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the outer gate
"Open up, and let them in."
The Moira is no more.
With the damage done to the ship due to the timeslip, all that remains is a burning wreckage and parts to be taken—if the crew can find anything in the pieces. Recovery and headcounts are the main objective for the first several hours of being planetside, and once things have settled just enough, Captain Ira calls for a meeting and addresses those who are able in person to explain the situation. He draws a rough map of the area and explains where he believes they are - according to the terrain - and where they must go. For anyone who’s listening, he describes things like an “Outer Gate”, an “Inner Gate” and “gate sectors”. Believing this to be the best course of action, all crew are asked to explore and gather what they think they’ll need to make the long journey towards the central point of the Hub. Because the MIDs are no longer working due to the lack of a network, the Captains distribute a newer tech called the TAB. It serves the same functions as the MID but is lighter, slimmer, and has the ability to stick to any surface.
WELCOME TO THE MIDWAY HUB
Now that the smoke from the crash has cleared, and injured crew have been tended to, the Captains get everyone ready for departure by explaining what they know of the Hub. Almost stone-like, the creators built a domed workspace in the largest solid space on the planet they could find. Gates are the only way inside, and anyone who catches a glimpse of the compound will see that parts of the dome are cracked. Yet, everything still appears to be relatively intact. The Midway Hub’s terrain is very rocky and difficult to walk on at times. Below the surface is a honeycomb of intermittently dense and brittle stone that makes travel difficult due to the unpredictable nature of what lies beneath the crew’s feet. Those who can develop the tech from what’s left of the debris might be able to create something to determine which route is the safest. Ships and small crafts can be used to fly, but landing is a problem—rocks jut up in sharp peaks and the clearer spots can't handle their weight. Vegetation is sparse, consisting of twisted dark gray thistles that have sprung up from cracks in the rock and burn when in direct contact with skin, and what could be considered small animals here can be seen scurrying away the closer crew get to them.
☄ WEEK ONE
Crew are asked to hook cryo beds together and to use any appropriate vehicles that can be made or fashioned to fit the terrain to carry injured crew on the journey to the center of the Hub. Supplies are gathered, and the Captains, as well as any crew who want to, give the Moira a proper sendoff, heads bowed as they say goodbye to what’s been their home. Traveling starts out slowly, a line of a hundred-plus crew members making their way slowly forward. Stops are frequent, but camping for rest only occurs at night. Crew are assigned watch shifts, fires are built, injured tended to, and those who are able are asked to explore nearby caves and hunt for food.
Something akin to deer, though striped and only to be found in pairs, can be stumbled across at night. Throngs of dark purple mammels begin to follow the Moirans on their trip as well. They are friendly, curious, and eat the thistle. Meet the intelligent, watchful predators that aren’t easily scared away and follow the crew from a distance as if waiting to pounce. The thistle can be eaten, but only if cooked first, and those who sample the chewy plant raw will experience a burning sensation in their throat that doesn’t go away until the cooked version is consumed. During the first week, water can’t be found.
Anyone who does hunt, gather, or explore should make sure to that their TABS are on and it’s suggested that nobody goes alone.
Nearing the end of the first week, an Ingress can be spotted close by that crew can explore. If anyone dares to go inside, they will find the texture of the ground and surrounding walls to be rather soft. If inspected closely, crew will discover that what they originally thought to be rock is actually a living organism that’s fed off the energy of the Ingress it’s attached itself to. It’s not harmful and squishy to the touch. If pressed hard enough, it secretes a turquoise liquid with the consistency of water that might make a good substitute for that very thing. ☄ WEEK TWO
When crew finally pass through the sector gates, a strange sensation encompasses them, and a depowering of sorts goes into effect. The creators put in security measures meant to put all visitors on equal footing as well as to protect themselves from harm. All crew will essentially have the strength and abilities of the average human. An unforeseen issue, this causes Captain Thán to slip into a coma as he is no longer able to continue to recover at a steady pace, and with the loss of the former Captain’s abilities, crew can no longer be brought back if they die. For the first time, all Moirans are subject to permanent death.
During this week of travel, broken ingress machines and parts will be found scattered among the rocks, and new crew will come through. Unfortunately, these Ingresses aren’t in good shape, and anyone coming through will be in varying states of distress—some physical and some mental. New individuals will either have suffered an age slip, growing older or younger than their original body, some form of body transformation (perhaps that shiny thing they were wearing is now part of them somehow), or an extreme weakness they had never been subjected to before arriving on the Midway Hub. The new people will be offered to join their group, once found, and seasoned crew will be asked to explain to them where they are going and what they know.
The rest of the week will be a mix of greeting the new arrivals and continuing to travel to the center of the Hub. The closer they get, the less frequently they’ll see animals, and more caves will begin to pop up. ☄ WEEK THREE
Entering the third week of travel, settlements and houses begin to crop up and are prime areas for exploration and general supplies. Those who go inside may find items that have been left behind and evidence showing that those of varying species and cultures lived in the homes. Some appeared to have been scientists while others were explorers, but all living quarters are deserted. Crew who are less lucky in their search might come away with no fresh supplies, and others might walk into traps or safeguards left behind by previous tenants; these come in many forms, from mild paralysis to temporary unconsciousness. As there are more residences, there are also more caves. The entrances vary in size, and light sources will be needed to explore. Once inside, crew can find purple underwater streams, which can be consumed, and glowing surfaces. When crew drink the water, it temporarily restores powers, a few minutes tops, and then, extreme lethargy settles in for a couple of hours.
Further into the cave systems, crew will come across these lovely creatures that are attracted to sound and track through scent. They are highly dangerous and attack simply to feed. Killing them, though, is surprisingly simple as they are just as vulnerable and weak as everyone else. They are vicious in demeanor but only as strong as an average human.
The closer to the Inner Gate crew get, the less homes, wildlife, and more caves there will be. ☄ WEEK FOUR
The Captains, aware that the crew is exhausted, stop and make camp for the first few days. Someone mentions that it’s the holidays where they’re from, and the Captains do their best to throw a party. Set up at the base of a cave, tents are built and fires roar. Soft music is played in the form of guitar, thank you Ira, and Cúrre brings out some legumes that taste like cherries when roasted. There isn’t much in the way of decorations, but crew are encouraged to dig through their pac-discs and contribute to the festivities.
After a brief respite, crew learn that the entrances to Gate A and Gate B are inside one of the caves but any signs or markings have long since worn away or been destroyed. Groups are split, TABS are synced, and crew explore carefully until an entrance is found. Crew discover Gate A first, and all crew are contacted to gather there. The Captains will remain at the cave entrance until all crew are accounted for, and then, they’ll enter through the gate together.
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hohnkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-12-02 06:54 pm
no subject
[But he can do some basic math. They went through the gate. Some people started to act strangely.]
Come on. I want to try something. Come with me. [With his arm around Rinzler's back, caught around his ribs, he starts pulling him back towards the gate. Back through, to see what happens.]
no subject
It's a vulnerability. And the last user, the last ally who touched Rinzler there had used it to electrocute the program. To break him, and drop him, and cripple him when he went down.
Steps wobble, but the program manages not to fall. The black mask lingers on Miller for long, frozen beats. Still, assuming no other threat is forthcoming, the tangled snarl of sound will quiet marginally, and Rinzler's helmet ducks. The suggestion's valid. He'll follow along.]
no subject
[He waits patiently for what seems like an inevitable realization. Usually Rinzler comes around. Then he keeps his hands out, just in case, as he leads him back through the gate.]
[Though if he's right, there might be fuck all they can do to stop what's happening, to maintain Rinzler's abilities.]
no subject
They pass through the gate, and Rinzler stops again, sound hitching with an audible breath. His power levels are still low. But the pull, the drain, the sense of emptiness hooked into the energy that makes him up—it's vanished in an instant.
The program straightens a little, frame flexing to test motor functions. His helmet dips to the inactive disk locked in his fist, and he lights it with a thought, basking in the bright, familiar hum. A quick twist splits the blades. Another recombines them. Rinzler lets the weapons fade dark, and looks back to Miller, rumbling quietly.
He really doesn't like the implications.]
no subject
Come back through again. One more time.
We might not have a choice in this.
[This time when he offers out an arm, he explains himself.] It's easier to brace someone around the back. I know. You saw how much help I needed getting around. So if I reach to grab you, that's all I'm doing. [And only then does he move closer again, to be beside him in case the worst happens.] And when we're across, I'll see if my arm functions are disabled, too. [Obviously the prosthetics work still. But the extras he's not sure about.]
no subject
As the user continues, though, Rinzler's mask twitches sideways, hesitating for a long moment before giving a small shake. He'll explain later (if Miller asks), but as reluctant as he is to spell out that kind of weakness, he's even less willing to experience it by force. Accidentally or not. Support is one thing, but he'd rather fall by a wide margin than have anyone grab him there.
The test is valid, though, and reluctantly, Rinzler paces forward through the gap. Moments after, the program bristles, circuit lights flickering in agitation as the leeching hook nests in his core. It's an active pull—a drain, constant and oppressive.
He can't track where the power's going.]
no subject
This is a hell of a situation in hostile territory. [He thinks practically. Rinzler is missing something crucial to himself, but not only that, all of that vulnerability he just showed is more easy to exploit, given the right hands and the right brain.]
You should give those to someone. [He points at the discs, assuming that they'll still be a weapon to be used against Rinzler if someone takes a chance. Not that exploiting the man at his weakest would really accomplish much for anyone who wanted him, other than a display of domination. For some, that's reason enough.]
Don't tell me who if you do. Better that I not know.
no subject
It's infuriating. Loathsome. Rinzler is a program, is energy and code, and this is a violation in every way. Worse, it's debilitating. Fingers curl tighter, fixed around his disk, and the black mask glances up towards Miller with a quiet skip of sound. Situation is an understatement. He doesn't know what to do.
But then the user tells him, and that sick feeling? Finds a very different focus.
Rinzler freezes. Rinzler stares. The user is still talking, and the implications of the words do parse. They make a difference. (If he had asked for the disk himself, Rinzler might have attacked. Or turned, and ran, and never, ever stopped.) But it's not enough. Not to override the spike of panic in his core, the static scraping louder through his sound. Rinzler freezes. Rinzler takes a step back, helmet jerking to the side.
No, no, no no.]
And again thought I had sent a reply but did not
[The ship crashing. The infestation, the influence of Ploiatos, losing person after person. Crew disappearing at alarming rates. It's exhausting.]
[Rinzler's been taken advantage of before. It's a healthy request.]
You're being affected by this place. You need to keep your means of being reprogrammed in either a secret or defensible place. Someone who can protect it or someone who can hide it and return it to you in case of emergency.
Why not?
[He has to ask. But he just sounds tired at this point. He misses being in charge of a base, dammit, where his orders could be followed to some extent. Now everything is just mild suggestion and he has to know why it it's unacceptable.]
No worries-- holiday slow ate me anyways!
Doesn't work.
[Doesn't.
Didn't.
He's tried it before.]
no subject
[It's the exhaustion with everything, with their persistent failures and inability to affect change, that motivates the words.]
You're not in good shape right now. And you've been a target before. [At least one of the people who attacked him is still around, and as far as he knows, there's been no forgiveness.] You're always going to be in danger, nothing is going to be safe and you have to be paranoid. But you have to choose the best route.
no subject
He can't trust any of them. He can't expect to coexist. He'd fought for the system, only to see it crash and burn to scrap. He'd fought for his allies, only to lose them. To betrayal. To this place. He'd fought for Miller, too, and now the user's efficiently cutting off every exit—pointing out he never had any at all. The logic's ruthless. Perfect. He's going to be betrayed no matter what, and now, he's too weak to guard himself. Why not surrender his mind now? It's inevitable. It's best. For everyone, really.
He can't (he won't—) he can't, not again—no, no (no) nonoNO—
Tension snaps with a hiss of static, a crackle of light and sound. Rinzler's circuits gutter dim and bright, flicker blue before flaring back to red. He isn't working, he isn't right—but Tron isn't either, and the last thing he needs is to fight for the users now. The user isn't listening.
They never, ever do.
His frame uncoils. His empty hand lashes—reaches—out. It's not a strike or a blow, but there's some quality of both in the sharp grab that locks onto the front of Miller's uniform. And in the voice that snarls back behind his mask.]
I. Won't.
[The words are harsh with disuse. They're as edged as Rinzler's disk should be. They're forceful and staticky, frame shaking with the effort, because he doesn't own himself. He isn't free. But no matter how pathetic he's become, he won't make himself more of a slave willingly.
Slowly, the grip uncurls. Rinzler takes one step back. Then another. When he's far enough away, he turns and leaves, disk locked in his left hand.]
no subject
[The point is most assuredly not to give up.]
[Nothing Rinzler's thinking is what he means, and he has no opportunity to say so. Because neither is good at communicating. Not before hands are grabbing at his uniform, and Miller's fake arm goes up between them to shove back since it's the one that can take the damage. He's actually a little startled, just because he did, on some level, trust Rinzler.]
[And now he realizes that he probably shouldn't.]
Fine.
[That's all he says, because he's had so many losses that he can't afford to fight for someone that doesn't want him anymore. He's done that too much. Wasted years of his life for it. He makes no attempt to follow.]
[And he starts fighting back that voice in his head that reminds him that he'll always be rejected. There's no time for it.]