MINI-EVENT: RENDEZVOUS

[returnjourney]

MINI-EVENT: RENDEZVOUS

March 9th, 2022
Tasked with picking up some emergency botanical supplies, the Peregrine stopped in Meodriotope in February and is now making haste towards another ship, for a rendezvous and hand-off of the supplies. In late morning, the view out of the windows on one side of the Peregrine will be blocked almost entirely by another ship — the Feather, also from the Admiralty's fleet. The hand-off will take place here, between two ships.

In the afternoon (local Peregrine time), a mini transport from the other ship docks in the Peregrine's loading bay. Three passengers disembark to assist in the loading, have some brief conversations, and then be on their way.

If you have any questions about the event, please ask here.

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1. Observing the Feather

The Feather is one of the oldest ships in the Admiralty's fleet, a fact that is perhaps less known than intuited, simply by looking at it. While the Peregrine's sleek helices and centre spire move through space like some deep-sea organism, the Feather is a great drifting whale, its broad and boxy body speckled with simple portholes. The sides are painted with murals — abstract swirls of colour, flowers the size of houses, massive birds flitting between them. There's text that must have taken quite the ladder to paint: "Hope is a thing with feathers!" The murals are patchy and worn, but there's a lot of love there.

But despite how massive it is, it floats weightless in space. It comes so close to the Peregrine's side that it almost seems like they could brush, and the ships' respective force-fields thrum as they "merge", blending into one large bubble. In the distance, one can see quite a number of passengers on an outside deck, gathered at the railings to watch. Too far to shout across, but certainly close enough to see tiny limbs waving hello!

In the observatory, the computer monologues:

"The Feather. Currently on the 18th year of its current mission. Current population consists of 295 wardens, 306 inmates, 5 graduates in-transition and 53 supporting staff. Most passengers are from Earth Variants. The Feather is currently headed by Navarch Margaret "Old Lady" Lloyd, a Navarch with 45 years of experience..."

2. Loading the Materials

Want to lend a hand? The more the merrier. The crates of Lover's Kiss must be brought to the loading bay, checked and then loaded into the waiting transport ship. Caution is a must; we can't have the flowers crushed or damaged when they're sorely needed for medicines at their final destination.

Helping, of course, are the representatives from the Feather: two wardens and an inmate. (They'll have their own top levels below!)

3. Rewards

Passengers identified to the Navarch as having assisted in the gathering efforts will have a delivery bot stop by with a clear plastic container fogged over by steam. The container is warm to the touch, and opening it reveals a lusciously greasy cheeseburger with all the fixings, a mound of thick-cut salted french fries, and the fattest, cheesiest, richest-looking slice of pizza known to mankind. The food is cradled by red food-wrapping sheets with a white PIZZA PLANET logo. Enjoy!

(Or kill someone for a french fry after weeks or months of eating processed food substitutes. You do you.)

4. Oops, Caught Red-Handed!

So there was that thing the Navarch said — the flowers are fragile and must be handled with care, as they are only useful intact. And sure enough, on the surface of Meodriotope, dutiful flower-pickers had discovered that if you plucked them too roughly, they'd explode, leaving red stains that take weeks to wear off skin, even with dutiful scrubbing. It's been weeks and they're just starting to fade, fortunately, but there's a second phase.

Passengers stained red might discover they're having trouble sleeping. The redder they are, the longer their minds refuse to rest. In severe cases, this results full-blown insomnia. In mild cases, the body may shut down while the mind remains completely alert. These effects could last anywhere between a few days to a full week.

Good luck!

Comments

[goty]

"Huh." She plucks another clean sheet to doodle on, and ends up making the rough outline of a moth. The design may be familiar, reminiscent of the tattoo on her arm Lucifer saw last time they spoke. The ink is now hidden by the arms of a baggy hoodie.

"How d'you know it all works?"

[dealwiththe]

Lucifer notes the moth - files it away, for a rainy day. Proverbially speaking.

"I know that people can change for the better. I did. I've seen others do it. I've even helped some of them. So why shouldn't I be able to help someone do it here, too?"

He says that with conviction, a certain earnestness that immediately cuts through his often somewhat flippant manner.

[goty]

She can't actually argue with that logic, which is annoying as it is comforting. It's what she deserves, though. If she stops believing people can change, there's no point waking up in the morning. There's no point in anything. So she's just gotta keep finding something to believe in.

Ellie begins to draw something else, the wild eyes of a boar.

"Okay. Tell me about how you changed, Lucy."

[dealwiththe]

Lucy. If she's deliberately trying to annoy him with that name, it doesn't work. If anything, it has the opposite effect - it brings a fond, almost affectionate smile to his face.

Amenadiel calls him that, and Amenadiel is his favorite brother.

"Therapy helped," he says first, perfectly nonchalant. He has no problem talking about the fact that he did years of therapy. "I had an excellent therapist. And I met people. Good people - people who made me want to be better, who showed me how to be, and who believed I could."

[goty]

Ellie figures anybody whose got a name with the first two syllables being Lucy doesn't have much grounds to be annoyed by it. And she hasn't had the energy to be an asshole unprovoked just yet.

"Sounds nice," she says with a shrug. It does sound nice, is the thing. People believing in you sounds amazing. It's also out of her grasp, so she doesn't focus on it too much. The boar she's drawing gains long, sharp tusks, and arrows sticking out of its side. Blood is sketched flanking its sides, polling at its hooves. It's dead, but it's still standing.

"I've read books about therapy," she murmurs. "You just sit and talk, right?"

[dealwiththe]

Either she has a very good imagination, or she's been hunting with a bow and arrow before. Probably the latter, judging from just the glimpse of her situation that he got when he pulled her from her world.

"Yes, it's mostly talking. But not talking like this. In therapy, you wind up talking about the hard things - the bad things, the scary things. And the parts of yourself you like the least. It can be difficult."

[goty]

Ellie's curious how much she can get away with, and, well- she likes this weird guy. There will always be the urge to charm people she likes, even if she hasn't been a cute little kid in years.

"Bleaugh," she says, not looking up from her sketch. "I'd rather get stabbed again."

[dealwiththe]

Lucifer obligingly chuckles. "Having experienced both, getting stabbed is definitely easier in a lot of ways. But the only thing I learned from getting stabbed is not to get stabbed again."

He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Becoming emotionally vulnerable to someone - that comes with a whole host of problems and opportunities."

[goty]

Mostly problems, though. Ellie's sure it's mostly problems. The opportunities feel like, well, what you learn from stabbing. Don't do that again.

(A fleeting memory: But I want to talk about it! Where had that gone? It doesn't matter. It's gone now.)

Ellie finishes the dead boar, and begins sketching something else. A monster, eyes destroyed, a crown of fungus over its brow. "So, how's it work? After you spill your guts, what happened?"

[dealwiththe]

"It's different for everyone, I think," Lucifer says after a moment. "For me, what I needed was to face the parts of myself I didn't like, and the things I refused to take responsibility for. Doctor Linda helped nudge me to that self-awareness, and helped me find better ways of living my life."

He points at the monster. "What's that?"

[goty]

"Good for Linda," Ellie mumbles, as she draws the sagging, fetid clothes hanging off the bloated creature. She begins cross hatching shadow across its haunches.

"Oh, just this infected I ran into in California."

[dealwiththe]

"Infected. Good name for it," Lucifer says mildly - not making a joke of it, but not particularly shocked, or horrified, either. "There are a lot of those in your world?"

[goty]

[Ellie could believe in other worlds with different needs and histories, but it never occurred to her, somehow, that someone would be ignorant of the infected.] Yeah. Everywhere.

[She holds out her still-healing hand, the one with all its fingers, but a healing bite mark.]

[dealwiththe]

So that's what did that?

[ Lucifer looks both concerned and impressed, if possible. ]

It must take a lot, to have to fight to survive against things like that.

[goty]

I'm a survivor. [Saying it is like a little talisman of Joel, pressed into her heart. She's a survivor. It's all she is and all she'll ever be.] It's what I do.

[She begins drawing another, this one bigger, bloated, rotting.]

They fucked up everything, when the infection started. No more governments, no more college, no more electricity. Can't be an astronaut without electricity. [Or governments, or college.]

[dealwiththe]

[ He hates that thought. Maybe he's conflating Ellie with his own daughter, but the thought of any child having to endure that sort of thing - to not have a childhood - makes him nauseous. Chloe would hate it, too.

But he can't change that for Ellie. What she's been through - he can't do anything about that. ]

That blows.

[ He says that with feeling. ]

Maybe the next planet we stop at will have some good parties.

[goty]

[It gets something like a laugh out of her, quiet and quick.] I'm not big on parties. Bet you are, though.

[dealwiththe]

Traditionally, yes, I love a good party. Maybe not quite as much of a party animal as I used to be, however.

[ He glances out the window at the Feather for a moment. ]

What sort of planet would you be interested in? Beach? Snowy? High-tech? Fairy dust?

why did i switch to brackets wtf.

[goty]

She stops her drawing, and stares out into space. Around them, endless star fields swirl, untouched by time's petty concerns. The depth of space is quiet, dark, like the soundless cold of winter, but without its pressing dangers. It feels like the bitter judgement of love.

"When Gene Cernan went up to the moon," she says, "he wrote his daughter's initials in the, y'know, the moon dust. The moon's got no atmosphere, no wind, no rain. Those letters are still up there. They're gonna be there for centuries."

She hopes that answers Lucifer's question.

just keeping me on my toes!

[dealwiththe]

"You want to leave a mark on the universe?" Lucifer offers up after a moment's thought. "A...legacy?"

He considers. "Because if you just want to throw a party on the moon, I don't think that would work very well."

hahaha my plan all along.

[goty]

Ellie shakes her head, and her fingers trace words in the air. They leave no records. "I wouldn't write my name. But- yeah. Once, I wanted to be in the history books."

[dealwiththe]

"I wouldn't write my name, either," Lucifer says easily. "There are lots of ways to leave your mark. Some better, some worse."

[goty]

Ellie's laugh is deep and dark in her throat. "Yeah. Believe me, I know."

Seattle's dead pile higher. How many did she kill there? And in California? The Lakeside Resort?

"I don't wanna anymore. No point."

[dealwiththe]

"I think there can be a point to it, if you're doing it for the right reasons," Lucifer says thoughtfully. "All the stories about me - it is what it is. But I like to think I've left a positive mark on some people. Maybe a few more, as we go on."

[goty]

"Putting more good into the world than bad?" She taps the pen against the paper, not really drawing anymore, just leaving marks on its off-white surface. "Of course... you gotta. It's your job, right?"