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

[followhim]

[ wow way to tell him just in time for it to get snagged on his jacket. i mean he doesn't fall or anything but it is upsetting because now he'll have to be shitty at sewing things up again.

also, watch him treat this tragic backstory opening with emotional finesse.]

Well, uh ... you're good at it.

[what was that, poe. what.]

[forcevisions]

[ She hears the tear of fabric and glances down to make sure that the force of it didn't knock him off balance or something. Then she meets his gaze, mr fucking 'you're good at it,' and she turns right back around and finishes climbing up to the nearest floor's doors.

The reiteration feels probing, somehow, and she's not sure it deserves any kind of recognition. It's quite straightforward really. If she hadn't gotten good at it, she'd be dead of starvation. She tries to pull at the doors, but they're locked firmly into place.

Usually, these things have a panel somewhere that's designed to hook up with the lift itself. Trigger some kind of magnetic release. She pulls herself up into the doorway and leans precariously backwards to try and get a look around for where that panel is, but there's nothing. ]

This isn't the same as the star destroyers.

[followhim]

[please don't recognize it. if he were not in an elevator shaft he would be straight yeeting out of this conversation. as it is, he will have to settle for not saying anything anymore at this current point in time.

until he gets to the doorway with her.]

We might still have to pull it open. I don't think it's gonna snap back. It didn't when I started to get the doors open back down there.

[forcevisions]

If we start pulling on this, we'll both fall.

[ She points down at their feet which are like 30% clinging to the door frame 30% dangling over the abyss they just climbed up. ]

I'll use the Force.

[followhim]

[WHERE IS THE OTHER 40% OF THEIR FEET TIFFANY???????

poe is sort of relieved like OH FINALLY we're utilizing the useful skills we had all along. but also not saying anything because he doesn't want to start another whole thing with her.]

Yeah? Good. I'll ... be here.

[welcome to a concert of poe dameron's greatest hits ig. they just keep coming.]

[forcevisions]

[ Rey takes a few breaths, leveling it on the heels of the climb, and shuts her eyes. With a wave of her hand, the doors rattle open as though they were resisting the force. The whoosh of the doors parting almost knocks them back. Wobbling, Rey instead tumbles inside onto the floor of the hallway leading to the mall level. She reaches out for Poe as she does and drags him with her into the tumble. ]

[followhim]

[ as much bitching as he seems to do about the force in general, it's pretty amazing to watch it in motion when it's not being used for noncon mind reading. i mean, he lost his mind watching scott summers blow up a barrel in an alleyway, making an uguu face while rey opens some elevator doors is pretty low-key for him. he's easy to impress.

but then the whoosh hits him and he's like WHOA OH YEAH GETTING OUT OF HERE. the uguu eyes can wait. they tumble onto the ground together like a tumbleweed.

as he's sort of untangling and gathering his bearings, he notices ... the message on their magiteks. and makes a disgruntled face. ]

This was an exercise all along?

[forcevisions]

They were playing with us.

[ She looks absolutely offended by it. She would have stayed there PRACTICALLY INDEFINITELY had it not been for Poe. Maybe there's a lesson here and she needs to Take Action. (This will later influence her bad decisions with Thrawn, let the record show.) ]

[followhim]

[there's possibly a lesson about teamwork here as he coerced rey into helping him and didn't just pull at the doors inside the elevator until his arms fell off, but he already learned the lesson about taking action so. maybe he's just gonna take more action-y action. or getting better at being a leader who coerces people into teamwork in the first place. so many lessons being learned today.

but also, poe's not gonna sleep on what just happened here.]

And you were gonna let them.

[forcevisions]

[ She glares at him. That's NOT a welcome criticism, coming from him. Her awareness of it and Poe being a dick are wildly disparate. ]

I got us out of there.

[followhim]

[ her snapping at him does cause him to tone it down. a little bit. or at lot. ]

Yeah, I know! I'm just saying ... [ he shakes his head. ] It doesn't matter. We worked together as a team, didn't we? We met the objective. Would've liked to know about the objective ahead of time, but ...

[forcevisions]

[ He's right. And he's sort of calling a truce on the blaming her for the flaw that kept her on Jakku for ten years thing. So she shouldn't still be mad, but she is. She is mad — at herself, more than anything else. She hates that she is still the kind of person who'd just wait around, and he'd rubbed it in and he was not the person she wanted to dig into it with. Poe is not known for his sensitivity ok, even if he is nakama. ]

I'm going to the infirmary.

[ This she says abruptly like she's looking for an exit. ]

Those trees got a few hits in that I want to have looked at.

[ Which also lends some context to why she maybe wasn't looking forward to climbing around the elevator shaft, but. You know. ]

[followhim]

[he doesn't want to awkwardly be like "ok bye i'll go ... wait right here," so he quickly thinks up somewhere else to be. smort.]

Yeah? Uh ... good luck. I'm gonna go work on my jacket.