station72 | [hatch log / mission: hyrypia] the winds that will be howling at all hours

Entry tags:

[hatch log / mission: hyrypia] the winds that will be howling at all hours

CHARACTERS: New Hosts & EVERYONE
WHERE: Station 72; Hyrypia - Naerstone House
WHEN: DAY :002 - :003
SUMMARY: New hosts hatch on the Station, are briefed, then make their way to Hyrypia to join the rest of the hosts… while they attend a very important history lesson.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

STATION 72
DAY :002

NEW HATCHES
YOU WAKE UP are are suddenly changed. --No. That's not right. You're you and there's no suddenly about it. It's been a while, hasn't it? It feels like waking up from a very deep, extended sleep or surfacing up from the darkness of some wine dark sea. Nothing is different and everything is because right there in your own head there's something both familiar and strange. You know intuitively that you've been unconscious for more than just a blink of the eye.

But here you are, a small miracle of the multiverse: lying in a small, faintly hexagonal chamber with a gentle white light emanating from the surrounding walls. If you were injured during your escape, those injuries have been healed. If you were anxious or frightened or distraught, those feelings have been calmed. There's something peaceful about waking up here - like you belong. That feeling persists even as you find the tube running from the base of your neck to the compartment's rear wall.

But once the tube's disconnected? Things get loud. A wave of emotion fills that peaceful void - fear, uncertainty, relief, a sense of purpose or loneliness or anxiety. A matching dread. An easy comfort. 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 happening behind a nearby 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. Maybe it's time for a change? Drop down the ladder to the floor of the Nesting Deck and you’ll find you’re not alone.In fact there are lots of you and none of them are the strangers they should be. Some even seems like people you've known for a very long time.They are as familiar as this place you've never been is.

Welcome to Station 72. Beyond this room it's quiet and still, feeling for all the world like a hollow shell.

--Or it does until a voice separates itself from the white noise in your head:

BRIEFING
THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD isn't really a voice at all. It's the warm tang of camaraderie, tinged with a flash of impatience like ticking hands on a clock face and a flicker of wonder: a falling star. It says:

( My, you're all very fresh aren't you? Unfortunately, the multiverse waits for no spring chicken. Once you've figured out which way's up, won't you all join us? )
Join 'us' where is the question. And yet, once you're ready to meet the owner of the voice in your mind, your footsteps simply lead you there naturally. Two strangers sit in a small circular briefing room - a tall being covered in short brown fur with a rigid demeanor, and a pale alien with yellow washed frills at her jaw and throat who is smiling cheerfully.

"Hey there, sunshine," says Rhan, her frills humming as she speaks. "Why don't you take a seat so we can get started?"

[ooc note: please see here for the catch-all briefing thread]

THE STATION
WITH A LITTLE UNDER 24 HOURS before it's time to make the trip to Hyrypia, this is as good an opportunity as you're going to get to familiarize yourself with Station 72 before you leave it. There's plenty to see, but a distinct lack of people to make conversation with. It's lonely and quiet and there's a sensation of dust gathering even where there is none. Maybe studying the briefing files on your databank and going over your mission kit is the most proactive distraction, but if not? Well there's plenty of places to get lost...

HYRYPIA - NAERSTONE HOUSE
DAY :003

MEETING
A SINGLE SHIP LANDS in a field the color of burnished gold, returning to the place it had until late the night before occupied. It's carefully inserted beside dozens of other spacecraft bearing more than faint similarities, though each has its own unique aesthetic. When the gangplank drops, the loud engines powering down, it reveals--

New hosts. Seven fresh faces - obscured as they are in layers of intricate fabric - are led down the gangplank by Rhan There to greet them is a number of other hosts - any who answered to the sweet crystalline ring of Collector’s voice in their heads hardly a half hour earlier, speaking with certainty born of truth:

( Rhan and Siva’co are returning. Shall we see what stories they have to tell? )

Despite the solidarity that both combined groups provide, there's a feeling of eyes here. A number of guards along the edge of the shuttle field are watching the reunion like hawks. Better perhaps to return to the apartments where they'll be able to speak in private and teach the new hosts what it is that has been learned since their arrival. --Or explore, for those who prefer not to rest. Naerstone House's grounds are vast and they are almost entirely open to the parties of the pilgrims to explore.

THE PERFORMANCE
AS THE SINGLE RED SUN of Hyrypia dips low on the horizon there is a long, low, mournful sound. A deep bell-- or a horn? Or maybe it's something else entirely, but the call is heard and answered as any nearby servants inform the guests of the house:

“There will be a performance of the First Journey in a quarter turn. All guests are invited to attend.”

There's no mystery as to where the event is occurring. A steady trail of guests and servants lead out past the Veranda into the central garden where a number of pillars have been mounted and a large tiered platform festooned with with numerous draped curtains and abstract representations of trees and mountains - a great stage - now sits. The stage is surrounded by numerous low settees and tables, piles of thick cushions and richly colored rugs around which guests can be found clustered, lounging while sipping thick, syrupy drinks.

Each table is illuminated only by a single glowing orb at its center. Otherwise, as the sun sets it pitches the garden into darkness as even the castle itself has been left unlit. There are no lights in distant windows or on Naerstone House's high walls; these small orbs and the glitter of stars in the black sky might very well be the only points of light in the whole universe.

The allotted time passes and the performance begins. A sun rises over the stage. It's a much larger, more intricate glowing orb and reveals a number of players dressed far more simply than the Hyrypians the hosts have met. They wear complex machine masks upon their faces that shutter into different expressions as their hands flitter across their faces: dramatic caricatures to accompany the droning sound of their singing voices as they unfold the tale at the center of the performance - the one which drives this pilgrimage and for the Nest's very presence in the universe at all. It's the story of lost Rabadoceans coming to a planet near barren intent on brutalizing them - about loss and hardship until finally a single player separates from the rest. The orb of the sun over the stage turns, it's mechanical face shifting and resetting to indicate the passage of time as the very central platform of the stage begins to turn so that this lone player might walk. And walk. And walk through deserts and scrub land, through dark woods and dark caves, against the wind and with it. Through it all, the orb over the stage slowly lowers until at last this lone player can take it in their hands.

It cracks like an egg and brilliance streams from it. Braziers catch fire in the darkness. The garden illuminates itself. Every light in Naerstone House comes to life.

With that, the silence of the crowd breaks. There is applause -- each culture in its own unique fashion -- and then there is a rise of chattering conversation as the guests are served several small dishes and talk about the show they’ve just seen - and whatever possible clues it might give to the pilgrimage they themselves would soon be undertaking.

((OOC Notes: This is the hatch log for all new hosts as well as the evening's performance. Feel free to make your own logs and posts additional to this if you care to. You can find a more detailed overview of the host hatching process HERE and additional setting information about the Station HERE. Please be sure to review the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))

NAVIGATION • SETTING • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( I am a warrior. )

[ That's what she is. She's a paladin and just because she knows tech doesn't mean she can't fight. Or that's her thought anyway. ]

( What do you hope to gain from this? )

[Lexa has already made it clear that she acknowledges her skills and her talents. It feels like a sticking point that is happening on one end but not the other.

And her inclination is to continue being difficult, if only because that's how she is.]

( An acknowledgement that I'm not just the tech geek. )

[ Look, Pidge is a stubborn little thing and she doesn't like being told she can't do something she thinks she's perfectly capable of doing. Tell her "you can't" is basically challenging her to do it - so she will, if she thinks it's in her wheelhouse. It's not really fair to Lexa, who she likes and who she respects, but she's got a bit of a chip on her shoulder. ]

Edited 2017-07-15 00:19 (UTC)

( No, that's only temporary validation. )

[Lexa lets at least a hint of her irritation to slip out, because she feels like she's validated her enough. It feels like a child playing like a game—and it's not as if her novitiates weren't prone to this, at least at first.

She may have been once, the first time she went to Polis.

(Given how she is, that's an easy thing to think happened.)]

( Temporary? How is it just temporary? )

[ To Pidge, it's a bit more than that; it's the idea that she's not just going to be slotted into the "tech support" role everytime they have to go and do something. She's happy to do that, honestly. It's what she's good at it - but that doesn't mean she wants to be left behind all the time. She had an argument with Mara Jade and a few others about this way back on Concordia and now it feels like she's having to make that argument all over again.

Except she likes Lexa. ]

Edited 2017-07-15 03:45 (UTC)

[What had begun as a matter of being difficult for the sake of being difficult has spun into something more. She isn't surprised. It happens. There's a sense of a sigh, a moment of her wondering how this might seem to someone else if they bothered to listen in—to Clarke, as her mind wanders to her for a moment.

(Lexa knows that's going to happen a lot in the following days. It'll be difficult to conceal.)]

( Calm your mind. Live outside of this moment. Do you think I'm someone who suddenly thinks less of you? )

[ Pidge's bristling and defensiveness dies a little. And replaced by something a bit more sheepish and slightly ashamed. Like the mental equivalent of kicking dirt. ]

( I - no. I don't. I just - I don't want people to put me in one box and leave me there. That's all. )

[ It's like letting the air out of a balloon, almost. ]

( ...sorry. )

( It's fair. I've been in your shoes before. Even though I was proven as a Commander of my people and a warrior, I once was ... criticized for refusing to choose a warrior to take my spot in an important battle. )

[Clarke and Titus had imposed the view upon her again and again that she needed to ask someone else to be her warrior. But she could not be shown to be weak.]

( I don't think you weak. But here, your pride cannot get in the way of our success. This is a mission that will require more from our minds than our bodies. For those who are more inclined to rely on the latter, we must let them act for us. And if things go poorly, I do trust that you'll have the opportunity to fight. )

( I... yeah. I know. )

[ Pidge takes a slow, deep breath and lets it out. She can deal with this. She just has to reign herself in from time to time. Not everything is a judgement on her ability. Even if it feels like it sometimes. Lexa understands though - so that's a good step and she thinks that'll actually help her moving forward. ]

( Thanks for... understanding. And trusting me. It means a lot. )

( Do not give me reason to change my mind. )

[It's not the typical thing that someone says in response to those final words, but Lexa wants it to be clear that she still crossed a line. She might be more irritated if it were another day, more forceful and willing to make an even larger lesson out of this, but she sees no reason to. For now, it's easy to find a way to temper Pidge's pride. She just does not want to have to persuade her one way or the other every time: in order to be as strong as she can be, she has to manage this for herself.]

( Do you understand? ) [The initial line and the second line may not go hand in hand, in part because Lexa leaves a lot out. Still, there is a prying sense of wonder, in hoping that Pidge gets a single thing: this cannot happen again. It will be a hard lesson to learn, but her people believe in firm foundations. It's time to lay them now.]

[ There's another mental jerk from Pidge. That's not the response she was expecting and it stings, but she understands why now - and she's also not quite as on edge as she was at the start of this. There's a moment of mental silence and turmoil and it's ended when Pidge finally "speaks" again. ]

( Yeah. I understand. )

( Good. ) [The jerk itself is unsurprising, but Lexa is pleased that she understands.]

( Would you like to speak about the pilgrimage or leave that for another time? )

[She may need to be left "alone," so to speak.]

[ Pidge feels a touch rattled, but she's also stubborn. She shakes it off with a mental toss of her head. ]

( I'm fine. We can talk now. )

( The idea that you can build something to secure our passage is a good one. Do you think that you'll need any additional supplies? )

[Because it's not a bad time to plan.]

( I also assumed that you wouldn't need to maintain this thing yourself. Was I wrong about that? )

( Probably. I didn't bring a whole lot with me. Some tools, but I'll need materials at the very least... )

[ There's a pause as she considers the ideas churning around in her head. ]

( The little bugs from the other night are all clockwork so I'd probably have to rig some sort of power source if it's going to be anything powered - oh. Uh, no, that's not wrong. It sort of depends on what breaks. Some stuff is pretty easy to fix, but sometimes you need to take the car into the shop. Right? )

[That last metaphor would have flown over Lexa's head months ago, but now, quite simply, she understands it. Enough time in the Nest has offered her that, so she doesn't ask for any clarification. She simply knows.

Strange how that works.]

( Circumstances may not permit any maintenance. It might be better if it's something that aids our warriors instead of being a thing they can rely upon. If we give the appearance of falsely providing ourselves some strength, it will blow our cover entirely. )

[That "low tech" bit is really what's going to catch them. It will help in some arenas, but harm in others. She can play that part easily, but that's not the same for all of them.]

( I might be able to do some simply grappling lines. Nothing too fancy like I did for... Bruce. )

[ Bruce, who is currently asleep and may never wake up again. ]

( But just line and grappling hooks might be handy, right? )

( Yes. We have a pulley system in my capital to ensure that people can reach the top. I'd help you with it if I knew how it was built, but that was outside of my understanding. Still, such a thing, if well-built, can be fairly resilient. )

[And it may not take extra training to maintain. Oil, or something slick like it, might be all they need.]

( Not sure I can make a completely portable pulley system, but I could definitely make some stuff that's... smaller and protable-ish that could be useful for rigging blocks and tackle or getting stuff up cliffs or something. )

( I'd never expect that. I shared because it's the experience I have with the matter. )

[No one needs to be pulled up a skyscraper, for instance.]

( Alright - let me know if you have a wishlist or something. I'll see what I can do. )

( I'll see what I can do. But if you recall who offered themselves as a guard or warrior, they may be the better ones to ask. )

[And in that way, Pidge will have her own goal, her own mission. It'll still involve her being relegated, but it'll still be a circumstance where her involvement will have direct impact on their overall goal.]

( Good point. I guess I'll try and rustle up some information... )

[ Pidge just wants to be useful. ]

( Good luck. )

[It's good that a tense conversation like theirs can end on this note—but it's clear that it's ending. There's a warm nod of sorts via the link before Lexa's mind drifts away to interact with someone else.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[hatch log / mission: hyrypia] the winds that will be howling at all hours

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