INTO THE VOID

[oneandmikleonly]

[A STUBBORN AND FOOLHARDY GROUP OF EXPLORERS FALL ASLEEP AND SWIM INTO A DEEP DARK OCEAN ABYSS

There’s no punchline that’s actually what they’re doing. ]

((you can go ahead and join in even if you didn't sign up for the mission in the planning post! read here for info and assume you got a brief background rundown. there’s toplevels for different bits of the trip; go ahead and poke around wherever you want to be and jump each other freely!

if your character would ask a question or perform a particular important action at some point that isn't covered yet, please check with the mods directly at that comment for results!))

Comments

[onethousen]

[ Then watch them all crush the Emperor. Good going, team! But no, Chihiro has faith in their collective ability to make things work. Look at all the things they've done at the base and how much information everyone has collected on this world! It's impressive.

She perks up, straightening herself out. ]

Okay. Then I'll help try. Let me know what I need to do, and I'll do it.

[ Her tone is confident. Another clear goal. She can walk (or swim) toward that with no hesitation. ]

[imsorey]

Let's see if we can all focus on making the opening wide enough for her to get out it. Think of making it as big as you can--and we can go from there depending on our results.

[Working on relaying this to everyone else, but he's also listening for any other ideas. "Making the opening bigger" seems like the best place to start to him, if they want her to get out.]

[onethousen]

[ She can keep that focus in mind, though she also pauses. ]

Sorey-san, is she only here? I know we reach her here... but can she not change the way this place responds to her like we can?

[ Even while asking, she's concentrating on making this place get bigger, so that the Emperor might come through, but... ]

Is it only the size of the exit keeping her in?

[imsorey]

I don't know if the creatures on this planet can change things as much as we can.

[Or if they can, he hasn't seen it himself. If they were able to change the dreamscape, surely it would be a much different place.

Before he responds again, though, he listens to the conversations happening with the Emperor, and asks a few questions himself--which gives them their answer.]

She said that her children are there too, and she can't leave without them. I haven't seen anyone else down there, but it's possible we're missing something. I'd like to give her the option of leaving if she wants to though.

[onethousen]

Her children...

[ Chihiro stares downward, fingers closing into fists. Family can't get left behind. It just can't. She feels that far too personally to be okay with only rescuing part of a family.

She can't imagine leaving people behind unless there was absolutely no other way. ]

We need to figure out how to get them out for her. If they're down there, we need to help them first. Or else she's not going to leave. Family doesn't leave family behind.

[ Except for all the times they do. But that's not where Chihiro operates out of; that's not her world view. ]

[imsorey]

[Nodding in agreement; he's not about to leave anyone behind either, if they can help it.]

If she did come out it might be easier for us to search for them, but I'm certainly not going to make her leave just to check. If we can't find them here, though, it's possible that they're somewhere else. If that's the case, we'll just have to bring them to her.

[onethousen]

We'll need to figure out what they look like.

[ Otherwise it's hunting for an invisible needle in the haystack of the world's oceans. ]

[imsorey]

Smaller versions of her?

[He's half serious; so far offspring do tend to look like their parents when it comes to the creatures native to the planet.]

They might not be in the dreamscape either; it's possible they're awake, and that's why she hasn't been able to find them.

[onethousen]

Is that the only thing that keeps the creatures native to here from being on the dreamscape?

[ What he says makes sense, and... so does his statement on what they look like, but she's seen animals that are cute babies that look nothing like their adult forms. Better to be sure! ]

If it's like you say, then... is it that they're here in the waking? Can we even get here in the waking?

[imsorey]

I'm not actually sure how the dreamscape works for them...I assumed it'd be similar to how it works for us, but maybe that's off. Guess that's something to investigate.

[It was something he'd never thought to ask because of his assumptions, and he's glad it's easy enough to ask around for the answer.]

A spot similar to this should be there when we're awake too. I don't know if it'll look exactly the same, but it seems like things are roughly in the same place whether we're dreaming or awake. Whether her children are there or not is a different story, but it's a place to start looking

[onethousen]

Okay. So that means getting all the way out here while awake. Then... yeah. That's doable, isn't it?

[imsorey]

[nodding in affirmation]

It's doable. And we can ask around to see if anyone has seen her children. Even if they're not in the exact same place anymore, we can get some clues as to where they may have gone.

[onethousen]

[ She nods in turn, an easy way of showing she's still paying attention. ]

Do we have an idea of what her children look like? We can share that around mind to mind, even here, can't we?

[imsorey]

Hmm...We could probably assume they'll look similar to her, but I'll see if she can give us a description of them too. Is there anything else you think we'll need to ask her? We can do it all at once.

[onethousen]

[ She thinks on this really hard, even holding her chin and ducking her head down as she floats there in the dreamscape. ]

If there's something we'll need to do or say to convince them it's okay to come with us?

[imsorey]

Oh, good point. Do you think they won't want to come?

[onethousen]

I don't know. I just think that if a stranger came to me and told me to go with them, I'd want to know why, or where my parents were. They might not think anything like that. I guess I'd still go... but I'd be reluctant?

[imsorey]

It's a good thought! I wasn't that kind of kid, and I knew everyone I grew up around, so I never had to think about not going with strangers. But that's probably something your parents teach you, whether you're a human or a...

[pausing and looking at the Emperor. What would one use to describe her...]

...or a giant whale. Parents still look after their kids like that.

[onethousen]

Parents do all different things, I feel.

[ ... whale is good enough. Chihiro smiles and waves... it's not like it's a gesture that means much here. ]

Some are more protective than others. We're trusted to do all different things when we're little, so... knowing what they expect matters. So we can be good friends, and help both them and their mom.