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

[skaikru]

( 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.

[levelshift]

[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.

[skaikru]

( 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?

[levelshift]

[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.

[skaikru]

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?

[levelshift]

[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.