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

[forcevisions]

[ She makes a loud noise of frustration akin to, "You should have told me sooner." ]

I might know where it is. But if I'm right, I'm not sure there's any way for us to get to it.

[secondnature]

It's better to try than not to try.

[And if she has an idea, then it might be somewhere he hasn't checked. Keith is relentless about this. It isn't just him who lost his lion, and he's worried about where they might end up.]

[forcevisions]

Come on.

[ Rey won't disagree with that point; and besides, it'll at least answer the question of whether it's possible that it could be down there. She doesn't know what could be behind that door, though, only that it seems to be the only one that she can't get through. If she were going to hide a superweapon away … ]

I haven't been able to find a way in. I only just found it when we got back. [ Rey explained while she walked, her breath short and quick as her pace. ]

[secondnature]

Does it happen to be what they call the Mechanical Room? [If he had X-Ray vision, he could see if his lion were in there, but he doesn't. He can't sense it, either, but that's a whole other thing. What if they did something to break its connection to him? Given his denial of what happened with the black lion and Shiro, he feels like he's open to any possibilities that don't end with Zarkon being the paladins' rightful leader.

(Which is a piece of information he doesn't want anyone to know.)]

[forcevisions]

[ The blank stare of confusion that she gives him seems to say that she's certainly never heard it given a name. Still, she doesn't rule out the possibility, and points down the corridor in the right direction to indicate he might be correct. ]

Dunno. I found it this way.

[secondnature]

[There's a look of disappointment that crosses his features.]

Yeah, that's the room. Back home, I can feel my lion if I'm anywhere near it. I can't feel it anymore, but I'm afraid that might mean that it isn't my lion now. [Rather than the simpler answer. Denial is a sweet, sweet thing for Keith.]

[forcevisions]

[ Those words, separately, all mean something to Rey, but the order he states them … She furrows her brow and tries to parse it, sensing that this is emotional enough that she shouldn't just spit out that she doesn't get it. ]

You think they broke some kind of connection between you and your ship?

[ Doesn't it

sound more likely

that it's not here. ]

[secondnature]

[Explain or not to explain: that is the question. His lips twist down into a scowl.]

Back home, the people we fight—one of them managed to rip Shiro right out of his lion. If they could do that, then there's a good chance it can happen to any of us. [Zarkon had mentioned giving the lions back to their original paladins. That means there's an original red paladin out there waiting ...

Keith doesn't know what to make of it, but he doesn't want to think that it's just Shiro with the weak connection, and it shows. His faith in Shiro is unconditional, and has been for a long time.]

[forcevisions]

Then you're right.

[ Begrudgingly, she admits it. Not because she thinks they're likely here, but rather, because she's a believer in the most practical answer being the best one to adopt. And in this case, the danger of being wrong outweighs any other pressing evidence. ]

Until we know for sure, we have to assume that ALASTAIR has your weapons.

[secondnature]

[It's the fact that she admits it that makes him relent, surprisingly enough. Keith looks at her surprised, but he's not about to make Shiro look bad. He might not be here in the hallway with them. That doesn't matter. What matters is not being caught in his denial. Keith will save face for both him and Shiro.]

If they can send us places, maybe that's why I can't sense mine. [That's what he decides to go with instead.]

But ... I should probably give up looking.

[forcevisions]

Or you should redirect your efforts.

[ At this point, she sounds downright conspiratorial. ]

ALASTAIR must have more rooms like this in other worlds. More bases. I've been told that a friend of mine was reassigned, but there's no way to reach him from here. What if we tried to find them?

[secondnature]

[He slows down for a moment, frowning. "Reassigned." What does that mean? (He'll know exactly what it means soon enough: Shiro will be disappearing.)]

Do you think we can gain access to them? [Keith recalls Loki's offer for help with exactly this thing, but he quickly dismisses the thought.]

[forcevisions]

We can try.

[ And when Rey tries something, she has a persistence about her that doesn't leave room for many other outcomes. ]

But we should try asking first. We're operatives for ALASTAIR; why shouldn't we have access?

[secondnature]

And if we don't get access—that might just tell us everything we need to know.

[He definitely likes the sound of that.]

[forcevisions]

Either way, we learn something.

[secondnature]

Yeah. I'll try to look into it, and see if I can find someone who knows stuff.

You—uh, since you're more open to him, you might wanna ask Loki.

[Keith doesn't have any faith in his ability to carry on an actual conversation with the guy.]

[forcevisions]

Loki? [ She's more surprised by Keith's suggestion than the idea that Loki might be plugged into all of this. ] You suspect he knows about this?

[secondnature]

[There's a long, long moment where he's tempted to be as stubborn as possible and brush it off, to say that Loki knows nothing, but—]

He, uh, he offered. I just didn't want to ask him. I still don't.

[forcevisions]

But you won't mind if I do.

[ The fact that she cares if he minds says a lot, but she's cautious not to present it so blatantly. If she's right in assuming he welcomes her to be a go-between, that seems like it'd be a long way for him to come from where he'd first stood with Loki. ]

[secondnature]

Well, I thought you liked him. [That is part of it. She had told Keith to give him a chance, but the fact of the matter is that sometimes he drags his feet on these things. Still, this is kind of giving him a chance.]

But make sure he gives you proof on anything he says. He talked a lot of nonsense before, and I still don't trust any of it.

[forcevisions]

[ A smile works its way across her expression, endeared by the fact that it is now CLEARLY UNDENIABLE that Keith is relenting and actually GIVING A PERSON A CHANCE TO PROVE THEY'RE DECENT DESPITE FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Omg he's growing up. ]

Yeah. [ She nods quickly, fumbling out of her startle response to actually, like, say words. ] Yeah, I'll make sure he tells me how he knows. Of course.

[secondnature]

[Why is she smiling like that? Keith just looks baffled. Did he say something funny?]

Yeah, well ... let me know what he says, all right?

[forcevisions]

I will.

[ She nods to temper her grin. ]

As soon as I talk to him, you'll be the first to know.

[secondnature]

[Riiiight. Only Keith would find a smile awkward, but that's only because he's Keith. Is anyone really surprised by this?]

Okay, good. I'm gonna ... [He quirks a thumb in a random direction.] I'm gonna head off. See you later.