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Post by Birdy on Oct 20, 2017 3:21:30 GMT -5
(Collab with Twillie) It went as quickly as it came. As she and the others spoke up about home to each other and those above, and as Ayo was the last to voice their own thoughts, Liz felt it-- the loosening of a knot inside her, one she hadn’t even noticed before. It slipped away and eased all of her tension, blowing away like a soft breeze. The Beast was gone. Everything from this past week had finally finished, and peace settled back down among them. She felt… She felt like she could nap for a month straight. Scip spoke up before anything else could happen, though. He offered the town the chance to fly again in the ship, as well as those among him the opportunity to take their old roles or new positions. Well, Liz would have to actually figure out Theo's job before she decided that, memory permitting. From what she could remember, it seemed rather confusing at first. Maybe Scip would help her with that. But… she did want to go. Between being a janitor in a small town and travelling through space, the answer seemed pretty obvious. She’d always been one for exploring the unknown anyway, hadn’t she? What would her parents say? Oh. Right. Them. Liz let out a heavy sigh as she suddenly remembered their expected arrival in a week, and essay-long explanation that was expected to follow (would the dome still be up by the time they came back?). They better be relaxing all they can on their vacation right now. Thinking of those she needed to talk to, though, Liz remembered-- “....Audo.” She turned around to where he was beside her. She took a breath, and then smiled. “That… was nice, what you said before. I-I’m glad you can still think of Wrighton in that way.” The corner of her mouth ticked as the night of the party flashed through her mind, but she moved on before any of that could linger. “But yeah, the Beast is gone now… And I owe you an apology.” She pocketed her hands and slumped her shoulders, wearily looking to the side. “It…. wasn’t you at all before. It was nothing you did when I stormed out, even though, looking back, that’s probably what it seemed like. What really happened was, when that memory of the ship crash came back, it took me by surprise how our ancestors, y’know…” “…Yeah,” Audo said. “It was… pretty intense, with the crash, and all that,” he agreed. “I guess I was so caught up in what I was seeing, I didn’t even think how it might have affected anyone else,” he admitted. “W-what do you mean?” Liz uttered, “Your ancestor was Nemo, right? He barely made it in getting to the Command Center before the crash; do you know what for?” “Yeah,” Audo said. “Ne… Nemoorekk,” he said, stumbling slightly over the pronunciation. “He… barely made it in the door when the crash happened, yeah,” Audo said softly. “I… I think he was supposed to meet someone there, at least… that’s what one of the messages he got said.” Liz stared blankly at him. “…I’m sorry,” Audo said, somewhat sheepishly. “I- I think I must be missing something. The memories,” he said, tapping his head, “they’re there, but… not exactly… easily accessible, I don’t think. I think it’s gonna take some mental mapping or something for me to figure them all out,” he admitted. “ Well,” Liz continued, unable to conceal the partial hurt in her voice, “My ancestor, Theo, she was messaging, hoping to see him before the crash because they were... y’know. A thing.” “…Oh,” was all Audo could think of to say. Well, that explained a lot. “A-and so it just… didn’t sit right with me, because Theo, right before the mindprog, was expecting her and Nemo to ‘reunite’ once their memories were regained. She... didn’t really consider me at all, I feel. She was convinced she’d be staying around once everything was said and done with. But, seeing as I’m the one still here…” She shrugged. “Which sucks because now I’ve got all these wants and feelings from someone else, which are completely against my own. And I thought from that memory that you might’ve been going through similar, but…” She shook her head, brushing aside the strange hurt and blaming it on the memories. “Either way, Theo and Nemo are both gone. It’s just us now, and we’re free to do what we want. I just wanted to say that we don’t have to do anything to make our ancestors happy. We’re not obligated to do anything together, o-or…. We can just be whatever we want. Whether that’s friends, or… whatever.” "That… that does sound like a lot to deal with,” Audo said, shifting where he stood, and rubbing at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry.” “As for Nemo, ah…” he said, “I… I think that – at least in the moment – he had other things on his mind,” Audo admitted. “Being trapped under all that debris, and all, I mean. He… I-I think he viewed the memorywipe and all like… like a death,” Audo said, hand moving down to grasp the strap of his guitar. “I mean, he knew they’d all just be… transmogrified and teleported to safety, but… at the same time, everything they were in that moment… would end. Forever.” Audo paused for a moment, debating whether or not to continue; to try and explain the terror his ancestor had felt at the end, helpless and immobile as the beast slammed against the door right next to him… Perhaps, Audo decided, there some things that could be left unsaid. “ A-anyway,” he continued, “You’re right – they’re both gone, and we shouldn’t feel obligated to do… anything, yeah,” he said, clearing his throat. “…Friends could be nice, though,” he added after a pause. “If you want to, I mean. Like you said, there’s no obligation to be anything.” Liz chuckled. “Yeah….” They lapsed into a comfortable silence then, and Audo slid his hands into his pockets. One hand idly closed around his phone, and after a moment, something seemed to occur to him. “Oh, hey,” he said, breaking the silence. “Uh, earlier,” he said, “I asked you about taking some pictures of Mary, yeah? Well, I- I got some, if you’re interested in seeing them?” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Doesn’t have to be now,” he said, “I mean, there’ll always be time later, if now isn’t good.” “Oh, right!” Liz’s face immediately brightened, “I can’t believe I forgot about that-- well, between all the ship crashing, and memories, and beast…. But still. Yesah, do show!” As Audo pulled the pictures up on his phone, she couldn’t help bounce on her heels in excitement. Soon enough, he handed the device to her, and she finally got a peek at Mary. “Woah….” Her eyes widened. She jerked the screen away from her a bit. “That is…. So that’s what I’ve been looking like this whole time? Haha!” She couldn’t help but break out into a grin. “... Mary, you are definitely… something. How did not everyone go running when they saw this?” She laughed and held the screen in Audo’s direction. Audo chuckled a little. “Wellllll,” he admitted, “Claire passed out at first, and Ayo I think was initially kinda freaked out, and Ani… I’m not sure how she felt,” he admitted. “She was a bit distracted making sure Claire was okay, I think. ...I’m not sure where… what was her name...Sasha, I think? And whatever-his-name-was were, come to think,” he said. “They may have gone back to the surface by then.” Liz matched his chuckling before turning back to the pictures. “Wow… Aren’t you just beautiful?” She breathed. She took another second to flip through all of them, to stop on each and drink in every detail. Soon, though, she handed Audo his phone back and nervously dug through her bag. “I, uh… That might not be the only way I can see her, though,” she said. In her hands was the mirror. “I….I’ve got a big favor to ask from you.” “Sure, what is it?” he asked. “I’m not the only one who can summon her. Anyone can, really… A-and, I’ve never really thought of asking someone for this, but… I trust you.” She shrugged. “Only if you want to, though. I think her and I have a few things we need to talk about together, so I’d really appreciate it if you did.” “I uh,” Audo started. He had not been expecting that. “Uh… o-okay,” he said, “I… sure,” he continued, nodding. “I… I can do that.” “Thanks.” Her face brightened with a full smile. “You’re welcome,” Audo said, starting to return the smile. Just then, however, now that he had agreed, questions suddenly began to race through his mind. Finally managing to grab some, he tried to begin to voice them. “But uh, well… f-first, though,” he started, “Is… is there anything I should know? Like, any special instructions, or things I should avoid, like certain thoughts or actions or whatever? I remember yesterday you said it… was like a dream?” he said. “So… do I just sort of… act like it’s like that, and kinda try not to think, or…?” he trailed off, realizing he was beginning to ramble. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I guess I’m just nervous,” he admitted. “I… this seems important, and I don’t want to mess it up for you.” “No, I totally get it.” She put her hands up and gave a soft smile. “It’s a lot to ask of you, I know. As far as what to do, all you need is to take the mirror and just say her name three times. Full name, Bloody Mary. Then from there, it’s really all up to Mary. You you kinda stop existing by that point, so you shouldn’t worry about what you’re thinking of.” She added a nonchalant shrug to this, hoping he wasn’t too put off by this. “There is kind of a mental balance between you and Mary that needs to be kept, but it’s usually automatic. Mary might be a bit taken aback when there’s a new Keeper, though, so only thing you can really do is to just stay relaxed.” With a reassuring smile, she said, “Trust me, between now and when you come back, it’ll feel like nothing’s happened.” “Okay,” Audo said, nodding slowly. “That- that makes sense,” he said. “Thank-you.” Questions now answered, he took the mirror from Liz. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, held it for a moment, then released it. Opening his eyes, he met his reflection’s gaze and spoke the incantation. “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary…” The Beast is gone, and everything is peaceful again =w= Liz decides that she wants to go into space, but remembers that she should probably tell her parents about everything first, who are conveniently on vacation right now. When they get back, um, welcome home? x3;
She turns to Audo and brings back up the ship crash memory from earlier, explaining why she reacted the way she did. She's surprised to hear that Audo didn't get the same relationship vibes from the memory like she did, but he justifies it saying Nemo was big distracted with being buried and the fear of death.
Together, they both decide that despite their ancestors' feelings and wishes, they're not obligated to be anything they don't want to be. They can choose whether to be friends or more themselves.
Audo then mentions the photos he took of Mary, showing them to Liz. Suddenly a little anxious, Liz mentions that those aren't the only way she can see Mary. She asks of him a large favor, saying that she needs to talk with Mary herself. After some initial nervousness, Audo agrees to do what she asks, and he takes the mirror to use.
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 20, 2017 14:38:25 GMT -5
((Note: This post takes place after Liou's next post!))People were speaking, and even as the fear in Atif’s chest grew, so did the warmth. He barely knew most of these people. He had run into them in the marketplace, or met up at the bowling alley, or seen them at the hospital, but until three days ago hardly any of them had been more than acquaintances. And yet here they all were, baring their souls and their secrets for the entire town to hear, because of the unspoken determination that they would not forget again. He heard it in their voices. Goodness knew it was pushing him forward. And it struck him as beautiful, as beautiful as the sun had looked rising over the cathedral roof two days earlier. Both times he had been gripped by the fear of being without something precious- but it was easier to appreciate this time. Even as Ayo told a story that hurt his heart, Atif felt hopeful. Still afraid, but hopeful. And when he felt the Beast disappear, the hope broke into a golden lightness that even felt like a sunrise. “Now you have a choice. All of you.” The lightness cooled slightly, and Atif sighed. Somehow, he had managed to avoid thinking about that. It had all been about what was happening now, and then what had happened before that led to all of this. There hadn’t been time to even think about what would happen if the ship flew again. He was almost afraid to think about it, even now. “Lost in thought, Mina? Broc?” Jamil clapped Atif on the shoulder. Atif jumped slightly. “Good to see you’re all right too, Dad.” He turned and hugged his father, then broke away, brow furrowed in confusion. “Broc?” “Yeah. Broccoli. Suits you.” Jamil grinned impishly, and Mina laughed. Even Atif grinned, although he tried to hide it by shaking his head. “You all right, love?” he asked Mina. She smiled warmly and hugged him. “We’re safe. Of course I’m all right.” Atif sighed in relief. “I almost can’t believe it,” he admitted. Mina took his hand again. “But you can. We’re all together again.” She paused, then made a face. “It still feels strange, remembering things that weren’t even ours. Although speaking of which….” she looked over her shoulder to where Ayo was walking, looking rather shaken. “I think I should go and talk to them.” “Good idea,” Atif nodded. “I won’t go anywhere.” Mina raised her eyebrows. “You won’t? Aren’t you coming with me?” “I barely met them, I hardly think right now they need-” “You don’t blame Ayo, do you?” When Atif began to splutter that he hadn’t meant it like that, Mina cut in again. “Then they need to know that. For goodness’ sake the poor dear needs support.” And she began dragging her husband across the room. “Ayo?” she asked quietly, once they had reached Ayo. “Ayo, I’m so sorry.” She reached out in the universal gesture for “Would you like a hug?” Atif slipped forward. “Ayo, listen. There is no blame here. What happened was terrible but it wasn’t anyone’s fault.” He reached out as if to shake their hand, looked down, and realized he hadn’t spoken to them since before they recovered their memories. “Ah, I’m Atif, sorry. I, ah, I promise this isn’t dangerous. Just. Green.” Mina turned incredulously past Ayo to her husband and shook her head, laughing. Atif has Feels. Then Jamil starts teasing him a bit and they relax, before Mina goes to check on Liou and offer them a hug. Atif goes as well and assures them that they shouldn't blame themselves, and then realizes he looks a bit different now and tries to explain. He does a pretty bad job of it and Mina is left amazed and amused at what a gigantic dork she married.
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Post by Liou on Oct 20, 2017 16:35:15 GMT -5
(( This takes place before Azzie's latest post!)) "What?" Ayo took their hands off their face, letting their arms drop against their sides. "What just happened?" Something was missing. "Where'd it go?" they muttered, stunned. Their mind was so clear, all of a sudden. Much too clear. Ayo shuffled around, not sure which way to face. Their knees shook. They might have slumped down to the floor if Fionn hadn't popped out of nowhere, back in his human form and coat, and wrapped them in a hug. They sagged limply against him as he rejoiced and congratulated everyone. Ayo kissed his cheek and rested their head on his shoulder. "I did it mostly thanks to you." While Scip addressed them, they petted Fionn's coat again just as they had petted his fur before. They listened closely to the AI's words, frowning in concentration. Everything sounded fine. Everything was as they remembered it should be. Try as it might, Ayo's mind could not find any problem to latch onto. Fionn was being called for a race, so they let go of his coat with a smile. "I won't leave you alone again, Scip. Even if I'm the only one who flies out with you." Ayo paused, their mouth still open. They had spoken those words without any resistance, simply because they wanted to. A little shudder shook their shoulders and they shrugged off their jacket. It seemed too heavy now, like armour constricting them. "If any of you still want me around," they said, raising their voice, "I will do anything I can to help. I remember how this place used to run very clearly - it's almost as if I was there myself. It won't be the same, of course, and there will be a lot to adjust. But I'm ready to do anything." Everyone seemed to be letting off steam, gathering in pairs here and there. Ayo wandered around the bridge aimlessly, still jittery with unused adrenalin. "Oh please, join us when you can," they called in response to Dion. "We'll never find a better Trash Inspector!" They caught sight of Hannah's fistpumping arm and crouched next to her. "Excuse me," they said, and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm just really glad that you have bones in this lifetime." They drew back, beaming at her, and strolled away again. Were they drunk? Ayo discreetly cupped their hand in front of their mouth to check their breath. No, not the faintest whiff. What were they doing? Their wandering led them to where Holly had settled in her chair - her chair - and they stopped short. They nearly addressed her as Officer, but the words caught in their throat. Such formalities seemed ridiculous now. They leaned tentatively into her field of vision. "Holly? You're perfect." Ayo swayed on the balls of their feet, peering at her face anxiously, before realising they hadn't been specific. "I mean, you were perfect earlier. You did so well. Thank you." She blinked, looking up in surprise. Realizing who was speaking to her, she gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh. “I’m impressed you can say that after the way I told you off. But then again, I imagine the captain was used to getting that from S’siri, so it might’ve felt familiar in a way.” Ayo quirked an eyebrow and considered that for a moment. "It does now. They could sense a kind of fuzzy benevolence that reassured them no matter what she was saying. I couldn't really deal with the snake's thoughts earlier, though." “Different people seem to be coping with it on different levels,” Holly observed. “I was worried what it would be like for me earlier, to be honest. That I’d lose myself and just… become the alien. But it’s not- S’siri never would’ve let it be that way anyway. It’s…” she groped for a description, and finally settled on, “it’s like Jiminy Cricket, in a way. A friendly voice over your shoulder, offering opinions and guidance, but leaving the choice in your hands.” Ayo let out a chuckle. "That's a good way to describe it. I thought I could disappear completely while they took over, but they just seem to be swimming somewhere behind me. When I look back and go through their memories, they feel exactly like me." Looking at the floor, they crouched and settled down next to Holly's chair. "I remember how she felt about the plan." Holly lifted a brow but said nothing, as if inviting Ayo to go on. They gave her a quick sideways glance before continuing. "And I mean that literally. I remember something like my stomach churning and someone's teeth clenching if I was near her when it was discussed. After she left, after she did the unthinkable for us, I knew I should respect her will." Ayo wrapped their hands around their jittery knees. "I wanted to. But no matter how many times I checked on the databank, those recorded memories were the last little piece of my friend in the entire universe. It was selfish. Really selfish. I simply didn't have the strength to erase her for good." Holly gave a lopsided smile, and closed her eyes. After a moment, she said, “Hy zhei takasta, Oor’cha.” Ayo's jaw dropped. They took on a blank look - oddly similar to Scip when the AI paused in a conversation to look up information elsewhere. Their mouth spread into a broad grin. They stammered a little, gave up and threw their arms around Holly instead, startling her so that her wings beat in surprise. "Yeah, I missed her a lot," they said with a little laugh. "How do you even pronounce these things... Parede vyti, S’..." Ayo paused, frowning in concentration, to position their lips as though for whistling. "...S'siri." They dropped their face into their hands. "I never even learned to say her name right," they whined. “Even when my throat muscles tried to adapt.” "I can't say it right anymore either, to be fair," Holly mused, laughter in her voice. "Harper told me that Qoeln was trying to make something to compensate for a lack of a beak as a pet project, they're thinking of continuing it." She absently combed her feathers with her hands. "S'siri regretted the things she said, that last time she and the captain spoke. She's been obsessing and guilting over that conversation subconsciously for... probably all of the lifetimes she's lived in Wrighton. Angry with herself for not having been able to find a better answer. That's why she made the choice she did- it was her attempt at a better answer. She wanted to save her friends, even if she couldn't save herself.” "Darling." Ayo shook their head. Crouching again, they rested a hand on the side of her chair. "There are far too many things that I wish I could have done differently. For everyone, but also for her, in that conversation. While she was guilting, I was just cowering in shame. I am still glad, in a way, that she did what felt right to her. I am... how did we say. Coruscatingly thankful.” They waved their fingers in a gesture that seemed to imitate twinkles. “Um. Stellar thanks. You know." Holly smiled. “She wanted me to delete her. Not because she was upset to have ended up in the mindprog, but because she didn’t think she deserved everyone’s forgiveness and second chances. But I… talked her around, if that makes sense? I think she’s at peace now. And happy to know everyone else is too.” "So, it's like she's... home?" Ayo suggested with a grin. "That seems to be the fashion." They beamed up at Holly. "Thanks for being so good and welcoming to her. It’s a relief to know she’s in good hands." Holly smirked. “Glad I’m good hands now and not a contagious wing-demon.” "Demon?" They glanced around the room. "Mary's not contagious, it's fine." Their confused little smile melted and their brow furrowed. Ayo crossed their legs and sat on the floor, edging back a little. "Sorry. Did I act paranoid back there? I still do that sometimes." “A bit,” Holly agreed. “Mostly I was just frustrated because I was worried enough about being stared at without negative reactions on top of the confusion and curiosity I was already expecting. But all of us have been dealing with a lot today.” "Oh, heck. And I could've sworn I was trying not to stare. I'm so sorry." Now they couldn't take their eyes off her, almost afraid to blink. "The... the wing pattern looked really familiar all of a sudden, and I was thinking of how awful it must have been to grow them, and I knew there must have been a way of avoiding you that trouble somehow if we’d just been a little faster, and deep down I might have been remembering the old guilt already, and, and now you're stuck like this..." Holly held up a hand. “I wasn’t too pleased earlier, it’s true. And I’m still a little scared of how I’m going to cope with this going forward. But well… the whole town’s pretty strange, as it turns out. And I’m definitely not complaining about being able to fly.” Ayo nodded slowly. "You are so fly." They cringed and hid their face between their knees. "Please forget I said that. If anyone gives you trouble for them, you tell me. We'll get it taken care of. I got connections. Heck, now we have space connections." They tilted their head, pressing a finger against their chin. "And if you run out of cute clothes that fit around these, I'll figure out some designs." “You’ll be in space and I’ll be here,” Holly pointed out. “But- thank you, I do appreciate that. I look forward to seeing any design ideas you’ve come up with next time the ship pops by for a visit- in the meantime, I’ll be investing in a lot of halter tops.” “And you’ll look fantastic in them.” Where is anxiety? Ayo does not process things without anxiety? How do?? Ayo must find something to worry about. First they snuggle Celestial and say they won't leave Fraze alone again and tell Thorn to yes please come along and huggle Lizica and ***Collab Time!*** have a chat with Shinko , going over past feels and memories of S'siri
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Post by Gelquie on Oct 20, 2017 18:09:29 GMT -5
((What’s this, another POOL PARTY collab post? With Celestial and Thorn )) Alexis called over to Fionn. “Fionn! I'm gonna go back down to open the doors, and maybe see what's at the bottom! Do you wanna come race me?”Fionn turned towards the pool, hearing Alexis calling him. A swim sounded pretty good right about now, and even if he had won the last race, it was not exactly the most satisfying thing with the threat of the beast hanging over them. “Sure! Just give me a moment!” Hopefully Athene would not interrogate him this time. He looked over at Ayo, shooting them a smile. “I’ll be back soon, I promise,” he said and took off towards the pool. His coat was already prepared, so he did not even break pace before jumping into the water, turning into a seal mid-leap. Anybody standing too close to the pool would have gotten splashed as his bulk made an impact, but Fionn, did not really mind. They could deal with a little water. The seal poked his head out from the surface and barked at Dion, waving at her with her flipper. Maybe she would want to come again too? Dion blinked at the seal. Swimming would be so nice! Especially now, with all the very horrible stuff out of the way. It would be so very nice! And if she was going to join them on their adventure through the unknown, she would have to get to know them a bit better, right? She joined them in the water, a koi once more, because a koi just felt celebratory somehow. Alexis waved to them, a smile on her face. “You can race us too, Dion! We’re going to my station first so I can open the doors. Then we’re probably going to go to the bottom.” She put herself in a readied pose, looking to the others to see if they were ready as well. Fionn barked and took a big gulp of air, turning himself horizontal in the water. He was ready to go. Dion wriggled, her scales shimmering. What better way to get to know them than through a friendly race? But, while celebratory, a koi probably was not the best form for this purpose. This creature isn't very fast... Should she instead be a seal like Fionn? She'd been a seal before, and she wasn't great at it- their form of swimming was quite uncomfortable- but it might be fun! Dion could mimic his motions and see how she did! And why did it matter if she didn't win? She could just win next time! In another whirl of black smog, Dion became a seal- but smaller than Fionn, and with a silvery sheen to its coat, because she was determined to sacrifice as little of that fish-form's shimmering prettiness as possible. Fionn looked over at her, his muzzle forming into something like a grin! He gave her a delighted yip of approval. Dion imitated him. It sounded strange to her ears. Not like humming or chirping at all! But it was a nice form all the same, and obviously better suited to this venture than her previous guise. Then they dived. Alexis gave herself a burst of speed, feeling the urge to really win one of the races this time! Besides, she was the one who worked with the controls; it made sense for her to win this one, right? She did have to slow eventually, though, as her ears were beginning to pop. She did still have to pace herself somewhat; she wished she had more of a mermaid’s ear anatomy. Fionn, however, continued to swim past, his seal body perfectly adapted to a sudden dive. They would be pretty poor hunters, and be unable to escape predators if they weren’t. He considered slowing for Alexis but swam past her in a whirl of bubbles: this was a race. She could manage. Dion could nearly keep pace with Fionn, but not quite. She lost ground twice when she forgot how flippers were meant to work, which was strange considering that should come instinctively to a seal! She'd probably been changing forms too much lately and getting herself confused. She resolved to stick to simple cosmetic changes to her much-loved human form during their time on the ship. Alexis pushed herself harder when she saw Fionn and Dion forging ahead. If she didn’t overdo it, she could possibly pass them without damaging her ears. But they had already gotten so far ahead… Dion hadn't messed up the flippers again, and was now neck-and-neck with Fionn! She couldn't believe it. She might actually win! At the last moment she managed to pull ahead, brushing past the edge of the cubicle as she did. She'd done it! She'd won the race! This was brilliant.. She wanted to hum or shrill her excitement, which this form wasn’t very good at, but that only dimmed her happiness the tiniest fraction. Fionn swam up after her, looking slightly disappointed that he did not win, but it was quickly wiped away when he saw how happy Dion was. He flicked his tail, sending a wash of bubbles towards her, and swam over, landing a high-five on her flipper with his own. Alexis looked forlorn, and was unable to hide her disappointment in not only losing, but coming in last. But she applauded Dion anyway, as best as she could while underwater. Dion flapped her flippers. They were applauding her! They thought she was really cool! It made a great day even better. Dion circled Alexis a few times, flicked both she and Fionn with her tail as she passed, and backed up to allow the girl to deal with those doors. This was fun, but she had to remember that they were here for a reason. Important stuff first, then fun! In spite of her disappointment, Alexis couldn’t help but laugh at Dion’s waves sent to her from her tail flicking; something about her happiness made it contagious. But then she realized she was making way for Alexis to reach the control panels for the doors. Oh, right; that. That was something she could do. She swam over to the control panel. Switching the doors back open was an easy task this time; she’d left the console idle on the same screen where she’d closed the doors, in case she needed to go back down and quickly open it if they needed to escape. Though she admitted to herself that she was mostly relying on Scip to teleport them out if it came to that. After finishing up, she swam back to the others, giving a sign with her hands indicating that the job was done. It occurred to Dion that she had not yet seen the bottom of the pool. The sudden desire to didn't come from the seal part of her brain at all: this was a deeper, older part of her, instinctual but from different creature entirely. The thoughts of her true form- of a creature accustomed to gliding in dark, murky water- rising to meet her at last. Dion spun over, gestured downward with her nose, and took off into the depths. Maybe they could have another race! All this diving was really very fun, and besides, who knew what interesting things could be found at the base? Her gesture and dive caught Fionn’s attention and he dashed after, not wanting to be left behind. A cloud of bubbles rose from the powerful strokes of his back flippers, alerting Alexis. Alexis looked with a start at their sudden movements; hey, they were starting the race without her! Well, it wasn’t like she hadn’t caught up before. And maybe the seals were tired after getting ahead of her. Either way, she zoomed after them, as fast as she could safely go. While intent on the race, Alexis looked at her surroundings and below as she dived. She was thankful for the lights that adorned the sides, because otherwise, the pool might’ve been too dark at this depth. This was even with the sight merfolk had; given how dark the ocean could be, their eyes had adapted to accommodate. But after years of interbreeding with humans, Alexis felt like hers was not so strong; whenever she had the opportunity to dive below, she usually came with some light of her own. However, it wasn’t too difficult to tell when they were reaching the bottom. The expanse before them suddenly became more limited, then the floor and objects and furniture spread about, either to accommodate stations or to act as a lounge, becoming more and more apparent. Dion slowed, distracted by all the objects. Why was there furniture on the bottom of the pool? Who would want to sit still there? Pools were for swimming, drifting, twirling in! It was hard to imagine a form which could comfortably utilise such furniture at this depth. She suddenly very badly wished to meet the creatures responsible. They must look very unusual!Fionn saw her slowing but paid it no further attention. There was a race to win! He pushed against the water, putting on a burst of speed, when a glint caught the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he saw one of the things on Iki’s desk, no doubt one of those he pushed off last time. Looking closer, he could see it was a large ring, which at first glance looked metallic but did not appear to look like any kind of earth metal. Running through it were tiny blue veins which pulsed a little. Before he could stop it, the memory overtook him. Qoeln, the chief engineer of the ship, pulling out a broken metal part from the systems while she was helping out with miscellaneous lifting around the engine room. Seeing it, Iki was hypnotised, and Fionn found himself staring at the ring too. She has begged and pleaded Qoeln to give it to her, since it was useless. After some relatively affectionate grumbling, they did, resulting, predictably, in plenty of hugs for them. Feelings of love and friendship bathed Fionn with their warmth, so much so that he began to sink to the bottom. No! No! This was no good! He had to snap out of it, he had to! He slapped himself with his flippers several times, feeling as raw as meat by the time he was done. There had to be a better way than pain. But the memory was gone. He picked up the ring, slipping it over his fin. Some of Iki’s things had fallen. Memories of her friends, things she had treasured. She would be annoyed if she knew that they were out of place. They needed to be found. The seal snuffled around, using his whiskers to navigate, looking for objects. After he swam a few metres, he stopped. There was something in the water. Not an item of Iki’s but...definitely something. Something smaller than a cubicle, but bigger than anything else. The seal swam towards it, stumbling upon a big chest of some kind. He swam above it in figures of eight, waving to Alexis and Dion to get over here and look. Dion couldn't really understand what Fionn was so excited about. It was just a box. Did he have reason to think there was something amazing in that box? Old photographs, or journals, or something of the like? She swam over to him, nosing the object curiously, hoping he would reveal all. Alexis barely noticed the others’ distractions, too intent and focused on the race. But what she did notice made her excited at the prospect of finally winning a race. And so she gave herself a burst of speed… And landed right on one of the furniture below before hitting the floor with her momentum. She briefly cringed, then laughed, clearly not too injured. She looked around and found that she arrived first, and she raised her fist in the air in victory. She looked to the others only to find that they weren’t paying attention. She frowned at this when she realized that they were gesturing to something, which she then realized was what distracted them. She swam closer, towards the chest before them, and blinked. A memory flashed in her mind of Amyn helping to set the chest down. That must’ve been it, the thing at the bottom she had a feeling she should find. She recalled there were things in there, things pertinent to the crew stored here for safety, things that they couldn’t bring with them to Earth due to having alien material. This was their chance to revisit this, to find out their connections, what their ancestors thought important enough to store… It was important enough that Alexis wanted to take the entire thing with her. So she went to grab an end and tugged… And tugged. On the second try, Alexis managed to move the chest half a centimeter, but it was clearly too heavy. She looked to the others, as if silently pleading them for help. Fionn swam over, blinking with concern. Was it really that heavy? He pulled at it with his teeth but it would not move, not without pulling his jaw out. Trying something else, he attempted to push under it with his muzzle to get it on his back but it resisted, not allowing him to get even a whisker under it. He swam back up, giving Alexis a defeated look. Dion circled them, thinking hard. What would be strong enough to lift this chest? The seal clearly wasn’t enough, and assuming Alexis had the approximate strength of a human, that wasn’t enough either. She had large marine forms which could pull it off, but as for creatures which wouldn’t be damaged by the freshwater… Perhaps she should choose a creature which could instead carry the chest on its back? She really didn’t want to transform yet again- Dion was feeling quite strange, after so long without doing so- but the chest obviously meant a lot to these two. She shifted very carefully this time, the smog obscuring her for far longer. The cloud billowed outward as, this time, she became a stringray five metres in length. What was unusual about this stingray was the hard exoskeleton she added, encasing the body like a turtle’s shell, which took more concentration that she’d expected. Dion pushed her head against the lower edge of the chest, hoping they would understand what she needed them to do. Then she turned so that her left fin rested against the chest- these two meant well, but given their previous efforts, she didn’t trust them to not drop the chest on her head if she remained facing forward. Alexis stared in awe at Dion’s new transformation, taking in her form before realizing that Dion needed them to do something. She had her head against the chest and was resting her fin against the chest. She seemed to be suggesting something, but… Well, that was what the hard back was for, wasn’t it? She motioned to Fionn to follow her lead and moved behind the chest. Together, they pushed the chest further onto Dion until they were sure that it was in a comfortable place. Alexis then held onto one end, intending to help with distributing the weight upon their ascent. It was slow going but, between the three of them, they were making progress. The chest was a considerable weight, and more than once Dion felt it slide, but she wasn't too worried. They could do it, as long as they didn't rush. Eventually, the three of them broke through the surface. Dion glided towards the edge and, along with Alexis, Fionn swam as close as he could to the chest, putting all his weight behind pushing it while giving an extra boost with his back flippers. With combined effort from those on land, they finally managed to get the heavy chest out of the water. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Which it literally had, of course- Dion couldn't understand why people used this phrase in the metaphorical sense when the two scenarios were not at all the same! Resuming her human form she clambered up onto the shore and knelt, breathing heavily, beside her friends. "What's inside?" Alexis crawled out of the pool, closer to the chest. “It’s… something I had a feeling about. Something down there my ancestor thought was important. And I don’t think it was just them… I think it’s…” She paused. “Let’s find out?” She crawled forward to lift open the chest, but her tail slipped, and she fell to the ground. “Oh, okay, uh… someone help?” With help from others around, including a now human Fionn, they managed to unlatch and lift the lid to the chest. Inside were… various objects. They ranged from spheres-- clearly smaller containers, left behind by each individual crew member who wished to leave one--to individual objects, ones that looked clearly otherworldly, or required parts that did not seem to come from Earth. Fionn peered inside, taking in the variety of objects that were inside. With all the variety, it was almost was like being back at Iki's desk. He shuddered thinking about it. Those objects never failed to bring back memories. Knowing Iki, she had probably stored something very special, either from Oor’cha or S'siri or Amyn or Bek or the others. Fionn was not sure if he could stomach them, not yet. He dug around without looking, eventually picking a sphere which he could not describe but simply felt right. Looking away, Fionn picked it up, focusing only on keeping his eyes clenched. If he released his concentration, Iki would remind him what was inside, and no doubt her reasoning behind those objects, along with the accompanying emotions. He had enough of those for today. “Dion, could you hold this for me? I cannot deal with my ancestor anymore, not until I find a way to control mine and her emotions,” he pushed the sphere toward her. “I trust you to look after it until the time comes.” It was one of the funny little knobbly spheres! Dion took it from him and held it in her hands. It looked so similar to the others, it seemed strange Fionn's ancestor would have had such a strong emotional attachment to it! Yet it was obviously very important to them both, and so Dion fashioned herself a jacket and tucked it away inside, squeezing his hand when it was done. "I will dutifully protect it!” “Thank you!” Fionn threw his arms around her. “I appreciate it!” Alexis looked at the scene, smiling at the hug, before looking back inside the chest. Then, almost instinctively, she reached for a red-colored sphere, pressed a button to open it, and extracting a flat circular object, some sort of metal on the back with decorative but very alien engravings on it, including what looked like a dial. Turning it around, she saw more squiggles and an arrow, one that turned when Alexis turned. A compass? Alexis wondered. Dion watched Alexis examine the little object. It looks like she's finding it exceptionally fascinating!Amyn trailed a leg over the front of the compass, staring in awe at what was presented to them. They listened well as their gift-giver explained to them its purpose, how the compass could tell them their direction on any planet, but also tell them their longitude and latitude. It was also incredibly sturdy and decorative; it could last for ages if Amyn didn’t abuse it.
Amyn stared up at Iki, giving as best of a smile they could. It was as if she knew exactly what to give them, and what could really help them. (And not just because they had gotten lost on the last mission without the navigator, certainly!) They clearly thought long and deep about this gift. They extended their arms to Iki in a gesture of friendship.This compass… This was that compass. And it looks so great too… And judging by its appearance, it still worked. There were others in the chest that belonged to Amyn, Alexis realized. But for now, this one stuck out to her. She found herself turning to Fionn. “...Your ancestor gave this to mine,” Alexis said. “...They say thanks.” “Uh…” Fionn swallowed awkwardly, unsure of what to say. He did not look at the object in Alexis’ hands, still wanting to avoid the emotional gutpunch that would no doubt come with seeing it. But,he thought- no, he knew, “I am sure she would be very happy to be thanked. She did like them, a lot. They were a good friend, and they had many adventures together,” he glanced down. “Though I don't know what specifically it was. I am afraid to remember.” “Oh. I uh… We can talk about it later?” Alexis offered. “But… I think Amyn liked you too. Maybe I’ll remember more… Later. This… is a lot, I’m just gonna go home and do nothing after this.” “We can make an evening of it,” Athene said dryly, but with a smile. Alexis laughed before turning to Dion. “And, thank you too, for the help. I don’t think Fionn and I could’ve gotten this up on our own.” She smiled. “We really couldn’t,” he nodded in confirmation. “Thanks, Dion. You’re really the best!” Dion smiled back at them. "Thank-you both so very much. However, I would not be a very good person at all if I didn't help out my friends. I am glad you think it was worth it." “It really was!” Alexis insisted. “And uh… I think you are a good person.” “So do I,” Fionn chimed in. “I wouldn’t trust you with the sphere if I didn’t.” Dion placed her hand over the sphere, her chest doing that tight-melting thing again. "You are both such good people. And your mother, and Hannah, and- all of you." Maybe not the monster-person, but it wasn't here right now. Had she seen it at all? Had that been a dream? That was a conversation for another time. “I, ah…” Alexis blushed a touch. “Thanks… I think everyone here is too. Everyone helped… Thank you.” Alexis looked to the others in the room. “Our ancestors left these things behind because they couldn’t take them on Earth. I think a lot of people left something in here… Uh, you’ll probably know yours when you see it.” She picked out her sphere, then crawled away one-handed to allow others to reach theirs. When she reached her mother, she sat near her, waiting for herself to dry a little before reserving the effects and turning herself back to a human. She wasn’t really ready to be fatigued again, but she had to change again if she wanted to go back up and go home. But even if she was weak from it afterwards, even if she spent the rest of the day lying around doing nothing… At least she always had somewhere to return to. POOL PARTY ENCORE! *MORE POOL NOODLES!*
That is, Alexis wants to re-open the doors to the Command Center so everyone can leave. So she, Fionn, and Dion race to the cubicle. Alexis does the deed, then they go to see what’s at the bottom. Below is SUNKEN TREASURE!
With the help of Dion, the three of them bring the chest back to the surface and onto shore so they can examine their loot. Turns out it’s a series of spheres or other objects left behind by the original crew, things they couldn’t take with them due to not being Earth-sourced. They each have their respective moments of feels, then they let the others in the room reach for their storage spheres if they want.
(Tagging Everyone: The trio unearthed a chest containing officers/crewmembers(?) keepsakes that they thought important but couldn't take with them. You want a sphere of stuff, or some of the knick-knacks lying around that may not necessarily be in spheres, make something yours!
Though there may not be a lot of time left in the round, so it’s okay if you skip going over this or gloss this over or keep stuff to the epilogue. Do what you need to do. ^^ )
(GLQ probably won’t do another Alexis post this round, so they wrote a short thing implying that Alexis is about to change back to human. It goes much like how she changed into a mershark, but reversed.)
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Post by Twillie on Oct 21, 2017 13:03:59 GMT -5
It didn’t take long for the darkness to fade from Liz’s vision. She blinked and looked up. “....Mary?” The figure in front of her twitched an ear, eyes wide with surprise at the new voice. Moving her head every which way, she tried to catch the scents in the air. With an amused smile, Liz murmured, “Mary, it’s me.” She let out a soft laugh as a snuffling nose came down upon her. It wavered though, hesitantly retreating as Mary pulled a confused face. “K-ke….” “Liz.” “...Liz.” Against her better judgment, Liz grabbed a hold of one of Mary’s hands. Mary flinched at first, taken aback, but it took less than a second for her to ease. “I know this is probably strange…” Liz started, “I asked Audo if he could summon you, so he’s your Keeper right now. I know you trust him too, but I hope it’s okay.” Mary was quiet at first, mostly just listening, but when Liz stopped talking, she made a soft noise. From her throat gurgled a rough purring sound. As best she could, she made a large smile between all her teeth, and her head down to Liz’s, nuzzling the side of it. “Well I’m glad,” Liz laughed, nuzzling back. Both of her hands rested on the sides of Mary’s face, and their foreheads pressed together. They rested like this for a moment. “I asked him to do that though because I wanted to talk to you,” Liz gently explained. “If you’re okay with that?” Mary pulled herself back just enough to nod. Returning the gesture, Liz then took a gentle grasp of Mary’s hand. “Come on, let’s go somewhere quieter.” She hardly needed to pull as Mary dutifully shuffled along. Hoping she caught no one’s eye, Liz led them both out to the same hall Mary had escaped to before. Once outside, Liz eyes the pair of crutches she had left behind and kicked them to the side. Slowly, she sat herself on the ground, still holding Mary’s hand and indicating for her to do the same. Mary crouched down to roughly her level. Liz took a breath. Her voice lost a shade of its warmth as she asked, “You… got those memories too, right? Of this ship?” Mary hesitated. It looked like she was thinking hard. “...I hear another person in my head,” she rumbled, “But they are faint. They know this place… Theo?” “Yeah.” Liz couldn’t help but sigh. “Then you probably know what Theo wanted to happen by now.” There was no immediate response from Mary, but Liz noticed a slight awkward shuffling of her feet. Liz said, “If I break your mirror, we’d be… reunited, I guess? But back then, when Theo turned into you, it wasn’t you. It was always her. Do you remember that?” “I remember her remembering that…” Mary muttered, “My memories….The early ones run away when I try to remember them. I can reach farthest out to…. trees… and water, crashing.” “So Theo’s memories aren’t your own,” Liz figured, “You aren’t the same person as her.” Biting her lip, Liz couldn’t help but ask, “...How many Keepers do you remember?” Mary flinched slightly at this. “Keepers blur together. But one of the first ones….” She trembled slightly. “Hurt. Hurt me. And so I learned how to stop them.” Her teeth instinctively bared with this. “Others tried to do the same. But I learned more and more to make them not.” “You grew into a will of your own.” “Many Keepers hurt, others didn’t. None of them felt right. I learned this because of you.” “I don’t feel right?” Liz cocked an eyebrow. “You do,” Mary replied, “So I discovered the others didn’t.” “Because we’re supposed to be the same person.” Liz gave a regretful smile. “Mary...” She struggled to grasp for words, “I-I don’t know what’ll happen if I shatter the mirror. You’ll be… me again, obviously, but I don’t know if that means that you--” she helplessly motioned to Mary, “Who you are now, will go away.” She let out a long breath. “I don’t want to do that to you.” “Is that what Theo made me for?” “Theo wanted a lot of things,” Liz answered dryly, “But she didn’t really think about us in the process. We don’t owe her anything.” “The mirror still lets me live it in, then.” “I guess…” Liz looked down, still thinking. “But if the other Keepers never feel right to you… What’ll happen when I’m not around to summon you anymore? You’ll be stuck with those other people again, because you don’t die so long as you have the mirror. Right?” Mary seemed to nod slightly. “I… have felt many years…” “Then I don’t want to subject you to that either.” Liz’s brow furrowed. In her mind, she reached every which way for some kind of answer, but nothing came to mind. “Unless it stops working without the mindprog…” She looked to Mary. “What do you think we should do?” “...” Mary’s face twisted as though in thought, but she struggled to answer. She whimpered and squirmed in her seat, and Liz was about to speak up again to break the silence. Before she could, though, Mary ducked her head Liz’s way and pressed it against her again. A whining noise ripped her throat. Slightly taken aback, Liz slowly put a hand to Mary’s head, making slight strokes through her thick hair. “Yeah, me too…” She murmured. Long arms wrapped around Liz and lifted her, and the next thing she knew, she was cradled in the lap of an eight foot creature both whining like a dog and purring like a cat. She rested her head against Mary, and the two of them stayed like this for another few minutes. “Look, we’ll… we can figure something out later,” Liz murmured to her, “There’s still plenty of time for us to do that, and bunch of other stuff to do right now. We’ll think of something.” Comfortable silence fell upon them again. Mary’s whining quieted and was replaced purely by the soft rumble of her purrs, and Liz let out a small sigh. “Now that we’ve talked a little bit about that, though, it might be a good idea to bring Audo back soon. It looks like there’s still a lot for us to figure out with Scip.” Mary gave a long whine. “You said there was plenty of time…” She playfully bemoaned, laying down on the floor and taking Liz with her. “I know,” Liz laughed, “But it just seems like right now is when it’s kinda important.” “You prefer Man over me.” Mary overdramatically threw her voice. “No I don’t,” Liz retorted, rolling her eyes in amusement. Mary adopted as smug a grin as she could manage. “You already think about him enough, anyway.” Liz shot up from her lying position. “M-Mary! No I… N-no! That is not true, there is nothing going on with me! We already agreed we could be friends, a-and…” “Friends.” Mary smirked. “‘Or whatever’.” Both hands covered Liz’s reddened face. She was really glad in that moment that Audo wouldn’t remember a thing from this. For a moment, she wasn’t able to respond, opening her mouth for more protests, but closing it again when she couldn’t find the words. After a moment, she wearily said, “Look, I just need time… to figure all that out…” Slowly, she laid herself back down on top of Mary. “ But,” she said firmly, regaining the confidence in her voice, “I promise that soon, we can do this again. And not in some cramped tunnels. I can take you to the park, or maybe the woods for a day?” Liz brought back her smile. “To your trees?” Mary purred at this. “For now, though,” Liz said, “Is it okay if you brought Audo back?” With a smile, Mary nodded and said, “Bring back Audo…” Liz and Mary have a little talk \o/ They go out into the hallway like Mary had before, and the two talk about what they're going to do now with memories regained. Theo created the mirror as a temporary storage device for her second form, but since then, that form has developed its own will and personality, and Liz doesn't want to take this away from Mary as it would essentially be killing her. She's unsure if Mary's personality would go away, though, but it's not like they can experiment with that.
No big decisions are made yet, but the two still spend some time together and talk about some other things before Liz asks Mary to bring Audo back, seeing as there's still officer stuff to sort out. She promises Mary they can spend more time together later, and Mary agrees to this.
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 21, 2017 13:19:14 GMT -5
((Collab with Liou!))Little memories dotted the Command Center like petals fallen from the ceiling fans; they lurked on the edge of every step Ayo took across the bridge. It was so easy to get lost in a myriad of familiar faces without knowing whether to address them in the past or in the present. Ayo's adrenalin rush had finally subsided, and after leaving Holly to her own thoughts, they were too numb to talk to anyone else. Mina's hug looked particularly inviting. They let out a heavy sigh, shrugged and wrapped their arms around her. Mina hugged them, giving a little pat on her back as she did. “Are you holding up all right?” "Not really, no,” they said in a pleasant tone. “I'm just saving the breakdown for when I get home. How about you?" “Understandable," Mina hummed. "But I wanted to check in. After what you said, we were worried. And I’m doing fine. Better now, definitely.” Ayo nodded at her and settled into the hug. When Atif spoke up, they glanced at him over his wife's shoulder. After a moment, they extended a hand for a shake and a fistbump. "Looking kind of familiar there, doc," they said with a smirk. "Sorry I didn't recognise you for a bit. Is this... something new for you?" Atif returned the grin a little shakily. “It’s uncanny, isn’t it? I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you either. And no, it isn’t new.” He sighed. “I could explain, if you like. It seems like the days of keeping that kind of secret are over.” “I’d be happy to hear about it.” Quite comfortable where they were, Ayo kept their arms lightly draped around Mina while listening to him. "Well, I was about three, I'm told, I don't remember very well. We were moving, from Dad's apartment in with my mother and her parents, and so of course there were boxes. I guess I was playing with them when I found this." He opened his shoulder bag, and rather quickly withdrew a smallish metal object about the size of an apple. It looked very strange, with sharp silvery and brassy loops twisting around each other in a cloverlike pattern, surrounding an open space, like an abstract sort of candleholder. It was slightly rusty and some of the loops were dented, but it shone like it had been polished recently. A misty green trailed off of it. Ayo squinted at the object for a moment. A spark of recognition lit up their eyes. "I started playing with it, and I remember I thought it was pretty- I didn't notice anything else, but when my mother came downstairs and saw me she screamed, so I guess it must have started then." He laughed quietly. "I remember it now- I made this- *they* made this when they were young. But my mother just knew she'd gotten this old trinket from her grandmother, and suddenly her son touched it and..." He shrugged. "We never did know what exactly happened. But that was when I first... transformed." "Talk about a blast from the past," Ayo said, incredulous. They couldn't stop staring from the item to Atif and back. "It seriously stayed with your family for that long? And did you go to sleep in it again?" “I have no idea how,” Atif shook his head. “Who’s to say it was even my- their original family? But no. I was three, I didn’t know how it worked. I just liked playing with it.” He grinned. “I seem to remember everyone kept trying to take it away. But I was a toddler, and small children have ways of finding things that have been hidden. I think I was six when Dad finally got fed up of the constant scavenger hunts and told me to hide it under my bed. My grandparents knew, I’m sure, but they had pretty much given up. Nothing changed when they took it other than I got upset.” He frowned at the memory. “I didn’t figure that out- about the sleeping thing- until I was older. It was just sort of a security thing. Called it ‘my shiny’ when I was little.” He looked back up to Ayo. “I’m sorry for going on. We’ve all had a very long day. But yes, now you know. The important part, anyway.” “I’m so glad you got your treasure back,” Ayo said with a fond smile. “The two of you are amazingly inseparable. But in this lifetime, and in such a different world… Did you and your family cope all right?” Atif kept his smile, but it looked a bit glassy now. After a moment, he answered. “… Well, they decided pretty quickly to keep it secret at all costs. I collapsed once when I was little, actually, overexertion- and everyone was worried about it happening again. I was twelve before I was allowed to attend school. My grandparents in particular were concerned. I think they were scared, I don’t blame them, but still- I learned pretty well not to trust anyone with knowing. I guess over time it turned into not trusting people at all.” He laughed. “The funny thing is, they were wrong all along. All we had to go on was myths from this world, so they thought I couldn’t help it, if someone wished for something. I just wanted to help. But they were wrong about all of it, especially the people. And it cost me...too much.” His face no longer remotely smiling, he took a deep breath to steady himself. “I’m very glad we’ve remembered.” Ayo's smile had faded too and they bit their lip while listening. "I'm so sorry. And glad that you know the truth now. Thank you for opening up, and for putting your trust in us,” they said gently. “We’re here for you now. And you know we would never ask too much of you." “I know. It’s just...so nice to be among friends again. Old and new.” Setting the trinket back in its bag, he added, “Thank you, by the way. For the last few days. You’ve helped a number of people, from what Mina tells me.” Ayo glanced at Mina, whose shoulders they were still absent-mindedly stroking. “Did I? When? I don’t recall, it must have been someone else...” “Well, when Liz was hurt, you made sure she was careful with her foot. You showed us where she was, and got Ms. Briar to plants when she needed them. And then of course there was just now. I understand that it must have hurt, but you joined in anyway.” “It’s true,” Mina agreed. Ayo glanced back and forth between the two Khouris, and shrugged. "I guess someone had to, so I just, you know. Did the thing. You're welcome, though. And thank you two for looking after the kids and bringing proper food and all." “Well, exactly. Someone had to,” Atif nodded. “Although they managed all right with that pizza,” Mina grinned. Ayo grinned back at her and peered at Atif's face. “It did hurt when I spoke on the broadcast earlier. It’s hard to talk about this sort of stuff. It’s like unwrapping a bandage in front of everyone.” Hesitantly, they opened an arm and reached out, inviting him into the hug. Mina nodded sympathetically toward both of them. “I’m proud of you both.” And she extended her arm too. Atif looked around hesitantly, but the relief- both from the Beast’s disappearance and from the discussion- was still upon him. Sighing, he smiled and joined in the hug. “Again, thank you,” he said quietly. Ayo huggles with Mina, and asks Atif about the floaty green elephant in the room. He winds up opening up a bit more than he planned on. They talk feels together and end up with a group hug. ♥
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Oct 21, 2017 13:20:15 GMT -5
“Did we do it? Did we really do it?” Claire asked. She looked around. “We might have actually done it,” Ani answered. “Ah, we did it! We did it!” Claire jumped up and down. “We did it! We beat the beast! We beat the beast!” Claire hopped onto Ani and hugged her. Ani dropped Claire’s bat and almost fell backwards. Once she regained her balance, Ani hugged Claire back. A wave of relief washed over the two of them. “I can’t believe we actually did it,” Claire said. “An-chan, we actually did it. Oh my goodness, everybody back at the college is going to be so impressed with us. I’m impressed with us.” She began to hop around. “Do you think we can get a parade?” Ani shook her head. “I don’t think we can, Claire,” she informed. “Come on, something like this needs a parade! I’ll start it myself if I have to.” Claire picked up her bat, held it high, and began to march. She began to sing some victory music. Ani laughed at the sight. She wouldn’t be surprised if Claire actually did start a parade. Knowing all of their friends, they’d jump at that opportunity. The image of all of Ani’s friends marching around the college campus entertained her. Then Claire began to march out of the command center. Okay, Ani knew that was probably going to lead to something bad. Ani went after Claire. Claire was going out the same way they came in. She wandered the halls and through the hospital to end up in the quarters. In typical Claire fashion, Claire began to look through the quarters for who knew what. Under the beds, through storage items, everywhere she could get to. Ani would have stopped her, but she began to look at her surroundings. This was where Kiuna’s last memories were. She remembered her flying around in search of Stenin. She remembered Stenin talking to Kiuna here about not talking to anybody. These memories made Ani feel sad, knowing that Kiuna’s last moments of life were arguments and conflict. Still, she knew that Kiuna had some good times here, too. After her thoughts passed, Ani walked over to Claire to stop her from snooping around. Claire was curious and so was Stenin, but the spaceship was not a place to explore. At least not now. When Ani was by Claire’s side, Claire came across a strange item. It looked like a thick bracelet. Ani picked up the item. The material itself was lightweight and thin. It stretched easily. The item was light gray and had a logo like the one Scip had on his uniform. Both Claire and Ani knew what this item was. It was Kiuna’s headband. Claire and Ani didn’t know how to respond. This was Kiuna’s headband. Ani’s ancestor’s headband. The two of them looked at each other, as if to ask what to do. “Ani, this can’t be Kiuna’s headband, can it?” Claire asked. “It can be. This was where Kiuna was last,” Ani informed. “It was?” “Yes. I remember her flying through here. She was looking for Stenin to apologize.” “Right, you told me about that.” Claire examined the headband. “She was very small.” “Stenin was smaller.” Ani took the headband and put it around her left wrist. It fit her perfectly. “Do you think Scip would be okay with me taking this? It feels weird to just leave it here.” Claire eagerly nodded. “I’m sure.” She crossed her arms. “Speaking of Scip, he was talking about starting a journey again. Do you want to join that?” Ani didn’t really know if she did. Did she? Exploring the universe sounded like a ton of fun. Ani was sure Kiuna would want her to take part on it, too. Still, it was intimidating to think about. “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure,” Ani answered. She looked at her best friend. “What do you want to do?” “I want to do whatever you want to do,” Claire answered. Ani crossed her arms. “I don’t want to tell you what to do.” “I know you don’t. I just want to do whatever you want to do.” Claire sat on one of the beds. “Going off into space sounds like a ton of fun. Staying here in Wrighton also sounds like a ton of fun. There’s potential for so many fun and interesting things and adventures no matter what I do. I really don’t care what I end up doing. I just want to be with my best friend.” Those words touched Ani. She smiled. All Claire wanted to do was stay with Ani. Claire really was Ani’s best friend. “I’m not sure what I want to do yet. I’ll let you know when I made up my mind,” Ani informed. She began to think for a little. “Now that I think about it, there are some things I want to do before I decide.” Again, Claire is Best Fangirl.
Ani and Claire cheer in celebration of beating the beast. Claire wants to know if they can have a parade. Ani doesn't think so, so Claire decides she will start a parade if she has to. So Claire marches around and sings a victory tune. Eventually, Claire marches all the way to the quarters. Ani goes after her. (Squip joins in, too, I just didn't write him in.)
Claire begins to go through the quarters. Instead of stopping her, Ani looks around, because she now recognizes the quarters as where Kiuna was last. After thinking for a little, Ani goes to stop Claire. Then they find Kiuna's headband. Ani puts it on her wrist and decides to take it.
Then Claire asks Ani if she wants to join the ship's crew. Ani is undecided. Then Ani asks Claire what she wants to do. Claire just wants to stay with Ani. *canned "aw"ing* Ani begins to think for a little, then says there are things that she wants to do before she decides.
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Post by Huntress on Oct 21, 2017 13:45:23 GMT -5
((Collab with Celestial )) Eventually, after talking with Omir extensively about the taxes of running your own small business, as well as proper care for feathers and how to take care of sick horses, Maggie had to say her goodbyes. After telling him he was welcome to drop by her hotel anytime, she took off into the sky, heading back to Wrighton. Having done all that talking, her head felt much clearer; certainly, the manic joy she had felt upon discovering all these answers to her many questions had worn off. She climbed higher into the sky as the buildings beneath her became more densely placed, not wanting to be spotted. However, from up here, she could still see the inhabitants of the town walking on the streets below. Indeed, on her approach to the hotel, the sirin spotted a very familiar figure walking back from the direction of the Wrighton library. She smiled to herself. There was someone whose opinion on the latest developments she wanted to hear. Maggie swooped down and landed on the nearest rooftop, digging through the bundle of clothes she carried with her to find her phone. Once it was retrieved, she pulled up a certain contact and texted him: Look up.The Boss glanced at his phone, looked up, flashed a rare smile and nodded towards the pub that was just barely visible through the trees of the park. There’s something about pubs that never changes no matter where you are, as though only one pub ever existed in the universe and all others are simply fronts that teleport you to the one unchanging pocket of time and space consisting of dark wood, the smell of smoke clinging to the ceiling beams, and a proudly displayed long list of beers on draft. The Wrighton pub had a black solar panel roof, of course, but its whitewashed half-timbered exterior and chalkboard-written menu paid homage to this same distilled sense of a true pub. The sign above the door read THE LION AND THE BEAR, but everyone always just called it the pub. The Boss stepped in. "Is the back room available?" he asked the bartender. The man seemed pretty distracted and was surreptitiously trying to make swimming motions behind the bar, but he did manage to wave affirmatively towards the door of the back room. Or maybe it was a backstroke, but the Boss went in anyway. Very few people used the back room. After Maggie had tucked her phone safely into its pocket, she took off, following the Boss to their usual haunt. She landed behind the building and waited, watching the back-room window carefully. When it was opened, as he usually did when she was without her disguise, Maggie clambered in, hopping down from the sill and folding her wings. Her claws clicked against the wooden floor. “So, what do you make of all this?” she asked, not even bothering with the customary pleasantries. Small talk by this point was a waste of time. “I know you of all people will have some interesting thoughts on today’s revelations.” "Funny thing," said the Boss, going to the door and opening it to retrieve their usual drinks from the still-dazed bartender who was probably operating on autopilot - after all, they'd met often enough that delivering their usual drinks had to be on autopilot by now. "All this business with mindprogs, buried spaceships and a lost crew looking for a home, but my first thought was that they must've had one heck of a navigator." He held his whiskey glass against the light. "They might never realize it, but I think what really saved them in the end was that they became human. Amazing things, human brains. You can throw just about anything at it and it'll adapt. They'll take billions of tons of gas burning in space and turn it into a children's song. They get a vacuum shield over their town and the town officials have spent the entire time debating cheese tax - well, moved on to negotiating duties for cheese transport now, I believe. Give them a lifetime's worth of alien memories and they'll just roll with it. So it all worked out about as well as it could have. Not really the answers we were expecting, in the end, but then it's not like we ever figured out what to expect." “No, well, this whole thing is not exactly the first logical assumption one might make when confronted with the evidence,” Maggie had stepped out from behind the door where she had hidden while the bartender delivered their drinks. She picked up her Irish coffee- black, one sugar- and gazed at it. Normally, she avoided alcohol, but the Boss’ predilection to it had a way of rubbing off on her. “Humans are capable of some amazing things, and I mean that in the worst way and in the best way. Their brains are very malleable and that is why they can adapt even to the most insane situation. You should have been here when they all went mad over tulips,” the sirin took a sip of her coffee. “Though speaking of answers, now that our little mystery has mostly been solved, what will you do? Although, knowing you, I already have an inkling of an answer.” "Yeah, I'll be heading off," the Boss said. "Pretty soon, even. It's been what, nearly fifty years now - and it's been," he stared into his glass, "quite nice here, I can see why you stick around. But that was never for me." "I see," Maggie's voice remained impassive as she took another drink. "Well, you will always be welcome at my hotel if you decide to come by for the sake of old times. I'll still be running it long into the future. Someone has to watch this place after all." She sighed. "It's strange. I've been trying to understand this town's mystery for so long that now that it's out in the open, it has not quite sunk in. I'm still trying to look for clues, even though there's probably nothing more to this story," the sirin looked up at the Boss. "Do you know what I mean?" The Boss pursed his lips. "Well, as far as I'm concerned, there will always be more fascinating mysteries beyond the horizon. One was at your doorstep this entire time, but most of us have to go around chasing for them." He grinned slightly. "Don't suppose I'll be able to change your mind about coming with me?" "If you could, I would have let you know how by now. But no," Maggie gestured with one hand, "I've grown quite attached to this place, and to my hotel. Sirins either wander or claim a territory, and I, to my embarrassment, seem to have become one of the latter. Besides, somebody has to look after all these idiots and make sure they don't create a different breed of beast somehow. You never know with humans." She took a thoughtful sip of coffee and tapped the side of the saucer with her claw. "Although..," a mischievous smile appeared on the sirin's face. "I am getting rather old, and it is high time I passed my hotel on to my dear cousin, Maria. Perhaps I could retire and go on a small jaunt with you before she comes back? Nothing too long, just I am quite curious about all these mysteries of the universe you have talked about the last fifty years. Maybe I can even interest you in some of the more fascinating periods and figures of human history? I think there's a few you might quite like." "That can be arranged," the Boss said brightly, putting his empty glass on a side table. "I'll need to be back in two weeks anyway to return a book, I can pick you up at..." he paused. "Well, something o'clock. Give or take. Which reminds me that I never actually fixed that temporal module. Fifty years and you always think you're going to do it tomorrow." The sirin rolled her eyes. "In that case, you should do it now, before you leave. I would rather you and I come back here in one piece," she placed her half-finished coffee down on the table and held out her hand. "It's a deal then. Two weeks will give me enough to get everything arranged at the hotel. I will be waiting." He shook her hand. "And I'll be there. Well, I guess this is goodbye for now. I'm not exaggerating when I say that our acquaintance has been a treasure." "The feeling is mutual," Maggie nodded. "Enjoy your travels. Though the newspaper will not be quite the same without you. Have you picked a successor?" "Um," the Boss said with the guilty air of someone who never cared that much about the newspaper in the first place. "Well, if I know Kathleen at all, and I like to think I do at this point, then she'll be off as soon as she can. Beatrice is back in town, though, and for her the newspaper was always her life. I expect things will fall into place." "As they tend to do. That is another good thing about humans and their societies: important things get worked out somehow and if they don't, they were not important to begin with," Maggie drank the rest of her coffee and set the cup down by the Boss's now empty glass. "Well then, I suppose we better get going. I am sure you have business to attend to, and I have work that will not stop existing just because the crew of an ancient spaceship have recovered their memories and defeated a beast they created." She went over to the window, holding it open. "Close this for me when I leave, will you?" The Boss shut the window behind her and stood at it for a moment, watching her go. For that moment, he saw a lot of other figures he'd watched go over the years, in some way or other. But that was, after all, the life he'd chosen for himself. The choices you make determine what kind of people you end up having in your life. Then he turned and walked out. That post when two characters you didn't expect to ever have talked much turn out to have more in common and more of a past history than expected.
Maggie and the Boss meet up at the pub, share a last drink and a last round of thoughts and then go their separate ways, having agreed to go on an Adventure together.
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Post by Fraze on Oct 21, 2017 15:47:31 GMT -5
Epilogue Wrighton was a very unusual town. It had people living in it. It had roads, that the people used to get around. It had a library, a hospital, and a police department. It had several schools and a modest community college. It had an enormous spaceship sitting on the outskirts of town, resting gently on a large grassy field in a way that was extremely incongruous for such a megalithic object. There was an immense cavern beneath the town where the spaceship used to be, but now in its place there was an intricate system of beams and girders which both kept the space from collapsing, and also served as the universe's most complex bike lock. From the outside, it was not the most attractive ship. A far cry from many more elegantly designed vessels both real and fictional, it was shaped more or less like an enormous pancake, with a few lumps protruding out to make room for whatever was inside. The damage from the crash was still visible on some parts of the hull, with sections appearing wrinkled, twisted or scraped. Windows and hatches dotted the surface. It was mostly white, but covered irregularly with splotches of color. Closer inspection revealed that they were in fact numerous murals in a mishmash of different styles. Scip confirmed that the murals were painted by various members of the crew, although many were heavily damaged by the crash. The overall impression was that of a great intergalactic hippie van, albeit one that never got fully painted. Neighboring towns couldn't help but notice the enormous blocky structure on the outskirts of Wrighton, but they scoffed and passed it off as a new mall. Or maybe a mall with an OKYA store attached to it. Whatever it was, it was an eyesore that absolutely ruined the skyline. The dome that had covered the town for the past several days was down, and a warm breeze blew fresh air through the town. Phone reception was back up, and the people in Wrighton were once again able to call - and be called by - people who were on the outside. Particularly urgent were the calls coming in from native Wrightoners who had moved away; they had regained their ancestors' memories and felt the dissolution of the Beast, but had no context for what they had experienced. As people digested what had happened, they began to consider what they would do next. Some packed their bags the same day. Some took up Scip's offer to do interviews. Some did nothing because they weren't ready to go yet, because they couldn't make up their minds, or because they already had made up their minds. The town officials, recognizing that the situation was well and truly out of their hands by now, were torn between those who wanted to continue debating the finer points of the cheese tax - mostly in self-defense by now - and those who actually quite wanted to go on this adventure. The RETON's (re-)maiden voyage came a week and a half later. There was only a skeleton crew, but that was all there needed to be. It was a short and rather uneventful journey just to get the ship and its affairs in working order to ensure that it could continue going on longer voyages. It took several more such short trips over the next few months for different repairs, picking up supplies, and other technicals. During this time, more and more people moved onto the ship. Some took up their ancestors' jobs, others found new positions on the city-sized ship. Several months later, the crew was filling out nicely and the ship left for its first real journey. It lifted up off the ground, disconcertingly quiet except for a gentle hum and the rush of air moving around such an enormous object. The RETON rose into the sky as it prepared to jump to a faraway planet in a distant corner of the galaxy. As it climbed, the Wrighton Cathedral's carillon bells chimed joyously at its departure, and the people who chose to stay behind gathered in the Central Park to cheer and wave at the departing ship. It was an unusual, wonderful, strange, beautiful town.
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 21, 2017 17:04:15 GMT -5
The Bizellis found themselves in a quiet corner of the park, despite the crowd that swarmed the place. Were they surrounded by strangers or friends? It was hard to tell. It had been a tense week for the family. No one had been sure of what they’d be doing next. They’d shared a house, but hardly talked at all. Beatrice Bizelli looked at her mother, as if really seeing her for the first time. She reached a hand out to the elder Bizelli, and Sharron looked back. It was like looking in a mirror. There was a pause of awkwardness between Sharron and Beatrice - were they their past or present relationship? But in the end, they both knew that Sharron had made the better mother between the two of them, and she settled back into that role, drawing Bea into a close hug. “It’ll be okay, Beatrice,” her mom whispered. Beatrice hugged back, then looked at her mom appraisingly. “Apparently everyone at the newspaper is going to ditch it to travel to space or something. So it looks like I’ll have to pick up the slack. Again. But meanwhile, I also gotta be the First Mate on the spaceship. No one else really can manage it quite as well as I can. Maybe, you could, uh, fill in for me? On the spaceship that is. The desk is right near the dais, you can’t miss it.” Sharron looked at Beatrice, shocked. “Wha… what do you even pack for a trip to outer space?” Bea laughed. “You don’t pack. You have Scip teleport whatever you need. Probably could even talk ‘em into teleporting myself if you wanted. But as much as I’d like, I can’t be everywhere at once.” “But the library!” Sharron exclaimed. “There’s a cooler one on the ship anyway,” said Beatrice, nodding towards the underground tunnels. Sharron stood there, trying to process it all. Beatrice shook her head and said, “Sometimes you gotta stop thinking, and just do.” Mrs. Bizelli nodded. The Bizellis are in the crowd, still unsure what they’re going to do. Beatrice points out that since the Newspaper is being abandoned, she’d probably better pick up the slack there. Maybe Sharron can fill in for First Mate. Just for now.
There’s no time to think about it. Just gotta do it.
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Post by Celestial on Oct 21, 2017 20:02:29 GMT -5
((Collabed with Shinko)) Fionn’s great-uncle had been waiting for him when he got back to the surface. As soon as he saw him, Conor cried tears of joy and ran over to hug him without so much of an explanation. Even Fionn, normally a great dispenser of hugs, was slightly confused about why this old, albeit dapper, man was hugging him. When Conor explained things, however, Fionn too, felt tears stinging his eyes and he returned the hug. His grandma had never mentioned any family left in Wrighton, let alone a brother. After being away from his parents and grandparents for so long, any family was welcome. Out of all the revelations he had encountered today, this was the most pleasant, only if because it was purely his own. When Conor found out about his living conditions, he did not hesitate to offer his great-nephew a place to stay, which Fionn happily accepted. Thanks to his busking earlier that morning, he was able to finally pay his hotel bill in full (“What’s next? Pigs are going to fly?” Maggie had remarked) and moved his meagre possessions to Conor’s house. Over the next few days, everything began to sink in. The defeated beast, the ship (did he seriously sign up on a space voyage?! Argh, but also aaaah!) and his ancestor’s memories. In the evenings, when there was nothing to do, Fionn tried to probe deeper into them, to get himself used to the intensity of her emotions without being swallowed up by them, but with limited success. At best, he lay on his bed, basking in blissful feelings of optimism and friendship, and at worst, he bolted from his room screaming and clutching his hair as he tried anything, no matter how painful, to get them to go away. Both of those emotions were present when it came to thinking about S’siri. Iki had really loved her and cared about her. They were good friends, up until the Beast had come. Then they had fallen out, simply because Iki had not wanted to die. And then...then…Fionn could not get far enough into the memory without being overwhelmed by grief, anger, guilt and hopelessness, coming at him at the same time, ripping him apart. He could not do this alone. For his and Iki’s sakes, they needed to find a way to soothe those emotions. No matter how scary she was, he needed to speak to Holly. Eventually, he plucked up the courage to speak to her, and they arranged to meet at the park. Fionn arrived first, sitting down on the bench and waiting for Holly to arrive. He clutched his coat for comfort, even considering turning into a seal and giving the woman puppy eyes so she would not be mean to him, but decided against it. He did need to speak after all. A shadow passing overhead was the first sign he got of her presence. The woman sailed down towards the ground several meters away, her wings making not a sound as she pulled up for a landing. The excitable four year old glued to her hip, however, was the furthest thing from silent. “That was amazing Mommy!” She squealed. “Can we go again, pleeeease?” “Mommy’s wings need a break, hon,” Holly replied, shaking a head that was indeed damp with sweat from her recent exertions. Setting the girl down she said, “How about you go play on the slide, hm? Mommy needs to talk to Mr. Colby.” “Aw, okay,” Esther groused cheerfully, turning around and skipping towards the playground equipment nearby. Fionn watched them descend, silently thankful for Esther. If it was not for her, he would have no doubt been startled by Holly, and hopefully her daughter would help soften her a bit. He waited until Holly had come a bit closer before raising his hand. “Er, hi,” he said awkwardly. “So, uh, you probably know why I called you here. I need to talk to you,” Fionn rubbed his head. “About some of my memories.” “Seems to be the theme,” Holly mused, accepting the selkie’s handshake before sitting down on the bench beside him. “So- Iki, right?” “Yeah,” he nodded, sighing. “I’ve been trying to get a grip on the emotions attached to her memories, without a lot of success. Pain works in snapping me out of the nice memories, but even if that was a healthy method, it only makes the bad ones worse,” a sad smile appeared on his face. “You -or S’siri, rather- probably remember what she was like. How intense she was.” Holly paused for a moment, as if parsing S’siri’ memories, then nodded. “I remember the crew coming to the conclusion that it was something unique to her species psychology. They just feel really strongly. She used to work out a lot to burn off any aggression or anger so it wouldn’t cause issues.” “Yeah, her memories of workouts are mostly pleasant. I don’t get it but…” Fionn shook his head. “The reason I wanted to talk to you specifically, Holly, is that Iki had a lot of memories relating to S’siri. She considered her a very good friend, one of her best friends on the crew. There’s a great memory of them in a bar on some far-off world, talking, drinking, sharing jokes…actually, Iki didn’t remember much of that evening after that!” Holly’s lips quirked. “S’siri does, albeit only in bits and pieces. Something about Iki ending up tap dancing in a public fountain.” Fionn chortled. “Okay, Iki definitely did not remember that, but I can believe she did that. She liked water, a lot. I guess some things never change,” *he tugged at his coat before letting out a sigh. “I like those memories. They’re nice. I should not spend all the time I have enjoying them and Iki’s feelings from them, but they’re nice. The trouble I have is…” He gripped his coat tightly. “The Beast. After it emerged. Things got…so much worse.” Holly sighed. “Yeah, I figured it might be about that. S’siri remembers having a really nasty row with Iki over the memory plan and nobody listening to her opinion. She doesn’t remember every detail of what all was said, it’s sort of a blur of anger… but also guilt. She regretted letting her anger get the better of her later.” “Iki regrets it too just…for different reasons,” Fionn hugged himself. He could feel his eyes stinging. “She…she failed at her job, and she failed her friend, and there was always a nagging feeling in her that she could have said something different to change the outcome, but she did not. And because of it, because she could not convince S’siri, she…she…” The upwell of emotions was too much. Fionn burst into tears, sobbing loudly. Holly jerked in surprise, sitting straight up and giving an involuntary Yelp of pain as she accidentally squashed her wings against the back of the bench. “Mommy?” Esther called from where she was sitting on a tire swing. Her brow was pinched, and her head tilted to one side. “Why’s Mr. Colby crying?” “Don’t worry honey, I’ve got it,” The police officer yelled back, hoping the little girl would take her at her word. She turned back to her companion, hesitating for a brief moment. Then, with a sigh, she put a wing around his shoulders. “Hey- listen to me, okay? Are you listening?” Fionn looked up, his eyes red and his lip bleeding slightly from where he had bit it. He nodded weakly, looking at Holly with a pleading gaze, begging her to make this better. “First off- S’siri didn’t make the choice she did because of anything that Iki personally said or did. It was the culmination of a lot of things, but the foremost of which was the realization that she’d been a royal prat about the entire issue. She had been looking at the crew and the officers as if they were making the decision to reincarnate eternally in their descendant’s bodies out of greed and selfishness to continue the journey forever. But she realized once she stopped emoting and started thinking that she was being stupid. That everyone was just scared, and scared people do things they wouldn’t normally do out of desperation.” Holly sighed, rubbing her face. “She felt awful. And she wanted to save them. To spare them having to feel so terrified and cornered. That’s why she did it- but she never stopped hating herself for how poorly she’d handled everything in the leadup. She does not blame Iki.” Fionn remained silent, only occasionally sniffing and wiping his eyes with his wrist, careful to avoid getting tears on his coat. “That’s…that’s good. Iki would be happy to hear that. Because she was just scared: scared of dying, scared of stopping travelling, scared of bad things happening to her friends…” he shuddered, holding his coat tightly around him. “Maybe…maybe if she knew the reasons, S’siri’s d-death would not have hurt so much.” The selkie shook his head. “No, no it would have done. Iki missed S’siri. She thought about her as the ship crashed. Even without the guilt and regret, she wanted her back.” His voice shook as he spoke. ‘It always hurts to lose somebody you’re close to,” Holly pointed out softly.. “No matter what the reason.” She looked up- Esther was approaching the two, her small face twisted with concern. She patted Fionn on the knee. “It’s okay, Mister. I cry sometimes too when I’m sad, even though I’m a big girl.” Despite the powerful alien emotions coursing through him, Fionn managed a smile. “Thank you, Esther. I think everyone cries when they’re sad, no matter how big they are,” he wiped his eyes again. “I’ll be okay, I promise. Go play. Don’t worry about me.” The child chirped, “Okay!” and turned back around to scamper towards the playground. Holly shook her head, amused. “S’siri never had any kids of her own- the only male chif’rrr on the ship wasn’t interested in her, nor she in him- but she liked them. I remember that. And I can feel her enjoying it with me when I’m with Essie.” “That must be nice,” Fionn nodded. “Iki never had kids either- she did not feel like being a parent- and I, well…” he laughed, “But they’re nice, and I know she liked them too. They shared her energy. She snuck into the nursery and the school on the ship sometimes, just to play with them.” “I remember that- S’siri joke lectured her a few times about getting back to work,” Holly mused. “I’ve been enjoying exploring S’siri’s memories. Not all at once, but… well she saw and experienced some amazing things. I’m not leaving with the ship right away, Esther’s too small, but it’s nice just seeing it all secondhand for now.” The selkie pursed his lips. “I’ve…been enjoying some things, but I wish I could control the emotions that come with it. I don’t know which is worse: the negative, well, you saw, but the positive…I’ve spent hours just enjoying them. It’s almost addictive, and it scares me,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I will learn to control them. I have to, if I’m leaving with the ship. I can’t just freeze up out in space. It’s probably as dangerous as the open sea.” Holly frowned. She didn’t really understand how memories or emotions could be addictive, but she did at least know what it was like to be overwhelmed by negative emotions. “You’re a selkie- I presume you’re not going to judge me if I talk Wicca for a moment?” “No, not at all,” Fionn replied, grinning lopsidedly. “Stranger things do exist. Like me, or your wings, or- well, everything that’s happened over the past few days.” Holly smirked. “Very true. Well a lot of Wiccan Craft requires patience and very precise control. It can disrupt a working if you let stray negative emotions get into it. So my grandmother taught me to meditate from a pretty young age; Jon learned it too, though from our mother before she died. It helps you kind of… organize your thoughts and emotions. I’ve heard it explained scientifically as bringing out the subconscious mind and letting the conscious kind of observe from a distance.” Fionn tilted his head slightly. “Like dreaming, except you’re awake and can control it?” “That’s a good way to describe it, yeah,” Holly agreed. “And your mind is also pretty suggestible in that state, so if you- or someone else who’s guiding you- tell yourself that the emotions in Iki’s memories feel less intense, they will. You just have to believe it strongly enough.” The selkie turned away, thinking about this. Eventually, he gave a shrug. “What have I got to lose?” he looked back at Holly. “Is it hard to learn to do this…meditation, you called it?” “Depends on the individual,” Holly replied. “Some people who have a lot of innate self-discipline and an introspective nature can get the hang of it really quickly. It’s a lot harder for someone distractible or easily bored.” “Oh,” it was hard to hide the downcast look on Fionn’s face. “I still have to try. Even if it takes me a while to get it. I just…I can’t live like this, with all these emotions unchecked,” he cupped his head in his hands. “Will you teach me, Holly? Please? I’ll do anything!” She finger-combed a wing, her expression apologetic. “I don’t think I’ll really have time, Fionn. You’re leaving with the ship in a few days, and I’m not. Aaaand Ritter is already annoyed with me for skiving off work during the ship exploration.” She paused, then added, “though I suppose you could try asking Jonquil. He told me he means to go with the ship when it leaves, and he knows how to meditate too.” Fionn’s face fell when Holly said she could not but brightened when she mentioned Jon. “Okay. I’ll ask him,” he exclaimed, nodding. He would probably be more comfortable with Jon than with Holly, if he was being honest with himself. “Thank you, Holly. For talking to me, and for telling me about meditation. I really appreciate it.” A smile curved his mouth. “And Iki really does too. She’s glad S’siri does not blame her. And if it helps, as far as I can tell, she was never angry at S’siri for what happened either. Just sad that they could not reach a compromise.” “You’re welcome- it helps me too, to work through S’siri’s lingering regrets and guilt. There was a lot of pain in the memories, and it didn’t go away just because the beast did.” Holly stretched her arms upwards, adding, “For the record, I don’t hate you, Fionn. You drive me batty sometimes with your incorrigible laziness and failure to understand the concept of personal space, but I don’t think you’re a bad person. Our personalities just aren’t all that compatible.” “Oh, right,” Fionn seemed a bit downcast by this. “I think you’re pretty cool, Holly. You always seem to know what to do, even if you’re kind of scary. I’d have liked to be friends, but I guess you’re right, we’re not really compatible,” he looked slightly hopeful and began doing his coat up. “Would this help?” In a flash, a seal flopped onto the bench, giving Holly the puppy eyes. Holly looked down at the seal with a smirk, gently patting him on the head. “Nice try, but I’m more of a dog person. Careful though, if Esther sees you like that I refuse to be held responsible for the glomp around the neck you inevitably get.” The seal gave a deep sigh, resigned to such a terrible fate, before barking in Esther’s general direction and waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, the little girl, looked over in the direction of the unfamiliar noise, and promptly gave a shrill cry of delight. “It’s so cute!” She cried, darting over to the selkie and throwing her arms around his neck. He gave a slight yip at the suddenness of the tackle but quickly found his breath again, nuzzling at Esther with his nose, his whiskers tickling her. She giggled, and Holly smirked at the scene unfolding. “Ah Wrighton is never going to be dull again.” Fionn has many intense feels from Iki he is trying to deal with, especially concerning S'siri, and asks Holly if they could talk about them. They agree to meet in the park and talk about the various feelings of the their ancestors, both happy and sad. When Fionn admits to struggling with dealing with Iki's emotions, Holly suggests trying meditation, saying Jon could teach him on the voyage. Fionn grasps at this ray of hope and decides to try it. It ends with seal cuddles for Esther.
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Post by Huntress on Oct 22, 2017 7:35:51 GMT -5
Kathleen walked slowly back to the newspaper office, idly stroking her storage sphere. It’d been in the box Alexis retrieved and she’d recognized it immediately: two thousand years old, but built to last. It was a strange feeling, having the muscle memory to operate the sphere. She’d flicked through a few dials to leaf through some images and she’d recognized all the images, but she hadn’t brought herself to open the storage compartments yet. She knew that there was a pebble inside that sphere, a smooth river stone brought along from her- no, Loorea’s homeworld. She wasn’t quite ready to hold a piece of another planet just yet. By all accounts she could’ve gone home to gather her thoughts, but something pulled her towards the office. It might’ve taken her a while to actually recognize it, but in truth the office was just as much her comfort zone as her flat: the place where things were right, where she knew what she was doing and where the Boss always knew everything. She stepped into the office to find it empty, but muffled noises could be heard in the back where the printing presses were. They weren’t running at the moment but someone was definitely making mechanical noises in there somewhere. Specifically "thunk!" "clunk" "breeereereereeree" "a- clunk!" and a series of metallic clangs interspersed with swearing. Intrigued, Kathleen started out towards the back door, but got distracted by the Boss’ desk. It looked… emptier than usual. It took her a moment to recognize what was missing, but his coffee mug was no longer there, and neither were some of the weirder knickknacks whose purpose she’d never understood but which made up an inseparable part of the Boss’ desk. The papers had all been shifted into neat piles and there was a book on the table – actually, this was a book from the spaceship’s library, wasn’t it? Kathleen picked it up. Yes, it was the green-bound book with the rune-like writing and photos of some ancient war. What was it doing here? "Oh, hey, you’re back," the Boss said, coming from the back room into the office, looking rather more disheveled than usual. "What’s that you got there?" Kathleen’s first reaction was a twinge of guilt for having picked up the book, but then she realized that he’d meant the sphere she held in her other hand. "It’s my storage sphere," she said, putting the book down and showing the Boss the sphere. "Well, um, Loorea’s. She was my- well, it’s a scrapbook of sorts. For small items and pictures." She pushed a few buttons and the sphere projected a hologram of an elegant plant with leaves curving in a fractal pattern. There were notes in squiggleform floating alongside it. "You always were one to chase curiosities," the Boss noted, taking the sphere and fiddling with it. He seemed to get the hang of it very quickly – more images popped up, and then the sphere emitted a sound, a simple background murmur of some alien world’s sea with strange singsong calls of what was presumably its wildlife. "What’s with the book?" Kathleen asked, nodding towards the alien book on the strangely empty desk. "Well, that was also a curiosity," said the Boss, giving her the sphere back. "Nothing too important really – you see, it’s a history book, of a race that went through a big genocide and book burning event a few centuries after this thing was written. So a big chunk of their history is just lost forever and all copies were thought lost as well. But since this one was buried in a forgotten spaceship on a forgotten planet while the book burning went down, they couldn’t very well get at this copy." He flicked through the pages with a scowl. "Of course, it’s going to be a pain to translate. On the whole it seems like a pretty straightforward account of wars, generals and various treaties, it’s just that when something is attempted to be made a secret, you just can’t help yourself until you have it all sorted out, know the feeling?" Kathleen eyed the book, then the Boss, and felt oddly like a swamp she’d been trying to navigate for years suddenly offered up a solid path to step on. It would still be precarious to take a step off that path, but if she made careful headway, she might get more answers sorted out than she ever had during the previous five years. "So who are you?" she asked. …Okay, maybe approaching a delicate matter delicately was never going to be her forte. However, the Boss did seem to be in the mood to talk. Instead of his usual cagey evasion, his face took on an expression best described as a mix of slyness and wistfulness. "Well, put it like this," he said. "You know how this town was built by people who undertook to travel the stars to discover the wonders of the universe?" A solid path was definitely looming in that swamp, if she just didn’t put a step wrong. "Yes?" "It’s a big universe out there," the Boss said. "Your ship’s crew was by no means the only one." "Aaand you’re an alien," Kathleen said numbly. In all honesty, after the past few days of selkies, vampires, mermaids, wingpeople, aliens and… well, more aliens, the knowledge really didn’t pack as much of a punch as it would have, say, a week ago. Sometimes the Boss really had a knack for timing. The Boss flashed a grin and leaned against his desk to settle into a rare storytelling mode. "Specifically, as far as I’ve managed to find out, the crew of your ship was one of the very first to take to the stars as a journey of discovery. Your problem was that you created an entire flying town and also those state-of-the-art engines that could take on a mind of their own – a bit like Scip, except less sentient and harder to understand. Well, what you don’t know is that it went into fashion for a time, like the Grand Tour of the Victorian era; there was a time when everyone would do a little tour of the neighboring solar systems before settling down. That was maybe 1500, 1700 years ago? And then it went out of vogue again, save for the last few idiots who don’t know when to let go of a dream. Like me. I think I’m one of the very few interstellar travelers still out there." Kathleen made a noise best described as 'egheghegh', sat down at her desk and buried her head in her hands. Having Loorea in her head didn’t help, because this had no business making as much sense as it did. When your boss reveals himself to be an alien, your gut reaction shouldn’t be 'ah, okay'. "Hang on, you don’t look alien," she said suspiciously as the image of the frill-headed Kesterk swam into view. Did the Boss also wear a disguise and actually looked like a pile of slithering tentacles? "On the outside, no," the Boss said wryly. "You should see what my liver looks like." Kathleen gave another 'eghegh' but her brain, sharpened by years of observation and clicking pieces into place, was already whirring up to make sense of so many things that never made sense. "People did always suspect that you don’t sleep," she said through her fingers. "It’s kind of optional," the Boss conceded. "And you’d sometimes talk about humans as though you’re not one of them." "Years of habit." "And-" now something that had been bugging her suddenly fell into place. "And your handwriting looks like you’re drawing the letters." "Of course I’m drawing the letters, the Latin alphabet looks like hieroglyphs to me," the Boss said gruffly. "Remember the mug I made you for Christmas?" Kathleen lowered her hands and turned to look at the mug on her desk. It had been one of those ridiculous mandatory team-building exercises that the town hall superiors had sent the entire newspaper office to undertake two years ago. Everyone had to make clay mugs for each other’s Christmas present. That’s when Kathleen had given the Boss his WORLD’S GREATEST BOSS mug that was now missing from his desk, and the Boss had given her a simple one in return, decorated only with a rather elegant circular pattern on one side. "I wrote your name on it," the Boss said smugly. Kathleen picked up the mug as if for the first time and looked at it. None of this looked like writing, not even remotely, not even through Loorea’s memories. "I found it funny at the time that we actually had a word for Morrigan," the Boss continued. "It’s the name of a warrior race that dedicate their lives to fighting and upholding their honor. Joke’s on me in this case, it looks like." "Their planet was called Nera," Kathleen muttered as another memory offered itself up. "High mountains, very high, and one large ocean." "Haven’t been there myself, but to my knowledge they’re still around," the Boss said gently. "They’re a tough people and they’ve become a bit more flexible in their sociopolitics recently." Kathleen buried her face in her hands again. "Why did you come here, then?" she eventually asked, peering at the Boss over her fingers. "Entirely by random chance," the Boss said. "But I stuck around because of you. I came here what was it now, about five years ago when you’d just started work." Oh good, now things were making less sense. This made Kathleen feel a bit better, which in turn somehow made her feel worse. "So the part where you’ve been in town for a good fifty years-" she began cautiously. "No, that came later," the Boss said impatiently. "Try to keep up. What happened was I came here, and I met you, and I offered to take you along, to travel the universe with me. You said no." Kathleen blinked. "Wait, shouldn’t I remember that?" She paused. "Hold on, do I remember that?" Because something floated in her memory like an echo, an invitation so ludicrous that her brain had since dismissed it as a joke, or a dream, or just something that never happened. He’d asked her to travel the stars with him. She’d said no. Hadn’t even thought about the offer much – it was just an obvious no to give. "Look, in all fairness," she said, a bit cautiously because the Boss could be pretty amazingly socially inept at times, "I don’t think many girls would run off with a man several times her age." The Boss arched an eyebrow at her. "I’d like to see you at age one thousand and ninety seven. But no, that’s not the point. You didn’t say no because you objected to me. You said no because the idea of ever travelling anywhere from Wrighton didn’t fit your head at all. And that was important, because it was an anomaly. I’ve travelled the universe for centuries, Kathleen. I know people who are like me. I know when I meet people who will drop everything to run off to discover the wonders behind the stars. Loorea was one of those. You are one of those. But something kept you from going, something that was beyond you. That’s what got me curious, so I stuck around to poke around, and the more I did, the more anomalies surfaced. This town just didn’t make sense, any way you tried to look at it. There was no way to determine how old this town was, all archeological records came up scrambled, and don’t even get me started on those millennia-old road panels you have here. So I, uh," he suddenly looked embarrassed, "tried to go back in time to the founding point of the town to see what actually happened." Kathleen held up a hand to stop him, got up and went to the coffee maker. "Time travel calls for coffee," she said flatly. "Time travel. That’s actually a new one." "It’s not at all difficult if you know what you’re doing," the Boss supplied, still looking a bit embarrassed, "although it’s not the sort of thing you should try without a professional. Tends to muck things up more than it’s worth. Then you need to do more timejumps to put things right and before you know it, you need to reset an entire universe. It’s kind of a mess. Not really hard as a technology, but flying a passenger jet across an ocean in three hours is also doable as technology, doesn’t mean it’s reasonable or prudent. I double-checked with Scip and your ship" – here Kathleen felt an odd twinge at the casual way the Boss kept referring to it as their ship – "has no time travel capacity. Wouldn’t have put it past them to fit in an illegal module, at which point you’d be in more trouble than you realize. Anyway, at the time it looked like the only way to get some answers, so off I went. The problem was, as I only found out later from Scip, the spaceship had a temporal obstruction field around it. That’s what kept the history all scrambled, and it prevents time travel. Fried all the temporal circuits and don’t even get me started on how hard it is to wire those back together. Except the ship was only barely functional at the time, of course, so it took a while to kick in, so when it did, I was already some forty years into the past before it threw me out of the timestream." "So you just… decided to live until this point," Kathleen said, sipping her coffee and savoring the one sane anchor point its familiar bitter taste created in a world gone mad. "For fifty years." "Eh, we live for a long time," the Boss said dismissively. "And the upside of it was, I could calculate the expected time of the technology becoming active again based on the lag time of the obstruction field. So I knew I wouldn’t have a long wait. Five years past the original arrival point and here we are." "Hang on," Kathleen said suspiciously, lowering her coffee mug, "why are you telling me all this now? Five years of Mr Evasive Answers to Everything – and you told me that you had no idea how spaceship engines work, by the way!" "Did not," the Boss parried, "I said I’d hit it with a wrench. Worked every time for me. Of course, it’s useful to have an alien wrench in that case. But I’m telling you the whole story now because I’m leaving, and there’s no reason to keep secrets any more. I’m not very good with secrets anyway, they make me all," he made a face, "itchy. But I knew I was in it for the fifty years, so what was I to do? Now that it’s sorted, nothing’s really keeping me here. And you’ll want to hit the road as well, I suspect." "I really don’t know what I’m going to do," Kathleen admitted, downing her coffee. "I mean, I want to go with the ship, to see what’s out there, maybe get away from Jeff for a bit… or maybe he’ll want to go too… well, whatever, it’s a big ship. But then there’s my work. Wait, if you’re leaving, who’s going to run the newspaper?" The Boss made a face best described as 'eh'. The girl sighed. "Well, I don’t know. There’s time for me to think, at least. Gonna go home, feed the cats – wait, when are you leaving?" "Mm, pretty much right now." Kathleen gawked. "What – you – you can’t go right now! How will we – how does – there’s a newspaper issue to write!" "You can do that fine without me," the Boss said amiably. "Or go track down Beatrice, I get the impression that she’s looking for a direction in life, whether or not she realizes it. You can become the field reporter, do your series of special issues, send them back from the spaceship, be the voice who ties the two halves of this town together. It’s no effort for you, Kathleen, you live and breathe this kind of thing." They were both quiet for a moment, while Kathleen eyed this ordinary-looking man who’d been a beacon of extraordinary all through the time she’d known him, the one who was always in the background getting stuff done, barely noticed most of the time, and yet she couldn’t imagine the newspaper, or indeed Wrighton, without him. "Where will you go?" she asked. "Where’s your home?" A shadow passed over the Boss' face, the same one she’d seen briefly at the dinner party when she’d brushed up against the same topic. "Haven’t had one for a long time," he said. "I just go where my ship takes me." "So we won’t meet again?" "Oh, of course we will," the Boss said brusquely. "I like this place too much not to check back every now and again. Humans in space, this early on? It’s a jungle out there, one you’ll probably need bailing out of every now and again. Besides, I need to return this book to the library in two weeks. And Scip told me that if I don’t, the ship will alter its course no matter where it is and go after me no matter where I am at the time, which means you’d better hope that I’ll be back before that, or the ship with whatever crew it has will fly straight into whatever mortal peril I happen to be in that’s keeping me from returning this book, and then," he flashed a wide grin, "things really will get interesting." He tucked the book in question into his jacket pocket and looked Kathleen in the eye. "See you around, Kathleen. I know it feels like an end, but really you’re at the biggest beginning of your life." "Take care, Boss," Kathleen said quietly. "Or… dang, I really should just call you by your name, shouldn’t I?" Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure if she actually even knew his name. "Oh, nobody does," the Boss said and went off into the back room. It was a large cramped room piled high with printing presses, machinery parts and assorted crates, all part of Kathleen’s ordinary life for these past five years, and it did have a back door that led to the courtyard where newspapers got shipped out every week, but as she watched him go, she knew with utter certainty that however he ended up leaving the town, he wouldn’t be leaving through the courtyard. Reveal posts don't get summaries But they do get a cohesive explanation of all the hints I've been peppering throughout the story.
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Post by Fraze on Oct 22, 2017 9:15:36 GMT -5
Scip sat in a meeting room overlooking the Command Center. In the enormous space below there were signs of habitation - sleeping bags, suitcases open with their contents splayed out on the floor, and people milling about. This was the ship's maiden voyage after being docked for 2300 years and there was only a small skeleton crew so far, so people hadn't actually claimed their own living quarters yet. Instead, everyone unpacked their things in the Command Center, like a giant sleepover. On the other side of the desk, sitting on a tall chair almost at the level of the desk, was a small furry creature. She had eyes like shiny black beads, large ears, and a long fluffy tail, and was dressed in a sensible business suit. "Thank you very much for agreeing to meet on our ship, Ms. Wuffle," Scip said. "It was no problem at all," the Space Chinchilla answered. "The First Galactic Bank and Trust is dedicated to the fair and equitable investigation of your claim. This sort of thing happens more often than you may think." She rattled this all off sounding as though she had said it all many times before. "Although I must admit, when someone institutes a long-term hold on an account, they're usually trying to leave money for their distant descendants. Having an account for an entire ship is... rather unusual." The adorable creature's eyes started to light up - as an investigator for claims on accounts that had been inactive for very long periods of time, cases like this were few and far between but they were what made the job interesting. "I've read the file you transmitted but I want to hear the story in person as well. What exactly happened here?" Scip nodded obligingly. He considered taking the form of a Space Chinchilla himself for this meeting, but ultimately chose to keep using his human appearance, in order to represent the crew that he was speaking for. "Of course. This ship was on an exploratory mission about 1600 galactic standard years ago, but certain circumstances required the memories of the entire crew to be erased and stored in the minds of their descendants. Before this, the ship's assets in your bank were put into an account with a long-term hold and an interest rate of 0.7% per galactic standard year, to be claimed no more than 2000 galactic standard years from the date of the hold. The hold was implemented at the time of the crew's memorywipe. Now the crew's memories have been restored in their ancestors, and we have come to regain access to the account." The representative Ms. Wuffle was nearly bouncing in her chair from excitement, her cute fluffy tail twitching back and forth. "And do you have proof of the validity of your claim to this ship's account?" Scip laid a tablet in front of the representative, and for a moment she struggled to use it - partially because of her size, and partially because the technology was centuries out-of-date. Soon enough, however, she brought up a document and began to read it. "We the Captain and Chief Financial Officer of the starship RETON..." she mumbled "ensure financial success... when it continues... grant executive power... ship AI." At this last line, she looked up at Scip. "You're the ship's AI?" she asked. "Yes," Scip said with a nod. "And you claim that you've been on this ship for 1600 galactic standard years?" "Yes, repairing and maintaining the ship and protecting the descendants of the original crew." "Don't AIs in those circumstances usually go evil?" She caught herself and blushed, trying to hide her face behind tiny paws. "Oh dear, that was terribly prejudiced of me, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." "It's fine," Scip said with a smile. "It is an unusual case, but I assure you, it was both my duty and my desire to see that this ship and its crew would continue on their journey." Ms. Wuffle looked up, her black eyes watery. She gave a tiny "Awwwww!" Gathering herself and regaining her composure, she continued. "The document seems to be in order; all that's left is to ensure that illicit time travel has not been used in the pursuit of this claim. Such actions woud constitute fraud under both our contract and galactic law, and would result in all assets involved being seized by the bank and all accounts retroactively frozen." "Of course," Scip said. "I assure you that this ship does not have time travel capability, nor do any of its crew. Nor do I, for that matter." Ms. Wuffle checked her own tablet, a tiny device meant for adorable widdle paws. "Well, it looks like the investigation has already been done. Nice thing about stable time loops; if there had been any evidence of fraud, the funds would already have been frozen a long time ago." She looked up at Scip. "Congratulations, you and your crew just inherited a very large amount of money." Scip smiled. "Thank you Ms. Wuffle, I'm sure they will be very glad to hear it. May I escort you back to your pod?" The Space Chinchilla nodded. "Yes, please." She hopped down from the chair and waddled out of the room beside Scip. Draco Hey we got your Space Chinchillas! (We were actually debating putting in a Demonic Koala because that's been our running gag for our previous games but this just worked so much better.) Scip talks to a very cute and fluffy bank representative. One part of the Plan that never got touched on was that the ship's assets were all put into a special type of bank account made for the explicit purpose of being claimed far into the future by one's descendants. Everything is in order, so now the ship's got money for repairs and other stuff! Also it's the ship's very first voyage so there are only a few people onboard so far, and they've all set up camp in the Command Center.
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Oct 23, 2017 14:13:35 GMT -5
((Collab with June Scarlet )) Later that afternoon, after the ship had become but a tiny pinpoint in the sky, Beatrice Bizelli finally managed to track down Ani Hemsworth. Nearly ten years after she’d written an article about the girl. She still didn’t know her secret, and she didn’t need to know. Beatrice had secrets of her own, and she knew some were meant to be kept. At least until the right time. But now wasn’t the right time. Now was a time of celebration. Bea waved at Ani and said, “Can you believe it? We’re finally free to explore again. And here I am, stuck babysitting the Wrighton Times. I think I should have the next issue be entirely in cipher. A little payback for all the puzzles I had to solve.” The words were serious, but the smile on Beatrice’s face betrayed the gentle teasing. Claire laughed. “I say go for it. Make everyone else go through what we went through,” she responded. Ani rolled her eyes and smiled. She said to Beatrice, “Hey, I’m sure you’ll still have fun adventures working for the Wrighton Times.” Beatrice pulled out a twenty and handed it to Claire. “Hey, would you mind running to buy us a giant bag of kettle corn?” Claire eagerly nodded. “Not one bit. I’ll be back.” She ran off in a random direction, passing a blonde girl, who looked strangely at her. Ani chuckled silently to herself at the sight. Bizelli turned to Ani with a grin. “I have no idea if anyone set up any food stands around here or not. But we finally have a moment to talk.” “She’s going to find some kettle corn no matter where in town she has to go,” Ani informed. She turned back to Beatrice. “I’m glad we have a chance to talk. I wanted to talk to you about something.” “Hm?” said Beatrice. “Is it something to do with the newspaper? The office is probably going to be pretty empty soon, what with people going to space and everything.” “Sort of.” Ani sighed. She began to rock on her feet. She was getting nervous. “I want to talk to you about an article you did.” Ani looked at the ground. “A few years ago.” Beatrice frowned, then shrugged. “I’ve written a lot of articles. You’ve probably read a fair few in the Wrighton Times. If you’ve ever gone through the archives, at least.” Ani nodded. “Oh, of course.” She started going through her bag. “I have the paper with the article with me, actually. I wanted to show you, so I decided to take it.” Ani carefully took the newspaper out of her bag and examined it. It didn’t seem to be damaged from being in her bag. There wasn’t even a single wrinkle. Ani sighed in relief. She was glad to see the newspaper she had kept for eight years hadn’t been damaged. She took good care of it. After carefully looking over it, she handed the paper to Beatrice. “This one.” Beatrice glanced at it. “What about it?” Ani stood still, trying to put words together. She reached for her trusty notebook, to write it down instead. Beatrice reached out a hand to stop her. They shared a look, and Ani finally understood that some secrets were okay to keep. Beatrice handed the article back to Ani. “No, you must be thinking of a different one. You ever think about taking an internship at the Wrighton Times? It counts as college credit.” Ani thought about that. She never considered working at the Wrighton Times before, intern or not. It didn’t quite seem like something she wanted to do. Now that Ani was thinking about it though, working there sounded like a fun idea. She could use the credits, anyway. “I never really thought about it,” Ani said. “It sounds like fun, though. Maybe I could.” Beatrice handed Ani a pen and reporter’s notepad. “Let’s get started.” Beatrice meets up with Ani and Claire. Beatrice sends Claire off to fetch some kettle corn to be alone with Ani. Ani tries to talk about the article Beatrice wrote about, but Beatrice doesn't. Some secrets are okay to keep. Beatrice asks Ani if she considered taking an internship at the Wrighton Times. Ani thinks about it for a bit, then decides it would be a good idea.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 24, 2017 12:42:37 GMT -5
Jon’s throat felt rather dry as he entered a small office off to one side of the command center. In his experience, job interviews very seldom went well. Even if he met all of the qualifications for a given position, the minute the interviewers pulled up his criminal background check he got subjected to the old chestnut of, “due to the high volume of applicants we won’t be able to contact everyone individually, but if you don’t hear from us in X time…” And then inevitable radio silence. Again, in cases where he qualified. Truth was, neither Jon nor Artin really qualified to be spaceship engineers. Jon’s human lifetime had taught him a lot about the engines of conventional cars, motorcycles, and mopeds. Heck he’d even gotten the chance to mess with a motorboat engine once. But that was bound to be leagues different from the engine aboard the RETON. Artin’s memories only had positive things to say about Scip, but that was mostly because Artin hadn’t spoken to the AI much. A lowly security peon seldom had reason to get in touch with the ship’s AI, unless it was to report a problem. Jon really wasn’t completely sure what to expect of the conversation he was walking into. Scip looked up as Jon entered and rose to his feet. "Ah, hello Jon, please have a seat." He gestured to the chair at the opposite side of the desk. He sat again, and continued. "Please tell me, what position are you interested in taking on the ship? Your ancestor Artin worked in security, and I understand that you have a similar job currently. Is that what you would like to do on the ship or do you have other intentions?" The man was a little taken aback to be addressed so casually, but nonetheless he took the proffered seat. It was a little strange, he reflected, to see a hologram “sitting” but he supposed it was about the principle of engaging the human crew on their level. “I think I fell back on the bouncing gig because of Artin’s memories,” he admitted. “Though of course I didn’t realize that at the time. But no, I was… thinking. I helped Fionn and Velia start the ship’s engine, and I was.” He tried to find the words to describe it, and finally settled on, “it felt like, for the first time in a long time, I was doing something not just to be doing a job but ‘cause it was exciting. I kinda wondered if I couldn’t do that. Something with the engine.” Scip leaned forward, his face taking on an expression of not just interest, but something like eagerness. "I see. We will certainly need a team of engineers to oversee not just the ship's engine, but its other mechanical systems as well. Do you have any previous experience that might be useful?" He sighed. “In a manner of speaking. Though it ain’t exactly the sort of experience one usually puts on a job application. I spent about three years working at a ah…” He looked uncomfortable. “The slang’s a ‘chop shop’ though I’m not sure if that term translates into alien. Basically it means I was part of a gang that stole cars and took ‘em apart to sell the bits and pieces. So I learned a lot about how engines are put together and work that way.” Admitting as much was painful- his voice had gotten thick with self-loathing as he spoke, and the man had to stop and take a breath before continuing. “It was stupid. I was stupid. And I paid for it. I was eventually arrested and spent four years in prison before getting let out on parole. I’ve been off the hook for the past three years.” He looked up, meeting Scip in the eye. “But I know it doesn’t undo what I did. So I don’t blame you if you don’t want me on the ship at all, much less anywhere near the machinery.” Scip nodded. "One of the RETON's founding principles was that anyone was welcome to join as long as they did no harm to the ship, the crew, or the planets we visited; and they did something that benefited the ship and the crew. Many joined the ship in search of a better life, in one form or other - Artin was one of them, and he became a valuable and valued member of the crew. I would not deny you a place on this ship because of a past that you have moved on from. Besides, your sister Holly trusts you, and I trust her judgement of you." Jon blinked, caught off guard. That had to be the most casual and accepting answer he’d gotten from a prospective employer to a discussion of his criminal record. Even the owner of the pub had quizzed him in detail and kept him under a wary eye for a while before extending a hand of trust. Scip was not done talking though. "However, you're correct that your mechanical experience isn't enough to qualify you to work with the ship's engine. At least not yet. That isn't a criticism," he added hastily. "I doubt there are any humans on this planet who are up to the task. But the ship does need engineers; the automated systems can only do so much, and for everyone's safety we will be limited to jumps within this galaxy until an actual team of engineers can be assembled. "I can put together a course of study to qualify you to work with the engine unassisted, starting with your existing experience and building on that. It will take several years, and involve both theoretical and practical work. Would that interest you?" Jon swallowed thickly. “S-so… like a trade school, kinda? I… That’d be great. Perfect. I’d appreciate that a lot. Just…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “One problem- I can’t read the squigglies. Not with my eyes. I know you already know this, but Artin didn’t have eyes and so he read ‘em with what I’m guessing was echolocation like a bat or a dolphin has. I can read ‘em if I touch ‘em, like braille, but would that even work for a long-term schooling?” "Interesting," Scip said. "I suppose that would make sense. Most of the squiggleform symbols are embossed for that reason, but that won't be useful when they're on a monitor. I suppose that either you can learn to identify the squiggles visually - at least the ones relevant to the job - or we can see about adding translations. The latter would be wise anyway, since hopefully there will be others studying alongside you. So it's an obstacle, but not an impossible one." Jon smiled, more broadly this time. “I’m game for either- I’m not a stranger to hard work or having to earn stuff. But almost nobody’d let me try, once you got a record it sticks with you forever. I feel like I’ve been running around in circles, stuck in a loop of my past mistakes. B-but if I can take the stupidity of my bad years and make it into something good... Thank you. I don’t mean to be all sappy, but th-thanks so much.” Scip watched Jon appraisingly. "When I was first activated, I had no personality, no uniqueness, only my most basic programming. Everything who I am -" he took a moment as though considering the grammar of that phrase "- has been learned. The crew could have been wary and untrusting with me - AIs have a reputation for... going bad; I think you're aware of the stereotype. But instead, they treated me with trust and kindness, compassion and patience." He smirked and for a moment his gaze seemed to shift to something very far away. "A great deal of patience. I had to learn how to be a person from scrape." He looked confused for a moment before correcting himself. "From scratch. In honor of their memory and the things that they taught me, I want to make sure that everyone on this ship has the same chances that were given to me. So... do you know when you can come aboard?" Jon smiled. “Soon as I can pack and figure out how to look after my bonsai in space.” Jon and Scip have a talk about the past, the future, and the importance of trust.
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