EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

[futurologists]

BENDED TIME As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls. They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again. The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time. The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food. The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity. OOC NOTES This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well. A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

Comments

[ex_oblige932]

New?

[Kaneki intones the word curiously, like it too is some foreign element with which he's been abruptly presented. The word and its meaning are simple enough, but under this context he doesn't understand, having just found himself in a place he'd never meant to come to. In some sense that would mean he's new to this place, but he thinks it ill-fitting.

A freshly-hired employee in an office was new, but he's simply where he doesn't belong. That matter is only one among those he finds puzzling, noting the way she sizes him up. Assessing. Evaluating. Past experience tells him to be wary, and his posture choreographs it loudly.

She may be human, but his caution remains]

What do you mean by near-infinite worlds?

[grunehexin]

[Haise- that was who he reminded her of. Goodness, it had been a while since she'd seen him- how long had it been since her transfer? But the nagging feeling of deja vu stopped abruptly at the physical, and she chalked it up to simply that. A resemblance.]

To ALASTAIR.

[She provided answers somewhat helpfully, if not casually, having not expected to find someone so green as that today.]

You have not heard from the higher ups yet? About the mission and all that.

[ex_oblige932]

[He recognizes Alastair as a given name, foreign in origins from his perspective, but she clearly isn't referring to an individual. A place perhaps, which leads him to question if where they are is referred to as Alastair. If this were the case, then he is assuredly far from anything he would know or recognize, doubtless with a long trip ahead of him to return to Tokyo.

That is, of course, assuming that he isn't being kept here by force. Talk of a mission leaves him with doubts as to the nature of his...stay. Though this woman had looked him over, she hasn't so far presented any overt threat or made any move to harm him, so whatever did bring him to this place may not involve her.

Trusting too easily had been a mistake of his in the past, so he reserves judgment for now]

I haven't heard of anything like that.

[Kaneki admits, aware as much is already obvious to present company, or at least under heavy suspicion]

[grunehexin]

Hmm...

[What an oversight this seemed to be, that he hadn't been processed accordingly. It was an explanation she'd long grown weary of giving, and she'd seen so many new recruits now in her years... but it wasn't fair to them to use that as an excuse not to try and help.

She reached for the pouch at her side, undoing it and reaching in... and rummaging... way deeper and wider than the outside of the pouch seemed to indicate was possible, until she came up with...

Was that a tablet PC?

It was, battered and definitely years old, but she pulled up her notes with a few flicks of fingertips, searching through until she found her notes on ALASTAIR itself, and their missions...

And offered it over the back of the chair.]

If you want to know, I have information here. It is yours to read if you will.

[ex_oblige932]

[Weathered as the device appears to be, Kaneki recognizes the tablet for what it is. He's never had one himself; college students didn't often have that much money for themselves, and he lived alone until recently. Not to mention, devices like this were often used in place of reading books, and there was no force out there that would make Kaneki give up actual books.

Here and now, however, it's an offer of information. And after a moment of brief hesitance he lifts a hand to accept the tablet, one perhaps familiar black band around his index finger matching his dark nails. If it's a fashion statement of a sort, who's to say?]

Thank you.

[It's a soft, appreciative murmur, for all that Kaneki hasn't yet decided whether he trusts this woman. If it truly is information he can make use of, that's more than enough for him in this moment. His furtive touches to the screen betray his inexperience with such devices, brow furrowed as he works his way through one document and then another, finding himself absorbed in what seems a work of incredibly creative fiction...

That is, until he pulls up a particular file regarding a man who looks strangely like himself]

[grunehexin]

[It is likely her fault for taking her eyes off this familiar seeming fellow. It's been years since she's seen the person he reminded her of, and though her gaze lingers, attention caught for a moment by his hand...

She simply handed over the tablet, and let him see things for himself, settling back on her heels to let him read unimpeded. It would take time, of course, and he hardly needed interruptions...

When she finally does peek over the back of her chair again, though, she's startled to find him straying from the general information in to personnel files... and into that one in particular.]

... Uncanny, is it not?

[To think...]

[ex_oblige932]

[That certainly is a word for it. Kaneki watches the image for some moments longer before he simply offers her the tablet back. Much of what he has read is confusing to him, and he doubts that much is going to change in the very near future, but at least it's given that confusion a shape. Names, places, and one very oddly familiar face.

Uncanny indeed]

I've never stood out much, but it's still... [He pauses, trailing off as he considers what word he ought to use. Ultimately, he settles on the simplest one] strange.

[Yes, strange. The whole lot of this is completely foreign, the stuff of some fantastical work of literature, yet real enough to touch. He's experiencing this, and thanks to her information he now knows that this is Oska and supposedly they're brought here with purpose, though not entirely by design.

At least, while their arrivals should be intentional, they aren't working as intended. Is it the same for him, he wonders?]

...Thank you, for the information.

[grunehexin]

[Hmmm... that was a bit unexpected. Most people would be a little more thrown off by seeing someone so close to their own appearance... but she accepted back the tablet without drawing much attention to it.

There was no need to upset those who might be displaced in time and doomed to vanish- as she herself was likely doomed, either to return to her own timeline, or to dissolve into the ether of possibility.]

- you are welcome.

[She held out a hand, offering a shake, disguising the fish for information with mere pleasantries.]

Lorelai Wolff, by the way.

[ex_oblige932]

[Some man apparently close to his age bearing such a resemblance to him is bizarre to say the least, though not much more so than the rest of what Kaneki finds himself dealing with. It's a matter he'll ruminate over later, especially after he's mistaken for this person, but at least for now the coincidence is outweighed by so many other oddities.

The name she provides is a curious one, and while he does consider questioning it, he thinks better of that for now. They're strangers from what seem to be very different places, and to that end there may be no reason to concern himself with such a detail]

Ken Kaneki.

[Said in western order simply to follow her lead, as seems polite.

He catches her hand after brief consideration, grasp only firm enough for a proper handshake, and he lets go promptly after dispensing with this gesture]

Are cases like mine...common...around here?

[grunehexin]

[Ken Kaneki. She would remember it, even if she did not know yet if she would attempt to leave word for her younger self or not. How much was too much, when it came to meddling in a timeline, anyway?

ALASTAIR certainly never seemed to mind, but she didn't have their abilities, nor the backing they did.]

I would not say it was common, no.

[In fact...]

You are actually the first I have seen so uncanny as this.

[ex_oblige932]

[Not common, then. Kaneki frowns at that, a decidedly thoughtful expression overtaking his features. He's been a rare or unique case before, but it wasn't ever exactly a good thing. Being a human turned into a ghoul, and the first resounding success of some mad scientist, weren't distinctions of which one could be proud. And he can only wonder what ill this resemblance speaks to.

The fellow in that picture looked a little older than himself, and try as he might, Kaneki doesn't recognize the name]

I've seen it said that somewhere out there, someone exists who strongly resembles you... But I never thought very much of an adage like that.

[Perhaps there's something to it, on such a broad scale as this place supposedly operates]