EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEK 5

[futurologists]

ZETA-12: WEEK 5 As the journey wears on, the land underfoot dries out. Team Audiences has reached the highland desert… and of course, once again the squidges 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 encountered the swamp creature: If they stood and fought, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: hardened pangolin-like plates of armor, higher tolerance of loud noises, sharp(er) teeth. If they outsmarted it, their squidge has one of these: slow color-changing to match the environment, catlike eyes with enhanced vision, long ears. Those who made someone else do the work, will have squidges with one of these attributes: small horns, spines along the back, mildly toxic skin. As for dealing with the tornado: Everyone who found shelter will find them with a greater tolerance for enclosed spaces as well as giving off their own very slight heat. For those who powered through, their squidges will no longer be afraid of heights and be able to float several feet off the ground, regardless of whether or not they previously received wings. THE DESERT (WEEK 5) The desert has a little more to look at than the grasslands offered, as the grass begins to yellow and thin. Some stretches are just wide, empty swaths of dust and dirt, with not much more than the occasional rock or low, desperate scrub brush to color the horizon. Here and there are impressive outcroppings of rock, thrust up from the parched ground. Plateaus and mesas make the scenery, and overhead the sky is a wide, clear blue. The sun is merciless. Hopefully you filled your canteens in the swamp and the grassland, because water is going to become a pretty valuable resource out here. There are a few helpful flora to be found, though. Those Beachwoods will be pretty handy if you run out of water, just so long as you keep an eye out for the Red Stellas that tend to grow nearby. The Scarlet Oasis can even send you on your way with a meal, if you play your cards right. Have a care if you’re gathering any bristlegrass, though. While scenic in its way, the view doesn’t offer much clue as to what progress has been made so far. Three days pass in this way. On the fourth day, however, the recruits encounter their first choice. The ground has cracked open in their path. It yawns into a wide and dark cave, wonderfully cool after the scorching sun and heat of the desert. A breeze can be felt in the mouth of the cave, and their maps will indicate that any exploration into it is sending them in the right direction. It provides an alternative route to walking over the surface of the ground, a much cooler route. There might even be hidden streams of groundwater down there, who knows? It could be a refreshing jaunt. Of course, recruits can also choose to play it safe, and continue overhead as they’d been doing so far, where they can trust they won't run into any dead ends or have to backtrack. The going goes well for those who chose the caves. The cave system is apparently pretty extensive, because they manage to walk along in generally the right direction for a good half a day. Around dusk, though, this little dwarf planet hits a run of bad luck. Meteoroids. Those who chose to walk above ground will find the darkening sky suddenly growing brighter again as a meteor shower begins to burn in the atmosphere. Some of them don’t burn up entirely, though — meteorites begin to pelt the desert not far from the procession. Some of them might even be scattering into the procession. Heads up! But while those above ground only have to worry about dodging, those below ground will have much more serious concerns. This planet isn’t quite as sturdy as recruits may be used to, and the impact of the meteorites is enough to trigger a small earthquake. An underground cave is really not where you want to be during an earthquake, because even this small one is enough to cause a cave-in. Players of recruits who choose to take the cave route can opt to be trapped by this cave in, or can have their characters in the right place at the right time, to have their way to the exit unimpeded. Characters trapped may be freed at whatever speed players find realistic, but to find and free everyone will take no less than three days. Hopefully you brought a flashlight. Communication between those trapped and those above may be difficult, as the meteorites will cause interference and make the jewelry flicker in and out. We ask that you indicate the length of time your character is trapped along with your sign up. After the cave in ordeal is passed, though, the recruits aren’t quite in the clear as they finally reach the end of the desert. It seems the impact of the meteorites and the resulting earthquake released a few gases that had been held under the surface of Zeta-12. They’re invisible and odorless, and harmless to the squidge’s caretakers. The squidges, however, may begin to react to them. Squidges exposed to the post cave-in gasses will begin to get aggressive toward their caretakers and other squidges alike. The level of aggression can range from grumpy to murderous and last from 10 minutes to a few hours, depending on the size of the dose. If anyone has been training their squidges to fight, they may regret it. OOC NOTES We decided to split things up a little! This log lasts ICly for one week, and OOCly for 1.5 weeks. Our next log will encompass the last biome and the final event, and will go up on August 11th. 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 choice in the thread below! Late choices will not be accepted. How you choose will determine how your squidge grows. Please choose before August 8th, 11:59 PM GMT!

Comments

[secondnature]

[Without Goo in place, the momentum from some of his actions lead him to nearly stumbling forward. Keith does catch himself just in time, but he feels entirely foolish. He looks utterly bewildered as he looks back toward Goo and the guy holding him, a spike of agitation running through him. If his squidge had always been like this, it would be pretty easy to believe. This kid isn't terribly friendly.]

No, no. Goo was always kind of antsy, but not murderous.

[He steps forward gingerly, a hand extended toward Goo.]

Do you think this has anything to do with their, uh, changes? [Just as he asks this, Goo tries to jerk forward to snap at Keith's finger.]

[whatshimadayou]

[Goo continues to thrash in Hanzo's hold, earning only a frown as the archer looks at the squidge in his hands. He lets out an annoyed growl when Suzume rams its head aggressively against his leg, but fortunately the worst that will do is bruise.]

The changes have mostly been physical thus far. It would be odd if they suddenly had a behavioral change, especially when some of them have been peaceful thus far.

Suzume has never been aggressive, only gentle. This is odd.

I don't suppose you can take him back? [Hanzo presents Goo back to Keith.] We should keep moving while we try to figure this out.

[secondnature]

[For a moment, the thought of leaving an angry, ferocious Goo in someone else's hands seems almost like a good plan. A solid plan. Especially since Goo snaps out again when Keith eases forward, hands headed toward the squidge's midsection to pull. Quickly, he turns the creature around to face his (very tall) savior, and he trots back to give them distance.

Goo definitely isn't any calmer, as it turns out.]

Physical ... maybe, but I don't think it'd be surprising if this was just an inevitable part of it all. Like, uh, puberty? Do you think squidges have puberty?

[Keith doesn't recall going through an Even Angrier stage, but then again ... he's always a bit hot-tempered. No one would be able to tell the difference.]

[whatshimadayou]

[Suzume is no matter, letting out frustrated little snarling sounds. It would almost be cute if it wasn't trying to ram into Hanzo's legs to attack him. Eventually, the archer lets out an irritated growl before he's untying his hair ribbon. He crouches down and wraps the squidge's midsection and legs into a tight constraint before he's hefting Suzume under an arm despite its struggles.

Hanzo peers at Goo, listening to Keith.]

Difficult to say. They are alien life, so it is impossible to do know if this is normal to them or not.

Perhaps we should see if anyone else is coming across this issue as well.

[secondnature]

Yeah, and—do you think we should see if they'll attack each other? They always seemed to get along before. [Keith is not a scientist, so he doesn't know if this is a good idea or not. But he has some idea of Darwinism being a thing, and maybe the squidges are just trying to exercise survival of the fittest.

He'd like to hope that he's the fittest, but his squidge got him in a good hold before he got to do anything.

Actually, that's a bad thought. He ... decides not to vocalize any of his Darwin-related thoughts, lest he have to follow through on it to its natural conclusion.

(Again.)]