middleofsomewhere | Enemy Unknown

Entry tags:

Enemy Unknown

"Good Morning, Voidtreckers. Today is day 21 of the month of Nebula."

The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. It is as normal of a day as any, as people make their way to the dining car, to the kitchen, while others head to the showers. For most of the day, everything is normal. Friends meet, the training gym is put to use; an art class is in session. Lunchtime comes and goes.

...and then by 3PM, everyone's SCA glows with the colours of the void, and a holographic image appears.

As strange as it seems, it's time for a mission.

ENEMY: UNKNOWN

TL;DR notes version of event/prompts: (click to show)

EVENT BASICS:

Day One
~ They arrive into a hanger, after some searching they will find a device that allows them to register their SCA's to enter the main station.
~ There are two main directions. North (purple and red) and West (orange and blue).
~ They will find the door to the next section but be unable to get further yet.
~ After exploring they will be found by security bots and then invisible monsters. After the chaos calms down many of the voidtreckers will find themselves trapped in sleeping/living quarters for the next five hours.
~ Jake, Ansem, Inigo, Danny, Kitty and one of the Lan Wangji's dissappear.

Day Two
~ Once the lockdown is over they will be able to explore more eventually gaining access to more staff areas. In these staff spaces their powers will work though they will not be able to escape the station and any life or energy sensing powers will not give any answers.
~ In the staff areas they are more likely to find invisible monsters, but less likely to run into the bots.
~ The surroundings are a lot less stable here- rusty bridges, exposed wires etc. There are less places to hide and the choice is powers here or a slightly safer time back in the first area.
~ Tidus Masumi Sera, Ken Amada, Rich, Essek and Xehanort vanish during day 2.

Day Three
~ Demyx, Elidibus, Freeza, Zelda, Lan Jingyi and Zagraeus vanish during day 3.
~ It becomes more obvious that there doesn't seem to be anyone to rescue here, just the invisible monsters and weird bots.
~ Those that are still searching and investigating will come across the Engine control rooms These however seem to be a set of puzzle rooms, rather than a true engine...
~ OOC note: You can decide whether your character can get through to the engine rooms and how successful they will be. This is a separate thing to the trick or treat.
~ Those that succeed in solving the engine room will find themselves in a large empty hangar bay with no doors for the final night...

A conclusion will go up on the 20th October

For those whose characters were chosen to vanish please go here. If you cannot see the post please make sure you have granted access to voidmissions. If you still cannot see it please speak to a mod. For everyone else~ the post will be made public on the 20th so everyone can see what happened!

DAY ONE

arrival. THEY EXIT OUT OF THE TRAIN INTO DARKNESS, THE SLOW PULSE OF RED EMERGENCY LIGHTS TOO DIM TO MAKE ANYTHING OUT. The quiet hum of energy under metal flooring is the only sound that greets them. Putting on the SCA flashlights will help to see better the farther corners, a mostly empty docking hangar. A single craft sits to the side, locked. There are three doors, LED lighting making them stand out, two with press panels to open them.

› Trying to access the two larger doors will lead to a buzzing, and reading on the panel: SCA UNKNOWN. PLEASE REGISTER YOUR SCA. APPROVED PERSONNEL ONLY.

› The third and smaller door, however, is accessible. It leads into an office with a few lockers and small washroom at the back, and a messy desk of small square devices that sit in labelled trays inside. A computer is also here, requiring a USER ID and PASS to be accessed.

› Luckily, Lan Jingyi and Idia will find searching around a screen and handle device, which sci-fi fans or tech-savvy people will assume correctly as a scanner. This is the SCA registering device they need. Everyone will need to log in with a quick scan and approving beep, registering them as VISITOR. Thankfully, two more spares can be found, and the front doors will finally open further into the station.

› Doing this will be the only way in - by now, many may have noticed their powers don't work. Superstrength, magic, ki - no one will be able to pull off more than the strength of an average human, unless they're built stronger.

normal. MOVING FORWARD, THERE ARE TWO DIRECTIONS VOIDTRECKERS CAN GO. Though their SCA doesn't show a complete map it does show a recommended route. Both lead into waiting halls, submerged in the same dimly lit red light. Their footsteps echo; there's a front desk, visitor lavatories, and inaccessible staff rooms that make their SCAs beep with too many door handle waggles. STAFF ONLY appears from their devices.

However, the other doors work fine. As the voidtreckers explore in both sections, they will find them similar, if different in layout.

› The north route - where Purple and Reds are led - leads to a series of meeting rooms along corridors, with different layouts. The west route - Orange and Blue's way - leads into classrooms, with desks and wash basins, most with holographic projectors in place that shows the different presentations on both sides being held. There's signs of use in most of the rooms, of personal belongings and drink bottles left behind. In some, people may knock over props; a cardboard cut-out of a company mascot, or in a classroom, an innocous large board - which when walked in front of, trips a splat gun, covering the poor person in illuminous paint.

› On both sides, the Voidtreckers will find their first proper hurdle with enough navigating: the next larger doors leading to SECTION 2 will be locked, a keypad beside it. Trying their SCA's current access level to it will lead to be a beep.

DENIED. LVL 2 ACCESS REQUIRED.
› Attempting to use the SCA scanner will ask for a pin. Voidtreckers will be forced to search and investigate: back to the front desk, through the abandoned meeting and classrooms. As they search in the dim red lighting, the near silence, they don't always feel so alone. A door will randomly slide open; the lights flicker; a cheery tune comes from a forgotten cellphone, when they're deep in investigation. The sound of footsteps may be heard outside, or even directly behind someone.

But there's no one there.

too quiet. IT TAKES AN HOUR OR SO, BUT FINALLY, THE VOIDTRECKERS REACH DEEPER IN. The doors lead them into a corridor that promise to connect the two groups, and the walls they face as entering shows a map that outlines the corridor they're in. However, before they can think to meet or get very far, a beeping greets people at their feet from the dark - small spider-bots, just above ankle height. They skid along the ground, and beeping in what's morse code, a holographic message appears above to share the same message:

WARNING, WARNING. THIS STATION IS IN EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN. UNKNOWN ENTITIES PRESENT. PLEASE TAKE SHELTER.
They may give some people a scare, but they don't do anything more than to shine a light towards the closer doors. There then comes a sound heard at the farther ends of the corridors. People will feel a vibration from their SCAs, then a beeping. Those wearing their synced earpieces will hear the beeping clearer, and whatever that sound belonged to is coming - and fast.

› Chaos ensues. The spider-bots repeat, TAKE SHELTER, TAKE SHELTER, as they skid down the halls - if they're not attacked by Voidtreckers. The Voidtreckers will need to think fast, but some may not come to the right answers. Fortunately, some take refuge in the rooms as directed, or head back in through the way they came. Or they might try and fight, against invisible entities that fight fast and ruthlessly. For those who do fight they will learn that the blasts are meant to stun, to knock down and even knock out. But they won't take any lasting damage from them.

› For those that do manage to get to shelter they will here banging from the doors, thudding hard against them. For whatever reason, they won't open to what's outside in the hall. A silence eventually settles.. except amongst the Voidtreckers. Separated, they will have questions over the SCAs. Counting heads, figuring what happened. Who saw what? Who's where? No one saw anything.

And they will figure in time that Jake, Ansem, Inigo, Danny, Kitty and one of the Lan Wangji's aren't answering their SCAs.

› Access to the Sector 2 corridor will be denied. Attempting to open any of the doors will bring up a message from their SCAs. SECTOR 2 HALL BREACHED. LOCKDOWN FOR FIVE HOURS. Even if they wanted to leave the rooms they entered, they can't. They're stuck, with whoever's with them, for five hours.

› With nowhere else to go, the Voidtreckers will be able to investigate the areas they've gotten locked into. There's lounges, sleeping quarters, and kitchen available to end up in, other than the previous hall. The rooms are only lit by their doors, and by what appears to be ICPs set in the walls, one by each door. However, all that seems to be working are sending messages to different rooms within the residential sector.

DAY TWO

access. AFTER FIVE HOURS, THE PANELS BY THE DOORS FLASH FROM RED TO GREEN, AND WITH THIS, THE VOIDTRECKERS CAN LEAVE THEIR ROOMS. Out in the residential hall, no one is present, but there are pieces of SCAs trashed beyond repair. The spider-bots are in the same state, tossed and forgotten.

› Now is a good time to explore, but Voidtreckers will need to be careful. Too much noise will make the Unknown Entities appear, and they are especially attracted by groups larger than three or four people. They cannot enter most rooms, but they lurk the halls - and one is sure to be patrolling when Voidtreckers initially leave the rooms they've been stuck in.

› The spider-bots continue to patrol the halls, and will scan anyone they find. They approve of anyone with a staff level access, but get noisy and lead anyone else into rooms to hide.

› Voidtreckers will learn they need to practice patience as they investigate. This work is a matter of tedium, but also of being aware of one's surroundings, and searching through the darkness. There is a computer library and gaming room, which create labyrinths of tables and machines, and in these two rooms, Voidtreckers will hear a hissing, the noise of something moving around other than themselves, a beeping from their SCAs. A dining hall is completely trashed, tables toppled over and cracks in the walls where hard contact has been made. However, no bodies can be found, though a few shreds of clothing and trashed SCAs and other devices can be found, in total disrepair.

› Unfortunately, as the Voidtreckers will find that despite the noise the security spiders make, damaging the spider-bots is what causes rooms to go into lockdown for five hours. This might happen again, if they come across the spiders again. The best policy seems to be to stay hidden and quiet, avoiding the bots and listening out for the beeping from the SCA's for warnings of invisible monsters.

› However, searching around will provide the key to finally being able to give Voidtreckers staff level access, after a few hours. Allowing them better access to different areas, including areas where their powers work.

workers halls. WITH THE STAFF ACCESS, MOVING AROUND BECOMES EASIER, BUT MORE DANGEROUS. A message greets every door that promises to leads them deeper into the station, with the workers' halls and and a way to the secondary hangar available through traversing corridors.

STAY OUT
KEEP OUT

LISTEN TO SCAS

GO BACK

› The areas get more shabby, away from the gleaming metal of the main space station and down to more service areas. Metal is rustier and some walk ways don't seem entirely stable. They are less likely to meet the spider bots here but more likely to hear the beeping that signals monsters are near.

› Here there are less places to hide, and though there are rooms with beds and places to rest they don't seem to have the same protection as the rooms in the main space station area. It seems to be a choice between having abilities, or being in the relatively safer areas.

› But is anywhere truly safe? Because they may learn, from listening on comms or just noticing themselves that ›Tidus Masumi Sera, Ken Amada, Rich, Essek and Xehanort have disappeared over the course of the last few hours. Their names still solid on the SCA but not able to be contacted.

DAY THREE

dwindling hope. By the third day it is becoming more apparent that there is no one to rescue here. Or if there is they are like their own comrades, somewhere inaccessible. Because as the morning of day three comes to an end it is clear that yet more voidtreckers have vanished. Demyx, Elidibus, Freeza, Zelda, Lan Jingyi and Zagraeus are nowhere to be seen.

The space station remains eerily quiet and those who are still searching will find themselves going deeper into the workings of the space station.

control sector. Eventually they will come to a sign KEEP OUT: ENGINE CONTROL ROOMS.

Their SCAs will allow them through. But straight away it is clear this is no normal set of engine rooms.

› The first room has a floor full of tiles with symbols on them leading over to the door. Any flight and teleportation powers do not work here. It is not a difficult puzzle to solve, a basic pattern recognition but anyone who steps on a wrong tile will find a sleeping gas shoots upwards and they will awaken at the door again, having lost around half an hour.

› The second room if they get through the first is less a room and more a series of small compartments with sliding doors. A little like a maze though there is no way any one can get through it alone for it requires people pressing different buttons at different places in order to work their way through. A teamwork puzzle where a wrong move could leave someone stranded in a small box cubical.

› The third room is made of a large console with all the buttons and levers that any good science fiction fan could wish for. There are computers to hack, passwords to guess and secret compartments to open. Even voidtreckers who are not hackers or computer geniuses will be able to follow the clues to get through the systems. This might seem a little suspicious. Or they might just be relieved that it is not impossible.

If passwords are put in wrong too many times or the wrong steps are taken and not corrected quickly enough their SCA's will beep and invisible monsters will flood the room attacking them. Voidtreckers will come to just outside the door to the first engine room.

However if they manage to get to the end of the sequence the lights will flash green as all systems are restarted...

And those in the final engine room will find themselves in a large hanger bay. It has no doors, no windows and nothing inside. But, they will be glad to hear, no monsters.

Be it in this hangar bay or elsewhere in the space station the voidtreckers will spend a final uneasy night...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hold on."

Maybe it's the mention of Tidus that puts it a little more on edge. Mostly since Inigo hadn't considered the possibility yet, but he sure is now - and he doesn't like it one bit. Just the thought that this might change something about their SCAs enough to disable the function that keeps some of them alive just.. feels awful. Even moreso when one of their friends would be the main victim of that.

"Maybe it's something you can't reverse." Not like Inigo is sure. He's not sure of anything about this technology, but what he does know is that he distrusts it. They haven't even seen much of this place yet, but so far it's so weird - then why trust something the other randomly found lying around.

"Is that all it says? It can't do anything else?"

He frowns, starting to look over the device. Even if that.. doesn't do much, with his brain lacking so much technological knowledge.

"It's all it says, but I don't know if that means it's all it does." But he frowns, staring at the question.

"As far as this goes... this air, the station, we can breathe it without our SCAs. We heard that getting here, right?" Or he thought something like that. "I can see what the change does to mine, then take it off if it messes something up. It means I'd need to be around someone else for its functions, or to get called, but that's only a bother, not dangerous."

What was dangerous would be needing to get tether-recalled to the Voidtrecker Express, like on the illusion Diagad. He doesn't say that.

Inigo is still frowning as he looks over at Jingyi. In fact, he might even be outright narrowing his eyes here, like he's trying to assess if this whole thing is indeed without risk, the way Jingyi seems to present it.

Call him overprotective, but this place is just really weird so far, and trusting technology is never high on Inigo's list in the first place.

So he shakes his head.

"If it's really not of a problem, we can just do it with mine." Please, just let the self-sacrificial hero go for it, bro. It's fine. It's cool. It's not like you were holding something back from him, right, dude?

The yes already on the screen merits a tap of Jingyi's finger. The announcement, that he's now registered as a visitor, follows immediately after.

"Then we both can," he says, agreeable enough, "Here."

He turns the scanner so that Inigo can move his SCA behind it, brows raised, daring him to say anything about this. As one does with friends.

Inigo gives him a long and hard stare back. He does manage to move his SCA in the right position, only briefly glancing to make sure that he's actually tapping the 'yes' rather than the 'no', since it's not like he can see where he's aiming otherwise..

.. but once he's done with it, he glances right back at Jingyi, like this is some sort of staring contest they've got going on here. You're daring him to speak up, bro? Well, then maybe he might just do exactly that, dude!

"Why did you do it first? We didn't both have to be stuck with it!"

Edited 2021-10-17 08:26 (UTC)

"You should listen to yourself," he says, looking as bullheaded. "If we both didn't, then why did either one of us? Who gets to decide who sacrifices what?"

He gestured with the scanner to the side, his tail giving a low, controlled swoosh behind him. Jingyi's not angry, but he's unmoved by the staring contest.

"Your life is not worth less than mine. My life is not worth less than yours. We can make our own decisions—and I guess that means I have to say Tidus does too, which makes this even more annoying. Ugh." He tucks the scanner up under his arm, frowning as he turns to stomp toward the only door that's made any kind of noise at them for not recogising their SCAs.

"Come on, let's see if this stupid thingy did anything to our SCAs or if we're about to go into glorious, bloody battle with crazy station murderers who wait around hoping idiots like us use thingys to make our SCAs say we're visitors!"

He sure would have a lot to say about whether his life really isn't worth less than Jingyi's own, but Inigo decides to save that discussion for another day - or more likely, for never, because he knows Jingyi too well to not already know the other would never budge on that point. It's just easier to never bring it up in the first place.

Instead he just moves to follow the other over to the door, though not quite interacting with the door just yet.

There's no time for that when he's still way too busy talking at Jingyi.

"You can't just tell Tidus about this!" At first he sounds angry, or annoyed, but it's quickly made obvious that it's more a worried kind of upset, since Inigo's tone turns pleading as he continues with a: ".. please?"

Look, it's not like he wants to hide this from the other forever, it's just.. "Let's just make sure it really is safe first. Even if it's just for a few more moments. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him either." And Tidus is strong, and capable, but he just happens to be a little more vulnerable than the dragon boys over here when it comes to this one specific thing.

"I wouldn't," he says, because he doesn't want anything to happen to Tidus, to Inigo, to Sizhui, to Taiki, to any of the people here (Nell, Ryo, Hanguang-jun, Zewu-jun, Wei-qianbei, any of the many he knows), "But if you love someone, Inigo, and you make those decisions for them? When do you stop deciding what they should know?"

He frowns, glancing down at the scanner tucked under his arm, then to the door. Then he's lifting his wrist with the SCA to start scrolling through looking for Tidus's name on the direct call list.

This is your chance, Inigo.

"Tell him you're worried, tell him why. But, ugh, we need to tell him, and everyone else, probably, if this is useful instead of about to volunteer us for the murder brigade."

Stepping closer to the doors, they begin unsealing with a hiss while he's still scrolling through those names... why is Tidus so far down the list anyway...

Something bubbles up within Inigo. Some poutiness, perhaps huffiness, or maybe even something a little stronger than either of those. A part of him wants to protest, saying that Jingyi is making a decision for both of them here, and isn't that then hypocritical with what he's saying, or he wants to protest by saying Jingyi acts like he always knows what's better.

But none of it leaves his mouth. Because Inigo thinks back on the Awkward Incident That Must Not Be Named of a few days ago and all of it dies. He lost the right to protest at this very moment back then, and so he doesn't say anything. What does it matter, Jingyi is going to tell Tidus anyway, regardless of what Inigo has to say about it.

So instead he says nothing. Not even anything else to fill up the void of his swallowed up again words. Inigo just keeps on walking, moving through the doors once they're open, even if that means he walks right past Jingyi while the other is still scrolling through the list of names.

Whatever. He'll just check out the room up ahead. If there's something that's going to shoot him in the chest, then hey, maybe that's kind of welcome right now anyway.

Jingyi does talk briefly with Tidus, just as he said he would, more or less. Inigio's off trying to get murdered by the time Jingyi's walking after him, or more correctly, jogging to catch up. He'd be rolling his eyes if it weren't for the fact he's on high alert in a new space, but even so, he peers down the hall before he slips into the room Inigo's either found or slides up next to Inigo if he's in the process of finding a room to go heroically sacrifice himself to.

"Hard to have an argument," he says, "Without using words."

Jingyi could fume in his own ways, but he really did turn to words, way too many in most opinions, because the last thing he can expect is to know most people's minds without them. Or assume they know anything of his. Sizhui has become an exception with time and understanding; he's the only one who is.

If Inigo had a tail as well, it sure would be a whole lot more expressive than the rest of him is in this moment. Instead all he does is glance off to the side, as if he can't look directly at Jingyi, his shoulders a little tense.

At least he has an excuse. He did open up one of the rooms, and while it seems to be very much empty, he can say he's just looking around it right now, and that that is the reason why he's not looking at the other.

"I'm trying to not have one right now," he says, at least honest in that. He's trying to keep this from escalating, because he knows that his feelings are dumb, and he'll probably get over them - or force himself to get over them - in a little while anyway.

Especially since it's just like he said: the deed is already done. Why argue about it then? That's just useless.

Jingyi opts for watching the back of Inigo's head after likewise looking around, his periphery eyeballing the hall they're in down the opposite way from where they've come.

"You're mad. Now's a good time to have it out on me before Tidus ends up making his way over to the door for the scanner thingy."

His opinion, and also a stated fact, because it's Tidus he was just speaking with, and Tidus whom he knows will be coming. ~~In some unholy mash of timelines, work with me in this nonsensicality, sobs!~~

~~Time to pretend like Tidus is taking his sweet, sweet time in getting over here.~~

"What's the use in that? I'm just going to feel bad, you might feel bad, and we won't have gotten anywhere with it." At least he doesn't mind getting mad when it's for a productive reason. He did almost start fistfighting one of his friends when they had a very fundamental argument about how to save the future.

But there's no convincing here. No changing anything. Inigo refuses to get even more worked up for absolutely no reason, especially in the middle of a mission.

"Not to mention that we have no idea what's waiting for us out here."

.. other than this seemingly empty room, anyway.

"Which is why we don't go alone," he says. For the rest of it all, he exhales, definitely even less pleased, but he's allowed to be. Anyone's allowed to feel however they like.

"Sometimes the point is being heard. But whatever, I don't live your life, you don't live mine. Neither one of us can tell each other what to do. We can only ask."

His SCA burbles back to life, and he answers, which has him stepping back out into the hall.

"I'm meeting Tidus at the entrance—please don't go further in until we're back?"

He holds that question and his gaze on Inigo, waiting one way or another.

Inigo huffs.

"We'll see what I do."

It's a dumb answer. A petty, childish answer. But even if Inigo knows that fully getting mad here isn't going to help anything, he's not mature enough to keep this from slipping out. After all, he asked Jingyi something a few moments ago, only for the other to totally ignore his request. And yet here Jingyi is asking something from him instead.

Sure, the chance is big that he won't actually get himself in trouble, since Inigo hates worrying his friends so very much, but he just can't bring himself to obediently say yes after everything that happened.

Bro what are you doing bro. Bro, bro.

Tidus knows what he's probably doing - getting lost, in the dark. He suspects him and Jingyi will find the other by the light of his SCA, or even by Jumblie's bright-bodied self, depending on how she's doing in this place and being present. The red glow of the emergency lighting does nothing for Tidus's eyes, the beam of his torch showing the way through the wide corridor more than them.

Passing on the scanner's given Inigo time to go and sulk in the dark, but he won't be allowed to do it for long. He pierces the silence as well with a whistle, following by a call:

"Heyyyy, Inigo! It's Tidus! You found anyone?"

~~s t e a l t h~~

Well, at least it does seem like he listened to Jingyi. Partially. He moved, but not in a way that made him actually go further in, forcing the other two to spend a long while looking for him. Instead it just seems like he's moved into another room, looking through that one instead while he was by himself. He's currently half-bent behind a desk, looking under it with the light of his SCA.

When he hears that super sneaky stealthy voice call out to him though, he moves back up again to spot Tidus and Jingyi out in the hallway - and the first thing he speaks up with, as if to confirm that he's still sulking, is just a:

"Sorry, Inigo isn't here."

Said by Inigo. With his voice. By a face that - once the two move to face him - is being illuminated by the light coming from his SCA.

He's being pouty.

"..."

Jingyi shakes his head, slipping past Tidus and Inigo once they reach him, or as Inigo said, not-Inigo. Who they still reach.

"Okay, Twinigo, let us know when your better half's around again."

Pouting, sulking, fair and fine, but Jingyi's not particularly indulgent of it, and never has been. Even with people he likes and cares for. Which means he asks him what he would anyway, on track for what he considers more important.

This creepy situation at large.

"Still same deal as the first room? No one here, no signs of violence?"

How did this start again...

So Tidus wonders to himself, hearing a familiar sulk that could come out from his own mouth any day. But they are on a mission with people apparently in trouble, though nothing immediately shows it; all they're greeted to is an emptiness, rooms left behind, the low pulsing lights.

"Whatever happened, it could've happened in another part of the station. Whatever spooked the station and then made everyone leave? --To another part. Like...to emergency rooms."

Tidus looks at them both as he speaks, lingering more on Inigo so he can leave the impression this isn't a discussion that ignores him. Inigo might be sulking, but he wouldn't sulk when it came to focusing on a mission involving the safety of people, right?

...probably. But he's still part of this bro-vestigation, so.

Hey, he indeed wouldn't sulk when it comes to focusing on a mission involving the safety of people...

.. but it doesn't seem like there are any people around here, and someone told him that he couldn't walk further ahead, so guess what! There's plenty of time to sulk, brothers! There's so much sulk left to express!

In fact, he doesn't even answer Jingyi's question, since he's pretty sure it's obvious that there's no one here, or they would have heard that person by now. (Or Inigo would have spoken up, taking this more seriously than he appears to.)

Instead he just silently keeps looking at the desk while the other two are talking before deciding that there's really nothing useful about it, finally wandering over to the other two.

It's fine, Tidus. Bro. You don't have to try and involve him in this discussion, because he's apparently never going to speak up again in any threeway thread again ever?! Who knows if this will resolve, but right now he is very much too busy sulking to talk.

Jingyi, who has decided to ignore Inigo's sulking, until Inigo's choosing to speak up again instead of be not-Inigo, turns over the idea of emergency rooms in his head.

"Like somewhere they're supposed to go when they're under attack, you think they could be holding position like that?"

Conceptually, it makes sense to him, just unsure how stations like this, weird ships in space that aren't ships at all, were built keeps him from seeing any logical flow to it. Though in this, he doesn't expect Tidus to know any better either. Mostly from knowing Tidus isn't from space itself, whereas apparently others on their ragtag crew were.

"Would places like that be clearly labelled? If it's for any emergency, versus a specific hiding emergency... but we should see some sign still, shouldn't we? Forced entry as we go along, scuffles, people tearing things apart, throwing things on the ground—invaders don't leave things totally pristine behind them, they're generally total assholes."

In his opinion, thinking on experiences in his past: particularly when he was young and his home was set alight. Needless destruction was part of what invading forces did. It'd been part of what Wei-shizhang had spoken out against when it'd happened to the innocent Wens, and part of defending people from those of greater strength or opportunity.

In other words, it was his personal bias in reading into situations like these.

"Sure," Tidus says, though there's some doubt in that, for the reason he holds up his hand. "--but none of us can use any powers around here, so it's not really as easy to make a mess. And if they're after someone or something, what do they care about anything in here? It doesn't look like much-" though, nothing looks like much under this lighting, and Tidus swings his SCA'S flashlight to further solidify that.

"They could be after the ship itself - taking control of the engine, and where they drive this thing." He looks back at Jingyi, the actual guy engaging with him. "We should look around more anyway, right? We can't judge the entire ship by a few rooms. Let's try and find some signs or a map. Back in Zanarkand, we had symbols for emergency exits and that kind of thing. Maybe we can pick something up if we find a layout."

That would give them a better idea of the ship too. What even was this place?

Inigo has at least reached the other two by now.

But since he's both sulky and feels like he has nothing to add to what Tidus and Jingyi are currently discussing either way, he's still not saying anything - instead just standing by them in silence and looking around him. Mostly at the hallway ahead of them, considering he already knows he didn't find anything interesting up to this point, so anything they're going to find will have to be ahead of them.

Which is where he assumes Jingyi and Tidus will end up heading to, so he does wait instead of actually moving ahead by himself.

(For now.)

Layout, layout... a map would indeed be useful, or any compass that pointed toward distress signals, he thought. As someone who preferred using tools that made his work and life easier, getting their hands on another one sounded fine to him. This whole vessel, on the other hand, being marked?

"Our maps, are they still showing as little as they first did?"

He taps on his wrist, selecting the map icon to display the holograph. All that's visible ends up being the hangar they left, a small section of the hall they're in, and the room that Inigo had checked over before they joined him.

"Has it ever been this terrible before?" He looks from Tidus, to Inigo, inviting comment from both the guys who'd been on train long enough to more than triple to sextuple the number of missions he'd been on.

"And if it's this way, is it going to really remember everywhere we've been? Might be worth marking the walls ourselves, to know where we've been in case this map goes dark again."

That said, what did he have on him that'd work? He pats into his sleeves, searching for anything he had tucked away that will work.

Tidus hadn't looked for more than a glance at the map on his SCA soon after arrival, so he can't immediately speak for Jingyi's question without checking. But he does, about as clear as their own eyes are, which gets his mouth tugging aside in annoyance.

"The maps," he starts, but then recalls with a look up with a lift of his heavy brows. "--Kamakan, Oranges had to go around making a map on their floors, right?" Here he looks at Inigo, even with his silence - and he'll nudge the other guy with his arm if he says nothing, give a "Hey, c'mon" in encouragement.

But also manage to suggest, even if it's true or not. "--If they shut down the station 'cause someone boarded, it's probably not letting us get the maps for that reason. Last thing you want is the bad guys knowing how to get around."

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flatteries - 2021-11-02 22:45 (UTC) - Expand

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jingyeets - 2021-11-03 05:19 (UTC) - Expand

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