janitorscloset | [Event] Introduction to the Nexus / MoI crash

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[Event] Introduction to the Nexus / MoI crash

I.
Within the fabric of the multiverse the differing possibilities of each branch are woven, overlapping but separate, converging and looping at times, but often wriggling apart by ever-increasing degrees until the substance of it is thick with possibilities. This fabric is five-dimensional, not recognizable in its true form to the beings that are forced to live within the constraints of linear time and three-dimensional space. Unknown to those who live out the events contained within it, the sense of it is only kept by the special properties of the interactions between universes—it would seem that each universe is independent, but the nature of this fabric is such that certain events—convergence events—tie each universe together in an indelible way.

This is not to say that these convergence events all take place in the same way in each universe. But there are key threads that cannot be unraveled from their neighbors, and though the players in a scene may not all be the same in each universe, the moments contained in these convergence points are so tightly woven that in some ways they may be indistinguishable from their neighbors.

II.
An indelible part of those universes where Project Freelancer came to be is the fact that the Project could not succeed. It was based on flawed theories, illegal activities, biased science, no matter which lifetime this particular founder of the Project was living out. And so its failure, or more specifically that moment where its impending failure came to a head, became a convergence event. Like a network of strong magnets, the turning point brought the multiverse together in an intimately linked way. For this reason, when in one universe the ship Mother of Invention fired upon itself and began its descent into the atmosphere of the nearby planet, it sent shockwaves of destiny through the multiverse, bringing each doom destined for Project Freelancer into clear focus.

Much of the technology in the Project's facilities, both on the ship and the planet itself, were experimental. Dimension-hopping was one of the unsanctioned activities taking place under the Project's purview, though it was intended for fast travel through space within the same universe rather than through the multiverse itself. This didn't change the fact that once again, the Project was messing around with things that weren't entirely understood. The emotional states of the users of the dimensional portals had a huge effect on them—and the person effecting the portal didn't necessarily have to be actively using it, either. This wasn't known or considered when the Project moved one of its portals from its planet-side facility to the labs on the ship.

III.
And so it was that the combined anger, fear, and desperation of the occupants of the ship at the time it crashed reprogrammed the portal in the ship's belly, and in turn created havoc in the transporter nexus that resided on the planet. Like an arc of electricity sparking from a Tesla coil, the wave of reprogramming touched every portal in the nexus. Every portal would now lead to the Mother of Invention in the aftermath of the crash. Worse than this, it caused the portals in the nexus to draw in users from other parts of the multiverse. They would enter the nexus unknowingly, simply hearing a ringing like crystal and finding themselves within it. Attempting to leave would simply send them to the Mother of Invention at a most dangerous time.

IV.

Timeline of events:

• Day 1: Residents of other times and places will find themselves on the planet containing Freelancer facilities in the teleporter nexus. Everyone who comes to the nexus will find that their cell phone, 2-way radio, comm device, or helmet radio can be used to communicate with anyone else who has arrived in the nexus at any point. Attempting to leave the nexus via any portal will lead to the crash site of the Mother of Invention. Recovery agents and guards will be evident all around the grounds, but things are chaotic. It will be impossible to locate the end portal the character arrived through to return to the nexus.

• Days 2-5: Things are calming down at the site, but time itself will seem to be undergoing an echo effect—recovery agents and guards will still be on patrol, but as time goes by they will seem to be in several places at once and though they may spot characters who arrive, they will be unable to apprehend them. The end portals that lead back to the nexus will be intermittently visible, but in a shivery way that will make it difficult to use them to return. When one manages to return to the nexus, they will find that they're unable to reprogram the teleporters. Teleporters now lead to various locations, however, rather than just the ship crash site—they also lead to various bases inhabited by simulation troops. Like the guards and recovery agents at the crash site, however, the simulation troops will not be quite able to interact with the characters who have arrived.

• Days 6-10: The shivers that are going through time and space now seem to be settling down, and the teleporters are increasingly responsive to attempts to reprogram them. By the time the ten days are up it's easy to cycle them between other Freelancer and UNSC facilities, and many technologically-savvy characters will be able to deduce the fact that there is a resonant frequency inherent to their own universe that can be programmed into a teleporter via their radio or comm device.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It's him, it's him it's him it's him it's him, how can it be him. (She knows how, of course she does, it's just that it's been years. It's been almost half her years all over again since the last time she was unceremoniously ripped out of space and time, only to find herself dumped somewhere else.) It's him. How? What is she supposed to do? She should—she needs to … ]

[ … She needs to switch on the voice modulator. (Because oh, god, it's been years and things happened and oh, god, she really needs to not think about any of that, at all, ever again for as long as she's in this presence.) There we go, a voice that isn't hers. ]

… Hi there. [ Only long, long years of experience in faking it 'til she makes it keeps her from stammering. Only long, long years of experience living through utter bullshit keeps her from—god knows what. Running? Yeah, that's still on the table. ]

[ Why isn't she running, again? ]

[Voice modulator.]

[Huh.]

....so.

You wouldn't happen to know what I'm supposed to be doing, would you?

[ C'mon. C'mon, get into gear, A—California. Cali. She can't afford to be Aoko right now, it's too much of a mess, and if she thinks too hard on it she is going to trip, hard. It's almost funny, really: when did it get easier to fall into a lie than to confront the truth? When did it get easier to throw up a wall than to reach out for something she's spent over a decade wishing for? She'd never quite given up hope, but this, this. ]

[ She shifts on her feet, settling into … yes, let's go with parade rest. ]

[ (Let's not go with bouncing on the balls of her feet, he'd know that.) ]

Oh, wow, that's funny, I was about to ask you the same question! I have no idea what's going on. [ Why I'm getting to see you again. Why I'm getting shifted through the multiverse after so long. Where he is, oh god, she doesn't know if she should hope he's here, too, or hope for the opposite, that probably wouldn't end well, haha. Ha. Ha. ]

[You know how it would end, California. Someone is punching the other, and there would probably be knives because he never likes himself ever.]

You don't? Then how'd you get the armor?

[ And she knows just what Wash thinks of Puma, too. She'd have to step in, kick both of their asses, send them to time out corners and it would be ridiculous and awful. Emphasis on awful. They'd rip each other to shreds, and Puma … Puma doesn't have all of his skills. Does he? It's been so long, maybe he got more back. ]

Er, what? [ Er, not uhm. Trying to steer clear of her familiar old verbal tics. ] It's my armor; I've had it for years. Where'd you get the weird butler suit? [ She leans forward very slightly, like she's squinting at him. ]

Either my boss or older teammates had weird tastes. [Because seriously, why BUTLERESQUE?] But it's the uniform, so I wear it.

Years, huh? And what, you're just here? No mission or anything?

[ She'd always had an odd fondness for the uniform … she thinks. It's been a long time. She thinks she remembers it being kinda cute, kinda silly, in an impractical way. Why cream, of all colors? It picked up stains like nobody's business. Black would've made more sense, might've stopped them from going through uniforms like squirrels go through nuts. ]

[ Because of all the blood, you know? ]

[ … Her fingers twitch. Curl. Uncurl. ]

Yeah. Er … yeah, one second I was minding my own business, and the next second—here I am! It's weird. [ At least she doesn't have to stretch to sound confused. It's right there under the surface already, bubbling with anxiousness and nerves and oh god oh god oh god it's still him, he's still right there. She takes a breath, tries to think of something to say, and blurts out the first thing that stumbles to mind. ]

You don't ... recognize me?

[She's nervous. Twitchy, fidgety, and there's something here. Something at the back of his mind, like he SHOULD remember, but he can't put his finger on it. Which was worrying.]

I feel like I'm supposed to. And you don't want me to with the use of the voice modulator. Kind of a bad idea to ask that question, it gives yourself away.

[ She doesn't. She does. She doesn't she does she doesn't she does she doesn't she does, she wants both. She can't have both. ]

Haha, man, it's okay if you don't! I never did get the guts to talk to you guys. It's just, yeah, I thought you'd recognize me by my armor set-up, at least? [ When in doubt, lie harder. (This is going to fall apart so fast, she needs to run. She doesn't. Not yet.) ]

[ Raises a hand, giving a bit of a wave. ]

California.

[ What am I doing? ]

[California.]

[And then the memories he tried SO HARD TO NOT REMEMBER come to the forefront. A girl who appeared in the desert. Who came with him in the Project, who died, who wasn't dead, who came back, then died again-]

[He chokes, looking horrified.] AOKO?!

[ Wait ]

[ Wait, no, how—how could he … he shouldn't—he can't know that! How could he possibly know that?! Cali never existed in his universe, she was never there, how the fuck, this isn't possible?! ]

[ She chokes as well. Freezes dead. ]

[ And then (because it's too late to lie her way through, it's too late to throw on an act; she'd reacted too strongly and he knows) she spins on heel and bolts. She doesn't know where she's going and it doesn't matter, she just needs to get away ]

[He's rooted to the spot for about five seconds.]

[Five seconds of high pitched internal screaming because EVERYTHING CALIFORNIA IS TERRIBLE FOR VARYING REASONS, BUT THEY ARE ALL LEGITIMATELY TERRIBLE.]

[But Aoko is running, Aoko is upset and despite everything, he can't let her be alone and upset even if he has no idea what the fuck is going on.]

AOKO! GET BACK HERE!

[And he's running after her, but he doesn't have the speed and, well, she's in armor too.]

[ Haha, ha. Internal screaming. Internal screaming forever. It's been a while since panic slammed into Cali quite like this—like a dozen speeding semi-trucks crashing down a steep mountainside. All she can do is run from it, run from him. ]

[ So, she runs. Fast. She runs as fast as she knows how, like the armor's weight is absolutely nothing, tearing around corners, even using walls here and there as springboards, keeping herself from losing momentum. Ignores the shout. Ignores the uneasy jolt in the pit of her stomach at hearing that name ring out in such an open space. ]

[ Finding herself at a dead end … now, that's a little harder to ignore. She stares at the walls like they've personally betrayed her, breathing hard and shaky. ]

[She....quickly outruns him. But she's being obvious. The armor makes her faster, but it leaves marks from when she's hit walls, and Puma is determined.]

[She has to stop eventually.]

[It'll just]

[Be a few minutes.]

[ Look, flustered panic sets her back. She's had the training, she knows better, she just can't … she can't think. All she knows is that he is right there, probably following her, and he knows who she is. Does that mean he knows what happened? How much does he know? How? Why— ]

[ It feels like the walls are closing in around her, larger than life. Dead end. She has to backtrack, she has to … she has to breathe, because the mortification and the nope is morphing into something bigger; something deeper. Something. Too much. ]

[ Cali gives her head a short, sharp shake, bracing one hand against the wall. Breathe. One, two, three, four. Breathe. One … two … three … four. ]

[Puma keeps running and running, and he doesn't hear the sounds of thundering metal footsteps. So either she stopped, or she was outside. He pushed himself to go faster, to catch her, to not let her get awa-]

[Or maybe he can turn corner and almost trip right over her.]

[ OR ]

[ HE COULD DO THAT ]

[ YEAH ]

[ And maybe Cali—flustered, panicky Cali, lost in between adrenaline and hysteria—reacts, falling back on old, too well-ingrained reflexes. Somebody might find their arm getting grabbed and twisted, might find themselves getting flipped, none too gently, thrown down to eat the ground and pinned there. ]

[He's]

[Not used to people being faster than him]

[But she is, because he's missing things, important things, and there's a grunt of pain because suddenly he's DOWN and he goes still.]

[Moving will make it hurt more and it won't help anyway.]

[ The grip she has on him is tight—too tight for somebody who isn't wearing armor. She's just barely shy of snapping his arm, and … and … wait … California blinks hard, struggling to pull the world back into focus. Somebody had touched her, she'd reacted without thinking. Somebody … isn't wearing armor; that isn't metal she's clinging to. ]

[ It's Puma. ]

[ Puma. ]

[ She's off him in a flash, backing up until she hits the opposite wall. Shit, shit. ]

[It's probably good he got back his modified bones recently. He's pretty sure his arm would be broken right now otherwise. Still, he bites back the cries of pain. Don't provoke, don't provoke, let her calm down.]

[Then she's off and he can move his arm. Ugh, those will be nice bruises, now won't they?]

[But he's slowly, veeeeery slowly pushing himself up.]

...you good?

[ A little more than broken, probably. Human bones don't do so well against MJOLNIR armor, particularly when the wielder is putting some force behind their actions. California can imagine the state he'd be in—is in? But … no, she can hear him moving, and even he wouldn't have gotten up quite that quick if she'd turned his bones into dust. She could've killed him. ]

[ She hurt him. She can still feel the backwash of panic, but she'd hurt him. ]

[ He asks if she's good, and for a moment, all she can do is stare blankly. ]

[He sits on the ground, crossing his legs, making sure it's easy to see all of him. He looks over his arm, giving her time to get together. She wasn't currently having a panic attack, but he wasn't going to push her.]

[Plus he did need to make sure nothing important had ruptured or something.[

[ It … helps. Somehow. Kind of. Doesn't do anything for the guilt churning like knives in her gut, and she still wants to spin on heel and run, but between the knowledge that he'd just get up and follow her, and the fact that right now he's sitting there … she can breathe. ]

[ She can breathe. ]

[ After a minute, maybe two, she forces herself to slide one step forward. Two steps forward. Three. And then she crouches next to him, just as slow and careful as him. (It's Puma it's Puma it's Puma it's Puma she hurt Puma it's Puma it's been years.) ]

I … I'm sorry. [ There's a gap where his name should've been. She can't quite herself to say it just yet. ] Is it—did I break anything?

No. [He's calm, even.] I'm going to have a hell of a bruise though. Or several...

Are you going to stay? Because it's really not fair making me run after you in armor.

[ Probably several. Definitely several. Cali lets out a sharp puff a breath, struggling with herself. She wants to run, but she wants to stay. She wants to back up, but she wants to reach out. She'd almost broken his arm just now, and … for what? All because he'd turned a corner too fast and tripped into her? She doesn't know how he can be so calm about it. ]

[ (because he's Puma; because he, more than most, understands a Freelancer's reflexes.) ]

... Maybe. We'll see. No promises.

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