Multiversal travel can be disorienting, but there’s no need to worry! All side effects are temporary and lessen with each trip. Your body may experience several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You may have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer dizziness while others are perfectly fine. You notice that the area you are in is filled with a soft cerulean light and feels slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you. Regardless of your current state, however, the stress of transit forces your body into unconsciousness.
Waking up is another story. Or maybe it isn’t.
You find yourself in a nondescript room; sometimes with others who have found themselves in the same situation, sometimes alone. Welcome to Avagi Station, your new home.
Avagi
That First Step, it is a Doozy:
There are always risks to exploring new environments and Avagi is rich with new nooks and crannies to explore. You’re checking out a new corridor that’s been opened, though there have been signs warning that there are areas where structural stability has been weakened by neglect and the passage of time. But maybe things have been going well, you’ve found a few interesting things of note and you’re ready to head back to your bunk for the day.
Except when you turn to leave, the floor is giving way without a screech of metal. Hopefully you’ve got some good reflexes and can catch yourself before you topple down a shaft that seems to go down at least thirty or forty feet. Do you call for help or struggle to handle it on your own? And more importantly, how are you getting around this giant hole in the floor now that it’s there?
The Buddy System:
In order to help new arrivals find their bearings the more experienced residents on board have decided to try out the buddy system in order until the new arrivals get their space legs. The guide is responsible for answering any questions, showing them all the important facilities and making sure their new friend doesn’t wander anywhere too dangerous. And what better way to get to know your buddy than to try and help them find all the supplies they need to be comfortable in their new home? Hopefully the barter blocks have some clothes in your size or else it could get a little bit awkward come laundry day.
Shining Bright:
The Observation Station is the best place on Avagi to get a look at the storm that rages all around. However today when you stop by there’s something strange and new to look upon. It’s not clear if it’s a change in the environment or perhaps an effect of the living energy that opens the portals but the entire room is filled with softly glowing floating lights. If you venture into the room and dare to touch one of the lights you’ll find that you find a song playing in your mind that fills you with a deep and abiding sense of peace. What you do with that feeling is up to you but it seems that these lights aren’t going to cause any harm then why not let yourself relax in a beautiful space for a little while?
Kaittos
This month there is a portal to the planet Kaittos, a peaceful world containing one large land mass and a scattering of lived-on islands across a clear blue ocean. On the mainland, a large city-state occupies the central region and southern coast and resembles what some travelers from some versions of Earth might know of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Bustling and lively, the city is clean and well provided-for due to the temperate climate and the bountiful natural resources found on its northern side; orchards, farms and forests extend into the distance, butting up against a small mountain range. The technology level is low compared to Avagi, with carriages and candles in place rather than cars and electric lights, but the craftsmen of the world have managed some very impressive mechanical feats.
Kaittans, the local residents of the world appear somewhat humanoid, but the bipedal race has hooves rather than feet, silvery skin and three eyes with vertical pupils. Although there is no sign of any other sentient species in the world, the locals are nonetheless excited to meet their guests, rather than suspicious or afraid; for some reason, they are not surprised that aliens exist, merely that they are here.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the city and partake in an exchange of goods and ideas, to share their culture and stories with the locals. Perhaps there’s a merchant willing to trade a bauble for a story or you want to try something entirely unknown to your palette in the culinary quarter. The possibilities, while not quite limitless, are enough to keep the curious busy for quite a while.
[ Not long ago, maybe Stan would have found a way to extricate himself from the other's hold on his arms but he allows it. He hasn't been here very long by himself but he's been here long enough to know how it feels and he doesn't want to pull away the comfort of being together again. It's not complete with not everyone there but neither of them are alone and that's what matters.
He rolls his eyes but doesn't rise to the bait of the vaguely anti-Semitic joke and instead he looks surprised at the length of time that Eddie's been here alone.
And then, embarrassment or not, he isn't going to pull away from Eddie's hugging again until the other boy is read. He hugs him back, lighter this time and he thinks it's a good thing he let it happen when Eddie pulls away on his own. He probably needed that if he'd been alone that long. That's an eternity! ]
And you haven't died from any diseases yet? Amazing.
[ Stan can hear the approach and he's so relieved he can't even think of anything else to say as they pluck him up. His eyes widen when he sees the person that lifted him up and any discomfort he might have felt when she lifted him by his arm is quickly forgotten.
Wow! ]
Signs... [ Well, now his cheeks go a little red. He'd been distracted and well... obviously he missed something. ]
Is there supposed to be a detour then? Thank you for helping me! You're really strong. [ Stan, you are shrimpy as hell. ]
(No, it wasn't complete, but it was closer to complete than Eddie's felt in a while now. There was no way he'd be looking a gift horse in the mouth. There had always been a sort of magic in their group, and with Stan here, Eddie felt a little more bigger, better than he was.
It had been an eternity. He's glad for Stan not making fun of him for the second hug, for just letting him have it. No doubt that Eddie may be a little touchier than usual over the next couple of days.
Eddie places a hand over his chest, mouth opening and face dissolving into an expression of mock-offense.)
I'll have you know that I live in a very sanitary place, Stan! And unlike some savages, I know how to wash my hands.
(.......He glances away from Stan, clearing his throat lightly.)
I also asked around. Apparently there's not any weird space diseases that exist that anyone's really discovered yet.
[Nate's not much a fisherman. Scratch that, he's not a fisherman at all; he just likes being on the edge of the water, even if it's weird water on an alien planet. It's still nice. Peaceful, even.
Well, it usually is.]
Holy crap. [He draws his gun, but uhh, moving target, with a guy on the end...] HEY! LET GO OF THE LINE!
(There it is. Eddie's hands go straight to his hips and his lip curls up in a familiar expression of distaste. If Stan listened hard enough, he could probably already hear Eddie's endless stream of conscious thought listing off every single reason why someone should clean their hands.
He lifts a hand and points.)
Don't even try me, Uris. Henry Bowers regularly neglected cleaning his hands and you know that's true. Jesus, Richie usually doesn't either.
(To which Eddie shudders. Richie actually really only ever did that to bother Eddie, grabbing at his face after. Such a pain in his ass.)
Don't say it like that! (Great, now you got him wailing a little. Problem is Eddie totally has been paranoid about that sort of thing. After all, this world was new, so that meant anything else could be new to them later down the road.)
That's a revealing question. "Some of us do remember something that should have been the end," she agrees. "I don't, but I've seen enough confusion." Network posts by the presumed-dead had been a regular occurrence. "As for going back, if anyone does, at this point it's as random as the way we all arrive. No way to hurry."
His concern over her circuits makes her smile. "They stand out a little too much around here, but they're fine." She pushes back two layers of clinging cloth from her wrist, revealing the blue glow of standard Encom patterns underneath. "My name is Yori."
She's not sure how to explain more about the Ingress without explaining the entire structure of worlds, and hesitates.
That answers some questions, but raises new ones in their place. 'So it just grabs programs from any which where and when? Why?' No way to hurry. 'So I can't just go back the way I came.' Helmet still dangling from his fingers, he tugs his curls with a frown. With the knowledge that Flynn is a User, the likelihood of success had increased dramatically, but Ram still wishes he could be there to help.
The sight of her circuits, a strong, healthy glow and firmly blue makes him smile. He makes to ask if circuits are not the norm in this system, and if so how that's possible, but upon hearing her name, the next sound out he makes can only be classified as a squeak.
'You're Yori?!' he gasps, helmet dropping from his fingers. He stares at her as his memory banks open to all the times Tron had spoken of his partner, all the times she'd been factored into their escape plans. This is the program who brought such happiness to his friend, just by speaking about her. 'Oh my User, it's great to finally meet you! I've heard so much!'
[ Stan stifles a small smile. Sometimes it really was too easy to rile Eddie up, that he didn't even really realize that that's what he intended to do until he did it and the other was going off about something or other. ]
(That question warrants a bit of a dead-eye stare. Or what some people might refer to as the thousand-yard stare, something he's hardly conscious of doing. Then he just kind of erupts with a startled laugh.)
What, are you serious? Do you want the condensed version or the encyclopedia version?
If they knew anything about why, she'd at least have a place to start. "People from any where, any when," she confirms. "Including people in the relative future or past of a single system." Which always complicates a story.
But the sheer enthusiasm of his reaction to a simple introduction makes her smile. "Now that's the sound of a program who's heard about me from Tron." Fellow prisoners? It makes sense of his comments about the MCP, his circuit color and his good aim.
No one but Tron had ever been quite so excited about admiring her. She hopes she can live up to at least some of the expectation...while telling Tron's friend how it came to happen that Tron isn't here and Rinzler is. "What's your name?"
'Oh so much,' he chuckles. 'I'm sure you're well aware how hard it can be to get anything out of him, but when it comes to you, it's more difficult trying to get him to stop. All good things, that I can absolutely assure you.'
He picks up his helmet again and puts it back on before he starts fiddling with it again. The circuits light up again as it resyncs with his system. 'My name's Ram. Tron and I are good friends. He helped me on Sark's Game Grid.'
His expression slowly drops as he speaks. Now the initial surprise and delight are beginning to fade, calculations are firing. 'We were planning on finding you once we escaped. Tron said you'd be able to help us, and regardless, he wanted to see you again. But if you're here...' Tron must be searching the system for her, increasingly desperate and afraid she'd been derezzed.
A joke? Is that some kind of over-the-counter drug?
(Eddie says this feigning absolute stupidity, even widening his eyes for effect.
He swipes a smack at Stan's arm. Not only does he pull the strength from his hit, it's Eddie, so it's pretty much guaranteed to not hurt even slightly.)
Oh see, now, Eddie knows somewhere that Stan is joking with him, but the statement is enough to make Eddie go a little pink. He even looks taken aback.)
What! (He squawks this, flailing his arm uselessly.) No! I mean. I mean sort of? But.
(Actually, he was, but he'd only just started. It was mostly training on ways to use stuff as weapons or defend himself with his hands. There's no way it had made a difference.)
Chlamydia also exists, Stan. Pneumonia, cancer, strokes, seizures, narcolepsy...(Eddie was getting off on a tangent now, his voice winding up for the big pull. You might want to stop this Stan before he starts going alphabetically.)
She can't doubt that. The people Tron loved, he had loved to praise. It hurts to compare that to Rinzler's forbidden voice.
"Ram!" she exclaims in nearly equal delight. Tron had been so upset to lose him, upset again to hear of his loss when Flynn reported it. "I heard how much you helped him." Definitely one of the people Tron cared about; a loyal friend, a fast learner, someone he thought Yori would have liked.
The signs of Ram's growing distress are clear enough that Yori goes ahead with the quickest version of the story despite the probable confusion. "No, don't worry about that. The Ingress pulled me from ahead of where you were, it sounds like. Tron found me, and Flynn found him, and believe it or not between us we managed to take down the MCP--and Sark, too."
She reaches a tentative hand to rest against his shoulder, quiet comfort in the echo of the moment they'd known they had finally won.
Oh. (If depression had a face, it would be that of Eddie Kaspbrak being told there was no difference in his body from all that work he's been putting in. Destroy his fragile masculinity, why don't you.
His fragile everything, actually.)
Okay, I wasn't making a list of stuff I've had. Just stuff I know exists. Also my dad had cancer so I'm predisposed to having cancer too. Everyone knows that's how that works.
[ Stan feels a little bad at the sight of that face... okay, a lot bad, but this one he's not sure how to fix quickly. It's kind of a weird territory to tread and so he ends up just moving on from it. Eddie shall recover, Stan has faith. ]
Well, with that attitude, I guess you are. [ Eddie he doesn't know what to do with your fatalistic hypochondria sometimes! ]
It's impossible to not perk up a bit again at the tone in which she says his name. Excitement and... familiarity? But how? In so short a time, had Tron found her, recounted their escapades and then she'd been drawn here? But she seemed so familiar with this system?
Her words drag him out of the confusion as he tries to make the numbers work. And although the idea that she's from "ahead" of him is one that sets his processors whirring, he'll put it on the back burner for now, because there's more immediately important things at hand.
'You all found each other. Good, I was so worried. And he's... Flynn's a User! You've probably already found out, but I could hardly believe it!' He laughs, and while it's largely genuine, there's a slightly desperate edge to it. 'You did it then. You actually did it, against all the odds... Wow, I wish I could have seen their faces.'
His circuits brighten momentarily at the touch and he swallows, then returns the gesture, accompanying with a quiet binary ping of /thankyou.
(Sometimes there's no quick fixing things. Thankfully, Eddie will recover, albeit with a bruised ego, but it'd be fine. He knows better than to take everything Stan says to heart, even if it does sometimes suck to hear.)
Stan, are you suggesting that cancer can be beaten with positive attitude?
(And people think he's naive.
Really though- did anyone know what to do with his hypochondria? Thankfully, Eddie's changing the subject with a wide smile and suddenly grabbing Stan's wrist.)
Hey, listen, there's this weird food here that is sort of like ice cream but isn't? It's really good. Do you have your bike?
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thisavrou_ooc2017-11-17 07:40 pm
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