( december event log )

[hownkai]

Who: Everyone
When: December 17th and on
Where: Throughout the Moira
What: The reasons for power failure become a little clearer...
Warnings: Possible character death. Please label anything you do that needs a warning.

E V E N T

transmission theory "A thousand fibers connect us, and our actions run as causes, comimg back to us as effects." As of now, it's common knowledge to the crew that Tipota is dead. The manner of her death, however, is still being determined, and the other captains have sent another reminder through the MIDs to continue traveling in groups and not to wander around. The power issue has yet to be resolved, though it seems nothing is apparently wrong with the engines or the wings, but slowly, the chill begins to recede into something a little more tolerable—still cold but not freezing. The malfunctions that manifest aboard the Moira start to resemble a more systematic pattern, lights flickering in certain sections of the ship before shutting down in intervals of 30 to 60 seconds and coming to life again. It moves on through several areas, though it doesn't affect places with larger groups of people. A day or two after the power begins to stabilize itself, everything comes to a standstill. There's a moment that seems as if time slows and stops. Things are eerily quiet... Anyone in the hallways will hear the lock of one of the I.L.R. release, security measures suspended to preserve life support functions. What had been a peaceful moment roars into chaos. ☄ Ploiatos It's been here as long as anyone can remember. It lurks in the shadows, a human-shaped figure dressed in the tatters of a Moira uniform. In the dark, it feels the most comfortable, and its movements are impossible to pinpoint without the light. From a distance, it might appear to be someone you know, another crew member who's become lost in the corridors, but up close — well, no one actually knows what it looks like. At close proximity, it sinks itself into you, and the cold that has plagued the ship seems warm in comparison as the dark rises. Perhaps there had been something to the warning the captains had given before; maybe you should R U N. • Together: There is always safety in numbers. Ploiatos is severely confused by the presence of more than one body, and though it's attracted to the particular emissions of the crew, it prefers the choice of one to two or more. Trying to hunt or capture it is impossible; it's gone as quickly as you can blink. • Alone: There is no hope. You don't realize that it's there until you're waking up, the marks of its touch spreading across part of your body. These are permanent, a beacon to Ploiatos that it's had you once and only needs to get you once more to end it. Once will not kill you, but a second time will. Any attempt at contact via MID isn't likely as they momentarily short out within proximity to the creature. ☄ Bait & Lure For those brave enough to try, a plan has been implemented by several of the crew to attempt luring Ploiatos back into its room in the I.L.R. Life support systems are drastically depleted now, oxygen levels low and the lights barely working, but it's up to the crew and those who SIGNED UP to help protect their friends and fellow crew members.

Comments

[tearmeanewone]

[She's had a lot of time to turn this over in her head, to be angry over it, to try to move past it, to tell herself the responsible parties had paid their debt to her.]

[It's more complicated than it seems though, and as much as she tells herself there's nothing more for them to give her, it's still never been alright. And she has no idea what would make it alright.]

I begged them to stop-- I was awake during it, no anesthesia, I wasn't even sterilized beforehand. [She's angry, that much is clear by the way her voice takes on a darker edge with every detail. What to do with that anger, though, she apparently still hasn't figured out.]

When I saw you flying around, I understood why you hadn't said anything. That happened to me because they were all scared, and nothing I could have said would have ever made them less afraid. It was so painful, I swore up and down that I would do whatever they wanted me to do, that I would obey if they would just stop... They broke me to feel safe.

...And the only reasons I ended up on that table were that I wasn't physically strong enough to stop them, and I hadn't been hurt enough to understand they wouldn't stop unless I made them stop.

[Which is how the operating theater had experienced a sudden tornado. When Elizabeth finally looks up at Clark, she is far from the optimistic and curious girl he sees visiting him in the gardens. She's on the verge of injured and desperate wild animal.]

Can we leave? I want to go back to my room now.

[heliakal]

[ He can almost feel the tension in her before she starts to speak, but a part of him had already known the answer to his question. There wasn't just no option, there was no anesthesia, not even the remote consideration of practicality or reason.

Elizabeth is the same kind-hearted person who would visit him in the garden, who had put her life in danger to help civilians during the fight, but whoever had done this to her couldn't even see her as a person at all. They didn't care. Her power was terrifying and out of their control.

...they wouldn't stop unless I made them stop. Elizabeth is right. She understands better than anyone why he never said anything, why he still keeps his abilities to himself. But maybe that means that he understands some of what she's lived through, too. ]

I'm sorry. [ For what she's gone through, and what she's had to do. For what they took. ] It doesn't change as much as you wish it did, does it? [ Said like someone who's been in the same place. ] You've still got to live with the memory and deal with all of the anger, and the frustration, and the hurt. I don't know if that ever really goes away but... At least while you're here, you'll never have to deal with it alone.

[ He holds out a hand to help her up if she needs it. ] Let's go, I'll walk you back.

[tearmeanewone]

[She doesn't need his hand, but she wants it. Clark took the words right out of her head and put them in order, telling her exactly what she was feeling. It's comforting, to a certain extent. It's not an answer, but it's more than just a pile of unresolved feelings and the words played back in her head over and over.]

[Elizabeth takes his hand and slides off the bed. She feels exhausted, but not as unsteady on her feet as she had been earlier. As they walk out of the medbay, Elizabeth doesn't say anything, but she is gripping Clark's hand as tightly as she can in an effort not to cry. She's still crying, though it is, at least, silent.]

[heliakal]

[ Clark walks with her back to her room. The creature is the furthest thing from his mind with Elizabeth's smaller hand gripping his own, white-knuckled from strain. He squeezes back, just enough for her to know that he's there.

Once they're inside, he tries to pull her gently into a hug. If she pulls away, he won't try to insist, but she looks like she could use one right about now. ]