OPEN MINGLE.

[ex_broach530]

Who: Anyone!
When: Day 22 - Day 26 (Dec 7)
Where: Around the city.
What: Digging Boney out, checking on the injured, observing caused by the Overseer Drone including the time shenanigans and the new wildlife, and any other daily life threads you'd like to have before new arrivals.

Here, have some prompts!


DIG AND DIG AND DIGGITY DIG
The Dust seems to be settling on the city, quite literally. The result of massive cave-ins is that the city now looks like a poorly-managed construction zone, and the seekers of the Atlas who have been brought to this place might have to get their hands dirty in order to dig out the tunnels.

In case you need an incentive, access to some of the Monoliths has probably been prevented, not to mention the fact that nobody knows what happened to the strange boney creature calling itself The Last. The group consensus seems to be that they're going to dig him out. And was he the only one buried? A headcount goes round, but nobody is sure who exactly was in the caves. Probably time for a buddy system in case the next person buried is you.

Of course, hard work leaves little time for the other necessities of life. Why not bring by some food or water and strike up a conversation?


IT MEANS NO WORRIES
Manual labor isn't your thing? No problem! Several lush oasises seem to have popped up, complete with grass and water and wildlife.

There's one near the entrance to the city that is currently home to a couple of naughty tree-climbing mammals. Despite monkeying around, they look more like a gecko had a baby with a sloth than any kind of primate, but don't accuse these guys of being slow! They're fast, mischievous, and will steal anything they can get their hands on, carrying it somewhere high and leaving it there. But maybe if you can find out what they like to eat they can be tamed? Or at least convinced to brings your stuff back...

There's another denser patch of vegetation that definitely has something large and loud tromping around in it, but nobody's seen it yet... just be careful while foraging, okay? Or maybe it's a chance to finally have some meat for once.

Finally, there's definitely a decent sized pond with a shimmering reflection just begging for someone to cannonball in. And it turns out taking off the suit has no adverse effect writhing the oasis. Skinny dipping anyone?


TALE AS OLD AS TIME
Be careful around the sudden appearance of plants; they're time distortions that will zap in and out, the bubbles bursting before you can work out how to break that coconut-like plant open. And you don't want to end up stranded in the desert without your suit on, either. Not to mention some pretty weird time distortions seem to be happening. Careful you aren't stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, forced to relive the last few minutes of your gruesome death over and over...

On the plus side, you can give yourself a high five?

And only a high five, nobody wants to see you taking self love to an entirely new level.*



* Iron Bull wants to see.

Comments

[ex_bossily211]

And I'm not sure how I feel about passing up an opportunity, even if it seems to good to be true.

[Still, she hesitates. Because she takes his advice seriously, and values his input. Her eyes glances down to her communicator, before looking back up to him.]

You would do it if you had the chance, wouldn't you?

[anewhope]

[ Clark looks at her, pensive, before he sighs. ]

I'd do it to minimize any kind of risk.

[ex_bossily211]

Exactly why I'm going to do it first. So you can observe and help minimize any future risks.

[There's the thrill of the unknown as she fiddles with the device and selects the yes option. Her eyes are on his as she does so, a little smirk set on her face. The second she selects the affirmative option, she freezes where she stands as her eyes begin to twitch fast enough that it doesn't look natural or human in any way. A blue layer begins to pass over her eyes as well, showing that this upgrade likely isn't the suit at all. It goes on for nearly a minute before it shows signs of stopping.]

[anewhope]

Clara!

[ Alarmed, he grabs Clara by the shoulders. None of the options on the suit show how to stop it and panic bleeds through. He shakes her as he grapples with the controls, trying to see if there's a way to rescind the update or pause it. ]

[ex_bossily211]

[She doesn't respond when he calls her name or shakes her. Her eyes remain glazed over with the blue film, and when it finally stops she seems to be still for a second or two before something seems to snap in her head and she comes to. She doesn't answer him, though.

Instead, she starts to repeat everything she's said and done over the past handful of minutes as if she's playing something back to him. When it's all said and done, she stops and stands there dazedly, fingertips pressed against her temple.]

That's one hell of an upgrade.

[anewhope]

[ His frown deepens and he almost seems angry before he drops his hands, frustrated by his own impotence. ]

What happened?

[ex_bossily211]

[She rubs at her temple a bit longer, giving her mind time to process everything that's just been uploaded to it. Memories have flooded on in, a couple of years worth of things that she thankfully doesn't have to process because her mind already feels as if she's lived through them. Everything settles quickly enough, and her hand drops away from her head so she can reach out to curl her fingers around his wrist.]

I was given memories somehow, Clark. Years worth. I'm fine, I promise.

[anewhope]

Nothing about that sounds fine.

[ He's being testy and he knows it, but he couldn't help the snappish reply. What kind of memories? What kind of connection did the suit have to their mental selves? ]

[ex_bossily211]

[Now used to dealing with a much older Doctor that's constantly testy, she just gives him a look at first. One that tells him he's going to exhaust himself if he doesn't calm down.]

I don't remember it hurting.

[She pauses, realizing something.]

Do you think it's all been fabricated? Because it feels very real.

[anewhope]

[ That's some consolation, Clark imagines. Though he doesn't feel particularly at ease with any of this. ]

They're your memories. You would know.

[ex_bossily211]

[Now knowing her fate and how she actually does meet her end, she feels at peace with things in a way she hadn't when she only thought she had died before. A small smile tugs up at the corners of her mouth and she presses a hand up against her chest to see if her heart's still beating here. It is. She's breathing, too. Her body's just the same as it was years ago. That hasn't changed at least.]

They're memories of the best years of my life. And they remind me that tomorrow's promised to no one, but I'm entitled to my past. The memories are mine.

[anewhope]

[ Clark watches her for a long time before nodding. That's enough for him and it should be enough for anyone. ]

I thought — you died. How did you get more memories?

[ex_bossily211]

I still do.

[She laughs a little at how upset she remembers being.]

Just not when I thought I did. The Doctor saved me then, but wasn't able to do it a second time around. It's alright though. Everyone thinks I must be so afraid, and maybe I used to be. But I'm not anymore.

[She decides that now's a good time to start walking, and she motions for him to follow her.]

[anewhope]

[ He follows her easily, no hesitation there. ]

I think it's not the . . . dying part that people fear. It's what we leave behind.

[ex_bossily211]

[Nodding in understanding, she thinks on his words instead of just blurting out something silly to pass off his concern.]

The people I left behind will be just fine. I think it's the people here that need me now.

[They've got so much to explore, and Atlas to find. She hasn't forgotten that.]

I couldn't up and leave you here all alone, could I? You'd wind up being too heroic and getting in over your head.

[anewhope]

[ Clark belatedly realized he let his own death slip by. We, he had said. Thankfully, it wasn't a noticeable one. His lips twitch slightly at her last remark. ]

I think you're giving me too much credit for my "heroics".

[ex_bossily211]

Maybe. But I think you've earned the credit after what you've had to sacrifice.

[She had caught that we, and gives him a meaningful look to say so.]

[anewhope]

[ Clark freezes in place. He's not sure what he looks like and he valiantly tries to school his expression. ]

I don't know what I've earned. It may not have changed anything about the world.

[ex_bossily211]

[This topic is inching in dangerously close to what she remembers talking to Danny about right before his own death. Her breath catches in her throat before it evens out.]

Thing is, we don't get to decide what we've earned. Especially not when we leave everything behind. Here, you've helped change plenty. That counts, doesn't it?

[anewhope]

[ He shakes his head slowly. ]

It does. But everything I did counted. Every act, every step . . . I was being accounted.

[ex_bossily211]

We all are. We all have to face our actions in the end. But it sounds to me like you're not at peace with yourself.

[All she can do about that is touch at his hand. It shows she believes in him, if nothing else.]

Hold yourself accountable for what you did, but learn to accept it. So whatever mistakes you made don't happen again.

[She's going to be doing the same thing.]

[anewhope]

It's - I can't. I died and I left her. I left them both.

[ It's his mother he thinks about the most these days. Scarcely two years ago, she held onto him, tears in his voice saying how she had been afraid someone would take him away from her. And he promised otherwise. ]

It wasn't a mistake. It never will be.

[ex_bossily211]

Clark.

[She says his name softly, but in a firm tone of voice that she hopes keeps his attention. It's a fine line, asking questions and pushing someone to talk about something. But she has to ask.]

You said both. Who did you leave behind?

[anewhope]

Lois. And - my mother.

[ex_bossily211]

[She wasn't close to her father, but that didn't stop her from understanding what he was feeling. The people that were equivalent to what he's just named - Danny and her own mother, they had died before she did. But she still can understand how he feels. She had left her father and the Doctor behind.

Unsure of what to say to him, she moves to stand in front of him so she can press a hand against his cheek.]

You must miss them terribly. But I'm sure they know you didn't leave them.