(no subject)

[initiatesnpc]

Date & Time: Jan 12th to Jan 19th (real time), July 11th to July 18th (historical time), 1884
Location: Black Rock, New Mexico, USA
Characters: All transports
Summary: Fearing UE reprisal, the Initiative corrals all transports and shoos them onto a mission back to the Wild West, to vote Gerald "Moony" Jackson in as Mayor of Black Rock. Transports are encouraged to used all their wiles to encourage townsfolk to vote in favor of him, too. Other than that, they're free to roam as they will for 7 whole days! Good luck finding food and shelter, masses. (See the OOC post for more information.)

The Initiative had been terse and rushed as they gathered the transports into the Transporter room, and anyone unwilling to participate will have been forcibly hurried along. The Initiative employees had seemed distracted and worried, and unwilling to stand around and debate. It was time to move. The teleportation had gone off without a hitch, and a roomful of transports have been treated, quite suddenly, to a broad and sunny blue sky, and especially to the heat of mid July in the American West.

Enjoy your weeklong stay in Black Rock, New Mexico! The town is small and sleepy, with just 3 good saloons and one questionable (but considerably cheaper) one. There are a few inns, but these inns aren't quite prepared to room a sudden influx of over 300 travelers, and some people might have to bunk up or get creative with their sleeping arrangements. If you sleep in an inn at all, of course. There's plenty of unexplored wilderness out there to sleep in instead, isn't there? Just make sure to check your boots for scorpions in the morning.

The only instructions are "vote for Gerald "Moony" Jackson for Mayor, and try to convince others to do the same", and you've been given just enough money to cover a very sparse room and board for 7 days, if you don't spend it in anything else.

So, how do you spend your time?

Edit: Overflow log!

Comments

he's free to be used that way, people can take advantage while he doesn't have it in him to protest

[frorn]

[ He can't really follow all of the rambling, his brain feels too sluggish to even try and keep up, but he doesn't mind. It gives him something he can attempt to focus on instead of the horrible heat. ]

Deserts are awful. [ In his humble-entirely-biased opinion, now beaches though ... he brightens slightly at the mention of them. ]

Beaches are much better, I like beaches. Freezing the waves is fun.

LKJSDF his life. /)_(\

[ex_symbioses706]

( well, that derails her. )

You can freeze the waves? ( WAIT A SEC ) Isn't that dangerous?

such a sad existence

[frorn]

[ Alright, so maybe he can tap into his energy reserve that's solely for bragging a bit. ]

Of course I can. [ Look, it's a smug grin! Albeit one that still speaks volumes of the tiredness he's feeling, but it's there. ] Nah, they can be a bit of a challenge though. But that's what makes it fun.

[ex_symbioses706]

( she's totally enthralled by the notion, for what it's worth. )

You should try it sometime! Ah, though it wouldn't be possible here...and probably not back in Exsilium either, but I'm sure there'll be a chance, somewhere.

[frorn]

[ Her enthusiasm is much appreciated at least. ]

Yeah well, they better send us to a beach or something next time. I can't do anything in this heat.

[ex_symbioses706]

Mm...

( it's more of a soft, sympathetic sound than anything else. it really is a shame the heat is so hard on him. it'd be nice if she could do something, but...

...and then inspiration strikes, and she's jumping to her feet. )

Just wait one minute, okay?

( and then she bolts off back into the town proper without waiting for an answer. it takes her more than a minute of course, but the amount of time it takes is longer than even she would've anticipated. still, soon enough she's hurrying back with a glass bowl and spoon carefully balanced in both hands, lest she trips and ruins the whole thing. )

Here!

( and then she thrusts it in his face - "it" being a bowl of vanilla ice cream. she hadn't been entirely sure if they even had ice cream yet in 1884 or New Mexico, but some looking around and making puppyfaces at the locals had scored her this. it was kind of expensive, but - oh well. )

[frorn]

[ She doesn't really give him the chance to reply so all he can do is stare after her and wait.

... And wait.

At some point he doesn't even think she'll be back anymore. They were sent back in time into the Wild West after all, plenty of distraction and excitement around for those who could tolerate the heat. He couldn't fault her for that even though being abandoned did sting.

Except she hadn't abandoned him, because suddenly she's back and thrusting something in his face when he least expects it and he can only glance down, flabbergasted. Was that ... ]

Ice cream? [ He glances from the bowl, back to her before his face lights up with the widest grin. When he moves to take the bowl, little snowflakes briefly burst into life around him in his excitement and once he has it in his hands, he can only stare at it in disbelief. ] That's— That's amazing! Where did you even get this?

[ex_symbioses706]

( his obvious happiness and the snowflakes make her laugh, pulling back a little with a rare measure of pride. )

One of the women in town! It was kind of hard to find, because I don't think it's that common here, but she heard me asking and said she knew someone who made some for the kids sometimes. Um! I hope you like vanilla - she said they make it with fruits sometimes, but they don't have anything right now, and they'd have to be bought specially, so...

[frorn]

Oh man, yeah. I didn't think you could get ice cream here. Thank you! [ She has every right to feel proud, in his mind, and she's treated to a very sincere and grateful smile before he goes ahead and takes a spoonful.

He wouldn't have cared if the flavor was bad, but like the icing on the cake, it actually tastes delicious. He takes a moment to really savor and enjoy it. ]

Hm, this has to be the best ice cream ever. You should try some.

[ex_symbioses706]

You think so?

( whew. even if he's just saying that, as she's kind of afraid, at least he really doesn't seem to dislike it. )

Ah! No, that's okay - I got it for you! I'm okay, so you should enjoy it, okay?

[frorn]

[ Well, rest assured he's not just saying it and when he takes another bite, he's sincerely enjoying it. ]

Oh, c'mon. You went through all that trouble and in this heat it can't be fun to watch someone eat ice cream right in front of you.

[ And with that, he's gonna offer her the spoon. He might not be taking no for an answer. ]

[ex_symbioses706]

( she hesitates, but then accepts the it, taking a spoonful herself. )

Oh! You're right, it is really good!

[frorn]

Isn't it? [ He grins happily, giving the bowl a tap with his finger that causes frost to cover it and keep the ice cream inside from melting too soon. ]

The weather's unfortunate, but I guess they're pretty lucky to have such good ice cream here.

[ex_symbioses706]

( the frost out of nowhere thing is never ever going to get old, it's so cool. )

I guess it'd be because of the weather that they try even harder with making good ice cream, maybe!

( and after another bite, she hands the spoon back. )

[frorn]

Makes sense. They certainly have something to make up for, alright.

[ He snorts. It's a shame she didn't bring two spoons, so to keep it fair, he takes two bites and then hands it to her again. That way they could somewhat split it evenly. ]

But hey, now you can say you've eaten ice cream from the past! The very same ice cream cowboys used to eat.

[ex_symbioses706]

That's true!

( it's in between bites that she says this, holding up the spoon as she speaks to punctuate her answer. )

I didn't think of it like that! Ahh, my brother would never believe me if I tried to tell him, though! He'd say something like, ( and then she FROWNS in some imitation of a gruff man older than her ) "Are you sure you weren't dreaming again, Ranka? Trying to picture little you around real cowboys is impossible!"

( and then she takes a grumpy second bite of the ice cream, passing it back with a bit of a huff. )

[frorn]

[ It's futile trying to suppress his laugh, so Jack simply doesn't. He obviously doesn't know who she's imitating, but it's an interesting imitation nonetheless! He's still chuckling when she passes the spoon back to him. ]

Sounds like your brother could use a little more fun and imagination in his life.

[ex_symbioses706]

( she can't help get huffy when she talks about him, though there's some real fondness too )

I think so too! I know he's my older brother and takes care of me, but if he can do things like name everything after songs from Fire Bomber, even at work, then he shouldn't be able to make fun of me!

[frorn]

[ He has no idea what 'Fire Bomber' is, but just watching her talk about her older brother is amusing. Possibly doubly so because he was one. ]

Ah, but that's what big brothers are for, aren't they? To make fun of their little siblings.

1/2

[ex_symbioses706]

( she just haves a huge, super-dramatic sigh!!!! as she flops on the ground for a moment. )

He does plenty of that!

[ex_symbioses706]

( and from down there, she reflects: )

I'm sure he'd be really worried if he knew about this place.

[frorn]

[ It kind of reminds him of the exasperation his sister had occasionally shown about his antics and of course, the memory is tainted with sadness, but more than that there's fondness too.

What Ranka says next is sobering though. If the other Guardians knew about this place, or rather this future, then worry might be putting it lightly. ]

I think a lot of people would be. [ He takes two bites contemplatively before holding the spoon above her face. ]

They're throwing us into a war after all.

[ex_symbioses706]

That's true.

( she starts to sit up and then realizes that would bring her face in a direct collision course with the spoon, and instead reaches up to take it and then sit up properly, crossing her legs.

her brother had been the main person to oppose her involvement in the war back in frontier, but she realizes now that had been a very different scenario, with brera and kanaria there to protect her and the government itself keeping her as a trump card against the vajra.

she takes a bite of the ice cream, considering this. with what sheryl had told her, she has a much more complete picture of what was really happening and what would result from it, giving her simultaneous feelings of homesickness and dread. )

But this mission isn't so bad - I mean, the heat is pretty bad! - but it's kind of fun...and not that dangerous.

[frorn]

[ It was far from fun for Jack, really. He was more or less incapacitated until nightfall and that, frankly, was a huge pain in the ass. But he doesn't comment on it, because even though it's not fun for him, it could still be fun for others.

And what with it being a war, he realizes it could be far worse. ]

Yeah, at least there's no fighting. You've been here a while, right? How were the other missions?

[ex_symbioses706]

There was only one other mandatory one while I was here, and that was months ago. The rest were just if you want to, I think, so I didn't go on those.

( she takes a fortifying bite of ice cream and passes the spoon back before going on, looking troubled. )

But the other one was a really big battle, for days.