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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
He looks at her, no judgement on his face. Peter can't pretend that it doesn't sting a little. He can see so many reasons to try to stay, find another ship or a planet somewhere. He sees one right in front of him. But if he can't find the guts to say it, part of him knows he can't expect it of her.
"So that's that, huh? Going back to knock them dead with your singing?"
no subject
"Oh well, I'm certainly sure you'll both be safe here then. Or at least until something happens and someone attacks you or you pick a fight with a wrong guy and end up bleeding somewhere." Well, since she started this route she might as well continue bringing up more sore subjects. She's obviously talking about Rinzler here and what happened between them ages ago, which reminds her from the reason why she wanted to see him in the first place. Or at least one of them.
"But it's good thing that's in the past now, right? And no need to feel bad about it." No need for the guilt not after she did to him last time. Or rather, no need for them to continue this anymore.
no subject
"Surprise, but I'm trying something new these days. Not fighting people who can kill me." He tries to make light of it himself, shrugging. He's even been trying to make a sort of peace with Rinzler but that's not something he really wants to speak aloud. It's still too awkward.
"Right. All in the past." The past always has a way to catch up to him, no matter how fast he runs. He knows better than to believe what he's saying. "Why worry about it?"
no subject
Though something tells her that it'll never be truly over between them. Her, Peter and Rinzler. Not as long they keep each other in their lives like this. Together but still so distant.
Oh well, that's about to get fixed soon, she supposes.
"For no reason at all." She nods in agreement. Despite being able to bring the certainty and firmness to her voice she's struggling inside, the words on top of her tongue are making her feel quite nervous. "But that's a good thing, don't you think? Guilt-free conscience and all. Or at least another pretty face comes along to dirty it for you."
And there it is. Maybe not the most straightforward way to say it but the implication is still there, clear and simple: free conscience and freedom from her, too.
"Unless your 'new thing' means you've quit pretty faces too."
no subject
It's better than admitting that as much as he looks at every pretty face that passes, his 'thing' hasn't went past one in particular in a long time. That sometimes he's not so sure he wants someone else to come along and make the mess of his life she did. That conversation is for later, something to be saved for the last possible second. Something to be left as a goodbye.
"I'm not really sure if I think it's a good thing or not."
no subject
"But Peter," she huffs out a laughter, failing to bring the intended lightness to it and making it only sound stressed and hasted. "I shot you twice. And called you by names. Can you really say you still want to kiss and be with me like you did before? I'm sure even you have more self-preservation than that."
no subject
He's not going to stop. He wouldn't even for Wanda and he wouldn't for her. But it's something.
Her question is a good one. Any reasonable person would walk away, wouldn't they? No one tries to pursue a relationship with someone who's tried to kill them. But since when had anything between them been reasonable? Since when had they ever done what others would?
"I got you killed." It's as blunt as he's ever been about what happened with Rinzler, about that night. It makes him wince to say it, voice tight. "You still went with me to New York. You still kissed me."
They fought about it, certainly. But it hadn't stopped their strange dance, it hadn't stopped them from falling into her bed or spending the last few months entangling their lives. She hadn't left, even if she had every right to.
no subject
"But that is still different. Back then it was also my choice." It hadn't been her wisest moments or best courses of action but running in middle of the battle had been a choice she had made. She had chosen to save Peter regardless of the consequences. Now, same couldn't be said about what happened between them last month. Peter hadn't exactly chose to be hurt by her-- it had been because he had decided to trust her.
"Same happened with my mom too. She lost her mind and shot my dad. Or maybe she lost it after shooting him, I don't know." She shrugs, smile staying on her lips almost as if she was talking about something more casual than describing her family tragedy. Of course, that's not exactly how things went between her parents and J hates herself a little for pinning the blame on her poor mother just like she knows that what she went through was something more than her losing her mind. Nihlus had explained her the deal with Monolith and Husks.
"I believe it was even with the same gun. Seems like I really take after her, you know. So, who knows if I'll 'snap' just like her."
no subject
It was what it was. He'd had more than enough time to admit he was the only one at fault.
He'd have more to say, to prove to her that their situations were nothing alike, but he didn't get the chance. She dropped a bomb that dried up the words in his throat, leaving him gaping at her for a few moments longer than intended. Without his powers it took several moments for the words to process.
"What?" It's the first thing out of his mouth and he clamps his jaw shut the second it sounds out. That's not the way to handle this. Peter tries again. "I'm sorry." Wasn't that always the appropriate thing to say? "I didn't- sorry. That's shitty."
It's a terrible understatement, but he's not sure what to say. She doesn't seem to be looking for comfort, but he feels it's something he should offer anyway. But he does know what to say to her next statement. It sounds too close to the self loathing Peter finds himself dealing with more and more these days. It's nothing he'd ever want to hear out of her mouth.
"You're not going to hurt anyone else J. You're not going to snap or whatever. That's not you. What happened wasn't on you." He believes that, wholeheartedly. J may have shot him, may have shot Shepard. May even have killed Aurelia, all that time ago. But she wasn't a killer as far as Peter was concerned. "Something happened to you. That's all. You're not taking after anyone."
no subject
So far Sans has been the only one who she had told about it after her arriving to this world. Although to him she had given the whole story instead of a small slice like she offers to Peter. But still, his judgement had been the same: Not your fault.
Hah, funny how things just 'keep happening to her.' Nothing is ever her fault, is it? She can't help but wonder would he really think that if he knew the whole truth.
She returns the hoarse, scoffing laughter with another shake of head. "What makes you so sure? Remember, I have what they call a body count." Some of them he's not even aware of. "And yes. You screwed it up but I still chose to intervene, not caring what would happen. Which I did as much for myself than for you. The reason why you got hurt was because thought you could trust me."
no subject
It doesn’t make it any less unsettling.
Her reminder of his accusation from so their last fight makes him recoil. He looks down, away from her face. It felt like so long that it had happened, with everything that had happened since, but the reminder drags it all back into the present.
“I didn’t- What I said back then, maybe I shouldn’t have but that’s got nothing to do with this. You’re not evil J.” Maybe he didn’t look at her with the same purity he did with Wanda or River. But he looked at her far too fondly to ever think she was capable of evil.
“I can trust you. Can’t I?”
no subject
She thinks of all the people who have placed their trust and belief in her. Her parents, the boy she liked back in school, people she lived with in New York, those who she met on Moira, Sans and Peter. Each of them have gotten hurt because of that trust, in one way or another. She continues to cause trouble for those who get too involved in her life because of her own selfishness and refusal to let go of some things.
"Now whether you decide is up to you, of course. "
no subject
It was nothing he hadn't thought about before, nothing he wouldn't find himself thinking about again.
The pros and cons always came down the same way. The taste of his guilt verses the taste of her lips. The sound of her voice verses the sound of her silence. Her cruelty verses her kindness. The way his heart beat when he was near her verses how it had that night he watched her die. An echo of freak verse the simple truth. You're my favorite.
"I'm not you. You don't have to trust yourself. I'll do it for you." He takes her hand; he needs that connect as if it will help prove he means it, like it will get through to her. "I trust you, J. I trust you."
no subject
Which she doesn't, of course. But instead she raises her gaze back to face his, giving him a pensive look. This is not what she had planned to happen, not what she expected to get when she approached him. It's almost as if there's something very fragile closed in between their hands. There's something in his honesty that J doesn't like at all and makes her feel strangely vulnerable and exposed. And there's no way she can't stop herself briefly revisiting a memory of time when she had looked for this from someone else, bringing a hidden fear back into the surface.
"What does that mean?" She eventually asks him back, almost shyly. He says he'll trust her even when she doesn't, promising to carry something he doesn't know about.
no subject
"Whatever you're afraid you're going to become, you're mom or whatever, you're not. I know you're not. And I know that I don't have to be afraid of you. But if you can't believe that, that you're good, then I'll believe it for you until you do." He stares down at their hands, rubbing a thumb across her knuckles. "That's what I mean."
They're staring down the last days they might have together. It's the home stretch. Maybe that trust is only going to last a few days more before they both forget. But he needs her to know he's holding on to it for her, for as long as they've got. He'll trust her, believe her, for as long as they've been given. If she's unlucky enough to stay, if he's lucky enough to be here with her, that time will stretch out long enough for her to start trusting herself.
no subject
She can't have this if she wants to survive. Because underneath the yelling there's a small part that whispers to her ear with a soft voice that she'll stay or go with him anywhere if he were to ask. Were it in this universe or in his world, everywhere would be alright as long he asked. It's like she's a cat who's claws are threatened to be cut. And she can't have that, she can't allow to be tamed like this.
"I lied," she says as she lets out a deep breath, one that she didn't know she was holding back. Oh. J's lied and hidden so many things from him and everyone else. "I lied. About mom. I-it's not the whole truth." She continues and finally pulls her hand away from his grip. "She killed him only because I made her to. Good people aren't like that--- good kids don't do things like that."
She can't have this trust because she's afraid it'll destroy her and so she needs to break it. And in her experience nothing broke more relationships than the truth.
"You love family, right? You understand that someone who destroys and hurts a family can't be good."
no subject
"You made her." That's incomprehensible. What child wanted a parent dead? What child wanted blood on a mother's hands? "You made her? How exactly did you make someone kill someone else?"
So many ways, that much he knows. But the words aren't computing, not registering as anything he considers J capable of. Killing Aurelia was one thing. This is something else entirely.
"You said you were a kid, how does a kid make anyone do anything? How old were you? What happened?" Peter stares at her hands, his own clenching around air. Why would she give him such a personal detail only to take it back in the next breath? Why would she strive so hard to paint herself a villain after so long? Why was she pushing him away? "What really happened?"
cw: talk about past abuse
She opens her mouth but closes it soon after. The words are gathering on top of her tongue, rolling back and forth. It's been so long since the last time this had been brought up, when she had revealed the ugly truth. But this time there wasn't comforting taste of chocolate lingering in the back of her throat, not sound of distant engines whirring in the background nor the safe presence she used to rely on all those months ago. But back then the words she had said were meant to connect, not to disconnect.
"Same what always happens with me," she says, her voice reaching for something cold and cruel. "I let-- I betrayed her. I did something that I shouldn't have, even though I knew it'd break her heart." She takes a brief pause to look at his face, reading his expression as she lays the vague information in front of him. And she also knows that she needs to stop dancing around it but for some reason it's more difficult than before. She can still hear Sans' sad yet comforting words: not your fault.
"I did it with dad. He wanted to and I thought why not. Mom saw it and went cuckoo on the head. That's what really happened."
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He doesn't recoil, he doesn't try to turn away. He thinks doing that now would only serve to what he can see J is thinking- that he's upset with her. He's not. Because she hasn't answered his question.
"How old were you J?" He keeps his voice steady by some miracle, trying to channel the same quiet strength he'd found in his sister. "Because kids don't want that. Parents don't want that of their kids. And they don't blame their kids for, for that happening. They don't let their kids blame themselves for it. If your dad-"
He stops, swallows in effort to keep from letting his voice raise. "You didn't betray her. You didn't do anything."
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"You weren't there," it's defense of sorts, something to strengthen the fact that her opinion is the right one. No one else than her family had been there and out of all three of them J's the one still able to tell the tale, only one capable of seeing what had went wrong. And what she's seeing isn't pretty.
"I did want it just like I always do." Again, she's only giving him the half of truth. She had wanted it, yes. She had wanted nothing but make the person she loved the most smile again after having being depressed for so long.
"You know, I want it so bad that I don't even care who I'm with. Someone old or young, family, aliens, robots, monsters. Mutants." She throws the last one in just to strike him. It's cruel and unfair but there's no point in stopping now that she's gone so far. All of this just to prove a point. That he shouldn't trust her.
cw: talk about past abuse
It doesn't stop him from flinching.
Beyond her attempt at digging at his insecurity, Peter tries to listen to what she's saying. What she isn't saying. She's right about one thing; Peter wasn't there. He only has J's word to work off of. But he wasn't lying when he said he trusted her and that trust wasn't going to disappear just because of a few cruel shots. And he trusts her too much to just take that word at face value.
"I do know. I know you. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry your dad did that to you. That your mom did. That she or whoever tried to make you think it was your fault."
He wants to take her hand again, he want to hug her. Hold her. Pretend he could protect her from every terrible thing that had every happened. But he knows the world doesn't work that way. So he just tries to catch her eye, somehow make her understand that he's not going anywhere.
"I know you. You're not the bad person you want to make yourself out to be. You weren't the bad guy. They were."
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With her mind spinning J presses her lips into thin, stressed line as she tries to understand why.
"Well, it's like I said. You decide what to do and believe yourself. Nice to hear you want to remember your first fuck sweet." They didn't have much time together left. Just couple of weeks if even that so in a way J thinks she can understand why he wouldn't want to soil the memory or the experience of her any more than what they already had.
"Maybe I really should have gotten you a picture of me after all."
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He takes her diversion instead. It's easier than to try to beg her into believing something different. It's easier than trying to express something he doesn't have the right words for. A fight isn't' what he wants for their last moments.
"Is that all you really think I think of you?" Or maybe he could just keep putting his foot in his mouth. Make those last moments awkward anyway. He pauses, looking away. "It's just remembering you, believing in you- it's not trying to sweeten you up."
Missing her will have very little to do with the sex. What he wanted from her hadn't always been about that either.
"Maybe I should have taken one of you when I had the chance."
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"I don't know. What else is there left." A strangely honest answer. She doesn't know what to think. What is this thing between them and what did all of this mean anymore. Before the shooting, before their fight there had been a period when J had thought that maybe there was something more than just dumb, clumsy flirtation. Something more genuine but then they had to go and ruin it.
Another thing she always seems to do. But in the end, maybe it's better this way.
"Too bad." She says with a shrug of shoulders, the weight from the sense of completion billowing on her. "But you know what they say. Better luck next time."
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Spending them together, he thinks. He's not ready for any of it to be over yet. He's not ready to be over her yet. He wants to cling to the last few hours, let it end on a high note if it has to end at all.
He reaches out a hand for her again, tentative and gentle. "There won't be a better next time."
For better or for worse, he knew he'd never meet someone else like her.
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