redshiftlogs | december 2019. welcome to the void.

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december 2019. welcome to the void.

Who: Everyone in Anchor.
What: Sixth Introductory Mingle
When: The Month of December 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. the generic holiday cheer prompt.

It's a dark, quiet, uneventful night. Only those up and about in the wee hours will notice something odd starting in the park.

It's snowing.

The phenomenon seems to be coming from a small bank of unmoving clouds hanging suspended above the trees and lake. A cloud that, upon closer inspection by any scientists in the room, appears to be made of harmless nanites whose sole purpose is to unleash a cheery, blustery kind of weather that remains mostly contained to the park.

Some bots are out serving hot chocolate, cider, flavored snow cones, and other small baked treats. Others are building a solid-looking bit of scaffolding that the snow is rapidly turning into a sledding ramp. In fact, there are sleds ready and waiting at the foot of the slide. The smaller ponds have frozen over in a sharp cold snap that came with the nanites' release, and there are other bots handing out ice skates - careful, though, because one of them is a chef bot and he's made the blades of the skates ridiculously sharp. At least they'll glide well?

Around the middle of the day, the intercoms squeal loudly, crackle, and start pouring generic seasonal music out into the air. Is it for Hanukkah? Christmas? Kwanzaa? Some strange holiday no one has heard of? Who knows, since half of it is in alien languages, but man, it sure is peppy! And kind of annoying after a while! Maybe someone should hack the system and change the music up?

b. the body heat trope prompt.

As the day wears on toward evening, the nanite winter storm starts to gather a little more force, sending cold seeping through the halls of Anchor. There are pockets of warmth here and there - notably, for once, the agricultural areas are largely unaffected thanks to their temperature regulators--but most of Anchor has a wintery chill, and snow is starting to bluster across the levels from bottom to top. Temperatures continue to drop when the suns go down.

The bots are out being helpful, though they can't stop the storm. They're rolling around handing out blankets and thermoses of warm drinks. Unfortunately, it's one blanket and one thermos per two people. Better get cosy - it's going to be a long, cold night!

c. the terrifying monster attack prompt.

The cold has woken up some creatures that have been slumbering away in one of the sealed-off areas of the labs. They couldn't get through the door that kept them caged, but they sure could freeze the windows and escape that way when they got cold enough to break. The little critters make a beeline for the park, prepared to wreak havoc-

If eating snow and ice and rolling snow into tiny balls for meal stockpiles is havoc.

These little creatures look conspicuously like the western dragons of Earth, though most are no bigger than a person's forearm. Their wings - some strange shade of white that sparkles when they move - seem largely decorative. They use them to communicate, to posture, and to keep themselves balanced when they rear up on their hind legs, but none of them appear able to fly. They're a mix of colors, blue and silver and white, some of them with a variety of shades swirling down their bodies, others with one color on their bellies and contrasting colors on their back and head. Some have splotches, or speckles, or tiger stripes of blue. They breathe steam and can freeze things with their clawed forepaws.

Also, if you feed them a flavored snow cone, they will follow you forever. No, really. You'll have yourself an undyingly loyal new pet.

Navigation.

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Her ears prick up in surprise. "Freeze?" Yes, that is something that generally happens to fish. The ones in the rivers back home were hardy, well-protected even when the cold weather came; it occurs to her that these may not be so lucky, especially when the frost suddenly appeared in the park rather than the days getting colder bit by bit. The shock was bad enough on her, so it must be truly awful on such small creatures.

"Oh no, we must get them somewhere safe immediately!" Yes, we. "Where is it we can take them? To the farms?"

The cracks in his strategy here are quickly coming to light. He didn't have any idea beyond: get fish out of frozen pond. In retrospect it probably would have been better to take them up to the agricultural level since the snow seemed to be concentrated down on the bottom levels. Or better yet the hatchery which was probably equipped for all kinds of temperature changes.

Instead there's his current plan, "I was going to bring them to my room. Either the bathtub or the sink - so that I can keep an eye on them. They are my fish. From home."

He doesn't elaborate, realizing far too late it sounds like he showed up here with a bunch of live fish.

"They are pets, then?"

Do uprights keep fish as pets? She cannot say for certain, but this one apparently does, and that's all the reason needed. She continues her line of questioning without missing a beat.

"What food will they eat? Do they need water from the park? I could go get it for you! Let me help -- I have never seen pet fish before, and I would like to observe."

"Yes. I won them from various festivals and they lived in a pond outside my home. It snowed there, but it was not like this where there is thick ice over the water, I am unsure how they will do in such weather." He holds the bucket out a bit so she can see. Inside are five speckly fish about half a foot long. The bucket is far too small for them to swim comfortably and they're splashing angrily.

"They eat algae, and plants. I have been feeding them bits of lettuce from the kitchens but I also saw one eat a beetle that was on the water." This person is very, very friendly, and he's a little unused to that. "I don't know? Does the type of water matter? They are freshwater fish."

Elleru peers into the bucket, watching the fish splashing inside. She murmurs to herself about how lovely they are, swearing she will help them. The fish continue to splash, paying her no real heed.

"They are river fish, then," she remarks, knowing just enough about freshwater and seawater to get by in the upright world. Her colony was close enough to the river and the sea that they got fish from both, though the ocean catches were much rarer, and generally considered a delicacy by comparison. Still, she's never seen freshwater fish like these, and can't help her immediate interest -- not that she wants to eat them, of course. They're someone's pets, and that's considered rude.

"I know where there are beetles for them to eat," she notes. "I will get some. Tell me where I may bring them."

The fish are not grateful for this rescue, blurbling their displeasure and giving Genji the fish equivalent of dirty looks.

Genji stares up at her, then down at the fish. It feels rude to tell her he can handle it when she's so insistent on helping. "I am in room zero one eight. Thank you, its kind of you to help. They will eat out of your fingers if you wish to feed them."

This place is great, he is making all the friends.

Absolutely delighted by the mere thought of being able to feed the pet fish, Elleru gives a determined nod to herself.

"Zero one eight. I will return."

And with that, she takes off running, her purple hair flipping behind her. She makes her way to the kitchens first, needing a container appropriate for beetles. After finding a sizable, plastic box with a snapping lid, she makes her way to the upper levels, practically bounding with excitement. In good news, the agricultural area isn't cold enough that the ground has frozen -- in fact, it's not very cold at all compared to the rest of Anchor, but she assumes it might just seem that way because she's been running. After a quick look around to make sure she won't be seen, she slips behind a tree and strips down, folding her clothes at the base of the trunk. She'd rather not ruin them when she shifts, as they're all she has to fight back the cold in her upright guise. Such a shame uprights don't have fur to protect them.

She's back in less than a quarter of an hour (fully clothed, thank you) and gives a heavy knock on the door; under her arm is a container of dirt with enough beetles for a fish feast, as well as some crickets, worms, pill bugs, and a single mouse. One would generally have to dig in a wide area to have gotten such a variety, but she doesn't look particularly taxed from the endeavor -- there's not a speck of dirt on her, save for a little under her nails.

Genji has filled the tub with some coolish water, fretting over what temperature it should be at. He's trying to match what they should have had in the pond at Hanamura, but he's cold enough that even cool water feels somewhat warm to him. He's removed the armor from his left hand, using it to test the water until he's satisfied that it's not too warm for them, the bucket sitting in the middle of the tub so the temperature can even out and the fish can acclimate.

They seem to be fine anyway. He carefully scoops out each fish individually and lets them go, watching them swim around in the tub.

It's not until he opens the door for Elleru that he realizes he'd been so distracted with the fish he'd forgotten to put his armor back on and looks oddly lopsided with the one arm exposed. Time to act casual and like that was entirely intentional, "Hello again. Come in, the fish seem to be fine."

Genji's room is oddly a disaster for someone who barely has any personal items, all his clothes and blankets are piled on his bed where he's been sleeping in a nest. The counter is stacked with bowls from soup he's been eating in there instead of in the dining hall and hasn't gotten to taking them back to the kitchen yet. Though there is a small countertop dishwasher that's holding his clean ones currently. The only items in his bathroom are a toothbrush, but there's also towels on the floor that he shoved into a pile before she showed up in a token effort to clean up.

The only thing that looks well taken care of is a photo in a frame on the table, alongside his two swords.

There's so much going on in Genji's room that Elleru almost doesn't get to take it all in. So many bowls -- he must eat in here. That would explain why she's never seen him in the dining hall, as she's sure she'd remember someone like him. Blankets and clothes curled up on the bed, almost like how her people would arrange their burrows. Is he human under that armor? Or something else?

She eyes the photo and the swords for just a second before following him into the bathroom, setting the dirt-filled container on the counter before she peers into the tub, smiling as she watches the fishes turn circles in the limited space.

"What are their names?"

He kneels by the tub, waggling his exposed fingers over the water and attracting the fish who think they're about to be fed.

"Tobiko, Surimi, Shioyaki, Kabayaki, Izakaya." He points at each fish in turn, they all vaguely look the same but apparently he can tell them apart. "They are over twenty years old now, I am told they can live to be forty but that sounds very old for fish."

Though he doesn't know that much about fish, he'd had to learn everything after he slowly started acquiring them at various fairs.

"That does sound old," Elleru agrees, taking note of the various markings and spots on each fish and trying to recall which what which name. It's easy enough for her to tell them apart, given she's used to identifying creatures based on their coats and colors; however, the names are complicated and far trickier.

She leans back, glancing over at her container. "Feed them. I wish to watch."

That wasn't a suggestion so much as a polite demand.

"Certainly." They're probably hungry anyway if the gulping and guilty looks are any indication. Genji might be able to murder people without remorse, but he falls to pieces when confronted by sad looks from any animal. Including fish.

He picks up the container and peers in the side of it. Okay that's.. a lot more than he expected. A few crickets make their escape as he pops the lid off and scoops out some pill bugs before closing them in again.

Holding the bug between his fingers he dangles it right above the surface of the water, rewarded almost immediately by a fish swimming up and inhaling it whole. He repeats that a few more times, the fish starting to splash around and get excited.

"They know we have food now."

Elleru observes as Genji feeds the fish, completely and utterly captivated as they push and swim against each other, their mouths agape as they hunger for more. She keeps her hands to herself, on her best behavior as she tries to take note of just how many bugs he feeds them. Will they get too full? Are they smart enough to know when they are? The intelligence of lesser beasts isn't her area of study, and she can't help but wonder just how much there is to keeping such pets that she doesn't know.

And yet, the act of keeping pets is so fascinating. It's something her kind don't do, as one would only take care of another if they were a parent, a friend, a lover, or out of duty. Uprights, however, have a strange habit of keeping lesser beasts around, caring for them for seemingly nothing in return but affection and entertainment. How much genuine love can fish provide? Is it similar to a cat or a dog? Is it possible to "cuddle" them?

She'd ask, but she'd rather not come off as odd by asking questions seemingly all uprights know. She sticks to questions that seem more appropriate: "Will they eat all these now? Shall I go get more?"

"No this will keep for a while. They will actually eat until they explode if I keep feeding them." He hadn't experienced that but several fish keepers have told him horror stories and he was always careful to make sure they had enough food, but not so much they'd get fat and sickly.

"Would you like to try it?" He holds a cricket out to her, the poor creature kicking its legs in a feeble attempt to escape. "Hold it a little bit above the water and they will come to you. I do not really need to feed them by hand, they would be fine if I tossed these in the water, but I enjoy it. I used to go out to the pond after training in order to relax. All fish need is food and a place to swim and they are content. I always wanted life to be so simple."

If the way her ears wiggle just a bit in quiet delight says anything, it's that yes, Elleru absolutely does want to try feeding them. She takes the cricket carefully, its legs flailing as she holds it above the water. Just as Genji said, the fish come right to her, practically sucking the poor insect right out of her fingers. She plucks a pill bug from the container, wanting to give a little something to each one.

"Life is... complicated, yes? More than I would have believed a short time ago."

"Indeed it is. It was far easier when I was younger, when I did not have the weight of so many responsibilities nor the knowledge of what my actions would do." If nothing else, at least he's matured a lot since being cut to pieces. Probably the only true benefit to come of that.

"I'm not sure if it is easier or worse here, each thing we do is less far reaching, but then again there are so few of us that everything matters." It's a lot of pressure knowing that one wrong move by someone could throw them all out an airlock or poison the water. More than anything he wants to fix it, and this isn't something with an easy fix at the edge of his blade.

Belatedly he realizes that he has no idea who this other person is. He's obviously seen her around, it would be hard to miss someone that tall with such vibrant hair, but he's never actually introduced himself.

"We have not met before, my name is Genji."

"You may call me Elleru," she returns, her cheeks darkening as she realizes that in her excitement, she completely forgot to introduce herself.

She tosses the pill bug into the water and offers her hand for him to shake. She'll ask him about those responsibilities and that bit of wisdom about their actions in Anchor in a moment, but for now, she needs to have that proper introduction. First impressions matter, especially in a place where there are so few of them around --

Oh, perhaps that's just a little of what he meant by 'there are so few of us that everything matters.'

He reaches out with his metal hand to shake hers, his armor cold to the touch and his grip light. He's accidentally crushed enough things that he makes it a point to not do it to people's hands when they're introducing themselves.

"It is nice to meet you. Thank you for the assistance." And for not judging him as he walked around with a bucket full of fish.

He is a little curious how she got so many bugs in such a short amount of time and doesn't look like she's been digging in the frozen ground. But there's no good way to ask that question without it coming off weird.

If there's one thing that'll make Elleru smile brightly, it's acknowledging that she helped. She's still finding out what good she can do around Anchor, so she's utterly delighted with Genji's praise. She's so pleased that she doesn't even think too hard on how cold his armor is against her skin.

"I was happy to help!" she insists. "It is not each day I meet someone caring for fish. I could not help myself, so thank you for... indulging me."

"No, I suppose it's not." Because most people aren't running around with buckets of fish trying to preserve pieces of their past. Like if he can freeze a moment in time from his childhood, he can live it again.

"A few months ago my home showed up here. The building, not the people, it was exactly as I remembered it from my youth. These fish I won at festivals and dug them a pond on the grounds, and that was here too. But it was some sort of ... illusion I suppose, so I pulled the fish from there to the pond upstairs. And Reynir brought one of the trees. A little piece of Hanamura lives on, even in this place."

"Illusions are only as real as you wish them to be," Elleru notes. For someone so out-of-place in most situations, she feels she knows a bit about illusions, or at least how they worked back in her colony. The shapers were the ones who protected their colony through using the surrounding woods, changing the paths and making traps with the illusions they crafted; however, she's never heard of any of something like a part of those illusions remaining, as though separate from the rest. Then again, this is another world, and perhaps this is another kind of illusion.

Either way, it is sweet that he so cared for these fish that he took them in, now housing them in his bathtub. Uprights can be so funny like that.

"Perhaps you wished so much for your home that it came to you."

"Is that how they work? I am unfamiliar with such things." He believes her though, he knows nothing of illusions. Maybe it was real because he wanted it to be real. That does make a certain amount of sense.

"Perhaps. That explains why it was empty. What I wish for, no longer exists. It is only a memory."

Elleru's ears dip as she glances Genji's way, her brow furrowing.

"What is it you wish for, Genji?"

She says his name a little closer to Gain-ji, but she'll get the pronunciation eventually.

He hesitates, concentrating on the fish instead. They're a welcome distraction, their splashing swimming mirroring the tumultuous emotions playing out in his mind.

"People who don't exist anymore. Memories from the past."

One person specifically, but not the way he is now, the way he was long, long ago.

"Oh." She looks to the fish as well, truly saddened. Not everyone left home of their own volition like she did. "I am sorry to hear that."

She turns a bit more to him, her eyes wide with earnest enthusiasm as she reaches for his hand, hoping to give it a comforting squeeze. "But you will make new memories here, you and your fish and your tree. As you have said, a piece of your home lives on in all of you. That is beautiful."

december 2019. welcome to the void.

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