(no subject)

Who: Everyone
When: July 1 and onward. See this post for info.
Where: Kauto + Chioni + Ingress Complex
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label warn-worthy content in your subject headers.

There's a burst of light in the sky when the Ingress breaks, a final flare followed by a shuddering that only those in the facility can feel. A flurry of panicked activity in the complex follows, ushering new arrivals to where they need to go in a hurry, with little time to give them the needed information, much less answer questions. The lights remain on, but dimmer now, life functions still operating but little else. On Kauto and Chioni below, the sky fades into an early twilight, followed by night, and day does not come again.

nerds save the world

Before the end of the day, all TABs receive an emergency broadcast notification outlining the situation. The speaker, a lead Savriite Ingress technician, does not invite panic but nor does he mince words. The Ingress is broken; their best efforts have failed to restore it. The time has come to turn to anyone who can help: scientists, engineers, those who have worked with advanced technology on any world. Formal qualifications don't matter when it could be the end of everything.

"Help us. Before it is too late."

Those who come will have the run of the complex and full access to the Ingress, as well as whatever tools are available and as much coffee as they can drink. People are encouraged to work in groups and share ideas, and a small number of young and nervous technical assistants will be on hand.

the land below

As Thisavrou is denied light and warmth, the weather becomes brisk and descends into bitter cold. Chioni is evacuated due to the effects on the already-harsh weather cycles there, although a skeleton crew of scientists remain behind. On Kauto, the arboreal Region Three and pastoral Region Two suffer the most from the temperatures and the snow that eventually begins to fall. Many crops are frozen over, and refugee citizens are driven from their homes to the Regions One and Five, where stored energy will keep dwellings warm. Save for those who choose to leave the underwater facilities, Region Four remains largely unchanged, but there are unverified accounts of strange aquatic animal behavior near the surface.

Overcrowding, limited supplies and a pervasive fear presents the opportunity for both heroism and foul deeds. Many come together to share resources, supplies and fellowship in what could be the end of worlds, while others take what they can from the unwilling or exploit the desperate. Sentient evacuees are followed by fauna from Region Three and unsettled lands beyond, in search of warmth or food or merely confused by the change in habitat. Some are unthreatening herbivores, while tanglesnakes and clownbees are more troublesome. Others are poisonous hunters, while still others are small, but dangerous when faced as a pack.

Just when all seems lost, light returns to the sky. The Ingress begins to function once more.

the coming days

As the temperatures rise, many demand answers, but most turn to the rebuilding of their lives first. Damage has been done that isn't so easily fixed, and even in the least-affected areas, remnants of the crisis show in the lack of fresh food, in the increased signs of criminal activity. Those who can help others through their own efforts of by organizing assistance are needed, but those with impure intentions are more likely to go unnoticed.

Eavesdropping on the streets may reveal a desire for vengeance. "Those intruders from last week. They're responsible for this, aren't they? What's being done?" But don't listen too closely, or a suspicious eye may be turned on you. "Aren't you one of the refugees from the Midway Hub? You should return to where you came from! All the trouble began when your people showed up!"

Life goes on. But life does not go on unchanged.

[quick ooc note: the Region 4 search & retrieval mission/RNG fight will be posted in a separate log.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah -- would've been nice to know these things are unstable to begin with. [Then he nods. Right. People are still showing up here. People who had never been on the Moira at all.] There were. A lot of us were on a ship called The Moira, arrived through its Ingress.

It went down on a planet called the "Midway Hub". Supposedly a place where they could access all the worlds we came from. But... none of them were working.

Most had exploded. Taking their techs with them.

[It was messy. Very, very messy. Sometimes the carnage was still there -- still in the background of a lot of his dreams.]

I was. A while ago. You?

...oh. That's...unfortunate.

[It sounds messy, but then when things explode it usually is. And it does make things terribly inconvenient. Or convenient if someone really just wanted to make a whole lot of people miserable, but then that's really never a good idea.]

"Was?" Yeah, I'm from Earth, even though I might not look it.

Very... very unfortunate.

[Which is putting it super mildly, but the point here isn't to shock this guy, just inform. It's probably better that people know what those seemingly magical pieces of tech are capable of, after all.]

Was, yeah. But... looking at you makes me wonder if things have changed a lot since I saw it last.

Edited 2017-07-05 20:28 (UTC)

[It's an understatement, but Cayde's not going to press for details. He knows that nothing's foolproof, especially by way of tech. But he's been through and seen worse, and this situation still has considerably better odds to get through than what he's managed to return from.]

Mm. Well, it's possible. But after talking to people who've said they're from Earth, and going to that last one that claimed to be, I'm not so sure that they can all be one and the same. Kind of a relief, kind of jarring, but I think if there's more than one version of Earth out there, of our galaxy, even? Might be better off that way.

Yeah. Considering the last place the Ingress docked? I'm starting to think you're right there.

[They'd all been so hopeful it was Earth. But it hadn't been anything like the place they'd left.]

Better off?

With only one city standing and the rest in ruins all over Earth and on through our establishments as far as Jupiter? Oh yeah.

If you don't have several different factions out for your blood and the Darkness looming at your doorstep- better off.

... I... can honestly say, last time I saw Earth, literally none of that had happened.

So.

Here's hoping you're right about multiple Earths.

Edited 2017-07-06 05:24 (UTC)

[Cayde nods, somehow seeming to look like he's offering a crooked smile.]

Same. It'd be nice to think that at least somewhere everything hasn't gone to hell. Oh, not that we've given up or anything. It just makes it a lot more...challenging.

Do I want to ask what happened? Back where you come from?

[Does he want to know. Does Cayde want to talk about it. Both of those are good questions.]

Probably not. I meant it about the Darkness, with a capital "D."

Humanity was at the peak of technological advancement, space faring, all that good stuff. And then the Golden Age was swallowed up in an instant. I'm not sure what you'd call it. Some kind of entity, I guess. I know it's alive, somehow. I remember when it came.

[He shakes his head.]

Would've wiped out everything, but the Traveler managed to hold it off, if barely. One might say it was the Traveler's fault the Darkness came to begin with, but the way it seems, the Darkness would've found us at some point or another, and we wouldn't have had a fighting chance without the help otherwise.

And the fight's not over yet. The Darkness brought all sorts of nasties. They've had hundreds of years to pick through our tech and convert old places of ours for their own use.

That's...

[Yeah, "probably not", no kidding. He's a little bit speechless right there. Because what do you say besides "that's rough, buddy"? Which doesn't help anything.]

Do you think that's something we should be watching out for? In our world?

[Just in case.]

Maybe, maybe not.

The biggest thing to look out for would be the Traveler itself. We first came across it on the first successful landing upon Mars.

What's it like? A person? Or... something else?

[He doesn't think they've found anything like that in their universe. He'd have known, wouldn't he?]

[Unless places like the Garrison were hiding more than just Presumed Missing pilots.]

It's...big. And round. Almost looks like it could be a moon or small planet itself.

[So yeah. Something that massive would be pre-tty hard to hide.]

... Yeah, we definitely haven't run into anything like that.

Good.

[Cayde nods.]

Good. Less problems. Hopefully.

...so what's your story? 'Was' from Earth, suited up like a space man, making like a Warlock with the magic fingers.

Probably wouldn't believe me if I told you.

[He flexes the aforementioned fingers.]

... partly because, I don't remember most of it.

Try me.

...although okay, yeah. That can understandably make things difficult.

... My team and I are Paladins of Voltron.

The ones who are supposed to protect the universe from anything that wants to threaten it.

[How does he say this with a straight face.]

So -- we were from Earth.

[He waits, tilting his head once Shiro finally continues. Then slowly the Exo begins to nod, whistling.]

The universe? That's a tall order. Seen a lot of interesting places so far? ...and any specific threats?

You're telling me.

[There's a slow shake of his head. Like he still can't believe what they're doing here.]

Seen a planet that was literally alive. As for threats... there's just one.

It's nothing like a Darkness but it's -- basically threatening to take over the entire universe at this rate.

Living planet, huh? That's a new one...

...seems like it's always got to be something, I guess.

They're called Balmera. Pretty rare, from what I was told.

[A shake of his head.]

Always something is right.

Yeah...

[Cayde's attention drifts back towards the darkened skies.]

Well, best we can do is keep at it. Doing something's always better than nothing.

[He follows that gaze, steady and dark. Hard to remember a time when he could have looked up and seen possibility. Instead of the potential for destruction.]

'Quitting' isn't in our vocabulary. Don't worry.