THE AMAZING BASE.

[agogemod]

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

Comments

[doublejumps]

[ Japan's relation with war over the years is something they could likely talk about for hours, if they so chose. Genji isn't a historian by any means, but he learned as much as any young man growing up in Japan did (perhaps more, given his strict schooling and training as one of the Shimada heirs), so that's something.

He has no idea if Ashitaka would be allowed to see his own future. No doubt there would be complications with that kind of setup, or at least a risk to the timeline. Maybe COST has found ways around the sort of thing, who knows? It's something he could request of their commander, at the very least. ]

I wonder if other people will have similar requests, and if COST will have any interest in granting them, in repayment for our help.

[ Maybe that's too much to expect, but Genji still doesn't know much about COST, so he's curious what Ashitaka's opinion will be. Speaking of which, Ashitaka is an unusual name, but that isn't so surprising when he's from the distant past. ]

My name is Genji. [ He pauses in his walk briefly to turn and bow to Ashitaka and Yakul. ] It's nice to meet you, Ashitaka.

[lonelywar]

[Whether or not Ashitaka would wish to hear about what lie in the future was questionable. It's not to say he isn't curious - anyone would be, if someone told them that they could recount what would happen for hundreds of years to come. It was simply human nature. But Ashitaka had already seen bits and pieces of times and places advanced from the time he had come from, and there was much of it that he did not like. Given, their mission always would draw them to wars; he is certain that there are hundreds of years of peace he has not seen. But it is dismaying to see that humans always return to the same problems. Gallipoli had been truly terrible, showing the depths that they would go to to kill their enemies, doing to them worse than what they would even do to animals.

Knowing too much of the future, he fears, might cloud too much the decisions he must make. He was told to see, to learn, and to understand, but he thinks it is possible to take too much into account. It would be no good, for example, if he was too worried about the world-wide wars of the future, that he overlooked the comparatively minuscule conflict revolving around Irontown in his own time.

Perhaps it's a little hypocritical to think this after also thinking he would wish to see the future, but that would just be a snapshot, something devoid of context. He would just like to see Japan the way Ryuji saw it and experienced it. Showing others the land he felt most strongly for would be interesting as well.]

If it is in their power, I believe it is something we might be able to discuss with them. But... with things as dire as they are, it would have to be another time.

[Which probably meant never. They didn't really seem to have much time to breathe in this war with the Regency, let alone go on pleasant field trips to other places and times.]

It is nice to meet you as well, Genji. [He stops as well, returning the bow. Yakul blinks at the exchange, and he contributes by pawing at the ground with a hoof.]

Do you have much experience, traveling in the wilderness?

[doublejumps]

[ War is something that the human race seems to be incapable of getting away from, and if it's true that their work with COST will take them to other worlds, then it's possible that's true for all races. Even within Genji's lifetime, he's seen the world vacillate between war and peace. He'd been part of an organization meant to spread peace, but all of his work in it had involved violence and murder. Peace is not nearly as simple as the Regency would like to make it.

Ashitaka's response is telling, in that it seems unlikely that there will ever be the chance to slow down and request something as frivolous as getting glimpses of the future of their worlds. It's an interesting thought, but ultimately they can't get too distracted from the current mission.

Granted, right now that mission involves exploring an alien world, bursting with life, and Genji's eager to get moving. ]

I have some. There was a space of a few years where I traveled the world on my own, as a nomad of sorts.

[ They've only just met, so he doesn't immediately delve into why he'd taken such a journey. It had been a difficult and lonely time for him, but it had ultimately led to something good, so Genji has no regrets about it. ]

This is uncharted territory, though! I wonder what we'll find.

[ And just like that, he gets on the move again. ]

[lonelywar]

[It would be disheartening to see that it was a fault that extended to other civilizations and other species outside of their own world. Ashitaka's only frame of reference was the juxtaposition of humans' greed and arrogance with the reflexive defensiveness of the gods, who were merely trying to defend lands that men were suddenly invading. War had always seemed to be something unique to mankind. Animals would kill, but they did so as nature dictated, and if left unincited, the gods would simply keep to their own lands and leave all else alone.

He had wondered quite a lot about what it was about humans that made them so uniquely susceptible to the vices that left them wanting more, and removed from them the inhibitions which would keep them from doing something terrible in order to get what they wanted. He has only ephemeral ideas, the far more solid one being that such things might not be accessible to the minds of humans.

His first response to the answer is a nod; it makes sense, and he doesn't feel particularly pressured to ask about any reasons. Ashitaka had reasons of his own for leaving his home and embarking on his own journey, and while not secret, he didn't relish the idea of rehashing them very much (or at all).]

We will be well-equipped then. [He wouldn't have minded if Genji knew little about living in the wilderness, but it certainly makes it easier.] I had only just started traveling on my own in my own time, but I am familiar with living in the wilds.

Though...

[He's right. They're on the back of a colossal alien fish in the middle of the timeless, space-less aether. There's no telling what they will find.]

You are right. It will most likely be unlike anything we have seen or experienced. We would do best to be cautious, then.

[He follows along, Yakul keeping pace a short distance behind them.]

[doublejumps]

[ If war is something that is specific to humans, then Genji wouldn't be able to guess at the reason for that with any certainty. He's seen humans be cruel many times, has been on both the receiving and giving end of such acts. Even with the enlightenment he's received from Master Zenyatta, he still finds it hard to wrap his mind around such things. Zenyatta would claim that it's the discord that exists in each person's soul that's to blame, and only a path to harmony will allow for change.

Not everyone wants to change, though, and without that element in play, war will continue. The most they can do here, as members of COST, is to make sure that events play out the way that they're meant to, as ugly as they might be.

Both of them have some experience, and that's good enough for Genji to press forward into the unknown wilderness with little concern. He doesn't intend to disturb any wildlife (or plant life, for that matter) without due caution, but so far he navigates the immediate area with an easy confidence. ]

Let's hope the things out here don't like the taste of humans... or elks. [ Genji smiles, wanting to make it clear that he's making a joke. While it's entirely likely that they could get attacked by something predatory, he knows how to handle himself in a fight, if it comes to that. ]

Where were you traveling? Before all this.

[ It's going to be a day-long walk, most likely. They may as well make conversation. ]

[lonelywar]

[It was a difficult pill to swallow, that sometimes the way that is right for things to progress so that history will remain unaltered and unbroken is a way that feels wrong in his own hands, to his own heart. What they had done in Gallipoli, to him, had been pointless and soulless, more akin to the work of monsters or demons rather than human beings with hearts beating in their chests which could comprehend the pain of others and minds which could, if put to task, devise other ways to decide grievances. And yet what they had done had been what history demanded, and so they had no other options.

The only way he can make peace with all of it is to continue forward, and fortunately enough, they had been served this wilderness to lose themselves in. It was the perfect panacea to help distance him from what they had just left behind, though he knows it will not be so easily to escape in entirety.

Ashitaka returns the smile.]

Yes, true. But even should misfortune befall us, we will be able to defend ourselves.

[In Ashitaka's experience, predators would prefer easier targets, but perhaps the beasts in these lands were a bit different.

Here's another question that's difficult for him to answer. He was unaware of the name of most of the area he traveled through, only heading west, as he had been told to. And perhaps the names had changed between his and Genji's time...]

I traveled west from the village of my birth to a place called Irontown, built upon the edge of a lake, on the outskirts of the forest and the mountains. I... am afraid I cannot be more specific than that.

[There were other people who were Japanese among COST's members, and it hadn't really rung any bells with them. He thinks it's unlikely it would with Genji, but you never know...]

The only other things that I know is that it was ruled by a woman named Lady Eboshi, and it was besieged by a man named Lord Asano.

[doublejumps]

[ Genji had only been present for the tail-end of Gallipoli, and so it hadn't left him hollow the way it seems to have affected others. The claustrophobic nature of the trenches must have gotten unbearable after weeks or months spent there. He's relieved that they had been able to get the ANZAC soldiers to safety, though he doesn't know much else of what happened there.

All the same, it's nice to have this time at BASE to settle in and wrap his head around this otherworldly situation he's found himself in. Getting the chance to meet some of his fellow agents is nice too, and he's already quite fond of Ashitaka. ]

Yes we will. [ Genji smirks and runs a hand over the hilt of his wakizashi, at his back. He wouldn't attack anything here unprovoked, but he will fight for his life.

The details that Ashitaka gives about where he'd been are mostly vague, and as expected, not even the specific names ring any kind of bell with Genji. It's likely something that didn't make it into a history book, for whatever reason. ]

I see! What was your purpose for going there?

[ That's a question that Ashitaka can hopefully answer a little more easily. ]

[lonelywar]

[It was for the best. Ashitaka had seen nor experienced anything in Gallipoli that had been worthwhile. As far as he was concerned, the entire war it was a part of was a scourge and a blemish upon the history of mankind.

But perhaps that was just the way things were, in the future.

After what they had been through, however, there's an ease in knowing that it is just himself and Genji, and that neither of them preferred firearms when fighting. To be completely separate from the sound of gunfire for a time was a calming thought, even though sometimes he feels he still hears similar cracks, though they were little more than echoes still locked within his skull.

He is silent for a moment, continuing forward. He had been vague by necessity so far, simply because he didn't know the specifics. But in this he certainly can answer more descriptively, but so far he hasn't, deciding to be sparing with whom he shares the information of his situation.

But Genji had been open to share his own situation with him and Yakul, and they shared a similar history, even though they were hundreds of years apart.

So he decides to be frank.]

I left in search of a way to lift a curse. [To some for which such things were not common, it might seem strange to say, but Ashitaka's tone of voice is grave and level.] Though, COST recruited me before I could find it.

[doublejumps]

[ There is something nice about losing themselves in the wilderness like this. Genji had done something similar in the past, and he knows how calming it can be to simply remove yourself from everything. All the same, he's glad that neither he nor Ashitaka are doing this alone. There's no telling what might be waiting for them out here.

The answer that he receives is an interesting one. A curse? Such a thing isn't supposed to exist by Genji's knowledge, but in his brief time with COST, he's already seen so many impossible things. Then again, Ashitaka comes from far in the past, before many medical breakthroughs were made. Maybe there's a better explanation for this "curse."

Not that Genji wants to come across as condescending when he asks about it, and so he's quiet for a few moments as they walk, gathering his thoughts. ]

What kind of curse? I'm not very familiar with them...

[ If COST pulled Ashitaka away from this task, he must be eager to get back. Though maybe he'd decided that stopping the Regency took precedence over lifting this curse. ]

[lonelywar]

[There is a marked difference in adventuring into this wilderness than when he had departed to pursue answers to the west of the Emishi village. That had been wilds that he had understood; species of plants and animals which he was at the very least familiar with, if not quite knowledgeable of. That everything here was so vibrant and new were causes for both excitement and concern, though even if things grew dangerous, Ashitaka found himself far preferring the dangers of the wilds versus that of the war-torn battlefield.

He has experienced a handful of reactions to the truth of his situation, though honestly fewer than one might expect; for many months he had been more secretive about it, concerned for how some might react just as he had been back home, but with the variety of people in COST's ranks, such caution seemed less necessary.]

The type which would claim my life if left to its own devices. [He carefully steps under a low-hanging branch of a tree, turning to lift it aside so Yakul could follow them.] COST provided me with something which stays its advance, though it does not lift it.

[Yes, he very much did wish to return home, not only for the sake of his curse but also the tumultuous situation he had left right in the middle of. But that was not in his control, and he isn't even sure if he could leave COST's struggle anymore with good conscience. Not when the Regency knew who he was, knew that he had already fought to aid them.]

In return, I shall aid them. I have fought alongside them long enough to see that their battle is important enough to do so.

[doublejumps]

[ Similarly, this environment is like nothing that Genji has seen before. Even the trees are foreign, the trunks and leaves in different colors that make it feel almost as if he's in some strange dream. This is real, though, as unlikely as it might seem, and the sooner that he adapts, the better.

Getting to know his fellow COST agents is a large part of that, and he already feels like he's learned much about Ashitaka. This curse that he's suffering from sounds like an illness more than anything else, but it's good to hear that COST has some way to stop its progression. Given that they can control time, that might have something to do with it. (He's getting the hang of how things work around here, at least a little.) ]

I see. It was good they were able to offer you that much, but I hope that you can find a permanent cure once you return home.

[ Genji's feet move quietly through the grass as they press further into a forested area. There are no clearly paved paths here, so the terrain is bound to get more difficult to navigate the further out that they travel. ]

Are there any other side effects?

[ Is there pain? Does the curse drain his energy? ]