balance_logs | Lunar Interlude 4

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Lunar Interlude 4 — corporate retreat

	I have a feeling that you'll find the next few weeks a little... in-tents.
	NAVIGATION

1. NEW RECLAIMERS

A. WELCOME WAGON

For those 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.

You're not alone, either. Along with the newest members of the Bureau, in a fashion probably not unlike this, there are people waiting here for you. People who wanted to see the heroes the Director has managed to bring in this time.

People who are excited to see what you're capable of.

You have a few minutes to talk with each other — or maybe lob a few questions at the impromptu welcoming committee, or any of the older Reclaimers who may happen to be nearby. But before long, you're whisked away to a different area of the Moon Base.

B. THE VOIDFISH

You are quickly divided into four 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 a melody, someone playing the violin. It's a bard, on his fourth round of introducing Reclaimers to the Voidfish.

When he's finished, he pulls out a few pieces of paper — sheet music — opens a drawer at the bottom of the tank, drops the papers in, and shuts it.

And swiftly, you feel as if there's something you can't just shake off about the melody you just heard.

If you seem alarmed, the bard takes notice of it.

"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."

You sort of get the sense that he's said this speech once or twice in the past. It's well rehearsed, much like the stories you'd expect a bard to be able to recite.

"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 song this bard played a few moments ago and the melody, the meter, every octave, 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. TEST OF INITIATION

You're given approximately 48 hours to sign up for the test of initiation. Outside the Arena is a command console where you can push your biometric signature up against the device, pick a time, and get prepare to take your entrance exam. This one is a little different than the ones before it; the Director has posed a group challenge among her hopeful Reclaimers. One slot contains blank names for four people altogether. Two of them are backlit in a blue background, two in red. It looks like you're going to be competing against other Reclaimers.

At the appointed time, you'll enter the arena's chambers and fill out into one of two rooms. You and your teammate will be allowed to dress and prepare accordingly. From the window, you can see a single, solitary mountain that rises so high you can barely make odds or ends of the peak. An array of items stands before you, four in total. You can only choose two, as the second both of you claim one item, the other two become translucent and untouchable. Placing either of your items back on their pedestals makes them corporeal again. All in all, you have:

○ Booster boots - aids you in climbing and scaling the mountain, quadrupling your jump speed

○ Spiked boots - when landing on a surface of the mountain, it magically locks into place and prevents you from falling or being otherwise deterred in moving upward

○ An enchanted cloth - you're not sure what this is capable of, but if you try it out a little bit, you'll realize it resists the push of air. Essentially, a portable hang glider

○ Grappling hook - standard issue, its reach is about 50 feet. When it locks onto a surface, it's impossible to remove unless a button is pressed on the device to loosen it

Both of your teams must make it to the top. What awaits you there is a wand, standing on an intricately carved, raised dais. The base is made out of stone, but written in very clear, etched letters around the bottom are the words: THE GRAND RELIC, WAND OF PLANAR DISPLACEMENT. Does it sound too good to be true? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. You need to get that relic back down to the entrance room.

The caveat here is if you happen to be tempted, and let's face it, the easy way out is always rather appealing, you can try to use it. It'll take you back down, easily enough, but the wand will not come with you. Looks like you're going to have to trek your way back up there. Either way, the first team to make it down wins the contest. What's the prize, you ask? Gloating rights, mostly.

3. THE REAL CAMPY FUN BEGINS

As The Director mentioned, you will be spending this month on a corporate retreat! And she wasn't kidding when she said she said this retreat will be an exercise in working together. Shortly after the newest Reclaimers are all good and initiated, and shortly after the rest of you have packed what you can, you're all whisked away to Gwynneth — a beautifully lush forest on the Moonshae Isles.

Blanketed in a canopy of lush greens and soft, comfortable grass that seems to grow even in the farthest corners where the light can't reach, the forest looks and feels like something out of a storybook. A peculiar, but not unpleasant, scent that is a blend of sweet olives and cherry blossoms wafts throughout the forest no matter where you turn.

That is to say, for those of you who have been in the Bureau for the while, and are used to roughing it with your BIAS: Welcome! This should be roughly old hat for some of you. Not far from the clearing where you all land are two perfectly lined rows of cabins that are in particularly bad shape. On the door frame of each will contain some information... and you might have guessed it. "BARBARIANS," "FIGHTERS," "PALADINS," "DANCERS," "MONKS," "RANGERS & ROGUES," "BARDS," "SORCERERS," "WARLOCKS," "DRUIDS," "CLERICS," and "SMART PEOPLE." - you get the idea. Each cabin will have just the essentials (creaky bunk beds, chests at the foot of each, and a few spare desks per room). Rest assured, the Director's enchanted the cabins to reject entry to anyone who doesn't fit the proper description that's labeled above each door.

You will... most likely have to clean the place up prior to habitation. Showering, toilets, and mirrors are communal, but divided into stalls in the administrative cabin, adjunct to the Bureau's cabin. And for those of you who don't fit into any of the above (hi Lucas), uh, well. There's an old shack close to where you were dropped off, but you probably don't want to stay inside for too long. It smells like something died in there — and maybe something did.

And boy, does this whole trip have "campy corporate retreat" written all over it. When you arrive, you're informed that your "mission" here, so to speak, is to safely make it through the month's activities, including the penultimate task: Braving what staff is only referring to as the Tomb of Horrors.

But we'll get to that later. Right now, you've got some camping activities to do.

C. GET IN LOSERS WE'RE GOING CAMPING

If there's a camp activity that you can think of, we guarantee that there is space set aside for it, and that a Bureau member The Director brought along to assist the Reclaimers is helping to run it. Here are a few of the more prominent activities to get you started, however:

○ Fight Club/Struggle Tourney/Whatever you want to call it: For those of you who are in clear need of more training, or simply like getting yourself into a good strife, a small arena has been squared and roped off for your said strifing convenience. You can sign up in pairs or go mano a mano against one opponent, but there's a catch.

This activity is about improvising, and learning your fellow Reclaimers' fighting styles — an absolute must for when you're out on the field in the thick of a battle. You will only be allowed to use fighting ring issued weapons. A magical barrier will knock your regular weapon right out of your hands if you try to enter the ring with it!

And, I mean. Who wouldn't want to fight with these Fantasy Costco exclusives? (Note: If you want to join an actual Fight Club, the magic barrier is down for two hours starting at midnight. Use that information how you will.)

○ Arts and Crafts: Another camping given. Stretched out between two large evergreens is an equally large canvas, though short enough that every Reclaimer should be able to reach. You'll be given a paintbrush — magic, of course, according to the Bureau member helping out with this activity. It magically fills itself with paint, allowing you to add color to the canvas without the need for a palette.

Because curiously, it seems you're capable of painting in only one color. And more curiously, it's a color that's very unique to you: no other Reclaimer is going to have the same hex value as what's flowing out of your paintbrush. If you ask her, the Bureau member will smile somewhat pensively, and explain: That paintbrush allows you to paint in the color of whatever energy you're giving off right now. Take this with a grain of salt, of course, but the basic hues can be interpreted as follows:

Red can mean that you have a problem that you need to solve. Yellow means there's a secret that you're keeping from someone important to you. Green elicits a feeling of calmness, but there's something else that you're not allowing yourself to address. Blue means there's something you need to confess, whether it's the fact that you have a crush on someone, or the fact that you stole something or told a lie. White means, simply, an energy at peace.

Of course, you may find yourself painting in any color out there — and they may represent something else, depending on you specifically. Use this prompt however you'd like!

And, that's not to say that these are all things that we need to sit down around the campfire and hash out — though that's an activity later on if you want it! These energies aren't necessarily a bad thing either. It wouldn't be much of a painting, you wouldn't be the person you've grown into right now, if you're always painting in white.

○ Ghost stories: Speaking of campfires, every night, you'll be invited to have a seat at a large campfire and to try to tell your best ghost story. Not too far away from the campfire are four busts of wizardly looking men and women on pedestals. Yes, they are haunted by the very same wizardly looking men and women. And yes, they will be offering frank commentary on whatever story you decide to tell.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

○ Field Day: What's a camping trip without the likes of potato sack races, music, tye-dye booths like you'd find at the typical spring fair, and friendly games of capture the flag? If you find this whole field day thing a little bit childish, then, well ... yeah, you're probably right! But even stuffy old people like Lucretia know that the people even stuffier than she is need a chance to cut loose once in a while. So go right ahead and get yourself a fried charisma oreo.

There's a dunking booth, by the way. Yes, you can dunk the Director if you want.

You might bump into Lucas while you're here. He is having pretty much the worst month right now: sunburned, blown up on histamines and more than ready to go back to the Moon Base where there's air conditioning and technology.

○ Man eff that: If the campy camp activities are a bit too campy for you, then The Director certainly isn't going to twist your arm into participating. Well, actually, she might. A little?

In any case, if you're hellbent on boycotting, you might join Lucas in the aforementioned Smelly Shack, as he tinkers with the tech he managed to bring with him and is generally a pain in the ass about having to be out in the forest. Saru and his band of kitsune, if you remember them from Vista Virs, now full-fledged members of the Bureau, will take you on hunting trips if you're interested. If you need to actually learn how to hunt, then Carey and Killian are here to help.

If you're still gonna be a stick in the corporate retreat mud, then the Director might ask you to clear as big of a path to the Tomb of Horrors as possible (Note: You will not be able to go inside, or find a way inside the Tomb of Horrors, no matter how hard you try. This isn't Breath of the Wild, sadly, you can't defeat Ganon right after falling off the Great Plateau). It's about five miles directly to the east, and behind the thickest and densest part of the forest. Who knows what else you'll find out there? Have fun!

D. AN OVERNIGHT SENSATION

One more thing. Something strange is happening overnight, while everyone is asleep, whether it's in their bedrolls, or holed up in the Smelly Shack.

Something — or someone seems to be draping a blanket of magic over the entire camp, leaving those who were asleep rather susceptible to it. You may find yourself afflicted with any number of inconvenient status effects for the day, whether it's a burn on your arm you can't seem to heal, more, uh. Well. More sleep. You blink, and suddenly, 24 hours have passed. Maybe you enter a 2v2 in the fighting ring and suddenly realize you can't tell friend from foe — even though you'd agreed on the teams before entering.

Maybe all the food suddenly loses its flavor, leaving you to marvel at how intense textures suddenly are. If you happened to be painting in blue, maybe you're suddenly compelled to blurt it out to the next unfortunate soul who passes.

It's a smorgasbord of minor inconveniences. Almost like something's spotted the corporate retreat, and has decided to use its participants as their plaything.

But what?

blurb code by photosynthesis

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's a good explorer!

Roxas sits down on one of the ledges as Pinecone the Pony goes off to find a place to drink. Or eat. Pony stuff.

He's quiet for a bit, before finally taking a breath.]

...

I'm sorry.

[You go, Pinecone. Do your thing.]

[Now it's just the two boys standing awkwardly. Before he can reply to anything, Roxas is apologizing. Hayner blinks, looking up.]

Huh? What're you sorry for?

[He's not quite sure really. He always forgets that apologies are kind of wasted on Hayner, but he figures he should start somewhere.]

During the test, I was....I probably could have handled things better, and I guess. It's just confusing because I know you, but I don't.

I don't know.

[Hayner watches Roxas struggle with his words, and he twists his mouth a bit as he tries to think of what to say. This was confusing to him, too; he already had a similar conversation with Roxas back home, when he and the others finally returned to Twilight Town, but somehow that had gone much smoother. It felt weird, seeing Roxas so lost.]

[He rubs the back of his head, before shrugging.]

Hey, don't worry about it. I mean, I wasn't really much better, was I?

[He knows he'd been giving Roxas weird looks from time to time during the test. He'd known Roxas, too, but somehow, didn't know this Roxas.]

[The realization hits him pretty hard, and he blinks, before laughing to himself.]

Man, that's crazy. We're feeling the same thing here!

[That's the thing here. Roxas overthinks and around Hayner, he doesn't have to. It's easy to forget that sometimes. Most of the time. But as the realization dawns on him, he can't help but laugh a bit to.]

Yeah, I guess we are.

It's kind of weird to just start over though.

Yeah, it is a little weird...

[Hayner thinks about it for a minute, before walking over to a nearby rock and sitting down on it.]

Well, I mean... we have all this time. Why don't we get to know each other again? Think of it like... catching up, instead of starting over.

I...I think I'd like that. Yeah.

[Because part of him remembers Hayner as his best friend. And while he knows that that's Axel now, he doesn't want to lose that friendship with Hayner.

But that brings up a new question.]

...but where would we even start, with something like that? I guess I could tell you about the missions we've done so far.

[Hayner nods eagerly.]

Yeah! Tell me what you've been up to here. And I'll tell you about what's been up in Twilight Town.

Uh...Alright then.

[How does he even do this.]

I guess I should ask...what do you you know about the Digital Twilight Town?

Well, mostly just what Sora's told me,. He's the one who actually went to that other Twilight Town.

[As weird as it may be, he would have liked to have seen it for himself!]

But he said that was the Twilight Town you lived in, and that you can go to it by using this really big computer in the old mansion. And when we were trying to bring you back, we talked to this guy on Sora's phone... Ien-something. He said that the town was made of data from everyone, and it had your data too.

[He scratches the back of his head.]

To be honest, a lot of it went over my head. But I got that it's another version of Twilight Town. And, in that version, we were all friends.

[Most of that is going over Roxas's head as well. He only learned it was digital after the fact after all. And he couldn't say who the guy was.]

Yeah, that was pretty much it. I mean, it's probably a lot smaller than the real Twilight Town because we couldn't go to the Beach or anywhere like that, but I think it was pretty close.

[From what he remembers of the two versions, though his visits as an Organization Member are slightly hazy.]

It turns out that it was meant to keep me away from the rest of Organization XIII until I could go back to Sora. I...didn't really want to, but right before any of that happened was when the Hunger showed up.

And I took the Director's hand and ended up here.

And I've been here since then.

Wait, seriously?? That other Twilight Town doesn't even have a beach?? What are you supposed to do for fun there??

[Wow. His opinion of the alternate Twilight Town has dropped significantly.]

Wow... that's still pretty crazy. Because how I remember it, Sora managed to find you somehow and help you come back to the real Twilight Town. And then you, Axel, Xion and Isa all decided to stay in Twilight Town.

[He rubs the back of his head.]

How's it we remember the Hunger appearing at different times?

...There's the Sandlot? And the Clocktower...

[About all you need really, but yeah, it's limited.

The only name that really resonates on that list is Axel. He has no clue who Isa is and the third name seems to register before becoming static.]

So I guess that means I go back to Sora somehow...I didn't even know he knew I existed.

[And that he makes up with Axel. That's...actually kind of nice to know.]

The Director did say something about that actually...she said that she uses this teleportation spell to bring us here. And that she can look at the Plane of Thought and find people who she believes will help the Bureau...so, I guess she found both of us, just at different times.

I still don't know why me, but I want to do my best, because of that. I think she really depends on us.

Yeah, he did. He's the one who was pushing to find you the most. I guess he really missed you too.

[He doesn't know the extent of the connection Sora had with Roxas, but it was evident Roxas meant a lot to Sora.]

Huh... So it's some sort of time travel magic, then? [Or something... he's not a mage, Roxas!]

She depends on us, huh? So she saw something in both of us? [But what did that mean about everyone else who wasn't called?]

He...he was? I never got a chance to talk to him, so I didn't know.

[That is, kind of surprisingly for Roxas honestly. He knew that Sora was kind, from his memories, but Roxas had kind of built him up to be something of an antagonist. After all, everyone wanted him and he was supposed to be the hero where Roxas was just supposed to disappear. It was hard to not hate him then.

And with him not being here, it's been hard to really confront that.]

It kind of went over my head, but I guess that's how it works. But yeah, that's what she said anyway.

I guess something about us just stood out. I don't know why it ended up being me or you...but I want to prove her right.

[The Director is a good boss, okay?]

Yeah, he was. He was the one who gave us a photo that had you in it, too. So we knew what you looked like.

[Which, oh... he didn't have anymore, did he? Damn...]

[He tilted his head at Roxas for a moment. Not that he doubts the Director, and Roxas seems to trust her, but he's still got questions.]

But then what about the others? Like Pence, and Olette, and everyone else? Where did they go?

[He thought for a moment, considering.]

Do you think maybe they went to another world? Like that beach we went to visit?

[Roxas is quiet for a moment, kind of curling in on himself as he considers all of this. He almost wants to meet Sora now, if only to hear about this from him. But at the same time, he's scared at how a meeting like that would go.

But at Hayner's next question, he tenses up. He's been trying not to think about that]

I...I don't really know. I don't know a lot about the Hunger, only what we've been told, so it just might be that, you know, the Hunger ate our world. So they might be, inside it.

Which is all the more reason why we need to find the relics.

I-Inside it??

[Hayner balks at that, eyes wide.]

B-But how?? Like, it ate them??

Edited 2019-06-10 19:59 (UTC)

I guess? I don't really know.

It's not like I stuck around to find out so I'm just going with what we were told.

[He wishes he had more answers.]

[That's probably for the best, to stick to what they're told. But it does leave an uncomfortable feeling in his gut. One he doesn't like.]

[So, he does what he does best. He shakes his head and gets a determined look on his face.]

Well, I know there are other worlds out there. And if Pence, Olette, and everyone else aren't here, then maybe they ended up there. And we've gotta do what we can so that we can go back to how things were.

[He nods to himself, then turns to Roxas.]

Right?

Right.

[Roxas returns the determined look. Because that's what they're doing, right? Saving the worlds.]

We'll get them back. Everyone.

[Hayner nods once more, grinning.]

Everyone.

[And just that little bit of reassurance makes Hayner feel more reassured, more at ease with this strange situation. He's not alone in this, and he has a good friend at his side.]

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Lunar Interlude 4 — corporate retreat

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