dreams in digital

[thespaceopera]

[ Calibration Rooms ]
( for A-M characters )

Before you post your toplevel comment, please:
1. Check the first letter of your character's name as its written in our tags. A-M names comment here, and N-Z names go to the other post.
2. Make a note in your comment if anything especially triggering or graphic might show up in the Calibration. If you're not sure if something's worth noting or not, we suggest listing it anyway, just to err on the side of caution.
3. Put your character's name (it can be shortened or different from the tag, this time) in the subject of your comment. This will help visitors find you easily, and help us update the list below.
4. Post your comment! It's fine if everyone's Calibrations end up looking and reading very different from one another. As long as you're having fun and following our guidelines, you're good to go. :)
5. If you have any questions or concerns during Calibrations, you are welcome to send them towards the mod team at any time, as always.

ROOMS BY CHARACTER

A - C Akeldama Alisha Diphda Allura Baku Ben Douglass Belthazar Carl Grimes Connor

D - F Escha Malier Eithan Paine Felix Gaeta

G - I Glenn Rhee Grievous Haggar

J - M James T. Kirk (OU) James T. Kirk (AU) Kaname Bucanneer Keith Kitty Pryde Kogarasumaru Kolivan Krolia Lance Leia Organa Leilani Lavellan Libra Loki Lordon Gesh Lup Maggie Rhee Magnus Burnsides Manji Messer Ihlefeld Mikleo Mirage Farina Jenius

(last updated: 1/21/19)

Comments

Duo Maxwell

[divine_braid]

[You found yourself inside a space colony. Nearby was a blocky looking building with what looked like a junkyard in the back. The door to the building was partially open, drawing you inside.

Once inside, you were presented with what looked like it had been a mechanic's shop, but hae been partially converted into a living space. Behind the front counter was a makeshift kitchen, and the waiting area had been turned into a living/dining room with a worn couch and a TV. There were still elements of the shop... boxes, a green chalk board with projects and dates over an old desk with piles of paperwork, a whiteboard across the way with notes, lockers... The remote for the TV was sitting there on the desk. If you flipped it on, you had the choice of a few specific channels...

1. - A message blinking across the screen... something about "Operation Meteor". If you lingered long enough, it would change to a video.

2. - A news report about a captured Gundam pilot.

3. - A broadcast message from a young girl with piercing blue eyes and short red hair in a military uniform.

4. - A static-filled channel with stolen cable porn that sounded like someone saying, "Welcome to Drift Fleet..." in a garbled voice]

Re: Duo Maxwell

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

[Tim has to marvel at the space colony itself. He stands for a good long moment just looking above and around him at the way it's constructed and laid out.

Eventually, he will be drawn into the mechanic's shop. He'll pick up the remote and will flick through and stop when he hears the words, 'Welcome to Drift Fleet']

[divine_braid]

[The channel remained fairly staticky. It was like the signal didn't work or the TV was broken or the cable box just didn't get that channel.

Tim will hear snippets of conversation through the fuzz and white noise, spotting vague images on the screen.

There was a ship that looked like one of the Fleet ships... Duo's voice could be heard requesting clearance to land the shuttle he was in.

A quick flash of a blonde boy about Duo's age appears on the screen before it fades into black and white snow. Duo was yelling for him, scared, worried... something was wrong.

A voice demanding things be kept secret from the new passengers. Duo arguing that they needed to know what happened.

A quiet mantra, like a voice in Tim's head, could be heard...]

We can't let them know. So many died.

[And then it was gone... the channel fading into static and fuzz completely.]

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

[Tim will squint at the screen at the lack of comprehension at the images he's seeing. Perhaps he shouldn't have started at the end? He flicks quickly back to the 1.]

[divine_braid]

[The message was military mission orders, detailing a plan called "Operation Meteor", a plan that involved massive destruction. Several space colonies were to be knocked free from their orbits around Earth so that they would fall to the surface from the pull of gravity, bringing about something akin to a nuclear winter. In the chaotic aftermath of the destruction, five mobile suits called Gundams would descend from the remaining colonies to the planet below to enforce military order and rule over the survivors.

As the message faded, a video began to play. (Starts at 5:19, ends at 6:51.)

The hangar was dark, and there was a massive black robot laying on its back. It looked to be almost, but not quite complete. There was a young boy with a long braid attaching a device to it. Once he was sure it was secure, he ran out of the room... and, convinced he was going to end it all, he pressed the button on a small device in his hand.

.....

Nothing happened.

He panicked, confused, pressing it a few more times before looking back into the hangar, wondering what he'd done wrong.]

Duo.

[Startled, the boy turned to face an older man with a long scarecrow-like nose and an umbrella-shaped mop of grey hair. The detonator pins from all those devices Duo had placed dropped to the floor. They spoke, Duo arguing against the mission, how he didn't want to be part of a massacre. The old man called him out on his gun, knowing the boy planned to kill him. Duo revealed that he intended not only to destroy Deathscythe and kill the old man, but everyone else on the ship, including himself. But the old man convinced Duo there was another way. Outsmart him, he challenged the boy... steal Deathscythe and ignore the mission. Become the God of Death.

Duo was baffled, but intrigued. The man walked away, telling Duo that there was a man in the Pacific Ocean who could help him once he arrived on the surface. Duo smirked, twirling his pistol around his finger as he made his decision... he'd do it.

The video faded to black, the screen once again showing the mission orders... green pixelated text on a black screen.]

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

[Tim watches with interest. He's not sure what to make of this Operation Meteor and these robots and stealing Deathscythe. He changes the channel to 2 to see if he can get any more information]

[divine_braid]

[The report came up on the screen, talking about OZ moving into the space colonies, but it faded, shifting to a memory (6:17 to 8:25).

Duo was in space, his Gundam heavily outmatched by the enemies new mobile suites. He was soundly defeated, and tried to self-destruct his Gundam, only to realize that the mechanism to do that was damaged and not functional.

Just his luck... he passed out from the strain.

After Duo passed out, the memory shifted to a news report again. (Same video, starting at 8:31, ending at 8:57. The report continues at 9:37 to 9:40.) It covered a Gundam pilot, specifically Duo, having been captured. OZ and colonies were cooperating to eradicate the threat from the Gundams. The people of the colonies seemed to be happy about this, though the feelings emanating from the video said otherwise. Duo was not convinced. The report continued, showing the damaged Gundam on a massive flatbed being transported through the streets of the colony C-102, crowds jeering at it from the sides.

The report shifted back to a memory... (same video, starting at 10:40...)

Duo was cuffed and seated in a chair near a desk. Several officers in uniform surrounded him. He looked injured, exhausted, his head hanging down as a man in a spacesuit sat down at the desk.]

I wasn't expecting the pilot of that Gundam to be just a kid.

[Duo opened his eyes as the man spoke. He almost took offense at being called 'just a kid', his entire posture changing to something more confrontational than beat down.]

Well, excuse me! So I've wounded your pride, have I?

[Sure, he was hurt, but his spirit wasn't completely broken, yet. The guards moved in to hold on to him, just in case he tried something.]

That's nothing compared to how your pride's suffered. You'll be executed. The people's feelings towards the execution will unite the colonies. [The man almost chuckled.] I never expected to utilize the Gundam pilots in this way.

[Duo struggled against the hold on him.]

Why, you- [One the guard struck him from behind, but he fought the urge to pass out for a few more seconds...] God damn all of you to Hell!

[And everything on the TV screen went dark.

Tim might realize there was another presence in the room with him now, someone watching from the counter. Would he acknowledge the other person or look at the last channel?]

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

[Tim can see the other presence out of the corner of his eye but if he's only got one more channel to look at. He's going to switch to it and watch this last one before he acknowledges them]

[divine_braid]

[The girl on the screen introduced herself as Mariemeia, heir to Treize Khushrenada, the former world sovereign. She proceeded to then claim rule over the Earth Sphere, stating that Operation Meteor would still take place with the remnants of colony L3-X1999. If anyone tried to stop her and the Barton Foundation, they would kill Vice Foreign Minister Dorlan... formerly known as Queen Relena Peacecraft.

The announcement faded, and the video was more like a memory again. Three Gundams, a black one with bat wings and a scythe, a bluish green one with a half clown mask on its face and gatling guns on its arms, and a blue-grey one duel-wielding curved blades, were battling against an army of mobile suits. Not far from them, two other suits, a smaller white suit with a pointed head, and a blue and white suit with a golden crested helmet, also fought against this army. The memory was with the pilot of the black suit... Duo.

They were running out of steam. One of the blades from the blue-grey suit had broken. The blue and green suit dropped its gun, having run out of ammo. They backed up against Duo's suit as Duo lost power to his scythe.

The other two suits were also back to back and surrounded. It looked bleak. They discussed the option of self-detonating their suits, but that would take out too many innocent lives in the city around them. Was this the end?

But then the proximity alarm rang out. Another suit? Where? Above them! They looked up. It was Wing Zero... a white suit with red and blue markings, badly damaged, hung in the air above them. The angel-like wings on its back seemed to be falling to pieces, and it held a massive gun with the one operational arm.

It fired. Several times. The beam came crashing down on a bunker not far from their location. Then... an explosion. Duo heard Quatre cry out Heero's name, and Noin say, "No!" He clenched his jaw. That couldn't be it, could it?

But now, crowds of people began surrounding them. Bystanders, blocking the way of the enemy suits, protecting the Gundams that had fought against them. People on foot... in the streets, clogging access. Duo spotted another suit on his radar.

It was another Gundam. Green, with red and gold, both arms capable of extending, but it stood motionless, also surrounded by the protesters as if they were protecting it with their bodies. It was was also badly damaged.

By now, the army couldn't move without killing innocent people, and they stopped fighting, waiting for orders from their superiors... but those orders never came.

The battle... was over.

The memory faded, shifting to Duo with two others standing on a hill overlooking his Gundam along with the other two he had been battling along side. He raised his hand, a small device similar to the one he had used when attempting to destroy Deathscythe before Operation Meteor, and pressed the button. The three Gundams exploded in a flash of light.

Tim might recognize the blond boy from the staticky memory he had watched earlier. Duo called him Quatre. The other, a taller boy with a bluish turtleneck and hair that hung into his face, talked about if he still had a name. The other two insisted that Trowa was a good name for him. He seemed to accept that. The three of them seemed to come out of this as good friends. The memory faded away, leaving a black screen.

Tim would hear the distinct sound of a soft slap, like someone catching something in their hand. If he turned, Duo was leaning on the counter, tossing an apple and catching it. He glanced over.]

Sorry most of what's here is actually more about my life back home. It's been a while. I guess I was feeling nostalgic this time around.

1

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion was trying to work through what he was finding these days - and finding the two calibration rooms was something he had to find for himself.]

[Now he was in this room, and he was going for the blinking message first tonight. To see if he could find ... what he could find.]

[divine_braid]

[The message was military mission orders, detailing a plan called "Operation Meteor", a plan that involved massive destruction. Several space colonies were to be knocked free from their orbits around Earth so that they would fall to the surface from the pull of gravity, bringing about something akin to a nuclear winter. In the chaotic aftermath of the destruction, five mobile suits called Gundams would descend from the remaining colonies to the planet below to enforce military order and rule over the survivors.

As the message faded, a video began to play. (Starts at 5:19, ends at 6:51.)

The hangar was dark, and there was a massive black robot laying on its back. It looked to be almost, but not quite complete. There was a young boy with a long braid attaching a device to it. Once he was sure it was secure, he ran out of the room... and, convinced he was going to end it all, he pressed the button on a small device in his hand.

.....

Nothing happened.

He panicked, confused, pressing it a few more times before looking back into the hangar, wondering what he'd done wrong.]

Duo.

[Startled, the boy turned to face an older man with a long scarecrow-like nose and an umbrella-shaped mop of grey hair. The detonator pins from all those devices Duo had placed dropped to the floor. They spoke, Duo arguing against the mission, how he didn't want to be part of a massacre. The old man called him out on his gun, knowing the boy planned to kill him. Duo revealed that he intended not only to destroy Deathscythe and kill the old man, but everyone else on the ship, including himself. But the old man convinced Duo there was another way. Outsmart him, he challenged the boy... steal Deathscythe and ignore the mission. Become the God of Death.

Duo was baffled, but intrigued. The man walked away, telling Duo that there was a man in the Pacific Ocean who could help him once he arrived on the surface. Duo smirked, twirling his pistol around his finger as he made his decision... he'd do it.

The video faded to black, the screen once again showing the mission orders... green pixelated text on a black screen.]

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion frowned as the video ended, tipping his chin slightly as he processed everything he had seen. Whomever this boy was - he was shown to be both righteous and reckless in the same breath. What did that mean, to the situation they were in?

He sighed, and went to the next item in the room - the news report.]

[divine_braid]

[The report came up on the screen, talking about OZ moving into the space colonies, but it faded, shifting to a memory (6:17 to 8:25).

Duo was in space, his Gundam heavily outmatched by the enemies new mobile suites. He was soundly defeated, and tried to self-destruct his Gundam, only to realize that the mechanism to do that was damaged and not functional.

Just his luck... he passed out from the strain.

After Duo passed out, the memory shifted to a news report again. (Same video, starting at 8:31, ending at 8:57. The report continues at 9:37 to 9:40.) It covered a Gundam pilot, specifically Duo, having been captured. OZ and colonies were cooperating to eradicate the threat from the Gundams. The people of the colonies seemed to be happy about this, though the feelings emanating from the video said otherwise. Duo was not convinced. The report continued, showing the damaged Gundam on a massive flatbed being transported through the streets of the colony C-102, crowds jeering at it from the sides.

The report shifted back to a memory... (same video, starting at 10:40...)

Duo was cuffed and seated in a chair near a desk. Several officers in uniform surrounded him. He looked injured, exhausted, his head hanging down as a man in a spacesuit sat down at the desk.]

I wasn't expecting the pilot of that Gundam to be just a kid.

[Duo opened his eyes as the man spoke. He almost took offense at being called 'just a kid', his entire posture changing to something more confrontational than beat down.]

Well, excuse me! So I've wounded your pride, have I?

[Sure, he was hurt, but his spirit wasn't completely broken, yet. The guards moved in to hold on to him, just in case he tried something.]

That's nothing compared to how your pride's suffered. You'll be executed. The people's feelings towards the execution will unite the colonies. [The man almost chuckled.] I never expected to utilize the Gundam pilots in this way.

[Duo struggled against the hold on him.]

Why, you- [One the guard struck him from behind, but he fought the urge to pass out for a few more seconds...] God damn all of you to Hell!

[And everything on the TV screen went dark.]

Now going to 3

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion hummed softly, moving around the room once more as he looked around with greater appreciation.]

At every turn, people have turned against you, young man. They have used you to make their own needs met. I understand all too well what that feels like.

[He went to the screen with the young girl, with the too bright blue eye and red hair that reminded him strongly of Sansa.]

[divine_braid]

[[The girl on the screen introduced herself as Mariemeia, heir to Treize Khushrenada, the former world sovereign. She proceeded to then claim rule over the Earth Sphere, stating that Operation Meteor would still take place with the remnants of colony L3-X1999. If anyone tried to stop her and the Barton Foundation, they would kill Vice Foreign Minister Dorlan... formerly known as Queen Relena Peacecraft.

The announcement faded, and the video was more like a memory again. Three Gundams, a black one with bat wings and a scythe, a bluish green one with a half clown mask on its face and gatling guns on its arms, and a blue-grey one duel-wielding curved blades, were battling against an army of mobile suits. Not far from them, two other suits, a smaller white suit with a pointed head, and a blue and white suit with a golden crested helmet, also fought against this army. The memory was with the pilot of the black suit... Duo.

They were running out of steam. One of the blades from the blue-grey suit had broken. The blue and green suit dropped its gun, having run out of ammo. They backed up against Duo's suit as Duo lost power to his scythe.

The other two suits were also back to back and surrounded. It looked bleak. They discussed the option of self-detonating their suits, but that would take out too many innocent lives in the city around them. Was this the end?

But then the proximity alarm rang out. Another suit? Where? Above them! They looked up. It was Wing Zero... a white suit with red and blue markings, badly damaged, hung in the air above them. The angel-like wings on its back seemed to be falling to pieces, and it held a massive gun with the one operational arm.

It fired. Several times. The beam came crashing down on a bunker not far from their location. Then... an explosion. Duo heard Quatre cry out Heero's name, and Noin say, "No!" He clenched his jaw. That couldn't be it, could it?

But now, crowds of people began surrounding them. Bystanders, blocking the way of the enemy suits, protecting the Gundams that had fought against them. People on foot... in the streets, clogging access. Duo spotted another suit on his radar.

It was another Gundam. Green, with red and gold, both arms capable of extending, but it stood motionless, also surrounded by the protesters as if they were protecting it with their bodies. It was was also badly damaged.

By now, the army couldn't move without killing innocent people, and they stopped fighting, waiting for orders from their superiors... but those orders never came.

The battle... was over.

The memory faded, shifting to Duo with two others standing on a hill overlooking his Gundam along with the other two he had been battling along side. He raised his hand, a small device similar to the one he had used when attempting to destroy Deathscythe before Operation Meteor, and pressed the button. The three Gundams exploded in a flash of light.

Duo called the blond boy to his left Quatre. The other, a taller boy with a bluish turtleneck and hair that hung into his face, talked about if he still had a name. The other two insisted that Trowa was a good name for him. He seemed to accept that. The three of them seemed to come out of this as good friends. The memory faded away, leaving a black screen.

Tyrion would hear the distinct sound of a soft slap, like someone catching something in their hand. If he turned, Duo was leaning on the counter, tossing an apple and catching it. He was watching Tyrion.]

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion only turned around to the sound of the solid object slapping against something soft, like skin. One golden blonde eyebrow raised as he saw the young man from all the videos before him. He supposed they were taking each other's measure, after all this.]

So, you seem to like to champion the long stakes causes. Is it because you believe yourself to be another diamond in the rough, or you just like playing the odds by your own particular set of rules?

[divine_braid]

Probably the latter, but I figure... hey, I'm only alive by sheer luck, so why should someone else do all the dirty work? At least, this way, my life means something instead of just being another street orphan.

[Duo shrugged. There was something deep to what he said, something below the casual surface image he presented. He was hiding his true feelings, not that his words were necessarily a lie.]

4

[eternallyoutrageous]

[Lord Akeldama had clearly found himself in a place like this. This would be considered new territory for him. But even despite his fancy appearance, he didn't seem at all put out by being in this location, calmly walking the room to see what was around and studying everything.

When he gets to the tv, he stares at it. Finally he picks up the remote examining and somehow turning it on and hearing that message "Welcome to Drift Fleet..."]

[divine_braid]

[The channel remained fairly staticky. It was like the signal didn't work or the TV was broken or the cable box just didn't get that channel.

Akeldama will hear snippets of conversation through the fuzz and white noise, spotting vague images on the screen.

There was a ship that looked like one of the Fleet ships... Duo's voice could be heard requesting clearance to land the shuttle he was in.

A quick flash of a blonde boy about Duo's age appears on the screen before it fades into black and white snow. Duo was yelling for him, scared, worried... something was wrong.

A voice demanding things be kept secret from the new passengers. Duo arguing that they needed to know what happened.

A quiet mantra, like a voice in Akeldama's head, could be heard...]

We can't let them know. So many died.

[And then it was gone... the channel fading into static and fuzz completely.]

[eternallyoutrageous]

[Lord Akeldama crossed his arm after hearing / seeing this. He didn't even care if it messed up the fall of his jacket; this was important.

He's been weary of their "hosts" even in the short time he's been here and if this... thing he's seen was correct, there was reason to be concerned. It sounded like a lot of people had been killed in the fleet previously and they attempted to hide this.

Since he had yet to see the owner of this memory, he can't tell for sure who it belongs to. But that's not going to stop him from trying to speak to them]

What happened to the child?

[Yes, he just referred to the blond as a child. But when you were as old as he is, most people were children. He was also missing his signature italics and his accent is surprisingly... Greek]

[divine_braid]

.....

[That got a response. The TV flickered, but Akeldama would suddenly feel like he wasn't alone in the room anymore.]

Child?

[Duo was standing at the counter, an apple in his hand. It looked like he'd been tossing it and catching it idly, but he stopped when he heard that statement.]

[eternallyoutrageous]

[Oh good. There he was. Lord Akeldama clarified]

The young blond lad. What happened to him?

[divine_braid]

[Duo lowered his eyes, staring at the apple for a moment. His expression had gone blank. Then, he took in a long breath through his nose before letting it out slowly, lifting his eyes again to meet the visitor's.]

He died.

[eternallyoutrageous]

[He was quite for a moment as well after hearing that. He had a feeling the history of this fleet wasn't a stellar one, but to hear that there were deaths and they were basically being told to keep it under wraps. Makes him wonder about them now]

I am sorry. He was a friend of yours, then?

[divine_braid]

From back home, yeah.

Like... I know that, if I ever get back home, it'll be like I wasn't here. So, he's probably fine back home. But, for now? It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to deal with.

[Duo sighed a little, looking frustrated.]

The worst part, it wasn't something I could prevent.