[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

[batmotif]

[Someone's speaking to him, and it pulls Bruce just enough away from his thoughts to turn to look at the stranger. Bruce exhales in what might be interpreted as a sigh, though he tries to hold in his exasperation.]

It's hard to be all smiles after everything that's happened.

[It's a dry response, but a sincere sentiment nonetheless.]

[tropism]

I don't expect that'll happen soon. It takes time to settle.

[ giorno folds his hands over his lap, watching him. most of the people in this ship look older than he is, although he's aware that some of the kids might be around his age. none of them look familiar, or are from his world. it's kind of making him ache for home, though he wouldn't dare voice that now, when all of them are practically in the same boat, anyway. ] Do you need to talk?

[ he's well aware that he could say no, but the trip will be a while, and it won't do if they're both tense. might as well offer it on the table. ]

[batmotif]

Not particularly. [-comes the response, quick and unyielding in its bluntness. He doesn't mean to be cold (though he would not care right now if he was); Bruce says it as more of a kneejerk response to all that's happened around him. Talking would not help quiet his mind about the matter, it would only open it up more clearly for others to peer into.

Now, on the cusp of landing on an alien planet, he's not sure he wants to allow that just yet.

That isn't to say that he won't indulge in a bit of conversation that has to do with something else. He reminds himself that ignorantly going through the motions of what he's told to do, unquestioningly, isn't preferable. At all. At the very least, he should get a sense of the others around him, and start to slowly make mental notes to be filed away for later -- what purpose it'll serve, he's sure time will tell.]

Though I never caught your name.

[tropism]

[ giorno nods, not really offended about the bluntness. he's used to adults telling him 'no' in various levels of politeness. this one, however, is more understandable than the other scenarios he's gotten himself in.

he smiles at him. ]

Giorno.

I come from Italy. [ a tilt of the head. ] Do you know where that is?

Though I suppose, even if you don't - [ in the offchance that bats here is from a world that isn't similar to his own - ] it doesn't matter here anymore.

[batmotif]

[The name is committed to memory, like all the other hosts before him. There's an automatic tone to him, as he responds in kind.] Bruce.

[It's times like these when his public persona would override his standoffish nature -- in fact, it feels a little odd to sweep it under the rug for now, it's so ingrained in his habits to be Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprises, courteous grins and charisma. His demeanor might be occasionally softened by it (perhaps some of Giorno's goodwill is mentally spilling over), but generally speaking, Bruce remains serious for now, seeing no point in playing the facades when they're all linked together.]

Italy is a country in Europe, located on Earth. [One of the most obvious statements he's said in awhile, but in the current context, speaking plainly is better than assuming.] So yes, I've heard of it.

[But at the mention of it not mattering, Bruce has to disagree.] Just because you're not home doesn't mean it doesn't matter. Or are you willing to let go of everything that easily?

[tropism]

[ giorno shakes his head. ] Oh no, it matters to me a lot. But sometimes, people find that kind of talk boring, and I can go on and on forever.

[ a smile. it's clear that giorno loves home, and bruce can feel the kind of nostalgia he has, that homesickness a boy has for something so familiar and so far away. as much as giorno tries to keep it to himself, it spills out of him in quiet waves. ]

I just don't want to be a bother, that's all.

[batmotif]

[He looks over at him, arching a brow.]

You're pretty courteous, for a man ripped from his home and thrown into a hivemind.

[For better or worse, it's not a trait that he shares.]

[tropism]

[ a slight laugh. ] Well, my father taught me well.

[ being courteous, that is. he doesn't exactly know how his father would react, but, well, had he been here, giorno hopes he'd be proud of him.

he wonders how best to explain himself to bruce. there are many similarities in his situation now compared to the one that he was in back home; the only difference is that being here means that he will have to wait in order to see his dreams become reality. it is the kind of experience that he takes solace on knowing that not everyone thinks the same. and he doesn't want to give too much of that away. ]

I have my own misgivings about the place. I'm not particularly happy about how I got here.

But I don't want to wallow in my fear or apprehension, and anyway, with how connected we all are, it'll just add to the tension.

There are things we can't control. Being ripped from home and thrown to here - that's one of them. And there are things that we can do something about, like how to approach people who are in the same boat as you are.

We will always have something to worry about, that won't change. I think, what with how things are, there will be more things to worry about in time. But we learn a lot more from each other when we're given the space to think and talk, and to just listen to others do the same. That's what I think, anyway.

[batmotif]

[Ah, what optimism from this one. It's admirable, in a way, if not running against the grain of what Bruce's core personality is.

He doesn't interrupt, he just lets the man finish. And if the mention of Giorno's father teaching him well makes something twinge within him, Bruce easily hides it. When he's finally said his piece, he responds.]

That's all well and good, but not everyone is going to share the same open-mindedness as you. [He looks at him, directly. He isn't irritable, he isn't even frowning, but his words are level, almost stern.] There's always going to be tension between people from such varying backgrounds, from different parts of the multiverse altogether. Talking and listening might be harder than you think -- there are some who might not be inclined to it at all.

[He exhales. It's almost a sigh.]

In a situation like this, when control has been torn from me, I want to get it back. Otherwise, we're just along for the ride, at the whim of the Nest. At the whims of our enemies, too. Anything we do, really, isn't for our own sake. We're fighting someone else's war, and we're short on answers as to why. I can't accept that.

[tropism]

[ giorno feels like he's being lectured, which is really no different from the circumstances that he was stuck in a while ago. it's ... familiar. but in the vastness of space, everything about italy feels like a lifetime he had barely lived in. he tilts his head at bruce, listening intently, and then replies, ] You are the kind of person that friends lose sleep over.

[ too stern, too ...rigid. too much of everything else. then again, this is just their first meeting, perhaps he's being a bit too quick to judge. he certainly didn't mean to be harsh in saying so. he doesn't exactly agree with what bruce is saying either, although he does understand where is coming from. unlike bruce, when he disagrees with something, giorno doesn't even bother hiding it on his face. ]

With such varying backgrounds and personalities, wouldn't you say it's an even more important skill to have, than to just assume that not everyone will feel the same? It's highly possible that, in some other time, I catch you on an even worse day than today, and this conversation ends brutally short for one reason or another, but that doesn't mean it's not worth trying. People are complicated. But trying to recognize the good in people, first, before you decide whether to attack or defend - that's a way of surviving a place, too.

[ he tries to think about the people he's met before that he's become friends with, eventually. koichi, who eventually trusted him, albeit grudgingly. buccelati, whom he had started as enemies with, and how he had ended up trusting him with his dreams, his life. on the opposite side of that, people like luca who had died at his hands - indirectly - because luca only wanted to hurt and destroy him and he had never taken the chance giorno had given him to redeem himself. luca had only wanted violence. there were people like that, but there were also people who were willing to open themselves up if he was patient enough. giorno, in his relentless optimism, believes this to be true of others even in their most private states. if there is anything he had learned from the mafia it's that human resilience, even in the face of despair, never comes from a kind of reckless anger, or solitude. sometimes it takes another pair of eyes and hands to get you moving. ]

The answers we seek aren't going to reveal themselves anytime soon. I don't mean to sound so ... naive, I guess. But in the meantime, because of how difficult our circumstances are .... a certain kind of connection has to be established among us, first, in order to make the work of finding the answers a lot less exhausting, before we even decide whether or not we are truly at the whims of everything else.

[ he doesn't exactly agree with bruce when he says that they're completely powerless here; after all, aren't they still alive? and with living comes a multitude of choices one has to make in order to adapt. but he can't exactly explain himself better without revealing himself; and giorno, inasmuch as he strives to be good, can be painfully cautious about the things he speaks of himself to others. so much of his motives are tied to passione, and he has a responsibility to keep quiet about the affairs that bind him to his famiglia. ]

[batmotif]

[The kind of person friends lose sleep over? You have no idea. Just ask Alfred.

Again, Bruce listens, not interrupting. When Giorno's finished, he speaks, his tone the same as before.]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not so quick to condemn the people around me. [And that's the truth -- to do so would to be cutting off advantages so early in the game, and while he's not the sociable type, he's not dumb or prideful enough to engage in complete dismissal of them.]

I'm just saying that everyone here needs to look at their situation with a fair amount of skepticism. We're all surrounded by unknowns, after all -- I have nothing against accepting the people around us, but to engage as one, as a hive mind? We need to draw a line, and I'm hoping everyone around me has enough sense to understand that. I don't trust these powers given to us, and no one else should either. Different personalities notwithstanding.

[The thing that's really frustrating to him is that Bruce knows that's not reality. He knows that some here might see this as an escape, some might embrace their powers, some might not care at all. And there's only so much he can try to convince people -- he can't force someone to agree.

He knows there are going to be obstacles, even before he's met everyone. It's why he works alone. Working within a framework of cooperation is complicated, sometimes too unreliable. Not to mention that it's going to be difficult growing to trust a complete group of strangers, too.]

[tropism]

I know. You've let me talk awhile. That's a lot more than what people would've granted me back home.

[ nobody really likes a mouthy kid .... much less a mouthy kid in the mafia.

still, he really enjoys the way bruce just lets him have his say; it puts giorno into a more relaxed pose as he ponders his words. he thinks about the conversation he's had with prince a while ago, and how he had told him that he was lending him his powers, his abilities. a shift in priorities hardly counts as an immediate loss of control or surrender to giorno considering there is work to be done, all the same, but he can understand how it can be seen as such.

how different bruce's thoughts were from his own. if he had to guess, giorno would say that his own approach to these circumstances is the minority among them. the real challenge is figuring out where the similarities in their values are. there is a benefit in making the effort to understand the kind of hostility most hosts have which giorno thinks is kind of .... misplaced. but only in understanding will he be able to better influence his own position into something else more practical than just fighting and waiting, although both are very good actions by themselves.

giorno laces his fingers together as he thinks on bruce's skepticism. maybe it's because he used to work for the mafia that the similarities in both groups are a lot more apparent to him. he doubts that bruce would appreciate the comparison, however, and anyway that's not really something he'd like to draw his attention to. ]

But we are surrounded by unknowns all the time. The difference is that now you have a scale and things seem to be a lot more apparent than they were before - the lack of intimacy we have with most other people makes it easier to carry out choices in isolation and observe their effects afterwards. Most people don't like knowing what happens next when they decide on something big or something pretty terrible, and most people will never find out until later whether that choice is right or wrong; though of course, some consequences come a lot sooner than expected.

I do agree, however, that there are plenty of uses for skepticism, and that we should exercise it a lot more now, given that not everyone is .... inherently good. The connections that we have can be easily manipulated by one Host, or several, for their own selfish gains. [ to take it further: this manipulation may already be happening, but he won't add that anymore. giorno certainly would do it himself if he thinks it'll bring him closer to protect his world. as much as he cares about a lot of people, his worst virtue is exactly this. he is less frightened about the possibility of being hurt by these connections than he is about the idea that he might fail to protect the ones that he cares about the most. ]

All the same .... I cannot agree that isolating ourselves from our own mental link is ideal. [ he speaks carefully after this, if only because he wants bruce to understand him. the problem of being young. ] It's important to maintain your self, of course. But whatever skepticism we have shouldn't come at the cost of not being able to engage with whatever it is we're trapped in.

[ and then he says something that he's said a number of times already - something that seems utterly natural to him regardless - ]

You can risk your trust in me, if you want. [ a tilt of the head. ] I can't promise I won't disappoint you, and I'm not holding you to anything. I suppose there's a great chance that I'll regret this, too, or you will, but we have to start somewhere.

For the record, you won't be the last one I'll ask for this. [ just in case bruce is gonna ask. but given giorno's past .... really, he doubts that anyone can hurt him as well as the people he cares about have. or how his family had done. and there is something utterly calm about this realization, the way he first noticed it when he decided on his dream. it's the same as that absolute certainty when he told bucellati the first time, you will be my ally. or when he told mista, your resolve is what shines through. inasmuch as giorno aches for belonging, he is also very stubborn about the things he believes in. ]

[batmotif]

[He raises a brow. He'd normally even chuckle (in a most humourless way, of course) if he were in a better mood. If this weren't barely a day away from being pulled from Gotham.]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't risk things quite as important as my trust. [He's brutally honest, at least, and though it may not be what Giorno wanted to hear, it at least cuts a clearer picture of who this man is.] I'd say that you shouldn't either, but something tells me you're not that kind of person, are you?

[Directly his opposite, it seemed. He would almost want to label him naive, if not for the level-headed way he was presenting his argument.]

One way or another, we'll see, won't we? Which way of thinking works best in our situation.