[hatch log] +1, +2, +3, ...+4?

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: All
WHERE: The Station + Concordia
WHEN: DAY :35 - :36
SUMMARY: Another hatch occurs on the Station; new hosts arrive on Concordia and make their way to Bearings - along with a special guest.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

YOU WAKE UP and you will never be the person you were a moment ago. --No. Not a moment. It's been a while, hasn't it? Something feels different. You know intuitively that you've been unconscious for more than just a blink of the eye.

Which might explain how you ended up here: lying in a small faintly hexagonal chamber, a gentle white light emanating from the surrounding walls. It might also explain why any injuries you might have experienced immediately before your escape are also well on their way to being healed. There's something strangely peaceful about waking up here and that feeling persists as you find the tube running from the base of your neck to the compartment's rear wall. But when you disconnect the tube-- Things get loud. A wave of emotion fills the void. Fear, uncertainty, relief, a sense of purpose or loneliness or anxiety; maybe some of these emotions are yours, but they can't all be. After the initial sensory overload, the mental buzz elongates: stretches out into a murmur like the sound of a party behind a closed door.

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. Drop down the ladder to the floor of the Nesting Deck and you’ll find you’re not alone - and that those sounds in your head are louder. Other people’s thoughts swim up: some of them might seem clear, but most of them are a jumbled mess. Every single person here feels like someone you should be familiar with, someone you somehow know. They might look like strangers, but there's something about them that's absolutely vital on a cellular level.

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 your brood members, 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 plans are being put into motion. Stealth missions are being plotted, espionage-laden ploys are being quietly organized, and somewhere Sam Alexander is probably puking into a bucket. If you aren't following someone suspicious - well, maybe you should be? It definitely seems to be in vogue.

But it can't all be derring-do and covert operations; early on Day 35, Carata disappears. Nirad says she's gone to the Station. "I don't know how many more times we'll be able to do this. Someone's going to notice the ship and start asking questions." And maybe some of those questions might lead someone their way. After all, they haven't exactly been keeping a low profile have they?

     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, the rest of your brood is waiting for you.

     IN CONCORDIA
AS NIGHT FALLS IN CONCORDIA, the transport drops into atmosphere and lands in an gutted strip of an industrial waste facility. Once everyone's disembarked, the transport lifts off of its own volition and winks out of sight as its stealth routines come back online. A few minutes later, a transport van arrives being driven by a stoic android. Carata and the other new hosts pile in. It's a long drive to the Bearings Apartment Block, but it feels undeniably like home when they finally reach the Level 13 living space. New hosts are invited to make themselves comfortable. There are as of yet unclaimed rooms, each of which features a customizable digital display wall (pick your color or wallpaper!); there's a fully stocked kitchen (if someone took time to do the grocery shopping) and a great view overlooking Beta Block from the common room. Get familiar with the other hosts, take a well deserved nap or--

     JUST KIDDING.
In the excitement of new hosts arriving, it might be easy to miss it when the powerlift drops back to the lobby a few hours after the arrival of the new hosts. But it's impossible to overlook the android that arrives on Level 13 when it returns. It's stripped down to its most basic parts: a metallic skeleton with a featureless face plate and bright blue ocular inputs, sparks flashing through its internal synthetic viscera like firing synapses.

It looks like a nightmare.

Its jaw unhinges: "I'm looking for Sim Anderson," it says and then abruptly powers down.

---

((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. Any threads on Concordia can be open to both new and old hosts!

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

[snaphiss]

Coruscant, [Mara says, though if Kate is paying attention, she may notice through their bond that this is a lie.] The shopping district is where commerce is heaviest... [She begins walking.]

[quivers]

[ She senses something off about that answer, though it takes Kate a moment to pick up on the fact that it's because it is a lie, surprised at how she manages to come to that conclusion. She doesn't even know what or where Coruscant is, and probably knows little about whatever other places were in her world so she doesn't even get why the lie is there to begin with since it wouldn't make a difference to her either way. ]

Right. That place. The non-primitive this. [ Kate nods to indicate this city in general as she begins to follow Mara, fast paced to keep up with her. ] You been here long?

who has two thumbs and lost the notif for this

[snaphiss]

[Mara shrugs, though she has the sinking feeling her lie didn't hit. Is she losing her edge? Not to this child, no, she refuses to.]

There are no skylanes. [Mara says, as though that explains everything. Any civilized, sophisticated planet has skylanes.] About two weeks, give or take the day. I was the first of our brood.

[That isn't true, Mara woke in time with Murphy, but she has seniority on account of aving really good hair.]

weeps it's ok i got lost myself

[quivers]

Skylanes? [ Squinting, she takes a moment to try registering. ] Uhh, airport runways? Wouldn't call that being primitive.

[ Or whatever she happens to be talking about. She's still figuratively scratching her head on the word. ]

Brood. That's gotta be weird, right? Like boot camp. Getting thrown with a bunch of weirdos you don't know. [ Don't worry. She's counting herself amongst the weirdos. ]

high fiiiive

[snaphiss]

Skylanes, [Mara insists. She then closes her eyes, and focuses on the image of Coruscant, the closest thing she has to a home. By night, the speeders follow predetermined paths, weaving through skyscrapers and arches. By night, it looks like a sparkling jewel. The surface of the planet can no longer be seen.] You're not familiar with that sort of technology at all, are you?

[She stares, expression hard. The quickly forming realization that she's the only one of their Brood with any experience of civilized worlds makes her feel more like the weirdo, but it's an identity she clings to. Better to be strange and strong than someone else and weak.]

[quivers]

[ Kate's eyes unfocus when a sudden image reaches her mind, a flickering of lights through a cityscape giving her almost a sense of familiarity before she realizes it's not New York. No, when she says skylanes, she means skylanes. For a moment, she feels a rush, like she could follow those lanes herself but she blinks and it falls away. ]

I'm not unfamiliar with it. It's just not common like that. [ She frowns with a slight annoyance at seeming looked down upon over the fact.

But she knows stuff like that does exist, even if not on the norm. She knows SHIELD has that kind of tech mastered even if they're not very big on sharing with the world. But she does have an image of Clint's Sky Cycle that he'd often like to brag about like he'd invented the thing (he did lead the research on them so maybe that's why they never became mass produced; Clint wasn't a good business kind of guy). ]

Okay, so you're futuristic and spacey. I dated an alien with his own spaceship. This kind of stuff isn't that out of world for me so save the judgement.

[snaphiss]

[There's a genuine flash of concern when she hears Kate's admonition; she frowns. She likes the General, likes Jacen, would protect them if she had to. But that doesn't mean she trusts them.]

Be careful who you tell that too.

[quivers]

[ Her brows raise a bit, actually confused on what Mara's suddenly glance is meant to entail. She's quiet for a quick bit thinking, her head shaking. ]

Tell what to? This place has got a whole bigger mess of concerns than the fact that I dated an alien.

[ At least that's what she's assuming this is about. ]

[snaphiss]

[Mara clenches her jaw, frustrated. This girl clearly knows nothing of conservation of information, if she goes and repeats the information Mara just told her should be privileged.]

There are people here, from a group... that doesn't tolerate nonhuman life. And I don't mean the natives.

[quivers]

[ She knows about the prejudices on a synthetic sort of life but this is news to her. Not that everyone at home throws parades at the mention of aliens either, but it's not usually to the degree of getting one's panties twisted.

Her voice is quieter, her face softer and more concerned as she looks at Mara. ] They're with us?

[snaphiss]

[Mara nods, careful to keep the men's faces from her mind. She doesn't trust Kate to handle the situation adroitly. She does, however, respect Kate's horror at the idea. It shows good character, something she didn't expect in a girl as breezily flippant as Kate.]

[It could be an act. Mara will keep an eye on her.]

Yes. They're from an anti-alien... political faction in my galaxy. They won't have any problem with you. [Just your choices.]

[quivers]

Well, that's not the issue here, is it?

[ Whether they'd have a problem with her. Kate's concerns lie with people's problems with everyone else, considering less than self-interests, they're more ... everyone-interests. Superhero habits. ]

Do you think they're gonna cause any trouble?

[snaphiss]

[Mara cocks her head to the side, studying Kate. Is that genuine concern, or something else, a childish need to fix problems that don't concern her? Mara will see.]

I doubt it. Their forces are too small and scattered. Like I said, I wouldn't worry yourself with it.