Supergreen.

[polymods]

✖ EVENT HORIZON

Ⅰ. PARADISE
You can read all about your character's arrival in the game lore.
The heart of the station is beating.

MUTHER is online, and she has filled the station with the sound of music. Over that she occasionally warns in an emotionless voice, “Liberate tutemet ex inferis.”

Thick concentric thick metal rings rotate in different directions around a sphere in a steady, pulsing rhythm before they all line up. The dimensional gate opens.

The entire space station is momentarily subsumed in bright white light. You will be blinded for a second, and taken over briefly by a sense of joy so profound that it aches. The more emotionally or psychically sensitive Travelers may find it difficult to regain their equilibrium for a while and may be prone to laughing or crying fits.

After the dimensional shift, things are different. The most noticeable of which is that the space station is no longer abandoned. Crew members move about, but they aren't the only ones; the station is alive with what are pretty clearly tourists. Some are humanoid, some are not - maybe you even recognise some of the species. None of them are chasing you down and trying to eat your face, though - the most aggressive they get is ‘crabby from waiting in line at Disney World’ levels.

Doors that were once locked are now open. There are restaurants, spas, night clubs, swimming pools… anything and everything you could possibly want in a vacation destination. The sleeping pods are still accessible, but you’ll probably prefer one of the many fine hotel rooms now available to you.

Yes, the mystery space station is in fact an intergalactic resort. Who knew?

Where the dimensional gate once was, now is instead the High Temple. Travelers can access anything they have stored there, as well as have access to food that isn’t in paste form.

Notes:
1. The High Temple is available to everyone this month.

2. Please remember to mark threads appropriately with Content Warnings when necessary.

3. MUTHER will no longer communicate with any travelers.

4. Have fun!

---

Ⅱ. INFLUENCER
Now that the station is bustling with people, you’ll be quick to notice that some of them receive more attention than others. Crowds surround certain individuals who just exude an aura of ‘I am better than everyone else here.’ The staff bend over backwards to fulfill their every whim, and they are definitely getting the best of the best when it comes to food and drink and accommodations.

Yeah. They’re celebrities.

You’ll probably do your best to avoid the throngs of adoring fans, unless you happen to spot some intergalactic superstar you actually recognise. Why get caught up in all that nonsense, right? You can just avoid it.

At least, you can until a skinny, fabulously dressed person with the most fantastic hair you’ve ever seen slides out of nowhere right in front of you. They have a headset on, and hold a staff that doubles as a microphone. Around them float half a dozen spherical drones that can only be cameras. You don’t recognise them, but they seem to recognise YOU, considering that they all but shriek your name.

“And here we have the most beloved person currently living and breathing the air of this fiiiiiiiiiiiine establishment! After yours truly, of course! That’s right, loyal viewers, this is Vanity Apollonia streaming LIVE from seven to nine with all the deets you could POSS-ib-ly desire about the multiverse’s darling of the moment! Their dreams, their desires, their most INtimate of intimates! Right on! Say something to those fifty billion pairs of ears out there!”

They shove the microphone in your face, giving you an expectant look. You should probably say something.

Vanity reacts as if you’ve just given the world’s most brilliant and inspiring speech no matter what you say, following it up with, “More of that to come! Now a quick word from today’s sponsor, NordMan! The only intergalactic security I personally trust!”

The cameras suddenly close up, and Vanity sighs and adjusts their hair.

“Look, you wanna keep that follower count up, babe? You gotta play to the viewers a little more! Give them what they want. A little cleverness, a little vulnerability. Do it and I promise you’ll get the V.I.P. treatment! Don’t, and you’ll just go back to being a regular guest. It’s all the same to me, sweetheart.”

Looks like you have a choice to make.

Notes:
1. To achieve celebrity status, you must spend two hours a day live streaming with Vanity Apollonia.

2. Whoever happens to be with you is considered your entourage, unless you decide to pull some stunt to make them as (in)famous as you.

3. Your follower count will go up if you appear ‘real’ to your audience. For some this means actually being genuine. For others this means faking it so well nobody can tell.

---

Ⅲ. HOLODECK
CW: potential violence, sexual situations.
Depending on what world you're from, virtual reality may be fairly commonplace, or it may be so far out of the realm of possibility that the idea seems magical. Here it’s the former, with entire rooms devoted to a VR experience that is completely immersive.

Step inside the holodeck and pick from any of the preset scenarios the computer has to offer! Would you like to swash a buckle on a pirate ship? Lead an Elven army? Have relations with a bunch of anthropomorphic animal people? Hey, we’re not judging, just warn for that shit. The computer is also happy to tailor an experience just for you if you tell it what you want! And it’s probably more fun with a friend so grab someone and have a great time!

No matter what scenario you choose, after some time you’ll notice that certain elements from your actual life are sneaking in. Even if you’re in the middle of fighting Godzilla, you’ll find that an important moment from your past has inserted itself into the narrative.

For once you don’t seem to have to do anything about it, but it sure can be embarrassing depending on what memory has decided to shoehorn its way into your leisure time. How you react to it may reveal a lot about your character.

Notes:
1. The memory can be good or bad and it is entirely up to the player’s discretion as to how it interrupts the VR experience. Maybe Godzilla suddenly becomes your mother.

---

Ⅳ.PARENTHOOD
CW: disturbing image in link, forcible togetherness.

Even in a nonstop party space station there are moments of quiet. You and someone else are walking down a hallway, maybe, or having a relatively quiet time poolside, or star-gazing at one of the viewing decks. Wherever you are, you come to realise that you are being watched.

A quick look around will reveal that a hideous child-sized humanoid is half hiding nearby, watching you with huge blue eyes. It looks very young and very frightened, and it seems to be drawn to you.

Maybe you try to speak to it. It doesn’t talk back, but it will approach you shyly.

Maybe you ignore it because it’s ugly. It doesn’t seem to care, and will approach you shyly anyway.

The little alien takes one of your hands, and one of your companion’s hands. It still doesn’t speak, but it radiates a mental image of loving parents surrounded by rainbows and hearts.

Congratulations! You’ve just adopted a MAC!

The MAC wants only to eat candy and have fun, which doesn’t sound that bad in theory. In practice the MAC is the most accident prone dumbass you have ever seen in your life. Lucky for it, it seems completely invulnerable to any sort of injury. That luck does not, however, extend to you, so when the MAC accidentally sets a fire or breaks a toilet or blows up a fuse box you could very well be the one taking damage.

The MAC refuses to leave you and your companion alone. It fully expects you to all stay together as a happy family unit. The little guy is freakishly strong, and may physically hold on to the two of you in order to keep you around. He sure loves to hold hands. It must bring him comfort. Or maybe he’s just exchanging long strings of complex proteins for sustenance with you. Either or.

The only way to get rid of the MAC is to find its real parents.

Notes:
1. Maybe you find the parents right away. Maybe it takes days. Weeks. The whole month. You poor bastard.

2. How you treat the MAC will affect the colour of your ScryWatch. So, yes, if you punt it into the sun you probably won’t be rewarded.

Houston, we have a banging playlist!

Network · Logs · OOC · Memes · Plurk

Comments

I. The Forbidden Hair

[naturaldisasster]

(( ooc: Let me know if this doesn’t work! ))

[ She didn’t expect to feel guilty, stumbling upon him, asleep. Taken out of the context of that medical bay, with all the visceral unease that inspires, he’s just… Some guy. Minding his own business, as far as she could tell. Thus far, nothing about him suggests he deserved the flack she gave him.

Though she expects him to eviscerate her for it (verbally, if not physically) she finishes his braid. Oni’s kept her hair short for almost all of her adult life, but some things you don’t forget. When he wakes, he’ll either find her finishing her self-appointed task or else sitting far enough away so as not to be in his personal space, her rough demeanor completely at odds with the lavish surroundings. ]

I see you took my advice. [ She briefly smirks, fully expecting him to tell her she had nothing to do with it, and, probably, it’d be the truth. ] … It’s not a rat’s nest.

[ This, then, is as close to an apology as he’s going to get from her. ]

[unkindled_madness]

[He would almost appreciate that. Being taken for Just Some Guy.

He begins to rouse while she's at work with his hair, but doesn't fully wake until she's retreated to a safe distance. His first reaction on realizing someone else is in the room is to jolt upright, patting down his shirt to make sure the papers he's been keeping there remain securely tucked away. Then he blinks at her.]

What?

[Her comment makes him look down, noticing the finished braid. He looks... mildly horrified. It's probably a good thing that he left his favorite sword against the wall, out of reach.]

[naturaldisasster]

I’m not a thief. [ Seeing him pat himself down, and correctly assuming he thinks she might have lifted something of value from him while he was sleeping, she clarifies. ] Not usually. Tell me you’re hiding a slice of pizza down there, and all bets’re off.

[ He sure is taking this well. On the other hand, it’s not like she asked his permission or anything. ] I said it’s not a rat’s nest. [ That’s not what he’s focusing on at all, and she knows it, but maybe if she de-emphasizes the other thing, he’ll look slightly less like he’s tempted to take a swing at her. ]

[unkindled_madness]

[Why the hell would he put pizza in his shirt???

He actually runs a hand over the end of the braid, as if to reassure himself that she hasn't tampered with it in any other way.]

My hair is never a rat's nest. What do you think gave you the right to touch it?

[naturaldisasster]

[ Well she assumes it wouldn’t fit in the pockets he may or may not have. Needs must!

It’s on the tip of her tongue to say “A bird’s nest, then,” but that would be back-pedaling on the non-apology she was trying to make. ] … No, I suppose not.

What gave me the right? Nothing. But I saw it as doin’ you a favor that you didn’t ask for. [ A shrug. ] Je vous en prie.

[unkindled_madness]

[If he was forced to eat pizza, he would just eat it, not carry it around.

He narrows his eyes at her. He does not speak French.]

You're right, I didn't ask for it. And you do not have my permission in the future.

What are you even doing in here?

[naturaldisasster]

Why would I do it again?

[ She kind of tilts her head to the side. It almost sounds like he thinks he owns the place? ] What are you even doing in here?

I’ve been wandering around since the big change, trying to make sense of it all.

[unkindled_madness]

[Okay that first response is vaguely reassuring, but what even is this woman's thought process.]

This is a private room. I was sleeping.

[Obviously??? And since he only braids his hair for sleep, typically, he's going to start undoing it now.]

[naturaldisasster]

Didn’t see your name on the door. Not that I know what your name is…

[ She doesn’t know he only braids it for sleeping. To her, it looks like he’s so upset that she finished what he was too tired to do for himself that he’s erasing it. That’s his prerogative, either way. It shouldn’t matter… But it stings. ] I understand now. That was a waste of my time.

[unkindled_madness]

It should have been clear when you walked in.

[...that the room was in use. Not his name.]

Of course it was a waste of your time. This was not your task to complete.

[At least he's undoing the entire thing and not just her contribution?]

[naturaldisasster]

How so? [ She reaches a hand in her shirt, and if he wondered why on Earth (or any planet) she might assume he’s hoarding food in his clothes, it’s because she’s hoarding food in hers. Gaia knows what exactly it is, but she pops a handful of the brightly-colored things in her mouth. Manners, who? Don’t know her. ]

Of course not, nobody fucking assigned it to me, that’s why it was a nice thing to do. [ She emphasizes those last words, as if she’s speaking a foreign language, because she’s not sure he’s familiar with the concept. ]

[unkindled_madness]

Are you unfamiliar with the concept of privacy where you come from?

[She sure hasn't shown any evidence of it, honestly.]

[naturaldisasster]

Darlin’, I grew up in the sticks. [ Does that mean anything to him? Probably not. She tries again. ] I’m basically a hillbilly with better hygiene, so… Yes?

[unkindled_madness]

[Sephiroth sighs. The precise words are unfamiliar but he gets the gist of it.]

This is not some communal living situation, where stepping on one another's toes is inevitable. You don't walk into a near stranger's room uninvited and make yourself at home.

[naturaldisasster]

Evidently, I do. [ To further illustrate her point, she makes herself comfortable, putting her feet up and crossing them at the ankle. ] Oh, shit. Did you want some?

[ She fishes a fistful of the colorful orbs out of her clothes, and offers them to him, ] I’m not one hundred percent convinced this is food, but it beats the ever-loving hell out of that brown paste they were feedin’ us before.

[unkindled_madness]

[Okay so this is not only an unfamiliar concept to her but an incompatible one.]

...no.

[He does not want unidentifiable food from uncertain recesses of her body.]

I believe there will be other options available.

[naturaldisasster]

[ It goes against her very nature, but she mayyy or may not have been lying through her teeth when she said she had no grasp on the concept. ]

As you like. [ They weren’t tucked away in her unmentionables, but she supposed she understood his hesitation all the same. ]

If you had your choice of anything you could possibly want to eat… What would you order?

[unkindled_madness]

[Some of them were in her shirt. There could be boob sweat.

He's going to continue with his morning hair care routine, reaching into a bag dropped beside the bed to pull out a hairbrush.]

...coffee.

[Sephiroth please learn to like actual sustenance, coffee isn't food.]

[naturaldisasster]

[ The risk of boob sweat is high, she just would never let a little thing like that stand between her and food, because she is gross.

Was that it…? There’s an awkward silence while she waits for him to add something, literally anything, to that statement. ] M’niaises-tu?

That is not something you eat, unless… Do you grind the coffee beans between your teeth?!

[unkindled_madness]

...you don't?

[He's absolutely fucking with her now but his delivery is completely deadpan serious. It would be hard to tell if he meant it even if you knew him.]

[naturaldisasster]

What? [ She’s so flabbergasted by that, he’s in real danger of making her forget how to English. ] Are you fucking with me? No, I don’t grind it with my… You boil it— No, that’s not right —You brew it and drink the hot, stupid soup.

[ There was a coffee machine in the mess hall. She came frighteningly close to breaking it because there were so many buttons and she got really impatient, but still. How did he manage to miss that?! ]

[unkindled_madness]

<>[He raises a single eyebrow, still working the brush through his hair.]

You make... soup... with it?

[naturaldisasster]

[ She scrubs her face with her hands. Through her fingers, she half-groans, half-mutters ] No, not soup.

I mean— [ Take a deep breath, Oni. ] You drink the water that’s left over from brewin’ the coffee. Like a tea. You don’t make a salad with the tea leaves afterwards.

[ Not that she knows much about salads. If she ever wises up to what’s going on here, there’s a distinct possibility of her throwing something at him. ]

[unkindled_madness]

[He didn't intend to keep this up very long, but it's more effective than he expected it to be and.... it's funny.]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar. I've yet to encounter a "salad" on these islands.

[naturaldisasster]

[ Oni doesn’t even think to question his apparent lack of experience with the green stuff because she hasn’t been to any of the other islands. Perhaps they’ve all been in space. Does lettuce even grow in space? She couldn’t tell you. ]

You’re not missin’ much. It’s rabbit food— Bland, and it gets stuck between yer teeth. Now I would kill for a butter tart.