october 2019. welcome to the void.

[modblob]

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Fourth Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of October 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. sini express delivery service.

There's something odd rolling through Anchor. Whether they wake with it next to their beds or find it sitting neatly in some corridor as if placed there just for them, characters will start finding items that are distinct and unique enough that they have to belong to someone. But where are they coming from? And whose are they?

The easiest way to find out is probably to walk around with the item held high yelling "Does this belong to you?" but that's not a good way to cover a lot of ground.

Don't worry, though! There's someone (something?) to help you. Chiming in periodically from communicators or intercoms across Anchor comes a voice that might sound a little familiar to anyone who made it as far as that spaceship wreckage in the wasteland. Softly laughing and humming, this some-one-thing will cheerfully coax characters in the right direction, giving tips and offering little clues to anyone who might be confused about whose item they have.

Characters struggling with identifying whose item they got might hear a helpful voice whispering out of their device as they move around the city - "Warmer, waaaaarmer...oh no! COLD!" They might hear a laughing voice coming out of a nearby speaker, giving tips or riddles about the person the item belongs to - "Her eyes are grey!" or "What kind of spider is sweet as pie?" Sometimes, it'll just be amused giggling at the efforts of those trying to find their object's owner. That bubbly voice is everywhere, encouraging residents to solve the riddle because "It'll be wooooorth it. Pinky swear!"

And no matter what, it can't be turned off or muted, and it doesn't respond to any direct attempts to communicate in return.

b. flu season.

No one probably takes special notice, at first. It's a sniffle here, a cough or chill there. 'Tis the season in some universe, after all, and even the advanced decontamination process isn't completely flawless. But what starts as a tickle in the throat gets a little worse over the span of a week, or in some cases a lot worse.

Whether laid up for a few days or longer, afflicted characters can expect to feel a few consistent symptoms. Dizziness, lightheadedness, chills and fever, coughing and sneezing (that kind of sneezing that comes in annoyingly long bursts and makes you feel like you've shot your brain out of your nose).

Oh, and hallucinations. Mild ones! Nothing to write home about! (If you even could, anyway.) Hallucinations are the last stage of this mild interuniversal flu, an annoyance more than anything...

And it leaves some people immune, and some people even more susceptible to what might follow.

c. harvestival festival.

Something good is happening in the agricultural sector. Weird, right?

But lo, the whole place has started to bloom seemingly overnight. Tiny fruits become noticeable, then large. Edible vegetation is flourishing, and you can tell which vegetation is edible thanks to the flocks, gangs, and small herds of creatures that have emerged from the still-wild depths of the sector. None of these creatures are aggressive except as a means to protect themselves when scared. Unused to strangers as they are, they'll probably let you get pretty close! Which means you could hunt them, I guess, or try to lasso and bring home some critters to the farm and fenced areas.

The food varies wildly. From electric pink berries the size of a pinkie to giant purple melons nestled in beds of vines. The tastes are as exotic and strange as the fruits themselves. A few people might even recognize some kinds of fruit from home. The root vegetables, squash, and edible vegetation is as colorful as the fruit, though a little more weirdly shaped. Why does that carrot-seeming thing look like a coiled spring? Who knows? You can't judge its life.

The culinarily inclined can take harvested goods to the kitchen areas and start experimenting, but beware! Even plants that look like they could be from Earth or other areas that the residents of Anchor know probably taste a little weirder or more intense than normal. Your best bet for a good recipe is to taste a little bit of everything before you get started. The spicy, the melony, the crunchy, salty, and sweet. There are no available records of what any of these things are, so you'll have to make it up as you go! The only consistent thing across all the agricultural sector's bounty is that NONE of it is poisonous. And none of it will get you high, Klaus and Kabal, so don't get your hopes up.

Navigation.

Comments

Qubit | open

[superposition]

01 | findUserByPhoto();

[ Since the whole thing with the cameras, Qubit's taken some measures to improve security in his lab. Perimeter sensors, heat and motion detectors, something to tell him if the door's been opened - pretty much everything he could think of, if it was in his capacity to make. So you can imagine his surprise when, one morning, he wakes to find another object planted on his workbench.

Okay! Cool! Good to know none of his precautions worked! Chalk another one up for justifiable paranoia!

The offending object is a picture frame, glass cracked, containing a photograph of two young men, neither of whom he recognizes. He turns it over in his hands a few times - no name, no identifying marks. Also, it doesn't explode, that's a plus. Just a mysterious photo, presented without context. He's about to set it down and go check his logs when his comm emits an odd noise... one that's familiar, since he's already been on Peter's salvage expedition by this point. Childlike laughter. He curls his lip at it; was that supposed to intimidate him? ]

Yes, very funny. Followed us home, did you? What's the meaning of this?

[ The childish voice, disjointed, overlapping itself- ] "It's a gift! No, not for you, silly. For him!"

"Him"? [ He glances at the image. One of the two depicted? The pieces start to come together, and the voice adds a singsongy clue: ]

"The man who's a puzzle with the pieces all mixed... but there was one thing even she couldn't fix."

[ The rest, you can probably guess. Qubit tries to get more answers out of the mystery voice, but it doesn't respond, and there's nothing in his logs to indicate what's causing this, apart from some colorful interference he can't identify. In the end, he takes the photo with him as he goes about his day, on the off chance it actually does belong to someone - but he's not about to drop everything to play courier for a ghost in the machine.

He can be found anywhere in Anchor, typically performing some kind of inspection or maintenance... in spite of the creepy voice hounding him about its asinine riddle every few minutes. ]

"Colder! Warmer... warmer, warmer! Cold..."

[ He's trying to ignore it, but it's visibly getting on his nerves. ]

02 | throw new ImmuneResponseException();

[ This may come as a huge surprise to absolutely no one, but Qubit's not big on the whole "downtime" thing. Apparently, the only thing that can make him stop working for a day or two is if he's physically unable to continue. Which he is, now! Thanks, space flu.

The bug gets him good; he'll be laid up in the medbay for the better part of a week. So anyone who happens to be there could easily spot him at some point, either asleep or wishing he was. Occasionally he tries to get some work done on his tablet, but... for the most part, it ain't happening.

"Whoa, Qubit's finally getting some rest? Stop the presses!" Yeah, yeah, get your jabs in while you can, assholes. ]

02

[itsnotaonesie]

[Yo dog I heard you had the flu so I sent you a little buddy who also has the flu so you can sit here and bitch about having the flu together.

Naturally Peter's been spending most of his flu time pretending that he's totally fine because he's a super hero and super heroes don't get sick goddammit. Except for when they do, and Peter's not exactly known for taking the best care of himself in general these days. Totally burning the fuck out was bound to happen eventually. He's been having a hard time focusing on anything ever since Cole gave him these mystery glasses anyway, so maybe a break was for the best.

Said mystery glasses tucked into his shirt pocket, Peter eventually stumbles his ass back into the medbay for some medicine or something. He doesn't see anyone around who would try to convince him to stay, and as far as he can tell, Qubit seems to be asleep. Well shucks, that means Peter definitely can't stay here, what if something needs to be fixed? Guess he better hurry up and fiddle with this medicine dispenser so he can get back to work. Except as soon as he leans over to do something, the glasses fall right out of his pocket and clatter to the floor, so now he's over here swearing and scrambling to pick them up and he sure did knock the whole dispenser over with his ass KERSMASH good morning Qubit.]

[superposition]

[ Qubit is not a heavy sleeper at the best of times, so that big KERSMASH is more than enough to jolt him awake. What was that? Is there an emergency?? Are they under attack wait no someone just knocked over the dispenser. ]

What in the hell are you doing?!

[ - this would probably be more intimidating if his voice weren't so hoarse, and if he didn't start coughing immediately after. He looks like shit, frankly; his clothes are all wrinkled from sleeping in them, he's pale and exhausted, and saddest of all, his hair is drooping.

It takes him a second to realize who's responsible for the noise, and he doesn't immediately notice that Peter looks even worse than he does, so. Yeah, he's not going to amend what he said. What are you doing, kid. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

Sorry! Sorry! I was just checking the thing--

[He promptly sets the dispenser back up, but in the process of doing so he accidentally kicks his glasses across the floor, and while making an awkward half-dive for them, he knocks the dispenser over again. The glasses get away from him and end up under the bed next to Qubit's, but he manages to catch the dispenser this time and once again sets it back up. After making a complete ass of himself, he just gives Qubit the most defeated look pretty much ever.]

...So, that's how my day is going.

[superposition]

[ As objectively funny as this little Three Stooges moment is, Qubit's more concerned than amused. It's weird for Peter to be this clumsy, compared to the sick flips he normally pulls off without missing a beat. But considering that the disease going around can cause pretty serious dizziness (as he's experienced firsthand), it's not much of a stretch to figure out what's up.

He sighs and swings his legs off the bed. ]

You've caught it too, have you?

[itsnotaonesie]

[He shakes his head, like he's going to deny it, but ends up making himself dizzy in the process and leaning against the dispenser to steady himself. At this point it's way more than obvious that he's sick as a dog, so he just huffs an irritated sigh and nods.]

It's been over two years since the last time I was sick. I haven't had so much as a cold since I got bit. Like-- this is bullshit.

[He doesn't normally sound this whiny, but his throat hurts and it's fucking up his vocals. And also he doesn't feel good, so. Whiny spider time.

As an afterthought, he leans over a bit to try to see under that bed next to Qubit's, but he's not going to do much moving until after this dizzy spell passes.]

[superposition]

[ Geez... this is getting too pathetic to watch. The boy's so dead on his feet that he's finally admitting it, and that takes some doing. (Said the kettle.) ]

Oh, for God's sake. Come sit down before you hurt yourself.

[ He pats the next bed over, which is conveniently unoccupied. Although actually, he just sort of tacks the gesture on in the process of crouching down between the two, so he can fish out Peter's glasses or whatever. (Leaning toward "or whatever," since he's 99.9% sure Peter doesn't wear glasses.) As he's reaching underneath the bed, he adds- ]

Anyway, think of it as a learning experience. Now you know you can't go running roughshod over your immune system indefinitely.

[itsnotaonesie]

[Peter's more concerned with hurting all the equipment in this medbay than he is with hurting himself, but that's still fair. He doesn't even bother trying to protest, he's tired and he hates to admit it, but Qubit's right. Even Spider-Man isn't invincible.

He half stumbles over and drops himself ungracefully onto the bed next to Qubit's, reaching over to grab the pillow and huffily hugging it to his chest. He's so annoyed, Qubit. So annoyed.]

I don't have time for this. I have a ton of things that I need to get done.

[Maybe once he stops sounding like he's getting ready to lose his voice he can go do those things. Maybe.]

[superposition]

Yeah? How do you think I feel?

[ You know how Qubit is, Peter, he hates being sick and useless at least as much as you do. And he has an equally long to-do list.

Finally he gets a hand on the glasses - but to his surprise, they ping his tech sense hard. He pulls them out and sits up, turning them over in his hands as he inspects them, his brow furrowing. More of Stark's handiwork? It feels like something of his... ]

[itsnotaonesie]

At least your hair looks better.

[As shitty as he feels, he still has to take a jab or two at Qubit. It's like his favorite hobby now.

He watches Qubit inspect the glasses, dropping his chin a bit to rest on top of the pillow he's holding. Honestly Qubit's probably less likely to break them right now than he is.]

They're Tony's, I think. Cole found them, said they "wanted to be with me". Which I don't get, but... I dunno. Weird stuff's happening again. I found some lady's book the other day and creepy child ghost voices made me solve riddles to find her so I could give it to her.

[superposition]

[ Hahaha fuck you too kiddo! No but actually Qubit doesn't even acknowledge the jab, because he's really concerned about this thing suddenly.

Because Tony Stark doesn't wear glasses, either.

So unlike the armor, this isn't a gift explicitly given to Peter. This merely "wanted" to be given to him. What does that mean? Cole's a powerful empath - it's possible he could have picked up on some kind of psionic imprint left behind by the previous owner, which would imply that these were intended as a gift for Peter but never delivered. But there's another, more chilling possibility - that the glasses were given a will of their own. That they actively wanted to be given to Peter.

But why? For what purpose? The first one that jumps to mind is possibly also the most insane, but - is it really?

Think about it. You need an out. You need a plan B, in case your grand scheme goes wrong. You have a fully digital consciousness, and a protégé who owes you his life, who'd do anything for you... and whose life you don't truly value. Is it really so farfetched?

No, of course not. It's genius. That's why Modeus thought of it first.

Qubit's stomach twists, and for once, he hopes he's wrong. Without a word, he puts the glasses on.

There. Sure glad I don't look stupid in this. ]

[itsnotaonesie]

[Wow Qubs you are PAR-A-NOID.

And now Qubit is wearing a pair of tacky glasses. Congratulations, Qubit, you are truly the biggest nerd and everything looks kinda blue. Peter watches silently, arching an eyebrow but not thinking too much of Qubit trying them on. It's not like he's going to break them or anything.

Oh by the way Qubit, the glasses are talking in a nice lady voice. That's not weird, right? Peter can't hear that side of the conversation so HAVE FUN GOOFUS.]

Unauthorized user detected. Identify yourself.

[superposition]

[ Okay yes he is but it's JUS-TI-FIED. Usually. Sometimes.

Considering Qubit was half-expecting the glasses to immediately attack him, this outcome is sort of anticlimactic. The glasses talk. All right. Audio as opposed to telepathic, which is a point in its favor, and it's definitely not Stark's voice, which is a much bigger point in its favor. ]

You first. What -

[ - and then he starts coughing up a lung. Whoops. It would appear he was so focused on the possibility of this pair of glasses attacking him that he forgot his own body has been trying to kill him for days. ]

01

[arcadedragon]

[If Qubit thinks that voice coming out of his comm is annoying, try having it inside your helmet yelling at you. Well less yelling and more singing. Either way it's obnoxious and Genji is in a foul mood because of it. He'd left the stack of comic books that had appeared in his room on his table because he wasn't done reading them and like hell was he going to go on some expedition to return them to the library or whatever until he was done.

He's walking around, trying to get a sense of how large Anchor is when he spots Qubit staring at some machinery that he can't make out.]

Hello. What are you working on?

[The comm giggles at Qubit and goes silent. Is that good or bad? It's stopped singing stupid riddles about octopi at Genji too. So that's a welcome relief.]

Hey! You made it stop talking. How did you do that?

[superposition]

[ Genji's a quiet dude, but Qubit notices him approaching and looks up a few seconds before he can actually hear him. They didn't have much chance to talk at the party, unfortunately - only to discuss the raffle, and when he won it, the prize (a handheld game system, which Qubit hasn't had a chance to build yet).

As it happens, he's about to start work on the freight elevator, now that he's gotten enough of Manufacturing working to machine the essential parts he needed. He's outside the elevator door on one of the lower floors, with a crowbar in hand and a green metal toolbox nearby. (There were other toolboxes he could have taken, but he wanted the green one.)

Actually, Genji happening by could be a big help, given how hard these doors are to force open - but he's just opening his mouth to say so when the second question takes him off guard. ]

What? That wasn't me.

[ He takes his comm out of his pocket to check it - and it has stopped singing at him, for now, but it's not the first time it's given up for a few minutes. ]

[arcadedragon]

I don't know, as soon as I spoke to you it stopped.

[He's wearing a hoodie over his armor, the comm tucked into the pocket of it, though the voice had been talking through the communicator in his helmet rather than the actual device. It had been decades since he'd been a civilian and he found that suddenly the absence of pockets in form fitting armor was actually a problem. There was only so much stuff he could shove into the mechanism that housed his shurikens.]

Do you need help with that?

[Now that he's not being serenaded with cephalapod riddles he's suddenly in a much better mood and he takes a look at the elevator doors before shoving his right hand into the seam between them and tugging at them. They're pretty firmly stuck, but he's able to get them a few centimeters apart.]

[superposition]

Hm. No, if I'd done something, you'd have known. [ Qubit's powers are many things, but "stealthy" is not one of them. ]

[ He wasn't expecting Genji to hop in and open the doors for him, but the help is more than welcome. He picks up his toolbox and joins him at the door. ]

You read my mind. Can you get it a bit wider? [ He's not that skinny. ]

[arcadedragon]

[Whatever happened, he's glad that the voice has finally shut up.]

Trying.

[He tugs some more pushing the doors a little further apart.]

Are you trying to repair this? Where does it go?

[superposition]

[ You're almost there, Genji! You can do it! Qubit points upward. ]

All the way to the top. Having this cargo lift back in order ought to speed up our logistics by orders of magnitude.

[ So if, say, we were to have a sudden windfall harvest, or needed to move a cache of assault rifles to some undisclosed location within the colony... ]

... [ with a shrug ] That, and I'm sick to death of all the stairs.

[arcadedragon]

[He forces it the rest of the way open, pulling back and rotating his shoulder around with a few odd whirring noises. He probably shouldn't have done that in a place where he's not sure if he can get the tools to repair his armor. Especially the parts he can't reach himself.]

Learn to enjoy the journey!

[As though he doesn't double jump and wall run to avoid every single set of stairs he's encountered.]

I see what you mean though, with the plants and livestock on the upper levels.

[superposition]

[ "Enjoy the journey," sheesh. Qubit rolls his eyes, but he's smiling. ] Speak for yourself. I prefer my journeys instantaneous.

[ But yay, the elevator's open! Thaaaat wasn't a great sound out of Genji's shoulder, though. He eyes the joint with some concern. ]

You all right? Don't damage yourself on my account.

[arcadedragon]

The last teleporter I used sent me here, I am not sure how much I will trust them in the future.

[He waggles his fingers, they all seem to be responding, the joints bending the way they're supposed to.]

I believe it is fine.

[Hopefully anyway. Only one way to check. He twists suddenly, a plate on his arm retracting to push three shurikens between his fingers that he quickly throws at a nearby post. Obviously the only way to check his arm.]

[superposition]

[ Qubit's about to protest, because teleporters are awesome, okay, but... yeah, that's sort of exactly what happened to him, too? So he can't even argue actually.

But then suddenly SHURIKENS ARE FLYING! ]

Gah! [ Qubit jumps, but his expression promptly shifts to annoyance. ] A little warning?

[arcadedragon]

[Wow. The look Qubit is getting behind that mask.]

I was merely testing that my arm was functioning normally. You aren't in danger.

[He darts off to retrieve his shurikens, sliding them back into the mechanism in his arm to shoot again another day.]

I did not stop to help you only to attack you for no reason.

[Followed by some muttered Japanese about how everyone here is so twitchy.]

[superposition]

I know that! [ Qubit sputters for a second and rubs his forehead. Keep it cool, man. Count to ten. ] Just - if you're going to start flinging bladed weapons in the middle of a conversation, most people would appreciate knowing a second or two in advance.

[ It's not rocket science, Genji...! You'd get nervous too, if someone randomly started swinging a sword around within range of you.

... Well. Maybe you wouldn't, but normal people would. ]