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[Closed] Fuck this shit I'm out...

Who: Shiro + Thor, Ulaz, Baku, Makie
Broadcast: No.
Action: Yes.
When: Beginning of April.

1. Thor + Reactor building on the planet

[Shiro has always been the kind of guy that keeps himself busy, especially when there's stuff in his mind he's escaping from... like the bunker. Two steps in have been enough to know what's inside, and he leaves before a panic attack could be triggered - he does see in his mind some flashes of cells. He knows where things could be going.

This is awful, just awful. There are lots of things to be said and discussed, about terraforming and people playing god. But he doesn't want to think about that right now, he just wants to make things right. Remembering the deformed animals Ulaz saw and the conversation about radioactive energy that followed it, Shiro makes his way to the reactor building... only to find someone doing the same.]

I see I'm not the only one worried about that uncontrolled machine. Hey, Thor.

2. Ulaz + SS Caprine

[He's moving by instinct right now, his mind a blurry mess of emotions. This can't be happening, it just can't! Damn Atroma, damn their enjoyment of their drama, damn allowing himself to relax in here. He isn't sure how he gets to the pod or how he ends up on the Caprine really, he's on automatic - why the Caprine anyway?

As he slams open the lab door, face white and panting, it becomes easy to understand why. He can't drop the bomb on the team, not yet. Here's the only man that understands.]

Ulaz... [A pause. Deep breath.] ...she's here.

3. Baku + SS Caprine

[After the talk with Ulaz, Shiro is... okay, maybe not fine, but okay enough. He should feel bad for taking the Caprine's doctor to his ship, but he can't deny the comfort that Ulaz's presence brings him. Speaking of the Caprine... there's someone else here that he's fond of. Someone who has also offered help. Shiro stops in his tracks, hands closing in tight, trembling fists. He went to Ulaz for help... his team have been nagging him about it too for how long now?

The subject of his dreams is still delicate... but not more than Haggar. He needs to learn to reach out.

So here he's now, going from the way to the exit to the way to the rooms, and knocks on certain friend's door, nervous but determined.]

Baku? Do you have a minute?

4. Makie + SS Blameless (backdated)

[The sound of the confetti and the musical tune are very familiar by now - Shiro has been in the fleet for a year, and the Blameless changes crew members all the time. So he makes his way to the new arrival, welcoming smile on his face as always.]

New member, huh. Welcome to the SS Blameless. I'm Shiro, captain and pilot of this ship.

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[Thor does nothing but hum slightly in response, his own thoughts going down dark paths whenever they turn to the bunker. There's time enough yet for he and Loki to do something to set their minds at ease ... but in the meantime, this reactor can take precedent.

He's not surprised when Shiro finds the door locked. He sighs, stepping up to examine the door.]

The power plant was like that too. That place did open up after breaking down the doors, though.

Let's give the droids something else to fix, then. Step back.

[Sure, Thor is a god and all, but old habits die hard. So excuse Shiro for the precaution. He he rolls up his right sleeve before raising his metal arm, which immediately starts glowing purple with energy. Not electricity or any kind of similar battery like any other robot, no. It works with his own life energy.

At first he just touches the hinges, as waiting for something to happen - melting, in fact. But nothing happens. Frowning but not ready to give up, he pulls back his arm, this time forming a proper fist that punches the hell out of the door--

Only to leave a dent. For quiznak's sake.]

...it seems we're going to need more power.

[Thor raises his eyebrows at the suggestion, yet he does step back. One step. He isn't sure what Shiro intends so it comes as a surprise when he 'activates' his arm somehow, power surging through it. So, he's got some enhancements, as the Avengers would call it.

Whatever Shiro was expecting to happen clearly didn't. Thor rubs at his chin in thought as the echo of Shiro's fist hitting the stubborn door fades away. That's annoying, though he doesn't yet think it'll stop him punching through it. But, first thing's first--]

What was that, exactly? It didn't look like electricity or magic to me.

[His hand stops glowing while Shiro frowns at the door, trying to understand what's going on. He only looks up at Thor when he hears-- ah. Yeah, of course he has questions. Oh boy, where to even begin. Serious Shiro is serious.]

I don't understand the whole inner working of it either but - the arm is 100% connected to my body - bones, nerves and all. It isn't just a prosthetic. And as far as I know, it works with what we call quintessence. Something like my own life force. [His tone changes then. It's already been pretty tense during the explanation, but now his voice and eyes are just filled with the weight of the dark past that haunts him.] The witch that gave me this is able to manipulate quintessence, but also to create machines that harvest and make use of it. So no, I guess it's not traditional magic.

[And now that witch is here in the fleet. Ugh, he doesn't want to think about that. It's his human hand that touches the door now, as if that could tell him what it's made of.]

This is the first metal I find that I cannot melt or break.

[Thor takes notice of Shiro's change in demeanour. Witches are never good news, and if one is behind the addition of this arm, he can understand why Shiro might have mixed feelings about it.]

I can't say I've heard of quintessence. [He peers closer at Shiro's arm for a moment, before looking up at the man again.] But I do know of witches, and they don't often do things out of charity. Still, it sounds like a formidable weapon.

[Turning to look at the door again, he says:]

In most circumstances.

[Thor nods to himself and gestures to Shiro.]

Now it's your turn to stand back.

[He does wait until Shiro moves away before he steps up to the door himself. This doesn't call for a full lightning strike; Thor isn't keen on blowing up whatever's inside if he does crack through the outer doors. Besides, a punch should do.

In a heartbeat thin bolts of lightning starts crackling around Thor's body, frenetic and bright. His iris lights up with the energy too as he calls his strength to bear and focuses it all into his fist. Within a couple of seconds Thor's pulling his arm back and slamming it forward at the doors.

His fist connects with a deafening thunderclap, bolts of lightning snarling out around him and through the side of the building. Sorry Shiro, you might go temporarily deaf from the noise.

The door shakes under the impact and sand embedded in the side of the building comes falling down all around them. Still, it only just dents.]

[Alright, that gets an amused snort out of him.]

Definitely not charity. But-- yeah. I admit it's been helpful and-- sure, formidable.

[...most of the time indeed. Shiro does move back, a couple of steps in fact - not doubting Thor is about to put a show here, not sir. He's seen lost of stuff since he left Earth, both at home and here, but seeing the God of Thunder in action is still pretty amazing. Part of him remembers something about a hammer in the stories, and he has to wonder if Atroma even took that or the myths were just wrong.

No time left to think when fist connects and everything around shakes, himself included. Shiro winces and raises his arms by instinct, the noise and shaking reminding him of explosions he's been exposed to during the war. And when he opens his eyes, he expects to find--

Welp.]

...I may understand now how this city has been surviving in perfect condition for so long.

[Thor just outright stares at the door for a moment, at a loss -- ]

Are you serious?!

[and then kicks it out of frustration. Which was a good way to vent but completely ineffective. The door remains as immovable as ever. Fuming, Thor steps back and rubs at his chin.]

It's just a door, it shouldn't hold up to that kind of blow.

It shouldn't, and yet...

[Shiro is a more patient man, but he doesn't blame Thor for that kick. He feels like punching something too. Dealing with this planet feels a lot like dealing with Atroma. Which reminds him...

Mmh. He crosses his arms.] I've talked with the others about the possibility of the technology of this planet matching whatever Atroma uses with us - a replicator could explain the ships, the kitchen stock, the gifts, among other things. And we know Atroma is capable of blocking certain powers and abilities - I've always thought it was the augments, but now I have to wonder what kind of machines we're surrounded by.

[He comes closer to touch the door again, this time with his human hand, as if expecting to feel vibrations or noises that could tell him what's keeping the door so sturdy. Nothing, of course.]

[Thor snorts, scuffing the tip of his boot into the sand.]

The Fleet ships are not large enough to house the kind of power required to run this replicator. I looked at the schematics in the power plant - it somehow harnesses several stars' worth of energy.

[It's not as though Thor has never heard of such a thing, but not for this sort of purpose, or scale. Even the weapon forges used by Asgard didn't match up.]

If they're hiding that somewhere, it would be on the Marsiva.

I've seen magical crystals and ores that harness that energy, back in my world.

[He thinks of the crystals of the Balmera... he thinks of his very own lion, who has never needed to recharge. There are way too many mysterious things in the universe and he's willing to believe most of them.]

But I agree that anything hidden must be on the Marsiva. Did you see the document I mentioned last time? Last year, we were sent back to the Marsiva for a month, and we were able to notice some things we weren't supposed to, like hidden labs.

[Dude, you have some wack crystals if they contain that much power. Thor momentarily looks completely baffled at the concept, before his expression smooths out. If things like the Infinity Stones exist in his own universe, anything's possible.]

I did read it. Those areas are beyond the small sections we can access now, aren't they.

[He's definitely scoped out the pet medical bay, useless though it is to him.]

[Oh, Thor, if you only knew where the damn crystals come from... the universe is a wacky, wacky place, Shiro won't even start arguing with that. He nods at the question.]

That's correct. And we kept forgetting what we saw, too, Atroma kept messing with our minds. We only managed to save some information because we started to write it down. there's something big going on in the Marsiva.

[A pause, before he asks.]

The Marsiva also swallowed the SS Paisley when she lost all her crew. [Yep, that sure is a verb he just used there.]

It is definitely the one place we need to crack open.

[You'd think the idea of a spaceship swallowing another one would surprise Thor. But he's seen Some Shit in his time, and it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.]

...well. It may still be in there.

Which is as hard as cracking open this door.

[Which takes them back to the Marsiva maybe using the same technology found here. Shiro raises both his eyebrows at the answer.]

You think so? I suppose it's different since you didn't see it. Watching it happen was something else. Staring at the Marsiva's open void was eerie to say the least. It scrambled all our electronics for a moment there, too.

[Don't REMIND HIM!! Thor gives the door another sour look; this won't be forgotten any time soon.]

You said it swallowed the ship, but if it were any other kind of docking vessel, it would still be inside within a hangar space. [The mention of a void though sharpens Thor's attention.] You said it was a void? Do you mean just a dark space or something more?

[Loki's musing about whether this place existed within the Void he knew resurfaces in Thor's mind. Not for the first time, he wishes he knew more about what his brother had fallen through.]

I don't think the Marsiva is like other kinds of docking vessels.

[While Shiro usually tries to keep optimism and team spirit up, he also thinks this situation calls for some realism, especially since they're theorizing about the Marsiva. He honestly thinks the Paisley is long gone.]

The consoles read an uptick of energy - apparently coming from the Marsiva itself. Most devices went crazy, as if we were near a solar storm. We ran to the windows to see if the Marsiva was having trouble- [He closes his eyes, recalling the memory.] It split vertically and we call it "swallow" but it wasn't really a mouth. It was a dark void, I swear I could see hints of stars. We weren't able to watch for long, even if it didn't last long on the first place. It was like staring at the sun, but instead of burning our eyes, we could feel a sense of fear down our spines.

[The crease between Thor's brows only gets deeper. A void. It couldn't possibly be the same Void as what he's seen before, not if this is another universe. It does mean that whatever's inside the Marsiva can't be predicted. If it reacts abnormally like that...]

I've never heard of such a thing existing within a spaceship. It would defy reason.

[He doesn't blame Thor for expressing such a thought, it does feel like a little too much to deal with it. Shiro used to feel like that all the time, but nowadays, well.]

You're right, it would. Or at least, the reason we know. If there's something I learn after exploring space at home, and hearing about the different universes people come from here, it's that the rules of reason change from reality to reality. If Atroma is able to kidnap and glitch angels, spirits and gods-- [Yeah, that's you, buddy.] Who knows what else they're capable of.

I can tell you what they're not capable of: keeping us here forever.

[Thor's going to make personally sure of that. Mysteries be damned, he's going to get out of here even if he has to bust through realities to do it.]

[Shiro offers half a smile and a bit of a snort/chuckle. He can guess that Thor is thinking about punching something else but...]

Considering there are only a couple left from the beginning of this cycle, and we both returned home temporary, I do believe you on that one.

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