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

Not by choice.

[Hell, he's not even sure who's supposed to be in charge of a place like this, and doesn't think much of them so far. It occurs to him that Lavellan doesn't know how the biohazard situation ended up, and given...whatever this is, Jack isn't sure he can trust him with that information.

He's a conspiracy theorist, sure, but he's pretty certain there's some grounds to this one. Arguing about it with Lavellan, however, isn't going to get him anywhere, not when he seems convinced.]

I'm not out to hurt anyone. You don't have to worry about that.

[Self-defense, however, or blowing open the conspiracy that he's sure is there, well. That might be another story.]

[Lavellan isn't entirely convinced. But one of the things the guides had stressed upon him is that everyone can be reasoned with. Everyone has a better side to appeal to. Either Jack is being genuine or he isn't, but if he isn't it's better for Lavellan not to press this right now. An argument about this wouldn't be productive.

So he nods.]

I'm glad. If there's anything you want to know about, I might be able to help you, or find you someone who can. They know that a lot of their society is strange to us and they're willing to help us understand.

[There's a lot to be said about the way Lavellan phrases that--something about it is unsettling. He's certainly seen no effort on the part of the Savrii to acknowledge that awareness, or help people understand, so again he finds himself wondering just what they said or did.

He wants to argue that he doesn't need help, but he's pretty sure that's just going to make it worse. Still, there's an opportunity to learn something, here. He just has to figure out how to phrase the question.]

What aren't we understanding?

[Jack is stubborn. Lavellan has to know that he's going to need some real convincing.]

What did they tell you about themselves?

[Now they are onto a reasonable topic. Lavellan is only too eager to help other people see what he does.]

There isn't any formal structure to their society. All the Savrii originally came from different cultures, so they self-govern based on cooperation and compromise. They believe anyone can be reasoned with and that violence is never the answer. That's why they don't have prisons. All they want to do is make peace, Jack.

That's--

[Ostensibly untrue, but Jack cuts himself off for a moment, deciding how he wants to phrase this. Lavellan wasn't on the Moira with them, he'd arrived directly on the planets, and in his current state Jack doubts he's going to believe what he'll say next. That's not, however, going to stop him from saying it--there's no other answer he can possibly give in response to the assertion that the Savrii are a nonviolent species.

He tries again, a little more carefully.]

The Midway Hub. Did anyone tell you what happened there?

The...

[Obviously, nobody did. He has no idea what that even is, except he's getting the sense from Jack's tone that whatever it is, he's not going to like it.]

No. Why? What... happened there?

Everyone on it was dead.

[Not the full details of the story, but Jack will elaborate if necessary. Right now he just wants to get his point across--if they told Lavellan that they think violence is never the answer, well. Jack knows firsthand that isn't at all true.]

It was the Savrii that did it.

[That... doesn't make any sense. For a moment it's like Lavellan's mind shuts down as he reels. The intermediaries hadn't mentioned anything like the Midway Hub, but from how Jack talks about it, it sounds like common knowledge.

There must be a mistake here. Somewhere. The Savrii wouldn't do that, he's sure. But he believes Jack wouldn't lie, either.]

How do you know?

I saw it.

[Hard to miss, especially given everything they were told about the Midway Hub. To arrive there and find it in ruins, the evidence of the massacre everywhere. He'd read what notes he could, gathered information from the eventual negotiations that allowed them to cross over to where they are now.]

The Savrii were unhappy that someone was using ingress tech, so they killed them.

But--

[His jaw works, wordlessly, as he tries to come up with anything that would prove Jack wrong. Something doesn't fit. Something--

This is giving him a headache.]

Why wouldn't they just kill me, then?

I don't know.

[All Jack can really offer to that is a shrug, because he doesn't know what the Savrii are after, either. So much of what they do comes off as arbitrary.]

Why don't you go ask them?

[Lavellan's nodding like that's actually a good idea.]

I will. Thank you for the information.

[...Even if he doesn't necessarily believe it yet.]

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nerds save the world

the land below

the coming days

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