ximilialog | LOG.01

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LOG.01

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// PART I. summer cleaning  

The more days that pass on the station, one thing becomes increasingly apparent: the station is woefully unprepared for so many people arriving there at once. While the materials found in the lab or the armory are lacking, and characters don’t have many sets of clothes to change into, the most glaring problem is food: after days and days of nothing but dried jerky and canned beans, things may start to seem a little… well, dire.

But one morning, those who completed the tasks in the training room with the promise of a boon will wake up to a message on the network:

Congratulations! You have earned one (1) boon of your choice. Please enter your desired item here.

After they have entered whatever item they wish to get — well, at first nothing seems to happen. But after some minutes, those who are either in the living quarters or the kitchen area can hear the unmistakable whir of power turning on… and clatter. Lots of clatter.

1.0 Congratulations, it seems that the teleportation devices have finally stored enough power to send in a variety of items! On the platform near the living quarters, there is everything one might imagine from different planets: piles and piles of clothes in different styles, books, tools… oh, look, a headband and a comb! And that sure is a yoga mat. Best go sort through the pile and get what appeals to you, before someone else does.

2.0 For those characters who requested an item as their boon, the good news is that whatever they requested is there in the pile! The bad news is… it’s there in the pile, so good luck finding it — and convincing others it’s really yours, so give it back, please!

3.0 It’s not just the platform near the living quarters that is functional, now: it’s also the one near the kitchen. And that one is brimming with produce: fresh fruit, coffee beans, bread, different cuts of meat, cartons of milk and juice… there’s even some ice cream, though best get that to a freezer quickly! Enjoy the variety in your dishes, for now.

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// PART II. lights out  

Two weeks before their first mission is supposed to start, in the middle of the day, everyone’s earpieces start to crackle with static. It starts faint, a sound barely there, but it grows into a persistent buzz that nothing seems to help — not attempts to contact someone else, mute the sounds, nothing.

Just as you’re about to go crazy and chuck the earpiece as far away from you as can be, the static suddenly stops.

And all the lights on the station suddenly go out, leaving nothing but darkness behind.

The static starts again, and finally, Viveca’s voice filters through.

// VIVECA.AI

It’s no good, the platforms took too much power, we need ——. I’ve tried fixing it, but it’s not enough. I —— the backup ——.

The characters may try to answer, but their comms aren’t connecting — it’s as if they’ve tuned into a radio channel they’re not supposed to be hearing. And perhaps more surprisingly, the next voice they hear is not Viveca at all.

// ?̴̳̥̱͎͓̼͇͖̫̄̉̐̇̄̋̇?̸͙̼͎̙̙̳͖͈͆̓̈̓̊͆́̂͗̆́͠?̴̛͓̬̮̏̈́̃̍̍̌͗̈́͘̚̚͠?̸͙̼͎̙̙̳͖͈͆̓̈̓̊͆́̂͗̆́͠?̴̛͓̬̮̏̈́̃̍̍̌͗̈́͘̚̚͠

Sorry, —— will have to keep ——————. Try to ——... emergency mode?

The crackle keeps getting louder and louder.

// VIVECA.AI

I’ll —— but —— help! They have to ————

With that, the earpieces go silent… and even if characters attempt to contact Viveca, they will receive no answer.

4.0 Left in the darkness, minutes stretch into hours without a flicker of light. The hallways are eerily quiet, with only the faint hum of machinery assuring you that the station itself is still functional and not dead. Of course, you may stay where you are and hope that the lights miraculously return… or you can navigate your way through the hallways and rooms with nothing but your memory to help you. It may be a good idea to get someone to go with you so you’re not bumbling around in the dark on your own.

5.0 Those optimistic about the lights returning will have to be disappointed. After several hours and nothing but radio silence on Viveca’s end, it seems clear that this is a problem she can’t fix on her own. If you don’t want to be left in the dark (literally) forever, it’s best to try and do something about it.

If you’re technologically inclined, the lab is the place to be: you may be able to connect to the station’s system, at least enough to figure out what’s wrong and try to fix it. But perhaps you have other abilities, those of more magical origin… with those, you may be of assistance in helping to replenish the station’s diminished power supply.

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// PART III. mad world  

Eventually, everyone’s efforts will pay off and the station seems to regain some of its power back — at least enough for the lights to flicker back on, first in the living quarters, and then around the rest of the station. The resurgence of power also affects the simulation room as well, quiet and unassuming at first … but something seems a little off, the longer you remain in the space. For one thing, it flickers colour and light in a way that isn’t worrying, exactly, but doesn’t feel all that stable. And just when you think you should probably head back out, the doors close and a world builds up around you in meticulous detail — is it something you recognize or is it something altogether unfamiliar?

6.0 Creature Comforts: The simulation room picks up on the cues of its inhabitants, snatches of memory and knowledge of worlds that it isn’t wholly familiar with but seem to fit within the parameters of its code. Whatever world you’ve come from, you might note the familiarities, might even feel a little homesick. And so, the world around you might resemble a historical time period befitting of swords and gunpowder and large dresses with too much frill. Or maybe the simulation goes back even further than that: lush jungles and prickling heat, the sharp buzzing of hard-shelled insects hidden in foliage and the hiss of something else that seems a little ominous. Maybe the simulation slowly materializes into the place you’ve just come from before waking up here — all the way down to that coffee shop you like so much, the one with the really perfect latte.

7.0 A Fish Out of Water: It’s hard to say whether the simulation room has a sense of humour of its own, or if the power outage has made it a little unpredictable. Either way, the space around you fills up with images entirely unfamiliar to you, putting you completely out of your element. If you’re from a small town or a place where life’s a little simpler— castles, large stretches of field and open sky, say: what you see will be futuristic skyscrapers with all the lights on, and colourful bright screens everywhere. Is that a flying car? Geez, you’ve never seen one of those things before (not that you can reach it from that height). Or maybe you’re from a Dystopian wasteland: if so, welcome to experiencing an idyllic paradise with just the right amount of density, the right amount of kumbaya to fill in the questions you might have had of what life was like before you were born. The simulation room is here to put you out of your natural element without you realizing it.

8.0 101 Ways To Break Out (J/K, it’s 1): Of course you’re not stuck in this room. There’s always a way out, a lock to pick, the slight shimmer in the air that guides you to the seam that unravels the whole thing and lets you out. Depending on the setting your character happens to be delicately trapped in, it might take a bit of doing to find the One Thing Slightly Off anchoring you back to reality— a totem if you will. Find that thing, find the shimmer in the air and stick your hand through it, and you’ll find the room going dark around you, but in a ‘Hey, You’ve Completed this Simulation! Congrats!’ kind of way. The doors will slide open and you’ll be free to go, maybe on slightly shakier legs but in one piece nevertheless.

The TL;DR: Due to the power outage aboard the station, the simulation room is temporarily on the fritz. Here you’re free to choose the manner of simulation you want your character to stumble into, all the way down to the most minute detail. Go crazy! Remember whatever happens in this simulation stays only within this simulation and the room; it cannot and will not affect the rest of the ship. Simulations may have the possibility of changing halfway through, and depending on how many people enter the room after you, could end up changing more than once. The constant will be to find the exit trigger once you’ve been locked in.

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F Y I

• The events in this log span the month of June.

• No one will be able to contact Viveca after Part II, even after the lights come back and the station’s power supply has been replenished. If your character wants to talk to her before Part II, feel free to use the Ask the AI page.

• For Part I, those who completed the tasks in the TDM will be able to ask for one thing they want to receive here. It can be an item from their home, or something else they’d like to have. If they ask for something living (like a dog, for example), they’ll receive a plushie of said living thing instead. Note that you can handwave completing the tasks on the TDM — we're not going to demand links to threads or anything!

• For Part II, those who want to try and connect to the station’s system can ask questions and suggest what they’d like to try to do here. How your attempt goes is up to chance, as the mods are rolling the results. Note that this is not mandatory and the mods are fine with handwaving what exactly gets the power to come back, and it can (and likely will) be a combined effort of many characters. There is no one right thing to do, but if you’d like to ask questions of what your characters would be able to do or find out when connecting to the system, feel free!

• Throughout the month, remember that all the locations in the two wings and the center of the station are available to use, even if they’re not detailed in the prompts in this log. So feel free to make your own wildcard prompts using the training room, the armory, the living quarters, the infirmary, the sunlight room etc.

• For those who didn’t get to play out their character’s arrival on the TDM, you can read more about what the characters see upon arrival here. Feel free to make your own prompts for that!

▶ NAV

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Thanks." Nice to see the guy knows how to handle a weapon, or at least, knows how to make safe assumptions about how to hold one. Rosinante reclaims it, then pauses with a frown as he feels the grip rub against his palm in an unexpected way.

He was going to look it over anyway, make sure it really was the same one he'd asked for, and it is, he's sure of that from the familiar dings in the metal, scratches that he'd never managed to polish away. But here, something new has been carved onto it, too. A mark that looks uncannily like his brother's, and yet something different.

Now, here, in front of a stranger, is not the time or place to ponder it. He doesn't quite manage to hide the frown in time, but it fades as he places the pistol in its holster.

"I did. Did you get those messages not long after showing up? Something about teaching someone something new, and all that? That's how I got it. That, uh, Viveca person called it a boon."

Is person the right term to use? He's still a little fuzzy on what an AI exactly is or why this place lets him see messages in his head as if he were reading them off a page.

Viveca's closer to person than golem, and so Syrlya doesn't think twice as that's how Rosinante refers to her. Sounds about right to him?

"Oh, yes, I remember that. So the boon was to receive something of yours that wasn't on your person when you awoke here?" That's... useful, actually, if he were to ever need his staff. Sure, any staff will do, but he's grown comfortable with the form of his own weapons. Maybe next time.

"It would not be a bad idea to continue that practice. Based on the simulation, I suspect it will be important that everyone is prepared to fight and survive difficult terrain."

"Yeah. Thinking you're right. And I'm thinking that if this place has the ability to bring us here, and things we ask for from home, then it can probably send us other places, too. Or take things away."

The how of it all is beyond him and he's not looking to learn the details of the science behind it unless a good reason arises. It's just not his field. But the reasons for it are troubling. If they cooperate, they get what they want, and if they follow through with everything asked of them, they've been told they can undo a regret, right? But why? What do the people behind this stand to gain from helping?

He shakes his head. Too early to speculate.

"What did you think of that simulation, anyway? I've never experienced anything like that - like a dream, but even more real."

"It was vast. The most detailed non-magical illusion I've ever seen." Or at least, not a magic he could pick up on. But it did seem more like the Asura's virtual reality than his magic, but...

He puts a hand to his chin. "I'd heard of a Moto that developed a game along a similar concept, but not so lifelike. I see the benefit it has in safely training us for retrieving these... orbs."

Magic orbs, probably, because when you're a taking plant from a fantasy world everything is magic.

The implication there is that this person has seen magical illusions, then. Rosinante isn't sure if he should take that truly at face value or not. Magic doesn't exist, but then, neither do spaceships. And yet...

"Never heard of a 'moto'," he says. "Never seen an illusion like that either, other than ships fading out at the horizon, or land floating above it, under the right type of weather and sea. How would someone make something like that, where you're from?"

To that, Syrlya just shrugs. "I have no idea. Asuran magitech is highly advanced and they don't often share the details with the other races, just the results. I don't understand it well."

He sort of trusts a lot that whenever he's handed one of their incomprehensable gadgets it's not going to blow him up or something. He'd give it a 50/50 chance. "Pure illusion magic is the specialty of Mesmers, but to create one so vast and persistent would require more power than any one person could hope to accomplish. Although less lifelike, Asuran magitech does not rely on an individual's stamina to function."

That sounds like a whole lot of magical jargon that's well beyond him, and that may not apply here at all given the utterly fantastical nature of it. Not long ago he would have said nothing that sounds remotely like that could be real, but. Spaceship. Time travel.

"Don't know a thing about any of that," he admits with a sigh. "Must be damned frustrating where you're from though, people who won't share information based on race. Though, speaking of that - I did notice most of the people this place has seem to be human. I'm familiar with plenty of other races from home, but not yours."

He raises an eyebrow, clearly interested. This fellow is no fishman, no longarms, no dwarf - but Rosinante knows that the sea has room for an awful lot of types of people, probably more than he's ever heard of.

"Oh--" Syrlya raises his brows in turn. "I believe my people are only native to Tyria, so if you come from anywhere else..."

He trails off a little considering, actually, there are probably people on the other side of Tyria who will have no idea what the hell he is, either. Even though he was thinking of other worlds across the universe. "I am Sylvari. We are... plants, born of the Pale Tree."

A plant? A talking, thinking plant? Now that's new. The surprise on his face settles into a sort of muted joy.

"Didn't know there were plant people. Wow. Is Tyria an island, or a - somewhere else? One of the other worlds?"

As much as the vastness of the universe is shocking, there are aspects of it he does enjoy. The sheer diversity of life beyond the seas he's familiar with is stunning.

"For you, I'd assume another world." It's also a continent but details. "It does seem as though those responsible have a reach far beyond any one world. That takes a lot of power."

If only they knew who exactly was wielding that power.

He gives Rosinante a once-over. "As for you, you look human. Are you?"

Another on the list of probably somewhere else, then. The thought occurs to him that it would be easy for someone to lie, to be from his world and say otherwise, once the general pattern became obvious. But they wouldn't have a reason to do that, would they? Especially if they didn't already know where he was from.

So he dismisses it. A healthy amount of paranoia has been largely responsible for keeping him alive at home, but judging when it's helpful and when it isn't is still important.

"Yeah," he says. "Normal, boring human. Though maybe not normal compared to all the other worlds since I've had a few people comment on my height."

He shrugs. It's weird to him that they're all so small; that he's the only one here he knows of who could touch the ceiling with the top of his head if he stood on his toes.

Human, though, through and through.

"You are taller than any human I've met." But far too gangly to be a Norn. Though his brow quirks up at 'boring'. "Are most humans where you come from so tall?"

Humans, at least, make sense from other worlds. They're not even native to Tyria.

"Not most, but enough," he says with a shrug. "Over half are around the height of everyone here, but plenty are taller than I am, too. And that goes for most of the other races. I'm just used to more variation than what I'm seeing around this place."

But if there's a reason why most here are human and short, he can't guess at it. All he can do is shrug, and glance down at ... Oh, hell.

"Sorry," he chuckles awkwardly. "Never introduced myself. I'm Rosinante." And he extends a hand down to shake, in case that's as universal a gesture as he hopes it is.

For a moment he imagines Rosinante, but stretched out. Which is a little odd to consider humans stretching vertically but not horizontally. No, they probably get thicker, too.

Syrlya pauses before he takes Rosinante's hand to shake it with a brief smile. "Syrlya. Well met."

"Syrlya. Well, glad you're here. I've seen what happens when humans get too comfortable thinking they're the only people around."

Which he says casually enough, hoping to keep the conversation relatively pleasant, but he means it. Just because his world has a variety of sapient races doesn't mean they all get along, and those societies that shut others out and declare themselves above all the rest are rife with cruelty and ignorance. If they're all going to have to work together, they'll need to be sympathetic toward each other and their differences.

Of course, if everyone on board were human maybe it wouldn't matter, but personal experience makes that idea pretty distasteful.

"Do you?" He quirks a brow as he draws his hand back. That's awfully specific. "I suppose any culture can be hostile based on their differences. But every human here is not even of the same world, are you?"

"Me, same world as them? Not that I've found yet. There's a lot of small islands though, lots of places I've never even heard of. That's why I asked where you were from at first. Figured that was as possible as anything else. But most of them, it's easy enough to rule out the idea quickly when they're so much more familiar with things like this," he says, and raises a hand to tap at his earpiece.

"It seems like my world's hundreds, if not thousands, of years behind most of the ones here. Hard to even comprehend that."

"Right, the commuicator." He glances sideways, the direction his is affixed. At least he has a name for it. "It is more advanced than what Taimi had come up with. The most advanced technology I've seen that isn't built with magic, runs on steam instead."

Maybe these are worlds that don't have much magic? He can't really envision what that must be like, when it's integral to Tyria's whole existence.

He turns to look back at the... disorganized heap. It's really no less daunting than it was before. "I wonder if everything here is of a similar design, besides personal items."

"Couldn't possibly guess," he admits. "Don't know why it wouldn't be, though. If this place is all from one time of its own, then - well, even then, if they can pull things from other times, they could advance themselves rapidly."

That's a puzzle and one that is probably beyond him to solve, at least for now. He's no idiot, but there's so much to keep up with and he's had so little time for it.

"We don't have magic back home," he explains. "I know that there are places with what I thought were incredible advancements, but nothing that could leave our world and go to others. Nothing that could create an artificial person as real as Viveca."

To his knowledge, anyway. Who knows what the world's top minds are working on in their classified laboratories. The little glimpses he had heard were always fascinating, but also easy to dismiss as exaggeration; stories blown out of proportion by people who are used to dealing with the fantastic in their daily lives already.

That... actually does beg the question of where all of this stuff actually came from. If it's a scheduled supply drop, it's the worst-handled one he's ever seen.

"I suppose we will..." He cringes. "Have to go through it to see."

He doesn't dare look back at the mountains of Stuff. He doesn't even know what some of it is. "I don't suppose you came to help sort through it?"

While that wasn't exactly his original intent, he has nothing against adopting it as a good suggestion. It won't be that useful to have everything piled on the floor forever.

"It would make it easier to find things," he says with a nod. "I got lucky you saw my gun, but I'm sure others are still missing their orders. Guess it's time to come up with an organization system and find some storage space."

And meanwhile, keep an eye out for things he could use, as well as see what others have asked for to get a feel for their interests and needs. He bends down to pick up an armful of clothing, revealing a multi-pack of toothbrushes underneath. Well, at least they'll have good dental hygiene here.

"Wonderful." Syrlya smiles. "We could do with a few hands to get everything in order. I need to speak to Viveca, but I'll return to help you sort."

And with that, he turns to leave the room, and the pile within it, behind. He'll... be back.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

LOG.01

● ● ● L O G . 0 1

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