( 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

[charming_jerk]

Are we even makin' a dent in 'em out there? Those things are everywhere. I must've taken out... I dunno, I lost count. [He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, trying to relax. It wasn't going to help much.] I fuckin' hate zombies.

[alittlesweptup]

['You and everyone else' might be worth repeating, but Charlie's not that much of a knob end, so:] Can't imagine they're anyone's favorite, though-- [Charlie makes a slight face, quirks an eyebrow] --takes all sorts.

The AI's been helping to clear them out though, yeah? Seems quieter doing supply runs anyway.

[charming_jerk]

I've had enough 'a supply runs. Been doin' them every day for two weeks straight now. And here I thought fightin' stuff would be a nice change, but shit. This is the second time zombies've shown up since I been brought here, too.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie snorts.] At least last time we had a whole bloody city to run about it instead of being stuck in a tin can alongside them.

[Limited supplies, zombies, throwing them on the mood when it was pretty damn likely the UE had eyes up here as well- it's like the Initiative was trying to shoot themselves in the foot.]

[charming_jerk]

Yeah. Never thought I'd miss that hellhole. Surprise surprise. But at the rate we're goin', we're never gonna get it back.

[He's quiet for a moment, lost in thought, before speaking again.] 'N am I the only one who thinks it's pretty fucked up that the Initiative has the gall to keep bringin' new people here durin' all this shit?

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie's quiet for a second, weighing that. Because he's been thinking it, but no one else has really talked about it.]

No, you're not. [Is what he finally says.] Just means we're shorter on supplies, which leaves us farther up shit creek - makes it harder to focus on fixing things downstairs.

[charming_jerk]

Like we got time to go get new supplies with zombies breathin' down our necks. Jeez.... At the rate we're goin', we're never gonna get to fixin' things on the ground. How we gonna fight the UE and fix this shit when we can't even get our act together up here?

[alittlesweptup]

We're not. [Is the simple, cruelly honest response that gets out of Charlie. He pauses, studying Johnny over the edge of the tablet - frowns slightly.]

What'd you say your name was again?

[charming_jerk]

Nah. You're right. [Johnny falls quiet for a moment. He looks distant until Charlie asks him his name.]

Oh, uh, don't think I did. Johnny. Johnny D'Amico.

[alittlesweptup]

Cutter. [He absently tabs through a few files on his tablet, mostly as an excuse to do something with his hands. After a long beat Charlie throws Johnny another sidelong glance.] Someone ought to do something about this train wreck.

[On its own, it's a perfectly innocent statement - gently probing. It's not collusion if the other person jumps to the right conclusion on their own, right?]

[charming_jerk]

Y'got that fuckin' right. [There's not even a hesitation in his answer.] But what the hell can we do? Low on supplies and stuck on the moon, our only home base on the ground nuked off the map. Man... [He sighs tiredly and shakes his head.] Things have been pretty fucked since I got here, but I never thought things would ever get this bad.

[alittlesweptup]

[Charlie makes a low, thoughtful noise of agreement. He shoots Johnny a sidelong glance, but doesn't maintain eye contact for more than a beat or two before glancing away again.]

Whoever's got control of the transporter runs the show anyway. There'd be no point in trying to do much without that first.

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny thinks it over. He sees where this guy is going.] Okay, let's say someone does that. So then what do they do with it? Right now, we got some pretty specific problems to fix that don't seem to be gettin' fixed fast enough. It's hard enough keepin' up on supplies.

[alittlesweptup]

Hypothetically? [Because that's all they're doing here. Theorizing.] Use it to put leverage on the Initiative until they agree to work with us in a more significant way - transports in war meetings, some kind of organizational structure that does more than just hand messages down through some lawyer with a comb over.

[Sorry, Saul Goodman.]

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny grins at that last comment.] Yeah. Get some shit done around here instead of just jumpin' through hoops to get nowhere. We're treadin' water here pretty badly, and we can't keep it up forever.

[alittlesweptup]

Exactly. [That's emphatic enough to mean something and the way Charlie schools his expression the moment after doesn't exactly detract from that.]

Though I imagine it's one of those things that would have to be kept quiet; most people would want to sort it out in endless meetings and that sort of thing first - never mind that we've probably got the UE breathing down our necks as we speak.

[charming_jerk]

We can't think the UE can't find us up here. It might slow 'em down from catchin' up to us. Or they may just sit back 'n watch the show as we all slowly die up here. Whatever they're doin', I'm sure it ain't being blind to what we're up to.

[alittlesweptup]

If they don't know we're here already, their robot overlord is more useless than I could've imagined. [Because they'd stolen a goddamn space ship from the UE; if they weren't monitoring the skies in the hours before they launched their nukes--

Charlie taps the top of his tablet absently, leaning internally on something he doesn't really want to put a name to. This is dangerous business and broaching it requires delicacy that he's not really sure he has.

When he does, Charlie doesn't look directly at Johnny. Like if he avoids the young man's direct eye line, he's got room to back pedal if he needs it:] You seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Maybe you ought to think about doing something about this nonsense.

[charming_jerk]

[Johnny does look at him right back, but then barks out a tired laugh at that last statement, grinning to himself.] Good head on my shoulders. Me. Right. Look, I do wanna do somethin', that's for sure. But a hotheaded idiot like me might not be the right guy for the job.

[He looks back at Charlie again, his tone slightly more serious now.] Maybe you are, though. Or maybe ya know someone who is.

Cuz somethin's gotta get done before it's too late.