[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

[shiro2hero]

[It's almost like a slap in the face. His head actually rocks back, eyes a bit wide around the edges. It goes so quickly, they're shaking hands before he knows it, and it's a struggle to try and wrench his brain away.]

[Because no. No one gets "in" until he's ready. Until he knows what else is in there.]

[He's slow to answer. Even though, from his reaction, it's probably obvious what that answer is.]

Yeah... I... I didn't know it'd -- [He didn't know it'd be worse if he shook the guy's hand, he was just trying to be polite, shit.]

[deployed]

[ No. The word echoes, swells and snaps between them. The sentiment isn't unexpected. Bellamy understands it. He absolutely understands what it is to want people out of his head, and he recoils instantly. The threads of entangled thought stretch out between them, slow to break, but eventually the impression of Bellamy's thoughts vanishes behind a hastily constructed wall. ]

It's not your fault.

[ For all their attempts otherwise, the Darkling and Bellamy had slipped more than once. It feels gratifyingly good to link closely with broodmates. Even in the face of that danger, it was difficult to completely avoid the urge to tangle their minds closely, let thoughts flow freely. Bellamy's jaw tightens, and he shakes his hand out. ]

Are you alright?

[ There's something wrong. Bellamy can sense it, but he won't claw into Shiro's mind to try to puzzle it out. It's the kind of thing to be volunteered freely, or not at all. Bellamy has his fair share of secrets. Invading someone else's isn't high on his list of priorities. ]

[shiro2hero]

[No, nothing else. No more people in his head, no thoughts that aren't his. Because this hits too close to home. This hits too close to seeing that face again through the glass and hearing so many mocking words and no no no hit the button, pop the pod, get it out GET OUT--]

[By the time the mental wall snaps up, he's trying to fight off another, more recent flashback. And shuddering.]

... Right. I -- It gets easier, right? That's what everyone is saying.

[Is he all right? That's the question for the ages. The question he hasn't known the answer to since the castle tried to kill them. The question he isn't sure he wants the answer to, sometimes.]

[It's better if he figures this out on his own. Without anyone digging around in his brain.]

Fine -- it's nothing.

[deployed]

With time and practice, yes.

[ It's meant to be optimistic, if realistic. Bellamy still struggles, but Shiro looks rattled enough that he thinks better of being too detailed about the difficulty. The scream of get out through Shiro's thoughts would be as good as wall in the interim, Bellamy hoped. No one seemed malicious enough to push for intrusion when explicitly warned away. ]

People here can teach you, if you've never tried before.

[ Angel's sleeping. Bellamy looks momentarily at a loss. ]

If you find Lexa, you can trust her to help you learn.

[ But clearly don't tell her Bellamy said so. ]

[shiro2hero]

Practice. I can do that.

[He hopes he can, anyway. Time is less of an easy issue to sort out -- what if there isn't time? What if it's too much time? If he can't control himself before breaking down when someone needs him...]

[The uncertainty and anxiety is back in sudden, sharp order, and he's forcing himself to breathe through it before he can really think about it. Forcing himself to stay calm and not to let it through. Practice -- he can do that. He's got to do that.]

I can't say it's anything I've ever had to try before. It's not something they teach you in flight class. [Or any class ever. But at the name, he's more attentive, looking up from the floor where he'd been focused.]

Lexa? Is she the expert here?

[deployed]

[ It's hard not to feel Shiro's anxiety and self-doubt. Bellamy's much too in-tune with both, and he bites the inside of his cheek hard trying to focus elsewhere. Getting caught up again is too easy. Bellamy still struggles to circumvent the draw of his brood, even in the face of his own desperation to keep his mind separate. ]

I'd never tried either.

[ Bellamy means it as a comfort, as much as he's dodging the nuts and bolts of what blocking people from the mind entails. Everything Bellamy attempts crumbles under swells of emotion. His focus is lacking. He's hoping Shiro's will be better. ]

One of them. Angel taught me, but she's asleep. [ The statement is accompanied by a crush of worry, though Bellamy presses on without missing a beat. ] Lexa might be able to help you. She's good at keeping people out.

[ This might sound like a backhanded compliment, but in this instance, Bellamy's utterly sincere about it. ]

[shiro2hero]

[If he knew he was projecting this much, or these thoughts, he'd have done his best to stomp them out. Hold them back, something. Because this is exactly what he meant by protecting other people. To keep them out meant they didn't have to go through what was in his head.]

At least it's not just me.

[She's asleep - worry - it feels like a slap. And he does his best to keep from reacting. Even if he wants to.] What do you mean by 'asleep'?

[Because if someone was just napping, he doubts that concerned feeling would be there.]

How do I contact Lexa?

[deployed]

[ In all fairness, Bellamy had been much the same. He'd bled out thoughts one after another, projecting even when he'd tried so hard to contain himself. But he's aware that there's no comfort in that truth. The sense of exposure is hard to bear, no matter what the conditions surrounding it are. ]

It's...hard to explain. But it happens to us, sometimes.

[ Bellamy didn't exactly understand it. But he knew people woke from their slumbers and that sometimes they didn't. There's no hard and fast rule. He continues briskly, trying not to dwell too hard on that fact. ]

She likes spending time on the roof. If you'd rather not reach out with your mind, you could find her there.

[ Lexa's room isn't mentioned. Bellamy remembers how it had felt like an intrusion, even upon being invited in. He doesn't send Shiro knocking on her door. ]

[shiro2hero]

It's not normal sleep, is it?

[He has a feeling it isn't. But the need for confirmation is there. The need for things to be as clear as possible. So he can better understand what he's getting into here.]

[Better to avoid it, if he can. Or protect his team from it -- such that it is.]

I'd rather not barge into peoples' brains. I'll take the roof. Been meaning to find it anyway.

[deployed]

[ Bellamy shakes his head, but doesn't elaborate. He doesn't know all the details himself, but he knows that sometimes people don't wake up for a very long time. Angel's woken up before, but that's not a guarantee. He's not going to consider it until he has to. ]

Good luck, [ He offers, reaching past Shiro to open the door to his room. ] If you need to find me, I'll be here.

[ Giving him some space until either of them had gotten a better handle on walling off their minds might be for the best. Not that Bellamy's great at keeping his distance, but he can at least try to give Shiro privacy, for the moment. ]