raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

neversmall: (036)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-29 06:11 pm (UTC)(link)
He's so soft! [ She is touching an actual mythical creature. This is amazing. Crooning a bit, being thoroughly charmed, ] Hello, Crow.

[ Nina glances up at Alex. ] Nina Zenik. A pleasure to meet you, Alex.
morozova: [ used with permission ] (pic#14861566)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-05-29 06:32 pm (UTC)(link)
( he has been thinking of that time in the baths, perhaps not actively but it still sits in the back of his mind, how close they'd been, how easily it could have tipped over into something more.

alina wanted to be his equal. this, in itself, wasn't a new concept. luda had had similar hopes, once. zoya, too, when she allowed herself the opportunity to be sentimental and not simply greedy. this was the first time it was an actual possibility, of course. he hadn't been joking when he'd called alina his balance. )


Are you planning on making a mess, Miss Starkov?

( there's a teasing lilt to the question. needless to say, he shucks first the tunic and then the shirt, passing them to her for storage. )

People might talk.
sunmon: (pic#14852203)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-29 06:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ this is the first time it occurs to her that the lack of privacy around here might just be working in her favor. the fact that she has not yet thrown herself at him again can easily be dismissed by the lack of access to meaningful time alone for those who don't have their own lean-tos assembled. every space is a public space.

alina feels particularly grateful for this as miss starkov leaves a confusing impression — respect, suggestion, and some latent sense that it's diminutive in some way.
]

I told you I've never done this before. [ she puts the shirts away while waiting for him to lather his face. it offers a good excuse not to consider the lean, smooth planes of his chest and shoulders. her still-present attraction to him should make it easier to flirt back comfortably, as she normally would, but it spooks her. she feels like she doesn't quite have a firm grip on him, on how he could be manipulating her. he'd already done it once. ]
mylawn: (pic#10933541)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-29 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I've got dibs.

[On what? Who knows. 76 is mostly joking, anyway, though from the dryness of his tone and the general status of Matthias as a relative stranger, it might not come across that way. The terrain is getting a little steeper, not that 76 shows any signs of slowing down.

He does, however, seem to have some sense of camaraderie, or maybe he just knows it would be a bad idea to get ahead of himself. He manages to pull himself up a rock scrabble and then turns to extend Matthias a hand.
]

Careful.
arnaults: (024)

[personal profile] arnaults 2021-05-29 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[ if nina is watching, she'll see dorothea's face fall slightly (or perhaps hear her heartbeat pick up) when she speaks of experimentation. perhaps their worlds aren't so different after all. the form of magic itself and all the little details might be unfamiliar - but maybe there'll always be evil out there, looking to take advantage.

what an awful thought. ]
Yes, we do. That's why I fought in my war, despite... well, despite everything.

[ so many old friends hurt, so much damage done. dorothea searches for something more hopeful to say. ] Maybe our worlds aren't so different. Yours has you, and mine has me. [ she pulls a smile onto her face, gestures between the two of them. ] Women ready to fight for what's right.
arnaults: (004)

[personal profile] arnaults 2021-05-29 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
That... sounds familiar. [ what else can she say, having just won a war against her world's church? dorothea considers the water a moment longer, then asks- ] What happened to her?
arnaults: (029)

[personal profile] arnaults 2021-05-29 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
As long as we stay grounded, I'm sure I'll be fine. [ there are certainly things dorothea are afraid of, but tight spaces aren't one of them. ] I appreciate the offer, though.
mylawn: (pic#12190498)

[personal profile] mylawn 2021-05-29 08:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's difficult to see what might be going on underneath that visor, but the pinch of his eyebrows is visible right at the top, as if he's considering what, if anything, he might want to do about the grin.

He reminds himself he's not out here to make enemies.
]

76.

[Which he understands is not a name, and often invites more questions, but he's willing to suck it up in the name of the buddy system. Now that he's given an introduction, however, he's quick to keep moving, assuming that Sam will keep up.]

spalten: (pic#14544839)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-29 09:16 pm (UTC)(link)
[ vidar frowns. ]

Well, your feet certainly won't be dangling anywhere. But the ... space for navigating and controlling the machine is small and normally just fit for one person, that's the problem.

If nothing else, you're free to come and visit it. [ a rather grim smile - ] It's something that the people here will count as 'hoarding resources', I believe, and I'm sure soon enough they'll be asking me to make it work for them considering the circumstances.
freightcars: (162)

[personal profile] freightcars 2021-05-29 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
( The guardian of my future happiness.

Bucky's own lips press into a line, and his eyes tug away toward some nothing-point off to one side.

After a beat, he murmurs a reluctantly wry:
)

Well, when you put it that way...

( Sounds a little different out loud than how he was thinking about it in his head. And... yeah, Steve's never made a choice because of something someone else thought or did, not really. Not about his own life, or himself.

He still doesn't feel good about it, but five years is a long way off for Steve. Who knows how long it'll be before any of that even matters, considering time travel. Considering where they are right now. Could be this changed nothing, could be it changed something, Bucky's not sure which of the two options are better — his selfishness hopes for one, his sense of his own integrity hopes for the other.

Guardian of future happiness. Jesus Christ.
)
Edited 2021-05-29 21:41 (UTC)
medik: (the killer awoke before dawn)

[personal profile] medik 2021-05-29 11:20 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yakov's frown doesn't move - Matthias is correct, but he's still less than thrilled about the entire situation. They're out in the open here, where anyone with a gun—even a bow and arrow—has a deadly advantage over them. Their hosts had mentioned another settlement, hadn't they? It's been lingering in the back of his mind and manifesting into his actions since they set out, but right now, now that they've stopped moving and he's not actively scanning the ground for snakes, it's floated to the surface of his thoughts.

Pressing his lips together, Yakov turns away from the ridge and back toward Matthias and his wolfdog. ]


Do you recognize any of those tracks?
wittingly: (Sʜᴇ's ᴀʟᴡᴀʏs ᴡᴏʀʀɪᴇᴅ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ʟɪᴋ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-29 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
( It's the natural inclination of most stoners to insist when they hear it doesn't have any effect on me. Their first reaction is typically something along the lines of you're just not inhaling properly, followed by an enthusiastic but slightly patronizing demonstration. Ian might've fallen into the same trap a couple of years ago, but--

They're on an alien fucking planet, he has magic powers, and the number of non-human people he knows is rapidly increasing by the day. He's going to go with the assumption that she knows her biology far better than he does, and instead pass the joint to the person off to her right.
)

Well--

( He says, voice a little thick from the last traces of smoke leaving his lungs. )

Let me ask you a question before I answer that. If weed doesn't have any effect on you, is your metabolism just insanely high? I mean-- have you ever been drunk? Does alcohol do anything for you?
Edited 2021-05-29 23:38 (UTC)
wittingly: (Tʜɪs Gɪʀʟ Wɪʟʟ Lᴇᴀᴠᴇ Mᴇ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-29 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
( He manages to restrain his laughter, but it doesn't quite keep the amused grin off of his face. His top teeth sink into his bottom lip for a second, and he feels a little bad for delighting at her response.

Sorry, it's just.

Fucking hilarious.
)

No, no, no, you're fine.

( His voice is steady and soothing, complete with a natural rasp that has absolutely nothing to do with smoking — though, that probably doesn't help matters. )

It's not toxic, it is... technically edible, it just— well, you know. Tastes like shit, so that's not really... how people... do that. It doesn't give you the desired effect when you eat it like that, so the only real... bad part is just that it's a little wasteful if plants are scarce.
wittingly: (Cᴏᴍᴇ ғʟᴀɪʟɪɴɢ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-29 11:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent question.

( He says with a little point, pleasant and completely unfazed. It's with the tone and the body language of a teacher particularly proud of a student for drawing the next natural conclusion that segues nicely into the next topic. )

There's no quantity limitation, but there is a quality limitation. What I mean by that is, I can only duplicate things up to a certain complexity level. When we start adding components or material types, it starts screwing up and nothing happens.

( Guess what he did for a living back home. If you said 'teaching' you win a prize. )
Edited 2021-05-29 23:47 (UTC)
wittingly: (sᴏᴀᴋᴇᴅ ɪɴ ʙʟᴇᴀᴄʜ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-29 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)
( He cottons on, a little, to the vague feeling of help being a temporary concept when Alex refers to it. He says nothing of it, and he completely understands that impulse in other people. But...

Even this shitty world is better than his home so far. There doesn't, for instance, seem to be a short and constantly ticking timer counting down to an extremely unpleasant expiration date. He's happy to do what he can to help others get home, but unless he can get back to New Amsterdam, his roots are now here.
)

I'm totally positive you will be. For instance...

( A thoughtful, contemplative squint. )

If we find fish, can you tell which ones are sushi candidates and which ones are puffer fish terrible? That probably sounds super unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but I'd stab my partner for a rainbow roll right now.

( Clearly they are on the very opposite ends of the heart-hurting spectrum here. )
Edited 2021-05-29 23:53 (UTC)
cleaningsolutions: (Default)

[personal profile] cleaningsolutions 2021-05-30 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
[It is completely possible that the friendly local janitor who's so free with the product has already done exactly that with Mops, and she's glad to escape another round of weed-troubleshooting.]

I've just got different biochemistry. Most drugs and poisons barely have an effect on humans - on cured humans. [She corrects herself self-consciously.] I think we metabolize things differently.

We feel effects from alcohol, and caffeine for that matter, but we might need more of either, or there's some added active ingredient. I don't know. People like you don't exist anymore, not in the galaxy as I know it.
usurpurr: ([s5] 61)

[personal profile] usurpurr 2021-05-30 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
1. - Basecamp (Bunks)

[You'd think that, having spent most of her life sleeping in shared barracks, Catra would be used to them. That maybe she'd find the presence of so many other people comforting, or be reassured by the camaraderie of shared quarters.

But all she feels, as another loud snore rings in her ears, is that she is this close to snapping. She'd gotten used to the peace and quiet of her private room, and having the space to spread out across her bed as she saw fit. This hammock clings too tightly around her, restricts the agitated lashing of her tail, and even as graceful as she is, she still has trouble clambering out of it when her allocated sleeping shift is over. Not to mention the fact that it stinks. There is something that is just so gross about laying in the same cocoon as what smells like dozens of other people before her.

The snoring quiets down just long enough for the hard press of her hands against her ears to relax, and just as Catra thinks she might actually start to doze off -- it starts again, with a vengeance. She groans, loud and frustrated, and sits up in her wobbling hammock to glare in the direction of the offender.]


You've got to be kidding me. [She's not keeping her voice down at all, or hiding her aggravation. She can't be the only one kept awake by this, can she?]


2. - Basecamp (Outside)

[The barracks suck, but that's fine. Catra's found somewhere where she can nap any time she wants. (Which isn't that often. By the time the first week's out, there are tired lines under her eyes; easily explained away by the difficulty of adjusting to a communal sleeping space.)

The first time she does it, she can hear the alarm of the crew who watch her. Scaling up the side of the massive dragon isn't an easy task, and her muscles are burning by the time she makes it to the top - but as Catra's chest heaves with exertion, something of a spark returns to her eyes. The view is incredible from the height she's scaled to; the puffs of her breath mist in the chilled air, and she doesn't even care as she stares out at the horizon, drinking it in. Her claws ache, her heart's hammering, and adrenaline's a familiar friend surging through her body. Anybody who's capable of following her up that high will find Catra at her most congenial up there, in those moments when she's still riding that thrill.

It quickly becomes her go-to spot, and while the crew doesn't stop side-eyeing her for it, they eventually stop gasping and yelling whenever she makes her way up or down. (She's not cautious about either; leaping and scrabbling almost as much as she slides, and never once feeling like she might fall.)

At any given point, that's where she'll be: up on top of the Leviathan, oblivious to the crew gently freaking out below her.]



3. - Go Fetch

[There are downsides to having established herself as a confident climber, Catra learns as soon as this chore's dumped on her. She's not worried about encountering anything along the way to the cliffs (please, the wildlife should be running from her) -- but if the way she keeps glancing suspiciously at the sky is any indication, she is worried about the acid rain.

(Maybe if she ever actually put shoes on, she'd have less to worry about re: puddles and splashback. But she hasn't, so that's on her.)]


Can't you move any faster? [She's a fast traveller, and convinced that she could have done this all on her own; so any small stop or setback will have her ears turning down as her patience wanes. And yet, she's sticking with her buddy, keeping within a few paces no matter how slow or distracted they are. That's... teamwork?]


Wildcard

[After a few days of being irritable and close-guarded, Catra starts wearing someone else's red jacket. It hides the black, wing-like symbols emblazoned on the back and chest of her white jumpsuit, and she's in a slightly more amenable mood after acquiring it.

Having established a reputation for herself among the Adamant's crew as being uncooperative and unreasonable, it's no surprise that they treat her a little stiffly. She did, after all, refuse point blank to participate in any rescues, and gave them a hell of a time during her interrogation and medical exam - and it's only after she sorts out some issues and starts wearing that jacket that she begins to contribute to the camp's efforts at all.

At the end of the day, despite how much she hates being here, she does know that it takes everyone pulling their weight to move an army. So when a harried teenager drags her in to the Theatre as a distraction for the crying toddlers, Catra fights back the urge to hiss at the small hands that reach in fascination for her bristling tail. And when an exhausted worker slaps a shovel unceremoniously into her hands, she rolls her eyes and takes over their digging of the latrines. It's a far cry from the efforts of leadership, and she feels like a scolded cadet sulking through her squad's punishments, but for now Catra doesn't argue too much about the grunt work she's being assigned.

...She just bitches the whole time she's doing it.]
Edited 2021-05-30 01:03 (UTC)
capt_childe: (Default)

[personal profile] capt_childe 2021-05-30 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
She gestures for his comm device with a tired sigh. As much as she's not the sort to easily trust, she also isn't fool enough to deny her people the potential of a resource when it falls into her lap. "I'll adjust your clearance. You'll be able to access our restricted records of the local flora and fauna. Not top clearance — you won't be able to see new entries as they're added to the compendium or edit files — but you can look at anything that's been verified by my people."
capt_childe: (NEUTRAL - PROFILE)

[personal profile] capt_childe 2021-05-30 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm not saying you are enemies. But I'm not going to let you run around unchecked just yet. You've been fed and taken care of. If you think a few days in a cage while we determine if there are any among your number may mean us harm is too much, then I'm sorry. I'm not budging on this. I have no doubt we'll be able to start letting you all out soon, and until then you're just going to have to sit tight."

She sits her coffee back at the desk, and leans forward. Arms on the table, bracing her. She's got broad shoulders, a clear penchant for physical labor and she's faintly sunburnt from the Ethyrian heat. "As for my questions, I'm cataloguing where everyone is from and who they are with an eventual hope of returning you all to your worlds. I don't give a rat's ass if you don't want to share, you'll only be harming your chances of getting home."
capt_childe: (Default)

[personal profile] capt_childe 2021-05-30 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
That's an interesting bit of information she hadn't anticipated he might give her, and she makes a note on her tablet, a little device that looks like a sheet of clear plastic. It's keyed to only interface with her officer's implant, so no one but her can see the contents of the screen.

"What was the catalyst for your arrival in this place, 'New Amsterdam'?" She recognizes the name Amsterdam from history, but there's never been a new version of it, not on her Earth. Perhaps she's curious, or perhaps she's simply homesick. She does miss Earth, sometimes.
capt_childe: (NEUTRAL)

[personal profile] capt_childe 2021-05-30 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
Her fingers spasm slightly against her coffee mug. She hasn't been on Earth in years, but she still misses it. She left more than just her city behind.

"What was the year?" Because she's met enough people today from alternate versions of the world she knows, she doesn't expect his story will be any different. But if it is... she owes it to Earth's citizens to know, even if there's nothing to be done from this far out.
trassel: (13.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-30 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hmph. Better only now, if that was a sweet white lie (it isn't) it would have been artfully sold. He displaces Trassel easily — how dare you broski, you know he likes to be close to Nina too. ]

You have been very busy with them.

[ Matthias not so; he can see how they're useful, but they're confusing. The faces made the most sense, the others he doesn't recognise and isn't sure what to make of them. ]
neversmall: (075)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-30 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
Saints, what do you intend to do with a live dragon? [ Nina would plan to hide, fyi. ]
wittingly: (Cᴏᴍᴇ ғʟᴀɪʟɪɴɢ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-30 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
Huh.

( He muses, a tiny little interested grunt. He slopes forward, elbows settling on knees, clearly settling in for a whole entire fucking list of questions he suddenly has about everything she just said. )

So — first of all, being stoned is kind of pretty similar to being drunk. It's like that... really buzzed stage, but instead of being all sloppy and sea-legs you're just chill. Doesn't make you stop thinking so much as it makes you kind of think in circles so much that after a few minutes you forget what you were thinking of to start with. Makes some people giddy, makes other people anxious. But like, more importantly, second of all--

( What's interesting, maybe, is that Ian doesn't exactly talk fast. He's got a nice, steady drawl that's unhurried and well-enunciated. It's just that it doesn't really stop. It rolls from sentence to sentence fluidly, with barely a pause in between. )

I have, like, a fuckton of questions about cured humans, we, and people like me don't exist anymore. What's up with that?
neversmall: (084)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-30 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ She smiles up at him as he is, suddenly, closer. ] It was a nice surprise. They're so very impractical - and colorful.

[ She smiles up at him, not feeling ashamed of her enjoyment, but a little on the edge of uncertain - she's still not sure what that bit about stars and flowers was about. ]