melodiesofeternity | Introduction Log || Third Time's The Charm

Introduction Log || Third Time's The Charm

Who: All characters (New Arrivals, Previous Arrivals, and Native OCs)
When: August 5th
Where: The Dream Width (Airship), the Curti Center, and the Housing District
What: It is happening for the third time now. More outworlders have arrived in the Dream Width and must be rescued and brought back to their new homes on Vaikuntha
Warnings/Notes: Only new players can put up a toplevel. Previous arrivals and established native characters can respond to new characters' toplevel posts.

MEMORY

[ You've been here before...? No, wait, why would you think that? You're here in the moment, everything is as it should be...(?) The memory you are trapped in has completely enthralled you. You stop questioning and accept, you relive and repeat. Luckily, you are not alone. Others have arrived to help you. The travelers in the airships will enter the nebula formed by your memories and attempt to wake you up and bring you back to the present. The dreamer's mind will shape how these newcomers are perceived and how the NPCs in the memory respond to them. For more details on the mechanics, please refer to this post]

ARRIVAL

[ You wake from your dreams, from your memories, on a narrow cot. There are fleeting impressions- recycled air, humming machinery, movement, strangers waking around you. The room you wake in is lined with cots, with barely enough space between them to walk to the door, though not all of them show signs of having been occupied. The makeshift infirmary seems like it was prepared to hold many more than are here.

Stepping out, there is a lobby space that bears the signs of having once held some furniture, now cleared away to make space. Your footsteps echo in the emptiness.

As the automatic door slides shut on the infirmary, a light flashes on the far side of the room.

A flickering holographic projection of a man’s face and gloved hand appears projected in the space above the arrivals’ heads. He backs up so his upper body is in frame for the recording. An arm, covered in the same orange flightsuit sleeve, hands him a tablet. The man begins to read. A written version of the message scrolls along the bottom of the projection as he speaks. ]

’Welcome travelers’… That’s way too formal. Hey everyone.

Hi!

[ The second man leans into the frame to add his greeting. ]

Don’t panic. You were floating out there, but we pulled you in and rescued you.

Yeah, we’re heroic AND handsome. And also the only ones crazy enough to come out here to get you.

[ A woman’s voice calls from out of frame. ] Can you two be serious for ONE moment and stick to your scripts?

[ The two men give each other a conspiratorial eyeroll. This does not appear to be their first take. ]

Anyways, no need to panic. Seriously, don’t do anything reckless. We got our fill of that with Skywalker.

[A huff is heard offscreen, and the men finally spare the tablet another glance.]

‘Your pilots will be navigating treacherous environs as this message plays…’ Claire, seriously? Nobody talks like this!

[ The tablet is tossed to the side and lands with a thunk offscreen. ]

We’re gonna wing it. Look, everyone, we’re workin’ hard to get you planetside safely, and it’s gonna take some tricky flying to do it. So the door to the cockpit is locked so we can focus on not getting us all killed. Don’t try to open it, unless you want to be stardust.

We promise you’ll get answers about what’s going on once we land. But for now, please trust us. Right now, we’re your only hope.

[ The second man leans forward, close to the recording device, and presses a button. The projection freezes for a moment, and then the message starts on the next recorded message. ]

CURTI CENTER

[ Finally after hours of flight, you arrive at the Curti Center. The other NPCs await you having been notified of your retrieval in the Dream Width. Jessie gives a long and somewhat awkward welcome speech, explaining what the situation is: you were lost in a space called the Dream Width. You are now on a planet called Vaikuntha: for ages, the people of this world have used Airships to rescue people lost in the Dream Width, with one person being found roughly every ten years. No one knows why this happens, but this has been a mutually beneficial exchange, with the people from Vaikutha rescuing people lost in the Dream Width and the rescued ones sharing their wisdom with the people of Vaikuntha. Ten years ago, something unusual happened: two people were found at once, Biggs and Wedge. But that was nothing compared to what happened four months ago... And two months ago. And now, here you are. No one knows why such a large number of people has arriving lately, but the Curti Center is a place dedicated to piercing the Dream Width's secrets.

Jessie also introduces the other ones: Claire, the woman sighing and writing in her schedule book upon being pointed out as the bookkeeper, Kupoto and Mogaruru, their Mognet representatives and finally the Native OCs: those brave and kind souls who have accepted to help you all on a daily basis. She also mentions Cid, the director who is busy preparing for certain dealings later this month.

After Jessie finishes , the employees, including the Native OCs, provide a tour of the facility and help the newcomers navigate their future lives. Now is the time to ask questions and look over pamphlets regarding locations, Jobs, life in Vaikuntha... ]

[ If you want to contact an NPC, you can do so on the NPC Contact Page. ]

A BALL OF FLUFF NAMED MOOGLE

[ It has been a long day, perhaps now you would like to find your way to a place to sleep? Or perhaps you'd like to get some answers, but you can't be bothered to go seek people out?

And lo, just as despair begins settles in, a Moogle slams into you! Or stops by your side if their aim is decent... It's the Moogle Jessie mentioned in her speech earlier! And they'll be informing you that now, they will stick to you like your shadow and help you in anyway they can!

They're also giving you your iMog Slate- Now you can get onto Mognet! Isn't it great? ]

A QUICK CHECK-UP

[ Whether it's your Moogle, Native OCs or NPCs, all will urge you to stop by the hospital wing for a basic check-up. You may disagree, but listen. You've just been thrown into a space between worlds, rescued, and brought to another world. For your own sake, that's a good idea. Should you give in and go (or should you be dragged by your Moogle or a Native OC), you will find yourself in the cold and white space very reminiscent of an hospital. For characters with specific medical conditions necessitating help, this is where they will receive it if asked.

The doctors and nurses are all White Mages or Chemists, with various levels into their Job as well as medical knowledge. Don't mind the confused looks if you look like nothing they've ever seen before... It's hard for a doctor to be unable to give a proper diagnosis to a patient! For everyone else though, they'll be let go with smiles and be given a candy as they leave.

No one likes medical check-ups, but it's a very quick and basic one: testing reflexes, taking your temperature and the likes. On the bright side, while you're grumpily sitting on a bed with a thermometer on your forehead or in your mouth, it might be a good time to socialize with your fellow new arrival who's having lights flashed into their eyes by a doctor. Misery loves company, after all. ]

PRETTY SIGHTS

[ There's plenty of rooms to wander about in, with several points of interest apart from the offices.

The Airship Hangar is where the airships are kept and the first room you entered. Workers keep guard to prevent the outworlders from getting too close to the vehicles. Airships are expensive and they don't want you messing with them, after all.

Venturing into the Research Section, you can walk through public exhibitions on astronomy, airship design, and asterisk studies. A good place to get used to the basic science of this world. The laboratories lie behind a thick locked door with a sign reading "EMPLOYEES ONLY". No going there, for now anyway. Not too far from there are the Employee Quarters - work stations, apartments, and lounge areas. The latter are available to the public, whereas the rest is locked to Native OCs. But if you get them to be friends with you, perhaps they'll let you visit?

Also open to all is a Cafeteria - a standard food court with stalls serving all types of Vaikunthan cuisine. The Chef is a very jovial and absent-minded Hypello. Beware of long lines and crowded tables. Should you prefer open spaces, then the gardens are for you! There are different sections in the gardens around the center. One boasts a wide array of blooming flowers, another more practical with herbs commonly used in Vaikunthan cooking. One had been cultivated for butterflies and hummingbirds to visit. Paths have been laid through so that visitors can safely navigate, and moogles will swoop down and shout at anyone who strays into the flower beds.

Or perhaps, you want to wait till the sunset. Dusk on a new world, but a beginning of a new life... The sea shines bright in the orange light. A good moment for quiet contemplation. ]

HOUSING

[The housing accommodations are the best the Curti staff could provide, given that they are still also sheltering most of the previous arrivals from the Dream Width. The keys have been entrusted to the moogles who will be guiding the new arrivals.

The new arrivals can stop by the Curti Center storage room to collect some essential supplies that have been donated by charity organizations from around the world (there are boxes of toothbrushes and whitening toothpaste sent from the Zora, hair brushes from the Elezen, quick-drying towels from the Hypello, among the various donations of clothes, toiletries, and blankets), before heading to their temporary homes. The people of Vaikuntha have done their best to provide for their new neighbors and help them get on their feet.

Still, things will be a little cramped until the off-worlders can find employment and move into better housing. The staff hopes they can get along with one another until alternate arrangements can be made.

You can survive living with roommates for a few months, right?]

THE JOB FOR YOU

[An important part of life on Vaikuntha is the Job (or Jobs) you choose to take. No, not the way you earn your living. Your Job Class. Most Natives only choose one or two, but you'll have an opportunity to take on more Job Asterisks after you master your first Jobs.

The Curti Center's resident Job Master, Ganeshan, is more than happy to arrange transportation to the various Guilds so that you can claim your first Asterisks. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(( that awk moment when he has to take in a Horrible Situation involving everyone he cares about and the post is a mess, oops ))

When his mind first registered that he was in the Castle Ship, Hunk had to repress the desire to cheer, to shout, to cry. It meant that one of his friends was here. But given the state of the hangar, the lack of ships, the heavy damage from lasers... it gives him the feeling that something has gone horribly wrong.

Pidge and Keith (Keith is back, cool!) are okay, and so's... a weird blue wolf and a Galra woman. Fine, okay, definitely the future. This must be how Shiro felt when he learned he was from Hunk's past. Speaking of Shiro, the fact that their leader is apparently gone (again? jeez...) and that he and Lance sounded hurt? Nothing good, doubly so because hearing your own voice like that is bizarre.

But the worst part of this whole thing is they're fighting Lotor's ships, and those are nasty. Hunk's well aware that the Coalition and the Galra Empire are working together, or at least they were. This is bad. Real bad. But lucky for his nerves, he knows this is someone's memory, he knows based on who he can see that it's either Keith, Pidge, the Galra woman, or the wolf.

"W-wait, where's Allura? Is she okay? A-and Coran?" It'll probably sound like a dumb question, but he needs to know. And whoever reacts (Keith, since he's giving orders?) is who he'll chase after. No matter how bad this is, it's over... even if Hunk'll have to live through it again when he gets home.

((It's ok fam. They're all a mess. Also: 7, 13.))

"Aren't they with you and Romelle?" He asks, still heading for his old room even as a very faint hint of concern echoes in his voice. That is, until he notices the heavy footsteps behind him. It sinks in as he glances behind him, hand beginning to reach back to his blade when- Wait, what?

"Hunk?" He looks back more clearly, noticing Pidge running for Green and his mother and their wolf heading for the bridge. None of them seem to notice the other who was now following him.

What is going on?

Romelle? Hunk's got no idea who that is, but if Allura and Coran are with the him from the memory, then that's all he needs to know. They're fine. They'd have said if they weren't, right? ...Right?? But as Keith turns around, even reaching for a weapon for a second, Hunk knows that Shiro is going to be so. Darn. Happy. It's Keith. Keith's here!!

"We're... in another dimension." Not wrong. As much as he needs to know what happened here, breaking Keith out is more important. "Remember with the evil Alteans? It's like that, and that's how you heard the other me, but I'm right here. Like Sven."

"Does that make sense?" If Keith bites on that hook, it's just a matter of convincing him that he's in a dream without Hunk knowing what's going on or what's supposed to happen next. He's done that before, just... not with his friend. Not with his own future.

The lack of recognition regarding Romelle's name tells him something, but he isn't so sure of what it is right this second. Yet he lowers his hand, eyes narrowing as he scrutinizes his friend. "Of course I do." What kind of question was that? The confusion is plain in the way he partly squints at Hunk. "But, what do you mean 'another dimension'? We didn't-"

His eyes widen as his view changes. White. He could feel pure power under his fingertips, yet so, so tired. Like he'd been hit by a truck despite his armor (which is oddly missing his helmet, despite where they are). He won't notice it, but for Hunk, he'll see the long burn mark on the right side of his face as Keith is distracted briefly by the low growl of Black ringing in his head. Voltron is capable of more than we ever imagined.

The growl turns into a roar that snaps him back to just outside the hangar, eyes still wide, like he could still feel the soreness and bruising, smell burned flesh for some reason. He felt like someone had just knocked the wind out of him. "What- was that?"

"I-" Hunk's honestly speechless. He'd never seen a memory distort like that, leap to... another moment altogether?! It prompts a bit of a dumbfounded pause, mostly because Keith had a burn on his face. It's all so... terrifying. Between an attack on the castle ship, a fight with Lotor, and Keith getting hurt like that?

"I t-told you, we're in another d-dimension." Keith might not have been feeling great, but it was taking all of Hunk's resolve not to start sobbing and squeeze the life out of Keith. He knows that if he does, they might never get out. Something bad was going down here, worse than he could imagine. "This dimension does weird stuff to time. All of this, it..." He takes a deep breath, but it doesn't change that there's tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"It already happened. M-maybe a different memory tried to take over?" Hunk has no idea, honestly. He's been on the saving end of the vast majority of dreams, but... this isn't anything he can help with. And boy does it hurt to know that. All he can do is keep trying to break them both out.

He misses entirely the reiteration of how they're in another dimension, but he can see the look in Hunk's eyes and how tears are beginning to well up in them. Concepts of time being altered and distorted isn't something new to him, nor is the thought of glimpses of the future and the past. He knows this is possible. Yet he's never experienced one memory fighting to take over another and not have him suddenly wake up from it.

Not to mention, they were not in the Quantum Abyss. This shouldn't be happening here in the Castle like it had for two years. He shouldn't still be feeling what he felt in the brief flash forward.

"Hunk," Keith calls out to him, calmer than he actually feels and with a sense of urgency. Hunk can't panic now. He needs him to remain calm so they can make it out of here, whatever, whenever, this is. Yet he can feel himself fighting between what Hunk is saying and his fears for Shiro's sanity. He swallows the conflicting emotions down and shove it to the side. Hunk needs him, and he- "I need you to focus. What is going on?"

What does he need to do to get them both out of here?

For a moment, Hunk is frustrated at Keith for telling him to focus; he's the one trying to get you out of this memory, man! But it's hardly an effort for Hunk to ground himself- Keith doesn't know what's going on, and he's showed up in an unknown dimension that's replaying and overlaying his memories. This is all weird and scary, and if Keith needs focus, then he's gonna get focus.

"We've been transported to another dimension made up of the planet Vaikuntha and this weird space called the Dream Width." There's a moment's pause, but Hunk shows no intent of stopping. "The Dream Width can force people exposed to it to relive their memories, at least until someone can break into the memory, convince the person they're in a memory, and get them back to safety."

And then he crosses his arms over his chest. "Can you wrap your head around that?" He'd ask if it made sense, but it doesn't. Hunk's tried to make sense of it for months...

Keith nearly adds a "for me" when he sees that frustration flicker, but Hunk debriefs him anyway. He straightens as he takes it all in. It's Hunk, his teammate and friend. He listens to Hunk's rundown, careful not to point out part he's already mentioned.

"So it acts something like dark stars," he assumes. It makes sense in his head. He knows how time distorts around them. How gravity is warped around them. "Except it doesn't end with the memory?"

He realizes this likely doesn't make sense to Hunk. He didn't mention it to any of them yet, other than time has been different. Yet he didn't recognize Romelle's name either, so it's likely that he-

The dream abruptly ends, the nebula receding around them and leaving an unconscious Keith exposed in open space. No helmet, battered and likely bruised under the paladin armor, and that scar again on his right cheek.

How in the world does Keith know anything about dark stars? As weird as it is, the dream ends about as suddenly as their conversation had started ( stupid nat 20s ) and they're just... floating. Keith's wearing his Paladin armor, he's looking pretty messed up, and... there's actually a scar on his cheek. What happened to him?!

It turned out that Hunk's worries in the dream had carried into reality, and the tears were flowing- er, well, drifting off into space. But Keith needed him to focus, and that's what Hunk was doing. Since he's almost an old hand at thrashing through the Dream Width, it didn't take much for him to get over to Keith, grab hold of him, and use his gunblade's Magitek Laser to propel himself towards the nearest airship.

Hopefully Shiro wasn't in the middle of helping someone else, because he's gonna have his hands full.

Keith would be happy to answer that if asked, but as he is currently unconscious he can't exactly do that. Though this changes at sound of the magitek laser. He grunts, barely registering that someone is holding onto him when he grits his teeth. If Hunk looks, he can probably see how Keith's canine teeth somehow look more sharp and prominent.

"Where...?" he starts to ask, but he's barely managing to fight just how tired he is. Everything had slammed back all at once and his mind is reeling as it tries to sift through it all.

They need to get back on the ship and fast.

Hunk's good enough at angling his lasers through space that he can focus entirely on his friend. The injuries, the burn? Scar? ...And those teeth, oh goodness those are new. See, Hunk's used to being one of the biggest people on the team, and he's noticed that Keith is taller, heavier, and with more of that ridiculous hair... and that the memory showed that Shiro was gone.

"It's okay. Hang on just a bit longer." Hunk tries to hold his friend a little closer, because he can't imagine what this is like, but within another ten seconds they've crossed the threshold into the cargo hold of an airship. Moving with a practiced amount of coordination, Hunk places Keith against a wall and fishes out a Potion from his backpack.

"Can you drink this on your own? It should help." Please be together enough to drink the potion, Keith. Hunk does not want to hold your mouth open and pour the whole thing down your throat, that sounds dangerous. Almost as dangerous as whatever caused that burn and whatever made those teeth happen.

Okay. Hunk. It's Hunk. He can relax a little, but so he focuses on staying conscious. His eyes open slightly as he stares into the distance. Is... that a ship? And what kind of weapon is that he's using to propel them toward it?

You know what, he's not even going to ask right now. Instead he wraps an arm around Hunk to make sure even if the other loses his grip (which he kind of doubts will happen), he's still hanging on. Literally. At least until Hunk tries to guide him toward the wall of a cargo hold. Doing his best not to glare at him from the corner of his eyes as he rests against it. He's strong enough to walk. He can manage drinking something.

"What is it?" He asks, taking the bottle in his hand and looking at the green liquid inside. No, his mind totally didn't go back to the nunvil. He downs it, and some of that soreness disappears almost immediately. The scar remains. "Thanks."

"They just call it a Potion, and it's a weird mix of local herbs with some healing magic, probably?" He looks aside for a moment before looking back at the empty bottle. "There's a lot of magic in Vaikuntha, that's where we are."

Then Hunk's eyes lock onto that scar, onto the hair, and- "Do you remember? What I told you in your memory. About where we are." Then a hand goes rooting through his backpack again, quickly pulling out a large bag labelled with Angry Chocobo Eater Beef Jerky! Property of Hunk :) But since Keith had the ability to chug that bottle, Hunk's a bit less overbearing than before as he opens the meatbag up.

"Do you think you can eat anything right now?" Hunk reaches out with the bag towards Keith, and there's a sheepish little smile on his face. He's glad his friend is okay and he has so many questions, but... for now he'll focus on Keith. It's not like he's going home anytime soon...

Keith rubs at his eyes for a moment, holding the empty bottle out for Hunk to take it from him.

"It's a blur, but... I remember you being there, and- I think, Shiro tried to wake me? But the memory..." It reset. It reset on them and that means Shiro saw the whole thing. Something inside him twists into a knot at the thought, but he's automatically distracted by the giant bag Hunk just pulls out of his backpack like it's nothing.

"Yeah- what's a chocobo eater?" Or a chocobo, for that matter. He stares at Hunk for a brief second, before taking a small piece of it from the bag. He's eaten giant space bugs for two years. It can't be any weirder than that. He takes a bite and starts chewing on it while waiting for the answer.

... Huh. It actually tastes like beef. Weird. But, at least his teeth seem to have gone back to normal?

That bottle is scooped up and unceremoniously plopped back into the backpack- he'll either get a refill or use it for some sauce or another. Future Hunk's problem. Current Hunk's problems include Keith and Shiro, who gets a quick message via Slate in case he was still out there somewhere. He's probably just fine, he's Shiro.

"So we're in a world called Vaikuntha, and all we have is the planet we're on, and the Dream Width. That's weird magic space that traps people in their memories." Hunk is fully aware that Keith must know a lot of things he doesn't. It's a little awkward. "There's magic and airships, and it's kind of like a video game?"

Then he sighs, his shoulders slumping as he takes a big chomp out of his own piece of jerky. "The world is covered in horrible monsters like the Chocobo Eater, which is basically an angry toothy mouth with giant arms. Or a talking octopus that hits on girls." A beat. "We don't know how to get back, but we're figuring it out. Me, Shiro, and everyone else."

Then he shifts uncomfortably a bit, taking a second to bite into the jerky again. "My turn- are your teeth okay? They looked... different." He's not gonna dodge around this one. It's just his Galra Teeth, how bad can it be, right?

Keith listens, trying to piece this all together in his head. He makes note of the name of the planet and what the Dream Width is. A bit comes back about Shiro explaining that he had been trapped in that memory. That he needed to wake up.

The video game reference goes over his head, but he catches the fact that Hunk only mentions Shiro's name. It catches his attention quicker than anything else, even as he's briefly distracted. "My teeth?" He asks, confused. Almost as if he didn't even notice that his teeth had suddenly grown sharper. "...Everything after I ran to Black hit me at once." He lets that sink in for a moment, before asking: "Wait, you and Shiro? Are the others not-?" Here? He wants to finish that question, but he stops himself. Instead asking: "How long?"

He doesn't know anything about the teeth which... fine, okay, probably just a trick of the light. Hunk doesn't exactly track how his friends' teeth look. That'd be weird. And then there's the big, depressing question.

"It's been about four months, but... we've been managing. Us and a bunch of people from other dimensions." He pauses for a moment, forcing himself to look away so he doesn't fixate on that scar, so he doesn't ask too many questions when Keith is just back to consciousness and-

Instead he just goes in for a hug, a strong (15) one, making sure not to go anywhere near that scar. What if it's sensitive? Less bone-breaking than one might hope, because it's not like Hunk wants to use another Potion.

"But now you're here and things are gonna get better and I don't know where you got that scar but Shiro's gonna have questions because we can get pulled from across time and he's from the moment he disappeared and-" Hunk just starts crying. He knows it's a lot to dump on Keith at once, but... there's no easy way to say Keith is farther ahead than both of their futures.

Well, it's not exactly like he had a mirror to look into for two years. So he elects to ignore it ~~until the point where they see it and the eyes at the same time and then, good luck!~~ and instead focus on what Hunk shares.

Four months... He closes his eyes and leans back into the wall a little to steady himself. He should be used to weird differences in time, but hearing Hunk and Shiro have gone through something similar to him - and in another reality, no less! - gives him a moment's pause. A lot can happen in that length of time. What did they go through? He has to know, and is about to ask when he opens his eyes to look Hunk in the eye when he notices the tears are already starting to form. He reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder and-

He blinks, hesitating only a moment before he returns it with a looser (7) hug. Just enough to confirm that, yes, he's here. And he's glad that he doesn't get to see his expression because the moment the words leave Hunk's mouth, Keith's eyes widen.

The moment he disappeared...

The hug tightens a little (11) because it's enough. Hunk doesn't know how he got the scar, and Shiro... Neither of them know that he died then. His heart feels like it's stopped for a minute, but at the very least he remembers to breathe.

They must have been through a lot, and Hunk needs support.

"...I was trying to save Shiro," he says quietly, but firm. It isn't a lie, but there is a lot to process. For both of them. "Hunk, what happened?" Everything else can wait until later. He needs to know what he can expect in this strange place and how to best support them both now that he's here with them.

"Nope, hold on." Hunk's voice is hushed, as if saying it louder would cause it to reach their friend's ears. Keith might have his big, broad question, but Hunk's is burning a lot brighter. "I want to tell you everything, but first..." There's a panic seizing his throat, one that Hunk can only barely push through. Because he needs to, right now.

"You said you were trying to save Shiro." His voice cracks as he forces it to sound more and more grave. It's that or he cries more. "So... did you save him?" And maybe now he'll ask better questions than "what happened" because the poor guy could talk until he's blue in the face and still get nowhere.

Keith pauses, pulling away just enough to look Hunk in the eye. "It's complicated, but he's fine. Everyone is fine." Except Lotor, but that's something to discuss later. He accidentally panicked his friend and he gives him an apologetic look. Calming him down enough was more important.

"I saved him, but he lost his prosthetic arm in the process." He had to do it. He severed that connection.

Edited 2018-08-12 02:46 (UTC)

"G-good." Hunk takes that one at face value. "We can always build him a new arm." Hunk's smiling because with all the magitek here and his own growing proficiency, he could even be the one to build that arm. That'd be cool! It's all okay, and everything works out. Like always. "We can't build a whole new Shiro, though." But Hunk, oblivious, keeps talking.

"But this place is... it's hard to figure out. We ended up here about four months ago, and we think that solving the Dream Width will get us home." He looks away again, this time with an unamused expression on his face. "That's been slow. We don't know how it works, the research facility who gets people from the Dream Width isn't willing to share everything they know, and the race that went up there first didn't tell us as much as I'd hoped for." And then his eyes shift to the ground.

"There's an Empire that's opening its door for the first time in a decade, and we're all honored guests for a big holiday later in the month." Hunk sighs, and looks back to Keith. "I don't trust it at all. They're no Galra, but..." Their typical alien antagonists kind of soured the word Empire for him.

"What else do you wanna know, Keith?"

We can't build a whole new Shiro, though.

How much money would he be willing to bet on that? Because he's pretty sure someone could but they wouldn't want to see her. Ever. He lets out a breath to keep his composure. There's a lot to unpack there, but... start with what Hunk's mentioned. Focus on those two things.

"Sounds a lot like the Garrison," he says with a sigh. Because that doesn't sound familiar at all, no. They were so quick to blame Kerberos on a pilot error- on Shiro and his illness. One day, he hopes to apologize for taking Commander Iverson's eye for that one. That will have to wait, though. Just like everything else. "Probably only trust those of high rank with that kind of intel and keep it hush with the rest."

Keith pauses, crossing his arms. "What do we know about the Empire? Aside for their isolationism."

"The Garrison at least trains people, the Curti Center's interns make Iverson and the Garrison look like sunshine and competence." Not because anyone's scary, but because the Center's got some issues to work out with some of their employees. And information sharing- if alien rebels can share with Team Voltron, why can't the Center?

"And another thing about the Center," because Hunk's not entirely over it yet, "is that rather than just give us information they sent us off to their sources where we got attacked. Someone strapped a bomb to my back, Keith." Does he have a grudge? Maybe a little, but he doesn't want Keith giving them any more effort than he needs to. Space ninja effort can be better used about anywhere else.

"We know there was a terrorist attack in the Empire a decade ago, right around when a batch of outworlders happened. Last time anyone would show up in the Dream Width for ten years." And then he closes his eyes for a moment, trying to get as much information as he could. "We... we know there were tensions with Safer Osu, the military nation up north. And they closed off completely, no trade, no tech, nothing." And then there's a moment.

"You can probably count the outworlders who think this'll go well on one hand."

"To be fair to Iverson, it was mostly Admiral Sanda's orders and following the rules to the letter." Does that excuse it? No, but time gives the blessing of hindsight. His eyebrows are drawn down, however, at what's implied and then outright stated.

"And they gave no warning." Well, this doesn't hit close to home for multiple reasons. He might have a chat with them himself at this rate. "Are you alright? And the others that went with you?" He needs to know just how angry he should be at the staff that sent his teammate on this wild goose chase.

"So the previous group of outworlders show up, the terrorist attacks happen, and they decide to throw open the gates when we do?" Something doesn't add up, and it has him on edge already. "Empires don't just self-sustain... So how have they managed to survive for a decade without trade or annexing other territories?"

A is for Apocalyptic

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And here we begin the descent into spoilers.

we just live in the spoiler basement now, mkay

yep. the spoiler basement. with all the spoilers.

at least there's a minifridge to keep the spoilers cool

and a bag of spoiler candy bars in the mini-pantry (1/2)

(2/2) s u c c e s s . . .

and obligatory spoiler-encountering freakout

in other news, water is wet and not good at hiding spoilers

kenny crow supplying hydration dot spoiler dot jpg

now i'm imagining hunk in a kenny crow costume and i died.

nobody let him wear a mascot suit for any reason

we'd be doomed. so, so doomed.

if Mascot is ever an asterisk, he's prob gettin it

Here lies Hunk's dignity (if he had any)

he'll get more just for it to be dashed again

At least someone will eventually earn phoenix downs or resurrection

like something won't beat "bite a god" before then also sorry, spoilers too

oh my god, hunk plz (also spoilers)

spoilerssss, also HAHA, OW, BAD JOKE HERE

Hunk, he swears to the spoiler gods....

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