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

[reverseengineer]

[Yep, now she's even smiling. Good job Lance.]

I'm pretty sure it's not sentient enough for it to be personal.

[competing]

Yeah, whatever it is... [ aradia had explained it as some kind of ~rift~, which is pretty much like an accidental wormhole from what lance understands. ]

Either way, it's got pretty terrible timing.

[reverseengineer]

Yeah, really does. [They'd only just gotten Allura back, now they've got another delay? This is ridiculous.]

Then again, I don't think there was ever gonna be a good time.

[competing]

I dunno, maybe after we finish up kicking Zarkon's butt.

[ he shrugs. ]

I mean — not me, of course, I'd be on the first lion back to Earth. But Keith or Allura or Coran or whoever. I'm sure they'd be all over this.

[reverseengineer]

...how long do you think kicking Zarkon's butt is gonna take?

[Cause Pidge is betting on a long time. She just hopes they manage to rescue her family in the process.]

[competing]

[ he glances down at her rather suddenly, eyes wide as if he hadn't really considered it.

—no, actually, that's incorrect. of course he's considered it. he's been considering it, ever since he realized just how far away from earth they really were.

it's more accurate to say that he doesn't want to consider it, at least not in the way pidge has already seemed to resign herself to. so after a moment, he just forces out a grin, rather crooked, and maybe a little cracked at the edges. ]

What? [ he laughs, briefly. ] With me on the team? Couple of weeks, tops.

[ anyway... he starts to look around rather quickly, eager to move on. ]

So do we get rooms in this place or what? I gotta get outta this suit, it clings even more when it's wet.

[reverseengineer]

[She rolls her eyes. Yeah. Couple of weeks, tops. That would be nice.]

Yeah, we get rooms. Come on, I'll show you where they are.

[competing]

...Thanks, Pidge.

[ another hand to the shoulder, giving a light squeeze. except maybe this time, it's more for lance's sake than pidge's. ]