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

"That's not an answer at all!"

.. or, well, it's an answer. But it's a very technical one, and a technical answer is so not what baby Inigo needs at a moment like this. He easily freaks out about stuff like this, and hearing that there's a chance of danger is definitely enough to ensure he keeps clinging to Senku.

He doesn't even know what it'd be like to die in their current weird half-tethered state, but he also doesn't want to know.

"I-If I'd die, I would at least want it to be in a way that's more heroic than this..!"

"You're only going to die if I screw up, and I won't screw up." Senku offered, was that better?

The flame was starting up and he tugged Inigo back from the stove and looked over the side of the basket.

"Give it a minute to warm up the air and..."

It takes a couple of minutes, but surely enough that linen balloon was going to begin to inflate and move on its own.

At first Inigo doesn't even seem to realise that they're slowly, veeery slowly, moving up from the ground. Maybe it's because he's still so busy clinging to Senku, or maybe it's indeed just because of the tempo they're moving at, too slow to really be noticable.

Whatever it is, he doesn't make a sound during the first few moments.

And not until he suddenly realises that their view looks just a little bit different. It's almost as if they grew taller, or because..

Inigo gasps.

"W-Wait, we're really going up!"

He says it with such surprise in his voice that it kind of sounds like he didn't actually expect them to be able to do so. Or just because he didn't imagine how this would even happen with just that piece of canvas.

"That is the idea." Senku chuckled and exhaled a bit. "You don't have to cling so tight, it's not gonna get much faster, and we're still tied to the ground." He informed him.

"So we won't be moving with any speed. It can go decently fast. A walk that would take two days can be completed in about two hours, if that helps with the scope of the speed of this thing. For now, though, we're just going to hover off the ground as far as the rope will allow."

"Y-You never know what could happen though!" Inigo pipes up.. still very much clinging to Senku. Sorry, Senku, it's not even a voluntary thing. It's just that he's so startled right now that he truly can't do much of anything else, no matter how much the other tries to reassure him.

The experience is just a little bit too new.

"This is exactly why I never went up in the air with Cynthia on her pegasus or with Gerome on his wyvern..!"

"Take slow breaths, don't panic." Senku offered. "Also don't be alarmed if you see the horizon curving, this planet is spherical, and that's supposed to happen."

Inigo's world could be different, or he could just not know like the villagers, so it was fair warning.

"I know what to do in the event of problems. I can tell you in detail if that would help."

Inigo wheezes.

"No, that's-- that's okay!"

Not that he thinks Senku doesn't know what he's talking about, but he does know what often happens when Senku opens his mouth and starts talking. Stuff gets technical, Inigo starts to get confused, and then he just starts to get a lot more afraid.

And he knows that's going to be very counterproductive to this entire situation.

"A-All of this is supposed to help us.. h-how again?!"

"We're taking a look from a higher vantage point." Senku responded and glanced over his shoulder.

"Are your eyes closed?" That seemed like a good question even though he couldn't really see it.

There's a pause when Senku asks that question.

A suspicious pause.

".. no?"

(That's totally a yes.)

"Alright, well you're going to miss the best part."

Senku didn't warn Inigo, he stepped forward to lean on the side of the basket, and if Inigo didn't let go, he'd probably end up coming closer to the edge.

He looked around at what was mostly forest, some mountains in the distance...it was beautiful, if everything that it meant wasn't so dark and malicious. He couldn't see far enough to see some of the things he'd like to check on but no matter.

Inigo is definitely coming along, just because he isn't letting go. And while he does whine when Senku moves, since it feels like this place is too unsteady to move - even though it's not - he doesn't prevent the other from moving.

It's just that Senku now has a whining puppy attached to him, clearly. One that still has its eyes firmly shut.

".. How good is it?"

It sounds like he's trying to determine whether it's worth opening his eyes and scaring himself half to death or not..

"Objectively it's beautiful." Senku said. "It's completely untamed land, full of natural features. You can see Mt. Fuji, some rivers, trees..."

He hummed. "Unless you mean the manmade structures, you can see the dam from here, and the hydroelectric power plant."

He never had dislike for the natural world, it was just he enjoyed progress as well. Senku's goal was to make rebuilding not just possible, but sustainable.

...

There's a pause on Inigo's end. But after that pause, he does manage to open his eyes.. just a tiny bit. Just a crack, like he's afraid he'll freak out if he fully allows his sight to be filled with something they're suddenly so high above.

Just seeing a crack of that vision seems to work though. Or at least, he sure isn't freaking out over it.

"So.. do you also see something suspicious?"

Because that's what they're keeping an eye out for, right? A sign of something that could have caused this renewed petrification.

"No, nothing like that. Just the world as I expected it. Quiet and haunting, devoid of human life and movement."

There was weight behind those words, as though if Senku were alone he'd be openly more upset about that. He would be. This was his worst nightmare.

Perhaps that was why he allowed Inigo to cling onto him.

Slowly Inigo's eyes open wider.

It's hard to tell what exactly caused it - though it's likely that he feels too sympathetic at those words and the way Senku says them to continue to whine like a little baby. It's always been the thing that gets Inigo to step over his problems, just wanting to look after other people and help them with their problems instead.

".. it won't stay like this," Inigo says.

His voice is a little on the quiet side, but much more serious than any of the dramatics before.

"I know how you are. The moment you properly get back home here, you'll fix everything here somehow."

"That's right, I will." Senku confirmed without mising a beat. He had every intention.

"If you can believe it..." He said, reminiscing just a little bit if Inigo would let him.

"All of this forest, for the most part was developed into cities. Huge, compact cities. Japan had a huge population, considering how small our country is." Senku mused. "I lived in Tokyo. It's..." He looked around and then pointed. "About eighty kilometres that way. Or was. There's nothing there anymore except..." He waved his hand.

"Although we have a settlement there too. We travel between these two points, that's what the balloon's for...among other things."

He sighed. "So skyscrapers. Not unlike that one place we visited, but less polution. I lived in a small apartment building with my dad." Senku mused. "Went to school, except when I wasn't in an internship somewhere." These were the kinds of conversations he tended not to have, tended to avoid. All of them did. Who wanted to think about everything that was lost?

It's a good thing in this case that Inigo has so much mission experience at this point. After all, huge modern cities would be completely impossible for a medieval boy like him to imagine, were it not for the fact that he's seen a few in other worlds at this point. The city on Diagad, where they thought they had always lived. And huge, sprawling Kamakan..

It renders Inigo able to imagine the city Senku is talking about right now.

The city he's remembering, even though it's long gone at this point in this world, even way before Senku ever ended up on the train.

At first he says nothing, just allowing the other to let those memories flood back, but then he slowly speaks up.

"Did you want to rebuild all that? ... Make it go back to the way it's supposed to be?"

"Not exactly the same." Senku answered with a little sigh. "A lot more sustainability baked in would be ideal, but that's what it would take to house all the humans. Cities will have to exist again."

He smiled slightly. "Progress never stops when humans are involved...and that's not inherently bad."

"That would take a lot though."

It's nothing Senku doesn't already know. Even with how little Inigo knows about sustainability, or modern city building for that matter.. he can only imagine how much effort it must be to try and build up a society.

It was already hard enough to stop the last parts of one from crumbling entirely, after all.

"Even for a guy like you, it's a lot of work." Not that it's impossible. Inigo thinks nothing is ever fully impossible when Senku of all people is involved.

But it's just going to be a long, long road, he imagines.

"Decades." Senku corrected and he smiled. "Even for me, well, not just me. Everyone will help me. I'm not alone in this." That seemed strange to say in a vast and empty world.

"What you see around us..." Senku pointed a few things out. "The damn over there, our power plant. The things you don't see uh, we've got a mine a huge ship that's probably half way across the world..." He smiled.

"All of this took us four years. We're going to have to go a lot bigger."

It does feel a little strange. Especially since Senku is going to be alone in this once he properly gets home - until he manages to depetrify some of these people, after all.

But Inigo doesn't make a big deal out of that. It's something Senku will find a way to deal with.. Inigo hopes. Thinks. .. hopes? It's not something he wants to drag the other down with by speaking up about right now.

Instead he just looks at the things Senku is pointing out.. while still trying to not think too hard about how high up they are, thanks. Even if it's not that high, it's still dizzying to a guy like Inigo.

"That means things will have to go on developing even after you die, huh?"

Not that he expects Senku to die young, mind you! It's just.. if all of this took them four years, and Senku is suggesting it might take decades.. then it might not be done before Senku is already old enough to kick the bucket.

"That's right." Senku agreed, a gentle smile tugging at his lips.

"Humans evolved science for thousands of years before me and they'll continue for thousands of years after I die." He agreed.

"Isn't it amazing what humans can accomplish even within a finite lifespan?"

After a moment he turned back so he could lower the flame and bring them back to the ground.

".. yeah."

But even after he says that and while the balloon is being lowered, Inigo is still thinking. After all, humans existed for such a long time in his world too, yet they don't have anything like all the stuff Senku was describing..

.. does that mean there's something wrong with his world?

It's not something Inigo likes to think about, especially when there's enough to deal with in their current situation as-is, so he does his best to shake it off, not letting it show on his face.

"Come on, let's look around more and see if we can find something out about what happened here after all."

That feels more important. It's just what he's got to focus on right now - trying to help his friends.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No Place Like Home: Outside

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we can wrap this one here!!