Bud-E lived above a bar called The Blue Dragon, which he frequented. The owner and bartender was a little man from Beijing by the name of Mr. Li, and the other regular beside Bud-E himself was a grizzled Korean fellow with one eye, Kim, who had apparently worked for the CDC until the Yakuza captured and subsequently tortured him. He had then quit and spent his time drinking at the Blue Dragon. He often played cards with Bud-E as they reminisced about how they were both glad to not be a part of the CDC any longer. There were usually only a few other people in the bar, namely wizened, old Asian men. Bud-E was rather fond of the people at the Blue Dragon.

One particular night, Bud-E was sitting at the bar playing cards with Kim and chatting to Mr. Li, with the two other men in the bar adding the occasional comment, when a trio of men dressed in rather tacky baseball jackets entered the building and two of them stood by the door. They tried to be nonchalant about it, but couldn't have failed more miserably. The third fellow walked up to the bar with his mouth turned down slightly in what Bud-E thought was disgust. Then again, it could have been his normal face. Either way, Bud-E kept a discreet eye on him and his companions.

“Ni hao,” greeted Mr. Li with a smile. “What would you like to drink?”

The man, European by the look of him, turned to look at his friends by the door, who grinned rather wolfishly. He turned back to Li.

“Three Asahi,” he replied in a French accent. Mr. Li smiled, nodded, and turned to the shelf of drinks behind him. As he did so, the French fellow shifted his baseball jacket back to reveal a pistol tucked into his jeans’ waistband. He began to pull the gun out, slowly as to not attract attention. Unfortunately for him, he was an amateur and so was somewhat far from discreet.

“Get down!” Bud-E bellowed. He launched himself off his stool and into the French man, sending them sprawling to the ground. Shots rang out as the android lifted himself to his knees and threw a punch at the still prone man. There was a crunch and the fellow yelled in pain as blood began to spurt from his nose.

Bud-E left him to his broken nose and stood, fishing his revolver out of his pocket. He aimed at one of the assailants by the door and fired. The man screamed and fell, clutching at his leg. Before the android could turn to the final man, however, two more dressed similarly entered, holding submachine guns. They immediately opened fire at Bud-E, and so he dived underneath a table. While they were busy trying to aim at him he despatched one of them with another shot to the leg. Realising that Bud-E was more skilled at shooting than they were, the remaining two assailants threw their guns aside and drew knives with vibrating blades.

Oh dear, thought the android as he rolled out from under the table. He rose quickly and the two men charged. Bud-E deemed it a poor choice of tactic, because he managed to fire one last round into one of the men’s abdomen. This didn't stop the last attacker, who slashed at Bud-E. The robot stepped aside and kicked the fellow's ankle. The man fell, and Bud-E picked him up by his lapels and slammed him against a table.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “What was this?”

“Fuck you, you fucking Jap robot!” the man sneered in an American drawl.

“I'm not even Japanese,” Bud-E informed him. “In fact, no one here is. Not Japan specifically.” He hurled him towards the wall and turned to survey the scene. The five Europeans lay on the ground, all but one cradling an injury. The one was immobile, sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling, lifeless hands by the wound in his chest.

Mr. Li stood up shakily from behind the bar, along with Kim.

“Are you ok?” Bud-E asked them. They nodded.

“They are not,” the Korean observed, pointing to the other two patrons. One was holding his stomach, his face one of pain, and the other held his shoulder. Bud-E rushed to them and checked them. As he did so, he switched on the communications module in his system and contacted the CDC.

“Hey,” he said. “I've got two wounded civilians, and four gangsters. One casualty, and I fear that one of the civilians might make that two. Get someone over ASAP. Location is...” He gave the address and sat beside the man with the wound in his shoulder. He whistled lightly as he reloaded his revolver, never taking his eyes off the man opposite him.

Danny's icy eyes were the only part of his face that could be seen through the custom gas mask that concealed him now. It was American, and thus had set him back a pretty penny; the special tweaks, enhancing his peripheral vision and allowing him to utilize a powerful hands-free flashlight, had set him back even more. However, in instances such as this one, overspending on protection was an asset rather than a liability. He stalked through the silent building, still taking some time to adjust to the absence of the pneumatic hiss of his mask. His feet carried him through the halls and into a long, dark room lined with empty wood tables. His light illuminated the bodies of roughly a dozen migrant workers; their dead, empty eyes were wide open, and frothy vomit flecked the corners of their mouths. Their hands were wrapped, claw-like, around the legs of the tables, or their throats. Danny shook his head; carbon dioxide poisoning was a nasty way to go. He'd seen this method before; the police get too close to a coke operation, so the time comes to liquidate the assets. The dealers put a few rounds through the room and toss a smoke grenade in, and yell for the workers to get down, just as they push two big ol' blocks of dry ice into the ceiling of the room and seal it off. The workers hit the deck, thinking its tear gas, and start taking rapid, shallow breaths. Dizziness and nausea set in within two minutes, and soon after, panic does too. Death follows suit in short order, but not before the afflicted have time to suffer significantly. He sighed a bit, taking inventory; it was a damn mess, not even including the bodies, but that could work to his advantage. All of a sudden, Danny felt a hand wrap around his ankle. He leaped backwards, the barrel of his gun aligning swiftly with the forehead of a young man. He couldn't have been older than 17, and his fingernails had pulled loose from their nail beds, skittering across the floor before him as he huffed for breath, coughing deeply. Danny holstered his gun and walked forwards, hooking his boot under the boy's hip to flip him onto his back. He felt the hands at his ankle again, but there was no strength left in them; the boy's attempt to stand was futile. The cleaner placed his boot firmly on the boy's neck, compressing his windpipe. He looked up into ceiling as the boy died, pushing and writhing pathetically at the inexorable pressure on his throat before at last collapsing, still and silent as the rest. Danny shook his head with a sigh, surveying the rest for signs of life; the fucking cartels were always sloppy, even when they cleaned up their messes. Luckily, that kept him employed, and with that grim thought in mind, he set to work.

It took nearly four hours to sanitize the hellish scene. Each surface was cleansed of prints and DNA, and repainted solely with that of the victims. The bodies were carefully left untouched, and a story was built around them; a cheap, malfunctioning heater had killed them all as they worked illegally. Careful scrubbing removed any trace of the smoke grenade, and the dry ice in the ceiling cleaned itself up neatly. Last but not least, Danny packed away his kit and sanitized one last time, leaving nary a trace of interference. He made his way out of the low concrete structure, removing his mask as he hit fresh air. A medical face mask still hid his identity, but it felt good to breathe clean air. He tucked the mask into his bag, and began walking towards the subway. He slipped the small, shitty-looking phone out of his pocket and dialed the only number in it: the client. He reported that the job was done, and that everything was taken care of without issue. The client thanked him, and assured him that they had released his payment. Danny grinned silently as his primary phone buzzed in his pocket as the deposit was reconciled through the tasty high-interest offshore account. He deleted the client's number from both phones, factory reset the burned, and dropped it into the nearest trash can after wiping his prints from it.

He checked his old analog watch curiously; he'd started his work at 1500, which informed him that it was about fifteen minutes past booze o'clock. He smirked a bit, the horrors of the job forgotten; if he didn't pick up the pace, his bartender was going to get worried. His destination was a drinking establishment near the harbor, known as "морской порт"; it certainly had a rough reputation, but that was just because it was a popular Organizatsiya hangout.. though this alone was reason enough for many to avoid it. Danny, on the other hand, cared little for politics: the vodka was cheap, and that was what mattered.

Danny stepped off the tube, the bustle of the city increasing steadily, albeit in the opposite direction. A lot of people had jobs down at the docks, and thus the foot traffic was heading to the inner city for the evening for social gatherings and drunken revelry. He kept to the right of the stairs leading up, the stench of urine fading as he left the cramped underground station, and replaced by the rich sea breeze almost instantly. He pulled his coat a bit closer around himself; the setting sun, coupled with the oceanic wind lent the area a cooler temperature than the otherwise-balmy Gulf of Mexico would let on. A short walk carried him to within eyesight of the city's many piers, the sky dyed orange and purple as the night began to creep back into Empyreus. A man limped out of the bar, clutching his leg in clear discomfort as Danny approached, raucous laughter accompanying him along with shouted insults. The man glanced at him nervously before casting his eyes back down and scurrying off towards the subway; Danny snickered to himself, shaking his head as he made his way inside.

The building wasn't much to look at; two floors and of relatively Spartan construction, it didn't look out of place at all amongst the drab buildings lining the dock streets. It could have been mistaken for a warehouse or a customs office as easily as anything, if the music and frequent fights didn't give it away. The interior, however, was a bit more decorative; wood-paneled walls, a sunken social area with comfortable looking chairs, and a pair of sturdy-looking bars gave it a homey feel. The floor, however, consisted almost entirely of industrial-looking steel grates; this served the dual purpose of ensuring that spilled drinks found a drain efficiently, and would-be sleepers had trouble finding a comfortable spot to lie down. Danny breathed in the smell of liquor, aftershave, and hair product, moving to the standing bar on the left. His favorite barman, Zeke, was working there: he was dark haired gentleman with an exceptionally groomed beard and moustache, swarthy and dark of eye. He set a shot glass down on the bar and slid it over to the Cleaner with a smile; Danny swiped it in a heartbeat, raising the little cup gratefully before downing it, but gagged almost immediately, coughing the warm fluid up and shooting a glare at the man. The other men at the bar laughed riotously, and Zeke even snickered a bit, offering him sly grin as he filled a glass with beer from the tap.

"Next time, mudak, you will remember to piss OUTSIDE the bar, yes?"

Danny spat again, wiping his chin with a groan.

"All'a fuckin' bars in this shithole and I keep comin' here for some reason... I must be crazy."

The bartender set the mug down in front of the cleaner, still looking smug.

"Here. Just the usual amount of piss in this one; Поехали!"

Danny took the beer, moving over to one of the open tables; he'd heard rumors that there would be movers and shakers in tonight, and if he was lucky, there was chance he could a shot at one more job before turning in for the night. Organizatsiya hadn't been giving him much business lately, which was unusual for an group as dedicated to violence as they; maybe he could get some answers too, if he kept his ears open...

Alyosha sighed in relief. he had spent the last few hours cleaning his house up for his next job, after coming back home from the Free Night, and talking with the Fox-masked fellow, Ringo.

He almost turned his phone on once more to check his messages, when he considered something. He utterly despised everyone he worked with. Of course, he did it anyway, he didn't have anything better to do with his life, and he needed the money, but he still despised them.

Ringo said that there were more freelancers that he had called in order to help him. now, how many of those would need his services ? it had been a long time, maybe three years, since Alyosha had actually been hired by someone he didn't know.

Maybe it was time to change things.

So he made a small announcement, with the help of some friends, in the darkest parts of the internet.

In it, he made sure to announce his prolonged experience with torture and field work, ever since the war.

Now, it was time to wait. In the announcement, Alyosha said that if someone wanted to hire him, they were supposed to send him a message, with the reason of why they would hire him, and Alyosha would visit them.

Alyosha woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. He sighed in annoyance before looking at the time.

'5:30 AM'

He recognised the time, it was the same as when he woke up during his missions on the war. Alyosha found himself doing this more and more alike the war.

He once thought he would be capable of escaping his past when he first arrived at District 52. He was, of course, proven wrong just a few months later, and Alyosha was forced to reflect on his previous, and actual actions.

He prepared some Coffee and walked towards his office. he had some time before his day actually started, so he picked up his Nagant. The weapon had a greater value for him than simple firepower. it was also more than a simple family heirloom. the simple revolver served to remind him of his greatest mistakes in life.

It had been given to his family decades back, after the Russian revolution. Ever since them his family had gloriously served the Motherland, protecting it against all threats, inside or outside.

What did that make of him, however ? he had broke it, the strong chain that was his family's history, the chain that held Russia not mattering what, and he had undone it with one simple act.

He could try to lie to himself, that his father had done it before him, and that he was only following in his footsteps. in Alyosha's opinion, that just made him more pathetic. he betrayed his country, and it wasn't even to appease himself.

Could a man get lower than that ?.

Alyosha shook his head after staring at the revolver for a long time, before turning on his computer. he usually received jobs through it by his usual contacts, however, it was known that Alyosha only did one job at a time.

Having to torture multiple people at once would be incredibly hard and pointless. it was better to just focus on one thing at a time.

Alyosha took a look at his recent messages.

Dear Alyosha, I am afraid I need your services once more. Yes, I am aware that you just recently did a clean up for us , and I am glad for it. but, I have a very urgent problem. you see, we have a traitor in our ranks, a traitor who knows a lot of information from us. we know he told some of our secrets, but we don't know to who. are you busy at the moment ?

Alyosha raised his eyebrows. a traitor was rare with his contacts, mostly because of the rivalries, there was no guarantee that the people you were betraying too wouldn't kill you as soon as you delivered the information you needed, or did the job that they ordered you to do. it had been a long time since he had tortured a traitor, also.

Alyosha smirked.

Alyosha sat in front of the man. he had been beaten before being delivered to Alyosha, so much was obvious by looking at the man's injuries. various bruises across his body, a purple and closed eye, his clothes were ripped in several spaces, some knife wounds.

The Usual.

"Tell me, do you know who I am ?." Alyosha asked calmly, staring at the man. ever since he had arrived,the man refused to look Alyosha in his eyes. It was mildly amusing, to say the least.

"Y-you are the torturer, aren't you ?." The man said, raising his head slightly , and flinching when he saw Alyosha.

"Yes, you could call me that. Relax, I won't touch you as long as you Cooperate." Alyosha said smoothly. "What I need to know is, why did you rat out on your gang, and to whom."

It was a lie, he didn't need to know why the man did, but Alyosha found himself curious. was it for money ? power ? supposed influence in this new found gang , or was the man just working for them all along ?.

"You wouldn't understand." The man said, almost crying from the simple pressure of being in the same room as Alyosha. "I did it because it was right ! because that gang is filled with pieces of shit who would do anything without reason ! I didn't want any of this, I just wanted somewhere safe !" the man screamed and started to cry at Alyosha's feet.

"I didn't want any of this.." he whispered.

Alyosha stared at the man for some time. he wasn't expecting this type of emotional response, or at least not yet. He spent some minutes in silence, before starting to laugh. the man stared up at Alyosha, rage in his eyes. he must have thought alyosha was mocking him and his ideals, but that wasn't the case.

What could be said about Alyosha , if after years of trying to justify himself and his father, he never thought about that ? that simple answer. 'because it was right.'

Was Alyosha so depraved emotionally, that he simply did not believe himself capable of doing something right ? what did he even consider right, after all, this time ?

Or was he simply realistic ?.

Alyosha stood up after laughing, pulled out his Revolver and shot the man in the head silently. he didn't have an amused expression in his face any longer. Alyosha frowned. it wasn't his place to mock a man who had better ideals than him. sure, the man cracked easily , without any sort of physical torture whatsoever, and that pissed Alyosha off.

It didn't matter if the man cried if the man was stupid for believing in what he did. He Believed in something.

And that alone made him better than Alyosha.

"GOD DAMNIT !" Alyosha screamed as he stepped into the man's corpse and shot him again and again until he didn't have any bullets left. He was furious. not with the man, not with the gangs, not with the unfair world, not with Russia, not with his family , not with district 52.

Alyosha was furious with himself, because, in the end, he only had himself to blame.

Alyosha told his employer that the man hadn't told anything. it was obvious if the man had such ideals of right and wrong, who would he tell ? the corrupt and power hungry CDC ? any other corrupt, violence filled gang ?.

In that moment, Alyosha realised something.

Living in a world like the one the young man lived.

It seemed just as lonely as his.

A soft haze of untainted white assaulted Nikilas' vision as the last dredge of rest were wrentched from his system forcing the boys frail body to meet his world of nativity. Rubbing pleasant memories from his heavy eyes he shakily navigated his way off the floating bed. The technology in this building would forever puzzle Nikilas, it all seemed so unnecessarily complected, like someone typed in the same line of code in CSS eight times and hadn't discovered you could just simplify it into one. Clearing the haze from his mind with a small shake of the head and stroke of the face he sheepishly called out to his brother, "You finish looking at all the images I uploaded to the site?"

"Huh?" Gray tried his best to sound like he had been focusing, but couldn't quite manage it "Oh, yeah. I'm about done, just a few more to go, the city scapes were interesting, but I think I like the one with people in them more". Piloting his virtual avatar's head towards the small folder a feeling of loneliness began to overwhelm the poor AI. It hadn't taken him an hour to analyze all of the images and fully understand all the intricates of how a photographer framed a shot, or why an artist chose certain colors These were all things he just automatically knew, another thing to writhe in the back of his code, only to come back later if the correct if statements were met. Thinking of those hated statements if decision Gray curled his avatar up into a ball before shooting up straight. He couldn't afford to be weak now, it didn't matter what he was, he needed to help Nikilas.

In the ensuing silence Gray spoke again "Hey, I know it hasn't been long since we've started working here, but we should ask Alta for that camera. We've made a lot of progress so ... it should give us this at least".

Recognizing his brothers suggestion more as a command Nikilas quickly threw on a pair of faded jeans and a red hoodie, the symbol of a phoenix emblazoned onto the center of the fabric. Poking his head out into the dull, sleek hallway he cautiously shuffled to Alta's elevator, making sure to avoid eye contact with any of the contraptions in fear of any repression.

Fumbling with his key card he held it up in front of the elevator. A quick scan later and the door had opened. A few seconds of the feeling of disjointed gravity passed before the doors to its office opened.

Comment what you want your name tag to be below, along with the color of said name tag.

Beeps, blinks, and buzzes

A rainy evening of electronic alerts to those in the city who considered themselves “freelance enforcers”, for the spry fox of Little Osaka had sent texts, voice messages, and emails to all the shady muscle for hire of whose contact info he could get his devious paws onto. It seemed he was a rather resourceful critter, for even those who had never met the man in the flesh found their inboxes alight with his calling card.

Mina-san, Konnichiwa! It’s me, the loveable fox of the Japanese quarter! Spectre of the night! Admirer of porcelain! For those of you who’ve never had the pleasure of meeting me:

A) I’m sorry you’ve been deprived of my jovial radiance up until this point.

B) It’s very nice to meet you!

Now see, this isn’t some out of the blue personal call. Not at all, sorry, I’m not that kinda gal! Please send any and all personal or romantic inquiries to...ah, not important.

Back to the heart of the issue, I’ve got a business proposition for any and all who consider themselves experts in the art of, well, making bad people feel as bad as they themselves are. You see, me and my fellow...fans? Activists? Vigilantes? Whatever you’d call us...we’ve come up with a little, er, issue in our neck of the woods. It seems a gruff and grimy wolf has made his home amongst the trees, and we feel he may be a threat. The rest of the dolls have taken the reactive, passive option, and bumped up security. I however, being a forethinking and revolutionary man, would like to discuss a more...proactive approach. If you’ve got any interest, please, I exuberantly encourage you to swing by the Crimson Ningyo tea shop tomorrow evening! I’ll even treat you to a parfait, because I’m just that sweet.

Additionally, if you’d like to show your good faith to the porcelain princess of Little Osaka, I would very much like to make your acquaintance and would humbly accept any and all showing of good faith tomorrow evening.

Oh, and if you look like a thug or are packing something stabby or shooty or shocky, please use the back alley door. Tell a server you’re there to see the Fox.

Thank you for your consideration. Jaa ne!

-With love, Ringo ~<3

Those with the intrigue, desperation, or foolishness to follow up on this completely nonsensical and unprofessional business call would find themselves wandering down several dimly lit side streets in the grungy heart of the Japanese dominated canopy quarter. Those coming in from the front of the store would spot a small storefront with a warm, pale yellowish glow adorned with kanji covered lanterns and a rosey red sign that read the only English found on any of the nearby storefronts: “The Crimson Ningyo.” A cute, pale faced doll with a red kimono, easily the size of a young child, stood silently outside the door.

The rear entrance to the building was much less inviting, a dark, damp alleyway led up to a thin metal door, a single unlit lantern hung above the doorway, and a battered standing sign sat beside the door, a little picture of the same doll place outside the front of the store printed on the sign. The rear door was lit by a putrid neon green sign which blasted the name of the store first in kanji, and the smaller in English underneath. Opening the door would lead directly to a very steep metal staircase to the second floor of the building.

A quiet bell rang as the glass door to the front of the shop was pulled open, and the quiet buzz of the cafe filled the warm air, the calming aroma of steamy tea and coffee wafting through the store. The first floor was a more standard cafe set up: a tatami seating area with dark oak wood framework, beige shoji lined walls, fluffy red seating pillows, and kneeling height tables. There was also a long, sleek counter, the register and a glass display of cakes and other baked goods at one end, the other side was lined with tall wooden chairs and a smooth countertop for people to sit at, a few shy baristas diligently working away behind the counter, ducking in and out of the canvas covered doorway to the backroom. In the dark corner of the shop a dented iron door crammed tightly under a steep iron staircase up to the second story, girls with candyfloss hair and frightening masks often slunk their way into the ominous door tucked under the staircase.

The corrugated steps led up to a claustrophobic corridor of sliding shoji doors, a single metal door at the end of the hallway.

This was where the Fox hid, waiting for his guests to join him in one of the several more private, classier shoji walled rooms that made up the reserved second floor area. This section was usually full of small parties, study groups, iDoll gangs, or families who had reserved the place prior.

The sliding shoji door at the end of the hallway on the right was left slightly ajar, and resting just on the edge of the small wooden step into the room was a little orange fox statuette. Within his den, the fox patiently waited for an answer to his call.

[This is going to be the preamble/set up post for a little adventuring to be done in a day or two, nothing too big but it might be fun for a kick. Hop on in if you'd like! Will be coordinating on Discord obviously.]

#Under heavy edits. Would not be wise to post.

Dark figures swung in and out the negligible density of light which sparsely lit the street, attempting to go as quietly as possible. Their feet impacted awkwardly with the ground, creating a slightly less than ordinary amount of noise, as they made their way towards the Devil's Kiss, or more specifically the three loitering under its sign. Three men casually leaned up against the wall laughing hardily at each others jokes or mocking each other with a suggestive hand motion, the normality of life. If it weren’t for the fact that each of them was almost always staring towards the street out of the corner of their eye or looking off into an alley way under the guise of swatting an annoying fly. They were waiting for something and they didn’t want them to know that they were.

Seeing the three lazily talking to each other Telo let out a savage grin and tightened the grip around his knife, gingerly fingering the red button which his middle finger sat. Not turning to his fellow teammates he grunted out a command, “I only need one of them alive, kill the rest of them”.

The other eight members reactions varied wildly from standing and nodding slowly to taking an involuntary step backwards and almost dropping their knife, “What the hell Telo? You didn’t say we’d have to kill anyone, isn’t that why we left in the first place?”

Feeling anger boil inside of him he opened his mouth to yell slurs at the man for questioning him, but stopped himself before he could, it wouldn’t do good to yell when he was so close. “Petra, listen to me and listen to me well.” Telo whispered “If you mess this up I’ll kill you.”

Silence filled the alley way as Telo walked out towards the loitering three, who all belonged to the gang Coracinus, only to find them entering the bar. Gritting his teeth he followed suit. A cloud of gas filled the old timey, 80’s looking, dinner now repurposed as a bar. Bitter sweetness permeated the air as soft electronic music played in the background offering those slumped over on the cushioned seats, heads lolled back at least something to focus on in their ecstasy. Spitting on the floor he scanned the building for his targets and quickly found them ordering a shot at the bar.

Hearing some of his men enter behind him he confidently strode over before slamming his fist into the back of the middle man's head, sending it careening into the bar where he laid there. Raising his knife to finish the job a blinding light focused in on his eyes from behind the bar making him reel backward.

“Telo” An older, disappointed voice sounded “... It’s uh, been a while hasn’t it?”

Covering his eyes with a forearm he blinked rapidly in an attempt to regain at least part of his vision. Rage poured into his cup of emotions quickly filling it before toppling over and cascading out of his mouth, “Don’t give me that shit! Tell me where she is or I’ll rip your fucking throat out”.

“Telo” it started again, more hesitant this time “...you don’t really mean that, we’re family.”

“FUCK, YOUR GODDAMN FAMILY” He roared, jolting even the highest of customers. Breathing heavily he realized he could start seeing the outlines of people again, “You mean nothing to me you senile old man, so give her back. She’s mine!”

Throughout the exchange Telo’s team mates had slowly fanned out around the shop, checking customers, drawers, and even under the tables for any weaponry, but came up with nothing.

“You told me yourself ‘you can’t just brute force your way through something’, isn’t that all what Albus in? A place for you to exercise brute force.” he reasoned through a sigh “Have you been doing it again? The drugs I mea-”

Lashing out in a rage Telo blindly stabbed over the counter. As his blade whistled through the air the sound of the bar creaking open could be heard.

It was the big night, at least the big one for the month, and it was quite a spectacular deal that Alta had put up. A free night for anyone to enter the club if they wanted to, but they would have to be decently dressed. Any and all were to be especially clean before entering the club, and they'd have to remain cordial to all. Other than that, though? There were no rules but to have fun and enjoy the wonders of Neon Aquaria.

Alta could feel the heavy beats of the nightclub even up in the highest room of Neon. Each one reverberated throughout her chest as she exited her suit for the first time in quite a while. It had become her face more than what she remembered from when she was a small child; she'd even become non-human to those that were there and talked with the 'android'.

Tonight, however, would be a night that she could relax and become lost in the crowds of the club. With the sound system tested and everything prepared beforehand she was getting ready, now in her wheelchair because of her disease. With a smile and a swallowing of a pill she wheeled over to the elevator in a sparkling, royal purple dress.

With the elevator descending and Alta barely managing to wheel herself over to the bar the night had begun. Anyone could lose themselves in the beat, and they might even meet new friends or acquaintances here.

Nikilas slowly shuffled forwards as he started at his feet choking back tears of fear that threatened to escape from his eyes. “This is why you listen to me when I speak Nikilas,” a voice buzzed angrily into his ear, “I explicitly said that you weren’t even close to approaching the capabilities to hack a place like Niad, but you did it anyways”. Going to sub vocalize his response through the skin colored mic at his throat the AI stopped him. “Don’t, we don’t know what this guy is capable of yet. Best not to give him too much information”.

Continuing his death march he cursed himself for his mistake. He hadn’t thought they’d trace the hack back to him so quickly, it was actually unreasonable how fast they had found him, considering it had only been two hours since his relatively harmless attack. Neon Aquaria soon came into view a fifteen story, brightly colored building which was notorious for being the meeting place for many of the cities larger mafias. Nikilas could feel his feet grow heavier with every step he took, stopping at the door Barthalmus comforted him, “Go on, just do as I say and you’ll be fine.

Taking a deep breath the boy stepped through Aquaria’s sliding doors and was immediately assaulted by dozens of bright Led lights, which painted the club with a tint of purple, and the soft vocals of a woman singing over an electronic beat “Beyond Orion’s Arm”. The music calmed him down a little bit, but that small amount of calm was quickly shattered as he saw a few of the contraptions eyes lock on too his bruised face, smiles written on their face. They knew the drill, someone beat up comes in those doors and leaves through the penthouse windows.

If you want to create a character go to this post, and if you’re curious as to the full rundown of the technology, characters at play, etc. then refer to this wiki.

Hello there! If you’ve found this sub or simply stumbled upon it one of the first things I’d like to do is welcome you here to Empyreus! If there’s one thing I’d like to request from anyone coming here, it’s just to keep a friendly atmosphere and do your best to enjoy one another’s writing and effort.

Now, there are about four major things that play into this sub of ours that is Empyreus.

1.)Lore and Setting

2.)Characters & How Death is Handled

3.)Locations & Organizations

4.)Posts & Good Ol’ Writing

Lore & Setting

The City

Empyreus, one of the first megacities to emerge in the heart of the united states, founded on an artificial island near the gulf of Mexico, it began as a massive research complex for military technology development as conflicts between Russia and the US as the Russians tried to get involved in the ongoing middle eastern conflict, perhaps turning the tide of the “western liberation” of the region altogether. Things only got bad when the Republic of China got involved, allying themselves with Russia and quickly taking land from dozens of south asian countries, their prime target being japan, hoping to cripple Western economies by shutting down their main export centers. Many western nations had stakes in due to their importance to the manufacture and production of imported goods, offshore money, and old alliances. The war lasted 5 years and ended with a near full demilitarization of the Republic of China and pushed the independence of Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Empyreus began as a research facility but the amount of power and resources being pumped into the location eventually prompted the government to allow corporate entities to encroach on the site and build factories and industry mostly unchecked and unregulated to compensate for the massive decline in imports and exports between the US and China, in exchange for alleviating some of the financial burden of the site. This further urbanized the area to the point a sprawling city with a population of nearly 20 million all crammed into just 6000 km2. After the conflict was over the government had a lot less interest in the sustaining of the city and things quickly began to fall into descent, the civil anarchy most prominently prompted by the integration of nearly half a million Japanese refugees and a swill of 200,000 illegal immigrants and false claim refugees from other nearby regions including Thailand, Vietnam, and Korea. The United States government hadn’t provided the city with enough funding to maintain industry, infrastructure, law enforcement, education, social services, or any of the necessities needed to keep the city in a state of functionality. Quickly things fell apart, and criminal and corporate entities began to claw from the shadows and take these positions of power by promising residents that which their government no longer provided for them.

One of the most infamous of these was the Civil Detainment Corp, CDC, a private security company that offered to take over all police operation in the city for a fraction of the cost and triple the training, hardware, and numbers. Of course, desperate for a bailout, the municipal government caved, pressured by the corporate superpowers keeping the city alive. CDC was of course shadow funded by said mega corporations and were instigated to give these corporations better control and regulation freedom in the city and to ensure the security and safety of their investments in a place plagued by crime, violence, and destruction. They rolled out onto the streets fully militarized and with absolute authority. The only ones to stand up to them now are vigilante groups, organized crime, and corporate entities that rival those protected in the city. For now the city continues to fight for its right to exist, and a thousand different people are all climbing for the throne and to stake their claim to a part of the city.

Empyreus is broken up into districts, each one composed of an area housing roughly half a million people, and every district is almost a city unto itself, with its own residential, commercial, and industrial zones.

Additional information is available here, if you wish to know of the technology or organizations on deeper level, which I would wholeheartedly suggest.

Characters & Death

Now we’re onto a topic that covers the good and the bad. Characters, we all love them, but what can happen to these beloved rogues in our futuristic world of Empyreus? They can die. It’s a sad thing to do, writing a character death or even accepting that what you’ve worked on is gone, but shit does happen, and frequently. The thing with character death in this, however, is that we do have advanced medical facilities and ways to treat what today would be a death sentence. Cybernetics make people hardier, full on battle androids made for war and well equipped for it, but sometimes we all slip up. And in cases like these, this is where RP opportunities could arise, whether you get the help you need, or are turned away at the door to bleed out in a gutter. Make friends, make enemies, or simply exist in the shadows, but accept that death is something that does come for us all and may touch you with its long claws.

Off of that topic, let’s get to the happier places and where the fun truly begins, making your character! So, that’s going to happen in this post, and it’s the first place that you stop in after checking out this one.

Make sure to read through it thoroughly and do your best to understand everything in it. I’ll say again, read through it thoroughly! I don’t want anyone new or otherwise to an rp accidentally messing up something and wasting some of their time doing what could have been fun things. Also, if you’re confused simply talk to one of the mods on the Discord server we have, or just PM one of us to get information directly from the source. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to a mod pertaining to technology, the forces at play, or simply for some advice if you need any. We’re here to help, and we’ll try our best to fulfill that role for you all.

Locations & Organizations

These are also important parts, and probably good parts of what may become your character’s backstory. Where they were raised, who they might’ve been associated with, all of those things plays into the decision of where you are and who your character believes in.

Remember, some organizations aren’t simply in it for the money, or power, they may have powerful ideals driving them forward. So because of this, if your character is in something like that, they too would need to also have some part of that in them. Maybe not to the same fanatical degree, but loyalty and devotion are expected in the city of Empyreus. Those who aren’t? Well, they don’t necessarily live as long as the person beside them.

Link to making Locations & Organizations.

Posts & Writing

Alright. Let's all be real here. This is a writing Subreddit, you are expected to write. We're enacting a 1 paragraph post minimum that all posts must adhere to. This is for a couple of reasons, one of which is flow. For threads to flow well, there needs to be some form of dedication to scenery or visual. You don't have to write the Grapes of Wrath, but we ask that you put in a light layer of appreciation for the reader.

Someone's going to be reading what you're writing, and is hopefully going to reply to it. Meaning, there has to be something for them to reply to. Ensure your posts in some way shape or form promote another writer. One-line posts that say nothing don't promote conversation or storytelling, they merely delay the thread and make the other person have to put in more effort that you should've done in the first place.

So you want to create your own location or organization? Great, the more locations and motivations we have the better sense we get of this world and the more concrete places we can use in our stories. Much like creating a character creating a location or organization requires approval from the mods and review, but unlike with characters we’re a fair bit more lenient with these. Locations just need to fit into the setting and make sense. Organizations need to have good motivations and not be too powerful or add an out of the blue nature to the lore.

Please don’t write a location post for your character’s place of residence unless it’s in some way more relevant to the world than just your personal property.

Creating a Location

Here is the template for a location submission.

1. Name

The name of the facility or location, be it a title or the branding, or in some cases just a description, designation, or slang denomination. Much like with characters the name can really be anything so long as it isn’t a real store or location or in any way a rip off of another established setting, this rule applies to all other sections of the template.

2. Location

Which of the subdistricts does it fit into (Canopy, the harbour, the hub, the commercial ward)? Or, if this is a location outside of District 52 or outside of the city, please explain that aswell. We’re willing to let things expand outside the district, we just wanted to keep things condensed for the time being. Make sure if your location is set outside the district that it has a good justification for not being part of district 52. We should be trying to flesh out our main focused area first before expanding. You can also in this section describe surrounding business, sights, the neighbourhood and the general feel of the location.

3. Layout/appearance/picture

This is just a section to actually describe the look and feel of the place. You may use pictures or, if you cannot find enough good concept art for your location, describe the appearance. Think about describing both the inside and outside of the building, or the area if the location is outdoors. While not the most important part it can do a lot for giving your location an identity of its own.

4. Purpose

What is the purpose of the location and whose allowed to come to it? Is it a store? Is it a hideout? Is it a community building? Make sure you understand the purpose of your building both in RP and out of RP. Is it place players will fight? Is it for slice of life stories? Is it merchant? This section may also include a history, description of concept, or the story behind the location as well.

5. Owner and residents/staff

This may or may not apply depending on the location. Some locations may just be a public space or unowned, and in that case you may leave this section mostly empty. If it’s a business then that business likely has an owner and the location likely has a staff of people. If it’s a government building then what department runs it? The need for detail on this varies also. If it’s a corporate mega store or office building just describing the company who owns it and the type of people who work there is enough. If it’s a smaller location like a corner store or a CDC outpost then having a good idea of what kinds of characters people may meet would be appreciated detail.

6. Affiliation

What groups are able to use this location? Is the place partial to one group? Does the location have any enemies or guardians? A place may have no affiliations and that’s okay too.

That’s pretty much it, again if you have questions please feel free to contact a moderator!

Creating an Organization

We’re more harsh on approving these as they require a lot of thought and planning to pull off, and too many would flood the market with options and not enough territory. If your organization isn’t substantially different from the existing ones please refrain from making it and instead make your organization a cell or particular group within the other similar preexisting organization.

1. Leader(s)

Whose in charge of the organization? The leader of an organization should be either a player character or a very well fleshed out NPC. If the group is a council or similar then you can mention that here. This section should also elaborate on the structure of power in the group. Are there ranks? How does one move up in the organization? etc.

2. Goals/purpose

What is the organization after and in what ways do they try and achieve this goal? Really this is the most important part of an organization and you really need to think about this one. If the drive is money and money alone that’s a really weak drive. Most of the pre established organizations have more than money influencing them. This section can also mention any enemies or allies the group has and why those relationships exist.

3. Resources

What are the groups means? Do they have wealth? Influence? Power? Weapons? This section’s detail may vary wildly but you need to make sure your organization’s power in justified and reasonable.

4. Members

Who joins this organization? What do they look like? Is there a dress code? Why do they join? How do they join? Can they quit? This section should outline clearly how membership works in the organization and the rules and expectations of the members of the group.

Once more, a moderator is always happy to help and take questions about this if you need it, so don’t be afraid to ask!

If you're looking to submit a location or organization go here!

This post is an outline and guide for creating and submitting a character to the RP. Please refer to our wiki to get more information on the nature of Empyreus and better inform your writing, however, in essence, Empyreus is your standard cyberpunk setting, and if you’re familiar with that you’ll probably have no issues creating a character that fits and is approvable!

A couple of things to note going into character creation.

1. A mod will be reviewing your submission and will have to give their signature of approval before you are able to join in on the experience. We expect that all submissions include detailed, setting appropriate, and well thought out characters. You don’t need to write a novel or be the next William Gibson but characters who are clearly low effort or do not meet our quality standards will be rejected and the moderator reviewing the work will ask the submitter to make changes and improvements. Other reasons of contention include items, abilities, or characters who seem overpowered or whose elements do not align with the game’s setting. We’re fairly flexible with this, and feel free to design and come up with as much of your own stuff as you’d like, just be aware not all of it may be approved. Additionally, the moderators reserve the right to at any time revoke your approval if an element of your character functions in a previously unseen or unstated manner or if the quality of your character sheet submission does not match the quality of your writing.If this occurs then the moderators will have a discussion about how to remedy the situation and get you reapproved, or in the case the issue is beyond correcting, revoke your approval on that character.

2. All approved players will be put on a trial period of one week where they can show off their writing and character, and during this time the mods will decide whether or not to give them a more permanent approval to join. Don’t worry, I know this sounds very uptight and official but we’re not watching you like hawks, we just like to see if you’ll be a good fit for our sub before we give you the full greenlight! If you’re putting in the effort and following our guidelines there should be no issues!

3. We use Discord to coordinate (no mics necessary) 24/7. This allows for faster and more efficient posting as you can talk in real time with other people in your thread or event, rather than sitting there waiting for your inbox to light up. It might be a good idea for you to hop into our server if you want some help or have any questions so we can assist you in real time rather than chatting slowly back and forth through PMs or comments

Please use the following template for a character:

1. Name

Birth name, title, pseudonym, or nickname. With the world being incredibly multicultural, street names being a great safety measure, and the emergence of new and trendy naming schemes within society, pretty much any name is acceptable for your character! Get as creative and crazy with it as you’d like. The only thing that won’t be accepted is names that are in some way a straight or very close copy of an already named character. Please no “Bolly Billons” or “Motoko Dekard”, we’ll know, and we’ll be disappointed.

2. Age, Gender, Height, Weight

in imperial please, as that’s what most people are comfortable with.

3. Backstory

This is the most important part of your character. It informs characters motivations, affiliations, personality traits, and how you interact with the world and people in it. Feel free to get as lengthy as you want, there’s no set word count we’re looking for but generally the more the better, and if you’ve written a paragraph or less it’s probably not gonna cut it in most circumstances. We’ll always be happy to work with you on this aspect, especially since we’re an original IP and not an established canon.

Credit to the guys at AOTRP and DSRP for this list of 20 questions to consider when making your character to flesh them out and give them the depth they need to be captivating. I would highly recommend this, especially if you’re unsure about what type of character you’d like to play.

An important note: Anyone caught repurposing, stealing, or borrowing heavily from an already established character will be rejected without further help. It’s acceptable, even encouraged, to take inspiration and concepts from characters you enjoy, nothing in writing is original anymore, but to blatantly steal the work of another writer is both lazy and unfair. We have a very low tolerance for this. This rule also applies to anyone who has a ghost writer or anything similar. Please submit something original.

4. Organization or group, if any.

Our Wiki features many established groups and organizations already written into the world of Empyreus. These are not the only options available, if you’d like to establish a group of your own or be affiliated with a group that doesn’t actually appear in the RP please go ahead, just make sure to follow up with a good description and explanation of this original organization. Also note you should mention in this section or your backstory how your character became part of this group and in what way they are related to the group.

5. Equipment

Any armor, weapons, or other tools. We do have a technology section on the wiki to give players a better idea of what technology is available, but by no means is it all encompassing. We’re allowing people to submit and bring custom weapons and armors as well, so long as they fit the theme and aesthetic of the game. We encourage you to come up with your own ideas for equipment and items to further add to the collection. You can note in this section and cybernetic enhancements your character has as well.

Just to note big ticket items like vehicles, property, or other things like that must at the very least match your character’s implied income level or be justified in some other way. Similarly, note that for anyone not affiliated with either the CDC or a criminal organization getting a hold of firearms not locked DNA encryption or other military equipment, including combat androids, is very difficult. Again we just ask you keep this section reasonable.

6. Picture!

We would recommend you check out /r/imaginarynetwork for a whole plethora of art, or flip through some concept art and see what you can dig up. Websites like Deviant, Pinterest, and Art Station are also great places to find good art for an image. Fortunately Cyberpunk stuff is quite trendy, so it shouldn’t be too grueling to find something that fits with the setting. We also have a catalog of concept art that demonstrates the general dress style and look of various organizations and the general public, and you may borrow these images for your own characters if you wish.

7. Three traits you'd like to have on your flair.

They can be anything, really. We recommend trying to balance positive and negative traits and avoid descriptors that indicate occupation, rank, or other aesthetic features E.G. “hacker” or “old”

8. Your Timezone. This is for coordination purposes.

That more or less concludes the character creation outline! If you have any questions feel free to message myself or any moderator via modmail, PM, or our highly recommended (seriously please join) Discord server! Thanks for your time and we hope to see you in the city soon!

9. Your Nametag

Whatever name you'd like to have displayed on the sub when you post anything, it masks your username. If you'd like your nametag can be your username, your character name, or something else if you prefer. Also include a color for the nametag.

Here is a blank copy of the sheet, if you'd like.