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

i.

[apoptotic]

[ this was new. for a second, anakin could only blink at the strange ( and frankly funny ) sight the girl, rattling cover, and furious insect made. stare too long, however, the sights began to temporally warp. the instability translated to a buzz in the force threatening a headache.

a gloved hand dropped over the cover. the mechanical prosthetic underneath had enough strength on its own to hold the cover down without his needing to lean on it. the scratching noises issued from inside the cover, but the cover itself remained still. anakin spoke in galactic basic, then made a small shooing motion when galactic basic proved…not galactic. smiles needed no translation, however, and he smiled, not wishing to alarm her.

the lightsaber he will pull out will probably do that all on its own. ]

[onethousen]

[ She looks up in surprise when his hand comes down over the cover, not understanding him at first (not an uncommon problem lately, though apparently uncommon in a greater context). It's clear to her he's helping, considering how the struggle she has been facing greatly decreases once he places his hand on the cover. Much as the shooing motion makes sense; back away?

Okay, she can do that. There's a moment where she glances between the cover and his face, then relaxes, pulling her arm away and venturing a small smile in return.

Before he pulls out a lightsaber (registering to her as yet another glowing sort of magic after events earlier on in the day) and she finds her shoulders hunching as she moves up the counter to a safer position. The scrabbling and clashing from under the cover continues, even while the creature itself continues to feast. Another disruption leaves images of hands and meals long since devoured flickering around in the space of the counter where they are, including showing a lack of counter altogether at one point. ]

omg that's so cute???

[apoptotic]

[ smart girl. once she's backed off ( more for her mental wellbeing than any physical danger ), what happens next happens quickly. the blue blade plunges through the cover, unerringly guided by the force to the alien inside. all sounds stop immediately, but for the weapon's plasma hum. it deactivates with a retreating whoosh. anakin doesn't return it to his belt. with the way his day has been going, he will need it when he next turns around. nor does he lift the cover; no one needs to see cooked worm. ]

It's okay, [ he says, and though the words likely do not cross, he trusts the meaning does. he passes the lightsaber to his gloved hand, extending the other to her to help her down. ]

laughs i'm glad you like it! as i draw all the wrong outfits /face in hands

[onethousen]

[ just like that, it's over. she isn't even sure what happened to his sword, making her even more sure it must be magic. she can at least connect that it's related to the hilt left in his hand. the sound cutting out as the light does, and the fact he keeps hold of that physical portion, is telling in her mind.

(even when she has entirely the wrong sort of impression.)

she feels gratitude keenly enough when he speaks, figuring he's saying "all done" or "now that's over" or "we're okay now" or "it must like chicken," unperturbed to not know which. the fact he's extending a hand her way is good enough for her to feel like it's better now than it was a minute earlier. ]

Thank you.

[ she says even as he helps her down, accepting his hand to jump down and settle her feet on the floor again. once there, she gives him a brief, respectful bow. her words might not communicate, but she can hope her actions do.

and that bowing isn't like challenging someone to a duel in his country??? ]

no it's great!! it was a really lovely surprise :'>

[apoptotic]

[ thankfully, he's not from the bowing-as-a-challenge planet. ( though it's bound to exist and he's bound to know stories. ) amused almost despite himself, anakin dips his head in return.

she looks unharmed. when he reaches into the force, he feels no injury, only gratitude. anakin skips past the usual first question — are you okay? — and points to himself. ] Anakin.

[ he motions to her in return, asking for her name. at least with a name it will be easier to find whomever is her primary caretaker. ( if she has one, comes the more cynical reminder. the team is large, large enough that anakin neither knows everyone or bothers to. but children, younger ones especially, are rare enough to make them easy to keep track of. he doesn't remember seeing this one. ) ]

<3 purrfect

[onethousen]

[ (she'd probably enjoy those stories, just for the fascination and horror of ever ending up there on accident and jumping from the frying pan into the fire near immediately.)

she blinks, but the pointing and the one word registers as a name easily enough. chihiro brings her hand to her breastbone, resting it there for as long as it takes to introduce herself. ]

Chihiro.

[ the rest she bites back on, turning a formal hello into simply one her name. please take care of me would sound wrong in this context anyway, but it's the kind of introduction she'd been prepped for before here. going to a new school, meeting new classmates?

seeing slug bug alien creatures and feeling quite abruptly that she wants nothing more than a really hot bath.

charades isn't a game she's played so often, though she has a feeling it might be the game she attempts to play most while she's here and the means that allows them to communicate continues to malfunction. ]

It's nice to meet you, Anakin-san.

[ she eventually says, feeling the pause is significant enough that her name remains clear. just her given name, instead of her family name. it's easier... or feels easier right now. ]

[apoptotic]

[ anakin lacks the patience for extended charades. this is not the first time he has had to bridge a language barrier, and he has a skill of use in this scenario.

he holds up a finger to her as a signal to wait. he remembers seeing an application… there it is. he pulls up the drawing feature on their jewelry and quickly sketches out a drawing: her and a figure, clearly an adult, beside her. it's to that figure to which anakin points when he kneels beside her to show her the sketch. he asks the question anyway, but the drawing is clear enough: do you have someone taking care of you?

his level of artistry is remarkable for what was literally a two minute sketch. unfortunately, the player cannot even draw stick figures, therefore his creation must be left up to the power of imagination. ]

[onethousen]

[ she's suitably distracted and impressed by the sketch, though once he's kneeling at her level, she shakes her head. her parents aren't here; there's no one person she has as a guardian, and she doesn't expect there's supposed to be. this is all some big teamwork focused cooperation. she's essentially employed, and that's so strangely familiar she simply accepts it and deals with it as she can.

chihiro figures she needs to be a Productive Member of the group, for all she feels she's lacking many relevant skillsets. she'll pick them up as she needs to. she'll have to do that much. ]

[apoptotic]

[ as expected, though there's no comfort to be found in it. there's nothing kind in a child separated from her parents. at least, she isn't crying. after the squidges, one more child crying would have been one too many.

anakin runs over his options, limited as they are. leaving her behind isn't one in these circumstances. ]

Chihiro— [ as she seems to have picked up on the meaning of the drawing, he points to the figure again then at himself: he'll look after her. at least until they find someone that speaks her language. for once, the earth bias alastair has may prove useful. anakin gets to his feet. ]

[onethousen]

[ it's a simple form of pictionary melding with charades; she gets the gist of what he's saying, giving him a single nod as he stands. okay. she's not sure what that entails, because of what she doesn't know about this place compared to what she does, but she presumes this means anakin has some sort of plan. ]

Okay.

[ she doesn't expect the word to make sense, but the sentiment might. she turns to face the doorway out into the main halls, glancing up at anakin... and otherwise staying close. at other times, with other people, she would have reached out to take hold of their sleeve. she holds off on doing so right now. he's being kind; he doesn't need to be indulgent. ]