[ at least you've already had the experience of this, luke.
there's the soft sound of rain, when the holodeck shifts, warps, takes on the appearance of a very modest sort of space. it's deeply comfortable, but small, a home for one person. an extremely comfortable looking bed - chinese in design, maybe? - is in one corner beneath a window, the shades open to show the luscious green landscape outside. distant lightning veins across the sky, showing off impressive mountains, sprawling trees dotting slopes and hills and cliffs.
a figure is seated on the bed, but they're... alert, head up, and their eyes focus on where luke seems to be materializing in the room. ]
[Me, a few hours ago, staring at these icons: I wonder if Adrastea is Kaeya. My only logic is blue + fluffy white shoulder thing Me, now: Oh. It was the other blue + fluffy white one
Anyway--it takes a second for Luke to adjust, though he's much less wary the second time around. Despite his tragically localized name, Luke is (probably) fake Chinese, so despite being from the future, this style of room isn't totally unfamiliar. His sharp eyes dart past Adrastea over to the window, but he can't glean much from the scenery here, so he looks back at her.]
Actually, I was planning to ask you some questions. [Hyv to hyv communication]
[ i've actually been intentionally quoting snippets from kaeya lines at people that are canon familiar with genshin so like five people have thought it was him and not her.
adrastea stays seated, both feet on the floor and hands resting on the edge of the bed. she's calm, if deeply, deeply curious as she watches luke take in the room. ]
What was considered a routine mission - all five of us received notice on Tuesday night that we would be going out to deal with a storm, a spatial disruption, that was in the path of our trajectory for the next planet. Whatever was causing it had to be investigated and cleared up.
... [ she reaches up, to touch underneath one of her eyes. they look normal in this current state that they're in, this dreamlike place, but luke will remember io gripping tightly to one of his legs when he met with the medical officer. ] It was supposed to be an infiltration rather than something dangerous. Just gathering intel.
But nothing's gone the way it's supposed to. And nothing is quite right, either.
A garden that went out of control. Oversized vines attacked and consumed everything, and there were toxic spores and pollen. Breathing them in resulted in victims becoming decor in the garden.
[ no rats, that's on you guys to provide this game. ]
Hm... maybe. Was it stone, or bark? Because the victims that were there before we arrived had become bark-skinned.
I don't even really understand where you are. Dahut called it the Helly Belly. The only reason I'm not inclined to believe this is a simple dream is because it's happened twice, now.
[ hysterical i love doing that. just showing up with yelan in someone's w1/2 and murdering their pyro regisvine for them in one shot. ]
It's where we... come from? Like, where our bodies come out. And the rest of the space is the [...] I don't know. Somewhere else on the ship, apparently.
[HE DOESN'T WANT TO CALL IT THE HELLY BELLY
But also, he went through this with Io--so he tries a different approach, this time.]
The only place I could think of there being a Grinder is the waste disposal, deeper in the ship. But we haven't gotten any unusual readings there... [ still, she seems to be thinking about it. about whether they should head down there, just in case, to see if perhaps they can find where the lovely dead have gone off to.
but when he says callisto, her attention goes back on point to him. she moves to stand - not abruptly, but quick enough, getting to her feet. ]
It might be worth investigating anyway. [He will say it!! And then eventually he will come back and learn whether or not any of these NPCs remembered anything that happened.
For now, he notes her reaction, filing it away.]
First, let me ask you a question--Adrastea is a code name, isn't it? Or--something assigned by the company?
[(meme voice) Hello Adrastea from Nut & Bolt (handshake) Hello Raven from the NSB]
[ who knows? adrastea clearly remembers that dahut did this, but does that carry over after today?
but because this is a dream, and because luke has asked a sleeper question, he will get to see her image flicker and change, briefly. her eyes are - bleeding, it looks like, but they're cybernetic eyes now instead, out of focus and one dimmer than the other.
the image then resolves itself, and adrastea is back to normal as she lifts a hand to her forehead, eyes closing. ]
... Ganymede chose them. Something about being the moons of a planet from their solar system. Suggested we take them on when we needed callsigns.
[ the landscape warps, in pinkish mist that becomes a dark, somehow dangerous purple - luke isn't the right hyv to recognize it, or where they wind up. the world around them is suddenly very dark, a cavernous mine all around them. adrastea's brow pinches, eyes more tightly shut, before she shakes it off and takes a deep breath. ]
[ adrastea doesn't flinch or wince, exactly, but as she lowers her hand there's a pinch around her eyes that makes its way through her masking. ]
Singular tour. Two months with a crew comprised of us and twenty others. And then a month between their departures and your arrivals. But departures... no, that's not quite right.
[Hmmmm. He makes a mental note of this, then nods.]
I shouldn't linger too long, just in case. [Since he'll want to ask more questions, but he doesn't want to like, short-circuit her or. Whatever is going on there.] One last thing--how common are these missions?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
W1 THURSDAY
there's the soft sound of rain, when the holodeck shifts, warps, takes on the appearance of a very modest sort of space. it's deeply comfortable, but small, a home for one person. an extremely comfortable looking bed - chinese in design, maybe? - is in one corner beneath a window, the shades open to show the luscious green landscape outside. distant lightning veins across the sky, showing off impressive mountains, sprawling trees dotting slopes and hills and cliffs.
a figure is seated on the bed, but they're... alert, head up, and their eyes focus on where luke seems to be materializing in the room. ]
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[ the voice isn't synthesized, but the clothes the woman wears... they're adrastea's, and she cocks her head slightly at him. ]
Come to do a little spectating, Pearce?
I really brought the wrong hyv boy to this game
Me, now: Oh. It was the other blue + fluffy white one
Anyway--it takes a second for Luke to adjust, though he's much less wary the second time around. Despite his tragically localized name, Luke is (probably) fake Chinese, so despite being from the future, this style of room isn't totally unfamiliar. His sharp eyes dart past Adrastea over to the window, but he can't glean much from the scenery here, so he looks back at her.]
Actually, I was planning to ask you some questions. [Hyv to hyv communication]
surprise!
adrastea stays seated, both feet on the floor and hands resting on the edge of the bed. she's calm, if deeply, deeply curious as she watches luke take in the room. ]
Ask away. We'll see how well I can answer them.
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He puts his hands in his pockets, contemplating.]
We saw you come back, today. With Owner and the others. What happened?
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... [ she reaches up, to touch underneath one of her eyes. they look normal in this current state that they're in, this dreamlike place, but luke will remember io gripping tightly to one of his legs when he met with the medical officer. ] It was supposed to be an infiltration rather than something dangerous. Just gathering intel.
But nothing's gone the way it's supposed to. And nothing is quite right, either.
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[Murmured, almost like an aside to himself.]
When you say dangerous--were there creatures in there? Monsters? [Buff rats?]
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[ no rats, that's on you guys to provide this game. ]
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We saw some strange flowers the other day, and someone turned into a statue. I wonder if it's related? There weren't any vines, though...
[Thinks about how my friend and I co-oped with someone who is like WL1/2 earlier and just obliterated their regisvines. Very funny.]
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I don't even really understand where you are. Dahut called it the Helly Belly. The only reason I'm not inclined to believe this is a simple dream is because it's happened twice, now.
[ hysterical i love doing that. just showing up with yelan in someone's w1/2 and murdering their pyro regisvine for them in one shot. ]
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At the rest of her words he just TAKES A MINUTE TO CLOSE HIS EYES, WHY DID DAHUT DO THIS]
Do you know about something called the Grinder?
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[ she doesn't bother questioning why he closes his eyes like that because. she can guess. but she shakes her head at his question. ]
No. Is that something where you all are?
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[HE DOESN'T WANT TO CALL IT THE HELLY BELLY
But also, he went through this with Io--so he tries a different approach, this time.]
It was Callisto.
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but when he says callisto, her attention goes back on point to him. she moves to stand - not abruptly, but quick enough, getting to her feet. ]
Explain.
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For now, he notes her reaction, filing it away.]
First, let me ask you a question--Adrastea is a code name, isn't it? Or--something assigned by the company?
[(meme voice) Hello Adrastea from Nut & Bolt (handshake) Hello Raven from the NSB]
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but because this is a dream, and because luke has asked a sleeper question, he will get to see her image flicker and change, briefly. her eyes are - bleeding, it looks like, but they're cybernetic eyes now instead, out of focus and one dimmer than the other.
... Ganymede chose them. Something about being the moons of a planet from their solar system. Suggested we take them on when we needed callsigns.
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Luke searches her face, though he resists the urge to get closer or reach out.
Carefully--]
Can you tell me your real name?
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... no. No, I don't think I can.
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Something's wrong. [...] How long has it been like this?
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[ her hand goes down from her head to rub finger and thumb into her eyes, sigh bonedeep and discontent. ]
... not long. Not the entire time we've been on board.
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By on board... do you mean this tour, or your past ones too?
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Singular tour. Two months with a crew comprised of us and twenty others. And then a month between their departures and your arrivals. But departures... no, that's not quite right.
We can't remember what happened to them.
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[ but - ]
Oh, I remember them. I remember that I hated my intelligence officer superior, because he was a coward with a bad personality.
... but what I remember about him most is that he transferred to the hub, to work security there.
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[Hmmmm. He makes a mental note of this, then nods.]
I shouldn't linger too long, just in case. [Since he'll want to ask more questions, but he doesn't want to like, short-circuit her or. Whatever is going on there.] One last thing--how common are these missions?
[Frees you from a w1 thursday PC]
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