epidemiology | EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEK 5

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.

Tuomas Korpi

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[They can try. He watches her move for a second or two, then hums an assent, reaching for the light so they can get up and moving. If there are any other survivors—squidgebased or not—on this side of the wall, better to find them sooner rather than later.

It's slow going, though, since the light is limited and the debris is unstable. But as silence goes, it doesn't last too long. After a few minutes—]

"Colonel," huh?

[There's really only so much she can do with a busted arm and a still-aching head but she gives it her best shot, squinting into the endless darkness for some sign of life.

Sadly, the liveliest thing down here happens to be Jason, who apparently has a particular dislike of silence if his idle chatter is any indication. But as far as questions go, it's harmless enough and she answers it briefly while crouched down by a suspicious-looking stain on the ground. Blood? Squidge-goo? Something else entirely?]

My superior officer. I thought I was elsewhere for a moment.

[Sorry, did he want more?]

[Please, he worked with Batman, once sided conversations aren't going to daunt him much. Since Riza's found something, he leans in to offer the light.]

Should I be flattered?

Only if you enjoy being compared a man with no sense of deadlines and who flirts with every woman in town.

[But for as harsh as the words might be, there's no bite to her words. Only tiredness, barely able to mask sadness and longing, for him and her team and home.

She swipes one finger over the muddied dirt and lifts it up for a cautious sniff. The smell isn't promising.]

Blood. Someone was injured here.

[He'll let that settle a little. Can't blame her for missing home—she's been around even longer than he has. Most people have something there to go back to. Dryly, after a beat—]

Not really the kind of look I've been going for.

[He puts on a pretty casual air around here, but he'd like to think he's not quite that bad. As Riza crouches to check the blood, Jason gets a better look at their surroundings. Little familiar, actually.]

Sorry Sherlock, think that one's on me.

[He'd been bleeding down his collar when he woke up right around here. Small change, in the grand scheme. Head wounds do that. Does place them a little closer to when his little alien tagalong might have vanished, at least.]

[She glances back at him when he so casually solves this briefest of mysteries. Given that he's still upright and coherent, it must not have been a particularly bad injury. Still:]

Nothing serious, I hope?

[Her wrist gives another throb, a further reminder that there's no use lingering here too long. Onward they go then. Lifting up out of her crouch, she resumes her path forward, going slow enough that squidge and dog can follow. Jason can go ahead, if he's itching for a faster speed.

About ten seconds in, she speaks up again, voice more sober this time around.]

I was about to kill him the last time I saw him.

[How's that for some scintillating chit chat?]

[Years of sitting at the heels of the World's Greatest Detective has to pay off sometimes. He'll let her concern go unanswered, since the both of them know they don't have the luxury of worrying over it. He's up and coherent, and they have places to go and no time to waste.

He does waste some of that time to stop and study her when she backsteps the conversation in a particularly dramatic way. Arching a brow and looking sharply back at the shape of her in the dark. The flickering torchlight doesn't allow for a lot of clarity, but her voice is expressive enough without her face to back it up. After a beat—]

Well, I suppose he must have had it coming.

[This is a leading statement, and not meant to be subtle about it. Please feel free to tell him he's supposing wrong. But she doesn't much seem the type, otherwise. Sure doesn't sound proud of it. She's never struck him as stupid, or smug, and she's hardly in a good position to be making herself out to be a threat. And she's the one who brought it up in the first place.

(If it helps, he can relate to getting all righteously murderous on your old boss once in a while. These things happen.)]

[Well, he's not entirely wrong. She typically only shoots people who have it coming to them one way or another.

Blood mystery solved, she carries on her way, content to follow behind the sole source of light in the dark cave. It's like Nalanni all over again, except Ramir isn't there and the largest threat of impending death isn't a vengeful goddess but instead a lack of food and water if they don't find some way out of here.

Still not great though. Worse, actually, if she's honest. The conversation isn't really making things better.]

I had my reasons for it. [Most people don't exactly consider killing one's most hated enemy to be an action deserving of death, after all.] You would probably consider them too noble though.

[Yeah, he tends to have more of a problem with people not killing their most hated enemies when they've got it coming to them.]

You don't say.

["Too noble." That's pretty particular.]

And why is that?

[It's funny that this conversation should happen in a place so reminiscent of their encounter with Nalanni. Because he'd never thanked Riza for coming along or justified himself to her about what had happened afterward, but it was definitely where he's shown the most of his hand, in this regard. About what his ideas of justice really entail. He'd had no problem with putting a bullet in Nalanni for what she'd done. What she'd go on to do in the future. (If anything, it was inconceivable to him that people were fighting so hard for her miserable life in the first place.)]

EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEK 5

you're just too lazy to return fire. also I forgot I wanted to do this, undrops this for a sec

ah......good job ambi

you promised me shoulder crying I feel cheated

wait did i...i don't remember this

clearly you're getting old. also why are you even doing tags rn

look my people didn't wake up until 11 am, i was bored

that's what you get for being a respectable human being tbh

idk, aren't you a respectable 3d person now too

don't remind me.