( open ) our ag wing's back and you're gonna be in trouble (hey now! hey now! our ag wing's back)

[initiates]

Date & Time: October 31st, 3313, 11:59PM - November 3rd, 3313, ????
Location: Agriculture Wing, Moon Base to start. Cafeteria, warehouse, docking bay, VR rooms, Transport Pad, or Observatory later on.
Characters: Any & all!
Summary: Space Zombies are allowed out of the Agriculture Wing, slowly revving up their systems to try and infect and absorb as many of the Transports (or 12 Initiative Members) as possible.
Warnings: Log will be locked for potentially graphic violence. Please warn in threads should the violence or gore become graphic.
Notes: Specify a date and location in your top comment. You may specify multiple dates/locations. Specify a time if you wish as well.

Everything is a success at first, from the cool rush of air out of the Agriculture Wing once the doors are fully unlocked, to the heady sense of accomplishment for finally moving forward on something good for the long-term usability of the Moon Base. It's intended to remain a resource, after all, but not be a permanent home. Fraying tempers and the sense of cabin fever descending on Transports continues to showcase how important it is to get back down on Earth to regain some breathing room.

There's little enough dust between all the unmoving, unlit structures, many even supporting the barest dried husks of what once grew there. Upon the lightest touch, they disintegrate, turning into a dust that falls to the ground. The silent rows will be reclaimed and turned into functioning units, based on Transport efforts, and Transport time invested in the project.

There's just one problem. Something stirs in the reclaimed wing, among tangles of hosing and wiring. Skitterings and movements that make no sense for a long abandoned Moon Base. The further in Transports go, relying on magic or technology to generate light past the bare minimum maintained by the base, the more disturbing sights they may run into.

Of course, the most disturbing of all might be lying just around the far corner -- but don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. Try not to get surprised in the machinery, caught suffering from not looking up or caught making out with anything unsavory this holiday season, Transports. We need all of you to stay alive!

We can't bring you back right now!

Comments

[notpeterparker]

Um, if you tell me where to aim, I can do that.

[Don't make her look it's too scary.]

[inhumanity]

[Christopher doesn't hear the sounds ahead. But with those bodies left around, well. Christopher knows most of the Transports have worked out that they should throw these things out of the airlocks.]

I may have a target for you already.

[He raises their linked hands to point in the direction of the dropped corpses.]

[notpeterparker]

[Carol doesn't hear anything, doesn't open her eyes to look. With a trembling hand, she raises the camera again. One of the corpses looks a lot more bloated then the others, like something might be in its stomach.

Her only response is a whimper. As soon as he tells her to, she'll freeze the corpses.]

[inhumanity]

[That's curious. Christopher pauses. Rather than telling Carol to kill them straight away, he can't resist tapping the stomach with his umbrella.

The creatures burst forward.] Now! ♫

[notpeterparker]

[She hears a wet, sickening sound. And the moment she tells her to, she starts snapping photographs. Several photographs, and she probably won't stop until he tells her to.

Hopefully she freezes all of them, but with how wildly she's aiming, it's hard to tell.]

[inhumanity]

[Christopher opens his umbrella on one that gets too close—and as probability would have it, it gets set on fire by the edge of the umbrella.] If you keep this up, you'll freeze me in time. [He sounds amused as he looks at how many are suspended in the air. It's relatively easy to quickly toss the mass into one of the airlocks and send it all away into space, with a few swings of the umbrella.]

[notpeterparker]

H-huh? Oh, I'm sorry!

[She finally stops, and opens one eye to see what exactly it was she just froze before Chris gets rid of them. What she sees makes her a little sick. They weren't zombies as far as she can tell. Bugs maybe?]

[inhumanity]

[Christopher smiles, amused.] An apology from a friend is spoken before words are said. [He holds his hand out to her again.] We ought to keep moving.

[notpeterparker]

[He'll get a smile in return, although it's a nervous one. She quickly grabs his hand again and let him take the lead again. This time she tries to be a little braver - she'll keep her eyes open and her camera ready. Or at least she'll try too.

They manage to get further without too much trouble, but one of the rooms ahead that they need to get through has one of these guys hanging around, along with a thick cloud of poisonous air. Carol almost steps inside, but takes a sudden step backwards and coughs. She can see a monster in there, but it doesn't look like it's going to move to attack them.]

I don't think my camera's going to work on that.

[inhumanity]

[Benign, serene, Christopher only smiles.] It looks like we need a breath of fresh air. This is exactly why plants are so important in a place without Nature's blessing.

[And he strides inside without flinching. It's like the poison doesn't hurt his lungs (though it does, fires calling up a dozen half-buried memories that he'll fight to keep underground) and he doesn't hesitate first to cut the monster up, careful not to puncture its lungs, and then to stand in the centre.

There, he spins his umbrella by the hook, around and around over his head, drawing in the poison. He would like to cough, but then, the trick probably won't work if he does. So he reminds his body to endure its suffering, until he has the air clear enough that, for a moment, even a human child's lungs could endure it.

Christopher hops to the side.] Now a picture, and we'll run through!

[notpeterparker]

[She wants to call out to him the moment he walks in, because even she knows the air inside is bad. And as much as she's afraid for him, she tells herself that she has to trust him. He must know what he's doing, so she has to trust him. But still...

At his command, she lifts the camera.]

O-okay!

[She also knows she has to be brave for him too, which is why she doesn't flinch or hesitate when he tells her to snap the picture. Their path will only be clear for a few seconds until the camera's effects wear off, but they can easily make it if they run.]

[inhumanity]

[And so they do. Christopher quickly slams the door shut behind them, but when he exhales, he doesn't cough. He breathes normally, knowing that his lungs can recover from as slight a pain as this. He is made stronger than this.

Christopher grins and gives a triumphant bow.] Now, now, hold back your applause: this is no time to say how very impressed you are by me. We have to return to the living quarters posthaste.

[notpeterparker]

[She doesn't applaud or look pleased, even though it was a pretty impressive feat. She'll wait for him to finish his bow before reaching for his hand again.]

That was very brave, Mr. Christopher, but are you all right? You were breathing in all that toxic air!

[It seemed like he was all right, but she's concerned anyway.]

[inhumanity]

[He waves his free hand to dismiss the entire subject.] The only kind of toxicity that bothers me is the poisonous words of people who can't appreciate either my personal charm or nature's bountiful beauty.

[notpeterparker]

[She frowns. Not that she really understands what he's saying, but she still feels bad.]

Well, if you're all right...

[She pauses and looks down.]

I'm sorry, Mr. Christopher. This wouldn't have happened if you weren't escorting me back.

[inhumanity]

[Christopher pats her once on the head, dismissing the entire idea.] Keep moving, Carol! The flowers spare no moment for regret so neither shall we.

[notpeterparker]

[...He's right. They're both okay and that's that important part, so she gives him a nod and lets him lead again. She hopes that will be the last of the monsters, at least.]