thisavrou_log | ( october event log pt. 2 )

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( october event log pt. 2 )

Who: Everyone
When: October 19th into the beginning of November.
Where: The Mini Colony of the Runoff & the Moira.
What: The Moira stops to resupply at the closest planet and things get weird.
Warnings: Physical transformations, phobias - please label if needed.

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Between the Perspectives
"but in your future, the you i see is exactly the person you always wanted to be."

Supplies have been loaded onto the ship, and the captains have encouraged all crew members to explore with the added notice that this will be the last planetary stop (hopefully) until the Moira reaches the Midway Hub. While seemingly uneventful on the Moira, the mini colony has been thrumming with adventure and has offered its visitors the opportunity to explore. To those who have indulged, some experienced great changes and others discovered enlightening information about the Ingress and the very ship some have called home for over a year.

Later in the month, the Lamaria hold the closing ceremony of the Desiderium Festival (which was noted on the prior event log) . The burgundy and lime colors of the celebration slowly fade into black and vermillion, and small fires are now in place for visitors to throw their written notes into. Everyone who participates will be blessed by one of the Lamaria (they will visit the ship as well), and the MID will be able to only translate bits and pieces of what this blessing means. "Experienced loss — every story is different — and saying goodbye — not to know — understanding lies in the mingling of holding on and letting go."

☄ TRANSFORMATION CENTRAL

For some, it might be due to a touch or a look. For others, it might not be any of those things at all, and something that just happens. Either way, shortly after the blessing occurs, you will find yourself changing. Your character’s body will slowly transform into the physical likeness of another being on the Mini Colony. The effects of this change may last as short as a day or as long as a week, but each come with their own stipulations—advantages and disadvantages. This is limited to one as the blessing itself only allows for “a little understanding”. Linked below are some of the possible transformations that your character can go through. Players can choose either one of the mod-supplied suggestions or choose the form of another already living on the Moira.

☄ THE FEAR MACHINE

Paranoia writes the checks, we're dangling here like a marionette. Here we go again, the world is coming to an end. Engage the fear machine and collect the dividends.

While the festival is beautiful, and some have found enlightenment and understanding here, there are those on the mini colony who don't enjoy the festivities. In a secluded room on the fifth floor in one of the buildings in the Science District, there is one such person who finds the religious festival to be a nuisance—one who should be stopped. Thinking that disrupting the blessings and celebration will somehow "get back" at the Lamaria for impeding their work (some of those who have transformed got into the building a few years ago and destroyed this person's property). Pettiness thrives, and they create something they dub The Fear Machine. Yet, while the science is sound, the technology itself is not.

In the middle of the mini colony, the machine is set off, and bolts of transparent energy erupt and spark out around it, stretching as far as the docked ships. Since the technology wasn't created properly to sustain the energy, it doesn't spread out evenly like they had hoped. Some are hit. Some are not. Those who are will develop a sudden and overwhelming phobia that will last well into the beginning of November. The machine might be turned off and left behind, but the obsessive fear has only just begun.

( ooc; For questions, go here. This log will run into the beginning of November; any threads here can be claimed for bonus activity the following activity check as well. )

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[Junk yard? Alan’s not sure what she’s talking about but he chances a nod. It’s at least safer than the truth.]

It’s the only one I found. [And, because he sees the ideal opportunity to change the subject:] What did you find there?

AI storage units. Ones they used to do unethical things to AIs with.

[ She looks at him with a critical eye. ]

I wonder if that has something to do with why these things were there.

[ She knew she should have persisted in finding out more about the business, but at the time she'd been exhausted because of her recovery and she merely wanted to get the AI units out of there. ]

[Critical eye or not, Alan’s interested, and for more than just the fact that these storage units can divert attention from the disk.]

Were there any AI stored in them when you found them?

No. They were all vacant.

[ She still wonders, though, who had been in them before the units had ended up here. She's fairly certain the Project hadn't had this many extra. ]

Probably for the best. [If they were in a junkyard of all places, Alan doesn’t know how long any data stored on them would have lasted. It could be that they were wiped even before Tex found them.]

You said “unethical” things were being done to them. What exactly were those AI being used for?

[ She arches an eyebrow at him. ]

Ah no. I don't want to give you any ideas.

[ She says it a bit slyly; she doesn't really think he'd break an AI by torturing it, but he's obviously still willing to mess with these discs. ]

[Alan manages to look just a little bit irritated at that.]

Believe it or not, I don’t actually go out of my way to be unethical. [’I just have a natural knack for it, sometimes,’ he once again thinks rather than says.]

I'd like to believe it.

[ She tilts her head a little, eyeing him. ]

If you found it at that junk yard I would think the program attached to it must be dead.

[Alan glances down at the disk in his hand, feeling a slight prickle of guilt at the lie. It isn’t as if it’s hurting anyone, but he’s reluctant to spin a story all the same.]

Maybe, [he says vaguely.] I’ve never actually seen a program di-- derezz before.

Is that why you're interested in this one, then?

[ Taking an academic interest in such things is understandable, but she just doesn't like the way he skittered off when she arrived in the room. There's something weird about it. ]

Not exactly. It just seemed like a good opportunity to actually study a disk without it affecting any of the programs here.

[It’s not a complete lie. It’s just that “programs here” in this case happens to omit himself.]

[ She studies him for a long moment. ]

What have you found, so far? I'm surprised it lights up on its own.

[Alan hesitates. He doesn’t like where this is going.] Not much. I think it may have been damaged.

[He sees an opportunity.] I was actually going to go ask Tron about it… [A glance towards the door and then back to Tex. Are they done here?]

[ She's still looking at him with that circumspect look. She doesn't know what he's lying about but she knows he's lying about something. She pauses and then steps back a pace and angles her head slightly. ]

Let's, then. I'm interested in this, too. If we find out what happened to the program from the disc we might know more about where the junkyard is getting things.

[...He really should’ve seen this coming.]

I, uh, think it would be better if I spoke with him about this myself. I don’t know how open he’ll be with you there too. [~~That sounds like a reasonable excuse, right?~~] I’ll get back to you with what he says.

[Now that she’s backed off some, Alan’s going to try and get by her. While still being very careful not to show the backs of his hands. So long as she doesn’t make any unexpected moves, he should be fine… right?]

[ She's tempted to grab him by the wrist and say something threatening, but she really doesn't have any justification for doing such a thing. Instead she twists away and backs up another step, preparing to turn. ]

Fine. Then I'll escort you and stay outside. If the people running the junkyard are doing something nefarious I want to act on it right away.

[In truth, Alan has no intention of dragging Tron into this. He could still find the program, but what then? Ask him to lie? Add even more layers to this already ridiculous story?

He could come clean. Admit he’s made up the entire narrative about finding the disk in the junkyard. He’s guessing Tex won’t be happy about that either, but it would still be better than her figuring it out on her own.

No, the problem isn’t admitting that he lied -- Tex is likely to discover that one way or the other -- it’s what she might do with the truth. He stops trying to get to the door and turns toward her again, slowly this time.]

You know how I said earlier that it’s not safe to tell you the whole story? [Alan asks, the faintest edge of exasperation coloring his voice.] It’s still not.

[It’s a final attempt to convince her that she shouldn’t be prying. Somehow, Alan doesn’t have very high hopes that it will work.]

Not safe for who exactly? For you? And who are you in danger from?

[ It's ironic in a way that his attempts to put her off are exactly what's exacerbating her irritation with him. She starts approaching him again. ]

From me? Because the more you try to obscure things, the truer that gets.

[And Alan starts backing away again. A low hum emits from the disk in his hand and he glances down at it nervously.]

I-- Fine, yes, it wouldn’t be safe for me. [Maybe he should’ve gone to Tron after all. Alan’s suddenly noticing how deserted this part of the ship is at this time of night. He takes another step back, just to be safe.]

Look: if I tell you what’s going on, it can’t leave this room. I need your word on that much.

Are you fucking kidding?

[ She rushes forward, hobbling as fast as use of the cane will allow her, and grabs his wrist with her free hand. She holds him there, as tightly as she can—but considering her recent efforts to recover, this still isn't as much pressure as she would like. ]

Let's make something clear—the reason I broadcasted it the last time was because you were intimidating another crew member and planning to do unethical things to him. If this is in the same vein, then like hell am I going to agree to those terms.

[ She yanks on his wrist to pull his hand to herself. ]

Now does this disc belong to a dead program or not?

[ And that's when she sees the back of his hand. Her eyes widen, and they dart to meet his, mouth beginning to gape open. ]

[Alan tries to back away again, but Tex is deceptively fast, even with a cane. For a heart-stopping moment, he thinks she’s moving to take the disk and by the time he realizes she’s reaching for his wrist instead, it’s too late. His grip tightens around the disk and the edge of it suddenly blazes white and razor sharp. Alan looks down at it in shock, half-expecting the curved blade to bite into his own palm, but as much as he can feel the sharpness, it doesn’t cut.

He’s lucky Tex seems too angry to look away from his face. Alan forces himself to meet her gaze. There’s no heartbeat to pound in his ears, but code crawls with paranoia as her hand stays on his wrist, close enough that she could take the disk in an instant if she chose to. He instinctively pulls back when she tries to yank him forward and finds it easier than expected not to budge. It must surprise her too because she glances down at his hand and--

Her eyes find a gold-circuited hand locked around a lit disk. Alan’s heart sinks as she looks back at him, eyes wide in shock. He tries pulling his hand out of her grasp again, a little more half-heartedly than before.]

It doesn’t. I guess that’s obvious now. [It’s also obvious that he was lying before. Though hopefully, so is the reason why.]

What's going on?

[ The fact that Alan is a program now is clear, but how? What caused this? She intends to continue holding on to him for now, until she gets her answer. ]

I don’t know. I was on the colony and it just… happened. [Now that there’s no use in diverting Tex’s attention, Alan’s gaze stays fixed on the disk between them, brow furrowed as he regards the still-lit gold ring.]

You can see why I’d want to keep it a secret, [he says quietly.] If Clu finds out… [It’s not a sentence that needs to be finished. He looks back up at Tex, expression grim.]

I’m sorry I had to lie, but this really can’t leave this room.

[ She slowly releases him, lowering her hand to her side. ]

All right. Fine. I don't like being lied to, but...I understand better now.

[ Her eyes flicker away, then back to him again. ]

What are you going to do?

Thank you. [He drops his own hand to his side, quietly relieved at Tex's compliance. No longer under the threat of it being taken away, the disk dims, the blade of white light circling its edge flickering out just as quickly as it had appeared.]

Well, I wasn’t lying about using it for research. Might as well learn what I can while there’s no risk of hurting anyone.

[Well, there could be a danger to himself, but that’s certainly more acceptable than putting one of his own programs at risk. Besides, he’s not planning on changing anything -- if he’s just planning to observe what he can, the chance of harm should be minimal.]

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a_shadow - 2016-11-20 04:12 (UTC) - Expand

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