thisavrou_log | january event log

Entry tags:

january event log

Who: Everyone
When: January 3rd and on
Where: The Midway Hub.
What: The crew finally make it to the center of the Hub.
Warnings: Mentions of dead bodies, death, and violence. Please label your content!

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the inner gate
"Let them in, and take them out."

Through ups and downs, the Moira and the crew have survived much together:

During the first wave of arrivals, the ship docks at a planet that has an addictive substance called Exuo — crew went through mood swings, heightened aggression, and fits of paranoia. Natives attempted to kidnap and sacrifice everyone.
A solar storm caused a power blip, and strange masks were found in every mailbox that gave them unusual abilities.
They reached Caducus Primary, a planet largely comprised of glass. The representative of CP accused the crew and captains of theft; however, they didn’t leave fast enough, and a skirmish caused damage to their Ingress, which ended with Caducus Primary cracking and being destroyed.
The power fluctuates and temperatures drop. One of the captains, Tipota, is found dead. This is the introduction of Ploiatos, who ended up being one of the original crew members affected by the power of the Ingress.
The Moira docks at Emiri, which was comprised of three main cities where the culture was influenced heavily by finding one’s soulmate. The company responsible for this, Link’d Inc, is incredibly popular throughout the universe. However, hints of forced unions, kidnapping, and slavery are investigated by the crew after an attack on all of the cities by a rebel group. The planet becomes locked down. Benjamin Link joins the crew and helps them escape.
Another month passes, and crew dock on Ceta. It is known for it’s unusual atmosphere and its living beings AKA sentient flying whales. They were hunted for valuable organic resources, and eventually, the crew decided to hire mercenaries from outlying planets to protect them from further death.
Soon after, the Moira stops at an abandoned prison station called Del Pascia with a resident AI (D-E-L) who was “irritated and snippy” but did not keep crew from exploring and taking items. D-E-L tried to persuade crew to stay, and when it became clear no one wanted to, D-E-L tried to infect them as she had infected those who’d remained behind in the prison. Everyone fought and escaped.
Amissis-Re is an unregistered planet that had no signs of life — the crew’s next stop. Here, they meet a “host” who had done the impossible and “fixed” the Ingress. However, she only reversed the energy of the Ingress, which created melted worlds and made it incredibly dangerous to discern reality from the time inside these worlds. The host gifts some of the crew with journals after she decides to go through the Ingress and remain there.
The Moira begins to malfunction, and those of Caducus Secondary, along with survivors of Caducus Primary, hunt the ship and those inside it for revenge. Negotiations started while crew tried to set up defenses aboard. Due to prior issues, the Ingress shuts off, resulting in the melding of Caducun glass with the ship and everyone aboard. When the Ingress finally stabilizes, the Moira is now in a different universe: the Runoff.
Some members of the crew are found on a slavery outpost in the Runoff, and others make a stealthy rescue effort to bring them back to the Moira. First Mate Egan and Captain Ira appear through the Ingress, explaining that they are the original members of the Moira designated to pilot the ship. The old captains hand over authority to them as the ship drifts into the Luminous Sea.
The ship crashes into one of the moons within the Luminous Sea where crew find a group of natives who are overly friendly. They beckon them to stay with food, drink, and much more. Unbeknownst to those who stay with them, an entire year passes. Eventually, what is wrong with the Moira is patched so they can leave.
After months of hard travel, the crew explore the wonders of the Mini Colony. A closed ceremony held on the MC caused crew to change in ways they’d never experienced before. Yet, during the festivities, someone triggered the “fear machine”, and crew suffered from phobias once back on the ship.
Those working on the Ingress pick up a signature for the Midway Hub and begin to make preparations to go there. The new species Ploiatos has become is named Mirtis (meer-tees); some of the crew kill him before things get too out of control again as they had in the previous months. The Ingress is then turned on, and the ship falls into a time slip.
The Moira crashes on the Midway Hub.
Captain Ira draws a map and encourages crew to split up and travel to the Inner Gate of the Midway Hub. Once inside the Outer Gate, crew experience de-powering — a safety protocol of those who’d worked on the Hub. Exploration and survival are a key focus during this time. They move through a network of caves to find the entrance to the Inner Gate.
After a brief respite, crew learn that the entrances to Gate A and Gate B are inside one of the caves. 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 remain at the cave entrance until all crew are accounted for, and then, they enter through the gate together.

Finally, after entering through the Inner Gate, the crew head down through a system of tunnels that lead them to an underground - and main - section of the Midway Hub. Initial scans show that there is a catacomb of rooms and hallways that seem to have been patched together hastily and messily, suggesting that the builders added on new areas as they were needed. Anyone who has abilities, and tries to use them now, will realize that they are no longer depowered as they had been for the last several weeks. Crew are allowed to explore and are encouraged to look for any evidence as to why the previous tenants are gone, as well as take any supplies found or find ways to radio out for assistance.

☄ FLOOR ONE - jan. 3rd

Deeper in, the first level of the Hub is littered with thousands of papers and notes regarding things on the Ingress. Some are highly classified while others are of the smallest consequence to anyone reading them. Upon closer inspection, some of the things listed might even make sense to those of the crew slightly familiar with Ingress technology—reports of energy distortion and time slips, effects of the energy on those traveling through it, how to isolate particular parts of the Ingress' energy and use them to transport to other places. Only a portion of these documents are legible; the majority have either been torn into pieces or charred. Smaller rooms can be found here as well, offices and labs that are only large enough to hold five or six people at a time, and within some of them, pieces of machinery and electronics can be found. Most recognizable are the circular-curved mechanisms that belong to an Ingress. Yet, rather than just one, there are hundreds. Some have been left in piles of twisted, melted hunks, and some, those parts still (probably) capable of being used if the occasion presented itself, are thrown about carelessly, tossed under desks and under chairs and even embedded in parts of the walls where they - more than likely - exploded.

Not much else can be found on this level. Unless empty cups and broken computers are justifiable as something.

☄ FLOOR TWO - jan. 4th

Crew who travel even further within the Hub will find that not all things have been deserted. Sort of. What greets anyone who explores here is the visible evidence that some sort of intense struggle happened between those who worked on the Hub and a group of outsiders. Dead bodies cover the floors, in hallways, and inside personal quarters. The one constant in the tableau is that none of them died in any sort of peace, and the visceral knowledge of that is clear by the amount of blood spilled and the putrid smell that comes from it having been sealed off for such a long time. Be careful to tread lightly and step with caution. Also, breathing the air for any more than a few seconds without some sort of filter isn’t advisable. Items worth taking might be in the form of blankets and clothes, but most of it seems to have been taken in a rush.

☄ FLOOR THREE - jan. 5th

And even further within the Hub, below the offices and labs and unfortunate death, a power source can be found. From obvious signs, it is clear that someone had lived here recently, and anyone who looks through some of the things left behind will find a list of recordings readily available to them. They are as follows:

audio log 1

audio log 2

audio log 3

audio log 4

audio log 5

☄ FLOOR FOUR - jan. 6th to the 24th

Inside the Ingress Channel, a group of fifteen have taken up a defensive position, standing in a small circle towards the back. When approached, they’ll tell crew to stay where they are; they want to talk to them but with lots of space between. There doesn’t appear to be a leader of this diverse group, but one person comes forward and asks who they are and what they were doing on the Moira as they had seen it crash. With this new group being unwilling to divulge any information, the conversation is slow to reveal anything important or useful.

Through patience and diplomatic efforts by the crew, the following is eventually discovered: these people call themselves Savrii and aren’t native to the Midway Hub. The Savrii aren’t hostile, though they are skittish at first. Their people were sent through the Ingress to destroy all the documented research on Ingress technology and energy that could be found here, taking out anyone who tried to stop them. Their mission was critical, meant to protect the universe from those tampering with such an unstable, natural force. During the incursion, the Ingress machines on the Hub were damaged, and they are what’s left of the group of Savrii that didn’t make it back through before the machine shut down. They’ve seen footage and schematics of the Moira and would have destroyed it, too, if it had landed instead of crashing. The Moirans did the job for them.

Their people don’t believe in fighting or chaos, unless the Ingress energy is being manipulated in any way. The ship was the first of its kind, created by severing some of the energy from the whole. This upset an already delicate balance and caused issues with Ingresses all across the universes. The Savrii liken it to taking a child away from its mother. When the crew explain that they were only passengers, the Savrii believe them. They lower their weapons and open the floor to peaceful discussion. From this point, crew learn that the Savrii have been surviving here as they try to fix one of the Ingress machines, which they are close to but are lacking one of the key elements. Science technicians from the Moira, who have studied the Ingress will realize that after sorting through the wreckage the part they need survived the crash, and with help, the crew are able to assist in replacing the broken element.

When the Ingress is rebooted, they send one of their group through, who returns a moment later with good news. The damage on this side didn’t affect the Ingress Complex on the other, a place where the Ingress Energy was first discovered and built around. They tell of their home, with the largest and first Ingress machine, that is a mecca of travel and culture. It might not be the crew's original homes, but the Ingress there is functioning, and they can use it.

The Savrii can go home. The Moirans are allowed to come with them.

Step through the Ingress and

welcome to thisavrou

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Look, all I'm saying is that maybe I made a mistake.

Maybe I should stay far away from this stuff and...go back to being an uneducated blacksmith.

What kind of mistake, Darin? What happened?

I made the mistake of trying to learn in general.

I'm saying i should just stay a dumb blacksmith, because what if, in my pursuit of knowledge, I end up getting involved in something I shouldn't have? What if I work on something that changes me for the worst instead of for the better?

Trying to learn things isn't a mistake.

If it was a mistake, no one would have gone to space in the first place. Or even invented smithing. You can't assume because one person went overboard with alien tech, you're going to do the same.

[Darin wanders back to his chair and slumps into it, lifting a hand to run over his face and through his hair.]

...You know, back on my world?

If I hadn't been adopted by my town's blacksmith and shown that I had a knack for smithing? I'd probably be a soldier. Not because I'm a fighter or anything like that, but because I just didn't have the aptitude for anything else.

I didn't have any elemental affinity, so I couldn't get accepted into a magic guild...my family didn't have the money to send me to a trade school. I would have gone from orphan to soldier provided I didn't just die in a gutter somewhere.

So... because you couldn't find something else you were good at back home... you're going to fall into the Ingress and turn into a monster?

Is that what you're saying here? Because that's a stretch. Even for you.

It's not because there wasn't something else I was good at. Back home, if you can't afford a trade school and you don't have the aptitude to use magic, you either become a soldier or you make your living using less honest means.

I got lucky. That's it. But my point is that I've always wanted to be more. I hated the way my country was run, hated the damn royals for making it so only the rich could amount to anything. Hell, it's probably why it was so easy for everyone to believe I was capable of mur--...

...[He stops himself and shoots Shiro a look. Maybe he wouldn't piece it together.]

Why is that a bad thing? You found something you were good at. It worked out. What does any of that have to do with what you were doing with the Ingress?

[Oh child.]

[He's going to piece it together. And Not React. Not yet. He just gives him a steady look.]

Darin. What's going on?

Don't talk around it. What is going on?

If I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me.

Darin.

Explain what's going on.

[Maybe it's the tone that sets him off, or maybe it's because Darin's just tired.]

Explain which part, Shiro?! Which part?! The part that I'm a monster or the part that I'm afraid screwing with the Ingress could let that monster out?! Huh?! Which one??

[A monster... broken...]

[He flinches internally, at that. Doing his best to keep it off his face. It's been a while since he heard those words bouncing around in his head. He'll see if he can't fight them off a while longer.]

Both.

Or whichever one is going to let us help.

You can't help, Shiro. No one can help! Not unless you know how to exorcise the soul of the King of the Archfiends without outright killing me and even then, I doubt I'd let you because apparently, magically, I'm somehow strong enough to keep it at bay!

And unless you're willing to cut me down, then there is no helping. And honestly? You've seen the scar on my back. I don't think you could kill me if you tried. If a goddamn Archfiend couldn't do it when I was a child then I sincerely doubt anyone has the strength to do it now.

[He stands up and starts pacing in agitation. Searching for words. Searching for a way out. Finally, he just turns to Shiro.]

I'm not human, Shiro. I was supposed to be, but I'm not.

[The words are desperate. His voice is pleading. They're so full of anger and remorse and it's all directed at himself.]

You don't know no one can help until you give us the whole story. Not just pieces of it. I don't know what half of that means.

[He stays put against the wall. Watching him. He's still being as honest as possible. Especially when he says he just doesn't know.]

[Lying and pretending isn't in him.]

[He had something else to say, but... I was supposed to be, but I'm not... makes him stop. And study the ground at their feet.]

I was supposed to be a pilot. That's all I wanted. I was supposed to complete the biggest mission humanity had ever taken on itself. And bring my crew back safely.

... but I'm not.

I'm something else. Something I never asked to be. I... don't even remember it -- not all of it.

[Champion... He shoves that voice, the image of glowing eyes, hands reaching out, holding him down, of bright lights and shouting alien voices, out of his mind. Squaring up his shoulders.]

You're not the only one here who had no say in what they were made into. You're not the only one who hates it.

So maybe you're not too far past help.

[Darin listens somberly. So...this was what Shiro was so guarded about. Something happened to him. Something was...done to him.]

[No wonder he felt drawn to Shiro. The similarities were so stark. And yet, here Shiro was...somehow keeping it together.]

[Darin was thankful. He really was. He lowers his head, ashamed as the next words tumble out of his mouth.]

Shiro...

...I'm supposed to end the world...

That's what I was born to do...

[He doesn't want to talk about this. He just wants to leave it buried where it won't hurt anyone or anything. To leave it to rot somewhere.]

[But that won't help. It won't help anyone -- not the one who needs him right now. So he takes a deep breath. And drags it back into the open.]

... I was supposed to be some kind of weapon for the enemy. Be their right hand or... something I don't remember.

Instead, I'm helping fight them with everything they did to me.

[He steps forward, then, drawing himself up.]

What you're "supposed" to do doesn't mean anything if you can fight it. I'm going to.

Are you?

[Darin's gaze falls to Shiro's prosthetic. Shiro was so uncomfortable about it...did they do that to him? Did the people who turned such a good man into a weapon take his arm?]

[He doesn't realize it, as his own thoughts are focused inward, but the air around him has suddenly grown heavy. The thought of his friend, possibly his best friend, being turned and used into something like him?]

[If he ever found who did this, he'd tear them limb from limb.]

[Then, all at once, the weight in the air, the pressure is lifted. Darin's sharp green eyes meet Shiro's gaze.]

What if...what if I start to falter? What if I start to become like my brother..?

...Will you stop me?

... Do you want me to?

[He doesn't want to answer the question. He doesn't... want to even entertain the idea. Because there's a part of him that doesn't ever want to have to hurt someone important again -- even to protect them.]

[But he keeps that off his face.]

[He keeps the memory of the last time he'd had to hurt someone to save them out of his head. And how he may have let them down, in the process.]

I don't pretend like I understand what all you're talking about here. [Mostly because Darin's been vague as hell. The weird pressure thing just makes it more confusing.] But...

I'll help. You know that.

It's what I do.

If you can...

I won't lie, I've...seen what I may be capable of.

Somewhere, deep inside of me...I have the power to level cities. Maybe even more than that. My brother has it. He and I are the same...twins born with the same destiny.

[He looks at his hands. He'd spent his life creating things. He loved it. But maybe it's because he was trying to avoid what he truly was at all costs.]

I don't know the extent of my power. I know I'm strong and I know I'm stupidly hard to kill. But there's more. I can feel it.

Well. That makes two of us.

[Granted, he sort of doubts this thing hanging off his shoulder is some kind of nuclear weapon. Or can level anything so big as a city. But it's the same sort of idea.]

[Not knowing what it is you're really capable of.]

[He's fought with it in front of Darin before, but this is different. His hand ignites -- purple light blazing from fingertip to wrist. He reaches back behind him, to the wall. And with no more effort than putting his hand in a pail of water, the glowing fingers cut straight through the metal.]

You'd think this kind of thing would come with a manual. But it doesn't.

[He pulls his hand back. The light dies, and the hand is undamaged. The wall is another story.]

There's always more to it than you want there to be.

I guess my point is, you're not the only one.

Heh...

[Darin's smile is bemused and weak. He wanders over to the wall nearest him and places a hand on it. Slowly, almost as if he were pushing into a pillow, with next to no effort, Darin's hand sinks into the metal wall, denting and shaping it to the contours of his hand. Then, he tightens his grip and he tears the metal screaming away from the wall, as if it were made of tissue paper. He crumples it into a ball and drops it with a hard clang.]

I've...never really known what it's like to have someone have a similar problem. After Dromas died...I was alone. I was constantly holding myself back...hiding what I could do. Measuring myself to what I thought would be normal for a kid to be able to do...then a teenager...and now as a grown adult.

[Well... that's a first. First time someone's ever done anything comparable to what he's found out he can do. He's a little envious -- because there's no enhancements here to do it. There's no missing limb.]

[But he keeps that to himself. Carefully squashing it.]

My advice? Find out what the limits are. Stop comparing, and figure it out, if you don't already know.

... there isn't really anything comparable, anyway.

Limits...

[He snorts.]

How do you measure half of a god's power?

I'm not trying to be sarcastic...it's a legitimate question. Diomuhr, half of who's soul is bound to mine, is the Lord of the Archfiends. Basically the king of Hell. His power combined with the Lord of the Celestials created my world. I have half of...that I guess.

I'm afraid of my limits. I've seen what Dromas has done without even trying. If I ever lost control...

[He lets the world ending implications hang in the air.]

I don't know how I've managed to keep my power suppressed. Maybe because I've grown up consciously trying to fit in and be normal and I've been measuring it incrementally as I grew. Who knows? But it leaks out from time to time. Things...happen.

You're asking the wrong guy that question. I've got literally no idea.

[One more way they're both in the same boat. Who knows what this thing he's got is capable of? He'd seen the supposed "upgraded" model. Something hideous and deformed. There's... no real way to know without asking whoever was responsible for putting it there.]

... looks like we're more in the same situation than we thought.

[He won't say it's exactly the same, but it's close.]

And so you're afraid what you're doing with the Ingress is going to make all of it worse?

Exactly.

Never thought about it before. But all this talk about energy...

I don't know. It's got me doubting. If something goes haywire with the Ingress, there's no telling what it could do to me.

[He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. It's becoming more and more obvious that doing that is a tell for when he gets anxious.]

Y'know, I've been thinking about your arm. Your prosthetic, I mean. You've always been guarded about it. I didn't wanna pry but...

I guess, what I want to say is that if something goes wrong with it, I can make you a new one. Maybe not as sophisticated but...with the things I've been learning...maybe one day it's possible.

welcome to thisavrou

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