Phantasmal Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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phantasmalrift2018-02-12 06:00 am
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmalrift2018-02-12 06:00 am
IC INTRO - FEB
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;
Finally, those who adventure into either kitchen will find a box of plain donuts left out on the counters.
TRADING POST
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!
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
UP
They seem almost nervous now, though.]
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[
I had to.In any case, Prompto's as skittish and unnerved as Down is, there in the back, but he's got to know.]
None of our phones are working.
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My apologies, I wasn't... using slang. I was introducing myself.
[Help???]
no subject
[Wakarimasen. Prompto shifts his weight uneasily from foot to foot, sure he's missing something, then tilts his head the other way, still grimacing in confusion.]
Call you up... Call you "Up"? You mean that's your name? Up?
no subject
[Maybe you're the weird one, Prompto, says the look the android is trying to give you.]
no subject
[Says mamahecking Quick Silver.]
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[Just gonna hide a little more of himself behind this conveniently placed stack of inventory in a hat.]
no subject
[Somehow that... isn't sarcastic? Somehow.]
And you are...?
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So, uh, you're... a robot? You and your siblings?
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[Gulp.]
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[IS HE OKAY]
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Oh. O-okay. [That's still not great, but, you know. Better than --EPISODE PROMPTO SPOILERS REDACTED--.] So like, helpful robots. Androids. Droidbots.
no subject
...Yes.
[BE MATURE, UP, YOU'RE THE MATURE ONE.]
no subject
Then do you know why the sky's all messed up? Or if my friends are here? We were all together, last thing I knew.
no subject
[A pause.]
If they aren't with you now, then I can only hope that they are still in the world you came from.
no subject
...Yeah. Guess you're right. So, I can't just, I don't know, go back the way I came?
no subject
[Not that they dislike you or anything Prompto, but.]
If there was a way to control Fissures at all beyond trying to stabilize them, our job would likely be much easier.
no subject
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...And it will keep them from pulling anyone else in.
[So at least your friends can stay at home safe, Prompto.]
no subject
Right. So, uh, how do you stabilize something like that? Seems, I don't know. Complicated.
no subject
Yeah, well, now you've seen that look on the face of an android.]
It's exceedingly complicated, especially because we have to do different calculations for every Fissure. It's largely a matter of balancing the magic out with some of ours, but of course that requires will normally, and even we can't function on a constant basis... The control spindles in the stabilizers have to be calibrated by hand, but luckily we can reuse the calculations across the same Fissure...
[Jargon jargon technobabble.]
no subject
...Uh-huh.
[Yup.]
Magic spindles. Got it.
no subject
...Ah, I suppose that was a bit technical, wasn't it.
[Up, please.]
The short version is that we use magitek computers to actively balance out the disruptive magic. It doesn't eliminate everything, but it comes out close to zero to make reality appear stable in the immediate area.
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