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

[lowtier]

Yikes, that the kind of thing my brother might say.

[ He's immediately sighing as he doesn't like thinking about being shown up by someone who looks a lot younger than him. ]

Wait, hold up! [ And he's picking up his steps to catch up to Arima. ] You shouldn't go wandering off just 'cause you think you have a cool head.

[prodigism]

[ He doesn't know who his brother is and he doesn't really care?! Well Arima at least does stop at that. ]

Nothing is going to get done just standing around. I want to see more of this place for myself.

[ Get the lay of the land if you will. He's pretty confident that he can hold his own at whatever is thrown his way at least. ]

You don't have to follow...if you don't want.

[lowtier]

You can't say it like that.

[ He's going to shoot his arm out to shove the kid's shoulder. ] What kind of adult would I be if I let you go off on your own, huh? Not a good one. [ He lightly points to the sword that's on his back. ] And check this out. This'll keep us out of any trouble.

[prodigism]

[ Wow excuse you Genji, don't be pushing him. He does stumble a bit but otherwise he remains his usual self. Arima just frowns as he looks back at the other. Expression unreadable as ever. ] I'm used to working alone. Adults let me do it all the time.

[ Not that the other knows that or anything. ] I can handle myself.

[ He shift the guitar case on his shoulder as he turns back to look at the various hallways in front of them. ]

[lowtier]

That's because you're too serious and gloomy. You should be happy to work with people. [ He is going to attempt to grab the kid's shoulder to pull him in and ruffle his hair. Really, this person almost reminds him of his brother and it ... bothers him. Isolating oneself for the sake of duty and the like, Genji just can't understand that sort of thinking. ]

Yeah, yeah, but I'm here, too, yeah?

[prodigism]

I've only ever worked with adults who were also gloomy. Maybe I got it from them. [ It true. CCG is death and gloom pretty much. And wow not expecting that hair ruffle, but Arima just lets him do it?! His blank expression remains ever apparent as it happens. He's used to isolating himself and his emotions so it's hard for him to really open up, he's sorry Genji. ]

...if you insist on following, I won't try to stop you.