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

[zipped]

Must be pretty scary then. [ There's a gentle sounding hum, nodding. ] You've got a name?

[ She's patient. By now, she's gotten use to the idea of her time being limited- no point in rushing the inevitable. But maybe she can still do some good. ]

[circulets]

[ Mikleo pauses before slowly nodding his head. ]

Mikleo. [ He pauses, tilting his head a little. ] Are you a human?

[zipped]

Lena. [ Tracer is her codename but.. it seems ominous at this point in time. ]

That's right, I am. [ She tilts her head in response. ] Why do you ask?

[ Was this boy not..? ]

[circulets]

[ He blinks up her, looking rather confused for a moment. ]

How come you can see me, Lena?

[zipped]

Am I not suppose to?

[ An amused giggle, a hand reaching out to gently ruffle his hair. ] Well you're obviously here, see? [ She drops her hand after but still curious why he looks so confused by it. ]

[circulets]

[ A hand moves to his head after, scrunching his nose slightly at her actions. ]

You're a human, just like my friend. That's why.

[zipped]

You got me there lil' fella. There's actually plenty of humans here.

So what does that make you? [ Because he looks pretty human himself. Even though he's a little young to be dyeing his hair. ]

[circulets]

[ He withdraws a bit, somehow feeling a little hesitant to tell her. Something tells him that he should be careful. Perhaps it was Gramps who told him to be war of humans. ]

I'm a seraph. ... Gramps said that most humans can't see or hear me. But, you can see me.

[zipped]

Seraph? So.. like an angel or something? [ At least that's what mentions are usually. ]

Yup, I can see you just fine.

[circulets]

N-No... [ He shakes his head. The idea of him being some sort of angel seemed kind of silly to him. ]

Gramps said that a lot of people think of us as spirits, but... they call us seraph now.