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by the inquest
"Arguments on their nature are refuted by those who return to shore, wide-eyed with tales of their savagery."
All Moirans are woken to the sounds of the ship coming to a rather grating halt some time in the early morning cycle. It’s no faster or slower than any other stop, but it is unexpected as the captains didn’t mention an upcoming disembarkment. Shortly after, a message is sent to every MID:Navigation has informed us that we’re approaching bad traveling conditions: an overactive star. Instead of stopping on Liant El, we’ll be docking here on Ceta. Please exercise caution while gathering supplies and during excursions. Follow their safety guidelines. If the chance allows, we’ll also be signing new crew on the planet. Please greet them first and show them to the ship. Thank you. 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.
For those few who come through Ceta's Ingress, there will be crew of the Moira there to greet you. They tell you of the Ingress, how it is broken, even on this planet, and that the ship is headed back to the origin of this technology. This planet’s Ingress is set precariously atop a floating rock formation, the only way from one area to the next is on small air-propelled boats. Crew members will guide everyone back to the Moira and take them to the Medbay; contracts will be signed posthaste.
WELCOME TO CETA
At first glance, Ceta seems mostly inhabitable, and that's because it is. The atmosphere around the planet is surprisingly thick in most places, sometimes thin in others, and without some way to filter the air, it is mostly unbreathable; it's a giant gas planet, its core made of various molten metals and the atmosphere a mix of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrous. Ceta's gravity is also uneven, meaning that some areas will have stronger focal points than others. The terrain, when it is visible, appears rather rocky—hardly the best conditions for life and stable living. What's more unusual, however, is that despite this fact, there is, indeed, a small populace "living" among the mist and clouds, but it's clear they do not live here year-round. It's hunting season, and they are there for the bounty.
These visitors have built small platforms that are hooked together by ropes and swinging bridges, which they call "temporaries". Unstable buildings are rare, dangerous, and spread out over these temporaries to prevent damage or accidents. The temporaries float along, swaying and shifting with the planet’s atmosphere, and posted at every point of entry and all open surfaces are a particular set of rules that everyone must abide by. They are written in dark ink and large block letters so that all passing by will stop and read them:
NO FIRE. Flammables, ignition sources, matches, lighters, and anything that creates a spark is prohibited. The atmosphere has higher levels of hydrogen, and the smallest spark will create a problem.
AIR BREATHABILITY. Monitor your vitals. Wear masks or re-breathers if needed.
WATCH THE EDGE. All walkways are the only thing from you and falling. Be cautious and watch your step. These signs should be given their due attention. The edge is just that: the end of where it is safe to walk. If a wooden plank gives way beneath your feet, you will plummet through hundred of miles of atmosphere before hitting the planet’s thin surface. The captains reiterate that crew should be careful and stick to the main temporaries, gather supplies, visit at their leisure, and then go back to the ship.
☄ IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE!The organisms that have evolved on this planet are unintelligent—a fact that is told to you by the other visitors. As there is no solid materials or ways for them to interact with their environments, these giants float along within the atmosphere, though it appears that they are flying when they are merely navigating through. They travel in groups of three or more and sometimes come close to the outskirts of the temporaries. Because there is an invisible filtration dome around the temporaries, this allows the creatures to pass through without harm and return again into the mist as they please. They are difficult to see at night and are rather skittish in the presence of sudden light.
☄ @ THE MUSEUM Every evening when work is done, artificial light sources illuminate the streets of the temporaries. There is one bar, if you can actually call it that, but the main attraction is a museum. The support structure appears to be made out of the skeletal system of the giants that "swim" and live on Ceta, and though the outside seems rather unassuming, the inside is not for the faint of heart. As it's considered informative, there are displays of the internal structures and functions of the very creatures that seem harmless and as unintelligent as the visitors claim. There are sections of the museum dedicated to their anatomy and what makes them so valuable: inside their air sacs, which is what gives the illusion to flying through the atmosphere, is a mineral that, when harvested, attunes and sharpens the senses so that brain capacity and function excel over one-hundred percent efficiency. Likewise, aside from these informative areas, there is also a history of how and when the visitors began to hunt them for this valuable, unnamed resource.
☄ HARVEST SEASON Are you looking for work? Or perhaps you're bored with your duties aboard the Moira and prefer to see just what it is these visitors do during the day? Hunters will often pay for menial labor to help with the killing and retrieval of the giants of Ceta. It is by day, not by hour, and once aboard one of the many ships, you will be put to work handling equipment or being on the lookout for "signs" of the creatures. Once they've been spotted, the real work isn't in capturing them or even trying to subdue them—though they give a good fight. It's in the harvest, done below deck once they have been safely brought into the ship's cargo areas by the tethers, that can get quite gruesome. As a defense mechanism, cutting into the skin creates a rather noxious emission that can cause disorientation, hallucinations, or unconsciousness. Worst case scenarios can often result in death.
☄ WORD LIMITS As things are beginning to wind up (or down), something seems to have gotten into the MID systems and caused a malfunction. On the morning of 03.13, it suddenly becomes clear that communicating with others who are not from the same universe or similar timelines seems very difficult. Understanding each other becomes rather hopeless as the day continues, and these repercussions can be felt across the entire ship. The Captains send out another MID message that appears as a jumble of unusual letters and symbols. However, there is one word that can be read by everyone and (hopefully) understood: RATCHET. Figuring out this problem shouldn't take long if everyone can leap the language barriers and work together.
( ooc; All New Arrivals: you have the choice of coming through the Moira's Ingress OR Ceta's Ingress. For questions, 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_log2016-03-01 02:40 pm
moira - observation deck
The observation deck doesn't tend to be all that silent or empty for the first days after a new wave of arrivals. Most everyone comes here to admire the view — and Bruce doesn't blame them one bit. It's always a breathtaking sight to him, no matter how many times he might have been up here. Point is, he's not too bothered when someone steps closer to him, in fact he doesn't even notice until he sees a pair of feet right next to the paper.
Eyes move up from the feet until they settle on a face, one that he immediately associates with one of the surprising and familiar names he had seen on the directory. There's a couple seconds of delay, his brain lagging, then he clears his throat, looking down and drawing the map to himself to free up space.
"Sorry."
no subject
His tone is smooth and collected, even in spite of the circumstances in which he's found himself - losing one's composure has never helped any situation, after all. It's not disingenuous, however; the truth is that he hadn't intended to crowd Bruce, the room is simply a bit too populated at the moment to avoid it. But from what he'd caught as Bruce had drawn the map in, his curiosity is piqued. He's not here to simply admire the view as much as he is to figure out something about where they are beyond a large ship, and Bruce's work appeared momentarily relevant to that. With an arched brow, he inclines his chin slightly to indicate the map.
"Might I ask what you're working on there? Provided you don't object to my inquiring, of course." His tone conveys his interest as the question leaves his lips with a light smile.
no subject
"No, not at all," he shakes his head. In fact he seems to like that Lando asks, if nothing else then for the simple fact that Bruce likes talking about the work he does— here just the same as back home. "I'm mapping out the stars as viewed from this planet. Later on, I'd also like to try and add this information to a holographic projection I've been building of your trip. I only just started, though. The place I'm working at is pretty recent."
Holding the poorly folded map in one hand, he reaches the other one out for a shake. "Bruce Banner, Chief Science Officer. I run the science department on board."
no subject
"A pleasure. I'm Lando Calrissian... transporter technician, evidently." He gives a light, easy shrug at that; it's a downgrade from the sort of position he'd become accustomed to, to be certain, but he's not one to start off any interpersonal relationship by complaining. That hardly makes the sort of impression that he'd like to leave people with, and while you can't control what other people think of you, you can at least control what you provide them with to form those opinions. (Or so he thinks, blissfully unaware of some films that may exist elsewhere.)
After a moment, he continues, "That does sound like quite the effort. Personally, I'm not accustomed to being in systems I'm unfamiliar with, let alone an entire galaxy. I'd be quite interested in what you learn about this one."
Because knowing what you're dealing with is always the first step to actually dealing with it.
no subject
"It's nice to meet you." In more ways than Lando can even imagine, and a part of Bruce's smile is in response to that thought alone. Still, he's decided to keep that to himself and that's what he'll do, turning his attention to the map instead and briefly opening up part of it.
"These are just some rough schematics. You can tell the distances aren't right, but I've got pictures, footage— some calculations too, I've been putting them into the main computers and adding to whatever information's already there." Because this ship is traveling from planet to planet, so of course it has to have plenty of information to know where to go and which path to take. "You can come down to the department sometime, if you want to see for yourself what I've been working on and what I've got so far. But you might find that you won't recognize any of it— it's likely this is a whole new universe none of us have ever been in before."
no subject
Some of that, at least, can be helped in some small part by taking a look at the portion of the map that Bruce opens. It may not be extensive or exact, but it's a tangible bit of something, an effort being undertaken by an individual rather than accepting the data presented by the ship's systems. Of course, he can't be sure that Bruce is someone that he can trust, but multiple sources are always required before accepting anything.
As he does, he nods, "I think I may do that. Truth be told, I'm not one to engage in many scientific pursuits myself, but knowledge about where I am and what's around me? That's information with value you can only truly appreciate when you find it lacking."
Which leads him to a point of curiosity, "A whole new universe, though? Seems like quite the step up from the galaxy level."
no subject
Sadly, that doesn't change the fact that they're very much stuck here for now. Considering none of them really know where 'here' is, it seems like the most sensible course of action is to stick together. It doesn't necessarily translate to trust— Bruce only trusts a handful of people on board, and even then that's a lot, but he'll more easily stick on the crew's side than the captains', if it comes down to that.
"That's only normal. Even those of us not familiar with space travel find some comfort in getting some notion of where we are." He lets Lando study the map as much as he wants to, even if it won't tell him much. He definitely won't recognize any of the stars, patterns or constellations. "It seems like it, so far. Certain circumstances make that the most probable hypothesis. A couple of times, we've gotten different versions of the same person, for instance. We've also heard of other versions of us that exist in other realities— I've been told about another version of myself, for instance. More than one, actually. That makes sense when you consider the possibility of an infinite number of universes, which makes me think it's more likely that we're in a whole other reality none of us come from. Well, aside from the captains."
no subject
"Hardly a comforting bit of information." His brows arch slightly, his jaw is slightly tensed, but beyond that his expression retains its generally smoothed cool. Certainly, he doubts he'd like to have another version of himself around to deal with.
"Anywhere I've been has been ruled at least in part by the natural order of supply and demand. You want a ship, someone builds you a ship. You want a droid, someone builds you a droid. You want a blaster? Well, naturally, it follows. With what must have gone into something like the allegedly malfunctioning technology that brought us here? Someone must have very much wanted it."
no subject
But he shares anyway, if nothing else then to offer an option, a perspective, more information for him to absorb. There'll be plenty of that for Lando to find and learn as time goes on, even if at the same time it'll feel like so much goes unanswered. Bruce still often feels like that himself, on board the Moira.
"It's possible, yes," he nods, reaching out with the map for Lando to take, if he wants to. If not, he'll fold it up and tuck it away. "We're not even sure who built it, where, or how— I don't think anyone on board fully understands how it works, not even the captains. Whether it's malfunctioning or if this is how it's supposed to work, well... anything's possible, isn't it? For all we know, this is what it's meant to do." He's not inclined to believe that, not with how unpredictable it is, but he's not willing to discard that option, either.
no subject
He does accept the map, momentarily frowning at the complete and total unfamiliarity. How discomforting.
But he continues, shifting back to a coy smirk, "Frankly, I happen to think it's collected itself some perfectly fine company, at least in part. Though I'd certainly have preferred an invitation to an abduction."
no subject
The crew members, at least, he can understand, considering they all come from their own different universes, and none had ever seen the Ingress before— not even those familiar with the concept in one way or another. But the people who supposedly own the ship having a system working within it without fully understanding how it works or how it can be either reversed or turned off, that's a whole other thing.
"Everyone would. But then, I wouldn't have said yes to that invitation," he smiles a little, eyebrow raised in amusement at the shift in Lando's tone. "The company does make it a little more bearable, more often than not."