middleofsomewhere | Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

Let's Get Down to Business

On day twenty two of the month of Llama a message comes up on the ICP's.

Voidtreckers have many questions about what happened on system #93426194992 and the entity that was encountered. Analysis shows that the entity on system #93426194992 was also present on systems #86525656412355 and #2207385.

Though it is not known what that entity is, it is clear that it possesses some level of mind influence and complex illusionary magic.

There is a void nexus on system #62138 inhabited by a religious order that, due to their close proximity to the void, employ mental techniques to help with such illusions.

We will be visiting system #62138 for three Days. The Voidtrecker express will remain with the Voidtreckers during this time and due to the nature of the void nexus it is highly advisable to sleep on board.

System #62138 is a wet world. All Voidtreckers will be safe but are advised to keep their SCAs on at all times. This should be the standard on all systems.

THE VOID NEXUS
From the windows of the Voidtrecker Express, passengers see the Void Nexus as a vast island surrounded by darkness, punctuated with rivets of colours running through the sky that casts a glow of blues and violets as they descend closer to the surface. The world faintly blurs the way one’s sight does when sinking into the depths of an ocean, the train manoeuvring around tall rocks that rise like digitates, a sea-green hue deepening over the rocky land outside.

The train doors open from each carriage, and luckily it’s not a flood that welcomes them but clammy air cool to the skin. They come out to a section of land sparse of more than tunicate-like plants under their feet, pools of silvery water otherwise sunk between small pathways that lead like bridges forward.

Which is likely their destination, a vast coral-like structure with a high opening awaiting them - and as they get closer, a being far taller than any of the Voidtrecker themselves.

ARRIVAL

They are met by a tall robed figure. First glance will show them to be a deep purple in colour with a domed head and long tentacles sprouting from their chin that sway slightly when they move. Still they nod deeply and their mouth moves into a shape that could be interpreted as a smile.

"Welcome to those of the VoidTrecker Express. Your arrival was foretold and we have awaited you. Please accept our hospitality."

They lead them onwards, explaining that outsiders are always welcome here but ask them to remain within the public parts of the temple. They further explain that their order is for the most part a silent one. There is no restriction on the voices of guests but they should not be insulted if the members of the order do not answer.

Once a small tour has been conducted the Voidtreckers are left to their own devices to train or explore as they see fit.

IT'S A TRAINING MONTAGE
Going through to the back of the temple will lead them outside once more, the gentle sound of falling water greeting them at what seems to be a distance. But yet - faint as it is to see, glistening in translucent silvers and pinks - the water is quite near and wide, spilling from the high mountain cliff that borders in an otherwise enclosed space. The pool takes up a large portion of this garden, of coral reef and circled stone pathways where every step must be considered, unless you’d like a surprise trip and dip.

Fortunately, the silver water here is light. Submerging yourself in it or sitting under its flow, you won’t find the hard rush of its weight over your heads and shoulders, and the same weightlessness follows you going under. You find that you can breathe and when you come away from the lake, your body and clothes are lightly damp at most.

Still, there is plenty of ground to walk along without going over the pool. However, the first steps of learning mental fortitude against illusionary obstacles will take you into...

[ MEDITATION. ] To combat irrationalities is to iron your own reactions to them. You are instructed to sit where you find it comfortable: those unused to mental training should keep to the shoreline, while the more intermediate may find taking the stone steps out to large limpet-shaped shells - sizeable to fit 3-4 people each - a better challenge. Those more daring should sit under the waterfall or to go into the water’s depths, where you at least don’t need to worry about breathing, or even getting that wet.

To get wet isn’t the purpose, fortunately. The purpose comes the moment you close your eyes - for as soon as you do, you feel. You sense. Some other, some thing, a presence your mind decides must be there. This sensation is lighter by the shore, but sitting above the water or submerging yourself inside it brings it stronger against you. In truth there is nothing there, no one but the other Voidtreckers, but the spell of the water - or is it the void within the water? - makes your brain think otherwise, logic not welcome company.

Being in groups can help ease the effects through the SCAs, but otherwise, true control comes down to yourself. Breaks are recommended, as there’s no point wearing down an already exhausted mind. Your mind is your defence. Strengthen it. Wield it as a weapon.

[ Combat. ]

Though not exactly what they are here for Voidtreckers will notice that this order of void worshipers train in a form of martial arts. They train outside, using the watery air as part of their movement. Training is done in large group sessions and without weapons. It has a strong focus of listening to the world around them and fighting in a way that makes them one with the world, using the environment to their advantage.

Even though that might not seem the most useful to people who won't be fighting in an environment such as this world, it is at least a good form of exercise.

Any voidtrecker who is curious is welcome to join in the training and those that show especial interest can take more specific lessons aimed at beginners.

TRAVELLING THE NEXUS
[ OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE. ] While the lake and surrounding temple will help to strengthen one’s mental defences with perseverance and training, there is more that can be done away from the temple, and the island is free to be explored. The Voidtrecker Express is stationed where it dropped everyone off, and returning to it will offer everyone a mental relief regardless of the levels of their ongoing training.

The marshland continues beyond the train, one route mostly made by the natural stone pillars that rise up from the ground like stalagmites. Higher cliffs can be climbed by those who wish to, if just for a higher view, curiosity, or privacy. From wherever you look, this island gives off the same impression as most of it already has: sea-like.

[ PLANTS. ] Underfoot, there is not earth-like grass or flowers, but seagrass, kelp, algae and more. They grow along the stone, idly waving as if submerged in water and pushed by unseen waves. Strange blue plants with purple-tipped tendrils will wiggle if touched, while at the higher levels, small bulbs of some kind cluster around the size of a fist. Types of plankton make the gnats of this nexus, too tiny most of the time to be noticed as more than dots to the eyes.

[ CREATURES. ] Also, don’t forget the fish. As tiny as a pinky finger, as big as a hand, the size of a human; they swim through the air, not particularly caring for the Voidtreckers, but also not looking to engage with them. The larger of the fish travel higher than the smaller, and those as big as whales farther up than even the taller cliffs can reach. For those that have any ideas of hunting, they will know - mysteriously, as if recalling the thought - that they should go for the larger fish, and not harm the younger, smaller ones. Those are tastier, after all.

[ STONE FOREST. ] Travel low or high, the way will take them to what appears to be a forest that spans across a large portion of the central island. But as the rest of the nexus is, this is no ordinary, woody land. Its trees are stone, coral, rising high and jagged, the water in the atmosphere denser in this jungle of rock. It turns the world a sea-green to move through, with plants and coral everywhere to be seen. The air denser, thicker, leaving small droplets of water on skin and clothes.

There are no real paths than the spaces between the ‘trees’, but there are guides to find your way to somewhere: pink jellyfish, or something of the sort floating around. They are the shiri as the monks call them, and looking upon them will tell you they will help you find where you need to go, that they will aid you if you get lost and think of them. And for those whose thoughts lean such a way, they will know that harming them will bring a greater injury to the individual who does so tenfold, and they will find no guidance at all on this nexus until they have repented.

Read: Enjoy being stuck on the train for the rest of the stay.

[ CONCH LAKE. ] For those less destructive, a short travel through the stone forest will lead them to a lake, with what can only be described as a conch shell gazebo accessible in its centre. Bubbles float up and around, balls of water made to linger by whatever strange force controls this place. They can be made to bounce away and around with a touch, and respond to being thrown as a ball might. Just, watch out: They like to burst at random, no matter the force used, scattering as tiny beads all over the air.

The water here is different from that around the temple, its colour more blue, but closer to aqua than what many are used to. Yet diving into it will have the similar properties that allows one to hold their breath for much longer than usual, and to move with an ease, like floating weightlessly. There’s no worry if they close their eyes here, a peace radiating from the pool; like a refuge from the trickery that lurks no matter where you are in this nexus.

Climbing out of the pool will have you damp, more appropriately soaked than the temple’s lake. There’s nothing like towels or a great way to dry off, but you can sit and hang around under the conch gazebo if you like.

Or perhaps messing around isn’t what brought you here, but the four iridescent slabs of stone that stand at intercardinal points at the edges of the lake, that speak of the Trials to the mind when you look upon them.

THE FOUR CAVERN TRIALS

There are four caverns, four trials, with each slab suggesting their test. Upon deciding where you will go, a shiri will come to guide your character through the forest to where the stone trees part, and a half an hour walk will lead Voidtreckers to a vesicular cavern.

You know as you approach the cave’s mouth that the shiri will guide you out if you need it, but they stay outside, leaving those searching for advanced training to journey on in themselves. Passengers descend, dots of light coming through the multiple holes above to illuminate the way as you go deeper into the cave.

And you won’t have to go far to find the crystals in any of the caverns, though there’s many pathways to go deeper in. Attacking the stones to break them won’t do much, but when you put your hand on one…

The illusions start, pulling in anyone nearby.

[ CAVE OF PERCEIVING. ]    Bend deceiving labyrinths into your own path.

What is real? What is not? This cave holds a large underground river flowing through it. The water is not too fast flowing or deep but it is cold enough to be a shock if anyone falls in.

Fall in they might for their task is to cross the river. The river is filled with stones large enough to hold a person as they cross. However not all of those stones are real, some are just illusions and if they step on the illusionary rocks they will fall through to the river below.

It is possible to get by on trial and error but the task will not be considered complete until they force their minds to see through the illusions are perceive the one true path.

[ CAVE OF ENDURANCE. ]    Wounds bleed and skin burns only to bodies that believe it.

This cave may differ between Voidtreckers. Sometimes it is a monster they must face or an environmental challenge to battle through.Perhaps the searing heat of a fire or the low altitude and freezing temperature of a mountain top. Perhaps a lizard with claws and teeth. The important part is not defeating the threat but to neutralise the damage. It's not real and the mind can overcome it.

All the caves are probably best faced in groups but this was especially so. They are unlikely to be able to make the damage unreal to start with and so there is likely to be a fight or struggle before they succeed.

[ CAVE OF HEART. ]    To accept crafted desires is to invite everlasting grief.

Here they are in a beautiful place. A meadow, a forest, a rocky beach. The weather is beautiful, not too hot not too cold. A little further in is something they want, something their heart yearns for.

They can't see it yet but they are sure they will, if only they go deeper into the grass, the trees, the water. It is there, just out of reach.

To pass this test they must walk away. Turn around and leave despite their heart calling to them to go deeper.

[ CAVE OF MIND. ]    Craft a weapon from your own vulnerabilities.

Fear does not have to be a weakness. The cave is filled with a lake and in the centre there is a bubble of water, it contains something they fear. They can't see it but they know it is there. Perhaps a person, a place, an object.

Facing a fear is one thing but this task asks for more than that. To accept the fear as part of them, to turn it into a strength to protect others.

This trial is the most personal and perhaps the most difficult. They must step into that space, knowing that they will face what they fear whilst also knowing that it won't be real and use that knowledge and acceptance to bring down the entire illusion, bubble, lake and all.

art sources: alien / landscapes / waterfall / caverns

OOC Information

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Madoka is just so stunned watching this display.

So stunned that she doesn't even know what to say. She should probably stop Orisa the second time the other attempts it, but she can't do a thing. All she can do is stare, unable to even force out a single word, as she watches the other fall into the river all over again.

It's only then that she can slowly take her hands off her shocked-looking mouth, softly speaking up. ]

Um, I.. Excuse me, but I don't think we're supposed to do it like that.. [ Look, she's just trying really hard to not be rude here! ]

I am uncertain how to proceed. [Orisa seems not at all bothered by her statement, so it must not have been rude, right? Instead, the omnic works on coaxing water out of her joints with a few broad movements.]

Ah, well..!

[ Even though the girl feels a little awkward about explaining it, since it's not like she perfectly knows all of the details here either, she figures that someone has got to give Orisa some direction.

Even if it's not much. ]

Rather than doing it over and over again like that.. I think this is supposed to teach us how to tell whether something is real or not before we test it out..

I have attempted to do so repeatedly, but I cannot detect any differences. I believed an experiment might reveal one, but... [Orisa shrugs, which is both very human and surprisingly different all at once thanks to her construction.]

[ Madoka doesn't blame her. She thinks it's really hard to see too. If she just looks at the rocks from where she's standing right now, she can't really tell a difference either..

But there's got to be a solution, she just knows it. Otherwise they wouldn't have been brought here. ]

Maybe it has to do with that thing they were teaching us earlier? Um, I mean.. the meditating? Maybe we should try that..

I admit I am still very confused on that. I do not understand why processing without sensory input would result in conclusions different from those with sensory input.

[A problem. Omnic intelligence can be compared to human in many respects, but Orisa sees sufficient distinction that the hangups of what the process actually is gets in the way of the intent.]

.. oh. Um..

[ The last thing Madoka expected to be doing today is trying to explain meditation to a robot person. She's pretty sure anyone else could do a better job, since she feels like she only barely grasps it herself..

But it's definitely just the two of them here in this cave, and Madoka doesn't just want to leave the other in the dark. ]

I think it might have something to do with.. instinct? [ She pauses, and then realises-- ] Do you know what that is?

Certainly! Instinct is a conscious input resulting from lower-level processing of sensory data and experience not consciously acknowledged.

[Is technically correct the best kind of correct?]

[ Give Madoka a moment as she tries to process that. This is way too much smart talk for a young girl like her.

She's pretty sure Orisa is right though.. Probably? She can't tell. ]

Um, right..! Well, that's what you need to apply here to help you with figuring out which one is real and which one isn't before stepping on them!

[ That's very simplified, but maybe it might give the other a nudge in the right direction, Madoka thinks. ]

I attempted to. It did not work well. [As evinced by the water still dripping off her.] I am not certain what I am doing.

Well...

[ .. Can she really teach a robot this, Madoka isn't sure.

But she knows Orisa probably really wants to learn, so maybe they should try? Even if Madoka isn't very good at it either, maybe shared experience will teach them! ]

If you want, we could sit down for a moment.. and try to see if we can focus?

If you have anything to suggest, I will welcome it!

[Orisa turns a quick circle, scanning beneath her for obstructions and difficulties, before she folds her legs into a polite sit and even folds her hand and fusion driver in front of her.]

[ Madoka sits down too. It wouldn't be a good demonstration unless she did it herself as well, after all!

Though she's slowly starting to realise the difficulty of doing this together with a robot. Hm. Okay, let's just.. try this.. ]

First it's important that you close your eyes. Um.. or, shut down your eyes..? [ HOWEVER IT WORKS FOR HER. ]

"Eliminate visual input entirely. Understood."

The quad-eyeshields whirred a quarter-turn around each of her eyes, then slid shut over them. What next?

.. At least that seemed to work, for what it's worth. Even though Orisa can no longer see it, Madoka slowly nods as she continues to try and explain.

"Then comes the harder part. You have to just.. try to not think about anything at all." That seems like the most robot-appropriate wording, but just in case, she also adds: "You have to make your head empty for a few moments."

"I see."

Orisa immediately set about doing just that. It was not particularly easy, as data continued to flow into her awareness -- more easily with no active thoughts occupying processor time. But she resolutely continued the attempt, very still and quiet.

See, this is the hard part.

Because of course Madoka has no idea what's going on in Orisa's mind right now. For all she knows, it could be impossible for the other to clear her mind - or perhaps it's already cleared, and Madoka just isn't realising.

And speaking up.. well, that threatens to ruin the concentration.

So she doesn't speak up. Not right away. Instead Madoka quietly watches Orisa for a moment more, as if she might get some sign whether it worked or not that way.

After a few minutes, Orisa spoke up.

"I have avoided conscious thought for a significant period. What is the next step?"

Swing and a miss.

...

A swing and a miss, indeed. It's both what Madoka expected and yet somehow also what she didn't expect at all..

"A-Ah, well.." How does she even forge this into a 'next step' somehow. Someone help. "Do you feel significantly more focused now..?"

Orisa considered that question, then perked up. "I do! I am ready and prepared for this challenge!"

That answer immediately makes Madoka smile, perking up.

"That's great!"

Sure, no one knows for sure whether or not that worked, but apparently Madoka is willing to believe it.

"Then try it again..! I'll be here to watch you! I know you can do it!"

Orisa kicked dirt with her rear legs, like a boar, before lunging forward. Her first leap took her over one large rock to land on the next, with a heavy thump and a shower of pebbles as her feet dug into the stone.

"I have discovered a real one!"

Is it coincidence? Did the meditating really help?

Madoka has absolutely no idea, but that doesn't mean she isn't going to give all the possible positive reinforcement in the world all the same. She even immediately quickly scrambles back up to her feet, just so she can give Orisa an appropriate applause for her effort.

"Great, you're doing so well so far! Now you have to find the next one..!"

Relying on nothing but some subconscious urge, that surely must be intuition, Orisa made another long leap, landing on a solid rock yet again. Jump by jump, she made her way across the river, at last landing on the other side.

"I have made it!"

Delighted, she tromped around in a circle, feet lifting high like a victory dance. Or prance.

"You did!"

Granted, it's kind of funny - a less nice person might use the word 'ridiculous' - to see Orisa dancing like that, but Madoka just genuinely smiles because she's happy for the other. And because she's glad Orisa won't spend the entirity of their stay here dunking herself into the water over and over. That can't be very healthy for a robot person.

"See? I told you that you can do it, as long as you know the trick to it!"

Let's Get Down to Business

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