ARRIVAL LOG 008

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: Night of October 5 to night of October 8
WHAT: The eighth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, alcohol usage. Further notes at end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #008

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see four people in black body armor seated opposite you, as well as a man in dark gray scrubs.

You realize there are others next to you. All of you in blue short sleeve shirts and ill-fitting jeans, hair recently cut but at various stages of growth, restrained by straps across your chests, arms, feet, holding you to the bench under you. To your left, an armored interior door, two more people visible, the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.

The vehicle stops. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and false, colored light, illuminating the streets in the distance will first alert your senses of being somewhere else, combined with warm air that's only cooled with the setting of the sun. The nurse moves to stand at the back, checking each passenger over one by one just before they're helped out of the vehicle, quick and methodical. He doesn't climb out after you, moving to sit as the last passenger is unloaded.

The guards keep their heads down. Their actions are quick, firm, but not entirely unkind. Once all the passengers are out, they climb back into the vehicle and close the doors. The engine powers up again, and then the bus is gone.

You're left alone in an alley, with no idea of where you are or why you've been brought here.

Around the corner of the alley, there is the smell of beer and a weird yodel-like sound – no, wait. That is definitely yodeling and beer. Further movement forward will lead to you finding yourself in a busy area filled with multiple people carrying reusable cups full of liquid. You've just shown up at a party with a bunch of people wearing nearly identical clothing. The good thing is that everyone is probably too drunk to notice.

◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request.

> OKTOBERFEST

The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

I'm starting to think that the arrests last month mean that our friendly delivery men have had to change up what they're doing. Either way - the group waiting for you this time is huge. The get up? Blue shirts, all around. Let's see how long that lasts. Anyway. Arrival #8. You know the deal, don't you? I bet you're all already out there having a good time.

Although New Amsterdam is a mish-mash of world cultures, there are certain traditions that took root in the city as it began to form its identity. Yes, one was Anime Naexpo. Another? Oktoberfest. Hoping to capitalize on the heritage of the region, businesses throughout New Amsterdam pushed for the continued celebration of Oktoberfest. In fact, the only time it wasn't celebrated was during the Xelkoven War, as the fight between humans and AI meant that any celebrations were put by the wayside.

Perhaps even more so than having to work during an anime convention, Oktoberfest is not a fun time for customer service workers. All around, various different cashiers, food truck chefs and drivers, rickshawers, couriers and more find that they don't have a choice but to dress up in Dutch costumes recalling times of the past. These costumes are typically pulled out of some back closest and generally assigned to the employees, so some of them won't fit all that well. The problem is that it isn't cool enough to be dressed in these as the days cool off, and the only saving grace is that they get to work at night rather than the day. The early parts of their shifts are miserably hot, and things don't get better from there. If your character is a customer service employee, they can expect some uncomfortable days ahead.

Somehow, the discomfort of the various workers doesn't come in the way of the loud and festive activities. All around New Amsterdam, various tents go up selling a lot of different wares, many of which are probably second hand junk that people are trying to sell off for a few credits. This is the time when the Black Market stops working underground, instead opening temporary store fronts in tents that are far too nice for the wares they're providing (but at least they're trying to be a less obvious money laundering front). If someone's looking to get in good with the underground or get a sense of how to find these places for some actually illegal goods, Oktoberfest is a prime place to start.

Otherwise? Oktoberfest is likely full of what anyone would expect: a lot of beer, funny looking Bavarian clothing, a lot of live music, and a lot of opportunities for drunken folk to put on a good show. If your character is the type to look for an opening to grab some attention, this is the place to do it.

◉ There will be a lot of beers available in pretty much every single tent. The drinking age in New Amsterdam is 18, but it's equally unlikely that anyone will be checking implants with how busy everything will be. The most popular beer this year? "We're Lucky We're Not Cyborgs," an extremely hoppy IPA made by the most popular brewery in New Amsterdam. All of the beers are available in bottles that you can return for more, as businesses no longer sell alcohol by the can. Think of growlers – but in a far more manageable size! Feel free to come up with the cyberpunk name of your dreams for the beer. Or people can just drink the New Amsterdam River – which is the name of the beer with a picture of the man-made river on it. It's cheap, but reliable. Oh, and for those of you that don't like the taste of beer, there's cider and mead on tap at most places as well.

◉ There will be various stages all over for acts to perform, but the schedules will not be full. Before long, the characters will know that Oktoberfest is where some people plan to get discovered. And … it's also a place where some people become social media sensations, in either good or bad ways. Need to propose to someone? Need to show off your abs? These stages are the place to be. If someone's not up there, take the chance and make it your time to shine. Or … go down in infamy.

◉ Most of the food throughout the festival will harken back to its German heritage, albeit without a whole lot of success. There are sausages, but much like the hot dogs of today, it's likely better that you don't ask what's in them. A safe bet is the large array of potato dishes around. These are delicious – and cheap!

◉ There are some competitions, too! Virtual fencing – albeit in a very, very amateurish way – and virtual crossbow competitions happen throughout the three-day event. And then there's yodeling. One of the stages will be dedicated to this the entire time. Yes, people practice to win big, but that doesn't mean that everyone has to practice.

◉ Like with Oktoberfest of the past, celebrities will have their own VIP tent right in the heart of the financial district. If you have a favorite music, film, or movie star and they have a penchant for partying, this is the place to be. Sneaking in will be hard – but not impossible. Though some will find that they might have to work this tent. These celebrities can't go without their coffee or beer, after all.

> SAFEHOUSE

Access to the safehouse is a hatch hidden behind stacks of empty storage shelves in the back of an abandoned supermarket in an outer district of the city. The immediate area is similarly abandoned, empty stores, flanked by several blocks of dive bars and clubs which cater to more niche tastes. A place where people can come and go unseen, or, if seen, not spoken of. A dark haired woman called Gaby is ready to greet the new arrivals and get them settled in, brusque and no-nonsense – she'll be open for in depth questions later, but will advise everyone to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information.

◉ The safe house is a large open space, filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large amount of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. Privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ While there were previously also NPC occupants of the safehouse, natives to New Amsterdam, these people have now been moved on to somewhere safer. A few of their belongings remain, discarded or accidentally abandoned.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El.

◉ There will be shifts when Gaby isn't present in the safehouse because she's shorthanded following the UNA attacks in our January event. New characters will find that if they try to open the hatch to leave during this time, it'll be sealed shut for anyone without a registered implant.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until OCTOBER 9. These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.

> WHAT DREAMS MAY COME

As everyone goes to sleep, a familiar stomp vibrates through New Tokyo on the other side of the world. The wall outside of the city is stable at first, holding up, but the vibrations continue. The creature this time is twice as large as the one that hit New Amsterdam – 800m high, yet not seen until right around when the vibrations began. It should have been, by all rights: New Tokyo is no less secure than the other cities around the world, with constant surveillance and a dedication toward maintaining an idyllic life for its citizens. Its behavior is similar: it slams its tail against the outer wall of the city before it gives way, the destruction nearly absolute. In a panic, New Tokyo's UNA forces and police force move into action to try to bring down the monster and protect its citizens.

At the same time, whether they're still awake or already asleep, something stirs inside of the displaced. Their chests will glow without anything to bring it about – no power drawn on, either innate or new, and no skin touching. This glow seems to fatigue any of them if they're still awake, and will send anyone already asleep into a deeper one. Once they're under, the stirring within will give way to unrest that foments dreams and visions for many of the displaced. If they had a dream while they slept, characters will wake up with a burning sensation in their chest.

As for New Tokyo: it will be left in ruins by the time the UNA soldiers there manage to take down the monster. Several sections of the city remain intact – almost out of luck – and the governor of New Tokyo reports that they believe this monster came from outside of the city, having been given life by the unsafe conditions outside of the megacity. Within a few hours, this statement will be revised, with the governor admitting that he doesn't know what the monster was or where it came from, only that their surveillance saw that it came from outside.

The three dreams below are what each character will experience, though you can feel free to assume they managed to jar themselves awake before the dream finished. To get a dream, please comment below to get an RNGed number for the dream that they'll be having. Since these are unnatural dreams, you can feel free to have your character remember it in its entirety – or not, if that's what you'd prefer.

If you have multiple characters, we suggest you only have one experience a dream, but it's ultimately up to you!

> DREAM 001

A blue glow illuminates the site – offering light on a foggy morning, with everyone having completed their journey to this final destination. A sense of fatigue and relief that washes over everyone there, but also an inner warmth that seems to radiate from the site itself. Huge rocks rise up on either side of the site, acting as shielding barriers for these followers and what lies ahead of them. Despite the lack of natural light cast through the thick fog, there's still a distant glow, leading them forward.

You find yourself among these people, well aware of the many miles you walked to get here, most of it on an incline. Around you, the clothes that people wear are worn, tattered, made from wool that's begun to wear down. How long have you all been traveling? It's hard to say – hard to guess, only that you know that you were all drawn here. No single story is the same. Some saw symbols: triangles that glowed when they saw them in the periphery, as well as bits of circles coming together. The tree of life. Perfect like nature in its finest form. Others could never put the words to what they experienced.

Each of you feel the draw now. It resonates within you, fills you up. Just ahead, there are structures that seem to float in space, and when you draw closer, a clear, light blue bridge appears. The walk forward requires a leap of faith – and there are some unwilling to take it. Afraid. They wonder if they've wasted their time.

But you haven't. You walk forward, and the bridge carries you forward. You can't tell if you're walking or literally carried, but eventually you come to an alcove where a strange circular structure stands. As you step closer, it comes to life, a mixture of lights and – no, not sounds. But the same resonating warmth.

You walk into it and –

– you find yourself somewhere else. Somewhere new.

> DREAM 002

– this is not where you belong where you've chosen to live – this is not it this is not it this is not it –

Your fingers spread, wrapping around the nearest metal instrument to drag it close. You test the edge against your skin, drawing out a sharp pain. You never asked for this particular experience. But every day, you feel it.

It's time to take back what you can. The walls around you are white, pristine. Somehow, you know that they weren't a day ago. One of the others you know got sick, doubled over after a bad interaction with a medication. You see them now, dark rings under their eyes, a shaved head. How do you know this? Your mind doesn't answer you. You just react. Someone in a coat as white as the room draws closer. Checking your vital signs. Your breathing picks up – your lungs hurt. You lash out with the instrument, cutting deep. A bright red spreads. A sick smile creeps over your lips. You know that color, deep within you. You know it.

And then there's nothing.

And then life moves on (your life moves on). Has time passed? The room is different. The person with the red splotch of color on their lab coat is gone, and your build is different. More gangly, uncontrolled. Deep down, you feel an unabiding frustration. You hear a shout: "Put them down!" It's too late. A fire erupts. The doors seal.

> DREAM 003

You recognize the walls. The building. But there's some barrier between you and it, a constant, subdued fog that lies between you and your surroundings. The lights are bright. Everyone moves in a single file, dressed in the same white scrubs. You're among them. The workers walk alongside you, occasionally checking your vital signs. Sometimes they make you grab each other's hands, noting the shift in reactions or responses.

The air here is cool. Stale. Your head is cold, recently shaven. Like everyone else, sans a few. It looks like it's been a while since they had a haircut. You don't recognize them, not like the others. You're certain that you recognize the others.

Thought is difficult to process. There's an IV into your arm. You try to make out more of your surroundings, but the fog encroaches and takes over. You're missing your chance. Your chance to know where you are – were? Who did this to you?

Distantly, you see a marking on a wall. Letters. P - R - O - PROJECT. You're certain of it. What else is there? Nothing. No. Something, but not another word. It's a symbol of some kind, or – an animal? There's a splotch of yellow, bright and prominent on its breast, with a dark V that cuts down. The fog obscures the rest.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

This arrival log is a little different, as it doubles as a prologue for our monthly event! Everyone's character can have one of the dreams, and it'll hit them anytime within a day of the attack on New Tokyo. This does include anyone new to the game! So, please go ahead and comment below to have your dreaming character assigned a number. All assignments will be random on our part!

Welcome to Meadowlark, newbies! You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until OCTOBER 9 (MARCH 17). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

All arrival logs act as mingles, so older players can please feel free to top level for the festivities described!

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our March calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

As a reminder, AC for new characters accepted in March will be 10 comments across 2-4 threads, while current characters will need to provide the full AC of 20 comments across 2-4 threads. AC will be posted on April 1 and close on April 7. If you do not reply to AC, you will be considered idled and dropped from the game. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[followhim]

Yeah, I do. [ sure, he's prone to snap judgments of character (that usually end up checking out) but he has nobody else to trust at this juncture. and he gets major trust vibes from peggy. so — ]

So let's go.

[gasping]

Caroline.

[ poe is a nice name. more charming than his haircut would lead a girl to believe, anyway. there's a beat where her hand reaches out to pat his own, a quiet little bout of reassurance, and then she's standing, walking away to head into the kitchen to pour a very exciting glass of water and then come back.

it's still quiet in the safehouse, most others asleep. it feels a little strange to be awake amidst the lull. ]

I hope room temperature is okay. There wasn't any left in the fridge.

[ caroline's next note to self: find reusable jugs for chilled water. ]

[gasping]

Luckily, I think my hair's still going to grow back.

[ she might be undead, but her body does still grow hair. it's a weird quirk. she'd probably have been happier if she could have gotten supernatural laser hair removal out of the deal. ]

But I'll talk to him. Hopefully he's not a total control freak.

[ because, fun fact: she totally is ]

[revlon]

[ If she's surprised, she doesn't show it. Peggy knows everyone isn't cut from the same cloth, aren't a spy like she is, a woman who doles out trust in careful, measured increments and never very often. His earnestness reminds her of another man in another life, just for a heartbeat, and then she smiles briefly and inclines her head. ]

This way.

[ And she leads him off through the festival, a winding route to be sure they aren't being followed at first, and then cutting through the city towards the outskirts. Peggy explains the city in hushed tones as they walk, pointing out spots she's familiar with, answering questions should he have any. The density of the buildings never gives way because New Amsterdam is cramped, with dizzyingly high structures that have been built as far as the eye can see — and as deep, too. No inch of space wasted. But Morningstar's safehouse is in a more desolate part of town, peppered with seedy bars and other similar establishments, but many of them are out of business or closed.

It's a good spot for things to go south for our heroes, really. But he trusts her, even though she's never given him her name, and his trust isn't unwarranted. They make it into an abandoned grocery store and she leads him to the back where the hatch is. Her neural ID registers, unlocking it so she can pull it open. ]

I'll go first, [ she tells him, just so he knows no one is waiting down there to — murder, probably. It's what she thought when she came here. And then she waves him down the ladder. ] Mr Dameron.

[998]

[oh worm???? jon does his best to hide his smile.]

When you know you know nothing, that's when you listen to the people that know better--the people that are in the water. And maybe then you can learn some.

[or so he's been told.]

[reneger]

You drink to enjoy it, not for the buzz. That's cute.

( you're cute. another step, and jason lets off of damian. tucks thumbs into his pockets instead. )

Guess it's time to go hunting.

[followhim]

You too, buddy.

[ he starts to hold out his hand for sora to take, but he seems to have it under control all on his own. ]

I think the Newbie Guide mentioned us going to training session to figure it out. But what's that mean? They try and scare us until we set something on fire?

[ he's dubious. ]

[kgbs]

No.

[ he's certain of that. ]

They would eat you alive.

[followhim]

Yeah, okay, buddy.

[ he's just gonna make his way past the tree now. so confident. ] Thanks and everything, but I've got it from here.

[ just gonna stray cat his way around new amsterdam. ]

[wiccant]

No, it's not. ( he knows that bit. billy just showed up a couple weeks before peter did--and kate's been here for a while already. it feels shitty, being late to arrive. finding out friends had been struggling here for a long time before he managed to show up. knowing that the next round of arrivals could bring in a whole new crew--that these happen so often. ) New displaced arrive about every two weeks though. So whoever's doing this is consistent. I don't know if that means they've got a storage unit full of us or if they're just constantly pulling us out of multiverse stew or--what.

( raising a hand to his head again, right over where the new scar is. )

But it seems like we've been here for a while, given the whole. Buzzcuts and scars thing. And I'll keep that in mind.

( an easy nod. he will, even if it's unlikely he'll. stick to that line of thinking. )

We'll figure it out.

[thwipandrelease]

Yeah. They're mostly digital back home too. There's this thing called Cooltalk, apparently. I don't really get it. Seems like a millennial thing. [peter dismissively waves off the idea of making one, having a social media presence. call him old fashioned but he'd rather keep his meals and selfies private.] But I'd definitely say anyone with a camera phone could probably become the next big thing.

[peter considers sora's dilemma for a moment. he's right, of course, but it's hardly easy to map out an entire city alone — not exactly an easy task alone.]

Tell you what. We get out of here, and I'll help you explore the city. We can cover more ground that way and then you can tell me all about these Heartless because that sounds like an interesting story.

[evite]

Well, not anything.

[ not people, anyway, or anything alive. soylent green she is not. ]

Plants and animals and people, not so much. Anything else, though, I can usually figure out. Metals are easiest.

[retravel]

[ all they've done is narrow the field so far. perhaps with the advent of further creatures, there are more answers on the horizon.

or just more bloody chaos. fitz crosses his arms. ]

None living, no, but they're on the black market and a few chunks are in Morningstar custody for analysis, presently. [ with a sigh, ] But I'd love a full carcass for an autopsy.

[ #justscientistthings ]

[evite]

I have not already slapped you, don't be pedantic.

[ he deserved being told what to do when he was being a stubborn little shit, okay. she was doing him a favor. plus, now he had a drink, so he can't even be that mad anymore. those are the rules. ]

In reality? No, you don't have to go there. But unless you literally want to spend the next howevermany days sleeping on the streets, eating out of the garbage, and trying to avoid getting caught by the UNA supersoldiers, you should probably at least let them hook you up with an ID. Nobody's saying you have to pledge allegiance.

[ she hasn't. ]

[resleeves]

Sounds like a paradise.

[ no, it sounded fucking horrible but he's always been a bit contrary. and he definitely hates doing something that people want him to do. it makes him suspicious. ]

See, your little safehouse doesn't sound bad but it also sounds like the second I step inside there, I'm a prisoner. And I don't like that.

[ been there, done that and everything. ]

Not a fan.

[laozu]

Not a piece of me isn't flesh and blood. [ minus whatever is making his chest glow and the "nooral transsmyttr"

the man, quite skillfully, dodges his hamhanded attempt at snatching the coffee from his hand. at touching him. at making any sort of point-of-contact, and it says enough about him that he has the reflexes to do such a thing. thwarted, wei wuxian sits back on the edge of his bed with a soft 'hff' of disappointment, kicking his legs like a petulant child. which he is. supposedly. on the surface. ]

So, what sort of things does one use a n-- neural transmitter? for. You mentioned sending messages, surely that's not the only thing.

[laozu]

Is it? That's good to know, I'll save that for later.

[ enough with the tugging, the yanking. he leans back onto their shoulders, now companionable with a slack arm and a broad smile. there's nothing drunk about him, the further he gets from the table where he'd been plyed with beverage after beverage. ]

Will you? Will you really? I'll be on my best behavior, I promise. Where are the best places to get a drink? Inns? Is there anything outside of the city, it looks like it stretches on foreverrrrrrr.

[ now he's just being sly with them, his smile telling enough - a sly little thing, eyes glittering with mischief ]

[evasives]

[ it's a good thing he's read the scene and picks up on what she's going to do about two seconds before she reaches for his shirt. he lets her tug at him instead of shoving her off, recognizing that she's moving them out of the more public eye, just like he'd asked. ]

[ it works, honestly. he's conducted shadier business in less enclosed spaces, and most of the people he's encountered so far are all drunk. no one is going to look in this little corner and be suspicious. she knows what she's doing, but he'll analyze that more later, once they get passed this whole glowing thing. ]

If you are planning on touching me to prove it, I much prefer we stick to handholding for now. I do not even know your name yet. [ he hasn't missed the careful way she's avoided any direct contact, that combined with the mention of skin-to-skin being a trigger - it doesn't make it hard to figure out where she might be going with this. ]

[evasives]

[ the clonetroopers were literal cloned human beings made into cannon fodder. stormtroopers have come to symbolize the empire as much as they enable the stranglehold. people are always tools in a war, obvious or not. ]

Do they govern just this planet, or more of the universe as well? [ it's a valid question! one that doesn't occur to him as any bit strange. some planets escaped imperial rule, some willingly knelt over, some in the outer rim are so far removed from any sense of conflict. a single governing body for one planet isn't weird to him at all. most held autonomy before palpatine tried to take it all for himself. ]

[ he has no issues with staying under the radar. dutch had told him the same thing at first, how important it was not to stand out. he's good at that, once he has all the information to do so. ]

Erased from the public, but not from the Morningstar network. [ he's heard a little about that already. ] How much control does the United Nations and the UNA have? Is it within their power to erase that kind of information? [ it's more a question after what sort of system the United Nations has in place. ]

[evasives]

[ he watches the movement of her hands, albeit subtly. he's always watching that sort of thing, but he'd maybe turned it off a little bit with jyn before. he hates feeling like he needs to... turn that back on. ]

[ cassian doesn't sit beside her, tempting as it is. he settles in on that opposite bed, regarding jyn a little like a skittish lothcat. it's more for her sake that he keeps the distance. ]

[ welcome home he'd told her after she admitted so that first time. ]

I know. [ as if he couldn't tell now. ] You do not have to be used to it right away, but can you wait to pick another fight until later?

[arkproject]

[ Wait, wait, wait. He rattles that off so casually, but how would that work? Does he somehow have memories of a digital copy of himself?

Catherine has to wrench her brain back into gear to think about food again. ] Uh... I don't know, there's not a ton of options. Salad? [ That seems safe and unlikely to involve eating bugs. But Catherine can't stay on that subject a second longer, and follows it up with a much more engaged, ] What do you mean, you went inside a program? How did that work?

[selfimage]

[ there were a lot of other Lokis out there, and a majority of them never had the best of intentions. instead, they just had strong ambitions that eventually lead to nefarious ends. trying to set himself as something different was difficult what then whole wide world was against you. ]

Some will tell you that it's about managing time, but that's a lie. It's just about incorporating it into most everything you do to catch glimpse of the opportunity.

[ he lifts his hands in a suspended shrug. ]

That's all!

[motivation]

It's Dutch. [ her lips quirk, briefly. then her shoulders lift. ] Yalena Yardeen, on the network. [ they'd asked her for a first and a last name. she'd thought of her mother/grandmother, the first yalena yardeen, the woman aneela had named her after. the name yalena yardeen carried so many terrible memories for so many years.

now, she's not sure what it means anymore. cassian doesn't need to know any of that. ]

What's yours?

[ she unwinds her fingers from his shirt one by one, patting it down briefly before holding out her hand for him to take. ] I'm almost insulted. [ he's good-looking, but he's also pretty damn unresponsive, so dutch wouldn't have kissed him, if that was his worry. ]

[motivation]

[ well, isn't that charming? ]

Bet that makes you real popular.

[inherited]

For the most part? Sure. [Riku agrees with the premise. It's easier to talk about this than the reality of what it means for anyone to be missing Sora in the first place. That part ... it's not easy for him to wrap his head around. It's better to not think about it at all.

It helps that, in Riku's shoes, he didn't get to miss Sora for long. He's certain he's missing time, maybe even a large gap of it, but his consciousness and awareness doesn't match up to that. Maybe he got off lucky. It's not going to be that way for the others. And if he's here, they might be worried about what happened to Riku, too.

Which ... could be bad for Kairi. If nothing else, she's strong. Maybe she'll be the one busting in here to get the two of them before long.]

But there are some things they won't miss. Guess that means I'll have to be on board with you guys wherever you go next time.