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"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.HARASHANCommercial & 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 )
AvelleRomance & 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. MurtelGenetic & 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)! )
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-01-01 12:09 am
Avelle
He sees her wobbling and looking like she's losing her balance, and he reacts before he even looks at her properly or tries to recognize her. Reaching over, he tries to grab her arm, hoping to catch her before she actually falls into the water. ] Careful!
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OK, maybe that was a bad idea--Ah, Bruce! [She grins up at him as soon as she recognises him, hopping back onto the bank properly, and there's a definite sense of relief that it's someone she's at least met before who she's just been manhandling.]
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Two slightly odd-looking feet, he notes now that he's looking more properly at her. Not that he does so for long, because when she calls him by name his eyes move back up, flickering across her admittedly strange features, trying to place them in his memory. ]
Yes? [ It's a moment of confusion, but Bruce is attentive enough, and making note of her anatomy now, as well as her voice, he realizes she's the face behind the mask of the person he'd met in Moira's engine room, not all that long ago. ] Oh. Tali'Zorah?
[ Going with the whole name because he's not even sure if he should address her in some other way. ]
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It always takes her a second to remember that when people haven't met her with her mask off, they won't recognise her without it, and in that second she looks outright confused - then, just as understanding dawns on her face, he remembers.] Right!
Sorry, I forgot I met you with my mask on - I wore it all the time until not so long ago, so I keep forgetting who's met me with it and who hasn't.
Just call me Tali, by the way - that's fine.
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[ His hands hold one another in front of his chest, as he slips back into his usual stance, shoulders hunched just a little, arms close at his sides. ]
Tali. Alright. [ He smiles with a tilt of his head. ] That does sound like less of a mouthful.
[ Not that her full name is that complicated, back on Earth there are first names just as long and complex, if not more. He is more curious about what else she's mentioned, though, and he goes back to that as he shoots her a more inquisitive look. ] The suit - you wore it for protection? Or was it more of a cultural thing?
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[Part of her can be sad now to have lost that part of her culture, in a way. But sometimes it still feels like she can't bring herself to be that person after everything that's happened. And besides... 'vas Moira' really would be ridiculous at this point.]
The suit - I mostly wear it for protection in Engineering now, but back home it's sort of...both. We live in space, so we can't handle airborne pathogens - we're not used to them. So we need them for protection, but we've been wearing them so long and all the time that they're our culture, too.
The last ship I was on, they fixed my immune system somehow, so I can take it off whenever I want. Sometimes, though... [She shrugs. It's a comfort. And it's incredibly useful, even if it's been battered to hell and back over the last year.]
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[ Delivered in a light tone, a hint of amusement to it. It makes sense she would introduce herself in a simpler way, though, Bruce would too if he had a name that long or complex. Actually, he already skips on his first name as it is.
What she shares about the suit and about herself in the process is fascinating, visibly capturing Bruce's attention. There might be a lot of bad things about being in the situation they are right now, but this, the chance to meet different people from different species and races, with their own unique and even strange physiologies, customs, knowledge, it's a rare opportunity, and he tries to make the most of it, always. ]
Sometimes it's just nice to have that. [ He pauses, nodding once. ] Something more familiar. I get that.
[ Even if getting the chance to take off the suit now must feel pretty great for her too. ]
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[Living among aliens, it was just one more thing that made her stick out. Maybe one day she'll just go the whole hog and start writing her name as Tali Zorah.]
Right. Don't get me wrong, I love taking it off, but...I'm really bad at poker now. [A joke though that may be, she's really not used to schooling her facial expressions, only her voice and body language. So she can sound and act entirely normal, but her face gives her away every time... As she goes on, gesturing at her face, she's kind of aware this is probably a lot more chattering away than Bruce ever asked for.] Plus, this mask is soundproof, has air filtration, and it has speakers and a mic that I can just turn off. You start taking those for granted after a while.
[Beat.] And olfactory filters - that have an off switch.
[She's starting to feel like a walking ad campaign here. She's really not selling any.]
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Right. Space travellers. [ He nods, remembering how she's just told him her species lives in space. Of course she'd have spent a lot of her time aboard ships. ] Well, it sounds interesting to me. So, that's your species - quarians? [ There are clear physical differences there, of course, plus what she's told him so far, but he's curious to know what more there is to it.
Her remark about poker has him grinning, letting out a soft laugh in genuine amusement. ] That's tragic. I'm sorry to hear. [ Joking too, of course. But he looks visibly interested when she lists the features of the mask. ] All that sounds pretty useful, though, especially considering where you work on the Moira.
good god I am a tagging disgrace
[She's still gesturing animatedly, a bundle of energy.] But the mask is pretty great in engineering - I'm not going deaf and no one can hear me swear at the engines. [mostly the teenager who works with her down there.]
Anyway - I'm a quarian, right. [Barely a pause before jumping between topics. Bruce can totally keep up.] We mostly live on a mobile flotilla - about...fifty thousand or so ships travelling the galaxy. We do leave for a little while to go on our Pilgrimage - sort of a rite of passage - and most people go and live on planets. I ended up serving on a human military frigate, though, so I didn't even spend much time planetside then, either.
don't worry about it! <3
Fifty thousand? [ He can't help sounding shocked and impressed at that piece of information. To him, it's already amazing enough seeing one populatedspace ship on long-distance travels, it's almost impossible for him to imagine something of that magnitude. And Bruce likes to think he keeps a very broad and open mind to-- well, just about anything at this point. ] God, that's... that's massive. I can't even picture it. What are even the population numbers on a flotilla of that size? And these ships, they're not just quarian ships, right? You live together with other species?
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[It's just striking her over and over again how much she missed the flotilla as she talks about it for the first time in months.] There's about seventeen million people on the fleet - all quarian. The fleet's the only quarian population left, and we don't have much contact with the outside. I can count on one hand... [One three-fingered hand, which she raises.]...how many aliens have been on it since it was formed. That was three hundred years ago.
It's pretty cramped - I mean, the ships are either really old or we re-purposed them from cargo ships or old military vessels. I used to live in a cargo hold with... ten or so other families? We split our quarters up with partitions - fabrics and things like that to dampen the noise.
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That's a lot of people. Sounds very... crowded. [ And he knows a thing or two about crowded, he's lived in a lot of places like that himself over the past few years. He has to say he rather likes having his own space now. Well, mostly back in his own world, since here he's bunking with two other people - if one can even call a Gem and a dragon 'people'. ]
Why not just settle down on a planet somewhere? It sounds like it would be easier for you. Or is it because of the whole issue with your immune systems? [ Or maybe they're just nomadic, maybe it's a cultural thing. ]
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[Using the treadmill and playing phone games do not hobbies make.]
It makes every other ship I've ever been on seem really quiet. And they're always all so loud back home - the people are loud, the engines are loud, everything - that it makes other ships seem really quiet in comparison. I've slept in the engine room here before, actually. [She has the good grace to sound - and look - at the very least slightly embarrassed about that.]
It's the immune system thing, mostly. It would take hundreds of years to settle down elsewhere - plus it would need to be a planet where life evolved dextro-amino, which isn't as common... Plus, I think a lot of it's just...bullheaded. [She's had enough time away, and time without immune system problems, that it's oddly easy to say that.] Our planet was taken from us and we want it back - we don't want to find somewhere new - that kind of thing?
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And much like she points out, it's good to have a little more to do that's not just work. ]
You miss the confusion, the noise. I get that. [ Bruce has lived in pretty crowded and loud places, so the sentiment isn't lost on him. Peace and silence is nice, but sometimes there's nothing comforting in a complete lack of noise or activity. Sometimes it's best to have that constant noise to stop the mind from wandering, at the very least. ]
Ah. So you're aiming to get your planet back? [ He tips his head in a half-nod. ] That's probably something you'd share with a lot of species, if they were in your shoes. Some might have eventually chosen to move on, but... you know, home is home. And stubbornness is a trait that crosses several universes. [ He smiles. ]
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There's more to life than that, even one as a kidnappee.]
It's weird - actually, the last ship I was on, one of my friends was there too, and he was from the future. Only a year or two, I think. Not so far. One of those weird quirks in things like the Ingress - I guess when you're pulling people across universes, space and time just don't matter much?
[Tangent over, she goes on.] Anyway, he told me that in his time, we already have our planet back - we made peace with the race that took it and we're sharing it. I guess stubbornness pays off sometimes. [She shrugs, but the momentary grin fades.] I'm not sure what I think about that yet.
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He'll wait for her to explain before he draws any conclusions or starts getting ahead of himself, though. But if that's the case, then it's definitely something interesting, and possibly worth looking into. Even if Bruce has no idea where to start.
He listens to what she tells him about her planet instead, about what's supposed to happen in her future. It doesn't sound too bad, all things considered, though he can see where she's coming from. Still, he asks with a small smile. ] About stubbornness paying off, or the fact you end up settling with sharing the planet?
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[And it occurs to her at least once a day how grateful she is to be away from that - she may not be free even here, but at this point she'll take what she can get. Being a prisoner has become normal - it's just how humane the imprisonment is that changes.]
That we settled with sharing. I know my friend said we made peace with the geth and they're on our side, but... I haven't seen it myself. I grew up with horror stories about them, we've been at war for three centuries. Someone just telling me that's not true doesn't change it in my mind, you know?
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And that's where you met the others, then? Or are they from your original world?
[ One way or the other, though, he's glad she's out of there. Sounds like it was a much worse situation than this one. ]
No, I get it. If someone told me in a few years I'd make peace with all the people whose impact in my life was negative, I wouldn't like it either. Honestly, I don't even know if I'd believe them. [ Thinking at a larger scale, he certainly wouldn't expect to hear that the humans and the Chitauri would ever just make peace and live anywhere near each other in harmony, for instance. ]
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[And yet, apparently she has. She must have been there - and can only guess at what she was doing, what she was thinking. Would it change? Or would she go along with it for the good of everyone else, fuming all the while?]
Anyway, the CDC tricked us. Me, anyway. There were people who got told the truth before they even signed up, but I think they were just saying anything that would make people say yes. There were some other people from my...my reality? Universe?... [Whatever the right word is.]...there too, but when some of them came here too, they didn't remember it at all. But then, the people here who do remember it, we're all from different places. We met there.
[She lets out an explosive sigh, and there's something a little defeated in it.] Every time I even try to understand it, it just makes less and less sense.
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[ Bruce isn't one to discard any option, at this point. He's seen two Tony's in one place, he'll believe just about anything. ]
Well, if you consider the possibility of infinite parallel universes and alternate timelines, then it's not so difficult to imagine. Anything that can happen will happen, if not in this universe then in another, so... you can get several versions of the people you know. Some will remember being with you in another universe, some won't. That might even be the only difference between them, but it's still a difference. So you get version One of person A who comes straight here from their original world, and version Two who first is taken to another universe, then brought over to this one. The possibilities are... infinite, actually. Too many for us to ever consider them all. We could live forever and we'd still be listing them out-- well, forever. Which, for the record, might be something that's happening in some alternate universe out there.
[ He pauses, then offers a sheepish smile. ] I feel like I just went off on a tangent there. Sorry about that.
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Like why I've seen multiple versions of the same person in the same place, only just slightly different. Different universes. Or why I remember events slightly differently than other people I've talked to.
And maybe there's another Tali out there - or who knows how many Talis - who would want peace with the geth.
[Is it comforting to know that? The troubled look on her face says she's not entirely sure.]
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[ It's just a theory, really, or at least it was, back in his own world. Now? He's not even sure if what he's seen since he got to the Moira counts as proof, or if it just serves to show that here might be a myriad of theories to explain all of this. (According to quantum theory, the number of possible theories should be infinite too, varying from one universe to the next.) ]
And yes, that could be possible. There might even be a number of Talis who never had any issues with the geth to begin with. Or who have never even met the geth at all. [ He shrugs. ] But they're not you. It's not just your name or genetic code that makes you who you are. Experiences shape you, just as much as anything else.
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[So maybe she never ends up charged with treason. Maybe her father never ended up conducting live weapons tests - so she had nothing to be complacent with, knowingly or not.
It's easier to just shake that feeling off and not think about it.]
...Keelah, what if another Tali shows up here. Or another Bruce. And they're... totally different. Or they're exactly the same. [Somehow she's not sure which is weirder.]
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Well, it's... not impossible. But not likely, I don't think.
[ Or so he hopes, anyway. The last thing he wants is to see another Bruce on board - a Bruce who never poisoned himself with gamma radiation, a Bruce who never had the childhood that he did - worse yet, a Bruce who would accept and welcome the Hulk's power, rather than fight it. That, he's sure, would be much more terrifying to him than meeting an exact double of himself. ]
We'll cross that bridge if we come to it. No point worrying about what ifs now, when they might not even happen at all.
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