exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: May 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings, while those Transports on the mission to Wollongong return.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. We're Scots. So you know it? [ She tries not to sound too hopeful. ]

[ Kate nods and turns a corner, making sure Merida's keeping up. ]

Have you heard anything about other worlds yet?

[ She scratches at her ear beneath her mess of hair. ]

Not much. Only what the gab back there mentioned.

Well, you know by now you're in another world and time. Where I'm from Scotland exists, but it's most likely different from what you're familiar with.

Different...how?

[ She didn't like the idea of it being 'different'. ]

[ Kate talks slowly, falling into step with the young girl. ]

Things change over time. The clothes, the buildings, food... it's nothing bad. It just happens.

[ Easy for Kate to say, though; she's from 2011 where technology and other modern inventions make everything easier. She's grown up in an ever changing society. ]

So what you're sayin' is, I'm outdated?

[ She scoffs. She found it hard to picture her homeland in any other way than it was now. ]

Not at all.

[ She halts in front of a small shop that's got several people already inside, lined up and talking to someone opposite a counter. In front of them is a display with food. There's some small sandwiches and then some big ones. On another side are drinks and a sign listing the kinds of food and beverages the store offers. ]

We're just from different times.

[ Merida eyes the shop and the sandwiches, still a bit wary of all of this - but she couldn't deny it. They didn't look so bad. And she was downright starving. ]

This is from a different time, too, I suppose?

A lot of things are and will be for you. [ She says gently, doing her best not to alarm her, but it's all going to a culture shock for Merida. ] At least until the Transporter sends you back home.

And I don't suppose I can just walk right up to it and demand to be taken back?

[ She would really like that. ]

[ Her features soften, more apologetic. ]

No. I'm sorry. People have been trying for months.

Months? How long are we supposed to be here for?

There's no telling.

But it's been proven time "freezes" when you're brought here. When you're sent back, you'll go back exactly where you left off and no one will have noticed.

[ Her mouth screws into a frown. ]

But how? I mean - how can time pass in one place, but not another?

[ Oh boy, this is never easy to explain. ]

I don't know. It must be that time flows differently here.

Then how can you be sure?

[ Because she found it very, very hard to believe. ]

There have been people who've gone to their world and come back here.

But - oi, I thought we couldn't leave!

Not by choice.

Sooo what, they just send people home willy-nilly? Why?

The Transporter... messes up every now and then. That's the only possible reason I can think of. [ She heads over to the door and gestures. ] You should head inside. You'll get sick out here.

[ She wants to stubbornly refuse, but the cold and wet wasn't doing her any favors, and she didn't particularly want to get sick. ]

Fine. [ She heads in. ]

[ Kate would have left her alone from there on, but something about Merida reminds her of herself when she was a young girl. Sighing and with a roll of her eyes, she enters the shop after her. ]

I am sorry that you're here. It's not fair to you or anyone else.

But I'd rather not lie to you. [ She's not going to sugarcoat the truth. That's worse. ]

[ Merida scrunches her nose as she looks around at the shop's offerings. ]

I'd rather you not, too. 'Spose it's just a lot to think about.