03. Girly drinks and parlor games [open]

[bespectacle]

CHARACTERS: Harry Potter, William Tsang, Mystique, & You
LOCATION: Sundry
WARNINGS: Spontaneous bleeding, language, etc.
SUMMARY: Encapsulating the May modplot, Harry Potter's grief at losing his mother (again), Mystique's post-murder shimmy and William Tsang's final days of soullessness.
NOTES: Let me know if you want me to make a starter and I will!


Harry Potter | Rec Rooms, Kitchens, etc.

[Secretly, Harry cries a lot.

Head under the pillows usually, in the privacy of his room. Sometimes though he winds up idiotically snuffling over pancakes and something goes wrong when he tries to catch up the recipe with his wand and ends up chewing through breakfast food that's gritty and sour.

Mostly, he's got a stiff British upper-lip focuses on keeping himself distracted. Learning more about Engineering's functions, browsing the library for video/games, bothering his uncles a bit, about meeting Sirius' dozen or so lady friends and swinging by Remus to check how them moon phases are going. He takes over Professor Snape's garden, and forgets about passing Crookshanks on to Cat (although were to be totally honest with himself it's less forgetting and more that the cat, lower-case, becomes a comfort in these early days).

Harry practices combat magic in the gym. Sends the Reductor curse flashing down empty corridors, more civilized practice of Stupefying spells and Jinxes into dummies in the rec room. You might catch him flying a little, mostly in the garden, riding over treetops with a moody face that breaks promptly when he hears you say hi.]

William Tsang | Heather Mason's Room

[The first patients have already cycled through the Medical Bay, painkillers prescribed in safe-enough doses. Whoever figured out the real cure deserves a hug, but William and Heather, at least, are otherwise preoccupied.

Under the tented blankets, the room lights come through just dimly. The blanket fort is very handsome, warm, spacious enough that they can be knee to knee. And also have hot toddies, though some has splashed already. Ned's got Takeshi in the gardens, William's next shift isn't for an hour. He hasn't been completely sure she's got her soul back, but she seems different-- probably because the difference between Heather-with-soul and Heather-without is a great deal bigger than these conditions are for William. (Or so he'd like to believe.)]

First things first, [he says, teacup balanced on his belly. Smiling, which is easier with her, even in absence of Prof. Snape anymore.] What the fuck is going on with the dozens of new blokes named after countries yammering on the fucking network? Do you know all them, too?

Mystique | Flight Deck, Passenger Quarters, etc.

[You know what's maybe weird.

A cyan blue lizard woman wearing protective flight area gear while she's jammin' out to Spunes on her comm device with a giant noise-cancellation headset clamped around her sleek, red-haired head is maybe weird. It's an oddly immediate return to the norm, with which she performs maintenance on the shuttles and the docking bays and the surface of the ship; like a housecat who finally got to stretch the claws on something alive, reset the timer on that particular itch, and it's napping on the couch in front of Meerkat Kingdom for the next while. Per our last network missive, few if any know what became of the artist formerly known as Marcus.

The fucking earbleed catches her by surprise.

She wrenches the audio-set off her head with a single, fluid motion of her arm, hurls it across the floor with more strength than she'd meant. Drops her hose, fortunately already off. The metamorph winds up doubled over, her hands clamped over her head and teeth gritted. Her hair shocks blonde for an instant-- then black-- short-- strings long, the musculature of her shoulders writhing like snakes.

After that, it's not incredibly long before she's dragging her somewhat sorrier ass to Medical Bay, then Xenogen, inquiring irritably but casually after the whereabouts of her brother. There is also a swimming pool incident, early on, in which she emerges sputtering less elegantly than she's usually wont-- having determined pretty unequivocally that freestyle doesn't help.]

Comments

Closed to the Hamada Brothers

[bespectacle]

[Behold: Engineering.

The lifts that take them there are as orange as the ones around the rest of the ship are blue, electrical lights coded, clearly, to indicate the importance of their purpose. Harry introduced himself on the way over in very brief terms. Harry Potter, again. Wizard. This is my wand, presented from his sleeve, and he has been on the ship for about four months now. His clearance is merely Engineering Trainee. He was friendly, but a little tired-looking in person, in a way that hadn't quite come across on the network.

He keeps between Tadashi and Hiro. At first, it might seem like he's just trying to be polite and make sure he's talking to both of them, but after awhile it might be clear there's a streak of envy there. They might run into that a little more later: not too many people are lucky enough to have family around.] And here we are, [is Harry's introduction when the doors open.

Pipes, lights, consoles, catwalks, the doors of the massive Reactor Bay far off in the distance. It's a sprawling nexus of space-age technology.]

[tadashiwashere]

[On the way over, Tadashi's expression briefly clouds in mild concern when he takes note that Harry seems tired -- he even makes a point to let the younger man know that if it's too much trouble, they don't need to have the tour. He offers his own introduction back after Harry's (throughout which he did his best to keep an open mind re: wizardry and wands) -- Tadashi Hamada, college student studying robotics at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology before ending up in this mess. He takes a moment to brag on his brother, too. Hiro -- due to start attending the same college after an extremely impressive tech demonstration at the last SFIT showcase...

At that point, he had trailed off abruptly eyebrows knitting together as he tried to make some pieces fit. All of his memories had come back over the first few days, but he doesn't remember anything past the showcase. He's assumed up until now that he and Hiro were snatched on their way home from there, but he can't actually remember the drive back...

Their arrival distracts him from those thoughts. He gives a low whistle and steps off the lift, looking up and around in an attempt to see it all.]

How many workers does it take to keep the ship going?

[That's his first question as he strays a few more steps towards one of the nearest consoles. He manages to keep it at just that -- a few steps. This is a tour, after all, and not free reign for Tadashi to poke his nose into whatever catches his interest. And all of this has his interest.]

[bespectacle]

That's an interesting question, actually.

[Harry has brightened a little since he properly got to talking, if it helps. He certainly wasn't going to stand down from the tour around. If anything, the better to distract himself, even if adorable brotherly moments do spring other thoughts unbidden to his mind.] From what we can tell, a woman named Devon Resnik ran it herself for awhile. The original crew probably had dozens, before the strange disasters struck and she took over. Then when we-- the new passengers started showing up, well. [He glances at a console, leans over to beep boop a thing or two, make himself look like he knows what he's doing. (Kind of true.) (Anyway the lights are all green and he's just looking after pressure valves today, so we're good.)]

Resnik started showing up less and less, 'til it was just us. From what I can tell, nearly all the departments are quite small, but the Tranquility moves forward anyway. [He pauses, takes a step back to angle properly, points off at the huge doors in the distance.] We still haven't got access to the Jump Drive. Which is a pity: it's probably why we're here.

[hirobotics]

[Hiro's only very dimly aware of the fact that he might be coming off pretty rude at the moment. He gave his own, very brief introduction when they were exchanged, sparing a minute to shove Tadashi for talking about him like that ("Oh, come on, it was just a presentation."), but he certainly didn't hide the raise of his eyebrow when Harry introduced himself as a wizard. He even came complete with wand. Hiro almost made a remark about his missing cauldron and broomstick, but successfully held himself back. Already an accomplishment for him, really.

He leaves most of the talking to Tadashi, anyway. He's better with people. At least Hiro doesn't fall back and end up walking behind them, and he does pipe in on occasion when he has something to contribute. But other than that, he has his mind set on seeing this Engineering department and seeing what it has to offer.

When they get there, he's not disappointed. Hiro's eyes go wide and his mouth falls open just a little bit and there are just-- so many things to look at. It's like the showcase all over again, except this time he can actually go and check the other booths out instead of being nervous about his presentation. The place is huge. And Hiro's already starting to walk ahead of the other two, drawn to the tech like a moth to the flame. And when Harry points out the huge doors to the Jump Drive, well... Hiro's sights find themselves completely locked in.]

No one's ever been in there? Even that- that Resnik woman never went into those doors?

[tadashiwashere]

Is there some sort of failsafe mechanism locking the doors down? Something from the... disasters?

[Though the tech of Engineering definitely has Tadashi's current attention, any mention of what happened to the Tranquility in the past to turn its naming so unfortunately ironic is something he sees as worth pursuing. From what he's gathered talking to other passengers and reading the records that are available through the communications network, the ship has an extremely long and eventful record since the original crew's disappearance. Somewhere in that history... he feels like there has to be more clues that will let him understand what's happening to them now and how to make it stop.

That's probably something to be delved into another time, however. For now, Tadashi is stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking over to stand beside his brother, his eyes fixed on the doors to the Jump Drive as well.

If it's true that no one has been in there... Well, there aren't many more obvious places for explanations to be held than behind locked doors.]

[bespectacle]

[Harry turns to look at the younger Hamada. Through all this, he hadn't nearly forgotten that Hiro was here, but he'd been happy enough to talk only to the bigger one. Now that the smaller is making an account of himself, though, he's happy to oblige.] Resnik went in, [he nods.] Ages ago, though. She hasn't made account of herself since... probably at least a year before I showed up. Far as we're aware, she's the only one who's got access.

[They'll hear his footsteps ticking up nearby. He comes to stand on Hiro's other side, looking in the same direction: at the Jump Drive doors. Ever silent, ever strong.] I haven't seen any failsafe doors activate anywhere on the ship, [Harry adds, after a moment.] But I was reading the archives, [SORRY I HOPE THIS ISN'T AN ALT CONFLICT, semi-necessary plug ok] and it seems like there was a horrible incident where folks got trapped behind doors, once. A few passengers tried to seize the bridge, mutiny against Ward and Resnik; saw all kinds of odd... hallucinations, maybe, in there. They got locked in on Jump day, nearly didn't get into the pods in time.

But it opened. Right at the last minute.

[tadashiwashere]

So try anything to gain access and you might die?

[Tadashi reaches up to tug his baseball cap into better alignment and frown. Summing it up like that leaves a bitter taste in his mouth that he isn't sure how to get rid of. He'd come down here today with a small bubble of hope in his chest, but it was deflating quickly. Nothing sounds promising if the only person with access has gone for more than a year without contributing anything useful. Tadashi also doesn't like the sound of passengers being trapped after an attempted mutiny... it's starting to point to those two -- Ward and Resnik -- being somehow responsible for everyone's current involuntary confinement.

Tonight, he vows, he's going to look further into the archives Harry mentioned. He's read a bit of it already in between adjusting and getting settled in, but now he has reason to throw himself into catching up on all that's available.

Tadashi's somber attitude only lasts a moment longer before he takes a deep breath, centering himself and giving himself a gentle reminder that he can't let any of this get him down.

He casts a glance at Hiro, wondering where his thoughts are going on this. He hopes they're in line with his: Hamadas don't give up. He smiles slightly, and casually leans to the side to bump his brother off balance before he's walking forward again. He looks back over his shoulder at Harry as he goes, pointing towards the doors.]

Can we get a closer look now? At least before we finish up.

[For future reference, he's intent on seeing what sort of tech is used for accessing the door.]

[hirobotics]

[Tadashi's succinct summary of that situation nearly had Hiro rolling his eyes. Go figure. End up in a place that claims to be a space station, where the current residents talk about monsters and other dangers -- of course there would have to be a door that said "IMPORTANT" all over it that also came with a warning label like that.

That seemed about the way Hiro's luck ran lately.

Hiro mentally flagged these "archives" that Harry mentioned, deciding that he'll also be looking into that in more detail later. Once they were all done checking this place out, at least. But that didn't make him shake off the things he felt like he needed to do before heading back. His eyes stayed trained to that door, only looking away when Tadashi gives him that little bump to the side.

Immediately he was glad that Tadashi thought so similarly to himself.]

We won't trip anything up by doing that, will we?

[bespectacle]

[Harry flashes the Hamadas a smile, and nods easily in acquiescence. Though it's a rather dark topic, the whole 'this ship is trying to kill us thing'--] Working here makes me feel better somehow, [he informs the brothers. He summons a sliding ladder with a beep-boop of console, and then starts to climb. Up, up. Onto the catwalks. It's an easier, straighter path up there, and you can see everything below.] Knowing a little of how these things work somehow makes it less awful. Less hopeless.

Come on up, [he adds, glancing back to see if the other young men had already started to climb.] The Jump Drive's been-- pretty indifferent to everything we've tried, honestly. Be a miracle if either of you could get it to do anything unexpected. We've tried-- all different people's nanite access. System overrides. Don't think anyone's done-- bombs, but. [Hand over hand, foot over foot. Harry is quite agile and in reasonable shape, and it's not long before he's made the twenty-foot climb.]

I suppose even this lot have got too much common sense to try and destabilize something like that. Maybe if my Uncle Vernon were here. [Harry's eyes go squinty with laughter; he leans over the railing, ready to offer either of them a hand up, or catch them with a spell if something goes wrong.]

I think some people have a notion that the white room and the Jump Drive's-- um. Core are connected somehow, maybe. Along with the shadow bloke in there. But I can't say I know much about it.

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi eyes the ladder for a moment, looking up at the height, then at Hiro, then at the ladder again. Casually, he jerks a thumb towards the ladder and waits.] You're up first, bonehead. [You know, just in case. Tadashi is too much the type to automatically start coming up with what he would do if Hiro slipped to be comfortable going first.

Whether he has to stand and have a silent argument of lifted eyebrows and pointed looks or Hiro goes without question, Tadashi waits until he's up ahead to start climbing, placing each foot carefully, but confidently. Just keeping the pace.]

Bombs would be more likely to cause a system like this to shut down. [Tadashi's leaning back from the ladder to pitch his voice past Hiro, putting in his opinion like he's not just making guesses -- it makes sense, though. A system this important wouldn't be worth anything if it didn't have a number of failsafes in case of tampering.]

White room?

[Shadow bloke? Tadashi's questioning tone dips down toward uncertainty. He's... not sure he likes the sound of that.]