Deep Dweller: Start

[voidtreckermods]

After the dreams some of the voidtreckers report on day Four of Grasshopper those that have been on the train for a little while will be expecting what comes the next day. Their SCA's glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preparations and Arrival

As promised the dressing carriage is opened for optional extras. There are flight suits, similar to those they wore into space but without the helmets. There are instead hard hats and some basic climbing gear as well as bags to put supplies in. There are even a few red tents if any of those planning on tackling red's mission want to grab one, they hold six people in two inner compartments and are relatively easy to put up and take down.

They have a few hours of preparation before the announcement comes. Soon approaching system #789327772. Planet Terra. Drop order: Orange, Red, Blue, Purple. Orange to doors. Leaving the void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. A sharp jerk, a judder and the view from the window changes from the void to dark cloudy skies and very red sand.

They land smoothly, and indeed it seems they have landed on train tracks. A few moments later they pull up outside a huge metal and glass building.

Orange Team

Arrival

Jumping down from the train they will find themselves outside large metal gates. Noticable is the spotlights that shine even in the day time, reflecting oddly off the red sand. It is hot and dry outside, a slight breeze sending red dust rolling around their feet.

The gates aren't locked. There is no lock though they will notice devices that are probably security cameras. The doors are glass and inside is light and airy. They enter into a large lobby, a large circular desk in the centre and a glass walled waiting room to the side.

It is empty. No people at all. All the lights are on. Time to explore.

Exploration

Going up two floors and down five the lab is large and full of all manner of interesting things. Scientific equipment, monitoring stations measuring chemical levels in the air, temperature, water levels. Where to even start is a good question. The lights remain on, which might be annoying at night.

Red Team

Arrivals

Red team to doors. The train continues travelling along the train tracks, looking out the windows they will see endless rolling red sand. Factories rising up from the ground, dotted across the landscape. As the train gets close the air outside seems hazier, through the fumes. They may even see in the distance, strange silver floating orbs.

Eventually it pulls up at a station. Just a raised block really, but easy enough for red team to disembark.

The land stretches out around them. Train tracks criss cross the surface but apart from that there don't seem to be any boundaries. No fences, roads or sign posts.

It won't take them long to find the first orbs, strange silvery spheres and seem almost liquid, until they are not.

Night Time

It grows dark quickly after sunset here, which might take them by surprise. Taking them more by surprise however may be the scraping, scuttling noises in the dark. Skittering close. There is no light out here on the surface, they are far away from the research facility that Orange found themselves in.

If anyone manages to catch a glimpse they will see grey, long limmbed creatures. They shy away from light but anyone in the dark is likely to be attacked. They fight with claws and teeth.

When the sun rises they are gone.

Blue Team

Arrival

Blue team to doors. The train continues across the landscape, passing more orbs, just floating there silently. It stops at the entrance of a cave.

The cave slopes downwards into darkness and soon turns into small tunnels. They don't need to go far when they meet the first ground of Gry. A group of young Gry, practising with spears in an wider section of cave.

Despite being very surprised at the sudden visitors no weapons are pointed at the voidtreckers, instead they are met with curiosity. They are soon led further into the tunnels and soon come to the living areas.

The Gry lead simple lives but they are all pretty fascinated to see their visitors and will allow them to look around their home and answer any questions they have.

Night Time

Most of the Gry sleep in a large communal sleeping area and the Voidtreckers are welcome to join them, though the Gry won't be insulted if they choose to seek out a more private area.

If the Voidtreckers awake in fear in the night, after strange dreams they will find they are not alone. Many of the Gry have awoken too and will reassure the Voidtreckers, tell them it is an honour to communicate with The Burrower.

Purple

Arrival

Purple team to doors. The train continues on the tracks and soon enters a tunnel itself. It's a bit of a bumpy trip, this train was clearly not made for warren systems but after some uneasy twists and turns they pull to a stop.

They are at a train station, not that it's easy to see because it is pitch black. But it is clear there are people around, some looking very confused at the very odd train.

Once the last of those going on the mission leave the train it speeds off into the darkness.

The Terran's are large and tower over most of the voidtreckers but they are friendly enough, if a little confused, once it is explained that they are here to help. They will be led over towards the collapsed section of city.

There is a lot of activity. People digging at rubble, others using their sheer size and strength to hold up beams. There is an array of rescue equipment and a group of official-looking Terran's holding large devices that are comparable to a tablet-computer and discussing solutions.

There is plenty to do to help, smaller rubble to clear, injured people to tend to. Worried Terran's to calm and reassure. Those brave enough can volunteer to use their smaller size to help get supplies through to those trapped and those with any scientific know how, great strength or magic can put their skills to good use.

Rest Time

Throughout the day people are rescued and other parts of the tunnels stabilised. There is more work to be done but the Terran's seem to be working in shifts and they will encourage their surprise allies to rest as well. They will offer to host them.

They live in large groups and will happily invite the voidtreckers into their homes. They will be curious about the voidtreckers but will also answer questions. Telling them about the strange storm and the collapse of the tunnels. They are urged to sleep early and the next day it will be back to work.

(OOC: Information is here)

Comments

Samata Mahto | Going with orange this time

[les_magique]

-Arrival, OTA-

Samata paced nervously as the train grew close to their destination. She didn't like being expected to stick her neck out for these strange worlds she had never known, but she also didn't like leaving people to suffer when she could do something. And there was usually trouble wherever the train stopped.

She bit her nails while staring out the window into the void. She had a full set of spells prepared, a backpack full of whatever she could get her hands on that seemed like it might be useful, and one of the flight suits on. (A red one, although she wasn't planning to go with the red team. Red team always seemed to run into things that wanted to kill them, and she knew her talents did not lie in that situation.). Any minute now, the count down was going to begin, and then she would have things to do, to keep her mind occupied. But for the moment, there was nothing to do but wait. What would this world be like? Full of steel and space? A beautiful tropical island? A rural city?

Help a girl out with her nerves?

-Landing, Orange-

Boots on the ground. Samata hopped off the train and took a moment to look around. Sand and dust everywhere, smog overhead, no forests or cities or bodies of water in sight. Just this one facility in front of them.

"...What a dismal world. I can see we're in for a treat."

But she shouldered her pack and set off towards the front gates. Curiosity drew her on.

Orange Landing

[deage]

"Thankfully, most of our time should be in the laboratory." The voice chiming in seems to be coming from an extremely tiny child - Haibara('s body) is 7 and looks it. She's clad in a blue hoodie - she wasn't going to be caught dead (or alive) in one of those flight suits.

"This really doesn't look like Earth, though. I guess everybody was telling the truth about going to different worlds, huh."

[les_magique]

"They sure were!"

And then, regrettably, Samata reacted in the way that Haibara probably gets a lot. She leaned over with her hands on her knees and spoke in the kind of condescending voice one uses for small children. "Are you going to be okay out here on your own, sweetie?"

[deage]

Haibara is used to it. But more importantly, it means that the ruse is working. As long as people around her are convinced she's a normal child, she'll be safe from the suspicions of the organization out for her life.

"I'll be fine," she answers matter-of-factly. Then she kind of gestures back with her head to where people are probably still disembarking from the train. "Besides, I have a chaperone."

Masumi Sera had apparently volunteered to keep an eye on her. Not that Haibara needed it, of course.

[les_magique]

"Alright, just making sure." When had they gotten such a tiny child? Must have been in the last batch. She couldn't keep track of EVERYONE on this damn train.

"I'm Samata, what's your name?"

[deage]

"Ai Haibara. I just arrived." She says that like it explains something. Like why she had been dubious about visiting other worlds, perhaps.

"Have you been here long? How many worlds have you visited?" She looks around. "Were they a lot different than this?"

[les_magique]

"Oh yes! I've been to several worlds now. There was one where everything was made of steel and glass, and we were stuck in great fortresses in the sky-" She had a shaky grasp of space travel, "-and then we visited a rural city out in a great grassland, and the most recent one before here was a tropical island paradise."

[deage]

Several of those sound like they COULD be the same world, but Haibara's not going to press that issue. Yet. "Those sound like better places than this one," she says instead. "I wouldn't say no to a tropical vacation."

She looks over at the lab up ahead, and the gate. "But I suppose I shouldn't complain. Investigating an abandoned laboratory does sound interesting, at least."

[les_magique]

"The beach was quite nice, yes." She agreed.

Still, it was a little worrisome to have a child, which this clearly was, wandering around unsupervised.

"Just...make sure you keep a grownup in sight, okay?"

[deage]

"Don't worry, I have absolutely no intention of putting myself in danger." Which is the truth. Unlike a certain detective boy, Haibara didn't enjoy being in peril. She's only tagging along on this trip because it's perfectly safe. Or as safe as any trip could be, really.

"But if it makes you feel better, I promise to stay with an adult." Or at least Masumi Sera. And if she doesn't count, well.... Haibara does herself. Technically.

[les_magique]

"Good."

Still, Samata made a mental note to keep an eye out for the kid and make sure she was okay. Because goddamn, they'd let ANYONE on the train, wouldn't they?

[deage]

Haibara glances over to her actual chaperone, the teen detective she knew from home. Then back to Samata. "Well, Miss... Samata." A strange name, but it... sounded like a given name. Why did nobody give their family names? "I suppose I'll be seeing you around."

She begins to head to Sera, but pauses. "Feel free to find me if you need any help with computers."

Re: Samata Mahto | Arrival

[only_one_wei]

"Nice outfit," Wei Wuxian said, coming up alongside her. He was wearing his usual robes, the blue flightsuit hidden under them. "Biting your nails like that, is that how you got got that?" He nodded at her other arm, his look playful.

[les_magique]

"This?"

She grabbed her mechanical arm, suddenly self conscious about the nail biting. "This is nothing, you should see the OTHER guy!"

[only_one_wei]

"Oh? Please, do tell, what about the other guy? Is he missing a leg? Or a nose?" Wei Wuxian asked with a grin.

[les_magique]

"House burned down by an angry mob."

[only_one_wei]

"Nice! On your behalf?" Wei Wuxian asked, duly impressed.

[les_magique]

"Indirectly, we'll say. The full story is...rather complicated, but the mob was a long time forming. I just happened to be the pebble falling that started an avalanche."

[only_one_wei]

Wei Wuxian made a complicated face, one that said he completely understood that metaphor.

"That's never very comforting to the pebble, but I hope you got some closure out of it?"

[les_magique]

"I'm not sure. He wasn't a hateful man. He just had never really faced consequence for his actions before. Not in a real way, at least."

[only_one_wei]

Wei Wuxian tilted his head to the side. "While I have had to deal with some real evil people, I have found that they are the easiest. You understand their motivation, you know what you need to do to neutralize them. With people who are motivated by other things, like greed or self-interest, or because they just don't see someone else's life as important as theirs...sometimes they need the harder lesson."

[les_magique]

"Greedy and selfish makes more sense to me than cruel and heartless. Everyone have selfish urges; Istavan knows I have. But someone who just hurts people because they can?"

She shook her head. "That's much scarier. I can't get into the head of someone like that. I don't want to, for that matter. 'I want money' is so much simpler than 'I want people to scream.'"

[only_one_wei]

"Most recently I fought someone whose primary motivation was revenge for the slights life had given him. To the point that even when he was the most powerful figure in our society, he couldn't stop. That was his downfall, you know. He pushed someone to the point that they wanted revenge against him, and thus I was brought back from the dead...and I brought about his downfall."

"With help, of course," Wei Wuxian said with a quick grin. "Lan Zhan...have you met him? He's amazing, isn't he?"

[les_magique]

"I haven't, actually. Or I have and I've forgotten the name. I'm not the best with names, sometimes."

She was curious, though, about that middle bit. "You were brought back from the dead? That's rather incredible."