middleofsomewhere | Ongoing: All Teams

The first few days are taken up with solving the problems in the various sectors, all the while getting closer to their goal. The Great-Winter, Great-Summer, Great-Spring and Great Autumn.

On Day 9 of the month of Jelly they will see on their map a clear indicator of where to go. As they draw near it will be obvious what they are looking for.

The Overseers

In the centre of each of the sectors there is a large metal tube, hundreds of pipes lead from it, spanning up to the ceiling above and down below, creating a field of pipes and tubes to clamber over and crawl under to reach the central tube. On the tube itself there is a panel, wrapping around it in a circle. The SCA's of the Voidtrecker show an exclamation mark, if they click on them they will see the message.

Reach the panel, enter the inner systems and give your aid.

As Voidtreckers step towards the tubes it will seem as if the world shifts around them. Instead of metal and wire they will see trees. The Great-Spring is a tree in blossom, pink leaves spreading up across the canopy. Great-Summer has strong green leaves, Great_Autumns leaves are brown and falling and Great-Winter has no leaves at all.

The panel is still there, the only part of the scene that doesn't look organic. As the Voidtreckers move towards their goal the tree begins to move, branches fighting against those trying to get through the roots. The aim seems to be to push intruders away, going as far as flinging them back with higher branches.

The branches aren't the only security measures in place. As they push forwards they will find creatures coming at them from the trees.

Strangely the creatures look like creatures from their own worlds, any creature they would expect to see in a tree. Regardless of species they attack with claws and with lazers from their eyes. They don't move far from the branches, but try and stop invaders from getting close to the trunk.

For those that get through they will find that as they draw close to the 'trunk' the attacks stop, as if they have reached an eye of a storm.

Going Further

The panel is a simple glowing screen, there are no instructions but their SCA's will beep softly and if they press their SCA to the panel they will find everything vanishes, the trees, branches and weird animals.

Or perhaps it is they themselves that vanish as they find themselves in a large white room, everyone is together here. No matter what sector they had travelled through and which overseer they entered through.

There are four tubes filled with liquid, pink, green, orange and white towering over them.

"Our systems have been compromised." The four voices ring out. "Heal what has been harmed, destroy what should not be here. Find the source and purge it from our world."

The overseers and the room vanish and the voidtreckers find themselves in a forest, a forest that is slowly being choaked by red sickly vines.

The Voidtreckers themselves will find themselves looking different, almost like the hard-light holograms of the Helpmates though they certainly feel like themselves. They are carrying a sturdy stick but nothing else and depending how imaginative they are will quickly find they can alter their appearance to fit their wishes.

Heal and Destroy

The voidtreckers will find themselves drawn towards the vines, if they touch them they will be able to soothe, a glowing blue light from their hands that runs down the vine before it fades away, freeing the trees that it held in its chokehold.

There are many pathways, many vines and it will be a long task to clear it all. It is not long also before the first threats find them. Threats that look like mongeese, small creatures that will lunge at them, teeth bared and claws out.

Luckily the Voidtreckers will quickly learn the ability to soothe is not the only power gifted to them.

On the Outside

For anyone who does not enter through the panel it will seem like their fellow Voidtreckers have entered a deep trance. The area they are sat around the tree is calm, no threats enter there. But outside that area there are still threats, the branches attack, the animals attack and sometimes Helpmates try to evict those they see from the area, claiming it 'restricted.'

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He hesitates for a moment before continuing to move. "I... uh. Was kind of... crying, at the time." Soldat's not going to judge him, right?

Absolutely not. In fact, in a couple days, they'll be sharing that they cried without a hint of shame. "That's good. That was good of him, and for you," they say instead, encouraging. "Crying helps, sometimes. Gets the strong feelings out and then after you feel better."

Look, a big part of their recovery so far was facilitated by a very emotions-positive witch and a teenaged boy raised to believe in the power of friendship. They're pretty tears-positive.

"... Felt... uncomfortable. Never felt pain before. Emotional pain doesn't hit the nerves, though... I'd prefer to not feel it. Was one of the worst feelings I've ever experienced."

"I know. It often gets worse before it gets better." Misty had told them the exact same thing. "But it does get better. And emotions can be awful, but they're important." Soldat shrugs a little, flipping their knife in hand, eyes roving around for more threads. "I spent a long time. Not supposed to have feelings. Seriously, it's awful. Don't be like me."

He's quiet for a few long moments. "Not supposed to be able to feel pain or fear. I've always felt fear when it strikes right. I just don't show it. I know. Only one person I felt comfortable showing emotions around at home." And... well...

"I don't understand how people who feel pain can function if it feels that awful."

"You'd be surprised," Soldat says, voice even flatter than usual. They can ignore pain, work through terror, but that doesn't mean they don't feel it. Every moment spent as the Asset, as the Winter Soldier, was permeated by pain and fear, except for cryofreeze, and that had its own... problems associated with it. "The mind can adapt to a lot of things. You can adapt to pain and fear, I promise. Hopefully they will be minimized, not something you feel all the time, but. They are part of living, just like being happy or amused, or loving someone."

"... The first time I was dying, the only thing I could think of was that as long as I'd been alive, I never really lived. The second time, it was cursing being born a human." Emotions? What are those? What's actually feeling like you're alive like? He has no idea.

"I don't really... I've never loved anyone. Reiji and I were best friends - well, he was my only friend - but that's different."

Soldat shakes their head. "You can love your friends. I love mine. Even if they're not here, I still love them." They flip the knife again, stopping at the sound of rustling in the trees, but nothing jumps out at them yet. "It took me a long time to recognize what love felt like. But I'd been feeling it for a long time without knowing the name."

"... I don't know." He was happy with Reiji, but love? No. It's... love is supposed to be romantic and shit. And it's not like he'd felt it from anyone else.

He needs to stop thinking about this.

"I wish this stupid mission was over. It's not even that fun - this isn't a real fight."

Soldat decides after a beat not to push on the love thing. Maybe later, when they're not on a mission, they can describe for him their own revelation of what love actually felt like. But they are on a mission. And Soldat is not great at pushing, anyway. So they let it lie.

"I'm sure there will be more to fight eventually," they say instead, flashing Otoha a little smile before focusing back on the trees.

Ongoing: All Teams

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