Arrival

[letsplayamod]

The moment is a bit different for everyone. Perhaps you were just minding your own business somewhere, others may have been in more... dire circumstances. Regardless, you were approached by a figure you can't quite picture, and they offered you an accord; in exchange for aiding them in the healing of a world lost to chaos, you would be granted something almost unheard of. Godhood.

And each of you said yes, more or less.

A blurry hand, shifting and rippling, reaches out to you. You feel a glow of warmth, unlike anything you've known before. As soon as you think you can describe it, you wake up.

The room you're in is plainly furnished, but it's about the size of a small flat. Plenty of room to stretch your legs. Don't get too comfortable, however. On the bedside table each room has is a letter; handwritten, it's wrapped around a bronze key. The lettering could only be described as the platonic ideal of 'neat and precise'.

If you are reading this, than our deal has been made. You've awoken in a place that will surely feel strange, so I want you to take some time to acclimate. Meet with the others. Breathe. I shall be along shortly.

-A

Whatever that means becomes more apparent as you step out of your housing and behold the world around you. The building you were in, and every piece of architecture you happen across, is blatantly pre-modern. Yet, something about it is otherworldly. Stone and iron and glass as far as the eye can see.

But above you was where the real questions were. It wouldn't be right to say the sun was shining on you now, nor would it be right to say it's the dead of night. Instead, the sky is a hazy mixture of both, wrapped in suffocating storm clouds that are threatening rain. Everywhere you look, into the horizon, it's the same.

Welcome home. Take your time and explore. Nobody ever said godhood was easy.

Comments

handshake

[cannotunravel]

[Misane doesn't hesitate to give a handshake, pretty firmly]

Since I said yes to their deal I guess that makes me an associate? We're supposed to work together for something.

[.....]

I can't remember what it is. Something about healing.

[sweetsynergy]

Hm, I suppose by that standard I'm an associate as well. That's on me.

[Yeah, return shake is pretty firm, though unlike with Ferdie she's not trying to crush Misane's hand.]

Healing a world, if my memory's not worse than it should be.

[cannotunravel]

[Misane lets go of the hand. She's not smiling nor feels very welcoming, but it's easy to kind of feel Misane isn't really the kind of person who smiles much]

At least you remember that much. I can't even recall the features of A.

There's something...unnerving about something as important as this deal being so hazy.

[Not that she's too concerned. Misane has more than enough faith in herself to know she wouldn't get into something without assessing risks and perks]

[sweetsynergy]

Maybe. Could be A just values their privacy. Not seeing their face is pretty tame as NDAs go.

[Not remembering details of the deal is more concerning, though. Vanity is- was, at least- pretty sure she remembered all of THAT, but if others' memories are fuzzy then maybe hers is less reliable too.]

What DO you remember, specifically?

[cannotunravel]

I know we talked about them needing my help...and that if I cooperated I'd be rewarded with godhood. I accepted.

[Such a reward is so unheard of where she's from, really, but...]

I'm not interested in godhood, if such a thing is even possible. I'd have helped without reward anyway.

[sweetsynergy]

[Oh, you're just an "altruist", okay. Sure Jan.]

That matches up with my memories, more or less. You don't think A can actually deliver on their end of the deal?

[cannotunravel]

I doubt it. It's the kind of thing that sounds good on paper, but I don't see how it can be done.

[sweetsynergy]

That depends on how one defines godhood, presumably. I'll at least be waiting to see what A has in their pocket for it.

[cannotunravel]

Oh...how do you define 'godhood'?

[Apparently Misane doesn't want to wait to see what A will propose -- because now she wonders what might have appealed to others when they heard about godhood. They may have made assumptions that will turn out wrong! And in her head Misane is already taking notes on everyone, really, so this seems like a good avenue to find out about personalities!]

[sweetsynergy]

Exactly. It's all about power- or power relative to those doing the defining, I suppose. Bringing us here means they have access to some, at least, in some form, but nothing yet that would necessarily be godly.

[cannotunravel]

Bringing us here could have been done with a portal.

[You know, reasonable scientific explanations for long-distance traveling]

Although those aren't accessible to any random person, so they should at least have some amount of power...socially speaking.

[sweetsynergy]

[That gets a small snort of laughter.]

Sure, a portal.

[cannotunravel]

Erm...is it implausible, for some reason?

[sweetsynergy]

I've been busier than usual lately, but I don't think I would have missed someone unveiling a working teleportation system.

[Or, you know, working on one in alleged secrecy. She has faith in Aegis' corporate espionage network.]

[cannotunravel]

I also haven't heard of anything like that being unveiled publicly yet, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[All it takes is skill and time, she knows that so well]

[sweetsynergy]

For sure, but that kind of research is going to leave marks and signs. Budget distributions, changing in shipping and ordering patterns- it'd be real hard to keep quiet even before going public.

[cannotunravel]

...fair enough. That does leave a paper trail a mile long, in most cases. Not that I have been keeping track of those things all that much.

[The only time she did was because she needed something hard to get access to. It's not like she keeps track of the state of tech and the such]

[sweetsynergy]

I haven't been keeping track personally, but I have- [had.] -people for that kind of thing.

[She shrugs.]

It's possible, but more likely we were shuttled in secretly.

[cannotunravel]

If it's not a portal then we're stuck with no easy way out.

[Note she didn't say no way out at all, she just said it wouldn't be easy]

[sweetsynergy]

Hm, guess we'll have to see if 'A' is here in person. If they are, they'd be stupid to not have a way off-planet themselves.

[cannotunravel]

If they don't, we'll make rafts ourselves.

[This is definitely the kind of idea a teenager like her would have -- the sort that probably would end badly]

[sweetsynergy]

...is that something people actually do?

[cannotunravel]

It's the kind of something people do when the only other choice is to rot in an isolated place forever.

[A last resort, in other words]

[sweetsynergy]

Ah, the leg-chewing option.

[Not. Not like she's made any choices out of desperation lately.]

Well, even if 'A' is joining us remotely, that should mean some kind of communications device on site. That would still be something we should be able to use before trying amateur ship building.

[cannotunravel]

Nothing wrong in having a back-up back-up back-up plan, if something goes wrong.

[Although she doesn't have a back-up, or a back-up back-up plan, golly]