|
Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 13, 2017 21:27:28 GMT -5
Even though Holly had given warning, the suddenness of the broadcast caught Atif a little off guard. It reminded him of the image in the memory, of almost-him trying to find words in the last few minutes before the ship crashed. He found he was almost as afraid now, and even more at a loss for words. Mina noticed, of course. Mina always noticed. She squeezed his hand. And Atif relaxed a little. He cleared his throat. “Ah- hello, everyone. Dr. Khouri here. For what it’s worth, I think Officer O’Rourke is right. The last few days have been- well, something. But I woudn’t call it something bad, exactly. I think… we can make this work, all of it. Rediscovering all of this… has meant a lot. I don’t know about you, but I… I definitely don’t want to lose it again. Ever.” He looked around the room tentatively, and caught his father’s smile. “But I don’t want to lose this town, either.” “Y’know, for all the globetrotting I’ve done, it’s always nice to have a place to come back to,” Jamil piped in. “Can never keep away for too long. “Always nice,” Atif repeated, more quietly. “Ah, what do you all think?” He looked around again, smiling hopefully. Atif talks to everyone, agreeing with Shinko and admitting some of his feelings on these matters. Jamil pipes in about his own travel experience too, I’m sorry I couldn’t keep him quiet. =D; Feel free to tell him to be quiet.
|
|
|
Post by Killix on Oct 14, 2017 3:00:52 GMT -5
A loud crackle sounded as Scip put the broadcast on-air. Velia listened as Fionn, then Holly and Atif each spoke about the beast, belonging, the true meaning of home, and the potential they all had ahead of them. Their ancestors had trapped themselves, Velia knew that much. So divided were the crew's desires that the very energy of thought really did split off and form into a beast. It seemed a little unreal, but what they were facing was the personification of conflicted feelings. This Fear-munching thoughtdemon had a weakness, though, and it was one that the original crew had never been able to exploit. Erase the chaos, erase the beast. All they had to do was settle the conflict and end the strife that had kept the beat going for so many years. Velia gripped the strap of her Pixcom. "Yeah!" She cheered, "We're all in this together, Wrighton! If the discord of a thousand hearts is what created it, then... Imagine the power of thousands more believing in each other, reconciling, understanding! With our hearts in harmony, we can destroy it!" It probably sounded a bit over the top, like the rallying speech of friendship straight from a kid's cartoon, but it was exactly what she believed fit into their very situation. Sometimes real life really did get that sappy. YAS! We can beat the beast with the POWAR OF FRIENDSHIP!
|
|
|
Post by Twillie on Oct 14, 2017 14:15:58 GMT -5
Liz listened as Holly addressed the rest of the group, and a few others pitched in after her. When a pause between the others came, Liz couldn’t help but feel the spotlight on her as she pocketed her hands and imagined all the townspeople hearing her every word. “Yeah... yeah I guess.” Liz couldn’t claim to be much for inspirational words. She tried to compliment them with a small smile, but inside she was grasping for anything better to contribute. Not that she was shy, but especially considering all the conflicted thoughts running through her mind thanks to newfound memories, she couldn’t quite get herself into the sappy mood. But also knowing that this sappiness was life-or-death, she dug deep and tried again. “I mean… Wrighton is the only place I’ve ever lived before.” She shrugged. “Can’t say it’s always been nice to me, but it’s still what I know best. “And I guess now, I’m just surprised how… accepting? people are. Mary’s been a secret of mine for about a year now, and I didn’t know I could just… tell people about it. And that they’d be okay with it. Which is important to me. Because Mary is. “It hasn’t always been like this, but the past few years of my life-- well, they weren’t always terrible, but there were bad moments, and most of the rest of the time it was just coasting along. I got out of some awful friendships, and a crappy job, and for a while it felt like those things were what defined me. It took a while to move on and get an actual, stable job. But it’s not like that fixed everything. I was still just getting by, not actually… living. So when I found Mary, that helped me get away from everything for a little bit. I could feel better with her, but I had to keep it a secret.” Thinking on it now, after gaining all of Theo’s memories, Liz realized that when she had found Mary, she had literally found a piece of... herself? “She didn’t fix everything either, but it at least gave me something more to hold onto. For the first time in a long time, I could actually care about something. And I guess now I can share that. This is... probably the most open I’ve been in a while. Guess with the past week, and everyone here, where we’ve ended up-- it’s starting to let me feel a little more alive. Make things feel more like home again.” She went quiet then, backing away and shrugging her shoulders, feeling awkward. Despite her sudden sheepishness, though, those words still rang in her head, and she couldn’t help but notice the weight they lifted from her. A weight she hadn’t even noticed before. Something about it, the light relief, she hadn’t felt that way in years. A simple post \o/
Liz is a little unsure on how to contribute to all the inspirational speeches, feeling distracted from all the regained memories and not having any big "I've always been running" tale, but she tries anyway. After talking a little about the recent years of her life, she acknowledges how accepting those around her are, and how she hasn't been so open about herself in a long while. She also internally realizes how the past week and year of her life have been an effort of finding herself-- literally-- and being able to trust and share that with others.
Perhaps feeling a little embarrassed after speaking, she goes quiet again, but she can't help but feel a little more whole now.
|
|
|
Post by Liou on Oct 14, 2017 14:26:10 GMT -5
((Content Warning - mentions of past abusive relationships)) She had swooped down on them like a large bird of prey and they had recoiled in their seat. They kept their eyes on the familiar pattern of the flared feathers while Holly spoke. Something in their face closed like curtains; something inside them wanted to speak, but they choked it. You stupid snake and your misguided feelings, wasting everyone's time again.Ayo sank deeper into the seat, curling their legs under their body in an unconscious gesture, half-listening as the others restated the crew's wishy-washy problems. Mina Khouri and a green creature tried to reassure them. Ayo didn't meet their eyes. Who even were those people? Claire said something very sensible, and nothing made sense anymore. Be kind to them, the snake had said. But it wasn't them. It was fifteen people with whom Ayo had been vaguely acquainted for three days. Now the backpacker was speaking (with all her equipment and rambling, they should have known she would be the Second Mate) spewing a lot of corny things about home, as if anyone could call this dump home. Ayo certainly wouldn't. They barely even knew her name, for crying out loud. (Bek, her name had been Bek.) Their eyes were dry and prickly; they had cried everything they had in front of Scip, not unlike the captain. They turned away the tissue Hannah offered, sighed, and patted her back. (She had bones in this life. They could hug her safely!) "Broadcast if you like," they said, raising their hands, when O'Rourke came up with the idea. "Let’s hope there's enough people who can call this hellhole home, and who won't laugh at you for shouting it across the town." Fionn - where had he been all this time? - was the next to try and comfort them after the silly apology. One of the words he spoke caught their attention. Oor'cha? It took them a moment to recognise it. They nearly laughed. The stupid snake had bombarded them with memories of its precious crew, yet it hadn't even remembered its own name. They were about to hiss, "You don't even know me!" when the ominous crackling rang across the room and Ayo clapped a hand to their mouth, glaring at Scip and O'Rourke. They slunk out of the seat and tiptoed away. “Ayo?” Fionn called out quietly, not wanting to be heard over the broadcast. He followed them, keeping his footsteps light so as to not disturb them. “Where are you going?” Not towards the exit - they were trapped in here between strangers and beast. Ayo had wandered towards the water. They gave Fionn a tense shrug. "Can't go anywhere until that thing is gone, can I," they hissed. “No...but we are working to stop it,” Fionn said, smiling as he looked back at the others. “It will all be okay. Maybe you can even say something?” "I'm not the worst at acting, but I can't lie to a beast that's literally reading my mind, Fionn." “Reading your mind?” the man frowned, before a shaky smile wiped that expression from his face. “Well, Wrighton doesn't literally have to be home. There's lots of different ways to think of home. None are wrong. We can defeat the beast, I think, if we all hold it as a special place where we can return to.” They grimaced. "You'll return to it without me. Now that the mindprog is done, I am not letting anything else drag me back to this hellhole." Ayo closed their eyes and crossed their arms. "I don't do the corny home stuff," they added in the gentlest tone they could muster for Fionn. Fionn sighed. “I know. I never had a home either. But Wrighton isn't so bad. I would not call it a hellhole,” he paused, thinking, before lowering his voice so only Ayo could hear. “You came here before this, when you were getting the restraining order, didn’t you?” Ayo paused in their pacing. They glanced at the bridge, turned their back on the others and stepped closer to Fionn, facing the water. "Yeah, I did. Literally went back to hell." “But it was a nice break, wasn't it?” Fionn shot them a smile. “You came here, were safe, and relaxed a bit while things were getting sorted. You even got to see me play. So it could not have been all hell.” "You should try selling stuff some day," they said acidly. "Yeah, it served its purpose. You think I want something else to force me to take a break like that? You think I want life to get that bad again?” “No, and I don't want your life to get so bad either,” Fionn hung his head. “But it isn't Wrighton's fault. It's all...her fault. Olivia. She was the one who hurt you.” Ayo watched him for a long time, their face stony. "Yeah," they whispered at last. "She dunnit. Pity she got to me before Scip did, isn't it. I'm not the cute lovesy captain you expected. I'm not going to hold your hand and tuck you into bed at night. In this lifetime, I'm just damaged goods." They walked off along the edge of the pool. Fionn raced after them. “That's not true. Just because she hurt you doesn't mean you're damaged. You might not be Oor'cha, but that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with not being someone else,” he shot them a weak smile. “I liked you even before I knew about them.” Ayo froze with one foot held in midair above the pool. They could not swim like this. They frowned and stepped back, hoping no one had noticed. "You've known me for three days," they reminded Fionn - smiling. "I like you too. You're... pure, in a way." They patted his shoulder, startled for a moment by how cold the wet coat felt. "Sorry I dumped the memory of her on you. It gets too heavy to talk about." “It's okay. I know how it is, after all, with Miranda…” Fionn shook his head before raising his hand up to touch Ayo’s. “Maybe I have only known you for three days, but that doesn't matter, not to me anyway. I make my mind up quickly about people, and you're much better than you think. Than she made you think you are.” He laughed uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck. “Besides, her memory is nowhere near as heavy as my ancestor's memories and emotions.” Ayo winced in sympathy. "Those old fogeys and their bloody feelings. Did you get a troublesome one?" “Kinda. She’s okay, but her emotions are...really strong. Too strong for me, or I suspect any person, to handle,” he looked Ayo right in the eye. “Your ancestor knew her, very well. Her name was Iki.” Their eyes widened. "Iki..." Of course - why was it so obvious every time? Their face seemed to transform as a tender smile softened all of their features. The memories did not charge into Ayo's mind; they swam playfully like something waiting in the water below. So many memories were tactile - smooth, supple, with such a firm grip when she wanted, soft as velvet on their face, dancing behind their back… Mixed with the other sensations came the hard surface of a door under Oor'cha's knocking hand. “Excuse me,” said the captain in a very serious tone, “I have an urgent appointment with the Head of Cuddles.”Ayo held the sides of their neck as if to protect against tickling. They buried their face in their hands for a moment, emerging a little flushed. They cleared their throat. "Yeah, she was pretty intense. That can't be easy to process," they told Fionn quietly. “No. It’s...gotten me in trouble a few times now. Especially her feelings for Oor’cha. Those are the most intense of all,” Fionn bit his lip, trying to stop the emotions from floating to the surface again. He could not afford to soak in their warm embrace now. “She…she really loved them- the captain, I mean. Even if there were others, for them both, it did not make their relationship any less special. Even to the end, she did not blame them,” he wiped away the tears that began to sting his eyes. “She knew they had no choice. The plan had to go ahead. All she hoped was that she would be remembered. That Oor’cha would remember her.” Ayo raised their hand to help wipe his tears. They paused when Fionn did so, then laid their hand against the side of his face anyway. "The first thing I remembered - not counting that first flashback - was Oor'cha just thinking to themself, but... at me. What a weird snake thing." They shook their head. "Anyway, Oor’cha was going through the most important things they wanted me to remember first and foremost. And they thought of Iki. In great detail. And how happy they were with her. They really wanted me to feel her love." Fionn nodded, focusing on the feeling of Ayo’s hand so as to not get swept away by the welling undercurrent of Iki’s emotions. “Oor’cha was an empath, were they not? That meant they must have felt all of her emotions, including her love,” he sniffed. “I’m glad. She would be happy that they remembered, and conveyed that memory to you,” a tiny smile formed on his face. “Maybe they were ‘a weird snake thing’ as you put it, but from her memories, they were wonderful. Loving, sweet, and so utterly caring. I’m glad they live, and that you have their memories, Ayo. I can’t say why but it just feels right that you do.” They looked down. "Iki was very precious. Open and kind and spontaneous, and always there for us. You do a lot of things like her, in a way - it's kind of eerie, but to be expected, I suppose. I do have memories of her emotions, second-hand. Oor'cha had ways of protecting themself from all the emotions they caught from others. If she gets too intense for you, I could try and remember how they did it." He thought about it before nodding. “I would like that. For all of the intensity, I don’t want to forget her. She was really great, and you’re right, me and her are alike. If she was still alive, I think we would have been really good friends,” Fionn pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it all relies on us not forgetting. The beast is coming, and everyone is doing the broadcast, so I hope it works but…” he looked at Ayo. “It needs all of us, doesn’t it?” They pursed their lips and crossed their arms again. "It needs everyone who can do something." “You can do something, Ayo,” Fionn said quietly to them. “You said Wrighton is a hellhole for you, a place where you go when bad things happen, right?” he paused, thinking. “But they don’t happen here, do they? It’s always somewhere else?” "The worst happens elsewhere, yes. Wrighton is too dull for anything really bad to happen," they added with a smirk. “So...it’s safe?” Fionn suggested. “At least, I feel safe here. When...when Miranda didn’t want me, and I no longer felt at home in the sea, I came here. And you came here to get away from Olivia, and then, when it was better, you went again. So…” he paused, gathering his thoughts. “It’s a safe harbour that will always be there in case of storms. It’s associated with bad things for you, but maybe it’s because you come here when you’re lowest? To weather the storms and leave when you have the strength to handle them again?” Ayo narrowed their eyes at Fionn. They opened their mouth, closed it, and huffed, almost offended. "Fine. Right. It was safe those times. So what? It'll change. Everything does. When you least expect it." They jerked their head towards the others on the bridge. "And everyone's hoping to trap me here before it can turn into hell around us,” they choked out in a trembling voice. “They want to make me believe it's my own choice." “No. That’s not true,” Fionn’s voice was almost pleading. “Nobody is going to trap you, Ayo. I’m not going to trap you,” he lowered his head. “I’m not her. I know what it’s like to be trapped.” Ayo's shoulders sagged. "I know you're not her," they said softly. Yet something within them had realised it for the first time. They inched a little closer to him. "You're not scared of being stuck here?" He shook his head. “I know that if I ever want to go, I can. I don’t know where I’ll go but I have that choice,” Fionn smiled. “We all do.” Ayo jerked away from him, wringing their hands. They glanced frantically at all the exits above. The beast could be lurking behind any of those. Ayo covered their face with their hands again, leaving more nail marks. "You're lucky Iki was so cute," they muttered. “Way too cute to forget.” Despite the seriousness of the situation, Fionn grinned. “You mean I'm not cute on my own?” They stifled a shaky giggle. "You got it from her, obviously. Still. She was spectacularly cute. You have a lot to live up to." He laughed. “I can be cuter than I am now. Just watch,” Fionn pulled the edges of his coat together and focused. He disappeared, leaving a chubby seal sitting with its tail trailing at the edge of the pool, gazing up at Ayo and looking very pleased with himself. Ayo stumbled back and goggled at the animal. They glanced around the room as though expecting to find Fionn somewhere else, and into the pool, in case more sea creatures were waiting to pop out. "Is there anyone here who doesn't turn into something?" they whispered, exasperated. They crouched in front of the seal and pointed sternly at its muzzle. "Have you ever put somebody's bed on a roof?" The seal shook his head, looking very cowed. He gently nudged Ayo's hand with his muzzle, snuffling at it. They pursed their lips while the whiskers tickled them. "You people have a good reason for not telling us about your other forms, huh." Slowly, Ayo shuffled closer, raising their hand in by inch, pausing to gauge the seal's reactions. He did look exactly like a wild animal. The seal, however, remained calm, blinking with dewy eyes as he watched Ayo, waiting. Closing their eyes, Ayo leaned by another inch, and their fingers met the fur on top of his head. They began to scratch between his ears gingerly. Fionn too, closed his eyes, something like a smile forming on his face. Soon, they had moved down to the sides of his head and were petting him with both hands as they would a dog. "I guess you're all right, then." In which Celestial casually unravels Ayo issues just by being Fionn. Ayo had gone back into conceal-don’t-feel mode and tiptoed away from the broadcast. Fionn meets them by the pool. Fionn manages to extract their feelings about Wrighton and they bond over backstory again, helping with trust and safety issues. Ancestor memories are revealed and they also bond over adorable alien ancestors. After successfully dealing with feels, Fionn switches to seal mode for optimal cuddle therapy. (This is all off-broadcast.)
|
|
|
Post by Rabbit ♠ on Oct 14, 2017 16:51:13 GMT -5
This was actually happening. Everybody was being broadcasted to all of Wrighton. Just when Ani thought today couldn’t get any weirder. Ani didn’t know how to react to any of this. She just watched as everybody talked about having a home and that calling Wrighton their home would soothe the beast. While Ani still had a slight doubt in the back of her mind, everybody had a point. It sounded like it could work. Ani looked over at Claire. She wasn’t interrupting anybody. That was a good sign. Maybe she was being convinced by everybody. Suddenly, Ani’s phone buzzed. Someone texted her. Ani took out her phone and looked what she got. It was a text from Matt. Ani forgot Matt was in Mr. Phila’s class right now. She didn’t know how, considering Ani and Claire were in that class with him. She did email her professors about the Sixteen stuff, so at least her professors knew what she was up to. Other than him and Matt, though, she didn’t tell anybody. Ani wondered if any of her classmates knew what she was up to. “Who ya texting?” Claire asked. “Matt,” Ani answered. “Mr. Phila’s class was interrupted by all of this.” “Oh, they can hear us?” Claire’s eyes lit up. She began jumping around. “Hi Matt! Hi Mr. Phila! Hi Nina! Hi Robert! Hi Corrine! Mr. Phila, my homework might be a little late. In my defense, I have a really good excuse.” Ani quickly dropped Claire’s bat and covered Claire’s mouth. Now was not the time to shout out their classmates. “Hi everyone, Ani Hemsworth here. First off, I am so sorry about Claire. Those who know I’m talking about, you know how she can get,” Ani apologized. Then Ani’s phone began to buzz again. It buzzed a few times. Ani let Claire go and checked her phone. Her classmates were texting her. Ani should have expected that. Of course. The entire town was witnessing all of this alien business and her classmates were focusing on Ani talking. Ani couldn’t really blame them, though. She had been asked multiple times to say something, anything. Ani never did, but that didn’t stop her friends and peers from wondering. Ani sighed. “Yes, it’s me, and yes, I’m talking. If you know me, then you know I didn't speak. Eight years and I never said a word.” Ani looked around at everyone. The Sixteen and their friends. The crew. “This isn’t something I can stay quiet about, though. “Home is a hard thing to define. It isn’t just a set place you stay at. It’s somewhere you can come back to, somewhere you feel welcome, somewhere you feel safe.” Ani thought about living with her dad when she was a kid. For the first time, she was able to push that dark thought away. “I know what it’s like to not have somewhere that felt welcoming and safe. Nobody should have to feel like that. The original crew probably felt the same way. They might have just wanted some place safe to come back to.” She stopped for a second. “Maybe part of the original crew didn’t think there was a place for them to feel safe.” While Ani didn’t remember what all the members of the original crew wanted, she knew what Kiuna wanted. Kiuna wanted to settle down, she wanted a home, she wanted a place to feel safe. However, after seeing how harsh her home planet was to the citizens and visitors, Kiuna didn’t feel like there was a place for her. The only time she felt safe was when she was travelling. Kiuna didn’t know how to voice her opinion to the crew. So Kiuna stopped communicating with everyone. All that did was lead to conflict. That was what Kiuna wanted to avoid. She didn’t know how to patch up the conflicts she started before everyone’s memories were locked away. Kiuna felt guilty and regretful and selfish for simply not voicing her opinion. Ani wasn’t about to let that happen to her. She paused to gather her thoughts before she continued. “I’ve had a long week or so with all of this Sixteen stuff. Solving puzzles. Exploring the ship. Making new friendships.” Ani looked at Claire. She couldn’t tell the look on Claire’s face was from pride or from her fighting to hold back tears. “Strengthening existing ones.” That sentence made a couple tears slip from Claire’s eyes. “It made me realize that Wrighton is my home. It hasn’t always felt like a home to me, but now I can’t think of a better place to call home. It just took me some time to realize it. I feel like I’m part of a family. I feel safe here. That might be a little ironic with everything I’ve experienced over the last week.” Ani forced a laugh. Ani turned to face everyone in the command center. “If declaring a place a home is what needs to be done to stop the beast, then so be it. No matter what happens, no matter where we go, Wrighton is my home.” Ani looked down at her phone. It buzzed again. “Also, Mr. Phila’s class, if you’re the reason why I go over my limit for my phone plan, all of you are going to pay my bill.” Hey, Rabbit finally posted. \o/
Claire and Ani are just watching everyone discuss home and how to defeat the beast when Ani gets a text from Matt. Turns out their class was interrupted by this alien business. Ani tells Claire that Matt texted her about the alien business. So Claire decides to shout out her classmates. Ani quickly stops her and apologizes for Claire. Then Ani gets texts from her classmates, commenting on how she spoke. They need to get their priorities straight.
Ani talks about her meaning of a home. Somewhere you feel welcome, somewhere you feel safe. She says that she knows what it's like to not have somewhere you feel welcome or safe. Ani suggests that maybe the crew just wanted a place to feel welcome and safe and some didn't think there could be such a place. While that may not be the case for most of the past crew, it was for Kiuna. Kiuna wanted somewhere she could feel safe, but she didn't think there was.
So Ani goes on to say that she feels at home. It just took what she went through to realize it. She feels safe here, she feels welcome here. She turns to everyone and declares Wrighton to be her home.
Then Ani calls out her classmates on texting her too much. Guys, if you cause Ani to go over her plan, then you have to pay for it. >:[
|
|
|
Post by Moni on Oct 14, 2017 19:35:58 GMT -5
They were actually broadcasting to all of Wrighton and sharing all their feelings about home. It was all touching. Well, as touching as Christian could feel, anyway. He couldn't help but feel a little weirded out by this beast. This was the beast of the minds of the original crew--correct? But the original crew was long-dead. Being home vs. running away wasn't his conflict. Christian never decided to build a huge spaceship and run away. So why would the beast chase him? Why any of them? Wouldn't it have been permanently dead if Scip had just... not done anything? Not preserved his friends? What a sentimental old robot. Now that it came to mind--Scip was technically the one who started all of this. What did he feel was home? He technically got all of them into this, indirectly woke up the beast again, which, without the minds of the former crew, seemed to be content with just sleeping away its days. The beast was powered, so to speak, by the original crew's conflict between traveling and settling down. But it can't have been that all of the Sixteen shared that same sentiment. And it wasn't like the entire town was guaranteed to have that same conflict. If it was nourished by this conflict once... it may not have been now. In fact, the only one really left from the crew was... Scip himself? Itself? Was it possible that he had some unresolved feelings? An AI like that must have had a long story behind it, beyond the small affectations it displayed in public. Christian was not altogether sure that this plan would work, and it was with this state of mind that he prepared his remarks. First, he needed to get the general message that people shouldn't have conflicted feelings about home, or in general, preferably via a personal anecdote. Then, he needed to make sure that all was in order if all of this didn't work and he was really going to get mauled by a shadow-mammoth-robot-cthulu-whatever-the-beast-was. Then, well, then, he needed to get Scip to join in. That was a good plan. "All right, I think I'm ready to go speak," he said with a yawn. His caffeine fix was wearing off. "Hello, Wrighton. I am Christian Vu. A lot of you might know me. A lot of you might hate me. And a lot of you don't know that I have a good colleague that can take over for me if I should, for example"--it was then that Christian decided that this declaration may have caused a little bit of panic, so he came up with the most interesting and unrelated death possible--"pass away by having my heart switched off by an octopus in the Indian ocean. His name is Islam Mo. Also, do not invest in real estate. A housing bubble is forming and it will destroy the global economy. "Now, you may be anxious about the fact that a beast is lurking underground. Try not to do that. Do not have any conflicting feelings about the beast, that might make it worse. Instead, think happy thoughts. Specifically, think happy thoughts of home. We all like home, right? It's not home because of the architecture, or because of the stupid squirrels, it's home because it's our community. Home's not a location, not precisely--it's where your friends and their culture are. And with modern technology, you can probably take a piece of home with you whatever you go." That sounded too authoritative. "Or not, you know, you might have complicated feelings, and maybe a lot of different homes, so wherever that is, please think of it." Perfect. All his bases were covered, insomuch as he could cover all his bases. With a job well done, he slunked into the background and tried to poke Scip's hologram. "Excuse me, Mr. Scip," he whispered, "do you think of anything as home? I think you must have been as much a part of the crew as anybody else..." Christian delivers the objectively best speech. Islam Mo is the other fiduciary. Also, he asks Fraze something.
|
|
|
Post by Shinko on Oct 14, 2017 20:19:09 GMT -5
Rosemary was tending to her window herb garden when the memories came- memories of a small creature, one that could've easily stood in the palm of a human hand. A creature who's body glowed, who was born from stardust... Had... had she been this creature? The old woman took a step back from her plants, sitting very abruptly on the living room couch. Esther looked up from the drawing she was making, marker stained hands pausing and head cocked. "What's wrong, Nana?" she asked. Rosemary didn't answer. She pillowed her face in her hands, filtering through hundreds of years of flitting from ship to ship, planet to planet, and eventually to the ship which would become Wrighton, which took it away from its home universe altogether. Memories of children of the crew, wide-eyed and eager to learn. Memories of a quarrel, many quarrels, over belonging and finding a home. The alien had been intrigued by the notion. It had always been adrift in space. When others explained what a 'home' was, the alien- Nuin? Was that its name?- had wanted to experience this thing. This had been new, and different, and that was exciting. Then the dark time, the terror, the crash. "Nanaaaaa!" Esther whined, startling Rosemary back into the present by worming her way between the woman's elbows and her stomach. Rose sat up, allowing her great-granddaughter to settling more comfortably in her lap. "What's wrong? Why are you sad?" "I..." Rosemary swallowed hard. How to even begin to explain this to such a small child? She shook her head. "I just... remembered something, honey. Something that happened a long time ago." Before Esther could reply- no doubt with an imperious demand for more information- there was a crackle like a microphone kicking on, and a strange male voice shouted from what sounded like directly in Rosemary's ear. "Wha, what the-" she bleated, jumping into a standing position with her granddaughter in her arms. However, after a moment the strange new memories soothed her. She remembered this now, vaguely- the ship's public address system. The male speaker continued to talk, explaining that he was one of the sixteen. Rosemary vaguely recognized the voice now from the party the night before. Once he stopped talking, the old woman's eyes widened as she recognized Holly's voice (and Esther gave an excited squeal of "Mommy!"). Then more voices were added. Some were stronger and more confident than others, while some were more uncertain and shy. But all of them expressed more or less the same message. Heal the hurt to stop the beast. Rosemary chuckled softly, sitting back down again with Esther. "Well Essie, baby, what do you think?" She giggled. "I like swimming in the river. And doing our prayer circles in the woods or the park. And I like when we go to bed and Mama tucks me in and I can hear the cicadas outside so they sing me to sleep." "I like all those things too," Rose agreed, booping her granddaughter on the nose so that Esther giggled. "This is where I raised my daughter, and my grandkids, and now you, little Miss. I can't imagine being anywhere else." She hesitated, lip bit. "I don't like the idea of anybody leaving me behind for a long time. Just... up and gone. Poof." Esther leaned back against Rosemary's chest. "But they said they'll come home." Rosemary laughed. "I guess they did. And I guess it's selfish to want to keep people penned up. I'll just have to make sure to have an extra special dinner party ready for them when they return." * * * Meanwhile, on the shoulder of a lonely side road in the town's historic district, Deputy Chief Ritter was leaning against the hood of his squad car. He put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and gave a long drag. Then, with a noise like a sigh, he exhaled. "Like I need a bunch of kids to tell me this is my town." Rosemary has reservations about the whole "people leaving to gallivant in space for howeverlong" thing. Last time someone left Wrighton (*cough* Jon *cough*) they ended up getting arrested and it was all very harrowing. D= But with Esther's help she comes to her own sort of peace with the situation.
Meanwhile, a face you guys probably didn't think would be showing up again. He's not evil, honest, he was just trying to do his job.
|
|
|
Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 14, 2017 20:35:52 GMT -5
Leo Carter was having the strangest day of his life. It was a strange few days, honestly. First a dome had appeared over Wrighton, and all activity in town had screeched to a halt as people tried to solve some kind of weird puzzle. Then half the town had woken up in places that were decidedly not their own homes, with Dr. Glenn’s son and Dr. Khouri among them, and met up with someone who stuck their hand through a tree and willingly went along with the police. Leo hadn’t seen any of that, of course, but news had spread quickly, and Dr. Khouri coming in later to ask for the next few days off certainly seemed to confirm it. The next day was less strange. The newspaper reported that the town was sitting on top of a giant spaceship. This news might have been alarming to other people, but Leo Carter came from the city. Headlines like that were a dime a dozen, and the fact that this one might possibly be true barely registered in his mind. The main headline had, after all, been “Jeff is a Jerkface” so clearly it was a slow news day. But none of that could compare with today. For starters, there had been more news, detailing specifics about the spaceship and the people who were currently looking around inside it. Leo was interested in the story, but his boss seemed to be in rather a quiet mood, so he only chatted to the other interns when they happened to meet. It was all starting to seem quite legitimate, with various townspeople giving interviews. Leo hadn’t met many of them, but he recognized their names. But what made it the strangest day, for Leo, was much later. He’d been sent to get some coffee and a donut for someone upstairs, and when Lucy went to hand him the donut, she’d dropped it. Leo was accustomed to people (usually him) dropping things, so he wasn’t concerned. But when he stood up, Lucy hadn’t moved. She was looking confused. “... I remember,” she said. She gave Leo another donut to take upstairs, and went over to talk to another one of the kitchen ladies. Leo had always been a little intimidated by the kitchen ladies, so he got out of there as quickly as possible. But it wasn’t just the kitchen ladies. Nearly everyone Leo met in the hallways seemed to be distracted, and when he got up to the nurse who’d asked for the donut, she was looking incredibly shocked by something. When Leo asked, she just said she had a weird feeling in her head. Even his boss seemed a little disconcerted, although she didn’t say anything about it. She instead told him he could go home, and Leo, never one to pass up a day off, thanked her and took off. He was halfway home when the sky began to crackle. The noise made Leo jump, but it was nothing to how he felt when, out of nowhere, he heard a voice. “Wait, what’s going on?”Leo looked around frantically, but nobody was anywhere near him. People were sitting in cars some distance away, but nobody near him. And then the voice spoke again. “So...uhh...I guess I should speak first, since I already have… Hi, everyone. Some of you might know me, but for all intents and purposes, I'm Fionn Colby, one of the Sixteen. I'm currently broadcasting from the ship's command centre-”Leo considered himself a fairly cool-headed man, all things considered. But some things are just too much for even the most levelheaded of people (which Leo was not, whatever he thought.) So he could hardly be blamed for what he did next. Which was to give a very long, high scream, and run the rest of the way home. Carter the Intern, from the city, is having a strange few days, what with domes and newspapers and everyone-stopping-and-acting-all-confused and then hearing Celestial's voice out of thin air. He's gonna go home and try and catch up on everything. I just felt like writing something silly. ^_^
|
|
|
Post by Gelquie on Oct 15, 2017 2:38:30 GMT -5
Alexis returned to shore, and Fionn came shortly thereafter, and he turned back into human form. "I kept Alexis safe, as I promised. In return, I get to keep my coat," he paused. "Thank you for giving me the chance."Athene gave one more look at Alexis, as if to confirm that yes, in fact, she was still in one piece, before nodding, as if to show an understanding between them. However, they were quickly distracted by what was going on; they had returned in the middle of Hannah's speech. ”--I always did, and I’m sorry. Returning home isn’t just about coming back to a single geographical space, it could also be about returning to people you love and also recognizing and being comfortable about where you are in yourself. It--what if it is steadfastness, what you hold onto.”Hannah teared up at this, and Alexis was torn between staring at her and looking to her mother before pushing herself ashore. She found herself edging closer to Athene. Hannah continued, talking about the Ramblers' language for love, what it meant to them, and how it applied. And then how they had to recognize the mistakes of their past, before the speech ended on a painful note, with Hannah wondering how they were going to communicate that to the Beast. Holly answered quickly to this, that the answer was in their own minds. That they had to not just say it, but feel it. Alexis found herself looking to Athene again, who was staring back. There was a silent moment between them. The way her mother looked at her, not just her protective nature, but the way she was relieved when Alexis emerged from the water, the concerned looks her mother had given her throughout the last few days, the way her mother talked to her when Alexis broke down earlier today, the first time... It was so clear that her mother loved her. Alexis knew this already. Sometimes she'd gotten so lost in the way her mother loomed over her that she forgot what it all meant. But she always knew it was there. And the memories of their ancestors, how tense they were together, especially towards the end... None of it diminished how much Athene cared for her daughter in the slightest. And the barbs Jasna had given to Amyn... It was easier to look at when Alexis remembered that she was not Amyn, and that when she looked at her mom, she didn't see that resenting look in the slightest. However Alexis felt about the situation, her mother didn't blame her at all. Alexis reached out a hand to grasp her mother's, and Athene returned the gesture with a smile. “...You always come back,” Athene said quietly. “You always do.” “...Yeah,” Alexis responded, smiling back. A moment passed between them before they realized that they were about to be broadcast. At the mention of a projection, Athene and Alexis looked at each other again, a silent debate between them, before they spoke up in whispers. “I don't... think it'd be bad, mom...” Alexis said quietly. “...I won't stop you,” Athene said. “But you and the town already have a lot going on, a lot to think about. And you still need to deal with your memories... I wouldn't put too much on your plate.” Alexis frowned, but ultimately—if reluctantly—agreed to what her mother was saying. She glanced once towards the pool and was about to crawl back in before Athene spoke up again. “Wait, Alexis,” she whispered. “...If the Beast's drive is on conflict, then we need to resolve this now.” “Resolve...” Alexis paused. “Is this about me being a crewmember, the ship flying again?” Athene nodded. “I don't want you to go.” “I... I think it'd be okay mom, maybe...” Alexis said. “I have Amyn's memories, and... I wanna do it. I wanna see what's out there. I don't have any idea what I'd do for a living here. I know I said I could do sports, and you've really helped me since then, but... but that was always a backup plan. Like you wanted. I never knew what I wanted, not really. But this... I can see myself doing this. And I can always come back to Earth; there's always more to see there, and you and everyone else is there. ...Besides...” She glanced towards her tail. “...It's not like I can be away for long, unless...” “...Unless, yes. But that's not what I mean. What I mean is that you're only almost 14. That's still very young, Alexis. And before you ask me to come along... I don't want to go. One or two trips if I think it's safe, maybe. But my place is here.” Athene paused. “...It's always been here.” Alexis frowned. “But...” They paused, thinking. She knew that her mother wanted to find a solution, that she wasn't just shutting her down entirely; they both knew that that would only rile up the Beast further. But what was a solution...? “...I mean, it's not like I could go right away,” Alexis said slowly. “I... I still need to figure out how that'd work without...” she gestured towards her tail and shrugged. “I could... figure something out for that? But I don't need to leave right away. And... Maybe when I'm older. When I grow up. Would you let me go then?” Athene looked uncertain, but said: “...As an adult, then yes, I couldn't stop you. And...” She glanced towards the halls, in the general direction of where the doors out of the command center were. “...I shouldn't. If it proves safe, if you and your father can figure something out, and once you're an adult and finished with school, at least high school...” “...You'll let me go?” “......If you wanted to go then... But only then... Then yes.” Alexis thought about this, giving this proposition its weight. But finally, Alexis nodded. “Yeah... Yeah, okay.” She smiled. “Okay.” They reached out once more, and they squeezed each others' hands. Obviously, this plan might need to be smoothed out over time, but for the sake of defeating the Beast, they hoped it would be enough to help. Alexis pushed herself into the water to hide most of her form when the broadcast came on. Each person made their speech. To Holly's question about whether or not she was wrong that the crew could have both Wrighton and the ship, Alexis and Athene both shook their heads to confirm that no, she wasn't wrong. To Velia's insistence that they could stop the discord by all coming together, Alexis couldn't help but smile; it reminded her of a cartoon she loved to watch, and it happened to be something she felt now. Others spoke, and eventually, words started to slow. Alexis paused; was it her turn now? “Um, uh...” Alexis hesitated. What could she even say? “...Yeah, uh, you know how I like going out a lot, right? Hiking, camping, going on trips, or just doing... something, you know? But uh... I always wanted to go back to Wrighton. I mean, for school, but... sometimes you just wanna stay home. And I think if I was out there, and I didn't have a home to go back to...” Alexis bit her lip. “...I think the trips would be a lot more scary. And not... not really as fun.” Alexis looked to her mother, who gave her a supporting glance. Alexis was relieved by it, but once more, she was reminded of Jasna, how divided the crew felt, how everyone went at each other. “...But, uh, it's okay if you don't wanna go on trips. I, uh... The one I gained memories from was the Head of Security. And they... they're like me. They get really excited about going out and seeing new things. But people thought that's all they cared about. But they... really did care about everyone, wanted everyone to get back safe, and felt... awful when they didn't. I think if they were here, I think they'd agree to having a home, if that's what people wanted. But uh... I think if they were here, they'd... they'd also say they're sorry, really sorry, for being part of the divide...” Alexis trailed off for a moment, looking away, the deep and foreign guilt looming over her again. “Alexis,” Athene said quietly. Alexis picked on her mom's voice, then took a deep breath. “But um... yeah, that's what they'd say, and I know they'd support this, and everyone. I wanted to say it in... in case it helps with some of the past hurt. They... they cared about everyone here. And... And I do too. I like this town, I like everyone here, I like the friends I made here. I'll...” Alexis look one more look to Athene. “I'll always come back. Promise. I... I want to.” Alexis paused, wondering if she should say more, or if she should end on a better note, before deciding that she'd already talked a lot, and maybe it didn't even help... She closed off her speech by briefly dunking her head underwater. Athene acknowledges Fionn ( Celestial) holding his part of the bargain. Hannah ( Lizica) has a speech and A&A have Emotions in regards to parts of it. Before the broadcast starts, A&A talk about various things, and clear up some of their own issues so that they don't accidentally contribute to the Beast. The broadcast goes on, Alexis is hiding most of her form underwater, then she decides to make an impromptu speech of sorts. Alexis and eloquent speeches do not mix. But she mentions how she always likes having a home to return to. She also makes an apology to the crew that Amyn never made, in case that helps clear up anything else and to give her ancestor some closure. The bottom line of her speech is that it's fine whatever anyone decides to do, and she'll always come home. She then feels a little awkward and ends her speech by submerging her head underwater. (Probably for a short time; she'll surface shortly, so she won't miss any interactions.)
|
|
|
Post by Fraze on Oct 15, 2017 11:17:44 GMT -5
Scip listened intently as different people said their parts. Slowly, incrementally, their words formed a portrait. Of a town, a community, of loving a place in spite of the damage, both internal and external. Scip knew there was still a lot he had to learn about sapient lifeforms - particularly humans - but he felt that he was learning much of it right now. "Excuse me, Mr. Scip," he whispered, "do you think of anything as home? I think you must have been as much a part of the crew as anybody else..."Scip turned to Christian with a look of slight surprise. "Hmm," he began. "I was programmed on the ship. I first gained self-awareness in the tech department - you could say that is where I was born. I am part of the ship's computer system, and although I can project myself outside of the ship, this is still the only place I can ever live." He looked up slightly, seeming to focus on the rotating fan at the far end of the enormous room. "But... if my understanding of the idea of home is correct, this hasn't been my home since the crew left. I suppose for me, home was being surrounded by my companions. Helping them and having adventures with them. Learning from them and learning about them. I hope it will feel the same if the people of Wrighton will start the journey again." He paused. "I think it will." --- It faltered
Something was different.
It had no concept of time passing, or it might have been able to tell that these People were entirely different People. Because they were. Or were they?
Yes, there was something different about these People. There was a togetherness about them. There had always been a togetherness about them, but this was different, older, more rooted.
It slowed.
It was part of the People, after all. They were linked in delicate subtle symbiosis that makes it so very hard to see sameness in otherness. It was the People's own fear and the People's own drive, but it discovered, almost to its surprise if it'd been able to feel surprise, that it was no longer the same.
It morphed.
It reached the doors of the Command Center and snuffled at them hesitantly, doing a thing that could have been pawing if it had anything even remotely resembling paws.
It no longer emanated fear, but more of a bittersweet sense of longing.
Run... but where?In which Fraze realizes his woobie AI is a massive extravert. Scip listens to the Sixteen saying their various pieces about home and whatnot. Then he responds to Christian ( Moni ), saying that for him, home is pretty much wherever the crew is, and hopefully he will feel that way again when (if) the journey starts again. Meanwhile, the Beast is... changing? (This part written by Huntress)
|
|
|
Post by Celestial on Oct 15, 2017 13:26:14 GMT -5
After her meeting with Conor, Maggie had returned to The Wright Inn. Just because there was a spaceship under the town and it was the last day to stop whatever beast was down in those tunnels did not mean that work stopped. Accounts needed to be sorted, stock re-ordered, miscellaneous admin tasks had to be done and staff rotas were needing drawn up, among other things. The sirin settled with a teapot and began to work. Maggie was diligent. She enjoyed working on the accounts and the admin: it was a puzzle, but it had a structure, something her mind always liked. Eventually, however, even the most keen of minds needed a break. So when she had tallied the accounts, the manager closed her book and drank the last drop of tea from her cup before hopping off her perch and exiting her apartment. She had the official holiday requests from the staff, but she had found long ago it was good to have a chat with them as well before starting on the rota, just in case somebody had something they would need to attend to on short notice, like sick family or big breaks they were on the verge of. Maggie might grumble and complain, but she was nothing if not accomodating. The last thing she wanted to be was a bad boss to all these people. She was quite fond of them after all. As she came down the corridor, Maggie heard no sounds coming from the lobby. Odd: usually it was the busiest part of the hotel. Frowning, she stepped into it and saw most of her staff assembled around the front desks, talking in hushed whispers. They were accompanied by several guests; guests that she knew had roots here in the town. Tucking her hands into her sleeves, the manager quietly approached them before pointedly clearing her throat. They all leapt up in unison, as though electrified. "Ah, ma'am," a chef exclaimed. "Sorry, we were not slacking off deliberately! Just...just..." he glanced around at the others. "Well, the thing is, we all suddenly got these...memories," a concierge picked up. "You've heard of the ship beneath the town, ma'am, and there is a mindprog that has been keeping the crew's memories stored away? Well, it seems we just got them. There is no more buzzing in here," she rubbed her head. "The Sixteen must have unlocked the mindprog!" "At first I thought I was crazy," a cleaner chimed in, laughing. "But then I got a call from the front desk asking about it, and a guest also asked about it. So we decided to meet here to discuss while it's quiet." "We thought about telling you, Ms. Chayka," a young man who must have been the guest in question remarked before glancing at the staff. "But they said you'd probably want to keep it to yourself. Especially if you're busy working." Maggie raised an eyebrow. "No, actually. I received no such thing. I am not from this town." The other concierge blinked. "But...your family has always run this hotel for generations. We all assumed you were Wrightonian one way or another. The older staff tell me that you all looked alike, and dressed alike, so..." she stared, confused. "You can't all be the same person, can't you?" The manager laughed once. "A wise man once said "There are more things in heaven and earth than are written of in your philosophy." And given that all of you have just received memories of all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures from space, I think you would agree." "That is true," another guest replied. "But, Ms. Chayka, what are you?" She lowered her eyes, a wistful smile on her face. "An observer lured in by her own curiosity." There was a crackle in the air, breaking off any questions that comment could have invoked. "Wait, what is going on?!" cried out a voice that Maggie knew very well. The sirin groaned. What have you done now, Fionn Colby?However, Fionn soon began to speak, giving a slightly more articulate speech than what he had started with. Other voices from the Sixteen soon joined in. Maggie recognised them: Holly O'Rourke, Dr. Khouri, Velia Briar, Liz Bishop from the cathedral, Ani Hemsworth and her friend who had come dressed as a massive crystal last night, Christian Vu, Athene Katsaros and her daughter, and Scip, the one whose arrival had begun this whole adventure...all different, saying different words with different sentiments, but all having one thing in common: thinking of Wrighton as a home. The beast of our minds...Maggie had taken a look around the corkboard that had been set up at the party, and read the local news articles. There had been an ancient crew, who crashed here on Earth trying to run away from a beast they had themselves created in their own minds. They had forgotten who they were and built a town, a community, that had flourished here for...a very long time. And everyone who left always came back, and everyone who came always left. Maggie had spoken to enough guests to know what it was: a buzzing sensation in their head. The same sensation she had fought that kept telling her she did not belong here. That same buzz was gone, replaced by the crew's memories. Every single person who had roots here was descended from that ancient crew. A crew who had come here to forge a home for them all. And they had left their memories behind to pass down through their families, like heirlooms. She turned to the concierge. "Whose memories do you have?" "Uh," the woman focused, trying to recall. "I remember an alien with eight arms and a monkey-like tail. It was a bartender, apparently, who coul climb the shelves and mix up any drink quickly," she tilted her head. "Why?" "I see," Maggie smiled. "No wonder then, that your family is so good at multi-tasking, and have always been such warm, chatty people. Plus I remember your grandfather: he had been quite an excellent tree climber. And so had your great-great grandmother. She was also a very chatty woman." The conceirge stared at her, awestruck. The manager turned to the chef. "Which of the crew were you?" "Well, this is going to sound weird, ma'am," he remarked. "I was a nursery assistant, but whatever species I was, it had a very strong sense of taste and smell...you think that's why I'm so good at cooking?" "I know it," Maggie nodded. "Your family's always been sensitive to those; it's part of the reason I hired you. And your great-great-great uncle was the kindest man I ever knew. He would always take in orphans, even if all he could give them was the clothes off his back." "How...how do you know?" someone called out. "As I said, I have been observing for a long time," she replied. "Some patterns are invisible unless you keep watching for years and years. Quirks in families, for example." Maggie looked around at the guest. "Do you remember the last moments of the ship?" He nodded. The manager grinned. "Do you know when it crashed?" "Um...apprently, it would take two thousand, three hundred years to repair it, according to Scip." Two thousand, three hundred years...Maggie could have flew up right here, right now. She gazed out over the assembled Wrightonians. "Well, you heard the Sixteen. Your once and future officers, whether that title is deserved or not, are telling you how they feel about Wrighton so that the beast that chased the crew can be defeated. The beast will disappear when they have a home to return to, and that is what the old crew created here. It has been a home for so long that I bet none of you can think of it any other way," she looked over them. "Am I wrong?" There were murmurs of assent. "I might live in the city now, but I still come here every chance I can, because this is where my family is from, and where I hope to settle down with my own kids!" "Yeah! We've been here for generations! This town had done a lot for us and we've done so much for this town! My great-great-grandad was mayor of this town once!" "It's the only place where I feel comfortable." "The only place where I feel happy." "It's-" "Home." As the Wrightonians discussed amongst themselves, Maggie retreated to her apartment, a small but definite smile on her face. She closed the door and sighed, closing her eyes and lifting her head upwards before beginning to laugh. This town had always been a mystery from day one. It was true that only certain patterns emerged when you stared at something for a long time, and in Wrighton's case, it had been family traits. All families carried certain quirks in them, but never as strongly as in this town. The most random little details would run for generations in a family before disappearing, allowing another trait to take its place. People resembled their grandparents, not just in appearance but in personality and behaviour. The population had also remained stable, never rising or falling, as other towns around here did. All buildings, whether built a hundred or two hundred years ago, all followed the same code that nobody could describe to her, or give her any reason as to why they did that. Even her own hotel complied; it had to, if she and Elizabeth wanted to build it. And of course, it was a hub of supernatural creatures, either born or drawn in by those same traits that ran in families. Fionn Colby's family, for exmple, always held a deep love of water. Several notable sailors had come from it. She had not been surprised when his great-grandfather brought home a seal bride. To say nothing of the story her kin had, of the comet that had fallen from the sky in a blaze of fire and landed in this exact spot. Maggie was too young to witness it, but her mother had seen it, when she was barely a fledgling. That same story had caught Maggie's attention, and when she went to investigate, she had found this strange little town, with all its strange little quirks. It was enough of a curiosity for a young sirin to spend the next five centuries of her life watching it, and wondering why. Now she knew. The "comet" had been the ship. It's buildings followed the code that the program had set for the town. The mindprog kept all its crew together, their hidden memories influencing their family lines subconsciously. And all of this was to create a home, so that when the day came, the beast in the tunnels would be defeated. That day was today. Maggie glanced at the paperwork that was splayed out on her desk. No, her mind was on anything but that. She needed air, and exercise. An active body allowed for an active mind which could process all she learned today. And the best exercise available to a sirin was flight. The manager took off her glasses and undid her hair to make herself harder to recognise. She pulled down her skirt and removed her shirt, tying them in a bundle around her back, just in case. Then, she opened the window and hopped onto the window sill, spreading her wings and taking off, gaining altitude before anybody could spot her. Maggie takes a break from work and finds her staff talking about their regained memories. They are very surprised to hear she does not have any, and she is cryptic about that. The broadcast interrupts them and the staff listen, as Maggie begins to understand. She asks some of the Wrightonians around her about their memories, revealing things about their families which was obviously inherited from their alien ancestors. Maggie then eggs them on to talk of home too, and after that is done, she disappears to contemplate all she has found out. Turns out the sirins had a story of the ship's crash, and Maggie went out to investigate. Wrighton caught her attention so much that she had spent five hundred years understanding it. Now she did. And that knowledge calls for some processing time, so she takes off into the air to...further adventures? Stay tuned.
|
|
|
Post by Rabbit ♠ on Oct 15, 2017 22:24:11 GMT -5
Mr. Phila’s popular music class was full of talking. Everybody was talking about aliens, their past lives, what everybody was doing in the spaceship under Wrighton. Even Mr. Phila was taking part in the conversation. Matt was thinking of what to text back to Ani. Ani had called out Mr. Phila’s class for texting her so much, but he wanted to keep her up to date with what was going on above the ground. It was a little hard to think with everybody talking about twenty different things at once. “Class, I know there is a lot going on right now, but please calm down,” Mr. Phila ordered. The class began to slowly get quiet. “Matthew Girarti, what are you doing?” Matt looked up from his phone. “I want to let Ani know what’s going on here,” he answered. “I can’t believe she’s actually part of the Sixteen!” Victoria cheered. “I can’t believe she’s talking,” Robert added. “She sounds very different from what I thought she would.” “I know, right?” Corrine agreed. “Her voice is a little lower than what I expected.” “She sounds really pretty, though,” Nina went on. Matt was beginning to get annoyed. “ Everybody, almost all of us suddenly got alien memories, the Sixteen are broadcasting to the entire town, and all of you are focusing on the fact Ani is talking.” “I agree with Matt, all of you need to get your priorities straight,” Jordan agreed. Matt shot a glare at Jordan. “While I agree with that, you don’t need to be so harsh about it.” “ Students!” Mr. Phila shouted. Everybody quickly stopped talking. “I don’t care what’s going on, I’m not going to have arguments in my classroom!” Nobody dared to say another word after that. Matt used this opportunity to think about what to text Ani. Maybe it would be a good idea to leave out the arguments that went on over the past ten minutes. Or maybe not. Matt wasn’t sure. Then again, all of this was better explained in person. Now that Matt thought about it, Ani might have turned off her phone to prevent any distractions. Matt couldn’t blame her if she did. Still, he wanted to do something. It felt weird to just sit around and do nothing. Then an idea popped into his head. Matt pulled up Chirpy and began to make a post. Just as Matt posted, Victoria asked, “Whatcha doing?” Matt looked up at her. “I was just posting a Chirp,” he answered. Victoria quickly pulled out her phone and checked on Chirpy. “Hashtag Wrighton is my home. Aw, that’s so sweet.” “What are you talking about, Victoria?” Mr. Phila asked. “Matt posted a Chirp repeating what Ani said.” Victoria stood up and walked to the front of the class. She showed her professor the Chirp. “The hashtag is really sweet.” Matt crossed his arms. “I felt like I had to do something. I want to support Ani.” “Huh, I like it,” Henry commented. “Wrighton is my home. Has a nice ring to it,” Corrine agreed. “Hey, do you think we can get it trending?” Victoria’s eyes widened. “Oh, I bet we can.” Victoria ran back to her seat and began to type her own Chirp on her phone. The other classmates did the same. Matt looked around at his classmates. Each and every one of the students in the room were on their phone posting a Chirp calling Wrighton their home. Even those who weren’t Wrighton natives were making one in support. That made Matt smile. It was great to see that everyone was together on this. “Mr. Phila, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-” Matt began. “It’s alright, Matthew. There was no way I could get this class back on track after all of this,” Mr. Phila interrupted. “About that hashtag, do you want to write it on the board?” Matt’s eyes widened. Mr. Phila was known for being a chill professor, but Matt didn’t expect this from him. Matt nodded and walked up to the front of the class. He picked up a marker and wrote the hashtag, “#WrightonIsMyHome” on the board in big letters. “Class, it’s very clear that there’s no way I can continue teaching after everything that’s been happening,” Mr. Phila repeated. “Class is dismissed.” The entire class got up and gathered at the front of the room. They all began chatting again. There was only topic this time, though. It was the hashtag that was now on the whiteboard. Everybody wanted to spread the message. Everybody wanted to support Ani and Claire and everybody that was in the spaceship. “How else can we spread the word?” Victoria asked. “Hashtags can only spread so fast on Chirp.” “Just let it spread on its own, it’ll catch on eventually,” Jordan replied. “Do you know that?” “Considering the entire class posted a Chirp with that hashtag, I’m sure more people will do the same.” “Oh, you’re no fun.” Victoria turned to Matt. “Matt, what do you think we should do?” “Yeah, Matt, what do you say?” Nina asked. Matt began to back away from the group. “What? Why are you asking me?” he asked. “You created the hashtag,” Robert informed. “Besides, you’re clever and creative. If anyone’s going to come up with something, it’ll be you.” Matt blinked. Once. Twice. All eyes were still on him. All of his classmates were watching him, waiting for him to say something. Matt felt pressured to come up with a plan. He didn’t intend for a simple Chirp to evolve into something like this. After a bit of quick thinking, Matt came up with something. “We can tell others about this,” he began. “At this point, I’m sure at least most people know what’s going on. We can tell them what we’re doing and I’m sure they’ll want to support the Sixteen.” “How are we going to do that?” Corrine asked. “Any way you can think of. Calling, texting, talking to people face to face. Whatever you can do, do it to spread the word.” Everybody in the room cheered and ran out of the room and into the halls of the building. Matt and Mr. Phila watched as they scattered right before their eyes. Matt looked at Mr. Phila. All he did was smile at Matt. Matt smiled back before running out. *opens closet door* *a bunch of brooms fall out* ANYWAY, surface actions and reactions. Mr. Phila's class is in chaos. Everyone's talking about so many different things, from aliens to Ani talking. After a little bit, Mr. Phila quiets the entire class. While everybody's quiet, Matt makes a post on Chirpy to support Ani. One of the students notices and comments (mainly on the hashtag). Quickly, the entire class is talking about it and makes their own Chirps with the hashtag. Mr. Phila decides to dismiss class and everyone talks on spreading the word even more to support the Sixteen. Matt suggests that everybody does whatever they can to spread the message across campus. #WrightonIsMyHome
|
|
|
Post by Lizica on Oct 16, 2017 0:08:36 GMT -5
Hannah continued more or less to be a quietly sobbing wreck, nodding in response to the broadcast idea. Nodding thankfully at the captain-inheritor’s pat ( They’re always so understanding, the thought flashed). Nodding at all the words that followed, from people all about the room, even Scip, all raising their voices to a choir of steadfastness. There was so much strength, and love, and determination, and passion here. Wrighton weirdness could indeed be a jerk sometimes--but Wrighton’s people were something else. The most random thought crossed Hannah’s mind: No wonder they have a textile factory. They weave everything together, and the crew always wanted to bring people closer together.And then, just as randomly, she thought about the string of texts her parents had sent after she first told them she would be in Wrighton for a few days, and-- I haven’t been to the textile plant yet. There’s still so many people in this room I don’t know. And I haven’t looked up my parents’ old neighbor. And I haven’t heard the cathedral carillon bells. I haven’t gotten the chance to go to that seafood restaurant my parents recommended. I’ve mostly been too tied up trying to wrangle alien puzzles and trying to leave. But my parents loved this town, too.Aloud, Hannah spoke in a clogged, shivering tone that did not sound particularly inspiring, but hey. It was what it was. “Wrighton, you are a weird, crazy, stubborn--” (she thought about adding “obnoxious,” but since that adjective was mostly only relevant to the hot pink bumper sticker and not to the Sixteen’s listeners, she simply continued with) “-- town, and even though it takes forever to walk across this place and you need to put up better signage on your outskirts, every single person I’ve met here is leagues better than some touchy, tantrum-throwing, subterranean beast-antique, and you’re all real cool.” A strange, quick outside pang of aching hit her, but instead she blew her nose one more time for good measure. One expression for joy in Rambler is a tight upward corkscrew that fans out at the top.“I still haven’t bought my mom’s favorite tea for her, yet, and none of us are going to forget anything or anyone!” Hannah sorta needs to recharge her Speech-Giving Points, so what you get for the town-wide broadcast is a sobby addition that basically says, “Your town is weird. You people are cool. We can do this. I still haven’t done any of your more mundane, non-alien sightseeing yet.”
|
|
|
Post by Liou on Oct 17, 2017 10:23:04 GMT -5
The doors swung open and the Marchioness bustled into the room in a flurry of satin dressing gown. "I have remembered!" A group of students looked up at her arrival. They had gathered to comfort one of their number. "We were having a break," said their instructor. "Something about a sudden influx of memories... too much to take in." The Marchioness waved her hand dismissively. "I need a break too. Let's all have a break." "Remembered what, Madame?" asked Louise from the back of the room. "Everything. A whole world. It was mar-ve-lous!" The Marchioness hopped onto the side of the stage and the youths scattered like a flock of birds, disappearing backstage and into the technical booth. "The sky, the atmosphere, the lights, they were full of bright shades of magenta, fuchsia and carmine." Pools of pink light flooded the stage. "Unless that was simply her eyesight? No matter." She lowered her rose-tinted goggles over her eyes. "It was a beautiful world full of ugly people. And in that world there lived someone dashing and brave, who was dressed like a prince!" Seconds later, a lad swaggered on stage, adorned in princelike regalia - a glittering feathered cap and sweeping cape. The Marchioness tutted. "Because she had stolen the clothes right off the prince's back." In a moment, a girl dressed in rags had tackled the prince and wrestled off his fancy clothes. The prince ran backstage again, sobbing for his mummy. "The elite strutted in their finery while the rest mined a powerful crystal, unique to their world, that got them rich. The people of that world walked on spindly legs like stilts and sang in clear, silvery tones which could reverberate in waves that shook buildings." The Marchioness waited, tapping her foot, for a flutelike sound to come out. "Yes, now with chimes, too." A more crystalline sound effect was heard, and she took on a narrator's tone once more. "Thanks to that special song, the people of that world were the only ones who could find the powerful crystals. Now our dashing rogue, she didn't have that song. She honked in the most grating sound you could think of. Imagine a vuvuzela and a dial-up modem meeting in a car for a date, scraping their nails on a chalkboard, shaking it up so much that they make the car alarm wail, then falling asleep in the car and snoring with the alarm still going." The sound effect took longer to come out this time. It was every bit as strident as expected and muffled groans joined it from backstage. "Close enough, close enough!" boomed the Marchioness, her hands on her ears. "So our lonely rogue, she did not speak. She used her ridiculous song to amuse the elite and scrounge a little living. It could have been worse: she could have been forced to work in the mines; but even the mines refused her, as her voice would have damaged the precious crystals too. So she stole for those even less fortunate than her, she started small revolutions here and there." Behind the Marchioness, tall figures in trailing robes and ornate masks fought off hunched rebels in rags, the former armed with plastic blasters and lightsabers, the latter with fake hammers and pickaxes. Those who got defeated collapsed and died with great panache. "After stealing the prince's clothes, she had to go into hiding. Until a marvelous ship appeared on the planet, full of the most wonderful merry band of adventurers! Strangers were not welcome on that planet as the elite kept their crystals very jealously, so our brave rogue ran to warn the explorers. She would have to reveal her hideous voice to them, but alas, it was the only way, so she gritted her teeth and spoke anyway." There was another, shorter blast of the vuvuzela and dial-up sound effect. "Our rogue was amazed when the adventurers accepted her. For the first time in her life, someone was laughing with her, not at her! And she loved to make them laugh. She helped them to steal a huge stock of precious fuel crystals before they left, and the commotion caused another revolution." The Marchioness clapped her hands. "This story can only continue with more characters. And they are all here, in town! I must find them." The students put away their accessories and props, still exhilarated after playtime. Louise came up to the Marchioness. "I don't understand what's going on," the younger woman asked in a low voice. "And not in the usual way. This is not a part of what you do, is it." "No. It's something much bigger than an old woman's little game." Not even half an hour later, the Marchioness was sipping tea at a table in the middle of a grassy lawn in the park, clad in a tight dress with a high lacy collar, and her usual goggles. Whenever people came within earshot, she shouted, "You there! What have you remembered?" and listened attentively to the tales of various aliens, nodding vigorously as though she knew exactly what they were talking about. When someone dared to ask the Marchioness, in turn, what she had remembered, she waved her parasol impatiently. "That my noble ancestor fought for justice and started a revolution, just as I have always told you people!" Any further questions were silenced by the crackling sound that filled the town. Fionn could only say a few words before the Marchioness' mighty voice thundered across the park, easily covering his. "Louder! From your chest! From your gut! Open your throat! Put your belly into it!" The Marchioness shook her head. "Louise, we must organise more classes and workshops. These children can play with invisible space nano-technology but they can't even project their voices properly!" Louise took note of that on her clipboard. More of the officers spoke. After a few speeches, the broadcast seemed to lull. "Well," barked the Marchioness, "what was that all about?" "If I got it right, Madame, they need everyone to agree that Wrighton is home." "What, do we need to ask permission for that now?" Louise shrugged. "Wrighton is the perfect home for a traveller," boomed the Marchioness while brandishing her parasol, daring anyone to disagree. "The people are the most accepting I have ever had the honour of meeting. The town is just normal enough to make you want to go and see something else after a while. And it's the perfect backdrop to make strange things unfold. If our Sixteen are making it into a safe port, I, the Marchioness, say it is so!" The Marchioness remembers, tells the story of her ancestor with a bit of help, hears the broadcast, and yells her overall approval. (To tide you over until my other post. >.>)
|
|
|
Post by Huntress on Oct 17, 2017 10:27:46 GMT -5
Kathleen was still comfortably perched on one of the officers' armchairs, whoever it might've belonged to at the time. If she'd dipped into Loorea's memories, she'd probably have figured it out, but in truth she wasn’t really feeling it. No, nevermind the old memories right now. The present was more important. They'd all had their past issues and terrors and conflicts, but that was over two thousand years ago. She listened to the others talk, content to stay quiet and observe. It felt more important for her to feel right now. She closed her eyes. Feel the quiet comfort of her small flat with its high ceilings and calm pastels, with the wind fluttering in the curtains and the cats sunning themselves on the bed. Feel the wind in her hair as she trotted down the street in her chase after people's stories, even if those stories consisted of prize-winning cabbages and the local teen winning a swimming competition. …granted, there hadn't been wind in the town for three days now, but let's look at the bigger picture. Feel the smell of coffee at the local bakery where people met for a chat before heading out to work. Feel the safety of her parents' house whenever she went back to visit. Somewhere deep in her head, Loorea offered up a glimpse of a strange world with deep forests and scraggly mountains that rose higher than anything Earth could ever provide, populated by a proud nation in squat cities built of massive stone. That had been home, but she hadn't belonged there, and when she ran off with the ship, it was fun, so exhilarating and fantastic, but always felt so… fleeting. Life in Wrighton was never fleeting. Kathleen opened her eyes and craned her neck to look at the stone arch high above her, where the fan continued to spin impassively. The squiggles beneath it, running right along the edge of the arch, were now legible and danced across her mind's eye like a promise delivered from the great dark between the stars. REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE ABOARD THE STARSHIP RETON, AND THAT YOU ARE LOVED. RETON was an acronym, she remembered. It stood for something like "vessel for chasing our dreams". Well, chasing for a home was as good a dream as anything. * * * The Boss was also listening to the broadcast, albeit a bit distractedly because he was currently at the library of the ship and few things could provide a better distraction, even when a magical conflict-born beast was currently being vanquished with the help of a trending hashtag. Well, he never did claim to have good priorities. "Scip," he called out. Scip was still in the Command Center, in the midst of a culmination of two millennia of friendships torn apart and reforged, but he'd have been a poor AI if he hadn't been able to operate in several places at once and sometimes the one-interaction-at-a-time rule became more like a guideline. He nonetheless put his Command Center image on idle loop and shimmered into existence at the library, because some situations you don't just teleport out of. "Yes?" "I'd like to check out this book." Scip gave the Boss something that looked suspiciously like a flat stare à la AI. "This may not count as opening hours of the library," he said. The Boss gave him a slight grin. "Maybe, but you're here and I'm here and here's this book and here's my card." Scip eyed the card – the Boss' library card for the regular aboveground Wrighton library, of course. Technically he could've disputed its validity, but then the Boss would've argued that the two libraries were technically one and the same or at least close affiliates, and then Scip would've either conceded the point or told him that he has to fill out a form for a new card nevertheless, and then that would've taken forever as getting a new library card always does, and on the whole it would've become incredibly awkward, and they both knew it. "Your return date is in two weeks' time," he said instead. "Thank you." Scip watched him as he headed towards the door, still staying present in his holographic form – whether because it would've been impolite to disappear or because he wanted to make sure the Boss actually left was anyone's guess. "I still do have one last question, if you don’t mind," the Boss said, already at the door. "Yes?" "Why did you always use third person when speaking?" Something changed in Scip's expression – not really for anyone's benefit, because the Boss still had his back turned and nobody else was watching. "I made a promise to myself," he said. "When the ship crashed and the crew was lost. It was the promise not to address anyone directly until I could address the crew again." There was a pause. "All right," the Boss then said and opened the door. "See you in two weeks." "Ah, yes," the AI said. "There is one last thing…" A post born out of the realization that there are some loose ends that are a bit overdue getting wrapped up.
Kathleen has general thoughts about home and the Boss checks a book out of the ship's library because priorities.
|
|