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

[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. ]

[arcadedragon]

[Just double jump out of the way like he would. No big deal.]

I will try and remember that.

[No he won't. And his voice drops to a robotic sort of monotone because this is ridiculous.]

Either way, my arm seems to be fine, and the elevator doors have been opened. Mission accomplished.

[superposition]

[ GENJI PLS, why are you the one getting offended... Qubit's not even that mad, come on. He sighs and lets his hand drop, along with the issue. ]

Right. And I do appreciate the assist. Thank you.

[ BUT WAIT DON'T BACKFLIP OUT YET, he's still got some questions! ]

Your augments are quite impressive, at any rate. Could I ask where you had them done? [ Something about the technology "feels" vaguely familiar to him, but he can't put his finger on why. ]

[arcadedragon]

[He was planning on doing the smoke bomb thing but fiiiine.]

My augments. You are bold, to ask such a thing.

[His posture changes, a little more defensive, a bit closer to something aggressive. He'll answer, but chose your next words carefully Qubit. ]

When I was in Overwatch. I am Genji Shimada.

[As if that name will mean something here. As if Qubit doesn't already know it from the raffle.]

[superposition]

[ Surprised, Qubit puts his hands up in what he hopes is a placating gesture. He's not sure why this is a touchy subject, but he clearly crossed a line somewhere. ]

Apologies. I meant no offense. I only asked because -

- wait, you said Overwatch?

[ Suddenly it clicks. Of course! It must be based on similar technology to - Suddenly he's more animated, his curiosity absolutely steamrolling his attempt at diplomacy. ]

Then - you're acquainted with Angela? Dr. Angela Ziegler?

[ He pronounces her name correctly and everything, like a native German speaker would. ]

[arcadedragon]

[Completely not the response he was expecting. Because this guy doesn't look familiar, and since no one else had been from his world he'd started to assume that no one was. But he knows of Overwatch....]

Yes. I am.

[Being that she's the one that saved his life and all. ]

Why do you know her? Who are you?

[superposition]

It's sort of a long story. [ But one he is going to tell nonetheless, apparently! He goes straight to talking with his hands, that may give you an idea how enthused he is. ]

We aren't from the same world, I'll preface with that - I met her on an alternate Earth, distinct from either of ours. One in which the Soviet Union never dissolved, and nuclear arms were largely supplanted by - [ he shakes his head, backtracks. ] I'm getting ahead of myself. Angela and I were both Ported there, in much the same fashion that you and I were Ported here.

[ Does that make sense? No offense, Genji, but the full-face mask does make you kind of hard to read. ]

[arcadedragon]

[The soviet union did what now? He's already lost.]

So another place that was like this one, but not here?

[He's following that part anyway.]

She said nothing of this to me.

[And she would have being that he's the only one awake at 3 am and can drink her coffee without immediately dying.]

[superposition]

[ He nods. ] In a sense, yes. [ But as to the other part - ]

... I'm afraid that doesn't surprise me. Not that she wouldn't, that's not what I mean. It's just, as far as I know, she's still there.

[arcadedragon]

[For basically being a science experiment he's not very science-minded. So it takes him a while to process that.]

Are you saying there are two of her?

Or that one is a clone? A pocket dimension? I am not understanding.

[superposition]

"Alternate universe" is my working hypothesis. You're from a timeline where she hasn't been Ported away, but there also exists a timeline where she has. Something similar happened with Garrus Vakarian - don't know if you've met him yet. I knew him from the same situation, but he has no memory of either me or the world where we met.

[ He supposes, of course, that Garrus could have been Ported home, remembering nothing and losing his Porter-granted powers, and then Ported to Anchor some time later... But he's not sure there's any way he could test that, and he's not sure it matters. ]

[arcadedragon]

So if I go home there will be a timeline where I was never here?

[He's not sure he likes this. Multiples of all of them running around, diverging timelines, alternate universes. This is complicated. Why can't it be something simple he can solve with a sword?]

You were in a place like this prior then? How did you leave?

[superposition]

[ Well, really that all depends on the kind of sword you use. ]

Something like that.

[ Timelines are weird, but Genji's got the idea, anyway. As for how he left - ]

... Not intentionally. Though I wish I could say it was.

[ He should probably get to fixing the elevator at some point, shouldn't he? While he continues talking, he also picks up his toolbox, tests his weight on the cab, and steps out onto it. ]

Ordinarily, a situation like that wouldn't be a problem. I invented quantum teleportation, after all - twice. Used to be I could take my team jaunting through dimensions anytime we pleased. Tech-rich environment like this? [ He snaps his fingers. ] Child's play. I could get us home inside of a fortnight.

[arcadedragon]

Why did you invent it twice?

[That seems really inefficient. But beyond that he's a little disappointed that Qubit doesn't have an easy answer for how to get out of these places and back home. Though he supposes that if he did he would have left already.]

So what is different here that you cannot do that anymore? It seems there is more than enough supplies and power sources.

[superposition]

First way stopped working. [ Because he broke it. On purpose. For everybody. But shhhhh that's not important right now. ]

As for here - [ he takes his tools out and getting into the mechanisms on top of the cab, applying a little elbow grease to get something open ] - it's a few things. First off, no, there is not nearly enough power, and the components I'd need are extremely specialized and precise - neither of which would be an issue if my powers hadn't been compromised.

And then on top of that, local spacetime is spectacularly unstable. So I'll be reinventing it from scratch a third time, essentially. [ Not that he's bitter about that or anything! ]

[arcadedragon]

[He grumbles something in Japanese as Qubit is clearly one of those scientists who thinks they're the only one who can solve a problem, and their way is the only one. Reminds him of a certain doctor from Blackwatch. ]

Powers?

[Sure Qubit had said he could make small electronics but Genji assumed he meant out of spare parts and by hand. Not that he could manifest them.]

Perhaps the third time is a charm, yes?

[He's pretty sure that's a saying he's heard before. Look at this optimism, he is trying.]

[superposition]

[ Qubit pauses to raise an eyebrow at him. Rather an odd duck, this Genji Shimada. He's curious, friendly, and helpful, but he gets offended over the strangest things - asking about his augments, being startled by sudden throwing stars, and now... well, he's not sure what Genji was grumbling about just now, but apparently something. But you know what, he's not going to spend too much effort trying to suss it out, because that sounds like a you problem, buddy.

Anyway! Funny he should ask about powers, since this is actually a convenient moment to show them off. Qubit fishes around in his toolbox for a second and takes out a bit of circuitry he had to put together beforehand. He had to make it in such a way that it won't precisely fit where he needs it to go, but that's an easy fix. ]

I'm technokinetic. Essentially, I can reshape machines into any form I see fit.

[ He sticks the component roughly where he needs it, and an eerie blue-green light appears around his hands and in his eyes. It's not as dramatic as the ways he's debuted his power to others, but when the glow fades a second or two later, the elevator's lift mechanism has assimilated the new part as if they were always designed for each other. ]

[arcadedragon]

[Nope. Don't like that. Don't like that one bit.]

With anything mechanical?

[He's not inching away yet, but he's considering it. Maybe it's not a great idea to be so close to someone who could turn his legs inside out.]