The Swarm: Stay

[atlasmods]

Who: These Interlopers
When: IC Day 5.5-6
Where: The Boneyard
What: The Swarm Event

THE SWARM: STAY PRELUDE. Five days have passed since you, The First, woke on the strange and barren planet of Kharas. Four days since the pods housing you exploded when tampered with, and Three since the strange Trilobite-like sand crabs began hesitantly crawling their way into and around the boneyard. At first there was only a few brave specimens to be found, keeping mostly to the shadows and scuttling this way and that. Now, however, at least a hundred of them can be found in and around the boneyard in various placed, commonly grouped together in batches of two or three, sometimes even four. Notably they do not interact much with one another despite their groups and are much more interested in scouting out their surroundings for fibrous materials. On the odd chance that they manage to obtain any scraps they will begin to wander back towards the tracks your counterparts began following earlier. Odd, isn't it? As the softer morning sun overhead slowly begins to heat up with the encroaching afternoon more of the Trilobites begin to fill the area. Only unlike their predecessors these ones do not wander around aimlessly, and instead beeline their way to any Coral stalks that remain in the area. They bury into the sand beneath them to avoid their harsh shells and attack the roots until they topple and collapse under their own weight. Once this happens they practically swarm, working to segment it into pieces with their mandibles. When the Coral's shell cracks the Trilobites pry all vegetable matter from within and begin dragging it into the desert. And that's not all: these new Trilobites seem much braver and more interested in you than their predecessors. They will openly wander up to characters and gnaw uselessly at their ankles or feet, chittering and chattering. If enough of them happen to get together around an individual they will form a tiny ankle-gnawing mob intent on clambering all over you. As the daily eclipse nears their numbers will begin to grow even further. Odd tremors can be felt beneath the ground, even in spite of all the sand, but characters won't get much of a chance to look into the matter before their wrist communicators begin to emit that same strange static from the mist. ...Only there's none to be seen in any direction whatsoever.
OOC	IC Days 5.5 - 6 (Oct 26th - 28th)
This log starts during the afternoon of IC day 5.5 and continues on until the morning of day 6 (with the rest of that day being the aftermath/conclusion). There will be a time-sensitive event which will run for 24 hours starting on the 27th at 8:00AM EST. It will conclude on the 28th at 8:00AM EST. This time-sensitive event cannot be "failed" by running out of time and will affect the lore of the game. Please direct any and all questions about this event here.

Comments

[ceruleo]

[ He's so surprised by it that he nearly releases Inui's arm, but manages to hang on the by the skin of his teeth. All his attention flies to his communicator, the alien voice cutting through the incessant hum. The word ATLAS reaches him and his eyes widen. ]

What?! Um, hello? Is anyone there?!

[ He's shouting pretty hoarsely, pulling Inui up next to him, swatting bugs away as they move in for him. With both his arms occupied, it's hard to get a decent handle on what's going on. ]

[anewhope]

[ Clark heard something, but he can't make it out and he's too distracted to give it any of his time. With a large sweep of his hand, he knocks the trilobites off the bones and offers his hands. ]

I'll hoist you both up.

[ Yes, both of them. And he doesn't wait for permission, choosing to grab them both and push them up higher. ]

[dateme]

[ That's completely fine with Inui. He's struggling to hoist himself up when (from his perspective) Lance just starts...talking to no one. He isn't close enough to hear the message, so instead? He balks at Lance. ]

Stop talking and move...!

[ceruleo]

No, wait--

[ Lance makes a frustrated noise as he's bodily hauled up, the communication cutting out as they go. His mind is siwrling, that brief flash of hope sputtering out. ]

My communicator! I heard something!

[ But there's no time to discover what. ]

[dateme]

Worry about that later after we're not about to die! [ He says we're, but his tone says "I'm". ]

[ceruleo]

[ Lance makes a frustrated noise, scrambling further up the bone. They both have a point. Priorities first: ]

Clark! How are you looking for power?

[anewhope]

[ The lie comes to his lips easily before he shakes his head and opts for the truth. ]

Not great. But if everyone makes it to the top, then I should be able to get out.

[dateme]

[ Inui looks at Clark for just a second too long before he nods, and turns to the others. He knows something isn't quite...right, but he isn't willing to bring it up or make note of it. He's used to looking for tiny things like this; his hobby involves watching people. ]

See? I told you--we need to get out of his way.

MESSAGE

[atlasmods]

Hopefully in the future, listening to people also becomes one of Inui's hobbies, because the broadcast of signals has finally reached his communicator too. It crackles and fades in and out, but the same alien language from before makes its way out:

...glumcnyuggot urolg vousem geh JOVO PRIME. Uquuygot eljo...

[dateme]

--Okay, we get it!! You're there! [ Oh my god why is his doing it now too?? Is this some sort of virus spreading through the suits or something?

As if this wasn't creepy enough. ]

MESSAGE

[atlasmods]

Glumckelg boaisor MZ-SC47I12 fuc voom usgybugoja.

The message cuts through immediately after, as if taunting Inui (it's not, but we're amused that he finally rolled two successes after his other 800 failures).

---

Inui has now received the maximum amount of messages he is eligible for! Congratulations!

[anewhope]

[ It hadn't been his imagination. Clark was clearly getting a different message, a clearer one. But why him? Was it because he was an alien too? Or some strange connection forged across the stars, of a history Clark has no memory of?

Those questions would have to wait. But a quiet hope flickers back to life. ]

Re: MESSAGE

[anewhope]

[ Clark cocks his head at that, listening intently. Something about it . . . sounded strange to him. ]

[ceruleo]

[ He gives Inui a pointed look after two back-to-back messages, but his attention is focused on Clark rather than on the indecipherable transmissions. ]

'Should be'? C'mon...

[ But even he can't argue much. The fact is, they're mincemeat without Clark to defend them. ]

Whatever. Just don't—just watch yourself, okay?

[anewhope]

[ They can't hurt me was the old line Clark would feed his parents when they worried. They always looked at him knowingly, sadly because they had always known better. Clark hadn't lied, but the truth had changed. He can be hurt. Even worse. And there were people who would hurt him . . . because he existed.

His thumb lightly brushes his own cheek, where a scar had once been. ]

I will.

[ceruleo]

[ He'd never believe it if Clark tried to feed him a line like that, anyway. There's always new and exciting ways to get hurt, out in the wide universe. ]

Kick some butt. [ He turns towards Inui, then peers down past the other boy's shoulder at the infested ground. ] Yee-ikes. Let's try not to slip...

[dateme]

You think?? Hurry up and climb already, looking at your ass is only fun when I'm not about to get eaten alive...

[ Inui's an ass/thigh guy....sorry Lance. He does this to everyone. ]

[ceruleo]

Would you just quit your bellyaching and move?!

[ It isn't like Lance to give orders so sharply, but he's more tense now knowing that Clark is in pretty immediate danger, leaving the pair of them pretty vulnerable. He yanks Inui up after him. ]

[dateme]

Your perfect ass is in the way! [ Inui says this, but he's still going to scramble up after Lance when he tugs, finally getting to some semblance of safety alongside him. ]