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ximilialog2023-06-01 06:40 pm
- ! event log,
- adventure time: finn mertens,
- adventure time: jake the dog,
- fear street: ziggy berman,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- lockwood & co: anthony lockwood,
- pacific rim: newton geiszler,
- red vs blue: felix,
- star trek aos: james t. kirk,
- star trek aos: leonard mccoy,
- the old guard: andromache,
- yakuza: zhao tianyou
MISSION: THE AI AND THE COMMANDER
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 4 . 0
The hum of the teleportation platform is familiar, filling your ears as the bright light dissipates enough to safely open your eyes. You feel something solid beneath your feet, and the lack of scent from the asphalt and dirt in Nuhiri and Deumia marks a departure from anything resembling a planet, the space around you giving you no reason to think anything of it. You're on the Ximilia once again — finally. Another mission successfully accomplished, for whatever other hardships you and the rest of the team have endured. Hot food and hot showers await, and Newt will surely be scurrying off to prepare for the team’s usual post-mission movie night.
You’re back and you can’t wait for Viveca to greet you, and for Degar to take the orb away, back to the North Wing to join the other ones.
Except … the station’s walls appear to be peeling, and some of the equipment looks a little older and unpolished. There’s even a layer of space-dust on one of the control boards. And most importantly: no one is here to greet you. As you turn and look to your fellow crewmates in confusion, even now some of you might start to wonder at the change of routine. Ivy, who had just been handling the orb, will be empty-handed, but surely there’s nothing to worry about. The station is peaceful and still. Nothing feels amiss … yet. And then:
The sound of 0-L1V-14 — or 'Olivia' as many have come to call her — voice springs to life around you. She almost seems to sound confused for a moment, clearly recalibrating her systems for this strange occurrence, before the gentle tenor of her voice regains its composure and she recalls her mission directive. The lights in the teleportation platform seem to glow just a little brighter, as though the arrival of the crew has buoyed the AI's spirits.
Well? You heard the AI. Best to start looking.
1.0 The first thing you might think to do is return to the sleeping quarters, either to clean up and change into another set of clothes; or to take a much-deserved nap; or maybe you just need a moment to yourself to collect your thoughts. The doors to the sleeping quarters seem to stick for a moment, which isn’t worrying in and of itself, but as the doors slide open you realize that you’re looking into a dark and empty carved out space that resembles a place for storage more than anything else. The walls and doors that used to make up your individual rooms are absent, and the floors are stripped bare, with rows of perforated grates allowing the cavernous space to remain relatively well-ventilated. It’s clear that no one has visited this room in quite some time, and perhaps there had once been plans for it, now abandoned to hold a stock of random items in its place.
There are boxes stacked against the wall, and a shelving unit that holds miscellaneous supplies: cans and boxes, batteries and wires, old bound notebooks made of paper. Rolls of rough tarp are haphazardly leaning against the wall to one corner, and thermal blankets are scattered amongst scraps of loose-leaf, a sketch of a cluster of spherical shapes in different colours, and other foreign knick-knacks that seem to have no place on a space station. If you decide to explore this space you’ll have to provide your own source of light as none of the lighting above seem to work though the row of fixtures that you’re used to seem, at least, to have been installed. They’re just not currently online.
Investigating the room a little deeper might draw you to a simple metal box sitting in the middle shelf next to what looks like a half-broken lute, its strings missing. There is no lock on this box, as though it wants to be opened, and lifting the lid will reveal a bright rosy-coloured light. Reaching out towards the small sliver of light in the shape of an elongated teardrop will recall a memory of your childhood so vivid, you’ll think you were back in that time, in that exact moment, to relive it again. Whether it's a good memory or a tragic one is left up to random chance. Only someone entering the room to talk you through your memory will remind you that you aren’t actually a child any longer.
2.0 Perhaps you decide to forgo the sleeping quarters entirely, and want to revisit one of your favourite simulations in the simulation room. Familiar oceans, the futuristic bar, or the room filled with adorable puppies might be your first choice — but every preset you’re used to scrolling through seems to be different now. There are the standard, familiar pre-mission training simulations, and even the Lodgen Mountain Mines mission appears to be here, but everything else has either been deleted … or it was never here to begin with.
You might decide to go ahead with one of the already existing simulations anyway, or you might want to start rewriting the one you’d come here for in the first place. It will depend on your luck, and it will depend on the success of your mission-training, but a small shard of bright, silvery coloured light may suddenly reveal itself to you. It appears like a thin tear-shape that hangs suspended in the air. The faintest whisper beckons you close; it’s familiar. Will you reach out to touch it? Doing so will colour the simulation room around you with a memory so real it might as well be — suddenly you might recall a happy moment in your life, or perhaps your greatest victory or adventure. This can be shared with whoever enters the simulation room with you or after you, and will fade when you manage to locate the right door and leave the room.
3.0 The sunlight room that you may have walked through on countless occasions is missing the familiar bridge, the river that runs beneath it, and trees that surround it. Instead, the vegetation around you appears to be far more deliberate and practical, thick foliage like bushes planted in rows, their large leaves covering most of the ground and soil. Several small metal boxes with wires and buttons can be found planted across the space, each with a thin rotating disc that whirs and spins quietly. Each of these boxes appears to give off readings, each screen displaying a continuous green wavy line scrolling across it and text that displays the quality of the air with a percentile grade, the amount of it being produced, and that particular box’s designation zone: Mess Hall, Storage, Living Quarters, and Teleportation Platform among others. This isn’t just a room that simulates nature, but if you were to approach any of the small bushes and saplings here, it’s clear that the plants here are real and they’re currently working to provide the rest of the station with oxygen.
Further to the back of the sunlight room, a bright sliver of colourful green light seems to glitter and glint between the leaves. It feels familiar in the way that it whispers faintly, and if you concentrate you can make out the sound of your name in a voice like that of someone from your past: a friend, perhaps, or a family member. Maybe a loved one or an enemy. Or perhaps it’s a voice you can’t actually recognize. It might compel you to reach out for the light, but will you listen? Or will you turn away?
If you embrace the light and call out in answer to the voice, you will re-experience the action, the conversation, or the thought that you attribute as being the reason you are who you are today with that most important person being the key piece in your memory.
4.0 Looking for your usual snacks? Feeling peckish for that bowl of instant spicy space-ramen you saved for post-mission? You might head into the kitchen expecting the familiar foodstuffs that you’re used to only to find that the room has been rearranged, with far fewer cupboards and appliances, and more of what looks like typical space-fare: freeze-fried items and nutrition-focused meals sealed into silver foiled bags. What ‘fresh’ ingredients exist are even less, and there are a stack of dirty plates and cutlery in the sink that don’t look like anything you or your crewmates might have used. You may already suspect that this whole station isn’t the one you’re used to, or you might still be in denial. Either way, you may find through your rummaging the call to a little sliver of coppery-coloured light located behind the freezer door.
If you decide to touch the fragment of light here, you’ll feel a ghostly burning as though the glint of the light has cut your skin, almost cold enough to feel sharp — but it’s just your imagination, isn’t it? What you remember now as it comes back to life around you (and the team member or members who may have joined you) is the best meal you’ve ever eaten, whether it is something you made for yourself, something made by your loved one, or the meal that leaves your heart feeling empty and aching.
5.0 You may have become so accustomed to seeing the North Wing doors sealed that it’s your curiosity that draws you forward to the wide expanse beyond the now open wing, your feet testing the threshold as if you’re expecting an invisible wall to keep you out. Nothing happens when you step into the North Wing, though you might immediately notice the large tank that holds all of the team’s successfully captured orbs is very clearly missing. And not only that but the space appears to be well lived in, a small cluster of worn chairs and a table set to one side, and data pads and drawings on white-boards in plain view. They don’t seem to be much more than a couple of crude strategy diagrams (and a couple of silly stick figures in one corner) and as you move towards the crew quarters, some of you might instantly recognize the familiar room with its rows of beds and a scattering of personal effects assigned to each bunk. Photos are pinned to walls of a twenty-person crew, pillows and blankets are left in disarray by unfinished knitting projects, a diary written in a language you can’t quite translate, and a stuffed elephant-shaped plush doll lies at the head of one of the beds in the middle of the room. By the door is a neatly made bed. An analogue paperback novel sits on the nightstand, a bookmark set in the middle to note its progress. On top of it is a well-kept watch stopped a little after the sixth hour and a medal of service in the now recognizable insignia of the Ndiera Complex’s Federation.
By the far wall of these sleeping quarters is a bright golden starlight that seems to illuminate that side of the room as though someone had turned on a torchlight to the highest setting; it’s almost blinding. Moving closer to it, you’ll find that it’s like all the other slivers of light scattered across the station — a broken shard, like a piece of a large puzzle. Touching it may pull you — and whoever might be in the room with you — into a memory from your time with the Ximilia crew, whether it happened over a year ago, or it happened only on the last mission. It might be a happy memory, or it might be something you regret, which is poignant considering your initial raison d’etre for being here at all. It’s a vision that appears from your perspective and while you relive it, you feel outside of yourself.
6.0 The rest of the station still appears to be intact, with the infirmary, the training room, and the armoury in the same locations that you remember. Those of you who have been here for quite some time, you’ll find your way around by muscle memory alone; but even if you’re a newer member of the crew you’ll have wandered the halls enough to know what feels familiar to you … and what doesn’t.
The infirmary looks to be a little out of date, though it looks as if it’s seen its fair share of use. And it’s smaller too, the more recent addition and surgical area missing from the cozy space. The training room and the armoury share similar qualities of seeming a little older, a little more lived in, and with well-used equipment and weapons to boot. The training room is still padded with firm padded flooring and benches for sitting. Some of the racks and hooks (all empty) that had been against the wall have fallen now, and similar to the teleportation room, you’ll find that some of the paneling in this room has since peeled away, revealing some of the bare structure behind them. In the armoury, you won’t find your favourite knife or preferred staff but there are still a few choices in weaponry to arm yourself with.
Wherever you decide to explore, you might once more happen upon a bright bluish light that seems to whisper and call to you in soft, hushed tones. No specific words can be picked out through the murmurs but the feeling is all the same — it draws you forward like a moth to flame, but whether you decide to reach a hand out to touch the sliver of light that hangs suspended in the air is entirely your choice. If you do, you might succumb to a vivid memory of a significant injury you or someone important to you had suffered once, reliving that moment with too sharp clarity. Those feelings of fear or threat or maybe even satisfaction seem to come to you again as though you were there again — only this time you may not be alone as you witness this memory, and someone else has entered the room with you.
● ● ●
Present Day.
The teleportation platform hums quietly in a clean, well-maintained room. No walls or floors appear to be even the least bit dented, and now the Commander of the Ximilia stands behind the control board, staring at the screen as though doing so will bring their crew back by some wild form of magic. Degar knows magic — he’d come from a world so full of it. This, however, is something different.
Beside him, Viveca scans through the data that had sent the crew into the Ndiera Complex, as it should have brought them back the same way, with the orb in tow.
The Commander and the AI both turn their gaze towards the still empty teleportation platform before exchanging worried glances with each other. Degar finally heaves an exhale but the frown in his features deepens.
Viveca nods, her voice sounding complicated when she responds next.
F Y I
• For this mission, we have decided to run the search request mechanic a little differently. Depending on whether your character decides to touch or grasp one or any of the slivers of coloured light that can be found throughout the station, you will have the opportunity to participate in a search request. More on this is explained HERE.
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• Any in-character questions to 0-L1V-14 can be asked HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
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The thing is it would be so easy to take that hand and be done with all of this, whatever it is. He's fairly certain that if he takes that hand it will end. But he's been on the Ximilia too long to buy in and he's too curious by nature, and none of this makes sense. Last he checked, no one else was experiencing weird all-knowing beings digging into their fears and insecurities, which means this can only be some form of memory.
He isn't dying, no matter how he feels it. No matter the cold wrapped around his bones. For days now he has been pulled into memories of the other orbers and relived a handful of his own, and this isn't his memory which means it can only be tied to someone else.
It's probably a stupid choice, but when has that ever stopped him? (It helps that that figure, no matter its resemblance, no matter the familiar form, is not Itachi.)
Wei Wuxian sighs, smiles, and shakes his head. He dos not take the hand.]
My end has come and gone, and you're not it. [He takes a deep breath, in and out and glances at the bracelet around his wrist, removing it to hold in his hands. It and the shadow have been the only consistencies throughout so it stands to reason that the bracelet means something.
Wei Wuxian frowns and strokes a thumb over the charm, willing himself to ignore the ache of death that still has a grip over his body.]
Why a dog...
1/?
Wei Wuxian, son of Wei Changze and ██████ ██████, strongest cultivator of his age, beloved by so many and feared by many more, was dead. ]
2/?
3/?
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[ Wei Wuxian, orphan and center of the Bloodbath of Nightless City, was very much alive.
A strange electronic whirr sounded through the space, lights flickering on with fluorescent harshness. It extinguished the shadow in an instant, leaving Wei Wuxian alone in what could only be described as a white void.
Upon looking at the bracelet, his own hand is difficult to discern. It was more a suggestion than anything, broken into squares of broken color. The longer he stares, the more familiar it begins to look. In one moment, small, the hand of a child. In another moment, scuffed and bleeding. Another still, covered in blood that was not his own. The bracelet is nowhere to be found.
In front of him, several items float (or sit? It's impossible to tell in the wide expanse of white); a jar of pickles, a rubber bone, and a wooden sword. ]
𝕡̼𝕚̼𝕔̼𝕜̼ 𝕠̼𝕟̼𝕖̼ 𝕓̼𝕦̼𝕕̼𝕕̼𝕪̼
[ Wei Wuxian has a choice to make: pick an item, or do nothing. ]
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Buddy. Not a word anyone from his home would have used, which means he's finally getting somewhere. Very few orbers remain who might use that word on him.]
Buddy, huh? [He has half a mind to remain stubborn and do nothing, but that "buddy" intrigues him enough to listen. His hand hesitates for just a moment before he gently selects the bone.]
oh this poor man
The bone still rests in Wei Wuxian's hand, shining with a strange light. What does he do? ]
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(See mysterious all seeing being? This is how you do fear.)]
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The orientation was different, however. Whichever direction he was running, and for however long, momentum will stumble step him forward in front of... three objects, just as before. The scene was almost identical, save the objects in question.
In front of Wei Wuxian were a wooden spoon, the bow of a tree, and a shining ruby. Does he take one, or simply continue exploring the white space?
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Oh, come on! [Without any care, he grabs at the spoon. If this one leads to dogs, he's sitting in a corner and not moving.]
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She leans heavily against her hand, watching Wei Wuxian stir a pot on the stove. A powerful boredom drawing down the corners of her mouth indicates they'd been here a while. ]
I think I'm starting to get why you call this forever sauce, Grandpa.
That's 'Mama Jakey's Old Fashioned Forever Sauce,' young lady. You gotta say the whole thing. It adds to the way-too-long flavor.
[ The words come out of Wei Wuxian unbidden, sounding in his own voice but certainly not his own mind. It was like a cue in a script and now, line delivered, Wei Wuxian faculties were returned to him.
He could continue speaking to the girl, taste the sauce, or simply let go of the spoon and return once more to the white space.. The choice was his. ]
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Also it's a talking dog which probably should have been enough of a hint all on its own.
Still cowering by the counter, he lowers the spoon just a little, enough to talk to her.]
Y-you...who are you?
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Grampa? [ She asks, sounding quite young in that moment, before something in her vision seems to clear. ] Wait a minute...
[ Now it's her turn to look startled. ] Who am I? Who are you! What'd you do with my grandfather!?
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I-is your grandfather...J-Jake? [This has to be Jake's mind then. It could be Finn's but Jake's makes much more sense.]
I...I'm looking for him. Please don't bite me...
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Bite you? Don't flatter yourself... [ She sighs, pushing her bangs moodily away from her eyes (only for them to immediately slide back again). ] And yeah, Jake's my grandpa. He won't bite you either, by the way.
[ Er, she thinks? She didn't know him all that well, if she really thought about it. It makes her feel woefully inadequate to answer the man's question. ]
Why are you looking for him?
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I think he's lost. Or I am. One of us is lost. [Honestly he's not sure.] I want to make sure he's okay. [He adds, because now that he's realized this is his mind, he genuinely wants to know. Also Jake what the fuck.]
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You're... [ She blinks hard, surprised. ] Oh wow. You're human, aren't you?
[ The surprise quickly turns to keen interest, contrasting the well-curated apathy coloring her clothes and makeup. For a brief moment, her eyes flash a curious shade of blue. ]
You should talk to my great uncle.
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Where can I find him? [He will take the advice from the illusion of Jake's granddaughter because she had to be a part of this, right? Whatever it is.]
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What are you talking about? [ Bronwyn asks, her smile quirked a little with amused confusion. ] He's literally right behind you.
[ Sure enough, a needy tug at the back of his robe comes instantly. When Wei Wuxian turns, it will be as if looking through a broken mirror offering a reflection both known and unknown. The kitchen, Bronwyn, all of it is gone in the space of a moment. Tall trees grow all around him in their place, thin knobbly branches knitting together to create a dense canopy. Only a few pinpricks of sunshine made it through, speckling the grassy forest floor like dabs of yellow paint.
Still tugging at his robe is a little boy, ample golden hair drawn up into a high ponytail, while the rest flowed down his back and shoulders. His clothes were as simple as they were familiar. His plain linen robes and knit sweater were flecked with dried mud, splashed in a pattern that suggested he'd been playing in a mudpuddle nearby. It's only upon noticing that does the smell of freshly fallen rain appear, anchoring Wei Wuxian even more firmly to this new strange memory.
The wooden spoon once clutched in his hand is now gone. No way out. ]
Pick me up, Jakey! [ The little boy yells, grinning broadly. There's a large gap where a tooth is missing. It serves as a harbinger of the man this little boy would one day grow up to be, even if lost through growing rather than violence. ] I wanna see up high!
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Hmm? Up high you say? [He lifts Finn with ease, stretching his arms up above to his body to airplane Finn around for a moment before returning him to the safety of his arms.]
Like that? [He knows he has to figure out a way out of here, but he indulges in the moment just for a second.]
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From how the little boy immediately attempts to scale Wei Wuxian like a mountain, shrieking with delight when he's suddenly propelled into the air, it's a safe bet that was a lifelong trait. ]
No, higher! [ Finn demands, with the kind of hysterical toddler delight that's less request and more pure joy. He'd probably ask for higher even if Jake really was here to stretch him up into the stratosphere.
That's proven in the next moment, when Finn abruptly launches forward with his hands thrown tight around Wei Wuxian's neck. There's a fine line between overwelming exchitement and plain overwhelmed. ]
I wish you didn't hafta go...
[ Aw c'mon, don't be a baby. You're gonna see me all the time. And Jermaine's stickin' around, so--
The voice in Wei Wuxian's head is unmistakably Jake's, less heard and more felt. When Finn lets out a wet little huff against his neck, the voice decides to interpret as a response.
Yeah, okay, point taken. Jermaine sucks. ]
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You'll be alright, Finn. [He says, adding his own voice to the conversation whether it'll make a difference or not. As he holds the boy, he moves through the forest until he comes upon a peaceful little stream. His eyes catch on movement in the water, and he raises his eyes in surprise at the sight of Jake sitting there. It only takes one glance over his shoulder to realize that Jake is only present in the reflection.]
You've been causing me quite a lot of trouble you know. [He says to the image of the dog, voice teasing despite it all.]
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Of all the beliefs, all the dreams, all the values that the two of them held in common (and at odds), it's fitting that this was the overlapping moment where Wei Wuxian's search is finally at an end. ]
Me? [ The dog laughs, careful not to rouse the sleeping boy in his arms. A-Yuan is a perfect mirror of where Finn was currently dozing softy against Wei Wuxian's chest... He looked cute in blue. ] You're a tough man to find, buddy. I thought maybe you were avoiding me.
[ Jake blinks, head canting to the side in doggish curiosity. ]
Actually... I don't think I've ever seen you this calm?
no subject
Hmmm...you haven't? [Oh. Oh. He chuckles low under his breath shaking his head.] Ah...it's easier like this. [He gestures to the reflection.]
I don't feel so...you know. [Afraid. His lopsided smile sobers a little and he shakes his head, wiping a tear from Finn's cheek as he does and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.]
Please tell me you know how to get me out of here?
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When the younger man puts words to the obvious, the old dog's faint amusement comes only through an exhale. ]
Yeah, they're pretty great, huh? [ He agrees, the relatively lowkey statement intensified by a deep, long held warmth. ] I miss it, seeing little kids around. It's the kinda thing you don't realize you're missing, until you... y'know, do.
[ Almost like seeing a friend's face free of the choking grip of fear for the very first time. ]
I'm not avoiding your question, bee-tee-dubs. [ Jake admits, bouncing a-Yuan with an exhausted shrug. ] I was kinda hoping you'd know. How'd you get into a pond, anyway?
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🎀 <3333