driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Robin
Broadcast: Video!
Action: None!
When: Now!

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[hey, it's Robin. he's lounging around in his captain's chair, feet up on the control panel. he's twirling something around in his fingers--it looks kind of like a glow stick? it's a glass cylinder filled with some sort of glowing, red liquid.]

Back in those casino stations, I won one of these.

[he stops twirling the cylinder. when he holds it up closer to the camera, you can see that it's capped with silver on one end. the insides seem to be bubbling a little, as if the liquid is carbonated.]

This is a Luxilizer... though most people below the surface just called them Dummy Sticks, as in, you were an idiot if you walked around the lower levels without them. They're filled with a liquid extracted from a luminescent fungus that grows in the caves of my hometown.

[he twirls it again. Robin himself doesn't seem particularly delighted about the thing, he's just casually explaining, perhaps out of boredom.]

They were originally designed as a backup light source, in case a person got lost in the tunnels. It also makes it easier for others to see them. It can get pretty dangerous down there, in the dark...

[after a pause, he grips the glowing tube and smiles at the camera.]

It's funny to me. No one where I'm from would give these a second thought, but I've learned that underground cities are not a familiar concept in most worlds.

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[PRIVATE TO JASON | TOTALLY HACKABLE, HE AIN'T NO COMMS OFFICER]

Hey, remember me? [waving from his side of the video feed.] Mr. Mean Everything?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[he considers all of this, for a moment... frowning a little. after several long seconds pass, he clicks his tongue.]

I feel I should mention the presence of magic on my world. It tends to inconveniently bypass scientific reasoning.

[That's... not exactly an easy explanation for him to take.]

Ah. There is certainly nothing that can be accurately termed "magic," where I am from.

I had a feeling...

[but he raises a finger anyway, to make a point.]

Tectonic disturbances split the world open. The monsters have always defied explanation.

Would it be out of place if I were to ask questions about these monsters? I am... curious.

Not at all. There's no reason I couldn't talk about them.

Thank you. Though these monsters may defy explanation, perhaps they do not defy description. Are they very numerous still, remaining a serious threat, or have they diminished in number? Are humans the main part of their diet?

Their numbers have diminished since the Third End... Which is what we call that particular period of time when the world shifted and humans fled underground. Back then, it felt like a war. You had to fight for survival everywhere that you went.

Now, you only have to worry about them in the lowest tunnels, and in some parts of the wilderness... Stragglers come up towards civilization every once in a while, but humans put an end to their rampages very quickly.

As for their diet... [he taps his foot against the floor...] We've actually studied them. They can eat other things, and sometimes eat each other in a fit... But they only seem driven to eat humans.

That is very peculiar. Such a limited predatory drive would be... disadvantageous for any species. I am glad they have diminished, but still, I would be in favour of eliminating them entirely.

You aren't the only one. Rumor has it that one of the underground cities to the east had been completely cleared of monsters, thanks to the Capitol's aggressive cleanup operation... But I've yet to see it myself.

Rumours... may or may not be accurate. Still, it is at least something to aim for.