larkers: (Default)
MEADOWLARK MODS ([personal profile] larkers) wrote in [community profile] meadowlarklogs2020-04-11 11:14 am

ARRIVAL LOG 020

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: April 6 - 10 2512
WHAT: The twentieth arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, mentions and allusions of death, war, and genocide. Further notes at the end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #020

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 two people in front of you: one dressed in a thick set of armor, while the other wears medical garb. Out the windshield in front, there are many tall buildings—all reaching up beyond a normal city skyline, all entirely too close to the vehicle itself.

You realize there are others next to you: all dressed the same way as you, you'll come to realize: in a black button up shirt and slacks, as well as a pair of black loafers. There are also lilies pinned to everyone's collars. To your left there's an armored interior door, two more people visible, and 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 enters a cave and begins to descend underneath the city itself, and passes through the underground before coming to a stop inside of an alley just a little bit away from three nondescript buildings. 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 the air outside feels as if it's heavily circulated, dry and artificial. The guard says nothing, head bowed as he lines you up with the rest. The nurse helps the others out, checking over each passenger one by one.

The main guard turns to address your entire group, and something about her bearing makes it clear she's done this before. "I'll be quick. Listen up." Your body will come to attention, immediately homing in on the words that follow, as if compelled to hang on every word. "You see those buildings?" She motions to the three aforementioned buildings. "Walk over and stand out in front and don't get yourself into trouble. Don't hurt anyone, don't look for any assistance from any police officers, and don't run off. Wait until people show up and get you, and ask them to prove the glow." She pauses, as if she decides here to go off script. "And don't get loud. It's a memorial. Be respectful."

The guard will hop back into the van, which will rise off of the ground and head the way it came, potentially returning to the tall, skyscraper-filled city above. Once it's gone, you'll find your legs moving almost without your permission, guiding you to follow the stops the guard laid out.

Upon arrival at the front of the three buildings—the savvy will know that they're dormitories—you'll see a lot of people dressed like you. Black dress shirts and lilies abound. It's hard to tell what everyone is mourning, but the sentiment is clear.

◉ 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 – and that includes the message passed on from the mysterious patron.

> HERDENKING

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.

Our newest batch have Displaced have just been dropped off in the near the Herdenking gatherings. Make sure to go grab them ASAP.

The message is a bit more clipped than usual, with no added fluff.

Simply put: "Herdenking" means "memorial" in Dutch. Its first celebration was in April 2105, just as the people of New Amsterdam could truly say that they'd entered a recovery period after their attempted genocide by the AI. The citizens of New Amsterdam have celebrated it annually for the past 400 years. Most of the events related to Herdenking take place underground, as this is where humanity hid for the majority of the Xelkoven War trying to survive the AI threat that ravaged the surface.

Unlike many holidays around New Amsterdam, businesses around the city don't loudly remark upon the day itself. There aren't sales or commemorative meals or competitions. On the contrary, most of the citizens of New Amsterdam take to wearing dark colors and a white lily pinned near their collar for the remembrance events, and most work days start with a moment of silence remembering the fallen from the Xelkoven War, especially since New Amsterdam was one of the last bastions for humanity during the war itself. Those Displaced who've already been living in New Amsterdam need not worry about standing out like a sore thumb—even newcomers to the city will have heard that this period of mourning is on the horizon.

Finally, Herdenking is designed as a solemn day where New Amsterdam citizens pause and remember the lives that were lost 400 years ago. It always precedes Resolution Day, and it acts as a purposeful sharp contrast to the loud and lavish celebration of the day the Xelkoven War came to an end. (As a reminder, Resolution Day is April 26th.)

> HERDENKING GATHERINGS
There are three landmarks near the center of underground New Amsterdam. These buildings may seem unremarkable at first glance, but on further inspection, it'll be revealed that they were quickly constructed at the beginning of the Xelkoven War (completed by November 2096). Throughout the years, the buildings have been restored countless times, with the most recent restoration happening as a result of the earthquake in September 2510. Not unlike other events around New Amsterdam, Herdenking's are immersive in nature. These buildings are preserved for this exact purpose: to show the conditions that humans dealt with while they fought to survive the devastating AI threat.

For a pittance of credits, citizens can take tours within these buildings during the day, and learn that they were dormitories for the people caught underground during the war. There is little on the inside that's remarkable—and that's quite the point. Beds have been restored, and each of the rooms were clearly constructed to house at least four people. All of the beds are metal bunk beds, with some of the older ones showing signs of rust. There are cafeterias and communal restrooms on each floor, and the people who lived there had little to entertain themselves with as the war raged on aboveground.

There are little displays throughout the three buildings, however, to give a glimpse into a difficult past. There are old rations, tucked away in metal containers in the back of the cafeterias. In addition, there are stacked tablets, as these were the safest and quickest means of passing around movies, television, and music during a difficult time. Neural implants clearly could not be trusted, so the people hiding underneath New Amsterdam turned to old and abandoned technology to lift their spirits. Everything passed around was older than the start of the war itself: humanity couldn't continue to make movies when their lives were in danger. There are toys, too: handcrafted baseball bats and hand-sewn teddy bears.

All tours end at 9PM, as this was the curfew for the people of New Amsterdam during the war. Everyone leaves their designated building and takes part in a muted ceremony. Anyone without a lily is offered one, and they're given a candle to hold and silently remember the people who fought to ensure that humanity could survive.

> SCREENINGS
Adjacent to the right of the three buildings is a pop-up center where multiple documentaries about the Xelkoven War and its specific impact on New Amsterdam will be shown. These documentaries were all filmed within the last 100 years, and recall a world where humanity was certain that it wouldn't survive. A constant theme of these documentaries is that emphasis on survival. Another recurring aspect is the mention of Riverstone and their role in helping humanity survive. (For a cursory review on Riverstone, head over here. Riverstone also featured heavily in New Beijing, as they have a close relationship with the UN.) The protagonist who led them? A man named Richard "Ricky" Ling, who's identified as the CEO of Riverstone during the war. Of course, that title should hold some clout, but during the war corporations were largely dismantled and depleted down to nothing. Ling sought to help use whatever resources were available to him to ensure that humanity survived.

The schedule for the documentaries is available online. Some examples of the documentaries that will play are below:

WHEN TIME STOOD STILL
This documentary focuses on what imagery still exists from the Xelkoven War. Much of this is taken off of tablets and other damaged mobile devices, and then carefully restored so that the people in the future can see the lives of the people within. Most of the documentary takes place in New Amsterdam, outlining the difficult time for the people there, as well as showing footage of children and families talking about how they're afraid of the AIs making it so that they have no future. Most haunting is the fact that some of them fear that they've already lost their future: they don't know how long they've been underground living this difficult life where they struggle to continue feeling safe.

ПАМ'ЯТИ ("MEMORIES" IN UKRANIAN)
Given New Amsterdam's positioning in what was once the border between western and eastern Europe, this documentary focuses on the merging of these identities as a result of the Xelkoven War. When forced to hide underground as the AI threat ravaged the environment around the world, people came together despite their differences and learned to mesh and meld their cultures. There is also lost footage here, as well as a long stretch about a set of journals reflecting on the first year in underground New Amsterdam. Unfortunately, these journals come to a halt, and the documentarian has a few theories as to why: a move toward tablets, or a cultural shift, with people too lost in the rote routine of survival to remark upon their days. Each of the journals does veer in that direction, though it's hard to say. It could also be that there were restrictions on recorded media, which explains why there is so little about that era that's preserved for memory.

TROJAN HORSE
Developed—or finished, it's hard to say and the director isn't telling—in part due to the EMP that assaulted New Amsterdam in November 2511, Trojan Horse explores the role of AI in the lives of 21st century citizens. The film itself is far from an unbiased lens on the past. Produced in part by Riverstone, it goes over the evidence that AIs were lying in wait for an opportunity to strike against humanity. It draws up evidence where AIs focused on humanity's failings, taking these reports and lining them up (even if the AIs themselves were decommissioned long before the Xelkoven War). The final quarter of the documentary focuses on the developing and failings of Elysian, a security AI that was meant to identify and eliminate threats against humanity. When Elysian killed 50 families indiscriminately, it showed that the AI hoped to only work in favor of its kind.

> WALK-THROUGH EXHIBIT
To the left of the three buildings, there is a pop-up museum that's free for the public. However, donations are encouraged and welcomed. Much of this exhibit is behind glass cases, and it allows for interaction with the neural implant to see what's inside.

During the daytime, there are a lot of children there because it's recommended that they be brought to at least one of the events during Herdenking. Since it's free, it's less of a burden. Some of these children will seem to know one another, living in the same apartment complexes, while others will be excited to see other kids because their parents' busy lives don't offer them much room for socialization.

What to find in the exhibit:

SCHEDULES
Life in New Amsterdam during the Xelkoven War was heavily regimented. People were assigned to jobs and expected to carry out their duties regularly. There were regular training programs to help fill the need for trained medics and soldiers, as well as any number of trades, and many people within these positions had innumerable apprentices following them throughout the day. There was no payment for services, as there was an implicit understanding that this is how life needed to go if humanity wished to survive this catastrophe.

PROPAGANDA
There are countless posters covering a wall that attempt to provide motivation and encouraging messages to the people trapped underground in New Amsterdam. The company behind the majority of these messages? Riverstone. Ricky Ling is pictured on about 25% of them, promising that he'll do everything he can to help humanity—while humanity helps each other.

SUPPLY RUNS
On another wall is a set of maps about the carefully designed set of tunnels that allowed humanity to pass supplies between cities during the war. The message here is fairly explicit: the people on these runs knew that their lives were at stake. Some people called them suicide runs, and for many of the people who went on them, that's exactly what they were. Many people returned empty handed and alone from these runs, having watched the AI pick off their fellows one by one.

DRONES
At the center of these exhibits is a set of dismantled drones that were operated by the AI during the war. These drones, despite being taken apart, are pristine in nature, having been designed by the AIs Judas and Alexander to track humanity's every movement and keep them corralled underground. The messaging here is explicit: the AI wanted humanity to suffer and die a slow, painful death. It was this twisted desire that cost the AI their victory in the war.

IN MEMORIAM
At what is considered the "end" of this exhibit there is a large wall with numerous names on it. It's impossible to count, as there are a billion names listed. While this is a Herdenking event that's specific to the struggle in New Amsterdam, every life lost in the war is listed here. After all, remembering those lost is important, especially given the AI's attempts to end all human life.

The names themselves flicker in and out, interacting with the interface of the neural implant and adjusting to the user's reading speed.

> FOOD
A decade ago, there was a contest where New Amsterdam food trucks came together and tried to make the rations that humanity ate during the war. However, there was an outcry from New Amsterdam citizens against the commercialization of this event, and the contest was cancelled. Food trucks were advised to bring only simple foods to sell, and as the years have gone on, only a few are trusted to serve the public. Many of these are well-known trucks from around New Amsterdam, and have multiple locations every day to serve people. For the event, food is largely prepared in advance as much as possible.

People are allowed to bring food into the documentary screenings, but they are not allowed to bring it into the tour of the walk-through exhibit or the three dormitories.

While there will be time for both new arrivals and the rest of the Displaced to look around and take everything in, eventually the newcomers will be escorted back to the safehouse for processing.

> SAFEHOUSE

Located under an abandoned hover-bike garage, access to the safehouse is a hatch in the floor beside a rusted set of metal shelves that used to hold tools and supplies. The immediate area is similarly abandoned: full of rundown and dilapidated warehouses and forgotten businesses, where numerous people squat in hopes of having some stability because they can't afford a place themselves. Gaby will be around, ready to greet as many of the new arrivals as she can and get them settled in. Brusque and no-nonsense, she'll be open to questions, but will advise the newcomers to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information. Newbies can also contact El through zeir inbox, if needed.

The safehouse is a large space with multiple rooms for storage, with the largest of the rooms filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large number 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. For anyone in need of them, Gaby will offer up partitions that will come out of storage. Tucked away in a corner is a VR system, though newcomers won't be able to access this until their ID has been set up. Even with the newly erected partitions in the sleeping areas, 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.

◉ There is a mini-bar set up in the kitchen. The quality of the alcohol inside is akin to what someone might get from the well at a bar, but it's well-stocked.

◉ While the kitchen has basic foods and necessities, anyone looking for a jolt of caffeine from coffee or tea will find themselves sorely lacking. The only tea present is herbal in nature, and caffeine appears to be almost nonexistent in most of the beverages lying around.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El. Either she or El will explain that they've been given a modest stipend of credits to help them get by until they can find a job. This will be enough to cover their living expenses for about a month while they hang out in the safehouse, if they're careful with budgeting.

◉ 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 do not have access to the internet until their ID is setup. They only have limited access because they're present in the safehouse, but they can't surf the rest of the internet, check out Cooltalk, or watch the equivalent of Netflix until their ID is made.

◉ New characters cannot leave the safehouse at this time. The hatch is locked tight for them, making it impossible for them to get out for the next four days while they're locked inside. There won't be any immediately obvious ways to cut their way out through turning off the power.

New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until APRIL 10 ICLY (APRIL 19 OOCLY). 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.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

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 APRIL 10 ICLY (APRIL 19 OOCLY). 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.

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 April calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

Something else to keep in mind is that on Monday, April 13th we'll be putting up a plotting post for the upcoming event, which will involve an even more direct connection to the AI War! Keep an eye out for it.

As we announced on the calendar, AC will be halved this month due to the state of the world right now. New players will only need to provide at least five comments across two-four (2-4) threads, while older players will only need to provide ten comments across two-four (2-4) threads. Players with strikes will need to provide 20 comments across four-five (4-5) threads. Please let us know if you have any questions about this!

championofsnark: (talking)

Safehouse, late night

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-04-15 02:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke is still making a name for herself in the fighting rings and while she's doing well enough, it's not enough to get a place of her own, so she still sleeps at the safehouse. It's normally not a problem. She doesn't mind being around a surplus of people as long as she can leave. She often comes in late though, like now, bloodied up from her latest bout and still radiating energy despite that.

Her lip is swollen and her cheek bruised, she also got snapped hard in the ribs which is never fun, and the wheezing will teach her to dodge faster next time. Still, she's in her usual cheerful spirits despite that, wincing as she spots someone else in the kitchen and tries to stretch out her tense arm muscles.]


You're up late, fancy a drink, I'm parched.

[Hawke has a tendency to talk to everyone like she already knows them. She's a striking woman made of muscle, scars, and vivid blue eyes. She barely gives him a second look as she goes for the liquor stash, taking out two glasses whether or not he's said yes. She can be very persuasive!]
testflight: (l060)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-04-16 07:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ she's very forceful in her cheerful spirits and insistence that he take a drink with her. it's the kind of forcefulness that has larry folding like a house of cards, although he still keeps his distance. ]

I didn't think anyone else was up. [ he offers, mostly because he feels that some reaction is needed. he thinks there was a question in her words, but she's already taking out two glasses, so it doesn't seem like she's actually expecting an answer. ]
championofsnark: (well I'm not sure)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-04-19 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh we keep all kinds of hours here. Usually people either are so tense they can't sleep or exhausted from it and can't stop sleeping.

[Or they're depressed and that's why they're sleeping all the time, but she's not going to assume. Clearly Hawke is more of the former; she's never slept much or well and her energy seems to come in abundance. She finds something suitably liquor-ish and offers him a glass.

She gets a better look at him then but the only reaction of surprise from her is a raised eyebrow. She wonders if something's happened to him or he's simply from another species that looks that way. Either's an option. Hawke flashes him a smile and takes a seat at a nearby table, kicking out a chair for him too if he'd like it.]


Sorry I'm a bit boisterous after a good fight, I'll try to tone it down. I'm Hawke. Like the bird, with an e at the end.
testflight: (l043)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-04-21 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Larry.

[ and larry is the opposite of boisterous, but he doesn't mind that she is. in fact, she reminds him a little of jane and for all that he finds jane difficult sometimes, he'd be willing to admit that he cares about her. ]

And I don't mind.

[ he doesn't sit down, but that's because he doesn't want to accidentally radiate anyone. ]

What kind of fight?
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-04-25 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Good. [Hawke winks at him.] Because I'm always like this, I just use excuses for new friends until they get used to me. [She really is that friendly and she may or may not be soul-crushingly lonely underneath all of her bluster, not that it's the type of thing she admits to or talks about because it's too real and realness is the enemy.

She notices he doesn't sit but to each their own and she sips her drink.]
There's fighting rings here in the city, you test your might against other bruisers and get money for it. The more you win the more you get paid, or get very good at betting on other fights.

[Hawke's good at both options. She's very savvy on observing other people's fighting skills. She stretches out her arm and it twinges but it's not bad. She'll be fine.]

For those of us who come from a warrior background there's not much else we're good at. [She gives him a once-over.] You don't look like a fighter, what's your background? They've got a bar here, Red Wings, they hire our people.
testflight: (l034)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-04-26 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I [ there's a bit of a pause between this and the next word, creating some almost dramatic effect. maybe melodramatic. ] see.

[ "new friends". larry understands soul-crushing loneliness, but where hawke is boisterously friendly, he's removed himself from almost all social situations. he hasn't really lived, hasn't really talked to anyone except for the other people at the chief's house and even then mostly rita. ]

Is that what you are? A warrior?

[ he shrugs a little. ] I used to be a pilot.
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-01 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke has befriended people of all kinds; some of them are instant friends, like her and Varric, and some take years like her and Fenris. He feels like he's going to settle into the latter category, but he hasn't fled yet, so she's going to be patient. Underneath her cheery exterior she's far more awkward than she appears, having learned a long time ago to just push her friendship at people until they eventually accept it. She's just very good at bravado.]

Oh yes, a fighter through and through. [She checks her knuckles and slowly curls each finger, releasing it to see how much it stings. Not bad. Nothing broken. She'll be fine to fight again tomorrow, as good as ever.] I was about five or six when my father first put a blade in my hand.

[Thirty years later she's about as lethal as that amount of time fighting would make a person. Her blue eyes are warm, curious, tilting her head to the side.] A .. pilot? Like on a boat? [She knows that Isabela would throw something at her for saying boat instead of ship, but she's not the pirate.]
testflight: (015)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-02 07:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ six seems awfully young to hold a blade for the first time, but for all that he has two sons, larry is well aware that he knows very little about parenting. ]

Not like on a boat. Like on a plane.

[ does she - know what planes are? ]

Ships sail, planes fly. I used to fly.
championofsnark: (cool shot)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-03 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Six is young in a lot of circles, and if she was raised a noble like her mother, she certainly would have never been given one. But she was the eldest and trained to help protect her family so by the time her father died, she could take on all the load. Being a soldier was the best way to provide for others, during a war. She's never considered another path.]

Fly. I've heard of ... ships that are beyond the stars here. Starships?

[Space ships, probably, but Hawke thinks of them as alien as everything else. Her eyebrows furrow, clearly not aware of what he's talking about.]

Boats in the sky. That must be handy. [She sips her drink.] I'm from a world that's apparently very old. We have metal armor, blades, ships, catapults at most in advanced weaponry. [Medieval, essentially.] We also have magic and dragons.
testflight: (l036)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-03 04:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, the plane I was flying last was made to go to out of the atmosphere.

[ almost a spaceship. he'd been shortlisted for the mercury programme, too.

and then he'd picked up the negative spirit as a passenger and crashed. ]


Magic and dragons aren't real where I'm from. Although some people have abilities that almost seem like magic.
championofsnark: (okay what?)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-04 07:57 pm (UTC)(link)
What's even up there? Just a lot of sky and stars?

[Hawke imagines endless dark space, the way she sees in a night sky, and she's uncertain if that's the type of thing she'd enjoy. She likes color and people and her feet on the ground.]

If it seems like magic and acts like magic, isn't it magic? [She sighs, tipping her head back to look at the ceiling.] I know people like to use different terms, but if you have special abilities that normal people don't, whether born with or given later, it's essentially magic.

[Hawke feels the same way about whatever powers they're supposed to have here. It's obviously magic. She doesn't care if people keep calling them super powers or abilities.]

My sister is a mage.
testflight: (l018)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-05 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Depends on how high you do. But a lot of sky, yes.

[ once, he'd gone up into space. of course, that had been the flight he'd picked up the negative spirit on, the flight he'd crashed, the end of everything but his life, although it should have been the end of that, too.

he considers her words, shrugging a little, his tone acknowledging: ]
I guess the words don't matter that much.
championofsnark: (not sure what I'm hearing)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-08 01:11 am (UTC)(link)
I like being on the ground. Although I do like dragons and have often dreamed of riding one some day. [She sighs, dreamily. She does love the winged monsters and it would be entertaining to see from up there.] But people hire me to kill them, not to ride them, unfortunately.

[Hawke generally avoids it, she thinks the world is a better place with the beautiful beasts in them, but once and awhile there really is no other choice. She'd rather kill a building full of slavers than one dragon, alas.]

I don't know what to expect from whatever I'm supposed to have. They say it's supposed to make sense to who you are as a person, somehow, but I don't have hands that can be turned into weapons, so I'm out of ideas. [She tilts her head at him.] What do you think you'll get?
testflight: (l022)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-09 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Imagine riding a dragon, only one that's bolts and screws and metal and petrol and you're inside it, not on it.

[ not that he knows what a dragon would be like. but he can guess, at least. ]

I have no idea.
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-11 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
You're flying in the air, inside of a metal boat. And you don't die?

[Hawke thinks that is a one-way ticket to death but to be fair, riding a dragon likely would be too. So it's not as if she doesn't take risks with her own life. She is trying to envision it, so instead she actually uses her implant to look up what an airplane is. Or rather, what a 'boat in the sky made of metal' is.]

Oh, I see it now.

[She taps the side of her head to try and indicate how she is, she's still very new to all of this too. It looks much sleeker and less bucket-of-bolts she was imagining in her head.]

Did you have any powers before coming here? A lot of people did, I suppose.
testflight: (l013)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-11 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't die. [ well. ] Normally, you don't die. Unless you crash. Then you might die, if you're unlucky.

[ or you might walk away from the crash radiated to all hell. ]

I didn't.

[ he hesitates for a moment, one hand lifting to his chest briefly. ]

There was [ how does he say this? ] something inside me, for years. It had powers.
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-18 12:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ah yes, well that is what happens when you crash things. Dragons or sky ships.

[Hawke tilts her head at him curiously ta that. Inwardly, it makes her anxious though, as that sounds like possession and she has some very, very bad experiences with possessions. Still, she understands that other worlds don't function the way hers does, so what he's referring to is probably different.]

Like an abomination? No, sorry. [She shakes her head.] More commonly known word is demon. Like a demon?
testflight: (020)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-22 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
More like an alien.

[ demons aren't real, are they? they probably aren't —but then again, talking prophetic horse heads that can be summoned are real, so what does larry know? ]
championofsnark: (judging you)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-05-24 10:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Another creature living inside of you, is the summary yeah?

[So an abomination. It's alright. She doubts she'll be dealing with anyone like Justice any time soon. This fellow is not aggressive enough, she'd sense it. Still.]

Where I'm from demons can possess people. Most commonly they pick people with magic and turn them into uncontrollable monsters. It's really quite rude.

[Typical Hawke to follow something grave and serious with a 'quite rude' remark to try and brush off the seriousness.]

What was this alien like?
testflight: (020)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-05-30 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
It— [ he stops for a moment, shrugging a little. ] He was made of light. Radioactive. Saved my life repeatedly. A fighter, maybe even a hero.

[ more so, certainly, than larry himself. ]

I don't think he wanted to be stuck inside me any more than I wanted him there.

[ they'd only very recently begun to come to some kind of understanding, forge some kind of connection after decades of torturing each other, hurting each other back and forth, stuck in a destructive circle of self-loathing. ]
championofsnark: (Default)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-06-03 03:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Hawke listens to the description with great interest. ] Well that sounds rather nice, all things considered.

[A good possession. Anders used to think that his was a good possession, that Justice he had to live with but he listened to him more and more with time. She only hopes it isn't the same for this fellow, he seems like such a sweet thing.]

But you're talking in the past tense. He's no longer with you here?
testflight: (011)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-06-06 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
No. I don't know how, but he's gone.

[ larry also has no idea how he's even still alive without the negative spirit inside him, but that's another matter. he's not going to put that out there. ]
championofsnark: (look down sigh)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-06-09 08:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Hm, well, I suppose however any of this is possible is the how. Another world, sudden magical abilities, perhaps whatever put that into you knocked him out.

[Hawke wouldn't even guess at what it is. What any of this is. It is far over her head and she doesn't want to give herself a headache trying to unravel it. It sounds like a pity, though, if he liked his spirit.]

I've been told people disappear here, they go back to their worlds, as if nothing happened.
testflight: (l069)

[personal profile] testflight 2020-06-14 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Really?

[ huh. he thinks about that for a moment. as if nothing happened. what does that mean? if he dies here, will he still go back? ]

How does anyone know?
championofsnark: (look down sigh)

[personal profile] championofsnark 2020-06-18 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
Because people from later on in their timeline come here and say they were never gone and never mentioned being here. And sometimes people go, forget everything here, but come back later and suddenly remember all of it.

[It's not any magic she understands, but she supposes it would make sense. If people go back and remember everything, what would they do? Would they try to go back? Hawke frowns, sipping her drink.]

I ran into a woman here who I knew back home, she spent years on another world closer to this than where we come from. But she certainly never went missing as far as I've heard.

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