etrayalogs | MAY MINGLE

MAY MINGLE

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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Repopulate, ( clarke corrects, with a mild offense staining her words. )

Repopulate the planet. Again, we didn't know there was anyone down there to colonize. And when we figured that out —

( actually, yeah, there'd initially been some really problematic colonizing vibes swimming around camp. but can one really expect anything but hatred on either side? the one who just had strangers crash land in their back yard, and the one who had to watch their friends get picked off one by one? )

— we wanted to integrate. It was just... difficult.

( and this conversation is officially drifting towards uncomfortable waters, evident in the way clarke shifts in her seat and half raises her coffee cup to her mouth before remembering she'd ruined it with sugar packets and setting it back down. )

Edited 2024-05-27 03:59 (UTC)

[He gives a little nod at that. From the outside, hearing right off the bat about two separate populations, 're-colonize' is the first word that came to mind. But for people thinking they're landing on an empty Earth, 'repopulate' makes sense.

He notices the shifting and figures that the whole situation was incredibly complicated. It's tempting to ask for more details, but it's not like she's under any obligation to tell him, especially if she's getting uncomfortable, so he should probably just leave it alone for now.]

I can imagine. They must not have known you existed, either.

[He sips his coffee, thinking.]

If you were living out some kind of sci-fi bullshit you must've had some interesting technology on The Ark.

Not even the faintest idea.

( which, if one dug into that complicated and uncomfortable background just a bit more, is borderline hilarious. the grounders first leader, the one who'd pioneered the radiation resistant nightblood that'd grown to symbolize royalty, had been an astronaut that'd dropped from space in an escape pod too. only becca franko's (accidental originator of the apocalypse, only surviving member of the team that'd piloted that thirteenth ship) pod had been enshrined in the deepest religious pit, guarded by such secrecy that no one alive on earth had known what they were looking at when a hundred juvenile delinquents had crashed down in a very similar dropship. the sky people and the grounders had an intertwined shared history, and both had lost their parts of it to time.

clarke can appreciate the shift in conversation. it feels purposeful, and in return she very purposefully forces some of the tension out of her shoulders. )

Maybe by some standards, but it was also very old technology that'd just been well maintained by the time I came around. We had holograms, but nowhere near as seamless as Aurora. We had hydroponic farms, and EVA suits. I've heard going on a spacewalk is one of the coolest things a person could do in their lifetime.

But I'm sure some worlds had it better. It's not like we had any sort of magic, and at the end we didn't even have medicine.

( s h r u g. )

What was technology like where you came from?

[He'd love to know the full history of Clarke's universe. Frankly, just the fact that they were living up in space is cool to him, though god forbid he ever expresses an interest in anything. Maybe one day he will take the stick out of his ass and say "Hey I'm a science nerd and think your universe is cool, tell me more about it" (unlikely).

Anyways, fair's fair and he doesn't mind talking about his home, even though he has opinions.]

I run a shithole city that's about thirty years ahead of the rest of the world science-and-technology-wise. Anything you can think of, we're doing research on it.

[That's why he asked. He's got an interest in advanced science and technology, beyond just thinking it's cool. It'd be nice to get a feel for how other universes are faring compared to the place he's responsible for.

He sits back in his chair, sipping his coffee.]

But the main research field Academy City is known for is the creation and development of espers. Those're kids like me, who've gone through the city's Power Curriculum Program, and come out of it with fucked up bodies and brains that can result in psychic powers.

( patiently awaiting the day (that's never going to happen) where clarke gets to burst his bubble on all the ways living in space on 100 year old wreckage cobbled together out of desperation and held together by hope until hope failed.

but in the meantime, she has no such qualms at expressing interest.

accelerator sits back and clarke, finally abandoning her coffee cup completely, leans forward. rests her elbows on the tabletop and hunches her shoulders; it looks like she's about to bring her hands up to cradle her chin, interest peaked. but instead she just fiddles with a remnant of labyrinth dirt stuck under a one nail with another, and tilts her head. )

You have psychic powers? ( the question slips out before it's been fully mulled over, before she processed what little he's given out about how they were obtained. the idea of a program that takes kids in and sends them out in poorer shape than they'd been found isn't unfamiliar, and something in the back of her mind screams that not everyone probably got out; some undoubtedly left in body bags.

the excitement fades from her face, telegraphing she's already assuming the worst. the intrigue is still there, just morbidly dampened. )

What exactly did the... Power Curriculum Program consist of?

[Well, even people from his own universe living outside of Academy City would have their interest piqued by the whole esper business, so he isn't too put off but the way her body language shifts. This is garbage right out of a sci-fi novel, of course people are going to think it's neat.

He nods in affirmation at the question, not looking particularly proud of the fact that he's psychic. There isn't any reason to be, in his opinion. He's one of several million espers, and while his power outranks all of them, it's not as if he's used it responsibly for most of his life.

He takes another sip of his coffee before launching into his explanation of the Power Curriculum Program, his voice flat like he's giving a really dry science lesson.]

It's a series of medical procedures. The exact rundown of it is proprietary, but it's shit along the lines of hypnotherapy and electroshock, and a hell of a lot of drugs. I think there was one procedure where they stick needles directly into our brains. And there's the Ganzfield experiment. [He's guessing she either isn't going to be familiar, or it flat out doesn't exist where she's from, so he continues.] That's all about sensory deprivation - block out a person's five senses so their sixth one can develop.

The aim of the Program is to cause a break in normal reality in the patient's brain and body. Once the patient permanently disassociates, they come up with their own Personal Reality comprised of their own delusions so that they can still function. This isn't just a matter of their own perception, their Personal Reality goes down to a quantum scale. You know what the Uncertainty Principle is?

( on the one hand, by virtue of crau, clarke griffin has a history of arguing with magicians that their powers are rooted in science. fonons versus phonons, and the like. but on the other, more dominant hand, her understanding of such topics had always been surface deep at best, so. the uncertainty principle? )

No, I don't.

( the children on board the ark hadn't been taught intricate quantum theories. they'd been taught how to find true north, and start a fire, and how to distinguish between edible plants and poisonous berries that they may or may not ever see — just so they could pass that information down to their descendants. she was supposed to be a part of yet another transitional generation after all, they were supposed to be stuck in space for another 100 years. everything clarke had learned about firing a gun or waging war had been learned on the ground proper, with none of the comfort of a classroom setting, and all the dire straights that gunfire and conflict provided. but the ground hadn't been trying to turn her into anything specific.

tl;dr — sometimes two people from garbage sci-fi backgrounds meet, and one still ends up moderately horrified at the other's living conditions. sympathetic enough to make all the appropriate facial expressions at the mention of sensory deprivation and straight up torture methods, and a little green around the gills when it comes to the mention of permanent dissociation. and critical enough to have questions about the whole ordeal, but patient enough to bite them back in favor of making way for an upcoming lesson. )

Explain it to me?

[Accelerator isn't really bothered explaining the finer points of quantum mechanics. He knows it isn't typical for most people to be aware of the field outside a surface level understanding. Drilling down into it complicated and incorporates a lot of math - not exactly a popular subject with people - so he doesn't mind giving a non-mathematical rundown.

He might not be able to start a fire without his ability, but he can sure explain the nature of particles smaller than atoms!]

It was created by a German physicist, Werner Heisenberg. Basically, there's a limit to the precision at which you can measure certain pairs of physical properties simultaneously. For example, if you're trying to measure position and momentum of a photon, the more accurate you are in measuring the photon's position, the less accurate you're going to be when you're measuring its momentum. It'll say, be fifty percent and fifty percent, or sixty-forty. [He shrugs.] This is a fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics, and I can just ignore it. Normal reality might measure the photon at fifty-fifty, but my Personal Reality can ignore that and make it one hundred-zero. That influence on the micro scale then has observable effects on the macro scale, like a pyrokinetic esper shooting a fireball.

[It's simple, really!]

( i.... is it?

clarke's features don't exactly... gloss over, but there comes a moment in the explanation that she recognizes he's talking so far above her head it'd be foolish to try and reach up to grasp at complete understanding. she still thinks she gets it — relates it to the idea of fishing; if you try to grab a fish out of the water, do you choose to focus on the fish itself or all the potential places it could dart out to get away from you? striking a balance between both approaches make for an excellent fisherman, but even they couldn't perform at a hundred-zero ratio.

so accelerator is like... being able to dredge the entire pond.

or something. she's trying, okay? )

Wow, ( because what else is one supposed to say to that? for now, color clarke more impressed than daunted by the possibilities. ) That sounds cool. And useful. How do you usually use it?

[Sometimes you're a huge nerd who needs to go the extra mile to explain boring science nonsense, because in your dumb nerdy mind it's important and therefore worth explaining. Sometimes it's just like that. At least he isn't explaining it via mathematical formulas - even Accelerator is aware that would be too much for most people.

At her question, Accelerator shrugs and answers casually. He doesn't really care about keeping this a secret, that was never the case back home and it certainly shouldn't be here. There are some details he's keeping to himself, but the basics are fair game.]

Manipulating vectors. [As if he didn't just say 'Manipulating just about everything in existence, if indirectly.'] That's the mathematical concept of momentum and direction. I can't do shit like reading minds, that's not my area.

( she's just going to have to take at face value that he can't read her mind. but also — here? as two relative strangers in a coffee shop? it feels like an odd place to choose to lie, but regulating the truth to purely what you're comfortable with another knowing is fair game. she'd done the same, and it'd still proved interesting enough for them to get this far. )

Have you tried manipulating the vectors around this place much?

( casual, so casual. totally not fishing for any insight beyond her scope that he may have gleaned about etraya, aurora, and this bubble they reside in. )

[He shrugs.]

A little. I don't want to end up wrecking the place.

[They're stuck living here, after all, and he isn't that reckless. He's had years back home to be controlled enough with his ability that he doesn't send the Earth out of its orbit.]

I've had a look at the atmosphere, the gravitational pull of the planet, and the damn barrier surrounding all of the islands. [He'll start listing this stuff off on his fingers.] The atmosphere's about the same as Earth's, so there shouldn't be worries about any long-term side effects of breathing it in for humans. The gravity's about the same, but based on some measurements I took the planet is smaller, which means it's denser. And the barrier is semi-permeable - air molecules can leave it, but stuff isn't getting in. I'm guessing air is actively being pumped into the barrier for us to breathe.

[Ugh what a nerd.]

( listen, sometimes all a girl needs in the world is a nerd. nerds are important to the grand scheme of things.

and just like that, this has gone from a mandatory coffee hour to an impromptu information gathering session. )

Air's being pumped in, ( clarke reiterates and nods along to, just to show she's taking to heart and fully committing his facts to her memory. ) But only in finite, controlled amounts, right? Seeing as a lack of oxygen in the city proper is what motivated a lot of us to even go in the maze in the first place.

[It's nice to see someone taking what he's saying seriously. He had told this to Hannibal and was summarily dismissed, which annoyed him. This is what his ability is for, after all, understanding the universe. Not fighting.]

Yeah, probably. This is why I don't think Aurora was lying about that. Unless she's fucking with my ability to measure this shit, what I analyzed backs her claim up.

[It's a possibility, especially since he's hooked up to her network, but he doesn't think it's likely.]

( a part of her history that'd only been teased at with the mention of "ark maintenance" — once upon a time, clarke's father had been the chief of environmental engineering. he'd been in charge of assuring air kept pumping throughout the ship, and summarily executed for trying to go public with the fact the oxygen scrubbers were failing. it's a little personal. and she feels better prepared by simply understanding. )

Hm. I don't know what's better here, if she was lying about everything or telling the absolute truth.

[Clarke sat down for a silly coffee meet-and-greet and got hit with Personal Shit, and that is very rude. Not that Accelerator has any idea but anyways -]

......... I don't know, either.

[He's looking down at his coffee cup, which is nearly empty. Ugh, he needs more.]

It'd be nice to know Aurora was given enough free reign to be able to lie at will, but I'm not convinced her programming would allow for that much agency.

[This is coming from his own biases, but he's willing to give her the benefit of the doubt based on what she is. He's dealt with artificial beings constrained like this before, and he's low key concerned Aurora is yet another case of what is essentially a person being unable to express their personhood because their creator is a sick fuck.

It's complicated. His feelings on the matter are complicated, and he looks annoyed with himself for expressing this much. He moves to stand.]

I need more coffee.

( every muscle in her body continually primed for quick reaction in the name of life or death, clarke is faster to her feet. the table between them jostles a little with the aggression she puts into planting her hands on the edges and shoving back, the legs of her chair scrape audibly against the tiled floor of the cafe. it is an ugly sound. if other patrons look their way because of it, she does not notice. )

I'll get it. ( it's meant to be a kind offer, if not coming across a little intense. she also needs more coffee. or at least, a cup untainted by an egregious amount of absentmindedly added sugar. over everything — it feels like she's finally gotten a hook into someone else's line of thinking, and doesn't want to lose this lifeline in the event accelerator decided to peel off for the door. he chose to sit, he can remain seated. she wants to know more. )

What do you want?

( a notable drop in her gaze towards his almost empty cup, assessing the color and then assuming — )

Black coffee?

[Clarke isn't wrong. Accelerator isn't exactly the sociable type, so he would've taken the chance to grab coffee and use it to duck out of this socialization exercise.]

...........................

[As it is he raises an eyebrow at her quick reaction, after a beat settling back down in his chair. What the hell?]

Yeah.

Be right back.

( and it's approximately 3 minutes round-trip to the counter. corrine is as efficient and obliging as ever, and serves up two fresh black coffees in record time. clarke manages the mugs back to the table, swerving around other gathered sets of people in mandatory attendance — all with record little spilling of piping hot liquid all over her knuckles.

she sets accelerator's before him first, then settles back into her seat and sets her own mug on lacquered table top. absently plucks exactly one cream and two sugar packets from the caddy on the table, without ever seeming to entirely take her focus off him. right back into conversation — )

So, the semi-permeable barrier. Stuff's not getting in. How do you think we get here?

Edited 2024-07-19 07:19 (UTC)

[Accelerator remains at the table, only giving a small glance to his surroundings before huffing and pulling out a smartphone. Other people are getting into this whole icebreaker mingle thing, and it feels awkward being in the middle of a larger socialization effort. It's not something he does, so he defaults to ignoring everyone until Clarke returns with their coffee.

Then he scoops it up with his free hand and takes a long sip, considering her question.]

I don't fucking know. Teleportation? Back home that's just moving through the eleventh dimension, and even though the math is pretty complicated by most people's standards it isn't that difficult to understand. I don't think it'd be that hard to apply those principles to cross-universal teleportation.

[Or maybe it's just him and his dumb brain. Whatever, this is only a theory he's coming up with off the top of his head.]

If that piece of shit Echo really did program Aurora then chances are they're smart enough to either build something capable of teleportation, or do the teleporting themselves.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

MAY MINGLE

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sorry this got shelved with my move, drop if it's too late <3

All good, hope it went smoothly!

it's sure.... going!!!

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