( january intro log )

[hownkai]

Who: Everyone
When: January 1st and on
Where: The Moira + Emiri
What: The crew finds themselves on the planet of Emiri
Warnings: None, but please label anything you do that needs a warning

I N T R O L O G

doubled down "I used to live in a room of mirrors, and all I could see was me..." The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar. Those that arrive will find they have a very short amount of time to actually adjust to time on the Moira before the ship is preparing to enter the orbit of a nearby planet. Shifts in gravity are normal, but for the most part, things carry on as usual. WELCOME TO EMIRI Despite recent events, it seems things are slowly coming to a standstill. As the Moira comes closer to this new planet, the Captains relay a message to the crew informing them that they are required to dock and stay on Emiri for an indeterminate amount of time due to the nature of its most prized resource: matchmaking. Although it is universally known by many other names, Emiri is a central hub for pairing others with their true intended—or second self. Each crew member will be asked to participate in a series of MANDATORY tests - both physical and mental - so that their profile may be uploaded into an efficient database before being allowed to explore what Emiri has to offer. Curious about the process? Don't be! Side effects to these simple tests are rare, and while some of them may be lengthy, the majority of them are timely, efficient, and short. However, the company responsible for this modern miracle is well-known, especially throughout Emiri, and each Morian should verse themselves as to exactly who they are and what they do. LINK'D INC. The Art of Once Link’d Inc. knows that finding your second self isn’t easy, so we take the guesswork out of it for you. If you’re looking for love, a perfect genetic match, a person to help you build an empire, or something more, you’ve come to the right place. Link’d Inc. runs mental and physical screenings and performs a background analysis--all at your discretion. Immediate customization of a detailed profile is ready for you in seconds. This profile is then calibrated into our system and cross-examined with over 99.9 billion others. We’ll find you your second self, the perfect counterpart, the very first try. It’s the chance of a lifetime. It’s the life you deserve. It’s... The Art of Once. These are some of the many different sorts of advertisements found throughout Emiri describing the corporation responsible for this advanced science. Its founder, Frederick Link, is not easily contacted, but there is some information available about him. Anyone that asks will be told bits and pieces of the following: Frederick Link searched the universes for his perfect match, only to be met with disappointment and loneliness. A businessman at heart, but a romantic to his very core, Link decided to take that perceived failure and channel it into a company that could provide others with the very thing he longed for: the perfect second self. Two years into development, during a trial run, Link was matched with a woman from a neighboring galaxy, and they’ve been together ever since. A prosperous thirty year relationship shows that the methods of Link’d Inc. can provide a person with love, romance, a business and life partner, or anything else that one might need. Whether they hear all of it is determined by how much the crew explores the vast cities of Emiri, which are connected to one another by a railway system that makes travel quick and simple. There are also numerous other modes of transportation that range from cars and trucks to boats and bicycles. HARASHAN Commercial & Professional Map of HarashanPopulation: ~ 7.28 million Major Landmark: The Aerospace Literacy Rate: 95% Harashan is the main district for education and learning. There are countless programs and schools offered to those of varying races and ethnicities throughout the galaxy. Want to learn another language? Perhaps brush up on some of the arts that were never quite mastered? This is the place to perfect things that need a bit of fine tuning. It is also the main business capital and transportation hub of Emiri—the aerospace is located centrally, a busy place that monitors the comings and goings of every ship. The Link'd Inc. corporate office can be found here, as well as its chains and subsidiaries (i.e., screening facilities and health services). Their motto is: Finding your second is a business strategy. Get it right the first time. ☄ DATING 101: Someone thinks you need a little more education before meeting your one and only because you're now being forced to attend reform school. Ettiquette, dining, dancing, and more, there are countless lessons you'll be taught and tested over through the course of your stay on Emiri. Perhaps you won't be so unlucky and have someone to share in the experience. ( 01.01 - 01.17 ) ☄ BOARDED UP: Crew members located in this city will be passed a flier by an unrecognizable stranger who is immediately swallowed up in the crowd of Harashan; being able to follow them will be impossible. Yet, the thin paper has nothing on it but a specific address. Asking some of the locals eventually leads to an abandoned station on the outskirts of the city in the opposite direction of the Aerospace. It's dirty and falling apart, like the residents of Emiri have completely ignored its existence. There are also signs of a struggle in random areas throughout—black scorch marks, bullet holes, and dried blood stains. Yet, the most noticeable feature is the single flag tacked onto a wall just down a flight of steps that leads to a closed subway system bearing an unfamiliar symbol. What happened here? Why won't anyone know what you're talking about if you question them? Something seems to be brewing beneath the business-driven energy of Harashan. ( 01.18 ) Avelle Romance & Love Map of AvellePopulation: ~ 2.1 million Major Landmark: Wem-Run River Crime Rate: 15% Avelle is Emiri's second largest city and is centered around those individuals looking for their second based on love compatibility versus the "entire package". However, it differs from Harashan due to its increase in families rather than individuals and is more suburban in its layout. While it does have schools and general places as Harashan does, its most noted feature is the Wem-Run River, which courses through the center of the city. Much of Avelle's energy and livelihood is generated by this natural formation, but the water is not drinkable. Their motto is: Finding your second is finding your soulmate. The first time is the only time. ☄ FAMILY MATTERS: Congratulations! You've been given the keys to a new place of your very own, completely furnished and with no strings attached. But there's always a catch, right? Well. It's the starting foundation of your new life with your second—regardless of whether or not you've met. So, get settled and get comfortable. You have a while to figure out what you're going to do. ( 01.01 - 01.17 ) ☄ BOMBS AWAY: Crew members located in this city will suddenly feel the slightest tremor shake the ground. Depending on how close you are to the Wem-Run River, it might be possible to see the remains of a burning ship. You might even notice the few figures in the water who are immediately swept up by - what appear to be - the authorities of Avelle. If you're further from the water, there will be thick black smoke pouring into the air, and as the crowd begins to grow larger, it's almost impossible to see what happens across the river. Yet, some of the debris will wash ashore eventually, and pieces of the boat will bear an unfamiliar symbol. What happened here? Why won't anyone know what you're talking about if you question them? Why do they whisper Komai? Something seems to be brewing beneath the light-hearted energy of Avelle. ( 01.18 ) St. Murtel Genetic & Biological Map of St. MurtelPopulation: ~ 867,000 Major Landmark: Link'd Inc. Gen-Lab Success Rate: ERROR Unlike other cities across Emiri, St. Murtel's access is extremely limited and monitored closely. It is the center of medicial-related queries as well as laboratories and other screening facilities. Physical and mental conditioning and other educations are held in the pristine buildings of St. Murtel due to its heavy focus on pairing people from a genetic level to "create a better future". The streets are clean despite the vast highways that runs either side of the center of the city. Settled between these busy roads is the Link'd Inc. Gen-Lab. Their motto is: Finding your second is for the future. A perfect legacy is only born once. ☄ INFANT POSSIBILITIES: The future is closer than you think! With help from several Link'd Inc. sources, you can now know what your offspring will look like. Accessing the system is easy, and all candidates who have been logged through Link'd Inc.'s matching process will be available to view by anyone. Not the most precious thing you've ever seen? Don't worry! There are even programs that assist with altering what those genes may produce so that you can have exactly what you've always wanted. ( 01.01 - 01.17 ) ☄ CUFFED: Crew members located in this city will notice an unrest arising within the people slowly gathering outside the Link'd Inc. Gen-Lab. Upon closer inspection, it seems the authorities have been contacted due to some sort of threat, and if you look even closer, that "threat" is a person being arrested and detained for questioning. What might strike you as odd is the an unfamiliar symbol inked into the back of their jacket and the shout the stranger gets out before being shoved into a locked vehicle. "The Komai won't stop until it's over!" What's happened here? Why won't anyone know what you're talking about if you question them? Who was that person and what did they mean? Something seems to be brewing beneath the strict energy of St. Murtel. ( 01.18 ) ( ooc; For questions or more planet information, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )

Comments

River Tam | Open

[highlyintuitive]

[ Kipos ]

[ The gardens are a peaceful place, quiet and mostly free from the tumultuous mix of thoughts and feelings of the ones around her. She leaves her shoes behind, stepping through the plant beds with bare feet. She doesn't step on the plants, bare toes seeking out earth to dig into before stepping again. She makes a circuitous path through until she reaches the base of the central tree and sits down.

Some bonsai kittens come up to investigate her feet and she giggles as they climb on her feet. She reaches out to pick up a small black kitten and examine it. ]

...Caught between, aren't you? You still remember the sun feeding on you and the flowers brushing against your fur. Probably won't ever be totally one thing or the other because of how you were made.

[ The kitten doesn't seem to mind and settles into her lap happily. She stays like this for a while. Later, when the kittens have wandered off to play in a flower bush, River wanders down to the lower level of the gardens. At the altar she lights several candles, one for each life lost because the alliance wouldn't stop chasing her. ]

It isn't much. I remember, though. I won't forget the cost.


[ Hallways ]


[ The Moira is much bigger than Serenity and doesn't have the feeling of love imprinted throughout her bulkheads and hidden places like the Firefly ship did. River doesn't know her heart, doesn't know if she'll be allowed to so she walks the halls gently dragging a hand along the wall as she learns the shape of things. She's put the thermals on but thrown on her dress over them so it feels less like the Academy clothes she was forced to wear during her imprisonment.

She can be found on almost every deck doing this, peering into rooms or just resting her head against the wall with her eyes closed like she's listening to something very carefully. If anyone looks at her for too long she looks back at them and explains. ]

I'm trying to hear her voice. Moira's.


[ Avelle ]


[ The planet is nice. Civilized like the core planets. River finds herself visiting the city often enough just to watch the street performers who turn up in the shopping centers. She especially loves watching the dancers, sitting close by and watching their movements with an eager eye. Dancing is becoming something she loves again now that she's carefully untangling the things the Academy did to make her a killer.

Sometimes, if it's more open to spectators joining, River dives in and fits herself into the performance. She's good at this, always has been, and picks the steps up in moments. Dances until she's breathless and whirls away to fall on the grass and watch others continue on without her. To anyone near her she smiles, cheeks still flushed with exertion. ]

You should join, they won't mind.


[ St. Murtel - Cuffed ]


[ She finds herself drawn to the commotion unintentionally, drawn by the current of thoughts focused on what's going on. The feeling of it makes her remember her lessons about the Unification Wars as well the feeling that comes off Mal and Zoe when they talked about (or didn't talk) the war. There's something brewing.

The pressure of it, the fear she feels when the prisoner shouts about the Komai makes her dizzy. She loses her footing, falling against a nearby wall and then slowly sliding down to sit. River takes deep breaths, just trying to push back the feelings around her and find herself amid it all. ]

Komai...

[ ooc: Permissions post for River's psychic nonsense ]

Avelle

[petrifiedshadow]

[ Starflight had been watching the dancing from the sidelines, following their movements closely. He'd never seen anything quite like it. He knew the different tribes had celebrations and dances, but with the war there hadn't been much to celebrate lately. Not to mention that growing up in the cave with the Talons of Peace made it difficult to experience anything.

When the girl drops on the grass in front of him, Starflight backed up quickly, looking at the crowd uncertainly.]

I really don't think they'd appreciate that.

[highlyintuitive]

[ River looks up at Starflight from her place in the grass, fingers digging into it absently. It's a good day, the sun is shining and the complex interaction of chemicals in her brain is letting the voices around her fade into a static murmur instead of a wave dragging her under. ]

Not as much as you think. If you're here it's because they let you be. Did they teach you to dance where you came from?

[petrifiedshadow]

[ Starflight blinked down at her in mild surprise. She had to be one of the first humans who hadn't been startled about him being a dragon. It was a nice change. ]

Not really. Our guardians didn't approve of us wasting our time on stuff like that when we could be training or studying.

Hallways

[pallantias]

[Athena is sitting in her quarters, preparing for planetfall, when she senses that she’s not alone and looks over sharply. She’s wearing her Atlas armor over her thermals, face exposed, one hand resting on the metal mask she was about to put into place. Her eyes narrow as they scan the unfamiliar woman and when she speaks, her voice is wary.]

It’s a ship. It doesn’t talk.

[highlyintuitive]

[ River has a somewhat owlish look on her face when Athena speaks. She's quietly taking in her armor, her physical posture and calculating the odds she could be a threat. ]

Of course it does, all ships do. [ She traces the wall gently, remembering Kaylee talking to Serenity. Of course she was the living sunshiney heart of the ship so Serenity loved her best. ] You just have to listen.

[pallantias]

[Perhaps it’s the certainty in the other woman’s voice, but Athena does actually pause to listen, head cocked to the side. Besides the faint hum of power running through the ship, she doesn’t hear anything.]

You must be speaking figuratively, [Athena says decisively.] Are you running some kind of diagnostic on the ship?

Avelle

[brosbeforeprose]

[Kind of reminds him of what city-dwellers imagine elves do when nobody's watching. ...Of what he still likes to think to himself that they do, let's be honest here. He's watching the dance out of vague interest - trying to figure out if it reminds him of any dances he's seen (it doesn't), and hell, just because it looks good. Fabrics and limbs flowing like water in time to music that reminds him just a little of the Hanged Man, the sort of things the musicians might play if you bought them a drink and showed a little gratitude for a change.

When the human girl flopped onto the grass addresses him, though, he gestures to himself, eyebrows raised in sort of a 'you're talking to me?' motion.]

Ah-- no, I probably shouldn't. Terrible accident a few years back, completely ruined my dance career. I'm sure they wouldn't mind a dwarf spinning into their midst and re-breaking some bones in time to the music, but I'm a spectator these days.

[highlyintuitive]

[ Without thinking, River returns the motion with one of her own, nodding very seriously. Who else would she be talking to? ]

Watching is good, too. It lets you work out all the moves and figure out what might happen next. [ She pauses and a smile sneaks back onto her face. ] It isn't as much fun, though.

[brosbeforeprose]

[Maybe he was sort of hoping it was someone else being collared into dancing.]

I don't know, I think watching can be even more fun than doing, it just depends on your point of view.

[He crouches - he's not used to being taller than people, it makes him feel like the natural order of things is being somehow disturbed.] If I went in there right now, I'd screw the whole damned thing up. There'd be flailing limbs, someone would fall over - probably me, but I might take a few people with me - the music would stop, a few people get a bit of a laugh, and they might start again, but the magic's gone.

But you let it keep going on its own... Who knows? Maybe that woman... [He's nodding at a black-haired woman who might have looked human if not for the blue skin, but it doesn't much matter who the girl imagines he's looking at.]...has been working up the courage to talk to someone else in the group for months. A little glance here, a touch of the hand there, never quite able to get him on his own. Today, she finally got up the courage to get him to dance with her, and when the music finally fades away and everyone's exhausted, he'll tug her away by the hand and ask her to drink with him. Her clothes are wrinkled and her hair's everywhere at once and she's glistening with sweat, but there's no noticing that when somebody's looking at you the way he is.

I'm not inconsiderate enough to ruin something like that.

[That's the most drawn-out, ridiculous way he could possibly have chosen to say 'I like watching people and thinking about what they do - or might do - more than doing it myself'.]

Hallways

[intherigging]

[Jacky felt her eyebrows raise at that.]

Does she talk? The ship, I mean.

[highlyintuitive]

Not yet.

[ She steps back from the wall, looking around at the bulkheads surrounding them. ]

But she might. If we're good to her.

[intherigging]

Ah. [Jacky'd been asking mainly because, at this point? The ship finally talking wouldn't surprise her at all.

She flashed a small smile at the girl. She had a notion she knew what she meant.] A well loved ship always talks to those who can hear her, eh?

Avelle

[seventhcrown]

When Kairi had stood on the observation deck, staring out at the great darkness of space, the wonder she'd felt had been ice-cold, overwhelming, and full of dread. But now? Kairi was in full blown tourist mode, wandering the streets of Avelle in rapt attention. She'd never seen a city this huge, with so many people before! It was the glorious kind of overwhelming where she wanted to drink it all in, go everywhere and see everything.

The cluster of dancers and their audience pull her away from a statue of a rearing horse to watch, laughing along as the performers pulled in bystanders into their circling dance. Most of them stumbled, laughing along until they could weave their way out, but one lithe girl took a step, then another, before suddenly melting into the rhythm of it, gliding around as seamlessly as the other dancers until she spun her way out like an errant galaxy to tumble onto the grass.

"I don't know, it'd be hard to follow up a performance like yours!" She extends her hand to the girl to help her up. "Sure you're not a part of the act there?"

[highlyintuitive]

River takes the hand offered and gets to her feet, skirts twirling around her in a good many shades of green. The rhythm of the dance is still pounding in her veins, driving away her worries for a little while.

"It's easy enough to figure out once you watch them," She looks back at the whirling bodies, the laughter from other people drawn into it after her. Their feet aren't as sure but the enjoyment is the same. "They're very kind to anyone who joins."

Avelle

[seeingscarlet]

[Between the new dress and the street performers, Wanda's starting to feel a little less like sulking. It's not really their fault that they failed so spectacularly in matching a telepath - there are people who can psychically support her but she shouldn't have gotten even a tiny hope up that anyone else could pick them out.

She's always appreciated the effort Athena makes to keep negative thoughts and emotions in check around her, but it's not until now that she understands it. Wanda's trying to focus on happy things - pretty dress, the wind in her hair, the grass underneath her.]

I don't know the steps, not like that. That was amazing.

[highlyintuitive]

I loved dancing before... [ Before the Academy and their knives and Good Intentions. Dancing was a joy that they almost stole away. But it stayed, she kept it and wouldn't ever let anything take it. ] Being like this makes it easier sometimes, being open.

I can feel the flow of their steps, how they'll come together and break apart. It's easy to fit myself into the empty spaces.

[ She looks at Wanda's clothes, new and shiny without any of the wear that makes them hers yet. ]

Your dress is very nice.

[earthandpine]

Now that isn't a comment Rosethorn expected to hear. She knows the kittens are something different, but most people can't sense how caught between plant and animal they are.

"Most people don't realize what the kittens remember," she says gruffly, wondering if the girl has plant magic like hers, to feel what the kitten does. Plants don't have the same kind of memories as human, but the kittens... they don't think quite the same as any plants do either. It's disconcerting.

"They've no idea they're something new. They'll grow up, and they'll always be part plant and think that's the normal way for a cat to be. Kittens can adapt to pretty much anything."

[highlyintuitive]

"Lucky there aren't many cats in the black." She traces her fingers along the soft fuzz of the kitten's spine. Genetically engineered pets weren't an oddity on the core planets. Why have a normal pet when you might get one spliced to look strange?

She looks over at Rosethorn, giggles as a small fat kitten waddles up to the woman's feed and purrs with all its might.

"They like you a lot, though. They're not like cats but they see something like them in you."

hallways

[forwardmomentum]

[ miles is just coming out of the personnel office, locking it up behind him before he starts down the hall and sees a girl who...looks like she's fallen asleep against the wall. no, not asleep. miles treads closer in curiosity until she turns and looks at him and he starts, just slightly. ]

Ah. [ he blinks at her, nonplussed, and his gaze flicks over her, taking in the breezy dress over moiran thermals. he doesn't recognize her -- certainly one of the new arrivals. for a moment he thinks she must mean the whispering rooms -- the ones he and ivan had run across, on an entirely different deck from this part of the ship, and...no. he has a feeling that's not it. bemused but helplessly curious, miles tilts his head at her, brows raised. ]

And what do you hear?

[highlyintuitive]

...Nothing, yet. [ She steps back from the wall, tracing over it with her fingers again. Even the texture is different from Serenity. She had her rough patches, welds and small spots of rust that were painted over. It doesn't have the same soul as the firefly and obviously won't have the same heart for its crew. ]

She doesn't know me. Any of us, really. Takes a long time for a ship to start caring about strangers walking around inside her.

St. Murtel

[notglitching]

[The local regulations might not include specific restrictions against scaling buildings to watch arrests take place, but they'd probably add some if they saw Rinzler. Fortunately enough, he doesn't plan on being seen. Noise stays quiet and lights dark, nothing but a smaller shadow lost in the building's larger one as he watches the proceedings. The growing mob. The sign, the shout. Clu's enforcer is distinctly unimpressed. If they can't control a single disruption, how do they expect their security to hold? He wouldn't have left his prey online long enough to speak.

The window for observation seems to have closed for now, and Rinzler shakes his head, noise skipping in dissatisfaction as he begins his descent. Upper story ledge to lower story window, a neat slide down smooth surfaces that pushes off in a short flip. He lands in a crouch, circuitry relighting as he turns toward the open streets...

...until a familiar whisper—a familiar word—logs in audio not far behind. Rinzler turns sharply, helmet fixing on the user curled up against the wall. Does she know something?]

[highlyintuitive]

[ She has to take deep breaths. She can't force the emotions around her down but she can ride the waves of them until her body adjusts. Desperate she searches for something to anchor herself on. She finds it when she catches the jagged edge of a thought that isn't quite-

Isn't quite normal.

She looks at Rinzler only a moment after he looks at her. The strangeness of him pulls her back from the swell. It isn't like a normal thought, a form she isn't familiar with. All she can feel is where he's focused. At her. ]

Don't know what it means.

Avelle

[sidecars]

[ Wow, yeah, Bucky is definitely all hands on deck for this doll. Pretty and graceful with a good eye for improvisation, she steals the show out from under the native dancers.

When she comes whirling out like a windstorm, he recognizes her from her portrait on the MID device. River Tam, the girl this strange planet paired him up with in an attempt to bring two lonely hearts together yadda yadda he gets it. So far, he's pretty impressed with the system. ]

I'm more interested in joining you. [ His face is lit up with a smile of his own. ] Know how to swing?

[highlyintuitive]

[ River recognizes him from the match message she'd gotten. It had seemed silly. Their survey wasn't very scientific and incredibly subjective. Someone like Zoe would never be matched to Wash if they'd both come here.

But he has a good smile. And the word swing is laden with images of moving bodies. ]

Know of it. And I learn fast.