[hatch log] pull plug, enter multiverse

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: The Station + Concordia
WHEN: DAY :025 - :026
SUMMARY: Somewhere deep in Station 72, a hatch happens; new hosts arrive on Concordia.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

YOU WAKE UP and in a very real sense you are born again. You’re not the same person you were the last time your eyes were open. You’ll never be that person again - well, except for you, Jessica Jones. You know how this part goes, don’t you?

You might not know it right away, though. What you do know is that you’re laying down in a place very different than you were before. The walls angle around you, claustrophobic, and they emit a gentle white light that’s faint enough not to hurt your freshly opened eyes. For a moment you feel fine even if you didn’t before you went under. Whatever injuries you might have had, whatever agony you may have been experiencing, whatever fear dogged your heels, they’re all gone. It’s quiet. When you’re conscious enough to take stock of anything beyond that, you realize that you’re wearing your own clothes and that there’s a faint pinch at the base of your skull - notable as the only discomfort you feel. Reach up, feel along the tube running from the base of your neck to the compartment’s back wall. It pulls free without much fuss.

Then it’s not so quiet anymore. There’s the sensation of something more, something louder, something both big and broad and something intimately near to you. There’s the realization that you aren’t alone, that you won’t ever be alone again. You belong here. This is as correct as the murmur of something like muffled voices in the back of your head is somehow familiar, or how the press of emotion that sweeps over you now doesn’t necessarily belong to you but doesn’t feel out of place either.

You can sit up - barely -, and shift out of the pod. There’s a ladder at your feet, and a little cubby just before it with anything you brought with you, as well as a set of crisp, loose-fitting white clothes; while your injuries are healed, whatever you’re wearing is in the exact state it was before. You can hear a sound in the back of your head, a faint buzzing, something like distant waves or the murmur of a party behind a door. Drop down the ladder to the floor of the Nesting Deck and you’ll find you’re not alone - and the those sounds in your head are louder. Other people’s thoughts swim up: some of them seem clear, most of them are a jumbled mess. Some of these people call to you - their voices are louder, their feelings more clear, they feel right. Further, there’s an awareness that there are others like you - not here, not close, but somewhere: an indelible tug at the back of your mind.

Welcome to Station 72. All new hosts will have one day aboard the Station before being whisked off to Concordia to join the others. Get to know the other new hosts, and ask the guardians of the Station - Prince and Cathaway -, any burning questions you might have. By the time the day has passed, Carata will arrive on the hangar to collect you.



MEANWHILE IN CONCORDIA Angel slips into a coma on :025 at almost at the exact same time that some Hosts become aware of missing pieces fitting into place. Those hosts with new brood members waking up on the station will feel somewhere more complete; you might want to let everyone know you’ll be getting new roommates soon.

Everyone might be putting themselves and their broods back together in the wake of the explosion that left the nest down one host and injected everyone with renewed motivation to either find the people responsible or make sure nothing like what happened at Royal Street ever happens again. Things are progressing on multiple fronts, but on DAY 26 there’s an option to put some of those efforts on the back burner...

     ON THE STATION, the new hosts are herded onto a sleek, black brick-shaped transport. Carata, a woman young enough to almost be called a girl, carefully makes sure everyone is seated and strapped in. She’s all gentle, easy smiles and cheerful responses to any questions posed to her. When everyone’s safely aboard, the ship’s landing platform descends through the floor of the hangar. It snaps into place in the airlock and for a moment there’s a beat of perfect stillness, a shiver of anticipation. Then the transport is flung through the shaft, ejected into the wild black of space. There’s a nauseating lurch in your belly as it bursts through the delicate shell of the multiverse and snaps into real space above the blue and yellow marble of the planet Opia. Somewhere, thousands of miles below in the city of Concordia, your brood is waiting for you.

     IN CONCORDIA
IN CONCORDIA, as dark falls, Nirad announces he’s going to fetch Carata and the new hosts from their landing. Anyone’s welcome to accompany him on the hour long drive to the stealth transport’s landing zone. The rented bus - manned by that same (now very stoic) android - takes everyone to the outskirts of the industrial block. They arrive at a different parking garage just as the stealth transport drops out of the sky, shivering into sight as it touches down. The hosts on the ship step down and then the stealth transport lifts back off the rooftop and wrinkles out of sight. It’s unclear how many more time they’ll be able to get away with this.

Get your meet and greets in and stretch your legs; you have a few minutes before everyone piles into the van and takes the long drive back to the Bearings Apartment block where the hosts have rented out the entirely of Level 13. New hosts will find there are rooms there that as of yet unclaimed, and they’re free to begin making this their home in whatever ways they please. Get familiar with your new comrades, explore the city, or maybe just take a well deserved breather. Officially speaking, nothing much happens until--

     EARLY ON DAY 27

A NEW WINDOW POPS UP IN YOUR EXTRANET PANEL...

---

((OOC Notes: This is the hatch log for all new and recently returning hosts; any threads on the Station should be closed to newly awakened hosts or Station-based NPCs; a top level for Cathaway and Prince will be going live shortly. Any threads on Concordia can be open to both new and old hosts! For anything happening beyond these calendar dates, feel free to create your own logs and posts.

If you have questions about the mission specifically, direct them to the most recent calendar post HERE. You can find a more detailed overview of the hatching process HERE; you might also want to take a glance at the MISSION CONCORDIA BRIEFING. For all other questions, please hit up either the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages.))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[tropism]

DAY 25

THE HATCH.

[ after the quiet, giorno has to make sure to himself that he isn't quite dead. somehow he's not in venice anymore and he can't find mista. dread forces him to be quiet, to be antsy, looking around his surroundings with a face that's pale and a sense of forced calm that keeps his jaw shut and teeth grinding as he observes and listens around the room. he tries to take even breaths. it is not enough, for a minute, and even then there are voices presses against his head that it's rather annoying, until giorno ends up snapping, in exasperation - ]

Be quiet.

[ but it's more for him than it is to anyone else.

giorno massages his forehead, trying to get his bearings again. apparently that doesn't work to the other voices, only sheer willpower does. he's reluctant to come down from his pod, and it takes him a while, mostly watching the others to see if anything else will happen once they come out of the pod. when nothing else does, giorno steps down carefully. but when he does, gold experience flits right behind him, like a shadow. he isn't aware that it can be seen. it's humming with a frantic, nervous energy that giorno is trying to keep under lock and key, never too far from wherever it is that he's moving from, ghost-like in a golden light.

giorno is staring at everything and everyone with wide, blue eyes, fear and surprise and anticipation as he takes in the surroundings and how real everything is. he purses his lips. his throat feels dry the way it does when one just has a long sleep, and the first time he tries to talk his voice cracks embarrassingly, so he tries again. no-one heard that. ]

Is there coffee? I need one, before anything else.



THE GARDEN

[ he's here because he's feeling restless. there's only so many games and books one can play and read until one gets bored, and giorno makes his way to the gardens, merely out of curiousity for whatever it is that they keep in here.

the other reason is more out of anxiety than anything. at a corner of the garden, giorno takes one of the ladybug pins from his coat, and passes his hands over it, until it turns into a spider, its legs delicately crawling around his wrist. another flick of his hand, and the spider seems to fold itself back into the solid form of the pin. it happens in a minute or so. ]

Oh, excellent.



TRANSPORT

[ barely anything in concordia is familiar to giorno, and he can't help but stare at the buildings, at the .... citizens of the city. in fact, if no-one's keeping track of him, he's probably going to be left behind as he's too busy staring at everything in wonder. it's probably rude of him to gawk at cybernetic attachments, but that's what he's doing anyway. he's seen some fairly crazy things in his short life, but there aren't any robots in venezia, and one expects Stands, by law of nature, to be ridiculous anyway.

he looks like a kid in a candy store, in other words. he wants to touch and prod and see what will happen if gold experience touches these synthetic hybrids. what does life mean here? he's read the briefing, and giorno sympathizes with the humans and their struggle, but even so, what's been achieved by the advancements in AI tech is so amazing to him that giorno can't help but admire them. when he talks his voice is more animated, and fast. ]

Have you seen that movie? With the bullets, and the guys in the trenchcoats? That's what this reminds me of.

DAY 26 - CONCORDIA.

KITCHEN.

[ he's going to ask whomever's in the kitchen at the moment. giorno's super excited about something, and he's trying not to get ahead of himself. once he gets hold of you, he'll ask - ]

Do you wanna go to the menagerie with me? Or the drag strip? Or Platform 12? [ a pause. ] Only if you're not too busy.

[ please go out with him ]

DAY ??? - WILDCARD

ANYWHERE, JUST SPECIFY IN TAG

[ hit me up with anything else! ]

DAY 26

[decommission]

[ The current kitchen inhabitant is a young man of short stature, fading bruises and a black eye coloring one side of his face (you should see the other guy would be his go to joke). He's got a cup of coffee-like liquid in his hand as he turns, broken from his distant thoughts and his morning check of the extranet to cock his head slightly to one side. ]

Huh - [ Brow furrows, then smooths. The hand that had been tracking over the invisible interface connected to his earpiece lowers. This must be - ] Uh, yeah - I can show you around. [ His shoulders straighten. ] I'm Steve.

[ He offers a hand. ]

[tropism]

Giorno.

[ he takes the hand for a firm shake, but falters at the sight of his face, and then the earpiece. giorno frowns, worry on his face as he considers his wants versus everything else. ]

Are you injured? I can help. [ let me, he tries not to add, but it's very obvious. it's his first time in a group where he's not the invader, the parasite, he wants to be good. ] We can postpone the tour some other time, until you're well.

[decommission]

[ Steve's hand falls back to his side and to the second part he starts shaking his head. ]

I've got two good legs, I'm good to go. [ He's insistent on that, his pride has been taking a bit of a self-inflicted licking since the day of the bombing. No one's outright babied him over his injuries, but he's overly sensitive to the thought that someone might.

Though, he raises an eyebrow. ] Help how?

[tropism]

Alright.

[ he won't push, if he says he's fine. at the question, giorno tilts his head, wonders about how to best explain his abilities. finally, he settles with, ] I can fix injuries. But it's a bit painful. It's separate from .... this. [ a hand gesture as if to say, everything else, symbiotes and all that stuff ]

I suppose, if you need a healer, you can call on me. I can fix you up in no time, up to and including amputations. [ a pause. ] Best not to wait on those, though. And hopefully, one that you wouldn't have to call on me for.

kitchen

[inflori]

[ As usual, Petre's just going around the kitchen picking up snacks. His diet is anything but healthy, less so when he's had his fill of human flesh just recently, so into his mouth some fried crispy-somethings go. That is until Giorno walks on in like they're new buddies.

Who dis. ]

... What's wrong with your hair.

[ Chew chew chew. ]

[tropism]

[ the question confuses him but doesn't offend, if only because as far as giorno's concerned all of his donuts are correctly lined and curled before he even presents a face to the world. this guy must've been bedazzled by his beauty, that's understandable. it happens all the time. ]

Does that mean you can't go? [ there are very pressing matters to attend to, peter. ]

[inflori]

[ swoons ]

Can't go where? You mentioned, like, a million places.

[ He walks over, tries to stand up a little higher to take a better look at his hair. ]

Do you hide things in those? Like knives and shit.

[tropism]

All of them. I wanted to go to as many places as time would allow. I want to see as many things as I can before we actually have to work.

[ giorno just looks at him. he can touch it, if he wants? there's really nothing so special .... it's soft and curly and stinkin' blond. ]

It's just hair. There are other places to hide knives in.

day 26

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ It just so happens that Sam’s in the kitchen, cooking. It’s what he does when things are getting a little rocky - well, one of the things, anyway, but flying is out of the question at the moment, and jogging means taking him away from the Bearings. He knows it’s the symbiote that’s making him want to stick close by, when he can feel the rest of his brood coming up, but, well. Here he is anyway.

And he’s not so sure that he wants to risk the roof again right now, not so soon after his encounter with Ren up there.

So cooking it is, though he pauses a little when someone enters. And stops altogether when he feels the solid connection of another broodmate, looking up with a smile. ]

The menagerie? Hell yeah, I’m in. Long as you don’t mind a long detour through the aviary.

[tropism]

Oh, of course! I'd like to see that too.

I'm Giorno. I'm new - though I suppose, everyone can tell that.

[ he actually looks excited about an aviary. and scoots a bit closer to where sam was cooking, just to take a better look. ]

What're you making?

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam's smile widens a little more when the guy actually seems enthused about the aviary - hell, maybe he's found someone who will be interested in his semi-random bird knowledge. At the very least, he'll get to see a little bit more of his latest broodmate. ]

Sam Wilson. Welcome to Bellatrix, man, I'm sure you'll meet everyone soon enough.

[ He adjusts his position easily, shifting so Giorno can see the pan. ]

Potatoes, onions, and peppers. You hungry? Made enough for more than one.

[tropism]

[ oh god, yes, he loves plants and animals, he's an actual disney princess. regale him with bird knowledge. ]

I'm glad to have met you, Sam.

[ giorno moves in closer so he can smell the food, which of course is delicious from where he stands. in all seriousness: ] Say no more. You had me at 'for more than one'.

[ plates, they're gonna need plates, he's gonna grab them right now. ]

GARDEN

[erbier]

[ It's not unusual for others to be on the rooftop, but... They have it to themselves for now, and he is a new member of the Host. A young one, at that, and she feels they deserve a little more attention than some of the others. Although perhaps that was fault on her part, she realizes. The younger ones might find this change easier to adapt to than the adults, already set in their ways... ]

That is an interesting trick.

[ Her voice is soft, unobtrusive to let him decide if he wants to talk to her or not. She's a pretty girl, dressed in white with bare feet, her long blonde hair a bit unruly from the wind. ]

[tropism]

Thank you. I was worried I'd lost it.

[ it's not so difficult to assume considering that they were somehow able to take him from venice, but then again, if they did take his Stand away from him, giorno would be dead.

the garden wasn't exactly soothing. if anything else, the place was a reminder of just how strange everything else in the station is that one would have need of a space for a garden. still, there isn't anybody around them now, and that provides some sort of comfort, so giorno is, for the moment, content with this quiet. or about as quiet as things can get in this place with only the minimum amount of voices buzzing in his mind. ]

Do you have - an ability as well? [ it's a bit awkward to talk about since he was about to say, a Stand, but that's not quite the same, so he settles with the word. ]

[erbier]

[ Hm, yes that makes sense. If it were merely his symbiote ability, it is unlikely he would have mastered it so quickly. Something he came here with, and so she shakes her head. ]

No, not before the symbiote. I was merely the king's gardener.

26.

[deployed]

[ Suds up to his elbows in the sink, Bellamy takes a minute to respond. Admittedly, he hadn't been paying attention. He hadn't really expected to be addressed, and maybe he was sort of hoping to evade any kind of notice. ]

I'm washing the dishes, [ Bellamy says slowly, a little uncertain. ] Do you want to go to all those places right now?

[ To be fair, Bellamy has been to zero of those places. When he goes out, it's to hunt for books or food. The city still makes him feel claustrophobic. ]

[tropism]

Not all of them, if you haven't got the time. And only if you want to.

[ he rolls up his sleeves, approaching the counter. ]

I can dry the dishes while you wash, if that's alright?

[deployed]

[ Does he want to? Bellamy isn't sure he'd like to venture out, but at the same time, he doesn't want to let this newly arrived hatchling wandering the city on his own. (Nevermind that Bellamy had wandered alone himself.) After the bombing, Bellamy's every instinct chafes at the idea of people exploring without at least one other person to provide back up in the event trouble finds them. ]

There's a dish towel in that top drawer, [ Bellamy tells him, permissive. ] Thanks.

[ This kind of domesticity is still new for Bellamy. It's satisfying, clearing up the kitchen. He glances over, sizing Giorna up before speaking again. ]

What's your name?

kitchen

[whowhatnow]

[Here's Nathaniel Horn. Here's Nathaniel Horn, in the kitchen, with a nice sandwich-looking dish he's about to take a chomp into- and then Giorno walks in, and Nathaniel blinks at him comically with his mouth open wide.]

Uh. [He closes his mouth. This is a new guy, he can tell that right off the bat, and he gives him a cursory look.] Yeah, sure! Sure. I can't say no to a good adventure.

[He says, with a wink, though he hasn't put down his sandwich yet.] What's the first place you want to go to, mister...?

[tropism]

Giorno. [ a slight flourish of a bow; he likes to play. ] Sorry for startling you.

You can finish your sandwich first, if you want, I'd hate to part a good man from his food.

[whowhatnow]

Giorno! Ah, very Italian. I'm Nathaniel. Nathaniel Horn.

[He kind of does a little mock bow in return - it's obvious he doesn't really do it that often.]

What? Are you kidding me? Sandwiches are perfect because they're portable. I mean, I could stuff this down my shirt and it would still be edible. [A beat.] Though I'm not going to do that because it's gross.

[He takes a chomp into it either way, gesturing to Giorno with the sandwich. His voice is muffled because his mouth is full.]

So! Like I said before. What's the first stop?

26

[frakkincylons]

[ sam is not a morning person. despite being descent of actual robots, he does not nearly get up and about as fast as you'd expect an android or AI to. as such, he's shuffling into the kitchen, heading for the space coffee, when one of the newbies starts in with way too much pep for him to translate just yet. ]

Uh, yeah yeah, sure. Just. [ some more shuffling, a bit of grumbling. ] Just lemme get some caffeine in me first.

[tropism]

Not a problem. [ giorno says breezily. he moves to let him have his space, well aware of how people desperately need that jolt of caffeine in their system in order for things to start working properly first thing in the morning. as for giorno himself, he's more fond of sweet things than anything else. ] I'm a bit too eager for adventure this early in the morning, sorry about that.

i saw that, and it was rude

[frakkincylons]

[ A hand waves, dismissing the apologies as he sets to filling up a mug, and blows at the coffee to cool it, leaning a hip against the counter. ]

No worries, man. Better than being scared shitless. [ Which a lot of new people are. Makes sense. ] You never been off planet before?

[ it's a guess. even back on the colonies, you could spot a first time tourist coming out of the docking stations. nothing quite like going to a new world. ]