INTRO LOG - APRIL/MAY 18

[phantasmods]

Eventually, Charm starts herding people towards the parked exploratory drone, a few at a time, mostly people who have finished their noodles or other business. "It's almost nightfall at the Station," he says, "and with this many new arrivals, we're going to have to make multiple trips."

(For those who might ask, he also explains that they've chosen not to stabilize the noodle shop for the time being, as the other androids will almost certainly want to speak to Viella, and have no other way of doing so, due to the fact that they don't dream. Aside from that small region, the Fissure is largely stable.)

It in fact takes four trips total to get everyone to the Station. Those of you who don't fall asleep on the way there - the minute you hit stable reality, the inability to sleep vanishes, and most will be hit with a wave of exhaustion - will find that the Station Annex, a building off to the side of the main station, has been finished, at least outwardly.

By the time the first group arrives, the sun is dipping towards the horizon; by the time the last gets there, it's set, leaving a few pink-tinted clouds in the sky. The drones drop everyone off (and that is everyone, even though of you who have fallen asleep) on the observation deck, where those of you who didn't get your fill of noodles will find several buffet-style tables set up with...

...Pizza? Yeah, pizza, in damn near every variety you can think of, including a few things that only loosely fall under the heading of "pizza." Half a table is full of calzones of various varieties; another significant chunk is things that are just desserts in the general shape of pizza, including a couple of iced cinnamon pastries, a pair of brightly-colored "pizzas" made of canned fruit over cream cheese, and a two-layer cake that's just decorated to look like a pizza, with strawberry jam and round slices of strawberry 'pepperoni' sandwiching yellow icing. Finally, the last third of the third table is just three baskets of breadsticks with varying amounts of cheese and garlic, accompanied by two turrens of dipping sauce (one white, one red) and a tower of little plastic dipping cups.

(Those who opt to head directly to bed will find that the banquet gets packed up and moved back to the kitchens around midnight, though it stays warm under a stasis enchantment for roughly the next day before someone packs the remainder into the fridge.)

In the common room, meanwhile, the usual boxes of clothes and trading post sign are set up. Unclaimed rooms can be claimed by writing your name in on a list set up next to the boxes, on what seems to be a broken music stand with a large ROOMS AVAILABLE sign hanging from it. There is also a rather hastily assembled, hand-poked Braille version of the sheet (with the paper punched through in one or two places).

Those who go looking will find that the androids are somewhat more absent than they usually are after an expedition; save obviously for Charm, and Strange who arrives on the deck as usual not long after, you'll have to go looking. Considering the amount of the station you have available, they could be just about anywhere... But perhaps it'd be worth checking over in that new building...?

[Mod note: Strange is the only NPC with a top-level this round, but others may respond to your top-levels, especially in the Annex areas! Consider it a fun surprise. c:]

Comments

[caduceusoncall]

I haven't met Jetshard, I do intend to introduce myself to them when things settle down a bit.

[Angela relaxes in turn - being in the presence of someone who she knows has common interests and goals is comforting in this strange environment. At the question she nods briefly before launching into a summary.]

I specialize in applied nanobiology. Our technology level is quite advanced, but perhaps not as advanced as this station's. We have pioneered breakthroughs in medical technology, particularly in cyber implants and stabilizing technology.

There are robots, though none quite as advanced as you and your siblings. We refer to them as omnics. Omnics are produced by omniums, automated robotics factories that were built with self-improving software algorithms which eventually became self-aware.

[She inhales deeply, trying to think of what else might be pertinent.]

Space travel and colonization is in its early stages, with the most recent experiment going very poorly. Space gorillas, as it turns out, can rebel in spectacularly violent ways. One of them is actually a pioneering scientist who has mastered personal time stabilization.

As for magic, I am of the opinion that it does not exist in my world. The Shimada family is known for their control over "spirit dragons" but I have never seen it in action. Omnic monks claim that they have souls. I suspect my opinion on the nature of a "soul" is probably clear.

[dubiouslychthonic]

Oh. That is a complication. [Alternian does have a similar textured script, she's pretty sure, but she's never learned to use it so she has no idea how close of an equivalent it is, or if it'd work with the translation effect. If she could read and write it. Which she can't.]

[myocordial]

[Boy yeah, that's even worse and Heart can't stop himself from looking very uncomfortable for a few moments.]

Nothing. I lost my train of thought, that's all.

[Because that's not a super transparent deflection or anything.]

Who made that?

[personalityquarks]

I don't think it will be too much a problem, but it is rather making everyone run around a bit scattered at the moment. Plus with all these new arrivals, Top has to go activate the second water purifier... And we only actually have the one label maker.

[meowna]

.....Oh.

[Palaces being mentioned snaps him to attention; he's clearly being talked to in an official Phantom Thieves capacity here. Palace stuff is way too important to discuss while half asleep.

What snags his interest almost as much, though, is the way Izunia's summoning and unsummoning drinks like that. Does he..... also have that new power Akechi does? Is he just pulling things out of an inventory? Excuse him as he watches you intently in an effort to figure things out.]

[fistsofchange]

Mistakes are made

Bai Lin had never had pizza in her life. Most of her diet had been rice, with minimal servings of vegetables or meat or tofu for nutrition. So when she got close to the observation deck and smelled the pizza, she perked up. When she saw all the food arrayed before her, her eyes got very wide.

Five minutes later, she had a plate with no less than four pieces of pizza stacked on it, all different kinds, as well as a selection of some of Cori's cookies.

Consequences are suffered

Well.

She put a big dent in her rather ambitious dinner. You can see her plate lying next to her, with only part of the last slice (meat lover's) remaining. Lin herself was lying down on a couch somewhere out of the more populated parts of the research station, with one hand covering her eyes and the other resting on her stomach, which was making distressing noises. Too much food was not a problem she was used to dealing with, and ESPECIALLY foot this rich.

She peeked up from under her hand when she heard someone nearby. "...It was worth it."

[fistsofchange]

[Lin picked one of the cookies up curiously.]

What is it?

[caduceusoncall]

[Angela blinks. The cat does not disappear, so she doubts it's a hallucination. And she isn't that tired yet. At the voice, her head swivels. She notices the cane almost immediately and is relieved to know that she won't accidentally tell a blind person to keep an eye on something again.]

[It's habit to smile politely, even though the girl can't see it. Her hand pulls back, unsure if the cat is going to fight her for the slice and not willing to pick that particular battle.]

Ah, hello. Is this your cat?

[It's pretty obviously her cat, but like. Icebreakers are hard.]

couch

[nojohnyouare]

...Too much?

[Mai ate just as much, but she seems to be taking it better, sitting down and watching the group.]

It's good.

[dubiouslychthonic]

I can do longer hours in the medbay until we get it sorted, if you have other things you need to be attending to?

[fistsofchange]

It was very good.

[founderinglight]

[Lucky for Heart, he's too tired to pursue it. Later he's going to ask someone what the fuck the deal is with the cookies, though.]

...Coriander, probably.

[This likely answers little to nothing.]

[founderinglight]

[Sadly for Morgana, Izunia isn't awake enough to realize that that's what the cat's attention is on.]

...He has details. M' a mess.

[That's. A surely effective explanation. Of things that are relevant.]

[blackestwitch]

[ Maddie's first stop is to the sign-in sheet, and then up to her new room. And then, since the room's kitchen isn't stocked and also can hardly be called a kitchen, she's in the actual kitchen on the residential floor. Somebody might find her sifting through the dry product, opening bags or bottles and taking a sniff of the contents to try and figure out what they are. A cat watches helplessly from a nearby counter. Occasionally, when she finds something she can actually identify, she'll tear the label slightly, leaving it a quarter torn.

However, putzing around in the kitchen mostly left her hungry and she didn't have enough time to try and figure out these particular appliances, so she found herself at the pizza buffet sooner rather than later. Without her backpack, her cat seems to be leading the way, walking between tables and chairs and people and letting out several soft meows as he does. She does also have out her white cane, slowly swinging it in front of her as she walks, so watch your shins.

After finding their way to the good tables (regular pizza) the cat moves onto, well, the tables. He goes between pizzas and meows next to a couple different flavors - cheese, pepperoni, hawaiian. The usual assortment. Feel free to tell her that cats don't belong on buffet tables.


If you catch her the next day, she'll be mostly be exploring the station. Not the annex, she hasn't moved on that far yet. But exploring is a more time-intensive affair when you don't see where you're going. Catch her in the kitchens, the farms, generators, viewing deck, or the roof. She has the good sense to keep her head out of the labs and command center, at least.

Also, she'll be wearing this shirt on the second day. Make of that what you will. ]

[meowna]

[Have a cute little mascot headed your way, Strange. He looks a little uncertain--who would actually want to subject themselves to a vet visit if they don't have to?--, but Cori had pointed him out, so.....]

Hey, you're the doctor here, right?

[blackestwitch]

[ Maddie is a little startled - she hadn't realized somebody was right there, oops - but suddenly people being there that you didn't know was there is kind of something you get used to, so she doesn't show much surprise. ]

Oh, yeah. That's Zel. He's my, uh, seeing eye cat. [ On the table, Zel meows in agreement. Then, seeing Mercy pull her hand back, accepts the gesture as a token of surrender and nabs the slice of pizza. He actually takes it over to a plate on the edge of the table, close to where Maddie is.

Under her breath, the girl mutters, ] You didn't need to grab the pizza for me.

[honededge]

[It wasn't a threat! Just a...warning. And the gun isn't pointed at them! Talon's shoulders relax a bit, though, because he's starting to catch on that Down is just the equivalent of a civilian. He kind of assumed the androids were more like authority figures at the station.]

I'm not...gonna shoot you, you realize that, right?

[fistsofchange]

Lin produced a children's Make-Your-Own gummies set, with worm and bug shaped molds for trade. Almost all of the actual candy is gone, but you could probably make a few more. She also included a set of classy black goth fingernails, still in the box.

[meowna]

.....I can tell. You should hurry back to bed once you eat.

[I mean, you're not wrong, but. He didn't mean that kind of mess, Mona.....]

pizza prompt

[blackestwitch]

Do you have something against pineapple on pizza?

[ Here comes a GIRL WITH OPINIONS. Also a white cane, the kind used by the blind.

And a cat. The cat is riding on the girl's shoulders for now. ]

[myocordial]

...Right. Of course.

[A name he doesn't recognize, because why did he expect anything meaningful.]

A lot of new names to get acquainted with, I suppose.

[personalityquarks]

We actually don't have overly much development in your specialities, nor in space travel and the like. Most of the immediately recent technological development was in response to the Fissures, so there's a great deal of analytic technology but not much of a focus on the medical industry or the micro-scale.

At the Station specifically, we have a bio-oriented molecular arranger and that's about the sum total of our nanobiology. We mostly use it to reproduce seeds and cuttings for food crops at the moment, though in theory it can reproduce something up to the size of a moderately large animal - a horse or similar large livestock, for example.

[Strange smiles faintly.]

As for the matter of souls... My siblings and I were created to be as close to 'human' as possible in all regards save our biology or lack thereof. So, for whatever it's worth, I think it not impossible.

Most of my magic is analytical in nature, though I have a functional enough ability with healing magic.

[personalityquarks]

That's me, yes.

[At least Strange doesn't seem at all disturbed by Morgana being Morgana, though the height difference is... Oompf. It's a thing.]

Call me Strange. How can I help you?

KITCHENS

[personalityquarks]

[There's the sound of hurried footsteps and wooden beads hitting something as they swing freely, before a voice - the same as Strange's and yet not, the tone different and a little panicked - speaks up.]

Ah - I'm sorry, I was just coming to label those for you!

[This is in fact a flustered-seeming android carrying a Braille labelmaker.]

roof

[nojohnyouare]

...

[Maddie will hear footsteps behind her that stop a few paces back.]

Hello. ...A lot to look over.