station72 | A CURRENT FLOWING

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A CURRENT FLOWING

CHARACTERS: Everyone (really)
WHERE: Outside of the Memory Bank, On the Lam, The Stealth Ship, and Station 72
WHEN: DAY :052/DAY :001
SUMMARY: Things don’t go exactly as planned. When do they ever?
WARNINGS: Violence, death, allusions to weaponized suicide. Will update further if necessary.

THE RIGHT PEOPLE:
Erastos Loke & Friends
When you finally catch up to Erastos Loke - his paper, his pens, his elegant furniture and his heavily-lidded eyes - it doesn’t take long to get him to talk. All he needs is a little persuasion or a lot of torture? Or, wait. Maybe we got those two mixed up. Either way, he starts to give the strike team intel once the screws are turned on him.

You’ve already begun to suspect most the information Loke gives over. H+H1 has stayed hidden by avoiding any strong organization and by staying extremely low-tech. Additionally, the most powerful members have been quietly manipulating Concordia’s politics and security to keep the actions of the organization obscured. They’ve tipped off Gorram Saffit, they’ve mislead and blackmailed the police. When you begin to press Loke about who gave them the devices that have allowed their bombs to become so deadly, he tells you frankly that he doesn’t understand them. They were given to him by a man - or someone who looked like a man, he clarifies, when Carata asks - who he had assumed to be some wealthy foreigner until he realized he couldn’t find any evidence of the gentleman’s existence. The mysterious stranger had given Loke the devices which consisted of two dozen small parts that could easily retrofit almost any bomb and allowed them to bypass Concordian security systems looking for highly modernizes tech. Prior to the stranger’s involvement, Loke had already been working with a number of his H+H1 associates - the stranger had sympathized and supported them, and the devices provided the power they needed. Who else has access to these devices? No one. Only Loke.

Unfortunately, when the hosts ask further probing questions about the mysterious stranger’s identity - Did he say who he was? Where he came from? - something goes very, very wrong. Erastos looks briefly stricken, then dabs at his nose. It’s bleeding? Quite a lot, actually. He barely has time to cry out before he begins bleeding from his eyes, his nose and his ears. Then Loke drops to the lush carpet beneath his feed, dead. Oops.

Before the hosts have time to react, an alarm starts to blare through the townhouse. Apparently Loke has a second security system tied to his vital signs. Suffice to say, your cover probably won’t survive this long. It might be a good idea to get the heck out of dodge and make your way to the rendezvous point for extraction.

IN THE GAP WHERE IT SPARKS:
The Memory Bank & H+H1’s Bomb Squad
Thanks to the Batman + Prep Time and the Jr. Technophile, the bomb planted by H+H1 deep in the depths of the Omega Memory Bank is successfully located and disarmed although not without cutting it dangerously close to the wire.

Unfortunately nobody gets the chance to wipe the sweat from their brow. The H+H1 bomb squad knows the exact moment the bomb was supposed to go off, and they know exactly when they’ve failed. So even though Sirius and Company seemed like they could handle three average everyday people, they don’t get the chance. The lead Bomber makes the subtlest move towards her pocket - and triggers a secondary, smaller explosive on her person. The three members of the bomb squad are eliminated (hope you were standing a safe distance away, Sirius n’ Co), and while the collateral damage isn’t anything to sneeze at, it’s far from destructive enough to destroy the bank. Further, the explosion isn’t laced with any EMP blasts. While the hosts may not even be injured, the explosion definitely trips the Memory Bank’s fire suppression system as well as its local alarms. Soon (very soon), Concordian Public Security and Fire Teams will be on the scene. The hosts won’t want to be there when they arrive.

SHEPHERDS AND YOUR CROWNS OF STARS:
Escaping Concordia & Returning to the Station
With Loke dead and the secret of the Enemy’s retrofit tech gone with him, and H+H1’s plot to blow the Memory Bank hamstrung by the efforts of the hosts, it’s time to get off planet. Lets be honest: your cover identities were never going to survive this. Luckily, between the minor explosion and a jail break causing riots under the city, Public Security can’t exactly rally their forces to come chasing after the hosts. They have much bigger fish to fry. Carata and Nirad made sure that all the hosts - Loke’s infiltration squad, the bomb disarmament group and the prison breakers - knew where to meet up after their respective assignments: a concrete channel for runoff where a familiar bus is waiting to sweep you all away to the outskirts of the city. It’s less pressing to be invisible now. No one will be left on the planet to suffer the consequences; any comatose members of the Nest have been carefully packed into the bus too. Isn’t that nice?

Once they arrive at the outskirts of the sprawling diamond-glittering city, a point of black in the sky elongates and expands as the stealth tech strips back from the ship that once brought them all here. With straggles wrangled and comatose friends carefully stowed, everyone boards the ship and rockets off from Opia’s surface. Concordia with its high rises and neon, its holographic advertisements and its press of humanity, its ever present buzz of synthetic paired with organic, falls rapidly away below the ship until it’s merely one bright point of many on a densely populated planet. And then Opia too drops away, becoming a dark marble in a deeper, blacker space. When the stealth ship jumps away, it does so with a nauseating jerk.

It’s a short trip back to the Station, the closest thing any of you have to home. Cathaway and Prince are waiting there to collect their equipment (though any additional souvenirs are yours to keep) and to welcome them back.

It’s been a long time and there are new faces to greet you. Time to get caught up. Set your clocks to DAY: 001.

((OOC Notes: Feel free to play any of these events out. We’ll dip in with NPCs and so forth if it seems necessary/y’all ask, but feel free to take control of anyone if it lends to your threads. Backtagging and backdating is, as always welcome.

As of this log, all hosts have (more or less) safely arrived back on Station 72; all hosts - newly hatched and old hats - may now interact. YAY!

If you have any general questions, please hit up either the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

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[ Now that Peter's awake, and back on the station at that, it feels a little like deja vu.

He's been here before, wandering around the rooms, looking for ways to bide his time, looking for opportunities to figure out what makes his fellow nesters tick, why they're here the way he is. And all that without looking too nosy. ]

You - uh. You got any recommendations?

[In contrast, Lexa barely hides her nosiness. When she pokes around, it's a matter of seeing how someone might perceive a situation. She doesn't care if they've just arrived with a symbiote in their head. That's part of why she's here: it's a good room to learn about others.

When he asks, she studies him for a moment, recognizing that she doesn't know what to recommend. Treating others like they have facets to learn rather than being tools of usefulness is hard for her, and it's a habit she'll ... probably not try hard to kick.]

I'd say it depends on what you prefer.

That's the question, isn't it?

[ Peter links his hands together, putting them behind his neck as he gazes at the small shelf of books to one side of the wall.

He scans a title or two before he turns back to present company. ]

Is it a matter of learning stuff that could be useful to us while we're here? Or uh - can we just read something we enjoy for the sake of enjoyment?

I'd say what is useful here only depends on if it's from the culture of the people still caught here. There are books on strategic approaches, as well as the art of war, but they may do little than frustrate you. We're not much of a "side" as we currently stand.

[It's clear she's thought of this. Still, she delves through different books to see the successes and weaknesses of different cultures: in their perceptions of themselves, in their values, and everything else. Knowing of these things doesn't mean she absorbs them, but preparation is always necessary. Lexa has accepted that for as long as she's awake, much will depend upon that.]

Perhaps the real question is this: did you read for enjoyment before you got here? And what did you read?

Science stuff, mostly. And yeah - yeah, I guess it was enjoyable. I mean, I was doing some research on something pretty important at the time.

[ Mostly things to do with his father and the experiments he and Norman Osborn had been tampering with before they both, eventually, died (or, in his dad's case, was killed). Science has always been an interest of Peter's, however. With or without his father's influence, Peter gets a kick out of figuring out how life works on a molecular level.

Some of these things, and certainly these feelings, can probably be felt on some level through the mental link. ]

Chemistry. Biochemistry. Physics. That kinda stuff.

I'm still learning about these things myself. I tend more toward history and books of treatises. That said—[After a moment, she does get up to cross the room. There are a number of odd objects over here, in part because this section of the Station is a mish-mash of belongings from previous Hosts. She wonders, idly, if any of the old hosts will awaken, the ones who had come before them. Before her. It's a question that may be better suited for Cathaway.

At the bottom of the pile is a collection of books, as well as a device full of texts. Think of it as an off-world kindle, one that's been left and abandoned. But thankfully, it's charged, or maybe it doesn't need to be charged. While Lexa is hardly from a culture where she's called upon to rummage through things like this (or rather: anymore), she's clearly done inventory of this room. With the stack of books in hand, topped off with the device, she carries them back.]

I can't speak to the condition of the information, or if it matches up. But I think having an understanding of how people approach problems or the science behind those problems may prepare you in the future. On Concordia, we were fortunate to have people who were technologically inclined, but the nature of that mission suggests that it may have been unique. [Unless the Enemy is really trying to damage technological progress in the multiverse.]

Yeah, that - that sounds pretty helpful.

[ Peter stays where he is, turning to watch Lexa head over towards the other side of the room to retrieve a modest stack of light reading.

He gives some of the titles a quick glance, unsure how much time they'd have for him to get to really dig into this stuff, but grateful for the recommendations all the same. ]

What do you think might come up for us next?

[ Peter's fine where technology is concerned, but he won't lie that some of what they'd been doing on Concordia went beyond his head. Particularly when it came to the politics. ]

It may depend. I wonder if we'll ever be asked to rescue other hosts like ourselves. We might have an opportunity to change the recruiting process. [The part of it where it's so similar to how her people were dragged into the Mountain is what doesn't sit right with her. No matter how much this guarantees life, there is still the loss of "sense of self" that factors in.]

Cathaway has offered me insight to past missions. I intend to find patterns, and perhaps we'll see how our Enemy tends to act. We'll know where to begin. If I find these patterns, I can take care to share them with you. [It's an offer that can be rescinded, as she doesn't know him. Just the same, it's better to offer, to begin finding the ties that she had done little to foster between her coma and the difficulties of what had proved to be the tail end of her experience in Concordia. She knows better than to openly ostracize others once again.]

Change the recruiting process? There's a recruiting process?

[ Because all it felt like to him was getting his ass kicked and seeing no other choice but to leave his home and everyone he ever loved to be here.

Oh, wait.

Peter rubs the spot between his eyes but shakes off the grim thought. ]

Really?

[ Pooling resources, working together with other nesters - Peter isn't all that used to it, honestly. Ever since Gwen had died, he'd been reluctant to team up with anyone for fear of their life, and working alone seemed like a safe bet in comparison ...

But this is a different universe, different circumstances, and maybe Peter needs to realize that. ]

I mean, yeah. Yeah, definitely. That'd be cool, thanks.

Giving a true choice is better than the illusion of one. [The latter is what remains right now. People are often aware of what options they are taking when they save themselves. It might involve the murder of countless others, but they are still aware.]

But I've had hopes of us being more functional despite the illusion of choice since we've arrived. I can only hope that what I learn from Cathaway will better prepare us for the future.

[Lexa is usually a person in charge forcing others to work together while following her orders. Now, it's a matter of acting intelligently while getting her plans to be listened to (and listening to others, which is a skill she ... tends to only utilize whn she likes the person).

But growing pains are growing pains.]

Probably not a bad person to learn from, honestly. She ... seems kinda weird, but she knows her way around this place.

[ And she'd given him some pretty good advice at the time, as far as being a complete newbie is concerned. Peter will remember that. ]

Yeah. I get what you mean, though. About giving someone a real choice. Because this - I mean, I can't even call it a recruitment process because there was no process. Not really.

I got here and suddenly I've got this ... thing living in my head too.

There are those that would choose death before this. [Lexa isn't so certain that she would be one of them, but it's hard to say. Before she learned that she did die, that there are those who have mourned her deaths in realities so similar to her own, it had been different. She had accepted that when she died, it would be what was meant to happen.

Things have changed now. She's changed, caught between the meant-to-bes and the desire to live.]

And those who would prefer to simply know what it means to choose life. There's much that should be changed. I doubt our symbiotes would be without for long regardless. [It might be a matter in which people did reject the helping hand, but it's hard to say.]

Probably got a bunch of guys lined up if we say 'no', huh?

[ And he never even got the name of his symbiote before it moved into his head and started sharing his brain functions. ]

Guess I didn't even think to choose death instead of this because ... maybe a part of me thinks that after all this is over, there's still a chance I can go home.

I believe the thought is that the longer that we are here, the less that we will desire that. Who we are will be defined less by our lives before, and more by the next. Carata told me that she doesn't know how long she's been here, but it's been so long that she's lost count. It doesn't matter to her. [The words are haunting, but they come with some sense of discomfort, one that radiates in the air between her and Peter. They may not share a brood, but she still hasn't come to deal with this fact. Not completely. Her mental trip with her fellow commanders had only served to exacerbate this particular problem.] More to the point, the longer we are here, the less of a chance that we will have something to return home to.

[It's all about the passage of time. What are homes without the societies that define them? Who would they be to the worlds they left behind?]

Man, that's - I mean, I guess that might be reality of this whole thing, but -

[ The thought of never seeing his Aunt May again or New York City ... of seeing Queens and swinging through the skyscrapers of Manhattan ... it's almost unbearable. It's weird to think that he could miss something so much, but then he'd never known anything else. The furthest he'd ever gone was New Jersey, and Jersey ... well, after that visit, he didn't think he was missing all that much.

(Sorry, Jersey.) ]

You think that's gonna be true? For all of us?

Yes. [Lexa would like to pretend that she feels nothing about this. She would like to feel no remorse in sharing this. Unfortunately, neither of those things are true. Perhaps being in the Nest has made her care more for others—or made her more aware that she always had. She is the leader of her people, after all.] Unless we find a way to end this conflict quickly. But we have no way of knowing when it began.

Not yet. Right? I mean, that kind of information can't be gone completely if we do a little digging.

[ So, okay, maybe Peter is jumping on board with this idea a little quick. The 'unless' is like a beacon of hope. It's his way back to Earth. It's his way back to Aunt May, and that - to him - would get him up and dancing if someone only asked. ]

We just gotta - find the right source.

Yes, but if there is no beginning, how can we be certain that there will be an end? [Despite Cathaway's offers of information, Lexa still has her doubts that Cathaway can be as forthcoming as she'd like. It's why she's trying to do all that she can to corroborate what she knows, to take things in step. They have time, even if some of the other hosts don't think so. She desires the chance to return home, too, even if she might die soon after. But they can't strike out in ignorance.]

I guess that's a good point.

[ There has to be a beginning though. Peter is confident about that. Every story has a beginning. Every mission, every path, every war, every call for peace ... it all started with something. They just need to find that point.

As for the end, well the end is a little more vague. ]

But there's always an end. Even if the end is ...

[ Peter shrugs, miming the hand motion for 'death' by drawing a finger across his neck. ]

[Lexa's lips quirk at the mimed action. It's part amusement, part bittersweet thought.]

My people believe that life doesn't end in death, only our fight. [The words come easily, with a lightness to her tone that surprises her. But perhaps it's still that bittersweet thought slipping in. (It likely is.)]

I believe the thought may be true here. We may die, but the Nest lives on. So part of us may live in the Nest, whether we like it or not.

Your people?

[ Peter realizes he actually doesn't know a whole lot about Lexa, or a whole lot about anyone he's sharing this spaceship and thoughts with. Glimpses of foreign imagery, sharp edges of emotion are all he has to go on. It's like being on the periphery of something that feels so familiar. ]

The Nest. [ He repeats. ] I'm starting to get some really creepy vibes about this Nest.

Where I come from, it's a common way to refer to ourselves. [Only in arriving here has she seen the difference. It's odd, to see the stakes being placed on family or on something else entirely. She doesn't always see it, or investigate it, but that's because a lot of it is new.] More than that, I'm their leader. Being brought here meant that they were without. In that, I didn't only die, but I disappeared, and a part of our culture disappeared with me.

That's a lot of responsibility to put on your shoulders. But - nah, I get it. Makes you getting back home to your people a whole lot more important, doesn't it?

[ Don't let him get into his 'with great power' speech, because he will totally do it. ]

Who's to say that my return will mean anything? People adapt. I've been gone for a long time now.

[It's hard to say how long. Her perception of it is skewed, thanks to the back and forth on missions.]

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A CURRENT FLOWING

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