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

[mccreehaw]

[ Maybe by this point McCree should be able to guess, but he doesn't. He has no clue what's coming, but the lead up to it doesn't sound good. ]

I don't suppose it's anything good, is it?

[ It can't be. This is the way his luck runs now. ]

[mylawn]

Not really, no.

[At the very least, he can be honest about that.]

Reyes is alive.

[Though Jack isn't sure what constitutes alive insofar as Reaper is concerned, but he's up and walking and working for Talon, so probably that counts.]

[mccreehaw]

[ He really should have known. And the moment Jack says it, McCree realizes how completely dumb he's been. Jack survived the HQ explosion, so why wouldn't have Gabriel? They were both in that super soldier program; their bodies were made to be put through a lot. And yet for some reason, McCree just hadn't bothered to consider it. Maybe it's because he figured it was better for Gabe to be dead than continue down the path he was on. It was only going to end in destruction, one way or another.

But he's alive. Or was, because the world ended. His visible reaction is a bit different than his reaction was regarding Ana. Sure, there's surprise written across his features, but he swallows hard and looks away. ]

You sure you can say that when the world's gone?

[ There's a gravelly quality to his voice again and he can't hide it. Reyes makes him feel something, but he'll be damned if he can put a name to it. The single most influential person in McCree's life turned out to be the biggest disappointment as well. ]

I should have known— I mean, you made it. Of course he did too. Not that it matters...

[ The words just spill out, like he needs to fill up the silence with something. ]

But of course. He sure was the King of doing the opposite of what was expected.

[mylawn]

Well, you know what I mean.

[He was alive, before any of this, and if the Bureau is lying to them, then he's still alive and still a problem. Even in the face of apocalypse, Jack finds it hard to believe that Gabriel wouldn't find a way to weasel out of it.

Or maybe he just wants to believe that Reyes is out there somewhere, because he can't imagine a scenario where he isn't. Jack doesn't want to accept it, not when they have so much unfinished business.]

He's running with Talon now. You didn't know anything about that, I guess.

[Jack is acutely aware of the fact that he still doesn't know why McCree vanished, towards the end.]

[mccreehaw]

[ There's a moment where everything in McCree's brain suddenly slides into place, like a nearly-finished puzzle with a small pile of pieces left. You stare and stare, unable to make it work, but then one piece slots into place and the rest just follow suit. McCree lifts a hand to wipe at his mouth, fingers and thumb drawing down his beard. ]

Son of a—

[ He shakes his head and drops his hand. ]

It all makes sense now. I ran into some Talon agents pulling a train heist. Wasn't gonna get involved, but all their tactics screamed "Blackwatch" to me, and that caught my interest. Didn't know what they were after. I even booted it off the train so they'd go chase after it and leave the passengers alone, but... now it makes sense. He taught them his methods.

[ He feels betrayed, like everything he was a part of in Blackwatch was just practice so Reyes could use it all with Talon. Talon. Of all the ass backwards things the Commander could have done. ]

After everything— After La Croix and that explosion, after Antonio and running for our damn lives through the streets at night... after all that, he just joins up with them.

[ It makes McCree wonder if he ever really knew Gabriel Reyes at all. ]

[mylawn]

[Jack has similar feelings, especially with regards to Gerard. It doesn't make sense to him, but then again, he'd never quite been able to keep up with Reyes, who prided himself on being inscrutable. He's playing the long game, Jack knows that much, but he's not certain to what end.

Maybe he'd entertained the idea of him and Gabriel being after the same thing--but that had been before all the killing of ex-agents, and their meeting in Egypt. The scars on his back still ache.]

I wish I could say he's just in deep cover, but the last time we ran into each other, he shot me.

[Then again, they hadn't exactly been friends in the months before Overwatch fell. Jack sighs.]

If you thought you were in danger I would've protected you. You didn't have to run.

[mccreehaw]

[ It makes McCree wonder why Reyes hasn't searched him out yet to do the same. He has way less chance of surviving than Jack does, though the thought makes him flex his metal fingers. ]

It wasn't that.

[ Lips twist into a scowl, as if the assumption insults him. ]

I saw how the winds were changing, and I wasn't liking his methods. But once you've been in Blackwatch, you can't just say 'Never mind; I'll sit at the kiddie table instead.' I wasn't gonna pick a side. I figured it was best I set out on my own."

[mylawn]

[That's the answer Jack expects, but it doesn't stop him from feeling a little insulted. He knows McCree never would have willingly gone into witness protection, but for as much as Gabriel was three steps ahead of them all, jack wants to believe he could have done something to extricate Jesse from the situation. 

What's done is done--no sense in dwelling on it, even if that's most of what Jack has left, nowadays.]

And he never gave you any indication--?

[That he would mutiny in the way he did.]

[mccreehaw]

[ He shakes his head no. ]

After Venice, there was this distance between us. I don't think we really trusted each other after that. We still worked together, got the job done, but I knew to watch my own back after that instead of knowing he'd watch it for me.

[mylawn]

I still don't know what he was thinking that night.

[Not entirely true--maybe it had been at the time, but Jack understands the need to make any enemy pay much more intimately nowadays. He's not bound by the same rules anymore, and it's been a little easier to put himself in Reyes' shoes, at least insofar as Venice was concerned.

He still doesn't know what possibly could have caused the defection--he's still missing too many pieces, though he has some educated guesses.]

What do you know about him and O'Deorain? What they were up to?

[mccreehaw]

[ He scowls a bit at the name. ]

Hell if I know, but knowing her? She was doing something to him. Asking how he was feeling and all that. And she wasn't known for caring too much about people's health so it wasn't her acting in a friendly doctor sorta way.

[ Her and Reyes getting thick as thieves never sat right with McCree, but what could he do? She was part of the team. She could heal them when they ran into trouble. ]

[mylawn]

Wish he would've just....talked to me.

[It sounds silly to admit--but if something was really going on with Reyes', enough that he'd let Moira do something like that to him, Jack wishes he'd been someone his ex-friend could have confided in.

Or maybe nothing was actually wrong, and they were just fooling around, trying to see what they could weaponize. That breach of trust is hard to reconcile with the man he used to know.]

I guess I never knew him as well as I thought I did.

[And considering they knew each other for more than thirty years, that says something, he thinks.]

[mccreehaw]

You and me both.

[ Which is in response to all Jack's said. The real kicker is he thinks if he'd gone along with Antonio's assassination the way Moira and Genji did, maybe Gabriel would have opened up more. Maybe he would have confided in McCree, and maybe — just maybe — McCree could have drawn him back from the path he was heading down.

Most likely not, but that's the thing about looking back at the past: you always wonder if one little thing you did caused something, or one change could have changed things for the better. Jack knew Gabriel better, but McCree feels like he has to shoulder some of the regret too. Ana wasn't his mother; Gabriel wasn't his father. And yet? Overwatch had been his family. Ashe always talked about the gang being a family, but they sure didn't risk their necks for him. Not the way Overwatch had. ]

So... three people I thought were dead, and none of you are. Or were. Still don't know if there's an Earth left, but you sure know how to drop bad news on someone.

[ He lets that hang in the air for a moment before adding: ]

Part of me wonders why you told me at all, but the other part says I needed to know.

[mylawn]

[Jack knows it's not good news--not in the least, and maybe it's all moot now that Earth is supposedly gone, but he doesn't think he could work alongside McCree again while withholding all this from him. He needed to know, yes, but more importantly--]

You deserved to know.

[They were on the same team, after all. Jack hopes that's still true, though he supposes only time will tell. He imagines that Jesse is going to need some time to process all this, which is fine by him. McCree can take as long as he needs.]

No point in lying to you about it.

[He's done enough of that.]

[mccreehaw]

[ It shouldn't feel so satisfying to hear that he "deserves" something, but it does. Maybe it's been too long since he felt people looked at him as an equal and not a rough and tumble cowboy looking for trouble.

However, outwardly he gives a shrug in response. Falling back into his casual act is comfortable for him. He's shown a little too much of himself to Jack in light of all this news; now it's time to rein it back in. ]

Well, good decision on your part, I guess. Probably should let you get back to whatever you were doing in here.

[mylawn]

Sure.

[Jack seems a little exhausted by the confession, but he imagines that in a day or two, he'll be glad he got this over with. For now, however, he'll be glad to be alone again.]

I'm sorry you had to find out like this.

[mccreehaw]

Don't think there's a good way you could've set it up for me.

[ McCree's run the gamut of emotions himself, and like Jack, he needs some time alone now. He shifts his weigh to turn away back towards the door. ]

I'll be seeing you.