Sweet dreams are made of these...

[thespaceopera]

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for A-M characters )

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ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A Abigail Hobbs Aiya/Gray Nightingale Adrasteius Anor'thalion Ahsoka Tano Alex Russo Allen Walker Anders Anthony Crowley Asteffiel Axel

B - D Belthazar Spellscry Beverly Crusher Bran Stark Caesar Zeppeli Cayde-6 Cheese Sandwich Clay Terran Coil Cole Davesprite Duke Pantarei

E - I Elecman.exe Elena Gilbert Elize Lutus Felix Harrowgate Fenris Finrod Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus Imperator Furiosa Isabela Issac Lahey

J - M Jade Harley James Barnes/Jim James Barnes/Winter Joseph Joestar Katara Katniss Everdeen/Nova Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya Kurt Wagner Leanne Loki Maladict(a) Max Caulfield Megaman Mordin Solus

Comments

Clay Terran

[geonomy]

[When you enter the room, your body immediately feels lighter. It looks like you just stepped outside of your ship without a protective suit on. You and everything else that's on you is floating; clothes will feel like they're under water, hair will float up and all around. Hopefully you have short hair! But while it's supposed to be dangerous to be anywhere out here without any sort of protective clothing on, you'll receive none of that. You can breathe, and there's no pressure around you. Even those with motion sickness won't feel any of the ill affects of that. Clay doesn't want to hurt anyone, after all. Off in the distant blackness of space are thousands of stars, all twinkling beautifully. In one direction you'll see what looks like a small, fiery ball that represents the sun that's thousands of miles away, and in the other, there's another red ball, one that represents Mars. The moon is nearby too, rotating slowly on its own axis and around the Earth itself, showing all of its craters and even the tiny, barely noticeable flags of the countries who've been there.

Most noticeable of all, however, is the massive planet in front of you. It's Earth, its clouds moving slowly across the surface, tiny pinpricks of light flickering on and off as night settles across one side of the planet. The world turns, but the first thing you'll look at is America, specifically the western side, and the view of California seems to be more noticeable than any other state in the country. Watch long enough, and you'll see the world subtly change. An aurora bursts to life in the top and bottom of it. Some clouds turn darker as it rains on a certain part of Earth. Some of the little lights turn off and stay off as the side of the planet you're viewing turns into day. Space debris will float down, only to burn up in the atmosphere, causing a shooting star for the citizens below to see. No matter how much you move, though, the Earth and everything else is at a fixed point, unable to be reached. This room isn't nearly as big and wide open as it appears, after all.

Clay himself is nearby, floating in the microgravity that affects the room and seeming to not pay any attention at all to you. He's unreachable, too, for if you float towards him, he'll always seem to be at the same distance that he originally was. He's off in his own world, watching everything that space has to offer and saying little factoids about it, though after a while, you might notice something.]

The Earth's rotation is slowing down. It's almost unnoticeable, only at about 17 milliseconds every hundred years. At that rate, it'll take about 140 million years for the length of the day to reach 25 hours instead of 24.

[Everything he says, every fact and every theory, is all about Earth. Those who know him may recall that he knows much more than this, more about space itself and everything you're is seeing, but he's not talking about those other things. It's all about Earth, what makes it what it is and how it's affected by space and vice-versa. There may be a reason behind that.

Around the planet, you'll notice that there are objects rotating around it, faster than even the moon, so that they can get to you quicker. If you've been to another room before this, you'll know what they are. As they come towards you, they slow down considerably, giving you a chance to touch them if you want to. If you don't, they'll float out of reach, then speed up to make their trip around the Earth again. Each item will exude a certain emotion, making you feel it as well the closer you get to it. The items that give off the happiest feelings are:]

[☆ A defense attorney's badge, shined and perfect and new.
☆ A framed degree.
☆ A bracelet. For those who may have met Apollo before, they'll recognize it as the one he constantly wears.
☆ A telescope.
☆ A tiny little rocket ship flying around.
☆ Similarly, a tiny little plane flying around.
☆ A star that's even more vibrant than the others.
☆ A sword that looks like the emblem of his ship.]

[There are a couple of items that give off bittersweet feelings as well.]

[☀ A sign that looks like something one would see in a psychiatrist's office saying “I'M FINE”.
☀ A small red glowfish.]

[Two of them give off a serious feeling, as if the gravity of the situation is very heavy, though the first one will be moreso than the second.]

[◆ A bottle of anxiety pills.
◆ A janitor's closet door.]

[And there are a few that will make you feel a sense of sadness, some more than others:]

[☾ His visor, with a different emblem in the middle instead of the GYAXA symbol.
☾ A traveling bag meant to carry a large amount of items. It will appear blurry.
☾ A blue shirt that has the word “GAVINNERS” across it in pink font.
☾ A frog. It's dead.
☾ A child's book on astronomy.]

[But there are two in particular that give off very strong emotions. When they're near you, you'll feel a sense of dread, a cold, icy loneliness that grips at the heart. Clay doesn't want you to see these, and they're made apparent by the fact that there's a black lock around them. They are:]

[✖ Medical tape, wrapped around the lock.
✖ What looks like a bomb from the movies counting down from five seconds to zero, then starting over again, on and on.]

[There doesn't seem to be a door that's visible to exit the place. You might want to ask him about it if that's what you want to do.]

[save_the_souls]

GAH- [When Allen realizes he's floating, his first instinct is to flail in an attempt to grab for something. He's never free flown before- the only times he's come close is holding onto Lenalee's hand- and half the time he spent fretting about about falling. So it takes him a moment to get the hang of it and go through the initial panic where you think you're going to fall and die]

[But, when the inevitable crash landing doesn't happen- he blinks and stops the flailing, starting to take in the sight around him. Which holy hell- what a sight it was- all those stars. It was impossible not to be mesmerized by the views around him. This was completely different from looking outside the spaceship as they flew.] Wow...

[Testingly, he tries to move himself forward- it's uncharacteristically clumsy and slow, far too used to being with gravity for moving. It's going to take him awhile to get used to this. It's then he hears the sound of Clay's voice talking to himself, and he turns his head to look]

Clay?

[Only, when he turns to look, he doesn't really fully make it to see Clay just because he's completely distracted by Earth. It even takes a moment for it to sink in what planet he's looking at, but when it does? Something inside him pulls heart at his heart. A longing, of the home he hadn't seen in over eight years...right there in front of him.]

[Without realizing it, his hand reaches out towards the planet. Only then does the sign with "I'M FINE" written on it moves near his hand- shaking him out of his daze] Huh? What's- [What the hell is a sign doing out here? With it being so near, he reaches out and grabs it- to try to get a better look]

[geonomy]

[When Allen touches the sign, the space around him fades in a bright light. When the light recedes, he'll find himself with his feet on the ground and gravity working once more. Upon looking around, he'll see that it's night time, and he appears to be in a school courtyard. Towards the front of it, he'll hear the sound of someone crying. It's not quite a child, and not quite an adult. It sounds like someone who's just hitting their teenager years.

Will Allen:

A. Go towards the sound
or
B. Be a total dick and walk away from it]

[electrostatics]

[ It's pretty nice, here. He spends time just floating meditatively, listening to facts about Earth, watching things pass by. He doesn't even attempt to talk to Clay; he just watches things spin.

After a while, though, curiosity gets the better of him. As the bright star (more of a spark, maybe, he thinks) slows down, passing him, he gently touches it. ]

[geonomy]

[When Elecman touches the star, the space around him fades in a bright, white light. When the world fades back in again, he'll find himself in the hallway of a ship that looks a lot like one of the fleet ships. There's nothing too interesting here, but he'll be able to hear a voice talking. It doesn't sound like the one he was listening to before, but it seems like that's where the action is going on right now. Will he go towards it? Or look around first?]

[experiencepoints]

[So, here's some fun trivia. Nightingale has been growing her hair out for a very, very long time. She doesn't remember why or since when right now, but speaking practically, her hair is roughly knee-length.

At least, it is when gravity is in effect. But, well. She has one moment of having her breath taken away at the beautiful sight of the planet... Which is then promptly ruined by physics. Her hair floats up, whipping around with every slight movement of her head, until it's all a tangled mess around her. And, well. Her uniform involves a miniskirt and a cape. Every time she manages to fix her hair, those start floating around and messing up. Every time she fixes those, her hair is a problem again.

So, she floats herself over in Clay's direction, trying to reach him, while keeping herself modest and... not under attack by the hair kraken.]

Please forget about Earth for like ten seconds and give me a hand over here?!

[Seriously, this place is great, she will listen to your space babble for ages after this if you let her, but this is important.]

[geonomy]

[Clay does glance at her, but otherwise doesn't acknowledge her presence. He starts to float backward, as if he's doing a very slow back flip.]

The Earth actually isn't round. It's an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator. Don't let those pictures fool you!

[Still, even though it seems like Clay's ignoring her, she'll find that her hair's moved back, her clothes stay... somewhat more still, and all in all, the whole microgravity thing becomes a bit more manageable. There is still the feeling of floating in space, but at least she's not being attacked by the hair cthulhu.]

[recopy]

[Even with this entire experience in the fleet aside, Megaman's far from unfamiliar with the concept of outer space. It's covered in all kinds of media all the time, after all, and on the scientific front there's always been something to talk about, a new feat to reach in getting up there. He'd always had a sort of passive appreciation for space anyway: it was neat, after all, and even the computer scientists in SciLab had always seemed pretty enamored with it. Even having that run-in with Duo hadn't really tarnished that mild appreciation any. Just like Earth, Megaman had always figured space had its nice inhabitants and its bad ones, and they'd just gotten a rather unlucky draw that time.

Even after spending all this time in the fleet, though, Megaman isn't prepared for this--a shot of the Earth this immense and detailed. Sure he's seen videos and pictures plenty of times, but something like this....admittedly he might have spent some time just floating absentmindedly and taking it all in. (The floating's nice, too. There are some areas a bit reminiscent to this in the cyber world, actually, and there's something a bit comforting about that...)

At first he doesn't even realize the voice rattling off space facts belongs to somebody, actually--it fits in perfectly with the surroundings, after all, like somebody on a speaker narrating an exhibit in a museum. But, when Megaman finally manages to look away from the Earth for a bit, he finds himself finally tracking the voice to its source--and spotting Clay is simultaneously very surprising and...not surprising at all.

A familiar face is nice, though, and Megaman starts over in Clay's direction! ...Or well, sort of. Tries to. Moving in microgravity, ah...but he attempts to emulate some kind of vague swimming gesture, in an effort to get a little bit closer, and he calls out.]

Hey, Clay! Ah, this is amazing...!

[geonomy]

[Clay gives Megaman a glance... but that's about all he gets in terms of him actually answering the guy. Instead, he turns until he's facing upward, almost as if he's floating on his back on top of a pool of water. He gives a smile then, like he's at peace with the world, and keeps talking.]

The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. Take that, creationism.

[huaaaaagh]

[For a long, long moment - after the initial flailing gasps before he realizes he can breathe in this 'space' - Kirito can't really do anything except stare at the Earth. It's so huge and daunting, and while he's seen lots of photos and images in textbooks of this very view, the real thing goes well beyond simple pictures. He drifts aimlessly in the open space, watching the world turn slowly. At the edge, just around the corner, maybe he'll see Japan...

He can hear Clay talking, though, and it would be rude to just ignore another person, especially in such a strange situation as this. He kicks his legs a bit awkwardly, trying to maneuver himself closer.]

If it's happening so slowly, how was it discovered that it's happening at all?

[TEACH ME, BRO, THIS IS FASCINATING SHIT]

[geonomy]

[Clay glances over, and... you know, he's about to go on to another fact, but he tilts his head a bit and pauses. This is something he'd like to answer, one that goes along with his line of thought.]

The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, or IERS, monitors the Earth's rotation. They determine a time scale based on the current rate of rotation of the planet. It's thanks to them that they discovered a time frame that goes all the way back to the 1820s, and they estimate that when the Earth was first formed, it only had a 6.5 hour day and night cycle. Some scientists believe that wind and changes in atmospheric pressure is a contributing factor to this.

[pain_train]

[She should probably be paying attention to weird things like there being no air. But for a really long stretch of time, Wrath's just floating around, getting tangled up in her own mass of pink hair until she gets it braided up, and enjoying the feeling of weightlessness and the way her back hurts less. Once she gets the hang of it, she's pretty good at floating around. It's fun!

The items are interesting, of course, but it's rude to take other people's stuff without asking. And people are way more interesting than stuff anyway.

A few minutes of listening to Clay and his recitation, and she's come to one major conclusion that she calls out to him:]

Wow, you're really smart! I didn't know any stuff about the Earth before.

[geonomy]

[This is definitely a room made to be relaxing, to aid others rather than stress them out. Clay likes to lift people up and encourage them, and to do otherwise would go against what he believes in. Everything Wrath's feeling is the whole purpose of this place.

When she calls out, Clay, who'd been floating with a serene expression, feels his smile widen, though he doesn't acknowledge more than that. He likes letting people learn more about space and the place he calls home, loves being the one to teach someone about it.]

The deepest spot on Earth is under the ocean, in the Marina Trench. It's about 35,500 feet below sea level, and it's so deep that scientists have yet to explore it fully.

[dancingmd]

[There's a brief moment of panic when Beverly finds herself here, outside the ship without a spacesuit. Without thinking, her hand reflexively flies to her chest, where her combadge normally sits. Someone needs to beam her back, now.

As she hits her chest, however, reason quickly takes over. For one thing, her body isn't swelling from the pressure and for another, she's breathing. If this were truly space, she would already be unconscious by now.

So. Another dream, another calibration. But whose?

That's when she hears Clay's voice reciting scientific facts about Earth. Turning towards him, she calls out his name, uncertain if he will respond.]

[geonomy]

[And there he is, floating near her. It's like he doesn't want to make this too hard for anyone who comes in here; this is a place to be free, to relax and enjoy the beauty of space and the place that he calls home.

When she calls, he answers, but not in the way she might prefer. He does glance at her to acknowledge her, but that's about all she gets in terms of him actually paying attention to her.]

Earth has a powerful magnetic field that protects it from solar winds. Some scientists believe that this is a result of the nickel-iron of the core combining with the rotation of the planet itself, which is about 1,670 kilometers per hour. But, depending on your latitude, the speed can be either faster or slower. The mathematical equation behind it, if you want to see how fast the Earth is rotating in your area, is multiplying the cosine of the degree latitude by the speed of 1037.5646.

[Someone's done that equation many, many times.]

[notmutantbutmiracle]

[Of all the "rooms" Wanda has visited thus far, this one was by far the most crazy. I mean, she was floating in space after all. Naturally, this certainly caused some initial panic as Wanda feared what would happen as a result of being exposed to the cold vacuum of space. However, after a few seconds pass, she comes to her senses enough to realize that none of those horrible things seem to be happening. In fact, she can breathe just fine. The terror subsides, and the whole experience actually becomes kind of fun. She has practiced using her powers for levitating before, but it felt nothing like this. Whatever this sensation was, it felt much more... well, freeing.]

[A smile spreads on her face, practically uncontrollably so, as she flies around a little. After letting herself get lost a little in the joy of floating around space, she begins to take notice of her surroundings. Most obvious was the Earth. It was beautiful, breath-taking even. It really was hard to put into words the feeling of seeing that big, familiar, blue-planet in this way.]

[However, Wanda soon gets distracted by the objects orbiting around the Earth. At first, she almost misses them, they fly by quicker than expected. When they make their second pass around, she is able to reach out and catch hold of one. It appears to be a badge of some kind. It's very official looking, a new sheen emanates off it.]

[geonomy]

[Clay watches her, a serene smile on his face as he does so. It's nice, seeing other people enjoy this place as much as he does. Space is wonderful, and the planet Earth is amazing. He wonders how many people take it for granted after living in space for so long, how much they're missing what an incredible place it can be.

But when she touches an item, he turns back ahead, letting the memory shine first in a white, bright light...

And when the light fades back to reality, Wanda will find herself on her feet again, gravity affecting her once more. She's in a roomy, one bedroom apartment, and she'll be standing behind the couch while Clay paces in front of it. He's staring down at his Android Galaxy phone (because of course it's a Galaxy), where it appears to be open on a text message. If Nightingale looks, it'll say "WAIT THERE".

But after a moment, Clay shakes his head and pockets the phone, adjusting his visor (which, interestingly enough, doesn't have the GYAXA logo it usually has, but the emblem for his college instead), and starts to head to the door.]

Screw it, I've got to meet him!

[The world slows down considerably, and Wanda will feel like she can make a choice here. Will she:

A. Stop Clay from going
or
B. Wait and see]

[delincuente]

[It takes Alex a few long moments to realize what's going on. Another night, another strange dream, and this one is at least fairly relaxing. She feels like she's in a bathtub, devoid of any sensation other than floating. But then she hears a familiar voice, coming through the darkness from nearby, and she snaps out of the trance. What?]

... Clay?

[Earth is suddenly too huge in front of her, and space too dark, and she makes a flailing move towards him.]

Clay! What the-

[She notices the orbiting objects too late, when her hand comes in contact with something soft and wet - she's inadvertently grabbed the dead frog, which she immediately makes a disgusted face at.]

Okay dude, what the fuck?

[geonomy]

[Beyond the glance he gives her, he barely notices her, save to spout off some Earth-related information at her. He hopes she can relax after a moment, but first, she just has to touch the dead frog, right?

The space all around her fades as well as the weightless sensation. Alex finds herself in a classroom, sitting at one of the lab tables with several other preteens, though some of their faces are blurry due to Clay not remembering them. To her right is a boy with brown hair with two strands of hair awkward sticking up in the front, as if it's a new style he was trying out and couldn't get quite right.

To her left is someone who might be familiar to her: it's a boy with shaggy black hair and brown eyes, though he keeps his head down and rubs at his nose every now and then. The motion gets the boy on her right to occasionally look at him, then go back to facing the front of he class.

Really, the only thing that's missing from the boy on the left is the visor and the bandage on his nose. That, and the fact that he looks skinny and awkward, nothing like the built, confident man she'd know now.

The teacher at the front of the class draws a few more points on what the class is learning today, and then she turns to the the rest of the students with a smile on her face.]

All right, class, you know what today is! We're going to learn what a frog looks like on the inside!

[Some of the students cheer, some of them make disgusted noises. The boy on Alex's left, Clay, flinches. And the one on her right, Apollo, flexes his left hand and looks at Clay again.

The teacher, meanwhile, goes to a door on the side to get the very thing she needs to teach the lesson: a cooler of dead frogs.]

[touchofrogue]

[OKAY so. A benefit to living with someone who is spouting off about space all the time is that Rogue knows not to scream. If she holds her breath, she has a chance of not... instantly... exploding. Just dying of exposure. Which is better, to her mind, than exploding.

But then she notices that she is not cold. And that those are not just planets, floating around the Earth.

And that Clay is there. Talking. About Earth.

...where is a wall that she can bang her head into?

Cautiously, she exhales and breathes... okay. Good.

Well... she tries to approach her captain first, but then he just... floats out of the way. Awkward. One of the objects orbiting the planet comes whizzing by, and Rogue grabs instinctively bats it away -- a brightly glowing star.]

[geonomy]

[Aw, Rogue, what did that poor star do to you? Still, it counts as her touching it, and so the space around her, and the occupant in it, start to fade in a bright, white light. Gravity slowly becomes apparent again in a way that's not sudden at all, as he doesn't want to jostle anyone who visits.

When the world fades back into view again, Rogue find herself in the hallway of a ship that looks a lot like one of the fleet ships. It's not the Vanquish, that's for sure; the coloring and the shape of the hallway are a little off. There's nothing too interesting here, as one end of the hall is blocked by a mass of darkness, but she'll be able to hear a voice talking on the other, lighter end of the hallway. It doesn't sound like Clay, but it seems like that's where the action is going on right now. Will she go towards it? Or look around first?]

[proudlywehailed]

[floating doesn't startle him as much as it could; but then again, not a lot does. when orion sees clay, he tries to reach him; but upon realizing he can't get closer, he deems it a lost cause, and just listens to him for a while, watching the earth change and turn.

[then he notices something float in front of him; a bottle of pills. something feels inherently wrong; it doesn't feel right that someone like clay would have these... but orion forces himself to think about it. just because clay is a shining beacon of light in his life doesn't mean he doesn't have his problems. it's his cheerfulness in the face of opposition that's made him what he is. orion remembers what clay told him about his mother, he centers himself... and he reaches out to take the bottle.]

[geonomy]

[Though Orion can't see it, once he touches the pill bottle, Clay glances at him with a frown, as if he's unsure if he really wants him touching that or not. Regardless, the space around Orion fades in a bright, white light, and gravity starts to introduce itself gradually, as if he doesn't want to jostle the guest.

When the world fades back into view, Orion will find himself in what looks like an office. The lighting is dim, and at first, there isn't anyone in there. In the few seconds Orion has, he might notice many, many things relating to space, not just pictures, but documents as well.

Once the door opens, that's when it truly starts. Suddenly appearing behind the desk is an old man on a segway, his back facing the door. And at the door? Is Clay, dressed in the official blue outfit and jacket of the space center. He closes the door behind himself, then takes a couple of steps into the room, where he stops, straightens his back, and locks his hands behind the middle of his back.]

You wanted to see me, Captain?

[The man on the segway turns, machine and all, to regard Clay, then give a slow nod.]

Yes. Please sit down, Terran.

[Clay pauses, a bit unsure, but then does as he's told. There are two chairs in front of the desk, and Clay sits in the one that has a better view of the Captain in front of him. Orion can sit too if he wants, or stay standing.]

[thatwhichyields]

[Appearing was odd enough. Phedre's hair drifted up, long curls sliding past her face and making her look like a Hellene myth.

She listened, for a long while, to the facts that were divulged. Things she didn't necessarily understand, but were clearly informative.

The glowfish passed her first - the feeling reminding her of the spicy candies given to children in Valerian house. She reached out to touch a fin as is drifted by.]

[stefanged]

[He's gonna die again. Stefan's ventured to several dreams at this point, and logically, he knows he's okay. He knows that other people's dreams can't kill him. Doesn't quite stop his heart from pounding faster as he orients himself to look at... Earth.

A lump forms in his throat. The last time he was in outer space like this, it wasn't for a good reason. So he shakes it off, instead focusing on the items ahead of him - and the guy rattling off scientific facts near them.]

Clay?

[Oh, this would be the dork's dream. Stefan doesn't even try to hide his groan.] Of course.

[Figuring that he should leave the guy alone for now, he reaches out for the degree first because hey, it's closest.]