thisavrou_log | ( september intro log )

Entry tags:

( september intro log )

Who: Everyone
When: September 1st and on
Where: The ship and on planet
What: Getting acclimated to ship life and exploring
Warnings: Please label any warnings you have on your threads

SHIP LIFE

"It is not the ship so much as skillful sailing that assures a prosperous voyage."

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 various machines line the walls on either side, though they are not accessible from where you stand. Shortly after, you are led out and toward the medbay.

Inside this room, you are given a physical scan and sign a contract that states you are now part of the crew of the Moira with a specific job. This process consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health, and afterwards, you are given your MID, a device that is integrated into your hand with only the slightest pinch. From there, you are guided out of the medbay and into the main hall with specific instructions not to leave.

☄MAIN HALL ( 09.01 to 09.03 )

After everyone is gathered together, you learn that these are your accommodations for the night. The captains explain that the Moira is not readily suited for such a large influx of people, and that this is only temporary. Placed around the room are a variety of blankets, sheets, and mats in lieu of beds, and crates of MREs have been provided along with H₂O hydration kits. Some time in the “morning hours”, all MIDs will receive a message designating rooming assignments and areas of the ship that are open to exploration.

GALLEY ● MESS HALL ● REC AREA

All remaining areas accessible to crew members are open later in the “evening hours”. Crew are also informed that the Moira is approximately two days from their current destination.

DESCENSION

"A force of nature unto itself."

From a distance, the planet’s reddish atmosphere slowly becomes more transparent the closer the Moira ventures, and mountain ranges, volcanic fields, valleys, ice caps, canyons, deserts, and impact craters are visible in stark detail. The remnants of a lone moon hangs in its outer orbit and impedes the ship’s ability to dock close to the planet’s surface. As the crew prepares to disembark, there are noticeable changes in gravity as well as some disturbances in energy output.

☄EXPLORATORY EXCURSION I ( 09.04 to 09.11 )

Due to unstable atmospheric conditions, crew members must utilize the transporters located in the Cargo Bay to descend to the surface. Each craft holds upwards of six passengers and is piloted remotely via Navigation. Once it lands, orders will be sent to MIDs detailing mission directives. These include: scouting surrounding areas for potential threats, determining if the mile-long road from the transporter to the nearest inhabited area is free of hazards, and assessing local friendliness.

Planetary Environment Details
● The air is breathable. However, there is a pleasant sweetness to it that generates an overall invigoration.
● Vegetation is sparse due to dry and windy weather patterns. It’s dusty, and the ground itself is rather gritty in texture.
● The initial temperature feels hot and causes the skin to prickle with sweat. Yet, the longer one is exposed to the elements, the less you are inclined to notice.
● There is an overall lack of civilization, and what populace there is remains centralized in one area. Crew members may stumble across the occasional explorer returning to their own ship; they are friendly and welcoming but also eager to leave.
● The sun does not seem to set. Even in the “later” hours of the day, it is still as bright as it had been at “noon”.

☄EXPLORATORY EXCURSION II ( 09.12 to 09.17 )

A thriving marketplace that was found during the initial search has been deemed an appropriate place for trade and much needed supplies. Crew members are encouraged to engage in local customs while continuing to maintain their current duties aboard the Moira, and they must assist in the delivery of goods to the transporter. They are more than welcome to explore this new area.

The Marketplace
● There is no monetary system in place; if there is an item you want, trade for it. (Locals will accept anything as payment.)
● Booths, shops, and tents line both sides of the pathways weaving throughout the area. Signs with written language are not recognizable; however, MIDs will translate any spoken languages so they are understood. Vendors are an eclectic mix of species, and not all of them are humanoid in form as they are from varying parts of the universe.
● The smells of foreign foods are everywhere. Yet, that familiar sweetness seems to occasionally overpower it. It is also loud as others bustle about their business.
● Natives are not unkind, but they are not as overly welcoming as strangers in the market are. They are quiet, reserved, and helpful to some extent. They are easily recognizable by the plain masks and hoods worn over their faces.
●Seedy areas are found in the depths of the market. Drug and sex trades are not uncommon but not openly displayed.

( OOC: For any and all questions, go here. Check THIS to see your tag. They have already been added to the comms, but you'll have to tag them onto a post before they show up in the list. )

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Aliens. Miles' eyebrows go up and his jaw -- well, it doesn't drop, just opens slightly, his gaze flicking back down to her hand. To his credit, though, that's the only sign of his surprise. He gives her a firm handshake -- well, as much of one as he can -- and nods, looking with deep consideration at her.

"Not really," he confesses. "I mean -- you're the first alien I've ever met, and I've spent a lot of time on starships. We've terraformed and settled dozens of planets, back home, but we've never run into another sentient species. Not that I don't believe you," he adds quickly, wondering just what's behind that mask. He's not repelled or discomfited at all -- just intensely curious. Vagrants and thieves? A bad stereotype, the way she puts it. "Just not what I expected."

Given the kind of beings the more outlandish ventures into genetic engineering have produced, Miles has always imagined that aliens would look a little less...human.

She can't help smiling a little at the look on his face. She can read human faces a lot easier these days than she's ever been able to read a quarian's (it would help if she could even count on one hand the number of quarian faces she's seen), and though he doesn't react that much, it's enough.

"Humans had a lot of colonies before any other species even noticed they were there," she says with a quirk of the head. "The galaxy's a big place." And then she considers for a second. "Besides, maybe quarians just don't exist for you. Maybe whatever other species there are out there in your universe are just avoiding you. They've heard too many stories."

That last is said with a grin - she likes humans (hell, she's dating one). ...She just also likes teasing.

It probably helps that as human faces go, Miles' is pretty expressive. Miles grins almost wolfishly at her, his eyes lighting up. "You know, considering where I come from, that doesn't sound all that unlikely. I could tell you some stories, alright."

Which war should he start with, Tali? Or maybe it's the Cetagandans who are scaring off the hypothetical aliens. Their expansive genetic tinkering, regardless of its radiant results, is more than just a little unnerving.

"Still, you'd think with the Nexus spanning so many wormhole jumps, we'd have run into something by now. But maybe the Survey will finally discover something no one else has in the last seven hundred years." It really is astonishing how human she looks to Miles, though -- granted, he can't see her face, but he's always imagined so-called aliens as looking...well, substantially more alien. Tali could pass easily for one of Jackson Whole's cloning experiments.

"Do, uh, quarians and human get along, back in your world? You mentioned something about bad stereotypes."

"You should tell one sometime. You can't just say that and not tell me." Maybe not in the middle of a hall full of confused people and blankets, but sometime. He can start with things like Nexuses and Surveys as well, those words make no sense to her for a start.

"The stereotypes are from long before humans came along." She folded her arms, head jerking minutely upwards in an approximation of an eyeroll. "My people don't get along with most other races - but humans weren't spacefaring until we were already outcasts. We don't have much contact at all."

She thinks about it for a moment. "I'm probably the only quarian who's ever served on a ship with humans." ...A second's beat, and then she gives a huff of a laugh. "I'm definitely the only quarian who's dating one."

Insert your own joke about first contact here.

"Oh, I'd be happy to tell you some stories," Miles says with a blinding grin. Seriously, Tali, he'll tell you as many stories as you want. Getting him to stop is the hard part. "Just set aside, oh, a few hours..."

He trails off in a joke, still grinning, although that same look of polite but mostly curious surprise crosses his face again when Tali mentions her dating life. He's already mentally filing away everything she says about the quarians -- along with the five questions he has to go with each fact, save it for later -- but this really has his attention.

"Oh, you -- dating? Really?" Miles blinks, his question purely without scorn or condescension. It's not as though the idea is so completely foreign to him -- as if there aren't entire genres of pornography dedicated to that same such scenario, although admittedly entirely fictional in his world -- better not mention that to his new acquaintance before he's even got her name, though. "Do you...does that happen often? Dating other species, I mean. It isn't taboo, or anything?"

"I think we can find the time." She'd definitely be happy to - as long as Miles is OK with her asking a million questions throughout.

She's actually a little surprised he's asking about that - although the fact that humans dedicate a lot of energy to alien porn is something she does already know. Creating an xenoporn magazine was humanity's first contribution to the galactic community, after all.

"It's..." She tilts her head, thinking about it. "Not really? There's a species called the asari who mostly date aliens. It's a little weird to see other species dating, but it's not taboo. I don't think so, anyway."

There's a wry sort of grin to her voice as she goes on, "I haven't seen a member of my own species in almost a year - I'm so used to being around humans I sometimes feel like I'm the alien now."

Are you kidding, Tali, Miles would welcome your questions. The trick is to get him to stop talking.

"Oh," Miles says in curious surprise, not at all unpleasant. To the contrary -- he finds everything Tali's telling him fascinating, and it helps that she's so pleasant herself. Not what he was expecting from his first hypothetical encounter with a real, honest-to-god alien. "Your world sounds like an interesting place. I'd be curious to visit it myself." He cocks his head to the side. "Does that ever get lonely? Not being around other quarians, I mean."

She'd probably be a little self-conscious if she really thought about the fact that she's the first non-human he's ever met. Maybe it's not even the first time that's happened to her and she hasn't even known it, but still.

She has to consider the question for a couple of seconds, but, "Sometimes," she says presently, fidgeting with her hands a little, restlessly. "It's weird. I've got used to it, mostly, but sometimes I realise I'm the only quarian in maybe even the whole universe and it's... Yeah, it's a little scary, actually."

The fact that she's there in a uniform and not an envirosuit - that she could take her mask off anytime - even that sometimes just makes her feel even more separated from her own race. Maybe that's a little of why she didn't take her mask off when she got here.

"But, ah..." And a question of her own. "If you'd never met another sentient race, if humans were the only race you ever knew... Isn't that lonely, too?"

Miles laughs at that, just a touch cynically. "How could we possibly get lonely? We're everywhere. I don't even know that there's room for any new neighbors at this point." He grins up at her sardonically, then shrugs. "But Survey's still doing expeditions through unmapped wormholes, and we're finding new planets all the time, so maybe it's just a matter of time. But you're, er -- well, you're less alien than I was expecting. No offense intended, of course. But I've seen more alien-looking humans than you. Genetic tinkering is all the craze in some places. Hell, the Cetagandans have built their entire empire around it, and then there's the quaddies -- and Jackson's Whole, of course." He stifles a shudder and gives Tali a sickly smile instead. "Don't even get me started on the horror shows that go on in some of the Jacksonian Houses."

"Less alien?" She can't help laughing a bit there. "That's what everyone thought about humans - that you all looked like maskless quarians. Maybe we'll get a hanar here, you'll find them more interesting."

The more Miles talks, the more Tali wants to listen, though - the different universes she's heard of so far have mostly involved people who live solely on Earth, where humanity has never left their home planet. This - humans travelling the stars without meeting any other forms of life - is odd, and fascinating.

"I've never heard of genetic...modifications?" She's not sure what else to call it. "...like that. How do you mean, they look alien?"

If anyone looks like jellyfish, her hanar reference is immediately redundant.

"Well, like I mentioned, there's the quaddies. They were engineered some couple hundred years back, during that whole genetic tinkering rush that followed the establishment of uterine replicator technology. Some scientists got the bright idea to engineer a labor force designed to thrive in null-G for space station work. They look mostly human, I guess -- technically they are -- btu they've got arms for legs."

Miles makes an illustrative gesture toward his legs, and shrugs. "But shortly thereafter, artificial gravity was invented and the whole thing was sort of moot. So what do you look like under the mask, anyway? Or, er -- is that a very personal question to a quarian?"

"... Huh." Something about that - a lot about that, really - puts Tali on the verge of being a little uncomfortable. Medical tech where she's from allows doctors to remove genetic abnormalities, sure, but...creating a whole different type of human just for the work they can do?

And then Miles asks about her, and she's distracted away from saying anything about it (what would she say? 'That thing you had nothing to do with two hundred years ago was a bit ethically suspect'?)

"Oh - I can..." She can just go ahead and show him without any problems, and the thought makes her grin uncontrollably as she reaches to unclip her mask - there's a hiss as the air escapes, and she takes it off. There's the customary screwing her face up against the too-bright lights, and she's still squinting a little as she looks at Miles again. She's still not used to how vivid colours look when there isn't an opaque faceplate in the way.

Miles might be a little disappointed in how human she looks in the face, too - her skin is a darkish grey-purple, darker markings running from eyebrows to hairline, and her eyes glow dimly white, but most of the rest of her face looks mostly like any human's. There's a flash of sharp canines as she grins at him. "I had to wear this all the time until just before I came here. I'm used to it, you know?"

Oh, and she's...quite beautiful, too. She reminds him distantly of the Cetagandan haut women in her almost ethereal and elfin appearance, but the resemblance stops there. Pity she's taken, Miles thinks distantly, but he shakes the thought off quickly.

"Oh...yes, of course." Miles blinks. "So -- why the mask in the first place? Why can you take it off now?"

He looks a bit...surprised? She's not sure. Either way, she just assumes it's probably because she doesn't really look so different from a human. Or maybe she does. Or...well, she doesn't think badly of it, all the same.

"I used to be really badly immune-deficient," she explains, and no, Tali has no problem explaining her medical issues, "so I had to wear this to keep everything out, or I'd have died pretty quickly. I went through some kind of treatment not so long ago, though, and..."

She gestures a little at her face, sort of, 'well, here I am' kind of movement.

"I used to wear a full environmental suit." She lifts her hands - bare, just the uniform shirt covering her arms. "I only just took that off."

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( september intro log )

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err I'm guessing we're wrapping this up, but damn it Tali