here they talked of revolution, here it was they lit the flame

[initiates]

Date: October 1st
Location: The Observatory.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Observatory for the show of the year. Initial briefings are very brief this time around, and that Greeter just won't stop crying.
Warnings: new confused people and old sad people??

Your arrival here has been very unceremonious. One second you were somewhere else, and now, very suddenly, your feet hit the glowing white of the Transporter pad, and you're here. You aren't alone, either. There's a crowd of others around you, each seeming just as bewildered, angry, or confused as you might feel. At the head of the group is a woman in purple robes, with eyes red as if she'd just finished crying. She hurries over a quick overview of your intended purpose here, and gives direct answers when asked for them, but to most things she simply shows you how to access the tablet you've just been given. There, you can find the history of this place and a record of what your new cohorts have experienced — although it won't have Network access for another 8 hours. Someone stands on hand to give you a weapon, and though the armory is now greatly reduced, you should be able to find something to suit you.

You're shepherded down a walkway tunnel and into the Observatory, where you will find screens mounted on three sides of the wide room. The only lighting comes from dull red emergency lights, and the scenes of a dreary, rainy city from various cameras up on the screens; the largest of the screens opens up to a view of Earth from a good distance away -- this one isn't a screen at all, you might realize, but a window. As you watch, all screens in the room fill with light, impossibly bright. It consumes the buildings, the people, everything. There is no sound played, perhaps mercifully, only that white light -- and then nothing.

Through the large window, there's a pinprick of light over one of the landmasses on the blue planet. It grows to a tiny blossom and then dies away, but a cloud begins to mushroom outward in the same spot. It pushes the natural clouds out of the way, claiming that small portion of the world and wrapping it in a uniform gray.

Strings of numbers begin to fill the blanked out screens as the base's AI begins collecting data and calculations, but the show seems to be over. You're free to explore the base, visit and use any of the VR rooms, or discover your new room and roommates, but try not to step out of any airlocks if oxygen is a requirement for your system.

Welcome to the moon base, with front row seats to the grave of Exsilium.

[[ooc; reminder! The Network will be down for 8 hours after the wave of new Transports.]]

Comments

[infiltrative]

[ He's still scrunching up his nose in distaste all the same, different system or not. ]

Okay, I get that part. What I don't get is them pulling in more people when their resources are already tight enough as it is. Are the people they already kidnapped not good enough or somethin'?

[crocodilesmiles]

Pfft, if I knew the reason! All I heard from the network had to do with some of us leaving, and some of us always being brought back in.

( She shrugs. )

'snot my field of expertise, so to speak! I just know we do have more people, so we'll deal with that, and run what missions we need to in order to get supplies while the thinkers think up a plan of action to handle the bigger problems.

[infiltrative]

Oh, so they don't even really tell you their plans? That's great, I feel so reassured.

[ It's upsetting and he's more upset about this all than he'd ever like to show or even admit to himself, so time to channel it all through exasperation. As you do.

Except ... ]

Wait, did you say leave? So we can leave?

[crocodilesmiles]

Not when we want, not yet.

( She says, shaking her head. )

We managed it once for Elmer. It didn't go well. But if you're worried about being stuck here forever, you don't need to worry! The longest so far is not even two years, and most of us aren't here for that long. I'm one of the longer haul people, but that's not something you predict, exactly. Most folks are here for under three months!

[infiltrative]

[ Crush his dreams, why don't you.

He sighs, frustration rising again instantly and it makes him want to run, but he realizes he needs to conserve energy so he sits down right where he stands in front of her instead, potentially in the way (but it's not like she was going anywhere anyway and he doesn't care about anyone else who might want to pass.) ]

Three months is way too long for me. What went so wrong that they cannae do it again?

[crocodilesmiles]

We lost the whole world.

( She says, soft and simple. )

I think the United Earth was trying to set an example and warning. They'd been there for a week or so before we knew, and when we got there... I know some worlds and universes have teams of superheroes to save everything, but Elmer's world didn't. They'd attacked multiple places and governments simultaneously. Everything was burning by the time we arrived.

[infiltrative]

Oh.

[ It just kind of slips out as he blinks, stunned. ]

That's— [ He searches for a word and when he fails to come up with one to adequately express what the destruction of an entire world is, he just slips off his goggles, letting them rest around his neck, so he can more effectively rub at his face since there are no teammates around to yell at him about secret identities. In that brief moment, he tells himself it'll be fine. His world still has the rest of his team, they would keep it safe.

When that moment has passed, he drops his hands in his lap and looks back up at the girl in the wheelchair, looking not quite resigned, but certainly more subdued. ]

Is there any bright side to this mess? [ He's usually not one to look for the bright sides of things, but right now he can use one. ]

[crocodilesmiles]

( She watches him throughout, admiring that he doesn't end up looking defeated like some inevitably do. It makes her job easier, whatever that nebulously defined job might actually be.

Collette nods, and smiles. If it makes it to her eyes or not is hard to tell in this lighting. )

Yeah. Quite a few! We're alive, and we're the people who can use the Transporter to jump back and forth in time. We've got the digital libraries and the Initiative's timeline research with us. We've got a bunch of motivated people with good heads, even if they butt heads every so often, and for every stick in the mud "no we can't possibly do anything" adult, there's at least two teens worth their weight in gold.

( The last might be a bit of a tease, if her tone indicates anything much. Collette winks. )

I'm sure you'll be able to help out toward that end!

[infiltrative]

[ The tease and the wink get a raise of his eyebrow, but there's a certain tug to his lip that indicate some amusement. ]

I can't say I'm feelin' very inclined to help our kidnappers. [ But that doesn't mean he won't help out his fellow kidnappees. ]

But basically what you're saying here is that the bright side is the people, aye?

[crocodilesmiles]

( She considers this; there are some other bright sides, but they tend to be so situational, and it really does boil down to just that. )

Yeah. The bright side is definitely people!

( Not just Transports, either, but she can't bring herself to say that. )

[infiltrative]

[ He can't help but wrinkle his nose again. ]

Joy.

[ He may be a hero, but he's certainly no social butterfly. What a fun stay this is going to be. ]

[crocodilesmiles]

( she has to giggle all over again at his statement. )

Don't worry -- ( she says, teasing outright; ) -- it'll be every bit as bothersome as you're dreading! BUt it's worth it, even if you are usually the grumpy doesn't do people sort. You'll either not be here long enough for that to matter, or you'll end up with a set of friends who go along with you, however you are.

( SEE IS THAT NOT AMAZING okay she does find it funny to be saying that to anyone at all. )

[infiltrative]

I'm not grumpy. [ Yes, he is.

And he doesn't look amazed in the slightest. He looks far from amazed, in fact. Colour him deeply unimpressed. ]

It'd be worth it if at least the food was any good. [ A guy's gotta have priorities. ]

[crocodilesmiles]

Define good.

( She asks, biting back on another short burst of laughter. Hello, grumpy! Another to add to the roster on base. )

[infiltrative]

Something tasty and preferably deep fried.

[ BASICALLY fast food. ]

I'm guessin' that might be too much to ask here, aye?

[crocodilesmiles]

... Hmm - not once we're Earthside again, but up here? Bet you can nab frozen chicken nuggets and we can heat 'em back up. Or stop by someplace on a supply run! 'Cause we'll be needing to do a lot of those, anyway, so why not ask for a place and time that might be close to giving you some piece of home? I mean, deep fried, it's not that out of the ordinary in like the 20th Century.

[infiltrative]

[ Heating up frozen chicken nuggets, that prospect visibly fills him with joy. Except not. But he perks up at the mention of supply runs. ]

I'm from the 21th Century. You reckon we can bring back fresh food?

[crocodilesmiles]

'slong as you cook it before it rots. Garbage is kind of intense up here! And nobody likes waste... but I don't see it being a problem!

[infiltrative]

Well, I jus' figured you never know what with there being possible issues about getting the wrong kinda bacteria up in space an' all.

[ SHRUG. ]

[crocodilesmiles]

No more fast spreading illnesses, please! I've had enough of those to last ten lifetimes!

( Groooooan! )

[infiltrative]

[ He looks vaguely alarmed at that. ]

Are you saying that's already a thing here?

[crocodilesmiles]

Only one big epidemic. That was in June, don't worry so much about it -- everyone seems to be pretty healthy, which is funny when you think about it. People aren't sick anywhere near as often as they could be!

[infiltrative]

[ He doesn't look too reassured. ]

Might change since we're on the moon now. Close quarters and no fresh air an' all.

[crocodilesmiles]

( She shakes her head. )

No, I mean it, it's really weird how healthy we are. Like me? I pick up colds like songs on the radio! But I've only been sick here once from something weird, and once from exhaustion. And the something weird was designed by the UE to be a super aggressive virus, and later bacteria.

[infiltrative]

[ There's a very brief pause as he considers it. ]

Maybe they somehow boost our immune systems when we arrive? [ Shrug. ] We'd be no use to 'em sick after all.