phantasmalrift | INTRO LOG

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:]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He keeps his gaze on her for a moment, then turns away, staring at the space in front of him.]

Our side lost, our leader lost sight of what we were even fighting for at that point. [The edges of his jaws twitch, hints of his teeth bared, but he tries to maintain calmness.] Too many suffered, and for what? Those who allied with the winners to make themselves clean of the crimes they committed?

[Though his voice is ever a growl, this one carries a tone of determination opposed to anger.]

Something still has to change. But I won't put it in the hands of a single leader again.

[She smiles faintly, letting her eyes rest on the bookshelves without really focusing on any of the books. Perhaps she'd been a bit harsh. War is just...such a sore subject. But it is good to hear the determination in his voice. It gives her hope for his world.]

You must be careful not to cause more harm than good when you fight for peace and freedom, but it is not impossible to do. If there are more like you out there, I have no doubt that you will eventually succeed. So long as there are people who wish the world to heal and grow, it will do so.

[Time, persistence, and determination heal what is broken about the world. That is what she has told herself all these years and she still believes it.]

[He gives a brief nod of appreciation. He holds no doubts about the worth of his cause, and only slight ones about the methods he was using, but her words came as a reassurance that the path he was following was the right one.]

Thank you. It sounds like something you hold close to your heart.

[And that's where the value in it lies.]

It is. I come from a world that has been deeply affected by war. I have lost much to the whims of conflict, but I have also dedicated my life to healing the wounds that conflict has caused.

You are strong, Carnivac, to want to fight for what is right. Be careful you are never blinded to the other side of things and you will succeed, I am sure of it.

[A nod of respect.]

You too. I'm sorry that you have also had to go through this. If there's anything all worlds have in common, it's war, apparently.

[He's not too happy about the observation. The fact that oppression, injustice, and corruption seems to be rampant no matter where he looks is disheartening to say the least. It makes him wonder if there ever will be an end to it.

After a moment, he speaks again.]

In healing the wounds of conflict, would you suggest that amputation is sometimes the most necessary procedure?

[Angela considers her response very carefully before she looks at Carnivac directly.]

Sometimes there is nothing that can be done but to remove the source of the problem, yes. Though it is important to consider how the patient will be affected, as well. There will be consequences to such an action, and recovery may be slow or messy, depending on how heavily the patient relied on the amputated part beforehand. It is not an easy thing to do safely.

[Carnivac maintains that gaze until she's finished, and briefly looks away in thought. What she was saying made sense, and he didn't doubt that she'd have the experience to back it up.

He really needed to reflect on it further. Their plan had failed for a reason, after all. Maybe they were going about it too inelegantly. He'd have to take a more careful stance on who was involved, if nothing else.

And then what? Suppose he was successful? What consequences would it have?

Somehow, the worst one he can imagine is none at all.]

...I see.

[Looking back at her, he gives her a low bow of his head.]

I'll keep it in mind. I hope that the patient isn't the sort to regrow problematic parts either.

[Okay, maybe the metaphor's escaping him a little at this point.]

In my world, typically when one part of the body is removed, it is replaced with a bio-mechanical substitute. Prosthetic limbs can save a patient a lot of trouble during recovery, or even improve the quality of their lives. Not every loss has to be permanent.

[The subtext is "take leadership into your own hands, do not let anarchy fill the void you leave".]

[There is, of course, a very careful balance to be maintained to avoid becoming the next problem, but she's sure Carnivac has good intentions and is probably wary of that possibility himself. But the truth is that people follow structure better than complete freedom, and there would always be a few who disagreed, but anarchy was never a better option.]

[At least, that's the way she sees it.]

[He picked up on the subtext well enough.

There's a slight twitch in his nose of annoyance. He didn't trust the responsibility of power in anyone's hands, even his own. It seemed that, more often than not, the weight of power in the hands of a select few was the source of the problem.]

And that's where I disagree with your method of treatment.

[He says it with a respectful one. The two of them come from different worlds, after all. He's going to have to cope with differing worldviews, to a degree.]

But I'll remember to come to you should I ever need a limb replaced.

I can respect that. [She nods solemnly. The danger of leadership isn't lost on her, but her opinion stands. But different worlds and different roles within those worlds would have different things to say about conflict. It was only natural they'd disagree somewhere along the line.] Let us hope that no such situation arises here. Literal or figurative.

INTRO LOG - APRIL/MAY 18

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