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.

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lights out

Kaiba has spent most of the time loudly complaining that he isn't getting any sleep. It's too bright. Until...it's not. It all goes pitch black. And while that would normally be welcome, his blood runs cold. Unfortunately he can guess exactly what's about to happen.

He fumbles to switch his SCA's flashlight on, and as his eyes struggle to adjust to the dark, there's already something grey and ugly rushing at him from behind. There's a horrible screech and a flash of pain as he's thrown, crumpled against the wall---but he turns his wrist in time to narrowly avoid a mauling. He still has enough breath to bark instructions, but now it's a matter of getting through this floor alive and finding the others.

Once he's free, he'll twist his wrist in every direction as he hurries to shine the light, briefcase gripped tightly in his other hand. He will absolutely try to bludgeon monsters with it.

the wave

When they manage to light most of their spaces and account for everyone, he stops at the top floor, staring at the mysterious screen. The signal...is that what turned out the lights? He pulls his laptop out of his briefcase and starts to run analysis on the wave form, but there's only so much he can do without access to the internet.

"Linear growth. But what's growing...? Ugh." He drops his head in his hands.

a. A Stormy Night

The storm reminded him of home. Especially up on the top floor, where he could watch through the roof. If ever there was something to lull him into a sense of security, it was a rain storm. The drumming of the rain and the rumble of thunder were music to his ears.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is really soothing?" he said aloud.

b. Lights Out

He'd drifted off into a fairly deep sleep before the power went out, the loud noise startling him awake. Uncurling from where he'd been sleeping on the top floor, he looked around. Somehow, the dark was worse than when everything had been lit up.

"What the hell was that?"

Had the lab been struck by lightning? That scared him less than the fact he was in the dark now. The skin on the back of his neck prickled, and he got to his feet.

"How do we turn the lights back on?" Could they?

c. Something Approaches Part One

"Shit, fuck." He knew it. He knew this had seemed like a horror movie. Now there were monsters and he hadn't been wrong. He was wholly unprepared for this, and his plan was to bolt down a hallway, fumbling with his SCA to hit the flashlight symbol. Once he had it on, he glanced behind him, shining the light over his shoulder so he could see better. He discovered two things. The first was that he was better off not getting a good look at what was chasing him. The second was that the monsters didn't like light at all.

Still, he didn't slow down until he'd turned a corner and couldn't hear the thing behind him anymore. Only then did he stop running, instead walking backwards with his SCA held out in front of him to shine the light around. Unfortunately, it left him likely to run into something. Or someone.

When he inevitably bumped into someone, he nearly jumped out of his skin, screaming before whirling around.

d. Something Approaches Part Two

He was banking on both the dark to help him out and the monsters not being super smart. Those were the only reasons he darted into a room and squeezed himself into a cabinet, jostling the things inside before going as still as possible, even holding his breath as the monster that had been chasing him loped into the room, looked around, and left.

Afraid to make too much noise after that anyway, he shakily let out his breath, easing open the door and peeking out. He didn't believe he was safe yet, and was hesitant to step out.

Lights Out

Darkness descends and it would almost be a relief, Zelda thinks, if the storage room where she was trying to read an orb wasn't suddenly filled with gray shuffling things, only teeth and claws clear.

She reacts by instinct, throwing out her arms and calling on the gods. And whether it is her patroness, her ancestress, or some other god entirely, divine light comes to her aid.

The monsters cringe and step back, and for a moment Zelda feels relief- but there's something not quite right.

They're not fleeing, she realizes- not really. They're burrowing- but to where?

Well Something's Certainly Approaching

Wherever Zelda goes, the light follows. Or, at least, for while it does.

Because while she tries to rest in the daylight hours, magic always extracts its price. And she can't keep that light up forever.

Late into Night 7, the exhaustion she's tried to fend of nips at her heels. And while she tries to keep it constant, the light about her begins to flicker more and more, until she begins swaying on her feet in time with it's change.

Someone catch her, please, before she collapses entirely.

Stormy night:

Curufin stands on the top floor gazing out through the glass roof. The storm is lashing the windows with buckets of rain. The weather monitoring devices have their sensors up here, but Curufin is not currently paying attention.

"Rainy nights are spooky," he mutters. But he's smiling. On his own world, he spent his life in the mountains and the hilly country, and you know what the weather is like in those places. He likes it.

Lights out:

He takes a little time off from rain-watching to sleep, curling up in a corner with his jacket wrapped around him and his pack for a pillow. Suddenly, there is a massive thunderclap with an accompanying blinding flash of light. He leaps out of his corner and stares upwards. And then the building rocks with whatever mysterious force hits it at this moment. The bright inside lights go out.

Luckily, Curufin is an Elf, and Elves have great night vision. He also has his SCA, and he hits its flashlight switch. He runs for the stairwell and springs down it, coming out on one of the lab floors. He is just in time to meet up with some of the long-limbed gray monsters. They scuttle towards him out of the darkness. He whips his goblin sword out of its sheath and guards himself. Soon he is engaged in a life-or-death battle.

Something approaches:

After hours of fighting, he goes back up to the top level to make sure no one who can't fight back against the monsters is not trapped up there. He hears the siren wailing, exactly as it sounded in his dream vision. Soon, the sun rises and flashes through the glass, filling the level with brilliant light. The monsters that face him suddenly shatter and reform into the beautiful liquid orbs.

"What the hell??" he exclaims. He sheathes his sword and goes to take a closer look.

Curufin comes clattering down the stairs, shining his SCA light. He finds Kaiba trying to fight off the monsters by whacking them with his suitcase.

He springs at them, his sharp goblin sword at the ready, and he slashes the first of Kaiba's attackers. Then he stabs another. "Out of my way, insect!" he yells, a grin on his face.

Curufin was the one Dyme bumped into, as the Elf came down the hallway in search of more monsters to kill or drive away. Actually, though they didn't like the light and ran away if he shined it directly at them, he preferred to kill them and not leave any chance they'd go elsewhere and kill somebody else.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed when Dyme yelled. "It's me, Curufin."

Curufin is searching the facility for monsters to kill, and he comes down to the storage room where Zelda fills the space with light and drives back the monsters. They scramble for the gratings along the floor, smash them, and scramble down into the service shaft.

"What the hell?" exclaims Curufin, running towards the shaft after the monsters with his sword at the ready. "Why are they going down there?" He grins wryly at Zelda. "When there are so many good people to eat up here."

With her little robo buddy/neat cup holder in hand or at least safely in her bag she had thought to bring with her, Minako was trying her best to figure out just where she was going.

All she had wanted to do was have a nice neat break, maybe a nice drink before continuing her search. Instead, she found herself in pitch darkness. Well, this wasn't good, not at all. In an instant and being thankful that they were in the dark meant she could change without anyone noticing.

At least she hoped that had been the case. Crystal in hand she raised it up and transformed using the phrase "Venus Crystal Power, Makeup ~!" And in an instant, she read ready.

"Is there anyone out there that need help." She called as she soon moved to attack a nearby monster before noticing a familiar face... at least one Minako would know. But Venus decided to play dumb for the time being.

"hey there, I assume you need help~? I can help fight them off. I have plenty of experience in that area."

Venus was making her rounds and checking that those who couldn't fight could at least be defended if necessarily, attacking monsters as she went and in some cases managing to somehow jump clear over them.

Once she got into the room she looked around.

"Is there anyone in here? I'm here to help."

Minako had been switching between her civilian form and her Solider form during the time as a way to keep her from getting too exhausted. Currently she was with her civilian form with plans to change back soon.

But instead, she found that could change when she spotted the other. making her way over she made sure to stay close to her so that she didn't collapse to the ground.

"We best get you to a safe area to rest up."

Minako looked out at the rain. It was heavy, but always had some either nerving presence or calming, depending on the kind of rain.

"I mean if we needed a wash, then we have a method at least." she figured she would say out loud. "Make sure to warn people if you do." It was said playfully and as a joke really, but if it cut then tension why not.

Kaiba didn't seem to suspect anything for now. He was looking a little winded but otherwise fine, briefcase tight in his white-knuckled grip. He squinted against the flash of light as he sized her up.

"...let's find the others," he murmured, taking up his position behind her. There was another clattering sound to the left and he spun that way, lifting his wrist.

Kaiba stumbles out of the way, still dazed from that last hit, but he can summon up enough energy to from at Curufin.

"You're entirely too excited about this."

He spins around and flashes his light to try to prevent any more attacks from behind.

Webmind feels little better off than Kaiba, running analysis - but they have both survived the night, and as they stare at the scan together...

"If this were echolocation, I would say whatever the machine is detecting is approaching this facility."

And us. Don't forget that.

Webmind's expression right now is a distinct frown. Word has been passed to the other teams, so theoretically all that's left is to choose whether to add to the fighting or not.

But what aid can he give this planet, give his teammates, in this hour of need...?

"Perhaps approaching the planet itself, if these monsters are not sourced from the planet."

If only he knew where to look to find this planet's history of reported solar disturbances!

"Allow me," Webmind says, mostly to make Zelda aware there is someone next to her.

He activates his SCA's light, and projects white through his screen to make the 'face' glow.

"I can shoulder your burden for now; you need to rest," he insists, softly but firmly, stepping alongside her to add a bit of literalism to that 'shouldering'.

Webmind has not been sleeping, if only because he does not need to sleep, and so he was awake and aware when the storm made itself plain.

"Curufin?" he asks - no, calls; the distress does not come easily to this manipulated voice, but it is easy to tell he has been stilled.

One of the monsters is upon him, and while Webmind does have his flashlight on it is forcibly pointed the wrong way.

These creatures aren't monkeys, but one is certainly on his back!

"Hel-"

"More wonderful news," Kaiba groaned, smacking a few more keys on his keyboard. "I want to go over every computer we've found again, but it's like trying to translate a text in another language without a rosetta stone."

He digs his fingers into his temples. "We need to prepare to fight, but everyone has their own outbreaks to deal with."

"Even I barely grasp the basics of the programming," Webmind replied, in as close to a sigh as his vocal modulator allowed.

"And all of the people who would normally be able to translate this for us are, of course, being targeted."

As soon as he composes the thought he knew it sounded right... which was bad for the rest of them.

"Fighting with what, however? I could certainly fire a weapon, if we needed to arm ourselves with something more serious than light, but I would not count myself as a trained professional."

Being an expert in a field because you'd read all the established literature was not the same as being an expert in something that required physical practice; Webmind knew this fact, and strongly disliked it as of this mission in particular.

"Who? Is there any way we can bring more help in?"

They need to solve this, and soon, if they're to have any hope of completing the mission. He looks at his companion, face resigned to their fate.

"It's all we have, light. It might have been a bad idea for the train to largely stick the noncombatants on a single team."

"I believe the Spider-"

Kumoko, not that Webmind addresses her by any particular name.

"Can arrange for teleportation of a certain number of people - but apart from volunteers from the Terrans and perhaps the Gry, we are largely on our own."

Not reassuring, he knew.

"But we are all armed, technically speaking."

Kaiba stares down at his wrist and sighs. The light is bright, but small...and he needs it working, no matter what.

"Right. The first priority is securing our position and making sure everyone is safe. Then, figuring out what's coming and making a plan to stop it."

He glances up at the glass ceiling, the stormy sky above. "But what kind of storm would specifically destroy the building lights and leave the other equipment undamaged?"

"Clustering people into one room makes it easier to defend against attacks," Webmind notes.

Bringing everyone in here might suffice. Might; Orange is one of the larger teams...

"Whatever's directing it likely knew where we are; the same may have happened to the other labs. It would require positioning data from above or below."

So, GPS or sub-ground monitoring, basically. Pick your poison!

"If you wish to volunteer your services," Zelda tells him, "I'm sure they'd be willing to take you up on the offer."

The light still in her hands, she moves over to one of the opened grates and looks in.

"We need someone down there, tracking them. But if the whole building's been attacked, who knows how many are upstairs?"

"Jesus Christ." He put a hand over his chest, trying to will his heartbeat to calm the hell down. If he hadn't been the one walking backwards, he would've said something about not sneaking up on people. "I'm so glad you're not a monster, cause that's what I thought you were. Have you seen them? They're awful."

Opening the cabinet door a little wider, he cleared his throat before stepping out. "Um. Hi." he combed his fingers through his hair, glancing around. "I'm so glad to see an actual person." Even if he wasn't yet one hundred percent convinced he was safe.

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Page 1 of 16

Onward: Orange

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Dyme | OTA

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Curufin | OTA

Lights out

Something approaches Part 1

Lights out

Lights Out

Something Approaches Part 2

Something Approaching

Stormy Night

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The Wave

Something's Certainly Approaching!

Lights Out

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