ximilialog | STATION LOG.02

STATION LOG.02

● ● ● S T A T I O N 2.0

GO NORTH, YOUNG MAN • UNDERNEATH THE MISSILE TOAD

// PART I. go north, young man  

A few days following the arrival of the latest batch of the new Orbers, Viveca’s voice filters through the communications devices across the station.

// VIVECA.AI

Hi everyone. I know you’re all assuming this to be another call for a mission, but it’s not. We’re doing some maintenance on the teleportation platform to adjust to the number of people we now have on the team, so you won’t be going anywhere for a couple of weeks, at least. But I’m still asking you to come to the control room as soon as you can. So… see you there.

As soon as you arrive at the round room in the middle of the station, you’ll find that Viveca in her robot body isn’t the only one there to greet you, but Degar is present too, this time wearing a leather tunic and what appear to be cargo pants under his ever-present hooded cloak.

// DEGAR

Great you could make it! Right, so, Viv tells me you guys have been having questions about the North Wing and all that, and we figured we’d show you we’re not hiding, like, bodies or a giant chocolate cake there. So! Consider this your very limited time offer for a tour in the North Wing! We’re keeping it open for about a week, give or take, just so you can come back and see we’re not illusioning it up or anything.

With fingerguns directed at those on the team who can see through illusions, Degar grins and then turns towards the door to the North Wing, waving his hand — and with that, the doors slide open with a hiss.

// DEGAR

Ladies first!

Degar bows to Viveca with a flourish and waits until she’s past the door before he waves his hand again at the team with the universal sign of go, go, go.

And what else is there to do but go?

1.0 The room you step into is long and rectangular, and without any furniture to clutter the space — instead, you’ll find a large sphere, almost crackling with magical energy front and centre and surrounded by open circulation, perhaps for its own protection — the barrier of this object is so powerful that even those without any magical talent can feel the way it feels, almost like static electricity. A (slightly) closer look will wield three different globes of light circling each other in colours of gold, red, and green.

If you choose to take a step closer, you’ll immediately sense it: there’s an awareness, a quiet whisper in your ear, or a chorus of indistinct words, reaching out to you.

// DEGAR

Oh, whoops! Hold on —

Degar, walking back to the room, directs his steps right towards the sphere of energy… and as he walks right up to it, something strange happens — his cloak begins to glow with the same energy as the barrier, allowing him to simply walk into the field of energy… and disappear.

// VIVECA.AI

"Don’t worry, he’s fine. This is what he does most of the time, here… he’s making sure the orbs are contained." Viveca, floating closer, smiles wryly at the team. "Come on, go and have a look at the other rooms. I’m sure you’re dying to know what’s in there… but I have to warn you, it’s not very exciting."

Should you circle back into the room when neither Viveca or Degar is there, you might be overcome with the urge to approach the energy sphere still situated in the middle … but touch it and you’ll be flung across the space like a rag doll. Maybe some of you will stick the landing, but those of you without a 'Poser' finishing move might need some assistance after.

2.0 As you leave the room, it turns out Viveca really wasn’t joking about the lack of excitement. After a sight like the one you’ve just witnessed, this next room appears to have nothing of note except for a set of chairs lined up along the sides of the room, and then one larger one in the middle — a mechanical armchair with several different wires running directly into it.

On both sides of this space you’ll find maintenance rooms directly adjacent: one for the station itself, and one for the AI. Both of these rooms are filled with advanced machinery and screens — and one thing to note is how … clean the one designated for station maintenance seems to be. Not a fleck of dust to be found anywhere. On the other hand, the AI maintenance room feels quieter, looks darker … but as soon as anyone walks in, they’ll find a little cleaning robot beeping at them angrily. Whoops, it seems as though you’ve located the robot’s home, so make sure to not trail in any dirt. (This room is also spotless.)

3.0 Connected to the station maintenance room is the power and life support, a room with a large engine at its back, and closed pods on its sides. Most of them have a blue, glowing stripe on them; only one has a red one. But no matter how you try to open any of them, they don’t budge.

On the other side, connected to AI maintenance, is a room that has clearly been used as sleeping quarters. If anyone were to check, they’d count twenty beds in the room, half of which are divided into bunk beds on either side of the room… and most of them still have some items near them: clothes, a few books written in a language that your translators can’t seem to decipher, a soft elephant toy, and a photograph of eighteen people — a diverse mixture of women and men, older and younger, of different races, and makes; a few droids among them, but all faces unfamiliar to the current team. The group are all posing with smiles across their faces — it’s a commemorative picture, that much is clear. The right upper corner of the photo has been torn away.

Only one of the beds seems to still be in use — everything else in the room smells slightly musty, as if none of it has been touched for a long time.

4.0 The last place to explore within the North Wing is a hexagonally shaped room that matches the ones teleporting food and other essentials onto the station. Indeed, in the middle of this one is an almost identical platform, though what it connects to is a little unclear — in any case, it doesn’t seem to be powered up right now. At the end of the room is circular cut-out and a heavy-duty latch, currently locked into place to seal whatever is beyond it. It’s a door, of course, but it isn’t just any door … for anyone wondering about exits on this station, you’ll realize now where it’d been all along. There’s a control panel on the wall next to it but it requires a passcode … unfortunate for anyone who wanted a scenic tour outside of the station itself.

Perhaps it’s a little less exciting than you were hoping for, or maybe it’s just what you expected — whatever it is, the mystery held above you for the last three missions has finally been revealed and you’ve now seen what the previously enigmatic North Wing has to offer. As most of you exit the wing, you’ll notice that there’s still no visible signs of Degar anywhere (and also no strange whispers in your ear, no awkward feelings of being watched) ... but if some of you decide to return to the orb room and watch for him, you’ll see him leaning against the wall, using magic to create different shapes out of a smoke he seems to have charmed into existence in front of him. Watching the little performance will demonstrate Degar forming a puff of smoke into a ship with many sails, moving through an orbit of several smoke rings. Pretty funny, right? Clearly word travels fast.

Throughout the week, whenever you return to the North Wing, you will find it unchanged.

TOP

// PART II. underneath the missile toad  

5.0 For those of you who often cross through the sunlight room to break paths into other areas of the station, you may notice some changes in the optics around you. Where the trees had once reflected images of a lush foliage of a typical temperate planet during its warmest season, now a series of various conifers (firs, spruce, cedars, hemlocks, pines) in deep greens and soft, spiky, needle-like foliage takes its place, scattered across your field of vision in no particular pattern. Snowflakes glisten and glitter at the tips like miniature crystals, catching the simulated wintery sunlight above from a crisp, cloudless blue sky.

Follow the path into the trees and you’ll find that the room’s detritus is now covered in a fluffy white blanket of snow not yet trodden over: perfect for your footprints. It even feels just a little cooler, brisker — each breath you exhale coming out in a cloud of fog, and yet it never feels uncomfortable enough to require any sort of winter gear.

When you’ve cleared the patch of forest, on the far end of the room is a snow-covered meadow just waiting to be populated with snow angels and maybe a family of snow-people. Grab some twigs for arms and a handful of pebbles for facial features, and you’re set to spend a couple of hours playing in the snow. The rest of the sunlight room has become something of a winter wonderland: the shallow river beneath the bridge has frozen over into ice, shiny and clear, leading into a small pond perfect for sliding across even if you’re lacking skates.

The atmosphere in the room makes for a pleasant in-between to the rest of the station’s rooms, or simply a pleasant space to chill (heh) for a little while.

6.0 During the early days of the festive month, Viveca’s cheerful voice will broadcast across every Orber’s communications device, announcing the appearance of a box to be left near the mess hall. The purpose, she explains, is for any Orber feeling the holiday spirit and wanting to spread a little joy and cheer by way of a surprise gift.

// VIVECA.AI

— we’ll be leaving this up just until the first supply drop arrives, giving us some time to make the arrangements, but we’d like to accommodate as many surprises as possible. No need to be shy about it — it’s nice to do something for your fellow teammates, right?

Anyone is welcome, of course, to put in a gift request for another Orber on the station. The intention is to spread good cheer and encourage team-bonding, and honestly? It’s just a nice thing to do. Once in a while you might come across another fellow Orber on their way to the box, or you might find someone already there, inputting their request onto the box’s screen. Don’t peek (or do, we’re not your mother) or you might ruin the surprise!

7.0 This month’s supply drop arrives like Christmas itself is here, in two parts and with a fairly obvious theme in both. There are a lot of reds, golds, greens, and blues, and the scents are unmistakably festive.

Part one arrives earlier in the month with a smattering of requested holiday goods: decorations in all colours of the rainbow (tinsel, streamers, bells, bulbs, and canes), a tree outfitted with a bright silver star at its top, and a small woven basket filled with sprigs of mistletoe tied in blue ribbon. There are also small bags of baking and cooking ingredients, as well as a modest array of equally quaint glass bottles filled with holiday-specific spices: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, to name a few.

Halfway into the Orbers’ reprieve at the station, a generous stack of completely concealed, gift-wrapped boxes will arrive on the transport, each one with a tag addressed to its recipient in bold black letters. They will have to be moved (some more carefully than others) to the tree that a few Orbers will have set up in the station by now, awaiting Christmas morning to be unwrapped.

8.0 As the month continues, anyone who stops by to visit the infirmary, either to visit patients currently in stasis, to replace some bandages, or grab something for that headache and the like — you might notice that the room seems to have changed enough for it to be noticeable even to the occasional passerby.

It’s bigger, for one thing, and some of the room has been sectioned off to include a pharmacology centre. Equipment to synthesize medications has been installed on one end of the new room, and adjacent to it are a couple of shelves with medical texts from across familiar and unfamiliar galaxies alike. Across from this are overhead cabinets to house a generous amount of first aid supplies, and similarly, stored in cabinets under a long counter space are more equipment: beakers, pipettes, meters, and basins.

Most of this will be foreign (and dare one say uninteresting?) to anyone who isn’t involved in the medical or chemical fields, but for those who are, it might feel like the Christmas spirit has spread to even the most practical ends of the station. Nevertheless, the upgraded infirmary room should prove useful in the future.

TOP

F Y I

• The events in this log take place during the month of December.

• 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 kitchen, etc.

• If you have questions about anything in this log, please direct them HERE.

• And finally, have a soundtrack for this log! ♪ ♪ ♪

TOP

▶ NAV

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Suit yourself. Thanks for pouring, in that case.

[Look, he's just curious. Maybe this eggnog stuff is actually awful, or at least a very Earth-acquired taste. Maybe, like he'd been told, it's best when full of booze. But how is he to know without tasting it?

He comes over to lift the glass and give it a sniff. Sugar, and more of those spices that have already permeated the kitchen. Next step then is to have a sip.

Which... isn't terrible, but,]

It's... thick. Like drinking glue. Is that normal?

[Does food go bad here? Is it bad? It doesn't taste rotten, just sweeter than most anything he's ever had, and so strange.]

When I had tried it earlier...it was rather unpleasant. Thick, yes. That must...be just the quality of it.

[and he's not much of a fan. he floats another clean class down to fill with water.]

Must be why Billy said to mix it with something.

[Now, where did that unclaimed alcohol go? They have quite the stash, left over from parties and people's general orders to make sure they're well-stocked. He only has to open a few cupboards before he finds a bunch of bottles. Whiskey, that should cut the stuff, right?

Thus modified, he has another sip, but it's still not exactly what he'd call great.]

Oh well. Had to try. Most of the Earth stuff is pretty good, but sometimes there's things like this that I'll probably just never really grow to care for.

[once Blue's been able to sit back down, he looks back over to Rosinante.]

Of those other things... ["Earth stuff"] What have you encountered...most favorable?

In general, or food?

[He leans against the counter and has another taste of the eggnog. Nope, still not growing on him, but he doesn't want to waste it. Too many years spent scrounging for crumbs as a kid, maybe.

Anyway, he assumes food despite having asked just a second ago. Context.]

Nachos are all right. Never heard of those before here. And some of those soups Yanli puts together are incredible, don't know what goes in there or how she makes them but they're always good. Love the egg ribbons and all the mushrooms.

[Blue doesn't cut in to correct him, so food is the track they follow. that suits him just as well as anything, really. he sips at his water while he listens, trying to imagine what it is Rosinante's talking about. soup is, at least, a pretty universal thing to envision; can't say the same about whatever the heck 'nachos' are...]

Is any of it...familiar to you at all? Reminiscent of your homeland.

Only what I cook for myself. Well, and basics like rice, or tea.

[Yeah, he could branch out to talking about things that are familiar that aren't food, but home is a subject he'd rather stay tight-lipped on for now after the revelations Yamato brought in their dreams. Thoughts of home now come paired with concerns for the future, and it's easiest to avoid it entirely.

Instead he looks at Blue, drinking water.]

What about you? I know it must be even harder, one of the few people on board who's not human, but even then there must be something familiar to you here, right?

[Blue doesn't answer right away, buying a bit of time with another sip of water. regrettably, most of space-food aboard the Shangri-La is barely distinguishable as food compared to what's here on the station; he missed out on the Mu's first terrestrial crop, fifteen years asleep.

but he's not an utter alien to everything here! just...something of one in this or that way.

isn't everyone, though? to their own degrees.

hm...]

The food is different... But there are a lot of familiar feelings here.

Yeah? Familiar, but not quite the same? Or familiar as in, the same despite all the other differences.

[People are people, he figures. No matter the species, no matter the world. Obviously they do have differences, as he'd never claim to fight hand-to-hand as well as a fishman or understand the suffering they've been through due to humans. But he has more in common with them in some ways than he does with the humans he's met here, from other worlds - yet there's plenty about them he understands too, because it seems like everyone has similar struggles and desires, ups and downs, don't they? In one way or another.]

[head tilt. hmmm...] ...The latter, I think.

Where I am from, human emotions are...very strongly curated. In order to bolster compliance. So while they could be angry, happy, sad...it's not as strong as the feelings that can be felt here.

It's like...being in a time capsule. Of a time when humans were still free to think and feel naturally.

Can't imagine us without that. That's part of what makes people relatable, at least for those of us who can't feel emotions. Gotta let on what we're thinking and feeling more directly.

[But he's contemplative as he says so. It's a skill in his line of work to falsify emotions, or sometimes more simply to hide them. Having people like the Mu around would make his job a lot harder. Having everyone's feelings so dampened that they're less obviously broadcasted would too, but worse, it would make for a world that he can only think of as... dry. Dull. He might hide his feelings most of the time, but he loves the richness of emotion, and the range of experience.]

Why's it like that, where you're from? What's that compliance for?

[Blue takes another sip, frowning against the rim of the glass. it doesn't take long for talk to turn grim when the focus is on anything from his world... is this all he can bring to the table?

he hopes not.

after a beat:] It's what they wanted. Long ago, when they decided...that humans can't be trusted to govern themselves. They made a machine to do it...and that compliance...and all the workings behind making it...are results of that decision.

That's why, I suppose...the less in common I have with others here...the better. I don't like the idea...of other universes...subjugating their people like that.

[He nods, slowly. The feeling of foreignness, of truly alien cultures and foods and technology, it must all be some sort of relief. The more distance between Blue's own world and the rest here, the less likely the others will turn out like his, possibly, or at least maybe that's the hope. He can see how that would lead to a certain enjoyment of things unlike what he's used to.

So while he really wants to ask who they are, he switches to a topic less likely to make the other guy so uncomfortable. He doesn't need the depth of empathy Blue feels to tell when it's time to change the subject.]

Well, you've landed in a place as far from your own as you can get, then, if all the holidays and movie nights and everything else are any indication. Been enjoying it all?

Mm. [slight head tilt.] I think...I've been enjoying...their enjoyment of it. The delight others feel in...sharing their passions and pieces of home. Because if I'm entirely candid... [a slow smile pulls.] I really...don't completely understand it all. Especially the films.

[Peter was especially excited to share his favorite films, and as it turns out, 80s fare requires a lot of cultural understanding to wholly enjoy! very strange films, those...]

Yeah, they're like a window into another world. Well, I guess maybe they are. Lots of references I don't understand either, but the stories themselves aren't too different from the general type of stories I've read back home. That Titanic one, about the ship that sank, that one... Little easier than some of the others.

[Because cultural and historical differences aside, he definitely grasps the danger of a crashed passenger ship far from help, and he's not ashamed to admit that the love story part of it grabbed him too. Which everyone who came probably knows, considering how much he wound up crying at the end, there.

But it's probably less universal than he would have assumed, having now heard some of Blue's perspective. It must be very different to be from a world where expressions of love and affection are suppressed as they must be.]

What I do appreciate is how much they all want to share it with the rest of us. Wish I could do the same but we don't really have recorded films like that. Maybe I'll see if I can get them some books.

[he nods gently.] I'm of much the same position... I would share what memories I have, but... [his smile is a bit wincing as looks elsewhere.]

I want to bring something good forward. Something that can lift spirits, not...dampen them.

Such things are rare, or...hard to explain, where they're found...even if the feelings behind them...are the same.

[To hell with it, he decides, and drains the rest of the boozy eggnog down. It's a bit like ripping off a bandage, and he grimaces as he swallows it, but at least now he doesn't have to keep slowly working his way through it.]

Yeah? Well... I bet you'll think of something. I'm sure there's something worth sharing with everyone. Even if it seems like it'll be strange to the rest of us, we're a pretty understanding group.

[Blue's eyes wince in sympathy, bracing for that wave of resigned disgust that comes with throwing that whole thing back. not all of that is entirely Rosinante's disgust, either; he had barely a sip of it the day before and can't imagine trying to keep more than that down!]

Will you...be alright? Having all of that. [he can't imagine all those trips and stumbles will make things percolate well...]

Didn't put that much alcohol in it, if that's what you mean.

[But will he be all right with that much sugar and generally gross taste and texture? Only time will tell.]

It was either that or pour it down the drain, and I didn't want to waste it. So much for curiosity.

[but...surely there would've been others to happily guzzle the remainder down for him? there's quite a number of folks more daring than Blue, or...just...don't care what they put in their bodies.

well, too late for that!]

I hope that...the next new thing you try is more pleasant.

Yeah, me too, [he says with a short laugh. Something about how genuine that sounded struck him as funny, but also, yeah. Next Earth drink better be actually good. He's dumping the rest of the carton on Billy's head if he spots him in here later.]

Whatever this holiday's about, it doesn't have the food going for it. Maybe I'll go see what else they've got planned.

[wait...wouldn't dumping the rest constitute a waste? or does it not count when it's punishment...

with a little nod:] There's a lot of talk...of gifts. But not of what in particular. [...] I've not delved any deeper, though. Secrecy seems to be part of it.

[The real question is would he actually do that? No, probably not, but the thought is tempting.]

Yeah, heard some of that. I think Viveca even suggested we order stuff, but I don't know what kind of gifts they normally do for this holiday. Or, hell, what if you only give them to someone you're dating, that's common in some places. At least here they're all used to me asking a bunch of questions about this stuff.

[head tilt.]

I imagine...no one would be angry to receive a thoughtful gift, even if it was unusual for their...idea of the occasion. Right?

No, I'm sure they wouldn't be angry, people here would understand better than that. But I'd like to know enough to not make a complete ass of myself.

[He shrugs. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, it's not that, he just prefers to make fewer of the ones he has some control over. He sure can't help being a clumsy oaf, but he can try to learn other people's traditions.]

STATION LOG.02

● ● ● S T A T I O N 2.0

F Y I

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)