melodiesofeternity | Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

Entry tags:

Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

Who: All characters (New Arrivals, Previous Arrivals, and Native OCs)
When: June 5th
Where: The Dream Width (Airship), the Curti Center, and the Housing District
What: It is happening again. 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 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. Cid gives a short and to the point 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 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.

Cid also introduces the other ones: his assistant Jessie, a young woman fascinated by the new arrivals, 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.

After Cid finishes (and Claire grumbles at her work never being done), 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 Cid mentioned in his 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

[See, this is more like it. She has a gunblade. She loves her gunblade. Knightmares utilise laser weaponry. Magic bullets are a little iffier but she's not grumbly anymore, at least, trending more towards curious now.]

[She is also admiring the hell out of his gun-greatsword.]

Did you acquire that weapon here?

Yep! [ He doesn't hesitate, doesn't even think about the response. Because she's less confused and perturbed, and clearly interested in the weapon. Hunk uses one hand to push a small trigger to toggle between different settings: red, blue, yellow, and white. ]

It can shoot fire, water, lightning, and ice bullets. Or... [ As he presses a larger trigger, the entire firing mechanism starts to glow with a silvery-white light, but he lets go before any charge can truly be built. ] Lasers. And I can do some other cool stuff with it, later, but it's been great for learning how the native tech works.

[ Now Hunk's back to grinning, because they've found common ground! ] I can do a proper demonstration after we land, if you want!

I wouldn't object to a demonstration, though I don't want to monopolise your time either. You've already been very accommodating.

[In other words, the distraction has absolutely worked, yes. It'll take her a while still to adapt to the existence of magic bullets, but at least it's a magic she can see herself using.]

Are you finding it to be well-crafted?

Ehh... I guess? [ He shrugs again, this time a bit more dismissively. ] It was the biggest version of the basic model they had. There's probably better ones out there, but this one is fine for now.

[ But then he gives her a thumbs-up and another smile, because he's getting back into high spirits. ] A demonstration's no big deal, though. You'll see similar stuff when they tell you about Jobs.

[ He then leans in a bit, tone quieter but decidedly condescending. ] They're the weird magic things, and yeah, I don't like the name. [ And then he's right back to smiling! And he leans out, because let's not be overbearing. ] But I can probably explain it better than they can, since we're both from an Earth.

Very well, then. I accept. Thank you.

[The thumbs up. The lean in. The frequent smiling. Now that she's focused away from the darker points of what Hunk has been saying, she's paying more attention to his actual personality. She quirks her brow and tilts her head, just a little.]

Are you always this energetic, Hunk?

[Spoken in a tone that's equal parts cordial and cautious.]

Sometimes. [ He can pick up on the tone easily enough. ] I was hoping some of my friends would show up, [ They didn't, and he looks away for a second. ] but sharing knowledge that I wish I had when I was in your position is great.

[ And then he sighs, barely hints of a smile on his face. ] When I got here, it... it wasn't easy. A lot of us had trouble. And the Curti Center wasn't really ready for us.

[ Hunk follows it up with a shrug, clearly trying to keep himself from dwelling. ] So we're helping out when we can. Like with those pre-recorded messages!

[Might have asked about his friends, but the way he looks away seems to answer that question well enough on its own.]

Messages? [Sighs a bit, shrugs.] I barely made it through the first man's speech. I prefer not to get my information from talking heads. How are you finding this Curti Center otherwise? Aside from being ill-equipped.

Well after their talking heads, it's our talking heads. Give 'em a watch later. [ Is he saying that because he knows his pre-recorded message is in there somewhere? Yep. He looks a little smug, in fact. ]

I... [ His volume lowers to a whisper, and he leans in a bit. As he speaks, his eyes shift back and forth looking for people listening in. ]

I don't trust them. They just had houses sitting around, even though people haven't shown up in the Dream Width in a decade. And they still have employee housing, and the employees are... not the nicest. Cid, the guy in charge of the place that researches the Dream Width, told me to hunt down these little blue guys called PuPus instead of giving me info on how it works. So either he doesn't know his own job or he's hiding stuff from the people he says he's helping.

[ But then he pulls out of the conspiratorial whispering, takes a deep breath, and starts to use a bellowing, boisterous voice. ] And that's why you should tune into Food Lion, coming soon to a Mognet near you!

[ Masterful misdirection right there. Yep. ]

[She doesn't know enough about their talking heads to put much stock in them either, but she holds herself back from saying as much. Let Hunk be smug.]

[Let him have his stealth, too; she speaks as quietly as he had.]

Have they given you cause to be this secretive, or are you merely exercising caution?

[Is way too stuffy and stern to humour the misdirection.]

[ He really likes that Cornelia is just rolling with the punches here. Nobody's freaking out like he was though, which is... comforting? Embarrassing, for sure. But his volume goes back down immediately. ]

They own the airship, and... [ Hunk scowls ] They tried to tell us that four separate incidents on their property were all hallucinations. [ The eyes, they roll. ]

And you can't tell me it's not suspicious that the Curti Center, a research organization backed by every nation in the world, existing just to solve the mysteries of the Dream Width tells us to talk to someone else when we ask for information. [ And then Hunk takes a huffy! Little! Sigh! He's definitely not offended by this or anything. ]

Do they advise you on who else to talk to, or are you left to your own devices in that regard as well?

[People don't normally refuse to speak to Cornelia, but everyone who has proved to be hiding something far larger than themselves. Besides which, Hunk is making sense. It's easy for her to join him in his suspicion.]

Though if they're also resorting to gaslighting tactics then perhaps that's for the best. What were these incidents?

They have someone who gives us advice on Jobs, like the magic and stuff, but aside from that they leave us alone. [ So far. ]

Except for the time a creepy little girl showed up to four people, said some really weird stuff, and drew a picture of one of them dead, with a creepy lady standing over them. [ As he progresses through that sentence, Hunk gets more visually uncomfortable. ] I, uh... I wasn't really there though.

[ But then, a tiny smile. ] My buddy Shiro met her. He probably knows more about all that than I do.

[Frowns a bit when she realises that she's reached a point where a creepy, dead-people-drawing child seems more ordinary than most everything else she's learned today.]

Shiro? I'll keep an eye out for him. Is there anything else I ought to know in the meantime?

[ He nods. ] If you run into him, just say I sent you. But other than that?

[ He raises a fist, and starts counting off on his fingers. ] Dream Width. Vaikuntha. Curti Center. Jobs. Monsters... [ And then his eyes show a hint of recognition. ]

Do you like roommates? Because you're gonna have some. [ Then he just smiles. ] I think that's it, though?

[Legitimately has to stop and consider whether she knows what it's actually like to have roommates as opposed to being one of several aristocrats living together in the same palace or villa or dorm or otherwise large structure wherein privacy and space were still very real expectations. Concludes that she probably does not. This displeases her.]

Define "some"...

Between three and five. I have three at my place, but I know some houses are bigger and hold six people. [ A thumbs-up! ] If there's anyone else from your dimension, they're probably in the same house.

[ He pauses, looking up towards where the sky would be. ] Y'know, it's weird that they figure that out sometimes. But I guess we all get pretty excited when we find people we know, so they'd be jerks not to pay attention to that.

[He can thumbs up all he wants; her expression is thumbs-downing on her hand's behalf.]

I'd rather assume that they aren't paying enough attention to reach such personal conclusions, though I suppose it's to be expected. The native citizens must see us as little more than interlopers.

Well, they might just kinda watch who hangs out and go from there. [ He furrows his brows at the fact that now that he thinks about it, he has no idea. At all. ] I hadn't even met one of my roommates until we'd already moved in, but one of them was from my world and I met another on the airship.

[ He just looks down awkwardly. ] I might've been lucky, though. Some people don't know anyone.

It's another point of suspicion to monitor regardless. [Brief, contemplative pause.] And you may have introduced one more. Is it common for there to be multiple arrivals from the same dimension?

I'm... not sure. [ He pauses as well, eyes darting around. ] Some people are here, by themselves. Some have best friends, relatives, or teammates.

[ Hunk tenses up for a second, because he barely knows this woman, but she seems very competent. And committed to peace. Can he actually trust her with this? ]

But like I said before, some people come from the same dimension, but different times. So they might not all be on the same page. [ He furrows his brow. ] If I had to guess, I'd say maybe half of us share our worlds with someone else.

[ No, he cannot trust her enough to share that the one other person from his world came from far, far back into Hunk's past. ]

[She's still watching him carefully but doesn't pick up on his skepticism. Not that she'd have minded; she is a stranger after all, and it isn't like she hasn't been skirting around her own truths.]

Half? Most of whom are connected by something more significant than a shared dimension? That seems unlikely to be a coincidence.

Yeah. [ His tone gets a bit darker. ] Some people were pulled into a world called Crystallis to help solve whatever weird problems were there. But now they're here. It...

[ He glances around, making sure nobody's listening in. ] If something intelligent is doing this, it might be playing favorites. Maybe it's trying to weaken universes. Or maybe it thinks we can help for some reason. [ And his shoulders slump. ]

But we have no idea. It might be random.

Crystallis?

[Just sort of... cuts him a non-aggressive are you kidding me kind of look. It's starting to feel like he's introducing a unique matter of concern at least once every few minutes.]

Weakening several universes to strengthen one is a declaration of war in its own right. We should only hope that if us being here is by design, then it's strictly the latter. Otherwise... hmn.

[Surprise, being fresh from a world where a tyrant abused mind control powers to solidify his position makes a person wary of unknown and secretive entities using mind control powers to solidify their positions. Those mind control powers are classified, though, so she will keep that thought quiet.]

[ Hunk sighs. He can pick up on her exasperation, and he feels bad. But better to know it all now than to get a steady stream of stress. Maybe easier to cope that way. ]

Trust me, if we knew who or what caused this, we'd have given them a piece of our mind already. [ They can throw fireballs and stuff, after all. Plus a bunch of them are just really nice people, they could probably talk it out. ] We don't know why we were taken or how we'd get back, or how our homes will be when [ He emphasizes the word, forcing himself to say it, to stay optimistic. ] we get back.

[ And then Hunk gives her a tiny little smile. The most he can muster. It's forced. He's had more than enough time to agonize over all this. ] Maybe it'll be like we were never even gone.

[Don't feel bad, Hunk. Exasperated is one of her main states of being. Fortunately, she usually follows exasperation with productive contemplation. Her brows quirk at his attempted smile and her glare softens, and she's not looking at Hunk but is instead maintaining the appearance of complete focus while she slips into deeper thought.]

Maybe? One would think they'd want to clarify what effect our presence here has on the passage of time back home. It's better to have half the population questioning something than to leave everyone scrambling for answers, so even a pacifying lie would better suit their cause than silence. Yet they're doing nothing to assuage what must be a common concern. Why? Surely they must realise that such uncertainty often incites rebellion. Hmn. No matter. I've had to act on less information before, and with far fewer people aware of what was transpiring around them.

[Now her focus shifts fully back to Hunk. He's trying so danged hard to be helpful and optimistic that the least she can do is offer him something in return.]

For what it's worth, I find their silence on the time issue specifically to be more reassuring than not. Silence in this instance is pure ignorance, and I can fathom no malicious reason for them to want us to believe that they're as unsure of the truth as we are.

Introduction Log || It's Happening Again (Again!)

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