middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: Outside

No Place Like Home: Outside

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: OUTSIDE

HOME SWEET HOME

You find yourself not on a wide station platform, in the clothes you last remember, holding what you were when you went through the glas door. There's no longer a train behind you, no sound of its whistle, with no other passengers around you in similar style of clothing to your own.

You're somewhere familiar, or just - the last place you remember being before your life became tethered to the Voidtrecker Express. A field, a city, a kingdom, or perhaps even a space station. You should be nowhere, yet you find yourself somewhere, despite all odds.

People - if there are people - don't at first notice you; but attract enough attention to yourself, and that will all change. Friends, family - are they near, a phonecall away? It's either everything you wanted or everything you imagined (for good or worse), and it could seem unbelievably real. But it is real - you're off the train, back somewhere you know.

Finally - the journey is over...

...If only.
You're moving away from where you arrived, for whatever reason. Who wouldn't? You may be far from home, have business elsewhere, or want to go sightseeing. It's time to return to - and live - your life, and that doesn't include sticking to one place.

But you'll find that when you reach a point, the world becomes...foggy. A fog that you hadn't seen in the distance before it appears, and when you walk through it, you'll find yourself in a place some have already found themselves in.

Because for some passengers, there was nowhere for them to return, and so the barriers lead only to fog, and then straight back onto the platform. The Voidtrecker Express may be stationed, or there may be a blanket of fog where it should be; sometimes, it can be caught trying to leave the station, only to come back a few minutes later. The doors are shut tight, and the windows are obscured, showing nothing inside.

Those who came from somewhere can go back, should they go through the turnstiles again. And if they want, they can take people along with them, too...

But sometimes, they go to a world no one knows. They go through the barriers into nothing, a black emptiness. Not space, for those that know space, and it doesn't seem to be the void either. But it is a void, devoid of anything at all. Just a darkness so complete they will not be able to see anything at all, they will only know their companion is there through touch and sound. How they are breathing, how they are living at all, is a mystery; one probably answered only by the SCA on their wrist.

Being there brings an unease deep down inside them. This place is not natural, not somewhere that they should exist in. Not a place that should exist at all. Luckily they are never there for more than a few moments before they return once more to the station, fog covering them like a safety blanket.

A DIFFERENT CORNER: LOCATIONS

In the first couple of days (whatever that means, when time doesn't match up between most places), the only way to move to another's tethered location is by them leading another there. But after that, individuals will show up in other locations when they reach close to the distance limit. Indeed as time goes on everything gets a lot less stable. They may know their five miles perfectly but still one step to another leads them back to the platform. Attempting to return to their world leads them somewhere else entirely.

And there's quite a few places to end up.

SETTLEMENTS

Buddhist Temple, China ( Koumyou Sanzo | TL )
Rebel Camp, Lothal ( Hera Syndulla | TL )
Homestead, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ( Nell Ingram TL )
Capsule Corp ( Trunks | TL )
School Grounds, College ( Idia Shroud | TL )
City Ruins, beach ( Najaran | TL )
Hakkei Palace, Tai ( Taiki | TL )
Gusu Lan, mountain sect (China) ( Lan Jingyi | TL)
Lotus Pier, riverside, China ( Jiang Cheng | TL )
The Endless Abyss, Hell ( Shen Qingqiu | TL )
Hyrule Castle Town ( Zelda | TL )
Haven Palace ( TL )

COMMUNITIES

Spaceport ( Yondu | TL)
Mobile Station Base ( Kiyoiri )
Arkwood, Town (Ryo | TL )
Techstead, Town ( Devero | TL )
Tatsumi Port Island ( Ken Amada )
Mor Dhona / Town, Mountain, Lakes ( K'zeka Tai | TL )
Hyrule Field & Lon Lon Ranch ( Link | TL )
Ishigami Village, Japan ( Senku Ishigami | TL )
Aether Paradise/Artificial Island/Natural Preserve ( Katsuya Jonouchi )
Nautilus ( Spark/Clef TL Clef | TL Spark )
The Underworld, Hades ( Zagreus and Thanatos | TL )
Sanctuary ( TL )

CITIES & KINGDOMS

Saillune City ( Zelgadis | TL )
New Mantle, City ( Ruby Rose | TL )
Brooklyn, New York City, USA in 2017 ( Jake Peralta | TL )
Azabu-Juban District, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan ( Usagi Tsukino | TL )
Hau'oli City ( Eva Iden'no | TL )
Gauig City ( Little One/Buttercup | TL )
Kyoto, Japan ( Masumi Sera | TL )
Shinjuku, Japan ( Yosuke Otoha | TL )
Kingdom, Evermore ( Roland Crane )
Garlemad, Kingdom ( Zenos | TL )
Kingdom of Knothole ( Mina Mongoose | TL )
Domino City ( Yugi Muto | TL )
Amnity Park ( Danny Fenton | TL )
Garlemald ( TL )
Lothal ( TL )
Los Angeles ( TL )
The First - Crystarium and Lakeland ( Elidibus | TL )

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here.

LOCATION TOPLEVELS: Since it'll be easier for players to engage with settings presented by those offering them, when we see a toplevel for one of the above locations put up, we'll add it to the list! We've also included the OOC comments for settings to the side, so any questions can be left with the player, as well as extra details. Please always speak with the player first if you intend to do anything drastic to the setting!

A REMINDER: Time of log is Poi 22-25, but time within worlds can last up to a maximum of two weeks. Minimum is whatever you want it to be.

During Poi 22 and 23, characters will need to be led to a location to be able to access it. From Poi 24, people will show up in locations regardless of invitation.

The second half of the event will go up during 20th to 25th February (Poi 26-28). But as always, play around in here and do as you like!

If your character's setting isn't above, link us to it in the Questions post, along with your toplevel! We'll add it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yep," Devero says agreeably. "Well, the transponder, technically, but all that does is broadcast my emID."

As they head down the hall, passing doors that are marked things like 'Housekeeping' and 'Housewares Depot' and 'Courtyard Access', he continues. "Depends on the device. If it's something that anyone in the public might deal with, it can probably see you. The front doors have cameras and pressure pads as well as the emID reader. And here--"

Conveniently, they've arrived at an elevator lobby! There's a glass panel beside each pair of doors, and Devero pushes Koumyou lightly up to the nearest one. It lights up, loading fairly simple a graphical UI. One side shows an outline of the tower they're underneath, with the elevator shafts lit up and the current position of each lift demarcated with a bright block. Words print on the other side:

Welcome, guest.
Please select your destination.

The outline of the tower lights up with a number for each floor. Devero murmurs in Koumyou's ear, "I'm on 7 and 8. You can say it aloud or touch the screen."

Koumyou just pokes the numbers, that's a lot more familiar after his time on the train with it's ICP stations than voice control would be. "I've never been on an elevator before," he notes, but he's not anxious about it.

After all, if anything awful happened he's fully confident he could hold the box in place and tear them both right out of it with the Seiten.

"Why are you on seven and eight?"

A pleasant chime acknowledges Koumyou's selection, and the doors slide open. Devero grin at his fiance as he steps inside. "Each apartment is two levels, of course," he says.

"That's bananas," Koumyou tells him just as cheerfully as can be, even as he steps in with him.

"Wait until you see it," he returns just as cheerfully.

The elevator rises smoothly, with only a minimal lurch as it lifts and another when it stops. The doors open on another lobby, but a very small one. There's door across the little antechamber with another glass panel beside it.

As Devero walks up to the door, the screen lights up and displays a similar welcome home animation as the big doors outside did. The lock disengages with an audible click and slides open without any apparent interaction from Devero. He puts his arm around Koumyou's shoulders and guides him in.

The townhouse on the other side of the door is spacious and luxurious, designed with the same clean and airy lines as the public parts of the building. He chose the standard furnishings, meaning the couch and chairs arranged in the living room match those in the lobby downstairs. Two-story windows look out on a balcony as wide as the apartment itself and the town spread out below. A spiral staircase to one side of the big main room connects the two levels.

Something about what Devero sees as he walks out into the living makes Devero frown, distracts him from showing off to Koumyou. "House?" he says aloud.

A pleasant female voice, not unlike the voice of the train, responds. "Yes, Devero?"

"Can I see a list of anyone who accessed this place between my last visit and now? E-center screen, please."

A huge screen in the middle of a towering built-in unit of shelves and cubbies lights up, then prints a list containing quite a few names. He frowns at it without approaching.

Koumyou would have been gushing and rushing around the place, which seems absolutely massive and ridiculously luxurious to him, but he's pretty attuned to his fiance. He can tell something's up, so while Devero talks to the disembodied train-like voice, Koumyou glances around and then fixes his attention back up and over onto Devero.

"Is something wrong?"

And he follows Dev's gaze to the list, squinting.

"...There've been a lot of people in here since I-- was-- since the train caught me," he says. "I can tell. It feels...weird."

He looks down at Koumyou again, reaching to take his hand and towing him over to the screen. He sits heavily on the dark couch in front of it and starts to actually read the list, looking at IDs and timestamps. Most of the activity seems to have occurred right after he disappeared, which he points out to Koumyou. "There must have been an investigation. That would explain the medical flag."

"Well, you and your emID did just sort of blip out of existence, right?"

Makes total sense to him. Koumyou gives his hand a squeeze, "Can you call Beepers here, or do we need to go somewhere closer to where it is? Your list won't change, but its situation could."

Speaking as someone from a very, very dangerous world, anyway.

"Not if what the Void Ministry's told us is true. Wouldn't my body still be around here-- some... where...."

Some of the color drains from his face. Someone just realized that his body's possibly around here somewhere. It takes him a moment to recollect himself and finish the thought: "My transponder would have still been operational in my body when I left, no matter what's...going on with it now."

Is this his body? Or is this still the train's... soul projection thing? He'd assumed automatically that the train had returned him to his body when this had all started, but obviously the ability to go to other worlds-- and for Koumyou to join him here in his-- means that the tethers are still functional. Right?

He massages his temple with his free hand. "Hold on a minute," he says to Koumyou. "House, I'm about to bring my primary Interface online. Can you pull all my net updates into your system and stop it from trying to download them?"

"Affirmative, Devero," the house's system says pleasantly. "Download commencing." On the e-center screen, a progress bar pops up in a corner. While the house system does that, he digs his Interface out of a pocket and reboots it.

"Well, I didn't see mine back on my world, so either we're our bodies or someone took it."

Ever-so-cheerful, as if he doesn't know exactly who that someone would be.

Devero-- has sort of become distracted, sorry Koumyou. He makes a noise of assent but his eyes are distant as he hooks his Interface on and gets to work.

Hands dancing over a keyboard Koumyou can't see in front of him, he pulls up his medical profile and runs a query on the location of his emID transponder. It turns up--

Two results, and an error message, because there shouldn't be two results. There should never be two transponders broadcasting the same emID.

"Someone took it," he says to Koumyou. "Yours, I mean. Mine's in hospital, look."

He throws the location pings to a map of Techstead with a gesture of his hand and gets up, approaching the screen to point physically. "This is me, here," he says, indicating one of the markers on the map. "North Tower, residential. And then this--" He indicates another position, another beacon on the other side of the map. "This is me too. Another instance of my emID transmitting."

"Yours must be in some kind of weird coma, then. Although... if your ID is showing up in two spots, isn't that going to flag something?"

They might get some unwanted attention, after all. Koumyou gets up, too.

"I could try to shield yours with a spell, maybe. Where is it on you?"

"Only if someone's looking for it to flag something," Devero says, but he sounds dubious. A moment later, he slumps and admits, "Someone's probably looking for it. A man in a...weird coma, or whatever, shouldn't be able to check out an e-bike, take off for the city, and then disappear again five miles out."

His hands move through the gestures necessary to pull up the local feed and the bulletin he's already seen on an earlier visit, the one from the World Guard asking for information on an anomalous incident regarding an e-bike a few days prior. The bulletin doesn't name him specifically, but the comments on it from Techstead's residents sure do.

He turns to look at Koumyou, and nods in response to his offer. "Here," he says, turning his back and touching a place over his spine just below the base of his neck.

Koumyou pulls a sharpie from his ARMs band as he comes over, and touches the spot with the ink, drawing an intricate design over the top of it.

"I don't know if this will work since I'm definitely not going to surround it. Putting a barrier inside a living body sounds like a bad time. But I can do a little half-sphere over it, might just quiet it down, make it reach less far?"

Oh, that's a weird feeling! Devero's skin crawls as Koumyou draws on it, though he remains perfectly still otherwise. "Okay," he murmurs, eyes on the map as Koumyou traces out the talisman. "House, let me know if there are any changes in my transponder signal, please."

A moment after Koumyou's completed his work, the house system speaks, telling them that the signal from Devero's transponder is showing signs of interference and attenuation. The beacon remains on the map, but then again, it would unless Koumyou had managed to mask the signal completely.

"I don't know enough about this place to know if that did any good, but," Koumyou takes his hand back from charging the spell with contact, and tucks the marker back up his sleeve. "It surely must be better than nothing? I hope?"

But, now he tries again, "We need to find your drone, before someone else does."

"It helped," he said. "It's messing with the signal, if nothing else." He manages a smile for Koumyou, though a tired one, and turns his attention back to the big screen.

"Okay," he says, with a nod. "Let's find Sir Beepers."

Lifting his hands like a conductor, he begins the process of doing just that.

Koumyou winds an arm around his waist from the side, offering support, and watches his gestures with quiet interest.

If he wasn't so wrung out, Devero might have tried to explain what he was doing. As it is, he just focuses on the screen, registering Sir Beepers to his cloud so he can take advantage of public equipment out there triangulate its position.

The two beacons representing Devero's two emIDs disappear off the map, which still takes up most of the e-center screen. After a moment, a new dot pops up-- way outside of town, in the forest.

"Looks like whoever picked up the bike did not pick up my drone," he says with a sigh.

"So we're in for a long march, I take it?" Koumyou gives his waist a squeeze, "I'd offer to go get it by myself but I'd probably get lost."

"Yeah," he says, leaning against Koumyou's bony shoulder. "I don't think trying to get another bike to fly out there would be a good idea--"

He stops and sits up again, then grins slowly. "You know," he says, "we could let Babysitter do the walking for us."

"We're giving up on staying under the radar, then?" Koumyou asks, but with a smile. "I'm game."

"I--" Devero starts, then stops and rubs his face wearily. "I don't know. I don't know what to do. Part of me thinks I should just go over to Admin and present myself, but then I'd have to deal with her right away, and I don't--"

He's starting to get panicky again. He buries his face in his hands and tries to breathe.

"Hey, hey, come here," Koumyou moves in front of him, and tries to tug him down. "Hold onto me."

After he's either pulled Devero down against himself, or given up, he continues calmly, "We're not presenting you to anyone or anything, we're getting your drone, and we're doing whatever else we decide we want to do, and if anyone comes for you who you're not glad to see, I'll be right there to step in their way. I'll keep you safe, remember?"

He wraps his arms around Devero one way or another, and adds, "We're family."

Devero slides off the couch and into Koumyou's arms, gripping either side of the bamboo breastplate and hiding his face against Koumyou's shoulder-- and the sutra.

"We're family," he repeats, and sinks into Koumyou's embrace.

"I just... I don't want to disrupt things here more than all of this already has," he says softly. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

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