redshiftlogs | september 2019. welcome to the void.

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september 2019. welcome to the void.

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Third Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of September 2019
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. turrets.

That power surge kicked off some sh... stuff, all right. It took a while for the systems to cycle back on, but two new areas of Anchor are now accessible and usable. One of them is nice and relaxing and safe, and we'll get to that one in a minute. The other one, addressed first, is not very nice and not very relaxing and definitely not safe.

The internal defense systems on the upper levels have come to life, and have targeted anyone within their range as a hostile entity. Get ready to run the gauntlet if you want to turn them off - you'll have to dodge lasers, bullets, and aggressive defense bots (that can be rewired and/or rebooted to assist characters instead of trying to murder them). The reward? Getting to the heavily protected (think many many murderbots and lasers) security control room. If you can make it, you'll be able to reboot the internal defenses, turning off the aggressive targeting and having access for the first time to surveillance of almost all of Anchor. Those areas your characters didn't know were there? Revealed. Those dense patches of jungle-like growth in the agricultural center? You've got a spotlight into their heart.

Though, huh, not all the cameras seem to be working. What's with those screens that show up from time to time that are nothing but static?

Oh well, doesn't really matter, does it?

b. hot springs episode.

One of the areas adjacent to the bar and intimacy lounge has been sputtering on and off ever since the power surge. One evening, with a loud crack and a humming sound that slowly dissipates, the lights come on and water starts flowing down the artificial waterfall into the fountain out front. The spa is back online!

The lobby is inviting and zen, with holographic walls that depict scenic locations (some of them very unlike Earth), with fountains splashing delicately on either side of the door. The attendants are slightly malfunctioning bots, but the most harm they'll do is bring you six towels when you ask for one, or a bucket of massage oil to work on those knots in your back with.

There are three areas in the spa, each of them fully-outfitted with towels, robes of all sizes, fuzzy slippers, the works. One has all the amenities of a Turkish bath, right down to the fantastically arched roofs and mosaics of Istanbul. One is designed not unlike a Japanese hot spring, though the spring is heated artificially rather than naturally. The springs are large enough to be communal in some areas and small enough to be private in others, varying in depth from deep enough to swim on one end and shallow enough to sit on the bottom on the other. All hot springs have a stone shelf around the edges where those who don't want to swim can sit. The last area is more Western, with steam rooms, saunas, massage tables, and mud baths for the adventurous.

One thing all of these areas have in common: the settings on virtually everything can be adjusted to taste. Not in the traditional way, either. The steams and waters can be tweaked to be soporific, can serve as muscle relaxants, can ease anxiety, and can even bolster moods. None of these effects are involuntary, and none of them are brought on by drugs - it's more an advanced mix of pheromones and harmless compounds that can affect a single person or a given pool or room. Also, the baths and hot springs have adjustable bubble settings. The water colors can change, some of them even allowing characters to dye their hair the color that's been selected for the tub without staining their skin. Bubbles of all kinds can rise up out of the water, from the foamy comfort of childhood bubble baths to hovering golden bubbles that chime when you pop them. Characters can choose from a variety of bath salts, scents, and oils - the spas were designed not just for relaxation, but for pure and simple fun.

c. joe's dirt.

So you've survived the security malfunction. You've washed off the dirt and anxiety at the spa. But the newly reactivated security stations throughout Anchor have revealed something odd. There's a blip in the power systems in one area of the agricultural level, like something is siphoning off power from the main lines. Tracking down the source in the deep tangle of underbrush won't be easy, and there may be a few mutated, fanged, clawed cattle that maneuver shockingly well between the trees, but eventually you'll come to a breach in Anchor's wall. At first it just looks like a crack, but it's large enough to squeeze through and there's the darkness of an open space behind it. A tunnel, leading down into the earth outside, well below surface level and thus largely safe.
Wires run along the roof and floor, though the tunnel itself is dark. Walk long enough and you'll come to a wider space, open enough for two or three people to move around comfortably at the same time. It's still dark, lit only by screens that show the same security feeds that are available at the stations throughout the city. And others. Angles on the surface that show Anchor from a distance, and other visuals that don't show Anchor at all, trained instead on massive structures or formations or lakes out on the surface somewhere. But there's something more disturbing: there are cameras set to record some people's rooms. And the only rooms that are shown are occupied.

Someone has been here, recently enough to track where new people have moved in.

On the floor in one corner, there's a crumpled photograph of a man some might recognize as Creepy Joe, happy and whole, with a little girl sitting on his shoulder. It looks like it's been stamped into the dirt.

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Peter is somewhat startled by Qubit's sudden arrival, but he manages to keep his focus on dodging lasers and shit. He's about to protest just bailing, but then he realizes that Qubit's just magic-ing the turrets off, so fuck it. He's tired and lasers hurt.]

On it!

[He does web up one more turret, but then he's off to find cover. He doesn't have to go far, there's a pretty large air vent nearby in the ceiling that he hops himself up to, pulls the grate off of, and slides up into. Of course he's mentally kicking himself for beefing it to the point that someone else had to step in and save his ass, but he can whine about that later.]

[ WOW EXCUSE YOU, HE'S SCIENCEING THEM OFF TYVM. "magicking them off" jfc never been so insulted in his life grumble grumble

Qubit keeps half an eye on Peter as he's getting into the vent - which he hadn't even noticed up there, huh. Well, good, that's him out of harm's way. It does mean Qubit's the only remaining target, of course, but by the time the turrets actually realize that, he's already knocked out all but two.

It takes some ducking and weaving to get close enough to those. Qubit has emphatically average speed and reflexes, but he's dodged a fair few lasers in his day, and makes it into range with only a few close shaves. The last two he shuts down at the same time, and then... all is quiet.

Even that brief fight took more out of him than it should have. He's too out of breath, his palms are tingling, pressure between his eyes... But that, he files away for later. For now, he's fine. After a second, he straightens up and calls to Peter - ]

All clear.

[ Granted, there's been ample time for Peter to work that out on his own. ]

Edited 2019-09-06 23:44 (UTC)

[Peter drops out of his hidey hole, somehow managing to look annoyed despite having a mask on. It's all body language, man. Uuuugh he just wanted to test his suuuuit but now he has to fix laser damage AND he looked uncool in front of someone. UNACCEPTABLE.

He looks uncool in front of everyone all the time, but y'know.

He surveys the scene, nods approvingly, and leans against the wall. He is just. So exhausted.]

Thanks, man. I owe you one. That was awesome, by the way. That thing, that... [He waggles his hand vaguely, shit he can't remember words. WHATEVER.] That thing you did. God that sucked, I can't believe I beefed it like that!

[He's having a pissy teenager moment, it'll pass.]

[ So. You know how Qubit is all serious business, all the time?

He's actually not. This'll be the first time Peter's seen it, but he laughs. Like, that reaction is genuinely funny to him. For one thing, all he did was unplug a few wires, which is barely even the Prestidigitation of his technomage spellbook. But more importantly - ]

Peter. You just made more headway in twenty seconds than I have in the past three hours, all right? Don't put yourself down too much.

[Peter has no idea what to do with this laughing. How is he supposed to react? Is he supposed to be offended? He decides he's not offended after Qubit says all that stuff, but he's still feeling huffy ok.]

I mean... okay, that's fair. I'm like way out of practice, though. Most of the problems that crop up around here aren't problems I can punch, y'know? And this damn thing--

[He starts flexing his left arm around and pauses to inspect it, the elbow area looks like it's been blown out from the inside somehow. Petey's just too strong dang]

I don't know, not all of my repairs are taking and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, and I can't exactly ask the guy that built it for advice, y'know?

Huh. Let me see.

[ Qubit brushes a stray hair out of his face and leans in for a closer look, steadying the offending arm with his hand. To his eyes, it doesn't look too bad. Some blown actuators and damaged connections, repaired in a way that might actually increase the strain on the joint - but that'd be an easy mistake to make. It's not the worst repair job he's ever seen, and certainly not unfixable.

But... there's something else. Qubit's got sort of a sixth sense for technology, which comes in absolutely critical for analyzing and prototyping on the fly, but it's difficult to put into words precisely what it is he "feels." Two suits of power armor could look identical, but feel very different, depending on differences in implementation, the underlying technology, the quirks of an individual designer...

And this suit feels oddly familiar. Not exactly the same, but similar enough to make him suspicious. As suddenly as it appeared, his lighthearted mood is gone. ]

... Who built it?

[Peter doesn't protest, even if part of him kind of wants to. Maybe it's the very very tiny rebellious teenager side of him, or some idea that he needs to fix the suit that Tony gave him by himself because it's his now and he has to be able to maintain his own goddamn equipment, but ultimately he just let's Qubit do his thing. He obviously knows his way around technology, in kind of a weirdy magic sort of way, so maybe letting him help with it would be better in the long run. He'll figure that out later.]

This guy I knew back home. Tony Stark? He used to build all kinds of stuff, hooked me up with some equipment while I was there.

[ Tony Stark.

Qubit's mouth tightens to a thin line, but he says nothing for a moment, feigning engrossment in the suit. It's not exactly a surprise, in hindsight, but what does he do with this information?

There's got to be something wrong with the suit, he decides. The Stark he knows would never just... give something like this away, no strings attached, out of the goodness of his heart. There must have been an ulterior motive. Putting Peter in his debt, maybe? Or something more direct? Monitoring his whereabouts? A framework to control him?

He's suddenly very concerned for Peter Parker. (And he has no doubt that's his full name.)

But this isn't the same Peter Parker he spoke to on Earth-β, obviously. For starters, he's significantly younger. (Alternate universe? Different point in time? He can't be sure.) He's going to have to tread carefully here. Get more information, before he goes and commits to anything.

When he finally speaks, his tone is casual - but not effortlessly so. ]

That's awfully generous of him. Something like this must have cost him a fortune.

Maybe.

[Peter shrugs, but he's starting to relax. Qubit seems like such a nice guy with absolutely no ulterior motives at all!!!!

I mean, all the suits he built were probably expensive. I never had a chance to ask him about this one, and he never had a chance to tell me. I was actually stuck to the side of a space ship when he gave me this one? I was kinda suffocating to death at the time and he saved me by slapping this on me. Aaaand that's the story behind this suit, I guess.

[The whole story is much longer and involves a LOOOT of death. It's not Peter's favorite story.]

[ Hm. Well, there's not much more he can find out just from the suit - or at least, not without a more in-depth analysis in a laboratory setting - so he lets Peter have his arm back.

Some people might find it tough to frame saving a life as a selfish act. Qubit is not one of those people. The Plutonian, Survivor - even himself, they've all been guilty of it at some point. He can easily picture it from a narcissist like Stark. ]

Were you teammates?

[And now Peter has his arm back. He busies himself with fiddling with the broken bits of his armor while he talks, not so much in a way that would imply that he's trying to avoid the topic. More in a needing something to do with his hands while he talks sort of way.]

Yeah, it's was, um. ...So, if you know about him, you probably know about the Avengers, right? Tony recruited me, I guess you could say he was something of a mentor?

And before you ask, no, the Avengers didn't make a habit out of recruiting people my age. I'm kind of a special case.

[ He actually doesn't know much about the Avengers? Like, I'm pretty sure he's heard of them in passing, but he would not be able to name a single member. Well... other than Tony and Peter, now. Learned something new today. And the mentorship angle checks out...

The age thing is kind of a gray area, though. Qubit's been known to extend some leeway to older teens, particularly those with extraordinary talent and firm principles (though high durability's also a plus). But there's always that grim possibility in the back of his mind, that he'll end up having to bury them. Or worse.

(Poor Samsara never stood a chance.) ]

Do tell.

Not much to tell, you just saw what I can do.

[He's not trying to be a little shit, but Qubit's kiiind of digging a little deeper than Peter's really comfortable with. At least for now, maybe when he gets to know the guy better he'll be more inclined to go into detail. And then he'll never shut up because he is Peter Parker.]

[ Qubit pauses, but decides he's pushed his luck enough for now. He's sure there's more to it than that, but Peter's under no obligation to tell him all the details. ]

... Fair enough. I meant what I said, by the way. You did well just now.

[ Clearly, the boy's got potential in spades. Not just in terms of his powers or equipment, but mentally as well... Multitalented, that's the word. He can see how Stark might take an interest in him, at any rate. Qubit certainly has.

Anyway, back on task, how's that sound? He sighs, running his fingers through his hair a couple times to fluff it back up. ]

How're you feeling? I'm tempted to keep going, but... [ He looks down the hall, weighing the odds. ] To be honest, I'm not sure what'll happen if I try to pull that stunt again.

I-- yeah. Thanks.

[Peter is the woooorst at taking compliments, especially when he feels like he could have done better. He is very interested in getting back on task, though, and looks down the hall to assess what they've got coming up.]

...I'm a little exhausted, to be honest, but at the end of this hall is security control. If we wanna keep anyone else from getting hurt, we need to get in there and shut this mess down.

[In other words, he's not feeling great, but you can't be a superhero without a little self-sacrifice.]

I can make it there, I just... One of my uh, abilities is a little... off right now? But it should be fine.

[ SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR PRAISE, PARKER

Hmm. So neither of them are in the best shape, and both of them are having trouble with their powers, apparently, but... they're so close. Closer than he's been able to get on his own all day. The first half is about the same as what they've faced so far, but the final twenty meters are thick with turrets and patrolling automata. It's going to be dicey.

But he's right - the longer they let this stay active, the greater chance there is of someone getting hurt. Or worse. And they're not by far the worst odds he's been up against and lived.

That rationalization tips his decision to "yes." If Peter thinks he can handle it, Qubit'll trust his judgment. He nods and turns his attention to the actual situation. ]

All right. If you can draw their fire, I can follow behind you and shut them down as we go. Don't fight, just focus on dodging. Can you do that?

[ It's a serious question, and Peter's totally allowed to say no. If he's in any way unsure, Qubit doesn't want to put him at risk.

... Not that he's actually communicated that to him, of course. ]

[YOU CAN'T MAKE HIM

Peter's quiet for a moment while he surveys the scene, eventually nodding and turning back to Qubit.]

Yeah. Yeah, I can do that, but I think I should at least immobilize the robots on the way for you. Just to be safe, y'know? They're less predictable than the turrets.

[ He considers that, then nods again. ] Good idea. But only if you can do it without slowing down.

[ Out of the two of them, Peter is the one wearing armor. Qubit's trenchcoat is reinforced to a degree, but, uh... that only helps if he's wearing it. Which he's not, he left it back where he was working. I guess he could go back and get it, but that would throw off their whole momentum, it's probably fine, it's fine, he never has bad ideas and is certainly not any sort of adrenaline junkie.

It'll be fine. He just takes a second to limber up his shoulders, crack his knuckles, etc. ]

All right. You ready? On my mark.

[ He squares up to run, and holds up his fingers, watching for an opening. ]

One... two... mark!

It won't slow me down.

[He sounds very confident about this. He reactivates his mask (which I guess he took off at some point and I forgot to mention OOOOPS) and gets into position.

As soon as Qubit gives the go ahead, Peter's off, this time focusing largely on dodging laser fire and trusting that Qubit knows what hes doing. Peter seems to have gotten his groove back, and manages to web some robots up without missing a beat. So far so good, how you doing back there Qbs?]

[ All right! A second wind, excellent! We're off to a strong start.

Qubit follows a few meters behind, hugging the wall below the turrets and shutting them off as he goes. Webbing the robots, it turns out, was an excellent idea - fewer for him to try and disconnect.

He keeps pace initially, more or less, but as the seconds go on, that starts leaning toward "less." He was thinking as long as he kept his power use to a minimum, he'd be all right, but this is starting to wear on him. And just as they're approaching the critical juncture - the heavily guarded final stretch - Qubit starts lagging behind. ]

[The lasers and robots won't slow Peter down, but realizing that his buddy is losing steam definitely will. He's going to have to slow down so that Qubit can keep pace with him, but if he slows down he's not only going to have to start webbing the turrets up again, he's also going to have to be even more on top of dodging laser fire. Oooooh boy he's starting to not feel super great about this.]

H-hey, are you okay? Do you wanna turn back?

[ Qubit's not feeling great about this, either - nor in general, for that matter. He's getting winded, he can't keep up this pace, and if Peter stops to help him, or worse, to discuss this - ]

I said don't slow down!

[ But he's slowing down himself, and he knows damn well that Peter can't and shouldn't keep up that pace without support. There are too many guns up ahead, too much coverage - one pause, one misstep, and he'll be eating all that fire.

They could turn back, but even then, the five or six robots currently rolling up on their position would pursue. That'd put them on defense while still in range of the turrets. Neither option is good.

They shouldn't have pushed on, he concludes, dread tying knots in his stomach. He can't give Peter the support he promised. He's not pulling his weight. He made a bad call.

He skids to a stop. ]

Actually, no! Yes! Fall ba-

[OOOOOOH this is why Peter should have just done this by himself, he's gonna get someone else killed by robots and lasers oh god oh god oh god.

He's doing a fairly good job of dodging laser blasts, but by now he's fully webbing everything directly ahead of them while dodging, and with the robots trundling towards them on top of the turrets, it's a little too much to split his focus between. He's about to insist they fall back, but thankfully, Qubit has the same idea and beats him to it. Great minds think alike, and all that.]

Okay! I'll cover y-Ngah!

[So far his armor's been doing a good job of deflecting the laser fire, but he's caught very much off guard when one manages to penetrate through to his side, blasting a chunk of the armor off. It's more than enough to stagger him. Needless to say, he is now eating all that fire, trying to protect his face with one arm while trying to protect his exposed side with the other. OOOOH it's looking bad for Spider-Man, my dude.]

[ It happens so fast. But then, it always does.

Suddenly, they're in the worst-case scenario. Peter's pinned, taking fire, his armor's compromised, he's wounded, and it's not stopping, he'll die, they have only seconds, yet one feels like an hour

he can't move

no no no no no never again

It's been a long time.
More than a year now
since he made a bad call
that got a friend killed

but it's right there
in the foreground of his mind
clear as if it happened
yesterday
Scylla
Volt
Samsara
blood and
graves and the
smell of
burning
flesh

]

PARKER!

[ Qubit runs like a thing possessed, arms outstretched, his eyes burning with eerie light. Maybe just burning. His power pours freely through the robots' circuitry, his nerves are on fire, his vision blurs, and he knows immediately he's overdone it, but all he needs is a split second more, a single clock cycle, to clench his fist and command everything he's touching to

BREAK.

The nearest four robots grind to a halt, sparking and popping and stuttering as circuits short and joints separate and rotors collide. A thin trail of smoke rises from an exhaust port. They clatter to pieces, their insides mangled beyond recognition or repair.

"I want you to save a child! Can you do that?!"

Qubit collapses, unconscious. ]

Edited 2019-09-09 23:56 (UTC)

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