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by the inquest
"Arguments on their nature are refuted by those who return to shore, wide-eyed with tales of their savagery."
All Moirans are woken to the sounds of the ship coming to a rather grating halt some time in the early morning cycle. It’s no faster or slower than any other stop, but it is unexpected as the captains didn’t mention an upcoming disembarkment. Shortly after, a message is sent to every MID:Navigation has informed us that we’re approaching bad traveling conditions: an overactive star. Instead of stopping on Liant El, we’ll be docking here on Ceta. Please exercise caution while gathering supplies and during excursions. Follow their safety guidelines. If the chance allows, we’ll also be signing new crew on the planet. Please greet them first and show them to the ship. Thank you. 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 nothing is familiar.
For those few who come through Ceta's Ingress, there will be crew of the Moira there to greet you. They tell you of the Ingress, how it is broken, even on this planet, and that the ship is headed back to the origin of this technology. This planet’s Ingress is set precariously atop a floating rock formation, the only way from one area to the next is on small air-propelled boats. Crew members will guide everyone back to the Moira and take them to the Medbay; contracts will be signed posthaste.
WELCOME TO CETA
At first glance, Ceta seems mostly inhabitable, and that's because it is. The atmosphere around the planet is surprisingly thick in most places, sometimes thin in others, and without some way to filter the air, it is mostly unbreathable; it's a giant gas planet, its core made of various molten metals and the atmosphere a mix of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrous. Ceta's gravity is also uneven, meaning that some areas will have stronger focal points than others. The terrain, when it is visible, appears rather rocky—hardly the best conditions for life and stable living. What's more unusual, however, is that despite this fact, there is, indeed, a small populace "living" among the mist and clouds, but it's clear they do not live here year-round. It's hunting season, and they are there for the bounty.
These visitors have built small platforms that are hooked together by ropes and swinging bridges, which they call "temporaries". Unstable buildings are rare, dangerous, and spread out over these temporaries to prevent damage or accidents. The temporaries float along, swaying and shifting with the planet’s atmosphere, and posted at every point of entry and all open surfaces are a particular set of rules that everyone must abide by. They are written in dark ink and large block letters so that all passing by will stop and read them:
NO FIRE. Flammables, ignition sources, matches, lighters, and anything that creates a spark is prohibited. The atmosphere has higher levels of hydrogen, and the smallest spark will create a problem.
AIR BREATHABILITY. Monitor your vitals. Wear masks or re-breathers if needed.
WATCH THE EDGE. All walkways are the only thing from you and falling. Be cautious and watch your step. These signs should be given their due attention. The edge is just that: the end of where it is safe to walk. If a wooden plank gives way beneath your feet, you will plummet through hundred of miles of atmosphere before hitting the planet’s thin surface. The captains reiterate that crew should be careful and stick to the main temporaries, gather supplies, visit at their leisure, and then go back to the ship.
☄ IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE!The organisms that have evolved on this planet are unintelligent—a fact that is told to you by the other visitors. As there is no solid materials or ways for them to interact with their environments, these giants float along within the atmosphere, though it appears that they are flying when they are merely navigating through. They travel in groups of three or more and sometimes come close to the outskirts of the temporaries. Because there is an invisible filtration dome around the temporaries, this allows the creatures to pass through without harm and return again into the mist as they please. They are difficult to see at night and are rather skittish in the presence of sudden light.
☄ @ THE MUSEUM Every evening when work is done, artificial light sources illuminate the streets of the temporaries. There is one bar, if you can actually call it that, but the main attraction is a museum. The support structure appears to be made out of the skeletal system of the giants that "swim" and live on Ceta, and though the outside seems rather unassuming, the inside is not for the faint of heart. As it's considered informative, there are displays of the internal structures and functions of the very creatures that seem harmless and as unintelligent as the visitors claim. There are sections of the museum dedicated to their anatomy and what makes them so valuable: inside their air sacs, which is what gives the illusion to flying through the atmosphere, is a mineral that, when harvested, attunes and sharpens the senses so that brain capacity and function excel over one-hundred percent efficiency. Likewise, aside from these informative areas, there is also a history of how and when the visitors began to hunt them for this valuable, unnamed resource.
☄ HARVEST SEASON Are you looking for work? Or perhaps you're bored with your duties aboard the Moira and prefer to see just what it is these visitors do during the day? Hunters will often pay for menial labor to help with the killing and retrieval of the giants of Ceta. It is by day, not by hour, and once aboard one of the many ships, you will be put to work handling equipment or being on the lookout for "signs" of the creatures. Once they've been spotted, the real work isn't in capturing them or even trying to subdue them—though they give a good fight. It's in the harvest, done below deck once they have been safely brought into the ship's cargo areas by the tethers, that can get quite gruesome. As a defense mechanism, cutting into the skin creates a rather noxious emission that can cause disorientation, hallucinations, or unconsciousness. Worst case scenarios can often result in death.
☄ WORD LIMITS As things are beginning to wind up (or down), something seems to have gotten into the MID systems and caused a malfunction. On the morning of 03.13, it suddenly becomes clear that communicating with others who are not from the same universe or similar timelines seems very difficult. Understanding each other becomes rather hopeless as the day continues, and these repercussions can be felt across the entire ship. The Captains send out another MID message that appears as a jumble of unusual letters and symbols. However, there is one word that can be read by everyone and (hopefully) understood: RATCHET. Figuring out this problem shouldn't take long if everyone can leap the language barriers and work together.
( ooc; All New Arrivals: you have the choice of coming through the Moira's Ingress OR Ceta's Ingress. For questions, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! )
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-03-01 02:40 pm
no subject
[She says it completely flatly, as if it were a simple yes or no answer and now she can move on to the part where she actually works.]
I know how to make coffee already, but I'm not sure what those machines are for. [She reaches up, over the countertop to gesture at the espresso and Rickspresso machines.] If you show me that, I can get started.
no subject
Whoa there, hold up for a minute. [Ignore the espresso machines. Especially the Rickspresso one.] Just. Shouldn't you be, I dunno, playing or something? Or going to school? Do we have a school? Just-
Kids are supposed to have fun, not work at coffee shops.
[That's the sort of drudgery every child has the right to avoid until they transition painfully to adulthood.
no subject
[ Even before Robin's watched her island be destroyed - and her childhood go up in flames along with it -Robin wasn't really much for playing. Mostly because the other children treated her like a freak.
As for schooling, she's already got her islands equivalent of a graduate degree. She really isn't interested in joining a standard classroom setting with a bunch of other 8 year olds. ]
We aren't exactly breaking rocks here. Making coffee isn't any trouble.
[ A pause.]
Never mind, I'll just figure those machines out on my own.
[ And with that, she's already making her way behind the counter. ]
no subject
But- child labour laws- I-
Whoa, hold up a minute!
[Allison spreads her arms out in front of the back counter, blocking access to the espresso machines.]
You can't just go playing around with those! They make seriously hot liquid, especially that one- [The Rickspresso machine gets a suspicious look. It's pretty amazing, but that doesn't mean she trusts it.] -it can be dangerous.
no subject
There are laws against kidnapping too. The captains don't care about any of those rules.
[To be fair, though, Robin doesn't really care about labor laws either. She's worked before - both on a ship and off - in order to get by while on the run. A coffee shop isn't that big of a deal, even if it does strike her as a bit ridiculous that the ship has one.
She does stop her approach when Allison steps in her way, though. Unfortunately for Allison, being between Robin and the coffee equipment doesn't actually prevent her from using it.]
I'm not playing. But if you won't show me how to- ow!
[Robin recoils slightly, just as the espresso machine makes the tell-tale sound of releasing some very hot fluid. She lifts the tips of her own finger to her hand, nursing it slightly - but if Allison turns around she'll a number of cloned arms on and around the espresso machine.
They're all keeping their distance now, as Robin has just hurt herself, but give her a few seconds and she'll be right back at it.]
no subject
That's beside the point. I- what? [Child suddenly acting injured? And behind-] What?! [There are little child arms growing all over the counter and espresso machine!]
What the fff- [Small child! Do not swear! Okay, you've got this Allison. Thus is really weird, this is much creepier than Cio's coat of arms, but you can handle weird. This is your shop and you are manager!]
HOLD UP! [The key in her forehead blazes with light as she puts as much authority as possible into her voice.] I'll show you how to work the espresso machine, just... Slow down!
[She sucks in a long breath and blows it out to calm down, then turns abruptly to the sink to soak a cloth in lukewarm water.]
First off- [She ain't taking no interruptions right now! She holds out the cloth.] Put this on- put this on whatever you burnt.
Second! [She holds out a hand to shake.] I'm Allison Ruth, owner of this establishment.
no subject
Such thoughts are stopped in their tracks, however, after she burns her fingertips on the espresso machine - and pushed even further from the forefront of her mind by the blazing forehead light that Allison seems to have. She had, initially, thought it was a marking or a piece of jewelry or something. There are lots of cultures that decorate their faces, after all.
But now it's glowing and Robin is beginning to suspect that the manager of this place is not a normal human being. When Allison shouts, all of her extra limbs disappear into flower petals in the air - which, subsequently, disappear on their own after a few moments.
She still doesn't know this Allison woman, of course, and she doesn't trust her. But she'll obey her orders for now, if only to avoid antagonizing her further.]
...I'm Clover. [A pause.] Jaguar D. Clover.
[She recites the fake name with no hesitation at this point. She's told it to enough people that she's quite used to the name.
Robin accepts the wet cloth and applies it to her fingertips.]
no subject
Huh, cool name. [Japanese order? Her suppressed inner anime fan is giggling.] Nice to meet you Clover.
Down to business. If the captains put you with me, then I guess I'll deal with that. [Dubious ethics aside.] I'll show you how to do everything, but you have to earn the responsibility of using them. So no more touching the espresso machines until I say so.
Got it?
[She hopes she's not being too hard, but Clover already managed to hurt herself and Allison doesn't think she can handle a kid getting seriously injured on her watch.]
no subject
She holds her tongue about the espresso machine too. She's certain she'd be able to figure it out if given a few minutes and nobody standing in directly between herself and the machine, but alright. There are plenty of things on this ship worth kicking up a fuss over, but the rules of a coffee shop probably won't be one of them. Robin can play along. ]
....okay.
[She definitely doesn't seem to like being scolded like this, even if she does deserve it.]
no subject
She rubs the back if her neck, feeling awkward.]
Look, I'm sorry for shouting earlier. You kind of scared me between burning yourself and... [She wiggles her fingers to try and represent the hands.]
What's up with that anyway?
[It's literally one of the creepiest powers she's ever seen. Cool, but extremely creepy]
no subject
Speaking of said eight year old, Robin doesn't go so far as to apologize for her own actions, but she does feel a bit better about being yelled at.]
Oh, um, that's my Devil Fruit power. I ate the Flower-Flower fruit, and it gave me the power to sprout copies of my body parts like flowers, from any surface that I choose.
[ She knows it can be a little creepy, but... Well, it's the power she's stuck with, and she actually really likes what it can let her do. ]
..m what about you? What's with the glowing thing on your forehead?
no subject
Huh. [Very eloquent. She's not sure what a Devil Fruit is and she's not sure she wants to know, but as someone who actually ate a devil for the gift of tongues, she can't really judge anyone else's eating habits.]
Oh, uh. [She rubs the end of the Key.] It's the key to a universe. Or something.
no subject
A... key?
[Alright. Robin's not really certain what a universe's key consists of - maybe Allison just locked her own universe up behind her when she was pulled in by the Ingress? ]
But it's in your head. Does it hurt?
no subject
Naw, it's fine. It sure as he-ee-heck felt weird going in though.
[Nothing quite like having a mystical object jammed through your skull and into your soul. And a very difficult sensation to describe.]
no subject
I don't care if you swear, by the way.
[In the few months since Ohara, she's had to sort-of sink herself into the criminal underworld in order to survive. She's heard a lot of swears in that time.]
no subject
I care.
[Seriously, swearing in front of children just feels wrong.]
Okay, so. First days of work, you shadow me. I'll get you to do some stuff, but mostly you watch and learn and ask questions.
[She rubs her head.]
We've got a small crew, and not all of them come visit, so we have a lot of downtime. You'll want to get something to entertain yourself. I go with MID games and reading.
But, uh, take breaks whenever you need them, and you can take time off whenever you need, just let me know so I don't worry.
[Take time off for kid things, Clover]
no subject
[ If she seems like she doesn't care, that's because she definitely doesn't. Not about whether Allison swears or not and not about this job. The way Robin sees it, she'll have figured out a way to escape this awful ship before long anyway - going to her job is just a means of keeping her head down until she's able to do as much. ]
I'll figure things out quick, don't worry about me. And I'll bring something to read.
[ She's a fast learner, and this job isn't exactly the most complicated thing in the world. She's definitely going to take Allison up on that offer for time off, though. ]
Wrap up?
[This could have gone more smoothly, but it could also probably have gone way worse. Hurray?]
So, you wanna see how to make a cappuccino?
Sure.
Okay.
[It looks like this interaction has been a (very limited) success. Congrats Allison!]
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[She at least deserves a You Tried sticker.]