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

[Lavellan just stares. What a question. Does it matter if he's well or not? Hasn't Solas noticed what's been happening in the past weeks? Doesn't he know it's Lavellan's fault?

Maybe he doesn't. How hilarious would that be. Lavellan will have to tell him he almost destroyed the world before Solas even got a chance to. How fucking perfect.

It really is almost funny. A grin cracks through even as he shrugs carelessly.]

As well as I can be. [Well, that's the truth.] And yourself?

Well enough. It has been quiet.

[ With no Cole and no Neriel it has been more than just quiet around the house - it has been barren and empty. Solas hadn't been entirely prepared for it, if he is to be honest, but the very fact that he is now trying to manage things... He is not been particularly successful.

It's strange, to go from argumentative to calm like this, but there is very little fight left in Solas. Instead, he turns his gaze away, somewhat frustrated and unsure with himself. Cole's words continue to whisper and echo in his mind and he's not sure how to handle it, not really.

He's never been particularly good with this. ]

Do you plan to return to the house?

[Lavellan just stares at him, incredulously, before barking out a laugh.

What kind of question is that? Does he plan to return to the house. After all that's happened, after all that Solas must suspect, because he is the most intelligent person Lavellan has ever met, and that's all he can ask?

He has no idea how to take it.]

Solas, do you have any idea what I did?

I am aware.

[ His quiet and his frustration is palpable, and possibly more than a little clear, but he is attempting to restrain himself. He does not know all the details and, so, he cannot give into the urge to follow his emotions. He must know all he can before he chooses his path, and that is the mantle he had followed for years.

It does not stop the bite to his words, however, now the narrowing of his eyes. ]

Would you have me turn on you with no knowledge of the truth?

[He's aware. And he's still asking whether Lavellan is going to come home.]

Does the truth matter? It won't change what's happened.

[He breathes out and tries to ignore the way his throat burns.]

I can't come home, Solas. I can't make this right, but I need to try any way I can.

That is often the case, but the truth needs to be heard. You cannot run from it.

[ He may have run, at least for a while, but he admitted the truth in the end, hadn't he? He had told it. He had confessed his sins and his plans and he had never truly lied.

He had simply evaded it. ]

What do you intend to do? What are your plans?

[There is a question implied there, but not stated. Lavellan ignores it. Some bit of spite still left in him, maybe. Just for Solas.

How special.]

I don't know. I think... I need some time.

[He shifts, uncomfortable, like he doesn't know what to do under the weight of Solas's gaze, and ends up looking away and hugging himself.]

I don't know when I'll be back. Or... or if.

[ The two of them stand firm before one another and Solas wonders which will break first. There is too much hanging between them - thousands of thoughts and words and feelings left unsaid - but he cannot breach the gap. There are some things that he does not have the strength for, finding sanctuary in his cowardice, admitting to himself that there are more things that he fears than perhaps he had first imagined.

He thinks of their home, quiet and spacious, with artistry on the walls - a mural of a man and a woman with sharp ears and gentle faces, twined together in intricate details. He thinks of the mirror reflection on his heart and closes his eyes. ]

It seems we will not be lacking time.

[ The words come out cooler than he means, cutting, thick with his frustration and the quiet, burning anger. He stares all the more, wishing he could demand answers - why, how, for what reason, what happened, he has to know, a craving for knowledge that burns as bright as his demand for freedom - but this is not the time. He can see what Neriel will not admit, and the discomfort is thick around them, chains on their tongues and hearts. ]

It is your home as much as mine. There will always be a place for you.

[There are so many things he wants to say to that and none that he can verbalize. Solas has no idea of what his own words mean.

All at once he wants to go back to the house right this moment and forget all of this happened, just stay there and never come out. But he can't. There's no hiding from this.

So there's only one thing he can really say.]

Thank you.

[ Solas watches and he breathes out, trying to find his own focus. This feels almost too much like the moment at the mirror, when he had said farewell to Sahlin, and he's not sure how to handle it.

He wants to say so much more, but there are no words. There is nothing he can say. All he can do is acknowledge that they have come this far. ]

Until then.

[ And he must leave. ]

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nerds save the world

the land below

the coming days

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