RETURN JOURNEY

Jan 21st, 2022 – Jan 28th, 2022
Have you ever seen someone caught in a lie? Some people capitulate immediately, dishing out apologies with the truth. Some people get embarrassed, flush red, stumble over their words to correct themselves. Some people get defensive. Some people try to bargain.

Some people get angry.

Now might be one of those times.

For the week of Jan 21st to Jan 28th, passengers on the ship may feel anger when caught lying or when lied to. A lie may not be obvious — maybe it's subtle, maybe they don't know the other well enough to know it's a lie, maybe it's a lie of omission. But regardless of what it is, they'll still feel some form of anger, however that might manifest. Snippiness? Lectures? A fistfight? Outright violence?

Time to find out.

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




The day after the Navarch's announcement, the Peregrine passes through the asteroid field, as promised.

The observatory has a spectacular view; rock clusters suspended in space as far as the eye can see, from nuggets the size of a golf-ball to hulking pieces as large as a mini-van. The Peregrine's shields hug tight to the ship's body, a mere shimmer like the ripple of heat above hot pavement, until an asteroid bumps into it, lighting up the surface bright white for an instant. The asteroids burn up in little flashes, one less of thousands. The sound is almost like music, an irregular finger banging on a steel drum. The ship trembles occasionally, a great mechanical shiver that might send passengers veering a half-step to the side.

The observatory's narrator lists off facts about the passing phenomena. Asteroid orbits continue to be appreciably perturbed whenever their period of revolution about this system's sun forms an orbital resonance with Torieric, the largest planet in this system... Over 200 asteroids are known to be larger than 100 km, but we navigate around them to avoid collisions...



It's not too hard to find out where the breach in side of the ship occurred — there's a flurry of maintenance bot activity in the storage complex, the usual freight activities diverted so that materials can be moved around and things repaired. (It takes a hell of a long time to walk to that side of the facility, though!)

At the site itself, several wall panels have been removed to make the needed repairs to the circuitry and inner mechanisms. It's a sprawling mess of multicolored cables and geometric metal components. Some sort of expanding foam has been sprayed into what used to be an asteroid's entranceway. Small bots crawl like spiders over it all, touching and prodding here and there with their legs, sparks on their toes.

The remains of the asteroid are scattered on the ground, pulverized into black dust. Linger too long and you might find a bot nudging a dust pan or tool in your direction.



Around the Peregrine, there may be momentary disruptions as power is diverted to the shield. Lights may flash for an instant, doors may resist closing or opening. A cow in a storage container may suddenly blink, twitch an ear. Cleaning bots may go off their usual courses. The SIRE may put out low-resolution simulations. The fans in the bunk beds may briefly be out of service. (No one fart.)

You get the idea — it's not quite just another day in space. A delay in getting your breakfast is less endearing than the beautiful sights, of course, but some well-timed mischief can find plenty to gain in a power flicker.

January 1, 2022 – January 7, 2022
Welcome to the new year and the Return Journey's opening event! We're starting with something light to get everyone acclimated and so no one feels they've missed too much if they app after the holiday season. We'd like to make it easy for any new players to jump in right away.

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




Salutations! Now that everyone's respective warden and inmate orientations are out of the way, you've been given a helpful, mandatory name tag. It instantly appears on your shirt and can't be taken off, though where it appears on your shirt is a bit more unpredictable; it's an imperfect science, so it's just as likely to pop up on the back of your shirt as the front. If you try to remove your clothes, the tag appears on your skin; they're waterproof, so a quick shower won't get rid of it, either. What can we say — it's mandatory.

While the tags all follow the standard "HELLO my name is" format and have your name or most common alias, they also include some other information. For wardens, it features a space that declares "I LIKE" and one or two of your most choices hobbies. For inmates, it features these hobbies and "I have killed [x] people" (this may be a specific number or something akin to "a lot of" or "no"). Fun icebreaker, right?



Speaking of icebreakers, a brief announcement summons everyone to the observatory. Again, yes, it's mandatory; wardens must retrieve absent inmates before any more information is revealed. Better hop to it!

Upon arrival, passengers will discover that the Peregrine's resident bot force has reconfigured the observatory with small, portable cubicles, each with a transparent wall that retains a lovely view of the observatory's massive window. Each inmate is assigned their own cubicle and, upon entering, cannot leave without a warden's say so; the door only unlocks with a warden's CommLink.

Wardens are tasked with interviewing at least one inmate, to get a feel for their prospective charges. They can have as much time as they need to formulate what questions they want to ask, but that might leave some inmates waiting. Maybe that's on purpose, though. In any case, the exercise is over once an inmate is asked five questions and a warden receives five answers.

Archimedes will collect name tags after the interviews for incineration. The robotic owl is, notably, the only one who can remove them.



The greenhouse doesn't always have enough fresh produce to go around (and often what is collected is frozen and preserved), but given the circumstances — a new mission and new passengers — everyone can reap the rewards this month...if they share. A bot stationed in the mess hall mechanically tells anyone who crosses into range (whether they mean to visit the produce table or not) that they aren't to take more than three fruits and/or vegetables. If you choose not to abide by the rules...well, that depends if you're caught and by who.

The produce available are as follows:

Adalfane: Tastes like cocaine, but very nutritious, especially when eaten raw.
Tuadath: Smells awful, but very hearty when cooked, tasting a little like steak.
Tsanyi: Pure, sugary sweetness. Can be made into a refreshing drink, eaten raw, or sprinkled over a desert.

There are notably fewer tsanyi than adalfane or tuadath. But if everyone's nice and cooperates, each person can get exactly one.

Passengers: The involved characters.
Location: Where things are happening.
Date: The date and/or time of things happening.
Summary: A brief summary of what's happening.
Warnings: Any relevant warnings.

<b>Passengers:</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Date:</b> <b>Summary:</b> <b>Warnings:</b> <cut text="Read more..."> Cut contents here.