middleofsomewhere | Onward: Orange

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Onward: Orange

A Stormy Night

The night of day six of Grasshopper begins to get blustery, and rain begins to fall shortly after the sun sets. Just after midnight they are facing a full-on storm. It’s quite interesting to watch, for those who need a break from investigating. Especially up on the top floor, where the glass roof gives a good view; all the instruments are set up to monitor weather patterns and are operating perfectly, a fascinating watch for those interested in such things.

It’s a little noisy, but not too bad for those that want to sleep; it’s just another distraction along with the perpetual light. Still it is, for the most part, a peaceful night.

Lights OUT

Peaceful, that is, until about an hour before dawn on day seven, their third day on-world. A large clap of thunder booms overhead, a massive flash of light brightens even the sky around the station… and something hits the facility so hard that it seems to rock. The lights go out.

Every single light and screen in the building go dark at once.

It’s only a few moments before the machines whir back to life. Monitors and equipment rebooting, a cascade of beeps and whirrs and start-up tones. The lights, however, do not come back on. Clearly emergency lighting has never been a concern for a people that can see in the dark.

It’s a concern now. From across the facility, everywhere there was an orb, there are now monsters. A lot of monsters. Grey, long limbed and ready to attack.

Luckily for the Voidtreckers, the monsters on the very bottom floor have found something more interesting than hunting them. Within moments, they smash through the grates along the floor, and begin clambering downwards.

Downwards seems to be through some kind of service shaft, though easily big enough to fit a person in. They skitter down into the darkness, if any of Orange try and follow they can. It will be a steep, treacherous descent; they may need to break out that climbing gear to descend safely.

Something Approaches

Back in the facility, the monsters that didn’t descend are instead attacking anyone they find with mindless savagery. A little while after the attack starts those near the top floor will hear a siren, ringing out into the darkness. It is not constant, rather it peaks and fades. Anyone who goes to investigate will find it comes from a black metal machine on the top floor, its screen showing a now constantly flashing, wavy green line and the words SIGNAL FOUND. As time passes, the green wave on-screen grows taller.
Luckily, they only have to last the remaining hour until dawn and when the sunlight shines through the glass of the facility the monsters shatter. In their place rise familiar orbs. Any monsters on the sub-levels remain active whilst the facility is in darkness.

The alarm subsides during the day. The machine’s wave remains the same size, pulsing only occasionally. Once night falls on the third day (Grasshopper 7), it shrills, and the wave continues to grow.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh... So they floated?"

It was hard to imagine. But he tried his best. Perhaps they were like the imperial palaces of his world, high up on mountains surrounded by the sea of clouds.

But more... on the sea rather than in the sky. He nods at the blitzball mention though. "I guess that's why it is so popular, if there is so much water there."

"It's all technology," he explains, both like that's enough to explain it--but also, like someone who only knows that. It's all science stuff, what would he know? Even if a second later, a nagging in his mind reminds him, it wasn't all just science.

But he dismisses it, walking on with Taiki with still a smile and cheer to him. "And it's the best sport ever. Giant stadiums lit up at night, buildings packed in far and tight... and I lived on a boat," he adds fondly. "Outside the city. A lot of us did. It was fun. I'd rather live in a boat than a train any day."

He nodded, it wasn't any science he knew. But science in other worlds was probably different. So he doesn't question him at all, just smiled as he began talking about Blitzball.

It was clear it was something Tidus cared about a lot and so it was good to hear him speak about it. Good just to hear his voice.

"A boat?" He tilted his head, "I've never been on a boat. Was it..." He tried to imagine it. "Was it a sail boat? It was big enough to hold your whole team?"

"If they wanted to hang out, sure! But there wasn't gonna be anywhere for them to sleep," he admits with a laugh in his voice. "It was the kind with an engine--kinda like what the train has." Probably. But it's easier to say that when Tidus isn't sure Taiki knows what an engine is.

"It was just big enough for me and my family growing up. That was just me and Auron most of my life, but about...you could squeeze four people in there. You know, if you wanted to give them a bed. The living room can hold more."

He wishes he could show Taiki, that'd be more fun. The way it looked, inside and in. But with no way to satisfy that urge, Tidus offers instead: "If we ever end up somewhere with a boat, lemme take you on one! We'll sneak out if we have to. Just for a while."

He smiled softly, "Alright... Though perhaps not sneaking." The probably should trespass on peoples boats in worlds that aren't their own.

Or on their own worlds. Anywhere really.

"Auron? He was your family?"

Tidus puts a hand up to his face, an innocent good boy pleading expression that's half-jesting as he pleads, "Just to borrow? Just once? If we put it back?"

Come onnnn Taiki.

"Oh, Auron, he... I guess he was the closest to family I had. He watched after me since I was seven. He was a friend of my old man's--from Spira, the same place as Yuna is. But he came over to where I was."

He scoffs a little, the sound more like a huff. "But that's a long time ago now. He's some place happier." A beat, and fondly: "Retired."

"Um..." He just looks a little confused. No Tidus. No stealing boats. Borrowing boats, whether they put them back or not.

"He went over to your world to watch over you?" He sounded like a good guardian.

Okay, Tidus would end that attempt with a laugh and a wave of his hands.

"I'm just messin'!"

...sorta! That's all Taiki has to know about that! But if he can get a boat some day to 'borrow'....

"Yeah. Well--less world, more a giant city," he corrects. "It's just separate from everywhere else. Nobody in Spira knew it existed 'til me and my old man got pulled out of there. But I didn't know about the rest of Spira either."

Though, not because he didn't a rest of the world existed--he just never thought about it.

He nodded, though he didn't smile. He hoped that Tidus really was just joking. He tilted his head though. A city that no one knew about... That struck him as even stranger than another world.

"Oh... Sorry I misunderstood."

He was quiet for a moment as he tried to imagine that. A city that was unknown to a whole world.

"No need to look so down about it! Hey, are we nearly to that thing yet?"

Because he can't tell what Taiki's thinking, and while there's more he could say, it's probably best they focus on what they were going to more.

And not how Tidus is totally going to steal a boat one day.

"Yes." He nodded, they were indeed now on the top floor and Taiki led Tidus through the room filled with many strange instruments.

Some he could guess at, telescopes, mapping equipment, other devices that looked alien but whose use was obvious enough.

The device he took Tidus over to though was different, just a growing green line on a screen.

Tidus takes a sweeping look about the room from where he enters, steps slowing to allow Taiki to go on first and following after. That...sure was a line.

"So this is the thing," he says, pointing a finger at it, "that goes off every night? And the line gets bigger?"

He looks at the device itself, what it's connected to and what's around it. Where was what approaching? ...from the sky?

"Yes." He nodded, frowning at it. "Whatever it is tracking... I think it is getting closer."

And at night. Which could connect it to the monsters. Probably. Maybe even hopefully. He's not sure about such things but having a linked threat is perhaps better than having a completely new threat?

He doesn't know really.

Tidus isn't silent as he thinks--he's not a silent guy, making small thoughtful sounds, sometimes a huff, his facial expressions shifting to show annoyance as his brain tries to be racked for answers.

...but really, he's not sure what they can do about this.

"...Should we ask someone from Purple if they can convince someone who knows this stuff to come here?" He gestures a hand out to the machine. "All the scientists can't be gone, can they? As for the signal--"

He sweeps the hand out and up.

"--we'll deal with whatever shows up! Maybe there's something else around that has more info. Some of the other computers?"

There's got to be some clue about what they were tracking... what do people look for out in space anyway?

"Maybe. All of this... It's more advanced then anything I know."

He knows that the people who did understand it were working on things, which was good. But it was hard not to feel useless when he couldn't figure things out, couldn't fight, couldn't even help the injured.

"We could ask purple..." That's a good idea at least. Tidus is good at ideas.

"I can call over to Purple," he brings up his hand with his SCA, "and then we can check out some of the other rooms, see what else we can find."

He speaks confidently, with a nod, affirming their course of action. If someone from Purple could find or talk to someone who'd know what's up with this lab in particular, it could go a long way.

But he does pause, and decide to ask, "Unless--you wanna talk to everyone?"

He didn't think Taiki would which is why he went ahead and decided first, but if he does want to...!

"No." He shook his head, "You can do it..." He tries to hide the fact that there isn't much he would like less than to have to speak over a radio to everyone.

"It's a good idea..."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Onward: Orange

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should we do a wrap/fade to black here soon?

yep!