( 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?]

[hating]

[ a silence befalls morgana, but there's something like concern in her expression. she doesn't know this man, but he those strange things on his face - glasses? they're dark, though. perhaps it is for fashion...? and what if they aren't? but then how did he...

morgana's monologuing in her head about how she wants to help, is what i'm getting at. ]

You will... think I'm mad when I say what I must to you, but this is only what I experienced.

That thing speaks.

[ break it to her gently? ]

[splinten]

[...]

No, people speak through it. it's a communicator.

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]

[ that's... not what she expected. it shows. ]

If that is the case, I trust you'll be able to prove it. You seem more familiar with this realm than I am, my dear, so don't be shy. I would really like it if you showed me what it is this device is capable.

[splinten]

Do you want me to try to take it apart for you?

[HE ASSUMES THAT'S WHAT SHE MEANS?

Also that 'my dear' makes her sound like a cranky grandma. She does not look grandma-aged.]

[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?

[hating]

[ she's ultra grandma aged :(

what did they call them in the 1860's... morgana's quiet for a moment, before her expression slips away, a more muted curiosity and tenseness to her. ]

Take it apart...? You feel confident you can do that, I see. Would you happen to be a mechanic, my dear?

[splinten]

[This chick is so weird. She doesn't seem bad? Just weird.]

I happen to be Dirk Strider, and mechanics is one of my skills, yes.

[hating]

[ she doesn't answer at first. actually, her gaze roves down the hall; is she considering leaving? yes. ]

Morgana.

Let's clear up some quick confusion for me, then, Dirk. What is the year?

[splinten]

[Questions are actually easier: they are facts, and he can do facts. Even if the facts are the absence of information.]

Not given for the present location. My personal guess is somewhere past the equivalent to the 2000s in this world, but I can only say for sure that the world isn't mine.

[hating]

[ a heavy pause. ]

The 2000s.

[ GREAT. ]

In that case, you must be from around that time, yes? Tell me, ...have you heard of the make-and-break transmitter? That is as far as my knowledge of communication devices go.

[splinten]

I'm from 2425.

[To clarify.]

I know about the Reis telephone. This follows the same basic concept of converting sound into electrical impulses and then transmitting it.

[hating]

[ oh. ]

... I see.

[ MORGANA DOES NOT SEE. ]

The Reis telephone. Is that what they called it? It was a recent break in technology last I heard. [ in other words, she's from the 1860s... maybe. ] In that case, this is a telephone of some sort. And one was left with me? Why? For what reason...? This level of advancement... it's far more than I was prepared to see.

[splinten]

We all got one when we turned up here. It's definitely at least two hundred years advanced, probably more.

[So, her throwing it kind of makes sense? It's crazy and weird.

Actually, no, it still doesn't make sense.]

Why did you throw it, anyway?

[hating]

[ funny thing you're asking about, dirk! ]

And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee.

[ guess what? ]

Metal does not speak. I removed it from my person, did away with it, because it is unnatural. Temptation and sin takes many forms.

[ she thought it was possessed. ]

[splinten]

[uh]

So you thought it was a talking vibrator.

[hating]

A what?

[ FARRAH DONT DO THIS ]

[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.

[splinten]

Maybe that's later in the 1800s than your time. [Since it WAS after that telephone.] You mentioned sin and temptation, so I'm assuming you think it's a device that aids that.

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?

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. ]

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.