[hatch log] the stealth ship's running out of fuel

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: The Station + Concordia
WHEN: DAY :29 - :30
SUMMARY: A new brood hatches; two new hosts arrive in Concordia.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

YOU WAKE UP. Something is different - something unnamable, but palpable. You aren't the same person you were the last time you were aware of yourself.

You might not know it right away, though. What you do know: you're in a just slightly claustrophobic compartment. A gentle white light diffuses from the top panel. You're wearing the clothes you remember from wherever you came from. You feel... good - regardless of what condition you might have been in before you came to this place. 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. Lastly, there’s a faint pinch at the base of your skull. Reach back to it and there's a small cable connected to the base of your neck and running back into the rear wall of the compartment. Disconnect it. Then it’s not so quiet anymore. Wherever here is, you aren't alone. You can feel that in your head: something big taking up space.

Welcome to Station 72, Mara and Murphy. All new hosts will have one day aboard the Station before being whisked off to Concordia to join the others. Get to know one another, ask the guardians of the Station - Prince and Cathaway - any burning questions you might have, explore Station 72. At the end of the day, a slick stealth shuttle will arrive in the hangar to take you to Concordia.

The pilot of the craft of a young man who buzzes across the fresh mental connection. It's loud enough to be irritating; he apologizes for it a few times during the trip through the pieces of the multiverse, as the ship pops into existence over the planet, and descends into the bustling inner city of Concordia in the dark hours of the morning on DAY 30. Nirad lands the stealth craft in a garden district; once you've disembarked, the ship reverts to an autopilot sequence and lifts off of it's own accord.

From there, it's just a short tram ride to the Bearings Apartment block building. The hosts, Nirad explains, have rented out Level 13. There are still some empty rooms there if you want one (you probably want one). That said-- if you don't want to go to Bearings and meet your new family comrades in arms ...friends...?

No one's stopping you. But some of them might come looking.

---

((OOC Notes: This is a mini-hatch log for Mara Jade and John Murphy; on-Station prompts should be closed to either one another or Station NPCs, but Concordia prompts may be open to everyone.

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

[wrackful]

[The question gets a wry snort of amusement, Murphy looking back out over the city again, one hand lifting to scratch at his neck. What do you do when you don't have to prioritise food, shelter, safety? He has no idea. It feels like years since he was on the Ark, and this city is so far outside of what he's used to that he could feel lost just looking at it.]

Yeah, I'm still figuring that one out.

[There's the vague stirrings of ideas, questions he wants answers to from places the Hive can't have touched. But nothing solid yet, and nothing to be shared.

He turns away from the city, facing her fully. Gardener makes him think of Farm Station, but none of the plants here look like food. He wonders how songstress came from that, if she'd just landed it because she happened to have a voice for it.]

How's singing work as part of any mission?

[erbier]

[ She looks away for a moment, lips pressing into a thin line. She has been asked about this by many. Her personality does not quite suit a celebrity, but... She has made it work. She does not know if she is proud of herself for at least trying or frustrated by this elongated farce. Can she be both? ]

I have some admirers. I pay them special attention, and they introduce me to those they find special in the Underground. Some of them are quite knowledgeable... About the city and its goings on.

[ There's a note of sourness to her tone. She's not enjoying herself, manipulating them this way. ]

I am invited to events where our people mingle with the crowd, and I can cause strong distraction with my symiote's ability...

[ As much good as it had done. They had still all been caught in the blast at the gaming parlor. ]

[wrackful]

[Bait, then, in a way. It makes sense, the best chance at hunting anything in an environment like this. Not that Murphy's spending any time thinking about what they're trying to do here. Her discomfort about it doesn't escape him, but any comment on it is caught by that last part.]

What kind of distraction?

[He doesn't trust the symbiotes. The idea of using them sits about the same as the idea of willingly engaging in the mission. But it was the same as any threat: the more you knew about it, the more likely you were to find a way to survive it.]

[erbier]

Fear. At the fighting tournament, I filled them all with fear, and they fought poorly for it, while our own had their confidence and wits.

[wrackful]

[Huh. Not quite what he'd expected, but he guesses it makes sense. His meeting with Bellamy had ended up like a feedback loop of anger and guilt; it'd be an extension, to fuck with someone else's feelings. He wonders if she has to be frightened, or remembering something frightening to do it.]

So what's better, singing for them or scaring them?

[He knows which one he'd pick between playing bait and taking action.]

[erbier]

[ At the beginning, the singing had been almost pleasurable. It had been a test, to push herself to try a different means of interfacing with the people. It seemed to be what was expected after the censure she had received for killing that boy on Avera. But as it has dragged on she has found it increasingly repugnant. ]

There is more to learn about my symbiote.

[ A vague answer, not quite admitting that she would rather cause harm than entertain. ]

[wrackful]

[His mouth tugs, a sharp smile.]

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[She'd avoided a straight answer, but it was already apparent enough in how she'd talked about it. It makes Murphy wonder what part they'd try to make him play, if he stopped to look at any of that junk in the pack they'd given him.]

You know, you don't have to do what they want.

[erbier]

Yes.

[ Simple and direct, lest he think she does not comprehend this fully. ]

I do know. But until I have a clearer vision of what I wish for myself, it is something.

[ She's never had a life extending out before her, no opportunities, nothing. It will take time to learn, to decide.. ]

[wrackful]

Clearer vision. Right.

[It sounds like bullshit to him, but at the same time, he can understand it. She'd asked him what he would do, and though he had some vague, half-formed ideas, the city stretching out below them didn't offer any answers on where to start. It wasn't a stupid plan, using what they'd been given to find a way. But getting trapped in that course wasn't something he was interested in.]

How long have you been here?

[Doing this. Waiting for a clearer vision.]

[erbier]

Thirty days. [ She doesn't count in weeks, nor months, nor turns of the moon. Everything is in days: dragging. ] Twenty-two more before we came to Opia.

[ And oh is precise. ]

Before the symbiote, I waited in the Godking's palace to die.

[ Doing something other than waiting for the day of immolation is a large scale prospect for her. ]

[wrackful]

[Fifty-two days is really, really long time. Murphy knows it, has been both on the side of a single day turning a situation entirely on it's head, and having to count down a potentially endless stretch of them with the same four walls and shitty furniture for company. He can't take that long to make the decision she hasn't made. He won't.]

Yeah, well, we don't have to wait here.

[There's a story in every word of what she's said, Godking and palace and waiting to die. Murphy doesn't know the first two, but he has a strong concept of the last, and it's enough to unsettle him, make him avoid asking for the rest. He already has a head full of bad memories, he doesn't really want to carry anyone else's.]

[erbier]

[ Strings of bad memories lead from Ilde to those she loves most. Kylo Ren, Angel, the Darkling, Mara. A web of despair that Ilde takes comfort in, personally. Solidarity, understanding. She believes the symbiote thrives on such connections, makes them all stronger, but not everyone agrees with her. ]

The city has much to see, you are right. I have learned much from the museums here.