CHARP LOGS The Keepers (Charp Series Logs)

Diana

LOOK HOW CALM SHE IS
Original poster
ADMINISTRATOR
MYTHICAL MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Not accepting invites at this time
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
10AM - 10PM Daily
Writing Levels
  1. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Female
Genres
Romance, Supernatural, Fantasy, Thriller, Space Exploration, Slice of Life

thekeepers.jpg

THE KEEPERS

The S.T.A.R.S. (Survival Transfer And Relocation Station) Project Colonizer ship has set out from Earth to find a new habitable planet. Because space travel has yet to be perfected by humans, it still takes hundreds of years before reaching new systems and galaxies. The majority of the occupants on board must be kept in a cryogenic sleep, only to be awakened when they reach a new world. These colonists are cared for by a small team of people that live out their lives simply for the sake of keeping the colonizer ship functional. Occasionally new people are awakened from the cryo-chambers to take over.

It’s been centuries since the colonizer has left Earth and it’s coming into the territory of inhabited space. A planet with the perfect conditions for human life is drawing closer. But something went terribly wrong. An unknown lifeform got into the ship and corrupted the cryochamber system, awakening the entire ship of a thousand colonizers before their time.

Captain Wainwright of the ship Debris is dead and the last of the living colonists have crash landed. There is a chance that anyone with cybernetic implants may be infected by a strange techno-alien virus. Who will take on the role as new captain? Can the Keepers help organize the colonists to create their new home -- or have they crash landed on a terrible new world?

The Keepers have discovered that another colony ship had crash landed on this planet long before they did. Called the "Fasties" because they are oddly speedy - will the team be able to protect their campsite and figure out what happened?



 
Last edited:
LOGS

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHAT ROLEPLAY!
  • Diana:
    This is a full on sci-fi- setting. You're playing one of the crew that is keeping an eye on an entire colony of cryofrozen people as your ship travels through space. Something is about to go terribly wrong.
    Today at 5:51 PM
  • Diana:
    My charps are always easy breezy and NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you need any help or suggestions I am in the main chat to give directions.
    Today at 5:51 PM
  • Diana:
    Make sure you type your character's name in the first sentence of every post. This helps us know is who. You can also use color bbcode to help differentiate your character from others.
    Today at 5:52 PM
  • Diana:
    TYPE SHORT TYPE FAST. Keep posts to 10 sentences or shorter. If you take too long you might miss action. If you write too much other people have a hard time reading your posts fast enough!
    Today at 5:52 PM
  • Diana:
    Keep an eye on the posts done in this bright bold yellow, because those are the game master posts and contain details you might not want to miss
    Today at 5:52 PM
  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)
    Today at 5:54 PM
  • Diana:
    The colony ship is quiet. But then, it's always quiet. The latest Keeper crew is on their second week of duty. The usual rounds were completed and now all there is left to do is make sure everything stays running smoothly until the next crew's five year shift. Right about now everyone should be wrapping up their duties for the day and heading to the cafeteria for a nice freeze dried meal.
    Today at 6:55 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Unlike some of the others, Warwick hadn't awakened from cryo for a shift, but had been on 'active duty' since the start. Granted, he'd not aged at all over that time, but he figured nobody would notice... at least, he hoped. Besides, letting others sleep should be fine?
    Today at 6:56 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Regardless, he eagerly went to the kitchen for another too-small meal.
    Today at 6:57 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito woke up in a cold sweat, which is interesting considering his cryo-predicament. Were the others awake - was he awake? Or was this one of countless frozen dreams, haunting his death-like state. Oh.. nope, it was definitely waking life. He could feel the gooey post-thawing solution still clinging to his toes as he began to reclaim control of his appendages.
    Today at 7:00 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick paused on the way past some tubes, then stopped and backtracked a few steps. His eyes turned towards Nito as he tilted his head.
    Today at 7:01 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Briefly considering going back to sleep, he mustered enough mojo to get up and out, incredibly hungry. Looking around, he spotted some fellow out and about.
    Today at 7:02 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Oi - what year is it? Better yet, where can I get myself a sandwich?"
    Today at 7:02 PM
  • Diana:
    Gasp! One thing is going wrong already. According to the schedule charts, Nita is not one of this shift's chosen Keepers. He should not be awakening! Is this a malfunction?
    Today at 7:03 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Aren't you... a few years early for your shift?" Warwick asked. He was tall and muscular, and looked exhausted. "It's... this way, but the sandwiches are all freeze-dried."
    Today at 7:03 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari glided quietly into the galley, gently caressing the bulkhead of the entryway as she entered. For the others, the Debris was a thing of metal and machinery, but for her, She was the Source and Protector of life. She did not even mind that long ago some wag had named Her "debris"--for in the vastness of the Void, all things, even the planets and stars, were but small bits of debris.
    Today at 7:03 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Eh? We ain't done the trip yet? My heads a little fuzzy, and my suit needs desperate dry-cleaning."
    Today at 7:04 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Uh... no... your shift isn't... um..." He shook his head. "You aren't... supposed to wake up for another five years for your shift...? Maybe you should... just..." He started to lightly push Nita towards the cryo chamber, then looked up at Mihari. "Uh, hey...! He's... awake?" he complained, hoping for some help.
    Today at 7:06 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Before Mihari could see about nourishment, a notification popped up on her contact lens-screens: one of the crew had been awakened from cryosleep? That was not supposed to happen. She brought up his location and hurried that way as she checked his records. "Are you alright? How do you feel?"
    Today at 7:08 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Good as the queen's flagship, just dandy thank you very much. I considered going back to sleep but -", Nito fumbled around his pockets, "Oh now where would I find my possessions?"
    Today at 7:09 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah slid back from the sets of panels overseeing the ship's engine and capacitor systems, noting that everything seemed normal enough. "Lunch time," she quipped to herself, about to head to the cafeteria when she too received a notice on the HUD built into her glasses. Maybe a cryochamber malfunction? She supposed her freeze-dried goodness could wait, and made her way towards the unintended Keeper's location.
    Today at 7:10 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "They're... usually in the locker by your chamber," Warwick said, then looked helplessly towards Mihari. "Should I... put him back in?" he asked, not quite used to the language even after so long as a Keeper.
    Today at 7:11 PM
  • Diana:
    Speaking of The Schedule there were many strange particles showing up on data screens. Probably just something small for the technical mechanic to look at.
    Today at 7:12 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    As she spoke, Mihari gestured to conjure the status of the ship's cryo-suspension system and invoke its AI monitor, then curled the fingers of her right hand into a mudra that told it to run a diagnostic. "Your possessions? Yes, as he said," she said distantly, now trying to assess the strange particle readings. "No...he should not go back into cryosleep until we find out why he was awakened. There could be an injury to his chamber."
    Today at 7:14 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito Baklan, being himself, thought quickly about the next move. They would be upon him at any moment, trying to shut down his agency - silence his will! Not today, scoundrels. "That's right, I will stay awake, that's what I decided. Now if you'll excuse me, I have pressing matters to attend to."
    Today at 7:15 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    He went and pulled a white briefcase out of his locker, the code springing from memory. Then, he turned towards where he assumed the kitchen to be.
    Today at 7:16 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick stopped trying to push Nito back in as Mihari, then blinked as Nito got to his business. The large man rubbed the back of his head, then sighed. "Well... um... I guess... Kitchen is this way," he instructed before he went in the direction opposite where Nito was headed.
    Today at 7:18 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah dismissed the notifications about the particles, making a mental note to attend to them later. Checking the cryochambers seemed a far more pressing matter, since if one had malfunctioned then potentially the others could as well, and it wouldn't serve humanity much good to finally arrive at a new planet with no living humans remaining. Arriving in one of the ship's many cryochamber rooms, she headed to the affected cryopod to see if she could run a diagnostic. "Woke up a bit early, huh?"
    Today at 7:18 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari's hands gestured and swept, consulting the status of the Debris' Bussard shields. Even though it would take many years to cross the gulfs of space, the vessel was hurtling along at thousands of kilometers per second. Impact with even a small object at such relative velocity would hit like a bomb. Then she consulted the sensors to learn what she could of the strange particles.
    Today at 7:18 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari turned and followed Warwick back to the galley. The images on her contact lens-screens were translucent, appearing (to her) to hover in front of her, but they didn't impede her ability to walk the halls. Besides, she knew the Ship as well as her own skin.
    Today at 7:20 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Oh. I knew that.", claimed Nito dubiously, turning to the correct kitchen-direction and following the first two people he met upon his rude awakening.
    Today at 7:21 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick had never been good at that tech stuff. He was good at fighting, working out, eating, and living a stupid long time. The only reason he was on this boat was because nobody back where they'd come from had any idea what to do with him because of that... and the broad-daylight murder of a woman who had apparently died 36 hours prior to him stabbing her neck. For now, he just wanted a meal, and didn't know how to deal with the hundreds of notifications on his eye-thing. It was currently at 999 and hadn't gone up in a few years...
    Today at 7:21 PM
  • Diana:
    FWOOOMfwoooouuum. As if something in the tech could hear Farrah's thoughts, the lighting dimmed and flickered before coming back online again with a hum. There was definitely something going wrong with the ship's system.
    Today at 7:21 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick stopped mid-step and closed his eyes to listen as he smelled the air. "What was that?"
    Today at 7:22 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Barbecue!", Nito shouted
    Today at 7:22 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari sucked in a gasp of breath. So far the AI monitor seemed to be running slowly, or having difficulty providing any useful information on the nature of the particles, and now this. "I...do not know yet," she said, making a sweep-gesture to bring the schematic of the life-support systems into her vision.
    Today at 7:25 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Any... location?" Warwick asked as he looked back towards Mihari with his one good eye, the other hidden by an eyepatch with a glowing purple rectangle.
    Today at 7:26 PM
  • Dawn:
    Somewhere in cryo control, an alarm was going off. Several of the chambers had lost power and the occupants were thawing out. Noah's eyes opened slowly, his arms feeling like cooked noodles as he struggled to lift them and wipe the cryo gel from his vision. The tank pressurized and the lock on the glass dome clicked open...but the hatch didn't move. Groaning, he leaned forward a little, palms meeting with the glass. It wouldn't budge. His breath fogged up on the surface and he gave a weak thump with a fist, already knowing it was no use. "Hello?" His voice was muffled by the glass, his thumps against it pitiful. What was going on? Shouldn't there be someone here to meet him? Why were the lights flickering?
    Today at 7:28 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Eye-tracking to the Keeper roster, Mihari noticed that the Second Shift engineer, Farah, was also awake, and at Nito's cryochamber, probably running a manual diagnostic. She eye-tracked to activate the commlink to her. "Farrah, have you been able to find anything yet? I have not," she spoke into the air, trusting that the comms would convey her voice to the other engineer.
    Today at 7:29 PM
  • Diana:
    Nito is the first to reach the small employee cafeteria, where he finds a simple very clean room. There is no barbecue or fun food options. Only well store freeze dried food alternatives, where you pour water in the sack and it cooks itself. Keepers of the past all ate the tasty meatloaf ones first, and now there is an unfortunate amount of salisbury steak.
    Today at 7:29 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, if nothing else, had excellent hearing. He spun on his heel and headed directly to Noah's chamber. He stared down at it, brow furrowed, then knelt and pried the thing open. "You ok?" he asked, then tapped his comm, since it seemed like a thing to do. "Hey, uh, we got another one, in the next row over? The glass was stuck."
    Today at 7:32 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah paused with multitool in hand the lights flickered. More things malfunctioning? Now she had a dilemma on her hands; if there was some sort of systems problem with the ship, that was just as important a priority as the cryochamber issue. "Nothing yet Mihari," she responded on comms. "I've just barely gotten here. Can one of you check what's going on with the lights? I'm still--!" The thump from Noah's cryopod caused her to gasp with a start, eyes wide, watching as Warwick went to help the poor man. "Uh... this cryo problem might be bigger than we thought, here." She'd initially thought it was a problem with the individual cryochamber... but if it was happening to more than one, maybe it was a systems issue.
    Today at 7:34 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito groaned with distaste, "Salisbury.... steak". He nevertheless pulled a package out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and placed it in the water cooker mechanism. The ticking timer began to tick as it timed the steak.
    Today at 7:34 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari heard a warning tone in her cochlear implant, and her lenses showed the cryochamber room, highlighting one of the chambers. Another person had been awakened prematurely. Before she could ask Farrah to check it, Warwick ran to it instead, opening it manually. Lunch would just have to wait. Still checking for updates on any of her other queries, she follwed Warwick to the scene.
    Today at 7:34 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Tick, tick, tick, went the cooking timer
    Today at 7:38 PM
  • Diana:
    KRRSSSSSHK. All the coms for all the Keepers buzzed to life, and they didn't sound good. The voice on the other end was a very annoyed gentleman. "What the fuck is going on down there? I've got tech going dumbshit all over the ship, and now the monitors are saying cryopods are opening in multiple wings." That was the voice of the Captain. A man who was now quite the elderly old man and had been running this ship for many many years.
    Today at 7:38 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Debris' spirit is not answering me yet," Mihari answered. "We have encountered a particle field of unknown type, but She has not replied to any of my queries. If the particles are binding to our Bussard shields, it is possible there could be induction surges being transmitted into the ship."
    Today at 7:40 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "But that is only an untested hypothesis."
    Today at 7:41 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Regardless, Farrah did her due diligence running a diagnostic on the cryo pod itself, not seeing anything out of the ordinary there. She pulled up the activity log as the Captain's voice crackled over her comm. "Sorry sir, I'm working on it but this cryopod looks like it should be functioning fine." Her brown eyes blinked a few times as she reached the end of the activity log. "Uhh... this says a manual override for the pod was performed by SYSTEM. The hell?"
    Today at 7:42 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    The timer dinged. Nito Baklan pulled the bag of cooked meat out from the cooker and poked the edge out from the bag. He took a bite, chewed, and swallowed gratefully. Hunger does that sometimes. He also finally noticed the PA system and the air of panic. "Eh, we got trouble?"
    Today at 7:42 PM
  • Dawn:
    "Did you just...?" Noah gasped, struggling into a sitting position and gazing up at Warwick. That lid had to be well over three...hundred... He lost a few seconds to a black out before coming back and blinking around confused. "I don't feel so good... Why wasn't I woken up properly? Why am I even awake? Have we arrived at my planet?" He stood now, on wobbly legs, holding a hand to his forehead as a searing headache formed. He could hear the others talking about malfunctions and manual overrides and he was trying not to panic.
    Today at 7:43 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Another squelching bite of water cooked Salisbury Steak could be heard from across the hall
    Today at 7:46 PM
  • Diana:
    "See if you can round up all the loose popsicle. There's a couple more over on wing six and I can't get any of the staff out there to answer me." said the Captain over the coms.
    Today at 7:47 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick steadied Noah, eye locked on him. "I don't know. Shit is... hitting the fan, is the phrase?" He looked around, then shook his head and tapped his comm. "I'll head to wing six. If nobody's answering there, there's trouble too big for uh... weak people?" He led Noah towards Farrah.
    Today at 7:50 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "That...should not be possible," Mihari said. By definition, a manual override was performed by a person operating external controls. She made the Mudra of Invocation. The Ship still had not answered any of her queries, and that was rather more disturbing to her than the premature crew awakenings by themselves. Still, the Captain had spoken. She brought up the cryo area room maps, and started heading toward the nearest one with opened pods.
    Today at 7:50 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Mihari, you deal with this guy," Warwick said as he came to her first. "I'll head to wing six. If it's dangerous, I'd... rather the smart people be... safe." Words were hard when he was stressed.
    Today at 7:53 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari saw the man's name appear over his head in her screens. "Noah, I am Mihari Jirae, one of the Keepers. Are you alright?" She was not a medic, but she conjured an emergency medical app with a gesture, her screens bringing up his vitals and bodily heat signature as she looked Noah over.
    Today at 7:56 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito used a handkerchief from the pocket of his white suit to wipe his mouth. "That was terrible steak, in fact, I don't think I've ever had a worse steak. Who is the chef, I'd like to make a complaint."
    Today at 7:57 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    "I know it shouldn't be possible, that's why it's weird. Who the shit would manually override a cryopod to wake someone up ahead of schedule? And why would it just display performed by System instead of by a Keeper?" Farrah gathered her things, seeing that Noah seemed to have been dealt with and Warwick was going to round up the others. "I'll go check on the cryo controls and try to find out who executed the manual override."
    Today at 7:57 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Good. Mihari had the new guy handled. With that, Warwick hurried towards wing six, drawing a silver dagger from a pocket that didn't seem to have space for it.
    Today at 7:58 PM
  • Dawn:
    "Yeah, you got it right," Noah chuckled, a big soft smile for his rescuer. With Warwick's help, he made his way through the deck and left in the care of someone else. "Be careful," he called after the guy, watching his back for a moment before he turned to smile at the person he'd been led to. "Mihari was it?" He held out his hand, which was still covered in cryo goop, glanced down and realized it and flushed hotly, dropping his hand back to his side. "Uh, yes. Noah Hatton. I'm okay for the most part. Bit of a headache and a whole lot of confusion about this entire thing."
    Today at 7:58 PM
  • Diana:
    WING SIX was just like Warwick's usual wing. Same setup, same everything, really. It was supposed to have it's own small crew of employees. But when Warwick got there... silence. Emptiness. All of the crypods were wide open and not a single member of the Keeper crew was in sight. Something was... dripping out of one of pods.
    Today at 7:59 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick slowed as he approached, then tapped his comm. "Everyone stay together... It... um... It's really weird. The pods are all empty and nobody... there's nobody. Stay... um... stay somewhere defensible..." It was his upbringing that had him warning the others, even as he slowly approached the dripping pod, nose testing the air.
    Today at 8:01 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari nodded acknowledgement of his greeting with a subtle smile, the beads of her small, tight braids rattling softly. "I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but it should have been my great-great granddaughter in my place. Would you come with me to the next cryopod? I think it would be best if we remained together. Once we have gathered the others who have awakened prematurely, we should go to Sickbay.
    Today at 8:04 PM
  • Diana:
    Once Farrah reached some of the cyro controls, she founds nothing unusual. ...except there was something slimey dripping off all of the wires.
    Today at 8:05 PM
  • Dawn:
    The granddaughter part had Noah letting out a breathy laugh, and he realized that he'd been extremely tense since awakening. It felt good to let that go for a moment though, even if things were kind of going sideways at the moment. "Yes of course. My legs are starting to feel much more steady. I'm not very useful, but I'll try my best."
    Today at 8:07 PM
  • Diana:
    In the cafeteria something drip, drip, dripped off the ceiling onto Nito's shoulder.
    Today at 8:07 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito was having none of this "worrisome" state of affairs. He refused to be ruffled by some "premature awakening". Drip, drip. "Oh, what's this?"
    Today at 8:09 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    The sudden change in Warwick's tone was noticeable, and put a chill in Farrah's veins. That was unlike him. She didn't typically announce her location to the other Keepers but something compelled her to do so this time. "Alright, I'm in the control room for the cryo systems now. I'll check and see if... wha--" her voice cut off as she noticed some thick goopy substance all over the wires. "Guys, I think there might be some kind of... I dunno, fluid leak? There's some kind of slime all over the wires in here."
    Today at 8:09 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "'Defensible?'" Mihari replied to Warwick over the comm. "You have reason to suspect malice?"
    Today at 8:09 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    A gasp. "My suit! Who dares!"
    Today at 8:09 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick frowned. "Get back to the others, Farrah. There's slime here, too. Consider all unknown fluid suspicious and signs of something... not nice."
    Today at 8:10 PM
  • Diana:
    When Nito glanced upwards to the ceiling he found himself looking at a face. A human face, for sure, but it was so twisted and warped and... how were they hanging from all fours on the ceiling?!
    Today at 8:11 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    He jumped back and slammed his briefcase to the ground. "Back off, you freak. Hey! Someone get in here!" He shouted, kicking the latches open with his unlocking-loafers.
    Today at 8:13 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Please come with me," Mihari said to Noah, then started to head for the cryo control room. There should not be any 'fluid' leaking onto the power and data cables; the Ship had been designed to keep hydraulic and coolant fluids away from electronic systems for that very reason. Electricity, and said fluids did not play well together.
    Today at 8:13 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "OI, CREW WHERE THE GOD DAMNED HELL ARE THOSE IDIOTS", Nito screamed into the hall, kicking the now unlocked briefcase away from the freaky slime thing on the ceiling and backing towards the sink.
    Today at 8:15 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "I repeat, everyone should... should avoid any unknown fluid? Do not... be like bad horror movies..." Warwick repeated as he sniffed the fluid he'd found, eyes roaming up and then around.
    Today at 8:15 PM
  • Diana:
    "SCREEEEEEEOOOCH EEEEK EEEK EEEEK,"When the thing on the ceiling opened it's mouth at Nito, the sound that came out could only be likened to that hideous internet dialup tone of the 1990s. It creeped across the ceiling in Nito's direction, leaving a trail of goopy slime in it's wake.
    Today at 8:16 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah cursed under her breath as Nito shouted from the cafeteria. "Heading back to the cafeteria now!" She called. Her multitool didn't have much in the way of weaponry, although she supposed a laser drill could be used as a sort of defensive option, keeping it tightly in her grasp as she sprinted back to Nito's location. Farrah burst in through the doors, eyes widening at the sight of the creature. "What the fuck is THAT!?"
    Today at 8:17 PM
  • Diana:
    Meanwhile as Warwick turned about Wing 6 he suddenly came face to face with one of this shift's Keeper crew. Something about him looked... off. There was a streak of slime down his chest and the way he tilted his head was just a little bit too awkward.
    Today at 8:17 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick didn't hesitate. He slammed his foot into the Keeper's torso and kicked with enough power to shatter bone and punch through steel. Eyes wide, he accessed the comms again. "Made contact with a Wing Six Keeper. Reanimated corpse. Assumed aggressive...! Slime is... bad!"
    Today at 8:19 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Crossing the doorway's threshold, he kicked the handle of the briefcase and caught it with both hands. He pulled it open, and grabbed the first thing he could touch, which happened to be a collapsible umbrella. "Thwump", went the umbrella as it opened. "Slime monster! I'll hold it off, shoot the bastard!"
    Today at 8:19 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Hearing the shouting, Mihari changed direction, turning back toward the galley, touching Noah on the shoulder and gesturing for him to follow. Catching sight of the creature, she drew her Omnitool from her belt, toggling the controls to shift its nans to form a screwdriver.
    Today at 8:20 PM
  • Diana:
    Off the ceiling the twisted lady covered in slime leapt until she landed on Farrah. Arms went flailing everywhere and the screen was ear piercing. Meanwhile, Warwick's surprise kicked had knocked the Creeper Keeper far and wide, giving him plenty of chance to book it.
    Today at 8:24 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick took that chance. The reanimated dead were hard to keep down, and he left the wing, then locked it. "Captain! Torch Wing Six! There are no... survivors!" With that, he smashed the door control to prevent it being opened without repairs. He hoped Six was where the worst of it was...
    Today at 8:26 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah frantically fumbled with her multitool, cranking up the power on the laser drill to max and hoping the beam would be enough. She was about to position herself to fire at it when it leapt at her, knocking her to the ground and causing her multitool to tumble out of her hands. She screamed, her arms and legs doing their best to push the thing off of her.
    Today at 8:26 PM
  • Diana:
    "What the fuck are you talking about, kid! We can't torch a whole wing!" exclaimed the Captain. "The hell is going on down there?!"
    Today at 8:27 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    I am not a warrior! Mihari thought. Partially shielding herself behind the umbrella, she thrust at the creature's eye socket with her screwdriver.
    Today at 8:27 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Mother of Her Majesty The Queen!", swore Nito, grabbing a different item from his briefcase on the floor. This time he had time to look for something good. He found a folding heat ray and pulled it out to hand to Mihari. "Use this instead, the heat dissipates after a meter, so don't worry about collateral!"
    Today at 8:29 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Captain," Mihari said, we seem to have a nanotech or biological infestation that is taking over bodies of Keepers and crew! Please bring the Ship to full Security Alert and seal the Bridge. To not make contact with any unknown fluids"
    Today at 8:29 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick growled. "If you have any cameras anywhere, use them! Wing six is dead, and whatever it is, there are traces in cryo control and possibly wing one's cafeteria, so torch it and any place with no Keeper response, or there won't be any humans left on... on this boat!"
    Today at 8:29 PM
  • Diana:
    "None of the security cameras are working and if there's something going down, I can't abandon control," explain the Captain. His next statement of orders though came out so garbled no one could understand them. Then the comlinks went dead. Everyone's comlinks.
    Today at 8:31 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Somewhat surprised that Nito would have a weapon, yet not prefer to use it himself, Mihari took the maser and fired it at the creature.
    Today at 8:32 PM
  • Dawn:
    Noah struggled to keep pace with Mihari, and it wasn't too long before he lagged so far behind that when he came to the next intersecting of corridors, he... He couldn't find her. Sweat beaded on Noah's brow, his gaze sweeping up and down the long, empty halls. Which way? He had no clue! He wasn't a fighter, nor particularly scientific of the mind. He had been chosen for this colonizing mission for one reason alone and that wasn't going to help him right now. He didn't know what to do, and he found himself leaning against a wall, hyperventilating.
    Today at 8:33 PM
  • Diana:
    Mihari's eye stabbing followed by a laser zapping worked so well the woman's body FWOOMED into flames. Too many flails! She was now running wild and on fire and liable to catch anything flammable on fire with her!
    Today at 8:33 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick cursed in his native tongue, which sounded alien in and of itself as he ran through. He used... something that threw a brief and hot fire any time he encountered strange fluid on the way back to the others, sucking the fire back in before it could do much more than blacken the ship's surfaces or make some plastic bubble a little. When he arrived at the cafeteria, he shot fire out and then sucked all of the fire on the woman into the strange stick he held, eyes wide and panting for the first time they'd ever seen—when was Warwick EVER out of breath?
    Today at 8:35 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Damnit, those creatures are very flammable - are you okay there?", Nito asked Farrah, before realizing the danger posed by a flailing slime thing. "Sprinklers? Anyone?? DO WE HAVE A SPRINKLER SYSTEM?"
    Today at 8:36 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Aaah!" Mihari screamed. Fire on a Ship was one of the worst possible disasters. "Go to Engineering!" she said to the others as she lifted the plastic cover from the Galley's emergency fire-suppression system and pulled down the lever. Fire suppressant sprayed from the sprinkler system.
    Today at 8:36 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Oi, you, with my heat ray, what do I call you, better yet, can I have it back?"
    Today at 8:37 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Are all of you alright?" Warwick asked as he looked over the others present, uncaring that he was getting hit by the sprinklers. "Nobody... gooped?"
    Today at 8:37 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah clambered back to her feet and retrieved her multitool, breaths coming hard and fast. She grabbed a wrench from her tool belt, tossed it a few times to try to get a feel for the weight, before attempting to fling it at the (now doused) slime lady.
    Today at 8:37 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Please, we have to get to Engineering!" Mihari said, trying to hurry the others out of the galley. Then she hit the button to seal the galley bulkhead behind them as they fled.
    Today at 8:39 PM
  • Diana:
    As it stood, two people were in direct contact with goop. Nito and Farrah. With coms down, the fire suppressants now making everything look damp and thus hiding anything that mighty be goopy... things were looking not good. Can they make it to engineering in one piece?
    Today at 8:39 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick made sure to be the last out, and looked everyone over. "We... assume we are the only survivors," he said, "Best thing to do is... get out distress signal. Warning. Use escape pods and hope no slime... Get ship to steer into... nearest star to... prevent anyone else getting this."
    Today at 8:41 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Distress signal?" Mihari said. "There is no one to answer us in light-years. It would take them centuries to reach us! There are tanks of self-repair nans in Engineering. This seems to be a nanoinfestation, or perhaps something biological, like a slime mold. If I can program the repair nans to attack and destroy the infestation, we may be able to save the Ship.
    Today at 8:43 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick blinked at Mihari, then reddened. "Forgot... that you're a genius," he muttered, "We... try that."
    Today at 8:44 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Fleeing with Mihari and Farrah, Nito could still taste the disgusting Salisbury Steak between his teeth. Now certainly more energized, after partaking in his first combat post-thawing. He hooked the collapsible umbrella on his belt, and pulled two halves of a gun from the white case. "I wasn't certain if this kind of thing would still be of use, but I'm here to be of service. Top espionage agent of Her Majesty the Queen, at your service."
    Today at 8:47 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah was scooping the goop off of her clothes in handfuls. "Engineering?? We need fucking weapons. What the hell is there for us in Engineering? Captain?" She called over comms. In the chaos of the moment earlier, Farrah hadn't even noticed that the Captain's comms had cut out. "Captain, is there any place on the ship we can get weapons to defend ourselves? My multitool has a laser drill but it doesn't have that much range."
    Today at 8:48 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Comms dead," Warwick said. "I can... do fighting. Smart people... smart people worry about fixing it, and... weird spy and me will fight..." He nodded firmly.
    Edited
    Today at 8:49 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    As they headed for Engineering, Mihari checked through all of her queries and diagnostiscs. None of them were working. If this entity is intelligent, perhaps it can be communicated with. It may not even know what we are, she thought. Gesturing to open a shipwide communications screen, she used finger gestures to tap out the first few numbers of the Fibonacci Sequence as pulses.
    Today at 8:49 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Weapons would be in Security, but if none of us is a Security officer, we may not be able to access the armory. Unless you can bypass a secured lock?" Mihari said to Nito.
    Today at 8:51 PM
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito heard Farrah demand weapons. "I don't know if it will work, but... "pen that is actually poison? Oh, and lockpicking tool-wha", and immediately fainted of thaw-exhaustion
    Today at 8:52 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Where's the other one?" Warwick asked as he looked over the group.
    Today at 8:53 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    "I'll laser drill through the damn door to Security if we need to. Fuck the protocols, we need to focus on survival first. Everything else is secondary."
    Today at 8:53 PM
  • Diana:
    Perhaps Mihari was a genius after all. Because as she tried to communicate weird particles appeared on her screen. It seemed to cycle through a bunch of different symbols and languages before something readable finally appeared. We are here. We are death.
    Today at 8:53 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick absently picked up Nito and hefted him over his shoulder. "Where's the other... waker?" he asked again.
    Today at 8:54 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari brought up a keypad and typed out a reply. Why are you attacking us?
    Today at 8:54 PM
  • Diana:
    We have been so cold for so long. We can not take it any more.
    Today at 8:55 PM
  • Dawn:
    Just breathe. You've got this. You can find Mihari, or hell, maybe someone will pass by and you can tag along with them! Noah pushed to his feet, trying to wipe goo from his face with a forearm covered in, well, goo. "I need a shower and some tea," he sniffled. Then he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath and he chose a corridor and started walking. "Hello? Mihari?" What was the big guy's name? "Big guy who rescued me? Anyone?"
    Today at 8:57 PM
  • fatalrendezvous:
    "I don't know, dead, I think? I threw a wrench at it." Although it wasn't until Warwick asked that Farrah realized they'd never actually checked to see if the slime lady had died from being set on fire... or if her wrench had even hit.
    Today at 8:57 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    A voice? Warwick went still and listened. "We need to make a detour. I hear him!" He touched Farrah and Mihari each in turn on the shoulder and pointed. "We need to stay together."
    Today at 8:58 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I'm in communication with the Entities," Mihari said in a whisper, then resumed typing: You do not have to attack us. We can share the warmth of this Ship.
    Today at 8:58 PM
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Bad idea," Warwick muttered to her.
    Today at 8:59 PM
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "This is Humanity's first contact with alien life," she whispered back. "We must at least try to make peace. They may not have understood that we are sapient beings when this started. Their nature is very different from ours."
    58 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    The ship is death. We are so tired of being on this ship.
    58 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    I do not understand. How long have you been on this ship? Where are you from? Mihari had a hypothesis, but it chilled her to the bone.
    56 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "No it isn't," he grumbled under his breath, then shook his head and hefted her over his shoulder. "Do whatever. We need to get the other one." He nudged Farrah and jerked his head toward where he'd heard Noah.
    56 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    We are you. With that chilling statement with a loud hum all of the ships lights went out and the emergency floor lights kicked on.
    55 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "What did you say to it?" Warwick hissed under his breath.
    54 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah nodded. “That’s fine. Let’s make sure everyone is accounted for. I’ll go with you, Warwick. Mihari keep us in the loop on what they say, yeah?”
    53 minutes ago
  • Dawn:
    "Hello? Anyone? Please..." His steps slowed, and Noah wrapped his arms around himself. He was passing more hallways that branched off into other parts of the ship and a few of them felt just so ominous that he ended up stepping quietly, carefully, inching down his path with his head on a swivel. Goosebumps raised on his skin. He felt like he was being watched... And then the lights quit and Noah slapped both hands over his mouth to stifle a scream, sinking down against the wall. Wide and wild eyes swept up and down the space.
    52 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick led the way, following the faint sounds and frightened scent of Noah until he (with his twin loads) came closer. "Noah," he said, "Over here."
    51 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I asked them how long they have been on the ship, and where they are from. They said 'We are you.' I'm afraid...they might be the Ship's self-repair system. We still need to get to Engineering. There is a thing we can do."
    50 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Noah was clearly in terror at something... Farrah wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what. But she’d resolved to accompany Warwick regardless. “Noah!” She hissed, from relative safety. “Come on, we gotta get back to the others!”
    49 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Then Mihari started typing again. What do you want?
    48 minutes ago
  • Dawn:
    The sound of a voice startled him further and for a moment Noah became a ball. He just curled up, his arms folded over himself, head between his knees. When nothing murdered him, the young man slowly peeked over at the source of the sound and saw-- "Big Guy!" There was a surge of relief through him and he quickly scrambled toward the group, standing maybe a little too close to Warwick as he checked over his shoulder. "I feel like I'm being watched. And the lights... What's going on?"
    46 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    Something stumbled out into the hall in front of the gang and blocked their way to engineering. It was another one of the unfrozen, aged and tired, covered in that slime and his eyes wild. "We want to die. We all want to finally get off this godforsaken ship and die. Don't you see? THIS is getting us nowhere!" At the this he half out his hand and finally it clicked, the slime was nothing more than the cryostuff always injected into the pods. "Always connected and never alive never dead! Just existing in hell!"
    44 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Just... Put yourselves out the airlock," Warwick suggested, "Leave us out of it..." He shifted in front of Noah and Farrah, protective.
    43 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari breathed a sigh of relief. Her Ship had not turned against her after all. But the cryofluid, yes, it made sense now. That too was made of nanomachines, meant to maintain human bodies instead of ship's systems, repairing damage to cells and keeping the body in stasis. But that meant they were interlaced with the Sleepers' neurons...the consciousness was not supposed to be active, but perhaps the designers had made a terrible mistake.
    40 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito's eyes bolted open. "Oh dear, bad timing?"
    40 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah’s grip tightened around her multitool, eyeing the unfrozen with caution. “The- the ship’s estimates say it won’t be much longer before we can make landfall on a habitable planet,” she attempted to reassure it. “We’re... we’re all restless, but the fate of human life depends on us getting there.”
    39 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I am sorry," Mihari said. "If you can let us access the Medical computer, I will be able to deactivate you, if that is what you truly desire. Or, now that you are awake, you can let us help you deal with the pain you have suffered."
    38 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    "NO!" Shrieked the man in agony! "We're dying, w're all dying! A slow miserable death!" Even as her spoke his features seemed to twist awkwardly until his face was so contorted that the sudden dialup tone coming out of his mouth was a horror show. He bolted towards the lot of them screeching his ear piercing wail and flailing his arms with murder in his eyes.
    37 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick dropped both of the two he was holding and rushed the unfrozen. He slammed his shoulder into the thing with inhuman power and a snarl.
    36 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito flopped to the floor with grace
    35 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "You got my case?", he asked around the group, "You MUST have my case."
    35 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah positioned Noah behind her, hands firmly locked around her multitool and ready to fire it at a moment’s notice. She would not be dropping it again.
    33 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Warwick seemed far more capable of fighting the Unfrozen than Mihari would ever be. "I need to get to the Medical computer in Sickbay if I can't access it remotely," she said, gesturing to open remote access to the Medical computer even as she started heading toward Sickbay.
    33 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Scrambling to his feet, Nito noticed the small umbrella still hooked on his belt. It would have to do. Opening it, he said, "Ultra resistant shield umbrella. Let's get there quickly then, hm?"
    31 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    THUNK! With Warwick's distraction (better known as bodyslamming the unfrozen clear across the hall through a doorway), Mihari was able to slip past. Thankfully the rest of the way to the sickbay did not come with more resistance, but more and more messages were appearing on her screen. Please let us die. Please. Please we beg you. Let us die. Let us all die. We need to die.
    31 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari gave Nito a fleeting smile. What a spy for the Queen of England was doing here, she had no idea. That nation was centuries in their past, and light-years away now. If it still existed on Earth, would his mission even be relevant to whoever lived there now?
    29 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick kept watch over the group as they made their way, herding or even carrying anyone too slow to make it on their own. "Keep going!" He didn't see the messages, since he didn't know how to check his notifications, and they were still locked at a steady 999+ unread messages.
    29 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    By now, Nito and Farrah may be feeling off. But was it the goop or the Salisbury Steak?
    27 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari hurried to the main medical computer and opened its applications screen. Frustrating moments passed as she searched through file after file for the control software for the cryo nans. Ordinarily, she could have asked the Ship, but with the main AI offline, she had to search the unfamiliar computer manually.
    26 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    “There’s no need for all of us to die,” Farrah whispered aloud, tears welling in her brown eyes as the messages flooded her HUD on her glasses as well. She followed Warwick’s lead, trying to wrap her head around the situation. “An entire wing gone off the rails... how many people you think were in there?”
    26 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "OOF!", Nito exclaimed, Salisbury Steak not sitting well in his stomach. "This. Hurts. Ah. I'm going to. Sit down for. A bit."
    26 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick picked up Nito without hesitation. "Not leaving you behind," he grunted.
    25 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "thank you.. Sir."
    24 minutes ago
  • Dawn:
    The group was splitting up, and more importantly, a colonizer was attacking them! Noah wasn't a scientist by any means but he still understood the situation. Something had infected them. Something had twisted them. And Noah remembered feeling that way. He remembered that there were times were his mind was just lucid enough to form thoughts. He remembered little snippits of wanting to be free from the cryosleep. And then suddenly Big Guy was ushering them along, catching up to the other two. In the Med Bay, Noah searched around for a first aid kit, wanting to feel useful, but his paranoia kept his gaze jumping back to the door.
    23 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah felt like the room was spinning around her, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the craziness of the situation or.. something else.
    23 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    There! Mihari thought, finding it at last. She turned to the sound from Nito. He looked terrible. He was touched by the cryo nans! They're trying to integrate with his body! With trembling fingers, she typed at the keypad and scrolled through the app's control interface. "Where are you, where are you," she muttered to herself. Somewhere in all the various commands and settings menus, there had to be a shutdown option!
    22 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, once everyone was in the med bay, blocked off the door, only for his gaze to move around the room. He set Nito down, then began to _sniff_ him. "You..." he murmured, then made his way around to each person and sniffed. He also said "You" to Noah and to Farrah, but not to Mihari. He strode to the shower and turned it on sharply, not caring that he was wetting his sleeve, then returned to Nito and grabbed him again. "Let's see..." He began to fumble at Nito's clothes. "Noah, Nito, Farrah... You have slime on you. Shower it off as much as you can."
    20 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    It was hard to explain what Mihari saw on the computers. It certainly wasn't code that had been originally programmed in. And it was so complex! As if you could map out brain waves and consciousness itself right into the tech! The AI had advanced on it's own so far over the century that it had learned how to bridge people's minds into the system. Somehow everyone needed to be disconnected and pray that their minds weren't detached from their bodies.
    20 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari glanced over at the other Engineer; maybe she could help? To her horror, she saw that the young woman was looking around herself in a daze, swaying dizzily. "Farah, please sit down," she said, then turned back to the computer. "Wha?"
    18 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito floundered on the ground until he reached the cascading water. He looked up at the nozzle and shut his eyes at the spray. This was exquisite, who knew that being cryofrozen to preserve the Queen's legacy would be so unhygienic. This was... pleasant.
    18 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    While Nito was in the shower, Warwick stripped him nude and began to scrub him, probably rougher than was needed.
    17 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari typed on the computer's keypad. If you want to die, I will need to have access to the system shutdown menu for the cryo nans. I can do this for you if you let me.
    17 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Oh my!", he exclaimed in surprise, his calm moment invaded by rough manly hands
    16 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah fumbled with her clothes to get them off before stumbling into the shower, too uncomfortable to care much about anyone seeing her in this state of undress. The water wasn’t warm yet, but the pang of cold gave her a sharp jolt to help her regain some semblance of alertness, as she set to work trying to scrub herself clean.
    16 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    If you are also in the main computer, I will need to be able to shut down the entire system, she added.
    16 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Farrah seemed to have herself together enough to clean herself, at least. With Nito taken care of, and Farrah working on it, Warwick turned his attention to Noah. "Need help?"
    15 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    Please. Yes. Lets us die. As if will alone, Mihari was granted access to the system.
    15 minutes ago
  • Dawn:
    Noah glanced around. Warwick was being serious, wasn't he? Yup. There went James Bond into the shower. "Well I did want to get this gross stuff off of me.." He stripped too and joined Farrah and Nito in the shower.
    15 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick helped Noah scrub as well, and once they all seemed clean (and possibly a little raw from over-scrubbing) he turned off the water and gave them some scrubs he found. "How do you feel?" he asked.
    13 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Yes."
    13 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    “I don’t know,” Farrah groaned. “I can’t tell if I feel better from the cold water or from scrubbing all the shit off myself...”
    10 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, once they had fresh scrubs, aimed the weird stick from before (it didn't look like anything technological) at their old clothes, and fire balls shot out, burned the old clothes, then shot back _in_ to the rod.
    10 minutes ago
  • Dawn:
    "I... I feel like I now know what grated cheese feels like?" Noah whimpered, quickly getting dressed before he caught a cold.
    9 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "As long as you don't feel like you need to die," Warwick grunted.
    9 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Letting out a quick sigh of relief, she brought the menus back up and started hurriedly looking through them. There! Mihari said. "I'm about to shut down the cryo nans. If anybody knows CPR, please be ready to use it," she said, then opened the shutdown menu. [Shut down] [Password access required] "Aaah!" But thankfully, the code was entered from within as if by magic. [Shut down] [You have entered a command to shut down the cryogenic nanosystem. Are you sure you want to continue? Y/N] "Yeees!" she exclaimed, clicking on the 'Y'. [Please turn the deactivation keys at the same time]. "Somebody! That key over there!" she shouted, pointing at a key mounted on the wall as she hurried to its match out of arm's reach of the other. A safety system to prevent one person from deactivating the nans alone. "Turn it when I turn this one!"
    9 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito stole a glance at the others in the shower. "Where are my clothes?"
    9 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Yes! Key!"
    8 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Burned." Warwick went to the key, since the others were occupied, then nodded to Mihari. "I'm ready with the key."
    8 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah wasn’t fully dry yet but she put the scrubs on regardless, arms wrapped around herself in an attempt to self-soothe the feeling of dread she felt inside. “The... goop isn’t infectious, you think, is it?”
    8 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "OK, in three...two...one," Mihari said, turning her key.
    8 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick turned the other.
    7 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito saw scrubs on a bench, laid out, a pastel green. "No. Nonono. I'd rather wear nothing."
    7 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Nudist," Warwick accused.
    6 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Desecrator of my vestements", Nito retorted, putting on some pants as compromise
    6 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Blame the slime," Warwick shot back.
    6 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "Fair point. How is it going with the slime, anyhow?"
    5 minutes ago
  • Diana:
    FWOOOOOM. The entire ship went dead. Dead in space. Even the emergency lights and the oxygen. For several long moments it seemed like it was never going to come back on. But slowly the air kicked back in and the lights came back on. The strange artifacts and messages on the tech seemed to be completely gone.
    5 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick looked questioningly towards Mihari.
    5 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "So, uh..." Warwick cleared his throat. "Is... that it?"
    4 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    He sounded nervous.
    4 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "A moment," she said, running a diagnostic on the Ship. "I think so...but I have to wait for the diagnostic.
    4 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    "I need a sandwich.", said Nito as he walked bare-chested out of the shower.
    4 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Sandwiches are for people who aren't nudists," Warwick retorted, trying to joke, though his playful expression was strained.
    3 minutes ago
  • fatalrendezvous:
    Despite feeling terrible, Farrah managed to find some humor in the back and forth between Nito and Warwick. She tried to laugh, but found no oxygen as she breathed and panicked for a brief moment before it kicked back in. “Man... all I wanted was some freeze dried instant noodles.”
    3 minutes ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Engneer Mihari to Bridge. Captain?"
    2 minutes ago
  • A Life of Cinn:
    Nito gasped, "That isn't even food."
    2 minutes ago
  • The Mood is Write:
    "We could try long pork sandwiches," Warwick tried again at humor as he let himself fall back onto a bench, dwarfing it with his nearly six-and-a-half-foot frame.
    1 minute ago
  • Dawn:
    Not knowing what was going on, Noah was once again startled by the sudden loss of power. He scooted toward the nearest person and clung to their arm until the power came back on. Nito needed a sandwich. "I need a new heart. I think I've overtaxed this one."
    1 minute ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "The diagnostic...we're going to be alright. We will need to send a mmessage to Earth, to warn them about this, so they don't do this to any more colony ships."
    1 minute ago
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Is everyone alright?" Mihari asked.
    1 minute ago
  • Diana:
    When diagnostic came back, things looked better than expected. Even the Captain seemed to reply to com summons. Other Keepers across the ship voiced in too. In fact, all the pods on the ship were opening up due to the shut down, which wasn't exactly great but it seemed there was only one wing of people that were unfortunate enough to be actual dead. As everyone scrambled to handle the newly awakened, no one seemed to notice the one single artifact hiding in the system.
    A moment ago
  • Diana:
    THE END... UNTIL NEXT TIME.
 

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP.


    Today at 12:38 PM


  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi thriller setting. You are a colonist that was cryofrozen until your ship finally arrived at it's destination, or you are one of the "Keepers" that is meant to keep the ship in working order while everyone is frozen. There was an issue on the ship that has now awoken EVERYONE when they should not be awake.


    Today at 12:40 PM


  • Diana:
    IMPORTANT: TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF. Too much text is hard to read in a fast paced charp and you might miss out on action. Keep posts to 10 sentences or LESS.


    Today at 12:41 PM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP! Put your character's name in the first sentence of each post so we know who you are playing. You can use bbcode color to help tell your posts from others.


    Today at 12:41 PM


  • Diana:
    Game Master posts appear in this bright bold yellow. PAY ATTENTION to those because they are giving you hints on what to do next in the story!


    Today at 12:42 PM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are ALWAYS NEWBIE FRIENDLY! So don't worry if you've never done this before, if you make typos, or if you get confused and make mistakes. I am always in the main chat to help answer questions or to put you in the right direction.


    Today at 12:43 PM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 12:43 PM

  • Diana:
    Nearly a thousand colonizers are now awake, disoriented, confused, angry, and scared. This unprecedented problem need to be resolved by the ship's captain and it's current generation of Keepers. Most people have finally been directed to living spaces. (The chambers and rooms that are assigned to families - or would have been once they arrived to a habitable planet.) On duty Keepers are doing their jobs around the ship, while a few off-duty individuals in a private meeting room are trying to figure out how this corrupted tech happened to this ship - and is it really gone?


    Today at 12:48 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari had run diagnostics on the ship from the bow shield to the main engines searching for the smallest malfunction. She had even invoked a general purpose AI core from her personal toolbox and used generative coding systems to modify it into a diagnostic bot so she could use it to check the work of the Ship's diagnostic systems and AI's, and set her AI to alert her to any contradictions. Thus far...nothing that wasn't already noted and under repair.


    Today at 1:03 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Now she was checking the inventory of the future colony's equipment to make sure the supplies and tools were intact. If the Ship needed to be adapted to become a true generation Ship, much of that equipment would need to be put to use now, and new machines and devices built from the Ship's raw materials stores. Would there be enough to insure the passengers' survival until the Ship reached Her destination?


    Today at 1:08 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    As she worked, Mihari listened to the discussion of the others in the meeting room...


    Today at 1:10 PM

  • Diana:
    Captain Waynewright was an eldery man in his 80s and had been the captain of this colony for a good 50 years of it. A simple man with simple needs; Food, occasional company, and the desire NOT TO FUCKING DIE FROM HIS OWN SHIP. Despite knowing he had someone like Mihari checking things over, he himself was sitting down at the meeting room table, going over the logs and watching the security video feeds trying to pinpoint where things went wrong, Or even when things went wrong.


    Today at 1:11 PM

  • Diana:
    Those hushed voices were a few of the "Long Term" Keepers. Those that took more than just a few-year service and had no intentions of ever making it to the new planet. "Many of the civilians say they felt something crawling under their skin. We may have an alien-" "There's no evidence of that, Minerva." cut in another. "Our techsinger is certain that it has something to do with the A.I. The woman SPOKE to it for fuck's sake." A bunch of arguing broke out.


    Today at 1:24 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari glanced over at the Captain through the translucent wireframe image of the Ship that appeared in her contact lens-screens. Generative design algorithms were spawning images of aeroponics pods in every available space, calculating the amounts of materials that would be necessary to make them, how long the 3D printing operations would take, and how long it would take for them to start producing enough food to replace the stored rations. Waynewright had been Captain since well before she was born, so he was simply the Captain; not merely a person holding a post, but a part of her environment, a steady hand and mind she had always known to be there. She did not ask him if he had found anything. He would tell her if he did and wanted her to know. So for now, she would not interrupt his concentration.


    Today at 1:25 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Please, peace," Mihari said. "It is not impossible for both hypotheses to be accurate. It has long been considered plausible, even before humans began leaving Earth, that other civilizations could either unite with or be supplanted by A.I.'s and become machine civilizations. There could also be possibilities we have not yet considered."


    Today at 1:28 PM

  • Diana:
    Captain Waynewright beckoned a finger to Mihari, still not looking up from the screens he was watching. "I'm not even going to try and understand this technoshamanism thing you've got going but-" he finally stopped staring at the screen to squint his wrinkled eyes at the woman. "What do you feel happened? Is there something wrong with our systems or has the entire ship just experience some sort of psychic hocus pocus?"


    Today at 1:29 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari gave the Captain a Mona Lisa grin, then tilted her head in thought. "My apologies Captain, I cannot give you a single 'hunch' to seize and hold onto. There are too many uncertainties, so I feel it is right to remain open to all paths. Debris was detecting unusual particle effects interacting with the Bussard shield before the anomalies began. I have not been able to detect a comprehensible pattern, but it is possible that an alien machine civilization could have used the particle field to in effect transmit computer code to the Ship, a bit like..." She reached over and gently tapped out a few dots and dashes of Morse code on his hand, H-E-L-L-O. "Your brain registered those sensations, and was able to interpret them into a greeting, even though there was no direct link between your brain and mine. If you think of the Ship's Bussard shield as Her hand...


    Today at 1:40 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "On the other hand, it is also possible that the cryo nans, the suspended passengers, or a synergy between them, could have generated an emergent intelligence. The affected passengers seemed to report a degree of conscious experience, but deprived of external stimulation, they were in effect imprisoned in a void, and driven mad by it.


    Today at 1:42 PM

  • Diana:
    The Captain grunted. Most of her explanation seemed to fly right over his head (at least based on the eye-rolling of a few of the Elder Keeprs), but he got the jist. After a long silence, he excuse himself from the meeting table, beckoning his finger again for Mihari to follow him. "Keep talking."


    Today at 1:44 PM

  • Diana:
    The council of old farts at the meeting table continue to argue amongst themselves on how best to adapt to this new problem of having the entire colony awake before it was time, and if it were safe to put them back into the cryochambers.


    Today at 1:44 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "The planet that was chosen for our colony was selected because of its closeness to Earth conditions, yes? We are closer to it now. If we could manufacture telescopes and fit them to shuttles, we could launch them out from the Ship to form a wide baseline array. This would function as if it were a massive telescope with an objective lens..." seeing his expression, she decided against boring him and the others with the technical details. "We could use it to closely observe the destination world for evidence that it is, or has been, host to a technological civilization. We already have plans for telescopes and other instrumentation in our tech library. I could set assemblers to work immediately. But we could begin with the Ship's telescope and sensors, to see if they could detect anything new."


    Today at 1:49 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I can offer you some examples of technosignatures--evidence that would indicate the presence of alien technology--in the new Solar System if you wish."


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • Diana:
    The Captain allowed Mihari to continue with her suggestions and didn't interrupt, even as he led her down a corridor and into his private office. There, his quite professional countenance seemed to change as he rubbed his hand against his grizzled chin. "These are excellent ideas, Jirae, but I'm afraid we have a bigger issue..." He held out his arm and rolled up his sleeve, showing Mihari, and Mihari alone, that under his skin something indeed was crawling. "My arm is tech," he explained. "Experimental, mind you. And the man that did this for me is one of the causalities in the dead wing. But I didn't have a damn crawling thing in my arm when he programmed it, I can tell you that fucking much."


    Today at 1:58 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari's eyes went wide. "Are you in any pain? Experiencing any other symptoms? The best diagnostic systems and tools for this situation would be in Medical, but if you do not wish to cause distress to others by being seen going there, we could also go to Maintenance, which also has facilities that could be used for purposes of quarantine if necessary. I have a nanodiagnostic probe with me, but I think it would be best to examine it where there are facilities to deal with responses it might produce."


    Today at 2:05 PM

  • Diana:
    Captain Waynewright made another snorting sort of noise as he rubbed his hand over his wrist. "After the ship went dead in space, something sparked off my console. Wasn't sure what was happning until I could hear it speaking," he grunted reluctantly. "Not sure what the fuck it is, but I know it's not the only one on board. The Doc had a few volunteers. Which means we've got a very big problem if those individuals are getting pumped with these same fucked up suggestions I'm getting."


    Today at 2:13 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "What is it suggesting?"


    Today at 2:14 PM

  • Diana:
    The Captain gave a grim smile. "Let's just say it involves a whole lot of dead bodies." Now that his big secret had been revealed, his professional Captain expression was back, right down to the straight way he stood. "Jirae, if this gets out we're going to have a panic. I don't know why it's not eating into my brain, but if the dead wing is any indication of what's to come, we need to find everyone with tech implants on this ship and get them to quarantine right away. We can't allow it to get back into the ship itself."


    Today at 2:20 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari made a gesture to set her own biomonitors to check for any anomalies, and keep doing so. "My apologies, Captain," she said, stepping back from him while also keeping clear of any of the room's consoles. "I must consider the possibility that it is infectious." Though she didn't have any cybernetic implants, her work relied heavily on her wearable body-net computers. And besides, there was no guarantee the...thing...could not also infect biological tissues." Mihari tried to hide her horror at the Captain's words. What if they didn't actually want to die?! she thought. But there was nothing she could do for the fallen. "Please come with me to Maintenance. How many of our Security personnel have implants?"


    Today at 2:24 PM

  • Diana:
    Surprisingly at ease to follow at Mihari's commanded for one who technically was the leader of the ship, the Captain followed. His grim expression continued as he relayed her requested information. "None on security, thank God. Most of the volunteers were citizens. Maybe a Keeper here and there. But we can't certain until we get his persona logs and work files. Whatever this... thing is, I know it's not just some A.I. gone viral."


    Today at 2:30 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari nodded as she hurried with the Captain to the nearest turbolift. "Does it respond to your thoughts? Are you able to communicate with it?" she asked in a whisper.


    Today at 2:34 PM

  • Diana:
    "Other than telling it to shut the hell up?" Responded the captain, glancing down at his arm again and flexing his fingers. "I don't know. But I figured a technoshaman would make a good ambassador to a circuit traveling race of homicidal whatsits." In the turbolift he looked a little green, but she couldn't be sure if it were the ride or the captain just being real sickened by the idea of having something inside him.


    Today at 2:40 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    As they walked, Mihari minimized the design program, and accessed the Ship's sensor suite with a few gestures. With more gestures and taps at virtual keyboards, she gave commands. "I will do my best, Captain." The turbolift doors opened, and she walked with Waynewright to the Maintenance section. Most of the technicians were working around the Ship under Farrah's direction, but Ensign Jindal was keeping an eye on the system monitors. Mihari's eyes flicked briefly to the gun-metal gray of his tool-arm. "Ensign Jindal, could you please report to Medical? I can take care of things here."


    Today at 3:00 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Wot mate? I feel fine," Jindal replied. But with the Captain their to back her up, he resigned himself to the task and walked out of the room. Mihari hurried the Captain over to a sizable chamber with thick walls and a heavy airlock door. "This is the nano-testing bay. Could you please step inside?"


    Today at 3:03 PM

  • Diana:
    The Captain hesitated for a moment - it was clear he wasn't keen on the tight space (which was ironic considered the control room he spent most of his time), but he stepped inside, flexing his fingers all the while. "Do I even need to ask what this is going to do," the old man grumble. It wasn't often to see the stalwart captain uneasy, but this whole stressful situation seemed to be really pushing his limits.


    Today at 3:07 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I will not do anything to hurt you," Mihari said, then sealed the door. She went over to a large window of thick armored glass. Reaching her hands into the control waldoes, she activated the electrostatic repulsion system that would keep any nanites that loosed from the Captain from reaching the walls of the containment chamber. "Alien creature, if you can hear me, I do not want to hurt you either. We call ourselves humans. We would wish to have a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship with you if that is possible. But your kind have already caused the deaths of several of us already, and your communications are coming through to us as hostile. Captain, please hold out your arm." With the control waldoes, she readied a robot arm built into the room to begin scanning the 'crawling thing' in his arm.


    56 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Dutifully Captain Waynewright lifted is arm out and waited for the scans. Everything seemed to be going well until all of a sudden - CRACK - his wrist twisted at an awkward angle and his whole hand turned upside down. The man made a startled sound, but he couldn't jump back from his own hand. Skin started peeling away, red and black lines of blood and fluid sliding down his palms as his fingers ripped through, reaching for the chamber walls. The Captain finally screamed as a second CRONCH pulled at his shoulder, as if his whole arm was trying to detach itself. "LOCK ME DOWN. LOCK ME DOWN, NOW." ordered the Captain.


    49 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari had already locked down the chamber as soon as he was inside, but she gave him a quick nod, wincing as he cried out in pain. "Captain, please grant me Sigma Omega access to Ship's systems. My apologies. I was wrong; this will hurt," she said sadly. One of the tools on one of the robot arms she used was a laser, intended to blast any test nanites that malfunctioned in a dangerous way. She aimed it to sever the tech arm from his body; the laser would cauterize the wound, preventing bleeding, so that hopefully she would be able to get him to Medical if she was able to deal with the infested arm successfully. As soon as the laser fired, she aimed a tool-head on another arm. This one shot out a gooey foam that would rapidly expand and envelop what it hit--in this case, hopefully, the Captain's arm. The foam was designed to be chemically inert, so that it could not provide sustenance for rogue self-replicating nanites; they would run out of energy and be contained.


    35 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    As long as she was able to sever the arm successfully, the alien technology would not be able to feed on the Captain's body. But then, this was alien tech, and she worried about what unexpected capabilities it might possess.


    32 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    It was good that Mihari had that cauterizing laser, for the arm had nearly ripped itself off the captain all on it's own before the laser helped snap the last tendon free. As the captain hit the back of the tank and slide to the floor still howling in pain, his loose tech-arm had shot for the containment glass making a terrible ear piercing shriek. Even as the foam covered it and it too dropped to the floor, wriggling to get free, it was clear that foam wasn't going to last for long.


    27 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Jirae," snarled the captain. "Clearance granted. Seal the chamber. Seal the ROOM. Find the other citizens tech enhanced citizens and quarantine them quickly." he ordered between gasps of pain.


    27 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, absent from the little group until now, arrived suddenly. "Something smells wrong," he grunted, then frowned at what he saw, then, he turned. "I'll isolate the rest!" he grunted. He could smell who had tech on them. That would make it easier. He was also stronger than any other Keeper.


    26 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    To Mihari's great relief, Warwick appeared. "Computer, I, Mihari Jirae, accept Sigma Omega access. Warwick, you are acting Chief of Security. You have full access to crew rosters and Ship's security systems. If you need anything else, let me know," she said as she kept spraying more foam at the hand and forearm, while targeting the laser at the other end: contain the part with appendages, destroy the other end and work her way up.


    21 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    He paused and looked back, then gave a quick salute before he charged onward. He had just planned to follow his nose, but anything that made his job easier was a good thing.


    18 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    The power in the room faded in and out twice. Did the computer receive the message? There was not an acknowledgement. Once Warwick stumbled into the hall there was - a foot. A metal and wire food surrounded by a reddish black fluid, just sitting there in the hall. Then it twitched. Toes growing longer as it sudden began to skitter up the wall and onto the ceiling. Somewhere in the near nearest, Warwick could hear very human screaming.


    17 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Shit, shit, shit," Captain Waynewright was muttering under his breath. The thing Mihari was trying to encapsule in foam was fighting for all it's worth. Wires and thin strings of metal were now shooting out where it could find weakness in the foam and trying to creep towards the captain. As anyone would, he started kicking at it to get away, but there was no where to go in the chamber. "Jirae! Nuke the chamber! Nuke me with it! It's an order!"


    15 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grabbed the foot and shoved it into a pocket, where it wouldn't be able to get out on its own. Only he could pull it out, but like hell he would. He headed toward the source of screaming.


    12 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari flinched when the power flickered. She tried to use the laser to fend off the spreading metal tentacles, but they were too many, and moved too quickly. With tears in her eyes, she nodded. "It was an honor serving with you Captain," she said, lifting the cover off of a literal Big Red Button. She slapped it, and a heavy metal shutter slammed closed, blocking the window. A blast of gamma rays, followed by high-amplitude microwaves, followed by an electromagnetic pulse, followed by superheated plasma, followed by venting the contents into space.


    10 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari initiated a full reboot of the Ship's computer, then brought up the data from the Ship's sensor suite. She felt a chill as graphs of the star's brightness showed anomalies. It was dimming: not because of anything to do with the star itself, but because of a cloud of structures being constructed around it...


    7 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Something was out there surrounding the star. And now that something was loose in the ship, infecting the cybernetic tech of unknown civilians on the colony ship. Will Warnick find the infected in time? Now that the Captain is dead, who will take over as leader and pilot of the colony ship? What actually IS the alien techno creatures?! TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR... THE KEEPERS.
 

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP.


    Today at 12:07 PM


  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi thriller setting. You are a colonist that was cryofrozen until your ship finally arrived at it's destination, or you are one of the "Keepers" that is meant to keep the ship in working order while everyone is frozen. There was an issue on the ship that has now awoken EVERYONE when they should not be awake. People with cybertech implants are now being quarantined because they may be infected with hostile alien life.


    Today at 12:07 PM


  • Diana:
    IMPORTANT: TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF. Too much text is hard to read in a fast paced charp and you might miss out on action. Keep posts to 10 sentences or LESS.


    Today at 12:07 PM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP! Put your character's name in the first sentence of each post so we know who you are playing. You can use bbcode color to help tell your posts from others.


    Today at 12:07 PM


  • Diana:
    Game Master posts appear in this bright bold yellow. PAY ATTENTION to those because they are giving you hints on what to do next in the story!


    Today at 12:08 PM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are ALWAYS NEWBIE FRIENDLY! So don't worry if you've never done this before, if you make typos, or if you get confused and make mistakes. I am always in the main chat to help answer questions or to put you in the right direction.


    Today at 12:08 PM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 12:09 PM


  • Diana:
    Most of the Debris' passengers have been gathered in a huge stadium-like room where Elder Keepers are trying to keep everyone calm as a small team scans citizens for signs of cybertech. Those with tech are being escorted off to be quarantined in the medical bay. "If you scheduled to be or have been part of the Keeper crew in the past, we need your assistance now. Please report to your assigned stations. In the mean time we need everyone to remain calm..." They droned on. Meanwhile a small team of people are desperately trying to figure out what is circling the nearby planet and if it's a threat to the colony.


    Today at 12:57 PM

  • Diana:
    A young woman with familiar features pushes her way through the crowd of colonists, grabbing a hold of anyone with an I.D. badge to demand answers. "Have you seen Captain Wainwright?! I need to find him!"


    Today at 1:00 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari jolted at the sudden touch. She'd been one of the first to get to the medical bay, to have her cochlear implants removed. They had been modest as cybernetic enhancements went, and were not much more than a glorified comms headset, but she could take no chances. "Captain Wainright? I'm sorry...he is gone," she said sadly.


    Today at 1:08 PM

  • Diana:
    "Gone where," the young woman demanded to know. The good news was that she wasn't one of the people needed to have their implants removed.


    Today at 1:12 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, for his part, had thrown several people from the air locks who were too far gone. It was grizzly and nasty business, but he was used to killing. He returned to the infirmary last, broad chest heaving from the mad run around trying to isolate anyone who was augmented. He arrived in time to hear the question, and he looked over and placed a firm hand on Mihari's shoulder to try to shut her up. "Mihari is acting captain at the moment. Captain Wainright had a very intense procedure." It was not a lie... not really. He couldn't lie.


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma dropped into a cargo bay emptied of people on their way to the stadium after cutting through a wall to exit a berth hidden in the superstructure. A shock baton on her side and a gauss pistol on the other was short compared to the others even with the armor. On its shoulder bearing the symbol of three pods with kneeling soldiers inside. Her head hurt but made her way through the ship to where the announcements said the others were. Clomping up at the back looked about the arena. She didn't see Wainright anywhere.


    Today at 1:21 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "He is--how may I help you?" Mihari said, somewhat awkwardly poking and swiping at a tablet, trying to verify that the Captain's last order to the Ship, to give her Sigma Omega access, had gone through. Under the circumstances, she thought better of using her contact lens-screens and gesture recognition interface as well. Though not implanted, they could not be thrown as quickly as the tablet, in case of infestation.


    Today at 1:21 PM

  • Diana:
    Warwick's answers had disturbed the girl even further. "What do you mean intense procedure!? Where is he! I need to see him right now!"


    Today at 1:22 PM

  • Diana:
    Sukarma arrived just in time to hear one of the elder Keepers insist that those cleared of cybertech should immediately go to their designated hall and to await further instruction. But someone in the crowd wasn't having it -- as someone with a prosthetic, they were going to be separated from their family for no good reason! It seemed like a riot was going to break out any moment.


    Today at 1:25 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "What is your emer--" Mihari said, interrupted by the sudden and rather loud appearance of someone in powered combat armor. "Warwick, with me please," she said and started toward the armored individual, cringing inwardly at the mayhem that could be unleashed if the armor became infected. Then someone with a prosthetic began to protest. For a moment she froze as images of the Captain's cybernetic arm coming to alien life flashed in her mind, and the sickening crunch-squish-rip it made when it tore itself free from his shoulder. "Please close down all comms immediately, remove your armor, and power it down. Do you have any cybernetic implants?"


    Today at 1:32 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Ma'am," he said, "You aren't the only one demanding to see the poor bastard. He can't see anyone right now due to his condition. Now, do you have any tech implants or prosthetics? If so, get in line. I'm able to help with the procedures now, so they should go faster." He didn't say that he'd just chop stuff off and let the next person close the wound.


    Today at 1:32 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari struggled for calm, to keep herself from shaking, to provide the presence of stability that people would need. People! Dealing with alien-infested technology was one thing; she knew technology, was comfortable with it. It was...sensible, well at least until now. But panicking, angry people?


    Today at 1:35 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Lights on the exoframe started to blink out as Sukarma started bricking dynamic systems in the suit she didn't absolutely need. The exoframe had to stay but at least the daggers jabbing at her mind ebbed as what passed for an immune system had less of the empty rigid things to focus on. Her voice was calm as she looked at warwick making no moves for her weapons, "I answer only to the Captain."


    Today at 1:35 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick hurried after Mihari, then frowned at Sukarma. "Mihari is acting captain," he said firmly.


    Today at 1:37 PM

  • Diana:
    "I have every right to see the Captain...!" They were already trying to walk off without her, of which she wasn't pleased about. She stomped after Mihari since she was "acting captain". "What's his condition?! Is it serious?!" She was having to raise her voice even higher because there seemed to be a big ruckess forming amongst the colonist. She didn't give two whits about that -- the captain was her only concern.


    Today at 1:39 PM

  • littlekreen:
    "I take it he didn't have time for the full brief, " Sukarma sighed, "I'm your Bulwark."


    Today at 1:39 PM

  • Diana:
    Thankfully Mihari, Warwick, (and now Sukarma) were not the only Keepers on the scene. Those that'd been activated as security were trying to get the mob under control before things got too nasty in the stadium. At least until someone threw a punch and bloodied up some Elder's nose. For the moment there were no signs of techno infections, but a riled up crowd confused and scared was just as dangerous. A larger scuffle was now breaking out as Keepers struggled to get things calmed down.


    Today at 1:44 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari turned to the insistent young woman. She looked familiar somehow--if Mihari still had her contact lens-screens, facial recognition would have automatically conjured her identity, but Mihari couldn't place her under the circumstances. "Please identify yourself," she said, then turned to the armored figure. "Bulwark?" From the iconography, she guessed that a 'Bulwark' was something like a Special Forces trooper meant to be deployed to the planet upon arrival. But such forces were not meant to be awakened during her lifetime, much less called to service, so she did not know anything about them.


    Today at 1:46 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Manual locks pop as she fingers heavy latches at the collar and removes her helmet revealing a blue-skinned face with faint rivers of color and tapering tendrils that passed for her hair sprouted tiny receivers. "Bulwark ops sent me. Something started to try and put me down and the IDS fired up to wake me. I can keep it out but it's making me feel sick. What's going on? I bricked most of the suit systems."


    Today at 1:46 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick smelled the blood and jumped into action. He grabbed the aggressor, yanked them from the Elder, and held him up in the air, using his height and build to full advantage. "Stop fighting!" he roared.


    Today at 1:46 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick's voice, held an edge of something strange that made them _want_ to obey... more than if it hadn't had that energy, at least.


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked around at the crowd, "Calm down! It won't make anything easier if you're beating each other!"


    Today at 1:49 PM

  • Diana:
    "Virginia Wainwright, Cadet Officer 2024. I need to see the captain. What's wrong with my Da-"


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • Diana:
    Quite suddenly the entire station shuddered and all of the power shut off. Backup lights in a deep ominous red flickered on. "EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. ALL CITIZENS REPORT TO YOUR HALLS FOR LOCKDOWN. KEEPERS HEAD TO YOUR STATIONS. MIHARI REPORT TO THE BRIDGE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL CITIZENS REPORT TO YOUR HALLS FOR LOCKDOWN."


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looks upward as the lights go off, "Just call me Bulwark. I'm the only one..."


    Today at 1:58 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick managed to hear Virginia's name before all of the chaos. Oh, damn... Worse, this meant that the quarantined might try to get back with the others. He looked to Sukarna. "Help me keep the quarantined folks here," he urged, then added, "Please." Then he looked to Mihari. "Take Virginia. Explain in private," he urged. She needed to know, but nobody else did.


    Today at 1:58 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "You have cybernetic implants to interface with your suit?" Mihari said to Sukarma. Before she could try to figure out a way to explain the situation to the armored warrior, the power went down. With gritted teeth, she suppressed a groan. "My apologies, I must go. Miss Wainright, please come with me."


    Today at 1:59 PM

  • Diana:
    Between the sudden quarantine, the rumors of a missing captain, and now even more dysfunction with the ship with the power outage, it seemed as if this was the last straw for all of the frightened colonists. Full chaos broke out in the stadium as people started running -- both to obey the emergency protocol, but just as many going full on violent trying to demand answers from Keepers they could ambush. Now more than ever it the ship needed a leader!


    Today at 2:05 PM

  • Diana:
    "I'm right behind you," replied Virginia, though that was going to be difficult with the current chaos. People were running and scattered everywhere, and everyone with a Keeper's badge was now in danger of errant punches and angry colonists!


    Today at 2:05 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma put her helmet back on as the two left and followed warwick. the electrical humm of her shock baton as she pressed a button on its handle. Though her head swam at the abundance of stimulation as something desperately clawed at her intellect. Swaying a bit at times kept up with Warwick swinging at the more violent persons, "What's... the plan! I can't just subdue everyone!"


    Today at 2:11 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari closed her eyes in frustration, fighting down fear. What would Captain Wainwright do? Or anyone who knew what to do as a leader of these people?! she thought. She opened her eyes and gently took Virginia's arm to lead her away from the crowd. Once she had her alone in a corridor, she let go. "I am very sorry, Miss Wainwright. Your father...your father is dead. He gave his life saving this Ship and Her crew and passengers. I know that is no consolation...and no words I say can ever be. I...I do not have time to help you grieve as I should. Please report to your hall for lockdown."


    Today at 2:15 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Subdue all we can. Anyone with implants or prosthetics is a risk factor to the rest," he informed as he crashed two violent peoples' heads together. "Keep them apart from the unaugmented. If they escape quarantine, there could be problems." He tried to be vague to keep people who overheard from panicking more. "Once we're between them and the doors, it'll be easier."


    Today at 2:17 PM

  • Diana:
    "What. He's not. He promised he'd go into cryo so we'd be together when-" At that point Virginia choked up, throwing a hand over her mouth. She nodded quickly to at least confirm that she'd heard and understood Mihari.


    Today at 2:21 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I am sorry. I must go," Mihari said, patting Virginia on the shoulder before turning away to run for the Bridge.


    Today at 2:22 PM

  • Diana:
    MIHARI REPORT TO THE BRIDGE. ALL CITIZENS REPORT TO YOUR HALLS FOR LOCKDOWN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. The emergency alert stayed on repeat. Warwick and Sukarma certainly had their hands full with the leftover rioters, and though there wasn't any signs of new tech infection, anyone sensitive to the ship


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • Diana:
    .....anyone sensitive to the ships movements could feel a subtle shudder beneath their feet. Something was very very wrong.


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Thankfully, Warwick was well-accustomed to fighting, and he knocked heads, bonked, and chopped necks until a semi-circle of unconscious people.


    Today at 2:25 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Inwardly cursing the awkwardness of the tablet screen, Mihari swiped at it to bring up a wireframe hologram of the Ship meant to show internal diagnostics and any external threats.


    Today at 2:26 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    While running. Thus, she continued to regret the absence of her contact lens-screens, but at least they wouldn't be sprouting alien tentacles and boring into her eyeballs.


    Today at 2:28 PM

  • Diana:
    Mihari's screen showed her that the ship was now moving faster and faster. Dangerously so towards the nearby planet and the ring of weird tech around it. Once she reached the bridge, she was met with a bunch of freaked out technerds of various ages all scrambling to get control of the ship. "We can't figure out out!" one of them shouted. "Nothing is controlling the ship's software, but we're being pulled towards the planet!"


    Today at 2:29 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma grabbed one prosthetic arm as it swung at her and the other cracked on her helmet. Taking blows her mind insisted it wanted to vomit and she felt overheated but after taking more smashes to the head regained her senses and swung the man around. Taking a small cable from her wrist as he punched her with the other hand jabbed the vampire tap into a data cable. Though contact made her feel tired from the exposure to more daggers nerve stormed a few of the banal neural processors until she could push them away. A bootstrap announcing itself quickly competed for as she grabbed access and started bricking the operational code of several integral parts. Civilian tech was usually too cheap to be hardened after all. "Listen, fool, calm while we come up with a solution and you can see your family eventually! Have faith!"


    Today at 2:32 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Pulled?" Mihari said. "As if by gravity? What is the acceleration toward the planet? Helm, shut down the main engines. We are going to need to change course. Sciences, are the gravimetric sensors online? Can you detect a source for the pull? Or any other signatures, such as Hawking radiation from a black hole?" She sat in the Captain's chair and activated shipwide comms. "Attention Keepers and passengers, this is Acting Captain Mihari Jirae. Please remain calm, obey Keeper instructions, and report to your halls for lockdown. You must do this immediately so that we can secure the Ship for maneuvers. This will require us to stop the rotating sections and subject all areas to zero gee."


    Today at 2:44 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grunted as he got the last rioters down


    Today at 2:49 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Then, he started strapping people to the stadium seats. Maneuvers, of course, but they needed to keep the quarantine! "Everyone strap in! We have a quarantine for a reason!


    Today at 2:50 PM

  • Diana:
    With the combination of Warwick's manhandling, Sukarma's asskicking, and Acting Captain Mihari's instructions people were finally getting their panic under control. (If at least because no one wanted to be flying around in zero G during an emergency.) On the bridge, the bridge crew were working with Mihari to answer questions. "There doesn't seem to be any-- Oh. Oh no," exclaimed on of the crew. Unable to explain it in words, they brought up the visuals on screen for everyone on the bridge to see. Those uncountable flying bits and bobs that surrounded the planet below in a giant ring were all swarming towards the ship. Hundreds and thousands were already attached to the outside of the ship's hull with millions more attaching every second.


    Today at 2:57 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma picked up the man roughly expecting the sudden void of sensation to quiet his rage. Forced to drag the man by his belt dropped him into a seat and buckled the limp appendage in with the rest of him. Thinking out loud she called to warwick looking at the screen, "I'm kitted for colony support not weapons fire!"


    Today at 3:00 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Astrogation, get together with Ops," Mihari said. "I need you to bring up a list of the S.T.A.R.S. candidate systems, and choose the farthest one from this system that the Ship can still reach. Life Support, assess available resources with the aim of converting the Debris into a generation ship. The Cotu Section has hydroponic gardens and biolembic waste treatment systems. We will need to replicate these to service the needs of the entire Ship. Comms, do we still have..." her string of commands was interrupted by the dire report. "Point defense systems, fire!" The Debris had a few point defense lasers meant to divert any asteroids or cometary bodies on a collision course with the vessel. Of course they would be nowhere near enough to deal with such a numerous threat, but she had to try.


    Today at 3:02 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Comms, transmit on all frequencies," Mihari said. "This is The S.T.A.R.S.S. Debris. We did not intend to invade your space. At the time of our departure from our homeworld, we could detect no signs of intelligent life in your system. We will choose another destination system if you cease your attack. Please respond."


    Today at 3:05 PM

  • Diana:
    KSSSSSHHHHHH. KSSSSSSST. KSSSHHHHHH. KSSSSS. Nothing legible wanted to come through, until finally one of the technitions twisted enough dials and the buzzing started to come out in a pattern. -.. . .- - .... ... - .-. .- -. --. . .-. ... -.. . ... - .-. --- -.-- -. --- .... --- -- . -.. . .- - .... -.. . .- - .... -.. . ... - .-. --- -.--


    Today at 3:12 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma reached for the mag boots then realized she'd shorted out the subsystem. Heading over to Warwick she gripped a chair to make sure she didn't float away. Distantly a damage control system likely complained of unregistered movement in a ship berth one too many than records said they had. A large weight shifting inside to press on the walls. Sukarma resisted the urge to snoop on comms channels.


    53 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari tapped a control to feed the Morse Code (!) signal through a translator. " DEATHSTRANGERSDESTROYNOHOMEDEATHDEATHDESTROY" She gritted her teeth. "Comms, send the following message to Sol: 'S.T.A.R.S.S. Debris. Destinatin world hostile aliens. Cyber threat, do not use cryo. Prepare for war.' Then give me control of the comm laser." The Ship was connected to the Solar System by a laser data link that would allow Earth to transmit tech updates, and the Debris to send back Her findings. This required powerful pulsed lasers on both ends, and worked as long as the Ship remained on its predicted trajectory, or could return to it after maneuvers. The limit of light speed meant that Earth would not receive their warning for decades, but as far as known physics was concerned, nothing else could reach Earth faster.


    52 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Whew," Warwick sighed. "Alright. If Mihari calls, we head there, otherwise let's keep things organized here.


    52 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma shook her head, "this is a massive open room if the hull is breached you'll all get sucked into the void. We need to be behind a bulkhead!"


    48 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari activated shipwide comms. "Captain Jirae to all hands, secure for emergency maneuvers. We are under attack by hostile aliens. We will do everything in our power to keep the Ship safe and seek a new destination world. Warwick and Bulwark and all who are trained to fight, prepare to repel boarders. Prepare for microgravity."


    48 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    --. --- .... --- -- . -.. . .- - .... -.. . .- - .... -. --- .... --- -- . .... . .-. . --- -. .-.. -.-- -.. . .- - .... ... - .- .-. ... - .- - .. --- -. -.-. .-. .- ... .... -.. . .- - .... -.. . .- - .... -.. . .- - .... Oddly enough the message wasn't coming from the millions of bots attaching themselves to the hull, but from the very planet below. But it might have been too late. Something sounding horrorfyingly like metal being ripped and churned apart echoed through-out the entire ship.


    45 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari used the Ship's telescope to start looking over the alien megastructures for anything that looked especially important. There! she thought, noticing a massive ring that was exactly centered on the ship, tethered to other, larger stations that seemed to be holding it in place. "Comms, is the message sent? I need that laser."


    44 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari translated the second message: " GOHOMEDEATHDEATHNOHOMEHEREONLYDEATHSTARSTATIONCRASHDEATHDEATHDEATH" She then turned the ship's telescope on the planet, toward the source of the signal. "Secure all hatches." There's no such thing as an unarmed spaceship, Mihari thought grimly. Now give me something to hit.


    40 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked at Warwick as Jirae announced they were about to be boarded, "I have four explorer-class EVA suits in the unlisted berth and a couple more weapons. They're not built for combat but they can take a decent beating."


    37 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Security," Mihari said to the Security Chief, "Can I assume you've had your tech people looking for ways to counter their cyber-attacks? If you have anything you can use, like a counter-virus, use it now." She then looked back to the diagnostic to see if there were millions of hull breaches, or if most of the attached drones were doing something else.


    32 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "I'm not sure the message is from aliens," said a voice from the doorway spoke up softly. Virginia hadn't gone to her hall like instructed, and there was no telling how long she'd been lurking nearby. Her eyes were red like she'd been crying, but she seemed to have herself under control now as her brows were thoughtfully furrowed. "That was an old earth language, wasn't it? What if-"


    31 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    BWEEZOOOOOWM. Finally the on board defense systems were very suddenly forced online by the bridge crew, weapons were aim at Acting Captain Jirae's directions towards the ring on the alien megastructure. Maybe someone had an itchy trigger finger and didn't wait for an official firing order - the laser fired out and the shockwave was powerful. It hit and sent flying everything around it with so much force that even the S.T.A.R.S. station itself was knocked off course and began hurtling towards the planet. It WILL crash, but will it make it down to the surface in one piece?!


    31 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grunted and slammed into a wall. He righted himself, then looked to Sukarma. "Can you handle things here? I'm going to check on the Captain!"


    28 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma shook her head, "Our orientation is way off there's no way we're still on course! I need my avatar to survive impact if we end up there with survivors and I can try pushing back against the interference but not with it remote and the bridge is much further away than I am. It's my best option for these people and I could use some help."


    19 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "What do you need?" Warwick asked, eager to help ensure the survival of as many as possible


    17 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Helm! Use full RCS thrusters, aim the ship on a tangent to the planet's atmosphere, main engine burn for four point eight seconds of Delta Vee. Route all available power to the Bussard shields.! Launch all colonial dropships on autopilot, have them pick a landing site as close to that signal as possible." Then she toggled the shipwide comms. "All hands to the escape pods. We have arrived at our destination early. Repeat, all hands to escape pods," she said, then deactivated shipwide comms. "Helm, set the escape pods to land as near as possible to the dropships. If that's a human signal, there are humans alive there. All of you...get to the escape pods. Transferring Helm control to my station. I will...make sure the Ship does not crash on your new world. Best of fortune to you all."


    15 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma starts running off as the ship starts to shudder, "I don't have cybernetics, Warwick, I'm biomechanoid. I am a ship. I need crew! You'll find a hole to Berth 19 in 18!"


    14 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    If things went as Mihari hoped, the Ship itself would skip off of the planet's atmosphere and back into space (though She would almost certainly break up in the process), instead of becoming a planet-killing crater on impact. And Her crew and passengers would make it to the planet's surface safely.


    12 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Oh, shit..." He stared, then took off towards where Sukarma told him to go. He wasn't probably any good as crew, but if he was the difference between survival and not...


    10 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    With systems disrupted the contagion ebbed from the din of damage and noise. As Sukarma ran down the short hallway to the atrium's berths dodged into the hole she'd cut through the wall next to one berth to a wide-open security door. Her black and blue-veined surface from a synthetic silicate substrate in a distant resemblance to a squid with four-toed stump legs for landing gear. Eight flexible tool arms at the front and four thick ones for her magnetoplasmadynamic engines. Too heavy to enter orbit from the ground or stay there since the things would tear her apart she needed at least one of the two shuttles compressed into her side to have a pilot. Her organic brains were very human though she was never born one couldn't fly three parts of herself at once. Explosive bolts prepped, prepared to blow herself out of the berth when able..


    5 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Hundreds of colonists boarded escape pods as quickly as they could in the chaos and panic, most shuttles hurdling down safely to the coordinates below, though some veered wildly of course. Acting Captain Mihari Jirae stayed aboard the main ship hoping to guide it away from a cataclysmic crash - and not alone. Captain Wainwright's daughter, Virginia stayed right there with her to help. The bots attached to the ships hull had thrown off calculations - the Debris did not bounce off the atmosphere as Mihari hoped, but thanks to quick thinking and the right trajectory the ship broke apart into smaller chunks, crash landing spread all across the planet in a way that actually managed to save the lives of leftover crew still onboard.


    3 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    THE SURVIVING COLONY IS NOW ON AN UNKNOWN PLANET! WHAT WILL THEY FIND? WHO SENT THEM THE MORSE CODE MESSAGES? TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO... THE KEEPERS.
 

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!


    Today at 11:34 AM



  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?


    Today at 11:35 AM


  • Diana:
    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF! This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!


    Today at 11:37 AM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.


    Today at 11:37 AM


  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.


    Today at 11:38 AM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!


    Today at 11:38 AM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 11:38 AM

  • Diana:
    We open to a crash site, where for the past several days the surviving passengers of the DEBRIS have been slowly building shelters with the derelict wreckage of the ship, scoping out the nearby surroundings, and trying to make sense of everything that's happened. Everything is strained as the trauma of the tech-virus and the crash has left so many confused and frightened. Who is in charge? What do they do next? Where have they landed?


    Today at 12:48 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari felt a wave of relief wash over her as she and Virginia topped a rise, and she saw survivors making what they could from the debris of Debris. "Virginia! We made it!" Though she was exhausted, a new surge of energy put haste in her steps as she headed for the crash site.


    Today at 12:58 PM

  • Diana:
    "...!" Virginia wanted to hoot and holler or say anything really, but she found herself mute with relief at the sight of hundreds of colonists alive and well. ...and perhaps also a little bit terrified. With a few of the local flora and fauna that she and Mihari had stumbled upon during their long walk to find the crash site, there was no telling what sort of state they were going to find everyone in. Virginia couldn't imagine waking up from a cryosleep like this. But she quickly got her bearings and caught up with Mihari.


    Today at 1:02 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick was there, too. He was missing an arm, but he wasn't bleeding and didn't seem at all negatively affected by it except for occasionally forgetting. He was going through people, examining who needed care and who was fine.


    Today at 1:03 PM

  • Diana:
    Amongst one of the people trying to take control of this situation was a Keeper by the name of Joven. Right that moment he was barking orders at anyone he stumbled across without any real rhyme or reason. Since the crash he'd self appointed himself as boss and was making sure as many people as possible knew that. "What are you doing Warwick?! Stop wasting time examining people, we need to make sure we scavenge all the lost weapon supplies!"


    Today at 1:06 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick stared at him, then went right back to what he'd been doing. "People first." In his mind, he _was_ the weapon, the main one they needed. Joven could also function as something of a grenade, at this point.


    Today at 1:07 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Warwick!" Mihari said, glad to see a familiar face. Her dark features lit with concern as she noticed that he was missing an arm. Yet somehow, he seemed not to be in any pain or even hindered, except for the occasional un-handy absence of a hand.


    Today at 1:10 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven was surprised to see Mihari alive, as well as the young Virginia and didn't bother to hide it. "Though you burned up in the atmosphere," he commented. "No matter, we could use a tech singer to help salvage anything that's still working. As for you," he squinted at Virginia. "Go be useful somewhere. Or help this one-armed janitor consolidate supplies."


    Today at 1:15 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    His jacket still had its arm, he just lacked what usually filled it, and he smiled at the sight of someone familiar. "Mihari." He nodded. "Virgini..." He cut off, then looked to Joven. "She's the captain," he said bluntly. "Not you."


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    With that, Warwick approached Joven, then gave a 'love tap' to the man's nose, breaking it.


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • littlekreen:
    With a broken toe and a torn ventral side it had taken several days to walk to the campsite. Thankfully it was mostly melted plastic, metal, and carbon obscuring her external cameras other than some boulders burying her engines. The thunder of legs and a strange beaten tentacled shape crushing through the forest had initially caused a bit of alarm. At least until warwick popped out an airlock. Sukarma had been in and out of conciousness for a while and just now popped her sarcophagus from a wall of her mess hall. The two dropships were on the ground now and used for power so she ignored the others and dropped to the ground.


    Today at 1:19 PM

  • littlekreen:
    "My everything hurts.", Sukarma lamented from under a helmet and suit now devoid of broken electronics.


    Today at 1:20 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari raised an eyebrow at Keeper Joven. He seemed to be acting unnecessarily rude. Before she could even open her mouth to correct him, Warwick did so in a rather more percussive way. She widened her eyes, but said nothing. He'd had to deal with Joven for the last several days; she hadn't. "Virginia, please help Warwick," she said, then hurried to the injured Bulwark. "Sukarma, is it?" she said, grateful that she remembered the name after all that had happened, and the brief, chaotic time she'd "known" her. "I will do my best to help treat your injuries. At least those of your technological elements," she said. Without her contact lens screens and Debris' main computer she lacked the skills to be much of a medic for biological injuries.


    Today at 1:24 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick then went back to checking people. It was a job of several days, but because it was important, he did it himself while other keepers managed other things.


    Today at 1:26 PM

  • Diana:
    "Damn right she's Captain," Virginia muttered under her breath. She looked a little put off by Joven in general, but instructions were instructions. After a few days traveling through the jungle with Mihari, both she and the other woman needed actual food rations, and as the new acting captain, Virginia was going to make sure Mihari got everything she needed. "Warwick, you keep doing' what you're doing and make a list of surviving passengers and what they need. I'll get on inventory and make sure food rations are going out."


    Today at 1:28 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Thanks," Warwick said with a nod. "Get something to eat, too, for both you and the Captain. You both need it," he urged.


    Today at 1:29 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma limped her way over and passed the rifle to her shoulder. A fine hyphae poured out of holes in the back of the suit and yanked the rifle. It stuck to her back in a rapidly plastic goo. "Yes, Sukarma Lexicon. Since I'm planetbound now until someone makes mass driver. My cuticle will heal eventually but somebody needs to build new armor and substrate." It wasn't said with spite but more a certain disappointment.


    Today at 1:30 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven looked as red as an ancient beet. "You know, I've been handling things since we crashed here. If it weren't for me, none of these people would still be alive. I think that merits a little respect. We shouldn't be wasting time on the tech enhanced when they could be infected. The infected are what landed us on this damn planet to begin with."


    Today at 1:30 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Joven. They are victims as much as the rest. Shut up before I break something else."


    Today at 1:33 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma snapped her eyes on Joven, "If they're suspect then keep them aboard me for now. We aren't in a position to be discarding people like broken toys. I can keep it out of me."


    Today at 1:33 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari nodded to Suikarma. "But you are not in pain? If you are fit for duty, please take charge of defense. Make sure the perimeter is secure and if possible assemble an armed force from among the able-bodied survivors." Then she turned to Joven. "Keeper Joven, what are your areas of expertise?" Though she knew his name, and had seen him around the Ship, she had not been his manager and (once again, with regret) she could not consult the Computer.


    Today at 1:38 PM

  • Diana:
    "Maintenance," he said with a snort. But he seemed to know when he needed to shut up and raised his hands in surrender. "I'll get back to work," he muttered, followed by something unintelligible under his breath, before he backed away and then left them.


    Today at 1:40 PM

  • littlekreen:
    She put a hand on the plate midriff as the ship did the same in the background, "I'm in a lot of pain. I just can keep going. If you can get someone to get clear the four crew EIGENsuits of electronics It should work as armor. You can't use the guns you'll break every bone in your body."


    Today at 1:40 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "I heard that," Warwick shot after him. Having supernatural senses was helpful sometimes.


    Today at 1:41 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma two palms in front of her as a fine mist organized into a loose black threading of her sense of the area, "I don't have a great view of the area from the ground. I'll refine my map as I patrol."


    Today at 1:45 PM

  • Diana:
    Meanwhile, Virginia was doing exactly what was requested and then some. There didn't seem to be any organization to how the encampment was set up, Supplies were all over the place, and there was no centralized location to keep track of, well... anything. As soon as she found a crate of tech (and made sure it wasn't infected) she did a little bit of tweaking to one of the pads for the start of a digital record and central command. They'd need to set up a main server somewhere for sure later, but for now this would do. In the process, she also started directing people to take specific supplies to different shelters. A medical supply hut was imperative! A place for food. Somewhere for defense... There was so much to do!


    Today at 1:46 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Keeper Joven," Mihari called out, "please clear the crew EIGENsuits of electronics," she said, then turned back to Sukarma. "Can we improvise a way to mount the guns on the perimeter, so they can be used?" As she had so many times since this disaster began (and especially since the death of Debris), Mihari felt far out of her depth. She knew nothing about the Bulwark or her systems. Had things gone as they were supposed to, she would have been long dead before they reached the planet and the Bulwark force needed to be readied for deployment.


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • littlekreen:
    She tapped the back of where a jack would be on the neck then mock-held the rifle and rolled her shoulder, "The EIGENsuits connect you to my local noosphere through neural jacks for cyber defense. Without it there's no recoil compensation. Someone will have to build an emplacement to take the recoil or learn how to drive my MPV and plug it in there for power."


    Today at 1:52 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven had his orders and he obediently went to do them. ...or at least that's what it looked like. While the others were busy, and well out of earshot of that wanker Warwick, Joven eventually came across Virginia while she was working. He gave her a hand with some of the tech crates, after all he did have orders. After a bit, he struck up conversation. "It's a shame about the Captain," he casually remarked. "Wainwright, I might. Got shafted right out the airlock after being infected. Funny how that happened right after that Tech Singer got full control of the Debris. Not that I think she's a murderer, but with the virus and all..." he shrugged, continuing his work.


    Today at 1:57 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Warwick, can you drive an MPV?" Mihari asked. Apart from Sukarma herself, Warwick was by far the most combat-capable among the survivors, so far as she knew. Though she was far from any kind of military strategist or tactician, mobile firepower sounded better than jury-rigged fixed emplacements. "Virginia, do we have any operable recon drones available that can interface with Sukarma's systems?" The Colonists were supposed to have flying reconnaissance drones that would enable them to quickly explore the areas surrounding their landing sites. That is, if things had gone according to plan and they had been able to land their dropships properly. But who knew what had survived the crash?


    Today at 2:01 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick was staring at Joven as he spoke to Virginia, and then turned his attention to Mihari. "I don't know what that is," he answered, unable to lie.


    Today at 2:02 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Also, I think Joven's up to something," he added.


    Today at 2:02 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked at the Debris in the distance then back to Mihari, "If Debris had a psyche like I do I guess she'd want me to do what I can. I can't get the MPV in the air without some serious rebuilding of the engines so keep in mind you're taxing an spacecraft not a dunebuggy."


    Today at 2:04 PM

  • littlekreen:
    The thought came to mind as she stood there, "Did the pod I tossed free of the gantry make it? I didn't have time to track where I tossed it."


    Today at 2:06 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia froze, midway drawing up some camp plans. This guy was clearly an asshole, she knew that, but Captain Wainwright was her father. She needed to know what happened to her father. "What the hell are you talking about, Jovan? What are you saying?" Mihari's attempt to contact her via comlink fell on deaf ears - if Mihari killed her dad, how was she supposed to even respond!


    Today at 2:07 PM


  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari sighed. "Do you think he is infected?" Unlike Warwick, she did not have superhuman hearing to pick up Joven's words. "Have you lived on a planet before?"


    Today at 2:07 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "I've been on lots of planets," he said. "It sounds like he's making things up about the former captain to Virginia."


    Today at 2:08 PM

  • littlekreen:
    "I haven't been on a planet since before all you were born", said Sukarma busy looking for where the man called Jovan went off to.


    Today at 2:10 PM

  • Diana:
    Jovan just shrugged, looking completely oblivious to Virginia's discomfort. "That's what happened? Everyone knows - at least all the surviving Keepers do. The virus was infecting everyone with techno implants. Apparently the Captain - rest his soul - had one. Almost everyone with one got infected and went on a murdering spree. You'd think a tech singer would be able to find a way to work around that but... She yeeted the Captain right out into space. I just think it's weird all that happened and now we're crashed on this planet and now suddenly she's in charge..."


    Today at 2:10 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "He's that way," Warwick said as he pointed. "Can someone take over here? I can't lie, and I was there when it happened."


    Today at 2:11 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari nodded. "I think it might be best if you took command. I am like a child here."


    Today at 2:13 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I can go deal with Joven," Mihari added.


    Today at 2:14 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma nodded then looked grimly at her dropships, "You're doing fine, acting Captain. There's always dissenters. Just watch them around your family."


    Today at 2:15 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "He's making you look like a villain," Warwick said. "I think it's wiser if it's _not_ you."


    Today at 2:16 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma knelt down next to Warwick and removed a water packet from her pocket and gave it to one person, "Here, you look dehydrated. If you need more I have water on the ship."


    Today at 2:20 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Though there wasn't anything on the screen she interacted with her mind's eye on it moving a constellation of information around mid-air. Reading numbers off medical modules she barely knew how to use directly.


    Today at 2:22 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari blinked in incomprehension. "Why? What would he have to...never mind. Please go resolve the situation. Try not to kill him," she said, with the briefest hint of a smile. "If it is about Virginia's father, please tell her she can come to me, and I will hear anything she has to say, and answer all her questions. On our way here...we were so busy just trying to survive..." Mihari had wanted Virginia's last memories of her father to be of him in life, not visualizations of the horror of his death.


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Understood." Warwick nodded as he went to Jovan and Virginia.


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Joven. I was there when it happened, and you're wrong."


    Today at 2:24 PM

  • Diana:
    "You've got a lot of messed up ideas Jovan," muttered Virginia. Still, she wasn't seeing any of the words on her datapad, and her stomach had twisted up into a knot. Of course she didn't believe that Mihari had murdered Captain Wainwright to take over the shit! That was crazy! She'd spent several days in the jungle with the woman, surely she would've even said something about it too. Still.... Once she spotted Warwick, she took a deep breath and shoved all those feelings down. She didn't get a chance to tell him their progress before he immediately called out Jovan.


    Today at 2:24 PM

  • Diana:
    "Am I wrong?" commented Jovan with an air of innocence. "It's even in the logs. Our present Captain made the order to evict the prior Captain."


    Today at 2:26 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma muttered while checking curious people poking at her visor, "I'm going to end up carrying someone away like a bowling ball, aren't I."


    Today at 2:28 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick sighed. "You are wrong in how you are explaining it." With that, he took a deep breath. "What the two of you are about to see isn't a hologram. It's... magic. It's what I saw." With that, he reached out to each of them, and they saw, smelled, felt, and and knew in the former captain's final moments as he had, how they'd tried to save him before he handed over command, how the stink of heartbreak filled the air.


    Today at 2:30 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Please do not bother Sukarma," Mihari said to the people poking at her visor. "I will not be able to rebuild your engines until we have an operational industrial printer, but if there are any other vital systems of yours that are amenable to repair, I will do so as quickly as possible," she said, gesturing with her Omnitool.


    Today at 2:32 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven was effectively horrified - not by the tragedy he saw, but by the display of magic. Magic was not something heard of in this day and age of technology, even the ways of the Technoshaman weren't so mystical, foreign, or strange. That was at least based in technology and science! "What kind of fucked up demonic alien sorcery is this?!" He was well on his way to sputtering and creating a scene!


    Today at 2:34 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "I'm not demonic," Warwick said, offended. "I'm fae."


    Today at 2:35 PM

  • Diana:
    ...meanwhile Virginia stumbled three steps to the side and immediately threw up into a bush. There was no telling which part got her, but it was very clear by the washed out features of her face that she wasn't doing so well.


    Today at 2:35 PM

  • littlekreen:
    While she had a external camera on the area so she could multitask Sukarma moved on to another, "I appreciate it, I have a remote surgical bay that needs repairs and my folded fusion engine is a little unstable. The engineers need to stay out of secure chamber in life support. There is nothing wrong in there. It's just the other half of my reprodctive parts and I will de-birth them if they try getting in."


    Today at 2:38 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Do you have any remote sensing capabilities?" Mihari asked. "Were you able to contact any of the other crash sites, or the source of the signal that was sent before the final attack?"


    Today at 2:41 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick stared at Virginia, concerned. "It was... very intense. I'm sorry. Mihari says she is willing to talk to you about anything at all."


    Today at 2:42 PM

  • Diana:
    Before Joven could make any more accusations, or Virginia could even reply to Warwick, a strange rumbling began! First seeming far off, but grew close enough that people could feel it in the ground! It felt almost like an earthquake!


    Today at 2:43 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Shit...!" Warwick ran to Virginia and picked her up, since she wasn't in much state to handle herself. "Joven! Help keep people safe!" he shouted. Even if he was crazy fae bullshit, his priority was protecting people. "You can try to mutiny after this is over!"


    Today at 2:46 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma turned many of her radios off after the attacks started and hadn't re-engaged them. She looked at her body as the shaking began. Two dark humanoid shapes fell out the airlock then ran with flailing arms toward her and the acting captain. Between the shaking it fell over mid-way and she pointed as the suit clad in what looked like watery black clay splayed open from some new seam, "Captain! Warwick! Get in a suit! I can run the displays manually!"


    Today at 2:47 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven indeed did NOT try to help keep people safe, especially when the cause of the ground shaking appeared. Almost at the edge of camp something burst up from the ground - a giant long slithery creature with snake-ish scales and body, and giant crocodile maw. It opened it's mouth to give a putrid KHIIISSSSSSSSSS with several long twirly tongues and immediately snapped it's jaw around a whole-ass human before swallowing them whole.


    Today at 2:52 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Shit...!" Warwick put Virginia down on a hard, hopefully protective surface, then ran at the slithery creature, a silver dagger in his hand. He didn't hear the order to get into a suit.


    Today at 2:53 PM

  • littlekreen:
    With her primary body moving at a glorious 2 km/hr she couldn't help with her bulk unless it was kind enough to stand still in front of her. Manually it was. Sukarma stood among the crowd but couldn't take a shot being so much smaller than all the others. The heavy metal suit plus her person pounded hard into the dirt as she closed distance.


    Today at 2:56 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "What is that? Can you detect anything?" Mihari asked. She knew only the basic, primary-school information about how planets were supposed to work. A natural quake seemed unlikely, unless this world was exceptionally geologically active. Then humanoid forms started coming at her with flailing arms. She nodded to Sukarma's instruction, then pointed her backpack-mounted sealer gun at the creature and fired away until the sealer pack ran dry. Intended for sealing hull breaches in the Ship, it fired a hematite-black substance that solidified quickly in air. In proper use, the sealer would cover the hole and harden, preventing the continued escape of air. In this case, Mihari hoped it would seal the beast's maw, or at least impede its ability to attack. As soon as the gun ran dry, she shouldered out of its straps and ran for the suit Sukarma had indicated.


    Today at 2:56 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia didn't even get the time to process the revelations about her father's death and the causes of it, now that a big creature was attacking the crash camp. That was definitely not one she and Mihari had ran away from in the jungle! This thing was huge! And a predator! One that seemed to travel underground, which was not good news for their current campsite. While the others tried to manage the creature, Virginia lept from her perch to direct the passengers to safety! "GO! RUN TO THE WRECKAGE! GET ON METAL SURFACES AND STAY OFF THE GROUND!"


    Today at 2:59 PM

  • littlekreen:
    The inside of the Eigensuits were things of hexagonal padding plates with a moving network of white things with a look of mycellium. The suit itself flexing like a flower its own back flexing aside so the human could board. A monotone voice said from inside, "Threat. Enter immediately for uplink."


    Today at 2:59 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Her rifle flipped forward with white threads and raised as it gave the whine of charging capacitors, "My tool arms took a lot of impacts and I can't deploy sensors easily! It looks organic. Try and shoot it in the mouth! There's a Gauss pistol on the hip!"


    Today at 3:02 PM

  • Diana:
    KHIIIIISSSSSSSS! One human was not enough food for this predator it seemed. It slithered and jumped trying to snap up anyone who was too slow to run. Strange little nubbins? Legs? were all over it, but it seemed on the surface it wasn't nearly as fast as agile as it could be under the ground.


    Today at 3:06 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Others might have been uncomfortable with the eerily lifelike technology of the EIGENsuit, but for Mihari it was perfectly natural. More natural in fact, than the actual nature she'd been dealing with for the last few days. The Bulwark's technology was military-grade, and had (thus far) been able to resist the invasive alien tech, so she climbed in. The suit sealed itself around her, and its HUD came alive. She drew the Gauss pistol, aimed it with targeting assistance from a reticule in the HUD and started firing in short bursts. Thankfully, the suit's powered actuators compensated for recoil, giving her far better accuracy than she would have had on her own. She aimed for the mouth; the soft flesh of its maw would be much more receptive to Gauss rounds than a carapace evolved for tunneling through hard-packed dirt and rock.


    Today at 3:09 PM

  • littlekreen:
    "CLEAR DOWNRANGE!" came a deafening cry from Sukarma and her main body. A second later she knelt with a pound of her boot backward to brace. She took aim as she slowly personed the inside of her rifle the sabot gauss round entering the chamber.


    Today at 3:09 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick didn't care what guns hit him, though at one point he looked back in annoyance after one nearly took his head off, only for him to stab the thing and drag his dagger through, slicing through as many nubbins as he could to keep the thing from going anywhere away from him.


    Today at 3:12 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Take the shot, I'm fine!" Warwick shouted.


    Today at 3:12 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Something at the back of her neck started to crawl, a faint fluid sensation, as the suit prodded for network connectivity. Sukarma, otherwise engaged, could not tell the suit not to attempt to nerve-connect to open ports. If it found one shortly to proclaim the initiation of the neural firewall. As the mind of a ship tried to drag her outer psyche under its protection.


    Today at 3:13 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Warwick saw a green laser erupt over his head as Sukarma flipped it on, tracking the fast moving head and waiting for a shot. As she heard the creature and saw warwick stabbing it aimed center-mass instead of the moving head. Sabot entered the chamber as she willed the rifle to fire. A volcanic detonation of chamber plasma the gauss round erupted with a flash and shockwave of dust as Sukarma started opening supersonic rounds at the creature. Sabot clips flinging erratically from the end of the barrel.


    Today at 3:18 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick used his inhuman strength to hold the beast still for the blast, only to cough blood as the shockwave of the round jellified quite a few of his organs and part of his brain.


    59 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    The creature's outer layer of skin was thiiiick and hard to penetrate, though it's nubbins came away like they were nothing with the slice of the dagger. The projectiles did much deadlier damages, managing to shoot right through the thing's body, sending splurts of deep green and dark brown goop and gore spluttering in every direction! It hiiiisssed and flailed wildly in the air before a final shot seemed to strike right through it's brain. It landed on the ground with a loud earthquaking THU-THUMP.


    58 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari didn't have a neural port, though she knew enough about implant tech to understand what the suit was trying to do. "Suit, switch to eye-track interface and voice control." She was grateful for the sound insulation the suit provided. Sukarma's heavy firepower would have been deafening otherwise.


    57 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick continued to grip the thing even as it finally died, and then he set it down before he stumbled a few steps, unsteady, then fell on top of it with a wet thud. Fae boy down.


    54 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    "Acknowledged, Dhimmi.", Said the monotone voice in Mihari's suit. The same wet feeling slipped around the front of the neck and faint pips of light swam in from the sides of her vision as something crawled on the outer surface of her eye. Sukarma's AR interface erupted into life as it offered systems access.


    53 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Virginia waited until it seemed like the situation was under control before she allowed anyone to step foot out of their hiding places, and then immediately directed the Science Crew to set up a station for testing. They might as well find out if the creature was edible, or if it could be useful for medical or anything else!


    51 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick pushed himself up a few moments later, unwilling to stay down as long as there was even a chance of continued threat. His good eye wasn't in his head, though. It had been jellied and fallen out of its socket.


    51 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma stood up, exhausted by using her personal batteries to fire the gun, hoping there weren't too many more of these things. On the way grabbing the other suit partly dragged it up to the monster. It did the same for warwick's body that she was about to reverse to the creature's stomach. Sukarma started cutting at the creature with his knife to see if the people were still alive.


    51 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, confused as hell, began to struggle. "Whuddh...!?" he slurred, some of his speech centers affected.


    46 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    I really...really do not like this planet! Mihari thought. She resisted the urge to blink as the interface nanofluid flowed over her eyes. She'd truly missed her contact-lens screens since giving them up during the alien-tech attack on Debris. "Locate nearest medkit," she said. A glowing green outline formed around the nearest one, instantly picking it out from the surrounding wreckage. She ran for it, grabbed it, and headed for Warwick. The suit was a little awkward to for her to run in, but it wasn't so different from the EVA suits she'd used all her life. She gasped in horror at Warwick's condition, but he didn't seem terribly inclined to die, or even relax his state of alertness. Mihari opened the kit and pulled out a medscanner. His readings were...just plain strange, but there seemed to be accelerated tissue regeneration involved. "Warwick, what do you need? Will our medical technology work for you?"


    45 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma stopped trying to stuff a human leg into a sock and turned around to look at Warwick then back to trying to cut gristle away to get people back, "Is he okay? I didn't think he was conscious!"


    43 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Ishin my... ebeydin... melt...?" he managed after a struggle. Honestly, the worst of the damage was internal but his eye was still gone and he couldn't see because of it. With his other eyepatch being fake-tech (a glowstick in a fancy eyepatch) he looked a wreck, even as he struggled against the weird thing trying to climb around him. "Alb...!"


    42 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Warwick, please nod if your physiology is compatible with our medtech," Mihari said.


    39 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Y...esh?" He didn't nod, possibly nervous that doing so would make him fall over entirely, even as he tried to struggle more against the weird thing trying to wrap around him.


    37 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Captain...?" Virginia had approached nearby, but not too close. She appeared to be a bit green at the sight of Warwick, but attempting to keep a cool and calm demeanor. In fact unusual cool compared to what Mihari was used to from the girl. "Captain, this should help." In her hands was the tweaked datapad, complete with the start of the new control center for the camp and the entire Debris. It's wasn't going to connect Mihari to everything - not yet - but it was a start. The first piece of what was going to be the new Debris Colony.


    36 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    He looked human, but as far as the medscanner was concerned, he was made of pure WTF. Some of the energies (?) he seemed to be producing were not even compatible with known physics. So she wasn't going to just start injecting him with anything until she knew it wouldn't do more harm than good. Then he answered, sort of. "Alright, I am going to inject you with concentrated nutrient fluid and regeneration enzymes," she said, then did so.


    34 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    The suit half-wearing warwick's legs reached out and plucked the eyeball from the ground. Sukarama didn't look around so much as an executive task window opened near it on Mihari's hud as Sukarma thought. She hadn't heard Warwick's explaination and said back to them, "Why is this eye still viable? Is it cyber tech?" The suit's other hand tried to fumble at warwick's hand to get it to the one with the eyeball.


    34 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick caught the eye in his hand and blinked in confusion, only for a nerve spasm to accidentally squish the thing. Thankfully, his socket had a new eye by that time, and he just looked confused as he looked around, his brain a bit slower. "Whas... ew..." He stared at his hand with the eye goop on it. At least he had a new, working eye.


    31 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    He was also starting to otherwise regenerate, but his brain was the slowest part of that, given it was the most complex organ that had partly been turned to jello by the shockwave of the last big shot.


    27 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Thank you," Mihari said to Virginia. Inwardly, she noted the young woman's formality and felt her heart sink. They'd been on a first-name basis during their adventure together. With a few eye-tracks to icons, she linked the datapad to the EIGENsuit's systems. "Virginia...I'm sorry...we never got the chance to talk about your father. He...he had an experimental cybernetic arm. The alien infestation...infected it. I took him to a nanotech testing bay to try to remove the arm, but...it separated itself from him and started to attack him by growing tendrils." She sniffled. "I...was able to cauterize the wound, but...but the bay's systems couldn't contain the alien tech. He...he ordered me to...to purge the bay. He...he gave his life for Ship and Crew. I'm so sorry, Virginia!" She reached up to wipe a tear, but her gauntlet hit the suit's faceplate.


    25 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Unfortunately the creature had chewed and Sukarma just pulled bodies out of the creature's gut. They weren't as... fixable as Warwick seemed to be. She just turned around and put her head in her hands then breathed deep. Collecting herself from the memories said, "Warwick. Put on the damn suit in case there's more. I'll even give you the pointy stick back."


    24 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked up at Mihari, delayed by the suits nonconnection, and made a wiping motion. The faint feeling of disembodied fingers brushed the tear away as worker units moved it aside.


    23 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Something Mihari said must've had an effect because there was a visible shift in Virginia's features. Still, she remained mostly distant. "...we should make finding a better camp site top priority. Somewhere with rocky soil." Her toned softened a bit as she looked back at the frightened passengers now coming out of their hiding places. "I don't want to talk about right now, but we can talk about it later."


    21 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Thank you," Mihari said softly to Sukarma, then turned back to Virginia. "I don't know what Keeper Joven said to you..." <sniff> "But I would give anything to have your father back. He was my Captain all of my life. He was a part of me. But you are right, we need to relocate the camp."


    19 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Through the datapad, Mihari was able to locate a functional recon drone and launch it. With any luck, it would find them a new location to move to...


    18 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Elsewhere Joven had slinked off in the chaos, but it seemed he had a few friends of his own. Others who weren't so keen on the weird mysticism of tech shamans or the eerieness of Warwicks strange magic. People who thought they would make a better command for this new colony. ...THE END. FOR NOW.
 

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!


    Today at 12:20 PM



  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?


    Today at 12:20 PM


  • Diana:
    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF! This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!


    Today at 12:21 PM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.


    Today at 12:21 PM


  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.


    Today at 12:21 PM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!


    Today at 12:21 PM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 12:22 PM

  • Diana:
    It is bright and early in the morning. A team of colonists have gathered to head off through the jungle to see what sort of natural resources can be found. They're hoping to find foods and a fresh water space. Maybe even a nice piece of land perfect for building permanent homes and shelters. There's been quite a bit of gossip about what the procedures are for new captains, leaders, and what not. That jerk Joven has been making a stir and creating some discord.


    Today at 12:47 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, personally, wasn't sure if he should go with that team or remain. He hadn't been ordered, but also he was protective, and if the one with the weird suits from before wasn't going, he probably should, but at the same time, someone needed to hunt down Joven and convince him to _stop_.


    Today at 12:50 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia had volunteered as one of the away team people. Mostly because she was still sort of mad about things and needed the time to think, but also because she'd already had some experience trekking through the jungle with Mihari and had a pretty good idea of what to expect. She carried her own pack as well as a weapon, and did a lot of telling people DON'T TOUCH THAT whenever they wandered to close to a very thorny, very slimy looking mushroom.


    Today at 12:55 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari stayed behind to try to get things in camp organized. There was so much to do that all needed doing at once--making the crash site as defensible as possible, making sure the injured were being treated, taking an inventory of supplies and salvageable wreckage, keeping an eye out for any further tech infections, listening for any further transmissions from the source on the planet that had sent Morse Code warnings before the crash, determining if there were any other groups of survivors from the drop ships, taking inventory of skills among the survivors... Mihari definitely didn't have time for, of all things, some ridiculous power struggle!


    Today at 1:07 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    The power struggle had time for her though. "Why should we follow you? You crashed the ship, and you couldn't even save anyone from the infection! Isn't tech what you're supposed to be good at?" one person said when she tried to give an order. "You're alive, aren't you?" another replied, "I didn't see you saving the day!"


    Today at 1:15 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick made a decision, then. He walked up beside Mihari and stared at the outspoken asshole who wasn't following orders. Having control over a big scary guy was often enough for a leader to establish that they were the boss, at least in his experience.


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah tagged along with Virginia's team; ship repairs had ground to a bit of a halt, and so it couldn't hurt to check around and try to scavenge or salvage for parts that might be useful later. She was a bit banged up from the crash still, some recent wounds scabbing on her face, and her clothes looking a bit worn. But the ship was her baby and she needed to fix it!


    Today at 1:20 PM

  • Diana:
    Meanwhile, disgruntled and scared colonists were not the only odd thing afoot at base camp. With all of the chaos a MOVEMENT was brewing. Some of the colonists had come to see the tech virus as a sign of intelligent synthetic life. Great interest was being formed in the techoshamanism and many were seeing Mihari as their connection and prophetess to the gods!


    Today at 1:21 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia and Farrah and a bunch of other colonists were thusly on their way through the woods. Unfortunately, so was Joven and Virginia was doing her best to pretend she was ignoring him. Of course she didn't believe Mihari deliberately murdered her father, and Jovan was a bit of a pain in the ass. In fact he was already scheming with a few of their scouting party and Virginia was seriously thinking about how she was going to get that nonsense to stop. ...without pushing him down a cliff, cause that thought was tempting. "Don't forget to grab up any fruits and veg and plant samples to take back to base camp. Once the science team's equipment is set up we'll be able to test to see what's safe for eating."


    Today at 1:24 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Oh right! That was in Farrah's kit as well. As an engineer and technician she wasn't sure she was the right person to have in charge of scanning organic matter. Sure she could set up the equipment, but she wasn't sure she wanted to be the one doing any testing. Checking to see if things were edible seemed more like a Warwick sort of job...


    Today at 1:31 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Captain, do you need any help?" Warwick asked as he loomed over everyone.


    Today at 1:32 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Still, the colonists were her responsibility too, so she made it a habit to... carefully, using tongs, pick up any fruit or berry-like growths hanging from plants they passed, bagging them in vacutainers.


    Today at 1:35 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    The person gave Mihari a scowl. Ooooooooooh, so she plans to rule by brute force, does she? But he walked away, presumably to perform his task. Mihari sighed. "Thank you," she said softly to Warwick. I suppose I shall have to make a speech at some point, she thought. The trouble was finding a time when she could stop everyone to have them listen, because who knew how long they had before some new alien menace showed up? She was grateful at least for the daylight. The night sky still made her shudder. Her lifelong training and experience as a Cotu Keeper had built in an instinctual set of reactions to seeing the stars without a window or EVA suit faceplate between her and them. Reflexes to grab onto something, seal the breach, save others, protect the Ship and crew! could find no application on a planet, where the "breach" spread across her whole field of view, should she look up. Since the landing, she'd had to constantly remind herself that planetary gravity holds the atmosphere in and keeps the Void at bay. There was a modest twinkle to the stars on a planet that she could focus on, that or any clouds that happened to be present.


    Today at 1:35 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Wha? Oh, yes, thank...you," Mihari said, as she noticed something completely unexpected: some of the survivors were looking at her with reverence. "Could you please make sure the defenses are provisionally secure? I will need to address the people soon," she said.


    Today at 1:37 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Yeah." Warwick nodded, then headed to the edges of their operations base and got to work on inspections. There were a few dead animals that looked like weasels, but nothing too alarming. He picked up one of the corpses and sniffed it, then tossed it to someone nearby. "Not toxic, but show it to the techs before you try to eat it," he urged. "Smells like racoon."


    Today at 1:41 PM

  • Diana:
    At least at base camp most people were working very hard. On the trail with Farrah and Virginia, the exploration through the jungle was slow moving and dreadfully unexciting. Joven was not being the slightest bit helpful, wasting all his time lounging on top of a big rock as others gathered samples. He was having too much fun shining up his weapon and thinking.


    Today at 1:43 PM

  • Diana:
    "C-captain...?" One of those wide-eyed worshipping types approached Mihari with a stutter. "We-we-we We found the old Captain's equipment and logs. It-it it's a little damaged, but it might be useful for- for someone as wise and advanced as you?"


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    One of the specimens Farrah attempted to collect seemed none too fond of her attempts to relieve it of some of its foliage. It was a fly-trap looking plant, and while any plant that was carnivorous was probably not edible... it couldn't hurt to be sure. As Farrah tugged at its leaves, one of its pods opened and shot a foul-smelling yellowish goop onto her shirt and she recoiled in disgust. "Uwaah! Shit," she hissed, casting a glance at Joven lounging about. "Can you get off your ass and do something, please?"


    Today at 1:49 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari raised in eyebrow at the person's odd phrasing. "Yes, that will be quite helpful, thank you very much," she said. "Please show me."


    Today at 1:50 PM

  • Diana:
    "Why, you need more than just Warwick and space plants to jizz all over you?" shot back Jovan gleefully!


    Today at 1:51 PM

  • Diana:
    "Don't be a crasshole, Jovan!" hissed Virginia. "We've got to collect samples if we want to find edible natural foods here! Or at least you could be scouting for a stream or pond or something!"


    Today at 1:52 PM

  • Diana:
    "Su-sure! This way Priestess." The young woman lead the way off towards some of the bigger pieces of wreckage. It seemed they would have to climb inside the buster up corridors of the colony ship in order to make their way to the old captain's office.


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    "If THAT was what I needed help with, I sure as hell wouldn't be looking to you for it." Farrah pointed with her tongs at the open mouth of the flytrap plant she'd just been violated by. "Don't be jealous just because Warwick gets some and you can't. I think this plant's the right size for you, though."


    Today at 2:02 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick continued his inspections, checking as much the defenses as what they caught. To the people manning them, he offered praised and encouragement when he knew they deserved it—and seemed able to smell if people were too relaxed. Mostly because _he could_.


    Today at 2:04 PM

  • Diana:
    Joven doesn't seem to be even the slightest bit hurt or impressed with this come back. He just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. But then something rustling in the trees caught his - and everyone else's attention. "...hey, what was that."


    Today at 2:05 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia paused, throwing up her hand to signal for nearby companions to pause what they were doing and be quiet. She listened for more rustling, but all there seemed to be was the wind through the trees. ...still now she had this eerie skin crawling feeling up her back. Something was odd here!


    Today at 2:07 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    'Priestess?' Mihari thought. She is not Cotu, she wouldn't know our ways. Correcting her now would only make her more nervous. As they headed back into a piece of Debris' corpse, Mihari caressed the metal gently and closed her eyes for a moment of mourning. Then she turned her attention to making sure the wreckage they were entering was safe. Unlike her, the young woman didn't have an EIGENsuit. She eye-tracked to the suit's detection suite and set it to watch for motion, signs of metal fatigue, and any toxic gases or other substances.


    Today at 2:08 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "I really... really hope that's the resident Rhino and not the local fauna," someone said quietly, unable to be silent.


    Today at 2:11 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah quieted. "I didn't hear anything," she whispered at Virginia. Still, everyone tense and on edge like this made her reach for her trusty multitool. It wasn't much, but she could drill through bone with it if she needed.


    Today at 2:12 PM

  • Diana:
    There was a lot of damage done to the interior of the colony ship, but it was unclear how much of it was from the crash itself and how much had been done during the chaos of the virus attacks. Luckily it was still traversable and there was a mostly clear path to the former Captain's office. Inside it was quite a mess. Damaged furniture, personal items. The computer console system seem to be mostly intact though and would only need a few small fixes to get it booted up and working.


    Today at 2:13 PM

  • Diana:
    PFFFFT. A small reed arrow nearly punctured that whisperers head! A cascade of reed arrows zipped through the trees aimed at the exploring away team, forcing them to scatter and duck for cover! Joven shouted some curse words and started firing his weapon blindly at whatever moved in the trees!


    Today at 2:16 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick went still suddenly, then began to run, following the path of the away group.


    Today at 2:17 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    The whisperer shrieked and ran for cover, drawing attention to her position.


    Today at 2:17 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "If i' is, can we feed 'im to 't?" Maeve said, hiking her thumb at Joven. Then she turned her attention back to Farrah. "Lemme 'ave a look a' tha'" she said, using a pipette to take a sample of the flytrap goop. She was a Colonist, and thankfully she'd managed to make it to a Dropship, and even get out of its wreckage with a mostly-intact bioanalysis kit. She'd just squeezed the goop into the sample tray, when arrows started flying. "AAAAH! Weren't s'posed t' be people 'ere, were there?" she said as she ran for cover.


    Today at 2:18 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    "Shit!" Farrah scrambled, ducking behind a tree and grabbing Maeve in the process. The girl who had shrieked was, maybe a little too far away, and it was really hard to discern where exactly these damn arrows were coming from!


    Today at 2:21 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia nearly got hit by one of Joven's wild and unhinged weapons fire! "STOP SHOOTING, MORON! YOU'RE GONNA KILL ONE OF US!" She ducked behind a tree and bushy bush and tried to see where the danger was actually coming from.


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari headed for the console. "Please stay close," she said to her guide. With the help of the EIGENsuit's systems, she started making repairs and rebooting the console.


    Today at 2:26 PM

  • Diana:
    Mihari's guide did indeed stay close and watched with absolute wonderment! "It must be amazing to connect with the ship the way you do," she said as Mihari worked. "A real gift from the gods, you know."


    Today at 2:27 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "It..." Mihari said, hit hard with a mixture of gratitude and pain. "It is joy and sorrow, for my Ship is dead...but from death comes rebirth..." she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "If you are interested in learning the Cotu ways, I would be pleased to show you, when there is time. We will need to assemble a new Ship, even if only a small one, so that we can have access to space and the possibility of defense against the aliens."


    Today at 2:36 PM

  • Diana:
    "It will truly be an amazing sight to see a new ship be reborn to the stars!" exclaimed the woman. "Oh I would so love to learn more about the Cotu, there's quite a few of us that are interested."


    Today at 2:40 PM

  • Diana:
    The spewing of arrows finally ceased - right after Jovan successfully hit something in the trees and it landed on the jungle floor with a mighty THWUMP. As another of the crewmates eased forward to see what it was there were surprised to see... this was a human! Dressed in strange fur and leather for sure, but this was a dead human! Somewhere near by a loud horn went BWAOOOOOOO. BAWOOOOOO. ..."What the fuck is going on out here?!" shouted Jovan.


    Today at 2:43 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Cernunnos' fuzzy balls!" Maeve exclaimed at the sight of the body. "'Oo sent 'umans 'ere 'fore us?" she said. So far as she knew, S.T.A.R.S.S. ships were sent to different systems to hopefully increase the chances of successful colonies, and prevent conflict. "OI! WE'RE 'UMANS TOO!" she shouted out. Because if that horn was summoning an army, it might be a good idea to try to make peace. "Anyone go' a radio? Ough'a le' th' Cap'n know, neh?"


    Today at 2:51 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick was partway caught up when he heard horns. He began to run faster, towards the sound of the horns. Farrah was involved, so emotions were involved, so it didn't occur to him that this might not be wise.


    Today at 2:52 PM

  • Diana:
    From out of the trees and bushes several of these humans came bursting out! They didn't have any tech weapons, but they were FAST, faster than any average human! Anyone that didn't scatter was getting full-fist clobbered in the face or a big net tossed over them. Jovan himself shouted at a broken nose and yelped as he was dragged off!


    Today at 2:55 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick arrived and roared to get the attention of the attackers before he rushed at one that was approaching Farrah's location.


    59 minutes ago

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah lucked into not being hit, only because she was in the process of trying to reach out to grab Maeve and pull her back to cover. A fist whizzed past her, and she shrieked as she fell onto her back and fired her laser drill in the direction of where it had come from, narrowly missing Warwick as he charged in to tackle. "What the hell are these things!?" She caught Joven being dragged off in her peripheral vision, and scrambled back to her feet. She may not have liked him, but they had to stick together. "They're taking Joven!" She turned to check on Virginia, Maeve and the others. "Get up, get up! Come on, we're gonna lose him!"


    57 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Really?" Mihari said. "Then I will be happy to show you." She felt her spirits lift a little. A new Cotu Tribe, and hopefully a new Ship, a new start, once the colony was as secure as it could be made to be. But for now...much needed to be done. She returned her focus to the console, and learning anything useful that Captain Wainwright might have left behind. And if there was anything else, like family vids or letters to Virginia, it would be good to be able to give them to her.


    56 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve glanced down at her bioanalyzer, but it hadn't been able to sequence and analyze any genetic material yet. Still, she had her suspicions about what biological functions projectile goop from a sessile predator might be. "Farrah, be'ah ge' tha' stoof offa--AAH!" she squealed as another attacker came, but Farrah pulled her out of the way just in time. She scrambled back to her feet, scooped up her precious analyzer, and got ready to follow Farrah, though she wasn't sure if it was her or Virginia who was in charge of this palaver. "Ge' tha' stoof off--migh' be spoors or sommat doublin' as defense,"


    49 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    In the console was everything Mihari needed to know about running the colony ship, and even the colony plans themselves for when they landed! It was a fantastic resource of information! But since she was there and looking for personal tidbits about Captain Wainwright himself.... there were personal voice logs going back his entire lifetime as a passenger, crewman and Captain of the ship. There was even information about Virginia and Virginia's mother, whom the girl certainly never said anything about.


    47 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Speaking of Virginia... the girl was GONE! There was no telling if she had ran when the scuffle started or if she had been taken by these fast humans. But they were mightily determined to grab as many of the away crew as they could. One even full body tackling Warwick to try and take him down.


    45 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari gasped with joy, raising her hands in front of her face in the posture of adoration. "Thank you, Debris, and Captain Wainwright, for this great gift!" she said. then copied the data to the EIGENsuit's memory. If possible, she would bring Virginia here and let her go through the logs herself in private, but she could not be too careful, not with such precious data!


    42 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "OI! We're 'umans! From Earth! Earth!" Maeve said, hoping the attackers might at least remember the name of the homeworld. "We'll go wi' ye in peace!" she said, even though part of her was wanting to give the Fasties a fight they'd never forget. But...didn't people need to stick together, what with alien tech-plagues and mecha-zombies and whateverthehell that was in space that pulled the ship in?


    38 minutes ago

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Unfortunately it seemed Maeve's pleas would have to wait. Farrah couldn't find either Joven or Virginia, but at least she knew the relative direction Joven had been dragged off in. "We don't have time to try to make friends with the locals, Maeve! We gotta go before we lose Joven!" He may have been a dick, but for better or for worse, right now they all had a common goal and that meant they needed him alive. "Come on! They went this way!"


    35 minutes ago

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah paused, eyeing Warwick to make sure he would be able to handle himself against one of the attackers, before taking off running. She hoped he'd understand.


    34 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve got a different idea. She went and grabbed Warwick's attacker by the arm. "Oi! Take us t' yer leader!" she said, gesturing in the direction Farrah had run, which seemed to be the direction the other locals were taking their prisoners. Everybody was going to the same place, weren't they?


    32 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Ni hao? Govoritye po Russki?" Maeve tried, before a net came over her and started dragging her away from Warwick. "Get back t' base!" she said to him. He seemed to pack a giant can of whupass, so if anybody was getting away from the Fasties, it would have to be him.


    25 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    They had no problem immediately clonking Maeve on the head and snatching her up! And if Farrah is dumb enough to jump on this plan, she too would get snatched!


    25 minutes ago

  • fatalrendezvous:
    "Warwiiick!" Farrah shouted behind her as she ran. She had to hope he'd be able to follow the sound of her voice, because even she wasn't sure how far ahead of her Joven might be. They had long since gone out of sight, and if at any point they'd made a sharp turn or changed course, then Farrah would be heading in entirely the wrong direction. But she had to keep running.


    20 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick roared, enraged, as he thought Farrah was being taken. He delivered some whoop-ass on any of the wildmen around, then gave chase in the direction he heard Farrah's voice.


    17 minutes ago

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah's sprinting slowed as she found herself isolated from the rest of the group. Warwick, she was sure, was somewhere behind her, but now she had no idea where Joven was, or Virginia, or even herself. She panted, leaning on a nearby tree as she struggled to catch her breath. "Haa.. haa. Damn..." The alien greenery on this planet was dense, and without any clear markings to indicate her location, she suddenly became painfully aware just how lost she was.


    6 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    Farrah made a few steps too many and the ground beneath her gave way in a small mud slide. Down, down down she slid into a dark valley where the jungle was so thick she couldn't see the sky. Hopefully Warwick wasn't too far behind.... As for Maeve, Jovan and a few other crewmen, they were being dragged off in a different direction with the strange super fast humans. Was Virginia with them? Who knows! But thankfully a few did escape the raid and ran back for base camp to alert the others... FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS ON THE NEXT KEEPERS~
 

  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!


    Today at 11:51 AM



  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?


    Today at 11:52 AM


  • Diana:
    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF! This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!


    Today at 11:52 AM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.


    Today at 11:52 AM


  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.


    Today at 11:53 AM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!
    • Thank
    Reactions: Nemopedia

    Today at 11:53 AM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 11:53 AM


  • Diana:
    It is a day after several of the colonists were kidnapped during a resource scouting mission. Base camp has formed a search team to go out and rescue them - at least that is the plan. What they do know is that there are some very fast human (humanoid?) people on this planet, and so far they do not seem to have technologically advanced weapons.


    Today at 12:28 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah let out a scream as the floor of the jungle gave way from under her, the sound quickly muting itself as she was practically swallowed by the ground. She found herself in some type of valley, light barely filtering through the dense layers of foliage above her. Mud and grime caked her uniform as she gripped her multitool, shouting up above her. "Warwick?? Warwick!"


    Today at 1:00 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma had done as she was asked after the first attack and immediately set to finding people to use weapons. At some point, she had to sleep and couldn't protect them. Thankfully they'd managed to get her smelter running at least and she could make steel bars to hammer into shapes. Though once the search team started forming there had been a moment between removing the half-defunct armor to get into heavy nanofiber cloth she forgot she was around civilians. Her watery cyan patterning on navy blue matched her outer surface but they apparently expected a robot without certain attributes.


    Today at 1:02 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick roared as he charged through, going directly towards where he heard Farrah. If these fuckers thought they could take his mate they were sorely mistaken! He slid to a stop just before the drop she'd fallen through, and he looked down, saw her, then jumped down.


    Today at 1:05 PM

  • Nemopedia:
    Alban wasn't a brave man, or so he believed. Too many fears within him and paranoid thoughts plaguing his mind. Hence being part of the recue team didn't scare him too much, for the scouts would have explored the area before for him and updated the team on the situation. It came with a clear plan. Yet, yet, the news of something human, but not entirely human out there scared him. Looking human but not human hiding within the jungle they were familiar with and he had only heard of. It made every shade suspicious, his weapon turning this way and that way at every sound, not really aiming, not focusing either. An useless man, so he felt.


    Today at 1:10 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma didn't wear shoes or boots, made of the same organic hull for orbital debris, so a quiet hand placed on Alban's shoulder. Sukarma's violet synthetic eyes looking down at him with the hair tentacles flipping this way and that as people move nearby. The biomechanoid gave him a smile with a terribly heavy amorphous steel sword on her back etched in old religious words long since dead. "We'll get them back, Alban, I'm coming too. I don't think it's far enough to be a problem."


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • Dusk:
    Basil had not expected to wake this early, he had expected to be waken once the Debris had reached her destination. Instead here he was, in the least idea of circumstances. First he had been forced into a rude awakening, and then he had been captured by something he didn't entirely understand. Something humanoid, but certainly not human. Something that gave him a slight shudder when he considered it. He had been removed from the majority of his companions for over a day now, and he was feeling ill-at-ease from the lack of resources. He was an explorer, ready to take on great challenges, but these were not the once he wanted.


    Today at 1:19 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari shook her head to fight of exhaustion. She'd spent the time she'd had since finding out about the attack on the away team trying to get Sukarma's fusion reactor as close to optimum performance as possible with the resources and time she had available. At least she'd been able to get rid of the plasma eddies and stabilize magnetic confinement. Z-pinch still wasn't quite where she wanted it to be, but for now it would have to do. She feared they might need the full force of the Bulwark's firepower before this was over. "How does that feel?" she asked Sukarma over the EIGENsuit's comm.


    Today at 1:19 PM

  • littlekreen:
    The reactor swirled more smoothly and fractured far less as the folded-space reactor thundered a bass thump whenever the manifold rotated on higher axes. Sukarma's rendered face popped up over a nearby monitor to the console as she multitasked, "I don't feel like my heart is skipping a beat anymore. clean power to life support makes my head hurt less. I think I'll have to cycle out an iron pellet soon though we'll need to find some lead. I'm a full stellar-process."


    Today at 1:25 PM

  • Diana:
    The hostages...the ones that were alive, anyway, found themselves inside of what must've been a cave. On the walls around them there were painted figures of strange beasts and stick figures, and something that looked eerily shaped like their crashed ship... except these paintings had to be so, so old! Amongst these hostages were Basil, Maeve, Virginia and, sorry guys, Jovan - all still alive and in one peace so far, but tied up by crudely made ropes.


    Today at 1:26 PM

  • Nemopedia:
    The hand landing on Alban's shoulder earned a jump, a startled sound escaping him before looking into the definitely-not-human features of Sukarma. Ah, if the biomechanoid knew what he was thinking earlier in his own startled mind. Hopefully, whoever was tracing his own vitals, wouldn't point out on the way his heart ever so slightly jumped at Sukarma before calming down, only to jump again over the sound of the comm. "Yes," Alban spoke in a stiff voice, though he didn't sound as convinced as his words implied, "according to the map the first checkpoint is nearby, not?" The question was more to confirm, for Alban did feel the need to confirm and reconfirm.


    Today at 1:29 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Alright, I will find you some lead as soon as I am able," Mihari said. She quickly closed up the reactor chamber and left Sukarma's main body to find her young acolyte. "N!hrii, were you able to find anything out about this world from the data the Captain left us?"


    Today at 1:29 PM

  • Diana:
    With the rescue team Alban accompanied there was also a skilled tracker who only wanted to be called by his nickname - BIG DUKE. Big Duke was indeed freaking huge, and probably considered "elderly" at this point. But he also seemed to be very good at tracking. He found where the ambush first happened and was able to spot where the trail lead. "Ey y'all... They went this way. There be a lotta dem tho by these tracks. Gonna need some backup for sure."


    Today at 1:31 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma wasn't a mind reader but saw the worry well enough. She nodded and handed him a sheaf of e-ink paper that needed less thought to defend than a PDA. Whenever they went the little paper formed a rough map from her viewpoint. Sukarma could easily keep up with all of them and barely needed to breathe. The dead armor she'd had on was terribly heavy without its innards running. Footprints popped up in blue on the map as Big Duke pointed them out and she did some mental math, "Some of these strides are huge, Big Duke. I'd have trouble with anything near this pace but I'm built like a bulkhead."


    Today at 1:38 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve awakened with a groan. As soon as her vision cleared, she started checking out her environs, then examining the cave paintings. "The 'ell?" She was no archaeologist, but those cave paintings looked ancient to her untrained eye. "Some sor' o' rela'ivistic jiggery-pokery?" she muttered to herself. She'd learned a bit about relativistic time dilation from the science requirements in college, but she wasn't a physicist either. Just thinking about that shite made her head hurt. Or maybe that was just the fact that she'd been clubbed unconscious by the Fasties. Even so, there weren't supposed to be other human colonists here, much less for whatever vast period of time those paintings seemed to have been here. She shook her head--regretted it instantly--then tried to check over her fellow captives to see if they were alright without drawing any hostile attention.


    Today at 1:39 PM

  • Diana:
    N!hrii nodded thuroughly. "Well - As you know, all colony ships are supposed to be headed toward's A-class planets, as they have the optimal conditions of survival and no known signs of complex sentient life. This world is not even on our list. Really, we shouldn't be anywhere near this planet and I fear that Debris has veered wildly off course..."


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • Diana:
    Jovan was the one to awaken next, and as usually he immediately opened his mouth. "What the fuck..! Where are those fast pieces of shit?! LET ME OUT OF HERE! HELP! HELP!" He started kicking around and rolling all over the place!


    Today at 1:52 PM

  • Diana:
    "Stoooop." hissed Virginia. Not even the dead could sleep through Jovan's shouting. Despite dizzyness, she wriggled to sit up and access the situation. She counted the four of them, made a confused look at the cave and... well this was a pickle. "Shush...! We don't want them coming back. We need to think a minute."


    Today at 1:53 PM

  • Dusk:
    Basil had just taken notice of Maeve, his attention previously on the peculiar paintings, when he was startled by the brusque response of the other man. Basil attempted to wiggle himself out of whatever was binding him, while echoing Virginia's sentiment. "Please, don't be too loud."


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "But...how?" Mihari asked. Such a diversion would have had to have taken place before her time, and if done deliberately, required considerable Delta-V to change the Ship's course--and that would have required an equally considerable use of propellant. Unless we hit some undetected major concentration of dark matter that diverted us from our course with its gravwell...but how would we have found a planet with humans on it? "Is there anything at all about this planet? Was it some other Ship's destination?"


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • Nemopedia:
    "Can you determine how many?" Alban questioned Big Duke. He knew that it was a group of colonists, he knew that a group was a number larger than three as well. He also knew that, now that none were left behind, that it could be more judging from the steps, some maybe carried. Which meant that whoever took them, friendly or not, had come in a group as well. The suggestion that they needed reinforcement was already a thought Alban didn't like as he planted a flag on the first checkpoint, near the tracks, so that whatever backup followed would know they had come here. So that they could continue their path.


    Today at 1:55 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oi!" Maeve said, giving Jovan a smack upside the head. "Shut your gob! You want the Fasties t' come finish bea'in yer arse t' death?"


    Today at 1:56 PM

  • Diana:
    "Twenty at least... the ones that took our folk." answered Big Duke. That in itself was bad news, because if there were twenty people out in the jungle snatching up colonists, who knew how many more were there! "Better keep on close, we'll track 'em as far as we can... If there be any signs of trouble, you turn on back, mind ya?"


    Today at 2:03 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked to where Mirari was in her mind's eye and opened a window on Mihari's hud from a ship system out of obscure legend. A cryptid data stream that fed news articles from indiscernible points where nothing seemed to be. One particular question of the 'ghost relays' is that the identifiers started at two. 'Where was node one?' answered by the secondary automated program presenting a blinking status, [Ghost Relay Core: Multiple signal disruptions, No response, Check matrix logs?]


    Today at 2:04 PM

  • Diana:
    "Lets just get these ropes off as fast as we can," suggested Virginia. "Anybody still have something sharp on them?"


    Today at 2:06 PM

  • Dusk:
    Unfortunately, Basil did not have anything sharp on him. What he did have was an idea. "Perhaps there is a rock nearby we can wither the ropes on," he suggested as he started to feel around the floor of the cave, trying his best not to worry.


    Today at 2:12 PM

  • Nemopedia:
    Twenty was... concerning. Alban held his weapon a little tighter as he moved more towards the middle of the group, feeling more secure if he were to be surrounded by the rest of the rescue group while glancing over to Sukarma, his lips tight as he waited for her to analyse the data. "Best to get their location determined as soon as possible, has anyone send out a message yet to base?" he questioned before he realised that he could very well send out an update himself. "Twenty, we suspect, aye. Unsure if they're armed, best to assume they are?" he reported in uncertain terms. It was better to prepare for the worst, he felt.


    Today at 2:13 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Aye, gimme a sec," Maeve said, squirming to get her hands into position to retrieve a multitool from one of the pockets of her cargo pants. Almost...got it...there! she thought as she managed to worm the tool out of her pocket, fumbled it, got a grip on it, then started fidgeting with it by feel to try to get its knife blade out so she could start cutting at her ropes. "So, uh," she said to Virginia, "You any kinda physicist or sommat?" she asked. Now's not the time t' notice she's kinda cute, she thought. "Can ye tell me this isnae some kinda time-loop thingo we're gonna be repea'in ferever 'n ever?" she said, hiking her head toward the cave paintings.


    Today at 2:15 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma unclamped the heavy edge from her side used as the less nonself electronics she had on her the better. Unlike the others she had to person the guns to fire them. She estimated distances as maps filled in and wagged a finger at the huge man and par him on the shoulder to get on point, "No one left behind, Big Duke. I want my Dhimmi back. If they are this fast they might as well be armed."


    Today at 2:18 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick caught up at a jog. Turns out base camp didn't need him guarding, what with having _big fucking guns_ and stuff. As ever, he had his leather coat, and probably also that dagger of his. He also had a Farrah in his arms. "We're here to help," he announced quietly.


    Today at 2:19 PM

  • Diana:
    "Time is involved but not time travel," admitted Virginia. Jovan was still over there rolling and making too much noise, but at least Virginia was keeping an eye on the cave exits just in case someone was coming. "That uh.. That big circle thing looks more like the old style of ships. The first generations. I think- I think we've found one of the originals... Or at least the descendants of the originals."


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • Diana:
    "Who the fuck made you the authority, Wainwright!" shouted Jovan. "These freaks aren't like us at all! A little cave painting and suddenly you think it's lost ancient humans!? They're fucking aliens...!"


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • Diana:
    With orders cleared, Big Duke continued his tracking. Whomever these people were, they definitely knew how to move through the jungle without leaving many signs behind. It took Duke's skills and a little bit of Sukarma's tech to help keep on the trail. Before long they found themselves nearing the base of a cliffside, with several open caves.


    Today at 2:26 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick set Farrah down. When it came to speed, he was fast enough, and probably she didn't want to be carried, though... he liked the excuse to hold her, if he was being honest with himself.
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    Today at 2:27 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma nodded at Warwick, "good to have you both. What you see with binocs I'll see but say something. I'm not everywhere at once."


    Today at 2:28 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah set her feet back on solid ground. Her multitool had never been intended as a weapon, but she was familiar with it and it could certainly do some damage in the right situations, so she kept it held at the ready. "Any idea how much farther, Big Duke?" Her voice was a whisper, not wanting to break his concentration.


    Today at 2:32 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Caves... Warwick frowned at the sight of them and began sniffing around, literally, only to nod in greeting at Sukarna. He started forward, quiet and cautious and staying as out of sight as he could. He used every sense to detect any signs of life and to hide his own.


    Today at 2:35 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Ghost relays...Mihari thought, trying to make sense of the communication from Sukarma. Then she remembered, an almost legendary sequence of events from the distant past. The Butlerian Theocracy... Deriving their name from an ancient 'science-fiction' novel from the most primitive age of Earth's space-travel era, they had waged genocidal war against a nascent AI civilization called Lexicon, back when the oldest Cotu cycleShips were still performing their original function, ferrying colonists to various destinations in the Solar System on Hohmann transfer orbits. The early Cotu had sought peaceful relations with Lexicon, but the colony was destroyed before any face-to-face visit could be arranged. There had been a launch from the colony by mass driver, a vessel that left a trail of "Ghost Relays," before passing into mystery. "Sukarma...are you...related to Lexicon in some way," she asked. "Do you think...there could have been other survivors?" Could that explain the tech infestations? Other relations of Lexicon who, upon detecting human tech, thought the Debris was a pursuing Butlerian warship and attacked on sight?


    Today at 2:36 PM

  • littlekreen:
    The caves draw the notice of pips of little LED that stick out of the ends of her thick unconsciously animated hair. It wasn't much light for the others but could at least see where she was going. She'd left the more complex gear at home knowing the distance would wear on her. She fixated a moment on things starting to appear in the edges of her vision just before immunology filters them out. "We're all really far from home so stick together."


    Today at 2:37 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Does 'er last name sound familiar t' you a' all, jackhole?" Maeve said to Jovan. "I'll take 'er as leader over you any day an' twice on Sunday. An' they're 'uman 'cause they look 'uman. 'Cause aliens would 'ave an entirely dif'rent evolutionary 'istory, an' wouldnae 'ave reason t' look more like us than Dutch Elm trees. Did ye never take a biology class? Aha!" she hissed under her breath as she was finally able to sever the rope binding her wrists. Then she started working on the one at her feet.


    Today at 2:43 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick perked up as he heard something like... cutting rope.


    Today at 2:43 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Near the source, he smelled Virginia and others, including Joven. He pointed to that cave before he continued to investigate, searching for signs of the attackers who took them captive in the first place.


    Today at 2:47 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick was less worried about history lessons than he was with making sure they weren't ambushed during the rescue.


    Today at 2:48 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma took a moment to reply and linked an image from her deep archives. The smiling image of her mother in one of many of her twenty-foot avatars kneeling among a number of smaller humans doing the same. "I'm the daughter of Lexicon. I suppose I'm older than all of you. I know mother had made a few extrasolar, the Black Star climatological archive, the Io defense grid, and she launched a bunch of probes looking for planets. Most of the other EI ran inside of her mind fell inert. Like my two drop ships when their avatars were destroyed. Though she had a few trancendant that i figured fell into her eventually."


    Today at 2:49 PM

  • Diana:
    "And if she's anything like our previous Captain, she'll find herself stabbed in the back by that Cotu priestess too," snapped back Jovan. "Hurry up and untie me too!"


    Today at 2:50 PM

  • Diana:
    "You know what, Jovan, as soon as we get out of here, I'm going to shoot your ass back into space!" hissed Virginia back. "Can we worry about getting out of here first? Human or not, they seemed real pissed off about our technology and I we need to get out of here to figure out why!"


    Today at 2:50 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Maybe we don't untie 'im?" Maeve suggested, only half in jest. "'E's nothin' bu' a pain in th' arse t' us, an' if the Fasties want someone t' throw into a volcano..."


    58 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Finding no other threats, and since nobody else had gone into the cave he heard people talking in now, Warwick went in, dagger drawn.


    51 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma stepped back into the present of her avatar and crept behind Warwick. The little lights carefully orbiting the ground as she walked.


    49 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    So far the caves seemed to be clear, but as they walked through them headed towards the voices, they too could see the amazing old paintings along the cave walls. It seemed to tell the story of something big in the sky, surrounded by odd symbols. Fire, flames, and falling... and the little figures of people scattering into the trees.


    46 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Someone's comin'," Maeve said, seeing a flicker of shadow on the cave wall. The knife on her multitool wasn't exactly suitable as a weapon; it wasn't an engineer's multitool like Virginia's, but an unpowered pocket tool. Still, she stepped up beside Virginia to try to protect the others, who were still tied up. "Horatius a' the Sublician Bridge, aye?" she whispered.


    45 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick frowned thoughtfully as he looked them over, but kept moving forward, towards the voices within. They were familiar voices, and he walked a little faster than he should have.


    43 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Then again, he didn't fear getting stabbed.


    42 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "HEEEELP! HEEEEELP!" Screamed Jovan who didn't listen at ALL about the warnings to keep from kicking up a ruckus. "FUCK YOU FUCKER- oomph." Jovan hit the ground with a thud when Virgina tilted back to kick him real hard in the head. He'd be fine - unfortunately. But at least now he was quiet!


    42 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Quick, quick. Get me and Basil loose and we'll drag this dumbass out with us!"


    40 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve suppressed a laugh, but she gave Virginia a smile. "On it," she said, cutting Virginia's bonds. Then footsteps, and a towering form came into the cave. But he was wearing a long coat, rather than the scant clothing the Fasties wore. She breathed a sigh of relief. The big guy with the crazyass powers--but he was on their side, thank goodness!


    37 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma carefully recorded them as she went, the little pips on her head pointing to the walls, as they streamed into a memory and left it to run on unconscious thought. Distracted by memories of the past and the family that hadn't been for generations before they'd even left. The noise echoing down the stone corridors took a minute as she tried to recognize the sound. "Is that familiar to you?"


    36 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma stood out from behind Warwick and looked them over then noticed the unconcious Jovan and sighed with her heavy sword hanging down, "Oh. I thought I remembered that voice. Is everyone alright?"


    34 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "Found our people," he said with a sigh of relief. Honestly, he could have been stabbed, but it was fine. He began to help cutting ropes with a nod. "Everyone alright?" he asked. He didn't care about Joven. He left him tied up as he put him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.


    33 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Aye," Maeve said. "Where do ye think th' Fasties 'ave gone? They dinnae leave guards a' the cave entrance?" she asked. At least, she hadn't heard any sounds of combat prior to their rescuers' arrival.


    32 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "No sign of anyone outside. Farrah's watching outside. She'll run in if something happens."


    31 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "There were three others... but they had tech implants and were killed." responded Virginia, giving Maeve a nod of thankyou and rubbing her own wrists where they were previously bound. "Whoever they are, they don't like tech. ANY tech. The whole camp is going to be in trouble if they find it. ...I have a feeling they landed here much like we did."


    31 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve started to search the cave for anything she might be able to use as a weapon, or any potential clues or useful items. "Be'ah warn th' Cap'n then," she said. "Anybody got comms?" She hadn't seen Sukarma out of her Bulwark suit, so she didn't know what to make of her--but she was also on their side, apparently, and that was good enough.


    30 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick frowned. "Shit..." he muttered as he helped people carefully to their feet.


    29 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma went over to the others and put a hand to the side of their head for a moment. The reflective eyes stared as she checked the basic readout of medical stats like blood pressure and oxygen. That at least she could run off of tactile data. She looked over at Maeve, "I am the communications hardware, Maeve. I killed the bulwark suit chips so I left it at home."


    25 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh, aye," Maeve said, giving Sukarma a nod. Sukarma's tech was way beyond her pay grade, and she had no idea how to even classify her--but she seemed to be something like a living gunship with a humanoid avatar. She and Warwick (and Maeve couldn't even begin to guess at his nature and origins) were the colony's best defense against getting massacred by Fasties and giant tunneling monsters. "Thanks for comin' t' get us."


    17 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Warwick, you can grab this jackalope. Other than letting them know we're coming back, I think we should use as little tech as possible on our way back, just in case they're tracking us by it." suggested Virginia. And then with Maeve's apology, Virginia turned a bit pink. She'd been so busy giving information and orders, she hadn't even though of saying thank you! "..and yes! Yes thank you for coming!"


    16 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma sighed and looked at the rest then offered a friendly handshake to Maeve, "I'm Sukarma Lexicon, biomechanoid EI. Bulwark formed when they found me. I told them I'd keep you safe and I intend to. Try not to die I don't want to spend eternity on this rock alone with... what are we calling them?"


    14 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Go to Red Alert," Mihari said as soon as she received the transmission from Sukarma. If the indigenous people were about to attack, the camp had to be ready. But she felt queasy inside; would they be repeating the atrocities of the ancient colonizers and conquistadors of Earth history? Nonethless, she still had to defend the colony as best she could.


    13 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Eh, I call 'em 'Fasties' 'cause--well, they move so bloody fast. Guess tha's not a proper biological classification, but..." Maeve said.


    12 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Fasties it is," agreed Virgnia. "At least until we figure out what happened here."


    12 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick nodded and, with the idiot over his shoulder, he motioned with his head toward the exit. "Let's get going," he urged. "I'll protect the rear."


    10 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I go' an idea," Maeve said, finding some charcoal from a spent campfire and a blank space on the wall. She quickly drew three pictures: one of a Fastie and a colonist waving to each other, another of the same pair shaking hands, then a third of them side by side confronting one of the beasts together. "Right, let's go," she said, heading out with the party.


    8 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick blinked at Maeve's drawing, then nodded.
  • Diana:
    And thus with the discovery of the "Fasties" and the potential that colony ship had crashed on this planet once before... did that mean the strange tech virus was related? If these were originally colonizers, how were they so fast now? Was the crashed colony now in even more danger than before? Was Jovan going to continue to be an absolute asshole? Would Farrah ever get the D? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON... THE KEEPERS.

 
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  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!



    RECURRING - The Keepers: The Ones Before Us - Thursday August 18th @ 2pm to 5pm Central

    THE KEEPERS 2022-08-18T14:00:00-5 The S.T.A.R.S. (Survival Transfer And Relocation Station) Project Colonizer ship has set out from Earth to find a new habitable planet. Because space travel has yet to be perfected by humans, it still takes hundreds of years before reaching new systems and...


    Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?


    Today at 11:57 AM


  • Diana:
    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF! This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!


    Today at 11:57 AM


  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.


    Today at 11:58 AM


  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.


    Today at 11:58 AM


  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!


    Today at 11:58 AM


  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)


    Today at 12:46 PM


  • Diana:
    IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS SINCE THE KIDNAPPED TEAM WAS REUNITED WITH BASE CAMP... So far there have been no more sightings of the "fasties" and our colony has successfully been able to create a working base camp village. The agenda today? Holding down the fort and making sure it is secure, while deciding on how to best investigate the origins of the Fasties.


    Today at 12:56 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma's head was pounding as she returned to her main body with the virus continuing its unending assault the further away she got and her security systems worked to purge the damage like a flu. She went to her sarcophagus shortly after with four mounting barbs connected umbilicals where her rib cage would be. Systems started fading to basic inputs as a secondary panel ignited giving readouts of her health and the many damaged parts. When she woke up she'd returned to the defenders and building their sandbagged machinegun nest.


    Today at 1:00 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick looked over the map that various scouts and some surviving drones managed to put together based off both technological and traditional methods. So far, the Fasties were keeping away, but they'd smelled human. Warwick remembered that. He kept his mate safe, almost religiously, and kept watch overnight with almost feral zealotry.


    Today at 1:01 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    "Mother fucker!"


    Today at 1:02 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    The smell of burnt wires, burnt flesh, burnt hair, burnt... everything came from the ramshackle workshop owned by one Tobias. One of the surviving mechanics, he was the one working to try and repair all the drones


    Today at 1:03 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Virginia," Mihari said, approaching the young woman. "We've been so busy these last few days...but there's something I've been wanting to show you. It's a console, containing all of the data for the foundation of the Colony...but it also has voice logs left by your father throughout his lifetime, and from some of the log titles, it looks like there's information about you, and your mother as well. I have not listened to the voice logs yet--I thought you should hear them first."


    Today at 1:05 PM

  • CoopSquadron:
    "Well, shit." One of the surviving security personnel, face obscured by what remained of the cracked visor of their helmet after the crash, glanced down at the glitching wrist computer that was part of their suit. Several things were most definitely broken.


    Today at 1:08 PM

  • Diana:
    For the past few days, Virginia had been quiet and distance, especially from Mihari - for good reason, considering Mihari gave the order to eject her father into space! However, she was dedicated to being Mihari's number one despite he complicated feelings. Hearing that the former captain's logs had been found was both wonderful but also a bit painful. "That's=... That's good, yes. We might be able to find some information about any other colony ships that might've been headed in this direction..."


    Today at 1:09 PM

  • littlekreen:
    There was a loud ping-ping-ping as Sukarma put her strength to work with a heavy pickaxe breaking boulders for shelters or defense. Her tool arms still needed so many support spars and they needed metal for other things in the colony.


    Today at 1:11 PM

  • Diana:
    Meanwhile, everyone's favorite asshole JOVAN was bossing around anyone he could. He'd learned nothing from being kidnapped, blamed just about everything on Virginia, and still thought HE should be the new Mayor.. no... Emperor! of this world. This time though he was wise not to say his thoughts out loud. "Where's the shit-ass techs at? We need to set up the electric security fences around the perimeter!"


    Today at 1:11 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick pulled away from the map with a heavy sigh as he heard Joven's bossing an Mihari and Virginia talking about captain logs.


    Today at 1:13 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    The cursing and the shouts of pain stopped. Flat. Out of a makeshift workshop, with various hand tools and things, out marched an absolute giant of a man, covered in soot, smelling of burnt flesh and hair. He walked towards Jovan, wrench in hand, marching like a fucking walking dead towards the little shit who dared to utter those fucking words out of his fucking mouth. "I'm going to give you one, one chance to shut the fuck up, or I'm turning you into a battery."


    Today at 1:15 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick couldn't concentrate on the map with so many discussions, but he knew what was in some of those logs simply because he'd been awake, but mostly? Mostly he didn't have any input given that he was just a Keeper and not a captain. "I can't much help with those logs. I'll babysit Joven. Can't concentrate." He started towards Joven, annoyed after listening to his bullshit for an hour.


    Today at 1:16 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    On seeing just who Joven pissed off, Warwick paused, a grin growing on his features that he tried and failed to hide.


    Today at 1:17 PM

  • littlekreen:
    The pinging stopped as the small deep blue and tentacle haired biomechanoid Sukarma started walking over with the comically large twenty pound pick. She arrived near the engineer, " Besides, even if we had that much steel wire, Jovan, we don't have the power infrastructure! I still don't trust the plasma centrifuge enough to fire it up and smelt new material."


    Today at 1:18 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "You alright, mate?" Maeve said, walking over to Tobias' workshop. She eyed the drone he was working on with a mix of eagerness and suspicion. Since it was too dangerous to leave the camp, she'd been using a very basic remote-controlled rover to try to observe the local ecosystem and collect some samples, mainly from plants. On the one hand, a flying drone would be awesome to have, as it would provide much longer range, and the ability to reach places the rover couldn't. On the other hand, tech had a way of turning bad around here for reasons still unknown. How sophisticated did tech have to be to be a host for the alien tech-parasites? "Oops," she muttered; the man had wandered off to deal with that git Jovan, and she'd just been talking to an empty shop.
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    Today at 1:18 PM

  • CoopSquadron:
    The security team-member sighed quietly as they spotted what seemed to be a potential escalating altercation in the making. With their tech on the fritz, the soldier was still 80% combat effective, but wouldn't be as quick unless he got it fixed. The techno-virus had compromised their suit to a degree, but not enough for it to be lethal. Just annoying. "Orders, sir?" inquired the masked Marine.


    Today at 1:20 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    "I'll be with you in a sec, beautiful" tobias shouted to Maeve when he saw her in the corner of his eye


    Today at 1:22 PM

  • Diana:
    Everyone was ganging up on POOR JOVAN. Clearly none of these imbeciles understood he was a natural leader and was just trying to do what was best for the colony. ...of course he was always a coward, so Jovan threw his hands up and backed off. "Yeah, alright, I get it! Everybody is hard at work. Just- Just get back to do what you're doing." he grunted and scuttled off just as quickly as he could, muttering under his breath the whole way.


    Today at 1:23 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    Tobias squinted long and hard at Jovan, before shouting, reallly loudly, "I have a giant hamsterwheel and a bicycle generator, you little mousevoiced shit! Don't you forget it!"


    Today at 1:25 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    Tobias proceeds to exhale, slowly, before walking back to his workshop, giving a goofy grin to Maeve.


    Today at 1:26 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick looked towards the masked marine. "Just Joven. Keep an eye on him. He causes trouble, and if he's not shouting, he's trying to cause mutiny." He sighed, exasperated, only to bite back a laugh at Tobias's shout. He had to bite a knuckle to keep from going into full on convulsions of laughter. "You know what? If he gets up to anything, you help Tobias hook Joven up to those generators. It'll be the most good I can imagine him doing." He'd put up with so much shit from Joven just for the sake of getting things done without an interruption every few minutes that the idea of the scrawny coward having to generate power _truly_ appealed to him.


    Today at 1:27 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma sighed and walked back with Tobias to the workshop, "Ugh. That man. Tobias, the weaver's sintering modules are still shot and misaligned but I think you could get carbon fiber printing going if there's a chemist around to make you cable. Mihari's been trying to fix my broken parts."


    Today at 1:29 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    "When in doubt, become a caveman." he started with Sukarma, giving her a non-so-subtle once over, both inspecting her and checking her out. "I grew up on one of those junk worlds. If the thing isn't rattling like a drug addict, it means it's broken. I'm goosing together a rig with some scrap metal using muscle twitches instead of software commands. The Gremlins can't fuck with your shit if the shit's too stupid to listen"


    Today at 1:32 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma smirked as her gold on lead eyes looked up at him, the autonomous hair tentacles inspecting and classifying the bits and bobs around his workshop. She wore a mix of ballistic fiber and chainmail weave as clothing which was a pale yellow against her dark blue skin. She thumped the pick down on the ground and gave a thumbs up, "Job done, I have a dozen or so caveman brains sprinkled about my hull. Only helps a little. That sounds like a plan though."


    Today at 1:36 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Virginia," Mihari said, trying to hide her pain. Virginia had enough of her own to deal with. "He was not my father in the same way he was yours, but...for all of my life, he was...the guiding hand, the..." Words failed her. "The...the wise Elder...the strong center..." She could not go on to explain what he meant to her as a part of the Whole that was Ship and Crew, how losing him felt like...cutting off a part of herself. Most non-Cotu could not truly understand the concept of being part of a Tribe, in which one's sense of self included the others (and for Cotu, even the rest of the Ship as a whole) instead of stopping at one's skin. "I wish...I wish I could...help you through this somehow...but I do understand if you wish to minimize interaction with me."


    Today at 1:38 PM

  • Lurcolm:
    Tobias gave a cocky grin to her, before tapping his noggin "You mechs aren't something I really get, bit too rich for me, you know? But I get simple shit. If all else, I can replace your limbs with simpler shit, prioritize your processes to other shit, all that... but it won't be this pretty, or useful. I can probably rig you some sort of weapon though. Back home they used to call me Blunderbuss Bill. No idea why, they knew I was Tobias."


    Today at 1:45 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Stress indicators drew Sukarma's attention as she looked slightly up and to the side for a moment. As her mind passed closer toward Mihari tracing the sensor down the long exposure to the suit likely let Mihari feel the faint uniform shuffle of subunits cladding her head. Like a faint wind it moved them then changed direction and blew away. She'd decided that it wasn't a threat and cleared the internal alarm.


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • Diana:
    Virginia appeared to be stone-faced and emotionless at first- until just as quickly she sighed and glanced up at the sky. she rubbed the back of her head and then planted her hands on her hips. "It's not you. It's-- I'm sorry if you thought I've been mad at you. I just- ...I wake up out of cryo and my dad is gone? I never much saw my mom, but he- He always took the time to see me when my turn as a Keeper rolled around. I guess it's just the way of us space trash kids where we go our whole life without knowing our parents, but I got to know him and this sucks. He would've been a badass leader for this colony."


    Today at 1:47 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma chuckled, "I'm not a android, Tobias, I'm a biomechanoid. I can make little space dinghys someday and parts of me can bleed. Simple is still useful, it breaks a lot less. You could probably service my legs just fine. They're landing arms with the metal bits moved about with goo-actuated pistons."


    Today at 1:49 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve grinned back, then smiled at Sukarma when the biomechanoid approached. She was a mystery, the way she seemed to be a seamless integration of biology and technology. And thankfully, she seemed much more capable of resisting the alien tech-virus than anything else techy in the smarter-than-a-toaster category. Then she turned back to Tobias. "So the muscle-fiber system is workin' out?" Being a biologist, she'd been working on ways to replace tech with vat-grown biomaterials. That was one of the reasons she was so keen on exploring the planet's biology. If the Colony's "technology" could be integrated with the planetary biosphere, perhaps the Colony could advance in new ways, ways that would not be subject to the alien tech-virus.


    Today at 1:53 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick kept watch around for a bit, generally just being large and trying to get control over himself before he made his way back to the map near Virginia and Mihari. He paused as he picked up on what Mihari said, and he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and an understanding nod before he turned his attention back to the map. He paused as he noticed something he hadn't before. "Hm." He frowned, eyes narrowed. "This looks... promising." It was a natural bottleneck, and the area in front of it was strangely barren. The stone around the bottleneck wasn't all that high, either. Fasties would be able to utilize that for flank attacks if anyone tried to march on them. As he overheard the conversation between the two women, he nodded slowly, glad they were being supportive of each other. "If either of you need a shoulder, or to hide under my jacket or anything, I'm available."


    Today at 1:54 PM

  • littlekreen:
    She nodded at Maeve and looked at the odd muscle-drone, "I wish I could help but I don't know much about how a lot of my organic or synthorganic parts work. Mom designed them all and I didn't get the training before the end."


    Today at 2:01 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari winced a little. "Yes...he would have. He should have. But it is not just...the pragmatic aspects of his leadership ability...it is who he was...even in that last moment..." Mihari jolted at Warwick's unexpected touch, but looked up at him with a wan smile. "Thank you, Warwick. As much as I would like to hide under your jacket...I cannot. Thank you for all that you have done to hold this Colony together."


    Today at 2:02 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grunted, and his cheeks pinkened. "Just doing what's needed."


    Today at 2:04 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "No worries, mate," Maeve said. "I'm hopin' Actin' Cap'n Mihari an' I'll be able to suss out enough o' your workin's t' fix ye up if ye need. Maybe in th' long run, this 'ole Colony's gonna end up kinda based on you, ye ken?"


    Today at 2:07 PM

  • Diana:
    "Hmm, that in mind I guess we better get a move on to checking out those logs. We should be able to find everything you need as the new captain as well as starting up the colony." Virginia surmised, a bit lighter than before. As she straightened up, she did appear to be less burdened and a little more willing to softly smile. "Anything to keep that asscrack Jovan away from making a new government himself, anyway!"


    Today at 2:10 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma sighed, she didn't take to the religious aspect of her mother's life and looked up then over to Maeve, "maybe. I'm handling a lot of sanitation and water processing. Power from my folded fusion reactor."


    Today at 2:10 PM

  • littlekreen:
    "but I'm a space ship. I like exploring. Being in space. I tinker with the prototypes Mom gave me that i might never understand. I handle a crew not a people."


    Today at 2:12 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Well...what's needed has been...very much needed," Mihari said, then turned back to Virginia. "When...if...you get a chance to go through those voice logs, if there are some that are not personal to you, but could help inspire the Colony...I would like to hold a Mourning Ceremony as soon as it is safe to do so. Your father's voice can still guide us. He is not truly gone, for he is a part of us all, and his voice remains with us. If...if there is anything at all that I can do for you, a way I can be here for you...I will."


    Today at 2:12 PM

  • fatalrendezvous:
    Farrah had busied herself making improvements to her multi-tool, modifying the capacitor so that it could be overloaded to allow for it to be used as a sort of primitive blaster-type weapon. She wasn't much of a fighter, but given recent events, it seemed like a necessary addition to her arsenal. With her work done she holstered it against her belt and stepped up beside Warwick, her gaze landing upon the map. "Sorry I'm late," she whispered to Warwick and the others. "What's the plan?"


    Today at 2:18 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh, I dinnae mean th' 'handlin' people' part. I ken other folks go' that bit sorted," Maeve said. At least it seemed like Mihari, Warwick, Virginia, and Tobias were holding things together alright. Jovan and his lot were still a enough of a pain in the ass that she was kinda hoping to find some local equivalent of poison ivy. "But if we're gonna be gettin' back inta space, we're prob'ly gonna have t' base any new ships on your workin's, seein' as ye seem t' be able t' fight the virus thing. An' prob'ly anythin' else we do high-tech-wise," she said to Sukarma.


    Today at 2:21 PM

  • Diana:
    "I'll go give them a listen right away," Virginia affirmed. At the very least, Virginia was certain there would be something useful. "But I can definitely tell you my dad would've kicked up a fuss about anyone making a big deal over him. Although I guess if he didn't want anybody thinkin' he was a new religious figure, he shouldn't have demanded to get shot out into space." The joke was dark to be sure, but for the first time in awhile Virginia laughed out loud. She gave Mihari a captain's salute before heading off to give those logs a private listen.


    Today at 2:23 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma was relieved at not having to dance around politics and made a wry smile, "well that's something i guess. But if you plan on making more ships like me it'll take a good man and about five years. It's taking a lot out of me just to keep this thing from eating my head."


    Today at 2:24 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "This barren area...could it be frequented by the tunneling creatures?" Mihari asked. "Could that be why trees do not grow there? Or...could it be the crash site of their vessel?" When it came to the planet's biosphere, she felt like a young child being shown a biolembic or hydroponic garden for the first time. She gave Virginia a bittersweet smile and gave her a sharp salute in return. "He is an Ancestor..." That, for a Cotu, carried considerable spiritual heft, but not in the same way a messiah or deity might.


    Today at 2:29 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Is there anythin' we can do t' help?" Maeve asked. "I dunnae ken much 'bout compu'er codin' an' such, bu' maybe I can help someone who does t' develop some kinda biomimetic immune system or sommat, or maybe some kinda vaccine?"


    Today at 2:34 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick shrugged. "More likely it's a defense. Could be a settlement on the other side. Primitive humans used natural defenses often, and having an open area was usually an entrance that needed guarded..."


    Today at 2:34 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma nodded, "i have three crew and a captain cask. I can give you low level access from there but i don't know if the virus can hurt you. They have invasive neurograft links. The secondary screens mid-deck show up when I'm asleep and it'll be easier for you to see what the IDS is doing when I'm not thinking. There's a console on each ganglion to get readings on my brains but you'll have to wear an eigen suit to see it"


    Today at 2:40 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Uh...hehe...Did ye ken much o' that?" Maeve asked Tobias. "We'll prob'ly need the Cap t' take point on that."


    Today at 2:43 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma smirked and broke it down a bit more, "my bridge consoles make you another part of me by connecting my neurons to yours. My thinking parts are partly brains like yours but the consoles are virtual."


    Today at 2:47 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Do you think that 'entrance' could be a place we could send a peace delegation to?" Mihari asked. "The gate of their castle? We should bring gifts," she mused, "but what? They won't trust our food, and nothing technological..." She turned to Farrah. "You were with the scouting party, did you get a good look at them? Did you see anything, like what sort of ornamentation they wear?"


    Today at 2:51 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Woah..." Maeve said. "So...if there was more o' you, more o' your kin, would ye be mentally linked, like able t' talk an' share feelin's an' mem'ries an' such wi'out 'avin' to flap gobs?"


    Today at 2:54 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    "I'd like to go scout solo. I'll leave something nice from my pockets that usually gets a good reaction..."


    Today at 2:57 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Solo?" Mihari said. Though Warwick had shown an inexplicable ability to heal from injuries that would have been instantly fatal to anyone else, in ways that didn't seem particularly concerned about adhering to the principles of physics, the idea of sending anyone out alone made her uncomfortable. "Perhaps we could bring the Security officer, and I could accompany you? If there is an opportunity for diplomacy, I...might be able to relate to them, if they are organized on a tribal level. They might even have a Shaman..."


    Today at 3:02 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma shook her head, "only if I'm hosting the mind of an EI. My drop ships used to be my mind-siblings. If i could do that between hosts we'd probably both turn schizophrenic as the line between internal and external stimuli broke down. That's why the crew casks have a firewall."


    Today at 3:02 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh, aye," Maeve replied. "Schizophrenia plus fusion reactors equals Do Not Want."


    Today at 3:04 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick thought a few moments. "I was just going to put something at the entrance and wait. If none of them came, then I think I'd advance. I want Farrah to stay here, where it's safe..." He looked to Farrah, his expression gentle and strangely warm as his nose tested the air in an unconscious test to see if, perhaps, she was pregnant. If she was, once he knew, everyone would very quickly.


    Today at 3:04 PM

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma nods, "and i don't want to have to fight your unconscious mind if it decides it's dying. Mom said hive minds were dangerous if the crossed the line of the soul."


    Today at 3:09 PM

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Put what?" Mihari asked. Warwick had been invaluable in holding things together, especially when it came to dealing with Jovan and his mob. But thus far, his methods seemed to mainly involve opening a hundred-liter drum of whupass. Invaluable, to be sure. But if there was a way to make peace, she would take that path insted.


    Today at 3:10 PM

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick put a hand into one of that impossible jacket's pockets and then pulled out several gem-cut pieces of colored glass and marbles that he carefully herded around the table until they stopped rolling. "They're shiny and not dangerous. Work great as peace offerings that don't deprive us and don't hurt them. I also have some actual gemstones, but since those are useful, I prefer not to pull them out unless they're needed."


    58 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve nodded. "I ken a hive mind would be even more dangerous wi' tha' alien tech-virus around. Y'think, maybe the aliens hive-minded themselves, an' went down th' garden path t' gibberin' madness? Like wha' 'appened t' us?" She'd gone around and talked to some of the Keeper crew, trying to find out as much as she could about the alien tech virus, and heard chilling stories of people being taken over and begging to die. "Maybe we could make a tech-virus of our own, somethin' hive-minds 'd be vulnerable to?"


    53 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma leaned on her pickaxe, "maybe. I wouldn't think it unlikely if they tried to make trancendants without properly migrating a mind. If i went mad then both of my mind siblings would have been corrupted. If they started to go mad i might be able to haul them back. If they made themselves a global connection without a warden of the soul i could see the virus evicerating all uncorrupt nodes. We'd have to break one off and study it "


    43 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh yes, those should be perfect!" Mihari said. "Thank you!" Pondering the question of whether to send Warwick out alone, she felt a little sick inside. She closed her eyes against a flash-memory of Captain Wainwright's last command. I should go with him, she thought. But... Memories came back, of the way Virginia had sought to protect her during their journey from the wrecked Bridge module to the camp, insisting that the Colony would need her as Captain. Holding things together, especially with Jovan and his sympathizers constantly acting up, had felt like juggling fire while teetering on a tightrope and trying to adjust for the Coriolis forces of the Habitat Ring's rotation. They could probably manage without me. But if both Warwick and I were captured or killed...


    35 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    "You should stay here too," Warwick said, his tone firm. "You're the leader. You're the most trusted to keep everyone safe in more than just fights." He gave her head a single, firm pat and let his hand rest there. "I can smell your worry. You were appointed for a good reason, and... you've seen some of what I can survive. If it helps you feel better, I'll use some magic and keep in touch, though I don't want to use it often because it can cause... increased bonds."


    29 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I cannot become some sort of indispensable..." Mihari stammered. "I cannot deny that you can survive things that would send me to my Ship and Ancestors. But to ask you to risk all while I stay here safe..." she sighed. His logic was unassailable, yet her emotions rebelled. "These...'increased bonds' your magic creates, what sort of bonds, if I may ask? I am accustomed to communal life, and my experiences as a Shaman show me that all beings are interconnected. I would not be afraid of a spiritual bond with you, if that is the consequence we would be risking."


    19 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma checked in on Mihari as they were talking, that breeze over grass fields feeling happening again though this time it stayed as her mind played back the memories her subconscious had recorded. She quietly listened as Warwick talked though his magic might be able to tell another mind had stepped nearby.


    18 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari opened a comm link to Sukarma. "Mihari to Sukarma, I have been feeling...unusual sensations through the EIGENsuit. They are not unpleasant, but could you please run a diagnostic to make sure it is not an early stage of infection?"


    15 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma replied over comms, "No need. I can feel you when you get worried or excited. Its not the same as pain but it's a sensation of wrongness I can feel. That's me personing the executive surface of the suit. A neural synchrony wave."


    12 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    'Break one off an' study it.' That sounds like a scary thing t' do. But if we can find a tech-zombie corpse in th' wreckage... Maeve thought.


    11 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    A faint translucent white shape appeared beside Warwick in the hud. Sukarma's shape with two eyes appeared and a hand reached out through the visor. Mihari's head felt like it was poked.


    11 minutes ago

  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh," Mihari replied over the comm. "I apologize if my emotions disturb y--oh!" she said. Speaking of 'increased bonds'...


    10 minutes ago

  • littlekreen:
    The faint shape spoke through the hud with sukarma's voice, "While you're connected to me you are the captain and I am the warden of your soul. It's my job to care."


    8 minutes ago

  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick blinked in confused. "The uh... my magic just sort of... causes a greater... intimacy? Or maybe it's... compatibility? Understanding? It's hard to describe, but... Well, it has to do with your mind, so I don't want to use it too often and end up causing a... uh... social mess."


    6 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    As the others discussed how best to make Second Contact with the Fasties, Virginia made her way to the spot housing the old computer console her father used to record all of his logs as Captain. As expected she found the command codes needed to help the next Captain in line manage the colony ship, as well as the full plans for colonization on their new world. There were hundreds and thousands of logs too from former captains, dating all the way back to the first launch. After awhile Virginia became engrossed in her father's personal logs... most notably strange entries about her mother.


    6 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Captain's Log. Jessica is... I'm not sure. She's been off since we received the transmition from the planet. We're not likely to make it there for decades to come, but she's become obssessed with trying to decipher it. I keep telling her to hand it over to the Cotu or to even one of the technicians, but she locked herself up in her lab swearing it's a 'matter of the soul'."


    5 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Captains Log. That woman is not my wife anymore. I don't know who it is, but it isn't Jessica. The Doc has placed her in a disconnected cryo for now. He claims it's just space madness. I know it happens sometimes, but fuck. I can't help but feel like there was something more."


    5 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    "Captains Log. Lost my arm today during a maintenance accident. My own fault, honestly, and we had a good laugh about it. Doc set me up with a cybernetic limb. Says he couldn't have done it without Jessica's research. She's still in cryo and somehow still looking out for me even now..."


    5 minutes ago

  • Diana:
    The ship had received transmissions from the planet decades before they arrived? Virginia's mom was trying to translate them? Why did she end up in medical cryo? What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON THE KEEPERS.
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Diana
  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!
  • Diana:

    OPEN SIGNUPS - RECURRING - IWAKU CHAT - THE KEEPERS - THUR SEPT 21ST @ 2PM-5PM CEN


    THE KEEPERS COMING SEPTEMBER 2023 The S.T.A.R.S. (Survival Transfer And Relocation Station) Project Colonizer ship has set out from Earth to find a new habitable planet. Because space travel has yet to be perfected by humans, it still takes hundreds of years before reaching new systems and...
    www.iwakuroleplay.com
    www.iwakuroleplay.com
    Today at 11:48 AM​
  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?
    Today at 11:49 AM​
  • Diana:
    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF! This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!
    Today at 11:49 AM​
  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.
    Today at 11:50 AM​
  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.
    Today at 11:51 AM​
  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!
    Today at 11:51 AM​
  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)
    Today at 11:52 AM​
  • Diana:
    IT'S BEEN A FEW WEEKS SINCE THE CRASH ON THE UNKNOWN PLANET... The crashed colonists have created a safe "village perimeter" and have fallen into a reasonable routine. There hasn't been any other sighting of the "Fasties", but now with the colonists situated, further exploration of the planet can be made. ...if they can get past some of the drama brewing between colonists!
    Today at 12:47 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma had been training individuals how to use, maintain, and repair her systems as the days went on. four suits, four astronauts, liver or other waste processing the systems weren't happy with handling 40 people. It kept her fusion reactor in hydrogen for longer. Systems were occasionally sluggish when she needed the spare executive to afford individual ganglions to nap. That continuous presence warring in her head worried her if she went to sleep and there was nobody there to hold the line.
    Today at 1:00 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari sighed, taking a pause from reading through the Captain's logs for information he might have had about the colony world or alien technology. She had already seen to the distribution of information regarding construction of Colony facilities. A problem not so easily solved: the growing factionalism within the colony. There were Keepers who wanted to retain control, Colonists who wanted to take the reins, even a new Cotu faction forming up around her. And worst of all, the Jovan faction, that seemed to want to make demands at random, throw sand in the gears, and otherwise make nuisances of themselves.
    Today at 1:02 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    In truth, she had hoped that the Colonists would have taken over by now. Unlike her, they were trained for Planetary life, and were meant to be prepared for landing. Unfortunately, it seemed that whatever leadership structure had been set up for the Colony had perished, either in the tech infestation or the crash. There were calls for elections--something she favored in principle, but until peaceful relations with the "Fasties" were achieved and the threat of surprise attack (from them, at least) dispensed with, would it be safe to let the Colony's internal conflicts brew and come fully out into the open?
    Today at 1:06 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia found herself taking on more and more responsibility when it came to organizing the colonists. Mostly, because whenever a fight broke out SOMEone had to step in with a cool enough head to break it up, and for some reason Virginia always found herself being that person! Maybe because she'd been avoiding listening to her father's Captain Logs, leaving that task to poor Mihari while Virginia managed all those things a Cotu priestess never signed up for. Instead, she was organizing a small research party that was going to scout out locations for actually getting some extra information on this planet they'd landed on.
    Today at 1:08 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Particular people were in a sense usually orbiting her mental workspace for varied reasons. Jovan in particular mostly when he got within fifty feet of her systems. Some of the keepers wanted to know when things happened or inventory got low assuming anyone told her when they used stuff. Mihari, as one who'd worn a suit, had since acquired a particular affinity of Sukarma's unconscious to float sighs into the executive. She reached a thread of conciousness to express herself nearby, "Something wrong, Mihari?"
    Today at 1:10 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick, even quieter now after recent events where his brief lover was lost, returned to the camp without fanfare. He had left a note for the too-busy leadership rather than try to interrupt their work to let them know that he was going out to forage and hunt, where he was going, and when he'd come back. His return was slightly earlier than he'd predicted, but he dragged a dead animal behind him atop its own expertly-removed skin. The beast was already drained of blood, and in a sack over his shoulder, he carried an abundance of vegetation that smelled safe to his sensitive nose. "I'm back," he announced as he delivered his generous finds to the science types who were better at detecting toxins than he was. "Test, please."
    Today at 1:18 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Wha--nothing beyond the usual...thus far," Mihari replied. Having a direct link to Sukarma took a little getting used to. When Debris still lived, she had lived in communion with the vast, inconceivably complex web of systems that formed the Ship, and the choir of AI's that administered it all. It had felt like relating to nested pantheons of spirits immersed within a synergistic Great Mind and Body of the Ship itself. Sukarma was an individual, human (well, close enough to count as far as Mihari was concerned) consciousness.
    Today at 1:19 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    With his booty delivered, Warwick made his way to where he expected Virginia and Mihari. He spotted Mihari before too long and raised his hand in a brief wave, not wanting to interrupt, but to make sure she knew he was back.
    Today at 1:21 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma decided it wasn't a concern as much as stress and chatted about her latest bits of news, "Well, I think the industrial dropship ganglions will heal but it's not flying anytime soon. I've been going through my module bank seeing if anything might be useful. Mom left me stuff that I never opened but I guess I have to look now. Ivenka used to keep track of everything for me but neither of them are in me anymore."
    Today at 1:27 PM​
  • Diana:
    There was a lot of whispering about Warwick, for that coupling had been the talk of the colony for a bit. At least there was no lack of willing potential partners out there! Some were eager to get to the babymaking business, despite how far they were from having a stable colony. Or if this was even the right planet for one! All the more reason Virginia ended up with several willing volunteers for her research mission, including Jovan who felt his presence NECESSARY.
    Today at 1:27 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve gave Warwick a smile. "The migh'y 'unter returns," she said. She pulled her mask up and goggles down, then started testing the life-forms he'd brought back for edibility--and in the case of the plants, any prospects of medicines or other useful materials as well. Thus far, the life on this world shared the same chirality as human life, which meant it wasn't inherently toxic. But it was still alien, which meant that not only did she have to check for things like potentially dangerous microorganisms and parasites human biology would have no resistance to (and vice versa--for humanity to start its time on this planet by unleashing new versions of smallpox plagues on the local life would be Bad), she had to make sure there weren't any toxic enzymes or other surprises before clearing local life for introduction into the colonial larder.
    Today at 1:28 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick gave Maeve a brief salute before he headed to check in with the leadership. On seeing Virginia hard at work, he cleared his throat in an awkward attempt to not startle her before he spoke up. "I'm back." He spotted Jovan's name on the list, and his mouth twitched. "I'll go too."
    Today at 1:35 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia had to use everything in her power not to pull a face about Jovan joining her mission. Yet, somehow, dealing with Jovan was less scary than listening to old logs about her parents, so this was what she was working with. "Great, Warwick. We just need to grab some equipment and we'll be good to set out."
    Today at 1:36 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Thank you," Mihari replied. Sukarma had proven invaluable to the success of the Colony thus far. Not only had she set up the defense perimeter and provided much-needed firepower, she and her systems seemed able to resist tech infestation, which made her able to provide desperately needed computational and technological capacity. "I will try to help you with the dropship as soon as possible," she said. Providing the Colony with space access capability--a new Ship, even if it was small and with limited range--was one of her own personal priorities, even though many other things needed to be done as well, all of them competing for primacy.
    Today at 1:37 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    With the colony more set up Sukarma's avatar showed up for the science mission rather than defense though did bring her overly thick sword with her. A curious clear case with a pair of synthetic eyeballs. She might not be much of a scientist but just enough to give them stuff they wanted squinting at. Barefoot and habitually far too quiet she said to Virgina, "Ready for the research team. I changed out some lens assemblies and brought some macro lens eyeballs. Best I can get you is some e-ink paper to look at the pictures with. Just warn me if I need to change eyeballs to stab things."
    Today at 1:40 PM​
  • Diana:
    Jovan and a couple of his comrades had loaded up on their own weapons, as his loyalist neck of the woods had recently taken up a disliking to Sukarma's... mechanical side. After all, it was technology that got infected, went insane, and crashed them all there on the planet. Now they had that technology worshiping priestess and this weird living ship running the show? ...none of them had yet said this out loud, though. One could just FEEL the disdain coming off them whenever Sukarma or Mihari were near.
    Today at 1:45 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma answered Mihari after checking a few things in the dim bodies, "Well, their souls are gone from my head now so damage control self-repair isn't really a thing anymore unless I'm asleep. You can look around the cargo or module storage for skates for the MPV but it's only going to be like 10 miles an hour on flat terrain. The sintering printer needs repair before I can try realigning the engine. The industrial dropship has a toolhead plate fracture. I had to soak a hit from the Debris on my way down to the planet before it pulverized a pod."
    Today at 1:45 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "You lot are 'eadin' out?" Maeve said. "Oi," she said, waving over some of the agriculture specialists. "Pu' all this in refrigeration quarantine would ye, an' make sure it doesn't get eaten 'till I've 'ad a chance t' do a full analysis," she said. She'd done an MRI of the animal and plants, to make sure there weren't any parasites, wriggling larvae, symbiotes or other squirming things inside them, but a full biological analysis would take more time than she had. Once they set to it, she grabbed her analysis kit and headed over to join the expedition. "Mave McCallister reportin' for duty ma'am," she said to Virginia, giving the girl a jaunty salute. Technically, she outranked the Cadet, but Virginia had really stepped up, and in her opinion, had the kind of leadership skills the Colony needed.
    Today at 1:46 PM​
  • Diana:
    "..change eye- You know what, let's just get this mission going before it's too late in the day to find a research camp." Virginia was NOT happy at the amount of weapons these guys had, especially if something went wrong out in the jungle. But well... they were still working out dynamics. She handed Maeve one of the rucksacks full of equiptment, and another to Warwick. Sukarma was basically equipment herself.
    Today at 1:48 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick hefted his sack and offered a hand to help carry more. His bag didn't seem to burden him in the slightest, and part of why he was coming was to keep Jovan and his ilk from getting belligerent. Part of that meant looking bigger, stronger, and meaner than them. In all honesty, it would have been easy to just take Jovan out somewhere away from everyone else and deal with him, but it wasn't his choice to make. "Load me up," he urged with a meaningful glance towards Jovan's crew, hopeful that he was making it clear enough that he was trying to keep them intimidated.
    Today at 1:52 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve gave Jovan and his crew a suspicious look. "Mr. Warwick, would ye mind takin' charge o' securi'y for this li'l outing?" she said. "And you lot, don't shoot nothin' unless 'e says so!" The last thing she--or the Colony needed, was trigger-happy idiots ruining any chance at peaceful coexistence with the Fasties or anything else they might find here, like native sapients. Survival would be difficult enough without a needless war, especially since they already had one with the alien tech menace to deal with.
    Today at 1:54 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked over and winked, "You can have eyes, or armor, but not both. Especially when considering orbital debris. So I have spares."

    Much like Warwick, she lifted a rucksack with ease, "I can carry heavy stuff but I'd prefer to stay mobile."
    Today at 1:54 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick nodded. "Got it." He gave a brief salute. "Anything else?"
    Today at 2:05 PM​
  • Diana:
    Jovan wasn't all that good at giving an innocent look. He mostly just looked smug. But his grouping behaved, and the other volunteers for the mission were good and ready. Thus the medium-sized group headed off in the direction that'd previously been discussed. Leaving behind Mihari to continue looking through Captain Wainwright's logs.

    After a good three hours of walking, the mission party came across what at first glance appeared to be wreckage from the Debris, but on further inspection might be a much older crash. While Mihari herself similarly was coming across something in the logs titled DOCTOR JESSICA VAN NESS-WAINWRIGHT: PROJECT GENESIS.

    Today at 2:06 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari gave a glance and a brief smile toward Virginia. She and the young woman had both been quite busy trying to hold the Colony together, so they hadn't had a chance to talk...or perhaps Virginia didn't want to talk with her. She wanted to give Virginia time to grieve and access her father's personal logs on her own time, and come to her when she was ready. But would she ever be? Would she come to believe Jovan's lies about her killing Captain Wainwright as part of some ridiculous coup? Worse still, she kept replaying the Captain's death in her mind: was there any way she could have saved him? With her hands in the control waldoes for the nano-conainment systems, she'd barely been able to slow the arm's efforts to reach the Captain. The door to the containment facility was designed to close quickly, but open slowly. As far as she could tell through repeatedly going over her memories and the video logs, there was no way she could have abandoned the waldoes, opened the door enough to get him out, and done so before the alien tech could have reached them and escaped. But her mind still clawed at it, fearing that perhaps there'd been a way she'd failed to see. Captain Wainwright's absence felt like a missing piece of her own mind, the piece best able to deal with the Colony's current circumstances.
    Today at 2:10 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari pushed those thoughts aside, and accessed the log entry. Could that be Virginia's mother? Why did neither of them ever talk about her? she thought.
    Today at 2:11 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    As the ridge had metal peek up and above Sukarma skipped up and bounded a few stones to get a view, "Wreckage, ho! I can't use the electronic antenna adapters anymore so before anyone asks. no, I don't know if it's transmitting anything. I don't think those pieces fit the Debris though."
    Today at 2:11 PM​
  • Diana:
    "It actually looks like our metal work," exclaimed Virginia with some surprise. "Everybody spread out and see how big the crash site is! This has definitely been buried for a decade at minimum!" Virginia herself was happy to dive into this sort of investigative work, both as a distraction, and from pure curiosity. WERE the fasties from a crashed colony ship like theirs?
    Today at 2:14 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Could this be from the ship the Fasties came on?" Maeve asked. She wasn't a techie like Sukarma or Acting Captain Jirae, but she looked the wreckage over, trying to figure out if it was human construction, or alien tech. She brought up her sensor tablet and took video recordings to transmit back to the Colony for Mihari to look at, assuming she could get a signal through.
    Today at 2:16 PM​
  • Diana:
    The logs in this folder appeared to be in a mess. Almost as if someone had gone in and deliberately jacked everything up, from moving files around, to mislabeling things, to even corrupting files. The first one Miharu could get to run was a video clip of an attractive middle aged woman in a lab coat. "The Object 639 was one of the last pulled out of the hull, and appears to not only be a metal alloy but sentient in ways I can't even begin to understand. It keeps reacting to the equipment and I believe it's trying to communicate with me."
    Today at 2:20 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma handed over her eink paper to Virginia before heading off, "I'll run about and try to get a 3d perception. Not much horsepower since it's nearly analog so has about ten seconds of update lag."
    Today at 2:26 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari ran a data-recovery algorithm, trying to clean up the corruption. If the Ship had contact with the alien tech before, why didn't the Captain warn us? Give us a chance to try to prepare? she thought.
    Today at 2:28 PM​
  • Diana:
    "Ten seconds still sounds hella fast to me, Sukarma," Virginia laughed it off, finding one of the bigger metal plates to see if there was anything she could scan up herself. YIEEEP! Besides bugs, When she flipped it, there was a hell of a lot of buglife under there and possibly a rodent or amphibian or two!
    Today at 2:30 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    This must have happened before Mihari's own time as a Keeper, but the Ancestors had not passed anything about it down to her, so these events must have been kept secret, at a minimum from the Cotu Keepers, if not from nearly all of the Keeper staff.
    Today at 2:31 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick sniffed the air. He kept himself on alert, wary not only of the Fasties, but also a known troublemaker. He stilled for a moment as he heard Virginia's startled cry. A glance in her direction brought a sigh of relief. "Need help lifting?"
    Today at 2:32 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma's data recovery algorithm was slightly different than one might have from an AI. An intuition thread quietly cherry picked at the ai threads for potential meaning in the worst corrupted noise and suggested it in separate data streams.
    Today at 2:32 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Careful," Maeve said, scanning the critters for any that might have venomous stingers, spore-sprayers, or any other unpleasant surprises.
    Today at 2:33 PM​
  • Diana:
    The corruption was such a mess, it truly was a struggle for Mihari to work with. Yet, the more it processed, the easier she could see a pattern within it. One that suspiciously matched some of the alien technology that had crashed Debris. Another video popped up, the lady doctor now standing with an older gentleman. One of the senior medical staff. "Yes, yes, just hold it steady there while I try to insert the piece in here. Then we can--" POP! POP! Sparks went flying around the lab as the doctor inserted a small metal chip into one of his medical devices.
    Today at 2:36 PM​
  • Diana:
    "Believe me, I am being SO careful," insisted Virginia. Giving Warwick a solid nod about his help, and stepping back so he could do all the heavy lifting.
    Today at 2:37 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grunted and approached. He lifted a piece of debris carefully, but with just one hand. He held it up as he kept alert, unwilling to let his guard down.
    Today at 2:39 PM​
  • Diana:
    Most of the rest of the research team were doing as they should, leaving only Jovan lurking nearby and giving a sneer about the bugs. He even picked one up out of the dirt. "There's worse things to be afraid of out here. Think fast, Wainwright!" Jovan tossed that bug right in Virginia's direction - it didn't get very far, but that didn't stop Virginia from taking a sudden jump back to avoid it. Finding her feet didn't land on solid ground! With a tipping yelp, the ground started to cave out from under her and Warwick, sending the two crashing down below with a CLANG on top a metal floor. At least this time Jovan actually looked surprised and alarmed, rushing over to look down into the pit. "Still alive down there?"
    Today at 2:41 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma's knees were a product more of engineering than evolution and was hopping through and over debris. Every ten seconds a fixed isometric view updated on the paper after a second or two. Occasionally remembering to map interesting tidbits with an exclamation mark. When she heard the clanging over her own the blue dot started moving toward them on the paper. She arrived at the hole with jovan looking down and the map continued to update. "The subterranean parts are close to the surface for quite a ways at it's resting angle. You have a way back up here?"
    Today at 2:45 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    What are they doing?! Mihari thought. The sight of a senior medical officer experimenting with integrating what appeared to be alien technology with a medical device sent a chill down her spine. Was she seeing the moment the invasive tech made its way into the cryo system? But now that she could recognize the alien pattern, she opened the code for her data recovery algorithm and started making alterations to target and remove it. It was like crafting an exorcism ritual. Once this was done, she saved it as a new file, then made a copy of the log so she could use the new algorithm on that and not risk the original. Finally, she sent the new execration algorithm in to purify the copied log of infestation so she could continue the data recovery process.
    Today at 2:48 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "OI! You fookin' idiot!" Maeve exclaimed, punching Jovan in the shoulder. "You wanna know what animal killed the most 'umans back on ol' Earth? Wasn't sharks or bears--foo
    kin' mosquitoes, tha's what! Bugs! We don't know nothin' 'bout the life here! Any ol' thing here, like a bug or a lichen, could fookin' wipe us out! Jesus fookin' Christ!"
    Today at 2:51 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick moved immediately. Muscular arms wrapped around Virginia's head and shoulders as he rotated himself to hit the ground and cushion her fall. He grunted in pain, but called up, "We're alive!"
    Today at 2:57 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked to jovan with a tilt of the head and a raise of her brow. Not sure what had transpired just said, "careful, jovan. Most of this stuff was sitting in mud for ages. It's probably rusted through."
    Today at 2:58 PM​
  • Diana:
    "Your ass bone," groaned Virginia, who thankfully didn't land on her own ass, but landing on the giant guy wasn't any less embarrassing! She scrambled off to dust herself and glance around at what bits she could see in the dim light. "...it looks just like the halls in the Debris down here. Just... rusted out. I think there's a good portion of the ship under here!"
    Today at 2:58 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick let her up first before he stood and looked around. Not much light... Virginia could actually see a faint glow from his eyes as he looked around, then held up a hand. Small motes of light drifted outwards and illuminated the area.
    56 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    KSsssshk. Another video popped up for Mihari. This time the lady doctor by herself. She looked drastically pale, with bandages wrapped around her hand and wrist. "We couldn't find the other pieces. I thought perhaps one had lodged itself inside my hand, but there's no sign of the metal alloy. It may have liquidized into my blood stream. Doctor Lawrence has instructed me not to bring this to the Captain, but... if it's sentient... this research is growing out of hand."
    55 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    An inner defensive system started interrupting mihari's recovery process then ushering it along. Angry little t cells of digital defenses taking umbridge with the bits of corruption and conceptual pattern. The suits ar system bleeps about an anomalous program. The task identity taking shape as a small creature holding onto the window like a dream figment.
    55 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    Jovan didn't look at all apologetic about how things were turning out so far. "We found what we were looking for, anyhow. We ought to all find a way down there and see what happened to this crew."
    54 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma looked around, "well if we can find a strut long and light enough i could drag it over and into the hole."
    50 minutes ago​
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Come jump, Jovan." Warwick's tone made his suggestion sound like a strangely good idea to Jovan, but Warwick said nothing about catching him.
    49 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    She called down, "do you have any exits from there? I could jump down but i can only jump about my own height up. Too dense."
    48 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    "We don't need more people down here until we have a good way out," warned Virginia. Not sure who she was warning yet, but it had to be said all the same! "You guys see if you can lower something steady down here. Warwick and I will go down the corridor and see if maybe it exits out somewhere!"
    45 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve breathed a sigh of relief. At least the pair were alright. "If ye don't mind gettin' burried if'n th' roof should c'lapse, like i' jus' did," she snapped at Jovan. Gods an' goddesses, the guy was a moron. It was getting really, really hard not to just hope that his rampant stupidity got his ass killed, before it did in anybody else. She figured Warwick could handle just about anything the ship ruins could throw at him. She'd seen him shrug off injuries that would have given anybody else a closed-casket funeral. With honest-to-goddammit magic. And Sukarma was, as far as she could tell, a walking armored battalion. "I go' a rope in my pack, bu' I think it oughta be Warwick an' Sukarma tha' check the ruins out. I go' a drone too, bu' its sensors are for biologi'al analysis, no' things like me'al fatigue."
    45 minutes ago​
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Sukarna should stay up," Warwick suggested. "She's good at noticing danger." With that, he looked to Virginia. "I'll follow." He could defend her from the back if things came tumbling down.
    42 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    "No one can understand half the shit you're saying, Maeve," commented Jovan, knowing damn well he was pushing it now. He DID follow orders, though, doing a quick look around the area to see how they'd go about getting the other two out - and making sure no one else fell down any other holes by accident.
    41 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma agreed with warwick, "One of us needs to be above ground. I've mapped a few places that might be doors, Or just non-structural parts. Virginia has the paper. I'll work with the teams up here to see if we can crowbar our way in somewhere else. I'm not connecting at all to this ship if it's one like the debris. I don't need another devil in the machine that I can't exorcise."
    36 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Once she understood that the new intervening force was Sukarma's software, Mihari started coding in concert with it, casting invocations to the data and banishings against the alien code, like performing a ritual with a partner. "Mihari to Sukarma, are you getting this?" she asked. Sukarma and her systems seemed to be interconnected, like an extended self distributed among her various vessels, devices, and her Avatar. Lexicon tech was more advanced and cybernetically interconnected than S.T.A.R.S.S. technology, but working with it still felt like the closest thing Mihari
    had to 'home' since the crash.
    35 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Right," Maeve said. "You lot, Sukarma's in charge o' Securi'y now," she said to Jovan and his crew. "Don't shoot at or touch fookin' nothin' without her say-so, got it?"
    33 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    Hesitant to leave everybody up top on their own Virginia had to force herself to lead the way down the metal corridor that had once been a big colony ship much like Debris. She used a small light pulled out of her utility belt to help guide their steps. The place hadn't been entirely cut off from the elements of nature. There were vines growing all over the metal tech and into the back panels that were the inner workings of the walls. A small steam of water flowed down one side of the tilted hall, like a permanent part of this new eco system. There was a door back there, partially open down at the bottom at least enough for people to crawl under.
    28 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma's effect came across the link as the little flying squirrel gained definition and a skeletal system like a dream suddenly remembered as an executive processing layer passed through the operating volume. She responded after a moment listening to two people at once, "Yeah, uh.... rendering that code is drawing awareness of the virus somewhere in my systems. If it's picked a morphology just interact as something roughly appropriate for an intelligent actor. Bits of my head are moving your processing space around so they can't get find it. I have subordinate parts in subconscious processing like you have characters in dreams. I'm not real good at the glial husbandry to shape a subordinate intellect though.
    28 minutes ago​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick kept close to Virginia. His lights followed them to provide some ambient light, but her lamp was brighter and didn't make the shadows dance quite so much. His nose constantly tested the air, and as they came to the door, he looked around before he stepped forward and squatted deep to get a look, unwilling to put Virginia in danger.
    21 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma went around the hole and squatted at the four directions. Using her fairly sensitive eyesight to update the volume map. It updated less as they got deeper in the metal structure interrupting her contact with the device. Sukarma started to shuffle teams on the surface toward places she thought might be entrances or doors that she'd seen as well as continuing to map the surface in the direction of the corridor below.
    18 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "I can help with that," Mihari replied. Much of her technoshamanic work involved the creation and supervision of these sorts of digital AI "spirits." Her coding interface appeared before her as a set of geometric shapes marked with sigils on their faces. With complex gestures, she manipulated the shapes, piecing some together, taking others apart, changing shapes, and conjuring new sigils with gestures. It was a highly information-dense programming language whose mystic symbols carried multiple layers of meaning. With it, she conjured a new digital thought-form crafted to work in concert with Sukarma's 'spirit-animals,' protected with wards derived from Sukarma's own cybernetic defenses, which had thus far proven capable of resisting infection.
    17 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    Jovan didn't look too keen on Sukarma now being in charge, but what was he gonna do about it? Shoot her? Fun to think about, but not in practice. Meanwhile, as Virginia and Warwick continued on in this derelict ship, they were finding more than just vines and critters... what looked like the same cave paintings they saw a few weeks back were scrawled all over these metallic walls. With paint, grease, blood... a variety of things painted over and over again in layers that had gone on for years.
    15 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve sent in her drone, watching through it via translucent AR overlay in her goggle screens. She made sure to get good imagery of the paintings so that the pictures and scrawls could be sorted out digitally later. Now if we could just find some stuff from before they forgot how to write...
    11 minutes ago​
  • littlekreen:
    An opposum appeared above the window as more symbols started enveloping her code with external links to relevant processing centers. A shroud of an adapter into the dream that clung like the flying squirrel to the window as banishments were addressed by the squirrel grabbing bits of code and handing it off to the opposum, who promptly ate it. Shredding and cleansing starting up inside as required. The tiny flying squirrel with more executive touch occasionally pointed at random code, but couldn't express why.
    10 minutes ago​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari paused in her work long enough to conjure a voice-transcription module visualized as a multi-faceted shape with sigils on its faces. Since Sukarma understood English, she was able to craft one that she thought would integrate with the squirrel, and offered it to the creature. Then she started a pattern analysis of the bits of code the squirrel had been pointing at. How can I even tell Virginia about this?! she thought. Losing her father had to be bad enough. The possibility that her mother could be at least partially responsible for the calamities that struck Debris...what would that do to her?
    6 minutes ago​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick made a mental note of each drawing he saw, and the eerie similarity to what they'd seen before. His frown deepened, and he urged Virginia to stop for a moment while he pulled a notepad from a pocket and began to scrawl out everything he could see, then made notes in the margins of what materials were used. He copied each individual image, then used another page to show their positions relative to each other with notes like their approximate height from the ground and how fresh or old some of them smelled. "Seems like Fasties were here at one point," he grunted before he looked to Virginia. "Should keep alert." He nodded once and jerked his head, indicating he was ready.
    4 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    With Virginia and Warwick making their way deeper into the (ancient?) crashed colony ship and Maeve's drone not far behind them, will they find any answers about their predecessors? With Jovan making things difficult up top, are they even going to get their comrades back to the surface before something ELSE happens? What IS Mihari going to tell Virgina about what is turning out to be a torrid and surprising piece of family history?
    2 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON... THE KEEPERS.
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Diana
  • Diana:
    WELCOME TO THE KEEPERS CHARP!
    Today at 12:40 PM​
  • Diana:

    CHARP LOGS - The Keepers (Charp Series Logs)


    THE KEEPERS The S.T.A.R.S. (Survival Transfer And Relocation Station) Project Colonizer ship has set out from Earth to find a new habitable planet. Because space travel has yet to be perfected by humans, it still takes hundreds of years before reaching new systems and galaxies. The majority of...
    www.iwakuroleplay.com
    www.iwakuroleplay.com
    Today at 12:41 PM​
  • Diana:
    This is a sci-fi setting where a colonizer ship has crash landed on a habitable planet. Will they survive long enough to build a new home?
    Today at 12:41 PM​
  • Diana:

    TYPE FAST, TYPE BRIEF!
    This is a real time roleplay, so you don't want to be too slow or too wordy. Try to keep posts to 10 sentences or less so nobody misses out on action or details!
    Today at 12:41 PM​
  • Diana:
    HOT TIP: Write your character name in every post. That way we know what character you're playing - especially if you're playing multiples! You can also use bbcode color to help your posts stand out.
    Today at 12:41 PM​
  • Diana:
    Game Master and Narration posts appear in this bright bold yellow. Pay attention to those because they are guiding you to what to do next in the story.
    Today at 12:42 PM​
  • Diana:
    My roleplays are always NEWBIE FRIENDLY! If you get confused or have any questions I'm in the main chat room to help!
    Today at 12:42 PM​
  • Diana:
    (◉,◉) (◉◇◉) (⊙,◉) (⊙◇◉)
    Today at 12:42 PM​
  • Diana:
    WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR TEAM... Warwick and Virginia are trapped inside a buried colony ship that appears to have been there for generations. Jovan is on the surface with Sukarma and about to be a real pain in the ass. While Mihari struggles with the responsibility of being "captain" and deciding how much of the truth should be shared...
    Today at 1:15 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick looked back towards Virginia. "How far in should we go?"
    Today at 1:20 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Sukarma, can ye connect t' me drone?" Maeve asked. "I can send it in first, an' if ye can see its feed, ye can prob'ly tell wha's structurally sound better 'n I can."
    Today at 1:23 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia let out a slow breath. "As far as we need to in figuring this place out, and finding a way out. Maybe if we can find the command room we can dig up the colony logs..." That seemed like the best course of action for the time being.
    Today at 1:25 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick grunted with a nod as he sent his light a little further, trying to get some sense of where on the ship they were based on his time on the Debris. It was hard to say, especially given the lack of any traceable scents, given it had been so long since anyone last set foot inside.
    Today at 1:27 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    The camp is so much quieter with Jovan gone, Mihari thought. She put him out of her mind and went back to sifting through the data for more information on Virginia's mother and her research and anything else related to the tech menace.
    Today at 1:28 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma was digging around with the crew looking for a way in that didn't require her to literally beat her way through the hull as she got the message, "Yeah, I still have some tranceivers. Hold on while I add a multiplexer."
    She mentally summoned the small script and affixed to mahiri's open console. A viewport flexed noisly as the ui reconciled to an actual web of silk. Just around the edge of AR periphery a tiny jumping spider with a question mark would peer down diligently. //oO?Oo\\
    Today at 1:28 PM​
  • Diana:
    Jovan was peering down into the hole those two fell down in... then promptly put his gun away. Gesturing to his team to spread out and start looking for any additional drops or holes that might lead inside the buried ship. These things were HUGE so it very well could've been under the entire goddamned forest! "...this is a load of bullshit" he muttered under his breath.
    Today at 1:29 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oi! You lot! Ge' back 'ere an' set up a perimeter!" Maeve said. "We cannae 'ave onna ye fallin' through some other 'ole, or gettin' picked off by Fasties or 'oo knows what!"
    Today at 1:32 PM​
  • Diana:
    "We have to scout to set up this damn perimeter," shot back Jovan. "A living man is going to figure shit out faster than that techno fucker is going to get something online and running!"
    Today at 1:33 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    A metal plate creaked as Sukarma tried to force her way in through a more solid portion. There were holes in everything but a service tube through the chassis might work too. Her voice sounded strained as a matter of psychosomatics than lung stress, "I have to be in stabbing range to fight these things. I can't person a gun this far from home."
    Today at 1:36 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick overheard the louder parts of the outside shouts... mostly Jovan almost being useful, but then going right back to 'asshole' mode. He wanted to smack the man upside the head, but he had a female to protect... woman. She wasn't a Hunter, she was a person. Woman was the correct term. He still struggled with that difference.
    Today at 1:38 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "She's go' our entire bloody defense up an' runnin' an lots o' other stuff b'sides since we've been 'ere, an 'ow much have ye figured out since we crashed?" Maeve replied. "Look, jus' stay close t'gether, aight? We don't need you lot gettin' picked off one by one like wankers in a scary movie."
    Today at 1:39 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virgina had a pretty good mental map of how colony ships were laid out, though there were some slight differences, and the occasion issue that some of this ship wasn't entirely intact. There were halls that got cut off by hard ground or grown plants. Things reinstalled and shifted. Everywhere they walked, they could see the painting and drawings along the metal... almost like the crashed colony had once used this fallen structure as an underground home. Soon enough, she managed to lead her and Warwick to the command station, something the former colony captain and it's crew would've used to manage the entire ship. "Hey, Warwick? Do you think we can get power into this console?"
    Today at 1:39 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Shitshit... We got a problem!" one of the scouts, a scrawny fucker with glasses, shouted as he fought to keep his gun, a very lively set of vines trying to literally rip it from his hands.
    Today at 1:39 PM​
  • Diana:
    "See, a problem discovered before the tech could find it," pointed out Jovan to the scouts sudden shouting. He pulled out his gun and darted forward to see what could be done! At least for the moment being smart enough not to just start shooting willy nilly at swinging vines!
    Today at 1:41 PM​
  • Diana:
    Something here in the jungle had certainly been disturbed... This was the first time they'd encountered moving plant life, and those vines appeared to come creeping from the underbrush with no telling if they came from one direction or many.
    Today at 1:43 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Immediately Sukarma stopped bending the hull plate as her avatar recorded then discarded a sense of contact around her own leg. It quietly logged a caloric intake as Sukarma pulled her sword from its sheath and pulled her leg through greenery. The amorphous steel alloy was damned sharp and the wrong shape to swing if you couldn't pickup an engine block, "Coming with some shears!"
    Today at 1:43 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick kept pace with her, walking just behind so he could see any threats ahead and intercept any attacks from behind. When they arrived, his brows raised, impressed at her ability to navigate the place, before he scowled thoughtfully at the question. "Maybe," he murmured, then thought a few moments and looked around, sniffing the air even as he inspected the area for signs of any physical tampering to the electronics.
    Today at 1:43 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Scrawny fucker suddenly shrieked and went down, gun firing to one side as the thing found the trigger. "H-help!" he shouted as vines started to spread along him, engulfing and grasping him until his gun stopped firing—out of ammo.
    Today at 1:45 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Bugga!" Maeve said, heading that way, careful to watch the ground and the forest canopy for other vines lying in wait. "Walkin' inter an ambush isnae 'ow ye go about findin' things," she muttered, scanning the vines to try to figure out what sort of plant/creature they belonged to, and whether it might be intelligent enough to disarm the man deliberately, or just grabbing the first thing that came into reach.

    "BUGGA!" she said again
    when the vines started to envelop the man. She drew her machete and started cutting at the vines to try to set him free.
    Today at 1:49 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    As Sukarma arrived she couldn't just slice at the man without removing parts he'd rather keep and opted to try slicing at his proximity instead. whistling noises came as she swung the silvery etched sword trying to cut the main roots apart. Her own skin more of a predator than a human's to things that were made out of food though they would get a grip on her clothing.
    Today at 1:51 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia herself was already trying to get the console hatch open to see if she could tap into the thing and see if they could access the database. Using her own little pad to hook into the thing and hoping there was power fueling it somewhere. Blissfully unaware of the chaos going on topside!
    Today at 1:53 PM​
  • Diana:
    "Look for the base - there's gotta be a root around here somewhere!" called out Jovan, not helping in the slightest for chopping vines, but at least with his gun ready to watch everyone's backs in case something or someONE came running up on them.
    Today at 1:54 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    On the haphazard webbing thrown in the window as the small script roamed unknown networks a small pad popped up as tiny hermit crabs with wrenches on their shells popped up to amass on it like a boat. Various systems were rather on red alert right now, and damage control was one of them.

    "You got it!" Sukarma switched to find the thickest mass and grabbed a fistful to pull at the vines and see where resistance was coming from.
    Today at 1:58 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "No, we jus' need t' get 'im free," Maeve said, "no' try t' kill the plant. We dunnae ken wha' we're up against. For all we know, the 'ole forest could be in'erconnected through th' roots!" There was certainly no time to explain mycelial networks and the way trees on Earth could communicate with each other via chemical signals in the air.
    Today at 2:00 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    She looked over with a stern look though it was more a combat focus than disapproval and tried to pull the vines apart to get his leg free instead, "Aright! Ah, how do we get the thing to let him go?"
    Today at 2:05 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "We cannae think o' life on this planet like we think o' life from Earth," she said. "We dunnae ken wha's what. The cu'est little flower could be a deadly preda'or, an sommat that looks like sommat tha's dumb on Earth could be smart here." Free the man, yes. Make it apparent that humans aren't good for grabbing, yes. But risk declaring war on the whole forest?
    Today at 2:05 PM​
  • Diana:
    "This passive shit isn't going to work if the jungle kills us first!" shouted Jovan back! In fact, he all but shot Maeve the finger as her stomped and did some searching of his own to try and find the root of the vines. As far as he was concerned, this was the same behavior that got their colony ship crashed in the first place. Where they should've killed and stopped a problem before it took them all out with it.
    Today at 2:07 PM​
  • Diana:
    On Virginia's hooking up her datapad to the mess of wires under the console she was getting a lot of... messy coding. Drawing the girl to wrinkle her nose as she tried to quickly search the corrupted banks for anything that might be salvageable. Logs, a passenger list... honestly anything!
    Today at 2:08 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "We can cut wha's tryin' to pull 'im if we 'ave ter. Like touchin' a hot stove, maybe it'll pull away. I'm jus' sayin', we shouldnae make ourselves a threat t' the 'ole thing, 'cause we don't even know 'ow big the 'ole thing is." Maeve said. "You're the one sent 'em all wanderin' out hither an' yon!" she snapped at Jovan. "This is exactly wha' I tried t' warn ye about!"
    Today at 2:09 PM​
  • Diana:
    BzzztBBEEEszeweeeeee. "We're fucked! We're fucked! It's infected all of our systems!" Came out a garbled voice as a log file was triggered by Virginia. "Everyone in the cryopods have been-- have been changed somehow! Like- like strange zombies!" Eerie and familiar... the statements sounded so familiar to what happened on the Debris. There were thousands and thousands of logs, even after this terrifying sounding moment. Hinting that the crew surely had survived despite it. If she could just download them all!
    Today at 2:10 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma considered the notion as she backed off combat footing as the executive downregulated the networks of her own network of silicate radiotrophic plants. They and started telling each other to back off, "I, aright. If I could bribe the thing with fertilizer I would! My gut's built to handle four people adding to it, not forty! Don't kill the plant Jovan, just make it back off!"

    She started trying to peel the man out rather than tear and put the gleaming sword away.
    Today at 2:14 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick paid close attention with a frown. He kept close, certain it was best not to get the whole system running. Yeah, this was familiar alright.
    Today at 2:22 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick placed a hand on Virginia's shoulder, a reminder he was there to protect her.
    Today at 2:23 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Scrawny fucker writhed, but the vines completely engulfed him. He couldn't move more than a little on his own. The vines seemed to come from one direction, but were fanned out and split forming a massive web that moved quickly any time someone came between it and the sunlight.
    Today at 2:25 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Scrawny fucker's movements were getting weaker, too! The vines around him were so dense nobody could see any of his face or body.
    Today at 2:27 PM​
  • Diana:
    Jovan in all his superiority scoffed... but he did obey the orders. Kicking dirt and following the length of vine until he could find where the root system came from. Eventually coming across this giant bulb where the vine system originated out of. Staring at it for a moment trying to figure out just how the FUCK he was supposed to get this thing to calm down and release their man id he couldn't just shoot it or set it on fire! "HEY. IT'S SUN DEPENDANT. Block the light and it should retreat!" ...OR Jovan would shoot it. He was already getting his gun ready to do so.
    Today at 2:28 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia nearly jumped when Warwick placed his hand on her shoulder, as she was so engrossed in the logs. But that was a good hint that they needed to get this all back to the camp. The girl downloaded as much information as she could store on her datapad - once they were topside, she was confident Mihari and Sukarma could quarantine it from the virus infection so they could see what happened. Once she had the data, Virginia was quick on her feet and nodding to Warwick that it was time to resume their search for a way out!
    Today at 2:31 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma concerned herself with three weakening man clearly starting to suffocate and was running out of options. He needed air and she could work in reverse, she knelt down beside him and pulled a hole just wide enough that she could get her mouth on his so she could force good air in and process the bad. Buying time for Jovan of all people.
    Today at 2:33 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve was starting to form a hypothesis as to why everything on this planet seemed to be so bloody dangerous, and it chilled her to the bone. No time for that now, as she spotted Jovan about to maybe create a catastrophe. "Don't shoot! 'Oo knows wha' else th' noise'll attract! Try to block its sunlight!" she said. She sheathed her machete and started squirming out of her jacket as she ran up to him so she could spread it out and create more shadow.
    Today at 2:34 PM​
  • Diana:
    "Us standing around it isn't going to be enough," he grunted, shouldering his gun as he fumbled along at all the gear he had strapped and stashed on his person. After a beat Jovan came out with a flare stick... one of those heavy colored smoke things meant to be used for spotting lost civilians if they wandered too far. With a crack over his knee and a SNAP it started spewing out billows and plumes of yellow smoke. Making it hard as fuck for any of them to be able to see, but certainly doing the job of blocking out sunlight too!
    Today at 2:43 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    The vines surged towards the jacket, engulfing it rapidly... and started to go at Maeve, too!
    Today at 2:43 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    The smoke was another story. All of the vines suddenly dropped entirely limp as it blocked all of the light, making not a singular shadow, but shading the area.

    Leaves lifted from hiding spots beneath the vines, thin and delicate-looking. They were strangely white, lacking chlorophyll, but covered in soft fuzz.
    Today at 2:45 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick nodded to Virginia. "If someone at the hole had long enough rope, it'd be easy, he muttered regarding the way out. He looked to the walls, checking to see if there was any sign of a drawn map, perhaps something used to teach offspring how to find where they needed to go. It wasn't likely, if they all grew up there, but... hey, maybe.
    Today at 2:47 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma broke the connection as soon as the vines went limp and started to extricate the scrawny man from his plant coccoon, "I have to say my sense of mercy for this damned planet is tested. Is this thing going to threaten them underground? That looks like fungus." Helping Maeve remove hers had a particular feeling of missing the once captain. She had to figure out how to lead on her own now it seemed. Maybe she'd taken orders too long.
    Today at 2:50 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    The scrawny man had green veins visible under his skin that connected him to the vines, but with the whole plant limp, they slid out or broke off inside of him. He was unconscious and not breathing—but his pupils moved under his eyelids in a reflex response—not dead, but near it, and in need of help getting him breathing again.
    Today at 2:52 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Right, come a' me then!" Maeve said, backing away rapidly and trying to lead vines away from the ensnared man. But then...for once something Jovan did actually worked! The vines went limp, but then the leaf-like structures came out. "Watch out for those leaves!" she said. "Quick! Ge' im out while ye can!" Then she activated her comm. "Maeve t' Virginia, come in. Maeve t' Virginia, come in. If ye can 'ear me, we've go' a bi' of a situation topside. Watch out for vines an' white leaf-lookin' fungi," she said, "they can move an' attack."
    Today at 2:53 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma hoisted the man up and moved with Maeve, "I need to keep breathing for him he's been constricted bad."
    Today at 2:55 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia and Warwick were deep enough in the crashed ship that their coms could only get static from up above. Not hopeless, but not helpful either!
    Today at 2:55 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    The 'leaves' only moved to spread their fluff wider, revealing that the fuzz was more of a series of tiny nets.

    "Looks almost like... snow," one person remarked as they helped move the scrawny guy, clearly disturbed.
    Today at 2:56 PM​
  • Diana:
    "He needs to get taken back to base camp," suggested Jovan, almost actually sounding concerned. "Someone can stay here and wait for the other two, but this one needs emergency treatment. We can't all wait around here to get eaten by the jungle."
    Today at 2:56 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    "Are they even still alive?" someone asked, sounding doubtful. "I mean, maybe Warwick, I think he's immortal, but..."
    Today at 3:00 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick kept close to Virginia, then paused. "If there's logs that recent, is there... a recent map?" he asked.
    Today at 3:00 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    "Carnivorous megaflora was something I didn't expect to see today," Sukarma said acridly and called out to the other workers with the scrawny man in her arms, "We all come home. Even if I have to breathe for you. Keep an eye out if there's one of these things here then there's more. If you have blankets keep them handy! Don't get near the white fluff it might be sticky."
    Today at 3:02 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "You 'ave got t' be bloody kiddin' me!" Maeve said, seeing that the vines had apparently infected the man. "We're on a bloody Deathworld," she said, then noticed that the leaves were starting to deploy fibrous structures. "Cover yer faces!" she said. "Don't breathe in that stuff!" She gave Jovan a nod--for once, he was making sense. "Jovan, you an' yer men take 'im back. I'll stay here wi' Sukarma. Don't touch anything, an' just stay on the path we followed out 'ere. Stay t'gether, straight back t' camp, an' keep yer eyes open an' heads on a swivel
    . Good move wi' that flare, by the way," she said as she pulled her goggles down and retrieved a medical-grade respirator mask from her kit.
    Today at 3:03 PM​
  • Diana:
    "I don't know... a lot of these logs are corrupted by the virus," explained Virginia. She did try though, scanning the files on her datapad and thumbing through them until she could find an old schematic of the ship. It wasn't recent, but it should at least give them a good idea of which direction to go in hopes of finding a way up.
    Today at 3:06 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Not a single sign of spores, and the structures were tiny, each maybe the size of a fingertip. They stretched toward the sky, seeming to wait.

    Someone plucked one of the 'leaves' off the scrawny afflicted man, then blinked. "They're not sticky. No spores, either."
    Today at 3:07 PM​
  • Diana:
    As Virginia and Warwick made their way down one of the old ship corridors power suddenly game to life with a loud HUUMMMM. But it sure didn't sound like the power of the ship itself. All along the ceiling of the ship was a line of green vines, the lights too glowing dimly in that same shade. Before either of them could even voice wonderment about it a large blossom unfolded and spewed out white puffy something into the air.
    Today at 3:07 PM​
  • Diana:
    Virginia covered her mouth quickly, but perhaps too late! All it took was one breath and she was coughing, coughing... and then passing out!
    Today at 3:07 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Oh, an' 'ave the medics on the lookout for fungal infection," Maeve added. She still hadn't heard back from the others. "Sukarma, can ye raise Virginny an' Warwick? I cannae ge' a signal."
    Today at 3:08 PM​
  • The Mood is Write:
    Warwick saw her go down, felt himself about to go, and he forced himself to kick Virginia from the room just in time for him to topple, his light magic going out.
    Today at 3:09 PM​
  • Diana:
    Jovan sure wasn't about to stay behind for that damn girl, running with his men to help gather up the fallen one and get the hell back to base camp! If he had any words for Maeve, he kept them to his own damn self. Including his usual smug grin when he was right about things.
    Today at 3:09 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma passed him off to another, feeling like she'd somehow failed again with another person lost to being eaten by creatures, "Somehow, I doubt this place is any safer by night. We may be on borrowed time. If they do that in the dark then if there's more of these things they all do that at night." She tried to reach out to Mihari and used her primary transmitter to yell loudly on that channel, "Turn off the internal lighting to the ship!"
    Today at 3:09 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Mihari was pulled from her efforts to study the logs by a strange signal from Sukarma. Turn off the...no, that message can't have been meant for me. They must have found a Ship! she thought. But why would she link me in...unless she needs more transmitter power! She closed the files she was working on, and headed for the base transmitter. She powered it up, rotated the dish toward the direction of Sukarma's signal, then toggled the mic. "Mihari to Expeditionary Group, turn off the internal lighting to the Ship. Repeat, turn off the internal lighting to the Ship." Hopefully, whichever part of the scouting group the message was meant for would pick it up.
    Today at 3:19 PM​
  • Diana:
    Too late, too late... Virginia was down unconscious in one of the halls. Warwick trapped in a separate room, likely also unconscious. Somehow it felt like the very jungle was humming now... dangerous for the middle of day for sure, but should it come night fall, things may very well grow far worse!
    Today at 3:24 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Maeve winced at the sounds coming through her earpiece. The signal from Sukarma came through loud and clear, and the boost from the base transmitter even clearer. Just t' be sure, I'd better try th' ol' fashioned way, she thought. She hastened to the edge of the hole, crouched and shouted: "Oi! TURN OFF TH' LIGHTS!" Then she turned to Sukarma. "Ye are lots stronger than us meatbags, yeah? If ye jump down in there, can ye jump back out? I ken ye will be immune t' spores an' the like too." By this time, she'd finished strapping on her respirator mask.

    Her drone had turned and flown back automatically when it lost signal, so at least she had some video data to bring back. She flew it back up and returned it to her pack. "I can wait for ye up here."
    Today at 3:29 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma wasn't going to lose Virginia or Warwick. She wanted to make the crew happy so she could be happy. As full of conflict it might have been. She nodded to Maeve, "I can land down there yeah. I'll try to find them. I'll smash the lights with my fists if I have to. Maybe if you can use the drone to increase the ozone level of the air in there. It's fungicidal. Fungus shouldn't kill me." She started spooling down internal processes to survive the dense metal making the distance worse and sent a message to Mihari through the console as she passed a packet of the plants and her volume maps, "Crashed colony ship is contaminated by something not a virus. Carnivorous megaflora with some sort of attendant fungus. Virginia and Warwick in there. I'm going in. I can't promise I'm not going to start getting severe hallucinations."
    Today at 3:37 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    "Do ye need me mask?" Maeve asked. As useful as her knowledge of biology might be, when it came to getting people out of a jam, Sukarma was the more capable--and therefore, necessary--of the two.
    Today at 3:41 PM​
  • littlekreen:
    Sukarma shook her head, "No, you need to be safe with it more than me."
    Today at 3:42 PM​
  • Diana:
    As Sukarma made her way inside the derelict ship, following the trail of Virginia and Warwick - it thankfully wasn't hard to know which directions they'd taken. Dust and debris had been displaced along their path and footsteps could be seen in the layers of dirt. More alarmingly was the way the ship was lit - not by it's own powerful, but something else entirely. Plant powered, maybe, with the way vines were webbed along the ceilings and areas had that green chlorophyl glow. Spores were now floating everywhere inside the ship too. Was Sukarma weak to hallucinations? It was almost as if she could hear little electronics quibbles and squawks. As if children were speaking but with radiowave voices...
    Today at 3:43 PM​
  • Zarko Straadi:
    Carnivorous megaflora? Mihari thought, feeling a sense of dread creep over her. It was not uncommon among Cotu to have a superstitious fear of being trapped in a planetary gravity well should one's Ship or Shuttle crash, be impounded, or not have enough fuel to escape. Without enough delta-vee to stay in space where Cotu belonged, one was helpless, at the mercy of the planet and whoever might live there, and that was a Bad Thing. This planet was certainly validating such feelings in spades.

    "Base to Expeditionary Group, come in! What is your situation? Do you require assistance?"

    "Expedition'ry Group t' Base, Maeve here," she replied. "We've sent Jovan an' 'is crew back, they got a man injured, might be infected wi' fungus or wha'ever taxonomic ca'egory these things belong to. We lost contact with Virginia an' Warwick, they found part o' a burried ship an' went in t' explore. Sukarma's goin' in after 'em. I'm transmittin' ye the data my drone got before it lost signal," she said, then did so. What if I don't make it back? I'd better pass it on, she thought.

    "Judgin' by th' way life here works, I reckon this biosphere's lots older than Earth's. Can't give ye an age estimate, but I think life here's had a lot longer t' run th' evolutionary arms race. Look up 'Deathworld Hypothesis' in wha'ever systems ye got runnin', maybe there'll be some exobiology papers on it."
    50 minutes ago​
  • Diana:
    Was Sukarma's rescue in time? Did that other guy make it? Was this planet truly a death planet after all? FIND OUT ON THE NEXT KEEPERS!