epidemiology | EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

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EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

ZETA-12: WEEKS 3 + 4

After making their way through the biting cold of the tundra and the forest's deadly chasm, team Audentes reaches the swamp. Once there, their squidges will begin to transform.

For each choice your character has made, select one squidge evolution. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the threads in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve.

For those who crossed the ice, there are two options. If they succeeded, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: fluffy fur, the ability to freeze small things with their breath, or small foxlike ears. If they fell through the ice, their squidge has one of these: fins, minor hydrokinesis, or protective scales.

Those who chose to walk around the ice, whether east or west, will have squidges with one of these attributes: faster speed, climbing ability, or goat-like hooves.

As for week 2 choices, everyone who soothed their squidge will find them with one of the following: small wings (able to keep them about a foot off the ground at most), a calmer demeanor, or the ability to soothe fear by touch.

For the grouping crew, one of these: the ability to heal small wounds on other squidges, long ape-like arms and hands (for hugging!), or a beautiful singing voice that can act as a beacon for other squidges.

Squidges that were forced to cross will have one of: increased independence, clawed fingers, or sharp teeth.

These evolutions may take place at a rate of your choice. Please note that apart from these changes, the squidges will not be undergoing any further physical development (size, etc) for now!

THE SWAMP (WEEK 3)

The swamp is damp and spooky, filled with rotting logs and large, spindly trees. The water level dips and rises, making traveling slow and difficult; at some points, there is no dry land at all, so recruits will either need to wade or find some other way to get through the murky water. Some of the fallen logs may create a series of interconnected bridges if you're nimble enough, but be wary not to put too much weight on the rotten parts of the wood.

Because there are no animals on this planet, recruits won't need to worry about mosquitos or crocodiles, but still be wary of dermal vines, which continue on from the forest, as well as something lurking beneath the water: in deeper portions of the swamp, recruits may run into a gangly, humanoid creature with gnarled fingers and a body made entirely of vines and twisted roots. The creature makes no sound and does not breathe, but it moves quickly and can shoot a cloud of powerful neurotoxin out of its maw.

Make your choice: You can attempt to fight the creature, but not all attacks will be effective and you risk injury to you or your squidge. Outsmarting is possible as well -- as the creature has no eyes or ears, it senses its victims through heat. Do with that what you will. Finally, you can choose to wait for someone else to do something and ride their coattails, as long as you’re okay with living with that. Please indicate your choice here.

After a week, the scenery begins to shift, lightening up as trees become fewer. Welcome to the grasslands.

THE GRASSLANDS (WEEK 4)

As opposed to the swamps, there are few hazardous plants in the grasslands. The most dangerous are more annoying than anything else: fluffplasters, the hairs of which become sticky and eventually harden like cement if they’re disturbed. For the most parts, the grasslands are grass, grass, and grass, with little variation in appearance. In fact, it’s kind of hard to tell if you’re going the right way, or if you’ve been here before. Everything sort of looks the same.

The other flora found are happygrass, which has a short-term calming effect on anyone who ingests it. On the other hand, beebulbs, long, spear-like stalks whose bulbs contain a delicious liquid which invigorates the drinker upon ingestion. Too much either way can lead to laziness or hyperactivity. A geared up squidge is a happy squidge most of the time, but there’s also the possibility of heightened anxiety.

The weather is pleasant for most of the journey, but near the end, the wind picks up and a storm begins to brew. The wind whips around and, while it’s very difficult to travel through (and very frightening for squidges!) it’s still possible to walk through.

The choices are these: Characters can keep going against the wind, although they’ll need to be wary of flying debris and their squidge’s fear. They can also choose to find shelter nearby -- there are several trees on the way that can be hidden under, a large cave many people can fit into a distance into the storm, and characters can also set up their own shelter. There’s less possibility for injury and squidge crying, but the tornado will put them back for hours; those who power through can talk their squidge through it, but they’ll still be a bit unhappy. Please select an option below to determine the future of your squidge.

Whatever choices the team makes, they’ll eventually all reconvene as they set up camp for the last time before they hit the desert.

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.)

New characters will find one of the unbonded squidges toddling after the group takes a shine to them. A squidge will imprint on them very quickly, then refuse to leave their side or rejoin their unbonded friends.

Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here. And don't forget about the bounty board!

Please remember to select your choices in the threads below! How you choose will determine how your squidge grows. Please choose before July 21st, 12:01 AM GMT!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

calming practices? sort of?

[Wandering aimlessly through a large green expanse that feels like it's leading nowhere even if he's positive it's leading somewhere is eerily like a metaphor for his life after he washed out of the academy. Keith doesn't mind it terribly, though. While he's liked having things to slash at and things to balance on, there's something about the setting that puts his mind at ease. Arriving here isn't something that he minds, and for the most part, he's really trying to take it in stride.

Last week, "taking it in stride" had been hard. He took to Goo well enough, but the combination of factors (no lion, no idea if he'll ever make it back to the other paladins aside from Shiro—though Shiro being here is a huge relief—and no clue if he can actually help this squidge were all exacerbating things) really got to his head.

But for now, he appreciates the occasional breaks. Though he never really gets left behind in the trek, he does take occasional breaks to sit down, place Goo across from him, and try to teach Goo some of the calming techniques that he knows. Could he have done this before the chasm crossing? Yes, possibly. There just seems like less pressure here.

If anyone happens across them, he'll look up and offer a nod. Keith doesn't smile all that often, but he doesn't look upset, either.]

Hey, if you need some rest, I have some food that I can share with your squidge. Or ... you. If you'd like. [They're supposed to be teammates, right? Everyone here? Well, it's worth a shot.]

windy windy windy ... hideouts

[Okay, so things that should not follow "let me teach you how to calm yourself in a crisis" lessons.

One: Keith deciding to ignore that and try to fight with wind. At first. "Fight" being a very technical term because it's really more like he tried to walk against the wind and failed. He's not exactly the biggest guy in the world. Or room.

Two: Do this while holding a squidge on his back like a sloth. Even the strongest arms of all squidges wouldn't handle being dangled like a cape. Goo's screaming probably has damaged his hearing. Just a tad.

Just the same, after this bout of stupidity, Keith escapes to a cave where Goo has climbed down and attached to his leg. Unable to sit, and definitely unable to remove Goo, he stands like he's impatiently unhappy with the world: his arms are crossed and he has a scowl on his face.]

Goo, come on—neither of us are gonna eat if you keep staying like this. [Should anyone give him a little attention, he'll probably look up at them with the most scowling "help me please" face. Well, not most scowling, but he is definitely being mentally pulled in two directions.]

wildcard

[Feel free to wildcard either week if you would like!]

Edited 2016-07-16 05:49 (UTC)

[ Keith does not properly appreciate his squidge, honestly. Rhys is smothering his to the point where she'll probably have tons of issues when she grows up; dat unconditional love. He loves her even if she's grown horrific serrated teeth. Just because she isn't conventionally beautiful doesn't mean she isn't the cutest little alien blob baby in the whole wide world!! He's sitting with his back pressed against the cave wall, Butter Cup practically asleep beside him. He sure did give her some of that dank squidge weed. #parenting.

He's scrolling through the comms on his jewelputer (it's a man ring, because of course it is) and desperately ignoring Jack's voice in an attempt not to look like a crazy person — it's harder here, where he has no alone time to do all his crazy person things, like talking to people who aren't there — when Keith blows in. Honestly, he doesn't really care until Keith starts talking; then Rhys turns his attention that way, brow knitted. ]

Oh my god, Goo? [ That is the worst squidge name he's ever heard. Maybe second worst, since Fiona named hers "Better Rhys", but he's campaigning for Rhys Jr., so Goo might just end up topping the charts. ] Please tell me that's short for... I don't know, Goodward. Goonnifer. Goobraham. No, I got a good one, Goosan. Hah. But no, seriously.

[Of all the things he was expecting to get when he looked at this guy for help, it wasn't criticism on his naming choices. Keith supposes that he should be surprised that he hasn't dealt with this already, but a lot of the other squidges don't have much better names. Besides, Shiro, the most caring pilot in all the land, named his squidge Blob. That means Keith is just fine.

That's his standard for this, anyway.

His eyebrows narrow.]

Really helpful, huh? [Keith dismisses the fact that he hasn't asked for help. That doesn't matter.]

It's just Goo. I like to keep it simple.

[Oh, and by the way? Goo is still clinging. Desperately.]

[ Really helpful. He is really helpful, you don't know his life. He makes a mental note not to help him until he asks. Just to be petty. He looks at Goo clinging to Keith and stretches his legs out, like he's just getting comfortable. (He's not at all comfortable, someone with an ass this bony can't sit on the hard ground for this long.) ]

Oh, yeah, well. If you were going for minimalist... [ It's still awful, he needs to be reported to Squidge Protective Services. Rhys knows what it's like to live life with a stupid name, Keith would totally have sympathy for Goo if he got called 'Rice' and 'Ritz' all the time. He did name his own squidge just to make a dumb joke, but whatever, it's still a cute name. He jerks his head at Goo. ] I think you got a little something there?

[Well, he's not going to ask, so there! At this point, he'll just stubbornly enjoy having a blobby goo-like creature attached to his leg. It's not like he has anything better to do. Like eating. Or sitting. Or relaxing. Or sleeping. Oh, no, what if Goo sleeps like this?

... He has to be careful. Keith knows he can't show fear. Or worry. He has a sense about this guy.]

Yeah, well, I think Goo likes it just fine. Besides, I bet your name isn't any better. What is it, anyway? [Teenager contempt activated. He's barely hiding it. He was due for an argument with someone, especially since Lance isn't around to push his buttons.]

[ Bro, everyone shows contempt for him here. His only friend is, like, a sixteen year old alien. Gonna have to try harder than that to stand out!! Anyway, it's a question he doesn't mind; he actually looks sort of excited to answer it. ]

Ohhh, no. Actually, you're gonna love this. Okay. Brace yourself. [ He didn't appreciate all his Goo name puns, but! Rhys still believes in him, he has to have a sense of humor somewhere... right... Snorting a little, he says, ] Peanut Butter Cup. Right? Right? [ Ahhhh, he's so proud of himself! His grin is so wide.

There's a pause, then he slaps himself on the head. ] Shit. Okay, you missed the set-up. I'm Rhys. So, she's Rhys's Peanut Butter Cup. Ehhh? [ Laugh, Keith!!!!!!! ]

[Unfortunately for Rhys, he has literally picked the worst audience for this. Keith is a boy who doesn't even understand two-part cheers where someone begins the name of something and the other person ends it. A clever naming scheme like that is sure to fly over his head.

Like it does.

At least Rhys can appreciate the look of a boy who has no damn clue what the joke is.]

Uh.

I don't get it.

[ He dies a little bit inside. A lot of shit has happened — he's gotten a legitimate death threat, called a weak manchild with shriveled courage, and he's totally the only person not getting action here, it's horrible — but this is somehow the worst. It's legitimately offensive. He worked so hard on that wordplay. His smile falters. ]

Wh— I mean, it's— um. It's. [ It's not funny if he has to explain the joke, goddammit. He feels his confidence draining and he slouches into himself a little bit. What's the point of having an incredible sense of humor if nobody else does? ] You know, the candy. Reese's peanut butter cups. And I'm... I'm Rhys. [ He points to himself, like Keith might be confused. ] Which sounds like Reese. It's a play on words. [ Let him die. ]

[Oh, Keith is definitely confused. He stares at Rhys for a long moment, not understanding the connection entirely, even if the meaning is staring him in the face. Or sitting on the ground explaining it to him. Whatever.]

Well, um. If you say so. ["Play on words" and "Keith" sometimes don't go hand in hand. Oh, he once said Lance's brain could fill a paper airplane, but that's pretty much the limit of his wit and genius.

Look, Rhys, at least the problem is clearly Keith and not Rhys. Clearly.]

[ Goddammit, Keith, you suck. This is actually quite damaging to his self-esteem. Is he not funny? Has he been walking around thinking this wordplay was hilarious when it isn't? He frowns, searching Keith's face, uncertain. ] Well, I mean. Maybe you don't get it? I feel like if you got it, you'd be laughing. [ At this point, it might actually be in Keith's best interest to pretend he likes the joke, otherwise Rhys will never give up on this. He's so caught on it now. It's stuck way up in his craw. ]

Where are you from? Maybe that's it. Cultural differences!

[Pretending he likes the joke for Rhys' feelings would involve having the social graces of caring about people's feelings. He isn't completely insensitive, but he also doesn't know that sometimes, it's better to lie about what you're thinking.]

I'm from Earth, but I was traveling a bit around the universe before I got here. [At least he seems to get why Rhys is asking.] Where are you from?

[ Does Earth still exist in Borderlands??? We just don't know, but I'm gonna assume yes. 'Earth' doesn't mean a whole lot, though — ninety percent of people here are from Earth, but half of them are from 2010 and the other half are from the Dark Ages. Keith doesn't know that yet? What a noob. However, the fact that he mentions Earth means he probably has been to other planets, so that's good. He squints at him a bit. ]

Helios. [ Raising an eyebrow: ] You guys have space travel?

Yeah, we've had it for a while. Though I've done a bit more of it than most people on Earth. [Please don't ask about the space program in Voltron, Rhys, we just don't know.

He's never heard of Helios, though.]

Do you have space travel? [Like they can somehow be at odds with one another over it!]

If I didn't have space travel, how would I have known to ask if you have space travel? [ Get your head out of your ass, Keith. A little boastingly, ] Of course we've got space travel. What are you gonna do, stay on one planet your whole life? [ It's exactly what people like Fiona and Sasha do, he supposes, but they're lower class, they don't count. ]

The gang was actually working— uh, we were working, anyway, on getting a spaceship together. [ He sounds very proud of this, but in actuality, he's not even a little bit. Being held at gunpoint (rocket-launcher-point?) and forced to find a way to get back to Helios or die is not really impressive. Also, they'd probably kill him if they ever heard him refer to them as 'the gang'. ] So, yeah, I'm pretty familiar with the concept.

[Look, space travel is really confusing in his world (or universe). Not everyone has it! But they know it exists! Keith has had to adjust to this pretty quickly. All he offers is a look of contempt. Of course, Keith agrees with the bit about not staying in one place. It sounds ... purposeless.

It sounds utterly close to what nearly happened to him.

He's pretty lucky nothing stayed that way.]

The gang? Like, a gang here?

...Yeah, I'm in a gang. [ They're called the Broken Glass Kids. 'Cause they'll cut you!!! But he shakes his head; even if he didn't mean a gang gang, Rhys still doesn't have a gang here. Not even a fun, Scooby Doo-esque, mystery-solving gang. ]

My— I meant my gang. Of people. Friends. You know, my posse. Back home, not here, nine out of ten people here don't even know what a spaceship is.

[Okay, after not getting the peanut butter whatever joke, Keith figures he deserved that. He knows what he meant about that usage of gang, at least.]

I know what you meant. [Just to clarify that he isn't that bad, okay? He just doesn't understand stupid candy puns that make no sense.]

I just wanted to know if there was one here, but I guess not. I get the feeling a lot of us could use a spaceship right about now.

[Or rather: after the tornado?]

[ I know what you meant, don't be so sullen, Keith. He raises his eyebrows a little bit patronizingly. After he finishes talking, Rhys shrugs noncommittally. It's not like he knows anything that's going on ever. ] I don't know, there might be. This whole deal is run by a computer program, maybe they know how to make ships, too? That would be awesome. [ It would be fun! He's only been in space a few times if you don't count Helios. If you do count Helios, he technically lives in space, but it's not the same. It's a moon base, totally different from a spaceship. ]

...But Acquisitions [ He means Lloyd with HR. He doesn't even know if there's anyone else who deals with getting them things, but probably not considering how disorganized they are. ] probably wouldn't give it to us if they did have one, because. Like I said. We're, like, two out of three people who know what one is, probably.

Wait, hold on. [Rhys said something that's more important than whatever Acquisitions is because right now, it doesn't matter if people know what a space ship is. What matters is that they can use it. Keith definitely would like to use it so that they can get this stupid mission over with.] What do you mean by a "computer program"? You aren't just messing around, are you?

[As if Rhys is the type to mess around.

Keith's opinion of him is finally revealed ... again.]

Nnn...nnnooo...? [ He squints a little, confused. That would be the dumbest lie ever. ] If I was messing around, I would have come up with something way better. Like, that we're run by a giant two-headed bullymong named Melinda, or something. —I don't know, I had to come up with that one on the spot, just. It would be better.

Anyway. Yeah. Computer program. By which I mean... computer program. As in... a program on a computer. [ What is he even asking??? It's a computer program. ]

[Actually, the Melinda thing sounds believable because it doesn't sound like a computer program that people are listening to. Cynicism is Keith's middle name only he doesn't have a canonical last name, so imagine that somewhere in there cynicism fits in.

Or maybe it is his last name.

Well, anyway.]

Do you think it's a good idea to just listen to some kind of program?

Uh, I don't recall saying anything was a good idea. I just said it was a thing that was happening. [ He shrugs a little, leaning back against the cavern wall. It doesn't actually sound like that bad of an idea to him, honestly; he's been listening to an AI computer program in his head for months now, and there is no way that will turn out any way but great. ] It just tells us where we're going next, pretty sure what happens after that is up to you.

Well ... have you been listening after the fact? [He recalls the discomfort that Haise expressed about the previous missions they had, as well as how the fallout went. Keith is basically asking in a "general you" sense, but Rhys has decided to make it about him.

So, he goes with it.

Thanks, Rhys.]

Me?

[ He snorts a little; Rhys barely contributes to anything, mostly because he's incompetent at things that involve punching and/or stabbing people. But if they ever need to pull a Nigerian prince scam or win a game of Tetris, hoo boy, have you got your guy. ]

It doesn't really matter if I do, everyone else is gonna do it, anyway. They straight-up killed a god. [ While he hid inside doing nothing, obvi. ]

I heard about that. I thought it was kind of strange that everyone just went for it, but obviously, I wasn't there. [The problem with this statement is this: it's not clear, but his quibbles with it aren't necessarily morality. No, it's not like he's a teenager with a bloodlust (though he kind of is in some ways), but he knows there are limits to what he can do.

Sometimes.

And sometimes, his knowledge of those limits only rears its head when he's judging other people.]

I'm not sure why they need so many of us when they've got the people following their every order, anyway.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

week four

hideouts!!

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