Lunar Interlude 2

[balancemod]

Let's try to keep the paperwork to a minimum, shall we? NAVIGATION 1. NEW RECLAIMERS A. WELCOME WELCOME! FAH WHO RAHMUS For the nine of you who will be arriving today, the story is the same: though you may not remember it, there was a moment where you were living out your life, at home or wherever you were ... and then there was the moment the Hunger came. And amid the television static that is your memory of that moment, a hand reached out to you, beckoning your escape as the tendrils of darkness destroyed everything that ever existed about your world. "Would you hurry this up, please? Your world no longer stands a chance. Come with me, we are the last bastions of hope for all universes everywhere. And we're going to need you." And then, unceremoniously, you are dragged through the universal wringer and plopped down on the soft, though not quite cushioned, grass of the Moon Base Quad. There are other people out in the grassy fields — they may even be people you recognize. They may just be strangers, other Reclaimers, who recognize what you're about to endure. The things they say may be interspersed with static — as if the words themselves aren't reaching your ears correctly. And you have a few minutes to chat before you're calmly led away by Bureau administration, to do something about that pesky static problem. B. THE VOIDFISH The nine of you are quickly divided into two groups, and brought to the easternmost geodesic dome, to an elevator in a well maintained, but sparsely landscaped field. There's nothing particularly ominous feeling about the space — in fact, the two guards who greet you at the elevator entrance seem pleased with your arrival. You are, after all, one of the few chosen by the Director, the few who will reclaim what the Hunger has destroyed. And in a few moments, you're about to find that out for yourself. After a tightly packed elevator ride, your group is ushered out to a rather grand looking hall, banners of the Bureau of Balance adorn both sides of smooth metal walls. And inside the Voidfish's chamber stands a tank — impossibly tall, and soaked in a black ink that obscures whatever the tank may be holding. You may notice the sound of someone speaking. It's a bard, on his second round of introducing Reclaimers to the Voidfish, and this time, he has chosen to demonstrate the functions of the outrageously vertical tank not by playing violin music, but by reciting a piece of classical, and highly valued poetry. When he finishes, he pulls at a drawer just at the metallic base of the tank. He solemnly enters a few scrolls into its basin as the tank begins to light up, like lightning behind dark clouds. And suddenly, you forget what that invaluable example of universal literature sounded like. "Yeah, man, like... don't think too hard about it, it's like that every time. I'm guessing you're here to be inoculated? Just a heads up, you might want to, like, seriously, hold your nose while you drink it down. It tastes wicked gross, man. Anyway, I'm supposed to tell you that you have a choice. If you drink the black stuff, you'll be able to hear through the, uh... Huh, how do I describe it? Through the [TSHCSCHTSHCHSC] sound. You guys like, hear that? Anyway, it's all about knowledge or something. I don't know, I'm just here to, like, feed the thing. We call it the [TSCHHSCHSCH], by the way. So, like. You get a choice. You can drink it and understand stuff, or not drink it and then hear that crackling noise all day every day. If I were you, I'd drink it. But, hey man, I'm not like, your dad or anything." The bard takes five cups and draws liquid from a spigot connected directly to the basin of the large tank. Stormy, muddy looking ichor is drawn into them, one by one. He offers each of you a sip. Drink it (he wasn't kidding about what it tasted like), and you're inoculated to the wisdom of the Voidfish. You try to remember the poetry this bard recited a few moments ago and the rhymes, the meter, the significance, all come back to you. And if you think back to your arrival, some of the things you may have heard other people in the Quad say, that simply sounded like static, are suddenly clear. Bureau of Balance. Grand Relic. Reclaimers. Yet you still can't remember the Hunger or what it had done to your world. And as you look back to the tank in front of you, the water has become clear. There's a jellyfish, as tall as a building, floating within. You look into the body of the creature and you can almost make out a beautiful, tiny universe floating within it. 2. THE TEST OF INITIATION With your new knowledge on the Bureau of Balance and your purpose here in tow, you are led without hesitation to the Arena, where the final phase of your initiation into the Bureau will be held. You are partnered up, whether it is with someone you drank the ichor of the Voidfish with, or perhaps even a veteran Reclaimer, who either stopped by to help, or simply out of curiosity. One Grand Relic has already been reclaimed, you're told. They were a pair of bright red mittens, held by the mayor of a small village who may have meant well, but under the draw of the mittens' incredible space-bending powers, was corrupted into using them, and to nearly killing everyone who lived under him. You may have noticed, at some point while glancing out into space while walking here, to the planet below, a massive evergreen fir that stretches past the planet's atmosphere, very nearly piercing the Moon Base itself. It appears to be decorated for the holidays. That tree is the direct result of those mittens, the actions of a man who could not resist the temptation to use them. Resisting that very same temptation is your task here. And with that order in mind, as you and your partner stand in the middle of the Arena, the walls dissolve, and the simulation begins. You're standing in the middle of a forest. Ahead of you, situated on a pedestal, is an item. It could be any ordinary item: a pair of gloves, a teapot, a simple decorative bowl. Whatever it is, it's yours for the taking. Take that simple item in your hands, however, and the building blocks of the trees around you suddenly collapse like shattered glass, and reform into new scenery — it may even be a place from home that you recognize. A voice in your head beckons you. Perhaps there's a mistake you made, or something that went wrong for you back home that you wish you had the power to undo. Perhaps there's someone you wish you could help, or even save. The item that's in your hands has the power to help you achieve this, if only you'd ever use it. Resist the temptation. Take the item, and drop it into a nearby deposit box to be destroyed. Your partner is here to help you — because once you destroy it, you will be doing the same for them. 3. NEWBIES AND VETERANS, AROUND THE MOONBASE Three or four days into the month, now that the newbies are settled in, something strange happens: The next time you return to your flat from whatever errand or exploring you were doing, when attempting to use your Bracer to open the door results in extremely obnoxious beeping that persists for an entire thirty seconds, and a message on the screen next to the door. ERROR: HOME ASSIGNMENT MECHANISM MALFUNCTION. GO TAKE A WALK. Welp. Looks like you're locked out for a bit while techs fix that. Here's a few places that might be worth checking out. A. PIECES FROM HOME Should you find your way to the Dojo, there's a door that still has that shiny, brand spanking new door look and new door smell to it off in one of the less traversed corners of the building. A sign next to the door demands that you empty your pockets before entering. A scanner for your Bracer will unlock it, assuming it's unoccupied, leading you to a plain white room with no furniture or objects at all in sight. As the door shuts behind you, a pleasant female voice echoes from all corners of the room, greeting you by name. If this is your first time in the room, the voice has a simple question for you: "What memory do you value, or think of, most?" Once you've provided your answer, the walls crumble, much like they did during the Test of Initiation simulation, reforming into something that is, again, pleasantly, or even unpleasantly, familiar. It's a space from home. Perhaps it's your room. Perhaps it's your favorite restaurant (though, the place is curiously empty, and the food you find, for some reason, tastes like strawberries). Perhaps it's a park you always enjoyed visiting, or a corner of the city you lived in. Whatever it is, you, and whoever you may have brought along with you, seem to be the only ones there. And perhaps the details aren't quite right — like maybe someone built a model of your home to explore, but a few pieces were missing from the box. But it's close enough. B. SPEND YOUR DOUGH. SOLVE A MYSTERY Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran returning from your first Field Mission, you've been provided with some spending money. You can use it to buy yourself one weapon and piece of armor from one of the blacksmiths in town. Regardless of who you choose to help you out with that, it'll take about a week to complete your order, so time your purchase carefully. There's also premade weapons and a whole bunch of other bullshit for sale at FANTASY COSTCO. Shelves and pallets of an endless array of nonmagical items, pretty much anything you can imagine, can be bought here, but there's one particular, innocuous item that seems to have Garfield the Deals Warlock in a tizzy. The more those vinyl covers that can be used to decorate your Bracers are purchased, the more the name seems to spread, ghosts of whispers around the entire Moon Base, of a person who may very well be a ghost herself. Who is Miss Zarves? Who was Miss Zarves? A powerful witch with the power to scramble your memories, insists one cantankerous woman who pours you a drink at Madame Frione's Tea Kettle. A heavyset, flushed with drink sort of man sitting next to you disagrees — Miss Zarves is a practical joke Garfield likes to trot out every couple of months to mess around with anybody gullible enough to believe him. Whatever the case, it seems that the name alone gives everyone a curious case of déjà vu. Someone has to have information on her — and this is the Reclaimers' opportunity to hone their information gathering skills. C. A (PERHAPS MANDATORY) DAY AT STOP DYING 101 Whether you're in class voluntarily, or whether you were dragged there on account of dying the past Field Mission, today's session of Fatalistic Fauna, and Danger Sense to channel your inner barbarian is going on a little field trip to the Arena. Because this is your first test to see if you can put all that information that's been given to you in the first few lectures to good use. You and a partner are placed in the middle of the Arena, in a simulation of an expansive, empty field, up against the first monster you were introduced to in class: A Bulette, a fearsome beast that can burrow, lunge, deal severe piercing damage, and jump an absolutely incredible distance. And you and your Reclaimer partner are absolutely no match for it. Your only option here is to escape. Can you? If you are dealt simulated fatal damage, then the Arena will dissolve back to normal, and you'll be given extra homework and reading material for the day. Sorry, them's the breaks. D. OPEN THE DOOR, GET ON THE FLOOR, EVERYBODY DO THE DINOSAUR There's a signup available for those looking to take Dance lessons at the Academy. There seem to be enough slots available for 50 or so people, and the form's name simply reads: "DANCE, NOW. WITH MS. CHARLOTTE." It's a pretty large time commitment- a crash course in dancing is a rather intensive affair. You'll be spending 4 days a week for 2 weeks, 2-3 hours per day, learning all the basics of the waltz, the tango, and the quickstep. Don't even think about trying the cha-cha slide here, it's simply not pasodoable. At the studio, you can borrow a pair of ballet slippers and join in with Ms. Charlotte, which, for anyone coming to the class for the first time should be rightly horrified. The newest member of the Bureau of Balance is a spider. A delegate from New New Aspen, Ms. Charlotte comes equipped with a bracer of her own, has taken in the Voidfish juice, and relocated here, to teach at the Academy. She moonlights as a ballroom dance instructor and a coach, and boy... she's pretty demanding with her approach, but incredibly thorough. You don't want to let Ms. Charlotte down. The sessions she teaches will get you to learn the basics. Natural aptitude, of course, goes a long way, but she's very 8-hands on with her approach at correcting posture and steps. Not without compassion, however, if you manage to get blisters on your feet, Ms. Charlotte's web bandages will set and help heal those sore, tired feet. The next 2 weeks of this boot camp are going to be brutal. E. THE MOON IS YOUR SPACE OYSTER (WILDCARD) There are plenty of other locations around the Moon Base that you can explore at your own discretion. Feel free to refer to the Settings page for more ideas on what shenanigans you can get into. Additionally, we'll be fielding Bender rolls again this month! With the exception of the three items that have been removed from his recipe database, if a food item was destroyed in a failed roll previously, you may roll to try to fix it. Bear in mind, of course, that you may make it worse. Successful food rolls will stay in place at this time. 4. THE DIRECTOR ACTS; A GRAND RELIC DESTROYED Erika has obtained and delivered the Space Mittens to Madame Director herself. She struggles to remain calm and composed at the moment, but the amount of immense pride and relief at recovering the Grand Relic slips through an otherwise sturdy exterior of coolness and level-headed features. She congratulates the entirety of the Bureau of Balance for their hard work, and relates to Erika that she couldn't be happier that she had made this world one step closer to being safe. A message will appear across all bracers, everywhere, with the following: Reclaimers, welcome home and congratulations on a successful first mission. Although there were certain drawbacks and difficult decisions that had to be made, I believe, without a doubt, that you all have irrefutably surpassed all expectations. Congratulations on a job well done. However, next time, please do be more careful out there. For those of you who wish to watch, my office will remain open until 1600 hours today. The relic will be destroyed, and if you would like to attend to see how it's done, please stop by. There will be light refreshments and coffee served, of course. If unable to attend, you can watch the ceremony later on your bracers. Don't forget to click Like and Subscribe. At the appointed hour, a ceremony will occur. She calls forth Davenport to wheel out the structure that's been created and designed with the sole purpose of destroying these things. She dare not takes the relic herself, no, refusing to touch the item at all. It's a medium sized metallic sphere, and once opened and closed, can never be opened again. Pulling back the curtain to an observatory, the Reclaimers can watch as Davenport sports a nifty pair of goggles, and wheels the orb onto a raised platform. He waits for the Director's signal, which is performed by an agreeable stamp of her oaken staff against the floor, and a nod. Davenport hits the KILL SWITCH, and the light show from behind the glass is amazing and terrifying all at the same time. You watch as the Space Mittens are obliterated from existence. An eruption of cheering breaks out. This concludes the first successful mission, and a deeply needed win, for the Bureau of Balance. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[alethiological]

[ Call him Boss and he will yeet you off the moonbase, s2g.

The rant comes out of nowhere, but he's not stopped or flounced on or dismissed. It mostly earns a calm expression, actually listening to the words that come out, despite the trashy inflections or the vulgarities. Eight months still mentally reads as nothing, but to a human? In a situation that sounds like a Logic Error? Kid should've gone nuts ages ago. ]

I'm glad you found satisfaction from it. As did Erika. [ Whoever that is. It sounds like platitudes, but somehow comes off genuine. ] Didn't mean to dismiss anyone. It's just...

[ Just what. The kid just poured out more than he had to to give context. It's owed equal efforts. ] My previous duties were somewhat similar to this Bureau. Overseeing and management, destruction of threats, though not for relics. I was... Upper Management works. We had to tell a lot of lies to the subordinates. Keep up morale. Keep people from leaving the cause. Get rid of those who questioned it.

[ The job sounds like absolute shit. He should say more, but the words die. That isn't the point he's trying to make. Rewind, reassess, restart program. ]

Maybe I'm paranoid. Looking for problems that aren't there. But please understand, I'm not trying to diminish whatever victory you feel. Just get blinded sometimes. You should know how it feels.

[ Like what the hell was that other tag Jay, so well-worded but, DAMN, calm down you rage monster, he thought he was bad. Got nothin' on this shortstop. ]

[ryuji]

[Do it, he loves roller coasters. Especially Space Mountain. That one was liiiiiit.

It was one of those things that was on his mind and just managed to come tumbling out, even if it wasn't entirely warranted or provoked. He's been told to shut up enough times to not commit through the full mouth-open ramblings of an idiot, but there's a lot on his chest lately and no one to talk to about it.

And that's the thing about Ryuji. He can't not be blunt and honest about himself. He just can't. It's not in his coding.]

Sounds like a shitty workplace with an even shittier atmosphere.

[What? He's calling it like it is.]

Yeah, no, dude. I ain't pissed off at you or anything, sorry if it came across super aggressive or any... uh, or anything. You ain't wrong, though. Just keepin' in step and signin' up for some para-military organization to carry out its bidding is messed up as hell. We even had to drink the effin' kool aid.

I mean, if kool aid was jellyfish piss.

[He offers a small, toothy smile to Will.]

It's more just about the timing, I guess. Management can suck, but the people here are good, y'know? I mean, shit, there's a bunch of 'em here that I'd probably spend my last breath defending. So if we're swept up in all of this shit, and there's no way outta it. Might as well keep flowing along this log flume ride of fate and figure out if there's a point we gotta jump off.

[All his friends hate authority with a personal passion that burns deeply in their chests. But they also learned how to bide their time. Strike when they needed to. That's how you steal hearts, after all.]

[alethiological]

[ Our next thread will feature Ryuji getting sucked out an airlock, it has been writ.

Surely with other people, that kind of workplace comment would get the usual adult-flavored scoldings. Blah blah responsibility blah blah paying the bills blah blah you wouldn't understand because you're young and stupid. Instead, it gets one surprised bark of a laugh. The smile is just as fanged as the last time. ]

You have no idea.

[ Kid doesn't even go there and nailed it in one. That type of honesty gets people into fights, but Ryuji says it anyway regardless of the punishment he might get. Souls like this are the ones that aren't painful to be around. All nobility and transparency, pure in all motives simply because lying about it is considered pointless. It's right. The constant tension Ryuji spotted at first is still there, but visibly melts back from the sharp edge into something closer to relaxed.

And on Ryuji's end, it gives him someone to vomit words at who doesn't tell him to shut up after twenty seconds, or to cool it with the trashspeak. The only change during the rambling at all as the faint smile remaining immediately turning into a wince at the kool aid bit. Yeah. Piss is a good word for that. It is the face of never again. ]

I get ya. Not sure how you'd be aggressive. [ A beat spent rewinding backwards, then realizing the answers been there in his face the whole time. ] 'Less you mean the speaking habits. Get the same way when I'm not thinking.

[ Read: When you get angry and short-sighted and then deathglare an NPC into hiding. Despite the subject, the rest still remains that level of Functioning Irritation. Frustration rather than scaring off innocent people. Positives! ] You're right about the timing. But here's the problem. We shouldn't be thinking when to jump off. If they'd just answer the damn questions 'stead'a playing coy about things, we'd be more willing to trust. Raises morale, prevents dissension, allows units to focus on the mission and not about when the other shoe's gonna smack 'em in the face. Management can appreciate you dying in defense'a your friends, but it wants you to turn that into defending the cause. The whole ceremony here feels like misdirection.

[ryuji]

[Yeah, fuck authority.

But the thing that's getting to him here is that... he's not sure he really has a ton of questions to ask the people that run this joint, even if he did stroll into the Director's office and just flat out ask what's going on. Ryuji doesn't see abuse, or, well, maybe if it is there, it's getting hidden incredibly well.]

Ehh.... I'm more of a Robin Hood kinda type figure. Beat up the rich, give bread to the poor. Fight for the underdog kinda guy. But it's hard, y'know? You look around and, like, who here ain't an underdog? And it doesn't even look like they're beat up. Okay, well, like, outside'a the mission. Shadow vultures were nasty mother effer's.

[This is veering on the side of dumb, and he lets out a weighty sigh.]

So, I dunno. You tried askin' those questions? If you get a whiff of something stinky, count me in. I'll back you up with whatever I've got.

[alethiological]

[ Ryuji's a good boy who is also not built out of mostly-brainwashed paranoia. ]

Don't steal shit. [ Monotone and automatic, but quickly followed with the stiffening of 'wait you don't know this kid well, stop relaxing'. ] Ignoring missions... Could always try motivating. Everyone's still hung up over it. Hell, half of 'em are kids. Have a massive movie night or something. Encourage hobbies. Whatever. Can't do much for the underdog if they're too depressed to even ask for help. Figure it out from there.

[ Nothing is dumb here. The only dumb are the two speaking, until someday they eventually create a singularity of stupid so powerful, it knocks down the collective IQ of the base by ten points. Also remember that one part above about not recoiling back into old habits around Ryuji? The narration lied, it snaps back to irritation pretty much immediately, at the suggestion about asking questions. ]

Ngh, I wish. Only some of 'em. Asking too much means I have to start Working. [ It's said with all the vehemence of a proper swear, disgust and anger all wrapped up in one. ] Get involved in a whole mess'a nonsense I didn't sign up for. Then ya' get invested an' afore I know it, I gotta start beheadin' people again. No thanks.

[ryuji]

I don't. Well, anymore. [And that's the end of that conversation. He probably should've divulge top secret information to strangers, but here we are, and this is a hallmark of one (1) Ryuji Sakamoto.]

Those are all pretty cool ideas, man. If I throw a movie night together, are you gonna come or end up brooding around instead?

[Their relationship hasn't really gotten to the point where they can openly call each other out like that, but Ryuji's most comfortable when he gets to tease around and poke fun at himself and others.

But the last part of that statement isn't really something to joke about, either. But he's only 18 and he's sort of dumb about life, and it's easier not to call attention to the fact that most of the teens around here are, in fact, pretty in the shit about a lot of stuff. And no one wants to really talk about that either. What are you supposed to do about that?]

Oh no, you'd have to, like, work. Damn, that's a sentence worse than death, bro. Can't just kick your feet up and watch all the dumb shit goin' down like fireworks on new year's all the time if you have shit you have to do.

[PAUSE.]

Wait, beheading again? What the hell?

[alethiological]

[ At least Ryuji can be thankful that it's less treated as top secret divulging, and more idiot teenagers skirting rules because they're dumb. He's not stealing anymore so? Good enough. ]

But it I don't keep up my brooding quota, I'll never become Batman. [ Flawless deadpan delivery; Ryuji's going to have to better/worse than that to cross any lines. ] Don't do well with large groups. If it's less than ten people, then sure.

[ It is mostly offered with the aura of someone who doesn't really think Ryuji will do that. He will come to regret that in the future. But the future isn't now! There is only Ryuji using his lack of any manners whatsoever into tricking someone else into not having them. It works because they're both stupid. ]

Hey, I retired. They're taking advantage of the elderly here. Interrupting my future of stamp collecting.

[ Then the pause. And the response. And the realization of oh. Oh yeah. Right. It's a human.

Uh.




Shit. SHIT??? Abort, abort, revert back to proper protocols. ]

That was possibly a turn of phrase. Don't stress yourself out over it.

[ryuji]

I dunno, can I hear your Batman voice? I think that'll really tell me if you're good enough to put on the mask and ride around in the fliest, dopest vehicle ever made.

[He can commiserate though. Ryuji's extroverted enough, sure, but with all the stimuli around him of being in a large group, he starts to lose his footing and he'd rather stick to a small group of people he knows he can trust and be around. He's better at 1:1, weirdly enough.

And yet, it does work out pretty well in the end. They're both pretty goddamned stupid, as it turns out. But he can't be Batman and be two seconds away from a nursing home, ready to knit a sweater for Ryuji with a PA "visit me soon" insignia on it, so he he shakes his head at his lack of both a 401k and the perceived notion that he even kind of looks old.

He doesn't. That last part is fair.]

Wait, huh? No, the phrase is "lose your head," beheading is definitely. Uh. What?

[alethiological]

And have you know I'm secretly Batman? Nah. [ A beat. ] - Wait. The car flies now?

[ That wasn't his genre by any stretch of division assignments, so maybe it's just ignorance. Surely human society didn't evolve in the 21st century to think flying Batmobiles made sense. Surely. Please, Lord, let them not have descended that far into sin.

Also rude, he wouldn't knit a sweater. He'd buy a tacky one off Etsy for two bucks that was doused in what is either itching powder or anthrax. Maybe both. It's a new frontier here. ]

'Said don't stress about it. [ It is a valid thing to stress over, but he walks away. ] Coffee. Move the conversation.

[ryuji]

[There's something about all of this that has Ryuji stuck on:

[x] doubt

He won't do the Batman voice? Fine, whatever. He'll drag it out of him one day. He's persistent, he's childish, and once he's set out to do something he doesn't stop until he's either dead or completed it.]

Fliest. Fly-est. It's. God, what are you, from 1995?

[Low int, high wis. The downfall of a lot of people who don't want their deets blasted out into the open air like that. But he'll move it along, as requested.]

Coffee's goddamn nasty. So friggen bitter and gross. [He looks around the celebration in the room, shoulders squaring a little bit. He wants to get outta here himself, anyway.]

Wanna go grab some?

[alethiological]

[ Here's that one part where you start a new game and the dialogue option you hit is locked off until you maxed the social link. Sit on it, Ryuji. The gods will bless you for your patience on that day. ]

Ehhh, '98 technically. But I died in '86. [ A shrug, the kind you give when someone asks you to pick up the mail and forgot. Time travel, whatever man. ] Take it you're from the 21st.

[ Let's be honest, the only stat that matters is charisma rolls and these two rate somewhere around Abysmal. At first, the question is almost shot down, because. Why??? They have the drab stuff here, which is still a bit too high-end for what he normally takes - but the posture is noted; eyes following Ryuji's to the room at large. Saw what he needed to see, and now it's just too many excitable people in one room, all idle conversations that he's always been terrible at. ]

Y'know sweet coffees exist, yeah?

[ Translation: Sure dude, let's bounce. ]