Welcome Participartypants

[balancemod]

Who: All y'all nerds
Where: The Arena
When: The night of the 15th
What: A small gathering to both welcome new members to the Bureau, and to congratulate veteran Reclaimers on their successful magic mitten procurement. Dress is as fancy or as not fancy as you want it. Manners, to the degree of which you are capable, are mandatory.
Content Warning: General content warning for the Reclaimers. Also general content warning for Miss Zarves

Formal, informal, never mind the dress code. NAVIGATION It's been two weeks since the Reclaimers returned, and since the newest Reclaimers arrived. Some of you have adapted better than the Director could have hoped, and some of you have made your best efforts to find a new sense of normalcy — testing Bender the food robot to his limits, forming book clubs, training together, musing over what sort of fashions one even wears to a party. Some of you, perhaps, have spent a little bit too much time in the simulation at the Dojo. It's understandable. Adjusting to the idea that your entire universe has been destroyed takes time, and sometimes, escapes are necessary. And tonight, she's hoping to provide you with a temporary escape with this party. 1. ONCE UPON A TWO WEEKS' WEARY A. TO WASH AWAY THE ACHING BLEARY The Director, using the Moon Base's simulation technology, has turned the Arena into a ballroom to behold. The sprawling hall is decorated in ornate wooden carvings, and a large maple floor meant for dancing is encircled by tables and a large banquet table. In the corner, on a raised platform, stands a baby grand piano, freshly tuned and polished. Anyone is free to have a spin on it, if the mood strikes. At some point during the evening, Johann the Bard, violin in hand, will stand on the platform and provide a performance that could only ever be heard on the Moon Base, among members of the Bureau of Balance — because he did, after all, give this particular song to the Voidfish. If you would like something with a heavier beat, there's a tablet on the wall next to the platform, where you can make music requests of your own, from the Artificer's collection of songs from across the universe. The collection may not be all that extensive, but The Cupid Shuffle is probably in there. Get down and boogie, is what we're saying. B. THEY WERE THROWN A BANQUET CHEERY And what's on the banquet table? Snacks provided by Bender, of course — which means they could have any manner of magical effects. Here are some of the snacks available, including one that the Director was lucky enough to roll for herself. Cupcakes of every flavor imaginable, utterly delicious — so delicious, in fact, that whoever eats one will have flowers grow in their footsteps for the next two hours. The flowers are magic and disappear on their own, so go turn the dance floor into a garden (Courtesy of Lion). Mead that puts you in such a good mood, you'll be unable to resist the urge to sing in whatever measure of talent you have (Courtesy of Lancelot). An energy drink that will literally give you wings for two hours. Enjoy looking absolutely angelic for your friends (Courtesy of Akechi). Nachos that have a curiously JPG quality to them, but no other magical effects (Courtesy of Terezi). The most delicious cheeseburgers you ever did taste (Courtesy of Maya). Finger sandwiches that, when eaten, light up your entire body in an assortment of different colors — the light trails behind your movements, like the way lights look on a low shutter speed. Enjoy the raving (courtesy of The Director). 2. BUT THEN, SHE ROSE FROM THE ICHOR Some of you may have heard a thing or two about Miss Zarves — perhaps the rumors circulating around town, or the strange connection to Garfield and the Bracer Chasers some of you may have bought to decorate your Bracers. Maybe words like "catalyst" and "Ouija Board" have come up once or twice. Because there is a being trapped in a plane of existence right next to yours, largely forgotten, as if she had somehow been reverse Voidfish'd. Forgotten, that is, until the Bracer Chasers — curiously laced with high amounts of aluminadium, a word that might sound familiar to McCree and Faolan. For two years, she's waited, and watched, wanting a chance to be seen again, to speak with the Bureau herself once again, cursed with a maddening loneliness. And the second one of those cute decorations was pressed against a Bracer, Miss Zarves had it — her catalyst. She would know, after all: She was once a leading researcher on using catalysts to travel through dimensions, after all — and the Bracer Chasers were one of her original designs. At the very end of the party, perhaps one or two piano songs away from shutdown, the simulation suddenly shuts down. The lights blink off with a systemwide shudder. After five seconds, the lights flare back to life, and the entire Arena is its default white blank slate. And a message, from username @Zarves❤Scarves, slowly blinks across the screen. Hello. I would like to play a game. And then the Arena goes dark. A. HACKER VOICE: I'M IN That little stunt isn't the only one Miss Zarves, who now has a connection to the dimension you're residing in and some of the Bureau tech, is going to pull. For the rest of your stay at the Moon Base, until you're whisked away to the next mission (Or unless you figure out a way to stop her), you may experience some of the following: Wonky simulations: You may have been traveling to the Dojo to recall a certain piece of your home world. And maybe one day, while you're minding your own business, that same simulation may suddenly appear outside the Dojo. Or perhaps you're wandering down a hallway, and you come across a mishmash of other people's simulations, torn apart and stitched back together haphazardly. Bender: As if this guy weren't a big enough mess already. If you happen to ask Bender for one of the items that were available at the party, you may instead be given food that has the opposite effect. Think cupcakes that leave behind wilted plants, mead that makes you cry uncontrollably, or energy drinks that not only do not give you literal wings, but put you straight to sleep. If you happen to have a subscription to Webflix, regardless of what movie you pick to watch, it'll pick a specific movie instead: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Also, you won't be able to turn it off. 3. AND THEN THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING WORSE The arena's simulation has decided to take a sabbatical, a spectral being from another plane of existence has invaded the Moon Base, and Madame Director is doing her best to keep the room calm and collected. First, the darkness needs to be handled with properly, so with a stomp of her elegant white oak staff down on the floor, a sound echoes above and beyond any panicked shouts, and soon the room is filled with dancing lights that emanate from the four cardinal directions of the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen! Excuse me. Thank you everyone for coming to this enchanted evening here with your fellow Reclaimers, but without proper lighting- Johann, Johann, please, I don't need signature music right now, this isn't a wrestling match for crying out- thank you, Johann. As I was saying- unfortunately, this evening's events will have to be---" Almost right on cue, as if there wasn't a possibly worse time in the world for this to happen, the doors of the arena bust open. Into the room swarms a dragonborn, looking rather beat up and worse for wear. It's impossible to tell if Dragonborn can cry the way humans can cry, but her amphibian-like eyes shine oddly in the colors of the magical lights surrounding the room. The Director's eyes go wide for a moment, this was rather- no, extremely, unsuspected. The Regulator approaches the Director. "We found him! Lucretia, we found him! And h-he. That son of a bitch has Killian!" And lacking in the proper finesse that's demanded of her as a leader, she rubs her forehead. "Carey, come with me to my office and we'll sort this out." She looks around the room, her Reclaimers all gathered and standing, watching this interaction take place. "Please, everyone, return to your apartments for the evening." A. TWO WEEKS UNTIL ROLLOUT The Director hasn't slept a wink throughout the night, dealing with a host of problems facing the Bureau at the moment. She consults with the clerics on how to get rid of this ridiculous joke-entity that Garfield has proliferated long enough. She speaks with Carey about all the details she can offer, attempting to calm her down, despite her unraveled state. Killian means the world to Carey, after all, and the Director, no- Lucretia, was waiting for the wedding invitation for far too long. Sometime around mid-day, the Reclaimers will receive a message on their bracer from her. Reclaimers, we will deploying in approximately two weeks. We've discovered the location of a relic that we haven't heard about in quite some time now. A full briefing will be provided at a later date, but please prepare accordingly. The area you all will be assigned to is known as the Netheril, a vast desert that splits the continent in half between the western and eastern fronts. We've instructed the tailors to offer special clothing designs that are particularly good for protection against sand and heat — at a heavily discounted price. Ensure that you have a weapon, as there's no telling what sort of beasts you can encounter out in such a wasteland. Train intensively over the next few days. We anticipate that it will be quite some time before you are able to return to Base, so please ensure that your BIAS is restocked and ready to go. Two weeks. blurb code by photosynthesis

Comments

[gambolshroud]

You didn't know— and I wouldn't hold that against anyone here.

[It's natural that they might be curious or have remarks, and as strange as it is for her to hear such things, it's better than what she might have been told back home if she'd gone to Beacon with her ears out in the open.

You do you, Akechi.]

My parents were part of a huge Faunus rights movement— I grew up surrounded by that. It was their efforts that won us Menagerie, so while it's not quite my hometown, it's the closest thing I have. I left it behind because I wasn't satisfied.

[She sounds disappointed— in herself, more than anything else.]

We were given a mostly uninhabitable island and told to make the best of it. That wasn't 'equal.' It wasn't what I thought we were fighting for.

[grakraka]

[Although she sounds disappointed, he understands her feelings and shakes his head.]

I can see both sides. Surely, after what they had faced to earn a safe haven, it must have felt like paradise for some. ['Any harbour in a storm' is a saying for a reason, one that fits this area well even.] But for others, it could only have been a sign that you still weren't being taken seriously as equals.

[Just as Blake said, they were given a slab of land no one wanted and shoved off. It can hardly be considered a true win.]

[gambolshroud]

[She nods— he's certainly right about that; there were plenty who were just happy to have a place to call their own, far away from humans. It was a space that was theirs alone, and they were determined to make the best of it.]

For some, it was a dream come true. They just stopped fighting... I couldn't resign myself to that.

[For better or for worse.]

I left Menagerie with people I thought were my friends. We were determined to keep going in hopes of winning a better life for the Faunus. Turns out we went about it all wrong— I left them, too, and went to Beacon to become a Huntress.

[She's left a lot of people behind. Though some of her reasons were valid, she's not proud of running.]

[grakraka]

[He can't help but be curious about the part she glossed over, considering it sounds like it was a major part of her life.]

Went about it wrong?

[gambolshroud]

[This part, at least, is obvious enough to anyone who knows the White Fang back home, and so she has no problem sharing it with him now, though her shoulders drop slightly.]

We tried to make humans respect us through violence... fear. It worked, for awhile, but that wasn't equality, either. When it looked like innocent lives might be lost in the crossfire— that's when I left.

[grakraka]

[Oh. Unexpected. Akechi looks thoughtful for a moment as he mulls over his words.]

...That I understand very well, yes. [Though his own terrible deeds were never for a grand cause—just his own desire to try to right one personal wrong. It was always selfish.] But I think it's rather... admirable that you were able to leave that path of your own accord. Most would be too afraid or stubborn, I think.

[Or both.]

[gambolshroud]

[She watches him for a moment, forcing herself to swallow down some of the guilt she still feels over acts committed in the name of that cause— she'll never be able to undo them, never be able to make up for them, but she's never going to stop trying. That guilt will always weigh on her, even as she resolves to leave what she can of the past behind.]

... thank you. It doesn't always feel admirable.

[She had been scared, but the idea of staying had frightened her even more.]

Sabotaging dust shipments or robotic soldiers was one thing, but when people got involved, I couldn't justify it anymore. I thought I could do more good as a huntress. I'm still not sure if that's true, but I think I'm where I need to be. Or... I was.

[That world is gone now, after all.]

[grakraka]

[So, she found a new purpose and had it taken away. It's strange, because he knows logically how many stories have been turned to tragedy now due to these events but hearing how many have struggled to find their path, only to have it all taken away, actually does get to him.

He doesn't think he could ever reassure her about any of the burden she carries now. It really isn't fair but he knows life isn't. Even so, this has been an especially cruel reminder for many.]

...For whatever it's worth, you seem to have the sort of spirit that other people would need across time and space. I believe you could do good anywhere. But if talking helps you, I can listen. I don't think anything you could say could burden me, so I don't mind.

[gambolshroud]

[Life certainly isn't fair. That's something Blake will never need to be reminded of— she's all too aware of just how cruel the world can be, as well as the people in it.

Nothing is fair. You fight to make the most of what you have, and the rest is up to you.

She smiles faintly, the reassurance he offers strangely comforting, if only a little.]

That's what I intend to do— as long as I'm here, to do whatever good I can. I won't let this time be wasted.

[She's wasted enough time already.]

I appreciate the offer, though. Maybe not today, but... if I ever feel like I need to take you up on it, I'll let you know.

[grakraka]

[That was all he wanted, really, was for it to give her even a bit of peace.]

Certainly. Don't worry, the offer won't be going anywhere. You can redeem it anytime and multiple times, should you feel so inclined. [He chuckles softly.] Though, you seem quite sure of your path. I'm a little envious.

[It sounds teasing, and it is, but it does have a bit of truth to it.]

[gambolshroud]

I wasn't always.

[If that helps any.]

You're not sure what you want to do now that you're here?

[Come to think of it, she really doesn't know all that much about him, other than the fact that they're both fond of books and that Qrow has taken an interest in him.]

[grakraka]

Mm.

[He tries to think how best to word it. He would hate to, well, dump a bunch of things on her. But he also wants to answer things more honestly now when he can.]

The best way to put it would be... before, almost up until the end, I was still on a... bad path. But it has been one I'd wanted to change for some time now but had been unable to for various reasons. So I suppose, now that the chance was rather abruptly given to me, I've lost my footing. I never really planned for this.

[gambolshroud]

I see.

[She closes her eyes for a brief moment, exhaling as she considers. She doesn't know the details, of course, but the story he gives her— it's familiar.]

The past doesn't have to follow you here. I don't know everything you've been through, but if you want to change your course, this could be your chance. Fresh starts don't come along very often.