Event: In Pursuit of Knowledge

[voidtreckermods]

The day after the Voidtrecker speaks to the voidtreckers they arrive at the voidhub.

"Approaching Voidbase now. Prepare for docking."

There is no shaking, not leaving the void: instead those who risk looking out of the windows will see a large structure ahead of them. The void turns to metal around them as they enter the structure, and for a moment, there is nothing outside the train but darkness.

"Welcome Voidtreckers." A voice speaks over the ICPs. Not the voice of the train, this is a male voice, sentient. "The filtration process takes a few moments, so please be patient. Meanwhile, I am sending some information about our void base over to your SCA's."

They will receive a small pamphlet on their SCA's explaining about the void base, that it was set up as a research base and has been expanded to provide living quarters for some of those rescued from system #78961112094711. It explains that they had made the decision to invite the voidtreckers there to further unravel the mystery surrounding them. They would be quartered in ministry sleeping areas, and have free access to the ministry part of the base. Anyone who wished to visit the citizens of system #78961112094711 could do with good reason.

It's not too long before the filtration process is completed, and the doors of the Voidtrecker Express open. They are greeted by a group of ministry workers. Among which are Lia Nine, Ten Nank, and Anan- who isn't strictly a void ministry worker, but is there to greet them nonetheless.

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IN PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE

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22-29 RABBIT ~ VOIDBASE INFO ~ OOC INFO ~ NETWORK
SCA EXPERIMENTS ~ COMBAT TRAINING ~ REACHING OUT ~ ARCHIVE RESEARCH

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SETTLING IN

They are shown to their sleeping quarters first. They are in small suites, which match their room assignments on the train. They will be given time to unpack and rest, and told that their SCA's have been programmed to allow them access to the general ministry parts of the base.

Their time here is their own, And though the ministry hopes that they will help out with the various experiments and research programs they have going on, they do not need to. If they wish to take the time to rest and enjoy the amenities, they can.

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1. MULTIMEDIA. There are a few types of lounging rooms, chairs and cushions, tables for sitting at. Slim televisions sitting on walls, a few tables - that can be lowered or raised - joined with screens that can be more privately watched. Shows and movies are available in some rooms, gaming equipment in others. There is also a more quiet room for lounging in, with access to e-books and screen readers for them, audio options also available.

Relax, or get into a multiplayer game -- games that break friendships are available in the void.

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2. FITNESS AND SWIM. For those looking for more activity in their 'rest', there's the fitness gym and swimming pool. In separate rooms but nearby, the fitness gym is larger than the train's gym, and more well-equipped. Muscle training, speed; there will be a Ministry worker to show how to use the variety of equipment, so that nobody has an accident.

The same will be for the swimming pool, with a shallow and deep end. Balls, floating pads and more can be grabbed. It's a swimming pool - what's not to love?

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3. TRAINING. Beside the pool and fitness gym is the combat gym, where they will find small groups already exercising in a variety of fighting styles. Voidtreckers will be left alone to train if they wish, but any who take interest in partners will be allowed to join in with the ministry training. Magic, energy, weaponry; some of them use special batons, Ministry-issued, and the Ministry workers will show how to use them. If a Voidtrecker becomes well-trained in how to use one by the end of their stay, they can be given one to use on void missions.

The Ministry fighters will also introduce them to a special training tool, the hard- and holographic courses and 'dummies'. Quite a few fighting styles can be set to a holographic opponent, or even one made to mimic a voidtrecker after fighting them - they're surprisingly quick to adapt. The hard-light partner can listen and read sign-language, and will change on command. Want them to move faster, focus on attack, dodging? Now they will.

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4. GREEN THUMBS, OPEN AIR. The last room in the relaxation area is a curious one, reading simply 'GARDENS AND SIMULATION' on its front. Opening it will lead to a simple and long corridor, five more doors on each side. Four devoted to gardening, labelled Hydroponics, Hot Houses, Ice Houses, and Land. Entering, each space will be larger than should be possible. But it is, with each an indoor type growing space except for land, which mimics a farming field. There's a sky above, a wind in the air; sometimes, it might be raining when you enter.

It might be a shocking experience for some, the first time round.

The last six rooms simulation rooms are less specific, but with plenty more options. Rooms of prayers, beaches, cities, open valleys; with some time spent learning the menu, people can recreate a realistic area. The rooms can be set to private, but some people may leave the spaces they've created - on purpose, at random, or on accident - free for others to wander into. Sharing is caring, and there's only six of these rooms, you know.

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TESTING AND EXPERIMENTING

Anyone who wishes to take part in the experiments will be given their options, and led to the appropriate rooms. Health checks, tether scans, combat training; each one is voluntarily, and Voidtreckers will be be granted their results.

There is much to discover, as well to ensure the health and safety of the Voidtreckers. And what can they learn about the Voidtrecker Express, the lost tethers, and the anomaly known as the World Eaters? Time may finally tell...

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1. SCA EXPERIMENTS. For those who wish to help out with the SCA and health experiments- be that through taking part in experiments or helping conduct them- they will be shown to the labs. There are a few different labs, doing different things.

The scientists are generally friendly, if very no nonsense. They will answer questions and explain their research, and are open to listening to new ideas and theories. All ideas are on the table. This situation is unprecedented, there are no easy answers.

They will put any voidtreckers to work who wish to help- be it washing beakers or recording data. They will teach as they go- as long as someone is willing to listen and learn, it won't matter if they have no experience in science.

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2. REACHING OUT TO THE VOID. At the top of the void base is an area with a clear domed roof, allowing in the light of the void. Here voidtreckers can attempt to reach out, to strengthen their connection with the train and through it try and find those that have left the train.

It's a slow learning curve. Their first few hours of attempts will be meditation that goes no where. but eventually most should be able to tap into their connection with the train and the other passengers.

Reaching out further is harder, often feeling as if they are falling through the void. It's exhausting, not quite so much as anchoring, but similar. It's easy to get lost in the void, though the room has ministry workers who are highly trained and will be able to help anyone who needs it.

They do say it might be easier to go in pairs, to meditate together and help guide each other, using each others tethers as a touch point. Anything is worth a try.

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3. ARCHIVES. For those who prefer old-fashioned research, there is plenty to sink their teeth into here. Books, articles, message boards. Everything needs cross-referenced and checked and verified. What is a rumour? What is true?

It's a buzz of activity at all hours, though there are quieter areas for those who need silence to concentrate. For those less skilled at research, there are always notes to copy up neat.

OOC NOTES

~ Questions.
~ This event runs until the 26th June (Day 29)
~ There will be a concluding post on the 25th to wrap up the memory restoration.

Comments

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"And you don't think you can be part of that." He sighs. "I don't think it's that simple, Xion. Like I said, I think you changed your own timeline. The other things already happened in their own timelines. That's how I can even be here. So you only have to worry about you and what you would... like to do."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"I think I have to go away to make that all happen. And the me that was part of that... isn't this me. She doesn't remember all the things I did here or in Daitu...." She looked at her gloves again. "I don't want to let you all down... but my memories... are all I am..."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"That's what I'm saying. I don't think you do. Because that already happened in my time. That Xion already exists. So your choices here... are your own. And I don't want you to do anything you want to do. Because you don't have to anymore."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"But what if we're wrong?" she said softly. "What if I am breaking things by still being here? Still being this me?"

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"We can't live off what-ifs, Xion. We've got to focus on what you have. Just being here already makes things different."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

What-ifs were her main mode of existence. "But if we don't know..." then what-ifs are all they have. "I don't want to hurt you or Axel. Or be the reason...." that something horrible happened to them.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"You're not going to be the reason for anything bad here, Xion. I just want you to stop trying to make things better for everyone by acting like you're expendable. I just want you to let yourself be happy."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"I don't know how..." she said softly, shoulders hunching.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

Roxas touches her shoulder. "Just be yourself. And let yourself try new things. And don't worry about what might happen. Oh, and don't think you're not as important as either of us. We're all important."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"But being who I am... keeps upsetting you and Axel..." she said, looking down at her hands. "And I'm not... not really..."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"That's not what's upsetting us. What's upsetting us is that it seems like you don't think you can be anything beyond what the Organization said. When that's not true. You don't have to be the same as the Xion I know. But you don't have to be their Xion either. You can be your own. You just need to let yourself try and not get hung up on what might happen."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"But my own... my.... this me... worrying, thinking, that is what I do... I don't know how to be different and... I don't want to be different! I don't want to lose what little is actually me!" Her hands curled as she hunched in tightly. Because it was do that or run. And she never waned to run away from Roxas and Axel again.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

He takes a deep breath to try again. "I don't mind you worrying. I just don't want you to... act based on that worrying. To do stuff like ask people to experiment on you. And learning new things, trying new clothes, not wearing your hood doesn't change who you are. It's just part of growing."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

She shook her head, clutching her sleeves. "Those are changes," she whispered. "How much can I change... before I lose me?"

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

He grabs for a sleeve. "It's not losing, Xion. It's just part of growing. Everyone does it. Nobody stays exactly the same forever. Not me. Not Axel. Not you. We're not supposed to. It's only the most important things, what we care about and what's important to us that stays the same. And you've already changed. Just by all you've experienced since the Organization."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"But I'm a replica... I don't grow. I don't want to stop being me... I don't...." want her friends to stop being her friends because she's no longer her.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

He puts a hand on his chest. "So am I, Xion. I'm a replica too. Just like you. But doesn't mean we can't experience new things. And it doesn't mean that those experiences make us someone else."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"You're... But..." she was so confused. "You... were an actual proper Nobody... not a mistake like me..."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

Oh boy, this one is going to be fun to explain. Roxas glances down a bit. "Unlike Axel, I didn't have a Somebody to turn back into. Since that's Sora. I was just a heart and memories. But Xehanort, the guy who started this whole mess, had a bunch of Replicas for his plan to bring back the worst members of the Organization. After Sora destroyed most of them." He takes a breath, as he works up to the least comfortable part of this story. "Saix set things up so someone could steal one of the Replicas. And then the scientists, Even, Ienzo and Ansem helped connect it with my heart." At least that's the extent of his understanding of the whole process.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"But..." She was so confused. "Going back to Sora for you wouldn't have been just..." Her head was hurting. "You... were also a replica? The whole time?" Then how come she was the only one who was broken?

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

Roxas quickly shakes his head. "No, not the whole time. But since I was a Nobody, I didn't really have a body once Sora and me reconnected. I just had the part of me that everyone else remembered. That's how I was able to come back."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"I.... don't understand..." she admitted.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"I'm not sure how much I can really help you. It confuses me a lot too. And everything happened so fast after months of... nothing."

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"We... should ask Axel...."

Because Axel would know. Because Axel knew pretty much everything.

Re: Xion - Partial OTA

[terribletwos]

"I don't know how much he understands either... He wasn't with the scientists. And he wasn't expecting to see me either." It's not like anyone had much time to discuss their plan, and Saix had to keep things close to the chest to avoid Xemnas catching wind of their strategy. "The scientists would be able to explain better than anyone. Ienzo or even Even."