thisavrou_log | ( april intro log )

Entry tags:

( april intro log )

Who: Everyone
When: April 1st and on
Where: The Moira + Del Pascia
What: The crew finds themselves visiting the correctional facility of Del Pascia.
Warnings: Mentions of blood. Please label your content!

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slammed & counted
"I feel liberated when I'm doing it, and I want other people to feel liberated through it."

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. Shortly after, you are led out and toward the medbay.

Inside this room, you are given a physical scan and offered a contract to sign 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.

With the combined efforts of the crew, the terror plaguing the ship has been successfully removed from the Moira. Yet, it doesn’t come without consequences. Aside from the overall state of those aboard the ship, the Moira itself has taken considerable damage across various sections. Overall functionality seems stable for now, but with necessary repairs to be made and few supplies to actually make them with, the Captains have set a course for any nearby planet with the hope of finding what they need. However, that is much closer than it appears. As new arrivals begin coming through the Ingress, a message is received by those in the Tower and broadcast to everyone:
Please be advised. Your vessel is now entering Restricted Space. As per penal code 65208-A, only authorized personnel are to be admitted beyond this point. If necessary, further assistance will be provided once docked.
As there is little choice, the Captains instruct Navigation to proceed with caution. All transporters will be required to assist in taking those who volunteer to the main hub.

WELCOME TO CORRECTIONAL FACILITY DEL PASCIA

Del Pascia is one of many facilities across the universe built to maintain and rehabilitate its inhabitants. With a combined populace of both prisoners and employed civilians, it functions as both prison and living quarters. The central section of Del Pascia is divided into multiple floors that branch out into subdivisions of the facility—clearly and precisely labeled. For those contracted to work in the prison, Del Pas Main is home. There are cafeterias, common areas for exercise and general downtime, divided residences, and work stations. Beyond this area, each remaining wing of Del Pascia separates into cell blocks A through F with similar facilities available to the inmates. Varying degrees of criminals are brought to Del Pascia, ranging from maximum security to juvenile offenders, and security differs depending on which block is visited.

Yet, there is something peculiar about this prison upon further investigation: there are no living persons within Del Pascia. The AI, which runs and oversees all of Del Pascia, has made arrangements with the Moira so that those who wish may board and take what is needed to begin repairs. This program, while generally polite in nature, goes simply by the name D-E-L.

☄ ENJOY YOUR STAY ... IN PRISON

Those who choose to go to Del Pascia will find themselves greeted by D-E-L. It has already agreed to terms with the Captains, allowing crew to strip nonessential supplies that aren’t needed since the station’s crew and prisoners were relocated due to funding cuts. The only condition placed upon this agreement is that any crew wishing to explore must undergo a mandatory decontamination before proceeding through the rest of Del Pascia. This process takes only minutes and is guaranteed to cause no physical side effects. Following this simple procedure, exploration is open with only warnings to be careful about damaging key systems. It is important to note that there are various security cameras located throughout the correctional facility, and it is not uncommon for D-E-L to comment or show concern for those exploring parts of Del Pascia.

☄ DEATH BECOMES YOU

There is salvage to be found in all parts of the facility, including the cell blocks and infirmaries of the prison wings. However, there is something odd about these sectors, a strange charge in the air that follows you as you search for anything useful to bring back to the Moira. Perhaps it is the eyes of D-E-L watching? But then, after an indiscernible amount of time, it's like a switch is flipped. Suddenly, you are wearing your sins where anyone but you can see. For however much death you have wrought or committed, there will be blood on your hands—perhaps even further than that. This bizarre occurrence will appear as an almost digital skin and will not vanish until outside the cell blocks. If exploring the infirmaries for supplies, any and all health stats throughout your life will be visible and easy to read by anyone who happens to take an interest.

For those who have killed once or twice, they might find a red stain on their hands, but the higher the kill count will result in larger proportions of blood covering their arms and, in extreme cases, perhaps their entire body. The blood will vanish once you have left the prison wing, though you may occasionally see a flicker of the image while anywhere on the station. The same goes for health stats viewed in infirmary sections of Del Pascia.

☄ WHAT WAS THAT SOUND?

Del Pascia is a very large station and has been abandoned for quite some time. D-E-L will regretfully inform anyone who asks that some nonessential areas have fallen into disrepair. It will warn that exploring these areas can be risky as it has no knowledge of what damage these sections have taken. Regardless of that, if you venture in, you’ll find that these sections are in rather bad shape. Exposed wiring sparks in the walls, a great variety of broken tools are thrown about, and it seems that every camera has been purposely broken. Venturing in further will yield valuable components for salvage, and yet... as before, you suspect you aren’t alone. It isn’t often, but sometimes, you might hear a step falling moments after yours or a rattle coming from the vents. Every time you go to investigate... whatever made the noise is gone.

Should the AI be queried about this, D-E-L will emphasize that all personnel and prisoners were removed and that there is no one on board except crew from the Moira.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I guess so... [He remarks idly, before turning towards Deacon.]

You're avoiding coming the rest of the way in here, aren't you?

Fine. I won't look.

[He promises.]

Places like this give me the heebie-jeebies. The Institute carries out tests on synths, making sure they bleed right and stuff. Trauma central. I want to make sure none of these things decide to come to life and vivisect you, but, yeah, I'll keep guard from over here. So how've you been? No more punch-ups with Mr. Oblivious, I hope.

Ah. [He accepted the explanation, but paused over that.] Punch ups... No. Not really.

[He didn't know what to call what he decided to do there. They weren't a couple. For all intents and purposes, it was meant to be completely casual. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was bad for him. But. He'd wanted it for so long, and missed him so much.]

This record. The one with the blood transfusion. First time we met. His unit attacked mine. I thought I was going to bleed to death, tricked him into coming close, was going to use a grenade on his both.

He held my hands, kept me from pulling the pin, kept me like that until I passed out. I woke up after he'd taken me to a hospital.

We didn't start off on the best terms. Not for a while. It was a little like one of those old cartoons where the cat keeps trying to catch the mouse, but the mouse keeps thwarting the cat. I was actually the cat. [He sounds more amused than bitter in the recounting.] Probably should have took it as a warning. [He never learns his lesson.]

Now I just imagine him dropping pianos on your head.

So how'd you end up going from trying to kill him to in love with him?

...Because he wanted to keep me.

[Simple as that. But he seems to get uncomfortable with the explanation then, leaving the implication that no one else did out in the open. And, in the end, Big Boss had decided not to keep him.]

[Even if he claims now he was supposed to end up by his side, then they still wouldn't have had a mutual dream. He sighs heavily.] What about you? What made you fall for the last person you did?

Took you in as a stray, huh? I kinda know the feeling. [Although Deacon didn't fall in love with Agamemnon, then-leader of the Railroad when they recruited him. It was a good thing, too, because Agamemnon was killed barely a year later.

Miller's question seems like an evasion, getting off a topic that makes him uncomfortable by passing the focus to him instead. And in the process unknowingly stepped onto the minefield of Deacon's own issues.]

The last person was a hell of a long time ago. She was human, but she accepted me even though I'm a synth. That meant a lot. [He can't tell the truth. He can't.]

Yeah. Pretty much.

[He gave him a home. They built a family out of those soldiers. Two things Kaz was largely unfamiliar with before then, but desperately wanted.]

Did she know when you got together? [The sad part of this is he will doubt the reality of the story later. But now it's a little hopeful. Especially when he comes from a background where being accepted for what he was was impossible.]

No.

I should have told her, but I was too scared, at least at first. And the longer I hid the truth, the more scared I was.

[He sticks his hands in the pockets of his coat.]

Then I finally decided that if I really loved her, really trusted her, I couldn't keep it from her. I needed to tell her. So I did. I was shaking like a leaf the entire time and couldn't meet her eyes, ashamed of having lied for so long and still fucking terrified of seeing the kind of fear and hatred on her face that other people got when they talked about synths. I was a total idiot for not having more faith in her.

[This is a new lie, created spur-of-the-moment for the occasion, but he likes this lie. It's a comforting fantasy, pretending that this is what happened, that this is who he was.]

I mean, she was pissed that I'd lied, but since I only lied because I was afraid of losing her, she wasn't too pissed. And she didn't care that I was a synth. That didn't change anything.

Being honest is the best policy. Could have saved a lot of people a lot of trouble if I had been when I needed to.

[Whether its his dealings with Cipher, or telling that idiot how much he'd loved him.]

That past tense doesn't sound good.

[It could be any number of things, really. He comes from a harsh world. It could be anything that took the woman from him. Somehow, with the complicated nature of the situation, he thinks it would have been better for him if it were just that.]

She died.

[Two honest words amid all the bullshit. Said in an honest, flat tone of someone who still hasn't come to grips with what happened.]

It was disease that did it. [Back to lying.] The tragedy of human fragility. There's a lot of tragedies in the wasteland.

Sorry to hear that. Glad she had someone that cared a lot about her.

[At least that's in response to what's obviously a true emotion.] Until then, sounds like she was a lucky lady. [Not everyone gets something like that. Hell, he wishes that one person in the world would talk about him that way.]

[He steps away from the monitors, far enough that his information isn't coming up anymore, and takes what he's collected to the door.] Looks like the Doc had people pick most of this stuff clean.

More like I was a lucky guy.

[He didn't deserve her. Not then, not now.

Time to turn the conversation back around.]

So what happened between you and Mr. Tall, Dark and Eye-patch to turn things sour?

Our base was destroyed. Then a helicopter crash. He fell into a coma.

Then it gets complicated. But I'll put it this way- there's two guys here that look like him. I didn't know that one of those guys wasn't him. After I lost an arm and a leg for him, built a new home, gave everything to keep it safe.

And he was on the other side of a continent building his own home. So I just had been thinking this other guy was him.

I made peace. Doesn't mean what hurt is gone. More than ever... feels like all I can think about. [He gets to the door, and though he hadn't cared much about his record in the beginning, being away from the details of his injuries seems to help.]

[Deacon steps aside so there's room for Miller to pass.]

Was it the deception or that he...uh...appeared to have changed his mind about keeping you that did it?

[How much of Miller's fury is that Snake lied and how much is that Snake left and didn't tell him?]

[He hadn't really thought about it. Miller hated the lies, and even had hated his own. That much is true. But it is that last part that hurt so much more. Maybe why things are so difficult.]

That last part.

Sorry for rambling on like a guest at a talk show. I guess after you see a man about to break his most prized possession, it opens up a hell of an avenue of conversation.

Hey, I asked.

And I told you something pretty important about me back then, too, so we're fair.

[The important thing is either the lie that he's a synth, or the fact that he's a liar, depending on whether Miller has opened that paper yet.]

Speaking of which, have you looked at that recall code I gave you?

[Deacon's feeling vaguely guilty for lying to Miller now, hearing that he was lied to for so long by the person he loved. It's too late to undo the lie now, and even if he could, he's not sure he's capable of not-lying anymore. But he needs to know if Miller knows.]

No. I haven't. I think I might still have it in my pocket.

[He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the slip of paper, but rather than opening it up? He holds it out to Deacon. Just like he might need it in case he needs reminding of it again.]

[He has an urge to snatch it away, make up a lie to explain his actions, and keep Miller from ever reading it. Or...he could take the paper...and tell the truth...

Instead he jumps back from the paper like the words he'd written on it are poison, his hands raised as if to ward it away.]

Christ, don't wave it around like that!

Oh...

[He sounds the slightest bit embarrassed. And puts it right back in his pocket. Looks like Deacon bought himself a little bit more time. He's less tempted than ever to look at it.]

Alright.

Why did you trust me with it?

I follow my instincts. They said that you're someone who's worthy of trust.

[And so Deacon gave him a piece of paper that tells Miller the truth that he's a liar. Shit, he's made this complicated. It wasn't the first time.]

I stand by it.

[He'll ride this lie to the end, because he doesn't know what else to do. This is what he does.]

That's nice of you to say. [Because he's tried. He used to not be. He needed the power to build his home. Put his trust in the wrong people, betrayed the ones he was meant to stand by badly without knowing it. Not worthy of trust. Not really. But he's tried to be a better leader since. A better protector.]

Thanks. I'll take care of it.

[The paper, he means.]

Cool. I'm trusting you, pal; it's not something I do often.

[And he is, in his round-about way, even though it's all a lie. He's trusting Miller with a lie to gauge his response, to see what Miller does with it, see if he can trust him with some truths, too. This is a serious lie, a lie with purpose beyond the compulsive bullshit. If he's gotten this far it means he's starting to trust Miller a little and needs to make sure that it's safe.

It's unfortunate that his default, almost instinctive, method for extending tentative and paranoid hands of friendship involve lying to someone who's been hurt by lies.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( april intro log )

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