Arrival

[apocalypsehowmods]

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Arrival

Characters arrive suddenly on the ground or upper floors of ADI Headquarters. Potential spaces to arrive are included at the end of this section.

Characters will find themselves temporarily weakened and disoriented upon arrival, without access to superhuman abilities or advanced combat skills. They are welcome to put up a fight or run, but they will eventually be overpowered/caught at some point and taken by NPCs. Prior to being taken, they will have the run of the upper floors of ADI. For some reason, two or three people always seem to arrive around about the same time; although, there's no one time or day during the month that new arrivals appear. You might arrive in the dead of night in a maintenance duct, or the middle of the afternoon in the canteen when it's bustling with activity.

Two things will be immediately apparent to characters upon arrival: all the NPCs are speaking English (if your character does not speak English, they will be out of luck), and any injuries they had upon leaving their own reality are still very much there. Any characters who are injured, fatally or otherwise, will be grabbed by NPCs and rushed for immediate medical attention. Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine... and some magical healing in some cases, characters will be saved from death.

For those not being rushed off for immediate care, they will be taken or ushered to the basement levels of ADI with an elevator that goes down to B4. The first stop is B1 where characters, either in pairs or alone, will be placed in a room with a piece of paper with printed text on it. Characters will feel a draw toward the paper, and when they finally look at it or touch it, they will, regardless of their native language, become fully fluent in English. For characters with sight, this includes American Sign Language. For characters without sight, this includes Braille. Characters without sight will feel Braille when they touch the page.

(Plain Text Version)

Once characters are fluent in English, an NPC will explain the situation over a speaker in the room:

• This is the planet Earth in the present year, and the character is inside Apex Detectives, Inc., a front for the Apocalypse Disruption Initiative (ADI) headquarters.
• ADI doesn't know how the character arrived, but this has been going on for months (since July 2020, before the first PCs arrived). There are many other people from different worlds here.
• There are supernatural forces in this world that feed on the fear of living things. ADI's mission is to stop the servants of these forces and prevent any apocalypses.
• If characters have any supernatural, magical, inhuman, or superhuman abilities, they will be encouraged to use them very sparingly. There is a price for using those abilities: terrorizing and murdering people. Until recently, powers were strictly banned and the irresponsible use of them might still face consequences, but the attitude towards powers used for ADI's goals and in defense of others or oneself is now more lenient.
• ADI recently learned (as of May 2023) that their activities seem to be feeding the Hunt. They are working to prevent this as much as possible, but their basic mission aligns with it too much. The current plan is to figure out how to get new arrivals home or stop new arrivals from turning up and then close up shop and shift their mission to something else that won't be so attractive to one of the Entities.
• ADI believes the character is somehow involved with an apocalypse that may be imminent.
• ADI can provide assistance for existing in this new world, but characters will need to work with them. Specifically, they need help on figuring out why people are appearing and how to stop it... while also carrying on with their usual mission and pretending to be just a private investigation company.

Characters who aren't immediately hostile to all of this will be let out and shown more, including some limited access to restricted areas where they'll see some people hard at work at computers or special rooms where they seem to be working with mundane objects like they are bombs about to explode, though they all seem a little worn thin and staffing seems just shy of 'short.' They'll be informed there's to be a formal orientation at the end of the week where someone will be providing more information, but in the meantime, the NPCs can get the characters set up with some basic housing and accommodations... under watch, of course, just to ensure everyone is on the same page and kept safe.

In addition to housing, characters will be ferried to locations where they can pick up basic amenities and some additional clothing to supplement whatever clothes they arrived in, though occasionally there might be a delay of a day or two until someone is available to take them. Characters will be given a communications device (smartphone), as well, along with a scheduled date for a cybersecurity lesson they will be required to take. Those who try to avoid this will be tracked down and brought in for it. Players can assume that their characters will be given an in-depth tutorial on how to use a smartphone, how to set up accounts and passwords, access the internet, and what they need to do to keep themselves safe online and with technology in the modern world. Sadly, there is no internal communication network outside of email at the moment... or so the regular ADI staff will tell you. After a few days, characters will receive an app download link from an NPC named Cole that will allow them on a private chat program. Multiple logins may be created and anonymous posting is possible. They will be advised in the app download link to keep it a secret from ADI personnel who aren't already In The Know.

Everyone, regardless of whether they decide to work with ADI or not, will be provided with a basic State ID when they are being processed for arrival. They can give a fake name, but it cannot be an OBVIOUSLY fake name. It's not the sort of thing that would let a character drive legally or provide enough evidence to get a job legally, but is a valid ID for purchasing alcohol and the like. A fake license would involve significantly more paperwork and trust from ADI. Ages/information will reflect what is realistic based on a character's appearance, rather than what may be true. Even those with clearly-foreign accents will be issued State IDs for Massachusetts with their residence in Gloucester. Congrats you're somehow Americans! Sort of...

Potential Arrival Points

Entry Foyer - A pleasantly-decorated area for greeting new potential clients and keeping them while they wait for appointments. There are always security officers in this area and a receptionist during the day. The furniture is bolted solidly (but discreetly) to the ground, and the decorative art isn't coming off the walls without a crowbar.

Open Offices - One of the many open concept office areas on these floors. There are about 20 seating areas within each one and there are likely to be employees about. The windows are bullet and shatter-proof and the furniture (apart from the chairs) is bolted solidly to the ground. Additional desks have been crammed in to create more dense seating arrangements, making the open offices somewhat trying to navigate. There is easy entry and exit from these rooms into other parts of the floor.

Private Offices - On each floor, there are four three executive offices, one for each corner of the building that is still standing. While the furniture in these rooms are bolted down, there are more personalized knickknacks that are extremely throwable. Most of these offices are cluttered with two workers' worth of furniture and belongings in what's pretty clearly a makeshift arrangement.

The Demolition Zone - As of June 2022, an above-ground corner of the building that formerly contained mainly offices has been demolished, leaving an unsightly, rubble-strewn pit to mar the grounds. A chain link fence is in place to discourage entry into the construction (or destruction) zone, with tarps serving as temporary weather-proofing for the adjacent section of building. While those arriving in the demolition zone will find themselves in the open air, members of ADI's security team have been instructed to closely monitor this area for arrivals.

The Gym - The first floor contains a small office gym with basic workout equipment. Machines are bolted to the ground and locked, requiring a keycard to turn on. Weights and other such things are kept in steel cabinets and similarly require a keycard. There are large, shatter-proof mirrors in the gym.

The Canteen - The second floor contains the office canteen. There are some hot foods available for purchase and fridges/microwaves/etc. for those who have brought their lunch. It doubles as the break area for most employees, and there are usually people scattered around during work hours. This is the only part of the building where the furniture isn't bolted down.

Bathrooms - Each floor contains two sets of bathrooms. Characters may appear within stalls, at the sinks, or even atop things in the bathrooms. There are no windows out of the bathrooms.

Janitor's Closets - Each floor contains one janitor's closet. It is a cramped space with no windows that has the light switch outside the room. There is access to the maintenance ducts in these rooms that lead around the building, but that requires getting a metal vent off, and the maintenance ducts are very narrow and seem to have been laid out in a purposefully confusing manner.

Maintenance Ducts - The exceptionally unlucky may find themselves appearing within an air duct that is in need of cleaning. It will be cold, dark, and very close. Shouting and banging around is a good way to attract attention... or stoke the theories about ghosts in the building.

Library - The library is relatively small; in this room characters will find several computer terminals with access to various academic databases, Ancestry.com and the like - if anyone's been careless enough to leave a screen unlocked. There's also a small collection of books on local legends, as well as a collection of historic maps and phone directories from Gloucester and the surrounding areas.

Any Other Office-Building-Related Rooms - If it exists in a standard office building, ADI has it on the upper levels, and you may have your character arrive within it.

Once settled, characters may take jobs in any of the following departments at ADI:

• Administration: Office management, HR, finance, and general admin
  
• Canteen: Folks who are charged with keeping people fed, whether at ADI or out on missions
  
• Counseling: Because you're all going to need it
  
• Equipment: Those who work to design, build, and manage specialty tools and gear
  
• Facilities: This department includes building and systems maintenance, as well as janitorial staff
  
• Investigations: Boots-on-the-ground detectives
  
• Information Technology: While they're ostensibly responsible for internal IT systems, these folks are often called upon as hackers
  
• Medical: Healthcare, emergency and otherwise
  
• Public Relations: Those who deal with the public and keep the real supernatural occurrences out of the news
  
• Research: Bookworms. Data miners. Nerds.
  
• Security: Patrol, surveil, and be ready to throw down with any intruders
  
• Staff Development: Trainers and teachers onsite to help staff learn new skills

Characters may work in up to two departments at any given time. There are enough NPC staff to operate any departments that lack sufficient PC staff. PCs will, in general, have NPC coworkers within their departments.

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