EVENT ★ LOST IN TRANSLATION

[futurologists]

RETURN TO OSKA Upon arrival in Oska, new and returning recruits alike will find that something strange is going on. Any attempts to communicate with someone who doesn't speak the same language as you will be just that -- like you don't speak the same language. Let's hope everyone is good at charades, because you're going to be out of luck for a full day. On the second day, a text comes across -- surprisingly intelligible to everyone. Is it over? Well . . . crowley: Hello, Audentes. We are currently experiencing magitek difficulties, as you may have guessed already. Temporal insects have arrived with our latest arrivals, and as you may imagine, we have had our paws full. cherenkov: We are working out how to mitigate the pest problem for good. For now, please put your unpleasantly huge feet to use and stomp them out. Or other such methods. crowley: We have created a quick patch to facilitate text-based communications, but verbal translation will continue to be down until the insects are exterminated. Thank you for your patience. It's not over. TEMPORAL INSECTS This invasive species has worked its way in through the rifts along with the newest batch of arrivals, and information on them is available in the library (provided you can read the language it's written in!). It seems they behave like locusts, living quietly within the space between rifts for many years until their numbers suddenly balloon and they begin to swarm in search of food. These bugs move fast and pack a nasty bite, but are unarmored and easily squished. Each one is about the size of a football, and leaves a little tell-tale slime trail that makes it easy to track. They can cling to any surface, and won't hesitate to leap onto attackers and bite if they feel threatened. One can take a decently sized but non-lethal bite out of someone, but a number of them together will pose a real danger. If punctured or squished they tend to explode into moderately acidic goo that can cause caustic burns if not immediately washed off. They are attracted to any area of high temporal energy, which can be literally any surface, corner, or point on or within the castle and its grounds. As they begin to feed they cause temporal distortion in the area. This manifests as the immediate area seeming to flicker backwards and forwards through time. An insect gnawing at a table leg in the dining area, for example, might cause the area to stutter between years and years of dinner parties, ghostly attendants of all fashions and species appearing and disappearing as they enter and leave the affected area. An onlooker can't interact with temporal distortions directly, but if the insect is left to its own devices, it will eventually eat through all of the temporal energy and render the immediate area gray, frozen, and completely inert. It's highly recommended you kill or otherwise chase off an insect before it manages this, as it can do irreversible damage to a world. For affected Oska locations, please see this post. OOC NOTES The translation errors will continue through the rest of the month. For more information or to ask questions, please check the plotting post here! New bounties are available in Oska! Please remember to fill out your squidge success form before August 31, 23:59 UTC! Filling the form out is mandatory, even if you do not have the 3 squidge threads. You will not pass AC if you do not fill out the form. Characters who have been accepted on August 20th are exempt. Please direct questions relating to the success form here.

Comments

NETWORK RESPONSES

[futurologists]

[This is a catch-all for any and all network responses to the cats' text. Feel free to threadjack!]

un: coolskeleton95 [leave it to me to make the very first thing on the page this awful font]

[boneafide]

OKAY I HEAR YOU ON THAT WE NEED TO SQUISH THE BUGS BUT WHAT IF I FOUND ONE THAT I REALLY LIKE???

rhys | ota

[dbag]

a | i was like totally buggin'

[ Rhys is being totally altruistic and going around taking care of this bug problem JUST KIDDING, he is absolutely not. These soft hands were not made to kill bugs, he probably pulls this shit when space spiders come around. But he currently has no one on bug-killing duty for him, and he does have to leave his room on occasion, so a one-on-one bug encounter does happen. The epic battle lasts three days and three nights — or at least it feels like it did, it probably lasted about two or three minutes at most — and at the end of it, there's goo. Everywhere. It wasn't a very clean kill. ]

Oh, my god. [ Why is this happening!! What has he ever done wrong ever in his life to deserve this. It's all over him, like, all over him, and in his rush to get it the fuck off he may or may not pushing past people aaaand accidentally getting acid goo all over you, too, sorry, sucks to suck. ]

b | a bigger disaster than malibu

[ Check it out, u just got a text from RHY5-W1NZ. You are now subscribed to Rhys Facts, etc. ]

Sooo fun hypothetical question time! If someone (hypothetically) did not like bugs that EXPLODED into ACID ALL OVER and totally ruined their (hypothetical) clothes and might have hypothetically scarred them for life a little, wooould there HYPOTHETICALLY be a hypothetical person who doesn't get all hung up on the getting covered in acid thing and would be willing to like, hang out with hypothetical person A and take care of the bugs for them. Hypothetically.

[ Does he also just want to force someone to hang out with him, MAYBE. ]

c | that was way harsh, tai

[ aggressively wildcard me, pp me at regnant if you have qs, and while you're here, don't forget to check out my infomodder permissions if you haven't already. ]

b, we're gonna do it, we're gonna thread

[strictdiscipline]

[No, she wants to get off this ride. Also: that's a lot of hypotheticals.]

I'd suggest asking outright the next time you're interested in soliciting help.

[Is that a yes?? Stay tuned.]

fiona / open

[cachemoney]

i. MELEE.

[Fiona is accustomed to all sorts of disgusting, goopy things that are upsettingly insectoid, so she's not exactly horrified by the presence of these things. But she is visibly irritated as she works on eradicating the bugs, having found a spear somewhere (don't question it) to stab them with. Right now, she's got one flipped over on its back somewhere in the gardens, holding her spear high over her head like the Frank Frazetta-iest of spear-users.

She's so focused that she doesn't notice the other insect slithering right toward her legs, it's probably going to spit acid at her or bite her on the ankle or something. Are you a hero or are you just going to sit there and laugh when she gets outsmarted by bug teamwork??]

ii. SUPPORT.

[Stabbing bugs and wiping off acidy goop really works up an appetite, so Fiona makes her way down to the kitchens to take a break. Which does not wind up as a very satisfying break, since there are bugs in here too. After clearing them out (and trying to wipe as much acid off the counter as possible), she grabs what she assumes are muffins and just perches up on the countertop.

Wolfing down baked goods while surrounded by and covered in insect gore, no big deal. She hears someone coming and glances up -- and then grimaces a little when she realizes she missed a giant puddle of ooze right in the doorway.] Hey, wait -- [There's not enough time to warn for Danger: Wet Floor, so she lobs a muffin at the doorway instead, hoping that'll work. Let her sacrifice not be in vain, muffin gods.]

iii. CROWD CONTROL.

[ wildcard option, hmu through PM or at bloodmoney if you want to discuss! otherwise just throw whatever you want at me, i'm game. ]

i

[strictdiscipline]

[Please, like she would ever let her new best friend down.

Instead of laughter, there's the sound of bullets firing, two in quick succession. (One to immobilize the bugger and one to keep it down permanently.) Fiona gets a flicker of a smile and a nod - hi, and by the way, you're welcome - but there isn't time for much else, not when there are three more coming at 4 o'clock.

Please hold.]

Sorey l ota

[historiology]

Arrival:

[W..what? Well. The bugs certainly were not here last time. But Sorey is quick to figure the bugs should probably be dealt with. He's used to fighting hellions back home and purifying them, or hunting. So he just has to think of this the same way, right? The way these things leave a trail to follow at least makes it easy to track them in various areas through headquarters.

At least, hopefully, he'll learn quickly to better keep his distance with a bow or the like in comparison to his ceremonial sword, in better avoiding the acid. But that is probably going to be learned the hard way.]

Ugh! That just -- what is this stuff? It burns, ow!

[Trying to wipe it off and getting it on his hands or gloves is probably not the best idea, but it is the most instinctive one.]

Support:

[Sorey is no stranger to teamwork. He will help if he sees someone needing a hand, or if someone asks (or gestures? Either way.), stepping in and offering healing artes if armatized or turning to Mikleo to ask him to help if someone is hurt, or jumping in to their defense. Sword (or bow, if armatized) in hand, he does his best to manage the situation. It doesn't really require much if anything in the way of speaking at least. For now.]

b;

[figureitout]

[ /GESTURES AGGRESSIVELY AT

I mean.

There isn't much asking going on, what with Stiles squashing one of the bugs with his baseball bat, smashing it straight at it, but there's at least one more coming at him and he is so out of here, god, this is literally the worst.

At least he does spot Sorey, waving his hands at him frantically while trying to scramble away from the pool of acid rapidly forming on the floor.

Please? Help?? ]

knock out | open, languages: english and basically everything else from earth too

[paintjobs]

[ a: for mccree! ]

[ Although he has less than no idea what in the world just happened, Knock Out really has to admit that it's an improvement. He might be stuck on a wide swath of the roof of this... castle? Is this seriously a castle? — But there are no bars around him and not a single moping vehicon, so he'll take it.

On the other hand, though, the last time he tried to move from where he'd landed, the structure under his feet had creaked dangerously. He'd carefully tried a movement back the other way, to the same result. All four directions of the compass seem to have only structurally unsound roofing to offer a 20 foot tall robot heavier than a car — he's come to realize he might have landed on the only secure bit of roof up here.

That was about ten minutes ago, and he hasn't moved since — not until now, as he's just noticed something tiny, slimy, and thoroughly disgusting crawling nearer to him across the roof. His face immediately arranges into an unhappy scowl, and he transforms a section of his shoulder into a small gun, buzzing with ready blue energy to fire. Only the thought that destroying a section of the roof might not be the wisest course of option keeps him from actually incinerating it.

And he still hasn't noticed the bug currently making its slow and slimy way over the smooth cherry plating at the back of his shoulder. Boy, he won't be into that discovery. ]

[ b: a nice weekend cruise ]

[ He's starting to rethink the idea that here is better than in his own dimension, locked into jail on the hold of a stolen ship with what remains of the losing side of a war. Sure, that was boring, dingy, and bad company, but at least it wasn't infested with bugs.

A sleek red Aston Martin (with shining golden rims and lovely decal work, thank you) is picking its way carefully, incongruously, down a hallway of the caste. It passes quickly under any bugs clinging to the walls and ceiling, but screeches to a short stop should it ever come upon one on the ground. Running over that thing would be disgusting.

Maybe you come upon the odd scene of luxury car idling in front of a temporal bug, waiting for it to move, or maybe Knock Out had had enough forewarning to stop back far enough, and he's got a thin gun folded out from the side paneling, trying to take careful aim at the thing in the way ahead. (His aim is really, really horrendous. Please stop this, he might take out one of the support pillars along with the bug.) ]

wildcarding u

[iomnic]

[The courtyard is big. Big enough to house such a giant robot, and so that is where Zenyatta figures Knock Out will be. After their last conversation that i totally didn't drop, he had parted briefly from Knock Out to speak with his student about the bug infestation. Now returned, sure enough there is Knock Out, looking positively grumpy.]

I assure you, there were not this many insects here before we had left. This is... an anomaly.

Laedo Ledo | OC | Speaks 'fantasy latin'

[asscan]

I. (OTA) DRAGON BREATH

They've only been back in Oska for a few minutes, but it's already quite obvious that the language barrier has gone up as all magitek in the fragment-realm goes down. Above all the confused milieu of human voices, Laedo, in full askan form, bellows, "Quid agatur??"

Of course, being twice or more the height of a man, with a voice that roils like thunder, the sort-of-latin tone gets muddled in a bestial growl that might be offputting to those who aren't familiar with him...


II. (OTA) MY WORD AGAINST YOURS

As the day goes on, and Laedo's temper grows thin, he can be found in human form in the library, picking up and throwing down books that he can now no longer read. So much for this attempt to bridge boundaries. At least he isn't the only one who had had this thought. Now, sitting with a plate piled with egregiously fatty food--the rations and vegetables from Zeta-12 had left him with a hankering, he can be found attempting to make comparisons, pointing to pictures in books to others and trying to find a common. Every so often, when he grows too frustrated, he can be found patrolling through the massive annals of Oska's library with a heavy book completely smeared with bug goo, his face sapped of colour and his lips twisted in a disgusted sneer.


III. (OTA) NO ROOM FOR CHARADES

By the end of the first day, Laedo has given up hope. If he crosses someone who he's fairly familiar with, he will simply place a hand on their shoulder. "Commodo, huc veni," -- in human form he has a higher voice, less intimidating. He does not, however, seem as interested in maintaining the usual bubble he keeps, for in a moment similar words filter as though from mind to mind, images overlaying carefully as the askan stares adamantly for understanding. Essentially, he's attempting to circumvent the severe language barrier by speaking simply and including images directly with his words.

iii!

[heavyhitter]

[ Ramir, for one, is having a pretty good time with all this chaos. The bugs are gross, but easy, and she'd really missed hearing new languages around. (Plus, of course, it's easy for her to enjoy as she can find plenty of people she shares a common language with. How nice.)

She's immediately curious the instant she spots Laedo, though, because what the hell language does a dragon speak? So she heads for him, and looks a little delighted at the sound of his language. ]

Oh, shit, that's a new one. [ Sort of... Latiny? She hasn't quite noticed any images going on yet, and charges on with a switch from English to Italian. A little closer to Latin, right? ] Man, is that even an Earth language? You're gonna be out of luck, buddy.

Giovanni Rammsteiner | OTA

[ofobedience]

((Note: Giovanni's spoken language is more or less Germanic. Anyone who speaks German should be able to converse with him without difficulty, but everyone else? Not so much. Luckily the need for bug extermination should be universally understood!))

i. bug massacre

[It'd be an untruth to say he's engaging in this little killing spree for altruistic reasons; he's never been the altruistic type, but the conclusion of the Zeta-12 mission has left an empty space in him that he doesn't quite know how to deal with, how to fill. It's a discomforting feeling, something he'd rather he never discovered to begin with, the realisation that he can feel anything as immediate and cloying as an attachment to something that exists outside of his own insular little world.

In that respect, the insect invasion is rather fortuitous; dealing with it is something he knows, can engage in unproblematically. And so should anyone happen to come across him they'll find him destroying the abhorrent creatures with alarming alacrity, stomping them under his ALASTAIR issue boots, slicing them into slick gooey pieces with the sword he'd acquired from Loki on Nalawi, or blasting them with his twin pistols and laughing as they burst into mildly acidic soup. From the outside, at least, he seems to be enjoying himself immensely, face split open on a vicious grin. Perhaps you'd like to join him? It's a cathartic exercise for those suffering a sense of loss now that their little charges have left them.]

Ha ha!

ii. surrounded!

[uh oh, it seems as though his intense efforts at irradiation have finally caused the critters to decide a group attack is needed. Giovanni has managed to get himself caught up in a miniature swarm of bugs, all of them leaping and biting as he attempts to mow the lot of them down. He doesn't seem distressed by his predicament - in fact, if anyone should look closely they'll see any wounds he sustains are streaming with acrid smoke as they rapidly stitch themselves together again - but there are rather a lot of the things and it's proving to be something of a challenge. Time for some teamwork, anyone?]

iii. wildcard!

[Any other kind of interaction you want to have with Giovanni? This goes here!]

2!

[heavyhitter]

[ Ramir is about to go help out when she spots Giovanni and his predicament, really, she is — except she also spots the way his wounds don't stick. And that's pretty cool.

So she hangs back instead, hovering in one of the doorways of the castle, watching. It's kinda cool to watch him work, actually. He's way better than she is at this, she can tell that much already. ]

Hey! You need a hand, or do you got this? [ She asks it in Italian, of course. Look at his name, Giovanni, of course he's Italian. ]

Sieglinde Sullivan ⚝ OTA

[grunehexe]

⚝ 01; Rückkehr

[With as emotionally fraught as the parting from the squidges had been for a lot of people, Sieglinde was glad to leave Zeta-12 behind. For someone who had left her home behind in her own world, Oska was the closest thing she had- and it was a far better place to run her experiments and research than in the field during missions.

With a satisfied sigh, the little witch dumps her bag at her feet, stretching her arms up over her head.]

Es ist schön, wieder mit dabeizusein.

[It doesn't sound strange to her ears, but... all it will take is the reply of the nearest recruit to make it clear... They have a translation problem.]

⚝ 02; Lauf

[There is something Sieglinde's been wanting to try- something that didn't make much sense to risk doing in an unfamiliar place, with dangers lurking. She didn't exactly want it to be seen if she messed it up, either, but...

She had toddled out of her rooms early in the morning, Isengrim at her side, and now she stood in the Oska fields, breathing a bit unevenly, nervous as she stared out at the earth. Hesitantly, the little witch started walking, slowly gathering speed, until her shuffling pace turned into something like a jog, and she started to smile, almost laughed, almost ran-

Until she stumbled over her own feet and faceplanted right into the ground.]

⚝ 03; Täuschung

[Do you have an impression that someone's watching you? Like goosebumps on your arms or raised hairs on the back of your neck? When you turn around there might be a flicker- a tall, slender young woman with black hair, no, red hair, dark eyes, no, green eyes-

But if you double take, it's... is that Sieglinde peeking around the corner? It is, the young witch's emerald eyes narrowed with what is likely disconcerting focus in your direction.

Maybe you're seeing things.]

⚝ 04; Sprache

[Oska was in dire need of a Rosetta stone. And Sieglinde, she was collecting. The text had started in her room, but she'd run out of wall space, and she was now in the corridor, chalk in her hands, writing out basic sentences in whatever language she could get a hold of on the walls of the hallway by waylaying passersby and holding up a piece of paper with "What is your network handle?" in German, Japanese, English, Italian, Latin, French, Greek... And if you can read it and answer, you'll find a message from Sieglinde on your magitek in two shakes of a lamb's tail.]

Please translate the following in your native tongue, and identify it.

"My name is [X]. I am on team [X]. You are from [X]. I speak [X]. He is tall. She is short. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Red, blue, green, purple, white, black, yellow, pink, brown..........

[... The text goes on about three pages.

If you can't read her original question, though... let's figure this out.]

03

[ofobedience]

[That feeling, the heaviness of an unseen gaze, the fizz and tickle at the back of the neck, invisible hackles raised-- it's a feeling he knows, one he'd be more or less at home with in a more familiar setting, but here it's different, isn't it? It's not the same as knowing you're being observed by something bigger brighter better than yourself, more the sensation of being stealthily spied upon. It's enough to have him turning and then-- well.

He blinks. Shakes his head as though to clear his vision of...something. There's no woman there at all. Just that odd little girl.]

Spying again, are we?

[He hasn't forgotten the last time. At least she should be able to understand his Germanic tongue.]

Saitama | OTA except where noted | Japanese and half-forgotten high school English

[heroforhobby]

((OOC: Anything he's saying in this thread is Japanese, if I have him try English I'll put it in {{brackets like these}}. I'm doing prose to start but will match any style if you prefer brackets. Let me know if I got anything wrong and I'll change!))


0: Viewing Hall: Closed to Hanzo
--------------
Saitama has literally no idea where he is.

He could have sworn he was outside on patrol. Now he was indoors, and surrounded by mirrors. A lot of mirrors. A disturbing amount of mirrors. He wasn't an easy man to disturb but this was just Too many mirrors to find anything but weirdly abnormal.

Unless he was in a mirror store? Did Genos ask him to buy a mirror? Why was he having such a hard time remembering why he was here. Movement out of the the corner of his eyes caught his attention, and he walks up to one of the smaller, but much more ornate, mirrors on the wall and realizes that it looked like a mirror but he was seeing... a deer in a meadow? Though the deer wasn't quite like a normal deer, all blue and multi-legged, but he's not sure what else to call it, so that would have to do.


1: Courtyard
--------------
Saitama was still at a bit of a loss about where he was, and wondered still if it was just a weird dream. But he doesn't dwell on it, that's not in his nature, he just needed to get a bit of feel for the land. All the bugs swarming around and trying to bite him now and again were annoying, though.

Out in the courtyard, he noticed the weird temporal effects. It was almost like watching TV with someone constantly changing the channel or hitting fast-foward or rewind. He crouched down in front of a medium sized . . . what would you call it? tear? rip? and watched as people came and went. It currently was stalled on some sort of romantic meeting between two humanoid, alien people. They were trying to be secretive about it in the middle of the night. This place sure did have--or will have--some interesting looking people.

Sometimes a bug came up to bite his ankles, but he would just pull it off without looking away from the tear and toss it far aside like it was merely a nuisance. (Sometimes against a far wall so hard it would explode into a mess of that acid.)


2: Hot Springs
--------------
Well, okay, he was brought to a place against his will, sure. It has made him a little grumpy, sure. But at least they had a hot spring to help the nerves.

But when he got there, all those bugs were there, too. That was the last straw, he could feel his blood pressure shoot up.

"Can't I have a simple soak without being gnawed on?!" he shouted in Japanese before stamping down on one of the bugs, acid splattering on his boots, causing the red leather to sizzle. "Ah, no, my boots!" He rushed for the water and stuck his foot in to wash it off before it got too bad, but then realized he was contaminating it with acid blood. "Ah, no, the water!!"

Anyone nearby that would like to help him clear the area are welcome to join him. Do it for the precious, precious hot spring.


3: Wildcard
--------------
Need help with some bugs? Think Saitama needs help with some bugs? Want to try to shoot the shit with him in Japanese or various frantic hand gestures? I'm game for anything you throw my way!

1

[iomnic]

That sure is an interesting tear in time-space.

Zenyatta, too, watches this apparently very old rendezvous, as he quietly floats over to Saitama. You know, to comment on this, like they're watching a TV show.

"Fascinating. I have never seen either of those individuals here before." You know, the people they are somewhat spying on. "And I have never met you before, either. Hello. Welcome to Oska."

genji | ota

[backthatup]

i. extermination

[ These bugs are ... gross. That must sound like something for a person who has fought against Omnics, but he does not actually want to get closer than necessary to these football-sized bugs. The slime itself gives him an uneasy feeling. That means that he would rely heavily on his shuriken to pierce the bodies of the insects. Of course, they aren't killing blows. Enough to splatter acidic goo upon hit then scurry to another room.

Genji cannot help but sigh as he has to run to grab the shuriken from where it was embedded before running after the fleeing bugs. He flicks his wrist a few times to attempt to skewer the escaping -- occasionally missing as he still is dealing with how fast these creatures can actually move. ]

Just stay still and die a good distance away from me! [ He calls after the bugs as he slows down how fast he's running after them to make sure that he can just continue to throw projectiles at them. Eventually, one is going to pop and while he may get out of the way of that explosion, hopefully those in the radius of the bursting can do the same. Or at the very least, please help him in killing these creatures. ]

ii. friendly cyborg

[ An annoyed sigh as he finally finds some small space that is bug-free. This is supposed to be their home base, but with communication down for most, he cannot help but feel like that makes everyone an outcast in some small way. There is also no way of telling if the language he is speaking is one understood until he happens upon a person. Well, that isn't about ready to stop him.

At times like these, as frantic as everyone must be feeling, there should be a moment of calm. Even if it is but for a few seconds. That is why he is able to breathe a little easy while in the courtyard. He finds a place to sit under one of the trees. Breathing in, he thinks it best to take a second to calm himself. It is then that he notices someone else and waves his hand to attempt to get their attention. Language aside, he notes they're a little further away to start yelling and so, once he gathers their attention, he lightly pats the grassy area next to him as an invitation to join him. ]

iii. communication | day two

[ re-written in nepali, japanese and english. ]

This is hardly what I had expected in coming back to the headquarters. I saw a few people flicker in and out while walking through the hall. One could almost feel like they're being haunted.

Still, where did these come from? Through whatever power brought us here?

iv. wildcard

[ Don't like any of these? Hit me with your best shot! ]

i.

[apoptotic]

[ getting an injured bug chased his way accidentally or no? not appreciated. getting an injured bug chased his way by a too loud droid? there are not enough words in any language that he could string together to explain how much this scenario personally offends him.

the lightsaber was already in hand. the bug is fast, but anakin is faster still and knows where it will go. the lightsaber hisses alive and swings down in a lethal blue arc. the bug goes flying, as does the acid — away from him. ( the force is damn useful. )

which then leads to ( 1 ) annoyed jedi knight glaring at genji and maybe it's a good thing there is no translation service because what he said would have bumped the movie's rating from pg-13 to r. ]

nami ☁ ota

[weatherscience]

a | speak gibberish to me;

Aaaahh, it's nice to be back...!

[ As sad as it was, to leave Belle, Shanks and Emergency Rations Two behind, it was what they'd known would happen from the beginning, and they were better off, back in their world-- all grown up, having learned the skills they needed to survive. They would form their own crew, find their own adventures!

... and really, being back somewhere with proper showers and beds was heaven.

Nami sighed out happily, stretching her arms behind her, bouncing a little on her heels -- before noticing two people standing near the entrance to the dining hall, waving their hands at each other, shaking their heads, both looking incredibly frustrated. ]

... I wonder what's wrong with them.

[ Are you one of the two, desperate for help? Someone nearby with an understanding of Japanese, wondering the same thing? Or perhaps you don't understand Japanese at all, and Nami's words make zero sense to you. ]

b | buggin' hell;

[ Forget everything she said before: this is the worst. Actual Hell on Earth, or space in this case, her worst nightmare...!!

BUGS. Why, oh why, is it always bugs? Why not, say, giant animals- no, wait, that's bad, too. Why does it always have to be something? ]

Noooooooooooo!! Go away!!!!

[ Even if you don't understand the words themselves, it is easy enough to understand the meaning of one (1) Nami, running along the hallway, tears in her eyes, hands clutching her cheeks in abject horror that is directed at the three bugs chasing after her. They may be fast, but she is faster-- never underestimate the power of being scared out of your mind.

And just when it looks like they're catching up to her, one of them preparing to leap on to her, she swings her hand, twirling a staff-like thing like her life depends on it... yelling out, suddenly in completely understandable English, ] Thunderbolt Tempo!

[ The hallway is suddenly filled with thunderclouds... and lightning, striking at anything and everything that happens to be near the bugs. Or maybe not so near, sorry?? ]

c | what a wild ride;

[ wildcard it!! hit her up with a network text, help her out with bugs, anything goes! feel free to follow your heart or poke at me on plurk @ celen for things c: ]

b

[perma_banned]

[Ban stood in Nami's way. It wasn't that he didn't realize there were bugs around--it was that he didn't care much about them.

To boot, he was toting an overly large bottle of bourbon, thus ensuring he would be of no practical support at that time. He lifted a brow as Nami ran in his direction, throwing lightning around. He briefly glanced at his bottle to make certain it was only liquor he had secured from the kitchens.

In the next moment, he was aflame with lightning, seizing up as he hadn't actually considered the fact that he might have been in the way of it all. He also managed to take a swing from her staff right to the cheek, leaving his face indented in a nearby wall.]

Ban | OTA

[perma_banned]

[Languages!: Medieval English, Medieval French, Medieval German]

A
[The very first thing Ban did upon his return was to bury himself in the dining hall and kitchen to secure as much ale and hard liquor as possible. He had a brand new reason to be depressed as of his last mission and the first thing on his mind had been a desire to get as much alcohol in his system as he could before passing out to start up again. He patiently waited, snatching bottles and tankards as they magically manifested themselves so he could sequester them for later. Ban made his way through the halls, squinting in confusion as the walls seemed to gather blurry purple spots once he started drinking.

He inspected the bottles to make sure they were just alcohol and not some other compound--not that anything would really be able to poison him much, otherwise.

Ban got close to one of the purple spots and it latched onto his face. Serrated teeth tore through his cheek and blood ran down from him. With a gentle pinch, Ban removed a large purple insect from his skin and then crushed it in his hand. Ban watched as good dribbled down from his fingers--after awhile, followed by patches of smoke. His hand was sizzling. Acid?]

...This isn't the liquor's doing.

B
[Sauntering down the halls in his search for a nice and secure place to nap, Ban spotted someone trailed by what looked to be a flood of those little purple spots. He grinned, remembering smashing a bunch of the other bugs.

Of course, he didn't know what they were--other than the fact that they were annoying and a bunch had bitten him already. Onlookers might have wondered whether the insects or Ban were the bigger issues as an eruption of wind surged up. A hundred or so of the insects exploded in an instant as Ban combined his magic with a random lashing of his belt to smash them all at once. He laughed like a madman the whole time, before leaning back and taking a long drink from a bottle of bourbon.

Ban began shambling back and forth in a circle as he tried to put his belt back on, one-handed. In the background, there was smoking rubble and debris from Ban's so-called 'rescue'. He got a bit overzealous.]

C
[The fun thing about Oska, to Ban, had been the fact that he could sleep just about anywhere and not be particularly bothered when he woke up--though it wasn't a perfect rule. On occasion, he was met with opposition. This isn't your room! Don't spill beer on the library books! That animal isn't a pillow! The problem had been that there were so many of the insects swarming around in random places that he couldn't find a good location outside to take a nap--so, he resorted to loudly knocking on doors to look for a place to sleep.

Who in the world would turn him down? All he needed was a spot to lay still in. If anything, people should have been clamoring to find Ban a place in which he could be motionless and quiet for once.]

C'moooon, lemme iinnnnn~.

C

[boneafide]

[Ban is knocking, rather violently on a door. Oh, he looks drunk...

As Papyrus approaches from down the hallway, he can tell Ban also smells drunk. Yes, very drunk. Oh, boy... This might be a little difficult. What if Ban's bothering whoever is in that room? Not that he can actually understand what Ban's saying, which is going to make this even harder...]

Ban! Ban, you're going to wake someone up!

[Of course, this all probably goes unheard/misunderstood/Ban probably doesn't care.]

Gintoki Sakata | OTA | Japanese

[naturallywavy]

( ɪ. ɢɪɴ's ᴘᴇsᴛ ᴄᴏɴᴛʀᴏʟ )

_{[ So you are in need in help— either you really suck at killing bugs or they just really freak you out and nobody has even bothered you help you. Look no further.
A message goes out on day two from FruitsParfaitSamurai. Maybe he should take something like this seriously instead of a business opportunity, but here it goes: ]}

got a bug problem? contact yorozuya gin-chan today. we offer professional, highly educated, and handsome service with affordable payment options for you.
contact us within the next five minutes and receive half the cost for the full service. your bug problem can be solved in as little as one chocolate parfait instead of two, an offer you can't refuse.
_{[ he's not really going to charge you but he definitely isn't going to say no if you want to give him of chocolate for his assistance. ]}

( ɪɪ. sᴛᴏᴘ ʙᴜɢɢɪɴɢ ᴜs )

<sub>[ Either you saw his text and contact him, or you just happen to be in a bit of a pickle, Gintoki is springing into action and not in any kind of ordinary fashion. He's perched on the back of a horse-sized dog in the general area (could be any place in Oska) with a wooden bokken strapped to his hip, and again, doesn't seem to be taking the matter of the situation very seriously.

His pinky finger jabs up his nose. ]</sub>

You said there was a bug around here, m'am? _{[ or sir.. or he can say m'am too.. doesn't matter.. though I guess if your character doesn't understand Japanese it doesn't matter. ]
[ and yeah, Gin. They're basically everywhere. Do something. ]}

I

[perma_banned]

the kitchen makes free desserts though

kung jin | 90% open | languages: english, mandarin, fantasy bs

[pummelling]

1 | ONE MILLION YEARS DUNGEON, closed to zenyatta;

[This isn't the first dungeon in a parallel dimension Jin has found himself trapped in, which... might not be an especially great statement on his life. Too bad it's not any of the ones he's already been to.]

Cozy, [he mutters,] real cozy. [Luck seems to at least be on his side, at the very least. The door to the cell he's woken up in is unlocked, and he's still armed-- bow still on his back, chakram still hanging off his belt. He doesn't waste a second in picking up his bow and nocking an arrow to have immediately at the ready: if there's any occasion to be on guard, it's now.]

[There's no guards around to appreciate his quipping, though. In fact, every small motion he makes seems to echo through the sharp, cool air of the stony corridors, devoid of even vermin. Jin takes a deep breath, focusing his eyes and ears intently for any sign of life or movement, and strides carefully through the cell doors and into the empty hallways of the dungeon.]

2 | TALK TO ME TALK TO ME BABY, open;

[As soon as he's gotten away from his welcome buddy, he's out and pulling people aside-- sure, Zenyatta seems chill enough, but if he were gullible enough to take just one person's word without questioning it? There's no way he'd have gotten through somewhere like Outworld alive.

Unfortunately for him, he hasn't been able to make out what half the people here are saying.

He'll just... have to try all the languages he knows, then, huh? He isn't quite conversational in the common Outworld tongue yet, so Jin begins in Mandarin, calling to the nearest passerby:] Hey! Do you speak Mandarin? [And, seamlessly switching gears back to English:] How about English?

I need someone to tell me what's actually going on here. Think you can give me some real answers?

3 | A CLEVER BUG PUN PROBABLY, open;

[But intel gathering takes a backseat in short order. As soon as the threat becomes evident, Jin's right in the fray and lending his fellow recruits a hand-- and taking out his frustrations over this whole mess. Every time he passes someone facing them, whether they're overwhelmed or trying to handle it on their own, Jin's sniping his teammates' time bugs from a short distance away. Fairly casually, in fact.

Sorry for killstealing. (Just kidding; he's not sorry.)

He sets a second arrow into his bow after a successful shot, and calls out to whoever he's saved-- or swiped a kill from:]

You falling asleep or what? I'm not gonna do everything for you.

4 | WILD CARD

[DOWN FOR P MUCH ANYTHING but feel free to pm or pp me at smithsyndicate if you wanna plot something out!!]

its actually like...............75% open

[iomnic]

[Uruz didn't really need to beg him to go explain- he would have happily done this. To have the opportunity to greet a newcomer and welcome them to Oska, despite it's problems at the moment. He's new to Oska as well, and so perhaps they can explore this place together! Wouldn't that be nice?

First, he would need to retrieve this "Jin" from the dungeon though.

Unfortunately, Zenyatta does not walk. He floats. In fact, he's entirely silent as he floats through the dungeon hallways. Usually, it isn't a problem, and is in fact, very helpful. In this particular case, that's a very bad thing.

But he does hear the small echos of sound. It ALMOST sounds like footsteps. Which means it could be who he's looking for! Zenyatta calls out through the dungeon, since it's quite the maze-]

Hello!

[In English. A pause, and then he thinks again on it, and repeats it again, first in Nepali, Mandarin, and Hindi. So like, four hellos in a row. Which might even sound like taunting, doesn't it...]

Motochika | OTA

[dokyuu]

i. Translation Troubles

[He is slowly, slowly beginning to think of Oska as 'home,' and frankly, that bothers him a little. Home should be his ship, or, at the very least, a beach on the bay, and not this landlocked foreign castle.

Thankfully, he's quickly distracted from these unpleasant thoughts by the fact that he suddenly cannot understand a word anyone is saying, which is a new and somewhat surreal experience. Hence, him looking askance at the person next to him, a profoundly perplexed expression on his face.]

The hell did you just say?

[Okay, maybe tact just isn't strong with him today.]


ii. Okay, maybe this plan needs refining...

[By the second day, text translation is up and running, which makes things simpler. There's also an infestation, which he's all too happy to help with.

He'd figured out early on that getting too close to the bugs is a bad plan--both because of the bite and the acid--so he's mostly taken to spearing them from a distance with a flaming anchor, which has the advantage of turning them into a shriveled lump of former bug. It's not great for the decor, but it mostly works.

Except for when his lack of depth perception leads to a glancing blow, and a flaming bug goes scurrying away from him]

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

[He clearly needs to rethink this strategy. Right after he chases this thing down and hopefully keeps it from setting the whole place on fire.]

iii. Temporal anomalies

[He's followed more of the bugs down to the dungeon, and while there's not much to look at, as usual, he stops short when he hits the viewing room. It seems to have a pretty decent infestation going, and on top of that... it just looks strange. The room itself is still mostly static, save for the occasional ghostly form watching the mirrors, but the usually slowly changing views are more erratic, flickering back and forth instead of their usual, more sedate views. He stares at it for a moment, then types out a quick message while filming a shot of the room.]

It's not supposed to be doing this, right?


[OOC: Motochika only speaks Japanese, circa the late 1500s. He'll be intelligible to modern speakers, just antiquated sounding.]

ii

[onethousen]

[ There's a flaming insect screeching and barreling down the way toward Chihiro. Her eyes widen; it's a matter of reacting with what's on hand to handle the bizarre and unfortunately real scenario she's been catapulted into the middle of with limited means and no permission from anyone whatsoever.

Her pot filled with water to help with people's acid burns is overturned, water thrown at the flaming insect. The shock is enough to bowl it over, twitching and jerking around on the ground as it fails but tries valiantly to simply expire. Dancing foot to foot (this is SO GROSS everything smells gross it all feels gross IT HAD BEEN ON FIRE), Chihiro finds herself saying (in modern Japanese): ]

I think I made it worse —

[ She's about to dart forward and put the poor nuisance out of its misery with the pot while hoping for the best — ]

keith | ota

[secondnature]

searching for lions

[Truthfully, Keith doesn't notice the communication issues right away. One reason is that he's only spent a whole of five minutes or something in Oska. For another reason, he's too focused on not talking to people to notice anything is wrong. When he first arrives with everyone else, he takes off to look for the lions that he and Shiro thinks that ALASTAIR took.

Now, this may seem odd. After all, shouldn't he take the other paladins with him? But patience is not a virtue that Keith regularly utilizes. Besides, he ... assumes that it's exactly what Pidge and Shiro are off doing when they get back, too. Isn't that what any good paladin would do, and Shiro especially is a good paladin!

Anyway, this means that Keith is showing up in a lot of odd places looking irritated when he doesn't find his lion there. No, he doesn't sense it, but maybe, just maybe, something is hiding his connection to it.

Yes, that makes sense.

Either way, don't be surprised if he turns up somewhere that one of the other recruits is hanging out to make a frustrated sound.]

acid sucks bro

[Not the most careful of combatants, but definitely looking forward to some time out of his suit, Keith finds himself in a hallway with just his bayard and the dagger he got from home (thanks, ALASTAIR!). Wielding the red, glowing sword along with the very plain looking dagger looks weird, and honestly, it's a bit of overkill.

It also leads him to not ... really thinking to stop any splatter issues with the bugs. When he kills a slew of them that have ganged up on him, hacking and slashing a bit too quickly, it's almost like it's inevitable that he is going to get hit, too. Because that's precisely what happens.

At first, Keith thinks it's nothing, looking at his bug-goo-covered arm indifferently ... and then the pain kicks in.]

What the—hey! [And now he's randomly looking for something, anything, that can help him out. While grunting in pain.]

lost in translation: twice the problem

[Sometimes, young boys are left without the social skills that they might normally have if they grew up with a normal childhood. And sometimes those social skills don't only mean missing cues, but missing very obvious body language as well. Keith is someone who is still young, but is definitely the result of that, which means that unless someone speaks English or thinks to write stuff down, communication is going to be a bit difficult for him moving forward.

Either way: Keith is going to be very irritated or very clueless and irritated for a little while there. And sometimes, he won't even notice that it's him who is missing the big thing. (A lot of the time.)]

[ooc: that last prompt is more of a wild card for translation stuff! I'm playing it safe and keeping Keith only speaking English. Keith is very poor at reading body language and understanding (or even having been introduced) to a lot of social cues, so this is a double whammy for him. As for the first prompt, I'm aiming for "dude shows up in place he's not welcome" or whatever. I'm up for random encounters in weird places!]

searching for lions; greenhouses in the courtyard

[forcevisions]

[ With the way Rey reacts to Keith interrupting her in the greenhouse, you'd think she had a hand down her pants.

She whips around with the suddenness of someone who's had a very personal moment interrupted when she hears his disgruntled huffing, eyes wide and shoulders tight. They had so much greenery in Oska that they could afford to keep it in cages, and she could come see it as often as she liked: that was a privilege she'd never been afforded. Indulging that ache in her chest felt private. ]

Do you need something? [ She sounds impatient and ready for him to leave. ]

Sakura Kinomoto l Cardcaptor Sakura

[keystaff]

Encounters:

H-hoeeeee? Those people.....? Is it...are they g--g-?!

[Evidently Sakura is still far too terrified of the supernatural, of ghosts. She hasn't been quite rational or logical enough without Syaoran or Kero's prompting to quite so quickly realize it is in fact not ghosts, but more the whole time warping caused by the bugs she was trying to chase after.

Of course, she might know some limited English to talk to others or get her points across, but Japanese is still her first language she reverts to. Which hadn't been so much of a problem until now. But Sakura generally wears her heart on her sleeve, so to speak, something of an open book the way everything reads on her face and expression. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to communicate regardless, for the most part, for any that do find her wailing a bit, clutching at her staff as she stares wide-eyed at the figures.]

Library:

[When in doubt, try research? But of course it is debatable if she can actually read the books in the library. It doesn't stop her from trying though, walking the aisles of shelves and trying to find.....something.]

Maybe I should just try the Cards. One of them is sure to help if I try each of them....

Release:

O Key which hides the power of the Stars, Reveal your true power before me. I, Sakura, command you under our contract! Release! [Sakura calls, summoning the staff from the usual necklace appearance it has, intending on activating a Card. Jump, being the first, to help her get out of the way of any potential attacks.]

Which one to use now....? Firey? [She doesn't want to cause too much, if any damage.]

Wildcard:

[ooc: hit me up with something else if you want?]

encounters;

[yaomomo]

[She's not quite sure what she's seeing either, but she suspects it's not something she can just easily chalk up to a hallucination or a ghost. They kept flashing in and out, like they weren't completely there.

It's how she manages to figure out there was an insect here. Armed with an air gun and some pellets, she's already rounding the corner when she manages to find someone... even younger than herself. That was not reassuring, since this place seemed more dangerous than she initially thought.

She defaults to Japanese too, since she's fluent, and speaks up.]

I don't think so. Are you okay?

Arima Kishou | Tokyo Ghoul

[prodigism]

((ooc; Arima speaks Japanese primarily. Though he probably has some knowledge and can speak some basic English as well.))

Kitchens; Arrival closed to Urahara

[ So he winds up arriving in the kitchen of all places?! He's pretty confused about it honestly because he was not expecting to end up somewhere else. He's not sure where he is or what he's meant to do here but you can have a tall, silent, and stoic man dressed in this looking for some sort of cue on where he should be. ]

Library; ota

[ So once he's actually settled and got the gist of what the hell is going on he's heading straight towards the library. If only to get his head wrapped around everything that's happened. He's really not sure why, but most of these books he can't read. That won't stop him from trying to find some in Japanese. ] Do you know if they have any books in the Japanese language?

[ Says the man holding up a book and speaking Japanese at you. Whelp hopefully you can understand something from his gesture?! ]

Extermination; ota

[ If you're looking for someone to exterminate things...Arima is your man. He's kinda tired of fighting but for this he'll do it. The bugs are far too slow to even really pose much of threat to him. He's literally just taking out a whole group of them on his own with a weirdly broken weapon to boot, without even breaking a sweat. Arima pls. More texting comes to anyone nearby thanks to the texting system now working. ]

This section is clear. If you know of any other places under attack we should try to help out as much as possible. It seems these insects are causing some sort of environmental change to the castle and its surroundings.

Wildcard;

[ Anything not listed on here is a-okay to do as well! ]

SLAMS IN. 'SUP BRO.

[predomination]

[barely any time back in Oska, and already there's a problem. alas, poor ALASTAIR. urahara, meanwhile, sees this as an opportunity, and agrees to assist one of the recruiters with a little problem concerning the language barrier. sure, he always has his own motives for things like this, but the option of easing a new recruit in with something that isn't Lloyd's usual hackneyed spiel sounds promising.

he steps into the kitchen, all 6'0, bucket-hatted, and anachronistically dressed worth of him, looking sheepish.] Well, well, at least you dropped into the kitchen. That seems a much more comforting place than the animal pens.

[look, it's not a cut and paste spiel. no one told him, he couldn't be a little bit of a troll.]

lance | ota

[competing]

( ooc; lance can speak english! and... only english... because what is canon backstory. )

A. DIVE IN, HEAD FIRST (CLOSED TO ARADIA)

[ literally, though. one second he's in his giant blue lion robot, spiraling into a wormhole of what may or may not be the end of his life as he knows it

and the next he's tumbling face-first into a sizable but shallow-ish pool of some pretty hot water. he sputters, and splashes, and flails around a bit as his brain tries to right himself back up on his feet, though advanced alien boots apparently got nothing on good ol' fashioned wet rocks, and he winds up falling backwards instead, kicking up a nice big wave of steaming hot springs water.

he coughs, and he chokes, and then finally he gets himself to his feet thanks to the grip he's got on the side of the springs, pulling himself upright. with his free hand, he's shoving his helmet off with a low, miserable groan. ]

No offense, Blue... but that landing definitely could've used some work.

[ ...blue? ]

B. BLAME IT ON THE WEATHERMAN

[ the task was simple enough: get rid of the bugs, fix the communication errors. the bugs themselves, while a definite pain in the ass, weren't really a match for his sharp eye and his bayard-turned-rifle. they'd managed to chase a good number of them out into the woods, away from the more important, inhabited areas, but it is here they reach the first snag in the mission.

namely: a certain someone's immense homesickness.

it had started off without a hitch at first. they had managed to corral a good number of them here, gathered them into a clearing in the woods so that extermination could be executed without any worry of collateral damage. lance had raised his rifle, taken aim, and blinked—

giving the bugs just enough time to eat through another rift and suddenly the world around them flickered and changed.

a sudden thunderclap, the downpour of rain, and lance feels the tension just slip from his arms.

in truth, it wasn't quite the same. the smell was different, and the ground beneath him was muddy and soft, not dense and sinking like sand. but it was still rain, it was still wet, it was still the drumming pitter-patter on his skin, in his ears. slowly, tentatively, he tips his head back, letting the drops fall onto his face and reassure him of their realness. if you've tried calling out to him by now, he won't respond. he seems to be in another world entirely. ]

C. QUICKEST WAY TO A MAN'S HEART

[ he winds up stopping you with a hand to the shoulder.

when you turn around, and assuming he lives past this point, lance won't hesitate to launch into his reasoning, his english rattling off like haphazard plucking of a ukelele, in that even without much training or skill, nine times out of ten you're bound to come up with something that sounds halfway pleasant to the ears. ]

So I got kinda turned around — plus I'm pretty sure some of those bugs messed up the path along the way — but you wouldn't happen to know how to get to the kitchens from here, would you?

[ he pauses suddenly, and in a rare moment of humility actually looks sheepish for a second before rocking back on his heels, a hand making its way to the back of his head. ]

Ah, right... words.

[ give him a moment.

face scrunched up in concentration, lance begins to go about the motions of a game he never thought he'd actually grow tired of: charades.

wear: he motions the act of putting on some pants (one leg at a time!) and shirt.
arrrrr: he hooks up one hand and covers the and eye with the other.
food: standard shoveling-spoonful-of-food-into-mouth technique this one's actually kinda boring boooooo

... and if you happen to be a young woman, he'll punctuate that with a nice wink to seal the deal. ]

D. WILDCARD

[ none of these prompts catch your fancy? feel free to pm/pp me to plot something else out! or write a starter of your own c: ]

B

[forcevisions]

[ Rey had never seen rain before in her life, and when she staggered into the woods behind Lance, she stared at it like a denizen of Earth might look at their first alien planet, as though she could hardly imagine the concept. Water, from the sky. Her lips parted with an acute, wondrous kind of awe, but she blinked herself out of it quickly—

Not because she was ready to let go of the sight, but because she realized that Lance wasn't moving either.

The quarterstaff came off her back, and she hastened past him to swing it around and thwap two of the bugs in one fell swoop against a nearby tree trunk like hockey pucks. They splatted, the acid bursting backwards and firing back at her. A fine spray reached her fingers, but nothing else, and she hastily wiped them away on her clothes before she turned to look imploringly at Lance. ]

What are you doing? Don't just stare at them.

[ The rain was gone. ]

pepper ; ota

[misspotts]

a;

[Pepper didn't get much time to actually explore this place before she was sent off to join the rest of the group on Zeta-12, so she's finally doing that now. Eventually, after a lot of searching, she finds herself down in the Viewing Room, her steps slow as she peers into each of the mirrors as she passes by, her brows furrowed with something akin to nervousness.

That might have something to do with the fact that she's not entirely sure what she's even looking at, but it gives her a strange sense of voyeurism all the same.

As if frustrated, she turns away and starts heading back the way she came, unless someone would like to interrupt her before she does. Feel free to find her on the way out, too.]

b;

[She should have been paying more attention, probably, but she thought this place was supposed to be less treacherous than traveling across the surface of a planet, exposed to the elements.

No such luck, apparently.

The bug seems to come out of nowhere, likely started by her presence as well as she unknowingly walked too close, the thing darting out and trying to take a chunk out of her leg. She reacts on instinct, kicking at the thing and causing it to tumble away from her. She doesn't intend to stick around and continue to fight it off if it isn't near death, and she immediately starts backing away as it wriggles on the ground.]

You've got to be kidding me...

c;

[Choose your own adventure! I'm super flexible so do whatever you like if you're feeling creative.]

b

[sekimorinashi]

[ Well, usually it is.

She doesn't need to have an official notice to know that slimy bugs that aren't usually here and who bite you are probably not very friendly and should be dealt with. So while Pepper is stepping back and staring at it, Tsukuyo's just going to wander up and pierce it with the heel of her boot.

Maybe not the nicest method, but it's either her boots or her kunai and she doesn't particularly like the idea of covering either of those in slime. So whatever. ]

You okay?

[ If Pepper knows even basic Japanese, she probably knows that word, at least. Otherwise ... Welp. Tsukuyo doesn't know any English at all, really. ]

Haise Sasaki | Tokyo Ghoul:re

[ex_adept136]

I. Pretty Sketchy
[Not speaking the same language as some of his associates presents a real challenge, but not one that Haise shrinks away from. When faced with an inability to speak to any associates who don't know Japanese or English, he arms himself with his notepad as he makes the rounds. How does he approach being unable to speak to a good number of his associates, exactly?

He draws.

When approaching his associates, Haise will first make an attempt at using his native language, and failing that, he'll attempt to illustrate. Ever wanted to play Business Pictionary? Because that's exactly what's going to happen now. Fortunately Haise is a good artist, and he'll even pass his notepad and pen over in order to facilitate this form of conversation.

How badly could it possibly go...?]

II. Literary Review
[During their last mission, literature has come up a few times. When Haise has some time to himself, he heads right for the library to look into some titles. Arjuna had consented to taking some recommendations and had asked about one of Haise's favorite poets in particular, so that's the first order of business when work is out of the way.

He can be found wandering the library, grey eyes trained on the shelves as he looks for any titles that might be familiar to him. Although he could just make an inquiry, it's far more fun to actually hunt for the books himself, and so he can be found humming softly as he moves from one bookcase to another, examining the rows of books lined up there]

Now, if I were a poetry book...

[Although he's not even sure if Arjuna would be able to read the book, under the circumstances, at least he can confirm whether it's available here or not. Besides, he can see if any of his favored fiction authors have any representation in ALASTAIR's collection as well]

III. Meet the Reaper (+ Kishou Arima)
[Once Haise has found out that Special Class Arima is here, he's got a lot of adjusting to do. The man is at once his assured death and his father-figure, a strange mixture he'll not voice to anyone, and now he's the man's senior in this organization. It's an awkward reality, to be sure, one that leaves Haise indecisive as to how he ought to handle himself...

But as his superior's somewhat-senpai, it falls to him to make sure that Arima quickly adjusts to his surroundings. It's a bit different, having a presence from the CCG among ALASTAIR, but since he's here the least Haise can do is make himself useful.

After all, there's that creeping reminder in the back of his mind that he has to prove how useful he is. Has to prove his worth.

So he's making the rounds with the older investigator, waving down any associates he knows and can communicate with so he can make introductions. Anyone he approaches won't see a hint of what Haise really feels about the circumstances, a chipper ray of sunshine as he gestures to the man beside him]

I'd like you to meet Special Class Arima, my superior from back home. He's just arrived, so please look out for him.

[Yes, everyone is the Reaper's senpai now]

IV. Language Barrier (closed to: Shizuo and Evan)
[It's been a long afternoon. Haise counts himself fortunate that he and Shizuo ran into one another, since they share both the same language and same era. Some Japanese-speakers around here are from different periods entirely, their language at times archaic and difficult to discern, but the two of them can understand one another with ease.

This has availed them well in hunting down temporal bugs. But it's exhausting work, and after a good number have been dispatched, they've taken up a place in the dining area, recharging with coffee Haise has brewed for them. He sets down the mugs and sinks into his seat, briefly eyeing the holes burned into his ALASTAIR coat, and puffs out an exhausted sigh]

I can't believe how many of those creatures there are...

[Not to mention how incredibly inconvenient this language barrier happens to be. He takes a sip of his coffee: straight black, since he can't consume anything else without making himself terribly ill]

Who knew there were bugs like that out there?

[ooc: Haise speaks Japanese and knows passable English]

iv; get in here evan your sensei future has arrived

[longtempered]

[Running into somebody like Haise really has been quite the stroke of luck, in all this. The day has been a pretty inconvenient one to say the least, between the weird-ass space slugs everywhere and the fact that almost everyone around here is talking gibberish in some form or another. Translation errors...talk about a welcome back party. Finding a fellow modern Japanese peer in all this had been a relief, and after that, working through more bugs together hadn't been quite such a bad affair.

But after recapturing the kitchens, even Shizuo has to admit that this is all pretty tiring business--a coffee break really was a pretty great suggestion. Shizuo follows suit after Haise, sinking into a chair of his own opposite, straightening out his suit's sleeves (carefully rolled up until this point, to avoid too much acid damage) before taking up a mug of his own. Haise takes his coffee black, but Shizuo is a bit more delayed about taking a drink just yet; he's moving to crack open a jar of debatably-but-probably sugar he'd dug up in the kitchen as Haise speaks, and looks up with a sympathetic sort of scoff as he starts spooning the contents into his cup.]

Right, though? It's a damn infestation...I kinda wonder if they've only just started multiplying. It's one hell of a mess now, either way. [Stirring in an initial three teaspoons, Shizuo takes a sample from his mug, frowns a little, and reaches for more sugar.] I'm not sure if I prefer these guys or the plants back at--oh, hey...

[Sitting facing the door as he is, a head of familiar red hair happens to pass by around this point. Shizuo sits up, blinking over Haise's shoulder.] Is that Evan? Hey, Evan, you alright over there? [The question's automatic; hanging around Haise for this long has already had him forgetting about the language barrier still in place, whoops...]

Kojuro | mostly OTA | archaic Japanese

[sengetsu]

[OOC: Kojuro speaks Japanese circa 1600 - understandable by a modern speaker, but very archaic-sounding, with occasional words/verb forms not used in modern Japanese. Like Shakespearean English to a modern English speaker.]

i - training center (closed to Chihiro)
[Training center. Right. He can do this - he'd given plenty of explanations already, without it being asked of him. Doing it now isn't much of a problem - as long as the new arrival speaks Japanese, though her name at least was promising. Not having to dodge frighteningly massive bugs would be nice, but he doesn't hope for too much around here, really.

He steps into the weird, sleek structure, and looks around for Chihiro. With no simulation running, Chihiro is easy to spot - and so is one of the bugs, racing across the floor from the back of the room.]

Watch out!

ii - greenhouses
[Kojuro is very glad he decided to make sure his plants were fine in the greenhouses. Because they're very much not - not his, not Sieglinde's, not anyone else's. There's a horde of the insects here - some eating the plants themselves, heedless of any of the potent chemical defenses some of them contain, and others are chewing on the supports holding the glass panes up. The whole area is flickering between different barren beds, the overgrown vegetation the recruits first found when they got to Oska, and it's more current tidy state.

Kojuro is in among the plants, sword drawn, both slicing at the bugs and kicking them away from areas he doesn't want to damage any further.]

Get out of there, damnit!

[the bugs are largely not obeying his shouted orders, unsurprisingly]

iii - hallways
[communicating without a shared language is rapidly starting to frustrate Kojuro.] It's by the dining hall - ah, you don't speak Japanese, do you. [he bites back a sigh, and first points in the direction of the dining hall, and then tries to mime eating food out of a bowl with chopsticks.]

iv - wildcard
[Toss up something else, or hit me at in a PM or at momijizukamori if you'd like a thread but none of these work/you don't have any ideas right off!]

i

[onethousen]

[ Chihiro's been examining the walls wondering what in the world had happened between what she last remembered in her parent's car and here — had they gotten into a wreck? If so, this was the weirdest hospital ever — when someone's in the area and shouting. She understands what he says, brow furrowing a little at how it didn't quite sound right, turning to face him and seeing the slimy looking creature racing across the ground.

She jerks back, seeing something far larger in her mind's eye. Both a black creature oozing as it runs after her, a glimpse caught looking over her shoulder at a run, and a memory of a smell so vile she almost gags even now. It makes no sense, neither memory, but they feel like memories and not dreams.

Something she shoves to the side in favour of leaping over the hurtling slimeball slug-tentacle creature and running toward the man she doesn't know by the door she hadn't been able to figure out yet. Her Japanese is much more modern, the bewilderment on her features and behind her run away from the slug plain to see. ]

What is that!

[ The creature actually slams into the wall right where she'd been standing, then sets to... something? Chihiro doesn't stop to figure it out quite yet. ]

Where are we?!

momo yaoyorozu; ota

[yaomomo]

first day; locked to Loki

[She doesn't remember falling asleep in the train. She doesn't remember leaving the train either. When she opened her eyes, disoriented with muddled thoughts, the sight of what seemed to be a horse looming overhead. It was surreal enough that it doesn't register at first, and it's only when the horse starts trying to bite her hair, pulling on it hard enough to hurt, that she finally reacts. A loud 'Ow!' escapes her as she tries to swat it away, movements sluggish at first as she tries to sit up, careful not to pull away too much in case the movement pulls at her hair.]

No, let go. Come on, my hair isn't--

[She freezes despite the insistent tugging when, in her attempts to gently ease it off her, she feels what seems to be the telltale shape of a horn on its forehead. She's tense, eyes widening with each second that passes, breath also caught in her throat.

She doesn't scream, but the loud THUD! that came from that direction was definitely out of place in the stables.]


second day; open - bug hunt part a (various locations)

[She's shaken, and a part of her is still upset at the turn of events, but what can she do? Right now, it didn't seem like a dream. Not a second day in a row. She had no choice but accept the reality of her situation. Although the room was much smaller than she expected, even smaller than her closet at this point, she was grateful to find one that way empty and without others. She needed the time alone to accept what was going on after all.

That, and well, she had bigger problems to worry about now. A day later, she's still unsteady in her thoughts, but the knowledge that there's danger lurking is enough of a distraction. The uniform they provided was, oddly, a perfect fit, and provided more cover than she'd like. However, witnesses the amount of damage the bugs were causing, exposed skin was pretty much a weakness. The clothes she had weren't much of protection up-close but well...

With a pellet gun, it's a little easier, especially when such small pellets are easier to make. She had to consider her distance, her position-- everything. Fighting up close was easier for her, but with a limited defense and lack of familiarity, going back to the basics helped. She didn't even know what the material of the cloth she was wearing was, so she didn't think she can replicate it if it were ruined.

Either way, if anyone sees a bug suddenly exploding out of nowhere, they might be able to credit it to the young girl just hiding around the corner, not too far away.]

Are you all right? That was dangerous.

[She still, after all, has responsibilities as a hero trainee.]


second day; open - bug hunt part b (viewing hall)

[She ends up in the viewing hall, where distortions were already showing effects. She's distracted though, because while at first she had been looking for the insect, the sudden 'ghosts' she's seeing is so foreign she actually takes a step back, eyes wide as she looks around. They flicker out of view, but then suddenly come back, only to disappear again.

It's fascinating, if not mind-boggling.]

What the...? [And in a moment, she might find you instead, expecting you to disappear as well. When you don't, she hesitates, then approaches.]

Excuse me... Do you have any idea what that was?

[selfimage]

[ when Uruz comes to him and begs him to help in light of recent events, he tells her that he's the last person that anyone should bid help from. despite that, he relents anyway with a you should know better by now and swaggers off to the stables where this supposed new recruit was fumbling.

and the struggle is real. ]

Hello.

[ he starts with English; there's a certain amount of enthusiasm that goes into the greeting that's in comical contrast to the situation. lucky for her he's opted out for his usual tacky goat and golden diadem, and has instead opted for a olive green hoodie and a pair of black pants.

instead of helping, he watches with a certain mild fascination. ]

Loki | Open | All Earthly languages

[selfimage]

COURTYARD · CLOSED TO STILES

[ the lucky duck Stiles, one of Loki's earthly languages happens to be English. pinned up on his door in Oska there's a note: ]

Meet me in the courtyard where the greenhouses surround a purple tree. Unfortunately for you, this won't be nearly as scandalous as it may imply. XOXO.
    —L.

[ true to his word, Loki's there among the winding paths, where the greenhouses converge together around a paper white tree with flamboyantly purple leaves, oddly shaped in ovals, with the veins converging together like points in a constellation. in its spidery branches, Loki lounges with a book, leaving his jacket and golden diadem in favor of a green hoodie, a stark contrast to the colors around him: purple against green.

a leg hangs freely over the side of the branch, a hand holding the book by the base, flickering the page with his thumb. he hardly seems to notice, or care, perhaps, when Stiles approaches. ]

A · MEANDERING

[ in a few ways, Loki was always predictable: returning to Oska meant most of his time was split between the library, the kitchens, and where ever else his whims took him. anyone looking for him could either be intensely frustrated when he decided to change his routine, or pleasantly surprised that he was exactly where he should be.

so while Oska reels in a state of emergency, Loki carelessly swaggers down between the long shelves of the library check on the new supply of books that just so happened to have come in upon his absence. there's new romance novels, some old tomes in languages long forgotten (or ones he doesn't know, with the translator busted), and information on these temporal parasites that were crawling as freely around the grounds as he was.

whether in the library with a book in his hand, or in the kitchen with a milkshake in his hand, he casually decapitates whatever slimy little insect crawls his way with a knife he stole from the dining hall. ]

Ugh—gross.

B · OUTSIDE THE MECHANICAL ROOM

[ each and every time they return, Loki takes a stroll down Oska’s deepest hallways and down to the bowels of the stronghold. each and every time it's protected as it was before, leaving Loki more disappointed than not. even with the timey-inclined insects infesting the realm, the mechanical room is blanketed in foreign sorcery.

with a disgruntled sigh Loki goes about his work, drawing a few runes in concentric circles just outside the thrum of the vast, metal walls. from his jacket sleeve he pulls a knife that he'd stolen from the dining hall, and balancing the hilt between his fingers he tosses it carelessly, beheading one of the insects and sending the others into a frenzy. they scatter, the runes come to left, and there's the shriek of air leaving their bodies as they turn to ash.

Loki's eyes never leave the door of the mechanical room, and the mutter comes in Old Norse: ]

Made well, aren't you?

[ he rolls back on his heels, his fingers linking his wrists behind his back. ]

NOTE

[ languages fall under the umbrella of "anything earthly." he can switch back/forth depending on who wants one. if anyone wants language teaching, teaching an unearthly language to Loki, or side-by-side texting, let me know!! ]

B

[expatriates]

I don't recognize that one.

[ Few people had it in them to sneak up on a god, especially one like Loki, but it has never stopped Natasha from trying—usually, to be fair, sneaking up on people isn't an effort but a natural consequence of how she's learned to carry herself.

Clint would call it lurking, as if he didn't do the same thing himself.

She comes up alongside him, skimming her attention over the door as if it's the mechanical room that she's interested in and not him, who she'd followed down here to something she never knew existed in the first place. ]

But I can guess at the translation: you think there are answers behind this?

pidge | open, language: english

[reverseengineer]

exploring

[Pidge didn't get a lot of time in Oska before shipping off on the mission, so the minute she gets back, she starts looking around, poking her head into any room that's not locked down. Partly, she's following Keith's lead and looking for her lion, though her hopes are not extremely high. She can't sense it, and the computers in her armor aren't picking up anything. If the lions are here, they're well hidden. Or maybe they were moved while in transit. Either way, she's going to explore every inch of the castle and surrounding area, so pretty much anywhere accessible she can be found at some point or another.

She spends some extra time in front of the mechanical room, trying to pick the lock to no avail. There's neat humming coming from within and anything that's trying this hard to keep her out has to be interesting. Unfortunately, she's better at electronic locks than manual locks, and this one certainly evades her skills. Doesn't keep her from lingering around for a while, trying to figure out what's inside.

She also spends a while in the library after she's explored herself out. If she can't find any information by wandering, she certainly can read about it. She clambers up ladders with the boldness and determination only the very short can muster in the face of getting anything out of arm's reach, snagging any book that looks interesting until she's made herself up a pile to look through. There's way more than any single person could read in a week, let alone a day, but that's not stopping her. She flips through the books, fascinated, and may not notice she has company if someone doesn't draw attention to themselves.]

fighting bugs

[Pidge shouldn't be surprised at how little downtime there is before the next disaster. That's always how it is, how it has been since she got to space. Maybe even since before that. It feels like she's had her guard up for the entire year her family's been missing.

But this, at least, is straightforward, something she knows how to do. Her bayard crackles with electricity, letting her take out multiple bugs in a swoop if need be. Her small size lets her get into areas other people might have trouble reaching, and she's ruthless when she has to be. She can be found aggressively attacking bunches of insects, looking stubborn, almost angry as she tears into them, or resting between bouts, helmet off as she breathes hard and tries not to feel crushing hopelessness at the thought of her inability to make any headway towards finding a way back to the right galaxy let alone back to her family when stuff like this keeps happening.

Then she puts her helmet back on, activates her bayard, and goes back to fighting bugs. It's just like programming, only a lot more literal.]

[regiment]

(reaching over to tightly hold the bottom of a very tall ladder with a very short pidge on it, shiro smiles up at her with a quirk of an eyebrow. better safe than sorry, and his teammate usually forgoes the first option in exchange for food to feed her genius mind. he guesses, so long as he's around to help out, she can do whatever makes her happiest.

even if it means climbing precarious, ancient rungs of wood that may or may not have seen people in a while.)

I knew I'd find you in here. Find anything good?