July Event: Riding the Wave

[lifeaftr_mods]

JULY EVENT: RIDING THE WAVE

Who: Everyone!
What: The Jormun reappear to allow some transformative fun...and potentially some underwater exploration as well
When: July 10th and onward
Where: Ensō and the ocean floor around it
Warnings: Potential (and fully optional) body/transformation horror may arise when undergoing shifts from land-based to sea-based shapes, and vice versa. Otherwise, tag as you go!

I'll See You on the Other Side
The Jormun resurfaced to greet their old allies on July 8th, bringing with them the offer to explore the ocean floor alongside them. They're not the only old friend that's made a return, however. The kaleidoshells, placid, rainbow-tinted creatures reminiscent of sea turtles, have also made their way to Ensō's shores for their nesting season. For much of the month of July, you'll have to tread carefully around mounds of sand hiding delicate heaps of kaleidoshell eggs. Those of you uninterested in sea exploration can remain on the surface, if you like - the kaleidoshells can make for a stunning sight if you're glimpsing them for the first time as their shells throw off vibrant rainbow swirls of light reflected into the ocean waters.

Predators are always keen to feast on easy prey, and kaleidoshell eggs are no exception. If you feel like protecting them from any hungry slypers or pterax, you'll find that some of the Jormun are happy to stick on the surface with you and assist. They'll even lend you a schlacknorkcvic, which is the Jormun equivalent of a simple driftwood training staff, to help keep any thieving creatures away from the nests of kaleidoshell eggs - though they recommend that you do so peacefully, if possible.

Get Carried Away
Or you can brave the sea waters with the Jormun, instead. With the help of the sne'akleriad pendant, your new, aquatic shape will allow you to navigate the waters just as easily as they. Whether you intend to make use of this new skill to go roaming about and explore some of Ensō's uncharted ocean squares, take a look at that underwater structure that's been sighted before, or just have a joyous time beneath the waves with your new scaly, tentacled, flippered, or be-gilled form, the choice is yours.

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In the meantime, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Underwater City Exploration Page
[ ♆ ] Jormun NPC Information
[ ♆ ] Ensō's Locations Page

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] July 8th: The Jormun and the kaleidoshells return to Ensō's shores
[ ♆ ] July 10th: Underwater exploration begins
[ ♆ ] July 17th: Part Two of our second year anniversary Test Drive Meme goes up
[ ♆ ] July 20th: Monthly Storytelling occurs
[ ♆ ] July 22nd: The final island in this voting round appears
[ ♆ ] July 25th: The Jormun return to their home beneath the waves

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[sonsofhorus]

The lights of his eyes blink once; if he'd had enough facial features to form something like an expression, that expression might have softened a little. He has trouble walking away from suffering, too.

"I appreciate it, but I don't short-circuit easily. I was built to survive-" An airship crash. "-some rough conditions. It's still not great though, you're right about that part. Water's rough on metal, and saltwater's worse." And he doesn't have replacement components if something fails in the face of corrosion, but supply shortages are nothing new.

"But there are robots that are actually meant for the water. I've even seen a few. And if this really can change me into something fit to explore down there, I may have to try."

[catpiper]

Does he really have to try? That's the thing. She doesn't understand why everyone is so gungho to swim in this vast ocean, when it's been nothing but problem after problem. It would be easier, better, simpler if he just stayed.

But she's never been able to convince people otherwise. The ones who want to go home are adamantly trying to solve this mystery, others want some excitement, and some just want to protect the ones that fly off at the first sign of adventure. She can't tell what category he falls into, but it doesn't matter when the dangerous conditions remain the same for all parties.

"Okay," There's some obvious hesitation in her voice. He even said saltwater is bad for their metal and she has no idea how to take a proper bath, let alone how to take off rust from a machine. If he comes back up corroded and hurt, then-

Well, at least their local god might know what to do.

"You can come back if it hurts or if you get very scared. The water is-" Not great. Not good. Not even remotely comforting-" I'll stay here for a long time, so if you come back up, I can help you get to shore."

[sonsofhorus]

The part of himself that's old and practical-minded and the survivor of years upon years (upon years) in the empty wilderness thinks of turning back in fear as a luxury. It's always best to be sensible, of course, but at the end of the day if something really does need doing then there's nothing for it. (That his exterior is scarred and patched, here and there, is not unrelated.)

But the part of himself that is a person of faith, still a Humanist even now, knows that it is not fearlessness that does the most good. And so what he chooses to say out loud, with a degree of gentleness in spite of the fact that his voice is deep and sounds rust-edged already, is: "...thank you. I'm grateful you'd watch out for me even though you don't know me."

There's a moment's pause as he casts his glowing gaze over the other activity on the beach. "I admit I'm a little surprised you're staying here, though. Not that I know much about people that aren't machines, but I thought they liked water, even if most of them can't go very deep. Is that not true?"

[catpiper]

The distinction this guy draws between them is for obvious reasons-he's not a human and she is, but she would've been hard pressed to find any difference between them if she hadn't seen his mechanical body. But that doesn't matter-he takes her up on the offer and she presses her toe into the sand, balancing on one foot and moving the other to create an scraggly, uneven star. She's gotta keep track of where people went in somehow. He could come ashore anywhere, but this is a decent starting point when she starts her trek.

"It's scary-I can't swim and I'm not very brave, so I don't like it," Not that the ability to swim would help any. She's been here two years and has yet to go past her knees in that spooky ocean, despite the numerous offers to teach her. That's not her jam. "But some people swim for fun-that's what they say. They surf and go really far and the waves don't make their heart shake. I think everyone's very different."

[sonsofhorus]

Horatio reflexively looks down at the movement, watching with a slight tilt of his head as she begins to scratch a symbol into the sand. He always feels unsure around organic life (perhaps always will, for as long as he's still here to have the impossible experience of meeting them) and doesn't know if this is some mysterious ritual humans do or if she's simply drawing for the sake of it. Or, indeed, if it's a location marker, which as a scavenger he's made more than once.

"I guess that's right," he murmurs. "But for robots, it's - we're still different people, but usually if we're designed to be able to do something, we want to do it. It's in our code." With his empty hand he reaches up and lightly taps one long finger against his forehead.

"Even then, though...once in a while, someone still doesn't want to do whatever it is. Guess it makes sense it'd be something like that for humans too." He pauses. Blinks. "Uh, are you human? I know there are people here besides robots and humans, but it's still hard for me to figure out."

[catpiper]

He's so different than the robots she's met before with exception to Crow and she's vividly reminded of him as he continues to talk. The few she knew about growing up were AI's with a singular code-unable to deviate from cleaning, from completing the project, from guarding certain areas until they were left to their own. And even then, she doesn't believe it was fully them. The short circuiting and ghostly possessions made it difficult to speak to discern what their original mindset might of been, if any.

And she's so thrown off that it takes a second for her to answer.

"I'm human." But she gets it. There are elves, dogs, gods, and all kinds of innumerable types, some that even look human from the naked eye. Or mechanical eye. "I've been here a long time, so I can help you if you don't know if someone's human or not."

Namely, because she knows a lot of people, but that's a topic for another day. "What does your 'code' say? Does it want you to go into the water? Or does it want you to do something else?"

[sonsofhorus]

Even if he'd suspected it, something tightens inside of him when she says it out loud: I'm human. Always does, every time, because of all the impossible, miraculous organic things that inhabit these islands and waters none is more impossible or miraculous than Man. Humans. By one name or another, as one idea or another, he has loved them all his life, whatever else has happened, and when he does leave this place he will not meet them again.

(But they still live, somewhere impossibly far away. That must be enough.)

"Thank you," he murmurs when she offers to help point out who's what, and then a moment later: "Me?"

Well, Horatio supposes, it is fine enough to say a little. And this wish has never been a secret. "In my code, I've actually always wanted to fly. Which probably sounds strange after talking about what a robot's designed to do, but this isn't the body I started with. Sometimes that can happen. To robots, at least."

[catpiper]

I've actually always wanted to fly-that's a little bit of info she's going to tuck into her pocket for the future. Going underwater is the exact opposite of flying to her, but he isn't driven by that specific code for this adventure.

And for all the complicated things in life she's had to learn: what spicy foods are, the different meanings of cool, how to wear sunglasses and hug-the idea of an AI shifting bodies isn't difficult for her to grasp. She saw it time and time again. Saw Shin flit to different forms, had her entire being copied into a tiny crystallized drive-it's one of the few things he doesn't have to explain.

But she might have a way for him to fly and that makes her smile because-

"Don't leave this body for a long time-that way I can find you again," And she holds up her arms high in the sky. "When you come back, we'll try to fly together. I'll look for things to help you do that."

Please come alive and with no dang rust.

[sonsofhorus]

Horatio has of course never smiled, and if he has ever really laughed, in some other lifetime, he no longer remembers it. But she is human, and alive, and very kind, and in some ways he is so tired, and he briefly closes his eyes and makes the kind of quiet humming sound that from most other beings might accompany a small and equally quiet smile.

"Just like that, huh?" Just as easily as that. You can come back if it hurts and we'll try to fly together. "...all right, then. Sure. We can try to find a way sometime. Maybe for both of us. I don't really remember if I ever actually got to fly with a human back then, but I'd like to."

There had been a human crew, he knows that now. But how much interaction had they ever had with the ship's AI? Had they actually gone anywhere together? Those are things he may never know. He only knows that Horus had woken up one day to find them all gone.

"My name is Horatio. Horatio Nullbuilt, version five."

[catpiper]

All her plans begin and end with getting Horatio Nullbuilt, version five up into the sky. She's too afraid to join in, but she can be supportive from the ground, thanks to the invention of the lovely iStone. But that's a conversation for another day. Because he has a long, long name that's going to be hard to memorize and she repeats it in her head over and over. Remember it's version five, not four, three, or two.

She doesn't want to ask what happened to the others-if there was ever any.

"I'm Ren," Far shorter. Easier. "Be very careful Horatio Nullbuilt, version five. You can talk to me on the 'phone' too. I'll be right here, so your heart can reach me whenever you want."