IC INTRO - FEB

[phantasmods]

The first thing the new arrivals will see, as the sun sets, is a set of distant lights turning on - the roof of the Station, perched on the cliffs above the beach.

The next thing, probably, will be the exploratory drone, a flying chrome thing about the size of a horse, descending near them, wherever they are.

"I can't believe it spat out people this time," says a voice through the speakers - androgynous, somehow sounding young and old enough to be incredibly tired.

Another voice, almost identical but almost unmistakably that of a different speaker from the cheerful tone, says, "Worry about it later! Hey, do you want a ride?"

And with that, the door of the drone's cargo bay opens.

--> WELCOME, NEW ARRIVALS.

Drones drop characters off on the well-lit lower section of the roof, where a pair of tall, gangly humanoids meet them. The two are clearly artificial, formed of silver metal and white silicone, and perfectly identical... Except for their standing posture, which is very different.

The one on the right, a step further back, looks indisputably excited, and peers at the new arrivals curiously. The one on the left has a bag slung over their shoulder, clearly thrown together at the last moment and not completely closed. They take a step forward and say, in a calm tone, "Hello. My name is Strange. Do you have any injured?"

A few minutes after the characters start to arrive, a third android bursts out of the door into the station, exclaiming (in the same voice as the rest), "Here! Wear these!" before shoving a purple scarf at Strange and a red scarf at the curious one. The new android is already wearing an orange scarf.

Once all characters have been brought up, the remaining three androids arrive on the roof, wearing green, dark blue, and white scarves. The one in white hangs back a little from the others, while the one in blue carries themselves with authority.

"Welcome to Keystone Station," says the one in blue, in a voice that must have the volume enhanced to carry across the entire roof. "You may call me Up. My siblings and I have been maintaining the station in the absence of our creators, and researching the phenomenon that brought you here, which we call Fissures. ...I am sorry to say that we have no way to return you to your worlds at this time, so please accept our hospitality."

They bow, low at the waist, and that seems to be a signal to the rest of the group to break up and join the confused, milling group of new arrivals.

--> INDIVIDUAL NPC TOP-LEVELS

Strange - Charm - Top - Bottom - Up - Down

--> THE REST OF THE STATION

Once explanations have been made as much as they can be, the newly arrived characters are set loose to explore the station itself. The labs are currently closed off, as is the door down to the generator level, but characters are welcome to explore anywhere else they please.

The androids, too, depart the roof, each setting off with a distinct task in mind. Charm and Bottom can be found on the lowest accessible level, the two of them working magic on stored seeds long into the night in order to tempt the infant plants into growing. Up and Strange vanish into the labs, (which open to characters the next day, the biology lab having been converted to a medical bay, along with the generator level).

Top and Down, meanwhile, make their home in the central gathering room of the residential floor for the night. Down is distributing network devices from a case at their side, while Top is noting down character housing arrangements and who is taking which of the station's rooms.

There's also a table set up near them, which is covered in a variety of snack foods that characters can grab and munch on before they head off for the night. Most of the packages have sand or dried salt clinging to them, indicating well enough their origins, and the expiry dates are of course all over the place even on the snacks characters might recognize... But it's certainly something to eat, isn't it?

--> THE NEXT MORNING

When characters come into the common room the next day, there's a set of large boxes on either side of the couch-filled lower area. One side is full of clothes of approximately modern Earth origin, loosely sorted by fit. A note tacked to the boxes says Limit yourself to one outfit, please!

The boxes on the other side of the room are empty. A clip-board set on a white folding table in the middle has a piece of paper and a black pen strung to it;

Trading Post

Found something you don't want? Leave it here in case someone else does.

If you're looking for something specific, scribble it down on this pad with your name!

Finally, those who adventure into either kitchen will find a box of plain donuts left out on the counters.

TRADING POST

Comments

DOWN

[personalityquarks]

[The final android, still trying to tie their white scarf to their satisfaction, hangs back near the door into the station. They glance that way frequently, almost as though looking for an escape. Someone's shy.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Astolfo’s target is spotted: the android looking least enthusiastic about the prospect of interaction. He bounds up to them with an excited energy.]

Hi-! I’m Astolfo, class rider! You have a name too, right?

[personalityquarks]

[Oh no help they should have stayed inside. Small startle at Astolfo's voice is happening now.]

Um, yes. Please call me Down.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[The startle just get a slight laugh from Astolfo, not a mean spirited one, it feels more endeared.]

Nice to meet you, Down! [Seeing as the android's hands are preoccupied with their scarf, he chooses to simply pat their shoulder rather than shake their hand.] What are you, a golem of some kind? What is this place? What are we doing here?

[Please, slow down Astolfo.]

[personalityquarks]

[With the quickness of someone trying to keep up who is obviously unprepared to do so - ]

I'm am android, this is Keystone Research Station, and you're here because we couldn't leave you all inn the Fissure, you would probably have died very quickly.

[riderofcharlemagne]

[He nods with each answer. You're doing great, Down.]

The Fissure thing...the other guy said that's what brought us here, right? What are they?

[personalityquarks]

[THEY'VE GOT THIS? MAYBE?]

They're... gaps in reality. Like if everything in the world was a piece of fabric - Fissures would be rips in that?

[Does that. Make literally any sense at all.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[...Kind of? Kind of.]

So did we just end up falling in them and now we're here?

[personalityquarks]

[Kind of is good enough?]

Yes.

[Sorry did you expect more words from the shy one.]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[It’ll do for now.]

I don’t remember falling into anything, though...

Re: DOWN

[have_hat_will_travel]

[The oddly-dressed woman was curious about the equipment Down was distributing... So right up to him she walked.]

Her, hello. What's the magic item you have there?

[... Technology isn't advanced enough on her world to make her think anything like a network could be anything but magical yet, please don't hurt her!]

[personalityquarks]

Hmm? Magitek, not straight magic.

[It's a smartphone - Down holds it up awkwardly to show the screen.]

They're communication devices designed for use in the Fissures. Something that just had magic might behave erratically.

[have_hat_will_travel]

... Okay, I don't know much about the Fissures, but please clarify on magic being erratic in Rifts. May I.... Look at the device itself?

[personalityquarks]

[Down hands it over without another word. Experiment away!]

I don't know what there is to clarify. Magic functions oddly sometimes when it interacts with other magic, and the Fissures are highly magical places. It's not possible to predict exactly how, because each Fissure is different.

[have_hat_will_travel]

... In other words, the rules aren't consistent.

Great.

[She kinda fumbles with the device.]

... So this thing is. I'm going to guess centuries beyond my world's technology level? Any advice for how to learn how to use it?

[personalityquarks]

Most of the functions are touch-activated. You slide your finger around the screen like this...

[Down pulls out another of the phone-type devices and demonstrates.]

[have_hat_will_travel]

[Pidonus nodded, matching Down's motion fairly accurately. The glove on her hand happens to have the right capacitance for screens, thankfully...]

[personalityquarks]

Since it's designed for communication, it's got functions for video, voice, and text. There's also an application to take notes for yourself, a clock, and a few other things.

[dubiouslychthonic]

[There's a brief flicker of an array of capchalogue cards at Jetshard's hand as she crosses the common room toward Down; by the time she reaches them, her sylladex is closed again and her tablet computer is in her hand.]

Excuse me - you'd be the sysadmin around here, right?

[She's pretty sure she's overheard as much - hey, it'd be dumb not to keep half an ear on what everyone else is freaking out about when they're all stranded anyway - but it seems right to at least make motions toward not just assuming she's figured everything out on her own.]

[personalityquarks]

Yes, that's me.

[Down seems a little less shy, now, actually being approached about their specialty.]

Did you need something?

[dubiouslychthonic]

I was wondering if it might be possible to connect an existing device to the station's communications? Or at least arrange an upload to the station servers? I offered Strange some medical reference documents and I didn't consider until later that I'm not certain I can actually loan those out without handing over the whole tablet...

[personalityquarks]

Oh! Well, it depends somewhat on the technology level, but it shouldn't be completely impossible... May I?

[A hand extended for the tablet.]

[dubiouslychthonic]

Of course. [She hands it over readily; she'd kind of figured she'd need to before she asked.

It's, well, troll tech. Implausibly compatible with 21st century human technology while still being at least partly biotech. Why does something with a bulbous, leathery outer case have a micro USB port and headphone jack? We just don't know.]

[personalityquarks]

[Because it was probably back-designed from SBURB/SGRUB tech like apparently a huge portion of Homestuck Earth Technology?

who knows anyway what the fuck is this biotech garbage. This is Down, squinting at it.]

I can ... probably work with this, but it might take a day or two, and honestly the solution will probably involve at least some level of magitek.

[dubiouslychthonic]

[Sorry Down, it's not her fault her civilization builds things out of weird bugs half the time.]

I understand. I thought it might be kind of a long shot, anyway.