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

CHARM

[personalityquarks]

[The android in red comes forward from the group, looking curiously at everyone. Unlike some of his siblings, Charm isn't hesitant to greet people.]

Hey, are you alright? I bet you have a lot of questions, huh.

[rhododendronhoney]

Yeah, definitely. [Cori rubs the back of her head.] Just what kind of world is this? It's not like anything I've seen.

It's not my world either! [Fern chirps from behind her.]

[personalityquarks]

Well, I mean, it's... damaged. It's not supposed to be like this.

[The android looks a little sheepish.]

[rhododendronhoney]

[Cori looks a bit confused.] I guess that has to do with the fissures and all the random things I found there? [She holds up an iPad still covered with gritty sand.]

[personalityquarks]

Yeah, exactly! They're cracks in the world.

[Less sheepish, now, almost excited. He knows what he's talking about with this one.]

And they bleed magic, and pull in... Well, anything you can think of, in theory. This is the first time we've ever found people, though.

[rhododendronhoney]

Huh, that sounds kind of like what was happening with our worlds! [Fern sounds excited at this connection, although Cori looks more thoughtful.]

Yeah, the part about cracks pulling things in...that was just between our own two worlds, though. And we knew it was one guy causing it, in the end...

[personalityquarks]

One person?

[That's, uh. Well that's kind of concerning.]

We don't know what's causing this. Trying to figure that out is why we were built.

[bulletnews]

Oh, certainly. I'm sure you have a lot more of an idea of what's going on than any of us.

[Including a few people she didn't manage to catch before.]

First, though, what exactly are you guys? I've seen a lot in my time, of course, but nothing like this.

[personalityquarks]

We're androids!

[Cheerful and helpful, that's Charm.]

I guess it's not surprising that you don't have anything like us in your world... Uh, what's the most advanced technology you do have? Are you up to computers yet?

[bulletnews]

I've heard the name, but only as an Outside World thing...

[Her understanding is that they're like shikigami.]

[personalityquarks]

Okay, well, the simplest explanation is that a computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically perform tasks or calculations. When you start getting more advanced, they can also be used to make decisions based on those sorts of calculations, and the most advanced can practically think on their own.

[Pause here, because is she following?]

[bulletnews]

A machine? That's pretty different from what I thought they were like. I'd always thought of them as kind of like shikigami.

[She understands, yes, but there's some preconceived notions going on here.]

[personalityquarks]

Nope, they're machines.

[He actually has no idea what a shikigami is MOVING RIGHT ALONG.]

Well, we're machines with some magic built in. That's why we're capable of making decisions more like a person - having feelings and preferences and that kind of stuff.

[fantasykiller]

Of course I'm not alright! Who in their right mind would be after being told they can no longer go back to their world!

[Touma was starting to hyperventilate.]

What the hell is a Fissure? You can't just drop weird terminology on people and except them to know what you're talking about! Does it have something to do with the overlapping Phases? Do they function similar to how cracks open up in the earth and I simply fell in? Is my world still intact? Are any Magic Gods involved in this or is this a phenomenon similar to how sparks are created from colliding Phases?

[personalityquarks]

[...Wow, dude, chill. Charm stands there with his hands hovering in a very human "what do I even do with this" posture as Touma goes off. If androids went cross-eyed, he'd definitely be crosseyed right now.]

...For all that you're complaining about dropping weird terminology on people, you just dropped a lot of it on me.

[He has no idea what like 80% of what you just said means.]

[fantasykiller]

...

[Touma stares at him for a moment. Of course he doesn't know what he's talking about. He's using terms from the Magic Side. It should have been obvious to him that an android from the Science Side would have no clue about what he was going on about.]

Never mind. Forget I said all that. Just please explain to me what Fissures are and how everyone got here.

[personalityquarks]

[Charm would, if he had said that aloud, point out that there isn't really a Magic Side or a Science Side for him.

But for now, he tilts his head a little at Touma, then shrugs. Okay, sure, dude.]

They're like... rips, in our reality. Really erratic magic. Because that reality is ripped, sometimes things from other realities fall in through the holes, where they overlap with other worlds enough. Usually it's just items, the sort of things that people don't really notice are lost, but we've been finding creatures for a couple of years now.

[fantasykiller]

Wait a minute! You know about magic!? Aren't you an android of some kind? This place doesn't really give off any vibes that indicate it's connected to the occult.

[Touma looks more confused about Charm casually acknowledging magic than the fact that he fell through a hole in reality.]

[personalityquarks]

...Yes?

[Is there like, some reason he shouldn't?]

I'd hardly call it occult, but magic is very much a part of this world. I wouldn't function without it.

[foolishjustice]

Quite a few, yes. For one, are you aware that the different layers of reality are overlapping in that Fissure?

[personalityquarks]

Yeah, that's one of the biggest problems. They're really tangled.

[foolishjustice]

I've noticed.

[Rubbing his forehead.]

It was actually quite difficult to ignore.

[personalityquarks]

I imagine it would be, if you've got perceptions that work like that. And, uh, are organic and capable of feeling pain from such things.

[foolishjustice]

Particularly in that case, yes. Strange-san gave me something for the headache, but it hasn't taken full effect yet.

Is there any chance that problem will extend to this area?

[personalityquarks]

We have redundant stabilizers set up - it's possible, but unlikely. Even if the station should lose power entirely, they have about twelve hours of battery.