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deep in the murk
"It comes first and follows after. Ends life, kills laughter."
With the outcome of the battle against the Caducans and the Moira having twisted together with their ship to form a strange combination of glass, metal, and organic parts (both across the ship and among the crewmembers), there is still the matter of the Ingress not functioning “properly”. It hasn’t worked correctly since the very first person arrived on the Moira through it, and there is little the Captains themselves know about its functions. However, now, more than before, it’s even worse than that. The Ingress malfunctions yet again. This time, though, it doesn’t simply combine time and space and objects around it—it encompasses the entirety of the ship and sends it far off into a completely different universe. Welcome to:
( click text for a rough map/layout )This puts the Moira closer to its final destination, and most of the glass has disappeared as the Caducan ship has been left behind aside from small things here and there (i.e., some of the walls in the corridors, random furniture in the rooming decks, the rooms themselves). Even the mess hall has permanently changed. Yet, there is some bad news that comes with this transition. The universe the ship is in is so terrible that it has been given its own name so that travelers avoid it altogether. Even the Captains themselves are aware of just how Bad News this universe is and had originally planned to take “the long way around” to avoid it. Anything shady or unsavory can be found in the Runoff, and while it might not appeal to the majority, it is simply second-nature to those who inhabit it. From arms trafficking to drugs, whatever one might think is illegal somewhere else is suddenly very legal and very dangerous.
Through the transition, some of the crew will accidentally end up on a nearby outpost specifically used for slave trade. It is a covered, temporary establishment used only for this purpose, meaning there are no open markets, hotels, or businesses of any sort. Stalls and tents line dirty streets, and ships litter the space around the outpost. This is a slave trade zone. People come and go but do not stay. Various lifeforms can be found here, and there are many different forms of slave trade happening. The motto “honor among thieves” does not exist in this place either. Crew who end up here will be “free”; however, this means that there is the potential to be taken and sold or kept by those of the Runoff. The Moira will not be close to this outpost, but the signals given from their MIDs will alert the crew to their location. Rescue, obviously, is imminent, but those who choose to help their fellow crewmembers must keep to small stealth missions using transporters or other crafts with one important detail in mind: they cannot bring attention or notice to the Moira itself.
Almost one-third of the crew has found themselves on the slave trade outpost, leaving the rest to plan for rescue. The Captains will immediately divulge all information that they have about the outpost, which is unfortunately very little outside of the stigma associated with the Runoff. The Captains will ask any MID techs or those with skills to create a program that allows person to person location; this function will allow crewmembers to search for those on the outpost via their MIDs. Rescue efforts are encouraged, and all the ships and transporters in the cargo bay will be available for public use. Crew will be told to be careful and quiet, bringing no attention to the Moira’s location, and most importantly, do not stand out. If crew look and act like they don’t belong there, others will notice. Stealth is the name of the game, and blending in is a necessity. ☄ time goes by slowly The unfortunate crewmembers who ended up on the outpost have now found themselves pursued by those looking to make a profit through slave trade. The standards of hard labor vary from owner to owner, but it is what it sounds like. Rough, hard work that will last as long as the body performing it can endure. If purchased, owners might examine their new property to determine what type of work they’d be best suited for and then split them up into holding areas until they are done with their purchases. Others might have their slaves begin work by cleaning their ship or holding stalls or packing up their tents and gear. The owners, and their needs, are as varied as the universe. Did you manage to escape? Or were you forced to work before you were rescued? ☄ and it seems to last forever Like the crewmembers taken by general labor owners, the murdersport slavers buy and take whomever they believe can last the longest in the pit. Some take those who appear to be strong or have great stamina, and some take those who are light on their feet or are quick-witted. Some crew are chosen simply based on appearance and how good they’ll look in their gear. If pursued, the slavers will do everything they can to capture the Moirans, and if captured, crew might be taken to a holding stall or a testing pit so that their skills can be witnessed by the public and tested. Some slavers want to show off their new property by throwing them into small roped off areas with other slaves, various creatures, or machines. Some make them stand up in front of groups and simply show them off, boasting that, at the next big event in the Runoff, they’ll surely win the grand prize. What kind of slaver has taken you? Will you be forced to fight before you rescue? Or will you not make it to the Moira before the Ingress pulls you back? ☄ but then it starts to fly ( cw: sex ) As is typical of this universe, slave trade comes in various forms. The most notorious being its illustrious sex trade. Slaves are bought and sold quickly and often, with no notable preference for appearance or species. Buyers come from all over to find slaves to work in their brothels, for personal use, as in-house entertainment, and much more. While the other two most popular type of slave trade don’t care as much about the physical well being of their property, these specific owners usually do. They might try to incapacitate first, so that the slaves aren’t bruised or cut, and if necessary, use binds until they can get them back to their ships or holding stalls. Some owners have their slaves cleaned and dressed in the finest attire, while others shove them into uniforms and tossed into stalls. Were you captured? Did you escape? Or were you rescued before something untoward occurred? What's more, events of the past always have a way of coming back to haunt you.
Months past, a monster terrorized the crew and left a very literal mark upon those that it touched. Those scarred by encounters with the Ploiatos will find their minds drifting as they work and go about their day. They may also find themselves in a different part of the ship than intended when they come back to themselves. It happens slowly, these small moments of lost time. But both before and after these events occur, one might notice that the scars seem to shift slightly. Where the patterns have been stable for months, suddenly the branching arms of the scars appear to be in a slightly different position than before. More often than not, those who lose time will regain awareness and find themselves in Navigation. When this happens, oftentimes Captain Manasseh will herd them out with a quiet, but undeniably firm, suggestion to visit the infirmary. More unsettling are the moments when they awaken in the I.L.R. standing outside the one door that should never be opened. As for those who were lucky enough to avoid encounters with the creature locked within, they must figure out how to deal with their friends and fellow crew who seem to walk around in a fog with no control of their actions.
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-07-19 01:11 am
no subject
Inwardly, he's grateful she got there when she did. He doesn't even want to think how far that strange compulsion would've taken him, how much he could've done without even realizing it, if only she hadn't stepped in. ]
Sure. Yes, we— we can do that. I could use some insight anyway, since I've been trying to figure out how the Ingress malfunctioned.
no subject
I wish I could offer you a wealth of technical details, but in truth, I have neither the time nor the capability to be the sort of genius it takes to fully understand. I have people for that.
[ Statement of fact. She's the queen; she can't play scientist as well. ]
But I spent a lot of time with Reed Richards, who does understand these matters. And I have been there, and done these things, and seen this before.
[ There's a moment where the swirling waves become more agitated, billowing the way a cobra's hood does or a cat's back arches, before it subsides. ]
Truthfully it happens to us more often than you might imagine.
no subject
[ One last glance sideways, he starts down the hallway, towards where she came from and farther away from the door. He's inwardly grateful that she found him when she did, honestly, and it probably shows in the way he exhales quietly and his shoulders ease up, as he can barely hide how eager he is to get as far away from here as possible. ]
What do you mean? Without us noticing, or...
no subject
[ And if she notices his discomfort easing, she would never remark on it. But it is maybe not entirely accidental that her hair fills the hallway behind them as they go on, obscuring the way back in shades of red. ]
To detect a thing you must be aware of it happening. My understanding from speaking with Iron Man— he is your version of Iron Man, I think? He is not the most forthcoming person, but from our conversation I gather that is has not happened to you yet, or you have not yet been in a position to be aware of it. But where I come from we have long been aware of "dimensions" to our own universe, which frequently interact with us and each other. We've also been aware of corresponding alternate universes in which the timeline has diverged or will diverge at some point. On occasion there are visitors. At least once that I've experienced the contact has been more...extensive than that.
no subject
[ 'Right now' because there's been another one before, and Bruce won't discard the hypothesis that another one might show up. ]
How does it happen, in your world? Is it a device, like the Ingress here? Or is it dependent upon an individual's specific power, or something like it? [ Much as he'd like to know the technical details, he'll keep it to just general notions instead, out of curiosity more than anything. The last bit gets his attention more than the rest, though. ]
How extensive?
no subject
But if she can't give him the thing itself, she can give him everything she remembers. ]
Both. For example, we've always accessed the Negative Zone via technological means, though no one particularly wants to go there or associate with its denizens. The Guardians of the Galaxy mounted a covert operation in the Cancerverse by technological means, although the technology was at least in part powered by the head of a Celestial, so perhaps that is more dependent on the specific power of that Celestial. [ And she realizes this is becoming too technical, too much jargon— ]
That will all take some explaining. Let me try to simplify: very extensive between dimensions, very extensive when it comes to interactions between slightly diverged universes based in time travel. A full-scale incursion of one universe into another has occurred only once to my knowledge. Technological means are more common for people like us, but there are beings, more abstract entities, for whom I think it may be an inherent second nature to move between planes and universe.
no subject
I take it from your words that those entities choose to mostly keep their distance. [ Bruce can't help being reminded of a certain TV show, but... seems overly dorky to bring it up. Especially when Medusa likely would have no clue what he was talking about. ]
How do you think happened in this case? I mean, people are saying Ingress malfunction, but could it really do that? Could it just be a technological mishap? Or... [ He ponders quietly, finding his own hypothesis to be outlandish at best. ] The Ingress could be sentient. Or even the ship itself.
no subject
[ Some of them being, the one that eats planets. That one. Though to be honest, they could use a Galactus right now. When he can be persuaded to help...well. There are few things in the multiverse capable of resisting him. ]
I think— [ She chooses her words very carefully, methodically putting her thoughts and memories in order as she goes. ] These things have a way of compounding. If the Ingress is designed to tamper with whatever fabric holds the universe together, a small malfunction would create...cracks. Weak spots. That is what the Guardians told my husband: if the effect was sufficiently repeated within a short enough amount of time, eventually it would be too much. We thought it was absurd. Now—
[ Now she doesn't. Now she's seen what can go wrong. ]
If the ship itself is sentient, or sentient technology, perhaps someone could make contact with it? A telepath?
no subject
[ Apparently almighty creatures with far too much power letting it get to their heads is a constant in just about universe. Bruce can't say he's all that surprised, honestly. And he'd only really dealt with Loki— he can't even begin to imagine being confronted with someone or something far more powerful than one single Asgardian.
Which, for the record, is something Bruce is perfectly aware exists out there. ]
Those Guardians were right. In my world it's just theory, but yes— I'd have posited a system like this would make the universe, or even universes, highly unstable. Frankly it's a miracle we're still all in one piece somehow. It's... it's a miracle we made it from one universe to the other without a scratch, and that the glass made no lasting damage on any of us.
And by 'miracle', I mostly mean highly unlikely and highly suspicious. I don't like using the word impossible, since it apparently means nothing here.
no subject
[ Earth idioms are not her specialty. ]
However improbable the odds, surely it happens sooner or later somewhere. We already know we are dealing with a multiverse. So perhaps in some other timeline we are dead, but in this one we survived.
[ She's entertaining this theoretical discussion in the hopes that it helps him. Not because she sees any value in considering it from her perspective. The other Medusas that might have died on those other ships are irrelevant to her. ]
Why do you think it is suspicious?
no subject
[ Only one he can think of involving horses, and it does fit. But Bruce has always been far too curious not to poke at things that make no sense, even when they're something good. ]
Oh, that's cheerful. [ Said sarcastically, although he is kind of fine with a universe where he's dead. But anyway. ] Better than being endlessly sucked into a black hole.
[ An eternity spent in a time dilation field? No thank you very much. ]
Because it makes me wonder who or what is keeping us all in one piece, what exactly is keeping us alive while the Ingress continues to tear holes through multiple universes to bring people in here— and how long that may last.
no subject
I had not thought of that.
[ But the ramifications...she doesn't have the capacity to calculate all the outcomes, all the horrifying potential they hold. But it's enough to make her voice edged with effort, and leave her blood running cold. ]
It could be. [ She swallows, but it doesn't bring her voice back under her full control. ] I am not certain there is a worse possibility than that. Or how to discover the force responsible. But we should consider it.
[ Because it wouldn't be the first time. But this— this would be worse than anything yet. And it raises eerie questions, an unsettling echo of the moment her husband showed her the signal that indicated the end of everything... ]
no subject
Sorry. [ He offers a small and brief apologetic smile, dropping his head a little and shaking it. ] Forget I said that. It's... there's no use worrying about it, not when there's nothing we can do. Until something happens or we get more leads, it's best that we just carry on the best we can.
[ He shrugs a little, pursing his lips. ] For all we know, that's just a feature of the Ingress, or some inherent ability of these universes to stretch out and fold into others without any visible damage or consequence. [ Well, not usually anyway. There was always the issue with the glass, for instance. ]
no subject
I think it would be worthwhile to at least establish whether or not the Ingress itself possesses intelligence.
[ And they'll have to tackle the idea of a Kang or a Thanos behind the scenes later. ]
And perhaps make sure there is not invisible damage. I could work on the first, but I recognize the second would largely fall to you and Stark, should you want to try.
no subject
I've been doing that much for a while, yes. Monitoring things. There are a lot of unknowns in our situation but one of the science department's purposes is to get constant readings on the ship and surrounding areas. When the issue with the glass came up, for instance, the sensors picked it up right away— it was just too fast for me to be able to do anything about it.
[ He turns to her curiously. ] How would you figure out if the Ingress is sentient?
no subject
[ Which...Medusa is not. And none on the ship come to mind. No Emma Frosts, no Jean Greys or Charles Xaviers. ]
Still, among my people there is an individual called Eldrac— The Door. That was his gift after Terrigenesis. He is a door. He does not speak any longer, he has no body. His gift is that he takes you wherever he thinks you need to be. But only when he chooses to do so. Even I cannot force him to do anything. It can be a matter of just asking different questions, making different requests, and there is no telling what he will respond to, or to whom, until he does. If we cannot make psychic contact, perhaps we need to just start putting people in front of it and seeing what happens.
no subject
So, he keeps that suggestion to himself. Medusa's idea sounds a little strange, but at this point it's not the strangest thing he's heard. Rather than dismiss it like he might've when he first arrived here, now he listens intently, knitting his eyebrows together. ]
And you think, if the Ingress is sentient, it'll just... respond to some of us? [ He crosses his arms thoughtfully, then nods. ] It's a thought. Safer than poking around, too.
no subject
[ She's not stupid. She's aware of what it sounds like. It sounds like mystical mumbo-jumbo, something that doesn't hold much sway with her even if she's known Dr. Strange for almost twenty years. The Inhumans are ruled by genetics, not by mysticism. ]
Under other circumstances, we could be more precise. But right now we could use anything to go on.
[ Her hair briefly reflects the agitation of this thought, curling like a snake behind them, stray scarlet lines curling around her legs. ]
If it's sentient, it must respond to something. I am willing to try anything, Dr. Banner. It has no brain; we cannot call in a neurologist to search for activity and piece together the puzzle that way.
no subject
[ Bruce would've been the first to dismiss a suggestion like that in the past. Magic, spiritualism? It's crap. He'd dedicate a whole life to proving that everything is science, everything is tangible, even if it's just the concept or the theories behind it.
But it's not. Some things are much more complex and difficult to understand, and having been here for so long, meeting some of the people he has? He can't really dismiss those ideas as if they weren't real here. They very much are, and for all he knows they might work best when it comes to the Ingress. ]
Provided it doesn't make it blow up, I'm just as willing as you are. Your idea hardly seems dangerous, just... potentially unfruitful, but we won't know until we try.