ARRIVAL ▒ 003

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Basecamp, Medical and beyond.
WARNINGS: Implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: The Tranquility jumps again.
NOTES: Can be found at the bottom of the post.

T H E   C A M P   ( C U R R E N T   C H A R A C T E R S ) Dawn is just shy of breaking when the alarms start. The wailing is distant enough that many manage to sleep through it, but inevitably wake up to the long, piercing siren coming from the crashed, early morning shape of the Tranquility. The coming jump puts a feeling of nervous energy about the camp, but it's becoming a routine, and they know there are long hours until the jump sounds. People clear the surrounding area of effect, and otherwise go about their day. It's ten hours later when it happens. A tremble in the earth, shaking up through the trees, sending the jungle's wildlife into distressed flocks of movement and alarmed cries. Under the shrouded sun the wreck of the Tranquility begins to cord with lines of white light, threading across the hull like veins, some patches remaining dark, standing out against the vision like splotches burnt to the back of the eyelids. There's no great sound. In an instant, the ship is gone, a soft whomp, a feeling of air rushing past, the trees bending towards the site as if blown by a fierce wind. It's only a second. With a crack, the wreck returns, a rumble rolling through the air like thunder. The earth shakes. The trees tremble. The ship groans, the sound echoing out like the cry of a wounded beast. Everything turns white. M E D I C A L   ( N E W   A R R I V A L S ) You wake up, alone in the dark. There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Through the fog you can see shadows of movement, the muted sound of alarms crying. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're suddenly dropped several feet onto the opposite wall. The impact is painful, winds you, and it takes several seconds to overcome and persuade uncooperative limbs to move. All around you is chaos: the sirens of alarms are shrieking in your ears, close and claustrophic in the wreckage of the medical bay you've awoken in, lit dim and red. Around you, others are waking up, falling from other gravcouches, stumbling to their feet. Light catches your eye, and you look up to see a huge rend in the outer wall high above you, overhung by broken structural beams and damaged cabling. Climbing up takes all the strength you have. You emerge in bleak, grey sunlight, surrounded by an immense, vast jungle. As your vision clears, you realize you stand on the hull of a colossal spaceship, crashed on an unknown world, two moons hanging heavy in the sky above. In the distance, far out on a great swathe of torn up earth through the jungle is the site of a camp. But there is no welcome party coming to greet you. Perhaps you are alone, or you encounter someone in the same situation, but regardless, you must make it down and away from the ship without the aid of anyone who knows what's going on. Should you choose to head for the camp, it's dead quiet. The men and women who have made this place their home are scattered around, in the midst of having gone about their day, but all of them are in a state of frozen catatonia. Entirely unresponsive to any kind of stimulus, they are as still and as unseeing as statues. Within two hours since you woke in the wreck of the ship, they suddenly and simultaneously begin to stir, regaining consciousness to a prompt nose bleed and the unsettling affect of lost time. N O T E S Anything remaining within a mile radius of the ship when it jumps will be irreparably damaged. Soft organics will be pulverised, while all trees and plants will initially appear fine but crumble to pieces within a day (or sooner if disturbed). Non-organic material will also be weakened, bending or falling apart when touched. Newly arriving characters venturing through the medbay will discover their inventory items scattered beyond the ship. Feel free to find all of your inventory items, or lose as many as you like, as they will be randomly distributed around the jump radius. They will also be able to find jumpsuits and other standard clothing in the wreckage of medical. The alarms will cut after two hours, a which point a looping audio message telling passengers to make their way to the blue lifts will be audible. The lifts, if investigated, will be missing, leaving only empty elevator shafts. The wreck will show increased signs of instability for a few days after the jump, and will have seemed to have sunk further into the rock of the cliff than it was before. As described, all current characters will simultaneously enter a state of strange catatonia when the ship jumps, essentially freezing in place. They will see only blank whiteness, and be unable to recall how long they spent in this state. Upon regaining full consciousness two hours later, they will be left with a headache and a nosebleed. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via PM, the FAQ or Questions pages!

Comments

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi's usual crowd is a bunch of nerds, so he doesn't even seem to acknowledge any awkwardness there. Being at ease in most social situations seems to be one of his superpowers. Sometimes, at least.

He perks up at word of another project.]

Really? What are you working on?

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor probably would've been one of those nerds if her life had been different. She had all the tell-tale signs, but instead everything had to be horrible forever.]

[So she has no idea how to shot conversation. Or not being embarrassed.]

Ah...[She drew in a breath and smiled weakly.] Nothing...that interesting. Just a little sentry bot.

[tadashiwashere]

A bot?

[If possible, Tadashi brightens even more.]

You're a mechanical engineer? I actually studied robotics in college back home.

[notyourutopian]

Well. I wouldn't go that far. I just like to tinker with things.

[She shook her head.]

I've never gone to school or anything.

[tadashiwashere]

Interest and passion is all that matters.

[Tadashi certainly hadn't gone to school for robotics when he first started tinkering with things. And Hiro started even younger.

He leans back again and offers a shrug.]

Do you have any other projects in mind?

[notyourutopian]

[She couldn't help but smile at that. It was nice to tinker and not be told it was a waste of time...]

Mm. I'm not sure. I was hoping to arm my machine but that seems impossible right now.

It took me months to find the parts for this, though. I'm not sure what I should try next that wouldn't take just as long.

[tadashiwashere]

[It just takes a moment of thought before Tadashi lifts one eyebrow slightly.]

Do you want some help? We might be able to come up with something working together.

[notyourutopian]

Uhm.

[She wasn't expecting that at all.]

I suppose I wouldn't mind. But don't you have your own project?