( 002 » ENSEMBLE ) gravitational.

[reveriemod]

» WHO? EVERYONE
» WHEN? JUNE 1 onward
» WHERE? ALL OVER THE STATION (literally)
» WHAT? Gravity is always on, until it isn't.
» WARNINGS? zero g, paralysis, the vacuum of space, possible asphyxiation, possible character death

0 0 1 » LOSS OF GRAVITY

The outer rings of Reverie Station rotate around the shaft of the station, using inertial forces to simulate gravity. One moment, this works fine — people are walking along corridors, sleeping in their beds, eating in the mess hall or having a drink at the bar. The next moment? In some parts of the station, a crunching sound can be heard, like metal against metal, and shortly thereafter, the rings cease to spin, causing a jolt to go through all rings.

And then what passed for gravity just stops.

Your food, drink or blanket might have floated off after the jolt. Remember to engage your mag boots, if you're wearing them, lest you follow suit. Good luck getting around in zero g.

( ♪ )

0 0 1 . 1 » UPSIDE DOWN AND FLOATING

The lack of gravity may be disorienting at first for those not used to operating in zero g environments. Fortunately, mag boots mean you can continue walking along corridors — though the boots will engage with what used to be the ceiling of the corridors as much as what used to be the floor. No matter which part of the corridor you're attached to, if any, better make sure to collect anything that may be floating around, lest it becomes a dangerous projectile whenever gravity turns back on.

The mess hall and the gym area in particular are in a significant state of disarray. In the mess hall, some cutlery (of the grey, hard plastic variant) has been left unsecured and is floating harmlessly through the air. The same holds true for a large amount of protein powder. In the gym area, meanwhile, the entirety of the dirty water from the pool is no longer in the pool.

( ☺︎ )

0 0 1 . 2 » PARALYSIS INDOORS

One moment, you’re walking — or maybe you’re floating, mag boots disengaged. Either way, from one moment to the next, you become unable to move. Your arms, your legs, even wiggling a toe becomes a thing of impossibility. There’s a heavy weight on your chest, despite the fact that gravity is still not back on. Taking a breath is an ordeal. You can’t call for help, you can’t signal to anyone, you can only stay still.

( ♪ )

OOC: The length of paralysis is up to players.

0 0 2 » TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

It isn't clear why the rotation of the rings has stopped and gravity ceased, but one thing is certain: life on the station is a lot more difficult without gravity, especially for those not used to living and working in a zero g environment. The sensible thing would be to fix whatever is wrong, but in order to do that, you have to figure out what's wrong first.

One way to get an idea might be to put on a suit (if required) and go out an airlock to have a close look at the upper ring, where the crunching noise could be heard the loudest. The objective is to identify the problem and, if possible, fix it — but unless you have the power of flight and can breathe in the vacuum of space, the walk from the airlock to surveying the ring will be taxing in and of itself.

Better not lose hold of the station or each other and whatever you do, do not disengage those mag boots. Hopefully, no debris will come flying at you. The station may be built to withstand it, but you aren't.

( ♪ )

OOC: There are some 20 vac suits with oxygen packs and small thrusters for (weak) propulsion available in the spaces currently accessible to characters; these can be found in various airlocks.

0 0 2 . 1 » FLOATING AROUND

The station may be built to withstand debris, but you aren't — which makes it all the more unfortunate that some debris does catch you. In the side, in the face or in the legs, it doesn't matter: what matters is that the impact is strong enough to disengage the mag boots, which means you are now floating in space.

Did your suit take damage? Do its thrusters still work, or not? Is your oxygen pack still connected properly? If your connection to the station network is still intact, now would be a good time to call for help and hope that someone's close enough to get to you in time before you float too far from the station to still be reached, before your oxygen runs out, before any possible injuries you may have sustained take their toll.

( ♪ )

OOC: With this prompt, the extent of possible injuries, the time before rescue and factors such as oxygen or damage to the suit are all up to players. Please keep in mind that character death is very much a possibility — but that death means relatively little. Should a character die from their injuries or lack of oxygen, they will awaken again. As per the death mechanism outlined in the FAQ, characters are brought back to life (possibly repeatedly, if rescue takes a while), but they lose something. What they lose is up to players as well (a limb, memories, senses, social skills, ...) and the duration of the loss can range from a few days to permanent loss.

0 0 2 . 2 » PARALYSIS OUTDOORS

One moment, you are walking along the hull of the station. The next, you're frozen. Your arms and legs no longer move and there's pressure on your chest. Even taking a breath becomes an ordeal. You cannot move forward. You cannot move back. You can't even signal or call for help.

What choice do you have but to wait out this paralysis and hope that it loses its hold on you before your oxygen runs out? Better not panic, lest you use up more of it.

( ♪ )

OOC: The length of paralysis is up to players.

0 0 3 » WORK IT

For those who've successfully made the walk across the hull of the station to find the problem, it will soon become obvious what has happened: debris crashed into the station and got lodged between the uppermost ring and the shaft of the station, where it is stuck, preventing the spinning of the ring.

You will need to work together to cut through the debris or dislodge it. It's heavy, and you have little leverage in the absence of gravity.

Keep in mind also that if you successfully dislodge the debris, the outer ring will start moving again. Be prepared, especially if you're still connected to the ring by your mag boots. Inertial forces can be quite strong, so you will need to brace yourself or risk being dislodged yourself.

( ♪ )

Comments

[reposing]

"Rhea'li?" is the last thing Alucard says before the vision burns into view.

Targoviste is an impressively large city, but right at the moment Rhea'li will find himself with almost an overhead view, gazing down at a crowd of people gathered about a bonfire and a stake -- and a woman tied to it. The crowd is full of jeering people and priests presenting their crosses, murmuring their words of God.

The woman looks up, locking her gaze with Rhea'li.

"Don't hurt them! They don't understand!"

She gasps, struggling through the flames biting at her flesh. "I know it's not your fault, but... if you can hear... they don't know what they're doing! Be better than them-- please!"

Fire engulfs her completely, swallowing her screams.

[lightduties]

And with her screams, the vision ends. Shaking his head, it takes a moment longer for Rhea'li's gaze to refocus on Alucard. Usually these visions are related to the person they are triggered near... but he didn't see Alucard anywhere in it. What's his involvement in it? He doesn't understand those peoples' actions.

"I'm fine," he repeats, bringing his hand down from his head to rest on Titan-Egi. He can still hear her pleas, echoing in his head. Her screams. "I saw a woman... burning on a pyre. She was still alive."

[reposing]

The words strike him close, and Alucard's brows knit as he jerks away, as if he'd been the one burned. "You saw--?"

There's a frustrated look at on his face as he's trying to figure this out. "What did you do?" he asks first, his voice stern. "Did you go looking where you should not have?"

[lightduties]

It must be something important for that kind of reaction. Rhea'li shakes his head.

"It was not my intention. My magic is my own, not so my visions."

He's surprised he still has the Echo, of sorts; somehow his link to Hydaelyn feels like it is severed, almost a confirmation he is nowhere near his home planner. At least he doesn't pass out every time he has a vision now. How long ago it seems when Y'shtola waited for him to pick his face off the dirt.

Quieter, he asks, "Who was she?"

[reposing]

The anger dies out quickly, and Alucard shuts his eyes, feeling guilty for lashing out in such haste. It was foolish to be so quick to blame Rhea'li; he has been nothing but helpful to Alucard since they'd met.

"Forgive me," he says softly.

Taking in a deep breath, he looks to Rhea'li with uncertainty.

"You saw my mother."

[lightduties]

Rhea'li's looks down, his expression grim. "...I see. You have my sympathies."

The image of the burning woman still sticks in his mind. He has witnessed death countless times. Sometimes the killing was with his own hands. But nothing like this.

"Why would they turn on one of their own?"

[reposing]

This is not a subject he'd anticipated coming up anytime soon -- or at all, if he had anything to do with it. Alucard wanted to keep this sort of thing to himself. It haunts him, it grips him every day.

He hasn't had a single second since that day to really mourn her. With what time?

"My mother was a doctor. She learned how to be more efficient in her trade by my father, who knows more than any singular human where I'm from. The very concept of plumbing is strange to humanity in Wallachia. With how advanced her science was, the Church deemed her a witch and sentenced her to execution."

Alucard looks away, shutting his eyes. "I wanted to kill them all. She begged me not to, saying they simply did not understand. Pleaded me to be better than them."

[lightduties]

Though he doesn't understand all the terms Alucard speaks of, he certainly understands what happened.

"She was branded a heretic."

He remembers Witchdrop, where those innocent of their crimes would die from falling to their death, and those who were not would turn into dragons and would then be killed. How far things have come since then.

He lifts his gaze to Alucard. "They feared what they did not understand."

He cannot say that he personally would not have killed them all if he was in the same position, if he were closer to his own mother. Though he had slain the Archbishop and his knights, it wasn't all for noble reasons. He'd said he would have Ser Zephirin's heart for killing him, hadn't he? And so he did.

A life for death. And yet they still call him the Warrior of Light.

"Were you better?" His tone is non-judgemental.

[reposing]

That was right, though the Church's words are not what Alucard prefers to repeat. Their determination of her as a witch, going against God, and dancing with Satan's malicious intent. It was all wrong in so many ways.

The question is a burning one. When Alucard chuckles, it is a dry laugh without any real form of humor to it.

"I cannot ever claim as such," he answers. "But I did as she begged. I did not kill them. I did not do anything."

His father, on the other hand, did not take it all so kindly.

"People are cruel, terrible, selfish, and lash out at what they do not understand. But they can also be kind, loving, determined, and looking to change for the better. Humans are complex, capable of good and evil as any creature. I will never slay someone, not unless I must defend myself. That is all."

[lightduties]

Rhea'li cannot speak for humans, but he knows the nature of people. He was, is, their champion, but it was two years ago they stabbed him in the back, even after all he did for Eorzea. He has not forgotten the spear of light thrown at his back. He has not forgotten being drugged at the peace conference.

"I understand." A small smile, though this one doesn't quite reach his eyes. "You are kinder than I."

But, perhaps, now isn't isn't quite the time to get into a deep discussion; he still is floating around. And he very much does like to have his feet on the ground, even if the ground is currently unyielding metal.

"You said these boots would allow me to walk?" He didn't think this place would get any stranger, but here he is, floating and hanging on to Titan-Egi like a lifeline.

[reposing]

It is not a compliment he anticipates. Alucard almost looks startled to be called that. To him, Rhea'li has been friendly and kind; how could he be more than that? But he does not argue. Not at the moment.

"Your words are sweet. Thank you," he says instead, his voice soft.

The subject of the boots earns a grateful change of topic. Alucard calmly floats down closer to Rhea'li, gesturing to his boots. "You can engage them with a simple button. They will then act as magnets and attach to floor. Be warned: they can also attach to the walls and ceiling as well. So mind your step."

[lightduties]

A button on his boots? Rhea'li cranes his neck to look. When that isn't enough, he briefly lets go of Titan-Egi and half curls so he can examine his boots more closely.

"This, you mean?" Except he kind of pushes the button before Alucard can reply.

His eyes widen -- as well as his ears and tail flying straight up --right as his magnetic boots activate and immediately yank him towards the floor. Once his surprise wears off, Rhea'li glances over at Alucard. He wasn't startled at all, really! Experimentally, he tries lifting a foot. It takes some effort. The walking is all around awkward, feeling like he's fighting against forces conspiring to keep his feet stuck to the ground... which he is.

Annoying, but it will suffice for now.

"You have my thanks. Solid ground beneath my feet is a comfort I did not imagine I would miss until it was gone." That goes for a lot of things here, though.

[reposing]

The surprise is a little endearing to watch, in particular how Rhea'li's tail going upright. He's never encountered someone quite like him, perhaps the closest being a werewolf. Either way, it's very much a feline reaction.

Alucard bows his head faintly. "Of course, Rhea'li."

He looks over his shoulder. "For now, I intend to make some rounds to see if anyone is in need of help. If someone needs medical attention, I ask that you bring it to my attention."