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where we're going--
✖ EVENT HORIZON
Ⅰ. ARRIVAL
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
There has always been some confusion as to whether or not the ferry cuts through sea or sky, but this month as you glide along you will find yourself more and more convinced that it is the latter. It is nigh impossible to see where you are headed, the way forward shrouded in darkness.
At first you think the lights ahead are stars.
The ferry docks inside of a metallic bay of some kind. It’s an extension of what must be the island, although this one does not resemble any earthly land mass. It appears to be a deliberately constructed structure, contained on all sides. Maybe you’re familiar enough with technology or science fiction enough that you realise it resembles a space station more than an island.
Once you’ve disembarked from the ferry, you will find that you cannot go outside of the structure.
Inside, there are seemingly endless corridors for you to explore. The halls on the upper deck are rounded, metallic, with lights set at regular intervals. Here there are chambers roughly the length and width of a single bed, with sufficient height for a person to crawl in and sit up on the bed. There is a television screen set in the wall at the foot of the bed by the door, and sockets for electronics. That is all.
Also on this floor is a mess hall where you can get beige, mostly tasteless nutritional sludge dispensed from machines. Water and coffee are also available, likewise dispensed from machines. (There is a cookbook hidden on a shelf written by one Serak the Preparer, but no ingredients anywhere.) There are private showers and bathrooms, a small gym, and rooms clearly meant as places for people to sit and talk. There is a medical bay, although there is no staff. In fact, the whole place seems empty.
There are some rooms that are locked - these look like offices. The doors to these rooms are extremely difficult to break down, but if you have superhuman strength you could manage it. Or maybe you’re clever enough to work the electronic panels beside the doors.
Inside you will find round monitors on the walls and square tablet-like devices on desks. Attempt to work any of these and a soft, pleasant but emotionless voice will inform you that you do not have access. You can try to speak to the AI - called MUTHER - but it is supremely uncooperative. Someone very good with technology could use the tablet the old fashioned way, perhaps, to access files. You might want to be careful, though - MUTHER might decide to retaliate. Harshly.
There doesn’t seem to be a temple anywhere readily apparent.
Ⅱ. CONSCIENCE
CW: psychological trauma, threat of death.
It’s easy to get lost; nearly identical corridors branch off from one another. As you walk along you gradually become convinced that someone is following you. Periodically you’ll hear footsteps, a sigh, a rustle of cloth. But every time you turn around you see nothing… unless it’s one of your fellow Travelers. Or maybe you run into them because you’re so busy looking over your shoulder.
Regardless, as you walk along the lights in the corridor flicker, and when they turn back on you will find someone you know standing directly in your path. Someone who you know absolutely cannot be there.
Maybe they died. Maybe you haven’t spoken in years. Whoever they are, the feeling they inspire within you is one of intense guilt. You did something to this person, something for which you think you can never be forgiven.
The apparition might speak, or it might just watch you with silently accusing eyes. You begin to wither under its gaze, feeling weaker and weaker until you can barely stand. You just want to lay on the floor and close your eyes… maybe forever.
Your fate rests in the hands of whoever is with you or finds you. All they have to do is introduce a smidgen of doubt into your mind, a recognition that maybe it isn’t all your fault. Of course, that means you might have to tell them what you did.
Oh, dear.
Ⅲ. STOWAWAY
CW: monstrous creatures.
The lower decks of the station are darker, more utilitarian looking. These are corridors that lead to rooms full of computers and machinery that keep the station running so it’s probably best to keep out of there.
There are also storage bays filled with both prosaic wooden crates and large metallic pods. Most of these are locked up tight. But not all. Investigate some of the pods and you’ll find that the floor around them is wet with some sort of milky, slimy substance that sure seems like it came from a living organism.
Maybe you should get out of here.
Before you can get good and gone to the upper decks, however, you find exactly what you probably didn’t want to unless you have a very exciting Tinder profile: an alien.
At least eight feet tall, with pale almost translucent skin, the creature has an elongated skull and a mouth that hosts two sets of jaws like a moray eel. It has a whiplike tail and spiky protrusions along its upper back. It is bipedal, and very, VERY fast.
Better hope you’ve got something to fight with! Your chances of survival are definitely greater if you work with a partner.
And you better hope there’s just the one.
Ⅳ. TEMPLE
CW: potential insanity, violence.
If you wander the dark lower decks long enough, you will find yourself moving ever inward toward the very center of the station. There is a door there that is supposed to be locked, but often isn’t. It’s waiting for you, beyond that door and down a dark corridor: the station’s heart.
The room the solitary corridor opens into is round, walls sloping gently up to a domed ceiling. In the middle of the room is a machine of some kind: a series of concentric thick metal rings rotate in different directions around a sphere. The only noise it makes is the gentle swooshing of the circles as they spin out, up, around.
The air feels heavy and charged. It’s not pleasant.
Before you can leave, all of the rings line up so that they appear to radiate out from the sphere in the center. Light flares, and then in the space where the sphere once was you can see it:
Home.
It’s your homeworld, perhaps exactly as you left it, or perhaps earlier or later along in the timeline. It may be pleasant, or it may be awful, but it is undeniably the place from which you came. The place where you belong.
Stare into this portal home long enough and the compulsion to return will slip over you. You just need to jump into the glowing, trembling center of that dimensional gate.
Whoever is with you, however, realises that leaping headfirst into an unknown dimension might not be the smartest idea you’ve ever had, especially considering how ominous the whole place feels. They might be able to talk you down. Hopefully they can talk you down, because the longer you stare at the portal the more convinced you become that you MUST leap into it, and the only way to do so is to kill whoever is trying to get in your way.
If instead you turn away from the dimensional gate, the lights will flare once more before the rings resume their movement. That brief glimpse of home is gone. In its place is the sound of soft voices; people you have left behind, calling out to you with accusations of things left undone, begging to be told why you won’t come home...
These voices will follow you throughout the ship. They are not constant, but they never leave you alone for very long. They won’t be silent until you give them an answer to the question of why you have chosen to remain.
Is anybody out there listening?
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
There has always been some confusion as to whether or not the ferry cuts through sea or sky, but this month as you glide along you will find yourself more and more convinced that it is the latter. It is nigh impossible to see where you are headed, the way forward shrouded in darkness.
At first you think the lights ahead are stars.
The ferry docks inside of a metallic bay of some kind. It’s an extension of what must be the island, although this one does not resemble any earthly land mass. It appears to be a deliberately constructed structure, contained on all sides. Maybe you’re familiar enough with technology or science fiction enough that you realise it resembles a space station more than an island.
Once you’ve disembarked from the ferry, you will find that you cannot go outside of the structure.
Inside, there are seemingly endless corridors for you to explore. The halls on the upper deck are rounded, metallic, with lights set at regular intervals. Here there are chambers roughly the length and width of a single bed, with sufficient height for a person to crawl in and sit up on the bed. There is a television screen set in the wall at the foot of the bed by the door, and sockets for electronics. That is all.
Also on this floor is a mess hall where you can get beige, mostly tasteless nutritional sludge dispensed from machines. Water and coffee are also available, likewise dispensed from machines. (There is a cookbook hidden on a shelf written by one Serak the Preparer, but no ingredients anywhere.) There are private showers and bathrooms, a small gym, and rooms clearly meant as places for people to sit and talk. There is a medical bay, although there is no staff. In fact, the whole place seems empty.
There are some rooms that are locked - these look like offices. The doors to these rooms are extremely difficult to break down, but if you have superhuman strength you could manage it. Or maybe you’re clever enough to work the electronic panels beside the doors.
Inside you will find round monitors on the walls and square tablet-like devices on desks. Attempt to work any of these and a soft, pleasant but emotionless voice will inform you that you do not have access. You can try to speak to the AI - called MUTHER - but it is supremely uncooperative. Someone very good with technology could use the tablet the old fashioned way, perhaps, to access files. You might want to be careful, though - MUTHER might decide to retaliate. Harshly.
There doesn’t seem to be a temple anywhere readily apparent.
Notes:
1. The High Temple and anything characters may have stored there is only accessible to those who are experiencing their first island outside of the TDM via a marked door. Everyone else must make do with what is available.
2. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.
3. The televisions play mostly game shows. You can also find a set of controllers for it and play Pong. Just Pong.
4. MUTHER will not deliberately kill any people on the station - her programming forbids it. She is not above releasing hallucinogenic gas into the air vents, though.
5. Have fun!
Ⅱ. CONSCIENCE
CW: psychological trauma, threat of death.
It’s easy to get lost; nearly identical corridors branch off from one another. As you walk along you gradually become convinced that someone is following you. Periodically you’ll hear footsteps, a sigh, a rustle of cloth. But every time you turn around you see nothing… unless it’s one of your fellow Travelers. Or maybe you run into them because you’re so busy looking over your shoulder.
Regardless, as you walk along the lights in the corridor flicker, and when they turn back on you will find someone you know standing directly in your path. Someone who you know absolutely cannot be there.Maybe they died. Maybe you haven’t spoken in years. Whoever they are, the feeling they inspire within you is one of intense guilt. You did something to this person, something for which you think you can never be forgiven.
The apparition might speak, or it might just watch you with silently accusing eyes. You begin to wither under its gaze, feeling weaker and weaker until you can barely stand. You just want to lay on the floor and close your eyes… maybe forever.
Your fate rests in the hands of whoever is with you or finds you. All they have to do is introduce a smidgen of doubt into your mind, a recognition that maybe it isn’t all your fault. Of course, that means you might have to tell them what you did.
Oh, dear.
Notes:
1. The severity of the offense is of course up to the player - this can be deadly serious, or played for laughs. No matter how it is played the only way to save a character from sleeping on the floor until they die from dehydration is to convince them of even the possibility that they might not be guilty. They do not have to feel completely absolved.
Ⅲ. STOWAWAY
CW: monstrous creatures.
The lower decks of the station are darker, more utilitarian looking. These are corridors that lead to rooms full of computers and machinery that keep the station running so it’s probably best to keep out of there.
There are also storage bays filled with both prosaic wooden crates and large metallic pods. Most of these are locked up tight. But not all. Investigate some of the pods and you’ll find that the floor around them is wet with some sort of milky, slimy substance that sure seems like it came from a living organism.
Maybe you should get out of here.
Before you can get good and gone to the upper decks, however, you find exactly what you probably didn’t want to unless you have a very exciting Tinder profile: an alien.
At least eight feet tall, with pale almost translucent skin, the creature has an elongated skull and a mouth that hosts two sets of jaws like a moray eel. It has a whiplike tail and spiky protrusions along its upper back. It is bipedal, and very, VERY fast.Better hope you’ve got something to fight with! Your chances of survival are definitely greater if you work with a partner.
And you better hope there’s just the one.
Notes:
1. The aliens are extremely dangerous, but they CAN be killed. Their blood is thick and yellow but is not acidic or poison.
Ⅳ. TEMPLE
CW: potential insanity, violence.
If you wander the dark lower decks long enough, you will find yourself moving ever inward toward the very center of the station. There is a door there that is supposed to be locked, but often isn’t. It’s waiting for you, beyond that door and down a dark corridor: the station’s heart.
The room the solitary corridor opens into is round, walls sloping gently up to a domed ceiling. In the middle of the room is a machine of some kind: a series of concentric thick metal rings rotate in different directions around a sphere. The only noise it makes is the gentle swooshing of the circles as they spin out, up, around.
The air feels heavy and charged. It’s not pleasant.
Before you can leave, all of the rings line up so that they appear to radiate out from the sphere in the center. Light flares, and then in the space where the sphere once was you can see it:
Home.
It’s your homeworld, perhaps exactly as you left it, or perhaps earlier or later along in the timeline. It may be pleasant, or it may be awful, but it is undeniably the place from which you came. The place where you belong.
Stare into this portal home long enough and the compulsion to return will slip over you. You just need to jump into the glowing, trembling center of that dimensional gate.
Whoever is with you, however, realises that leaping headfirst into an unknown dimension might not be the smartest idea you’ve ever had, especially considering how ominous the whole place feels. They might be able to talk you down. Hopefully they can talk you down, because the longer you stare at the portal the more convinced you become that you MUST leap into it, and the only way to do so is to kill whoever is trying to get in your way.
If instead you turn away from the dimensional gate, the lights will flare once more before the rings resume their movement. That brief glimpse of home is gone. In its place is the sound of soft voices; people you have left behind, calling out to you with accusations of things left undone, begging to be told why you won’t come home...
These voices will follow you throughout the ship. They are not constant, but they never leave you alone for very long. They won’t be silent until you give them an answer to the question of why you have chosen to remain.
Notes:
1. If characters DO jump into the gate… They can pass through and emerge on the opposite side gravely injured or completely out of their minds. Or you may use this as a very dramatic exit from the game.
no subject
Considering how recently it had been since Allura arrived at the isles, she hadn't yet developed a sense of what to expect. The best she could guess was that the islands would be like the adventures she had left behind, at least to some degree, with each place being as strange and varied as the alien worlds found scattered across the universe.
Naturally, she instead found herself arriving at the last thing she expected: a place very much like the spaceship she piloted to those distant worlds, the closest thing to a home she had left.
It's all too familiar in ways that are more unsettling than nostalgic. Perhaps it would have been more reassuring if this were designed after a proper Altean ship, with grander spaces and a healthy green color to the food goo — but there's nothing distinctive to any world she's familiar with, friend or foe. And in cases like these, she would almost prefer a well-known enemy over a stranger. Or, even worse, the apparent absence of anyone at all.
"Hello?" You might hear her lilting voice echoing down a hallway as she peers down a corridor, looking ahead to see what might be ahead. It doesn't seem to be out of caution, though, since despite the risk of drawing attention from something unfriendly, she continues to call out: "Is someone down there?"
But she can't help but be curious, given so much space to explore, not much else to do, and no one to stop her. In fact, some of her behavior is downright reckless considering this isn't her ship and she doesn't know what anything does. Buttons are getting pushed, storage hatches are being opened, equipment is getting picked up and turned over and around in her hands.
And then, of course, she comes up to the locked doors. After looking for some way to open it, and coming up empty-handed...
"... it doesn't seem as if forcing the door open would damage much." And so, despite her slender stature, she works her fingers into the crack between the door and its frame, and starts to pry — and, perhaps surprisingly, there's a creaking sound as the metal door starts to give way under the pressure.
II. Conscience
"That isn't right either, is it?"
Allura frowns down at a pad taken from the medical bay. She's drawn a series of lines on it, forming a rough map of explored corridors — actually, no, 'rough' is an understatement. She's had to cross some lines out and redraw others in a sloppy attempt to correct some unknown mistake and get back on track. Considering how lost she is, it doesn't seem as if it worked.
"Quiznak," she mutters under her breath. "We might need some better reference points if there's any hope of mapping this out. Maybe if we made some..." And for a moment, she looks towards the nearest wall with contemplative interest, as if weighing the pros and cons of punching some well-placed holes in it.
But something ahead catches her eye, and her gaze slips over towards the man at the end of it. There's an obvious family resemblance between him and Allura, from the white hair to the pointed ears to the V-shaped markings on their cheeks. But he's a far more imposing figure, with a broad frame clad in white armor, and an aged face that looks worn from countless years of battle.
"... father?" Her reaction might seem surprisingly subdued, as if she's not shocked by his appearance, but confused enough to be wary.
III. Stowaway
The pods and ooze hadn't seemed to bother Allura as much as they should, other than making her nose wrinkle in quiet disgust. Some aliens are just like that, aren't they? She's met more than her fair share of decent people who couldn't help leaving trails of slime wherever they would go.
Of course, she had also met her fair share of slimy monsters, too. But given how empty this place was, she couldn't help but wonder whether it was friend or foe. And so, after just a little bit of sneaking and tracking, she found herself standing face-to-face with the creature.
It probably meant her harm. She didn't even need empathic abilities to figure that much out. But, just to be sure...
"Ah, yes... erm... hello, there!" She smiles awkwardly. "Are you the one who lives here? Because I've been curious about——"
And at around that point, it swung that tail at Allura, who sprang out of the way like a startled cat.
It's a testament to her own agility and stealth that she was able to escape from it, at least enough that she could hear it walking around looking for where she ran off to. Unfortunately, in getting turned around, she's found herself even deeper in the storage bay.
Her eyes dart around, trying to figure out an escape plan. So far, it doesn't seem she's come up with anything.
IV. Temple
You know, it probably says something about Allura that — despite the fact that she fell for a very similar trick once before — she still looks at this vision of Altea with a despairing longing in her eyes. The green fields, filled with vibrant pink flowers...
For a moment, she holds her hand up, as if she were considering reaching through and picking one for herself.
"... it's not real." It doesn't sound like she believes that, actually. More like she's trying to break her own belief in it, a small metric of her progress. "It can't be. Altea is gone..."
She draws in deeper breaths, thinking back to what Coran had said to snap her out of it the last time — of how her illusory flowers had no scent.
Wildcard
[Have a different idea? Feel free to PM me, either here or at
Stowaway
[One of those people just happened to be the good Princess. For as much crap as she gave him, he figured that sooner or later she'd get herself wrapped up in some trouble. So when he caught her heading for the lower decks, he figured maybe he should tag along. After all, he still had some mapping out to do and his conscience would never let him rest if he denied her help and she went and got herself killed.]
[When Allura encounters the creature, he doesn't spring to her aid. If anything, he wanted to see how she'd tackle this situation.]
[... ... ...]
[Of course she'd try and talk to it. No wonder it attacked her, it was probably as annoyed as he was.]
[Nevertheless, he's not stepping in right away. He's a little surprised her reflexes allowed her to dodge something like that. Maybe she was a bit more capable than he realized.]
no subject
[She's in the heart of the monster's territory, maybe even inside of a nest. It might not be possible to move around in here without drawing attention to herself. Certainly not through the main points of entry to this area. And finding a concealed passage would come with its own risks — if she were to get cornered by the creature in such a small space, there would be no escaping.]
[So, she turns her attention to the rest of the room. Is there something in here she can use? She starts to move — slowly and carefully, keeping her wits about her. Even the smallest mistake could call the creature's attention over.]
[She makes it safely to another crate, and starts to open it to take a peek at the contents. And, of course, the box makes a loud creeeeeeak as it opens, prompting Allura to slip to the crate's side for cover.]
[The worst part? Is that the creature doesn't come running out into the open. Instead, the only response is the sound of it moving around nearby, somewhere just out of sight.]
no subject
[The ferryman really brought them to a real hellhole, didn't he.]
[Dammit...get out of there. I don't want to have to get involved because you couldn't get your act together...!]
[He considers the situation for a moment then reaches into his pocket. He's collected some bits and bobs in the offices upstairs. He had no idea what they were; they were scrap. But scrap always has its uses. From his vantage point in the darkened corridor, he slides his thumb under the edge of the scrap, aims, and flicks it uses a fraction of his strength, sending the piece of metal firing off to the other end of the room, opposite of Allura. Hopefully the sharp bang it makes will draw the creature's attention.]
no subject
[But it does create the opening that Darin had hoped for. Whether planned or by chance, Darin had flicked it towards one of the most open spots in the room, one that didn't have many ways for an 8-foot creature to sneak around towards it. Instead, the creature jumps down from an unknown vantage point (had it been above her the whole time?), hitting the ground with a heavy thud which causes the whole room to shake around them. Once the reverberations stop, it moves forwards with heavy, deliberate steps.]
[But where had it jumped from? She looks back up and behind the creature, seeing several stacked crates acting as a makeshift staircase up to the ceiling. It's not tall enough for her, since she's not eight feet tall... and while she could fix that, she has a better idea. If she knocked the top one off, it might drop down and stun the creature temporarily — long enough to run right past it.]
[Looking around for some leverage, her eye catches a long metal... pipe? Rod? It doesn't matter. It's thin but sturdy, ideal not just for the task at hand but to use as a makeshift weapon after. And so, she hops onto a lower level crate and wedges the end of the rod under the top one.]
[Under her breath, she mutters..] ... come on, come on...!!
no subject
[What should he do? If he stepped in now, not only did he risk revealing any of his abilities, he was sure she'd complain about something. But if he didn't act and her plan didn't work...if she got hurt and all he did was stand by and watch...?]
[As he agonizes over his choice, he doesn't notice the sound of dozens of clawed feet moving through the vents and over the pipes above them. Nor does he notice the color on his band gradually smoldering towards an orange color.]
[If only he had a stronger sense of hearing.]
no subject
[With those ears of hers, she does take notice of the sounds overhead — but by the time she does, the crate's already past the tipping point. When she thought she was only dealing with one, the plan had seemed fine. But hearing more of those creatures coming...]
[It occurs to her too late that this is going to be very loud.]
[And so, it all happens at once in an explosive cacophony: The crate falls and hits the creature square on top. Something starts to emerge from the vent with an incensed screech. Allura decides that the easiest way to get over it is to go right over the top of the stack of crates, which causes the stack to start toppling...]
no subject
[Hopefully Allura could make it from here. Once she was gone, he'd finish off the beast himself to prevent it from getting to the upper decks...]
[Not that he's aware of how many more are about to join the fray.]
no subject
[One of the front creatures springs at her, and she quickly thwacks it away from her, trying to keep it off the crate. After all, it's not necessarily a problem that it's falling backwards — since the lid itself is loose, ready to be ridden to safety like a sled.]
[And as she falls back away from the hoard, she can see that there's at least five that have now emerged behind where she stood a moment ago. No, there's 6 — 7 ——]
no subject
[But there was no way she'd be able to make it out of this alone, could there be?]
[Maybe if he was fast enough, he could run back to the upper decks for help...to get people to follow him down and help her. Surely she'd be able to last that long, right?]
[He pivots on his foot and prepares to dead sprint to the upper decks. With his speed he could make it in record time. She can hold out, right? She has to...!]
no subject
[But it's not nearly far enough to get away from the creatures, who at this point are practically climbing each others' bodies like a bridge down from the vent. Now that there's some distance between themselves and Allura, none of them seem to be charging at her — instead, they seem to be waiting to gather a small group, to surround her like a pack of animals.]
[And Allura takes another stance with her makeshift staff, ready to move or swing at a moment's notice.]
What are you waiting for?! Come at me!
[That doesn't sound like a boast. Rather, it's a cry of someone trying to psych themselves up... or perhaps, to brace themselves for what's coming.]
[And then, one charges, trying to bite at her — and she swings the pole up, cracking it upside the jaw. A second one swings its tail across to sweep her feet. In jumping over it, a third one knocks her from the other side, and she finds herself flung back.]
[It's a rough recovery, and when she tries to rise back up from her knees, she finds that the creatures have drawn in close around her.]
no subject
[He was out of time. Running off now just meant he'd be back to try and gather up whatever remained of her...if there was anything. Why did he have to fight? Why was any of this happening? He never asked for his life to be upended! And that was before he wound up touring the Endless Isles!]
[He could feel his anger prickling up. This wasn't fair. All he wanted to do was live peacefully. If he wasn't born with these powers, he'd have jumped in by now and—]
[...he would have, wouldn't he? He would have stepped in without a thought if he wasn't trying to hard to hide his powers. Could he live with himself if he didn't step in now?]
[Holding on to that anger, he rushes back around the corner towards the cluster of beasts surrounding Allura. As one throws an arm back to rake at her with its claws, Darin catches it by the wrist and twists sharply. He uses the momentum to spin the creature in place, trading places with it leaving him with his back to Allura. He's still gripping the creature's arm, but it's bent at a horrible angle, the shoulder clearly dislocated and broken. The beast writhes in Darin's grasp, unable to break the incredible hold imposed by a single hand. Finally, Darin lifts his leg and kicks straight out, sending the alien rocketing to the opposing side of the room where it punches a clean hole through the metal wall, leaving a trail of thick, acrid yellow blood.]
[Darin looks at the arm, torn from the beast's body as the others hesitate for a moment, screeching and chittering amongst themselves.]
[He glances over his shoulder to Allura.]
If you can move, you need to get the hell out of here. Leave this to me.
no subject
[That's not scoffing, that's genuine confusion. She hadn't had much time to ponder the mystery of the flying metal shards, and thus had assumed she was alone down here. Yet somehow, here he is, the first person she had the displeasure of meeting upon arriving here.]
[One of the creatures tries to bite at her again, and she holds up the pole to block. It doesn't catch the smaller mouth, but it does block the larger one, allowing her to keep the whole thing at arm's length.]
As tempting as it would be to abandon you here— [She pauses to catch her breath as she knocks away the one she had successfully parried.] —I fail to see what good it would do! You would still need to escape as well!
no subject
[That comment about it being tempting to leave him here does find a bit of purchase though; as much as he wanted it, it never felt good when people were disgusted by him. Just something he never got used to despite always saying the opposite.]
[Regardless, she can't run when one of the monsters is chomping at her. So he grabs it by the tail and whips it with astounding and alarming strength, using it as an improvised club to slam another one of their assailants away.]
In case you haven't noticed, I can handle these things easily!
[Which is good because another half dozen or so are clamoring out of the vents from both flanks.]
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I
The polite thing to do would be to offer assistance, or at least to leave her to her business and move on, but with this place already wearing on him, Sephiroth doesn't give a damn about manners. He's content to stand back and watch. Which may be somewhat creepy given the faint glow in his eyes and the giant sword he's carrying. He doesn't mean it to be, but clearly he's not trying to be friendly either.
no subject
Putting the question of her humanity to rest, she gets a better hold of the door and braces her arm against it properly, and forces it to move against its own mechanisms. The sound of creaking grows into the groan of metal against metal, and there's a few crackles of an electric system arcing.
About midway, it appears to get stuck, but another heave forces it past that point and the whole thing slides free — and, in case there was any doubt that she had broken something important, the door comes loose in her hands, falling out of the frame entirely.
For a long moment, she looks stunned and mildly ashamed of that. But she tries to play it off: "Well... it didn't damage much aside from the door itself?"
no subject
"...if you're speaking to me, I hardly care what doors you destroy, as long as they don't lead outside."
no subject
She tosses the door aside, and turns her attention to the room that she just unlocked in a manner of speaking. "What about this, then? Are you curious about it as well?"
no subject
He doesn't appear eager to enter the room, but it isn't as though the door can close behind them, so he steps past her inside. No sign of anyone in here either, but those monitors on the wall make him think... "A surveillance room, perhaps."
no subject
All the more reason why it would be very helpful to find someone more familiar with this place.
"We can hope! It would make searching the area much quicker — and, if we're lucky, answer some questions on why no one's here."
But there's only one way to find out, right? Allura picks up one of the tablets, and starts trying to make use of it. After a moment of nothing happening, though...
"You are not authorized to access this device." She frowns, furrowing her brow, considering what it might be trying to lock away.
no subject
But seeking nothing only guarantees learning nothing.
"Is it requesting any form of identification?" he asks on hearing the voice. He's already beginning to search the room for some manner of badge or keycard. Something like that might open the doors, too.
Temple
You'd think after all these years he'd learn not to do that.
So now he's stood behind a stranger who is clearly having a personal moment, looking through some kind of dimensional rift.
He clears his throat.
"It sure looks pretty?"
arrival
It's all he can do just to distract himself with wandering, hoping to find something better to take his mind off all this - enclosure. And, well, maybe that's not whatever's happening to that poor defenseless door, but the sound of metal bending at the whim of a suddenly very interesting stranger is at least enough to draw his attention. He stops short of the scene, his cat milling idly around his ankles as he looks on, clearly impressed.
"I'd ask if you'd like a hand with that, but I'm suddenly terrified to offend." If she can do that to a metal door with what appears to be only a moderate effort, that is.
II | Conscience
She turns around and returns to the intersection. Only one direction has someone, and a broad armored person stands between Gideon and someone else. Armor. That's always fun when she isn't wearing any. Not that it's guaranteed to be a fight. Gideon opts for the hopefully right optimistic choice, not drawing her sword.
"How's the family reunion?" she asks.
I
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but that’s the best thing I’ve seen so far in this mechanical shit-heap.”
It’s then that she realizes she’s been staring, and… That’s kind of gross. Oni may be an obnoxious little shit with no manners, but even she isn’t so rude that’ll she’ll stand by and watch while someone else does all the work. Not that this woman looks like she needs any help.
“Here, let me just—“ Now that it’s partially ajar, she tucks her shoulder against the door, helping to shove it open the rest of the way. Maybe she should have asked what she was looking for? Because it’s too late now to hope there aren’t any nasty surprises waiting on the other side.