[hatch log] i had a dream which was not all a dream

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: New Hosts & EVERYONE
WHERE: Station 72; Hyrypia - The Red Coast
WHEN: DAY :025 - DAY :026
SUMMARY: Somewhere deep in the void between multiverses, a fresh clutch of Hosts hatches; getting them down to Hyrypia proves to be more complicated than usual.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

STATION 72
DAY :025

NEW HATCHES
YOU WAKE UP and the universe and you in it are suddenly different. --No. That's not right. You're you, the universe is as it's always been, and there's no 'suddenly' about it. But it's been a while, hasn't it? It feels like waking up from a very deep, extended sleep or coming up from the darkness of some wine dark sea. Nothing is different and yet everything is.

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. Some of these emotions might be 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. There are a handful others very like you here, all of them somehow intimately familiar.

Welcome to Station 72. Beyond this room, the vast Station is quiet and still. It feels for all the world like a shell for some vast dark thing.

Eventually, a sensation manifests out of the hollowness:


PREPARE YOURSELF
THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD is sound and sensation: a brilliantly warm shaft of sunlight through smoky glass - a gauzy curtain twitching in some summer breeze - the blooming pleasure of a familiar face after a very long time away. It says or feels like:

( Come meet with me, won't you? )
Where exactly this meeting is supposed to occur isn't immediately clear, but head in the direction that seems correct and eventually Station 72 gets you where you're meant to be: a small grassy lawn in the center of the lush, circular gardens where an aging woman waits on a stone bench. The pin straight sheet of her hair hangs like a graying curtain and the sensation from her is lovely and golden, real delight pouring through her like light through a pinhole camera. She smiles and sets aside the book in her lap.

"There you are. Unfortunately, you won't be here long but we'd like to answer as many of your questions as we're able before you leave this place."


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 other than the people you woke up with there's a distinct lack of company 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 is the most proactive distraction? Otherwise-- well there's plenty of places to get lost...

By the simulated morning, a strange archaic ship has arrived on the Hangar. Its very alien pilots are in the process of unloading-- bodies. No, scratch that, they're clearly still alive, though in some kind of comatose state. One of the pilots - a pale female alien who calls herself Rhan - says, "Well, this is awkward. We were supposed to be done with this already. Uh don't mind us, darling. We'll finish up here and get on our way. In the meantime, why don't you go through your packs and get changed?"

She nods toward two trunks on the hangar deck where assortment of pre-prepared packs are waiting for each new Host. In each pack is a series of items, including a set of beautiful and very all-encompassing robes. Better get comfortable. Not hot on the fabrics or patterns in your pack? Mixing and matching with your new best friends is totally acceptable.

Eventually, you leave the Station. If you're lucky, you might one day make it back.

HYRYPIA - THE RED COAST
LATE DAY :026

A PURPOSEFULLY SUBTLE WELCOME
UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS, Collector and Lyr make their way through the barracks where the Hosts on Hyrypia are meant to be sleeping. It's nearing whatever the Hyrypian equivalent of midnight is; if you're awake, all the better. If not? Expect to be roused (gently and silently by Collector, rudely and abruptly by Lyr).

"Get dressed. We're going for a walk."

There's nothing quite so suspicious as bringing a bunch of reinforcements to the planet in the aftermath of a rather public murder, which means a highly ritualized midnight procession of Carbasuchians into the highlands. It's easier to secret a handful of newbies in an anonymous group, right?

That meeting in the dead of night in the rocky wilderness above the Red Coast bears even a passing resemblance to the strange occurrence on DAY :010 is probably just a coincidence. Besides, there aren't any mystery circles burned into the stone and grass here: just a stealth ship materializing out of the black night and touching down in a stony outcropping where it disgorges the freshly hatched (or newly reawakened) Hosts.

---

((OOC Notes: This log covers the hatch on Day :025 as well as the arrival of new Hosts on Hyrypia late on Day :026. Feel free to make your own logs and posts additional to this if you care to. You can find additional information pertaining to the Red Coast on the previous mission log (located here); newbies are welcome to utilize that log as well as it occurs within the same time period as the hatch.

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're brand new to the game. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))

NAVIGATION • GAME CALENDAR • MISSION: HYRYPIA • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

[erbier]

[ She does hate to be called that. Babe. Sweetheart. Honey. They all nettle her. She pushes the cold, simmering irritation for it down. ]

Few. Most take your stance.

[ And oh does she look down on them for it. There is power to be had, for a bit of openness, and if there is one thing Ilde values: it is power to wield. ]

I hope you will find that comforting.

[ She means that in the most backhanded way possible, her tone featherlight as she walks into her garden, her fingers reaching out to rustle the long grasses as she moves past them. ]

[shiro2hero]

That's... that's beautiful, Aloy.

[If she doesn't mind him peering at it. Because he is, a little. Lakshmi had been the last person doing anything this delicate, last he'd seen, and he's more than a bit curious.]

[The flaws, if there are any, don't register to his eye. The appreciation is genuine.]

[greentech]

[ Don't worry, she's stubborn. She'll circle back to him. Eventually. She takes a deep breath instead and tries to focus on the now. It's OK. He's new. He's freaked out. She gets that. There'll be time for figuring everything out later. ]

Try to practice on your walls or you'll probably go a bit crazy.

[ Pidge shrugs. ]

And, uh... I guess, try to keep you head above water. It's kind of freaky, but you'll get used to it. Eventually.

bounces him into the time out corner

[deployed]

[ It's a fair point. Bellamy doesn't even really remember much in the way of introductions when he'd arrived. Is it better or worse to know that after a few days he'd have picked up at least a glancing familiarity with everyone whether he'd spoken to them or not? ]

( My name. ) [ Bakugo is rewarded with a flicker of irritation. ] ( Are you going to tell me yours? )

[ As he speaks, Bellamy stoops to pluck a rock from the ground. There's no way he's going to be able to skip it the way Bakugo has, but he weighs it in his palm anyway as he turns back fully to the newest member of the nest. ]

[nastygram]

Hold up. You for real have some of the Nectar?

[Now that gets Darlene's full attention. No more looking at screens or consoles or anything else.]

How did you get your hands on that?

[huntsmachines]

Thanks. I'd never done sewing like this. Only mending and making practical things. This is... diverting. It gives me something to do.

[ She smiles up at Shiro, then pats a spot next to her. ]

Sit with me. I could use the company.

[nastygram]

I'd say I'm fifty-fifty on the comfort scale. Anyone falling for the bullshit is depressing. And skepticism hasn't freed us so far, so--

[She shrugs, caviler. Paranoia is taking the edge off, for once, instead of working in its usual way. Distrust is something Darlene knows well. She is also getting the slightest touch of irritation off this chick, no matter how chill she is acting. That alone could make Darlene feel a little better.]

Far as I can tell, freedom would be a lobotomy. Decidedly un comforting. What do I call you, zenmaster?

[She trails in to the garden proper a few steps more, taking note of the sound the grass makes. Very real.]

[wrackful]

[The immediate warmth is a shock. He doesn't really know how to respond, only to wait for her to make her way to him. The veils don't help much - not that Ilde's facial expressions had ever given much away in the first place, but the lack of eye contact is something Murphy's been feeling more and more acutely recently.]

You woke up.

[Still that wariness. Already half crumbled in how he'd so reflexively reached for her, but the rest of him still attempting to be drawn back, like he doesn't want to let himself trust that she won't fall asleep again right there.]

[detestable]

[ As much as Seth resents the mental links, he can't help himself from admiring the way Darlene's focus narrows. All he has are the vague impressions of her reaction, but it's enough. ]

My brother and I can get you one of those nectar-sipping freaks.

[ There's complete confidence in Seth's voice. Nothing wavers into uncertainty. ]

They'll give you access, then you go in and fuck up everyone's travel plans. Or figure out what kind of shit they're keeping from us.

[ Even if this can't give them the Enemy, Seth's going to call it research. Valuable research. It'll be something better than what most of the people around here seem to have gathered so far. ]

[shiro2hero]

I've never done anything like it. Practical or decorative.

[He ducks his head, a little sheepish, but eases down next to her.]

She showed me, a while back. But too much happened before I tried anything.

[incinerates]

[ Honestly, it's the only way he can remember people who don't matter, on a personal level, to him. He picks a defining trait and delivers unto them a nickname. Cathaway, remarkably enough, is just "Cathaway" in his mental Rolodex. Apparently she managed to leave quite a mark in his memory. ]

All right, fine. Let's see if your method's any better than hers.

[ He's not!

interested!

but it's a skill that he wants to have, and if he can tailor a method based on other "hosts" abilities to put up blockades and walls, then he'll do it to keep himself safe. ]

[greentech]

[ Pidge glances around to make sure no one is listening in or paying attention. ]

I stole it. From the engine room.

[ She sounds smug. ]

...with some help.

[lifewithoutrest]

[ She nods, smiling warmly. ]

Back again, it seems. Shiro, isn't it?

[ He'd kept his mind quiet the last time they'd met too, but there's something about the way he holds himself back, staying apart from the group. ]

I expect a lot's happened since I was here last.

[ It's a gentle prompt. They had just been starting this mission before she'd fallen into the coma, and she thinks she'd rather like to know what's happened in the meantime. ]

[lifewithoutrest]

[ His question receives a soft hum and a nod in answer. ]

Once, yes. It was quite an experience, waking up that first time.

[lifewithoutrest]

[ Well that was...unexpected. But it's not unwelcome, and after that first brief moment, she returns the hug and can't help but smile. Aloy's energy is welcome, her presence warm and familiar in that way that's different from the others. She's very glad to see her. ]

It's good to see you too.

[raw]

You never know.

[ With a shrug in his voice. ]

It's clay, right. You knock it down then just shape it back up again.

[ He doesn't really know anything about pottery. Or arts and craft group etiquette. Not that he hasn't also embarrassed himself in front of a group of people — probably ranting about how god wasn't real to a heavily Christian AA group was in the same category as Juno's little scene. ]

If it really bothers you, apologize.

[raw]

That's what the hive mind's for.

[ If he doesn't sound concerned about the question, it's because he's not. ]

They put the symbiote in our brain, it takes care of us. Faster, stronger, whatever, but more importantly...

( This shit. )

[ A careful tendril of connection, dialing in, trying to keep his firewalls up and still send something: he picks his own skill, which is coding. Useless, on this mission, on this planet, but fine for an object lesson.

What Joshua gets isn't the image of a computer screen, it's Elliot's understanding of how it works, of flickering strings numbers that he finds so easy to hold in his mind, of where the root folders are and what file extensions to look for, what strings to modify. It's baseless, without anything to practice on, and the skill itself is unpracticed, but. ]

If you're worried about not being qualified, don't be.

[raw]

Success is important to me.

[ The "you moron" is kind of implied by his flat tone. ]

I don't have to be physically near you for this. Anyway, it doesn't matter. You think you can shut it out?

[ Talking to Bakugo, but also perhaps to that persistent part of him that is actively against the hivemind and the Nest, wants them to be one individual, albeit one made of two. Mr Robot thinks, he knows, that they can fight this. Elliot finds that ludicrous. ]

Better to master it, man.

[lifewithoutrest]

[ The veils and robes of their disguises do their job well, obscuring most distinguishing features, and the voice isn't immediately familiar. But Helen can feel her presence, especially at this distance. ]

No. The first time I woke on the station was shortly before this mission started.

[nastygram]

[It is a very tempting suggestion. When there's a wall between Darlene and something that she wants--either to have or to know--then she can only think about how to get that wall down, herself. No assistance necessary. She figured out a long time ago how to game the system, but that was before, when she wasn't literally in alien territory. Shit has changed.

She keeps that narrow stare fixed on him, like she can suss his shit out using the power of her eyes alone. Feeling out for motivations, for anything that smells bad. He has his reasons. They're there, indistinct, like trying to see into a grimy pane of smoked glass.

Everyone's got motivations. That doesn't mean jack.]

And how exactly do you and your brother get me a cooperative Second. You ask nice?

[Tellingly, she's questioning only that part of the plan. Not the part where she gets to fuck up itineraries or get secret intel.]

[nastygram]

Shit, girl.

[--Darlene says, approvingly. She likes this tactical theft way more than the earnestness of a few minutes back.]

Help from who, your Second friend?

[greentech]

Ah, no. Elliot, actually. He's-

[ There's a beat. Another check to make sure no one is going to overhear this. ]

He's another host. He basically distracted the engineers so I could get my hands on the stuff.

[incinerates]

[ An unfamiliar one. He resolves himself to locate a library in this weird, honeycomb structure of a place, in the hopes of finding a proper text on plants -- he knows mountain shrubs, roots, trees. If not in name, then by sight. "Acicularis" is delicate and complex a word, and it makes him wary. ]

Sounds pretty.

[ Voice lowered, cautious now: ] -- are you dangerous?

[incinerates]

[ This is a war, his mind supplies, layers of voices that aren't his ( Shiro, most sharply ). A word and concept he'd only known from textbooks and history lessons; there's really no such thing as war where he comes from. There are skirmishes, there are struggles in foreign countries, but when nearly eighty percent of the world's population is bursting with power -- Quirks -- "war" is perhaps the last thing anybody wishes to partake in. ]

Tch, [ his teeth snap, like a frustrated animal, unable to retort: ] maybe one of us needs to get their ass in gear, then.

[ If nobody on the ground is in charge, then everyone is a liability. ]

HAPHAZARDLY REMEMBERS TO CLOSE THIS OUT???

[incinerates]

Not an important enough question, I'll deal with you all in my own way.

[ HUFF! And he twists, off to one side to continue slipping his way out of his costume, until something else seems to catch his attention. Something that sends him right back up into a manic fury, eyes flashing. ]

You know what, how 'bout you go on ahead.