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

Even devotion generally has its limits.

[ Or it should.

The logic tracks, he supposes, laid out like that, but something about the explanation doesn't sit right with him. If Ocelot was obsessive enough to do that out of some kind of twisted sentimentality, shouldn't he have been able to see that the clones — both clones, apparently — were too distinct for the gesture to mean anything?

But then, Mantis never could understand all the fuss people made about the physical. ]

Most people would have gone with something artificial. But then, he always was... eccentric.

That's an understatement.

[He's a complete weirdo, more like. Although he did sort of get along with the one who was here earlier a little better. Sort of.

Really, dealing with Ocelot's mind was not helpful in the least, so he has to work with all this speculation.]

It certainly wasn't the body I'd choose, but the opportunity was there and I had to take it. Took some time to learn to control more than my own arm, but I suppose it was worth it just to see the look on my brother's face when there I was, more or less back from the dead.

[He has a way of doing that sort of thing. Like when Snake had first seen him alive on the Moira. Now that had been hilarious.]

I wonder, now that I'm gone, will Ocelot try that one again? Just going to keep strapping people's arms to himself?

Hah. Until he runs out of arms with sentimental value, and then what?

[ It's annoying that Ocelot is a psychic blind spot for him, but on the other hand, Mantis didn't like the idea of delving into the inner workings of that man's mind.

But the morbid gossip has put him in a better mood, and he decides he can finally give in and try to pat the dog without getting his fingers chewed on. ]

Then? Then I assume he'll rebuild.

[There were a lot of times Liquid had wished he wasn't anywhere near Ocelot's mind. It's definitely not an enviable position, even if he'd technically taken it for himself.

That's all over now, though.

The dog's been so impatient for attention that he doesn't even try biting Mantis, just barks a little when he starts to pat him. This is what he's been waiting for.]

Look at that, he likes you.

He likes attention.

[ Dogs aren't known to be terribly discerning. But it's hard to be unhappy about it, even if the whole thing is unsettlingly and unfamiliarly domestic. Given the alternative, all right, yes, he'll scratch Liquid's ridiculously-named dog behind the ears and maybe even almost be glad for the opportunity.

Although, speaking of the alternative: ]

So, your brother's still alive.

[ Commented on in the manner of someone who thinks that fratricide is a good topic for casual gossip, naturally. ]

Can't he like both?

[Liquid looks down at the dog, who seems to be in quite the good mood now. Mantis the dog totally likes Mantis the person! The new floaty friend has been approved.

Of course, the topic of his brother's always bound to be something of discussion.]

Yes, unfortunately. Alive and here.

[Snake had already been on the Moira when Liquid showed up (and surprised the hell out of him the first time they'd run into each other, which Liquid had considered the smallest of victories).]

Having to work with him certainly was... something.

Then he's friendlier than his namesake.

[ Not that that's saying much. This Mantis only likes one person, after all.

His interest is obviously piqued, curious about what had become of the other twin. Solid Snake was an interesting man, predictable in so many regards, as all good soldiers tended to be, but surprising in the ways he wasn't. Mantis had thought the twins would be (to use a tired metaphor) like two sides of a coin: mirrored, but intrinsically opposed.

Apparently not. ]

Hah! That's certainly more impressive than just managing not to kill each other.

[ He's supportive of the whole fratricide thing, but that's just hilarious. ]

Yes, well, I don't think that's hard.

[He laughs, shaking his head. Yeah, it certainly wasn't Mantis's personality that Liquid named the dog after.

But as for his brother...]

Don't I know it. Getting kicked out of the body you're inhabiting is one thing. Finding yourself shoved through a magic portal to a spaceship where you have to be on a crew with your brother is another thing entirely.

[At least they didn't have to totally work together too much. Unlike with his father, who had the same damn job at the time.]

It's not quite the same here, at least.

[Except here... well, they did work together to sneak around the Ingress complex, not that they found a lot of information in the first place.]

[ It's a testament to how consistently strange their lives have been that this is so easy to take in stride, letting Liquid recount everything as Mantis skims through his memories to supplement it. And despite his complaining, he's moved on to scratching the dog behind the ears. ]

Oh? No family reunions planned for the immediate future, then?

[ Pronounced "𝔣𝔞𝔪𝔦𝔩𝑦 𝔯𝔢𝔲𝔫𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰," with all the malicious intent that phrase deserves when Liquid's involved. ]

[No matter how weird it gets, it's pretty much plausible. Why wouldn't any of this happen? Just another day like any other.

The dog, of course, is happy as can be.]

Nothing planned, but we all have the unpleasant luck of managing to run into each other more than we need to.

[Just not something they can help, when it comes down to it.]

...Miller's here too. And my father's body double. [He'll just let his mind provide that explanation.]

[ This is one of those times when he's noticeably grateful for their mental link, because listening to Liquid try to explain that one would have been an ordeal. A hiss of amusement, and a dry laugh, eyes narrowing behind the orange lenses of his mask. ]

Mind and body double! I see... That makes his resumé a bit less impressive, now doesn't it?

[Liquid's glad he doesn't have to put it into words himself. It's so much simpler when you can just think here, look and give all the relevant information.]

Not much exciting about being two places at once when you're literally two places at once, right.

[Which, of course, brings to mind a very important thing.]

Can you believe we spent all that time trying to kill the wrong person? There's a joke in there somewhere.

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nerds save the world

the land below

the coming days

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