onemind: (Default)
THE N E S T ([personal profile] onemind) wrote in [community profile] station722016-03-27 01:37 pm

[MISSION LOG] GET IN THE CAR

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: Avera 9
WHEN: Day :156 - 160
SUMMARY: Welcome to the jungle muddy junk pile in space. Avera 9, pt.1
WARNINGS: None; will edit if necessary.






THERE IS AN EXPECTATION that all hosts meet on the flight deck; that much is obvious on waking - something that, strangely, all new hosts seem to have done at the same time. Pack your things, says a gut sensation. It's time to go somewhere different.

ONCE ASSEMBLED, it isn't long before Prince and Cathaway make their own appearances. They have a set of kits with them - one for each young host - and a square that unfolds into a data pad with mission details. Each kit contains some of the materials hosts will find helpful for their assignment, and the equipment is not to be traded away or sold, Prince explains. The rest, Cathaway adds, will be provided once travel is complete. And then it's time to get underway. Today that means piling into a sleek, arrow shaped ship with plenty of space to carry personnel and equipment. There are a number of bikes lashed in the cargo area, places for hosts to stow their things, and enough seating at each side of the carrier's interior for hosts to be comfortable. It's a short trip, Cathaway assures and then makes her way with Prince to the cockpit. Today, they're coming with.

Initial checks. Engines go. The landing circular landing pad under the ship turns, lowering down into the flight deck floor as it goes. The ship comes with it, descending into the cool dark depths of the Station. There's a shudder as it locks into the launch tube, as the channel overhead is sealed; there is no countdown, just a pulsing moment of anticipation-- and then rocketing, teeth rattling momentum and a bright, hot flash of joy as the ship is projected from the Station - as it sears through time and space and a hundred versions of the same universe until it comes to rest here: smacked out into real space hung above a murky brown planet, clearly visible through the massive viewscreen at the front of the ship.

It's a good thing there's not much to look at; Cathaway doesn't waste time before deftly setting a course, slicing down through upper atmosphere with hardly a shudder from the knife point shaped ship. The planet comes up rapidly and a hum passes through the carrier as it lowers - cresting down through dark clouds to be battered by rainfall and the cross cutting of wind. But it flies steady, sure, and in time they streak at ground level across muddy flatlands and massive stone slabs - skim across inert bodies of water in the slow process of expanding from the constant sluggish rainfall.

The ship eventually comes to rest in the middle of what must be a massive valley; it sets down with hardly a shiver, then something clangs loud and the ramp at the rear descends. Cathaway unhooks her harness and rises from the pilot's seat.

"Here we are. Be well and do well; try not to kill anyone." Yourselves included, being the unspoken addendum. "Make sure to return here at the specified time. We can't extend our time table to account for stragglers."

There is a pause before Prince adds, with an edge of silent reluctance, “If you find yourselves in a situation you cannot handle, call and we will come.”

And then you're free to go wherever you like. Welcome to Avera 9.


(click to zoom; blue is water; yellow is lowlands/flood plains/etc; green is higher, drier terrain; brown is for ridges/high ground)





((OOC Notes: You'll notice that this log only covers the first few days of the mission; this is to allow for player character decision making to effect the back half of the mission. That said, feel free to make your own logs and posts on the IC community as you see fit - just be aware that dating past day :160 may get a little wonky depending on how events proceed!

If you have any mission specific questions, direct them to the OOC post here. For exploration and salvage discovery, we've decided to give players a largely free rein for what items can be found. However, if you want specific mod-generated items for your characters to stumble across during their salvaging, feel free to use THIS thread to request that!))




vocalis: (040 normal)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-04 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ The background noise fades, and with it comes a stronger clarity to Angel's voice and location. He can't pin it exactly, but she's close, probably wandered to Tari while searching for salvage as he had. He's actually a little relieved to not be as far as he thought from one of his brood. ]

( You... forgot? Well, I think there's still rooms where I am, or you can stay with me. )

[ He does, for a split second, think it's a little weird of him to be offering such a thing. A boy and a girl staying in the same room together? Granny probably wouldn't approve. But there's a couch. It's shoddy, but he can sleep on that instead. ]

( Maybe find something you like for dinner? I'm not too picky... I'm not even sure what kinds of food this place has. )

[ Then they'd be even on space currency for room and food. He forgot to look for anything to eat outside of the rations they were sent with. Perhaps he shouldn't have sounded so surprised when she said she forgot to find a place to stay for the night. Without Ren around to monitor where his blood sugar is at, he's just as bad with forgetting to eat and drink too, which probably makes his new synthesized medication work even less. Hopefully she won't follow him via the ache in his head. ]
circumspector: (v » sitting in cages)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-04 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ The second he says food is the seconds she realises that she's hungry. Not a little bit -- but terribly, horribly hungry that comes like a punch in the stomach. She's forgotten that too, remember to eat as she's using her powers. Not just light anymore, she needs to supplement it. Which comes by the growl she feels in her stomach. ]

( Thank you, I'd like that and yeah, I can pick us up something for dinner. I'll be there soon. )

[ It goes quiet then, like a cut call even if it's able to be restarted again whenever it's needed. Instead, she goes about planning dinner, seeing what else she can pick up.

Makes the mistake, what had she eaten before she came to the ship? Whatever her teenage tastes had wanted, Jack was happy to give her. Placate her into staying quiet in the control core. So junk food, mostly. Then there was nothing but eridium, and she'd lost the need. No idea what she might like now and the impulsion to grab whatever smelt good, looked interesting and shopping hungry meant that when she turns up at Aoba's door, she's holding container upon container of whatever passed as fast food on this planet. Stacked from her hands up to her chin with a bag hanging on of each arm with what appears to be drinks.

That, and the big cheery smile on her face.
] Hi.
vocalis: (034 fake)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-04 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't need to tell her where he is to be found. It's strange, but kind of nice to not be so alone in that way. Aoba passes the time continuing to crack the translation code, but to no avail. He's relieved then, when he senses Angel's connection growing closer, and he's already up and heading for the door before she can knock.

Not that she... can knock at all. Not with all those boxes and bags in her arms. ]


Eeeehh?! Angel, what is all this? It's all food?

[ He's at least quick to stop gawking and help her. Picks some of the containers up so that he can actually see her standing there instead of a tower of take-out containers. He ushers her inside slides the rickety door closed. It's a small room, cramped and meant to be left behind soon like everything else, with only the tiniest table-like shelf near the single window. It's already occupied by the charging station, where his datapad is still running and connected to the ornate cache. Most of the boxes get unceremoniously dumped on the end of the bed, where he'd been stretched out earlier. He looks at it all and then back to her, an uncertain nervous smile on his face. ]

This is so much... you really didn't have to get this much! It smells good though...

[ Maybe they should call the rest of the brood over later to help finish it... it's not like this dingy backwater planet has inn rooms with mini fridges or microwaves. ]
circumspector: (( uh yes? ) » but my hands are cold)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-04 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ One way or another she would have found him -- but she likes this unerring way her feet seem to know where to find them. She enjoys walking, she's found, this smooth movement that she can do with minimal thinking. Finding members of their brood, and even of the nest, is the same way. She doesn't look, she just feels the path out and lets feet do what they do best. ]

I didn't know what you would like so... [ She holds it up for him to take the ones off the top, feeling the weight settle a bit easier. The training was already starting to take effect and the symbiote in use with it. ] I think I'm really hungry too.

[ She steps through the door after him, making a quick line for the small provided table. Sliding the containers on the edge, before she drops the bags too. ]
vocalis: (040 normal)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-04 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ The varying smells are actually a little overpowering without even having opened anything up to eat yet. Salty, sweet, warm, unidentifiable smells. Aoba cracks the small window to help ease their new stronger senses, then settles to the floor with sigh. ]

I'm pretty hungry too, but... just make sure you don't spend all your notes on a couple dinners. We're supposed to be here for a while.

[ He crosses his legs comfortably and opens one of the bags, pulling out napkins and what he thinks are utensils. Small shovel-like spoons and skewers too thin to work like chopsticks. He passes a set to Angel and moves some of the containers, opening a few for both of them to see. Some fluffy green buns smothered in an orange sauce and yellow powder, kebabs with what looks like roasted purple slugs and flaky root chips on the side. It's alien to be sure, but there's something universal about street and junk food. None of it looks... healthy. And then he remembers too late, he's got some new dietary restrictions to be concerned about. ]

Hey Angel... do you know if any of this food has gluten in it?

[ Or what any of it is? He forgot to mention cutting gluten when she first offered to pick dinner up. It's a new thing he's trying to do and he hasn't had to worry about it on the station. Off the station and without Ren around, he's almost useless at remembering his health. ]
circumspector: (xxi » have you decided)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-04 07:22 am (UTC)(link)
Uh - [ She looks down at it, staring at the food she'd piled up in front of her for them. ] Maybe? I didn't really check...

[ Oops. She guiltily looks at it, trying to remember what she'd seen them put in it. A lot of things. ] Are you really allergic to it?

[ And then she's digging around through the different foods. ] I grabbed most of it from what they were cooking on the street, I don't know what's in it. [ She holds up something that looks like a bug, that was wrapped in strips of solid cheese... which is slightly better than something appears to just be a turnip on a stick. ]

Some of these might -- [ and she pulls out packets of purple chips, laying them on the table.

Then again, she's getting closer to feeling too hungry to care.
] -- we can see?
vocalis: by verifalsa on tumblr (026 derp)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-04 08:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ He raises his hands a little, gently and defensive so she knows not to fret despite the worry he's trying to keep under control. ]

It's okay, it's my fault for forgetting to mention it earlier. I don't really know if I'm allergic, but Cathaway suggested I cut gluten from my diet to help with my health.

[ He goes for the roasted purple slug kebab, the most gluten-free-looking thing they've unboxed so far. No label on it, but even if there was it'd be in alienese. He forces that nervous smile again. Hopefully Cathaway wouldn't be mad this one time. ]

I'll just have to be better about remembering next time. Anyway, let's eat before looking at that datacache. Thank you for the food!

[ Purple alien food is not something he'd normally try, but he's hungry too, and it looks like Angel found a sampling of everything in the area. Can't afford to be picky. He bites into the kebab's side and it's... surprisingly good. Too strongly flavored with salt and unrecognizable seasoning, but that's likely just him still getting used to the symbiote. ]
circumspector: (vii » outside the sky waits)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-04 02:33 pm (UTC)(link)
If you're sure...

[ She doesn't so much dig in like he does, rather as he starts, she unstack everything, unpacks the food from the bags, opens the lids of the containers. Absently little habits where a bright as fire red sauce smears on her thumb from the lid and she licks it off absently. Pulls out one thing after another, until they're all laid out for them to take whatever they want.

Which she sits down on the couch, and starts doing just that. It's an eagerness that comes from more than just being ravenous, she's eager to taste different things. A mouthful of this, a mouthful of that, and some of it's good, some of it's amazing, some of it tastes awful and she turns her nose up at it as her face scrunches with distaste.

But she does seem to be, with small bites, making her way through whatever she does like.

Wipes her mouth after awhile, and she finally doesn't feel as hungry, more just tired. Which is when she looks up from the comfortable silence of eating.
] Where were you that you found the cache in a turtle? I hope it wasn't a really awful fight, before you found it.

[ Her expression is perfectly serious, because from a turtle's entrails is somewhere completely legit place to find a datacache. ]
vocalis: (040 normal)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-15 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ He watches absently as she unpacks the rest of their dinner, eyeing each opened box of street food with scrutiny. Still no labels on anything, and no way to tell what's in them. He'd have to remember to ask for specific food next time.

He also gets a small taste of Angel's opinions on everything she tries, without trying them all himself. The rice cake looking thing with suspiciously grey cream is delicious, almost overpoweringly sweet with their new senses. The dough balls that resemble takoyaki are actually filled with something tart and still squirming, disappointing since he was kind of looking forward to them. Aoba curiously follows her lead, sampling the things she was pleased with and avoiding the other boxes, till she speaks up again. ]


Eh?

[ It's a weird question, and one that doesn't register quickly. Fight? He hadn't been fighting, they weren't supposed to be fighting. He swallows half a mouthful of barbecued tentacle before answering- ]

There was no fight, I meant I found it inside a... here, I'll show you.

[ He gets up from the floor to fetch his datapad off the charging station, and the cache with it. Sticks the rest of the tentacle-kabob he was eating in his mouth and clears a space for himself on the couch next to her. He then hands her the cache... which is literally shaped like a tiny ornate turtle with it's shell off, exposing even tinier data sticks inside.

It's basically adorable. ]


I found it in the city ruins inside the Trench. I don't know if it's valuable, but... it's kind of cute, right?
circumspector: (xxi » have you decided)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-15 07:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's something to this, a intimacy to sharing food with another person. Settled across from him on the couch. One leg tucked under her, picking at things, mouthfuls of this and that, and pushing the plates backwards and forwards, taking the seconds to admire the food just for itself. Pokes one thing, that is just a battered ball, and then brightly colored syrup comes out. A fascination but it's more than that. She knew that people perceived differently, tasted, smelt, touched and heard things differently. But it became clear just what this meant, not that it was bad, just some how she knew it would never be the same. To share and disregard, to have flavors not just as she would taste them, but as he did. What he liked, she liked and what she didn't, he seemed to turn away from. Unspoken exchange that made all of it simply more.

She might not have eaten in years like this, but she begun to realize, this was it now. There would be no undoing this feeling. She'd remember this, just sitting and tasting things together.

She pours them both a drink whilst he goes and gets the data-cache. Something that was glowing purple into the cheap hotel cups. Smelled sweet, at least, so that was nice.
]

Oh -- [ when he comes back, she sets her cup down from her first sip, turning her eyes to what he's holding and right she guessed that made sense too. ] I thought you meant a turtle had swallowed it and then you had to -- well, not that. [ She does her best to not think about exploding skags after how he had reacted last time, and the fact they just ate.

On second thought, this probably made more sense because she couldn't think of someone less inclined to fight than Aoba.
]

It's really cute. [ A brief nod, okay changing topics. ] Was there anything else down there?
vocalis: (011 forlorn)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-17 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He takes the plastic cup of glowing purple as she passes it to him and just... stares for a moment. So she really thought... he'd found a datacache inside the entrails of...

He shakes his head before the image of that can cross either of their minds, though it's more of a nervous tremble than a shake. ]


Uh, no, just... another host I saw briefly, also looking for salvage. She said she'd found a... a corpse.

[ Which is worse than finding a datacache inside a turtle, now that he's thinking about it again. He puts the cup to his mouth and drinks to try and take his mind off it again. The contents are bubbly and sweet, almost sickeningly so, and Aoba has to set it aside. There's a small growing anxiety, of how simple and sensitive Angel must think he is. The Old Resident District was a hard place to live in and it toughened him up, but the gangs and crime there were nothing compared to the things she and Ilde experienced. While he's glad his home was nothing like theirs, he quietly hopes they don't think less of him for it.

Appetite somewhat faded, he places the roasted tentacle he was working on back in it's box for now and wipes his fingers clean. Time for a hard reset. He places the datapad on his lap for both of them to see, and pulls up the windows of still-running code. ]


A-anyway, whatever's on this thing won't translate on the datapads Prince and Cathaway gave us, so I can't tell if it's anything useful or not. I've tried going into the translation software's code to isolate the language I want changed, but without knowing it's name I can't get much further. It seems like it should be able to handle what's in the cache, but I can't get it past this point.
circumspector: (xiv » or merely hallowing)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-18 07:25 am (UTC)(link)
[ She takes a second there, because she does feel it, that trepidation in him and yes -- she was used to the death, sure, but more than that -- she had to talk people through at times a difficult process of adjustment. There was nothing ease about coming face to face with these sorts of realities. That this was their life now.

She needs to talk to him about it, she realizes, sooner, rather than later. But for the moment he'd rather be more focused on what he'd found, and she guessed that worked as a coping mechanism too. It's what the vault hunters did after all, they just set their minds to tearing it all apart.

Not much for it now though, settling beside him. ( Meticulous, she double checked what counted as friendly comfortable space, that left her beside him, but not invading his space too much, careful not to touch more than necessary, the bump of knees and shoulders when shifting to get comfortable, taking a couple of seconds to collect her thoughts. ) The datapad though, that of course, is it's own set of problems, but for him. Other people weren't... as close as he was. This connection, she wasn't sure how much she could keep him out of it.

Tentative, quiet, she tries to ease into it. After Ares, after -- well how sirens as a whole were treated, she didn't just want to surprise him with it.
] Right so it sounds like you're looking to find a cross reference against different languages until you find the right one?

[ Tiptoe, tiptoe. Looks up at him almost guiltily. ] I can set up a algorithm to do so but... it'll take awhile, even all night. I do however have a faster way?
vocalis: by verifalsa on tumblr (026 derp)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-21 06:33 am (UTC)(link)
[ He leans a little closer for her to see, pushing the datapad between them to help. If he's at all uncomfortable by her closeness, it's not registering at all through their shared connection. The scrolling code, the cache, what she says about how she can help - that's what he's really focused on. Better than thinking of burning worlds and turtle guts. Besides, he really does want to know whether what he found is useless or not. ]

Really? What is it?

[ He suspected cracking something like this would take all night, and even then it would still be a gamble of it working at all. But if she has a faster method, that's way better skipping sleep after such a long day. He's all ears, his mental connection open wide for information sharing in case he misses anything she says. ]
circumspector: (xvi » or simply dreaming)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-21 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ She starts it gradually, let him get used to it. He was so, so much closer, and she so desperately didn't want to scare him. It's a lot after all. Granted not as much as it could, directly her focus to one task. ]

Let's just say we're all a bit different I guess? I've got an ability that allows me to access it directly, with, uh, my mind. Like we can talk to each that way?

[ Which to that end, she shifts slightly, despite the small space, her eyes start to go bright,bright,bright. Something like a hum, the static pull of electricity in heavy storms. Not dangerous, but like the air is full of something. ] If that's too much, though, just... just let me know okay?
vocalis: (044 shock)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-21 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ Aoba is quiet as she explains, though he notes a faint nervousness coming from her. It's not just through their connection, but in her movements and tone. She's scared of something. Is it... is it him? Ah, maybe he's been too comfortable sitting so close to a girl. He doesn't really know what's alright since he's never really been around a lot of girls before. Would someone like him make girls nervous? He's still listening, just about to give her a little more space on the couch, when... the blue of her eyes starts to get very, very blue. ]

Whoa, Angel- your eyes!

[ Instead of moving back, he automatically leans in closer to see the color shifting, glowing, growing brighter and brighter. A slight pain twinges near the front of his mind, but he'd taken enough of the medicine Cathaway gave him to keep it at bay, (more than enough) and it's not so painful as to make him wince in her face. It is enough to make him rub his forehead, though he tries to pass it off as sheepishly as he can. ]

No no, it's not too much. It's actually pretty cool. Is it like the abilities Prince taught us about? Did you discover your symbiote ability?
circumspector: (network » you're part of a machine)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-21 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ She lets him look, lets him get comfortable -- and granted, he didn't know what a siren was, what reason did he have to be scared? It's... nice. It's more than nice, she feels so comfortable with him, that it makes it easier.

Rather than lean back ( it's a hard instinct to fight when she's not used to this sudden and uncontrolled closeness of other human beings ), she keeps still and raises her eyebrows to widen her eyes that little bit further to let him look. Looks more like a backlight through thin paper, something building under and up.

Blinks once slowly and shook her head. The way she sorts things out carefully, inside her hand the data chip calls so faintly to her, a comfortable tug that she'll get to in a second.
] No, I haven't worked those out yet. This is something I've always been able to do.

[ She tugs then at her sleeve, the blue markings that she said teasingly that matched have gone all white. Humming almost with the power of it. That static faint noise light makes. That technology always makes, rather, there is such life to it. ]

We're called sirens, where I come from.
vocalis: (014 determinded)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-22 12:44 am (UTC)(link)
Whoa, your arms too...!

[ Sensing her comfort, he does look closer, no longer too worried of making the wrong sort of move in front of her. Her prior nervousness isn't what he assumed. He curiously raises a hand to the shining marks, watching as the white light reflects off his own skin, but he doesn't touch. Not out of fear, but respect, and a sense of... simply put, not wanting to get in the way of whatever it is she can do. ]

So you're going to have two special abilities? That's really amazing Angel.

[ For a moment his end of their connection is all warmth. A brief feeling of joy and pride, to have someone as cool as Angel in his brood. Maybe he would also get a second ability. Something better, more controllable, and less destructive than Scrap. It's a nice thought, to be like her too. ]

What is it that sirens can do? Something that will... create algorithms faster?
circumspector: (( siren ) » don't get caught on my edges)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-22 01:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd say now you'd know another siren if you ever met one. But we're... erg, rare? Ew, that sounds like I'm a bird or giant thresher to something. [ her nose wrinkles up, because that was exactly what sirens were, most of the time. ] Point is, if you did, you'd know us by these markings. [ That too is an odd thing, the happiness is compounded, beaming at him -- literally and figuratively. Shaking her head she laughs quietly. ]

Well, we can have a few, it really just depends on the siren. But uh, no. Not exactly. More like I'm the algorithm? Which, I am not sure how much I can keep you out of this, so I'll guess you'll see what I mean. Sorry, I'll try to keep what I can back.

[ She settles then, beside him, draws a leg under her, straightens her back and lets her eyes close, draws herself in, draws herself up. Takes one long breath as she begins to feel around the pieces of accessible technology in the room. Not directly, more like skimming mental fingers over the surface. ]

One more second... [ she draws the datapad closer to her, balancing on the opposing knee and pressing her fingers flat to the screen. The datachip is sat flat in her marked hand, where they markings are still flooded with like ebb in and out like a tide. Growing bright and then dim again, in a steady rhythm. The sense of broadening herself out further, that inside of this skin, she's much, much bigger than she appears. ] Okay. Ready?
vocalis: (018 glow)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-23 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ She reminds him of Ahsoka as she readies herself for... whatever it is she's about to do. Breathing in and out steadily, folding her knees, balancing the datapad, cradling the cache in one of her hands. It's sort of like the meditation method he was taught on that first day in the station. Remembering this, he also sits up straighter. Brings in knees, rests his hands on top of them, presses down lightly, takes a deep breath.

He pictures a hand on a stereo, gently turning the volume of the beat down, softer, lower. Slowly the shared connection between them fades. Not entirely, never entirely with broodmates, it's still there like radio static buzzing delicately in his ears. She had said she wasn't sure how much she can keep him out of this... whatever this is, she's given Aoba the sense that it might be dangerous. Like Scrap.

After a moment of quiet, as quiet as it can be with the ever present humming crackle of noise still lingering between their minds, Aoba nods. ]


I'm ready.
circumspector: (network » you can't wake up)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-23 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
[ It'd already been there, she'd let some of her connection go when she came in, whatever was at the very furthest of her mind. It's strange, a town this size used to be nothing. Not compared to a whole planet, a whole moon, a whole space station. Her awareness had been limitless, but she'd also been a dead shell.

Still, her eyes shut, murmurs quietly -
] Executing phaseshift.

[ It comes with a shudder, the sphere of light building up in her hand to encompass the datachip, and in reaction, every other bit of accessible technology around her begins to flash. As she floods with the bright light of her abilities, the tv flickers on and then off again in a flash of static noise, the datapad too, like she's hard reset it over again. The alarm clock flashes the time and there begins a clamour. Technology was an alive thing -- or at least it was to her and it responds in kind to the brush of her subconscious. Here there is no shyness, no fumbling, not terrified of her own legs and her own hands, here she strides like she is beginning, middle and end. Lilith's eridium filled laughter, Steele's arrogant commands, Maya's sharp smile. She is all of it and everyone that comes before and after her.

But time splits for her -- aware of both at once. A whole world that opened up around them in a vastness. Of here, sitting across from Aoba matching her breaths to his, but the rest -- is a bombardment that is processed at a hyper speed, roils and rolls like a river in flood. Every program with it's hundred small parts that clamber towards her, giving up its information as a collective that she moves through. Pulls it apart down to its base numbers to find what she was looking for, before she starts to build it again. A devouring awareness that she turns back out, shapes it as she wants and needs it to be.

One thing comes up after another after another after another. And it's an infinity of letting it course through her like a conduit, latching around what she wants and letting the rest flow through. Feels -- like it moves up her arm and down the other, feels like her heart beating something old her chest, feels like having light for blood, as in one triumphant second she finds what she wants and directs it all into the datapad. Crashing into it like waves. Head tilts, frowning slightly with the information.
] No - not that one, but like it and -

[ -- Then one whole external second later she opens her eyes. A kick of a smile in the corner of her mouth, and a lightness to her words, shimmer, ebbing, moving. The sphere in her hand bursts like a light being shot out and with one last crackle of electrified air, all raw and chemical tasting and warm she lets it go. Subsiding to where it rests back inside her own skin. ]

There, all done. It should be translated for you now.
vocalis: by verifalsa on tumblr (026 derp)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-24 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ Aoba stares, hazel eyes wide, as the lights of the small room begin to dim and flicker at her words. Every object with a screen or a wire comes to life. Lights move in time with her breath, pulsing as if they'd been given a heartbeat of their own. There's an electric current in the air, he can feel it tingling in the nerve endings of his hair. It hurts, but not enough to distract him from what he's witnessing.

Whatever it is Angel is doing, it looks like magic.

When it fades again, slowly like the hot metals cooling inside a lightbulb, Aoba's expression is no less shocked. And his hair... his hair is more of a hot mess than usual, standing almost straight up on it's ends. Tiny bits of electric current run sparkle through it. ]


Angel... that was...

[ He reaches for the datapad, freshly freed from the sphere she'd trapped it in. Sure enough, he can read what's there. ]

That was amazing! I still don't understand what it was you did, with the glowing and the lights and... but it's translated, it's all in Japanese now! How did you...?
circumspector: (( laugh ) » and all the people say)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-24 01:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She's been doing it most of the day, is the real problem she realises when it ends, and she's no longer as she once was -- and it becomes shockingly clear why Lilith consumes eridium like it's candy. The crash is sudden and sharp. There's a thin sheen of sweat on her brow, and too quick breath in like something aches and she becomes quickly aware that she's exhausted as she lets her powers go piece by piece.

And she means to answer his question, because this is so comfortable, settling across from him, as he doesn't shy away from her, he says she's amazing, and it's so earnest, she can feel it wash over her like coming home, it was everything Cathaway said it would be --

but his hair is everywhere and as soon as she sees it, all the words and patient explanation goes out of her and she begins to laugh instead, just a giggle, at first, and then it builds up and up until she's given up on trying to pretend and has just fallen into a fit of laughter. It shakes her all the way through her trembling fingers and sharp little breaths. Sure, this might just be because she's over tired, or well and truly past it but manages finally, as sober as she can:
] Aoba, your hair--, I'm so sorry.

[ -- and then she lost into peels of giggles again, pressing a hand desperately over her mouth like she just can't stop it by herself. She's happy, she's so deliriously happy right now sitting across with him when he looks like one of the mad scientists from the R&D department. ]
vocalis: (030 laugh)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-25 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
Wh... what is it?

[ She's laughing. It's warm and giddy over the connection, but Aoba doesn't like being laughed at. At first he scrunches his face up in confusion, reaching up to carefully run his hands through his hair and... oh, that feels weird. More weird than usual. There's a crackle to it as he brushes it back down with his fingers, and an ouch muttered a couple of times as the static crackles lightly through the nerves. Angel may feel it shared through them, an odd sensation of feeling in her own hair, similar to how Aoba can feel his.

He pulls the datapad closer and flips it to power-saving mode so the screen goes black and glossy. That's when he finally gets a look at what she's giggling about, and... he cracks a smile of his own. He doesn't like being laughed at, but... yeah, his hair standing up like that is pretty funny. He'd be mortified if another guy saw him like this, but it's just Angel, and her enjoyment over how silly he looks is contagious. It doesn't take him long to laugh too, rolling back on his half of the couch as he joins her in a fit of it. Their connection makes it that much more infectious, and it's at least a minute before he comes back up, still chuckling as he smooths the staticky strands of blue back down. ]


Hahaha, oh man... o-okay, warn me to put a hat or something on before you do that again.

[ Shaking his head, (still messy, better but fluffier than usual) he picks the datapad back up and flicks the screen back on. Clears his throat to clear away the last of the giggles and starts skimming over the now translated contents of the datacache. ]
circumspector: (xxiii » singing when you're told)

[personal profile] circumspector 2016-04-25 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She eventually quiets herself, the back of her hand pressing against her mouth to hide her smile. Tucked in small against the cradle of the arm of the chair. Tucked in small, not hard, given her size. Not helping, just letting him tame his hair, and somehow, she hasn't felt so light in years.

This is living, this is actually living, this is actually happening. She's eaten a hundred things that are a mess in her mouth, she can smell the sweet of the drink, and her body is aching in a way that isn't the burning she's used to. She feels weak as a price of it, and her head is swimming from laughing so hard and she feels good.
]

Sorry, I don't think I've laughed that hard in years now.

[ She shuffles closer after she calms though, when he begins to read, she hadn't read it exactly as a whole story, she had just processed the words as a matter of translation, rather than what they meant all strung together. ] What does it say?
vocalis: (002 worry)

[personal profile] vocalis 2016-04-26 01:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Aoba looks up from the pad when she says that. Not in... years? The memories she showed him of her home world threaten to flood back and ruin the moment, memories that aren't his but were shared so clearly they might be. The sense of observing things he shouldn't have to, of watching carnage and listening to screams. No, she probably hasn't laughed very much in years.

He doesn't respond to it, not out loud. But there's a cautious happiness there, that he could make her laugh like that. Even if it was accidental and over something so silly, even if he found it embarrassing. Going back to the task at hand, he holds the datapad balanced on one knee and skims the first few lines. ]


It looks like... e-mails.

[ After clearing his throat one more time, he begins to read outloud. Other than the occasional struggle with names, his voice is calm, even, easy to listen to. Something about it makes the letters he reads out that much more compelling, though it's difficult to say what it is. It might be safe to say it's just something that makes Aoba... Aoba.

About halfway through he stops, and briefly scrolls downwards to see how much is left. This Acgk guy wrote a lot to their partner. While it's not what he was really hoping for, like information on where to salvage good materials, he's becoming strangely invested in Acgk's voyage. ]


Wow... I hope they make it back to Mern. Or made it...

(no subject)

[personal profile] circumspector - 2016-04-27 14:50 (UTC) - Expand