voi. Don't fucking forget it. And if that's all those traitor fucks have on them, then I know they're not gonna get their damn hands on me! She tries her best to avoid any wavering in her voice.

[KungFuCutbug]

[Sherry momentarily freezes when Voi addresses her. That voice... had she heard it somewhere before? She turns to see the source of it and—whoa, she swears she's seen this person before, too. But where? A dream, maybe...? Ah, déjà vu. Such a funky thing. She figures it's probably nothing important. Not like they recognize her, anyway, although their facial expression... nah, she's just seeing things.]

"...you. I like your style. Giving those traitors what for to avenge the poor kid I never got to meet, aye? Hah. If I'm stuck here with this crowd, I'm suddenly a lot more comfortable with it. At least if I'm gonna die, I'll be in good company. Keeping good company's the key to survival in Punta Ceniza. Going solo? You won't stand a fucking chance! It's a wasteland out there, and not forgiving!"

"...Oh, and there I go, off rambling about my home place and home time. ¡Lo siento!"

[Dookie]

June is…confused, but willing to play investigator.

Probably too early.

“So is this “Nikei” character, anyway?”

[Cassie]

[She loudly whistles to Heeko to grab their attention.] "Aye! You're the boss here, right? You match who the copter pilot said to look for. What am I supposed to be doing here?"

After regaining composure, he responds to Sherry.

"Right, do the following stuff as I've written down on this assignment sheet.

[KungFuCutbug]

"There's a worksheet?" [Sherry throws her head back in raucous laughter.] "I thought this was a job, not fucking grade school! D'ah, whatever you say, teacher. Jejeje..." [She glances at the assignment sheet for a second, then heads outside and gets to work.]

Sherry's Plan

1. Set up a way to signal the helicopter to land on the helipad.
> Well, that's easy. Find a big, bright spotlight that's bright enough to cut through the clouds, and any smoke or ash left behind by other people's attempts. Actually, multiple big bright spotlights, like... four. Four's a nice number. Once you find them, put one on each corner of the helipad, aim them directly upwards, and turn them on. Also, find some lanterns or light-up batons for the next step. Your friend always carries a flame-lit baton for when he's on the move at night, something like that.

2. Help guide the helicopter to the helipad.
> That's what the spotlights are for! Once the helicopter's within sight, stand in the middle of the helipad, turn on your handheld lanterns/batons/whatever you could find in the last step, and start waving them like crazy. Also, shout—even if they can't see you, they can probably still hear you. When it gets close enough, back away from the center of the helipad so that you don't get crushed, obviously.

3. Find a way to quickly but safely unload all the helicopter's cargo.
> Unload it all by hand. Get help from the pilot, the bosses, and/or the other coworkers if necessary. You could always afford to get some more muscle on your bones, and carrying heavy cargo across great distances seems like a good way to do it. Exercise!

4. Find a secure place to store the cargo for future use.
> The map in the brochure said there was a storage room, so go check there—...wait, shit. You get there and notice that it's locked and that the key's nowhere obvious. Fuuuuck, you don't have time to break down the doors or pick the lock right now! Where else could you put all this shit... Oh, the armory has a closet, right? Yeah, just march on over there and put it all in the armory closet. Easy. You can look for the storage room's key later when your hands are free. Not like you'll need it after that, but for future convenience's sake...

[Magolor]

"There's a worksheet?" [Sherry throws her head back in raucous laughter.] "I thought this was a job, not fucking grade school! D'ah, whatever you say, teacher. Jejeje..." [She glances at the assignment sheet for a second, then heads outside and gets to work.]

Sherry's Plan

1. Set up a way to signal the helicopter to land on the helipad.
> Well, that's easy. Find a big, bright spotlight that's bright enough to cut through the clouds, and any smoke or ash left behind by other people's attempts. Actually, multiple big bright spotlights, like... four. Four's a nice number. Once you find them, put one on each corner of the helipad, aim them directly upwards, and turn them on. Also, find some lanterns or light-up batons for the next step. Your friend always carries a flame-lit baton for when he's on the move at night, something like that.

2. Help guide the helicopter to the helipad.
> That's what the spotlights are for! Once the helicopter's within sight, stand in the middle of the helipad, turn on your handheld lanterns/batons/whatever you could find in the last step, and start waving them like crazy. Also, shout—even if they can't see you, they can probably still hear you. When it gets close enough, back away from the center of the helipad so that you don't get crushed, obviously.

3. Find a way to quickly but safely unload all the helicopter's cargo.
> Unload it all by hand. Get help from the pilot, the bosses, and/or the other coworkers if necessary. You could always afford to get some more muscle on your bones, and carrying heavy cargo across great distances seems like a good way to do it. Exercise!

4. Find a secure place to store the cargo for future use.
> The map in the brochure said there was a storage room, so go check there—...wait, shit. You get there and notice that it's locked and that the key's nowhere obvious. Fuuuuck, you don't have time to break down the doors or pick the lock right now! Where else could you put all this shit... Oh, the armory has a closet, right? Yeah, just march on over there and put it all in the armory closet. Easy. You can look for the storage room's key later when your hands are free. Not like you'll need it after that, but for future convenience's sake...

The Spaniard rolls 2, 9, 10, and 5, tallying an initial 26 points.

Whoops, maybe that number you sought after made it unlucky, but certainly not this unlucky! Sherry finds a very damaged spotlight, certainly poor handiwork on the part of the deliveryperson. She also finds naught else...

In spite of the shortage of signals, Sherry's Spanish shouts seem to successfully summon the swift sky-borne supply shuttle, squarely on the spot. Sweet!

Exercise! Exercise! So much that Sherry pulls her muscles! She has to relegate to pushing the cargo with her legs and functioning arm.

The armory's pretty popular, huh? You get there in a reasonable amount of time, temperature only dropping about 5 degrees maybe. The crates' fronts get a little wet, but nobody cares.

Another planned lightshow with differnet options (+2), a vocal backup plan (+2), a pretty normal method of unloading (+1), and the same non-storage closet spot (+1) earn Sherry a final of 32 points!

[KungFuCutbug]

[Soon, Sherry walks back into the cabin and finds a spot to sit, still clutching her arm.] "...Ow. That didn't work as good as I thought, but it worked. Valió la pena. ...Ah, does anyone have an ibuprofen?"

[MadameButterflyKnife]

What, you really think I've got an encyclopedic nature of every one of you fuckers, kid?! Anyways-shit, what did that lady say? Ibuprofen. Right.

>find some ibuprofen in the cabin

>or some alcohol. that's usually the suggestion that people asked for after getting hurt.

It wasn't like there was an autodoc here. And Voi clearly didn't have enough money to get one to work even if they did have one here.

[Caret]

"Ibuprofen, you say?" Bow asks. "Well, I don't have some on me, but I do have a special ability of sorts." The Sylveon stretches her ribbon-like feelers forwards. "My feelers diffuse a calming aura that can soothe both people and Pokemon! That should at the very least make you feel a bit better, but I do want to make sure if you're OK with it first. Don't want to freak you out all of the sudden."

[Cassie]

"Oh, hold on a sec."

Heeko goes off to the kitchen, where inexplicably, there's a cupboard containing a bunch of medicine. He yeets a pack of ibuprofen at Sherry.

"Woop! Some ibuprofen for ya!" He says as he dusts his hands off.

[KungFuCutbug]

[Sherry just gives Bow a quizzical look.] "Pass. Miss me with that voodoo bullshit, I need a pill and something to drink so the pill doesn't get stuck in my throat!"

[KungFuCutbug]

[...And then she gets smacked in the face with a flying ibuprofen pack.] "Ow." [She picks it up with her non-sore arm and looks at it before glancing around and noticing Voi lurking in the kitchen. She was gonna grab a water bottle herself, but she might as well take advantage of the opportunity...] "Aye, can you get me something to drink while you're in there ¿por favor? Can't take these pills dry!"

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Voi complies, grabbing one of the bottles of alcohol found earlier, and tossing them right at Sherry. Alright. Catch it if you can! I would rather not clean up the damn mess you make if you miss!

[Caret]

"'Voodoo bullshit'?..." Bow asks; pondering why someone would reject her offer. "Well, you are from the far future, so technology probably would... I mean will take precedence over nature." The Sylveon lets out an embarrassed chuckle. "On that same note, what's the future like? Do you have flying cars and supercomputers that rule over everything?"

[MadameButterflyKnife]

Voi interjects, despite not being a part of this conversation at all. Yes to the first. Expensive as all shit though, even if you're gonna rent one of those things, which most people do. Know a couple of people who had suits for parents, got some of those for their birthday and whatever. They break pretty easily, but they're great from getting to tower to tower. And no fucking supercomputers. You really think some corp leader would give up power to a computer? The ones in Helium City don't, at least.

[Oggy123]

"Nani!?" yelled Nintendo after Nikey drops dead.
Upon seeing the new person, Nintendo instinctively says "Konnichiwa! My name is Nintendo!"