epidemiology | EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

BENDED TIME

As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls.

They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again.

The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time.

The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food.

The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity.

OOC NOTES

This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well.

A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, they are, aren't they? [He's not standing by her when she says it, but he's close enough, arms crossed grumpily over his chest. Her disposition seems different, but what does he know? Everyone has a bad day. He's having a terrible day and he doesn't even know the full scale of it, what with having fur on his face and possibly being of the very alien race he wants to end because of all the evil they've done.

It'll be a trip when it's all over.]

I'm surprised you think so, but I guess you have some sense. [Yes, he's speaking to her as if she should recognize him, even if there's a chance she doesn't. (Then again, he doesn't get the whole Force thing, so via that it's likely obvious who he is.)]

[ When Rey's head turns, the movement is slow and measured, as though a purely physical threat is being made by his mere presence reaching her awareness. Her expression is embittered and battle-weary, made loathsome by years of nothing else. But the worst part of it is that he's wrong, see; if she'd really had sense, she never would have gotten into this position in the first place, and on some level she realizes that. It's a level she can't cop to, though. ]

I don't remember asking your opinion. [ She waits that long to turn off the beam of her saber and holster it on her hip, a smooth gesture that as much makes a show of itself to reinforce the threat of her sidearm as it does put battle to the side. ]

Maybe not, but you shared it freely enough. Don't expect people to just ignore you. [The entire time, his eyes, which are bright and yellow, follow the fluid movement of her lightsaber until it's out of immediate reach. The fact that she doesn't have any reason to fight him is a good one, but he tells himself that that's just because she doesn't know what the Galra are. Or what they can do.]

I just never expected you to have that word in your vocabulary.

People change.

[ An understatement, but Rey was not blind to how different she had become since the last time she set foot in Oska. In many ways, it's painful to look back through memories at the girl that she once was, bright-eyed and full of hope and earnest despite the aggressive wear and tear the world had put on her.

But everyone had their limits. And Snoke found hers. ]

You have.

[ To comfort herself, she turns it around on him, scrutinizing his appearance not with distaste, as some might, but with measured wariness. She'd seen her fair share of aliens; they weren't something to balk at. But the difference made her wonder if that had somehow always been under his skin, if he was nothing but a liar.

How funny, then, that he'd been so insistent on how you couldn't trust anyone. ]

I found out who I really am, and found my place in the universe. Turns out you can do a lot more when you have the backing of an entire Empire. [If that sounds familiar, it's because the Galra aren't so different from the Imperials (and later, the First Order). What's more terrifying about them is that their war engine and control over Keith's universe is so dominant that a tiny Rebel Alliance or Resistance wouldn't be able to do much against it. It's been around for over ten thousand years, too. That probably helps.]

I learned that it isn't really necessary to get caught up in the little things.

[This is a lie, because Keith hates what the Galra do. But pretending to be evil is pretending to be evil: he has to sell it every step of the way.]

[ It was every fear she'd felt since he'd explained Voltron realized; Keith, and perhaps the others as well, had turned that weapon over to the power of the Empire—an outdated term, to be sure, but the First Order was merely a new mask if General Organa was to be believed (and despite their differences of approach, Rey did still believe her).

Perhaps the Empire he served was not like that of her world, training armies of children to fight their battles, stealing them from their families and turning them into slaves with guns. But she had smothered any sense of optimism like that long ago, and its voice was as quiet as the light in the back of her mind that begged her to abandon the path she had already journeyed too far down, failingly calling for her to come back. ]

Even empires can fall.

[ And she would topple one when she took out the snake's head. Let Luke Skywalker and General Organa and Poe Dameron and all of them see what she had done—for Han, for Finn, for the galaxy. They would accept her with open arms once she had succeeded. She was sure of it. ]

You don't really believe your place in the universe is serving a broken system, blindly following the orders of some government. I won't accept that. You were the one who warned me about the kind of people who'd want your weapons, and you just gave them up like that?

You're jumping ahead a little. [Handing over Voltron would have made his mission impossible. He had put on a show of trying to get the lions to come over via using the mindlink available in his lion, but he hadn't actually wanted to succeed. Still, he put on a good enough show of it that the others couldn't pry past the carefully constructed lies to see that he was on a suicide mission.]

They let me keep my lion. I'm its pilot, and without me, the others can't form Voltron. In the meantime, I know all their tricks, their tendencies, their everything—and I'm gonna take them down one by one. [There is no truth to this.

No, if anything, it's the first thing she says that leads to a stirring of optimism in his heart. If she believes that, then he must be doing the right thing. If he ends up dead in the end, at least he made his life worth something.]

[ It would be concerning—deeply, even disturbing—to hear Keith give any indication that he was planning to betray or even deceive his friends, particularly on the subject of Voltron and what it was capable of, what it could be used for. Would be, if it were true.

But the Force is a keen lens to view the world through, and in looking at Keith, it showed her that something was off. As if something within him was at jarring odds, ill-fitted to the form it wore. Rey's eyes narrowed, puzzling through a haze that she couldn't make sense of. ]

No, you won't.

[ She doesn't disagree because of any blind faith, nor because of any judgmental disbelief of what he'd said; if he had reason, then let him. She could not claim to know what the Voltron pilots had done to deserve it, and she certainly was in no position to maintain a moral high ground, but that wasn't the case. But the statement itself questions him on why he would make such a claim if it weren't true. ]

[Quickly enough, he takes a step back and lifts up his chin proudly, eyes squinting in defiance at her words. The deeper meaning in such a simple statement is lost to him. Perhaps the more accurate statement is this: he doesn't want to see it for what it is, and what it is is her revealing that she knows that he's lying.

Instead, he sees it as her believing that he won't succeed. That's the simpler route, and easier to defend.]

They've already proven that they can barely fight me. Between the bond of the lions and the fact that they care for me, I'll win quickly enough. [The other option involves revealing the truth to her: he could never hurt them, and hasn't yet succeeded because he hasn't been pushed by Zarkon to do it.

But he knows that one day, he might have to make a proper show of it. He doesn't want to think about forgiveness (that's not where his focus lies), but sometimes his mind strays there in worry. It shouldn't because he knows this is a mission that isn't bound to end well, but it's hard to stop caring about the first group of people where he finally felt like he belonged.]

[ To a certain degree, the veil of confusion makes it so that his words hardly process; she shakes her head as though to sift through the hazy interference of them, trying to see to something deeper there, trying to make sense of him. Keith looks different. He acts different. But something about him beyond that feels very much the same, if lost.

She wonders if that's what Luke sees when he looks at her, and when it hurts too much to consider, she quickly abandons the effort. ]

Stop lying. [ More than anything, by this point, she sounds impatient. He's taking time away from her getting back to her own revenge, which is far more than a mere ruse, and that makes her earnest to deal with him quickly and have it over. ] Your loyalties aren't to the Empire: they're to your friends. Why are you pretending otherwise?

[There's a moment where his eyes glaze over with surprise, but he tries to muster up a sense of irritation to recover. Ultimately, he fails in the process, looking rather foolish. He scowls, glancing away from her. How does she know that? Admittedly, he doesn't know a whole lot about her. Maybe this is just some way of her trying to see the best in him.]

I'm not the guy you think I am. I'm not someone who's really worried about friends. [He makes a disgruntled sound.] Here I thought you changed, but you think everyone's good still, don't you?

[Admittedly, it's one of his cleverer covers ... if she couldn't see right through him with the Force. Instead, there's the sense that he's scrambling (and a sense that he wants someone to see through everything: his life is a matter of contradictions).]

This isn't about me.

[ It's defensive enough to indicate his scrambling has somehow struck a nerve, primarily because she's too clear an example of how good isn't always good. By now, Rey knows that she can't claim the title. She is not righteous. She is only necessary.

But Keith, he's better than that. And that hasn't changed, no matter how much she has. No matter how much he appears to have. ]

Who are you trying to fool?

Why are you so insistent that I'm trying to fool anyone? Can't you see that I've changed? [The choice of words is actually purposeful: there is no denying that his physical appearance is dramatically different. The floof of hair on top of his head is just as unfortunate, but he's purple with yellow eyes and fur. It's definitely different.

But he knows that the appearance of a Galra is nothing to someone who doesn't know who they are. Still, he wants to make his point almost unavoidable. Part of it is because he doesn't understand why she's pushing the matter so much. Turning it back on to her had seemed simple enough.

Just the same, she is right: he isn't bad. If anything, this is him taking his need for a purpose to the extreme.]

Not in the way you claim.

[ She wasn't blind, but that seemed to be precisely the problem here: he hoped she would be, blind to the Force and blind to the way that it moved around him. Surely she couldn't be the only one to recognize it for what it was? It baffled her, to look at him now and wonder how he hadn't been forced to explain himself sooner. ]

You're afraid that I won't understand. That no one will. [ It came to her suddenly—not through any means of the Force, but through an acute and personal recognition of it. She knew what it looked like because like recognized like, and it was something she'd felt for a long time now. Luke and Leia could not understand her as she was now. How could she expect anyone else to? And now here was Keith, similarly inundated in appearance only with the darkness, but not for the reasons it appeared. Maybe it was only her hope—that she could see herself in such a positive light, just as she saw Keith—but it carried her forward all the same. ]

[There's a long pause as he stares at her for a moment. While her words don't say much, there's a grounded ease with which she delivers them that makes it clear that she might know more than he does. He knows that his teammates would be quick to see his deception (or lack thereof) if they ever tried to form Voltron, so he understands that there are things about the universe that he doesn't understand.

It occurs to him that the same thing is at work here. Keith frowns, shoulders slouching forward.]

How do you even know that? [Keith is the type of person to often speak with some grind to his voice, but there is none of that here. In a way, it's everything she needs to know about him right now: he's admitting his defeat.

And maybe, just maybe, he doesn't want to lie to everyone.]

Because I …

[ She opened her mouth, the confession tipping on the edge of her tongue, ready to pour out and threaten the rest of her to come tumbling down with it. Without the bluster and pride holding her up, surely she would crumble, and she cannot afford to crumble—not yet. A familiar salty sting told her that her eyes were trying to water, but she blinked quickly to quell the flood.

Rey shook her head as if to clear it. Nonsense. Telling him that they had anything in common was nonsense.

Composure back in place, back straight, she pulled a stony veneer back over her expression, one made easier by meditative connection to the dark side, strangely enough. The Light was supposed to be the side free of passion, yet it was in embracing her emotions that she could internalize them better. ]

The Force. It flows through you like in anything; as long as it guides me, I won't be misled by your lies.

[Keith remembers a time when he burst into a room to steal a canister of something. It had been treated like a big deal, and it had started with a quin ... a quin-something. Even as a part of the Galra, he's not exactly well-informed. Maybe he should figure that out and see what it means for him: that Zarkon isn't ready to trust him.

Either way, he wonders if it's similar, but he doesn't know for sure. He doubts this Force stuff is yellow and ready for him to absorb.

Well, anyway. He squints at her for a moment, confused.]

Yeah, but I need you to be misled. Trust me. This is a big deal. I need them to think this is who I really am.

[ Finally, she was getting somewhere.

It occurred to her only then in startling awareness that this was the most interest she had taken outside of her crusade against Snoke in … She didn't want to think how long. But more dire was that she didn't want to loosen the stranglehold she kept on her hate. She could not lose sight of the goal and get sidetracked with the other people who had been important to the person she used to be.

And yet, ] Why? Why are you doing this?

[ It was a funny thing, the need to be understood, in that it overrode with ease all reason and logic. ]

[He scowls as he looks down toward his feet. This stupid armor ... he really misses when he could wear his red paladin get up. Now, he just looks like any other Galra, complete with too much purple to boot. His eyes look distant for a moment as he tries to figure out what he has to say.]

All the other paladins either have something to go back to or have already given up so much. [Shiro's arm. Pidge's family. Hunk and Lance's home world, along with their families.]

I thought if I took out the head of the Empire, everything else would fall. It's obvious that everything begins and ends with him.

[ It sounded so much like her own motives that it staggered her, leaving Rey breathless and silent for a winded moment. She stared with wide, wet eyes at Keith. She hadn't seen herself in him like this before, but now … It was like a mirror, and she wasn't sure she appreciated what the glass reflected back at her. But she did like getting to see it. ]

I could help you.

And just how do you plan on doing that? [There are a number of barriers in place, and he's fairly certain the biggest one is how will she get there? The other barrier is a little less obvious: he's reluctant to ask for anyone's help, even if they're offering.]

I don't know. That answer, I think, is one we need to pry out of ALASTAIR. But once we do ... [ She's getting ahead of herself. ] What you're describing. It's what I've been trying to do in my world for years. We could help each other, take them both out.

Hold on one second—[The cynical part of Keith, the part that seems to run counter to his desire to help all of his friends, can see the flaw in this plan. The big part? She hadn't asked him to help her out.]

Who said I was helping you? [Okay, given the situation, he probably would happily help, but Keith will always be difficult if nothing else.]

Edited 2016-10-06 04:29 (UTC)

Snoke is the same kind of monster you've sworn yourself to face. If someone doesn't cut the head off, the First Order will wipe the galaxy clean of everything that makes it good and safe and free.

[ She fumbles over the words, realizing the presumption for what it is but too defensive to own it fairly and double back. ]

[Well ... that certainly sounds similar enough. He doesn't look convinced, but that's partly because Keith wants to still be difficult. Redundant as it is, it is a sticking point for him.]

Do you need me, or my entire team? [Not that he's the leader. He'd have to convince them not to hate him.

His stomach twists, but he knows it might be better to have everyone.

And maybe ... maybe working together to help her could fix a lot of things.]

EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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