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

[seenitall]

[He has a similar look to him - too much stress and too little sleep - though he handles it well. Or he's more used to it. Either way.

He finally does let her go, though he doesn't move too far away from her. He's not hovering, he just doesn't want to let her go. It's not the same thing.]

I'm all right.

[upbyone]

[ Kyra looks him in the eye, like she's trying to determine if he's hiding anything. After a moment, she nods toward an empty table. ]

Get some food, then come sit.

[ She's not even sure if he's hungry, but they were in a labyrinth with inconsistent access to food. ]

[seenitall]

[He's not lying, at least. He might be a bit more banged up in places that aren't obvious than he lets on, but it's nothing worth bringing up, as far as he's concerned. Nothing serious, nothing that won't heal up soon.

He doesn't particularly want to move away from her, but getting something to eat is a good idea. He's not much of a coffee drinker, so he ends up with a tea and a couple croissants that he brings back to the table with him. If he keeps glancing in her direction like he's making sure she hasn't disappeared, maybe she'll be kind and not mention it.]

So, what happened to you after we got separated?

[upbyone]

[ She can tell that he's twitchy about leaving her. Kyra understands why; she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the same way. Being separated like that in the labyrinth was, for her, the most traumatizing part. She can handle being on her own, but constantly wondering if Alex was okay was hard.

She doesn't mention it. There's no need to.

At his question, she takes a sip of coffee as she tries to remember what order everything happened in. ]

I looked for you. [ She spent a day(-ish?) looking for him. ] But I couldn't stay in the same spot for long.

[seenitall]

I looked for you, too.

[He tried, anyway. The best he could manage most of the time was to just keep pressing on and ask the people he met if they'd seen her.] Pretty sure the whole thing was designed to keep people from staying together for too long.

[upbyone]

[ She nods. ]

Everyone I met, we got separated within a few hours.

[ She leans forward and absently rolls the mug around in her hands. ]

Aurora said the point is cooperation. I still don't understand. Are we being set up to form alliances only to be expected to fight each other later?

[seenitall]

I dunno.

[That actually is something he's been confused by before. There was a pattern in the maze of rewarding them for helping each other. But the point of bringing them here is that only one universe can be saved, right? So eventually they're going to be at each other's throats?]

Maybe she doesn't want us fighting each other because we'd be too difficult to deal with.

[upbyone]

[ She shakes her head. ]

If we were distracted fighting each other, we couldn't coordinate against her or Echo. It makes no sense to encourage us to work together.

[ Not that she's outright going to go up against Aurora or Echo. Not yet. And not after what Greif did to her parents because she defied him. ]

They could just be very sure in their positions of power.

[seenitall]

Could cause a lot of havoc with their world, though.

[Could they screw up the place so bad that Aurora and Echo would be vulnerable trying to fix it? Might be something worth considering.]

[upbyone]

[ There are a lot of could-bes. Kyra has had enough time to think through many of them, none of them pleasant. ]

Possibly but... [ She frowns in frustration. ] I can't make any of this make sense.

[seenitall]

We don't know enough yet.

[And that's by design, probably. They haven't even had a chance to really properly explore the area, what with the rain and then the labyrinth getting in the way.]

[upbyone]

[ She takes a sip of her coffee, feeling morose. ]

The city keeps changing too.

[ Who knows how much of their scant intel is even still good? ]

[seenitall]

More to look at now. Think that's why they had us in a labyrinth? Give them room for construction?

[It's the worst version of being put up in a room while someone works on your house ever.]