epidemiology | EVENT ★ ZETA-12 FINAL WEEK

EVENT ★ ZETA-12 FINAL WEEK

ZETA-12: FINAL WEEK

After team Audentes makes it out of the desert in more or less one piece, they'll begin to notice the environment changing once again. After the sparseness of the sands and canyons, vegetation and water once again become more common; eventually, they've found a lush jungle with plants and rivers both plentiful. And like the changing environment, the squidges once again begin to transform.

Please select an evolution according to your choice. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the thread in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve.

For those who encountered the cave:

If they went into the cave, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: a fox-like tail, an armadillo snout (with tongue!), or enhanced sense of smell.

However, if they stayed above, their squidge has one of these: a beak, a prehensile tail, or enhanced sense of hearing.

THE JUNGLE (WEEK 6)

The jungle air is thick with humidity, light barely filtering down past the dense canopy of leaves overhead. Unlike the forest back at the beginning of the journey here, the climate in the jungle is almost stifling, so recruits may want to look for refreshing Rainbow Berries to snack on and keep their energy up -- but keep an eye out for the Lucifer's Poppy, as its effects can cause the journey to reach an abrupt end.

Rivers wind through the jungle, with waterfalls ending in relaxing pools where recruits can try to beat the heat and spend some extra time with their squidges as the journey's end approaches. Like the other biomes, there are no creatures here -- no birds, no bugs, no jungle cats -- but that doesn't mean that recruits can leave their guard down entirely. Apart from various poison plants (such as the Beezlebulb and the Malboro) other hazards to look out for include slippery, moss-covered ground cover that may cause a hapless recruit to lose their footing, and the dangers of heat exhaustion.

Unlike the previous biomes, there is no major choice for recruits to make here. Instead, they must bathe their squidge in the Wellspring, a bubbling, faintly glowing pool of water in the depths of the jungle. The Wellspring is responsible for triggering the squidges' final transformation and allowing them to grow into adulthood.

In order for squidges to evolve into an adult, squidge parents must have completed a certain amount of tasks during the Zeta-12 mission. If these tasks were not completed, the squidge will not evolve and will remain in its larval stage. The evolution form can be found on this post.

Squidges who successfully evolve into adults will grow in size, anywhere between 122-183cm (4-6'). They will loosely retain their rounded shapes, their limbs and torsos elongating, and any physical transformations will also grow with their size. In adulthood, squidges are less needy and frightened than in their larval stage, and generally have a calm demeanor (with exceptions made if they happened to pick up an aggressive trait along the journey, of course). Their language remains a wordless burbling, but they can communicate with their caregivers through gestures.

After bathing their squidges in the Wellspring, regardless of the success of evolutions, recruits should prepare to depart Zeta-12 with the knowledge that their alien children are better, stronger, and smarter for the time they spent together.

Fyletto

OOC NOTES

This log lasts ICly for one week, and OOCly for 1.5 weeks. Once the mission is completed and the squidges are bathed in the Wellspring, recruits will have until August 20th to say goodbye and let their alien wards leave the metaphorical nest.

Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here.

And don't forget about the bounty board! After August 20th, Zeta-12 bounties will no longer be completable.

Please remember to fill out your squidge success form! Participation is required to pass AC this month. If you have any questions about the form, please direct them here. Forms must be completed by August 31th, 23:59 UTC.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Ramir would've had zero complaints about it if Sigma had lost the shirt -- or all of it, that'd be fine too -- but when he settles down next to her that's really good enough for her. She slips an arm around his waist in turn, tucking her hand under the edge of his shirt to rest it against his back directly. ]

Maybe. [ She leans her head against his shoulder, tipped just enough to aim a self-satisfied grin up at him. ] I mean, had to pick somewhere romantic, right? Not just any patch of weeds.

[ Which is completely true, she had wanted somewhere picturesque and romantic, but since it feels sort of weird to say -- she's still working out her approach to romance -- it gets the irreverent treatment to make her feel better. She's only working on half a battle plan here, playing the other half by ear. ]

Romantic, huh?

[ He returns her grin full force, all sorts of bells and whistles off and running in his head, but he tames it back a notch to really run his eyes around the serene little pool before them. ]

I guess I never really noticed how pretty this place could be with all those little guys to keep an eye on...

[ Soak it in, I guess... He doesn't get too into it before turning back her way, ducking in to press a brief kiss to the corner of her smile. Equally distracting from the scenery. ]

Good pick.

[ She's starting to flounder a little; she hadn't thought this far ahead. The plan was basically get them there, then... probably get around to making sure he knows how she feels. Somehow. How do you even turn a conversation to that? Should she be more romantic about this? Would having found roses or something ahead of time be overkill? Probably.

That's when he's wonderfully distracting with that quick kiss, and she turns her head to catch him before he can make it too far away and slow it down. This strikes her as a really good plan, the first solid bit she's been sure of, so after a second she turns more fully toward him and shifts her arm around him, lifting it to thread through his hair instead as she lingers in the kiss.

As much as she loves kissing Sigma, though, it takes her a few seconds to realize this isn't advancing her plan much. Then a few seconds more to finally make herself pull back. She should probably just — say it. ]

I wanted to tell you something. [ Words out in a rush, and she's feeling considerably less smooth than what she usually aims for. She tacks on, figuring that if she's feeling self conscious she may as well be loud about it: ] It's kinda embarrassing.

[ Hey, no complaints here, he'd only kept it short to keep talking, since that seemed to be the ultimate reason for keeping their clothes on, but he can do this too. The only uncertainty comes from switching gears so abruptly, but hardly a second passes before he's back into it, fingers dragging up the hem of her shirt at her back as she laces hers through his hair. ]

[ Her realization syncs right up with a jump in his enthusiasm, and just as he hooks a hand under one of her legs to pull her into his lap she's leaning out, leaving him hanging awkwardly posed with a dumb open-mouthed look on his face. Women?? ]

[ But her tone is taking on the quality it had the last time they'd been by a spring; the tone that came out to admit it had no earthly idea what it was doing. It reassembles his face back into an actual expression, a grin that's light-hearted, just shy of teasing. ]

Oh? [ After a second of prompting silence, ] What, are you gonna tell me brunette's not your natural color?

[ That joke really doesn't work as well when it's such a natural color to begin with... But this is how she likes things, right? She wouldn't have brought him somewhere this nice and kissed for that long to tell him something bad... How could he worry? ]

[ She'd have some sort of witty, nonchalant retort for that on a smoother day. As it is she just rolls her eyes, which is the best she's got. Sad. ]

No, not this time.

[ Okay, how's she doing this. She glances down, trying to pin down a few words in an order that makes sense. She's released his hair if not her hold on him, and her fingers thread nervously through the fabric of his shirt at the back of his neck. ]

I know we haven't been, you know, official or whatever-- for that long, so maybe I'm jumping the gun? Or too early. I don't know how this shit works. [ She lifts her head again to meet his eyes, forcing a smile that comes out embarrassed and self conscious. This isn't something she should be staring at her lap as she says. ] But, holy shit, I'm so in love with you. I mean, I'm pretty sure I was before we started dating, even. But now I really am.

[ That was so not the romantic way to say it. God. So much for the romantic, picturesque jungle pool, she just squandered it. ]

[ Wow, lame. This must be truly serious if she's at a loss for quips. His head tips faintly in line with hers as her gaze drops to her knees, hand likewise settling at her belt. When she lifts it again, he's just short of caught off guard; at the same time, this would be exactly how she'd say it, wouldn't it? Any better put together just wouldn't be right. ]

[ That being said, speaking of how put together things aren't, something swells high in his chest as she speaks—not something, not just a displaced and written off surge of emotion threatening to carry him over the moon if he doesn't let it out somehow, he knows exactly what it is. It escapes, then, in a shiver of his shoulders, tongue bit behind a smile, preceding an abrupt bark of laughter as the dam finally breaks. ]

You're serious?

[ God, if she thought she sounded bad, look at him laughing in her face at such a deep admission. It's just how pent-up things get out of him though, albeit it's usually fear or stress that gets him this far (which tends to look even worse). Admittedly, this has been a sort of stress all its own. But it isn't something that's stopping easily, so he quickly buries it in the crook of her neck as he pulls her close, pressing every bit of her as tight to his chest as he can. ]

[ After a breath to get it under control, ] I was— Before we started, I was too, I've been in... [ You know, this probably deserves eye contact just as much as hers did. He pulls back, ] stupid amounts of love with you. I just— You were already so hesitant about the whole dating thing, I didn't want to scare you off...

[ And now, this. As much as she's given him, it still feels like a hundred pounds off his shoulders now that he's actually focusing on it; it makes him want to jump, shout, punch the air, revel in this newfound lightness, but he settles for drawing back, cupping her face in his hands and pressing his lips to hers, equal parts frantic and so immeasurably earnest. "Settles." As if any of those other options were even half as satisfying as this. ]

[ It goes on longer, but fuller. Not a fun little distraction, something worth the entirety of his attention, something he'd make worth the entirety of hers before even thinking to break it. But eventually, he'll concede that there's more to it that needs her focus. And it has no bearing on the scenery. ]

I love you so much.

[ The laughter in turn nearly catches her off guard, but of course there's no reason for that. She knows Sigma well by now, and just like that would be exactly how she'd say it, this would be exactly his reaction. After all, it's not like she had any reason to think they weren't on the same level, right? It doesn't take words to make something like this obvious.

But it's still nice to hear it for real.

She's just starting to edge into laughter of her own, more quietly, head tipped a little to accommodate him, and it slows down into a glad smile when he pulls back again. It is, as it turns out, really nice to hear it for real. And the kiss that follows is exactly the one she's been wanting to share with him this whole time, put off by creepy little staring beady eyes — even better than that, maybe. She's lightened with a glowing delight, it's nothing at all to lift up both arms and loop them around his neck as she shifts to finish that half made move into his lap. Even if she'd totally flopped on the romantic delivery of a confession like that, she'd change nothing about any of this.

They finally part, and the warmth of happiness hasn't faded at all — it only grows when he speaks again. ]

Oh, cool. [ She's aiming for one of her teasing grins, but the genuine happiness in it throws off its look a little. She gives up when another happy laugh bubbles up. More earnestly: ] I love you too, so... glad we're on the same page, huh?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ ZETA-12 FINAL WEEK

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