agogemod: (Default)
⌞THE AGOGE⌝ MODS ([personal profile] agogemod) wrote in [community profile] agogelogs2017-12-09 03:16 pm

all this energy calling me

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




TOUCH BASE;
backfill armed services echelon
COST re-appropriated vehicle 854A-5.2




DEPARTING FRANCE

The order comes out the second day after the Tuileries is sacked:
PACK UP, 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, and it starts like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, not painful, not to start with. Just a hum of sensation. But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomena as 'the buzz'. The sensation builds, feeling not unlike standing near a great engine, or the wind rattling the branches of a great tree. There is long a moment of motion sickness, and one cannot always be sure if it is you that is shaking from the inside out, or the world that is shaking you from the outside in. It may just 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. Some swear they feel a touch of the divine; the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle. Or maybe it's an illusion brought on by powerful technology grafted into your skin.

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

Nausea is commonly accompanied by this shift. One moment, you're in the cold of France. The next, you're in a temperature regulated hallway, looking not unlike 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. Crows sit on high ledges, looking down, watching.

(For those of you who just apped in and didn't participate in the TDM, you'll appear alongside your comrades now, standing in this long hallway filled with droids and crows and men and women in clothing from 18th century France. Of course, you'll be wearing the minimal COST athletic issued underwear, and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!)

At the end of the hall is a long table with heaps of used clothing on it. The sizes and styles vary, along with color and detail (AKA none look exactly like the linked pics, they're just a baseline, use your ~imagination~). One thing's for certain, all the clothing has been used before, with holes darned and worn edges. They're all clean, though, and each bears a single patch with the words 'KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN' and 'COST sewn into the side.

They're not exactly high fashion, but they might be more comfortable than the late 18th century digs you're still wearing, if you showed up in France. Or, you know, the underwear.

Meet the Drill Sergeant

There is the echoing sound of hooves, and a strange creature emerges from a nearby room: a centaur. He smiles kindly, happy to see you've arrived. He has a significant limp in his back left leg, causing his hoof-beats to pitch an irregular rhythm as he walks slowly through the hall.

"Hello, all!" His voice is kind, but it's pitched to carry. "You may know me as Sergeant-- I am in technicality a drill sergeant. You may call me Chiron, if you wish, though I'm to understand some may know others with the same name." He laughs, amused. "In any case, welcome home. It is not much, but we have tried to make it hospitable for you in your time here. Your room assignments have been uploaded onto your BCEs, along with some technological upgrades we've been testing out. There are a few prototypes and experiments you may find in your rooms as well. Our agents are..." He looks up at the crows. "We are a curious people."

He looks over to the table stacked with clothing. "Please pick out what suits you, and make adjustments as needed. If you have any complaints, and wish to change your rooming situation, your username, anything of that nature, please send me a request. I am also known in some capacity as a trainer-"

One of the crows caws, and it sounds almost sarcastic.

Sergeant Chiron ignores it. "Hm. If you wish for me to make a training regiment for you, to better your skill in this organization, please let me know. But for now: I am to understand your last mission was... tumultuous. Please, rest and acclimate yourself to BASE."

He turns to leave, before stopping-- "And please be kind to the crows. They remember slights."

The crows' cawing sounds like laughter.

HOTSPOTS

There's been some technical difficulty since the prognosticators had their little meltdown. Coolant is in short supply, and some of the corridors of BASE are a little warmer than others. Pleasantly warm. Comfortably so, like walking through a sunbeam. In these hotspots, it feels comfortable and snug.

Characters walking through them will feel the urge to lie down and rest, maybe take a quick little nap.

Sleeping in these spots will cause unsettling or confusing dreams, but not nightmares. Dreams in these hotspots-- and sleeping in these hotspots will never be dreamless-- will be hard to remember upon waking, but they seemed very... strange. Almost as though you were intruding on something important but private.

Yet you can't quite remember it when you wake.

If you're clever and watchful, you'll notice the crows avoid these areas, so you can avoid them as well before you're seized by the urge to lie down and nap.

Particularly watchful characters may notice the hotspots are growing in size and number as the days wear on.

(More information about these and the forthcoming December plot will be coming in an infopost on the 12th, but if you have any questions now, feel free to ask here!)



fessus: (Silent Hill)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-10 09:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This sheer disrespect... ]

I'm used to banter, you just started saying all kinds of weird and unrelated stuff. I'm just here to do laundry. [ As he arrives in the kitchen, already dumping blankets onto the nearest countertop so he doesn't have to keep hauling them everywhere. Only then does he wheel on her. ]

Bantering's about insults or backhanded compliments... or bragging. Not that.
frogfractions: (pic#11756762)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-10 09:42 pm (UTC)(link)
[She hops herself up onto a counter - her and Noctis are at about eye level now, mercifully. Though it does make the conversation take on a weird tone, especially when he actually starts complaining.]

It doesn't count because I got under your skin, basically? You could always try learning to live with it. You might get insulted for things far more important than how many blankets you sleep with.

What are these blankets made of? Do you know? [She's reaching for one, thumbing over it to see if there's any sort of tag.]
fessus: (Superman 64)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-10 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Cue him immediately jerking his blankets closer to himself, just an instinctive pettiness that he takes a big breath through. Okay, Noctis, don't let her get to you... Let her touch the blankets... and so he does, moving them back. ]

... no. I don't. And I know all of that already, geeze... Those are the kinds of insults I'm used to anyway. [ He eyes her for a moment or two longer before relenting, glancing away again. ]

Let's start over. Can we start putting the blankets in first or what?
frogfractions: (pic#11908166)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-11 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure, the blankets should be fine. [The plan, if she ever had one, is kind of gone by now - but hey, she's at least learned just how easy he is to mess with.

She turns the blankets over a few more times, grumbles when she can't find any sort of tag. Well, she can wing it.
]

There should be detergent around. Screw the cap off, then pour a small amount of it into the cap. Until... hm... with this many blankets, we might as well do it in two loads. Pour the detergent in until the cap's halfway full.

You're used to insults? That's pitiable. You might want to find better company.
fessus: (World of Warcraft)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-11 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ They almost got through this without him bristling again at what he'd normally manage to take as a relatively innocent joke. Better company? Yeah, he'd say something like that to the three of them himself in a moment of jest, maybe, but that's a right he's earned and one they understand. Hearing someone else do it, when he's particularly sensitive to the loss of them right now? ]

I already found the company I want. [ In a tone that leaves zero room for argument even as he starts rummaging for the detergent. Where, where... Ah. Here's some.

Dishwasher detergent.
] There isn't a cap.
frogfractions: (pic#11756762)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-11 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
So have I. I'm sorry if I insulted anyone you care about. [She's a lot of things - a lot of things - but if he has companions or friends he cares about, she's the last person that's going to judge him for that. Her and Cagliostro have said some pretty mean-spirited things to each other, but Cagliostro still saved her life without even thinking about it. Prelati'd do the same for her. It's just how they are.

She's almost thinking better of it, until he takes out the detergent for the dishwasher. She sighs.
]

Unless you're planning to eat off the blankets, that isn't going to work. That's for dishes.

You didn't have any detergent when you were messing around in your room? What about fabric softener?
fessus: (Metal Gear Solid: IV)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-12 12:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, that's unexpected, and it's enough to give him pause. An apology? He's understandably a little wary, unsure if he should believe her on it but right now it seems that doing so is harmless enough. How does so much personality and so many seeming contradictions fit into such a tiny body? Damn, he can't keep up... ]

... [ Wait for it. ]

What's fabric softener?
frogfractions: (pic#11756755)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-12 09:10 am (UTC)(link)
...

[How does so much 'are you kidding me' fit into such a tiny body? Her stare is half glare, half stunned disbelief.]

I need you to tell me if you've ever washed anything in your entire life. Because I don't think you have.
fessus: (Doom)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-12 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Listen. Just... I don't have a follow-up or excuse, but. ]

... you mean clothes specifically? [ Fuck. ]
frogfractions: (pic#11756762)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-12 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
No, I mean anything. We are washing blankets to begin with.

Were you well-off? Or did you just not need to for whatever reason?
fessus: (Portal)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-13 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
I've washed things. [ Immediately he clings onto this singular truth, trying to defend himself as he looks around for the right detergent. ]

Pots, pans. Camping stuff. We split a lot of the work.
frogfractions: (pic#11908166)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-13 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Washing iron and steel is different from watching fabric. It's more delicate.

[Lazily, Prelati swings her finger to the left, pointing to the detergent in the cabinet above the machines.]

And much harder to wash by hand. There are folds in the material, after all.
fessus: (Final Fantasy XIII)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-14 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
I know that.

[ He knows... that fabric has folds in it. That's what he knows. Congrats to him. But with her help he's indeed seeking out the detergent, avoiding eye contact as he resolutely fills the cap halfway. ]

I'm just saying your guess was off... I've just never used one of these before, that's it.
frogfractions: (pic#11756753)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-14 12:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm still not buying it.

[Just bluntly telling him that, yep. She shifts a little on the counter, hand in her chin.]

There should be a detergent drawer. A small compartment that pulls out into a few labeled... I suppose you'd call them cabinets. Feel around on the top left of the machine.
fessus: (Bioshock)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-16 02:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Hmm... Well, he quickly finds what she's referring to, and maybe it's also a telling sign of the technology he's used to when he lightly strikes it and expects it to extend on its own.

... oh.

Oh, okay, he has to manually-- right, he's got this.
]

Ah, got it. You could spend less time theorizing and more time giving more thorough instructions. [ Right, let him blame his dumbassery on another person. ]
frogfractions: (pic#11756762)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-16 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd be more than happy to let you theorize how this all works. [At least he didn't smack it too hard - it's unlikely he broke anything.]

Pour the detergent in, then close it. Try not to smash it, this time.
fessus: (Dark Souls)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-17 12:39 am (UTC)(link)
I didn't smash it... [ But her comment certainly reminds him of his current situation, deciding to go a little easier. Gently he pours in the detergent, and even more gently does he close the tray again.

And then ends up dripping detergent onto his fingers when trying to re-cap the bottle, because we have literally all had this happen to us.
] Damn it.
frogfractions: (Default)

[personal profile] frogfractions 2017-12-18 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
-- [Prelati hops off the counter completely, at this point, moving over to run water from the sink.]

Honestly. [She says it like a scolding mother - gently, she reaches out for his wrists, moves to pull his hands over to the sink.]

You don't want that getting into your mouth, if you were planning to eat anytime soon. Basically, wash it thoroughly.
fessus: (Donkey Kong)

[personal profile] fessus 2017-12-21 12:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ The surprise on his face at having his hands commandeered is immediately visible, even jerking them away from the stream of water at first blush. ]

Tch-- Okay, okay, I can do it. [ But it's... weirdly soft coming from her so he can't access the agitation that he might normally, his tone a little unconvincing as he rinses his hands. ]

... is that really all these is to it? One guy told me to wash everything on cold all the time.