( open ) i'll fly you to the moon and back

[initiates]

Date & Time: September 21st - September 30th, 11:59 PM
Location: The Hold, the Moon Base
Characters: Any/all.
Summary: The Transports are evacuating to the Moon Base. Those on the Moon Base try to settle in and figure out their next move. Setting info can be found here.
Warnings: Talk of nuclear warheads and reference to immense loss of life. Please contact the mods should any individual thread get graphically violent or anything else of the sort.
Note: Use date and location tags in your subject headlines! Such as "On the moon, 23rd onward" or "On the spaceship, 25th" or "down at the Hold, 29th."

The Hold is a flurry of activity, grim faced members of the Initiative group directing supplies and people with the subdued air of people facing their own doom, and wondering at how to process the knowledge. None of the Initiative appears unaware of what will happen; their eyes linger on the Transports, expressions pleading, hopeful, doubtful, or immeasurably sad in turn.

Every eight hours, the space ship is sent back up with a load of people and supplies. The pilots are worked until they can't; the AI stolen ages ago by the Initiative greets and corrals people and supplies at both ends, and in the middle step between.

The network continues to broadcast on narrow channels between the Moon Base and Exsilium, up until the time that all connections are lost, with the carrier located en route to Exsilium. The first airship will pass by without dropping anything, but it's too early to celebrate. At a six hour delay from behind, the second airship arrives, and with it, the dark promise of the Black Code's nuclear weaponry.

The six hour window allows for time for those left behind, either by choice or circumstance, to be pulled to the Moon Base with the successful activation of the Transport Pad. New characters will ultimately arrive with the remainder of those not yet on the Moon Base, all in time to witness the explosive contact of the nuclear warhead with the ground of Exsilium live on satellite.

But until then, there's only the hurry, the silence, and the potential for full out rioting should the Transports spread word to the Exiles inevitably left behind to face this fate.

Comments

in the hold, up to the 29th } on the moon, 30th

[oncearanger]

a)
Billy spends the first day frantically fighting against the inevitability. Surely there has to be another way? Their job is to be heroes, to do the impossible and save the day---not to leave their city, those innocent people, to die! He tries to concoct plans that can be executed in the week remaining, but the supplies and manpower just don't add up.

By the second day, he's curled up in his lab, hands fisted in his hair.

By the third day, he no longer leaves his old lab, not even to sleep. He spends every remaining moment with his supplies, planning which are the best to take and what he can do to make the load lighter while maximizing its usefulness. Blueprints are drawn and redrawn, bags unpacked and repacked.

In the end, it isn't even a bag at all. It's a simple cage made of wires that can easily be repurposed, and there's enough for a small generator. When he finishes his packing...he stays curled up in the lab, though the door's open.

Sometimes he peeks outside, saying something that might be audible.

"...this is the ultimate cowardice, isn't it?"

b)
Finally, unhappily, he's sent off to the moon on one of the last ships. There's something almost nostalgic for him about working in cramped and terrible conditions in space, but there's no warmth of love here. Only cold, harsh reality.

He starts work on restoring the laboratories almost immediately, only pausing when he finds there is nothing else that can be done until more supplies are gathered. Oh, how familiar that sounds.

He slips out into the hall back toward the dorms, and what he really wants to do is curl up on a bunk and process this familiar tragedy. But that's not as productive as he'd like.

So instead he's taken to the ground in a sparse corner somewhere, obsessively tinkering with an ancient leather-strapped wristwatch. Anyone who knows a thing about watch repair will know he's not really doing anything with it this time: he's just tinkering to keep busy, working to keep his mind rolling down any track but the one that looms biggest.

Occasionally, if someone passes, he'll joke with them.

"Well, this is a grand time we're having."

Because sometimes he frowns and frets so much that the situation becomes absurd enough for a smile.

b)

[interspace]

[ It isn't that Misha isn't paying attention to her surroundings, it's just that... well, after her sojourn back to collect a whole slew of new distraction material, she's been partaking in some of it herself. ALFRED has an audiobook running in the background, so when it cuts off and is replaced with someone talking beside her instead, she stops immediately and turns to regard Billy.

Oh.

ALFRED raises his visor unasked, unmotioned. The AI has been getting more and more disturbingly intuitive as time goes on, and it seems to be rubbing off to the point where Misha can almost anticipate his warnings — or, at the least, act on them as soon as they show. Probably something to do with Exsilium's sentience infusion. Still... handy as it is, it takes a bit of getting used to.

She doesn't kneel down next to him just yet, but she does regard Billy and answer the question. ]

Certainly is. Some people'd kill to have this kind of adventure, right?

b)

[oncearanger]

I've already had it. In a base that moved and was far more than this. But I'm already working on the furnishings here.

[He smiles lightly]

If the ship was in regular space, I always looked out at the stars after a terrible event. It reminded me that there was always so much more out there than what we lost.

[interspace]

[ She takes that as invitation. Turning away, Misha falls back, landing herself on an invisible seat, curls her legs up in front of her and lowers herself to the ground from there so that she sits next to Billy. ]

Not to mention we're going to be working on putting everything back in its place. That should help calm your mind a bit, right?

[oncearanger]

I know, but I know these projects never go smoothly, especially when altering timelines is a factor.

We've had successes before, but.

If we're wrong, all those lost lives are in the balance. That's a lot of pressure.

[He never stops his useless fiddling. That clock is now winding the wrong way.]

[interspace]

That's the thing about time travel. You can't let it get to you, Billy, we may have done this a thousand times before and we may end up doing it another thousand 'til we get it right. Law of averages, though, says we will get it right eventually.

We just won't get to see it like this.

[ She shrugs. Whatever the case, getting out of this universe is the only option: Misha knows for certain that she will never give up on that no matter how many timelines she burns through on the Initiative's dime. Giving up once is tantamount to giving up an infinite number of times and that just isn't allowed. ]

[oncearanger]

Right. As long as the machine still works...we have chances.

I just need to use them wisely.

[He stops the tinkering for a moment and drops his gaze, staring at his hands]

But I couldn't even leave my lab for most of the past week. I look at someone, and I know that they're about to die. How could I even say hello?

[interspace]

[ Misha gives him a halfway challenging look. ] How could you not? They were still alive then, no matter how much time they have left. Thinking about it that way's gotta drain your batteries like nobody's business.

[oncearanger]

I suppose it did.

And now, those people I couldn't face...they've died. Horribly painfully, if there was anyone who wasn't killed instantly.

I know I have to file it away and cope, but I can't exactly do it cheerfully.

a)

[curiousredsoul]

After the first two days since the announcement Celena had grown quite concerned for Billy, having only seen him but briefly as when he collected parts from his new lab. She knew that the announcement of the imminent bombing would likely hit him hard.

Thus on the third day, she takes the time to visit his old lab, if Billy was to be anywhere she figured it would be there. Knocking lightly on the door frame before stepping through without hesitation, "Billy?" She calls out even as she steps into the lab. Her gaze sweeping about as she notes the state of the lab, his efforts in going through supplies to sort the most useful quite clear to her.

a)

[oncearanger]

Billy is bent over a work bench, hands fluttering uselessly across it as he tries to sort out what he needs to keep and what can go. There's so much pressure for him to make the right choices...yet no matter what he does, what is about to happen is completely wrong and he knows it.

His efforts are only broken by a familiar voice. When he hears it, he raises his head and brushes at some of the fringe hanging in his eyes. "Celena," he calls, sounding faint.

"Don't you have your own things to attend to?"

[curiousredsoul]

Celena watches him for that brief moment, knowing well the indecision that plagued his mind on what to take what to leave. A slight smile coming to her lips as she leaned slightly against the door frame.

"I've attended to my own things already for the most part, I came to see how you were doing, Billy, to see if you needed a hand at all, or someone to talk to,"

[oncearanger]

"I don't know what you can do, unless you have a subspace compartment on you somewhere."

Billy doesn't mean to sound snappish---he sounds more sad than angry, and his head hangs as he flips through his notebook. "The scale of what we have to do seems overwhelming, and none of my planning can be enough."

[curiousredsoul]

"Something I've yet to develop unfortunately, in time perhaps," She comments with a small smile, "I could offer a minor suspenser, would be able to offset a measure of the weight to allow a slight bit more to be taken?" Celena offers as she pats her pouch.

She pushes off the doorway to walk around to him slowly, reaching up to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "You are not alone in this Billy. It will be no simple task, but let us take it a step at a time. We've taken on great odds before, and together we shall do so again," she gives a light squeeze to his shoulder at that.

[oncearanger]

"Even that small amount would help," Billy answered, making a note somewhere on his pad that an extra tool might be able to fit.

He sighs at the contact, though her hand does encourage him to look up and really take her in. "I know. We'll do whatever we can. But it certainly won't be easy...I can't imagine how uncomfortable it might be for you," he guesses.

[curiousredsoul]

Celena nodded to that, pulling out a small device with a crystal at the center, with four attachment points radiating from it. "Attach this when everything is set and it will take around ten kilograms off the weight, depending on size, will last long enough to get up there at least before recharging,"

She offers him a warm smile when he finally looks up, "It will be a challenge, that is for sure, but when is anything in these situations easy?" she gives a soft chuckle at the comment to lighten the mood somewhat, "Likely as comfortable as I was on Stacy, this form suits well as does my normal form at the size it was when we were on board,"

[oncearanger]

"You can shrink yourself to that size?" Billy wondered. That would help, certainly, but it seemed so strange to him.

Somehow he got stuck on that and not the human transformation.

b)

[candystar]

[Ally is... anywhere and everywhere. Wandering around is enough distraction to not think about what's going to happen on the planet below, what might already be happening - it's all too big for her to take in, and to try has led nowhere except loneliness. She misses her friends. Asher or Jack would know what to do, what to say - they always did.

But they aren't here, so it's wandering, watching people, anything that's new or a distraction. She actually watches Billy work silently for a few minutes before finally speaking up]

You know, you're not gonna get very far like that.

b)

[oncearanger]

Like that? Could you elaborate? I'm afraid I might be doing everything wrong with the way things are going for us right now.

[Billy knows he's not getting far. He can feel the block in his mind that's keeping him from his usual inventing prowess. But it's also keeping him from understanding exactly how to work past it.

So he simply looks up at the newcomer he doesn't recognize, hoping for part of his answer.]

Re: b)

[candystar]

[Ally at least has the sense - right now anyway - to tell when someone is taking things not her fault out on her, and doesn't get indignant over it.]

I think you need to get those two gears aligned there and there. [She points at what looks like the problem on the watch]

[oncearanger]

These gears?

[Billy glances down at them, blinks, and slowly nods. He pushes them lightly into alignment. When he does, he shakes his head mournfully.]

Thanks. No wonder they kicked me out of the lab. I'm not even thinking clearly enough to manage that.

[candystar]

Sometimes you just gotta take a break from a project. Usually I'd go play video games for a while, but those are kinda lacking around here, unfortunately.

[oncearanger]

Are you sure about that?

[Billy taps his knee as he thinks.]

I know someone who's planning to program video games into a simulation room.

[candystar]

[She most decidedly perks up at that]

Oh man, really? That'd be almost as good as playing on the Matrix!

[oncearanger]

The Matrix?