(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: November 1st
Location: The Observatory.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Observatory after their initial briefings. The zombie plot will not spill over into this area, this area is safe and unaffected! To face zombies, characters must leave the area, and please move to the event log with those threads.
Warnings: None.

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, solemn and taciturn. 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, or tells you that the DITR's greeters will explain everything. On the tablet, 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. It's night outside the great wide windows, and the lunar landscape isn't much to look at right now; the only lighting comes from dull red emergency lights, but there are… noises. Listen carefully. Over the voices of your fellow Transports, now and then you might catch the sound of a scrape, or a low and muffled cry. It doesn't sound human. Are there animals up here?

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, and to the remains of Exsilium.

[[ ooc; As a note for players of current characters: please keep your root comments confined to the various groups and organizations that set up root comments to greet new characters! We highly encourage tagging around here, but since it's a log meant for new characters specifically, we ask that they be the ones to set up root threads to the entry. Thank you, and happy playing! ]]

Comments

JULIA HOFFMAN ♦ dark shadows.

[therapeutics]

[ enter one (1) short, redheaded doctor. it's debatable whether she blends in; her hair is certain to draw attention, along with the bright pattern of her dress, and the fact that she doesn't have any shoes.

she does not take well to the fact that she's on the moon. that said, she doesn't exactly take badly, either. it almost seems like she doesn't take at all, like every sensation is hitting her at once, and she stands uncharacteristically speechless in the middle of the organized chaos.

the stars are pretty, at least. but she seems to come to after a moment, eyes going from worried, to alert, to dumbfounded, to angry, and - ]

You have got to be shitting me.

[ cue the wandering around and yes, the cookies are great, first-aid kits are great (and the sight of bandages prompt her to touch her neck and she doesn't laugh when her hand comes away free of blood), but there is a distinct mumble of - ] I will never be drunk enough for this.

[ and then tragedy strikes. it's not so much tragic as unfortunate, and julia's not entirely sure what her foot collides with that sends a shock of pain up her leg, but it happens, and she staggers back, temporarily hopping on one foot. ] Fuck!

[cesar]

[ Perhaps one of the metal benches meant to make the new arrivals more comfortable or any of the stuff the existing Transports have put out to achieve the same goal, and fail, as it seems to be in your case. Call it instinct or habit, but Cesare hardly needs to think before reaching to hopefully rest his hand against the small of her back and another to hold her arm to keep her from falling. ]

You were drunk enough for that.

[therapeutics]

Believe me, I haven't had a decent glass of anything all day.

[ and it's true. her recent memory is all scrambling off of a makeshift doctor's table and being cornered by a vampire, and she's lucky she isn't drained of blood yet. she doesn't shuffle back from whatever's caught her, instead lazily turning her head back to look at him.

oh. look at that. handsome men coming to the rescue. if someone's going to complain, it's certainly not going to be julia hoffman. ]

Uh. Thanks.

[cesar]

[ He has had less gracious expressions of gratitude before, ones with words not suitable for polite company, so he is even becoming accustomed to this. He makes sure she can stand on her own again before letting go with a nod. ]

We must remedy that soonest, surely?

[therapeutics]

You offering?

[ hopefully he'll forgive that slightly dumbfounded expression, because really, this isn't something that happens every day. maybe the moon isn't too terrible a place to be, after all. if her theory proves correct, she'll take it. ]

[cesar]

I must have a good reason to offer.

[ Whether that is a request for her to give him a reason or reassurance that she has is a mystery, but he does offer his hand to presumably escort her somewhere. ]

Have you any questions, first?

[therapeutics]

[ and, predictably, she's more than happy to accept the invitation, taking hold of his hand. truth be told, she's several questions, but none that aren't terribly typical, and, honestly, have been answered by the technicians. ]

So, what, were they playing some kind of prank back there? A war. Seriously. Do they know they're being assholes about this draft, or?

[cesar]

[ He holds her hand loosely, ever the gentleman, and starts walking slowly toward one of the welcoming tents. Those people do a better job of talking nice to the newcomers. But she doesn't strike him as the kind to care much for niceties. ]

I believe they do but care not. Desperate times, as you can imagine.

[therapeutics]

Oh, so they just think we care when this doesn't even affect us?

[ come to think of it, it reminds her of her (former? julia doesn't want to think about that) employer. she pushes the thought out of her mind but not without an idle thought at the idea that the initiative might have a collins behind it. ]

Don't tell me everyone here's such an obvious narcissist.

[cesar]

It does affect us, but that is a long story, and will require at least a place to sit if not also something to drink.

[ The tent he leads her to has several chairs and benches but only cookies to start, all wholesome goodness, and no alcohol in sight. ]

Are you hungry?

[therapeutics]

Isn't that what we're looking for? [ said with an arch of her eyebrow. this certainly isn't the bar she was expecting, but - well. sometimes julia does have a bit of a sweet tooth. without asking, she plucks a gaudily-decorated one off of one of the tables and takes a bite. at least she has the decency to talk after she's finished chewing. ]

Sugar's low. Actually. And I don't think they made any mention of a bakery back there.

[cesar]

[ Cesare can be generous enough with his time to help out the new Transports; one never knows which of them might prove useful. But he isn't quite so giving with his booze. Still he chuckles at her response. ]

A few of us made the effort to seem more welcoming. [ Hence the cookies. But drinks would really have been better. ] But I would not presume to invite you to my room to find what we are looking for.

[therapeutics]

You counting yourself among those? [ because, honestly, she got her hopes up for alcohol. and if he says "yes," she will quite loudly beg to differ. ]

-Why the hell not? Is chivalry still a thing on the moon, or something? I think I can handle it.

[lazyinlove]

[Ah, yeah. He's a bit invisible today, sorry ma'am. Also, ow. That was his fucking shin. Jeez.]

Ow! Ow...sorry. I didn't see you.

[Says, you know, the disembodied voice of a teenage boy with a sore throat. And completely without irony, too.]

[therapeutics]

[ look, this is what happens when things are a little chaotic and - ]

It's fine, honey, [ she says, right before she realizes that there is nobody there. ]

Wait, what the hell?!

[lazyinlove]

[Except that just then, he hiccoughs. And for the brief moment when all of the muscles contract, there is someone. A tall, thin, teenager. Long blond hair, startled blue eyes, skin pale enough to see the veins in his arms. If you look quick, that is. The next moment, he's gone again.]

Guess you didn't see me, either.

[Still no irony, but a bit glumly, this time. He keeps forgetting about that...]

[therapeutics]

No, I - shit -

[ he was there! he was! she saw him! and for all her joking about ghosts, she never actually expected to run into one in a place like this. home would've been a much better atmosphere for that, and despite all the rumors, she'd never come face to face with one. ]

Where did you go?

[lazyinlove]

Nowhere. I mean, here. Still where I was.

[It's a tough question at the moment, and it feels alarmingly existential. He really doesn't want to disappear. It's tough to keep the tremor out if his voice, on spite of the fact that he knows he can control it if he just relaxes....]

[therapeutics]

You're not a ghost. That's bullshit.

[ it makes exactly zero sense to her that she'd run into one in space and not in a big, spooky gothic mansion. no sense at all. there is science to this and this goes completely against it. ]

[lazyinlove]

I didn't say I was.

[Rude, lady. Totally rude.]

[therapeutics]

Well, I can't see you; what else am I supposed to think?

[ julia. julia, he's corporeal. you totally kicked him. ]

So you just like turning invisible. That's classy.

[lazyinlove]

I said I was sorry!

[If it wasn't obvious he's a bit young before, it probably is now. But people keep picking fights. It sucks being a passivity in a war, caged up with a bunch if super powered people on a tiny moon base, you know?]

[therapeutics]

Oh, my God, you're whining and invisible? Spare me. I get it.

[ is it even his fault? she doesn't know. she's not trying to pick a fight, but it's second nature to her when thrown in a high-stress situation.

such as this. ]

I don't suppose there's any way you can become not invisible. It's only polite.

[lazyinlove]

It's stuck.

[A bit glumly. Because, really, it's embarrassing. And people keep picking on him for it. It's like being the smelly kid, but invisible instead.]

[therapeutics]

What's stuck?

[ what.

that's not - you can't just turn your visibility on and off. she glares, almost, but it's questioning. ]

What, you wind up on the moon, and suddenly you can decide whether or not you want people to see you or not? That's handy.