Voices from Heaven (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thespaceopera) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
driftfleet2017-06-09 09:55 am
thespaceopera) wrote in driftfleet2017-06-09 09:55 am
Calibration Post 1, "Daytime"
[ Not long after the shuffle, there's a ripple of static over the network - loud, sudden, and seemingly with no origin. It's puzzling, but there's no indication that it's going to happen again...
Until a minute later. Another surge of static comes in over the speakers, and then a voice - one some may find familiar, though not necessarily welcome, after all of this time... It's Diamond. Long time no speak, hmm?
Clearly, not all is well. She sounds very far away, for one. For another, she sounds... skeptical, almost alarmed. There may actually be real concern in her voice. ]
Again? Twice in one c--
[ Her sentence is cut short with a strangled gasp, followed by a moment of silence. What follows may be the sound of metal dragged across metal, but it's hard to place. When she speaks again, it's uncharacteristically monotonous. ]
... Bring them in.
[ A blip of lost time passes right after those words, before every passenger mysteriously wakes alone in their own unfamiliar room. The style of decor resembles that of the Marsiva's Hospitality Deck, if any passengers should remember what that's like. It sounds and smells the same as the host ship as well, all clean and chrome, but this set of rooms has only been used once, and for the very same purpose that befalls the fleet contestants now.
As for their hosts, there is no immediate sign of them, though some may recall a series of hideous, half-electronic screams before their memories begin to blur upon arrival...
Welcome back to the Marsiva, dear passengers. It's time for round two of calibrations. ]
[ This mingle will cover all non-calibration room interactions. Please continue to come back to it for the duration of the plot! You are, of course, free to post any other mingles/posts/etc. that you'd like. ]
Until a minute later. Another surge of static comes in over the speakers, and then a voice - one some may find familiar, though not necessarily welcome, after all of this time... It's Diamond. Long time no speak, hmm?
Clearly, not all is well. She sounds very far away, for one. For another, she sounds... skeptical, almost alarmed. There may actually be real concern in her voice. ]
Again? Twice in one c--
[ Her sentence is cut short with a strangled gasp, followed by a moment of silence. What follows may be the sound of metal dragged across metal, but it's hard to place. When she speaks again, it's uncharacteristically monotonous. ]
... Bring them in.
[ A blip of lost time passes right after those words, before every passenger mysteriously wakes alone in their own unfamiliar room. The style of decor resembles that of the Marsiva's Hospitality Deck, if any passengers should remember what that's like. It sounds and smells the same as the host ship as well, all clean and chrome, but this set of rooms has only been used once, and for the very same purpose that befalls the fleet contestants now.
As for their hosts, there is no immediate sign of them, though some may recall a series of hideous, half-electronic screams before their memories begin to blur upon arrival...
Welcome back to the Marsiva, dear passengers. It's time for round two of calibrations. ]
[ This mingle will cover all non-calibration room interactions. Please continue to come back to it for the duration of the plot! You are, of course, free to post any other mingles/posts/etc. that you'd like. ]
no subject
I see. Was there something you wanted to ask me about? [Yuan has a vague idea that there is a great deal of terrible that Eithan might have run into there, though it's hard to remember specifics. If he's lucky, this is a horribly awkward offer of pity for the way he grew up.]
no subject
Well, given a lot of it was completely out of context and really not great, yeah, I've got some questions.
[ He hesitates, just a second. His expression turns serious, but not severe - not yet. He wants to hear him talk, after all. ] I know it's not like we've talked a whole lot. So if it's seriously none of my business, then fine. But if you've actually got it in you to put a whole town to death over protectin' one of their own? Then, yeah, I kinda want to know that goin' forward.
[ One thing at a time, right? ]
no subject
Yuan closes his eyes.] Do I have it in me? Yes. If I had no other choice, yes, that's something I could still do.
The rage I felt back then, which made it my first choice, is something that's a part of my past. [He opens his eyes, looks at Eithan.] I'll understand if you can't see it that way.
no subject
On one hand, long time ago, I was given an order to burn down a house with supposed traitors in it. I made 'em think I did it, but I didn't. But watchin' everyone else burn everything down still sticks with you. You know? So, talk about bad flashbacks. Heh.
[ He holds up a finger. ] But, on the other hand... when that same group of people kidnapped and murdered a girl I knew, callin' her a foul-blooded curse and a slug, just 'cause she was a magic user from the islands instead of the mainland? Yeah, I had enough rage in me to blow up the whole tower and burn every guard inside.
[ And you didn't even have to go through his calibration room for that little bit of info! Congrats. ... He shakes his head. ]
So! I'd be a damn hypocrite if I couldn't see it that way. I just... wanted to know you weren't really workin' on a hair trigger like that now, I guess.
no subject
...That was thousands of years ago. I've had plenty of time to come to grips with all the things I've done wrong in those years. [Ambiguous phrasing: has thousands of years given him plenty of time to come to grips with his crimes, or has he done more things wrong in the years since?
(the answer is yes)]
no subject
Thousands of--? Just how old are you? [ Beat. ] Not--! Tryin' to be rude. Just. That's. Not a thing in my world unless you're a demigod or somethin'. So that's. Wow.
no subject
You know, I keep forgetting who I have and haven't had this conversation with. Yes, I'm something along the lines of four thousand years old. The reasons why are...complicated, but for all I know you might have witnessed some of them.
no subject
I mean, if I did see somethin' that pointed to that, I guess it didn't click? It was mostly... out of context and kinda removed.
But... I did see, uh, Martel. In the end. The... goddess, right? But she wasn't always? And you said you were sorry. [ Which was a very contributing factor to Eithan coming to talk to him at all instead of either 1) avoiding him forever and ever, or 2) rolling right up and just going off in a rage. ] ... What exactly were you tryin' to accomplish? Why make her a goddess?
no subject
There's a legend in our world, propagated by the Church of Martel which has existed as long as mortal memory: [He closes his eyes and recites.] "Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero’s life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: 'You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed.' The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world."
[He opens his eyes to look at Eithan again.] It isn't entirely false. The Tree did exist once, and it died as a result of the ancient war, but it wasn't the hero Mithos who gave his life to take its place. In fact, no one gave their life on purpose: Martel was murdered by humans while working to sprout the Tree's seed.
no subject
Shit... [ He doesn't care if it's been thousands of years - that's still shitty, and he still feels for him for it. ] That's... the start of all of it, then. Yeah?
no subject