epidemiology | EVENT ★ WELCOME TO ZETA-12

WELCOME TO ZETA-12

Recruits arrive on a relatively calm, placid afternoon on the tundra. The snow is sparkling white and completely untouched, the sky overhead is a dazzling blue that seems to go on forever. The new arrivals have hopefully dressed warmly, though, because the temperature isn't nearly as nice as the weather. It's well below freezing today, helped not at all by a nippy breeze that stirs to life now and then.

THE TUNDRA (WEEK 1)

Not far off, the scene grows a little less tranquil. Here the ground is raw, ripped up and shredded by the recent, skidding passage of an asteroid on its way to a violent stop. Snow has already begun to fall and soften the torn up earth, but it's a long way from looking whole again. The asteroid itself sits huge, the size of an office building, half buried in the ground and cracked open. The interior of it is a silent labyrinth of stone, and here and there basketball-sized clear, jellylike balls can be found: the squidge eggs. There are no adults in sight, although there are many pools of spilled liquid here and there, presumably from eggs that didn't quite make it.

The eggs nearest to the outside air are cold, some of them even starting to solidify. They'll need to be warmed up if they're going to pull through. All eggs should be kept warm, but some of them are strong enough to pull through anyway if neglected — while some of them are going to need a lot of attention to make it through. Those eggs that do make it will eventually begin to soften, and 24 hours after the recruits arrive, will finally blink open their black, beady eyes and unfold into the squidge shape everyone will come to know and (hopefully) love. A small handful of squidges that hatch won't seem to imprint on anyone. These squidges are standoffish and sullen, but follow the group at some distance.

Any time after that, the journey begins. Recruits' jewelry will pull up a compass when needed, with a blinking red light urging them on south. The journey begins whenever you start walking.

The weather stays fair as the recruits head south, and the snowy plain is fairly uneventful, but eventually an impasse is reached: an enormous lake. Its shore is studded with beautiful snow stars, and may as well be an inland sea, for all that it seems to extend before them; that flashing red light asks that they cross straight over it. The water is iced over, but not thoroughly and not reliably. Even now, before any attempts to cross it have been made, there are cracks in the ice, great floating chunks that have broken free of the crust and would give a nasty surprise to anyone attempting to step onto them.

The first choice is a simple one: take your chances with the ice and attempt a crossing? Or do you venture east or west and hope it has some sort of end that won't take you weeks out of the way? Please choose one of these options to determine how your character fares.

As the journey takes them on, plantlife makes a slow return to the scenery. First it's the water cactae, proving a welcome relief to anyone tired of melting snow for water, if you can get into them. But eventually the temperature drops even further, and a forest begins to spring up around them. The first few days of it are chilly, sometimes even still snowy, but further on the plants are beginning to get a little more colorful.

THE FOREST (WEEK 2)

The second week of the journey is entirely under the leafy canopy of the forest. There's green all around, and the sun is warm whenever it breaks through the leaves. There is much more food to be scavenged here, although you couldn't possibly have made it too far through your food rations, right? Meals can be supplemented by berries, roots, or edible leaves, although it's suggested you find some way of quickly telling what's poisonous and what's nutritious. Here and there are plants trying to bite back, too. Do you hack these apart, or just give them a wide berth? The learning eyes of your squidge are on you, whichever option you pick.

Eventually comes another obstacle, not unlike the earlier frozen lake. This one, though, is a sheer drop. A deep, seemingly bottomless chasm has been slashed through the forest. The good news is that you won't have to find your way around it this time! There's a thin spit of land joining the two sides, only wide enough for two people to walk abreast, provided they don't mind getting cozy. You could walk right across… but you'd be leaving your squidge behind.

It turns out that squidges are terrified of heights. They want nothing to do with this, and would much prefer they just live out the rest of their natural lives on the near side of the chasm. The choices are these: A squidge must be sweet talked into crossing, calmed and comforted for several hours, or, if you must, forced into it. The squidges collectively are doing a lot of nervous wailing just at the suggestion of crossing, but a forced squidge will do a lot of screaming, even for days afterward. Recruits will find that they have an easier time of it in a group with at least one other person and their squidge. Although they still clearly hate it, they can handle it better in groups. But take heart: on the other side of the chasm will be a grove of large winefruits , a reward for the haggard parents. Just make sure your squidges don't partake as well, that wouldn't go well.

Please select an option below to determine how your squidge will be gotten across the chasm.

The forest begins to thin out again after the challenge of the chasm, and finally begins to warm up. In fact, it's getting a little muggy. It's easy to feel drowsy in the sunlight dappling through the leaves… or maybe that's the magical poppies. Seemingly innocent little red, purple, and yellow flowers begin to line the way. They're generally harmless on their own — but they're rarely on their own. Any recruits who lie down in the vicinity of a batch of magical poppies may find themselves slowly overtaken by dermal vines. Discretion is most definitely advised, as recruits finally make it to the swamp.

OOC NOTES

This log ICly and OOCly covers two weeks! Characters may proceed at whatever pace they'd like, but going too quickly or too slowly will mean they travel alone. (And those going too quickly will probably have to contend with screaming squidges, who prefer to travel at the speed of an easy plod.)

The unbonded squidges mentioned at the beginning of the log will be determinedly trailing after the group. They refuse to interact with much of anyone currently around... but may be convinced to take a liking to someone as we get new characters apping in.

Characters have been provided with large backpacks containing basic necessities -- food and water rations, shampoo, soap, etc -- and whatever they decided to pack. They will not be receiving another official supply drop, so it's up to them to make the rations last.

We are also introducing a Bounty Board for Zeta-12! It is entirely optional, but gives you some ideas to spark threads and rewards you for playing them out.

Please remember to select your choices in the threads below! How you choose will determine how your squidge grows.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ When the east-siders finally make it around the other side of the lake, Steve has mostly dried off, but the problem with the cold is that it makes it hard to do. What sunlight there is seems insufficient to dry it all the way through, and Natasha recognizes the frost around his pant leg from her own experience.

She eyes it as they reunite, a sort of lopsided probing interest in the way she implicitly asks, ] Hope we didn't miss anything interesting.

[Spotting the way she assesses him, Steve knows that lying won't do him any good. He's not really trying to hide anything, anyway. Except maybe his bruised pride.]

Nothing we couldn't handle. [He says, giving a nod to his squidge who doesn't look especially happy with him right now, from the way he's making grumbling noises when Steve addresses him. That cold water apparently made him like an angsty teen for a bit.]

How'd things go out east?

[ At his dismissal, Natasha nodded—Steve's ability to handle it would never be something she would question. She'd certainly seen him in worse positions. Still, her lips quirked up in a slight smirk all the same, as though entertained by the evasion. ]

Rock climbing, alien poison ivy. You would have loved it. [ Should have come with, Steve, like she told you. But no. You're too busy pretending that you're only fake-fighting with Tony. ]

Sounds like fun. We made pretty good time getting across, though. [Little Jimmy wanders over towards a tuft of grass to probably get into trouble.]

How are you and the little guy getting along?

Maternal instincts don't come naturally to me. [ Bart looks up at Natasha, as though he knows what she's said somehow, or perhaps just for permission before he goes toddling after Jimmy. Her smile pulls tight across her lips, somewhat strained. This isn't how she'd pictured it—or perhaps better put, she'd never felt the luxury of picturing it. ] We're making it work.

That's good. Learn from each other. That's what I'm trying to do with Jimmy. It's all new experiences, after all.

[ She looked Steve over, then down at the squidge. ]

James Barnes.

[ Yeah, she took the time to call him out now that she knew why Tony was really upset. ]

I guess I've had him on my mind lately. [And maybe he can get Jimmy to safety and let him live a full, healthy life. Which Bucky may never have. He's trying for some wish fulfillment here. Leave him alone.]

That's true for most of us. I guess it doesn't matter what universe we're in: you feel obligated to look after him.

[ She wonders, distantly, if Clint feels that same duty and obligation towards her. ]

Maybe it'll work out better for this little guy than it did for Buck. Can only hope, right?

[I mean, if she's going to call him out on it, he's not going to deny it.]

What happened to the real Bucky, after you left the airport? [ He never told her, and a part of her actually questions if he'll tell her now. After all, she's not high on the list of people to be trusted by either side these days. ]

[The question hits him square in the chest. It still stings- failing his first and oldest friend when he needed him the most. As for Steve's interest in sharing the details? He's already let Tony in on the truth, so telling Natasha isn't a matter of trust.

It's just still difficult to talk about.]

He couldn't shake the feeling that they were going to keep getting in his head. Using him. So he made a call. [There's a pause, Steve's gaze dropping slightly.]

He put himself back under the ice. Until we can find a way to fix this.

He chose it for himself?

[ Not the answer she expected, and yet, somehow it made perfect sense. Bucky had gone decades without having any control of himself. The one way he could insure that he did was in making the decision to take himself out of the equation. Brainwashing didn't deprogram easy. ]

Where does a man on the run find a cryotank?

[He hesitates, posture stiff as he rolls over just how to answer that question.]

Someplace safe. [He says, voice tight.] I'm going to ask that we can leave it at that.

[ He'd trusted her once. Natasha tried not to let it stick too deeply that it didn't appear true anymore. The feeble lilt of a smile twisted the corners of her mouth. ]

It's your call. [ She didn't have a choice in leaving it at that. ]

[He knows her well enough to read that little smile- or at least read it enough to know that she's not super pleased that he's holding out on her.]

Thanks. [He doesn't like leaving things like this, but for now, maybe it's how they have to be.] I'm hoping that by the time we get back it'll be easier to see where I'm supposed to go next with him.

Where to ... [ She repeats the words, visibly perplexed by Steve's blindspot. ] Helmut Zemo was charged with King T'Chaka's assassination. [ She watches the news, and that means that the false accusation isn't what this is about anymore. ] Whatever you're protecting him from now are consequences for the crimes Bucky committed himself.

EVENT ★ WELCOME TO ZETA-12

imitation is the highest form of flattery but really I made my own

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