( OPEN ) system zero

[hating]

» WHO? Morgana + anyone who wants to get hit in the face with a communicator
» WHEN? 5/18, you know, around then
» WHERE? deck 6 corridors, observation deck
» WHAT? Morgana wakes up, thinks her communicator is possessed and then yells at the moons (Old Witch Yells At Space)
» WARNINGS? None, but I'll edit accordingly and warn in subject lines if anything comes up!


a; outside level 6 quarters

[ all things considered, this is not where she expected her soul to end up.

the cold, grimy floor of the deck corridor is not so unfamiliar to her that morgana is perplexed. no, it feels like somewhere she was before, and this dim lighting certainly doesn't help. there are key factors missing, and she uses those to ground herself. Don't forget about those things. It is not the same, she tells herself.

far less familiar to the girl is the device that buzzes. it comes alive, and it's looping message is curious. morgana thinks it's just someone speaking directly to her, and upon discovering it is not a person...

...the source of the noise, whatever this curious device is, must go. metal doesn't speak. morgana wastes no time in disposing of it.

by throwing it into the corridor.

you know, with her skeleton hand. there's a redhead with long braids lobbing her communicator down the corridor with such a disdain for the thing, you might think she was doing it for the vine.

hope it doesn't hit you in the face? ]

b; observation deck

[ the other point of offense was that hideous jumpsuit. morgana doesn't have spare clothing, though, so she raids the room she claims as her's, and can be spotted in the observation deck. the sheets off her bed have been pulled free of the mattress and wrapped around her like a cloak, covering most of her body. this is much more appropriate, she thinks - now, if she had a belt and some way to sew sleeves into it...

...but that's not why she's glowering out into space. her expression is hard, steely; she doesn't look particularly approachable. morgana is standing there, arms at her sides, one flesh hand exposed and one skeleton hand peeking out beneath the sheet settled over her shoulders. ]

...And I'm to believe there were two moons all this time? What sort of madman dreams up a world with two moons? I have to say, it's unique, at least.

[ she's calling it stupid. going quiet, the girl stands as still as a statue. she seems unaware anyone is at all present in the room with her...? ]

What are your ears for if not to listen? Decoration? I must say, my dear, I was hoping you might have an opinion on the doubling of that particular celestial body.

Comments

a

[splinten]

[Dirk has to hold up a hand to bat it away from HITTING HIM IN THE HEAD.]

Thanks. That was super appreciated.

[No.]

[hating]

[ the device narrowly avoids ruining dirk's shades and clatters to the floor, skidding back toward morgana.

... she skitters away. ]

I can tell from the bland, uninspired way you said it that you were not appreciative.

[ so there! ]

You touched it.

[splinten]

[Good job, Morgana. You identifeid sarcasm.]

It was going to hit my head.

[More flat affect, but in this case it's less sarcasm than a certain bland incredulity. What else was he supposed to do?]

b

[oculusriffs]

[............. what the fresh ghostly hell has he stumbled onto on his way to can town. is. is she wearing the sheets off her bed? he has so many comments about literally everything going on here, but for now, Dave just defaults to the first thought that popped in his head.]

Oh god what.

[hating]

[ yes, morgana knows god. she's a big fan of His ]

Is there anything going on in that skull of your's, or did God bless you with half a brain?

[oculusriffs]

[she's wearing bedsheets and she's insulting him!!!!!]

Okay, so which is it — am I a dear or an idiot or what? Literally five sentences in and I have no idea whether I'm supposed to be groveling or giving you directions to the angry gothic bedsheet space ball.

Help me out here, Casper, you're sending some major mixed messages.

b

[merging]

[Actually, he was about to say something before she said that! Now he's got half a mind to ignore her completely, except whoever this weird girl is she seems... kinda lonely. Or that's what he thinks at least, considering she's demanding strangers answer her. The white Loth-cat is by his feet, nuzzling against his legs.]

My home world had two moons, so it's not that much of a surprise. Guessing you're from Earth? Or another place with one moon?

[hating]

[ ... the creature holds morgana's attention for several moments, her golden eyes watching it closely. it's a pet, she thinks, something like a cat. ]

Earth, I would say. It was a place with one moon. That much I can say with certainty. If there had been a second, I would have known. Is this... your world?

[merging]

Nope. I have no clue what the name of this planet is, or even what system we're in. No one here knows, or at least no one's sharing that information if they do.

[Ezra smirks slightly. Meanwhile, the Loth-cat's eyes expand as it looks at Morgana.]

But yeah, I think it's pretty easy to tell how many moons a place has. Just gotta look up, right?

a

[wingstosee]

[ venus has seen a lot of things in the two weeks - three? she's sort of losing track already - that she's been in here. other devils. humans. superheroes and aliens and people from space who are logically aliens but look sort of like... humans??

what she hasn't seen is someone straight-up yeeting their smartwatch straight down the hall and at her. venus makes a noise remarkably like a young devil-woman getting a piece of technology thrown at her - sort of a: ]

Argwhua?!

[ yes. it sounds exactly like that. what comes after is a bit weirder, though, since it sounds like someone smacking a smartwatch out of the way with a large, feathered wing. OH WAIT IT'S EXACTLY THAT.

venus just sort of stares at the communicator on the ground. where did this come from? why did this happen?? what is happening here. ]

[hating]

[ the communicator smacks to the ground. it speaks, on loop, and morgana does not speak for a long time. she only stares, her breathing shallow and slow, as she takes in this person's appearance. it is... baffling, yes. but it looks so familiar, in a multitude of ways, and she would vocalize them if she could speak. this is a sight for sore eyes. ]

...

[ the communicator loops it's message, as if defiantly trying to fill the silence. she looks like a scared little girl for a moment - or perhaps just a girl displaced from this time. ]

...An angel... is it.

[ morgana moves her arm - the skeleton arm - behind her back. ]

[wingstosee]

[ morgana's not the first person on the station to react like this. actually, she's probably in the majority? so venus doesn't flinch away from the gaze, as self-conscious as it makes her. she just focuses on what's in front of her - a communicator in front of her, and a woman with a skeleton arm.

sorry, morgana. kind of hard to hide things around someone who has native, 360° vision. ]

Oh my god. I'm sorry! I don't think it's broken, but you should really-

[ she's on her knees on the ground, trying to pick up the smartwatch and check for damage, when morgana's words finally sink in. an angel.

venus doesn't mean to laugh. she especially doesn't mean for it to be as utterly undignified as it comes out- a full laugh stuck in her throat, her free hand flying up to her mouth as her eyes widen and her shoulders shake. oh my god. why does this keep happening?? she waits until the laugh's a bit more undercontrol, and only then does she say- ]

Um. Not exactly? Sort of the opposite, really.

b

[lightduties]

[The person Morgana has chosen to talk to this time is a short man who also happens to have a pair of snowy white cat ears crowning his head, a loop of brass piercing each ear, and a long fluffy tail. His eyes seem normal enough, but a hint of elongated canines can be spotted when he speaks.

Aaand he's not even gonna bat an eye at this stranger's choice in dress. Or the... unusual hand. Though the tips of his ears do twitch when she mentions them.]

'Twas not unusual on Eorzea. Two moons lit the night sky before the Calamity. Now there is just one.

[hating]

[ two moons, an angel, and a man with ears like a cat's. is there no end to this realm's strangeness? the girl regards him with a cold stare, though maybe she's just a touch too focused on his cat ears. how nice it would be, to live as a cat... ]

Eorzea... The word is so foreign to me, my tongue can hardly wrap itself around it. Nevertheless, I have no reason to not believe you. [ there's portable phones now, so. ] Am I misunderstanding, or did you just say one of the moons in your Eorzea was felled in some manner?

[lightduties]

[The cold stare bothers him not; Ishgard was perfect training for enduring indifference and scorn, at least back when he was just a suspicious foreigner being housed by the Fortemps.

Rhea'li nods. Yes, she is indeed correct.]

Once Dalamud hung clear in the heavens.

[He doesn't know the specifics, but...]

I was but twenty one summers when the red moon blotted out the sun as it fell from the skies. Trapped within the moon was the dragon Bahamut, who shattered his prison and brought about the Calamity.

[He had been safe, but the same could not be said of all his friends.]

I could do naught but watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYtjpIwamos

[inwaits]

[ it had barely been two days since she'd woken on the terminal, and giselle was already running into problems. namely, what to do about her newfound roommate. morgana was.. tempestuous, to say the least, but she did feel a certain governance over her, as if it was her responsibility to make sure she acclimated. after all, she was her servant for countless years. some things were hard to shake, even in space.

anyway, giselle is currently tripping over her baggy pants while making her way to the mess hall. ] Ugh, I have no idea what's so great about trousers. It's like my legs have a life of their own now! [ she's quietly bemoaning her awful outfit as she struggles to adjust to wearing an unfamiliar sort of outfit — she'd never seen clothes quite this ill-fitting, let alone so cumbersome. a corset was nothing compared to this — even nellie learned to lace the first few eyelets of her own. clothing like this felt almost hedonistic, as if the wearer slipped so far into sloth that they ended up making basic tasks more difficult for themselves.

once she finally makes it into the mess hall, she spots morgana from far away — her hair made it easy enough to spot her, and her arm even easier. she smiles instinctively. sometimes she's not sure why she does that when she thinks about morgana. she decided not to worry about it for now. ]

Good morning. I guess mornings have gotten a little arbitrary now, though. [ she giggles. ] Morgana, do you know how to cook?

im SHAKING

[hating]

[ giselle's voice is a constant in her life again. their conversation comes as natural as they had before, even if morgana wonders if this is the place where giselle should be. had she gone back to michel at all? is this where she went when she became lost? there's questions she wants to ask, but morgana knows there are no answers.

the mess hall is, once again, not unfamiliar. it is an updated version of a very old concept. like a foreign skirt: the outside is different, but the function is the same. she can adjust to it easily. the combination of these things result in a rather slow movement of morgana's golden eyes. she gazes up at giselle, then back down to the floor. what was she thinking about eating for breakfast? she can't even think about it. she'll let giselle decide... centuries of food being a commodity is still built into her. ]

We spent nearly a century together and that topic never came up? [ her voice is sweet and gentle, like always, despite her barbed words. ] I... never learned.

[inwaits]

You lived on your own for so long and never learned?! [ was she living off rice and raw vegetables when she was living in the witch's hut?! somehow, this is super scandalous to giselle. really, it was a little shocking now that she realized they'd never spoken about it. but there were many things they had never talked about. they had grown to have a decent relationship during their time together, but there were certain boundaries giselle knew she couldn't cross, at least at that time. it felt.. nice, to be able to talk with candor. ] Well here, why don't I teach you something quick and simple? How about.. porridge! Let's see..

[ she starts to rummage through the mess hall's stock, only to find that.. it wasn't a great selection. ]

W—What's even going on in here? These storage conditions are bizarre. Hm.. maybe we can't make porridge after all.. [ she starts fingering her way through the stock again, this time with a fine toothed comb. ] Oh! I know what we can do. Grab the garlic for me, please. And I'll just get.. this. [ thankfully, there was vegetable oil and bread that looked fresh enough. she starts spreading the oil on it generously, then tries to find any kind of device that looks like it could produce heat. it takes her a good second, but eventually, they're cooking with gas (or plasma? who knows). ]

b

[potentite]

[Sheets and a skeleton hand with a creepy, serious aura. This woman must be undead. The cool kind, since she's talking. The cool kind that isn't Bernie Lomax anyway. More like the Beetlejuice kind.]

Two moons would be neat! But kind of bright at night. And then you couldn't see the stars. But, um, some planets have them? I think. Um, loads of moons just spinning around I mean. Jupiter has bunches, Miss Ghost! But I think that's because it's a great big old ball so lots of little balls knocking around make sense.

[hating]

Are you an expert in balls?

[ this tag was begging for that. ]

I can see plenty of stars now, so I am not so sure I believe in that.

[potentite]

Depends on the type of ball, ma'am! Ballistics are most up my alley. And, well... um...

[He scrunches his nose, trying to think how to explain.]

I think it only works when you're on a planet? Since we're just floating out here all akimbo in space, the moons can be all... moony.

[ryuji]

[SHIT FUCK WHAT THE HELL

Beamed, right on the goddamned nose, Ryuji flinches backward, aghast that something had careened right down the hall and landed squarely against his eskimo kisser.

He looks around. More space ghost shit?

Picking it up, he notices that it's a smartwatch, like the one he has on his wrist. Also, it's unregistered. He looks around for the source of the baseball pitcher that just RUINED HIS GODDAMNED AFTERNOON.

Looks like it came from that girl who was chilling on the floor. His eyes lull into a compassion for the vengeance that grows within his heart and types in a few strokes to the communicator, registering a network ID.






@PippiThrowstocking

Approaches her.]

This yours?

[hating]

[ there's a lot going on here, and morgana processes it quickly. the thing smacks the boy. the boy picks it up. the boy... uses it?

... her expression is sharp when he approaches, and she seems to close in on herself. ]

I merely woke up with it. I've disowned that thing - I haven't even the faintest clue what it is.

observation deck

[possidetur]

I have no information on it.

( space is new to her and vanessa is still trying to adjust to the simple fact that she's in space. it has been difficult to wrap her head around, least of all because it isn't only her location that is something new )

Though two moons is rather unusual to believe.

[hating]

Surely there's a word for us all who haven't fallen into the madness of this place so quickly.

[ is it truly mad, though, when she's staring right at it? ]

Not sane, no... Earthling, perhaps, something to signify where we might be from. It almost feels unholy in its own right, that second moon. I feel... nauseous, almost, accepting it's presence.