EVENT ★ ZETA-12 FINAL WEEK

[futurologists]

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. 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.

Comments

[winces]

[ she has to wonder at that, really. perhaps it's what she should do. wouldn't it just be easier for everyone involved if she did? if she could just... let it go, be done with it.

eventually, slowly, she finds herself shaking her head. ]

...it seems almost wrong, to do that. [ it's a quiet musing though. a small confession. ]

I don't know if I could bear to treat it like it doesn't matter that much to me.

[perma_banned]

[He knew she'd say something like that. Somehow, Ban thought--maybe if she was angry enough she'd forget those problems. In that vein, he admitted it for himself.]

Yeah. Me too.

[With that, he kept walking, slipping his thumbs under his belt. It mattered to him more than it should have and he only had a few ways of actually dealing with it.]

[winces]

[ she is stricken by that response, so much so that it takes her a couple of seconds before finding her own voice to call to his back. ]

M-Mr. Ban...!

[ she will wait until he turns back to look at her. until he stops. ]

...Would you like a picture with Lump?

[perma_banned]

[Ban stopped, tilting his head to give Olivia a slight look from the corner of his eyes.

He didn't know what she was talking about.]

A picture?

[winces]

[ she hesitates a little, unsure what to make of his reaction. ]

Y-Yes...

[ hastily, she reaches for the satchel she'd dropped in her desperate clinging of sapphire, drawing out the small polaroid camera. ]

Do.. they have those in your world?

[perma_banned]

There isn't any time for me to sit around for one of those. [He looked irritable at the thought of it. Olivia pulling out the camera didn't register at all as a gesture of any importance. He had never seen one, before.

He assumed they were going to ask someone to paint a picture.]

[winces]

[ olivia hesitates, her brow furrowing now in more confusion than wariness. she glances down at the camera in her hands, and realizes ban hasn't made any indication of giving it much thought.

hastily, she says: ]

It will only take a second.

[ .. ]

Literally!

[perma_banned]

[Ban's eyes followed Olivia's to the little box in her hand. One brow lifted--curious. He was going to head off to entertain himself either way, but...

Lump stared as well, circling to take a look as what they were so interested about.]

What, is it some sort of magic you learned?

[winces]

Um — yes!

[ technically it's true, even if it wouldn't necessarily be magic... ]

It was a gift from ALASTAIR. If I point this at something, and hit this button here, a paper will come out with the image! I think Papyrus called it a photograph.

[perma_banned]

[Oh. She mentioned Papyrus.

Ban naturally trusted the object at that point. He craned his neck and waded back to Olivia.]

Lump! [The squidge paused in its flopping about, turning to look back to Ban, inquisitively. It had already prepared for Ban to leave. It was a surprise that he was calling him back.

Lump came over as beckoned.]

Then, hurry up and do it.

[He wasn't sure what to feel once he canceled his 'goodbye'. Ban looked fairly numb at that.]

[winces]

Okay... um.

[ she fiddles with the camera a little, finally holding it up to her eye level. ]

Say "cheese"...! [ don't ask her why, though. papyrus said.

but like she said, it barely takes a second. there is a flash of light that might alarm the other two, but she is quick to pluck the printed slip of paper out from under the camera. this she holds out to ban. ]

Here you are.

[perma_banned]

[The flash was unexpected. Ban's eyes went wide for a moment and it showed in the photo. Both he and Lump looked shocked and caught off-guard--which seemed reasonable at the time. He took the picture from Olivia, looking it over with some scrutiny. He hadn't noticed that Lump had settled himself against his hip for the photograph. When it was done, Lump lumbered away after fixing Ban with a curious look. Ban turned, beginning to leave in the opposite direction, saying nothing--

At least until the last moment. Ban stopped, looking back to Olivia with the picture held between two fingers.]

Thanks.

[winces]

[ she isn't actually sure if she managed to help at all... or if she's just made it worse by giving him something to hold on to.

she worries about that, really. if sometimes her help is just more hurt in the end.

—but he's thanking her.

for now, perhaps that's good enough. ]

...You're welcome, Ban.