August Pre-Hurricane Post | Open Mingle

[imsorey]

[It's the calm before the storm—or at least the not-quite-so-bad-weather before the storm. The winds are starting to pick up, the ocean is rolling, and all manner of sea creature is heading for cover to ride things out.

But at the base, there's still lots to do as usual. Whether it's getting ready to hunker down, goofing off, or making friends, there's never a dull moment under the sea! Have at it, and remember to check out the OOC planning/mission signups to see what's going on!]

Comments

here there be dragons

[oneandmikleonly]

[they hadn't know what to expect when they sent the drone down into the Void to investigate, but the two-hour live feed from the camera runs on one of the lab computers, and -- while not all of it is action-packed -- there's a lot more to see down there than they thought. the cute beluga friend is worth watching for a while, of course, and the large predator it takes on a chilling sight.

but the real surprise comes at the end; if nothing else, the massive roar from the unseen entity might draw you into the labs to see what's going on, even if you don't go in there normally. in which case -- have fun watching a Reaper get eaten like a turkey drumstick just before the feed cuts out.

if you can see Mikleo where he's seated nearby, you might notice him clutching the edge of the desk hard, arms and shoulders tense. after a moment, he'll think to do another telpathic broadcast to the whole base, though this one's very succint]

So . . . let's not take a submarine into the Void anytime soon.

team welp

[splinten]

[Dirk sits beside Mikleo and Jake, watching the recording. It's mostly boring, so he's also working on his own project. He has to double check Magister is safe and sound when they see the Cute Fish, and he is actually concerned for Alien Beluga when it goes off. He should go diving to check that out later.

Or. Maybe not. Dirk's hands continue to work at the speakers. It is completely automatic movement.]

...Hm.

It's a good thing we didn't dive too deep.

[oneandmikleonly]

It's nice to know not everything in there is hostile, but --

[but TWENTY REAPERS AND A REAPER-EATER, FRICK]

-- yeah. We're going to need to think outside the box further if we want to deal with what's down there anytime soon.

[imsorey]

[After Mikleo's last escapade with the giant evil dragon, Sorey is on standby for the drone excursion, hanging out in the lab reading a book and taking a peek at the feed every now and then to see what's there. As soon as he hears that roar again he's on his feet just in time to see the feed cut out.

whelp that was horrifying.]

Let's hope it stays down there for now.

[oneandmikleonly]

You think?

[he sounds tense and a little jerky, relaxing slightly only once he's sure the roaring isn't giving everyone there the same backlash as last time.]

...it's not doing the psychic echo this time. Maybe that doesn't carry through a technological interface.

[imsorey]

[putting a hand on Mikleo's shoulder and giving a little squeeze.]

Seems like it. Maybe there's a way to filter out the sound if you hear it in person too. Not that we're planning on it anytime soon, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. Special earplugs?

[oneandmikleonly]

Robot earplugs? That might be strange, but if it protects us I'm all for it.

[Sorey's hand steadies him; his hands ease up their grip on the table's edge, and he drops them into his lap.]

Testing something like that will be a pain, though.

[imsorey]

They'd probably be annoying, and I wouldn't want to try a test until we were confident they work, but I like the idea better than just hoping it never comes up again.

[He doesn't want to point out that neither of them have the knowledge of the technology involved to be much help on that front, but at this point everything they do is a work in progress.]

[inject]

[ Valentine was working up a sweat while working on her antidote. She was in a different part of the lab, but when she pushed away from her desk to shakily put a hand to her head and make the room stop spinning, she happened to look at the screen. It was at just the right moment.

Suddenly, all of her work on taking down the Reaper Leviathans seemed pathetic. The logical part of her brain knew that of course it wasn't; they were a predator close to home that needed to be dealt with. But super soldier who faced off against the Gigans and worked in close quarters with the Skullgirl or not, she still felt primal fear at the sight of that larger predator.

The fear abated. She took a deep - and slightly raspy - breath. ]

Well now.

Looks like we've got bigger fish to fry.

[oneandmikleonly]

[Mikleo glances over at her when she speaks, half-frowning; he doesn't answer at once, breathing deep himself to get his nerves under control.]

Much bigger fish. At least we've learned more about what we're facing after all. The fact that the robotic filter blocks the effect of the roar is no small discovery, either.

[...he's no doctor, but he's healer enough to notice when someone's a bit off-kilter; hesitates a moment, and then also ventures, quietly]

Are you all right, Valentine--?

[inject]

[ She shot him an annoyed look at the inquiry. No, she obviously wasn't, but it also wasn't something she had time for. ] I'll live, [ she replied, then nodded at the monitor he'd been looking at. ]

We should try to find out how to block the roar, knowing that.

And then not go in there until we can deal with the Reapers and move our focus to said bigger fish.

[oneandmikleonly]

If you need a healing, please don't hesitate to ask for one.

[he's just polite rather than insistent, at least; he changes the subject willingly after that.]

Some kind of helmet or ear apparatus that blocks sounds except through a filter, most likely. You're right, though; we shouldn't be going in there until we have a more surefire way to handle it than vague ideas and a prayer.

Some kind of soporific, perhaps? I know Rabbitray venom's a powerful one, but it's probably not quite that strong.

[inject]

If we had warning every time it roared, then a helmet would be good. Could we guarantee that? Most predators don't advertise their attacks before using them. A cochlear implant might be worth looking into. [ But a helmet prototype would be worthwhile before they develop that. No point outfitting the base with something that might not even work.

At his comment on Rabbitray venom, she gave a slightly gruff laugh. ]

I've been working on increasing its potency. We might be able to seriously harm a Reaper Leviathan from injection, but something big enough to make a snack of one?

[ Yeah, no.

She still felt a bit off. She took a deep breath to steady a certain wooziness in her head. ]

Besides... we'd be better using the venom on exposed membranes of the Reaper itself. Easier than puncturing that hide.

[superseding]

[ Hotaru is not in the labs ( but she is on her way there to see if Sanson is there), so she's a bit confused. ]

Mr. Mikleo, what happened?

[oneandmikleonly]

Ah, I'm sorry if that was confusing. We sent a reconnaissance robot into the void under the Aurora. The results are -- very alarming? There are a lot more big, dangerous creatures in there than we thought.

[superseding]

[ Jinkies. ]

Will we be safe?

[oneandmikleonly]

I...I wish I knew, miss Hotaru. The Reapers have been targeting us since we met them and want us off the planet; the creature the Reapers enact the will of seems to have some kind of design on the crew, and reaching it is much more difficult than expected...the signs are not exactly good.

[he's honest.]

I don't think it's something we can't overcome, though.

[smileyfaced]

[Chara always had a soft spot for animals. It doesn't matter if there's other people in the lab. They ignore all of them, choosing to sit off to the side where they can see the footage while remaining apart. It's a good way to spend the day and to learn more about what's living nearby. Once or twice, when the friendly animals play with the drone, it almost seems like they're smiling, but only for a little bit.

Then-- the end. Regardless of what they've faced with Frisk, they're still a kid. Chara, who'd been sitting with their knees pulled up, flinches at the roar and their fingers dig deep into their arms. They don't look away, but it's clear they're skittish.]

Is that what you were looking for?

[oneandmikleonly]

[he looks over at the flinch -- no judgement, he looks pretty skittish himself right now -- and takes a deep breath.]

I was hoping we wouldn't find something like that, actually. We had no idea there were so many sea creatures of a violent persuasion down there -- it was mostly quiet, when we went in in dreams.

[smileyfaced]

[Now that they're talking to someone, they're able to focus on something. It allows them to keep their fear at bay. This person's talking about dreams. Could it be--?]

Dreams... were they of exploring the ocean? [Thankfully, with telepathy, they can make their voice sound as calm as they like.] How are they related to these creatures?

[oneandmikleonly]

...yeah. They're...if you're talking about dreams where you could speak more directly to the animals in the ocean, where there wasn't anything made by people around, where it felt real, where there's some kind of singing in the background all the time...that's because it was. There's another layer to this world.

That...whatever ate the Reaper...tried to trap some people in that layer, several weeks ago. It almost killed them. We wanted to find out why, but...

[spreads his hands in a shrug, a physical gesture rather than a mental one]

As you can see, it turned out to be a lot bigger than expected.

delayed team whelp

[bonomial]

[Don's expression, tinged slightly with horror he can't entirely suppress, shows all that needs to be said on this particular subject. But he speaks anyway, because... wow.]

I... uh... definitely glad that we went with the drone route first.

Re: delayed team whelp

[oneandmikleonly]

Yeah, me too.

[DEEP...BREATHS]

That...was definitely the dragon, I dreamed about, so at least that question's answered.

[bonomial]

[Well, shit.]

This is doing a lot to convince me that the Shell Sub might not be the best thing to take out right now... think the monsters in that video might pay us a visit?

[He might be reflexively gripping the edge of the desk just a wee bit too hard.]

[oneandmikleonly]

Ugh, I hope not. I still think the dream one's too big, but Reapers could certainly come here.

Hotaru's suggested reinforcing the base further to guard against that, though.