MAY MINGLE

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 17th-31st
WHERE: On Etraya
WHAT: A mingle log!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A, please note any needed warnings in threads.

⏵ a hero's return ⏴ As champions exit the Labyrinth, they’ll find that their environment has gone through some fairly drastic changes. Where there used to be larger bodies of water is now thinner rivers going through land; the amount of bridges connecting landmasses has decreased, given what had been individual islands are now much more connected. In addition, Etraya is significantly more green; flowers bloom, birds chirp cheerfully, and there are numerous additional species of insects, mammals, and aquatic creatures throughout the lands. Baby foxes roam through forested areas, bees pollinate the flowers to spread them more thoroughly around the inhabited areas, and it feels brighter. Or perhaps that’s just in comparison to how the Labyrinth had been. There are more areas to explore, new facilities, animals, and Etraya feels significantly more settled than it had before. Aurora’s promise of renovations had been true. And if one looks up, they may notice a city bubble visible on the closest planet that hadn't been visible before. ⏵ coffee break ⏴ After hearing Clarke’s suggestion, Aurora sets up a new cafe close to the apartment complex, and sends out notices to individuals with mandatory coffee hour times listed for them to come to Corrine's Cafe and make a few friends. While the note does state that it is mandatory, there will be no follow-up from Aurora nor the companion bots to ensure those who receive notes do show. Given this is Aurora trying to take suggestions in mind and see how successful they are among the citizens of Etraya, however, following directives may not be a terrible idea. It's up like a modern-day, smaller cafe. One walks in through the front door, and is greeted by a companion bot behind the counter who offers a wave of their hand and a friendly “Welcome! Let me know when you’re ready to order”. The menu offers lattes, mochas, espresso, black coffee, several different kinds of teas, and a few drinks that are a little odd to find in a cafe; ale, canned sodas and coffees, numerous bottles of wine, but only pinot noir. Soft music plays in the background, impossible to place but it sounds as if it may be based on tracks that were popular in the early 90s. Tables and booths are set up to seat two to four, with packets of sugar and small containers of creamer set out towards the middle. There are charging stations set up at every table, which may seem strange considering phones and laptops aren’t widely available, but Aurora’s doing her best. There are also a few bookshelves full of the classics, a few historical fiction, and several written by H.P. Lovecraft. Each seat has a placard in front of it, with a name, and a ‘fun fact’. One might say “Hello! My name is Joe, and I like to paint!” Another may say “Hi, I’m Jill! My sister died tragically in front of me and I’ve never gotten over it.” ⏵ new horizons ⏴ Several of the new bridges found in Etraya now have signs posted just outside of them, and on those signs is a QR code that the earpiece’s HUD can scan. Scanning this with the HUD will bring up a scavenger hunt, listing several items and circling areas where they can be found. Some of these objects will be obvious: find Corrine at Corrine’s Cafe - the companion bot who runs the counter, find a delicious meal at Bangsan Market, break into S.T.A.R Labs, or find room 87 at Point Blanc Academy. Some will be less obvious, like locating a bat, becoming friends with an archer, find a pink shirt, open bagged milk without making a mess, or get a drink at the mutant-friendly pub. Please feel free to make up your own items to find around Etraya! ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Welcome to our mid-month mingle! Please feel free to use this to explore Etraya, put up wildcard prompts (you don't need to use the above!), or use the open prompts to assist in jumpstarting cr. This mingle covers the period from May 17th to May 31st. Our next mission (and next mod log) will not go up until June 7th. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[unionized]

Shame. Trespassers miss the tour.

[But he raises an eyebrow, just slightly, when the intruder makes his next move — not from the fact that he's brought snacks, which arguably should be the more significant note of curiosity, but from the fact that he knows her name. Definitely a run-in with Tseng, then; who else would've made introductions?

However, it's a different experience altogether, the way Darkstar is behaving now in comparison to her previous encounter. Vigilant at the side of her owner, she doesn't flinch even an inch toward the offered treats, keeping perfectly stationary while she waits for a signal in one direction or another.]

She's well-trained. Don't take it personally.

[He reaches down idly, petting behind her ears.]

I'd heard she'd made an acquaintance. I was under the impression they were a little more canine than you.

[brat]

( she ignores his offer, and it has him grinning rather than offended. because she is well-trained, isn't she. this must be the man she's meant to guard; titus does the same for damian even if it's widely unnecessary. )

My companion, Goliath, is a dragon bat. Not a canine, but I can understand where the confusion would come from. I would call him, but I doubt you want a fifteen-foot-tall beast bursting through the windows. ( and yet damian is still crouched low to the ground, fingers curling around the handful of treats. )

I find tours often leave the best part of exploring new facilities out of their regime. It's much more enlightening to show myself around.

( and a building like this is full of secrets, just as wayne tower across from them is. damian can feel it, even if he has yet to witness them himself. )

Unless your tour will not.

[unionized]

A dragon bat.

[He is about seventy-five percent less surprised by this than he really ought to be, and about twenty-five percent more interested in this than he really ought to be.]

Well, there's always the helipad. Much more comfortable for landing, assuming your companion doesn't land on Valentine.

[A patient one, this guest. He seems to sense this is a waiting game, that it isn't Rufus's intention to withhold Darkstar from his favors forever, but only while he takes his own personal assessment of the circumstances. Finally, almost curiously, he murmurs a quiet release; at the permission granted, Darkstar doesn't leap forward as one might expect but rather slinks a step or two toward Damian, her movements sinuous as she goes to inspect his offer.]

And what makes you think I'm the guide?

[brat]

( she's such a pretty girl. damian waits patiently for her, fingers extending out so his palm is flat. last time they had met, they'd been in the labyrinth; he hadn't had much to offer. this time, he has plenty of titus' treats at the ready for when he returns home. titus won't mind sharing a few, and while damian is more inclined to offer treats for good behavior, he is not going to ask her to perform for him. shinra is her master, not him. )

The lack of heat signatures in the building. ( damian hasn't done a thorough sweep, his domino mask can only get readings from so far away, but he's relatively certain the building below is empty. if he's off, shinra will call him out on not truly knowing everything happening in the facility. ) Unless your tour guide arrived along with you and merely is not present.

( with a look up, brow raising. it's covered by his domino mask, but the mask itself shifts enough to make it clear what his face is doing. )

[unionized]

Unless my tour guide lacks a heat signature.

[Almost delicately, Darkstar noses at the hand, then the treats, then finally accepts the offering with a flick of her tongue and slinks back again, crunching the whole way. As she does, Rufus watches her move with an assessing sort of curiosity, like he hadn't altogether ruled out the possibility that she might just altogether bite off the hand that presumes to feed her while she's at it.

Still, she doesn't seem to gauge this one a threat — not that he couldn't be one, certainly, but simply that he doesn't present one at the moment. All the more reason to find a pretense to keep him where Rufus can keep an eye on him, and the conversation has led in a very easy direction for doing that.

He tilts his head towards the stairs that lead up to the 60th floor, and the official beginning of the world's most cringeworthy tour.]

Care to find out?

[brat]

( damian trusts most animals more than he does people; he keeps his body language loose as darkstar approaches him, keeps his hand out flat. there's a twitch to the corners of his mouth that could be considered a smile, even, before he's dropping his hand back down when she walks away and the smile twists back into his usual scowl.

focuses his eyes on rufus instead. he doesn't know what the intention here is; a tour is very, very low on damian's to-do list, and he's already found the person who claims to own this facility. it would be significantly more productive to come back later when he has an opportunity to sneak around and go through a self-led tour, rather than one led by someone who may or may not have a heat signature. given the tech he's seen around the facility already, maybe it's an ai much like aurora.

but he's fairly certain this man is trying to keep him around, too, even if it's to get a better idea of who robin is. they can use each other: damian can discover more about who this shinra is, while letting him think he's figuring out damian himself. )

Fine. ( his tone's short, but that's - relatively normal for damian. he takes a step forward, and lets his cloak curl around his form once more to hide the bright colors under it. it covers his hands, too, which is the intention. he isn't reaching for anything, but he wants the freedom to grab hold of the tools in his utility belt without suspicion if the need arises. ) Lead on.

[unionized]

[The funny thing is, this is actually ideal — or, well, it's comfortable, at least. The true ideal when it comes to interacting with Rufus Shinra is to be a quippy bastard able to dish out as much repartee as he takes; since that's very clearly a different brand of Bat around here, the second-best option is monosyllabic recalcitrance. It's basically his own native language, after all.

It's a short trip up the stairs to the 60th floor, where a wide set of opaque metal doors loom massive and imposing — quite different from the plate glass aesthetic that makes up so much of the rest of the building — and a keypad with glowing buttons that seems to be awaiting attention. Rufus barely has to drift a hand across it before the doors hiss and begin to power open, revealing an absolutely repulsive gold statue up on a high marble pedestal, and the dim earth-toned aesthetics of the Shinra Museum.]

Welcome to the Shinra Building, our humble home!

[Thus speaks a tinny, overly cheerful feminine voice that suddenly makes the commentary about "lack of a heat signature" make a lot more sense.]

Here in the Memorial Museum, you can learn all about our president, as well as the various divisions that make up our compan—

[But before the voice can finish, Rufus calmly interjects —]

That's enough. That information's a little out of date, at this point.

[brat]

( oh. it's.. terrible.

absolutely awful.

the statue is so tacky for starters, and the overly cheerful voice is horrid. damian immediately regrets going along, especially as it goes on and says nonsense about learning about their president. who goes into a company building having any interest in the person who runs it? well. damian does, but that's because he needs to know everything. damian looks to the statue, back to the man he's following, then to his real interest here: darkstar. )

Can I get the summarized tour? I have no interest in listening to your "tour guide".

[unionized]

I don't see why not.

[A few feet into the room, Rufus turns around to face Damian — and a person with a poetic sort of eye would have a lot to remark on about it, from the son pausing beneath the shadow that the grotesque golden idol of his father casts, to the way he turns his back on all that lies within to put his attention on his guest instead, but of course, that's all just the stuff of fancy and interpretation, isn't it.]

Summarized: This is my building. We hope you enjoyed the tour.