( october intro log )

[hownkai]

Who: Everyone
When: October 1st
Where: The mess hall, kitchen, and other locations
What: The crew
Warnings: None, but please label anything you do that needs a warning

SHIP LIFE

”Working together not only helps us move more quickly, it changes the nature of what we can undertake.”

The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and various machines line the walls on either side, though they are not accessible from where you stand. Shortly after, you are led out and toward the medbay.

Inside this room, you are given a physical scan and sign a contract that states you are now part of the crew of the Moira with a specific job. This process consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health, and afterwards, you are given your MID, a device that is integrated into your hand with only the slightest pinch. From there, you are guided out of the medbay and to your living quarters.

MERO DECK ● NOMO DECK ● MORO DECK

☄Crew members exposed to Exuo will notice that effects are slowly beginning to taper off. However, most will still continue to feel some agitation over the smallest things. Perhaps a visit to the UV beds will lighten that mood of yours.

☄MINI RECEPTION

Orders have been sent down to the kitchen to prepare something small but fulfilling for the entirety of the crew as a way to thank them for their hard work gathering supplies and returning to the Moira mostly unscathed. The mess hall has been decorated—kind of. There are small, tidy bows stuck to the backs of chairs and “party favors” spread out across the tables. These favors make a room smell sweet but are otherwise harmless. As a gift from Thán, he has provided the crew with a treat of sorts in addition to the foods the kitchen has prepared. All crew scheduled for morning shifts in the kitchen will have helped with these preparations. As a note, there is also a soft, unfamiliar melody coming from an old radio on one of the tables. The captains encourage everyone to relax, have fun, and get to know one another better.

Other areas of the ship are also open to exploration! Privileges for crew ranked Tiruncula** are as follows: (1) shift in kitchen and/or mess hall duties can be skipped each week without repercussions.

( ooc; **Ranks are listed here with an explanation. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )

Comments

[tearmeanewone]

"At least one person, hm?" Elizabeth folds her hands behind her back as they walk, her head turning in all directions to take in the surroundings. The garden especially, where it's shockingly quiet and envelops her in a distinct calmness. Sure it seems a little bare, but it's still has that natural atmosphere that Elizabeth wished she'd appreciated more before Rapture.

"Would that one person be you, then?" she asks, head tilted, eyebrow raised. It's encouraging to hear that someone would use the collection, that she wouldn't be sitting in a room by herself surrounded by books. Again.

"This thing," she confirms, looking at her wrist again and nodding. "I guess it's pretty handy to have it attached right to your wrist--" Elizabeth pauses and groans. "I didn't mean to make that joke, really."

[heliakal]

"Guilty as charged," Clark replies, looking not the least bit guilty. He walks along with her, hands in his pockets, turning every so often to meet her gaze. "What kinds of books do you like?"

He's mostly just curious. It's nice to have a relatively normal conversation, even if there are other questions at the back of his mind. He might as well get to know her a little bit first. If something upsetting did happen before she came through, the last thing he wants is to bring it to the forefront of her mind right away, when she's trying to adjust.

He chuckles at the accidental pun. He's always liked wordplay of all sorts, and while Elizabeth seems embarrassed Clark can't help but tease her a little. "I've got to hand it to you, that was terrible."

[tearmeanewone]

"Fiction, mostly," she says, also turning to look at him whenever she's sure she isn't going to walk into a low planter or fall over a step. It's polite to look at someone while talking to them, after all. "I grew up imagining what the world was like by reading books. The stories I read, I imagined myself in them-- being an explorer, or a freedom fighter, or a clever detective.

"But I knew the world wasn't all stories," Elizabeth is quick to assure him. "I liked reading about science-- chemistry, physics, and engineering mostly-- and art history. I fell in love with Paris just by reading about how many artists it was home to." But that's a lot about her. "What about you? Hoping to see anything particular in the collection?"

It is nice to have a relatively normal conversation in a quiet place. It's been a long time since that's happened for her, and it probably means something that she's not waiting for the other shoe to drop. Somehow she's alright with where she is and what's happening, disoriented as she is. Maybe it's the conversation and company making her feel small and normal and lightweight.

"Hey," Elizabeth crosses her arms and frowns in mock annoyance. "Don't you point the finger at me."

It's also apparently enabled her to kid around with people she's just met, too.

[heliakal]

Clark, on the contrary, seems to forget his surroundings entirely as if a fall or a bump would have absolutely no effect on him. He tries to be careful, usually, but it's easy to get caught up. The difference now is that he's not lost in his own thoughts, but clearly more interested in Elizabeth than anything else that's going on.

He knows exactly what she means, in a way. "I read a lot of fiction growing up too. I used to tie an old blanket around my shoulders and pretend to be - someone who helped people."

He smiles a little, aware of how silly that sounds, and the irony of it now. He doesn't know if there are comic books where she's from, but he knows about chemistry, physics, Paris...

"I think I'd like a lot of the things in your collection. Maybe we could recommend books to each other when you get things set up?" He makes small gestures when he speaks, slow and careful, but his excitement about the topic is no less obvious because of it. "I read a lot of science too. And philosophy. Almost anything I could get my hands on, I guess... Astronomy was always my favorite, but I never thought I'd be traveling through space quite like this."

Another grin. "I think you really nailed it with that last one."

The next set of doors slide open as they come to them. This is sort of self-explanatory. The Aft allows for a clear view of the outside, a vast blackness studded with bright points of starlight.

[tearmeanewone]

Helping people. Elizabeth doesn't think it sounds silly at all, it sounds... far nobler than she was when she was young. She'd just wanted to travel and see. Having a companion, saving childhoods that weren't her own, that had never crossed her mind just a few years ago.

She smiles encouragingly the next time he looks at her. "I think that would be fun," she says. "I could tell you all about quantum physics or French literature. Or stories where people are saved, if that interests you one day."

This pun war is totally getting out of control, and Elizabeth is about to say as much when they come to the sliding doors and she sees what's behind them. She's seen a night sky before, sat by her huge window with a star chart and a little telescope and tried to find a new planet that she could name after herself. But this... it's something else entirely, and it takes her breath away.

"Oh my God..." she breathes, walking closer to the window, head turning to take it all in. "I've never... never seen so many stars in my life."

[heliakal]

It all interests him, honestly. He wants to know what books she likes, and how different or similar they might be to the ones he knows. He doesn't get close to people often, but he finds that the things they're passionate about are always fascinating.

He follows her out onto the aft, with its breathtaking view. Even out in the country, the stars weren't this clear and bright. Clark imagines that he can feel their light, as cool and gentle as dawn, but he isn't really watching them.

"I'm not saying being cast out here is a good thing," Clark says, after a moment. "But there are some parts of it that might be worth remembering when we all get home again."

As much as he might like to let her enjoy the stars in peace, there'll be plenty of time for that. For the moment, they're alone.

"And speaking of..." He comes to stand beside her, keeping a little bit of polite distance. His expression is serious, sharpened by concern. "Can I ask where you came from? Were you hurt before coming through the Ingress?"

[tearmeanewone]

There's a subtle shift in her smile when Clark mentions home. There's no home for her, not anymore, but she didn't need to spoil the view with things like that. Especially not with talk of her being hurt.

'Hurt' was an understatement.

"1959, a city under the sea called Rapture. I was visiting," she turns her little smile to him briefly, trying to keep things light. "The nose is from being prone to 'cognitive dissonance'-- rapid change between where I was and where I am now. Nothing I haven't experienced before.

"Come on," she tilts her head towards the window and tries to smile again. "This isn't a spot to talk about bleeding noses, we should be marveling at the universe and you should be telling me where you're from."

[heliakal]

Clark notes all of the odd details - that she's experienced 'cognitive dissonance' before, that she gives the year first, that she's visited a city under the sea... but mostly he sees the way her expression changes. There's something brittle about it, and it's not unfamiliar.

"You don't have to tell me what happened," he says, meeting her gaze. "But if you ever want to talk to someone, or if you ever need help here... You can always call."

He doesn't really expect much to come of that promise, but he has to try, at least. He does step closer to the windows with her and look out at the stars after that. If she isn't ready to talk, he isn't going to push her more than that. There's nothing he could do from here, anyway.

"I got pulled in from a city called Metropolis - in 2013. I just started interning for a newspaper there. The only city under the sea I've ever heard of is Atlantis - and that one is a myth, as far as I know."

[tearmeanewone]

"You're, um..." Elizabeth swallows the knot in her throat and smiles. "You might get that call after I've gotten my spaceship legs." And she's not feeling like an emotional wreck. "And when we're not looking at stars," she laughs with a wave of her hand to indicate. No, she didn't want to associate this spot with the first time she told someone her story. She didn't want to associate anything about her old life with her new one.

"Metropolis... sounds urban," she leans on the window and cranes her neck-- were the stars passing them quickly, or slowly? "And according to my roommate, Atlantis isn't much of a myth. It's a... spaceship city?" Elizabeth arches her eyebrow in bemusement and chuckles. "All of our timelines share things, I'm realizing. More than I imagined. But then it makes sense-- how are we supposed to be a crew if we don't come from a common thread? Even if it is the tiniest, thinnest thread to ever bear weight."

[heliakal]

"Whenever you want," Clark says. Though the concern in his expression doesn't go away, he nods. He can leave it at that for now.

Clark leans a shoulder against the window, and smiles a little bit at the way she practically tries to melt through it. He understands the feeling. Sometimes, when most of the crew is asleep, he goes flying just outside the ship. It would be nice to show someone else what it was like. Maybe he could talk to the captains about allowing them some gear once Elizabeth had settled in.

"It's one of the biggest cities in the United States, but no one seems to have heard of it around here," he says. He doesn't mind really, it's just an observation. "You're right though, it seems like there are a lot of odd connections between us."

Clark looks out at the stars again. "So... We're a group of adventurers from different times and places, lost out in space. It almost sounds like a story."