lunarwhite | JUNE-JULY MINGLE.

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JUNE-JULY MINGLE.

THE STARS, THEY GLITTER ABOVE.

WHO. Everyone.
WHERE. Inside the White Moon.
WHEN. July 1 - 15.
WHAT. The first wave of foreigners arrive.
WARNINGS. None for now.

A DREAM, OF A SOUL AWAKE.

You are asleep. Perhaps you had slumbered in your own bed, in a forest, in darkness - as of now, you are dreaming. The dreamscape ripples, resolves into a vision of a foreign land, and then a world of pure white.

A voice.

ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ, ʜᴇʟᴘ.

There is the sensation of rising through deep water, regaining consciousness, and then you find yourself in a room of white marble. Sunlight filters in from a skylight. You see others around you, equally confused. Your items may be set on the floor around you, or you could have arrived bare-handed - whatever it is, you should get your bearings quickly, because the door at the other end of the hall will open in about two minutes.

A woman strides in, her emerald eyes sharp but not unfriendly. She is unarmed, a short dusky shawl draped over wood-hued clothing. Regardless of where you come from, you can understand what she's saying. Her voice is businesslike, any hint of annoyance kept out.

"Your attention, please. I expect you will have questions for us, and we will try our best to answer them. Before that - we have no idea how you got here, neither can we return you back where you came from. You are on board the White Moon. We will extend to you our hospitality as long as you cooperate."

It seems like you will have to do what she says if you want any answers.

TO THE STARS, WE ENTRUST OUR DIRECTION.

You will not be allowed to leave the Sanctum until you have chosen your allegiance - to one of the four nations aboard this ark. Once you have signed your name, one of the attendants will usher you out into the light of a new world. As promised, the keys to your residence are in your hands. You are free to go and do as you please, as long as you obey the rules that govern this land.

Look up - the sky is not blue, but rather a ceiling of peaks looming above the clouds. And the Sun is no longer the soft orb that you may be familiar with. It shines overhead, an incandescent crystal of white. It will dim at dusk, leaving a night sky without stars.

Should you turn back to face the Sanctum's doors, you will see someone else in the doorway. A youth with white hair and dressed in grey, oddly familiar.

You blink, and he's gone. Maybe he was never there at all.

ADMIN.

Welcome to Last Eden's first monthly mingle! It is intended as a catch-all for threads that are not put in log posts. Please direct any questions about this log to the OOC post here. Feel free to post toplevels for the month and tag around to each other.

For this month only, most of the faction leaders will be available to interact with upon arrival. To thread with them, tag in to the NPC toplevel and mention who you would wish to thread with. If you wish to have your character meet them later on in the month, please submit this to either the interaction turn-in on the OOC post, or contact the mods to arrange it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[It comes as a surprise to 9S when someone walks right up to him and offers him a hand. He hadn't gotten up because of a plethora of distractions, ones both strangely welcome and bewildering, and is still yet trying to process them when he's approached. So his first answer is a belated one, looking that hand over before he accepts it]

...I'm okay. [And if Naoto attempts to pull him up, the resistance that comes with nearly three hundred pounds of weight will inevitably come as a surprise. He's just so small for such heft. But he rises easily enough on his own] Are you?

[He holds onto that hand a few moments too long, observing that humans are soft, warm things. It seems that androids really are quite well crafted, for their skin is much the same, though it's difficult to tell when he's wearing gloves. Until arriving here, he had never known how they really compared with their creators. His curiosity, for this awkward delay, preoccupies him]

Edited 2017-06-18 10:19 (UTC)

[... This boy is heavy. Shockingly so, and Naoto falters after the first pull to bring him up to a standing position. But she doesn't just give up.

Even if the boy (is he really human?) does all of the work on his own anyway. How embarrassing.]

Yes. Yes I am. [Why is he still holding her hand?] The floor is not the most unpleasant place I've found myself on in the past.

It doesn't make much of a bed, that's for sure.

[9S can easily agree that it's not comfortable, eventually letting go and letting his hand drop. He really couldn't tell the difference between a human hand and that of another android, after all. Maybe it's something only the real thing could perceive.

It's something he files away for further investigation later, not satisfied with the thought that he's incapable. As a Scanner, he has to expect better of himself]

It could be worse though.

Stone or the cold, hard outdoors, perhaps. [Naoto has to suppress a shudder-- she remembers all too well what happened the last time she found herself waking up with stone under her head.

She found more of the same stone-- rubble over her head as well, surrounding her body like a makeshift tomb if she hadn't done anything to get herself out of there.]

Though it seems our hosts are planning on making sure that we have proper beds for the night.

It looks that way. [9S glances around. So many unfamiliar, presumably human faces all around them. It's a surreal experience for someone like him] But I'm not sure what they expect to get out of it.

[All of this architecture looks ancient to his standards, and he doesn't know what they'd want with a unit like him. Pod 153's presence assures that these people were not the ones to repair him, but it has no more record of his arrival than he does.

His pod drifts into view in due course, resembling a vertically oriented rectangular box cast in black. Arms stick out from its sides, set low and hanging beneath its simple-looking body. Wordlessly it hovers some distance over his shoulder]

Us, it seems. [And then Naoto realizes how ominous that sounds, so she amends herself.] Our cooperation, that is.

I've spoken with one of the faction leaders-- not at length but long enough-- that they have agreed to take on a number of us and deal with us in a way that benefits their people. [In some manner.

Naoto is about to say more, but then her attention is caught by some... flying thing, and she becomes fixated by that. What in the world?]

[The real question is how they're intended to benefit the locals, exactly. But then, 9S' particular skills were attuned to certain tasks, and he was built to serve as one of humanity's defenders. That's what he'd always been told at least. In the absence of that, left with the tattered remnants of so many lies, he isn't sure what he's supposed to be anymore.

His anger has since been drained of him, but not all of his disillusionment.

When his company falls pointedly silent, he follows Naoto's line of sight to find Pod 153 waiting behind him. He looks back to the other boy (he assumes...) and gestures to his Pod]

You haven't seen a Pod before?

Edited 2017-06-18 13:56 (UTC)

Is that what it is?

[Not that it explains too much to Naoto-- it does explain some things, such as its name obviously, and that it is indeed pod-like now that she's getting a better look at it.

But that doesn't explain what its purpose is. A flying companion of sorts, like a pet? No, she doubts that, because if it were simply a companion for recreation, it would look... cuter, maybe. Or at least far more friendly.

So, more for function then. What kind of function though?]

I think you can surmise from my reactions that I don't know what it is.

This is Tactical Support Unit Pod 153, assigned to 9S.

[Whether that offers any further clarification or not, an automated, decidedly feminine voice comes from the Pod in question. Of its two sets of arms, the larger ones move as it issues this answer, flexing joints and moving fingers. It doesn't carry with it the natural flow of human movement, rather mechanical and twitching in its nature.

For his part, 9S reaches up and pats the top of the unit gently. One might say he's actually petting it even. Though he won't say as much, he takes comfort in that presence when circumstances are as bizarre as he finds them to be]

We're a team, you could say.

[Because clearly Pod 153's explanation sufficiently clarified what it is...]

... I see.

["Tactical Support Unit" it said, and that opens up not just a world of more questions, but also some answers-- answers from which she can deduct what this boy does and what the machine is for. It would assist in combat situations, if she's right, and that would mean...

The boy is a soldier of some sort.

Of course she'd need more clues to go on, but there's no other definition the word "tactical" would have other than something related to military warfare.]

Then you must be pleased it followed you here.

It... [He pauses, frowning in thought as he debates how to explain this. Pod's presence made a considerable difference in how he's handling this situation, and accounts for the fact that he's operable at all, though he still isn't quite sure how it's possible] It simplifies the situation.

[Only insofar as he has a few more answers than he would otherwise. Where they are may have been established by the locals, but they don't account for how, and that's something he'd like to know.

That seems like something that will bear investigation]

Apart, it'd be like missing an arm.

[He can speak from experience on that one]

["Missing an arm" seems like a drastic comparison to make though Naoto shouldn't be surprised. She herself feels naked without her gun, and she's spent the months she couldn't summon her Persona feeling like there's a hole in her head. She still feels that way in some manner, when she still cant summon him the way she's gotten accustomed to in the Midnight Channel. If Yamato Takeru were to disappear from her mind completely, Naoto has no doubt she would be feeling worse than carrying a hole in her head.

So in a way, Naoto thinks, she doesn't fault the boy for his comparison.]

I believe I understand. [She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, crossing her arms over her chest.]

If you don't mind me saying... [How to word this?] I'm not sure there would be battles any time soon for such support to be needed. Though I wont fault you for preferring to keep it close.

[Says the human with her gun holster still visible.]

[Although 9S has taken note of her weapon, he makes no effort to call attention to it. He wasn't created for combat, but he knows he'd sooner have weapons with him than otherwise. It'd be pretty impossible to miss his swords or a lance hovering behind him, if he were to equip them]

A Pod functions as more than combat support. [A beat, during which he briefly debates before pressing on] I owe my present condition to its efforts.

[Pod 153 dips down closer to him then, though he doesn't notice it. There may be something to that proximity from an outside view, something that bespeaks a measure of care one might not expect from a floating box. 9S doesn't even know how true it is that he owes his restoration to his Pod's efforts, to its simple desire that he be allowed to live.

In this moment he hasn't had the time to discover the why, only concluded that the one entity capable of repairing him under normal conditions (aside another Scanner unit) had managed to do so under abnormal ones]

[Oh? His present condition? Consider Naoto curious, especially with his choice of words.

So, so curious.

But at the same time, she's aware enough that they're heading into rather sensitive territory, and Naoto would rather not pry at this juncture when they're all still so new and she has more things to worry about than what exactly happened to her new acquaintance.]

Then I stand corrected. I imagine you'll find more uses out of it here.

[Now she holds out her hand-- not to help, but for a shake.]

My name is Naoto Shirogane.

[There follows a pause during which 9S debates how he should meet this gesture. It isn't typical to his experience, although he knows it. Introductions were typically exchanges of designation and whatever relevant information may have led to such a meeting, and little more than this.

Maybe that's because he's an android, or maybe that's because he's a YoRHa android. But it isn't something of which he has no awareness, so he accepts Naoto's hand with care]

YoRHa unit 9S, sir.

[It's only appropriate that he greet a human with due respect, isn't it? Not that he's got any firsthand experience, or even expected that he would have the chance... But even when he was first assigned to support 2B, he had called her ma'am at first]

You don't need to call me 'sir'. [Her reaction is kneejerk, an immediate response to being called a man that she'd developed in United Earth when she had no reason to keep up the pretense of being a man, especially when certain people who knew the truth were around.

But Naoto catches herself before she can say more out of instinct.]

Simply using 'Naoto', or 'Shirogane' for formality, is fine.

[Especially when a sir she is not.]

[The nuances of human culture and civilization have been lost in time, and so 9S isn't certain what makes one of two names more formal than the other. He hums as he considers this. Perhaps it's better that he simply ask; he might learn something from it]

Which would be better?

[Eventually, when he gets past the strange impossibility of their circumstances, he'll realize just how much of an opportunity it is. He could learn so much more about humanity here than he could in analyzing their ruins and scraps of records]

Either or, depending on your preference.

[But wait. The boy hadn't given her a human name, had he? More like... some serial number or designation. Does that mean he's not human? The weight of him when she first attempted to pull him up told her that there was something different but she didn't expect something like this.

Perhaps... he doesn't even know how humans are like? Despite looking and sounding so much like one. Naoto doesn't know what he is, but still.]

Where I'm from, last names are used for those who you've only just met. First names on the other hand are used by friends and family.

[9S weighs that information. Given names must be pretty important, where Naoto's from. The concept is familiar at least, and he perks up for that recognition]

Oh, so it's like my friends calling me Nines...

[Well, not precisely the same of course, but he doesn't have two names. Being called one thing by most and something else by people he's closer to is a concept he understands]

I'd call you Shirogane then, since we just met, right?

['Nines' sounds like the most unfortunate, most cruel nickname one could give to someone, Naoto thinks.]

Yes.

And I shall call you 9S-- unless you prefer your full... title? [Name? Designation? Something??

What is "Yorha" anyway? What does the S signify? All the questions.]

[There they would inevitably differ, but then, Nines naturally draws its origins from Nine-S. But that's what comes of being an android force for whom letters and numbers are standard designation]

9S is what people call me. [Except the close ones, but they've established that] The rest isn't a title so much as what organization I was part of.

[Was is unfortunately said with purpose]

Edited 2017-06-20 04:24 (UTC)

[The emphasis on certain words is not lost on her. As a detective, Naoto has learned how to listen to those, try to understand, and come to educated guesses based on them.]

'Nine S' then.

A pleasure to meet you.

[And here he has, once more, failed to let go of Naoto's hand in a timely manner. The reflex to salute as he normally would reminds him of this fact, and he releases his grip, letting his hand drop to his side]

It's nice to meet you too.

[He certainly seems to mean it, as that brighter disposition has gone nowhere. Among so many confusing elements, this isn't so bad, really. And he's learned something new and interesting already]

[Naoto being Naoto, she doesn't see much of an issue with her hand being held that long. She may have been desensitized just a bit by her experiences in United Earth, especially surrounded by some non-humans and humans who were just the touchy kind. And the more they speak, the more Naoto is convinced that 9S is the former.]

Now, at least, our arrival here is feeling less lonely, don't you think?

[Loneliness is a state of being that 9S has become far too familiar with for his liking. It was something he accepted after a certain loss, more unwilling than unable to escape it, to seek some new source of companionship. His rage and grief had dominated all else. 4S had seemed to sense he was on the brink, when last they'd spoken with one another.

No regrets, okay? We need to think about what we're going to do from this point forward

Except he was too far gone then. He'd lost too much, cut adrift from anything that gave his life meaning. But now, so much of what he tied to that very sense of purpose was given to him so quickly and so easily that it's difficult to process. It feels unreal.

But he has to agree with Naoto on one thing]

It does seem less lonely.

[More than this human can know]

A

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