EVENT ▸ RETURN TO HQ

[futurologists]

RETURN TO HQ After a tough mission, it's time to return to Headquarters for a well-earned rest. Hathaway's medics and healers are there to patch up any lingering injuries (as are any teammates with healing abilities!), everyone's room is tidied up for them, and the entirety of Hathaway HQ is ripe for exploring. Take your time -- you earned it. Also sharing downtime at HQ are Guilds Horatio, Montague, and Watchman, composed of humanoids of various shapes and sizes. Temporary pop-up shops down in the promenade include a spa where one can get a manicure, pedicure, or other beautifying procedures; a yoga studio; and an imported salt cave for meditation. After a few days of silent relaxation, members of Guild Ophelia will all receive a text message on their magitek from Imogen -- their Guild Master, if they don't remember. Imogen, while not directly involved in any world-saving affairs, has a rather sizable amount of inheritance that she puts towards the Hathaway cause. Specifically, she uses it to finance Ophelia's endeavors. This sort of makes her in charge, or as much in charge of this rag-tag team as any one person can be. Hello, Ophelia! Once again, allow me to congratulate you on your successful mission in Hanabira. I hear the wedding went smashingly. Hathaway's analysts should rift down someone to check in on your success in several years, but the mathematicians are confident your solution has brought peace to the region. One should never rest on their laurels, however. From what I've seen in magitek messages, this guild is sorely lacking in the ability to work together and trust all guildmates, regardless of who they are. I've spotted more than a few barbs exchanged. Hanabira will be only an exception if you continue to behave this way. We'll be conducting guild bonding exercises today. While they are not mandatory, I assure you I've procured incentive for you all to participate. It isn't cheap to finance your exploits, and I won't spend my resources on a group of ruffians slinging insults at each other. Meet by the memorial fountain in one hour, and do try to bring a positive attitude. Your Guild Master, Imogen Those who choose to participate will find Imogen, a very prim and graceful elf dressed in elaborately embroidered robes, standing near the fountain. She greets everyone by name -- "nice to see you" and "glad you could make it" -- before directing them to the training rooms on the upper deck. The training rooms include run-of-the-mill exercise equipment and the training simulation room, both of which are free to use by participants and non-participants alike. A tall, strong-looking man whom some may recognize as their recruiter is making use of the equipment. His name is Khalef, and he is happy to answer questions about the training facilities or anything else about Hathaway. Between exercises, Imogen is available at the memorial fountain to chat but she's otherwise busy with paperwork. ▸ SECRETS Two partners sit in a room furnished only with two (very comfy, if it matters) chairs and a table between them. On the table sits -- floats, really -- a colorful orb, softly glowing. It is comfortably warm to the touch. The instructions automatically flash across the participants' magitek, thanking them for participating and asking them both to answer the following questions with complete honesty to gain the most from this exercise. Then, the first question pops up: What is something you like about your exercise partner? It seems simple enough. If a participant tells the truth, they will notice the orb's glow brightening, almost as if it is starting to flame. If a participant lies, they will notice the orb's glow dimming. Otherwise, there is no penalty for lying. The questions slowly get more personal, with the aim of getting the two partners to open up to each other: If a crystal ball could tell you the future, what would you want to know? What’s the one thing you would like to change about yourself? What are you most proud of accomplishing? What do you think existed before the universe was created? What do you think is the worst crime a human could commit? Do you think jealousy has value in driving people to improve themselves, or is it a purely negative emotion? If you could start your life over, what would you do differently? If you were given only one week to live, how would you spend it? Who had the greatest impact on your life? What was it? What’s the difference between justice and revenge? Is it possible to live a normal life and not ever tell a lie? Do the ends justify the means? Are some people’s lives worth more than others? Why or why not? Complete this sentence: "I wish I had someone with whom I could share..." If a loved one died, but someone created a perfect copy, would they be the same person and would you love them just as much? If you were going to become a close friend with your partner, please share what would be important for him or her to know. ( Mod note: the above are just ideas! You can pick and choose, or come up with your own. Whatever is most fun for you! ) If the two partners truthfully answer their questions, the orb will eventually catch fire, although it will curiously still remain only pleasantly warm if anyone attempts to touch it. It will blaze until it burns out, leaving two small marble replicas in its place. When one of the partners grasps it in their hand, they will be able to see through the other partner's eyes for one minute (although they will not be aware of their own surroundings, so you might want to be in a safe area). The other partner will be aware of this and able to sever the link by removing the marble from their person. These items are bound to their owners and cannot be used by others. If one or both partners lie, the orb will eventually fizzle out entirely, and the magitek will inform them that the exercise was failed due to deceit. ▸ RIFTING Next, guild members are directed to the rifting pad located on the upper deck. Technicians scurry about in the rifting area, spinning dials and taking readings, as volunteers are directed to stand on the rifting pad and wait. It's just like rifting to a different universe for a mission -- the world goes bright and then, in a flash, you're standing somewhere else -- except the technicians emphatically explain this is not a mission. It's still part of the training exercise, you see! Participants have been rifted to an unpopulated garden planet, in the middle of a forest clearing. The grass is tall -- nearly 150 cm in height -- and is surrounded on all sides by forest. A notice pops up on your magitek that informs you there is no aggressive local wildlife, but there are aggressive plants: including, unfortunately, your goal for this part of the exercise. Spread throughout the forest are aggressive willow trees, sentient flora that will lash out with sharp, clawlike branches at anyone who comes too close. The branches have incredible reach, but the trees have no other defense, and are rooted to the spot so they are also unable to maneuver. The goal of the exercise is to gather as many willow seeds as possible, ostensibly without hurting the trees themselves. Willow seeds are around the size of a small marble and have a fluffy attachment that will allow them to blow away on the wind; you can scour the forest in search of them, of course, but the highest concentration is below the willows themselves. Once participants feel they have gathered enough seeds -- or if they simply want to give up -- they need only speak to the rift technicians via magitek and they will return back to Headquarters immediately. The participants will each receive a pot of soil and a seed to plant within it. The plant that sprouts from it will be no ordinary plant; it will require no water to sustain itself, but it will require something else: friendship. As the relationship between the two participants strengthens, the plant will grow, its appearance representing how the other participant feels about the plant owner -- pink and red blooms may represent romantic love, whereas bright, multi-colored petals may simply represent a strong friendship or budding blooms may represent... well, a budding friendship. (Of course, there's no "flower guide", so it's up to them to decide how to interpret this.) As the relationship weakens, the plant will wilt and, if the relationship turns sour enough, die. So take care of your relationship and take care of your plant! ▸ COMPOSURE This exercise completed, participants are free to return to the first deck and go about their business. But on the elevator back down from the rifting pad, the elevator suddenly jerks violently and then stalls. You're stuck! The emergency button doesn't seem to be working, no matter how many times you press it. And for that matter, no messages seem to be going through the magitek, either. You're effectively trapped in here with whomever you stepped aboard -- a friend, an acquaintance, or even a stranger. But don't panic -- surely Hathaway hired you for your ingenuity and not just your pretty face, right? The elevator can be broken out of in a number of ways: If you brute strength the doors open, you'll find that the elevator is stuck halfway between floors. This means that you must either climb up or down to escape the narrow opening, and, if your partner isn't the athletic type, help them out as well. If you hack the elevator's control panel (prying the panel door off first, obviously), you may be able to guide it up and down the shaft. Depending on your expertise in this sort of thing, the ride may be jerky and uncomfortable, and there's always a risk of the elevator plummeting down to the bottom if you lose control -- although strangely, there's never any impact if this happens, only the elevator springing back up the shaft after the fall. Either way, you should be able to figure out how to get the doors open. If you open the access hatch at the top of the elevator, you'll be granted access to the elevator shaft. It's a dimly lit tunnel of cables and wires, and unless you're lucky enough to find a service ladder in the midst of all of it, you'll have to use the cables to climb. It's dangerous -- you could lose your footing at any moment and slam back down onto the elevator below -- but you should be able to find a door eventually. And then it's only a matter of figuring out how to get it open. Or you could try a combination of these, or something entirely different! No matter what method you choose, once you find your way onto solid ground, your magitek will light up: Congratulations! You passed the final exercise. Rest assured, you were never in any real danger, I promise! Your Guild Master, Imogen Indeed, if you found yourself falling too far down the shaft, you would have found yourself instantly buffeted by invisible winds to keep your landing soft -- and if you found yourself unable to find a way to escape within two hours, the elevator would automatically start up again. Those who succeed will receive a flashlight that does not seem to work at first; however, it is capable of taking and storing light from its immediate surroundings, which it can then release into similar light sources or, in the absence of those, floating orbs of light. It is incapable of taking light out of an entire building, for an example, but can darken a room. ▸ OOC NOTES If you have questions about this log, please direct them to this comment on the plotting post. Questions about the game in general can be directed to the FAQ. ▸ Up now: Hanabira Bounty Board is still open! Bounties must be turned in by the start of the next mission on 15 April. Congratulations, Guild Ophelia now has an official uniform! The uniforms may be modified in any way characters like. The FAQ and Headquarters pages have been updated to include the uniform information. ▸ Coming next: 25 March: Mandatory How's My Driving meme. Participation is required to pass March AC. 28 March: April calendar, including news about apps. 01 April: March AC begins, ending on 5 April 23:59 UTC. ▸ Plotting ▸ Hathaway Headquarters ▸ Hanabira Bounty Board ▸ March Calendar

Comments

[forcevisions]

[ Rey's expression doesn't change when Hayame pulls back. She's used to it now. Kylo has made it so that she doesn't even flinch when these things happen. If she were still susceptible to the harm rejection could do, she would never have made it this far with him.

She can be patient.

Slowly her hand pulls back to her own side of the table. Obviously it's too much for Hayame. ]

I'm sorry to have intruded. I needed company.

[ Pulling it back on herself seems safe. ]

[tormado]

[He nods along as she explains. To be totally honest, he was kinda just planning to keep his head down, keep to himself and do what he could to help the missions until his own incentive was ready, but. Things aren't turning out that way. So...

Be a mediator. Be a good example. Make his teammates feel valued. He...thinks he can do those things. Interpersonal stuff isn't exactly his strong suit, but. He'll give it his best shot.]

Okay. I'll do my best. [He nods to her, again, in appreciation.] Thanks, Imogen.

[boxedcrook]

[When Alucard blocks, he immediately rolls. But before he can clamber to his knees or feet, Alucard swoops in to lift him away. He makes a noise of surprise, though is quick to, in fact, scratch for Tessaiga when they go back. Apparently, even a good wallop doesn't seem to slow Inuyasha down.]

I was doin' fine on my own! [He offers the willow a glare, dropping his feet to skid along the ground. He hops quickly out of Alucard's arm not because he's allergic to dhampir, but because he's embarrassed at having to be saved in general.

Tessaiga is brandished, this time pulled from the sheath.] I can't believe I can't destroy this thing! That's stupid! [It's easy to leaps to the side to dodge the next branch--it's too slow.] Whatever--

Just get the seeds, and I'll keep it distracted. [Both hands on the hilt. He's Business.] Alright, you hunk of leaves: it's just me and you.

[kisha]

[Hayame is not truly accustomed to being touched in any way that is not violent. Certainly not suddenly, without preparing herself and her heart and her nerves. Strikes, attacks... that is different. Touch...

It had taken her months to accept her lord's hand upon her withers. It had taken her months to take Odinson's hand. Now she sits here wanting for it, yet cannot allow herself to accept it or give word to it.

And Rey desired company.]

... so that is why you have come.

[The words are belated, sullen, but. She replies.]

[forcevisions]

Yes.

[ Not technically untrue. She always wants company, and she had noticed Hayame wasn't around consistently. Anyway, it'll help get her head about all that weirdness in the salt cave with Kylo, so spending time with other people is exactly what she needs right now. Even if it isn't exactly the only reason she'd come. ]

If you want to rest, I can leave.

[boxedcrook]

What?

[The tone is offense taken. The orb dims just barely. Inuyasha looks across at Bakugo, confused, irritable.] Don't just say it like that!

"Petty self-interest"? What's wrong with wanting to get revenge, huh? If someone who should be minding their own business tries to screw with me, you can bet I'm gonna be kicking their ass later.

[kisha]

[Hayame wonders if she is supposed to ask why. If another would ask why. There are plenty of other people in Hathaway. She's almost positive Rey is on better terms with more of them than she herself was.

But in the end, Hayame has not volunteered anything about her own feelings, about why she has sequestered herself in her quarters. She cannot expect Rey to say- what place was it of hers?]

... It is not polite to waste tea.

[Which... could be taken as an invitation to stay. It depended.]

[forcevisions]

[ A smile flickers over Rey's face. She nods, then picks her cup back up and returns to sipping it. This, at least, feels like a mark that she is getting better at people. She understands that Hayame is much more likely to accommodate Rey's feelings than her own.

It doesn't leave her room to bring up what Simon had said, but it does give her the chance to hover and be concerned and keep an eye out. Sometimes, that's all someone can do. She's learning that lesson in more than one place. ]

[undeserved]

You might have just looked like one.

[ she sounds like she's being honest about it, at least? The truth is that she's met enough half-aliens and vampires and mutants that she's no longer all that confident in anyone being what they seem...

the question offered up is a little more interesting - or, at least, Majima's perspective on it is. That sort of thinking isn't all that common amongst the androids. ]

I guess that's true. [ she pauses, thinking. ] But... I don't think spending a lot of time comparing yourself to others is useful. There are better motivations to use if you want to become more skilled.

[undeserved]

[ at least someone cares about property damage. Her lips tighten a little at the insult, but she refrains from snapping back; according to her Pod's readings, this is a human, so it wouldn't be appropriate. Even if she doesn't appreciate it. ]

... Understood, [ she answers, a little tersely - still, she acquiesces, heels clicking as she walks over beside him to the closed doors.

As it turns out, "brute force" is her main skill. 2B slips her fingers into the seam, then grits her teeth and gives her side a tug. And, in spite of her delicate appearance, the metal doors slide open with a groan - whether Bakugo is adding his strength to hers or not - revealing... well, darkness, mostly. ]

[secondnature]

Oh. Okay.

[Keith doesn't know how to respond to that. Hence: the actual response. He loosens up a bit, trying to figure that out. It hadn't been a problem before, but then, Lance didn't really have a lot to go on with how Keith might respond to that kind of thing.

He doesn't even know how to help with it now. One thing is clear from his body language: his keeping a distance from Lance had to do with feeling ashamed for lying, for being his leader and keeping that from him, and ... absolutely nothing to do with any kind of gay panic.]

That's fine. Uh, unless you mean it as insight? [Keith is suddenly way less sullen.] We weren't gonna date again anyway.

[Keith. Just Keith.]

[tormado]

[A small grimace pulls at Amado's face.]

I think more than anything, I just wanna know if me and my family get home okay. [He takes in and lets out a breath. Majima pretty much already knows this part.] I really don't want my daughter to grow up not knowin' the rest of her family, but...if I have to just. Deal with the fact that we're gonna have to live where we live and that's that, I guess I'd just like to know.

But, well. If I do a good job here, that ain't gonna be a concern, so. Hopefully all'a this works out. So...yeah, at the end of the day, I guess I'd just wanna know if things here on Hathaway are gonna work out okay. [Even the more altruistic among them like him are here for some kinda incentive, so he imagines...pretty much everybody would wanna know if things are gonna work out well enough for them to Get said incentive.]

Do you think jealousy has value in driving people to improve themselves, or is it a purely negative emotion?

[That gets another little grimace out of him.]

I think jealousy's...pretty bad. [And since this is supposed to be about sharing...he takes in a breath.] I spent a pretty long time growing up being jealous'a my sister, 'cause she was good at everything and I...wasn't. But it didn't make me push myself to do better, it just made me. Angry. It just made me have a chip on my shoulder. It wasn't 'til I really talked to her about it and figured out I didn't have to feel that way that I really started. Improvin' myself.

[Yeah, that got kinda personal. Huh. He scratches his cheek.]

So, uh. I think y'can use people as a goal to fix yourself. But if you're actually jealous of them, it'll just. Twist you up inside and it'll turn into resentment when it really doesn't have to. And you're not gonna improve yourself that way.

[secondnature]

I didn't want that to happen. [Otherwise, he would've taken the fight himself. Keith would have lost again and again and again, but he would have tried to do it all on his own. He huffs out in irritation.]

But if you make this about me telling Loki, he's my friend. The best one I had after you and Lance and Shiro left. It looks like we both can't keep our friends in line.

[kisha]

[Hayame never seems to have the words that she requires, nor the shamelessness required to say them. She cannot so easily admit to the intense fear of space she holds, when every single person she has spoken to about it so far had either ridiculed her or been simply so accustomed to it that they were unable to understand how someone could fear the deep black. She cannot put into words how difficult it was to open up to others...

How it hurts her to lose those precious few people. How lonely, and isolated she recalled that she was.

So instead, she finishes her tea and returns to the task she had been at before Rey arrived. Assembling arrows.

But she doesn't tell Rey to leave.]

[secondnature]

Up until recently, my home planet hadn't even traveled outside of our solar system. That's not to say they didn't want to. They just didn't have the tech. I bet that's the same for most Earths, actually. [But then there are flying cats and other such things that complicate things. Keith's own alien heritage is another complication, one that he hasn't fully figured out yet.]

So—I mean. Uh. It's not just you. Would a castle be more familiar for you?

[secondnature]

[It only occurs to Keith in this moment that he had stopped looking for archery lessons during that time. He was too caught up in the mess of his life before that, and then he just ... took off with Belore and Lion. Anyone could say he was taking a much needed vacation. And he was, to some degree. Keith just broods so much that it's hardly that much of a break.

He pauses, looking a little ashamed.]

I—uh—I didn't tell you I was taking off anywhere. Before.

[No "hello," but it's Hayame. Even if he had realized he skipped the "hello," she technically did, too. Socially awkward awkward friends.]

[secondnature]

It's fine if you can't fly.

[But Keith's piloting is ... usually better with smaller ships. He knows better than to try to steer a ship this large ever again. So, he's thinking smaller, easier ... something that won't cause too many problems.]

We haven't had this ship for long, though. Who knows if it's working. Or if we cracked all the security. Maybe a mechanism kicked back in. Especially since it was partly us taking it over in the first place.

[secondnature]

All right. I'm pretty agile. Can you boost me up? I'll get the rest of the situation taken care of so we can get out of here. [Keith would jump up there, but having someone stabilize the force of it sounds like a better idea. Jason had said the elevator might destabilize, and Keith is, at least, taking that seriously.]

[kisha]

[Who needs "hello" anyway? When one was not talking to a lord or superior, at any rate.

Hayame comes to a proper stop, shifting the large basket in her arms to the centaur equivalent of propped against her hip once she straightens up. What he says isn't exactly what she expected... it's almost like her version of an apology.]

... I simply assumed you had some personal business.

i.

[tenthousandmiles]

[Ginko has never even been part of a team before, much less participated in team-building exercises. So at least Aizawa's not the only one vaguely Uncertain about all this?

Ginko is faintly amused what appears as defensiveness right off the bat, though.]

I don't think I will need much time. You're clearly quite skilled at the kinds of tasks Hathaway asks of us. Combat and organizational matters, particularly.

[He doesn't really know Aizawa enough to say anything about him as a person, but it's plain to anyone that the man is well-suited to this kind of work.]

Thrawn | OTA

[mitthrawnaruto]

I: WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME

[Throughout the evening, Thrawn can be found on the promenade, seated comfortably at a table in the gardens. In his hands he shuffles a series of luminously laminated cards, their bright, almost holographic edges gleaming in the light. Before him, laid out in rows, rests another folded hand, implying to anyone vaguely familiar with card games that he's playing (perhaps rather sadly) with no one but himself.

One leg crosses the other, his lips thinning as he lays down the deck and draws up five cards, studying their faces as though beginning the cycle anew. The chair across from him sits empty, its unmanned hand and accompanying chair looking almost pitiful amongst milling recruits and passing shoppers. Occasionally someone stops, watching for a few hesitant beats before thinking better of it and walking away.

Still, all things considered, Thrawn doesn't seem to mind. Perhaps isolation suits him.

Or perhaps he's merely good at disguising how much it does not.]

II: MAKE LIKE A TREE

You are not afraid, are you?

[Thrawn asks mildly, already unclasping the high, pressed collar of his uniform. Their task is, at the very least, a simple one: to gather the seeds scattered throughout the roots of a large, almost sentient looking collection of trees just ahead— and if not for the massive claws each individual tree holds up in an instinctive warning, it would be a quick assignment as well.

Of course, that still leaves them with the matter of those vicious, bared claws.]

III: TRUTH OR TRUTH

[What is something you like about your exercise partner?]

That they are present.

[The orb sparks with warm light, seemingly oblivious to the flat tone and inexpressive look scrawled across Thrawn's angular features. If nothing else, it is true. A gentle ping precedes the next question, prompting the Chiss's glowing gaze to settle expectantly on his partner's face.

Hopefully it's not a terribly difficult question.]

[catphishing]

[No such thing as a bad time for that. Probably.]

You do have a great ass.

[catphishing]

[At least one of them has an answer. It's not a response he'd have expected out of Majima. He doesn't seem like the type of guy not to be himself. If anything, he thought he'd have fit in with the extreme end of society long ago.]

That's what I've started to think lately. Not the dying part. I don't think you have to die to be true to yourself, but it's easier to be who other people expect you to be. Just not always better.

[It doesn't seem to matter that Oliver hadn't given an answer that was good enough for the orb. The next question flashes across the screen.

Are some people’s lives worth more than others? Why or why not?]

Of course not.

[That's the only acceptable answer to that question, but the orb dims. Oliver flushes. This exercise is really making him look like an asshole.]

Okay. Fine. Objectively no one's life is more important than anyone else, but I'm always going to value the people I care about over some stranger, or someone who's actively hurt me. I don't think there's anyone out there who doesn't.

[This time it does brighten, much to his relief.]

[catphishing]

Wow. That's... incredibly cool.

[Unsurprisingly. There are a lot of cool sorts in Hathaway. He picks up a stray seed, but when he roots through the grass it doesn't look like there are anymore around where he found it.]

You know, I have a robot. I don't think it'd be any good here though. It doesn't do great over rough terrain.

[ceruleo]

[ Hearing Alucard describe it, Lance is stunned. Palmyra is--barely even a ruin, by his reckoning. He's not much of a history buff, but to see that Alucard experienced it at what was probably the height of its archaeological splendor is--humbling. ]

Huh. So that stuff's tue, then? You can't go out in the sun at all?

[ He takes a fluffy neon-purple feather boa and giant star-shaped sunglasses and puts them on. ] Would you say you're... [ He strikes a pose. ] ...uncomfortable in the spotlight?

[ ayyyy ]