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

[cyclicalconcept]

Pizza

[And when the time comes, she starts getting a piece of pizza. Then another. And another. And come bits of calzones. Seriously. Six plates worth of it. Why? Why?? Can she even eat all of it?

...Who knows. She's thoughtfully munching on a Hawaiian slice right now.]

...Pineapple?

[H u h.]


Sleep

[Its kind of weird. This girl, whoever she is, doesn't fall asleep or look tired. Maybe she just slept a lot with the sheep? Maybe. Maybe she's just not tired.

...

Or maybe she's just going to set up in the nearest comfortable chair and sleep, kittehfly on her shoulder. Which is exactly what she's doing. And soon enough, she's snoring. Do not disturb. It's Not Time Yet. Surely you know this?]


Library

[Pizza slice(s) in hand, the next day Kana is in the library, and she's picked a random fiction book. At first, she looks content; however, as the moments pass, she begins to look more perplexed - maybe even alarmed - as she continues to turn the pages.

Her face begins to turn red.]

U-um. This...this is a very strange book...?

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. ]

[cyclicalconcept]

Huh?

[She turns to look at the other, blinking.]

Oh, not at all. I actually like it just fine. I've just never had pineapple on pizza.

[blackestwitch]

It's an American classic. The Hawaiian pizza can trace its roots back to the one good beach state, and makes up an important part of the country's staple food groups.

...It does have ham too, right?

[cyclicalconcept]

Mmm-mmm. Mmmm...

[She might be chewing another bit of that pizza.]

Mmm?

[blackestwitch]

[ She can't see what kind Kana is eating, so she has to be sure. ] Pineapple on pizza by itself is pretty weird. A true Hawaiian is pineapple and ham.

[ . . . . . ]

Pineapple and pepperoni is pretty good too, though.

[cyclicalconcept]

[Gulp! She's eating the pineapple and ham.]

Really? I...don't know if I saw that one on the table...

[blackestwitch]

Most places wouldn't carry that. I would assume, like, cheese, pepperoni, meat lovers, and Hawaiian, from a buffet. Maybe ultimate. White sauce if they're being fancy.

Nothing with mushrooms, I hope. I haven't checked, though.

[cyclicalconcept]

I saw a few plates with mushrooms, actually.

You don't like them?

[blackestwitch]

Oh, good. I'll have to keep an, uh, nose out for those.

Although honestly it's less of a taste thing, and more of a texture? My hands to go over my food a lot and just... have you ever touched a mushroom? Gross.

.....And they don't taste great either.

[cyclicalconcept]

I don't think they're so bad...though I've never had mushrooms on pizza before. I do have a slice right now, though.

[And that is the sound of a place being placed away from you!]

[blackestwitch]

...How many slices do you have? [ Maddie can't be properly impressed with Kana's spread when she can't see it. But she's getting the impression she has more slices than needed. ]

[cyclicalconcept]

One of every pizza?

There wasn't a pizza place where I was before...

Library

[theosophomoric]

[Sonja's not far off, browsing the shelves herself, with her pet squid/dog hybrid monstrosity plodding along beside her because, well, no one's told her not to bring the rubbery hound into the library and like hell is she going to leave the animal cooped up in her room all the time.

She can't help grinning at Kana's outburst, although she doesn't look up from her own perusal of the shelf in front of her.]

Interesting read?

[cyclicalconcept]

Sort...of?

[She's pretty red.]

I don't...know...what's going on anymore.

[theosophomoric]

[Ok well now she is going to have to look over and see what exactly the kid's got her hands on.]

How so?

[cyclicalconcept]

Well, I. I think it's about a guy who was in an accident? And has amnesia? But I'm not so sure anymore.

[The book?

Atlanta Nights.

Honestly, this seems like something Seven would write just to mess with Yotsuyu and get her to go to sleep.

...

She checks the author again. Hm.]

[theosophomoric]

[Well, that sounds like a solid enough premise, but solid premise doesn't necessarily imply solid prose. Or that the author has the ability to plot their way out of an open door. She's... well, she was curious to begin with, but she's even more curious now.] May I see?

[cyclicalconcept]

Mm.

[Here...you go?]

[theosophomoric]

[By the end of the first page, she's frowning to herself.

By the end of the third, she's flipping back to look at the first again.]

This is most definitely the worst damn prose I've ever read, and I got cornered by Mr. Pages at a party once. Was the author blackmailing the publisher or something?

[cyclicalconcept]

Mr...Pages?

I don't know. I've never heard of Travis Tea before this.

[theosophomoric]

Ah, that's right, you wouldn't be familiar with the Masters. Suffice to say it's an important personage back home, and prone to taking fairly profound liberties with the English language.

[She sighs, flipping idly through the book, as if it's suddenly going to improve in quality near the middle. It doesn't.]

Travis Tea sounds like a pseudonym to me, anyway. At least, I hope his parents didn't name him that.

[cyclicalconcept]

[Its even missing a chapter, how]

I mean, maybe it is, but it's always possible it's his real name, right?

The Masters...no, I can't say I am.

[theosophomoric]

Probably for the best you're not. The ones that aren't annoying are terrifying. Some of them are both. [There aren't a great deal of things that genuinely frighten Sonja, and in fact most of the extant masters only make her nervous, but she's still in no hurry to openly cross them.

She weighs the book a little in her hand, frowning at it as if the sheer incompetence of the prose is going to make it sprout fangs.] Did you want this back? Honestly I think I'd suggest finding something else to read.

[cyclicalconcept]

Really? That's...huh.

Yeah...ah, I will look for another book, but maybe I should keep this one in my room.

[protect the world from Travis Tea]