Game Update: May I 2377

[nashiramods]

Weather & Recap ⭐︎ By Daylight ⭐︎ By Starlight
🎶 Recommended Listening: Smile.dk - Future Girls ♪
may i 2377
EPISODE 1: Flash Fashion? Couture Craze in Chalra City!
May 1 - May 9

Weather: Chalra City is enjoying a balmy and sunny late spring with some light rain here and there. The inland breeze from the nearby beaches brings a cool touch and the promise of summer, and flowering forsythia adds splashes of bright yellow to many parts of the city. The highs for the month average around 72°F/22°C, with lows around 50°F/10°C.

Recap: Episode 0: Nova Knights, Awaken!
At some point in the latter half of April, you awakened to your destiny as a Nova Knight, and last week, you and your fellow Nova Knights assembled for the first time. With Nautis's help, you're here to fight for a common cause — saving the Earth from the Abyss, the evil entity that destroyed your home planet in a past life. Whether or not you've revealed your true identity to any of your fellow Nova Knights, though...

Nautis has asked that you all lay low for a bit while she analyzes some data to try and pinpoint the enemy's next move. In the meantime, you can still keep an eye out for the occasional low-level monster terrorizing innocent bystanders, but maybe you're taking this opportunity just to let it all sink in. Maybe it doesn't even feel real yet, despite the big battle last week. After all, finding out that you have a special destiny because you're a reincarnated space alien can be a lot to take in.

BY DAYLIGHT
⭐︎ The new school year is underway at the Everwave Academy for Distinguished Youths, and after a month, students and faculty alike have settled back into the familiar school day rhythm. There's a new teacher in the art department, Shelly Lustre, whose highly critical approach has already made him a polarizing figure among students.

⭐︎ Chalra City is always changing with the times, and fashion is no exception! The new hot thing is in and it is Dan Flashes, a high-end boutique that recently opened in the downtown shopping district. Shoppers are turning out in droves to snatch up their latest pieces, especially their signature line of shirts with a variety of elaborate patterns despite the designer prices, which seem...to be based on how complicated the patterns are...? Huh?? Their items are, uh, pretty unique, but maybe the exclusivity is the main draw. Surely no one would actually buy these because they think they look it looks good, let alone wear them, right?

And yet the craze has taken hold of the city! Even if you can’t afford to shell out $800 for a shirt that looks like a screensaver threw up on an upholstered bus seat, you can still show your brand loyalty by wearing one of their signature pins. They’re practically giving them away, and it seems like just about everyone is wearing one these days. If you want to be in right now, Dan Flashes branded pins are all the rage in pop couture.

BY STARLIGHT
Hideout: Part of the Nova Knights package is the secret hideout beneath Lucky Stars Arcade, made of the remnants of a part of the Nashira that crash landed on Earth hundreds of years before Chalra City's founding. Right now all that's accessible is the console room that houses Nautis's core and the briefing room, which serves as a kind of lounge, but aside from shelves built into the walls, the only furniture there is an ancient table bolted to the floor, and anything that hasn't been recently touched is covered in a thick coat of dust. Who knows what you might find in there?

Still, if you want to just hang with your fellow Knights while in supernova (you know, in case you're concealing your identity), this is the place to be! All of the Nova Knights have been granted the power to warp themselves to the hideout while in supernova, but there's also the secret entrance behind the Bleat Fighter 3 cabinet that can be accessed by inputting a special button combo.

Intel: As Nautis mentioned in Episode 0, much of the data she needs to track the enemy's movements still needs to be decrypted from her databanks. She's getting some funky readings, and while she doesn't know exactly what they mean yet, it could be trouble...but soon she might have some information about those behind the arcade kerfuffle — the Harbingers of the Abyss!

⭐︎
Welcome to the grand opening for Stars of the Nashira! 🎊 Feel free to post your own logs, or you can use this as an open log for first half of the month. If you have any questions about the game update, you can drop them in the comment thread below.

Comments

[theriflespiral]

.... Natalia begins, slowly and by turns, to understand exactly what Jamil must feel so much of the time. Oh God, he's an idiot.

Still, he's an idiot paying for her game, and fools and money do seem to have that relationship. "I think there's a soundtrack for this, isn't there? We could probably try to make actual dances for that instead of sitting on the machine."

Not that she's stopping until clear.

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"Oooh! That'd be so fun! We should totally do that!"

Too bad Natalia he's already grabbed you by the arm--

[theriflespiral]

"Huh-- but-- the game--" Okay, it's official: she has no idea how to deal with rays of sunshine like Kalim and Maya.

And yet--

She's going with him, isn't she? She's a master of martial arts with no sense of social decorum.

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

Unfortunately, something occurs to Kalim – he stops like ten feet away from the DDR machine and turns to Natalia, cheerful and confident despite what he's about to say.

"So where can we get the soundtrack?"

[theriflespiral]

What makes you think I KNOW!? Natalia thought, but did not, in fact, say.

Instead, she considered for a moment, and, in her best thoughtful voice, said, "Well, if I had to take a guess, probably a place with a lot of merch from a bunch of games? I know I've seen them around, though mostly it's been resin figures and gacha in the front."

He probably knew a place like that, right?

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

Oh boy. You think Kalim goes to shops? You think he buys things?

He smiles at Natalia cluelessly.

"That sounds really neat! D'you think there are any of those around here?"

[theriflespiral]

"... I don't know, maybe Computertown? They got a lot of weird stuff there."

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"Cool, okay!" Kalim looks at her expectantly. "Lead the way!"

[theriflespiral]

"... If this turns into you asking me to buy you a rail pass, I'm leaving you at the turnstile." She starts to head to the station.

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"No, that's okay, I have a rail pass!"

He presents it proudly, like he expects her to be really impressed that he has this.

[theriflespiral]

Small favors. "We'll be taking the Alectri line to the Computertown station."

At least the station is clearly marked. Alectri line is... on the overpass?

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"Cool! I don't think I've ever been that way before." He beams at Natalia. "Have you?"

[theriflespiral]

"Once. Father was looking for a sonar, and mother wanted to see the sewing machines." Natalia paused. "Sergey, my younger brother, was interested in the computers, but ho! Such small computers."

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"Ahaha...right!" He has no idea what she meant by that! "Wow, it sounds like you can get a lot of different stuff there! It'll be neat to check it out even if we can't find that soundtrack!"

[theriflespiral]

She's not quite sure how she grasps that Kalim is lost, but she adds, "Back home, computers, they are these big things. The size of two bookshelves, back to back. The computers here are so small! It is clear someone is exaggerating to his boss how capable they are."

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

Kalim hesitates at the station turnstile to blink at her.

"...Huh! I've never seen a computer that big before. They must be really into computers where you're from, huh?"

[theriflespiral]

"We shall see within the half-hour, I expect," Natalia replies, as the train pulls up.

Despite how packed it is of an evening going the other way, it's a relatively quiet ride into Computertown.

The lights here are bright and in every direction. It's a town dedicated to the electric, in all its forms!

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

Emphasis on the 'relatively'. Riding the train is still a pretty new experience for Kalim -- because he isn't allowed to do it unaccompanied -- and he absolutely spends the entire trip chattering about any and every detail he's noticing for the first time whether Natalia likes it or not.

His enthusiasm doesn't wane when they step out of the station. "Whoah! Look at all these lights!" He spreads his arms out and spins around, turning back to Natalia with stars in his eyes. "This is awesome! There's gotta be some good music around here somewhere!

[theriflespiral]

She actually does manage to make small talk, albeit in her usual casual monotone. For example, if she were asked,

So what do you think goes on in there?
"based on its location, I'd gather that it's likely a nerve center for an industrial concern." The signs help. "Of course, no one business truly has full holding of any skyscraper. There's likely several businesses."

Things like this. She goes through the motions, but either she is incredibly bored or is out of touch with her emotions.

"I've heard there are live shows as well, but I think a pair of students getting in on the end-of-day activities of a bunch of tech workers would probably go poorly. Let us go look around the game shops."

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

That's okay, Natalia – Kalim clearly just needs to be hyped up enough for the both of you.

"Live shows?" Actually, he looks like he might be excited enough for even more people than that. "Like, with music??"

[theriflespiral]

"So I hear. Idol groups, mostly. I don't know where the venues are, nor do I know where they sell tickets. The last time I tried, well."

... She doesn't want to think about that. "it ended poorly."

[istandwithmycancelledwife]

"Aw..." Kalim looks around as if one of these venues might just materialise if he takes a quick glance. It does not. "Well, maybe we can look for one after we get this soundtrack!"

[theriflespiral]

"... Perhaps." Strange. She did notice she was being pulled along in Kalim's tide. Still, it seemed as good an idea as any, with her training for the day done. "I believe the record store was somewhere this way..."