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

[horsepowered]

Base

[Chiron's first instinct upon returning to base is to sleep. Sleep for a week at least, recouping all of his lost energy and refusing to do more than the bare minimum of work that is expected of him. The last mission has been exhausting on every level, and frankly, he suspects that a week won't be enough time to recoup lost energies.

Not that he actually sleeps for a full week, but he does take it fairly easy, puttering around BASE when sleep doesn't take him. When Chiron isn't resting, he is quietly walking the halls of BASE, or else in the library. In there, he's taken to curling up and grabbing something at random, losing himself in the work.]

Exploring the Marvelous Breadfish Coelacanth

A horse is a horse of course
Being back at BASE had mostly been a matter of relief, but there had also been a surprise upon Chiron's return. He had found a small runestone left for him, and after trying to determine it's use, well, it had only one purpose: regaining centaur form.

Not being so foolish as to put two big horsebutts on BASE due to space, Chiron had waited until he was ready to explore the coelacanth and the vast flora and fauna it was home to. Once he was outside though? The runestone came out immediately, was put to use, and Chiron's usual form was back: his lower horse half was a medium brown, well groomed and with the ponytail matching his normal hair. (Dead straight, well kept, probably highly braidable.) Either way, it meant getting around on all four legs rather than using the bikes, and indugling a little bit of glee at being back to normal.

The sound of horse hooves heralded his approach everywhere on the coelacanth.

Study time, excellent
"Hm, it'd be good to get an idea of any of these have medicinal purposes."

Chiron's exploration meant that he assumed he was alone more often than not. The coelacanth was large and COST's cell was big, but not that big. Crouching down beside a collection of Heaven Blossoms, careful not to touch them. Observation only. Chiron chided himself quietly for forgetting gloves back at the little spot where he had made camp for the time being.

"There's too much here. It'd take a lifetime to catalog it all, and another to make sense of every discovery.


Wildcard!
You know what to do.

[cutlery]

BASE

i - showers

[ Like certainly everyone who had just gone to Gallipoli, Sebastian's first order of business is to head to the showers. He doesn't usually mind getting dirty or being messy, but he also usually has the luxury of being able to take care of such problems in a very different way. There's something quite nice about simply changing your form to rid yourself of anything unsightly. But an extended period in mud, blood, and grime, and the usually prim and proper demon is actually looking forward to getting to wash all of it off the "human" way.

In theory.

Because he's far from the only one with the idea, after all. It's many peoples' first stop, so by the time Sebastian arrives, there's a bit of a line even with the many showers. As soon as Sebastian sees this, he smiles, though it's a thin, tight smile. It passes to one that's much more friendly, since he turns to someone just a bit ahead of him in the queue. ]

Pardon me, but... Would you be interested in perhaps bartering for your spot in line?

[ He's at least polite, but he wants that shower so bad. It's not often that a demon opens the table for bartering for something so simple, so this might be a prime opportunity to get something from him... ]

ii - library

[ Once he's feeling refreshed, Sebastian is in a distinctly better mood, and taking a bit more time to look around BASE than when he was last here to train for the trenches, it doesn't take him long before he finds the library. Despite being a demon, he's also a Huge Nerd, so the idea of knowledge and simply seeing what humans can and will do is enough for him. ]

Well, at least they have taste...

[ It's said more to himself as he browses books, though if you're nearby, it's easily overheard. Maybe he'll share what he's looking at if you ask? Or if not, he eventually finds the films, and is promptly fascinated once he realizes exactly what they are. It somehow doesn't surprise him that humanity would manage to record even motion, but he's quite interested to see it. So. Sebastian leans your way, and nods politely to catch your attention. ]

Would happen to have a recommendation for a film? I have not seen one, so I do not know a good place to start.

COELACANTH

[ If you're heading out on a longer expedition to explore this strange new "world", you'll have a willing and capable companion if you want to take one. You can either ask Sebastian, or if you seem to be heading out, he may just ask to come with you. Regardless, he has his own curiosty about where the BASE has landed, though not quite enough to venture out alone. A sense of adventure is something he doesn't quite have... ]
i - camping

[ It's about time to rest for the evening, though chances are, you probably decided that. Sebastian doesn't seem tired at all after a day of sometimes difficult hiking, weirdly enough. But he also doesn't complain about pausing, and instead is helpfully trying to set up the tent. As it recommends, it's definitely easier if it's a two person job, though it's still tedious. That's probably why he strikes up conversation while they work. ]

The coelacanth we have landed on... Or run into, I suppose is the better word. Do you think you will be asking it a question?

ii - idk there's so much

[ Like seriously, there's so much on our new fish friend that it's hard to not write stupidly long prompts... So a variation instead! Comment with this prompt, and I'll write you a custom starter for some expedition/camping activity. If you want to investigate a particular piece of flora/fauna, let me know and we can incorporate that. Otherwise, I'll probably just randomly pick something that seems fun! ]

WILDCARD

[ The standard wildcard! Come up with a scenario either inside the base or outside of it and I'll gladly go for it! You can always hit me up if you have something particular in mind as well! And as always, I'll match your prose preference for any prompt. ]

Daenerys Targaryen | GoT

[dorzalta]

The call for their departure comes at a fortunate time; it's been days since she's had food or drink, days where battle and travel have drained her near dry. The world threatens to spin and fall out from beneath her feet even before the buzz begins manifesting. Irriella, larger now, fattened up and the size of a small pony, is stuffed beneath Dany's coat, making her look pregnant and bizarre at the best of times in this enclosed space on Marie Antoinette.

When they reappear on Base, the world does fall out from beneath her. Her vision fills with spots. Her stomach drops and then lifts, but empty as it is, there is nothing to retch... and besides, everything is in the process of turning black as she collapses in an unconscious heap. If you're near her, you'll see the lion-masked woman tumble, a large and pale spider bursting free from within the confines of a war-ragged coat, clicking out loud in a frenzied tone: "Lady Mother!"


[ ooc: Mask: 1, Dany: 0. She'll be carted away so that Sgt. Chiron can remove the mask from her. Actual prompts in individual tags below. If you'd like something specific, please let me know~ bubblytangerine ]

shouta aizawa | mha

[eyedrop]

i. wandering around;

[ There's an unfamiliar man in the middle of the hallway, dressed in basic black underwear and clutching long loops of a pale, grey scarf. He has fresh stitches in his back and numerous other scars everywhere else (particularly under his right eye and on his right elbow), his skin is sunless pale, eyes bloodshot, shoulders hunched, hair a dark, wild riot about his face. He looks both fit and fit to collapse.

Aizawa starts rolling up the scarf in his hands, frowning slightly. He doesn't remember how he got here, though he knows that he did agree to it. He just can't, for the life of him, recall why.

He starts walking as he finagles the scarf, his tired eyes catching on whomever doesn't seem too preoccupied. His voice is deep, languid, and completely deadpan. ]

Hey. I have a few questions.

[ Someone direct him to the clothes table, please. ]

ii. hanging out;

[ After some time spent gathering his bearings, Aizawa's ready to be useful. He's not exactly a rugged survivalist--he's much more used to concrete jungles. But he's adaptable. Case in point: he's presently suspended, upside-down, from a thick tree branch. He's got his fists in his scarf, which is otherwise partly looped around the branch, easily bearing his weight. He's squinting into the rustling underbrush, alert for--something.

On approach: ]

Watch yourself.

[ And then, an echo from the bushes: "Watch yourself." ]

iii. sleeping dangerously;

[ The carrot coffins suit Aizawa just fine. More than, even. As a connossieur of such things, he rates it low on usability, but the heat rating is perfectly adequate--and 'obnoxious orange' is almost as goood as 'banana yellow'. So he's up in another tree, giving this bag a whirl. Surrounded by strange flora and fauna. Ostensibly alone.

A number of small, chittering foxwealds are crawling all over him, snuffling against the sleeping bag, nibbling cautiously on the ends of his hair. His eyes are shut, he's breathing evenly, and he seems totally unperturbed. His scarf hangs from the tree, swinging idly in the occasional wind.

Hopefully these friendly little creatures won't eventually move on to nibbling his actual face. ]

iv. wildcard;

[ THE FISH IS VAST and thus so are the possibilities; Aizawa's wandering here and there, largely trying to be useful. If none of these prompts suit, feel free to reply with a blank or hmu @ runehallow & we can sort something else out. ]

ryo asuka | devilman (ova/manga)

[reillumination]

a. shout shout let it all out

[ Ryo's arrival on BASE is not one that is colored with relief. Instead, it is one that comes in a slow and anxious sweep. After showering and ridding himself of the grime of war, he walks the halls without making eye contact with anyone. As time passes, he keeps himself sequestered in his capsule, seated in the common area and poring over any text that might be useful to him over his BCE once he's figured out how to work it. What is left of the equipment they'd been provided in Gallipoli has been dutifully cleaned to the best of his ability, sprawled out before him on the table.

Where others can roam, Ryo spends most of his time in the library. Though he is always (largely) alone, he always wears a look of intense focus for whatever he can get his hands on, bundled up in a non-standard issue trench coat that he often tucks his face into the upturned collar of. If he can't seem to go back to where he needs to be, then he's going to make himself as useful to his cause as he can from here. He can't let himself fail. He can't let himself fall victim to the way his heart seems to lurch every time he thinks –

Every so often, you can hear a song or two turned down soft and low nearby him. ]

b. we're running with the shadows of the night

[ Provided you have your ears and eyes open, wandering less than one hundred paces from BASE will put you in the sphere of some decidedly upbeat rock music. Further investigation will reveal a young man, sleeves pushed up to his elbows and something like oil smeared across one of his pale cheeks, with his hands intermittently in the guts of one of the issued hoverbikes. He seems to have figured out how to link up to the network well enough to get music to pour through as he mumbles to himself, brows pinching together in concentration every once in a while.

To those of you who saw him in Gallipoli, he looks like another animal entirely. It seems having something to funnel his intense focus into smooths out the rough edges of his psyche, as stepping even closer will tell you that he (sometimes) mouths silently along with the vocals between making remarks on whatever it is he's seeing within the belly of the hoverbike. All you need to know is that it is dirty, rusted out in spots, and prone to making him cough when he hits a particularly foul snag. He doesn't recognize much of the internal lay, but what he does recognize he's made an attempt to clear out as best he can and looks comfortable enough to try to make notes to puzzle out the rest.

All-in-all, he doesn't look like he'd be out of place in a high school auto-mechanic shop. With his trench coat folded neatly beside him and his hair pushed back, it feels like he could have walked out of Grease were it not for the choice in song keeping him company and the regrettable lack of a cigarette. ]

[ If you choose to shove in too close to his space, he pauses and pulls his hands out of the hoverbike only to wipe his palms off on the grass. He doesn't turn around, but he glances over his shoulder. His pale eyes are wary, but sharp. This time, he's really taking everyone in. ]

What?

[ Most would have expected, presumably, something more scathing and like the tip of a knife, but Ryo's voice falls flat and even instead. If you expected him to stop for long, he doesn't. He'll continue without your answer if you hesitate long enough. ]

c. help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure

[ Vices in this place were hard to come by.

It wasn't a surprise to Ryo that a few days in, his body had started to enter a state of agitation. His hands itched for something familiar to put in them, his tongue knotted itself around words that normally would not come to him regardless. His patience, which was perhaps the only thing about him that was consistent, started to fray minutely at the edges.

When off BASE, anyone who passed him would have noted his tendency to occupy himself with anything. The lighter they'd been issued would frequently be flipped off-and-on, on-and-off again. The sleeves of his trench coat would be systematically rolled up and rolled down. Idly, and more than once, he would have smoothed down his hair at the back of his neck to no degree of real success.

In some ways, perhaps it was a blessing for everyone that Ryo's restless wanderings had landed him where he needed. Sort of.

If you've managed to trek out this far to this damp, loamy patch of forest? Congratulations. You're likely to feel the same way Ryo seems to in a few moments, situated as still and calm as he is with his back against one of the towering trees. It is hard to tell what time of day it is in here, with the canopy above as dense and green as it is. All that you'll know is that there's a small bundle of thick, red fungi nestled in an earthen dimple by Ryo's feet. ]

It's okay, [ he hums, but if you choose to listen, you'll notice he isn't looking at you. Half-turned to you like he is, following his eye-line permits you the knowledge that he's speaking to an older foxweald. His lips tip up in a small, languid smile. For him, it's unusually warm. ] Come here.

[ If you're patient and wait to see how this plays out before approaching, you'll see the little thing come snuffling up slow and anxious to his extended hand. It'll touch the tip of his fingers with the tip its nose, before deciding he seems acceptable enough to almost drunkenly rub its dark head against. Looks like Ryo can make friends after all, considering the way his eyes almost seem to light up as it trots around, bumping against him until it curls up near his hip. ]

d. to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die

[ It is hard to know how many hours have passed on this fish. More, it is even more difficult to know where it is you are going the further across the body you go. Trekking in this area is sure to bring you through thick undergrowth and low-lying shrubs, but if you were taking your time to watch your footing in the gloaming, it is your own fault if you're startled by the hand that shoots out to grab whatever is closest to it in the dark shadow of an evergreen. If you let yourself get pulled in or turn sharp enough, you'll be greeted with a young face - though their pale eyes don't touch on you, but rather beyond you, narrowed and alert. ]

Keep your eyes open, [ he hisses, once you're in close enough. His mouth twists, irritation and something else catching at the corners. ] I just lost that thing.

[ That thing would be whatever is stumbling slow and staggered out of the woods. If you squint, you can make out the form of a deer, eyes pale and white, but even if you can't make it out you can hear it. It pants from an open mouth, scrapes its branched antlers against bark and brush.

Beside you, even though Ryo's long ago let you go, you can feel the way he tenses. He doesn't go for his gun, but instead seems more compelled to run. ]

e. why are you so far away?

[ CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE OR REQUEST SOMETHING ELSE FROM ME. I don't mind setting up anything at all, so by all means prompt me here, over at rasasvada or on discord at morning star#3715. Also, if you would like to contact Ryo about music, you can use @CRUELLA or just here to get in contact with him over the network. I 100% encourage it. ]

Mamoru Hijikata [until death do us part] ota

[prizeneck]

BASE

ARRIVAL - Roads' end getting nearer, We cover distance but not together

[While he's not in a state as bad as some of the other recruits', the jump did no wonders to Mamoru's condition.

He pulls at the tube of the ever-present gas mask in Gallipoli, takes it off, a thick black mass sticking to his head in a hideous case of hat hair, jaw patched with hair that needs shaving. Still, normal, considering where he just came from. A little less normal, especially considering where he just came from - sunglasses, red tinted lenses that barely cover the coat of scars over this man's brow, even denting a lower eyelid, if you're lucky enough to spot it underneath the specs.

He wants to frown at the horse. No, man. Horse-man. He knows the correct name is centaur but even with the fact that he has been time-traveling and is now in a ship that seems to have landed on a giant being, it still takes some time to go around incredulity at first.

He wants to frown, but the jump made him worse. His senses decide to pick on other things instead. The scent of oil, cleaning products, the sound of metal that isn't steel under his boots, the occasional, distant snap of electrical wiring gone wrong. The buzz of machinery all around him. How close the next recruit is standing near him, even if they're not close at all. The taste of copper underneath his tongue. He does hear what the centaur has to say, but merely saves the information to process when his mind is clearer. Hypervigilance, he knows this state very well. So he steps into the corridors of the ship - not making a beeline for the showers. He cannot allow himself to cool off, not yet. He's not in an enough of a state to do so.]

i. GYM - What I have and what I ache for

[It's his first destination. This, he knows where it is, had been there in the short time he prepared for Gallipoli, a rushed training and warm up. It had been a short while, but still, he remembers at the time he had felt it took too long. He had just come from preparing for a full out war in an African country when he was recruited, his mindset had been more than ready.

He wasn't wrong, in a sense, comparing to others' and his own aftermath. Sure, there's the seemingly rarefied air that feels unsatisfying in his lungs [all in his mind], the skin on his exposed arms raising in goosebumps when he drops the top of the uniform to the floor, leaving his undershirt [air conditioning, not fatigue], the ache under his knuckles when he grips the bayonet in his hands [lactic acid that needs more movement than rest]. He knows that this is what he needs to do if he doesn't want to jerk at every little step someone takes his way.

As he shadow fights the Regency soldiers in his mind, their movements in his head, his mind clears, running rapidly. Carefully considering the number of hits the grunts took before they fell, in opposition to those with Jackal masks, be it by his own blade or someone else's weapon. How many different weapons did they have? What kind of skills is he supposed to be aware of when they're unarmed? He closes his eyes, thinks about speed and distance and wonders if the next time he faces them their nullifiers will be upgraded as he lunges yet again at the battle in his head.

As he sweats the last remnants of his energy, he can't help but feel a little at home.]


ii. CAPSULES - There's no room where I can go and, You've got secrets too

[ANZAC uniform in the washer - even if it had no braille indications, to begin with, the BCE did help a little to put the clothes on the longest, hottest program - hair still damp from the quick but efficient shower he took, he felt the beginnings of fatigue as his temperature lowers. He takes his time walking along the corridors of the ship, pinpointing landmarks - the way the sound shifts against the walls, different as he moves closer to one of them; the whirr of the droids scurrying past him, the voices as the other recruits get settled or remain restless. He can still see, if the wire grid frame his sunglasses project into his eyes can be considered sight at all, but he's keeping tabs on his other senses, because who knows when they will malfunction. And that's, perhaps, where you catch him.

He stops at his destination. CAPSULE 6. ] Here? [The BCE reads it out for him, and he makes to enter the room.]


iii. MESS HALL - And the flashlights, nightmares and sudden explosions

[ There's a new sound in BASE. It's subtle, but it has some consistency to its rhythm. Tap, tap, tap.

It's late, most people are asleep, that with Mamoru taking a different path than most. When everyone had been waking up from their slumber, he had just begun his own. He's wearing different shades - these are all black, don't look as reflective as the previous ones. In his hand, he has a cane, which he taps from side to side carefully to maneuver himself across the ship. Soon he won't be needing it much, with muscle memory and visualization - a mental map constructed to make his life a little less awkward.

Once the scent of cooking heightens, - or whatever passes as cooking from the Droids - he turns and walks into the mess hall, listens carefully at what the BCE can tell him about the place. "Series IX Cooking Tastes Good Impersonalitix™..." what kind of name was that? He orders something simple. Grilled chicken. Soba noodles. A lot of soba noodles. Soba noodles enough for three people. Nothing too fancy, just simple enough to consume and energize him.

He had a sword in his room that's calling his name and hell if he doesn't plan to use it in the gym after this meal. Finally, some fucking good foodweaponry.

Carefully running the back of his hand along the side of the table, he sets his dish and chopsticks on it - pinky resting below both to know they've reached the surface and avoid slamming or dropping the items. He sits down, having sat a little further away from whoever is in the mess hall as well. He's hungry, and he's very grumpy when he's hungry [and when he's not], and if the grimace and the mutter of "sub-par" at the first bite don't show it and isn't enough to convince you to leave him alone, then go for it.

HEEEERE, FISHY FISHY FISH

iv. INTO THE WILD - I don't know what more to ask for I was given just one wish

[Even with a routine set up of eat-practice-nap-practice-shower-eat-nap... Mamoru does decide to go out, eventually. Not due to curiosity, but both duty and knowing that if he's going to face whatever he's going to be facing next, he needed to know what else this aether could throw at him. So he folds the cane and slips it into his back pocket, tucks a wakizashi into his belt with an expert knotting sequence that he knew worked from years of trial and error to figure out how to carry a blade with a modern outfit. Shoulders the backpack with the utensils, the lenses of his sunglasses flaring red with the bioluminescence outside.

Maybe you catch him walking out of the ship, and into the woods. Or, maybe, you find him registering one of the things he found in his stroll through the woods. Thankfully there won't be any bear-like beasts around. He's known for throwing inexperienced people at them.

CALL ME, HONEY. feat. MC Wildcard

[Heeeeey, Macarena.

This guy is @SWORDARTONLINE if you wanna send him a "wyd" or flood his inbox with shit from the apps he does not have or use

OR I'm over at mikefoxtrot if you wanna hit me up with something specific but chances are I'm thirsty for CR shenanigans and up for anything, really. ]

[heilt]

BASE

( open )
( having being back from the mission longer than everyone else angela is there to greet them when they return, scanning for any injuries and new faces. she's thrilled to have them back, not only because it had been very quiet and lonely with them gone, but also because the mission in gallipoli had been difficult )

Are you alright?

( her words are gentle and laced with concern, eyes appraising for any injuries or weakness. for any faces that are more unfamiliar, she may also ask if they need anything or have just arrived )

( genji )
( they'd had a long conversation over the devices but seeing him again now was different. it had been too long since she'd seen him in person, and even longer since she'd seen him so--

angela's smiling the minute she sees him, recognising his face, and reaches him quickly. a hand moves up to his face, resting on his cheek. it all looks so real and feels it too. however cost had given him this skin they'd done well with it )

It's good to see you, Genji.

Jon Snow ✥ Game of Thrones/ASOIAF ✥ OTA MOSTLY

[northerndragon]

[HMU in a PM, a Discord DM to detectivefiction#1669, or a PP/ping to detectivefiction if you want something specific! Or just reply to the open-ended one once I post it.

Jon is @AEGONNER.]

Armitage Hux | Star Wars

[neutronium]

Base

Wandering

[This is Hux's first time on the BASE, so wandering was something he was bound to do--judging, as well. This reminded him of what he supposed Resistance ships must be like...vaguely a mess, chaotic. Nothing as soothing and cold as the smooth and efficient lines of the Finalizer. Still, at least he was back on a ship again. That counted for something, at least, even if they weren't moving through 'space' in the purest sense.

Hux can be found moving through the halls, hands brushing against walls, moving in and out of rooms, regardless if he has the clearance to be there. He's mapping it mentally, as best he can, as if it matters that he memorize it all.

Finally, he settles in front of one of the large windows that looks out into the strange fauna of this fish-thing, and the Aether above. Like some strange thing caught in hyperspace.]

At least this is somewhat familiar.

Closed to Hei

Hux had been more than a bit worried about who was going to be his 'capsule' partner. He hadn't shared a room since the Academy, and he had done a very good job in terrifying that man into rarely being around. He was not one for socializing in close quarters with people he disliked (or barely tolerated). He thought he was doing a better job dealing with people of all types here, at least--so he braced himself as he entered the room...

...only to see Hei there. His shoulders visibly relaxed, and there might have even been a tiny hint of a smirk on his lips.

"Well, this is a pleasant surprise."

Exploring the Fish

General

[Hux would rather have stayed on the ship, working on some engineering trick to get it back up, but it seemed that wasn't the way this was going to work. So like the others, he headed out into the wilderness. He'll be wandering out and about, but never heading very far from BASE for the most part.

There is the incident with the Kelpie--but hopefully no one saw that. Feel free to ask him about it, however.]

Cave exploration

Hux isn't quite sure why he decided to explore these caves; he knows they were told to go exploring in pairs, and he should have asked someone to go with him...but here he was, wandering towards the edge of the cave, pack on his back, and lantern in his hand, alone.

Something them in draws him in; that something like this could exist on the back of something living was so curious to him; it reminded him of the tales of Exogorths, the giant space slugs one could get trapped in without even knowing.

Shifting his pack on his back, he hears a twig snap behind him and he spins on his heel, blaster raised, and he lowers it, frowning slightly. "Ah--thought you might be a creature."

Wildcard

[ooc: if you would like]

OTA, INCLUDING WILDCARDS.

[dipolar]

ONE— [PSYCHO THEME PLAYS IN THE BG]

(after being seen at the medbay, translocation leaving him with a grafted hole in his side, hei avoids the line for the showers and ducks into the spa. he’s heard the rumours; it’s haunted by the science experiments that died there. but what ghosts exist can make themselves known and try to bother a man who sees them every night. why in the world should he fucking care? nothing can scare him now and he peels his uniform off to prove it, vulnerable save for the gun he leaves on the edge of the tub like an open promise.

quietly huffs through the crowding of water because it smarts as it bites into superficial wounds and floods his body with a warmth he hasn’t experienced in months. overwhelming and unlike anything he’s felt in recent years, he’s forced into a restful hunch in the water, chin beading whatever solution is pumped in to flush the grime off of him. thinks he might actually be able to give into the feeling and let the jets knead at his aches and pains. a noise, however, pricks at his ears and forces one of his eyes open with an irritated set of his jaw.)

Who the hell is it? Don’t bother me. (blames it on a teammate with a particularly sour sink into the water, hand reaching for his weapon.) Quietly bathe or quietly get the hell out, those are your options.

TWO— THE FIRST CASUALTY IS TRUTH

(hei is looking particularly depressed on his trek back from the head of the coelacanth. clearly the man's heard some particularly distasteful news, because he's broken his indifferent stare and looks rather pissed off. he does, however, stop at the base of the climb to rummage in his bag for something — which happens to be a freezer capsule lent to him for specimen collection abused for the sake of toting his snacks around.

a very unlikely sort of thing for an assassin to eat, but he does so with a particularly irritable chomp, breaking the top off and chewing for a moment in a bid to calm himself down. upon spotting a fellow COST member with a reluctant squint, hei lifts his chin in a little nod.)

"Brings kings to their knees"... tch. Don't go waste your time on that fish...

THREE— CALLING ALL MILLENNIALS

@BURGERKING— @ALL
I have an announcement to make. ZapChat is broken. My experience is poor. It will only let you look at pictures for 10 sec before the window closes. I took crucial optical scans and now they’re gone. I’ll never get those back.

Safely consider it bugged and delete it before it glitches your BCE and you wind up MIA. You have been warned.

FOUR— MAYBE YOU'RE THE PROBLEM

(bugs are his life now. everything malfunctions around him, whether it’s technology or people, and hei’s stuck playing clean-up duty. sitting on the back of a hoverbike, brow knit as the angry sounds of a playlist he’s been using to fall asleep to — currently, a recording of a rainforest during a major thunderstorm — blare from the futhark-enabled speakers.)

Hey. (thank god, maybe it's someone capable he's raising his voice at.) Make it stop.

(it’s attracting attention. the unsavoury kind from beasts that shouldn’t be disturbed, ones large enough to bend trees as they beat a hasty path towards the disturbance.)

FIVE— THE OLD BAIT AND SWITCH

(hei’s standing in a still lake at the darkest time of whatever constitutes day. its surface? like glass, reflecting his silhouette and the aether above it. barely a ripple caused by him and anything else that may be lurking in its depths, he’d look like a statue if it weren’t for the occasional finger-spin of a forearm-length, double-sided dagger. an old habit that’s back with a weapon from home, custom made and tailored to his every quirk — in battle and out.

lying in wait, hei acknowledges any COST comrade's approach with the barest turn of his head and a harsh shushing when another is heard at a distance.)

They come out to shore around this time. Don’t step in the water. (and in the runnings for what may be his oddest request yet:) If you want to be useful, to the right of you there’s a pile of things that looks like a nest. Go on and sit in it for me.

prompto argentum | ffxv: selfie edition

[millimeter]

1 | MESS HALL MESS;

[So showers are a godsend. A lot of basic things in BASE are a godsend, after spending weeks in the filthy, sickening trenches of Gallipoli. And Prompto appreciates it a hell of a lot, which is why he's properly clean—to the point he's probably semi-unrecognizable to anyone who met him in 1916—and not complaining about clothes that only kind of fit him. He isn't even whining about his hair, floppy and unstyled as it is, but that might be a direct result of his head resting on one arm and him being...well, passed the fuck out at a table in the mess hall.

He's still clutching a fork stabbed into the half-eaten disaster on his plate, even in his sleep. He honestly looks pretty stupid.

Please wake him up before he snores or does something else dumb, like talk in his sleep.]

2 | BIG FISH;

A | TAKE HIS CAMERA AWAY;

Oh man! Look at this!!!

[Those extra exclamation marks are practically visible as Prompto gestures excitedly to the landscape, waving a camera around in one hand.]

There are so many colors—have you ever seen anything like it? I gotta take a closer look.

[Spoken as he eagerly trots off in the direction of a hoverbike, camera half raised. He is so ready to forget about Gallipoli.]

B | IMPROMPTO [sic] PHOTO OP;

[He's indiscriminate. He takes pictures of everything, including anyone unfortunate enough to happen upon him. Did you just walk by an innocuous body of water? A colorful plant? To inspect a weird animal? No matter what it is, cue one sincerely jazzed photography nerd spinning towards you with a camera in front of his face. There's a click, maybe two (maybe more if you hold still long enough), and he has a huge grin on his face.

In some cases, if you walk a little too far a little too fast (i.e., before he can get a clear picture), he'll even blurt out—] Wait! Lemme get this shot! [—whether he knows you or not. Just wait for the embarrassment to catch up with him.

On the flip side, if he does know you, there's a good chance he's the one who dragged you out here in the first place. I'm so sorry.]

C | SELFIE SHOT;

[If it's in the database, Prompto wants a picture of it. Yes, even the dangerous stuff. He might try to recruit you into helping him out, if you look up for it, with a quick tap on the shoulder and a bright:] Hey, you got a minute?

[...Or you might catch him testing his own luck. Sometimes he trails relatively harmless critters like bunnyhawks and dragokeets, but other times it's bigger creatures like jaybears and kelpies. Occasionally, he outright takes a selfie with the unsuspecting wildlife. His sense of self-preservation is fundamentally broken with a camera in his hands; the one he has fortunately isn't a fixed lens, but it was not made with distance shots in mind.

So yeah, it's possible he's standing dangerously close to a moon mist or aetherian sphinx or literally anything else, oblivious to its proximity with his vision obscured by a viewfinder. Please tell him off before he's gored by a wild animal. Or, uh, hang out and watch what happens. Either/or.]

3 | EXPLORATION DLC;

A | GROSS BUG HORROR SORRY;

You probably don't wanna go that way.

[Prompto looks up, seated next to a jar filled with drifting nettle. He's been using it to check out his arm, discolored by red welts; it's dark in this part of the woods and the jar has better area coverage than the flashlight in the dirt next to him.]

There are a lot of bugs. [And possibly dead things filled with more bugs.]

B | HOLLYWOOD AMNESIA;

[Originally, Prompto had been drawn by the light trees, visibly peppering the deep overhangs of a nearby mountain, even at a distance. What he'd found instead was a massive field of flowers, rooted in the rocky terrain.

They smell like pizza.]

Hi! [He turns, cheerful enough, even though he looks extremely confused.]

I can't feel my face. [He says it remarkably offhanded, even as he rests both hands on his cheeks.] Is that normal?

C | PSEUDO LABYRINTH;

[Alternatively, after Prompto ends up here at some ambiguous point in the future:]

@QUICKSILVER | @ALL

can someone with a bike please come get me 😑
i'm stuck out by the fish's tail and i'm rrrreally ready to leave

4 | WILDCARD;

[Obligatory, for BASE and things that aren't photo ops.]

John Constantine | dctv | ota

[inconstantly]

BASE: CAPSULE

[John leaves the door open that leads directly from the hallway to inside the capsule. From inside his bedroom he unloads what possessions he's managed to collect, both from Gallipoli and from BASE. As he withdraws items from his backpack he does nothing to quiet the loud clanking noises of many, many bottles of wine. In fact, alcohol and tobacco products is most of what he had brought back with him. They get placed under his bed along with other assorted items.]

From there he wanders through the rest of the capsule and into his new roommate's room. Clothes and belongings on the floor, must have arrived earlier. A glint catches his eye and John turns to face... a hammer? Never one to let a question go unanswered, John makes his way over to the thing and touches his fingers to the handle.]

COELACANTH: MAGIC

[John Constantine has never been much for the outdoors, not even of the Obviously Not of this Earth variety. So when he strays from BASE to find an open area to practice, he doesn't meander too far.

Behind a tall rock formation he finds an open expanse of grass with no trees in sight. The expanse tapers into rolling hills in the distance followed by further rock formations acting as a barrier. This will work.

Though John has been known to be far too glib about a great number of things, one aspect which he has always taken seriously is magic. He strives to study more, practice, be better than he was before. Maybe he is only a fraud in learning what spells best suit his own purposes, but he'll be a damn good one.

Using the provided camping monolighter, John sparks a flame directly onto left hand. Having what he needs John pockets the lighter and allows the flame to cover his entire hand and holds he hand at eye level with flames licking toward the sky. He then magnifies and shifts the flame to arc above him and settle into the right hand. From there with hand still covered in flame he points the hand forward to create letters in the air, leaving behind a trail of smoke like a holiday reveler with a sparkler.

And spells out a very juvenile F-U-C-K.

Heh. Well. Maybe not everything about magic is taken seriously.]

COELACANTH: HOVERBIKE

[John has taken a hoverbike from BASE to do absolutely nothing useful at all. He returns again to the clearing where he had previously visited and parks the hoverbike against the wall of rock. From there he can be found sitting on the ground smoking a cigar pilfered from the trenches and leaning back against the hoverbike. Positioning himself as close as he can to the speakers, John enables Futhark, which he had only found by sheer accident. After that he blasts the speakers as loud as they will go, starting with an old favorite. It is definitely a frivolous use of the machinery, but no one else had claimed it.]

WILDCARD

[Something else you wanna do? Go for it or hmu on plurk at vibranium, pm, or on discord at ~gecko 5689.]

akira kurusu, LOVE ISN'T ALWAYS ON TIME

[masque]

I | TOTO

[home sweet home. is it? it doesn't seem like too much has changed. maybe that's a good thing, feeling a sense of normalcy, but he also thinks back to that shabby cafe attic that's been his home for almost a year. the smell of coffee, the bathhouse next door... well, this is the next okay thing.

they were busy while he was gone. more rooms, a spa, a service that shows you people you know or didn't know? but his first stop is the kitchen, slapping down leftover fish from his previous fish escapades in front of robots who do nothing but stare.]

... Can you at least put them in the fridge? [no answer.]

Fine, fine— [and that's exactly when akira slides over the counters, making the robots back up and crash into walls as he steps onto the other side and flips open their fridge. it's packed to the prim with black gelatin. what is he supposed to do with these?]

Does anyone want fish? [called out to the kitchen.]

II | AEROSMITH

[after a lot of searching for habitats that don't have some type of predator at every turn, the forest is actually quiet. not an animal in sight. it's going to be perfect, so he shoots a message to ryuji, telling him he found a good spot to set up camp.

a few minutes later, it looks like someone found new life, but this is one that doesn't worry him. he reaches for for the foxweald which predictably runs off and digs itself into the ground... leaving akira to pick out one of the plants that grew from its steps. there's something about it.

...

eats it. hears footsteps behind him once he does, slowly turning his head.]

III | JOURNEY

[this was "supposed" to be a nice break from everything. no, not really, as he sits on top of his camping gear, ankles crossed in front of him, staring down at a screamer who's staring back at him from the ground.

so cute, so adorable, it's opening its mouth and screaming again it's so fucking adorable i'm about to kill it! shit!! quietly fumes before he looks up to see the source of the screamer's paranoia, and unfortunate reward to him just feeding it a couple hours, and it's enough for akira to feel like he hasn't slept in two days.]

Just feed it something so it can shut up, please.

IV | AC/DC

@JUGGALO | @ALL

i discovered cave 1.0 earlier but i only stopped several meters in. i want to explore more of it today, so if anyone is up to going in there as a pair, let me know.

ps. the glowing tree is better than prozac.

V | KANSAS

[wildcard, go for anything]

mordred | ota

[bloodings]

a | meanwhile, on base...

[ Mordred wants to sleep for a damn week — and, honestly, that's the first thing she does, passing the fuck out with her grey cat in various spots across BASE. Probably right on the floor where you were going. Sorry. (Meanwhile, her new outfit looks like someone's taken a pair of scissors to it, so maybe see if she's cold...?)

Alternatively, find said cat running through the halls, being chased by Mordred on all fours. She's not really looking where she's going, and while the cat can fit through people's legs, she can't — so heads up! ]

b | out here in the field.

[ That's not a smoke signal you can see through the trees — no, it's one these things being cooked over a fire. Mordred's taken care of the gory parts, ripping off the limbs and the head, and she's jammed a stick through the middle of its body, idly holding it over the fire with one hand.

Armour still covered in blood, she looks up if anyone enters the same clearing. ]

Smells good, right? [ Especially after the rations of Gallipoli. She makes a come-closer motion with her free hand. ] Come on. Meals always taste better with others. [ Someone's in a good mood today. ]

c | wildcard.

[ obligatory! hmu with whatever or if you want a closed starter. ]

Rey | Star Wars

[garbagepilot]

[BASE]

[It's funny, the way a familiar set of grey clothes can brighten your spirits, Rey decides. She changes the moment she finds her own clothes sitting on her bed, and as she explores the BASE it's with a new kind of life that hasn't been in her eyes or the set of her shoulders since her escape from the Regency. She's kept to herself, which is normal, but she'd made herself small, someone no one would take notice of.

Now, whether it's poking her head into the kitchen and piling a plate high with protein bars (someone show her how to turn them into things), wandering through the library, or just staring in wonder at a room filled with tubs for bathing in, it's clear she's clawing her way out of that place, refusing to let a little kidnapping and torture get her down.]

[arrival on the fish]

[As soon as Rey steps outside, her cloak now secure around her shoulders, staff slung across her back, it's a wonder she doesn't walk right into someone from how hard she's staring at what she's seeing here. Maybe she does stop in her tracks right in front of someone and get knocked into herself, but she remembers after a moment to move out of the way, still staring up at the trees and the sky, the colors captivating to her after a world of nothing but sand.

Takodana had been green, and Atch-To had been grey. Crait had been a landscape of white with red dirt hidden beneath the salt, but none of it had prepared her for this.

After a moment she has to find a rock, has to sit down before her knees give out, and she leans forward and presses the heels of her hands hard into her eyes. She's not crying, at least not yet, but the last few weeks have not been kind and the peace and tranquility she feels in this place are just a little overwhelming.]

[if you squint, it's a speeder]

[After she collects herself, of course, she's more than ready to explore where they've landed and of course, of course the hoverbikes catch her eye. They look painfully similiar to the speeder she built herself, so she makes a beeline for one... and doesn't get on it.

Instead, she gets her fingers into the cover she assumes is protecting the engine and starts to pull. Give her enough time and she'll have the thing pried open, wires exposed, and grubby little fingers all over the inner workings. Thing look familiar enough that she's not hesitating, just working connections loose and crossing the wires to new places, stripping them with her teeth to make new connections.]

If we could find you an engine, I bet you could really fly.

[Is she talking to the speeder? All signs point to yes don't judge her.]

[wildcard!]
[There's TONS to do here, so literally anything from exploring to camping to BASE shenanigans is on the table. Hit me up at blahblahren or pm this journal for plotting or just feel free to toss something at me! Also, prose or brackets are both fine, I'll follow your lead!]

Samus Aran

[raisedbybirds]

All your BASE are

Shower hog;

[Samus is eager to change out of clothes that don't reek of blood and dirt. She makes a beeline for the showers after headcounts are accounted for. Once the warm water hits her back she's relishes in the sensation of washing off Gallipoli's campaign and stands there unmoving for moments... for entire minutes. She's acutely aware of every bead of water rolling across hard, sore muscles and scars both old and new. She focuses on that and less on all the lives lost, the smell of rotten corpses, the sting of lice and dirt and infection, the gurgled sound of slit throats, and all the mementos that would eventually only mean something to dead men. After a while she just. Sits. On the floor, arms draped over her knees while her long blond hair forms a curtain around her face and shoulders.

It's been a while. Maybe yell at her or something. She's probably pruning in there.

Alternatively, Samus would actually favor hiding away in the Spa. It's creepy, of course, but she's also hopeful that very creepiness keeps others at bay and affords her some well needed peace, quiet and privacy. It's just her and her towel (and maybe possibly one of Henry's pilfered beers, shh, don't tell him--that could be anyone's bourbon whiskey) in here and nothing could be better.]

Milling around;

gym/sparring, shooting range, media library (what is pop culture), etc
[Samus arrived right in the midst of training for Gallipoli, leaving her with little time to get acquainted with BASE itself. Now she has plenty of opportunity and is inclined to take it, especially since her room moved around a little and she wonders if anything else did. For a few days before she leaves to explore the Coelacanth, she makes it a point to stick her nose in pretty much every room she has access to. She's everywhere.

Eventually she favors the armory and shooting range respectively; she's an excellent shot and really doesn't need the practice, but she'll argue otherwise. She also frequents the sparring corner of the gym, punching and kicking invisible enemies presumably to invisible death.

She does not mind the crows. For the most.

Less frequently she pokes around the media terminals, curious to see what was last researched. If Bananarama (or literally anything very pop-culture-y, maybe it's movies, maybe it's anime, maybe it's maybeline) suddenly starts blasting from the tablet, she'll be to turn down the volume and makes a face at the screen, but she doesn't necessarily put the tablet away. On the contrary, she keeps watching, albeit looking very confused about her decision to do so.

She can of course also be found in her capsule! It's number 6. If you don't know how to knock she's not going to be happy.]

Smelly network;

@BALLISLIFE— @ALL
Who forgot to properly contain the Comet-Flower samples? My nose has had enough offense at Gallipoli. Come fix this at once.

The Coelacanth is definitely a big breadfish

Exploring & Camping;

[This is a mission she sorely wishes she had her Power Suit for but until it's done syncing with the BCE she will have to do without it. She is certainly no less capable of exploring without it. Samus is adept at navigating terrain and reading wildlife, even if much of it here is obstinately alien and strange. Her experience with alien environments is very clear and the way she moves is akin to having a personal body guard around. Traveling with her is really not a bad idea.

Samus falters perhaps only when it comes to setting up camp, and not because she doesn't know how, but because she overestimates her absurd strength and her attempts to 'unfrisbee' it the first time result in an unfortunate snap. Like snapped the whole thing in half. Don't uh... look at her like that. She didn't mean it. You didn't see anything. Can she borrow your tent...?

She also seems really into petri dish collecting and obtaining samples to take back to base for further study. It's a far cry from how how fiercely and doggedly she shed blood in Gallipoli, but not unlike the efficiency and focus she used to build the radios.

She seems to find the whole science thing markedly interesting and even relaxing.]

Lux Arbor;

[Even though it is wiser to travel in pairs there will come a time (many times, even) where Samus elects to explore on her own. It's a deep unyielding need she needs to have fulfilled, especially after the severe lack of privacy from Gallipoli. No, long showers simply weren't cutting it. She needed to be alone.

Figuratively speaking; a few moments sitting under one of the light trees and she was very much not alone but she found she didn't mind, between small creatures and even large ones coming to rest and enjoy quiet, or stumbled in this small cave-like grove entirely on accident. Maybe that is how you got here too.

She's going to be so totally sparkly shiny when she leaves.]

Hoverbike malfunction;

[The hoverbikes were good. Sufficient. They did their job and little more could be asked of them. Really it was only a matter of time one of them before one of the intrepid metal workhorses would break down from use repeated use. Perhaps you come across Samus, sleeves rolled up and dappled with grease and oil, with paltry tools spread out across tent-turned-workbench as she works on a faulty part... OR. Or. She's attempting to derestrict it. Just cut the exhaust pipe here and bore it out there--Who wouldn't want to get an extra 5-10mph of speed out of these things? It makes a big difference!

Or perhaps you were the unfortunate passenger that decided to travel with her as the bike sputters out mid-flight. Brace for impact!]

WILDCARD;

[HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT! I'm game for many things, silly and serious. She can blow up local wildlife with you or get accidentally high on alien plants. She would be particularly interested in trying to mine some anti-gravity minerals from THANKS I HATE IT, perhaps while avoiding being hunted by one of those Aetherian sphinxes. Whatever your heart desires, let's do it.]

ashitaka | princess mononoke

[lonelywar]

I. BASE
Yakul!!

[The call is loud enough that someone merely passing by the proximity of the cargo bay might have heard it, followed by the sharp and recognizable staccato beat of running footsteps. Inside the bay, near where the makeshift stable is constructed, Ashitaka (now clad in a very distinct outfit) runs at full speed up to a tall red elk, whom he hits with the full impact of a true Ghibli hug.

He wraps his arms around the elk's neck, burying his face into the soft fur. The elk seems overjoyed as well, hooves dancing a bit on the piecemeal metal floor. He cranes his head a bit to nibble softly at the slightly-too-short hair of the boy embracing him.

It's all a bit of a Moment, but that's fine. One who approaches would be able to catch the young man murmuring,] - my friend, I have missed you, so much, [in a voice a half-step away from breaking with emotion into the fur of the red elk's neck.]

II. CAMPING!!
a. [When it comes to those departing BASE on exploratory missions of the coelacanth, Ashitaka... stands out. This is fairly normal for him, whether he was in revolutionary France or the breaking trenches of Lone Pine (or even back in his own place and time); he is happy to wear his own garb again, donning the grass cloak he had worn as he had left the Emishi behind. Instead of a hoverbike, however, he guides a red elk he has saddled and carefully equipped with their distributed camping equipment. The animal looks alert, gaze cautious and sweeping as they slowly make their way out of the stayed BASE and onto the surface of the coelacanth for the first time.

He does so at roughly the same time as another COST agent, whom he regards with a small smile.] We were told it is wiser to travel in pairs. Would you accompany Yakul and I?

[In response to hearing his name, the red elk turns to their companion, studying them with deep, dark eyes and giving a short chff in response.]

b. [It is quiet. It is peaceful.

The tent has been constructed and secured into a small rocky outcropping, part of a greater mountainous incline towards another plateau upon the back of the beast. It is unsettling, how they are without the cycle of day and night to structure their days, but Ashitaka remembers this similar feeling of timelessness from his first time on BASE, the way the mind feels adrift until it starts to gain purchase and adapt. But after Gallipoli, he far prefers the slight mental dissonance of being out of time rather than in a particularly difficult patch of it.

The fire that had been built is crackling but starting to burn down towards embers, giving less and less light as time goes on. Spread out before the small campsight, down the incline, is a stretch of forest broken by a forking river delta. The floating bioluminescent creatures called drifting nettles float through the breeze like leaves, reflecting in the river like a sea of blue stars. A small traveling group of en'enra emerge from a river, bodies covered in scales transforming as they walk to fur and feathers, shaking water as they begin to pick up speed, unsettled by a jaybear lumbering by.

Ashitaka sits, watching the vista, one hand slowly petting Yakul, who lay carefully curled up next to him, occasionally snuffling in his sleep. A short silence had stretched between himself and his traveling companion, not a particularly oppressive or uncomfortable one, and he decides to break it with a nonsequitor, speaking without even really considering it:] Perhaps if we could just stay here.

[If he reconsiders what he has said, he doesn't show it. He merely pauses, gives a short sigh, and shakes his head. Trying to dislodge the feelings of residual guilt, less so for the cause they fight for, once he more and more feels is too abstract to feel passionate about, but more for the conflict he left behind in his own time, unsolved and explosive.]

No... [said quietly,] no. Forget I said such a thing.

c. [Encounter randomizer! There are too many good options to choose from in the database. Reply with this option, either with a flora/fauna/feature in mind or with a request to randomize, and I will make a custom starter! (Lovingly ripping this idea off from Christy, ty.)]

III. BCE
@BOARING: If anyone could spare some time, I have several questions regarding some items I found upon our return here.
@BOARING: ...As well as some questions I still have remaining from our last time on board BASE as well.

IV. WILDCARD
[More base shenanigans, more coelacanth adventures not described above, or anything else! If you want to discuss or plan anything, feel free to reach out to me!]

The Courier/Surely McGuire

[chipouttaluck]

Base - Where the Handouts Grow on Bushes

[The first thing she thinks is oh fuck not again, but there's no weird tv screens with faces attached to them this time, just a fuckton of crows, enough tech to make the Brotherhood of Steel have a coronary, and an outfit that's like nothing she's ever seen before. At least she's got her gun, she has a feeling it might come in handy, because even without the bullets she could at least butt a guy with one. She's just wandering what she hopes is a hallway that goes somewhere with food that she hopes is edible.]

This place have a casino?

[Oh, yeah. That too.]

Pitching a tent - In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

Is the air tryin' to kill us?

[Sure feels like it. It's almost like the air inside a Vault, stale and sharp and burning like nothing else. Makes you dizzy if you stick around too long, so she's always tried not to. But there's no real option to just stay put out here, not when there's exploring to do and trouble to get into, so she'll settle on just trying to pitch a tent without keeling over.]

Don't see why we can't just throw this tent off a cliff and use somethin' else.

[What she's gonna make it out of, she doesn't know, but after getting poked in the face by a crossbar one too many times, she's definitely considering her options. One of the crows seems to be eyeballing her with great interest, and she don't take too kindly to that.]

Keep lookin' and I'll turn you into dinner. Bird pie, comin' right up.

[It doesn't seem very impressed.]

Insect Hell - All The Cops Have Wooden Legs

[It turns out tryin' to shoot tiny stinging insects with a pistol the size of nothing useful isn't as easy as it looks, and she keeps shooting wide and more or less making a miniature light show enough to attract a cat.]

Fuckin' wasps.

[Yeah, she ain't too eloquent right now, but if it'll stop her from getting stung another dozen times, she'll keep shooting at more or less nothing. Might wanna help her out, though, before she attracts something bigger with all her fussing.]

shepard | mass effect

[synergise]

a. home sweet home

[ this is more like it.

machinery, metal, droids. it's as close to homely as it gets, even though it's very unlike what she's used to, but it doesn't matter. it isn't a trench, a warzone, it's a base. their base.

shepard takes four showers on the first day back, each one timely if not relatively quick, but it isn't until the last one that she feels truly clean. it isn't until the last one that she silently tells herself to suck it up and manage, to put herself back in the mindset of a soldier that has lived through hard campaigns, that she didn't always have a ship like the normandy to come back to. hair still wet, gloriously free and down now that all the pretending is done, she explores, and can be found peering intently at just about everything, every room, every piece of furniture. also, yawning. sleep should be higher up on her agenda, but despite the rattling feeling in her bones, she's avoiding it a little.

otherwise her primary port of call at base is the sports room, doing terrifying amounts of push ups, crunches and stretches, etc. sparring partners welcome for a friendly punch up, there's nothing like getting to know each other over a bloody nose. she's trying to keep herself busy, distracted, active, and she isn't trying to hide it, but all told there is a strangely calm air to her. bordering on relaxed, though not quite. ]

b. ew, nature and stuff

[ camping is... well.

let's put it this way. shepard has grown used to a certain level of... comfort? in traversing the galaxy. in between the various near death experiences, she has always had a ship to go back to and practically call her home. personal experiences with nature have been limited, occasionally disastrous (for example). she would rather stay at BASE. hell, she would rather be sent out to a battlefield again, because she knows what to do with that. this requires some direction.

she has resolved to burn her carrot coffin once this is done.

all the same, shepard isn't one to complain, just grudgingly get on with it. we task you with this. it's close enough to an order, a well placed request that shepard isn't going to deny. she may not love the idea of becoming some coelacanth trailblazer, but she's conscious of how stir crazy she would get if left too long at BASE, most likely alone. she's more than amenable to team ups, in any case, to follow along while she gets her camping bearings, and maybe grows into the whole affair.

and makes questionable decisions about trying to climb trees, using her omni-blade as a piton. guess who's going to fall out of a tree at some point? ]

c. if it's a dragon bird, can she still call it a birdbrain

[ with a generally ambivalent stance on animals for the most part, shepard can't help being a little charmed by the foxwealds and dragokeets, considering that they're ostensibly cute and non-aggressive. she bothers to take the time to befriend a few, through a mixture of offering food and patience, mostly for the purposes of entertaining herself and to not think about all the other nature around her. it's interesting to get first hand experience of their behaviours. for the most part, moving around prevents her from getting too attached, except she appears to have made a far too friendly friend. ]

Hey, buddy. [ trying to sound firm, like if you were trying to discipline a dog. she seems to be aiming this remark to a dragokeet perched on her shoulder, intently snuffling around in her hair, which was in a bun, and is now in a style that would more accurately be called a trainwreck. ] You lost something in there? Cut it out.

[ she gives it a gentle prod, to which the creature replies with some non-sensical babble, ending with cut it! cut it! cut it!, which is vaguely unnerving. it seems intent on its mysterious search, however, and distinctly ignores shepard's requests for it to stop. shepard doesn't cut the most dignified figure currently, her face a dead-eyed picture of exasperation, tendrils of hair slipping around her face as the dragokeet continues its burrowing. ]

d. write your own adventure

( have at me bros and feel free to add in any details/locations/whatever to things i've left open-ish. hit me up here or on plurk or disco if you want some awful run ins with awful animals or somethin!! i'm game for everything :>

ps. DO NOT LET SHEPARD DRIVE A HOVERBIKE YOU WILL DIE )

Noctis | FFXV

[fessus]

I. Ready Player Two

[ Noctis does not take up interest in exploring their newest ancient friend right upon arrival, far too preoccupied with getting his new capsule assignment and seeking out some long-needed solitude and an equally craved shower instead. The shower is brief. The time in capsule 16, so like and yet so unlike capsule 13? Less so.

It’s hard to rush away upon finding the slew of items awaiting him on his bed, particularly captivated by a gaming console which he manages to suss out with a speed only matched by desperate nerds experiencing rpg-withdrawal. It connects perfectly to the screens in his capsule’s common area, aided by futhark technology, and that is where he can be found. ]

(a) [ Maybe you’re someone he’s contacted specifically via BCE that he wants to game with. In which case, expect the following message not long after arrival: ] Hey you settled in? I have something you might wanna see over at capsule 16 when you’ve got a sec.

(b) [ Maybe you’re a random passerby that heard him getting loudly irritated at a boss in Die Everything DIE 4 and after trying to be a Good Samaritan you got roped into playing. Hope you like sitting in an uncomfortable booth with a guy staring unflinchingly at a screen, cursing under his breath when he’s gunned down yet again. Maybe you’re Mordred and you can’t escape because you’re his roommate. ]

Damn it… Okay, your turn. Want me to explain the basics? Ahh, guess we should pick a game first…

(c) [ Wildcard gaming? Wildcard gaming. ]

II. The Tempest

[ He’s near the gorge when the rain begins in earnest, a sudden downpour the likes of which he hadn’t expected on the back of a giant fish floating through space. In reality, though… he hadn’t expected a lot of the things that he’s encountered already, like the swarm of wasparasquitos that he’d flown so far to escape.

He’s not especially keen to learn what the rains will rouse when visibility is now limited so he eases his hover bike into that gorge, quickly setting up camp near the cliff-face to reduce the chance of being sneaked up on and to take advantage of covering from the trees. The sound of anyone else on foot or indeed of another bike will rouse his attention enough to have him poking his head out from his tent, waving them over. ]

Hey, over here!

III. Fear and Loathing

[ He’s no cook.

Keeping up with the fauna database and how best to potentially prepare the creatures found is thus a little daunting, considerably more so than sticking to what seems ostensibly to be a healthier plant-based diet while not on BASE. It seems like a good idea especially when he’s found some berries which offer him a little boost energy-wise.

At least, the first few do.

By the ninth he’s swerving on his hover bike to avoid a giant cactuar which absolutely does not exist, crash-landing with a violent tumble into an open meadow. The bike is still there in the middle of the crash site some two hours later, and should anyone venture close enough they will soon hear rustling from behind as the dazed and confused king approaches. ]

Stay away from that — do you wanna’ die?

IV. Network

Hey anybody else end up with an app called BirchStory? If so you should tell me your sn so I can add you.

V. Wildcard

[ Hit me with your best shot. ]

henry cooldown ★ no more heroes ★ ota

[handsomefoil]

< OPENING STATEMENT >

The buzz is only welcoming because he knows what comes after. He had been looking forward to it for weeks and counting his blessings. None of the soldiers didn't have the luxury of knowing they'd be instantly teleported back to a safe dwelling spot. Slumped against a wall in a cargo hold somewhere below the ship, it's a mostly empty room save for a few boxes and dirt from the boots of sailors and crew members.

As the brief moment of wonder, nausea, and voices of familiar people waft over him like an unbearable pressure he closes his eyes this time and waits until the transfer is complete. Usually, he didn't mind watching the psychedelic experience but he's too tired at the moment and soon he's on board BASE among many of his fellow COST members. Some new faces, in their COST issued underwear of course, and soon Chiron is approaching them with the tell-tale sounds of hooves against metal.

They've all waited long enough to come back to BASE, so he figures what's a couple extra minutes listening to what Chiron has to say? As he idly listens to the debriefing of their situation, he's beginning to remove any and all extra clothing that'd become completely soiled with blood and dirt. He's so relieved by the lack of parasites (though the phantom itching sensation still lingers) that he nearly misses the part about how they've landed on the back of some...being? Creature? Whatever it is, it has him looking towards the windows of the ship and furrowing his brow.

"Guess we should've dumped all those buggers out into the aether instead of keeping 'em."

< TOP LEVELS BELOW >

Preset toplevels will be in one comment, but if you want a private one let me know so I can add another sub-level thread for it!

vex'ahlia / critical role.

[faenthras]

1 / BASE.

A / THANK THE GODS FOR HOT BATHS.

[ It's a little eerie, yes, but Vex doesn't exactly mind. After the chaos of Gallipoli all she really wants is a hot bath, something to wash all the mud and gore that stained her skin and hair. Something hidden half hidden to sort out the stampeding thoughts of her mind. The Spa just happened to be perfect, even with it's strange design - but then again the entire BASE itself looks strange to Vex'ahlia.

Either way she settles in quickly, stripped off all but a deep green bow she keeps close to the tub. Sinking deep as the warm water encapsulates her entire body, seeping into every scrape and cut. It stings, but she bears it, exhaling into the near silent air. An hour, maybe two, of soaking should do the trick, right? Vex lowers herself into the water, until little more than the top half of her head is visible. Yeah, that should do it. Then, then they can figure out what in the name of Sarenrae they have gotten themselves into this time.

A sound snaps her from forming thoughts, sitting up a little straighter to glance over her shoulder. Immediately Vex'ahlia smiles, lifting a water soaked hand up to wave about. ]

Come on in, the water is fantastic.

[ Except go find your own tub, unless you have white hair and too many names. ]

2 / FISH EXPLORATION.

B / JAYBEAR WATCHING.

[ The forest is thick where she's crouched, surrounded by thick vegetation that twists about the trunks of the trees. Vex's dark clothes almost make her blend in, hood draw and gaze fixed up towards the canopies. Some sort of mixture of sticks, leaves, and other such things join trees together in some sort of large nest. Up top of it all a few strangely feathered bears lounge happily, trilling contentedly as they go about whatever tree inhabiting bears tend to do.

Vex, for her part, has been observing the blue colored bears for a while. Comfortably sat in the underbrush, her bow resting across her knees, and hood drawn over her head. It was fondness that brought her here, fondness and a longing for Trinket's painfully absent presence. This helps, if only a little, soothing some of the longing with memories of her darling bear. ]

Careful. [ It's hard to tell when she noticed the approach, but she doesn't turn her head to look at whoever it is. ] They're quite territorial, keep quiet and low.

C / OUTDOORS CAMPING.

[ It's funny how used to the mansion she had become, funnier how she half expected the glowing door to appear nearby when Scanlan is no where to be found. It gives her a moment, heart heavy, before she pushes through it. They've camped before, before the mansion they had camped in an assortment of bizarre places. Falling back on old habits isn't hard.

That's exactly what leads Vex'ahlia to find the tallest tree she could find to set up her tent, it's a struggle for a moment before she manages it and soon enough because host to couple of creatures. Among the branches, perching up top of the tent itself, the half-elf doesn't appear to notice the company she keeps, seemingly engrossed in the brilliantly blue feathers she had collected earlier. ]

D / WILDCARD.

[ there is so much to do! Holy crap! if not at the side of her brother or Percy, Vex will be wandering and exploring the fish to the best of her abilities. if none of the prompts above suit you, please feel free to hit me with a blank comment or prompt of your own choosing. also feel free to ping me on valyria / zaleho#0829 (on discord) and we can plot something. ]

[excelsus]

Base

✹ Arrival

[While Dorian was rapt in his attentiveness when it came to speeches he was hardly paying attention to Chiron...or well...the backwater pretender, there was no Chiron like his Chiron and this was not his Chiron. On top of that he was all speeched out. Yes: time was weird, something weird was going on, weird creatures...right now it didn't seem all that spectacular or anything to invest what was left of his attention on. Dorian was too filthy, too tired, and too sick from both the ship and the drinking, and his injuries to care all that much. It might sink in later, he might have a more dramatic response prepared when the time came, but for the moment he could barely feign interest in anything that would call him to action. In fact if it wasn't a thorough grooming, a fresh change of clothing, and a day's worth of sleep then he was hardly interested.

Needless to say his reaction is severely underwhelming and once the speeh is over he will shake himself from the rest of the rowd, probably just as world weary as he was, and start on the the exciting path that would lead him to sleep like a rock and not wake up.]

✹ Unexpected Surprises

[Several surprises awaited Dorian when he finally found his capsule, new garments and armor sets being among the most pleasing (finally proper smallclothes), with food and wine being a remarkably close second (again, proper food and wine even if the supply was limited), and a new roommate (he got on well with his old one, but her outrageous ways made his new roommate seem almost...nondescript which was not a bad thing in his book). What he was not expecting was the marginally larger gift in the hallway, a glorious red hart. A beautiful creature, wonderful if you want to look bloody majestic galloping around the Hinterlands, but they weren't made for spaces like this...in fact Dorian could only see the drawbacks:

Where was he going to house this guy?

Who was going to clean up his piles of...mess?

How was he going to bathe it?

When was he going to be able to take him out for a trot?

What was he going to name him?]

I'm entirely uncertain if you're a prize or a punishment, my friend. [Still, it doesn't stop him from giving the hart a pet that's less of a stroke and more of a playful scrub. There is a sweet side underneath all of that blustering banter after all.]

✹ Showers

[Few things were more glorious than a shower. They weren't like the baths he was used to, but they heated quickly and you didn't have to wait for an entire tub to be filled with hot water. A good thing by any estimation because Dorian was hardly feeling patient and he spent no small amount of time scrubbing days worth of filth off of his body. He was very likely not the only one, but he wasn't really paying attention to anyone else. Bathing was a self-involved affair, and after spending days in grubby ditches it should be for anyone (anyone who doesn't take a bath after that ordeal will be judged harshly).

Once the shower is out of the way Dorian doesn't dress immediately, there's more to the ritual than that, after all he didn't just come back filthy, he came back with the makings of a beard and his hair longer than he liked it. He's got enough class to wrap a towel around his waist, draping another around his shoulders, but anyone in the vicinity should know Dorian is hardly body shy and is not at all about getting hair all over his new clothing. One can always avert their eyes, but why would anyone do that? The process of cutting hair and shaving a beard is an art, one has to be skillful with a straight edge and a pair of scissors after all, but Dorian makes it look simples, like it should be a part of every man's routine grooming ritual.

Anyone who can keep their mustache so on point deserved accolades.

He's also not above helping out his fellow crewmates, men and women alike, nothing like a comfortable cut after all.

Though once he's finished he'll slip into his dazzling new leathers and saunter his way out like Right Said Fred on the catwalk]


[ooc: ignore the no!stache, Dorian would never shave it, he hides too much of his charm in it.]

Coleacanth

✹ Exploring

[Dorian wasn't much for the greate outdoors, he was a city boy, but he could see the appeal...he didn't entirely trust the appeal, but he could see it. His new hart begged to differ and was quite happy that Dorian finally decided to wake up, dress in one of his new armor sets, strap on his his creepy ass staff, and take him out for a little adventuring...in fact it was happier than it had any right to be prancing here and there, eating the native flora - "Andraste help you if that makes you ill" - and finding nice plots of land to leave his business - "Really, out in the open where everyone can see? If anyone asks, I don't know you" - but he never wanders far from Dorian. It's almost like he's got a sense that they are from the same world and this person understand him so it's best to just stick close to the familiar feeling human.

Sometimes the hart will approach Dorian and nudge him as if to say let's go for one of those majestic frollics around the Hinterlands, except instead will gallop all over this Coleacanth instead. Dorian yields eventually and while it may be quickler to catch a ride on a hoverbike the hart is more familiar and he seems to insist on it. Besides, Dorian wouldn't leave him behind, what would Dennet say? And quite honestly, Dorian is rather good at horseback riding, or hart back riding, even though he is also the first to complain of saddle sores.]

✹ Wildcard

[Choose your own adveture with Dorian. IDEK?]

midnighter | ota.

[thingpuncher]

a. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

Midnighter is happy to be outside of that shitty tincan as fast as he can. He takes off on the bikes when they come, preferring to wander alone, but he doesn't look down on company when he runs into someone. He's generally wearing some stupid shirt with some kind of large insignia on it, jeans, occasionally sunglasses. He hops on the nearest bike and putters off in no direction in particular, grinning the whole time.

He gets to a scenic area and wanders around, just idly exploring. Eventually, he wanders close to another person's camp, and he's happy to mull about, help boiling water or starting a fire. Making a tent is a real pain in the ass.

As night (or whatever passes for night on a fish-- darkness) falls, he looks up at a sound that isn't all that easy to hear. Midnighter looks up to see a face staring down at him in the trees. "Eugh, talk about Court of Owls." He immediately begins checking his BCE for information. "Don't worry, I'll kick it's ass if it attacks."

b. I GO WALKING IN MY SLEEP.

Later in the 'night', Midnighter retreats to his dewdrop tent alone. He clearly doesn't sleep in his sleeping bag, though, because a hairy leg hangs freely out of one of the doorways, zipped incompletely closed. It's still, though, and he's unmoving for several hours.

And then he bursts from the tent, half dressed in only jeans, expression dark with determination. "We gotta move. Something's in the trees."

He seems to have forgotten his derringer, because when he faces the line of trees, he holds only his fists up.

c. FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF FAITH.

He gets pretty good at stalking through the underbrush. There's a fair amount of greenery to wander through, and he's fond of what he can find. As he goes, a little robot follows him. Sometimes he'll mutter to it, "Mistake, do something useful."

The robot will stop, vibrate, fall over, or utter the words in a halting robotic tone, "Please. Allow me. To expire."

Midnighter groans and keeps walking.

d. TO A RIVER SO WIDE.

While walking across the terrain, you may encounter a particularly wet area, growing more and more loamy, as eventually your feet begin to stick and sink into the ground. Maybe you hear the warning in time, Midnighter yelling, "Hey! Back off!" Or maybe you don't. Regardless, Midnighter leans down from a nearby honeycombed tree to grab at you, shoulder or hand or whatever he can get his hands on.

"Be fucking careful. You'll sink right in."

e. I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING.

Eventually, he comes across a gully, and a ruined spacecraft. His eyes light with excitement. "Good. I was looking for this fucking thing."

Beware of being the poor innocent bystander who happens to be there when he begins his self-assigned mission. Midnighter looks over his shoulder-- "You gonna be useful, or you gonna gawk while I grave rob?"

f. WILDCARD.

BASE shenanigans? Something I haven't mentioned above? I'm good for it all. Feel free to hmu on wehwalt or pel#5780@disco if you wanna discuss.

( OPEN )

[wrackful]

ARRIVAL
[The disorientation has barely passed by the point adrenaline's already kicking in. Stood almost naked, surrounded by strangers in a metal corridor, Murphy has an instant of thinking he's back on the Ark. A second ago he'd been in the throne room in Polis, Ontari's blood all over his hands, and they'd just destroyed ALIE. He doesn't remember how he got here. He doesn't know if this is even real. Fear wrenches his stomach cold, but panic is just a quick way to get killed.]

What the hell just happened?

[At least he can still talk. Still sounds like himself. And if the people around him are guards or soldiers who have a problem with that, he'll find out soon enough.]

MESS HALL
[The birds are creeping him out. Settling in enough acceptance of the situation to grab some clothes, start checking the place out, and that's the one thing Murphy still can't get past. Robots he can deal with, but in his experience animals weren't that trustworthy. Especially not ones hanging around everywhere for no reason he could figure.

Ignoring them's easy when he finds the mess hall, though. Too caught by the prospect of food, the only thing that slows him down is making sure he doesn't have to trade for it and figuring out how the system works. That is, until his order of "roast fish" is placed on his tray by one of the droids.]

I'm going to make a guess that I don't want to know what this really is.

[Suspiciously lifting the fish's tail off the plate, though the hunger in his stomach is already telling him he doesn't care.]

THE EXIT
[Murphy had only retained some broken pieces of what the horse guy had said, still too confused by everything - and by there being a horse guy - to really listen. He doesn't know what a coelacanth is, but he does know what outside the airlock looks like: trees, sleeping on the ground, and probably things that will try to kill you.

He's only stepped out a few paces from the door. He still doesn't know if he really believes what's happening, but his instincts say to stay inside. Free food, clothes, bed, shelter. Anyone who'd pick camping in the trees over that was crazy, or didn't know first hand just how shitty it could be.

But he still hasn't turned back inside yet. Watching what he can see from here, the forest, the weird-ass sky. He remembers what it felt like, stepping out onto Earth for the first time, the total freedom of it. That drive tells him to move forward, to see what's out there, despite his instincts pulling him back to the metal corridors behind him. So he stays stuck in place. Torn between the two.]