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Post by Celestial on Oct 24, 2017 17:53:25 GMT -5
Fionn flopped out of the pool and transformed back into a human form. He looked up, watching the inky blackness of space, studded with the tiny pearls of stars swim past the porthole of the spaceship RETON. They were actually going out into space proper, not just to a repair station but on an actual proper trip into the great unknown! A year ago, he did not even think that he would be going anywhere beyond Wrighton, and now, he was out here, in the vast reaches of space, going somewhere no selkie had ever gone before. At first, when the notes were first discovered and Scip first appeared, he had been frightened of stepping out of his comfort zone. Of having to leave behind his nice life, of leaving behind pizza and beer and fried chicken and fulfill some destiny he did not even understand. But now, looking at it, it was...nice. Really, really nice. He felt good too, now that he was no longer suppressing the selkie's natural urge to travel and be free. Oh, if only the other's could see him now! Fionn looked back at his reflection in the pool. He was getting leaner and fitter. In fact, he could run the length of a corridor now without breaking a sweat. It was a far cry from back when he lived wild in the sea, but he was definitely on the right track. One of the reasons is that he had taken up exercise. At first he had been perplexed by Iki's sheer love and delight at it, but he soon noticed a pattern: when she was not enjoying it, she was doing it when she was angry. So he wondered if maybe it would help with dissipating the emotions of her memories too. It did. It worked best with angry memories, since happiness just made him want to bask in it and sadness paralyzed him, but rage made him want to be active. Swimming, however, was the exception. Perhaps it was his seal blood, or perhaps it was the influence of Iki, but he found that the cool water on his skin, human or seal, was calming. For the past several months, the biggest challenge had been Iki's emotions. He needed her memories to do the job he had asked for on the ship- her old job- but to access them, he had to first get past the creeping beast of kvagulaar feelings. Meditation had helped: Jon had been invaluable in teaching him the first steps, and Fionn was just now getting to the point where he could begin to do it himself. Through it, he could access Iki's memories and the knowledge contained within them while bypassing the feelings. When they hit him unexpectedly, it was still a problem. However, he had taught himself to resist the temptation of basking in her positive emotions. It had been far from easy- Fionn loved the pleasant things in life- but it was necessary. Even if it meant giving up on fast food when he was teaching himself self-control. Though the scent could still drive him crazy; avoiding the vicinity kitchens before mealtimes had become a top priority. Sadness was harder to deal with. Lucky for him, Iki had few sad thoughts, but they were the ones that hurt the most. With those, Fionn found it best to go seek out his friends, to be with them, to have them comfort him and get him through the time when the memories were rough. Being Head of Relations, and being the chatty, outgoing man he was, he was not short of them. And even if he was, well, Iki had been right: you could always make more. Perhaps soon they could encounter some alien races. And it would be up to him to do diplomacy! He could not decide if it was scary or exciting. Fionn stretched. He felt amazing. Whether it was due to the lost weight or the fact that he was on the move again, as his kind should be, or he was with his friends, it did not matter. What mattered is that he was somewhere where he was happy. Somewhere he belonged. He was not home- they were not in Wrighton- but he was pretty happy here. He took his coat off and shook off the excess moisture before swinging it over his shoulder. He was quite hungry. Maybe he could see what Jon was up to and if he would want to grab a snack. After all that swimming, Fionn deserved something. On the ship, during her first proper voyage, Fionn comes out of the pool and reflects on things, including how he is healthier and doing the best he can to control Iki's memory-feels. This includes meditation, exercise, having self-control and surrounding yourself with friends (i.e. positive lifestyle choices). He concludes he is in a pretty good place and leaves to get snacks, because some things never change.
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Post by Shinko on Oct 24, 2017 18:14:19 GMT -5
Dear Holly O’Rourke, I have noticed you flying around, and in light of that, there is something I want to discuss with you. Please come to my hotel and wait for me at reception. My apologies for the lack of detail, but it is best you see with your own eyes. Sincerely, Maggie Chayka, Wright Inn ManagerHolly hadn’t been entirely sure what to make of the letter when she found it in her mailbox. There’d been a number of people who had stopped her on the street and asked to take a selfie with her (a request she usually refused) and of course the more religious Wrightonians always had something to say (what exactly they said varied) but this… didn’t really give her enough to go on to try any sort of guesses. Reluctant though she was to humor someone asking her to meet them because they’d “seen her flying around,” Rosemary insisted that the Wright-Inn proprietor wasn’t the sort of person to ask for a meeting for frivolous reasons. So, doing her best to ignore the curious stares she was as usual drawing, Holly headed- alone this time- out to see what was up. She was entirely unsurprised when the teenaged bellhop eagerly asked her if he could take a picture with her. “Simon, I know it is unusual to have such a guest, but you do have other work,” Maggie chided as she came up behind him, her hands tucked into her sleeves. She smiled at Holly. “My apologies, Officer O’Rourke. Let’s go somewhere more private to avoid any stares,” the manager turned and gestured after herself. “We’ll go to my apartment. Please follow me.” “Sure,” Holly agreed, grateful for the rescue. As she followed after Maggie she remarked, “At this rate I’m going to start getting requests to attend children’s birthday parties as the entertainment for the day.” This earned a laugh from Maggie. “And I am sure you have your hands full enough with your own daughter,” she glanced sideways at Holly. “How is Esther, by the way? I’m guessing she bothers you for rides whenever she can.” “She is out of her mind with excitement,” Holly agreed. “Though it won’t be much longer before she’s too heavy for me to fly with, poor thing. If my ancestor’s memories are a good indication, thirty pounds was the upper limit of what she could manage and still get airborn with.” The manager scanned Holly with her eyes once or twice. “That sounds about right,” she stated cryptically. “So your daughter best take advantage while it lasts and she is tiny enough.” They turned down a corridor that was marked “Private” and came to the doorway at the end. Maggie took out a key from her pocket and turned it in the keyhole, opening the door. “Come in. Make yourself at home. I’m afraid I do not have any chairs, however, so you will have to find yourself a pillow to sit on.” “Chairs are hard for me to manage anyway,” Holly admitted. “I usually have to sit on a stool if I can find one.” As she followed Maggie into the apartment, she couldn’t help but lift a brow. It was noticeably devoid of any ordinary furniture- instead the space was for the most part wide open, with only a large pile of pillows off to one corner and a… giant metal contraption that Holly could only guess the purpose of. The manager studied Holly’s reaction carefully. “Make yourself as comfortable as you can,” she took two steps towards the kitchen, her body tilted noticeably forward. “Would you like something to drink? I have juice, or tap water, or I can make coffee if you prefer.” At this point, the police officer had a sneaking suspicion this meeting wasn’t really about her. “Juice is fine,” she replied, folding her arms. “So on a scale of one to ten how much am I going to want to be sitting in the next five minutes? Just for reference.” Maggie laughed. “I should not be surprised that you’re sharp and keen to the point,” she reached into her sleeves, undoing the straps inside them. “While this is probably no stranger than anything you have seen this week, perhaps you might want to sit down.” She headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll get you your drink first. Then we can chat.” Holly obligingly grabbed one of the cushions from the pillow stack, sitting cross-legged on it. “I’d say I don’t think anything could surprise me at this point, but then I’d just jinx myself. There are apparently a lot of people in Wrighton with some impressive secrets.” She extended one wing ruefully. “I just happen to have a blessing that’s not really possible to keep secret.” “Some blessings are much harder to keep secret than others. I know I have a lot of work to keep mine,” there was a rustle of cloth from the kitchen, followed by the opening and closing of a fridge and the pouring of liquid into a glass. After a short while, Maggie emerged from the kitchen, carrying orange juice for Holly. Her dress was gone, exposing her bird body. “I imagine this explains some things.” Holly blinked. Then blinked again. “Ah. Yes, I do see how that would be hard to hide. And why you’d be interested in my flying” Maggie smiled. “If when flying you have ever noticed a particularly large bird that very quickly disappeared, that was me,” she handed the juice to Holly and sat down opposite her, tucking her long legs under herself. “I am not used to sharing my skies, so whenever there is something in them out of the ordinary, I have to find out.” She put a hand to her chin. “However, most creatures I meet were usually born that way, whereas you, Officer O’Rourke, you were human until not long ago. What happened?” “Um…” Holly pursed her lips. “The last few people I’ve explained this to didn’t really like my answer.” The manager rolled her eyes. “Do I look like the sort to judge?” she smiled. “I’m over a millennia old, Holly. If you manage to shock me, that will be an achievement.” She shook her head. “I prayed to the Mother Goddess for a boon, to keep myself and the people I was responsible for safe in the trials I was facing. This-” Holly flared both wings- “was her answer. Along with the advice that I was looking at my heritage as a curse and that I should know it’s blessings.” “Deities have a funny sense of humour,” Maggie stated, with as much certainly as if she was saying grass was green. “That is hardly bad advice, however, and wings can be quite useful appendages. So, have you been finding them? Your wings, I mean.” Holly was a bit surprised by how casually the sirin had taken the admission of divine intervention in Holly’s new wings, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. It was a lot better than some of the reactions she’d been getting. “At first I was floundering- didn’t know how to operate them at all and kept blowing myself over. But once I fully accessed the memories of S’siri-” even now Holly still impulsively tried to whistle that name, though she could never get it quite right- “it wasn’t any issue at all. I’ve mostly just needed to build up physical muscle memory and strength. Which is what I’ve been doing in my flights over the city.” “Exercise is essential if you want to keep up the physical strength needed for flight. It takes a lot of effort, after all. You are managing well, from what I have seen: flight is a skill that takes a while to master, but I suppose the memories of your ancestor help too,” Maggie mused. “One thing that intrigues me, however, is that you fly completely silently. Are your feathers serrated, like an owl’s?” “Uh-” Holly held up one wing so that a primary feather was close to her face. “I hadn’t even thought about it.” She paused, as if considering, then nodded. “S’siri remembers that before the diaspora, the chif’rrr were dusk and dawn hunters that relied on silence to creep up on prey. So their feathers were adapted to that.” The sirin took a moment to process that. “S’siri, I take it, was your ancestor, and the chif’rrr were the species she belonged too?” she whistled the names without any hesitation, in imitation of how Holly did them. A smile appeared on her face. “It’s curious: humans have always had dreams and ambitions of flight, but you’re the first true human to achieve it on your own, without machines or magic. How does that feel?” “I don’t know if the ‘without magic’ qualifier really applies here,” the police officer mused. “But it… feels like freedom. Like when you’re high above everything else, the little aggravations and stresses don’t matter quite so much.” “Yes,” the sirin sighed wistfully, resting her head on her wing. “For me, it helps clear my mind. Not only are you high up and have a wonderful view, but you have to focus on the smallest actions, and keep alert. It leaves little room for anything else,” she sat back up. “It must make your ancestor very happy. Your family, I’ve noticed, tended to have a fondness for high places and clear skies, every few generations at least. But I never made the connection until recently.” Holly bit her lip, her gaze averting. “I don’t really think so- she never approved of the memory transplant plan. It was only when I kind of… talked her around that her memories reached any sort of peace on the issue. I’ve been meditating on it a lot and I get the impression a lot of the people who held her memories over the years have probably been influenced by that sense of… not really being part of the whole, and having to overcompensate for it. She wanted her memories deleted and forgotten.” “Oh?” Maggie looked down, deep in thought. “That would explain a lot. It is something I also noticed throughout the years: there has always been at least one person like that. I am sorry,” she turned back to Holly. “Still, it is a good thing you talked her around, and you can capitalise on her knowledge. You don’t want to be learning to fly from scratch after all! “No, I’d probably be too afraid to really try if I was,” Holly mused. “I’m certainly no bird. But then again, neither was she.” Maggie raised an eyebrow. “What was she then, to have an owl’s wings?” Holly laughed. “Ah, that’s the fun question though, isn’t it? The crew still called her a bird more often than not as an affectionate joke, and even her people used language for their body parts that implied bird- calling their mouths beaks for example. But they didn’t have beaks as we understand the term and they weren’t birds as we understand them. They were dinosaurs.” “A space dinosaur? I imagine she was no relation to the creatures that show up in terrible films that are only shown past midnight,” the sirin laughed, covering her mouth with her wing. “Well, earth birds are descended from dinosaurs. Not my kin, but the regular ones, without human heads. It stands to reason then, they would use bird terms and have features resembling birds.” Holly reached around to her purse, feeling around in it until she came up with a small tablet- S’siri’s tablet, which one of the other members of the crew had placed in the chest underwater in the absence of a pre-prepared storage sphere of the chif’rrr’s personal treasures. After a bit of flicking, Holly turned it around to show to Maggie- and image of S’siri standing in front of a table in the ship’s main cafeteria, pressing down on Iki’s head with a taloned hand while Qoeln and a few non-officers sat at the table behind them, laughing. Maggie blinked before bursting out laughing too. “Now there’s a crew who has known each other for a long time,” she remarked before peering closer at S’siri. “Yes, I can see why she is more ‘dinosaur’ than ‘bird’. She certainly looks beautiful, and formidable…and surrounded by many who love her.” “I thought she’d be disappointed that I’m not leaving with the ship until Esther is older and the younger of the sixteen can go too,” Holly remarked, flipping the screen to another image- the Chif’rrr’s arm feathers and talons covered in paint as she and Amyn helped add a new mural to the ship’s hull. Another flip, and an image appeared of S’siri tripping backwards into the command center’s pool, arms and wings splayed out as Oor’cha and Iki laughed in the background and Scip stood off to one side looking amused. “She was the happiest she’d been in her entire life during those years onboard the RETON. But…” Holly flipped the screen again, this time revealing an image of all sixteen of the officers- as well as Scip- posing in front of a wide window, with a glittering field of stars behind them. “It wasn’t really about the adventure for her. It was about this. The little moments. The family. The belonging.” “Yes,” Maggie sighed wistfully, her wings falling by her side. “I think I know how that is,” for a second, she glanced to a framed picture on the wall, a watercolour drawing of a waving, brightly smiling woman dressed in early 19th century clothing. Her eyes did not linger long before turning back to Holly. “Not everyone needs a great adventure in their lives. They just want somebody to be with, to share a moment with. No matter how brief.” Holly followed the woman’s gaze, her head tilting. “A friend of yours?” she brooked gently. The sirin nodded. “Her name was Elizabeth Savett. She was one of the few in this town who ever knew my secret, and the other founder of the Inn. In fact, she thought of the original name for it. For the longest time, she was my closest confidant. But, well, humans have very short lifespans compared to us,” she sighed. “Not that I regret it. Like your ancestor, it is all about the little moments, and the belonging. She was the one who brought me out of the shadows and into the town properly, and allowed me to experience that.” The police officer’s feathers fluffed up a bit as she seemed to think on this. Then with a knowing expression, she said, “Have you ever noticed anything when you fly over the town? Anything about the way it’s shaped I mean.” Maggie tilted her head. “Its layout, give or take a few buildings is like a cross within a circle. For a long time, I thought it was a symbol of some kind, though I was not sure what it meant. Ever since I found out it was built atop a ship, I thought it might have been influenced by the shape and contents of what was beneath.” Holly chuckled. “No- the ship only partly overlapped with the circle. But there’s more to it than that- it’s a cross within a circle, with a second circle- the park- inside of the cross.” Holly turned her tablet around again, pinch-zooming the image of the original sixteen officers. She then slowly slid the image, showing the RETON’s symbol on each of the crew members; S’siri’s scarf; Kiuna’s headband; Renori’s vest; inked directly into Oo’rcha’s chest. “While we were exploring the ship, Harper, Alexis, Caden and I found a message the crew left about this symbol. It wasn’t anything that was forced on anybody. A few of the founding crew members started to wear it, and others picked it up. It was emblematic of their bond. That desire to belong. They never forgot it, even when they forgot everything else.” The sirin blinked, staring at her. “This town…it just keeps spilling out secrets, doesn’t it?” she chuckled. “Anywhere else, that story would be utterly cloying, but with this crew, given what I have learned about their love for each other, it somehow fits,” Maggie looked back at Holly. “This crew has some big boots to fill.” “All this time the town has been trying to find itself without knowing it had lost anything,” Holly said, setting the tablet aside. “This is who we are- I think, one way or another, things will fall into place.” “That is true. With humans, that is always the case,” the manager put a hand to her chin. “So I take it you’re not leaving for now? Not with a young child in tow. In that case…would you like to come flying with me sometime? Only, it gets awfully lonely sometimes, and maybe I can give you some tips.” Holly smiled. “Sure- as long as we steer clear of anybody from outside of Wrighton that might have a phone camera. I don’t want to end up a governmental science experiment.” “Ha, and I don’t want to become a pariah among my kind by revealing our existence to the world, so that’s fine,” Maggie adjusted her wings. “Though do tell me, if you don’t mind; your ancestor had a tail, so how difficult is it to fly without one? And have you figured out how to take care of your feathers without a beak?” “S’siri had a brush- I commissioned a woodworker to make me a similar one based on a drawing,” Holly replied. “Though it’s very, very time consuming. As for the tail, I sort of have to swing my legs around a lot and make wider turns to compensate.” “Yes, I imagine you would,” Maggie spread out her long tail behind her. “Mine allows me to make very sharp turns on a whim, but your legs can do in a pinch if you’re not planning to fly through any forest canopies. Though, if you are interested, us sirins have devised prosthetics to compensate if one of us has a deformed tail. As for the brush…” she stood up and strode over into her bedroom, appearing moments later with a comb that looked like it was folded in half. “You can use this until the brush comes through, though your fingers will do for the larger feathers. I cannot give you any tips that will make it less time-consuming, other than treating it as a meditative activity. I often do mine just before I go to bed.” She held up a finger. “Oh, and, unless your feathers get very dirty, like with mud, never use any detergents on them. You don’t want to strip away all those protective oils on them.” All of this information seemed to agree with S’siri’s memories, so Holly accepted the brush with a nod. “Thank you- I’ll think about it with the tail feathers, that might be useful but it might be tricky to carry around with me so I’d probably only be able to use it for dedicated long-flights.” She stretched her wings, smiling crookedly. “Speaking of, I didn’t have any plans for this afternoon, if you’re not busy?” “I finished the last of my paperwork this morning, so if you are offering,” the sirin stood up, stretching out her wings. “I will try not to make any sudden turns.” ‘And I’ll try not to embarrass S’siri too much with my inexperience,” Holly replied. “After you, then- you must know all the best views around Wrighton.” “It would be a shame if I did not, considering how long I have been here,” Maggie walked over to the enormous window, opening it up. She hopped on the ledge and spread her wings. “Follow me, Holly. I’ll take you upstream. There’s a lovely waterfall there.” Holly watched as Maggie pumped her wings, leaping effortlessly from the windowsill and out into the clear blue sky. There was no more dome, but even without it Holly could still feel a sense of something huge and beautiful in the air all around the town. She could fly far and high, and see a thousand amazing things, but she would always find her way back. This was where she had been born, where her mother had been born, and her grandmother. It was where her daughter had been born. Where her friends met her for coffee or trips to the park. Where she had, at long last, figured out exactly who she was. As she took to the sky after Maggie, Holly hovered for a moment, surveying the wide cross-and-circle of the town of Wrighton- and knew she was home.
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Post by June Scarlet on Oct 24, 2017 21:17:05 GMT -5
(( Collab by Rabbit ♠ , Lizica and June Scarlet )) A few months later... Hannah, Ani, and Beatrice sat outside the local Ice Cream Parlor, an entire gallon of Key Lime Pie flavored ice cream shared between them. A map of Hannah’s served as the table’s centerpiece. Across the city, other such gatherings were taking place. Bea scooped out another serving, plopping it into her bowl. “I’m going to get sick if I keep eating this much ice cream.” Hannah grinned brightly and gestured inside the parlor with her spoon. “I tried their homemade cookies last week. If you need a break from ice cream, they’re perfect.” Bizelli rolled her eyes. “I probably need a break from the cookies as well. Maybe just one, though.” “Nothing wrong with having just one,” Ani informed. She ate another spoonful of her ice cream. “Still the best Second Mate on the ship?” Beatrice gestured towards Hannah with her spoon, accidentally flinging ice cream on her map. Hannah nodded. “Yeah, but everyone’s still sort of getting used to things, so a lot of the crew chips in with ideas and corrections, still.” She rubbed a napkin on the map’s green stain. Bizelli laughed. “I think I’m better off in Wrighton, in that case. At least it’s safe here. And I mean, I read so many incoming reports, it’s almost like being on the ship itself.” Beatrice nodded at Ani. “With my intern’s help, of course. I seriously don’t know what I’d do without Miss Hemsworth.” “Aw, thank you,” Ani replied. “I learned from the best.” “Both you guys could always join us on a short trip later on sometime if you wanted to, maybe. It’d be nice to have you,” Hannah offered. “And if you’re going for safe, it’s good you weren’t there when I accidentally almost ran us into an asteroid belt. We’re getting better, though!” she quickly added. Beatrice gave the Second Mate a flat look. “No you’re not. But that’s what we love about you.” Hannah just shrugged brightly at the First Mate and waved her map dry. “Well, at the very least, if we do crash, we’ll at least have someone to call for help. --But we are getting better, I swear.” “Only took, what, 2,300 years?” said Bizelli dryly. “I’m sure you are getting better. It sure sounds like you’ve had some interesting adventures. Did you bring back souvenirs?” Ani said jokingly. Hannah paused, doing a mental tally. “I do have a t-shirt covered in engine oil and extraterrestrial plant sap, but it got quarantined when we left,” she said. “Maybe next time,” said Beatrice. They all three stared at the map for a long moment. Then suddenly, as if they rehearsed it, they simultaneously ate another spoonful of ice cream. Since when have we ever cared about timing in Wrighton? This epilogue takes place a few months later, when the ship has returned from its flight. Finally time for that Ice Cream Party! Just a quiet slice of life one, though. Featuring Best Mates Hannah and Beatrice, and their intern, Ani.
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Post by ♥ Azzie on Oct 26, 2017 16:03:16 GMT -5
[the day after the broadcast]“Morning, Dr.Khouri. Have a moment?” “...Morning. How have things been here the last few days, Dr. Watson?” “We’ve been getting by. Yesterday was a bit interesting, but I don’t think I need to tell you that.” “Oh- oh lord, is everyone all right? I didn’t even think-” “Calm down, Dr. Khouri, nobody was in surgery at the time. I understand there were a couple of broken plates down in the kitchen, but nothing worse than that. But please sit down. I need to discuss something with you.” “Of course. I’ll try to answer anything I can.” “I appreciate that, but first things first. I’m letting you go.” “...Dr. Watson, I’m sorry about the last few days, but you know why I had to-” “No, Dr. Khouri, you don’t understand. I’m not firing you. I’m letting you go.” ~~~~ [three days after the broadcast]“Mom? It’s Mina. I know, I know, signal cut out for a few days here. Are you busy this week? Atif and I were hoping we could come and visit for a couple of days. I’m fine, I’m fine. But would that work? Yes, good. Is Dad doing well? Oh good. All right then, see you then. Love you too.” ~~~~ [ a week after the broadcast]“So, ah, that’s what happened. I was hoping- I’d love to come back and join you all, if you’ll have me. I’m… actually probably better qualified than I- than Dr. Tarso was, back then. Funny how these things go…” ~~~~ [two weeks after the broadcast]“Hello? It’s Jamil Khouri here. I’m calling because I had ordered a ticket and I’d like to cancel. No, something just came up. I’ve been on your cruises before, I’ll definitely go again, just the timing won’t work out with this one. Thanks. I understand. Bye.” ~~~~ [ a month after the broadcast]“Mr. and Mrs. Garcia! Hello, what a nice surprise!” “Aah, well, get used to it. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of us.” “Mm, we’re moving to town!” “Moving back?” “There’s my girl! And of course. If you two are going gallivanting through the universe we’re going to make absolutely sure we see you when you get back.” “Yes. Already rented an apartment!” “Heh. Welcome to the neighbourhood. It’s good to see you.” “Atif, boy, it’s good to see you too. Hey, someone will need to keep an eye on the house while you’re gone.” “And of course we’ll water the plants!” “I don’t actually think-” “Oh! That reminds me. Mama, Dad, you have got to see the greenhouse before we leave!” ~~~~ [several months after the broadcast]Dr. Atif Khouri sat on the bridge, a thick medical book in his hand. He was trying to read it, but little things kept distracting him. For one thing, there seemed to be some sort of game going on in the pool- either that, or someone had just told a very funny joke. He could hear Fionn laughing from clear across the room. For another thing, his new cell phone kept going off. Most of it was Jamil, livetexting his attempts to work out the treadmill in the gym, but Mina was sending the occasional message too from the greenhouse, with pictures of plants she and Velia had worked on and commenting on things out as they passed. That was another thing that kept distracting him; he had long, long since forgotten how beautiful the universe was. And then he’d remember how much closer he felt they’d all become since that day, even the people who stayed in Wrighton- although he couldn’t be sure how much might have been just his learning to relax a bit more- and it seemed even more beautiful. His phone rang- not a quick text this time, but a call. “Hello? Leo?” “Dr. K? Uh, we have a situation with all the crutches- and by that, uh, the shelf broke.” Atif laughed. “On my way.” He stood up and hung up the phone, giving another glance around the room. He caught Ayo’s eye and gave them a quick wave, as he picked up his book and headed over to the hospital. It might have been a whole new adventure, but thankfully, some things would never change. A little bit of "where are they now" regarding the Khouris and friends. Atif gets sent off by his boss to take over his ancestor's old job, Mina's parents move to Wrighton, and Jamil... tries to work out alien treadmills.
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Post by Lizica on Oct 27, 2017 0:48:31 GMT -5
“Okay, campers, rise and shine! And don’t forget your telescopes, because this is not only a BIG day, I’d even go so far as to call it--”
“Historic?”
“Exactly, Leonard! Today, our ship--our RETON!--will be one among the stars as we look up tonight.”
“And we’re all so proud of them! But do you know who else we’re all proud of?”
“Who’s that?”
“You guys!”
“That’s right! Our Wrighton is no passive bystander! We’re on this journey, too, in a way, and we all have to remember that we’re part of something special! Thanks for sticking with us throughout all this.”
“And I’m proud of all of you here at the station, too, Steve. You and C.J. I’m proud to be your co-host. I’m happy to be here alongside you. ...Speaking of, C.J. even said they’d go with the ship next time to check out their technology better, isn’t that right?”
“Oops, C.J. is making frantic waving gestures from the booth. Haha, don’t worry, C.J., Wrighton will sure miss you then, but as those speeches you recorded remind us, Wrighton’s the home you’ll always come back to, so it’ll be a short goodbye!”
“In the meantime, I’m afraid you’re still stuck with us, listeners!”
“Your trusty corny local radio hosts will be here for you and for each other, come rain or shine, smashed spaceships or boring board meetings. But for now, coming up next, your top ten songs about home, featuring local artist Audo Mulligan...”Hannah turned her battery radio’s volume up and left it at her desk. She hurried in the direction of the dining hall--one of the best places in the ship to look out the window, now that it wasn’t facing bedrock anymore. (...Well, okay, the view of bedrock had been sort of cool, but the view of Wrighton from above was definitely better.) Over the months Hannah had found that Bek had liked views from high places, too, though in the alien’s case, because it felt more personal to her and also gave a better sense of a place’s layout. So on that level, it sort of made sense for Bek’s office to be near the ceiling overlooking the command center--though this fact had not particularly helped Hannah that much thus far. Bek had used her office as a storage space for maps, yes, but the aggravating thing was that she had tended to access the office herself by using its window, and Hannah was unable to fly or comfortably wriggle through that opening. She wasn’t trying to break through a school transom window to escape; it was just a task of breaking into a place that was arguably hers for very specific items, and geez--Bek had really not laid out her office with door-users in mind. (The first time Hannah had tried using the door from the hallway on the opposite side, the office’s contents had exploded, and she’d been buried under a sea of millennia-old maps and tools screaming “BEEEEKKKKK” while making furious Rambler gestures with her hands in the alien’s name.) Bek’s memories liked to come in seemingly haphazard spurts. Like walking by a gnarled tree and thinking-- Oh, that trunk’s curve reminds me of the planet where everyone lived in treehouses. Or, talking to someone when they used the word “scintillating”-- The view of the stars from the TC20 cluster were always her favorite, but none of the planets in the area were very comfortable. Or, looking at a landscape in a particular afternoon light-- It was exactly that time of day when she left her birth planet, rather unceremoniously. It was just that time of day, the shadows were just that length, the water shimmered just like that.Bek’s memories also liked to come in flashes, like unopened cargo on Hannah’s current train of thought. And while she was used to zoning out at times, sometimes it was strange or interesting or any range of emotion, and in some ways it could be nice to snap back to reality with a story to tell instead of only unintelligible apologies for not paying attention. And Hannah felt like she had a somewhat decent handle on Bek at this point. A part of Bek had always been a little unsatisfied, always looking to the future for a place to call home while simultaneously hoping that all her friends would come and stay with her at that Someday Home; and she only rarely brushed against the realization that her home was wherever her friends were. She was forever easily curious and easily hurt and easily excitable. She was half a scatterbrain that Hannah empathized with very well, and half a navigational genius with mental blueprints and understandings that Hannah could barely hope to ever fully grasp. In any case, she’d managed to use some of those memories to find things in Bek’s office, and the crew had eventually in turn used some of those maps to reach that intergalactic service station on their first small trip. Hannah had been very proud of herself for being able to help make sense of Bek’s star charts for directions. And if that hadn’t been rewarding enough--while she couldn’t claim to be an expert on reading extraterrestrials’ facial expressions yet, Hannah would forever cherish the unmistakably flabbergasted look on the mechanic’s face when they had parked the radically retro RETON in their repair lot. While there, Hannah had sent her parents a photo-text of herself at the service station with the caption, “Guess where I am!” They had replied, “What a great photo! What app are you using to get such vivid backgrounds?” In the short week and a half before that first mini-trip to the service station, Hannah had bought several things: her mother’s favorite rooibos ginger tea from a great little café, and bus tickets back home--one ticket for herself, and one for Dion, too, who was also leaving town shortly before returning to Wrighton, as well. The RETON hadn’t even taken off at that point, but already Hannah was excited about having someone with whom to share part of the journey back home. That had been great already, but very few things up to that point had been as satisfying to Hannah as not having to hike--and moreover, being able to open her bus window to lean out and shout triumphant insults to the hot pink bumper sticker as they drove past. The sticker, of course, did not respond, and its mascot, of course, just grinned obnoxiously and told her to buy Winchell’s Gum. Still. It was singularly gratifying, finally seeing both it and its irrigation system slowly vanish from sight and dip below the horizon--and not magically reappear. Hannah would be back, but this time on her own terms. For the rest of their drive together, Dion and Hannah had chatted about subjects actually strange and subjects only strange in their apparent mundaneness. Hannah excitedly pointed out places along the way where she’d previously had some unhappy mishap while hiking, and Dion positively reveled in the bus journey, at one point marveling a little too loudly at a lady passenger in an overly elaborate hat, because WOW. Soon, however, Dion’s own stop arrived at a town near the seashore, and both disembarked at the bus’s side. “Hey, uh. Thanks for everything,” Hannah murmured awkwardly. “It’s been--cool.” (The entire Wrighton Underground adventure had been a lot of things, but “cool” was probably rather low on that list of adjectives. Still, her new friends were cool. Dion was cool. Also, words were hard sometimes.) Dion just nodded. "It's been 'cool' for me too. Being permitted to watch you face these challenges, and to grow as people as well as a team- I am so very proud of you, Hannah, and I know your family will be too." “Thanks,” Hannah said wobblingly, swallowing. “You helped some with that. I hope you have a good trip home, too.” "I don't think I would have been brave enough to return, without those very wonderful words of yours." Dion hugged Hannah tightly, gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and marched towards the soft sea breeze. Hannah had waved from her bus as it continued on, and even though she knew she’d see Dion and all the people she had met in Wrighton again, the rest of the bus ride had still felt rather quiet. Once she finally arrived home, Hannah felt as though she had been gone for years, even though it had only been two and a half weeks. And while this had only been a very short visit at home with her parents--for everything that Hannah had been through over those weeks--she wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Her parents had welcomed her back with excitement and support and pleasant surprise. They’d all had tea and eaten more food than a short homecoming really warranted. They played some old board game that Hannah had never really cared for in the past but now found that she quite liked. Hannah’s parents jabbered on agreeably as they always did and listened with gratitude to her stories about her new friends. Granted, it also would have been nice if they had actually grasped the idea of her agreeing to help navigate an ancient alien craft, but it was hard to blame them when it still felt pretty unreal to Hannah, too. But maybe her parents would eventually figure it out when they someday visited (as they promised), or if Hannah sent them enough photo-texts. To date now, she had sent them not only photos of the service station, but also of a very pretty gas giant, a galactic warehouse, some icy planetary rings they’d narrowly avoided, a video of a meadow whose grass changed color when you ran through it, and finally, a photo of her posing in front of the welcome sign for New Amesworth. (Hannah had been mildly disappointed that they couldn’t fly the RETON there. “It...it’s only an hour by car, Hannah,” Ayo had told her incredulously. “Just... I could drive you there. But we are not taking a giant city- and mall-sized ship only fifty miles down the road.”) During her backpacking trip, Hannah had not particularly wanted to go anywhere and didn’t know what she wanted to see. But here, instead, no matter where they went, they were bound to find something everyone could be interested in, regardless of planning. During her backpacking trip, Hannah had only known where she was going based on her itinerary. But here, instead, she always knew exactly where she was going. She was going back home. ...Just, you know, with a few oftentimes unpredictable and pretty amazing detours along the way back with the weirdest, most wonderful travel companions ever. They had once chosen to forget, but now they would choose to remember. No matter what lay ahead, they were all looking forward to bringing back new memories to share with home. That was something they were prepared for. Hannah had promised her parents she’d be home for New Year’s. They knew the way back, and they weren’t lost at all. (Thoroughly intending to mean that both literally as well as metaphorically, she had studied the updated galactic maps over and over to memorize the way back to their proper Wrighton. Nobody wanted to accidentally overshoot into an alternate dimension where they had never solved those hellsquiggles and been eaten, or something even worse.) But this current trip, however, had only begun, and Hannah finally made her way to the dining hall to join the small crowd at the windows, all looking out over the town of Wrighton. Some waved to those below, some sent messages from devices. From up here, the town sprawled out across the countryside like a comfortable cat basking in the day’s sunshine. From one side to the other stood houses and landmarks, parks and schools, the Wright-Inn and the library, the woods and the river, the farmlands watering their crops with irrigation systems. As the cathedral carillon bells began to play, Hannah held up her phone to record the sound, and then ran back to the command center where she might be needed. Hannah had never really felt needed before all this; but even so, she wasn’t on this ship now because she was needed. She was here because she chose to be, because she wanted to be. In the hallways of the RETON, the carillon concert somehow perfectly complemented the local radio station’s top ten songs of home. And as Hannah sat down in her chair, looked to all the other crew members, affirmatively straightened her sun hat, and prepared for takeoff--she thought that maybe someday she could write a much better guidebook for Wrighton than Gladys Skipping ever had. Dion parts collabed with Thorn! And Ayo line approved by Liou! =D Me: Well, Hannah wrapped up a lot of nice loose ends in the climax already, and I shouldn’t Ramble, so I’ll make this epilogue post short and sweet-- Hannah: Please, just let me monsterpost... *looks dramatically into the distance* ... one more time. ...Summary! On the morning of the first Big Trip, the local radio co-hosts are both reunited and back at their posts, and C.J. the technician might join the RETON next time. The rest of the post is a scrambled mish-mash of narration and flashbacks, including: Before the first skeleton crew voyage, Hannah goes home to her parents and carpools partway with Dion on the bus. Fun chats but also “thanks for everything” goodbyes happen. Hannah’s parents still haven’t really grasped the whole “your daughter is cavorting into space on a millennia-old formerly buried ship” concept, but who can blame them? Bek’s memories are helping Hannah to figure out how to navigate the ship, but it’s still a tall order sometimes. (Thanks to Shinko for the exploding office idea in OOC! X3) Hannah looks over the town of Wrighton one more time before getting ready for takeoff. Homeward bound, in a way! ((Thanks for the great game, you guys! You all never fail to amaze me with your incredible writing and brilliant ideas. Keep rocking! Spacerocking?))
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Post by Thorn on Oct 27, 2017 1:21:19 GMT -5
It was a given that Dion would return to the RETON to voyage through space with her new friends. There would be so many new things to see: things nobody of this world had ever seen before, and that thought alone filled her with excitement. But there was something she had to do first, because otherwise she might never get around to doing it, and that wouldn't be any good at all. Hannah had been right to suggest that Home was somewhere you could always go back to but, for Dion, this was more due to a sense of responsibility than any greater sense of belonging. She felt more at home with these wonderful colorful almost-humans than she ever had underwater. “Hey, uh. Thanks for everything,” Hannah murmured awkwardly, when it was time to part ways. “It’s been--cool.” 'Cool' was a good word. A very human word which, Dion had learned, did not always have to refer to the temperature. Once it had also been used to refer to a given individual's level of physical attractiveness but, these days, it was more often used to mean that something was really great. All things considered, 'cool' sounded much better than 'really great.' And even if there had been scary moments this adventure had, overall, been a very cool thing indeed. Dion nodded to indicate agreement. "It's been 'cool' for me too. Being permitted to watch you face these challenges, and to grow as people as well as a team- I am so very proud of you, Hannah, and I know your family will be too." “Thanks,” Hannah said wobblingly, swallowing. “You helped some with that. I hope you have a good trip home, too.” "I don't think I would have been brave enough to return, without those very wonderful words of yours." Dion hugged Hannah as tightly as she could. She could smell the sea breeze, and her heart lifted, because she'd really missed it. But it was always sad to say goodbye, even if it wasn't forever. She wanted Hannah to know that she'd be back, and that having to leave her was every bit as hard as it had been to leave Fionn, or Alexis, or Bea. She gave Hannah's hand one last squeeze, turned, and followed the scents and sounds of the ocean. She could almost picture it in her head: the rocky shoreline with tiny pools of fish and scuttling crabs, which she'd clambered up on to all those years ago. She didn't quite know what awaited her below- whether they'd forgiven, forgotten, or disappeared altogether. Regardless, it was about time she found out, if only so she could venture into space knowing she'd done what she could. *** In the fathomless depths of the ocean, the creature seemed small. It moved sometimes like an octopus, and sometimes like a fish, but always with purpose. At last it let the mane of arms dangle before it in aforementioned fathomless depths, and emitted a long, low hum. Three pairs of beady black eyes situated above sharp, toothy faces glided out of the dark. Dion hummed and, in her ocean-mind, the meaning resonated in the language of the almost-humans she had grown so fond of: I have returned, and soon I will depart again.The creatures wriggled closer and she extended her arms, exploring each of them as they approached. Their humming joined together, sometimes low like the roar of waves and sometimes high like a whale's cry. There were no accusations, no reverberations of resentment. They had forgiven, or forgotten, and they were still here. That was what she needed to know. One of them posed a question, and her mind translated that as: Will you tell us the stories first?Of course, her arms stilled, and their ears and hearts were trained on her. There is a lot to tell, but I will do what I can. She started at the beginning. At that quiet town by the coast, where even now she couldn't remember seeing Maggie. The humans had fished using big nets, and grown food for themselves in large expanses of land they cultivated (the smallest creature's arms twitched, quite clearly intrigued by this report.) They covered their bodies in materials dyed in different colours, and sometimes they put colours in their hair too, or on their skin. With their superior colour vision they loved bright hues, but even though their ears were weak, they adored sound also. After describing the sound of the saxophone in the Wrighton marketplace, Dion hesitated. How much should she say? How much was hers to tell? They grew restless, eager to hear more, wanting every particle of the grand journey of these humans. The smallest creature reached out an arm, and Dion hummed reassurance and continued: She told them that there was a wonderful journey these humans would undertake, and that she wanted to see it through. They were a very special bunch of people, and she had grown very attached to them, with the kind of attachment humans alone seemed capable of. Will you tell us about that too afterward? The smallest again. It had grown a lot since she'd last seen it, resembling her so much more in every respect. Its curiosity about the world mirrored her own. Dion felt something like pride at its words. Of course, she allowed her arms to float outward, and hung her jaw half open. They want to see their homes again too. I will return when they do and bring you more stories.I would like to travel too, the second-smallest said. I would like to live amongst dolphins for a while.I would like to investigate more of these humans, the smallest added. The remaining creature hung its jaws, but made no further comment. Dion's arms lifted outward like trailing tendrils of seaweed. I like this idea. I have come to believe that the ability to understand and empathise with other species is the surest way to avoid a calamity. We will find each other again, and we will share stories of these different beings, and this thought gives me hope for our future. Hannah parts collabed with Lizica. <3 So after a bus ride with Hannah, Dion finally returns to the ocean to check in with the Ocean Critters! They talk a bit and come to the decision that two others will head out into the world and meet other species, like Dion did. Dion herself will head into space on the RETON as their Offical Trash Inspector! It should also be noted that human-Dion, when she shifts back, will have many Feelz about the other creatures following her lead. Their emotions are comparatively muted, so that doesn't show here.
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Post by Gelquie on Oct 27, 2017 2:10:54 GMT -5
A week and a half was not a very long time. But it was what the town as a whole decided when it became clear that there were enough people interested in going on the initial expedition for their dream of going to space to become reality. Even for the people who weren't going, there was a sense of excitement in the air; people already scrambling to pack their bags, settle things with their jobs, and be ready to go. There was also a matter of saying their goodbyes to their families and friends on the ground, and for those people who wished to remain behind, they felt the responsibility and reciprocated on that matter. But there was also still so much to process. It was only a week and a half ago, after all, when they first began receiving all their memories. And for Alexis Marinos and Athene Katsaros, they were no exceptions to the people who spent the first few days walking around dazed, still trying to catch up with their brains as well as come to terms with what had happened. It was easiest for Athene. Although her memories had come to her nearly all at once, she didn't have too much difficulty reconciling her memories with Jasna's. They were very similar in mindset, it was merely the alien matters foreign to Athene that she felt she had to adapt to, as well as her constant reminder to herself to keep the memories separate from her life. But she felt like, if she had ever met Jasna in person, that perhaps they would've gotten along. Alexis seemed alright with her memories. She was very eager to pick her brain for memories, mentally explore all things alien and understand Amyn's experiences. The fact that it was all entirely new for Alexis didn't seem to deter her eagerness. But in spite of her insistence on the day she received the memories, she still felt Amyn's emotions, everything they had lost. They were content most of their life, really. In spite of the unfortunate nature of what happened to Amyn's biological family, they had adapted themselves to the ship, and made it their new home. And despite bumps in the road, they usually bounced back. But the memories towards the end, the ones that built up, the ones that Amyn never had a chance to cope with... Athene still caught her daughter crying from time to time, or at least on the verge of tears. Not as strongly as when she first got the memories, but the fact it kept coming up... “I'm going to ask your school counselor for a referral,” Athene told her daughter. “No buts.” “Mom, it's... It's really okay. It's just... just a lot. I'll get used to it. I think I'll be okay...” “Maybe you will,” Athene conceded. “But even if you do, you're still seeing one. Even if it's short-term, it'll help you. Amyn never had a chance to get over their guilt and now you're bearing the brunt of it. And even without that, that is a lot of memories, Alexis. You're talking about this with a professional.” “It... it can't be that bad, right...?” “It's difficult enough for an adult, much less-- Alexis, please, just... humor me. It can't hurt. If you don't like the first one, you can try a different one, but just try it.” And so an appointment was made. Athene knew her daughter, though. Enough to know that Alexis was probably right. She got over things like this fairly well. There was still the fact that Alexis had managed to cope eventually after Athene and Omir separated, how well Alexis took everything else in stride. Alexis would be okay, she was sure. Omir, meanwhile, decided to stay longer in town. The reasons he cited were to stick around longer with his daughter, not just for the birthday party, but also to help her through difficult moments, give them more bonding time, and give them time to figure out a plan regarding what to do about the Sea Queen. However, he made one more request... He really, really wanted to see the ship take off. Athene could see a look in his eyes; if it weren't for his circumstances, she could tell that he would probably want to go too, original member of the crew or no. Athene could even see a different look in his eye, a different way in which he viewed the town. He seemed to talk about it with less... reticence. Like he wasn't just happy to be here, but like he'd be happy to stay here longer if he were able. Athene couldn't help but think, it was a far cry from some of the arguments they used to have... It was far from the only argument they had that led to their divorce, but all the same, Athene couldn't help but wonder: Would things have been different between them, if not for the mindprog? ...She ultimately decided it didn't matter. They still had very different views on how to act about and raise their children, such that might drive a wedge between them anyway. Besides, Athene had already remarried, even had another kid by the different father. And she was happy with that situation. At the very least, she was happy to get Alexis out of the deal. Athene's husband and other child came the day after the Beast was taken care of, and the first thing they did was start asking what was going on. They looked utterly confused and concerned. Alexis and Athene ended up sitting them down for hours and explaining the situation to them. Omir left them alone to that, instead wandering the town and talking to other residents. Some Wrighton matters should only be left to Wrightoners, and besides, he was already told the full story. The family did their best to help each other with their newfound memories and choices. The other child, to Athene's relief, decided that old enough or not, they didn't really want to go either. But Athene was very surprised to hear that her husband was interested in taking a trip. Perhaps not on the first run, but perhaps on a few more. Athene was reticent on the matter... But it wasn't entirely her decision. At least he made it clear that he would always balance and prioritize the needs of his family over the possibility of going on trips. How that would come to be, Athene supposed she would find out later. Alexis' birthday came a few days later, and everyone silently agreed to not talk about any of their stressors on that day. It was mostly a family event, but Alexis ended up changing her mind on an earlier decision and inviting a few people to her birthday party anyway. Her resurged confidence about her friendships—albeit the more newly-forged ones—had not gone unnoticed by Athene, and she couldn't help but feel relieved at this. She dutifully cooked Alexis' favorite dish and baked a nice cake for her, and Alexis was keen to do nothing but Have Fun after all that had happened. Even so, the topic of Alexis'... “oddity” came up at some point. Alexis didn't mind it so much, though. Previously, she might've hesitated because perhaps it was too odd, and while she never expected flak for it, she never wanted too much attention for it either. After all, it was just a part of her. But after the events of the last few days, it was a relief to know that she was not the only one who was odd. And when she saw them, she was reminded of how amazing they were, how much she could learn from them, how much cool stuff there was about them... And the fact that it was mutual. She could certainly see the draw anyway. It helped, at least, to be able to go back and forth on such a topic with more people. It made for incredible conversations. But it did remind her of how her oddity limited her. And that's what brought up the topic of the problem the Sea Queen posed to Alexis and Omir's desire to eventually go into space. Alexis ended up being the one to approach her father, talking about her wish... And the problem that posed. “If you go, and something happens to me, or we both go...” Omir frowned. “Not only would we get stuck as merfolk, but if we don't wanna get dragged back to the sea, we'd have to go into exile, keep running...” Alexis winced at this. “ No. I... I don't wanna do that. And, uh... It shouldn't be just you doing the ritual for me, shouldn't it?” “Alexis, you know I'm happy to do it. You'll probably have to do it more when you're older, but I'm always okay with shouldering the responsibility.” “Yeah, but I still feel bad about it...” She frowned and stared at her feet. “And besides, if something happens, and you can't do it...” “That won't happen,” Omir assured her, but he trailed off. It had never happened before, but there was a point there. What if he got in an accident that kept him hospital-bound, or otherwise unable to do the ritual? And though it wasn't something he preferred to think about as he wasn't that old yet, he always figured Alexis would outlive him, in which case the responsibility would have to fall to her anyway, even if she had kids of her own who ended up mer as well. It wasn't an urgent feeling, but it was an inevitable one. It occurred to him that they never really thought of a backup plan. They never needed to; if something did happen, Alexis could pick up the slack. But not if she went into space... They talked at length about the possibilities, most of which they decided they wouldn't work. In the process, Alexis found herself learning more and more about the Sea Queen, and she found herself asking even more questions about it. Although she was generally curious, she had never thought to ask some of the questions she did now. After all, she always lived above, living a normal life, just... sometimes she had to make a deal with the Sea Queen and swim like a fish. She'd never thought to really... question this much. It was just normal for her. But now she realized that there was so much to it that she didn't know, just like there was so much to Wrighton and the ship and her ancestor and their memories that she didn't know, and all the experiences Amyn had passed down to her, all the knowledge about the different species and cultures out there... It helped her to realize just how much of a blind spot she had about something that was a core part of her identity. That was, in part, how she came to her decision. “Dad, when I'm out of school for the summer, i-if you can, uh, find time...” She paused. “...Can we go down to the Sea Queen's kingdom? Please? I... I wanna see it.” Omir was startled by this. Although Alexis had expressed interest in going deeper, he had never let her, for there was so much more to mer culture than he had told her, including the... unfortunate parts that would have made their trip less of a positive experience. He had always placated his daughter by showing her bits and pieces. But she seemed genuinely interested... That, and there was a different look in Alexis' eyes, something more than her unquenchable curiosity. It was a search for her identity, a deeper meaning.Perhaps it was time. “And while we're down there, uh...” Alexis said at some point in the conversation. “I think maybe we could talk to the Sea Queen? About what's going on? She's powerful, right, so... maybe she'll give us more time, if we explain what's going on? Maybe she'll want to know what's out there...” Omir thought. “...I'll have to think about how much we should tell her. But... maybe we could tell her something. Besides, I don't think she'll find anything wrong with us going down and meeting in person. And your mother... she knows you'll have to go someday. She'll feel better if I go with you.” “Right,” Alexis nodded. “And, uh... yeah, that works... So, uh... this summer?” “...Sure,” Omir agreed with a smile. “This summer. Together.” Summer was still quite a ways away though. In the meantime, Alexis still had a little while left to school. The spring festival ended and so did the break. When Alexis returned to school, it was as if she had become popular overnight. Everyone wanted to talk to her, about the spaceship, how she was an officer, what kind of officer was she, wow she got to know so many weird people she should tell them all about it! It was... quite a far cry from usual. She was never the center of attention, positive or negative. She was mostly known for being good at sports, and she had her share of friends, although said friends had grown more distant to her over time. Now they all resurged, returning to her attention. She humored them; she really did want to talk about all things Wrighton, although she made sure to be careful about details. Harper, at least, still seemed reticent about their nature being public knowledge, and she didn't want to break that trust. She only talked about what was common knowledge or unable to be hidden, such as Holly's wings. But she mostly kept the conversations about everything they found below, and all the puzzles and hellsquiggles she and her friends had to deal with. Still, she couldn't help but be a little careful around a few of them. She couldn't help but notice that some of her newfound 'friends' were some of the same people who had either been cold to her or even outright teased her. She saw one in particular, who had made fun of Alexis upon the discovery that she liked Pixemite, who was now gushing and prying for every detail about everything below. Alexis couldn't help but shy away from people like those, and she overall felt like she was on a pedestal... Her father assured her that the attention would pass, but that positive attention was not necessarily bad. Her mother tried to assure her that she could ask for space when needed, and encouraged her again to go to the school counselor when she was feeling overwhelmed. Alexis, at least for the moment, continued to keep her merfolk-hood a secret. It wasn't as if it was a secret-secret, it was mostly at the insistence of her mother. But she was glad for it once she had arrived at school; there was enough to talk about without that, enough of feeling like she was being put on a pedestal. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready for that. She mentally decided, for now, to keep her nature to just a few of her friends. She was still happy to have more friends to talk to and gush about it, at least; it wasn't quite enough for her to keep it to family. But the reactions to those who did see Alexis as a mershark still came up as a conversation topic around the family, sometimes for a laugh, sometimes for discussion, sometimes as a way for them to all get on the same page about what had happened. “I'm surprised no one thought you were the one she got it from, Athene,” Omir joked at the table one day. “Ha ha, yes, I'm secretly hiding a tail under this blanket, it's not just because I like blankets and like covering my surgical scars,” Athene said dryly, amusement in your eyes. “I say let 'em dream, Athene,” Omir joked back. “It's more fun that way.” “Until I'm caught in a lie,” Athene mused. “...But I suppose that's better than going into the stories of those surgeries; I'll take being mistaken for a merfolk any day.” “That'd be kinda cool, mom,” Alexis mused before shrugging. “Maybe, but I'm not about to go to the Sea Queen to ask her to turn me into a mermaid,” Athene mused dryly. “You're stuck with me as a human.” “Aww,” Omir joked insincerely, earning a laugh from Alexis. Omir did have to leave eventually, however; he could only take so much time from work. And so he was slated to leave on the same day the ship would take off. They all ate a big breakfast together before setting off to Central Park, where they would say their goodbyes—for those they hadn't said them to already—and watch the ship lift off. Alexis' family stood together amongst the crowd, keeping their eyes on the ship as it made its final preparations for lift-off. They weren't sure exactly when it would take off, just that it would be soon, and so they decided to wait there together. Although they weren't expecting anything dramatic with the take-off of the maiden voyage, the mere fact that the ship RETON was making its return to space, that so many people would be beginning their journies, the fact that they could do this... That was dramatic enough for them. “I still wish I could go...” Alexis mumbled. “We talked about this,” Athene reminded Alexis. “I know, I know,” Alexis said quickly before her mother could go on. “Just... still. It's... really cool. Y'know?” “You have to give her that one, Athene,” Omir said, standing next to his daughter. Athene gave one more look to the ship ahead. “...Yeah. It is, really.” “One day,” Alexis said quietly to her family. “When I've figured something out with Her. When I'm old enough. I'll get to see what's out there too. ...And I'll take lots of pictures, promise.” Shortly after, there was a noise, and they all stared at the ship began to lift off the ground, the clarion bells' tintinnabulation ringing through the air to see them off. Although Alexis wasn't sure she'd be seen, she waved, and then others joined her. Their gaze remained glued to the ship from the time it took off to the time it rose, and rose, till it became merely a speck in the sky, and then it was gone. One day, she would join them. Alexis promised herself that. The last 1.5 weeks are heavy for Alexis and her family. Although Alexis is generally good at coping, she still has her moments and still has many memories to go through and on top of that she keeps feeling Amyn's intense guilt. Athene takes no chances and makes Alexis go to counseling to help her get through it before it morphs into long-term problems.
Alexis' step-family returns and A&A are stuck explaining everything to them because SUDDEN MEMORIES, WHAT, WHAT HAPPEN. And then later, Alexis' birthday comes and they spend a day doing nothing but celebrating Alexis' birthday, both to celebrate and to just spend a day taking a break from their minds. It's mostly with her and family but I figure she invites a few friends over; I left it unspecific who she invited but if you think it makes sense for your character to attend, you can imagine them there.
Alexis is now a lot more popular at school, and Alexis isn't sure how to feel about it. She likes being liked, but she already notices there's a lot of... fake-liking. Her parents give her guidance on this.
Alexis' merhood remains a secret to most people. Also, to make it clear in canon, Athene is not a merperson.
On the day the ship leaves, Omir is slated to leave, but he sticks around to watch the ship go. Alexis makes a mental promise to one day join them, once she's old enough and sorted out her affairs. One day.
((And that's it for me. Thanks for the roleplay!))
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Post by Draco on Oct 27, 2017 6:06:31 GMT -5
Ruby kept covering Fox's mouth shut until she was sure things were done. Fox's muffled chatter kept going, only blocked by Ruby's hand. When done she let him go, a bit reluctant. "And that is when they'll capture and throw us into tree prison." Ruby rolls her eyes, "Well sir, it looks like things are done here and you have work to do. So time to get back to that." Fox starts to sneak away, but grabbed and starts to be dragged out of the room. "Someone, save me! She's mad, mad I tell you! She plans to enslave me and my brilliant brain!!! Noooooooo!" And with that, he's dragged out of the room... --- Several months later Edward Fox sat at a desk, in a office, a pile of papers in front of him. He bangs his head on the desk, stops for a moment to stare at the clock. He scribbles down on a paper and tapes it to his chair. Walking to the window, he opens it open it and crawls out. Ruby steps into the office, "Sir, remember you have work to do in the park when the ship takes off. I know you wanted to be on it, but you have a lot of work to catch up on here, and you know it would be unfair to dump it on someone... else...." She stares at his empty chair, note, and open window. She rushes to the chair to see the note. "I've gone on a trip, so no need to try and find me. -Edward Fox" She throws a knife into the chair, growls loudly, hair standing up, and dives out the window, "FOX!!!" Fox runs down the street as fast as he can towards the ship, "I'm not going back! You can't make me!" "You are going back, even if I have to force you!" "I don't even know how I got the position! Why would I put myself into that position!? All these past memories of hating the offices, and I chose a job in a office?! I really am insane!" "You were elected! You wanted to change things!" Fox rounds a corner, grabbing onto a pole to help him swing around, "I've signed the correct paperwork! Everything will be fine! The town doesn't need me!" He rushes onto the still open doors of the ship, running down the hall, a raging cat lady hot on pursuit. He runs past a number of people as he runs for his life. He dives into a room and presses himself against a wall. Ruby stomps inside, eyes flaring, fangs showing, a metaphorical fire behind her. "You're going back to work." Fox checks his watch, "Three, two, one." The ship begins to shake getting ready for take off. "No... You didn't..." "I'm going back to work, but back to the lab and coming up with things! I have a really old job that needs finishing, and I'm seeing it through!" "But... Work... The town! Our stuff!" "I had that arranged, everything you own has been packed and moved onto the ship. So sorry, but I think I win." Ruby growls and stomps around the room. She falls back into a chair and exhales loudly, "You win sir..." "That reminds me, I've been telling you for months now, stop calling me sir," he places his hand on her shoulder, "We've known each other long enough that you can call me by name." She sighs, "I'll try... So you really did sign all the correct papers?" Fox nods his head. "Then the town should be ok. But it's still unfair for the new mayor." Edward Fox plops down in the chair next to Ruby and throws his feet onto the table. "Well no need to worry about that now. Let's just enjoy the ride. I'm really excited on seeing some space chinchillas." Ruby sighs again, "There's a good chance you will." "Oh, and is now a good time to say that there's a fifty fifty chance that the park might burst into flames when we leave?" "WHAT?!" "Kidding, just kidding...." Fox hides a phone and types to someone, "Abort! Abort!" ---- Also on the ship, hidden away somewhere, lurking in a supply closet, sits a man alone. "Duuuude... How do I get out of this place?" Edward Fox is dragged off the ship by Ruby Shadow (Yes, her last name is Shadow, yep, totally not a cheap way to name her) to return to work.
He begs for the others to help as he's dragged away.
---
Several months later Fox sits at a desk piled with paper work. He sneaks out, chased shortly after by Ruby.
They argue a bit as they run through town on the way to the ship. When Fox is cornered by Ruby on the ship, the ship begins to take off.
No more work for now Ex-Mayor Fox!
Oh and there's a 50/50 chance the park is going to burst into flames... *shrugs*
Oh, and Glenn is still lost.
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Post by Birdy on Oct 27, 2017 23:48:51 GMT -5
The cashier looked up upon hearing someone approach. The man held a bouquet of flowers, containing a single red rose. “Gonna see someone special, eh?” he said, eyeing the bouquet with a knowing smile. The other man simply returned this smile, giving a short nod as he placed the bouquet on the counter. “Yup.” The cashier rang up the order, and the other man paid for them upon being told the price. “Good luck,” the cashier said with a wink, handing the other man his receipt. “Thanks,” he replied, taking the slip of paper. He left the florist’s shop, bouquet in arm, and set out towards his destination. When he reached it, he paused for a moment at the gates, hesitating. The last time he’d been here… He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and setting those thoughts to the side for now. There would be time to deal with that later, maybe. Just… not right now. Opening his eyes, he squared his shoulders and walked into the graveyard. He knew the way, despite not having travelled it in years. It was burned into his memory, etched into every crevice. This was one thing he knew he would never forget. His footsteps slowed as he neared it, but he kept moving forwards. (Though whether by choice or because he was making himself, he wasn't sure.) Finally, he reached it - and all he could do was stare. He remained quiet, thoughtful, as he stared. Finally, he took the single red rose and laid it on one headstone, thoughtfully looking at the name of the mother he never really knew. Bringing a rose was something he remembered doing many times in the past on visits, so for this first visit in such a long time… it seemed fitting. Finally, however, he made himself turn and look at the other headstone, and the name etched into it. Francis Oscar MilliganSlowly, Audo crouched, laying the bouquet of red and pink carnations in front of the headstone, raising up once again and looking down, to the side. Finally, after a long stretch of silence, he spoke. “Hey, uh, Grandpa,” he said, making himself look at the headstone again. “It’s uh, it’s… been a while.” He swallowed hard - that was an understatement. It had been well over a decade since he'd last been here. He'd visited often in the months following the… “Incident”, but after a while… it was just too much. He found himself staring at the little dash between the years - the little dash that was supposed to stand for all the things that had happened between those two dates, from birth to death. Such a small dash for such a large life. Audo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, giving himself a moment to compose himself and collect his thoughts. There was so much he wanted to say - he knew his grandfather was long since gone, and could hear none of it, but… Audo felt he had to say something before going blasting off into space. The ship wasn’t due to leave for about a week, but… Audo hadn’t wanted to leave this until the last minute. Better to get it done sooner, so there were no excuses or missed chances. “I… I don’t even know where to begin,” he said. “So much has happened over the past few days…” he trailed off, rubbing at the back of his neck. He sighed. “I… I guess I could start with the ship,” he said, sitting down beside the weathered gravestone. “Turns out, there’s been a giant spaceship - the RETON - kinda… hibernating under the town for the past twenty-three hundred years,” he began. “It crashed when a beast the crew created with their own dissention ended up almost literally tearing things apart. They didn’t know what else to do, so they… uploaded their memories into some sort of… datacloud, I guess you could call it? With the help of their ship’s AI, Scip. And then, they turned themselves human - they’d been all sorts of aliens before - and their memories have been passed down from generation to generation ever since.” He paused before continuing. “I… got one of the Officer’s memories,” he said. “There were Sixteen of them - Officers, that is. ...His name was Nemoorekk. He was their Minister of Culture, or something like that. He did a lot of organizing of events, and kept guests happy, and things like that. He also learned about all the cultures they visited, and helped record what they learned in their archives, that sort of stuff.” Audo lapsed into silence again, taking a moment to try and sort through Nemo’s memories in hopes of finding something else to say, but was greeted only with endless doors. Sighing, Audo pulled himself back to the present. “A-anyway,” he said, “It was left to us - the descendants of the original crew - to defeat the beast. It was made because of the dissention, like I mentioned - some wanted to settle, while others wanted to keep travelling. The discord ultimately somehow managed to create an actual beast, that fed off all the tensions and.. Like I said, ultimately caused the RETON to crash. “After their worst-case scenario plan was enacted, they… founded a town. Wrighton. They hoped that if they could establish a Home, then… maybe that would pacify the beast, and they could someday continue their journey.” Audo paused, swallowed, and continued. “We did it,” he said softly. “We… we defeated the beast. We were able to tell it we had a home - that we didn’t need to run anymore. That there’d always be a place we could return to, no matter what.” His voice was beginning to tremble slightly, and he took a deep breath, giving himself a moment to steady it. “It… it wasn’t easy to get to that spot, though,” he admitted. “There was a lot of stuff - a lot of puzzles - to work through first. We had to learn slowly, because the beast remembered as we did - it actually lost its memories too when the crew did, back at the crash. So as we remembered everything… so did it. So when we remembered everything, we had to hurry to convince it we had a home now, and didn’t have to be afraid anymore.” Audo lapsed into silence then, contemplating all that had happened over the past few days. “...We’re going to start the journey again soon,” he said softly. “In about a week. ...I’m going. I… I want to see what’s out there. I remember you would always bring out the telescope and find something to look at, on summer nights,” he said. “And I… I want to see some of those same things up close. To maybe even touch them. I just…” His voice faltered. “I just didn’t want to leave this time without saying goodbye,” he said, voice breaking as tears began to slide down his cheeks. And for once, he didn’t try to hold them back. He sat there, knees pulled close to himself, face buried in his lap, as he cried. Piles of hurt and bottled up emotions began to leak out, as he cried like he hadn’t cried in years, making no effort to stifle the tears that flowed freely down his face, or sobs that wracked his chest. Finally, when he felt he had cried himself out (at least for the time being), he wiped at his eyes and tried to speak a few times - only half-syllables or partial words coming out - before closing his eyes tightly and taking a deep breath, letting it out with a slow woosh. “...I miss you,” he said softly, voice still choking. “So, so much.” He swallowed hard. “I wish you were here. I wish you could come with us. I wish…” He trailed off. His wished a lot of things - a lot of things he knew could never come to pass. With a shaky sigh, he wiped at his eyes once again and slowly got to his feet. “I’ll be back,” Audo said, looking again at the name on the gravestone. “I… I won’t stay away this time. I promise,” he said. “I promise I’ll come back.” Turning, Audo walked away, back towards the entrance of the graveyard. There were, after all, a lot of things still left to do before the journey continued. Did you think the feels were over? You were wrong.
Somewhere in the neighbourhood of one week prior to the ship taking off again for the first time (for a short maintenance trip), Audo visits his grandfather’s grave and talks at it, telling it all about the events of the past few days, more or less.
Then after some emoting, he promises that he’ll come back after the space-travel-journey, and won’t stay away this time.
Aaaand that’s it! \ o / Thanks everyone for another awesome RP. <3 I’ve had a blast - you guys rock!
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Post by Liou on Oct 29, 2017 13:01:38 GMT -5
Two hours before departure, they were still not on board. A pile of luggage had been teleported in for them many days earlier. They had diligently used their memories to help prepare the course and go through checklists. Then, nothing. Half an hour before departure, a car screeched to a stop on the very edge of Wrighton. The driver side door slammed and a figure the size of a pinprick could be seen running out of it, growing larger as it neared the giant-hippie-pancake-mall-like structure. Moments later, Ayo sprinted up to the ship and slumped right against it, unable to stop their momentum. Heaving for breath, they tilted their head back to see how it towered above them. They leaned in, kissed the outside of the hull and patted it a few times. During that first flight, they stood dutifully on the bridge of the Command Center. They checked on everyone and everything, alert and vigilant, more stoic than the real captain had ever been. When the purring engine rumbled in anticipation, licked its lips and let out excited growls with the initial maneuvers, Ayo lost it. The ship was moving. They were inside the ship and they were moving with it. Their eyes widened; their lips trembled; a strangled screech built up in their throat and they raced around the ship, running in circles at first, then dashing towards the nearest panoramic window and skipping up and down, squealing incessantly. Even after going through so much to keep their memories, they wished the others in the skeleton crew could forget about that moment in particular. During the next flights, they kept a poker face. They watched the ship as it continued to heal around them. They watched the crew slowly settle and grow, and they worked hard, digging through their memories to extract relevant information. Little by little, as Ayo cleared the way for them, more of Oor'cha's memories dared to show their face. They peeked in around the corner of Ayo's mind like informative signs on a historical trail, providing a guided tour of the ship. At first, it was mostly other people's dreams painted across the living quarters like vast murals full of bright hopes, or spiralling around the cozy rug where they had napped with new friends. Ayo skipped most of the other aliens' tales, retaining only the looks in their eyes, the feelings they'd shared, and images of the places they yearned to visit. Oor'cha really had too much memory for these things. Later on, they had to refrain from diving down the pool in the Command Center many times to visit old friends' offices. In the greenhouse, they remembered sidewinding down the coarse sand of a beach, their eyes scanning the area for signs of life. In the gym, they went back to wait where they had hugged Iki at the end of her workout routine. In the restaurant area, they remembered the bar from which Oor'cha was banned, and where they could now stroll without anyone to stop them - provided that the bar still existed. In the engine room, they found the spot where they had curled up amid the machinery and hummed along with its mechanical symphony. In the spa center, they remembered the hot tub. Boy, did they remember the hot tub. How had all those people even fit inside that one hot tub? It didn't matter. Ayo was glad that everyone had fit inside the hot tub, and that they remembered it. In a dark, secluded room, they remembered emerging from a tank of water and taking deep gulps of air, their skin soft and bright, with two new appendages wriggling whenever they moved their arms. Ayo's head had slid against the wall of the tank and stayed in an awkward angle while they slept. They jerked awake and winced, reaching up to rub their neck. The tank behind them was only half full. This room was where Oor'cha had hidden to shed their own skin, to curl up with their body in the barest, most vulnerable of states; it was where Ayo had dragged their sleeping bag and a few pillows, even though the days of slumber parties in the Command Center were mostly over. A faint memory of Oor'cha's moulting cycle must have been what brought them back here and made them exfoliate so much. Ayo wrapped their long, trailing pareo back around their shoulders - it was the only thing they wore those days - and rose to their feet - barefoot. Twenty extra pairs of shoes were stored neatly in their cabin. Not a single one had been worn since the beginning of their travels. Not even the one-of-a-kind boots that a world-famous fashion designer had made Ayo take out of her house during a temper tantrum. Ayo shuddered at the thought of so much footwear gathering dust. It was a crime against fashion. They turned off the soft lights inside the tank and picked up the tablet that still lay next to the sleeping bag. It was full of old documents that jogged their memories of how to run the ship, and new documents about updated technology and galactic politics, which Ayo had enough base knowledge to understand. They had stayed up so late to read the previous night. Squiggleform came back to them willingly enough, but it was a painstakingly slow process, like picking up a foreign language they'd studied in high school and never used since. The tablet was also full of pictures. There were some souvenirs of the RETON's travels, but the vast majority were Ayo's own pictures from Earth. "Oor'cha really wasn't one to take pictures," Ayo told Fionn by the side of the pool. "Preferred to live in the moment, enjoy the present and all. It was fine at first. They really regretted it by the end of their life, though." They flicked through photographs while lounging comfortably against the seal. "This is just a tiny selection of my photos. I've been taking so many. It's almost like I knew we'd be leaving Earth soon, and that I didn't have much time left to gather souvenirs." They had stopped on the picture of an idyllic beach, carefully angled between rough rocks that contrasted with the soft texture of the sand. They didn't need to tell Fionn that it looked incredibly similar to a beach where Iki and Oor'cha had shared a pleasant picnic. "There was a planet that looked a bit like this..." Ayo tossed the tablet away and it spun across the floor with a clatter. "I don't know. I don't know! I can't just pick a place. How could I know where to go next?" They buried their face in seal fluff. "It's not for me, anyway... it's for everyone." After a minute of phocine snuggling, Ayo emerged. "I'm sorry. I'd rather not talk about this stuff or even think about it, but I can't let it slip out through the back door of my head and turn into another beast. I just don't know who else might care. And I've got to do well enough and help them enough until they care, and I can earn their friendship again. It's so stupid to have to start over..." Ayo trailed off. Mina and Atif did care, but Ayo didn't want to overwhelm them - especially not Atif. Fionn did care, but he could never give them what Iki had given Oor'cha, and Ayo must never expect it of him. For the moment, he was giving them his most peaceful, innocent sea-puppy eyes, and nudged their hand softly. Ayo sighed and continued. They might discuss these things again later, while he was in human form. "Right after the memory of the crash leaked into us, I asked poor Scip to erase my memories. It was... really bad. But what I almost did later... I nearly asked Scip to do the opposite. To keep all of Oor'cha, and to delete my human mind somehow. I didn't ask because, aside from being awful to Scip, it was stupid. I mean, it was my human mind that did whatever we did to get rid of the Beast." They tapped their head with a bitter little laugh. "Neither of us wants to stay in this thing." Ayo stroked Fionn behind the ears almost apologetically. They watched carefully for signs of emotional overload. When he gave them a soft blink, Ayo carried on. "Is... is it weird that I was coping better before we killed the Beast? For a really long time, I've always had something to be scared of. I mean a big thing - there are always little things. I'm talking about a big fearmonster that pushes you. It made me move. It was a bit like a crutch. And now that it's gone, I don't really know how to move anymore. I'm sorry. I really don't want there to be another one." Ayo glanced at the seal, who was still listening with the most understanding and non-judgemental gaze any creature could muster. They were petting the fluffy side of his neck; he gave their wrist a gentle nudge. Ayo's bracelet was hanging quite loose around their arm. "Yes, I have been eating," they said. "I'm about to go to dinner, really. Just waiting for the initial rush to be over. Doc said he'll ground me on earth if I don't gain a bit of weight." They chewed their lip. "I want to ask if he's found anything about compatible anti-depressants used in space... maybe it's too early, though. I shouldn't bother him about it so soon." Ayo's medication was effective in that, most of the time, they felt nothing. They looked strong and steady enough while they were out on the bridge, listening to messages, reading reports and sending out instructions. In truth, that alone took up all of their strength. Ayo still hadn't taken more than a few steps outside the ship so far. They leaned back against the fluffy seal pillow. "We'll find a way. Our way. And I might even step out and do some exploring next time." They raised the tablet again. "But first, let me hug a selkie." It was a bit of a scramble, but Ayo managed to keep up and stay with the crew for the first flights of the ship. They're adjusting slowly. Memories are coming back. They receive Seal Therapy and confess feelings. They're lonely and have a hard time adapting to life without constant fear pushing them. They've a long way to recover. Good thing there's plenty of room in space. Fionn cameo used with the guidance of Celestial , that final line is for you bae. <3 Thank you so much, everyone. You've been amazing. <3
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