MISSION: GRAB THE EYEBALLTAUR

[initiates]

Date & Time: March 7th, 1994
Location: The MICA campus: Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Characters: Everyone
Summary: All transports are shipped back to 1994 to steal art from art students. Also, some of them arrive bodyswapped.

The Initiative has timed the incoming waves of Transports to the MICA campus for Freshmen Orientation, but even so, the flood of newcomers gets a few surprised glances. Looks like MICA's up for a major boom in attendance next year, wow. But do some of those freshman look a little old to you? …And do some of them seem to be freaking out a lot more than usual about being in Baltimore?

The cloaking devices, with holograms visible only to the natives, will be blending everyone in with the native 90s fashion senses, and all non-humans will find themselves getting much more tame curious glances than they might back on Exsilium, as they project a human appearance to natives around them. So at least there's that. Just try not to get arrested, hit by cars, or challenged to any break dance competitions as you grab and run off with bizarre works of art, alright? The weirder it looks, the more likely it probably is to be the power source the Initiative needs for the Transporter.

Oh, yeah, and sorry about the body-swap-around. Just deal with that as best you can, because the mission really must go on. Any harried and worried Initiative employee along on the mission that you might be able to find will just sputter a hasty not-really-explanative explanation and hurry away, trading frantic messages with the headquarters in Exsilium. They'll get this all sorted out by the time you get back, don't worry.

Comments

ahiru | open!!

[ex_velveteened856]

A) [She hadn't responded well to the idea of mandatory missions, but maybe if it's things like this, she doesn't mind so much. It's not as if it's dangerous; this actually seems like it could be fun.

Of course, any hope of a good time ends the moment they arrive and she feels - well, different. It's little things, at first; the weight of her hair isn't on her back, as it should be. There's fabric moving against her shins, even though she'd worn a dress shorter than that. With a blink, she looks towards her hand. It's not the same, and as she looks down, her clothes aren't either. It's dawning on her just how much is different, and it's shocking enough that just one word can encompass it:]

Quack!

[And then she brings her hands to her face, waiting for the inevitable - but, of course, nothing happens. That's even more worrying, and she gasps, turning in a quick circle to survey the entirety of the room. Too quickly, as it so happens' halfway through the movement, she stumbles, falling to the ground.

Help?]

B) [Later in the day, she's certainly not happy with how things are going, but she's at least a degree calmer. She's surveying a painting, one of the more abstract there. Her head is tilted, trying to understand exactly what it's supposed to be. After a minute or so of contemplation, she turns towards whoever happens to be standing beside her at the moment.]

Hey, do you know what this is?

(a)

[antitactical]

( Collette was unfortunately not much help herself. See, as in her usual preparation for transportation, she'd been carefully arrayed on the floor.

Which meant that when she arrived and found herself standing, she stayed that way for approximately the five seconds it took before her knees buckled and she met the floor again in a rude pile.

On the bright side, she's there to break Ahiru's fall. )

Woah! Hey, are you okay there?

( Collette asks from mostly under him, blinking as she realizes she recognizes who this is. )

I thought Dorothy was supposed to be the one swept off her feet, not Oz!

( She winks, smiling, though there's still concern on her -- his -- on the face that was currently hers. )

Did you hear something quack?

[ex_velveteened856]

A-Ah!

[As soon as she realizes she's not alone on the floor, she stands up hurriedly, looking to see just who it is who helped her.]

I-I'm - well, I—

[She's not, but she doesn't have the eloquence to explain just why to someone who she's sure will think she's crazy if she talks about what's happening.]

Caesar? I, uh, yeah, that's it!

[antitactical]

( Collette smiles. It's such a natural and un-Caesar like reaction as she gets to unsteady feet, made all the more peculiar when she laughs. How many people really hear Ceasar laugh? )

No, and this is going to sound totally crazy, but I'm not Caesar. I'm Collette!

( She adjusts his shirt, looking back to Oz and considering what she might need to say to convince him. He's acting a bit odd, but that's understandable, given how a transport can mess with a person's system.

... Hah! Maybe it does even more than she realized! )

[ex_velveteened856]

[Her eyes widen, surprised - and then there's a relieved breath. There's not much to be relieved about in this situation, and it might be selfish to be glad others are affected but whatever's going on, but at least she doesn't have to explain something that would insane by any measure.]

That doesn't sound crazy! I mean, I, this - I'm not Oz!

[antitactical]

You're not?

( Collette pauses before bringing her hands together in a loud, stinging clap. )

Great! I mean, not great, but sort of good, because that means it's not just one person, it's at least four and -- so who are you?

[ex_velveteened856]

I hope it's only four, though! I mean, having a lot of people would be - wait, oh my God, what if nobody else is different so they don't believe us?

[That's enough to make her nervous, and it shows, but she does recover slightly at Collette's question.]

Ahiru! I'm Ahiru!

A

[stophittingmyself]

[Well, lucky for you this "girl" just bumped into someone so you can see her running by before stopping after that cry.]

Oz Vessalius, what are you doing?! You think you can kid around at a time like this?!

[ex_velveteened856]

T-That's not my name, I don't know what—

[And she turns around to face whoever this is, ready to argue. Of course, that plan changes as soon as she sees who it is.]

Kido? W-What are you so mad about?

[stophittingmyself]

OF COURSE IT'S...

[He may be mad, but Elliot can at least still put 2 and 2 together.]

Wait, did you end up as someone else, too?!

And I'm not Kido! I just look like her right now!

[ex_velveteened856]

I don't know if he ended up in someone else, we sort of just got here! But, I mean, he had to! If I'm here, he had to have gone somewhere!

[And she blinks, before her expression shifts to one of concern.]

Who are you?

[stophittingmyself]

If you're not Oz Vessalius, that means he's in a different body! It's just like practically everyone else here!

I am Elliot Nightray!

a

[cantquoteme]

[The quack alerts him (her?) first, then it's the sight of a familiar-looking blond boy looking flustered and spinning in a circle and then falling. He doesn't notice at first that it actually isn't... Oz, because from what he's seen of Oz it's something that kid is pretty wont to do.

This female body is weird to move around in (the green clothes are restricting; he makes a mental note to find pants to change into later) but Keith manages to catch up to what he thinks is Oz fast enough to grab the small body by the back of Oz' shirt.

God you gotta watch out, kid.]

[ex_velveteened856]

[Still set off by the fall and more importantly, the absurdity of the situation at hand, she's even more caught off guard by the presence of a hand gripping her (or, well, Oz's) shirt. What's more alarming is that she doesn't recognize the woman's face once she twists around to see who's grabbed her.]

L-Let me go! Stop grabbing me!

[cantquoteme]

[He will, once he he's pulled Oz's body up enough and made sure he'll land on his feet. This would be much easier if he was in his own body, and he draws his (her?) mouth into a thin line before:]

Calm down, Oz.

[ex_velveteened856]

T-This isn't Oz! I don't know you! My name's Ahiru!

[cantquoteme]

[... The girl with the shield? He stares for another second before:]

Stay calm. Ahiru.

b

[peachbaths]

Um... [ Kougyoku's never encountered anything like this before!? She covers her mouth in thought before replying. ]

It must be part of a newer art movement.

[ex_velveteened856]

[She turns back with a smile to address this helpful stranger, but stops momentarily once she takes in the sight. Her tone is automatically nervous.]

A-Ah... Thank you, sir!

[peachbaths]

Sir? Um, no! I was just, saying...

[ Kougyoku is so sad! Not only is she timid, but now she's intimidating, too. She hangs her head. ]

Sorry.

[ex_velveteened856]

[Her nervousness ebbs away, faced with that drooping head. Whoever this person was, they don't seem as much a threat as their appearance would suggest.]

A-Ah, it's alright! I didn't mean to say something rude...

[peachbaths]

It's okay... I shall go somewhere else to be scary now.

[ Kougyoku dejectedly turns around and sulks. In a huge, grown man's body. ]

b

[flamberge]

[The person walking by happens to be a very non-intimidating looking girl. Kratos stops walking upon hearing the question. First, he takes a look at the boy asking this before turning his eyes on the artwork in question.]

A more contemporary work of art, most likely.

[He'd read up a little bit on contemporary artwork back in Death City and this certainly fit the part.]

As to what it represents, most of these tend to be up to one's own interpretation.

[ex_velveteened856]

[Her (or his, rather; it's not really hers) head tilts as she tries to decide what exactly her interpretation is.]

So... What do you think it is, then?

[flamberge]

[Kratos fully turns toward the artwork to get a proper look at it. The piece gets eyed for a good long moment before he answers.]

A commentary on race and how people are all alike and intertwined no matter the blood which courses through them.