redshiftlogs | january 2021. welcome to the void.

Entry tags:

!mod post: intro mingle

january 2021. welcome to the void.

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Monthly Mingle
When: The Month of January 2021
Where: Around and outside the city.
Warnings: Please add any warnings in the subject lines.

Redshift: Welcome to the v͖͕̺̲̘̱̜͎o̴̦̣̠̦̘̹͞i̯̖d̛̪̬͈̱̦̝͍̕.

Click here to read what characters will experience when arriving in Anchor.

a. the lights are on...anybody home?

The lights are coming on in Colony 2, and in the access tunnel that leads to it. The more docile creatures from the other colony have been finding their way into the tunnels, and some of those have made their way out into Anchor proper. It’s hard to tell with things so decidedly nonhuman, but they seem… nervous. Definitely unwilling to be herded back the way they came. In fact, that’s the only time they seem to get aggressive--these things very much don’t want to go back.

So clearly that means you should, right?

Those who choose to investigate will find that the less-than-friendly creatures of Colony 2 are still there, and agitated. Even odds as to whether they run or attack on sight. Those who get bit or scratched will find their own aggression levels increasing, along with a delirium that makes it hard to tell what around you is friendly and what is a threat. Mostly? Shit feels threatening.

The creatures can be avoided, with care and quickness. Those who have been to Colony 2 before will notice that emergency doors that were shut last time have opened, revealing… corpses. Human ones. They’re skeletal, but their clothes are practically pristine, and many of them have weapons clutched in bony fingers. A few even still have their hands poised on lock mechanisms, panic buttons, and communicators that no longer seem to work. Whatever happened here happened fast, and it happened all at once.

The opening of the emergency doors also reveals the fact that this place isn’t just similar to Anchor. It’s practically the same, sans the amenities and the dome. The only big thing missing is the bots. Everything is built to be maintained by human hands, and from the number of bodies in the halls it’s clear there were enough of them to do it.

Another difference from Anchor: there’s no sign that there were ever children here. All the corpses are adults, and most of them are in some kind of uniform.

b. click your heels together three times...

The security rooms near the surface levels are accessible. The security feeds are largely corrupted, but those with a little technical know-how (or good button-mashing skills and luck) can pull up the last few minutes that are available. For the first thirty seconds or so it’s nothing but people walking around either off-duty or on patrol--and then everything changes. The feeds warp, showing multicolored haze blooming throughout the facility. People start to run, start to bring the doors to the central areas down, screaming into communicators--then every feed goes dark at once.

Further digging into the consoles throughout Colony 2 will reveal the fact that the people here were working on something called “Operation Ruby Slipper.” The data about the project, whatever it was, has been deleted. Not corrupted. It’s just gone.

Unfortunately, stay too long on the upper levels of Colony 2 and you might start to notice you feel a little sick. Measure the radiation levels in the area and you’ll find out why. The seal on Colony 2 has been breached. There’s a hairline crack through the solid metal roof, and it’s letting the outside in, not only in the form of radiation, but in a thin and steady stream of sand.

There are more areas to explore in Colony 2--more sealed doors at the end of long hallways, a few with windows in them that look out residential areas or into almost corporate buildings, lit only by emergency lights.

c. it came from beyond the dome.

But things aren’t exactly quiet back home, either. A multicolored fireball lights up the sky over the dome, streaking across the visible space and out of sight. A few long moments later, impact. A flash of light that blazes across the sky and enough of an earthquake that Anchor’s emergency lights come on for a moment.

Just a moment, though, and all seems well afterward.

Those who choose to go out and investigate will find something interesting. An impact crater molten with metals and minerals, including some that people will recognize from home, things like Energon included. At the heart of the crater is a satellite of some kind, a patchwork thing made from technologies both familiar and unique. The satellite itself is frozen in the heart of a crystalline substance, one that will take some work to get it free from. The substance, when tested, proves to be radiation-resistant--the kind of thing that can be used to reinforce the exploratory vehicles or radiation suits, if it can be melted down.

The satellite itself is largely intact, provided Anchorites don’t go to extreme lengths to get it out. The data can be downloaded to a tablet and taken back to Anchor for analysis, where it will reveal the rough location of two new colonies out in the wastes--new to the residents of Anchor, in any case. It will also reveal that there’s a shift storm gathering on the other side of the planet or moon or whatever-it-is that Anchor is located on. A big one. One with far-enough reaching effects to have knocked the satellite out of orbit in the first place.

Something to look forward to!

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Problem: Carlisle wants — no, needs — to see the other Anchor for reasons he'd rather not explain. He is no fighter, and though he can get close enough to see the emergency doors have opened, he does not believe he can make it past the more aggressive creatures and into the colony proper. There must be another colony on the other side, though — if only he could reach it!

Solution: Carlisle asks someone to go with him. He needs someone who can handle the creatures — and someone he has no particular attachment to, just in case things go horribly, horribly wrong.

So, loath as he is to do so, he calls Kabal.]

Have you a moment, Kabal?

[Kabal has poked around the tunnels a bit but he went to the other dome before and saw all the weird Frankenstein-ed people and they sure didn't have stuff to steal and he wasn't super interested in going back. So he's currently wandering around looking for things to fight or shit to steal. You know. Kabal things.]

Yep. Someone steal your lunch money and I need to take care of it?

[He snorts audibly, disgruntled already with Kabal's tone.]

I need an escort.

Oh I'm flattered. Didn't know you swung that way, but I don't think you've got that kinda money.

[But he does actually know what Carlisle means, he's just being a dick.]

Where to?

I don't—

[No, he does know what Kabal is getting at. He just doesn't want to talk about it. Ever. He doesn't have feelings like that, and assumes himself incapable of them now that he's a Revenant. Never speak of this again.]

I wish to see what is in the other Anchor.

[Don't play coy, he knows you know.]

The big busted up dome? Last time wasn't it a bunch of creepy sewn together weirdos?

Yes. They are creatures too aggressive for me to handle on my own.

[Hence why he's calling someone he knows can handle said creatures.]

Aw and you thought of me? I'm touched.

Yeah I can do an escort mission, standard policy of if you find anything worthwhile I get a cut.

[In reality he's bored. So Carlisle lucks out. Well.. in a manner of speaking anyway. It's some sort of luck anyway.]

I see you are as unconcerned for your own health as ever, but can you guarantee mine?

Sure. You'll come back in the same number of pieces you went in.

[Reassuring.]

I can take any of those weird stitched together creatures. And if we get attacked by robots you can rust them.

[Oh, he is not reassured at all.]

I am serious about that, Kabal. Were something to- to murder me, it would be catastrophic.

Someone owe you money?

Can we stop being all cagey and just say what we mean?

[As saying what he means would involve explaining his entire undead situation to Kabal — an idea that sounds terrible — Carlisle tries a subtler approach while remaining truthful enough. Kabal doesn't need to know all the details, he reminds himself. Just enough to convince him to agree to this, and to keep him safe.]

You have seen my magic, and what it can do. Were I killed, it would be unleashed on anything and anyone around me. I know not the reach of such a blight, but it would not be surprising were it to put the entire colony in peril, even from the other Anchor.

So you'd explode into rust and everything would disintegrate?

That sounds metal as shit.

Aight, let's keep you from doing that, I don't want to rot more than I already have. I think I hit my quota.

Good. Glad we're in agreement, for once.

[About the not wanting to rot more stuff. He doesn't know what 'metal as shit' means in this context, and he's not about to ask.]

When will you be ready to depart?

Gimmie an hour. Gonna grab some grub. All they probably got over there is dirt, I don't like fighting on an empty stomach.

[Or doing much of anything on an empty stomach. And someone this big and beefy needs to eat A LOT.]

Want anything?

I would prefer not to eat. [Mostly because he can't digest it, but—] I already fear my nerves will ruin me.

I will meet you near the tunnels in an hour, after I make some preparations of my own. Do not be late.

[Kabal WOULD have been late, but fortunately he moves at superhuman speeds so he's right on time. He's been fed, weapons sharpened, and ready to bring death to anyone who attacks them. Or anyone who crosses their path - he's not really picky.]

If you pass out from hunger and I have to carry you back I'm changing our standard loot split to 95/5%.

Just saying.

Fair enough.

[Carlisle must be in a relatively good mood if he's not up for arguing on that. Then again, given it takes a very specific enchantment (and a precarious predicament to go along with it) to knock him out, he'd be privately delighted to find there was some other way to go about it.

He's waiting at the entrance to the tunnels by the time Kabal arrives, with his usual gear: his impractical-for-any-sort-of-adventuring outfit, his probably-contains-a-lot-of-journals satchel, and one addition: a definitely-attached-to-his-crown device. It's a small contraption, barely even noticeable on the left side of his brow, but if the lens on the front is any indication, it's some kind of a camera.

Carlisle nods politely. However little he may feel Kabal deserves such pleasantries on most days, the man is here at his request, and on time.]

Kabal. I assume you know what sorts of dangers we will be facing in this endeavor.

[Kabal is staring at this ridiculous outfit. It's not visible because he's wearing the full face mask, but Carlisle can probably feel it. ]

The hell is that?

[He flicks the lens, not hard, he's not trying to break it, but he does want to know what it is.]

Nope. I haven't been over there and those stitched up weirdos don't seem to be a threat. Whatever it is I can take care of it.

[Confident fellow ain't he?]

[Well, at least one of them is confident they'll be safe. Carlisle straightens his tiara, making sure his veil and the camera are still in place.]

This apparatus is called a 'camera,' and is much like the ones held within our devices. It should record our journey, as well as our findings, for further study.

[That's all said with the tempo of a man reciting what a camera is rather than truly understanding it. He's seen cameras, and he knows they record images, but the how part is beyond him, and he frankly isn't sure he wants to get that deep into the technological know-how. He'll leave that to the fellow who gave him the camera in the first place. No guesses on who it was, Kabal.]

Did you seriously let Qubit hook you up to a GoPro?

[While his face is hidden, his disgust is audible.]

Fine, whatever. So long as he stays in his nerd cave and doesn't come bother us he can be a creepy voyeur on this adventure.

[Carlisle's expression flattens out into mild annoyance as Kabal mentions the exact individual who gave him that camera. He steps around Kabal and leads the way, not wanting to dawdle for too long.]

He is not a voyeur, Kabal. What we find there may be of use to us — all of us. I insisted he not come with us because you two do not get along, to say the very least.

Edited 2021-04-15 03:54 (UTC)

Because he's a fucking asshole. I shouldn't have saved his life and just let him get fried by all those lasers. No good deed goes unpunished, shoulda learned my lesson by now.

Especially since he turned around and tried to electrocute me to death a few months later.

[He snorts audibly, conjuring an orb of light into his hand as they leave the ones of Anchor behind. The tunnels have some emergency lights, but it's not enough for Carlisle's liking.]

I would say you earned that electrocution, though I'm surprised to learn you ever saved his life. Was it you who put him in danger in the first place?

No. I'd never even met him before that. Idiot wandered face first into a wall of laser turrets surrounding one of those generator rooms and got trapped. Heat seeking kind of lasers, because of course they were.

So I smashed 'em all.

[Carlisle hms to himself.]

I'll be frank in that heading into danger and thinking little of his own self-preservation does sound like something he'd attempt, though I assume it was that he thought the generators would help the populace here, and not because he was 'an idiot.' He's a smart man, and you'd be wise to remember that.

[No, Carlisle is not about to thank Kabal for saving him. Yet. Maybe. He'll consider it.]

It's not that he was thinking of other people, he's just stuck so far up his own ass that he thinks he's fucking invincible.

Woulda gotten lasered in half if I didn't show up.

And it's not like he's grateful or anything.

[Carlisle snorts audibly, glancing over his shoulder at Kabal.]

He does not believe himself invincible. Is his gratitude that important to you, Kabal? Or are you just looking to complain?

I don't give two shits what he thinks.

And maybe. Complaining is the spice of life you know, you should try it.

I believe I complain about plenty, thank you. I'd be complaining more about your presence were it not required for this excursion.

[The tunnels grow darker further in, as some of the emergency lights that line the walls have been broken and smashed. That's not a good thing, all things considered. Carlisle conjures another illuminated orb, one roughly the size of an orange, and offers it Kabal's way.]

Wow. My delicate feeelings.

[He takes the orb with all the confidence of someone who has never once considered that taking a glowing ball of potential fire from someone who hates him just might be a bad idea.]

Huh, well thats cool. Does it blow up if I drop it?

[Saying No might be the only way to prevent him from chucking it at a wall to find out.]

[Carlisle notes how Kabal doesn't even hesitate to take the orb, only asking what it does after he's already holding it, but says nothing about it. He assumes from the question that he's confident Carlisle poses him no threat — and frankly, Carlisle agrees.]

It'll likely shatter, but no. It hasn't enough magic in it to explode. I thought you ought have a light with you, as two sets of eyes will be better than just one.

Edited 2021-05-06 23:32 (UTC)

[Sadly for Carlisle he does actually consider the guy who can rot things with his hands a threat. He's just also a complete idiot.]

Huh. Neat. Alright, anywhere in particular you wanna go on this sightseeing trip?

[He holds the orb in front of him, using it to light their way and especially looking for any telltale glint off eyes.]

I'm not yet certain. From what little I've seen of the other Anchor, it is similar to our own. I had thought that, perhaps, we may find a surveillance room, one that might be able to tell us what happened to leave the colony so derelict.

[And by 'I had thought,' he means Qubit. This technophobe is lucky he knows how to work a camera, much less the ones that would be involved in any kind of high-tech security.]

Right, that makes sense. If it's set up like ours then I know where that room is, Peter and I got that hooked up once.

And now I know not to switch on generators with my bare hands. Live and learn right?

[Live, learn, get fried by high voltage and lose feeling in your arm for a week. Just a normal part of life.

He doesn't see any eyes looking back at him yet, but he assumes once they reach the other dome it'll be overrun. Which is fine with him, he's been itching for a fight for months.]

I'm guessing Qubit gave you something to patch into it so he can see it from our side?

[Sometimes Kabal isn't as dumb as he acts.]

[Right — Kabal isn't as dumb as he acts: his assessment reminds Carlisle of that fact, and gives him a moment of pause.]

... Yes, yes he did. It should allow him, er. A degree of 'remote access,' should it work.

[Things Carlisle doesn't like: having to remember the technological know-how Qubit was trying to explain to him while hooking up the camera on his crown, and the knowledge that Kabal is likely more versed in said technological know-how than he is.]

If he hacks into this shit and immediately uses it to kill me I'm gonna come back and haunt you forever. Just sayin'.

[He turns a corner and pauses. Down this one is a single zombie-like creature shambling around.]

Finally.

[With that single word he crushes the orb of light in his hand, heedless of the fact it might explode or be made of glass. All his focus is on the fact he found something to kill.

There's no time for Carlisle to stop him because in an instant he's vanished into a cloud of purple staticky mist and has reappeared on the other side of his new victim.]

Hey!

[The creature turns to look and gets two hookswords right to the face, blood and ichor spraying everywhere. It's pretty gross.]

[Carlisle barely even has time to consider the fact that Qubit probably could technomance some way to murder Kabal from a distance if he really wanted to (which he wouldn't, because Qubit is an honorable fellow, thank you very much) before Kabal crushes his orb, leaving the clergyman all alone with his, the illumination just enough to reveal the immediate terror that crosses him. Thankfully, despite feeling like cold glass, the orb pops more like a bubble, leaving Kabal's hand unharmed.

Good thing too, as he needs those hands to play the protector. He does just that with spectacular results. And grisly results. Spectacularly grisly results. Just as Carlisle realizes that Kabal has vanished in a puff of purple mist, the ichor comes spraying from his other side, causing him to leap backward as though it were pure acid. The light moves with him, and for a moment, all he can hear from the darkness before him is the guttural sputtering of the creature as it writhes.

Further sputtering, and then, silence. Carlisle conjures another orb and rolls it along the floor, trying to see the mess Kabal has made without actually going over there and getting his clothes messy.]

[Kabal really should think about things before he does them, but alas, he's never done that in the past 46 years, he's not going to start doing it now.]

Too easy.

[Kabal's voice rings out in the darkness, seemingly unharmed, and unimpressed. There's a shhnk as he shakes the bloody ichor off his blades and hangs them off his back again. Thudding footsteps resound and echo in the corridor as he reaches down to pick up the orb, giving Carlisle a glimpse of a head cleaved into pieces and a spinal column still trying to pump blood through the decayed body. It's a futile effort, puddling on the ground as the creature twitches.]

Told you it'd be fine.

[Entirely unconcerned he cleans the blood off the orb on his jacket.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

january 2021. welcome to the void.

[kabal] Starting this out with a phone call!

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