( november intro log )

[hownkai]

Who: Everyone
When: November 1st and on
Where: The ship and on planet
What: Exploration + new arrivals
Warnings: Please label any warnings you have on your threads

THE INFLUX

"It is not so much about beginnings and endings; it is about muddling through the middle."

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.

Welcome to Caducus Primary

Shortly after your arrival, you are met by one of the captains and any of the crew of the Moira who might have accompanied him. You are given a brief physical scan and are asked to sign a contract that states you are now part 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. Much like the Moira's own Ingress, C-Primary's Ingress seems to be malfunctioning, and nothing can return through it. If you choose to disregard this offer, you will be detained indefinitely by the natives of Caducus Primary. (Joining the Moira is really the only choice you have.)

DESCENSION

"I am the keeper of fragile things."

From a distance, Caducus Primary doesn't look like much. The weather on the planet is extremely stable, and the vegetation is neat, almost pristine. What stands out about C-Primary, however, is the fact that there are hundreds of VERY TALL buildings packed together in many of the cities. They are elevated about the ground on what appear to be stilts and sway almost gracefully in the gentle breeze that is always present. Their stability never wavers; they don't fall down. The streets are lined with beautiful sculptures that are placed wherever light is needed. Many other designs can be found outside as well as in. This planet is rather wealthy, and the abundance of their natural resources reflect in everything. The world glitters just as glass would in the sunlight.

Native Details
● They have darker skin tones, but their hair styles and colors are all as unique as they can make them. This can be seen as influence from other travelers.
● Friendly, welcoming, and encouraging to the crew to trade with them for what they need.
● There are no visible "poor" areas.
● Calm and organized. If lost or in need of directions, they will offer to take you where you are going.
● Vey strict when it comes to rules. (Trade what you say you're going to trade.)

☄CITY PROPER

There are many things to do once on planet. In the city proper, stepping into one of the multiple shops reveals workers crafting glass figurines, jewelry, cups, and other items to your specifications. Trading is the same as on all other planets—there is no one accepted monetary unit. Yet, any unsavory cargo (such as weapons, explosives, alcohol, and drugs) will not be found anywhere in the vicinity of these areas. Other travelers have set up places outside the cities near transporter zones for these particular necessities. Trade at your discretion. At night, if you catch your reflection in a surface that isn't quite as transparent (on a sculpture, the side of a building, anything made of glass), there will be a momentary glimpse of your past or future self. A blink, and then, it will be gone.

Staying on the Moira isn't required during time spent on Caducus Primary. Visit one of its many fine hotels with its beautiful accomodations. The price is remarkably inexpensive: it's free.

( OOC: For any and all questions and to see new rank privileges, go here. Please comment to activity check to receive new ranks (if applicable)! Check THIS to see your tag. They have already been added to the comms, but you'll have to tag them onto a post before they show up in the list. )

Comments

miles vorkosigan

[forwardmomentum]

moira - library

[forwardmomentum]

Miles has been meaning to hit up the library ever since the announcement that it had properly been opened. About damn time, as far as he's concerned. The captains are unfortunately stingy with their information rationing -- Miles assumes they must know more than they're telling, or they're all imperially screwed -- and he's been itching for some alternative to banging down their doors demanding information. The library is fairly cozy, and not totally organized -- a work in progress, looks like.

There really isn't any literature on the Ingress or any of the related phenomena that he can find, much to his disappointment, but he's collected a stack of books to scan for any information that might be relevant or helpful at all. Reading a book on printed paper is something of a novelty for Miles; they don't really use paper at all anymore where he's from. Everything these days is written on reusable plastic flimsies or read from a vid reader. He can be found camped out in a corner of the library, sitting on a table rather than in one of chairs around it, an assortment of books spread around him.

[neveroutwrenched]

Ratchet is the library for an entirely different reason; the opposite really. Paper books are a novelty to Ratchet as well - as is this sort of library entirely - but it’s a novelty he can’t say he didn’t at least give a shot. Reading wasn’t really preferred hobby of his...it wasn’t even something he did professionally if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. Maybe it was the archaic subject matter, maybe it was the bizarre events of the prior weeks, but the book had not exactly been a life changing experience...a fact he would probably keep to himself if unless he'd asked.

He almost doesn’t notice Miles, despite the unusual way the man is sitting, surrounding by volumes. Ratchet recognizes him, but can’t quite put a name to face. A reminder of how isolated, how absorbed in the wrong things he’s been since arriving on the ship.

“Oh, uh. Sorry if I’m interrupting. Is Elizabeth here?” He holds up the book in one hand. “I just needed to return this.”

[forwardmomentum]

Miles does tend to stand out, so that someone would recognize him isn't all that surprising. The same can be said of Ratchet, too, though. Miles jerks his chin up when Ratchet talks, blinking, and quickly recognizes the -- er, creature? for one of the crew that's been here roughly as long as he has. Miles still isn't sure what, exactly, Ratchet is.

"I saw her just a little while ago," Miles says with a vague nod around the library, "but I think she may have stepped out. I don't suppose there's a book drop or anything..."

Don't worry, Ratchet, you weren't interrupting much. Actually, he probably ought to take a break, looking at the time. Miles closes the book he'd been reading and slides off the table to give his short legs a stretch. Well, hey, for once he isn't the shortest person in the room. Just...one of the shortest.

[neveroutwrenched]

Ratchet tries not to look too surprised when Miles stands up and he doesn’t have to look up, but it’s hard not to. He’s met a lot of humans since arriving on the Moira, and the Neheda before that, and none of them have been his height...not even the kids. Not that he was judging...they were quite literally on the same level, after all.

Ratchet glances around before placing the book carefully on a nearby table. “Well, I’m sure she’ll find it if I leave it here…” He looks back over at Miles, eyes passing over the stacks of books still on the table. “So. Here for a little light reading, huh?”

[intherigging]

[Jacky was excited to explore a new planet, but she had finished the book Elizabeth had leant her that night (or, rather, early morning), and she figured that the best course of action was to return it post-haste. She wasn't expecting to see anyone else in the library, and she definitely wasn't expecting to find someone with a hoard of books surrounding them.]

Oh, hello! D'ya need help extracting yourself, there?

[forwardmomentum]

[ miles jerks his chin up on reflex at jacky's voice. he'd been so engrossed in reading he was bordering on hypnotic, and now suddenly brought back to reality he realizes he's quite tired, and stiff, a that, his short little body having hunched cross-legged on the table's surface for the last...couple of hours, apparently, as he glances at his MID. sitting down he's small, but standing he'd only be a measly four-foot-nine, crooked spine and brittle bones and all. his head, though, looks like it belongs on a man of six feet, a face prematurely aged with pain lines around his mouth and laugh lines around his eyes. he rubs his face, blinking at her owlishly, then glances at the uneven stacks of books around him. hm. he seems to have been surrounded. ]

Ah. Yes, I think perhaps I might. [ he speaks with an accent that sounds vaguely russian, though about seven hundred years removed. he cranes his neck to peer behind him and then holds the book in his hands over his head, nodding to a short stack at his knee. ] Could you?

[intherigging]

Not a problem, mate. [Skipping forward, Jacky quickly and efficiently dismantled the stacks in front of him, clearing a nice, clear space. Stepping back enough to give him room but close enough to give him an arm if necessary she grinned.]

I'm Jacky, by the by. You're the bartender, right?

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight had pretty much become a fixture of the library since it's opening, and had wound up assisting in the organization by the sheer fact that he was creating numerous stacks of books amongst those yet to shelved, all on topics he intended to research. The piles ranged in subject, anything from space travel to calculus to the elusive cookbook, whatever he thought might be useful to fitting in on the ship.

Coming into the library that day, he had gone straight to one of the stacks only to realize some of the books were missing. It didn't take long to scope out the other patrons and figure out Miles had taken them.

Starflight snuck over to the table, debating whether or not to bother man on the table. It was probably the closest Miles would ever get to being eye to eye with the dragon. Starflight reached out and tapped the table near Miles, trying to get his attention subtly.

"Excuse me, but, are you done with those star charts?"

[forwardmomentum]

Miles has been deeply engrossed in whatever book he's been reading to the point of, well, forgetting to eat entirely. This wouldn't be the first time. He also hasn't slept very recently, as evidenced by the day's worth of stubble creeping up on him, the product of a little too much fixation. The tapping of a claw almost doesn't get his attention, but it primes him for the voice he hears so that it doesn't startle him completely.

"Oh -- yes, by all means, go -- ahead..." He looks up as he speaks, and his voice immediately trails off into an undignified squeak as he realizes he's staring eye-to-eye with a frigging dragon. It isn't as though he didn't know they've got a dragon among the crew, although he's never had the chance to interact with it -- er, him -- he's never heard Starflight talk. So he skips right over disbelief and goes straight to oh, shit. Ivan can say whatever he wants about Miles' self-preservation instinct, but he does have one and it is kicking in full gear right now as he shrinks back away from Starflight with a nervous giggle, gesturing at the star charts in question. Starflight seems a lot...bigger this close up.

[petrifiedshadow]

Starflight immediately sat back to give Miles more space. He'd gotten used to people not freaking out when he was around, but then he only really talked to people he knew. Even when he was working in the kitchen full time he had made a point to stay as silent and unobtrusive as possible.

But he knew exactly how Miles felt, cause that was him basically the whole first week with the translators.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. I promise I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Starflight, I work in navigation."

library

[lets_see_what_happens]

Gregor is relatively observant. He noticed Miles leave their room, stating a desire to go look in on the library. He also notices when Miles doesn't come back for six hours.

He also has interacted with Miles more than twice, so eventually he heaves himself up out of his bunk and drops by the mess to collect a sandwich and a drink and go to the library himself, finding his foster-brother and setting the two items firmly in front of him. He stops short of closing Miles' book on his fingers, but only barely.

"Hello, Miles," he says, voice mild in the extreme in an attempt to head of any potential arguments regarding immediate nourishment before they start.

[forwardmomentum]

After poring through book after book of subject matter he's got only a basic grasp on, Miles has hit the point at which he loses all sense of time entirely. He's tired, but running on all cylinders he can get operating right now, and it takes him a moment before Gregor's voice registers. He looks up, blinking a little owlishly, but he gives Gregor a crooked smile.

"Hello, Gregor." His voice is a little cracked from hours of disuse -- a significant sign of 'totally overdoing it' if there ever was one -- and he clears his throat. His eyes flick down to the food only momentarily, and he raps at the open book with the back of his hand. "I'm glad you're here, actually. I wanted to ask you -- did you take any of the elective science courses when you were at the Academy? I'm afraid I didn't get in much aerospacial physics, or the finer points of wormhole science -- some of this stuff is a little, uh, dense."

for elizabeth

[forwardmomentum]

Miles has never been on a ship with a library before -- hell, the only libraries with printed paper books he's seen are at the Imperial Residence and Vorkosigan House, and neither were nearly as big. Military ships don't really do libraries anyway, unless you count training manuals.

He knows there's a librarian around here somewhere, so the odd-looking little man starts meandering the place in curiosity, glancing around. "Hello? Is there a Miss DeWitt around here somewhere?"

[tearmeanewone]

There is in fact a Miss DeWitt around there somewhere. Even if the glittering (and unfortunately highly reflective) surfaces of Caducus Primary were fascinating, her first responsibility is to the collection-- and she really wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yes!" she shouts from a back room somewhere. "Just a minute!"

She hurries out over the second level of the main room that houses most of the collection and her desk, and takes the spiral staircase at a quick clip. "I knew the second I took something to the back, someone would come knocking," she chuckles, moving to her newest patron. "Please, call me Elizabeth, I save 'Miss DeWitt' for people I know I don't like. And you would be...?"

[forwardmomentum]

Miles waits patiently for her to emerge, rocking back on his heels idly as he glances around the place. Ah -- there she is, the head librarian herself. And she's...rather beautiful, at that. Very beautiful, actually. He blinks stupidly at her for a moment before he catches himself and sweeps her a rather dramatic bow to make up for the fractional delay, giving her a slightly manic grin.

"Elizabeth, then." He's not nearly as pretty as she -- or his cousin, for that matter. No, Miles Vorkosigan stands at a measly four-foot-nine, crooked spine and brittle bones and all, although he's at least had the bones in his legs replaced with synthetics since. His head looks a little too big for the rest of his frame, the head of a man of six feet on a short neck, his face prematurely aged with the pain lines around his mouth and the laugh lines around his eyes. "Nauta Miles Vorkosigan, at your service -- but you can call me Miles," he adds genially, mouth quirking up a little more.

caducus primary - day

[forwardmomentum]

Miles doesn't trust this place. Ivan would call him paranoid, but then again, Ivan hadn't been kidnapped back on the last planet, hadn't seen the disgustingly terrifying visages of those aliens, nor felt the nauseating dread at watching the line of sacrifices not too far ahead of himself. The -- alien, girl, whatever from Caducus Primary that Miles had briefly conferred with didn't much set him at ease, either. He's not sure whether to believe in Zhou's apparent clairvoyance or if it was just a load of horseshit, and she'd been too vague for him to convict otherwise. Seems like everyone's coming down with a case of the cryptic and cagey around here. Must be catching.

But it isn't paranoia if it turns out you're right, Miles reminds himself as he wanders the daylit streets of Caducus Primary. Everyone seems friendly enough here, but the aliens on the last planet had, too. The gratuitous hospitality only makes him warier. The hotel accommodations border on luxurious, and the fact that the locals aren't charging a single mark for their hospitality only makes him twitchier. Like hell he's sleeping around here. The planet is beautiful, though, he has to give it that, and he refuses to let wariness keep him from exploring -- he has to get the feel of the place, after all, and he's too starved for information to pass up the chance. Maybe he can chat up the the locals. For now he's largely sticking to the outdoors -- the glass sculptures are beautiful to look at, and at least he's in broad daylight.

[vengeance_driven]

[It's a wariness that Niko shares, and he's not managed to settle in at all while here. He spent maybe an hour in the hotel before he was out trying to find some elements of true need rather than some crystalline perfection, and really he hasn't.]

[It's all he's known, and a healthy place is dangerous and daunting to him. He can't trust it. Somewhere there's slaves, somewhere there's fighting. There has to be. This can't be it.]

[When he sees Miles, he beelines for the person he knows.] Have you figured out your way around, yet?

[forwardmomentum]

[ ah, there's his forbidding friend. miles falls into step with niko, matching his pace with ease even on his short legs. he twitches a grin and jerks his chin up at niko. ]

Hello, Niko. Not just yet, no, but I'm having fun getting lost.

[ his voice is dry and sardonic. he gestures around them with a sweep of his arm. ]

It is a very pretty place, isn't it?

[ yeah, he doesn't trust it for a second, either. ]

for clark

[forwardmomentum]

Miles isn't foolhardy enough to want to wander the planet's surface after sundown by himself, especially when he's still recouping from his last planetary adventure. The arm in the sling has to be at least half-healed by now, but he's not going to chance re-breaking it, either. The more hidden injury oft he cracked ribs will probably take about the same time to heal, but at least breathing is less painful now.

He's far less hesitant when he's accompanied by someone else, and as far as Miles is concerned, Clark is a pretty good companion. He's a man of solid character, Miles can easily tell, and he trusts Clark to have his back enough to take a little field trip. That doesn't mean he didn't come down planetside fully armed -- with the plasma arc at his right and the nerve disruptor at his left, Miles is feeling significantly safer.

It isn't quite yet dark when they arrive on the surface of Caducus Primary, making the glass sculptures everywhere take on a brightly ethereal gleam of the setting sun. It's breathtaking, really, Miles has to admit, even as suspicious as he is of the place. Miles absently fingers the holstered plasma arc on his hip as he glances around.

"This place makes one hell of an art show," he comments to Clark, shielding his eyes against a momentary flash of light that he catches at just the right angle. "Is this your first trip down planetside? I came down the other day, but it was much earlier in the day cycle."

[heliakal]

Caducus Primary is the sort of place that seems ethereal at almost any time of day, but the more Clark sees of it the more he can appreciate the way the angles of the buildings and statues seem to be built to catch and reflect light.

"It's incredible," Clark agrees. Even when the light catches him directly in the eyes, he doesn't so much as flinch. "I got off the ship as soon as they'd let me. The natives seem friendly, but I wanted to be sure it was actually safe out here."

He doesn't think he needs to say why. He had given the guns a curious glance when he'd first met up with Miles, but even if there's no apparent danger to be ready for, he can't say that he doesn't understand the precaution. He might not be wearing any weaponry, but he's replaced his thermals with his Kryptonian suit, hidden neatly under the crew uniform.

Still, it should be fun. He enjoys Miles' company; he's bright and enthusiastic, and full of interesting stories. It's a sort of novelty to go wandering together, just for the sake of it.

"We can get the best view of the city from there," Clark says, gesturing at one of the taller structures nearby. It's balanced on stilts, swaying gently in the breeze. "Want to go up?"

[forwardmomentum]

"A healthy paranoia," Miles remarks in mild agreement. "Frankly, I'm still not convinced myself. We thought the locals were friendly last time, too."

He hardly catches Clark's own unblinking gaze; he waves his hand, as if waving away the light, and follows Clark's gaze up to one of the slightly swaying buildings. Miles squints at the building and purses his lips in momentary thought. He doesn't like the way it wavers back and forth, but on the other hand, all the buildings here look like that, and they ought to be structurally sound. If they weren't, Miles is sure they'd see a lot more broken glass around here.

"Why not?" Miles twitches a slightly manic grin up at Clark and gestures forward with his good arm. "Lead on, my friend."

for jasper

[forwardmomentum]

The garden is a nice touch to the Moira, Miles will give it that. He really wasn't expecting Clark to go for gardening, but then, he seems like the sort of man who would enjoy working with his hands. At any rate, it definitely seems like a better place for the kitten tree than the kvortira cabin. For one, he doesn't have to deal with its near-constant quiet mewling and Ivan's mixed looks of bitter annoyance and guilt. Still feeling bad about that dead kitten bud on Cetaganda, looks like.

Miles stoops to examine the tiny tree, its kitten buds looking like they've developed a little more since their arrival. They'd really only gotten a narrow glimpse of the thing back at that bizarre art show, and he supposes he never imagined it was built to last. But maybe it can...er, thrive here. The cats really are small, though. Smaller than any kitten Miles has ever seen. He pokes an experimental finger out to touch the white peach fuzz of the kitten's nose, and it bats at his finger playfully. So frigging weird, looking at this thing. He doesn't notice until it reaches his boots that there's a slow trickle of water making its way down the path that winds around the garden. Curious, Miles straightens and peers around the corner of the nearby hedge to see what's up.

[stompadour]

Jasper has run afoul of the hose.

Someone who had met Jasper might imagine this to entail, say, Jasper getting her foot accidentally soaked and then stamping on the hose. Maybe angrily tying it in a knot, or yanking it out of the wall out of frustration and not knowing how garden paraphernalia works because she's an alien.

What is actually happening, though, is that Jasper is backed up against the nearest wall with a look of absolute horror on her face. An arc of water jets from the hose's nozzle, stopping just shy of Jasper's boots, but she's already drenched from head to toe, her enormous mane of hair looking catastrophically unfortunate all waterlogged and dripping like this, and she looks as if this has somehow frozen her in place in a combination of fury and genuine fear.

The movement catches her attention when Miles appears around the hedge – her eyes widen as she glances over, pupils contracting to slits, but apart from her fists tightening and her grimace twitching in anger, she doesn't move. She clearly wants to, but – while she knows perfectly well that the cold water on her skin is practically nothing, she can feel the pressure of an ocean along with it.

[forwardmomentum]

Miles blinks. Whatever he was expecting to see, it wasn't this -- Jasper backed up against the wall and staring down the garden hose the way someone might stare down a rattlesnake, an angry plea for mercy. Jasper's forbidding bravado had certainly precluded her from imaginary scenarios like this. But, Miles supposes, if it were him and an ice bath, it wouldn't be difficult to sympathize.

He squints at her thoughtfully before his gaze wanders, searching, and settles on the wall cater-corner to him. He spots a valve about half a meter off the ground. Miles casts another glance over at Jasper and then, with purpose, marches across the garden to the wall and bends down slightly to firmly twist the shutoff valve. It's a little sticky, so it takes a few moments to turn it all the way around, and Miles peers over his shoulder to watch with interest as the water pressure dies down and recedes, leaving the end of the garden hose to sputter and go limp. Ah.

Miles decides not to say anything, merely looking patiently back at Jasper and letting her have the first word. He figures it saves face for the both of them -- for Jasper, in not forcing her to openly acknowledge how embarrassing that just was, and for Miles, in that she (hopefully) will not tear his face off for it.