agogelogs | THE AMAZING BASE.

Entry tags:

THE AMAZING BASE.

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Welcome home, nerds.
WHEN? Outside time and space, in the aether between dimensions.
ANYTHING ELSE? There is also a fish. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

MYSTERY FISH;

question the mystery fish

DEPARTING GALLIPOLI

The order comes the day after the Marie Antoinette sets sail:

PACK UP AND GET READY TO MOVE OUT. WE'VE DONE ALL WE CAN HERE.

DEPLOYMENT: BASE.

WE NEED TO RESTOCK. BE PREPARED FOR MORE TRANSFERS ON ARRIVAL.

STAY SAFE. TIME-STEP EXPECTED TO BEGIN WITHIN THE HOUR.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NEW TO COST: FIND A SECLUDED SPOT AND TRY NOT TO EAT ANYTHING BEFORE THE JUMP.

The Time-Step

The transfer begins like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, just a hum of sensation.

But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomenon as "the buzz". The feeling builds, not unlike standing near a great engine or the wind-rattled branches of a massive tree. There is a long moment of motion sickness and you can't be sure if the world is shaking you from the inside out or the outside in. It may be better to close your eyes against the growing nausea, as the world blurs out of focus.

A star shines in the distance. You may hear the faint rustling of leaves. Some swear they hear voices in this moment, indistinct words echoing off nothingness. Others say they feel a touch of the divine, that the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle and nothing more than the suggestion of sound. Or maybe it's only an illusion, brought on by the powerful technology grafted into your skin.

One thing is for sure: One moment you are here and the next you are not.

The shift takes you from whatever solitude you could find aboard the Marie Antoinette to the temperature-regulated hallway of what looks like a very poorly put together space station. Droids rush up and down the long hallway, fixing broken bits of machinery or just chattering with each other. A few crows sit on high ledges, looking down and watching. Someone mutters something about a centaur around the corner.

And you might just notice, provided you were in Gallipoli long enough to acquire stowaways, that the parasites lurking on your skin are mercifully gone.

For new arrivals who didn't experience Gallipoli: You, too, will appear in this long hallway, filled with droids and crows and humans (still filthy and clad in ANZAC uniforms, carrying battered equipment from the first World War). And you'll be wearing the minimal COST-issued athletic underwear and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!

READ THE BASE INFOPAGE.

home away from home

Those who have been to BASE before may find a strangeness to it all: BASE seems...still. The windows show a verdant world instead of the usual aether (though with the typical paranoia), and the halls are bereft of all but a few crows. A man stands at the end of the long hallway you arrived in, waiting for you to get your bearings before he speaks.

Except, you know, he's not a man. He's a centaur.

"It's been barely a week since you left, by my reckoning. But for you, I'm sure, it's been much longer. Still, much has changed. You may have noticed we are...becalmed. This is due, it seems, to an error in our ways. We kept something that does not belong to us, several wild creatures that are meant to be free. They seem to have psychically called out to their home, and their home responded; we are now somewhat stranded.

"But let me explain—the Aether is the nexus between worlds and times, but it is not a dead thing. Creatures live in it. We have crashed onto the back of one such creature, a mighty beast, as large as a small country and entirely undiscovered. We have found why the creature has intercepted us: we have accidentally taken captive some of its children. Shapers, the wild creatures I mentioned, it seems they form a symbiotic bond with the creature, and live happily within its stomach."

He frowns, considering this.

"Shapers, I should mention, are creatures that briefly infested our fair BASE. The issue was dealt with, though we kept some for experimentation. The coelacanth took issue with this, it seems. It can speak, of course; we are stranded very near its head, and if you wish to ask it a question, I implore you to do so. The creature is older than creation—older than me—and only speaks once to any creature it encounters. It's said its wisdom brings kings to their knees."

His eyes crinkle in humor.

"My name is Chiron and I am the caretaker of this place, for those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting. More importantly, I am a trainer and a teacher of some experience; if you wish training or schooling of any sort, do summon me. I will be happy to assist."

He's easy to contact, often found in the library, the training area, his capsule, or elsewhere in the station, attempting to fix what he understands and arguing with crows.

"We intended to spend this time exploring, for this is a rare opportunity to discover more of an entirely uncharted world. I hasten you to see if anything on the coelacanth can be of use, but be careful. Take only what you need, not what you may want. I intend to learn my lessons well; these creatures are not pets. Takes food, water, and any materials of use to us for our survival and perseverance, but no more. We task you with this: explore the coelacanth, and see what of it can be understood. Bring us back samples, but do try to interrupt the natural habitat as little as possible. We are guests here."

He bows and the action shows a slight limp in one of his back legs.

"I would join you, but I am far too old for such activities. Still, do pepper me with any questions you should encounter. I am always available on the network, or in person, within this hulking mass we call home."

And then he leaves you to find your capsules and rest.

CAPSULE ASSIGNMENTS

Once you've found your room and settled in—perhaps taken a shower, collected clothes, and eaten—a droid will approach you with camping equipment and give you a brief explanation of how to access and use the database. It's time to get your gear and go.

Of course, you can decline. You can stay and tend to the fort, maybe try and clean up this patchwork jumble of metal and machinery. But seeing the sights on the back of a giant fish flying through non-space? Who can say no to that?

the undiscovered country.

BASE's airlocks open into a lush valley, vibrant with color and rustling with life that has thrived on the coelacanth's back for millennia. It's a striking shift from the rot and gunfire of Gallipoli, unmarked by shrapnel, bombshells, and never-fresh air.

No, the air here is clean in a way that can leave you breathless, untouched by pollutants and stirred into a gentle breeze. It's a marked departure for anyone used to a more modern Earth or rough equivalent; letting the air sit on your tongue leaves a crisp, unsullied taste behind. And the whole forest feels alive, in a way that reminds you of how small you really are.

A white crow perches in a tree near BASE's exit, too high up to properly engage but a stark contrast to the bright leaves around her. She merely watches recruits come and go with a shrewd eye, feathers fluffed against the light chill. There are other crows scattered throughout the wilderness, some easier to find than others as they flit through the trees, sit on camping equipment, or hitch rides on the hoverbikes.

Besides those brief flashes of black feathers, however, you're left unsupervised.

Try not to fuck up anything too badly.

EXPLORE:INFOPAGE|DATABASE
talk to a fish | destruction report

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well, that certainly gets her attention. She leans away from the bike a little more, eyes bright with interest, because the idea of an entire room to build things in is far too good to pass up.]

I can't believed I missed that. What was in it?

Not much by way of materials, but there's facilities and tools, which is a start.

[He wishes they had more raw materials, or any reliable way of getting them, but somewhere to do repairs is better than having nowhere]

Do you want to see? The technology's a bit different from what I'm used to.

[She doesn't love the idea of leaving the speeder behind, but a selfish part of her knows at least that in the state it's in, no one else can take it and make her work mean nothing. And just to be sure, she reaches in and pulls a fuel distributor out, making sure it won't be going anywhere without her.]

That'd be great. I need to stop back at my room for something anyway.

[There's a medic pack there, something from her time trapped by the Regency that she had managed while she and Noctis were breaking free, and it strikes her now as a bad idea to leave without it, just in case.]

[9S recognizes at a glance that the craft won't function without that part. It's a good way to secure it, in lieu of hacking or means they lack the resources for. Someone would need another such craft if they wanted hers.

And at that point they'd still only have one functional hover bike. That really should keep it safe]

Good to hear. I don't know how many of us have that much technical knowledge...

[He trails off, frowning in thought, before he shrugs]

Well, anyway, it's pretty easy to get to. Let me know if we pass your room along the way. No sense in having to double back if it's right there.

Probably more than you'd expect, but not as many as you need. That's seemed to be the case when it comes to people here.

[Wiping her hands off on the grass rather than staining her newly returned pants, Rey stands up and heads towards him, motioning for him to lead the way.]

How did you end up finding that room, anyway?

[With her gesture as indication, 9S turns and heads back toward the entrance of the base]

Well you see, scouting's one of my primary duties, where I'm from. And I was also wondering what the facility was like...

[How it's compare with the Bunker, rather, but the words stick in his throat]

They haven't built an electronic lock yet that'd keep me out.

[She follows along, falling in step beside him as they had back in. It's a shame to leave all the green behind, but if there's one thing that she's willing to do it for it's a whole room devoted to mechanics.]

You're a slicer, then? [But that's a very specific term, one she isn't sure exists for him when most people seem to be from earth, so she corrects herself quickly enough.] You hack into things?

Scanner's my word for it, but yeah, that's what my unit type does. That and scouting for intel, but hacking helps with that.

[Sure enough, 9S' strides come with the confidence of one who knows precisely where he's going. The structure of this place brings to mind something that could have been the Bunker's predecessor some time in the distant past, and he'd invested some time mapping areas out.

There's still more, he knows, that remains to be seen]

Units like me are "slicers" where you're from?

[As they walk she considers that, the way he refers to himself, and wonders exactly what it could possibly mean. He doesn't look like a droid.]

Slicers can be anyone, it doesn't matter what species they are. Humans are only one part of a huge amount of creatures where I'm from.

[She motions with her hand when they get to a turn that will take them to her room, and by now the path should be looking pretty familiar to him.]

What do you mean by units like you?

[9S follows along, glancing around despite that familiarity. How many rooms were this way? He'd been so occupied with mapping out the space that he doesn't know whether he has neighbors or not.

It feels like such a long time since he'd been in the Bunker, now, despite the relative brevity]

Huh, so it's not a unit type after all... [How weird. What sorts of creatures must she mean though? Surely animals can do no such things] Scanner units usually perform duties like hacking, maintenance, and intelligence-gathering, so I thought those slicers you mentioned must be similar.

[But it seems that's not the case after all]

[He'll recognize the door she reaches out to, too, because it belongs to him as well.]

They're not totally different, but slicers usually are breaking into things for credits- for money.

[The pieces are starting to come together, too, so...]

We also have droids who help humans with everything from protocol to flying ships. I think you'd fit right in.

Really? That's the first time I've heard something like that... Seems like what I am isn't a feasible reality for most.

[Which has been a peculiar experience for him, coming from a world populated by androids and machines. His normal is nothing at all resembling this.

Even so, he's grateful to have found himself among humans, impossible as he'd thought that would be.

He watches as the living quarter shift into place, and there's no missing the familiarity]

...This is your place?

I've picked up enough by now to know I'm from the future in comparison to everyone else, so that might have something to do with it. One of my best friends is a droid, actually.

[She misses BB-8 terribly, to the point where every time she opens up this door she hopes that in the same way her clothes were just dropped off, she'll find BB-8 rolling through the common area exploring and getting into trouble, but every time she's been greeted with silence.

As she steps in, she nods to 9S to both invite him in and confirm his question.]

Yeah. I think I'm in the minority, though, everyone else has a roommate and I haven't seen mine at all.

[He follows her inside, only to pause just within the doorway as she answers]

Oh. [Was he supposed to have waited to meet the person he was assigned to share housing with. Is that a human custom?] Actually, I was assigned here too, but I was...sort of eager to get the lay of the land, that kind of thing.

[He rubs the back of his neck, debating how rude he might've been to a being he is only supposed to be of help to. Maybe he should see if anyone can teach him about some of the more basic customs around here, and confirm what data he does have on human social activities.

For all he knows, something might be radically different]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

THE AMAZING BASE.

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no subject

I want you to know I think I'm just about to finish route c and I'm dying over your boy

Route C...the heart pain...did you find the flight unit in flooded city ruins?

no but I finished the whole thing last night so now I can go back and look while I cry forever

I missed it originally too...then stumbled upon it and more crying

I almost don't want to look but I hate myself so I know I will

I know this to be true because you played a painful game to the end

now I'm reading all the side materials and I just want to die

the short story bits kill me, like memory cage

it was the shorts that made me give in and make a 2b journal, now I'm in hell

the shorts are so good... welcome to android hell

hey thanks.... sobs forever

there there, you suffer in company