August Event Log: Part II

[savmods]

Who: Everyone
When: Approximately two weeks into the exile
Where: The core of the crashed Moira
What: The travelers reach the ship's Ingress and discover the truth of why they're here
Warnings: Potential violence. Please label your content!

A NOTE: As this log functions as something of a short-term bridge between the previous event and what comes next, it is being posted separately from a more standard log that covers a longer time period. As seen on the calendar, that log will be posted Saturday.

a change on the wind

Without warning, the part of the Moira that houses the Ingress and the energy signature that brought the travelers there is no longer closed off. Doors unlock and open, revealing yet more halls that lead deeper into the ship. Only when everyone has entered and come closer to the Ingress chamber do their surroundings change.

Instead of a dark, dead ship, travelers find themselves upon the planet Aueia, home of the space whales, the first world opened to them after arriving on Thisavrou. But this world, too, has been touched by the life-twisting storms that still rage across the landscape, stirring up dangerous waves in the fluid that makes up the "seas" of the planet and leaving dead spaces on the dry land that normally teems with life and local habitation.

After approximately one hour, just as impossibly, the world blurs around the travelers and becomes Deslora, a world that once resembled nothing so much as the inside of a funhouse or a circus, but whose colors have been turned black by the storms and whose native fauna, including the clown bees, have been twisted by the storms that have somehow made their way inside.

And so it goes, the world on which they walk changing once an hour. The sleek, futuristic world known as Asteroid 276 looks more like a post-apocalyptic wreck, with the outer walls of the space station shaking so hard from the storms that it appears they might give way—and they start to, just as another shift begins. On Escoria, the water feels thick with some contaminant, perhaps the rot of those who once lived in the water, for only monsters shark-like creatures remain. And then they stand upon Aioros, a planet that is no longer poisonous to all because after the storms have ravaged the planet thoroughly, nothing upon the planet lives.

nothing but white

Finally, with just as little warning as the first shift, the world blurs a final time and travelers find themselves in a featureless room, a large space with soft light and no visible doors. Any pets or companion lifeforms that accompanied them to the Moira are no longer in sight. As they begin to get their bearings, a single humanoid being steps through a wall as though it were nothing but a hologram. Upon him is a silver strip of cloth—the marking of a Savrii intermediary, and he is not well; a great strain is etched upon his face, his coloring is pale and he holds himself as though barely able to do so. Whatever the travelers might wish to say to him, whatever sounds they would otherwise make, they'll find they cannot—for a brief time, some outer force has inflicted silence upon them. That same force will prevent them from coming too close to the intermediary just yet.

"I wish that I could—I would apologize for bringing you here." His voice is as tired as he looks, and a strange combination bitterness mixed with desperation can be heard in his tone. "But I haven't brought you anywhere. None of this was true—from the moment you thought you stepped through the Ingress, it was a simulated reality, technology and our power combined to occupy you while they decided what to do, while they made their plans. It was to be peaceful to keep you docile, but I knew better, I knew you had to see—"

For a moment, the Savrii flickers, like an old television signal being interrupted. When he reappears, his expression has grown even more urgent as his words quicken.

"You have done great damage to our home but you are the only ones who act, who might listen. They told me, the whispers in my mind that grew clearer when you broke the Ingress—the mother and her child. They told me what could happen, that it will if we don't change, but they won't, they don't even know how—the storms, the end of everything. We are not as protected as we think. This could happen to Thisavrou too."

Then he flickers again, returning with wide eyes and speaking even more rapidly.

"This was not an act of cruelty. This is a warning. You had to understand for yourself what is at stake. When this simulation ends, when they discover what I've shown you. They are trying to truly send you away, and you must not let them or all may be lost. Please. Please."

There is a sense of release as ambient sound returns. Travelers will find they can approach the Savrii to ask questions (or to punch him if they so choose! Though anyone who wishes to commit excessive violence will find that death just doesn't take), and though he is nearly panicked now, he will answer as many as possible in the time that they have.

Eventually, though, he will emit a sharp gasp and disappear once more, not returning this time—just before everything goes black for the travelers.

Comments

[a_shadow]

[ Tex feels Maine's pain, truly—she's immediately enraged when she thinks of the implications of what's going on. She was under duress the entire trip, fearing for her boyfriend's life as well as the lives of the many civilians who were with them, and had lost much sleep and had ceased to feed herself throughout the trip. This trip has been immensely stressful and she's angry to learn it was all a simulation. Her response is to immediately follow suit with what he's doing, but she also issues a warning: ]

It's a hologram, not a person. Look for the holo emitter.

[ Once they find it, they can shoot it out and get rid of this nuisance.

North speaks then, grabbing for Maine's weapon, and Tex changes her stance slightly, raising the elbow that faces his direction. He won't dare grab for her weapon as well. ]

[bloodbathing]

[ Civilians? Innocent bystanders? Teammates in the wrong place at the wrong time? Piss him off enough, and Maine doesn't give a damn about any of them.

[ Guess how angry he is now?

[ North grabs his hand, and Maine twists, attempting to break the sniper's grip. It would be easier if his arm wasn't behind his back: he has no leverage like this.

[ In this state, he registers Texas' words only distantly. But he sees her weapon, sees confirmation that they're going to attack, and snarls at North: ]

Get off me!

[a_shadow]

[ But as Tex is preparing to fend off North, her boyfriend immediately snaps at her over the helmet radio to back off. She remembers the talk they'd had about how she's too impulsive, about how she puts herself and others into danger by acting before thinking, and noticed that Ryuuzaki is already stepping forward to interrogate the man. She doesn't hesitate in the least to do what he'd said. She wouldn't consider it to be a command that she's obeying—simply an admonition that she may be making a mistake.

She's pretty sure he had issued that command to her only, and that no one else had heard it, so she turns her head to look at Maine. ]

Wait, Maine. We need to find out what he knows first.

[ She's not putting breaking the holo emitters out of the realm of what might be possible later. She's just quickly come to realize it's not the best option now. ]

[notyourrookie]

[Everything is happening too much, too fast. He's still disoriented from what had happened, and the news that they've been given has filled him with a red feeling that threatens to overwhelm everything. A simulation, it was a simulation, designed to break them down. He knows how that goes. They'd done it to him before. Scenario after scenario that he couldn't hope to win, until they all died, everyone died, and he just... he can't go on. Not again.

He's lost in that feeling, trying to drag himself back together. He's Washington, not Alpha. Not Epsilon tearing himself apart.

When he does, when sharp voices drag himself back to the present, Maine is armed, and North has him and it just makes him so angry.

He grabs his rifle, aims it at North.]

Get the fuck off him.

[sightsset]

[tex standing down is a little jarring, but not as much as wash straight-up pulling his goddamn rifle on him. for a moment he almost loses his grip, but he redoubles his effort in spite of the gun trained on him. if holding onto him won't work, then fine.

[he'll remove the threat.

[he grabs the brute shot with his free hand, and doesn't let go of maine's hand until he realizes he needs both to wrench this 40+lb monster of a weapon away from his teammate. he doesn't aim it at anybody, but he's not letting maine use it in here.]

Figure out who your team is, Wash. [he sounds exasperated and maybe a little aggravated, but he's not angry yet.]

[bloodbathing]

[ Texas lowers her weapon. Wash raises his. And North wrenches the Brute Shot away.

[ Outside of combat, Maine struggles to adapt to change. Within its comfortable sphere, it's easy.

[ Wash's team is Maine. Maine doesn't know who the fuck North's is, but it's not with them.

[ Once his hand is free, the hulking Freelancer pivots toward North with a snarl. New target. He's getting his fucking weapon back. He pulls his fist back, and—

[ "Breathe, big guy."

[ — stumbles. A fraction of a second's hesitation that throws him off balance.

[ It won't last. ]

[startpoint]

[ When it happens it happens fast and suddenly she's remembering what she said when she and Epsilon had their first heart to heart.

The best team. With the best equipment. The best training. And they tore each other apart.

And now that's playing out right in front of her. There's too much momentum, too much to defuse this except-

She can't lose them, can't watch things break apart again. It's impulse that has her ripping her helmet off as she puts herself in between Maine and North. If he's going to hit North he's going to go through her first and he's going to have to look her in the eye while he does it. ]

All of you stand down! You're supposed to be a team!

[a_shadow]

[ The rifle goes onto Tex's back and she prepares to wade into the fray and back Carolina up, if necessary. As far as she's concerned her boyfriend's attempt to question the Savrii is of paramount importance now, and he's a part of their team as much as anyone else. His admonition for her to stand down was in the right and Carolina is now in the right. ]

[bloodbathing]

[ Carolina's in the way. Carolina, who he took a bullet for. Carolina, who he throws off a fucking cliff.

[ Her face is more effective than a gunshot to the chest. Or nine to the throat.

[ Maine jerks away. Turns his back with a wordless growl and tries to think past the fury and adrenaline clouding his mind.

[ Can't.

[ He wants his weapon. He wants to murder that fucking Savrii.

[ Can't.

[ He hates this.

[ Instinct takes him to Wash's side. The rookie's raised rifle made sense. Right now, he can't even look at the rest of them. ]

[notyourrookie]

My team sure isn't you.

[He spits the words at North. As far as he's concerned, they stopped being a team when the Mother of Invention crashed. Maybe before then.

All he knows for sure is that they aren't a team. The only other person here he trusts to have his back is Maine.

And then Carolina steps into the fray. Even now, when she speaks, his grip on the rifle falters. He's so used to following her orders. But this time he keeps the gun raised, finger not on the trigger, but so close. It would only take a second.]

We aren't a fucking team. Besides, you stopped caring about being a team a long time ago.

[She hadn't cared about much besides beating Tex. She hadn't cared about anything except that. And then she's here and she says that she'd know he was alive for ages and just hadn't bothered to find anyone.

When Maine comes to his side, Wash puts himself between Maine and the others.]

[sightsset]

[north is beyond glad for carolina's intervention, and for maine's backing off. he caught the stagger, flashes back to a giant using his shoulder as a headrest while he processes the nuke of information dropped on him, and he's grateful.

[wash's words cut into him, pulling the guilt forward, but it's seeing him move between the group and maine that finally sets him off. after establishing a bond like they have, and knowing that wash planted the seeds for a breakdown in maine, he doesn't like this possessiveness. stress and guilt and panic take over, and his voice is a tone they don't get often from north.

[it's a warning for the storm on the horizon, when he snaps.]

Wash, I know you've had it hard the last few years but that doesn't give you a pass to put goddamn unarmed, innocent people at risk. The middle of everybody is no place to air your damn laundry. If you don't want to be part of this, we can't force you, but you're not gonna drive a wedge into something we're trying to hold together.

[there's defensiveness north doesn't usually show, right now. he just got his sight back after thinking he might not get it, and after letting everything that happened sink in, he's cracked a bit.]

We made mistakes, alright? Quit acting like nobody's owned up, and go cool off with Maine.

[a_shadow]

[ As Wash steps up to defend Maine, Tex slides to the side, just enough to shield Ryuuzaki where he stands talking to the Savrii, facing into the gap between him and Wash. North's outburst is like nothing she's ever heard from the man, and she feels a strange sense that this is an important moment, some kind of turning point. What it will lead to, however, remains to be seen. ]

[startpoint]

[ This isn't her Wash, she knows it intellectually. But her heart is slower to catch up, to realize that the person who fought side by side with her to stop Felix and Locus is not the one who is standing between them and Maine. This isn't her friend.

Taking care of people isn't something she's good at. She's avoided being in charge of anything she cares about for a long time. Solo missions were easier, the only one who would get hurt was her. Now though... she can hear that stress in North's voice and puts a hand on his shoulder before stepping up. ]

Go take a walk, both of you. I don't care what you think of me right now, Washington, if you have a problem we will discuss it later when there won't be innocent people caught in the crossfire.

[ If he still wants to fight her she'll have to find a way to take him down before anyone gets hurt. And if she does that she knows it will be impossible to salvage any of his trust. But she'll do it. ]

[notyourrookie]

[It's a struggle to make himself care. Random civilians don't mean anything to him. They're abstract concepts that lack any sort of psychic weight.

But it would make things messy. It would make things more difficult right now, for him and for Maine.]

We're not a team. We were never meant to be a team. There's nothing to hold together.

[He'd say more, there's so much more bubbling up inside him, but then Carolina snaps and he hates that he still wants to listen to her.]

Fine.

[He lowers the gun slowly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.]

[bloodbathing]

[ From behind Wash, there's a low grunt. "Come on."

[ Maine doesn't want any part of this. He doesn't want to know what North sounds like when he's defensive, or what Texas looks like when she's positioning herself to guard a stranger from her team. He doesn't want to hear Wash denying that they are a team. He doesn't want to see Carolina's face.

[ He just wants to kill the fucking Savrii.

[ And he can't.

[ "Need to go."

[ His tone is still thick with anger. He doesn't know what to do with it.

[ But Carolina gave them an order. North knows that he's not leaving. And Wash said, "Fine."

[ So it's time to go. ]

[notyourrookie]

[Wash hesitates for a moment longer, but when Maine speaks, he finally takes a step back and glances up at the other man.]

Yeah. Let's go.

[He manages to restrain himself from saying more, although there's so much bile building up that it's hard.

He pats Maine's arm and then turns away from the rest of them and walks away.]

[sightsset]

[north waits, watches, and holds perfectly still until wash disappears from sight, obscured by the other people. he can still see maine, towering above as always.

[he doesn't look at anyone, doesn't gesture or relax as he speaks. his voice is tense.]

... Takin' a walk.

[and he turns around to do just that. he needs to breathe.]