thisavrou_log | ( january intro log )

Entry tags:

( january intro log )

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)! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His reaction is enough to pull her mind a little further away from Yamatia. Miles gets a small flutter of a smile for it.

"That's right. I'm from the early 21st century, 2013 exactly." She gestures slightly, suddenly far more present and focused than she has been since entering the bar. "The amount of our planets history... It's inconceivable. People spend lifetimes studying a single era or a single country and there are still things being discovered or disproved."

"Tell me about it. You think it's hard in the 21st -- try the 31st." Miles finally ventures to take a drink of his gin and tonic. That smile is a tiny offering, an earned concession. "Not that I've got anything to do with that field myself. Although I guess that makes you walking history to me." He grins, humor creeping into his voice. "I mean, don't get me wrong. I studied Earth history as part of my education -- and Barrayaran history, and Betan history, and then some -- but I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it must be to compress three plus millennia of civilization into a few courses."

"I'm afraid I'm a terrible relic, I'm far more familiar with things that happened in the past than my present. You're more likely to learn about 15th century Japan than modern Earth were you to read some of my old logs." Perhaps not all of them... The memories are there, Sam's camcorder gripped tight in her hands while she sits beside a small fire and speaks softly into the darkness. Who did she think would have found those logs, on that damned island? She takes a careful breath, continuing when she finds it's not the heavy taste of Yamatai's air in her throat.

"Earth civilization is so varied, even from my point of time. I can't imagine throwing in two additional planets with their own individual histories." She makes a face, feigned indignation. "I imagine it was something like an overview. This war happened, this king lost their head, perhaps a few of the particularly good scandals."

"More like four," Miles remarks with a wave of his hand. "The Barrayaran Empire includes the planets of Komarr and Sergyar as well -- but the latter was discovered in my parents' time. Anyway, I'm afraid history was never my particular area of interest," he admits, a little sheepishly, "but as I recall, yes, quite a few wars. Quite a few nuclear wars, although after North America they sort of fell out of fashion. Earth is still around, though. I was there, not too long ago -- it's quite beautiful."

The curiosity is practically radiating off of her, it takes an almost physical restraint to keeps herself from asking him questions. "It's better that you aren't, perhaps. Knowing details of Earth's future while I'm here would be unhelpful."

Not that anyone would believe her if she went back home. There had already been a Mad Croft. A thought suddenly occurs, "Barrayar... This is a ridiculous question, but do you know a." She has to stop and think a moment, trying to remember the proper name. "Lieutenant Ivan Vorpatril?"

By all means, Lara, ask him a million questions. He'll enjoy the opportunity to talk even more. Miles raises an eyebrow at that question, eyes glinting, but his expression is otherwise mild.

"Vorpatril, you say? Tall, dark, annoyingly handsome, not too bright? That Vorpatril?"

She bites her lip to keep herself from laughing, it feels like it would be rude to do so.

"He was tall and dark," she says with a slight nod, "I'm afraid our meeting was too brief for me to form an opinion on looks and intelligence." And also she was delirious. "He was kind enough to help me find the med bay though."

Miles grins at her obvious attempt not to laugh, his whole face coming alive with it. Her response is curious, too. Ivan, not making an impression on a woman with her looks right away? She must be hard to impress. Either that, or just not very interested in men. Either way, Miles feels like he's doing alright with this conversation so far.

"That's the one. Tactless git though he can be, he's a gentleman. Mostly." Miles' grin takes on a wicked twist. "He's my cousin."

"Your cousin?" She let's that information process for a moment, then presses a hand to her face. Oh lord, she almost shot her bartender's cousin. She blows out a breath, using the hand on her face to push the loose hair out of her eyes and offer a sheepish smile. "In this instance, I'm afraid I was the one being the tactless git. He did mention Barrayar briefly."

Instead of looking concerned, Miles suddenly looks greatly amused. He's seen his cousin recently, he knows Ivan's fine. He really wants to know whatever it is Lara seems so sheepish about, because it promises to be funny, or at least interesting. "Oh?" he says invitingly, his grin widening. "I can't imagine you could be anywhere near as tactless as Ivan. What happened, anyway?"

She blows out a breath. It's all well and good that Miles looks amused (fit to laugh, actually), but it's still a bit mortifying.

"Nearly shot him with an arrow," she tells him, entierly resigned to whatever her fate might be.

Miles stares at her incredulously for a moment, eyes going wide. And then he bursts out laughing.

"An arrow?" he repeats in between giggles, slapping at the bar. "You mean like with a bow? Good god, woman, what kind of archaeologist are you?"

Lara groans, burying her head in her arms for a moment, though almost entierly to hide her own helpless grin. She lifts her head again to speak, laughter making her voice tremble slightly. "Yes, like a bow and a perfectly normal one, thank you! I just-"

Yamatai looms. Ice capped peaks and the smell of smoke, the string of the bow biting into her fingers as she sited down the arrow. The smile feels painful on her face and she realizes she was in mid gesture. She settles her hands around her glass, tipping her head to let her hair fall forward into her face.

"It was an unusual day."

Miles grins even more, watching her laugh, and he cups his chin in his hand, trying to imagine Lara with a bow. It isn't that hard to imagine, although her firing it off at Ivan in the middle of the ship is harder. But then he catches that flicker, that sudden tensing underneath, and his own grin half-fades as he tilts his head at her.

"Sounds like it," he says blandly, turning his glass on the bar. He deliberates a moment before continuing. He doesn't want to make her feel any more alarmed or threatened than she already is. "So what's a usual day for you?"

Lara stares at her glass for a long moment. She thinks about breaking it for a moment, but it's such a nonsensical urge. She folds her hands together on the bar instead and the glass stays where it is.

"I don't actually know anymore," she says, it feels like a confession, "I was shipwrecked, just before I was brought here. It couldn't have been more than... A week? Four days?" She tries for a laugh, but it comes out choked, "Odd, that such a short period of time can feel so much longer."

Yamatai's mountains cast a shadow over the entire island. Strange that not feeling the wind or hearing the birds could throw her off so completely.

There's still a half-twist to Miles' lips, but his expression is subdued, oddly patient, though his eyes are still bright and sharp. "I know what you mean," he says, tilting his half-full gin and tonic in his hand. "Some things feel like they last into infinity when you can't see the end of them, stretching out in the distance until it's nothing but a pinpoint. And you can't see it until after the fact, until you've come through to the other side -- when you can put some perspetive on it. And even then..."

Images of Dagoola come rushing back, his eyes going distant, oddly still. That mutable hell of a prison dome, expanding and shrinking, endlessly fucking with them, no day, no night, no way to mark the passage of time save for the rat-bar drops and even those they kept irregular, just to strip them of any sense of time, to any end to it. Infinity indeed.

Miles draws in a sharp breath and that distant look clears from his face, althoug the smile has mostly faded. "So, what's it look like from the other side?"

She looks up when he speaks and catches the moment when Miles seems to fall back behind... What? Memories of his own? It itches strangely, the way it had when she spoke to Sans. No one should have to know places like Yamatai. She nearly reaches out to touch him, give him an anchor in the present perhaps, she doesn't know. Her fingers slide out to curl around her glass instead.

She watches him intently instead, focused and serious even as she considers his question.

"It looks the same as it did from the inside," she says with a grim finality, "The only thing that changes upon reflection is me."

Miles' expression doesn't quite subdue, but it shifts slightly, some form of silent acknowledgment. He knows that song, too. He catches that movement of her hand but says nothing, gaze shifting back to her face just to be met with an intensity he wasn't expecting. It throws him slightly. He's usually the one watching people like that, rarely the other way around. He doesn't smile, but eyes brighten slightly. He tilts his head at her.

"And what does that look like?" he asks mildly, quietly curious. "What do you see now?"

She takes the subtle play of emotion as encouragement, but still hesitates.

"...Like Hell." It sounds so horribly melodramatic, she can't help the soft, choked laugh that escapes her. She keeps going anyway, "Like dying slowly." But she hadn't died, had she. She had done what was necessary to survive. "I did almost die. I don't even know how many times, I stopped counting after the first-" Her hand presses against her stomach, phantom pain of a mostly healed wound. "There's parts I just. Don't remember. Moments where I would black out and then come back to myself somewhere else entierly."

She takes a long drink, trying to keep the words back, this is entierly too much to tell a complete stranger. She sets her nearly empty glass down and the words tumble out, quiet and hurt, "I never forget about the killing."

Miles' expression does soften, then, propping his chin on one hand and just listening. She seems like someone who needs a good listen right now, even if just for a few moments. He purses his lips slightly.

"You never do," he says on an exhale, frowing down at his glass. "And sometimes the rest comes back to you later. Much later. Jury's still out on whether that's a good thing or not." After a moment's consideration he tosses back the rest of his gin and tonic and sets the empty glass down with a sharp inhale. That'll probably prove to be a mistake in about fifteen minutes, but it's a kind of solidarity to offer. That isn't enough, though, when she's offered so much in unexpected confidence. And besides that, it's hard to watch her retreat into herself like that. He's only just met her, barely knows her, but hell does she leave an impression, and Miles finds himself wanting to see what she's like under all that trauma and self-defense.

"I did die, once," he offers, his tone almost casual. Certainly not with gravity. "Not all that long ago. And as someone who's skirted death more times than I can count, no matter how fast or slow, dying is worse. It's always worse." This is a rare topic for Miles in that it's one he's rarely spoken about, been totally reluctant to with almost everyone. But it seems appropriate, here. "At least when you escape death, you get that neat little adrenaline rush as a souvenir. When you die, all you get is..." He spreads a hand with a one-shouldered shrug. What does he say -- humiliation? One last jab at your dignity? Last moments seized with nothing but fear and desperation? And what does he say for the deficit it left behind, the missing memories and swapped out body parts? Miles shrugs again, as if to shake it all off. "You don't get much."

She's regretting even opening her mouth when he starts speaking again. She looks up automatically, giving him her full attention again and that's. She doesn't know. Can't even begin to imagine what to say to that.

Roth, dying slow in her arms. Grim falling with a last defiant shout. Alex's smile and god, she knew he was terrified even as she let the door slam shut behind her. And now a veritable stranger, back from the dead, and nothing to do with her, but still oh, still. Why was she still alive. Grief rips through her, knocks the breath out of her and for a dizzying moment she thinks she's really going to lose it right in the middle of the bar.

She lets out a slow, shuddering breath, closing her eyes. "Well," she says, looking up at him again, "That does make sense."

Ah. Maybe sharing was not the best choice just then. Maybe the polite thing to do would have been merely to smile and nod and let those words slip down the stream of conversation unremarked on. Miles watches her, a hand half-reaching out to steady her when she looks suddenly without breath, but he stops, hand hovering midair. He gives her a grim smile.

"Just so," he murmurs. Perhaps the bar is not the best place for Lara to be right now either. Whatever's underneath seems too fresh, too raw. His expression softens slightly, and he leans in. "Would you like to go somewhere else?"

He intends to escort her wherever -- her room, the library, some other quiet place -- it just seems to him like the public atmosphere of a bar is a tad too exposed for her mood right now. It might've been for him.

The gesture is a comfort on it's own. In the aftermath of fighting nearly every person she met, every little kindness on the Moira seemed magnified twice over.

She nods, pushing herself off her seat and away from the bar. "Yes, that may be for the best."

Her voice sounds a bit distant even to herself. Her legs feel unsteady under her, but she stays on them and doesn't sway when she move towards the door. Miles making any move to join her will be a surprise. "Will you get in trouble if you leave?"

Miles hops down from the stepstool he keeps behind the bar to meet her round other side. At her question he throws a glance at the bar behind him thoughtfully, then flashes her a brief grin. "I won't tell if you don't."

He can always text Jacky to ask her to cover his shift, but bartender isn't the most vital position on the ship. They can do without him for a little bit. He's pretty sure there's somewhere else he needs to be more. Miles looks up at her, watching and ready to extend a hand, but she seems alright. Instead he waves her on with a muted gesture of one hand, following her out of the bar. "Where would you like to go?" he asks, the question plain and simple. Wherever you want, Lara, he'll make sure you get there alright.

She manages a smile back, hollow, but there's a flicker of genuine humor there. She had forgotten he was standing on a stool, too caught up in her own thoughts. He seemed so much larger and finding that he comes barely past her shoulders is surprising. Outside the bar is... Not exactly better, but it's a little brighter and a little quieter. Lara doesn't feel like she's about to fly apart anymore.

"I don't know." Not entirely true. A lot of answers spring immediately to mind, but none of them are even remotely possible. Not while they're here. "The observation deck."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

sorry miles.

don't feel bad for him, feel bad for ivan

sorry ivan

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject