August Event Log: Part I

[savmods]

Who: Everyone
When: August 9 and onward
Where: An unexpected destination
What: The newcomers go on a trip and end up far from where they expected
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label your content!

NOTE: PLEASE READ THIS OOC POST FIRST.

When the time comes for the travelers to go on the off-world trip that will help restore Thisavrou, they are not alone. Others who have settled on the planets longer and come to call them home are also prepared to travel; through the Ingress and do their part. Yet when the newcomers step through, whether they stepped through the Ingress seconds or hours apart, they will find that they have arrived at the same time, and only newcomers are in sight.

What awaits them is not a land of plenty. The land is barren, and dark storms in the sky resemble those held at bay by the Ingress complex—but much, much closer. Those who traveled on the Moira may recognize the landscape; though they have come through at a different point from the crash, they are on the Midway Hub. And there is no portal back. They are trapped.

hitting the road

Though some have been here before, the Midway Hub is not as they remember it. The storms fill the sky, leaving it dark and ominous even when they are not sweeping across the landscape—but they have clearly done so in recent times, and often. While never a lush land, large patches of ground an acre or more wide looking nothing more than utterly dead; the thistle that naturally grows is brittle, black and unable to be consumed even with the usual preparations to make it edible, and here and there animal corpses are found twisted into unnatural poses, but seemingly uninjured. These places are particularly concentrated near the broken Ingresses litter the landscape. While Midway Hub as a whole may seem naturally arid, these dead spots leave no hope that anything can possibly live there again.

The travelers have two options: stay where they are, or move on. While it might seem that they've been tricked into coming here and been left abandoned, those with the technological ability to do so may detect a sign of hope: a familiar energy source, far in the distance. Although none of the Ingresses they pass will ever work again, the faint energy shows that one still-functioning Ingress lies far in the distance, days away.

Although technological scanning or impressive memory of the landscape indicates that they are not separated from their destination by one of the gates that divide the land, they are also far from the shelter of the facility at the center of the Hub. Any attempt to travel in a direction other than that of the energy signal will result in a strange disorientation after several hours, bringing individuals back to their original path as though they've gone in circles. Meanwhile, though travelers will feel the need to slake their hunger and thirst through any natural water sources they discover, wildlife they can hunt for food and any supplies they have on them, if they don't find sustenance, they'll find that they will never pass out or reach the point of starvation. Instead, they'll be left alive and awake but feeling utterly hollow.

storm front

At regular intervals, the energy storms above descend onto the land, bringing not rain but violent clashes of negative energy and thunder so loud that nothing can be heard above it. The passing of the storms leaves some strange effects. The ground is warped and rotted by their touch, even solid stone degrading to a spongy surface. The air is tepid and oddly charged. Prolonged contact with air or ground will not supply energy, however — it drains it from organic and synthetic life alike.

Those who remember their last trip to the Hub, or simply explore in the right direction, may come across the cave complexes with their glowing surfaces and streams. The light is dimmer now, a sickly green, but drinking from the streams will still restore the energy lost, for a time. This time, however, the lethargy that inevitably follows is much more severe, and the drinkers are left with a raw, empty feeling leeching in from the wasteland around.

Those who are exposed to the storms, either by finding themselves in very close proximity or even closely observing them for too long as they approach, may lose their sight, or hearing, even much of the ability to feel touch — whatever sense they used in observation. What lingers in its place is a numbness. A hunger. And as time passes, the time between storms decreases; what seemed like hours between the storms becomes scarcely one, and their intensity grows.

wild life

Sentient beings are not the only ones affected by the storms; these creatures, attracted to sound and able to track by scent, and these panthers, which once looked normal but have been twisted by the storms into more monstrous forms, are numerous enough that travelers must be constantly alert for their presence. Though natural predators, the threat the creatures represent is not itself natural. They are also more aggressive. Some strange instinct drives them, not a need for food. While the panthers themselves can be caught and their meat cooked, it has little taste, offering nutrition but not satisfaction.

old familiar places

Although it's difficult to track the passage of time without day-night cycles, after what seems like more than a week of the travelers' unexpected trip, the storms abruptly come rushing in at the group of travelers, as if they're herding the group to move faster toward their destination and the Ingress energy that awaits them. The true nature of that destination becomes clear when debris appears on the horizon; the energy comes from the wreckage of the Moira, the interstellar ship that crashed here months ago.

Despite the trauma of impact, large sections of the ship remain surprisingly intact, though few of them are properly vertically oriented. If travelers are able to make their way inside the damaged sections of the ship, they'll find familiar territory, if they are one of those who traveled on the Moira, as well as shelter—something that's increasingly necessary as the storms seem to center over the ship, leaving little hope for survival outside. Useful items may be scavenged from the ship if they are willing to explore, but no personal items of any kind remain.

Strangely, the deeper travelers go into the crashed ship, the less familiar their surroundings will seem, regardless of their orientation. The inward-leading paths into the ship become generic metal, and as with the travel on the surface of the planet, they may find themselves back where they started. And no matter how far they go or how hard they try, they will find themselves unable to make it to the Ingress chamber itself...for now.

Comments

[callamities]

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Calla.”

Some small part of him registers puzzlement—or at least a discrepancy—at her dismissing his services and then continuing to speak with him. Perhaps she doesn’t know what he’s for? Standard function declaration initiates without further thought.

“I’m a localized companionship function here at the—” The string aborts prematurely, ticking noise filling in the silence as that last word hangs in the air. The appearance of automation falters, distress showing in the program's expression for just an instant before flattening to neutrality.

“...Here,” he concludes.

[monomachy]

"Hello, Calla." Her voice is warm, open. She doesn't know why his immediate reaction upon meeting her would be to offer service, but she wants to be certain he doesn't feel the need to do so again. Her head cocks to one side at the ticking noise--she's realized it's coming from him, but she isn't quite sure how or why. There's no way to find out but to ask. "What is that noise coming from?" she asks, immediately followed by, "And what is a... localized companionship function?"

[callamities]

A long silence follows the questions, Calla’s brow furrowing just slightly.

“My apologies,” he says after a long moment, “The noise seems to stem from damage to my code. I’m still waiting for repairs to resolve the problem.”

His answer comes more readily to the second question. “A companionship function is a Created meant to provide conversation, entertainment, and hospitality to their Creator or Creators. A localized companionship function like myself does so in a single location.”

A pause. “As I am currently in low-power mode, my performance at this function may be… substandard.”

[monomachy]

A nod is her only response, though she doesn't quite understand what he means by code. But if it's something that can be repaired, that makes her feel a little better about it.

From his second answer, she gets the gist of what he means. Diana finally settles herself on the ground in front of him, making herself comfortable. Though his words may not make the most sense to her, she would be lying if she said she weren't interested. "So you are meant to be a good conversationalist? That is a useful skill to have."

[callamities]

He pauses when she seats herself on the ground and after a moment, follows suit. It wouldn’t be right for him to talk down to her, after all.

He nods. “I am meant to make Creators feel welcome and to see that their needs are met.” That can mean conversation. It can also mean bringing them drinks or playing games. Whatever they ask for, really.

“You should visit us sometime,” he says, smiling vaguely, “I’m sure you’d enjoy yourself.”

[monomachy]

She tilts her head, trying to imagine what it would be like to have her sole purpose be entertaining others. She thinks it would be tiring, mostly. But she smiles back anyway. "I might." And then, with more interest: "Do you like doing it?" She waves a hand in front of her, trying to find the words. "Being a... companion all the time, I mean."

[callamities]

It’s a strange question, strange enough to get a long silence in response. Perhaps the Creator didn’t understand the first time he had explained.

“It’s my function,” he says, as if that fully answers the question. “I…”

There is no preprogrammed response to fall back on and he doesn’t have the lucidity to lie. “I don’t know.”

[monomachy]

Brow creasing, she takes a few moments to think on that. She tries to find a way to understand what he means, and can only fall upon one thing. After all, she had been created for a specific purpose as well, and though she had ended up fulfilling that purpose, she had done it on her own terms. "Your... function does not have to define you. Is there something you like doing besides being companionable?

[callamities]

He smiles politely at her response, though there’s little indication that he actually understands it. He’s at least more obliging in answering the question this time.

“I have plenty of experience playing and dealing for various card games. I have been told I’m quite a challenging opponent.”

When Creators request that he be, at least. Operating at full capacity in that regard can be frustrating for some—and therefore dangerous for him.

[monomachy]

She senses that something about his answer is a little... off, but she can't quite put her finger on why. Regardless, she tries to make this into a conversation, rather than his 'function.'

"Cards I do not know, but I have played games of dice." Hey, even Amazons tend to gamble when there's a lull in their training.