driftfleet | A call in the dark

[It won't be long before the Marsiva leaves the system. Not once has the fleet's Host Ship gone near the green, mysterious planet, choosing instead to keep it only at the far edges of her reach. All the while, the party deck has remained open and welcoming, tempting passengers to stay and try their luck for last-minute prizes.

And just when it seems like the fleet may leave the Lagan system without incident- a sudden rush of energy flares out across the green planet's surface and beyond, rippling far past its atmosphere until it reaches every ship in the fleet. The energy buffets the hulls and scrambles the instruments for one or two very dramatic minutes - just as it had before, but much more powerful in its reach. The wave is still invisible, save for a confusing warp in the way light describes shapes, but those who are sensitive to various energies--psionic, magical, life-force, or otherwise--will be able to feel an overwhelming force comb through their entire being, before the phenomenon passes over and ends.

However, unlike last time, this wave of energy is not silent. Across both the speakers of every communication device and console, and in the minds of anyone sensitive to the energy, comes the message:]

Yei equoa seh ouat ti unduo ti akun. Yiat deht quoi yiat seh kiskhan. Yiaht seh yesui ti yiat seh enduan, tal yei vissai atuav yei ti esat yiat lehir hanui. Esat yiat lehir evess. Esat yiat lehir illua tal giskat deht. Wes sahat lehir enila yei, wes yei vissai seh nan sahat ista, sahat yayet quoi adaht woru vitsahn. Hanui gisketi ideht yesui ti tokia gisketi ideht uaru, tal adrifa deseht adtah.

[Those who had been investigating the wreckage's systems may notice that this message is the very same as the one coded in the distress signal. Perhaps the Virsua was trying once last time to communicate.]

[OOC: Feel free to use this post as a mingle--either for broadcasts over the network or in-person interactions. The Marsiva is still within range of the planet for another day or two, so any in-person threads can be on the planet's surface, aboard various ships or stations, or in the Marsiva's party room.

For those who had learned a translated word before, now is a great chance to put that knowledge to use!

While the mods continue to sort out the upcoming happenings with the Drift Fleet, we thought a final themed mingle would be fun to play with in the meantime. Enjoy!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes.

[He stares at the readout some more, and grimaces.] I certainly hope this isn't something we need to know about that planet. We're getting farther from it, aren't we? Soon we'll... [the words begin to sink in as he says them, and he stares out the viewport in the direction of the distant planet] ...lose contact entirely...

[Is this gnawing, sinking feeling the same thing Kratos has felt? He knows they don't have much time left...]

[...]

For our sake, it might be for the best not to linger near this planet too long.

[Yuan frowns at Allen, with just a trace of anxiety.] What do you mean, 'for our sake'?

I've been to places that have these sorts of...calls.

Sooner or later, they tend to turn on you.

[Yuan searches his face, letting the silence draw out for a long moment.]

...I know I'm not good at judging ages on humans, but it's possible I'm worse than I thought I was.

[SIGH]

I'm 24.

...Ah. I...didn't mean to hit a sore spot. [He was actually trying to pay a compliment...in his...weird Yuan way...]

[It's okay Yuan, you tried]

It's fine, I get that all the time. [Okay so it's not fine, but it's not really something he can change either]

It's a side effect of that castle I mentioned before. My body hasn't aged in awhile.

[He manages to be as cool as he intends to be...sometimes. Occasionally. When the wind is right.]

...How long were...we...there? [It still feels weird to talk about, but it's better than letting himself dwell on the sudden homesickness he's feeling at the thought of not having any forest to walk in at all. It's not just the planet's call that's having an impact.]

[He notices the use of that pronoun, as if maybe Yuan was starting to believe him. Which was a relief, in of itself. He won't comment on it though]

Seven years for me. A little less for you....maybe four or five?

That's a lot of time to lose. [He doesn't know if he believes it, but there is a lot of 'impossible' going around, and a lot more 'unsettling'. At this point he's not sure what's going to be proven true tomorrow.

More importantly, Allen claims to know him, and Yuan doesn't want to let that remain one-sided. If going along with the story for now lets him get to know Allen better, well, he's concealed stronger doubts in the face of far worse.] ...Would this castle be a place that 'turned on us', then?

...Yes. One of the places.

It'd bring people there to feed on their emotions and souls. And every once and awhile, it'd do things to torment us. Probably for the heightened emotions we'd give.

[And they were there for years. And Allen was there longer, and he was only a child - is barely more than that now, by Yuan's standards. He's silent for a moment as he digests this.]

...It sounds like I might be the fortunate one, not to remember it.

[Yeah, Allen's whole childhood was basically a crapshoot. Being kidnapped into space is literally the best thing to probably ever happen to him ok]

Yeah...maybe it is for some.

[Allen's not real sure what to say to that, since on one hand- he gets it. Who wants to remember such terrible memories when you don't have to? Yuan was old enough to have plenty of memories to get by on just fine. On the other hand? Allen's been without memories before, and seven years was a not small chunk of his life. Erasing that...it'd be like erasing a huge part of himself]

[For some, but not all. Yuan's pretty good at hearing what isn't said.]

...You said when I first arrived that you hadn't known me well. But you were also the first to greet me. [This is a weird, unknown social landscape, and he feels like he's stumbling around it, blindly missing things that must be obvious from the other side.]

Eh?

[He thinks back on that day, rubbing the back of his neck]

Well, that's true. You and I weren't really close friends or anything. But there weren't a lot of people there who stayed longer than a year...so you tended to remember who did.

How many people were there? In general, I mean. Dozens? ...Hundreds? [He's curious despite himself, trying to wrap his mind around the scope of the situation.]

A few hundred, usually.

[A few hundred people, all pulled from different worlds like the people of the fleet, living together in one castle, most of them staying for less than a year. And he stayed for five or so...and Allen even longer. This kid grew into adulthood in a place like that... He stares at nothing for a long moment while he lets that sink in.]

Sounds a little like immortality. I can see how you'd start to remember familiar faces.

I wouldn't know, I'm mortal. [Aside from the lack of aging for a few years] It was a bit like a small town, really, I think.

A call in the dark

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