( 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

[possidetur]

( there's a chuckle. vanessa wouldn't usually have a drink with someone she'd just met but this wasn't a usual situation )

I believe I need one.

( after coming close to dying it was the least of what she needed. she let him lead the way, never having yet been to the bar here. it hadn't been on the top of her list of priorities )

[resleeves]

[ that was the right answer. with a nod, kovacs starts back down the corridor, keeping an eye out for any errant floating objects and shoving them out of the way so no one would catch a bottle or a boot or whatever else in the eye. ]

There should be some alcohol left. Not all the bottles were uncapped or empty when I got here. Might not be great shit but it'll settle your nerves. Get you drunk if you wanna go that far.

[ the bar's pretty messy when they step in. bottles are still floating but some are still capped, keeping the liquid gold inside of them safe. kovacs grabs for one and then makes his way to the bar. ]

I think we're gonna have to share the bottle. We put booze into the glasses, shit's just gonna float.

[possidetur]

( when he stops, locating one of the bottles, vanessa pulls one of the stools back down. hopefully with her boots, and sitting on the stool, it will help to keep it down. if not this would be an interesting bar trip )

I suppose being unaware of what it is safer.

( there's a hint of amusement to her tone. she's not being picky, not considering how much was likely lost from this and the situation that they're in. anything to take the edge off would be better than nothing right now )

[resleeves]

I promise I wouldn't give you anything I wouldn't drink either.

[ he raises the bottle and the uncaps it, taking a few quick swallows before hurriedly putting the cap back on. seemed to work pretty well. no alcohol was lost and he still had a hold of the bottle.

not an ideal way to drink booze but it would work. ]

See? I'm still alive. It's fine.

[ with that, he passes the bottle to her and nods. ]

[possidetur]

( there's a fond smile, appreciating the lightness of his words. she takes the bottle, keeping her actions quick as he had, taking a small drink before resealing the cap and offering it back to him )

To our lives here, I suppose.

( considering hers had almost ended it seemed rather fitting )

May they be long lasting.

[resleeves]

[ kovacs snorts at that, unable to help himself and watches her take a swig from the bottle. ]

That might be asking for a lot all things considered.

[ he really doubts that this is the last thing that's gonna happen to this shitty station. ]

I agree but I'm not holding my breath.

[ shit was gonna happen and people would die. ]

[possidetur]

No, but hope is a fine thing.

( and vanessa would rather live with hope, as naive as it may seem, that be afraid. she's been there, always looking over her shoulder, and she'd like to know something else )

Most people would want something to aim for.

[resleeves]

[ he shrugs. ]

I know what my future holds.

[ if he was stuck here, it was going to be nothing but these walls and these people. not terrible but not what he wanted.

what he wanted was that fucking pardon but that would not happen if he didn't get back. bancroft was probably pissing on the piece of paper right now. ]

I'm aiming for making myself get up every single day. That's enough effort for me right now.

[possidetur]

Then congratulations. Your day is going to plan.

( she lowers her gaze, letting the sarcasm fall from her tone. she can't mock the idea too much, some days for vanessa that same thing feels like the largest success. thrown so far from comfort or anything she knows it can make getting up and having to face the unknown each day incredibly difficult )

I've been focusing my attention on answers. We have so few but there are more out there if we give it the persistence that is required.

( her head rises again, expression serious )

This place frightens me more than I'd care to admit. But how could it not when we know so little about what to expect?

( vanessa takes the bottle back, taking a slightly lengthier drink from it this time )

[resleeves]

[ that sounds pretty idealistic but kovacs can't exactly argue with it either. he's of the mind that there are answers somewhere just as there's evidence left behind of what happened here. no one's that fucking perfect not to leave behind a trace of what they'd been doing. ]

Guess that means you don't have any answers.

[ her statement made it sound like she was still searching. so, despite thinking that there were answers somewhere, this place was not making it fucking easy to know where to look. ]

It's definitely an unfamiliar experience for me.

[ and he'd been in a lot of shit in his time. still, no one can prepare you for being stuck in a space station with no means of fucking escaping. it was starting to get a little claustrophobic in here. ]

I'm a few major systems away from fear though. Talk to me if the life support goes.

[possidetur]

( the bottle goes down and his last comment earns him a frown )

What would that do?

( other than giving her one more reason to fear the unknown of this place. it sounded important, she could guess that much, and something to do with their living but she wouldn't have guessed its actual purpose )

[resleeves]

[ he frowns right back at her. ]

What would losing the life support systems do?

[ for a moment, he wonders if she's joking. but when he realizes she's serious, he cuts a finger across his throat. ]

Well, we won't have to worry about booze anymore because we'll all die. Slowly. Life support is how we breathe this shit we call air. When that goes, so do we.

[possidetur]

( oh. that would definitely do it. her expression is sombre, letting it sink in for a moment. it only added to her concerns of this place, that where they were was more likely to kill them than where she had been before. it didn't have any of the dangers that vanessa was familiar with and yet it didn't feel safe at all )

Then we shall have to hope that such an outcomes never arises, or we find a way out first.

[resleeves]

I'll drink to that.

[ and he did. that bottle wasn't going to last long between the two of them but they probably deserved it. between her paralysis and him having to make an effort and save her ass, they were due. ]

Cheers.

[ more drinking. tonight was gonna be a night to get drunk. ]

[possidetur]

( she gives a nod to the sentiment and when vanessa takes the bottle back from him she pauses, asking a question before drinking again )

Through all of this I'm not certain that I got your name. ( look, you take a girl drinking, she's gotta ask ) As grateful as I am that you saved my life.

[resleeves]

Kovacs.

[ he nods at her, lets he drink. ]

Hello.

[ he was just meeting people left and right in this place. he's still not sure if he likes that or not. ]

[possidetur]

Vanessa Ives.

( and then, finally, takes another drink )

May I ask how long you spent in space, Mr Kovacs?

[resleeves]

Before this?

[ he thinks about it, shrugs. ]

Enough time to know that I'm not really fucking fond of being stuck there.

[ the ground was a dirty, dangerous place to be which is exactly why he liked it. suited him just perfectly. ]

People where I come from like to live in the sky. They haven't quite reached space yet.

[ but they would. fucking meths would use that money to make it happen. ]

[possidetur]

Live in the sky? That sounds like quite the feat.

( if you considered when she was from. space was but a dream and only to a few. living anywhere but what they knew... how were these things true? )

For most getting to travel is a fine thing.

[resleeves]

Money gets you anything.

[ at least in his world it did. if you had money, you were golden. if you didn't, fuck you. ]

The sky's not all that great. Pretentious and haughty.

[possidetur]

Then you've been?

( she assumes given that he seems to know exactly what it's like )

I've never given too much thought to travel. ( and she had money ) There never seems to be the right moment.

[resleeves]

I've been.

[ it wasn't much to write home about it. nice at first but it got old fast. he wouldn't recommend it. ]

Guess you're not going to be traveling much here. Unless you mean from your room to the fucking bar.

[ har har. ]

[possidetur]

Now that could be quite the adventure.

( also joking she has... never been drunk before. too much of a proper lady )

Though I don't suppose I could have travelled much farther than to space.

[resleeves]

It's not.

[ the sky was for the rich. the sky was for the pretentious and shitty people who wanted trophies and items to show off and shove into the faces of those who were without. ]

But, guess you're going to have some stories to tell if you get back.

[ if. hard to not think of the possibility of dying when the gravity was going and they had no control of this fucking station. ]

[possidetur]

( there's a pause, a little uncertainty in her expression. given that vanessa was clearly in the future didn't know if there even was a way to get back. but who wanted that idea over them? instead, vanessa flew with the other thing )

If these tales are believable.

( not that vanessa had anyone to tell these tales to anymore. everyone had left her. alone )

I didn't believe that we were here when I was first told.