[Event] Calibrations Waiting Room Mingle

[trpmods]

WHO: ALL HE ROWS PRESENT
WHERE: Calibrations Area
WHAT: Mingle log for literally anything you'd like to take place in the waiting room between sleep cycles during the event
WHEN: May 9th to June 10th
WARNINGS: Please mark individual threads with warnings
NOTES: If you have any questions, please go Here

For those who followed the visions there is little more to do before and after the dreaming times but wait. At least there is some modicum of comfort offered to those who have found themselves trapped here. From the moment one steps through the door there is no going back, the doors people entered through sealed beyond any hope of opening. And by some twist of fate (or design), it's not possible to be by the door when another He Row arrives, something always calls any waiting away, until at last the door doesn't open anymore.

Some might find the area familiar, having haunted these halls before. Upon entry one walks down a large hallway before it opens into an even larger waiting room with chairs, tables, and the same food dispensers available in the shuttles, save that it lacks any Red Fruit Drink. It's a shame, actually, the alcohol might help you get through things, and since there was no warning this time, the dispensers are the only source of food available. But at least there is enough for everyone. Yay!

There are also communal bathrooms - one men and one for women though nothing would stop a person from using whichever they desire - with several toilet stalls and shower stalls in each, including basic shampoo and soap dispensers. All of the dispensers put out a liquid that smells like Italian dressing for some reason. The water in the showers is only ever cold or scalding, with nothing in between. Pick your poison.

Branching off the main waiting room are hallways that lead to the bedrooms. Each one has a name on it but there is nothing requiring you to use that one. Anyone can enter any room or share with someone else. Each room has a simple bed (approximately queen-sized) and a set of drawers. There is one white jumpsuit in your size in the drawer and a pair of canvas shoes. You can wear them or ignore them as you like.

Some power out there seems to have pity on the heroes too, accounting for the possible boredom that comes with the downtime. While no one may have been able to bring things in with them even if they had them in hand upon approaching, a need for entertainment for those long hours between dreams has been realized. A set of shelves can be found in the waiting room, covered in various boxes and containers. Each is labeled with brightly colored pictures of people seeming to have fun with a game, and the boxes clearly represent all sorts of species, even those that have never been present on Temba to your knowledge.

The complication is that none of the games are written in any language anyone knows, and even the Communications datapoint seems unable to translate. Good news, all the games seem to have all of their pieces, even the single large puzzle that is both solid gray and yet causes a headache when looking at it for more than ten seconds (damn those alternate light spectrum puzzles). Perhaps people can figure out the rules on their own, or make their own games from the pieces. There’s even paper and some sort of pen that only writes on that paper specifically, so maybe some pictionary? Or, if you’re really desperate and okay with fights breaking out, there seems to be a full set of Monopoly Longest Game Ever. Okay, so on second thought, maybe that power out there doesn’t have pity, but is malicious and wants to show you that people truly are driven to strife.

You can opt to spend time in your room or in the larger, common waiting room. But about every 16 hours, all people suddenly feel a compulsion to sleep. Once this starts, you can’t fight it off. You find yourself going into your room for bed or wherever else you feel like you’d prefer to sleep. And then, inevitably, you close your eyes and dream.

Comments

[only_an_echo]

That was also a problem, and one Echo would probably recognize once it came down to it. It was a good thing his eyesight wasn't affected by anything, though.

"I know it sounds weird, but I feel like I should know what you're talking about," he said after a beat, crossing his arms over his chest. "But what is a dullahan?"

[tsundullahan]

Celty tilted her helmet at him then. She wasn't quite sure how that worked, unless he was just familiar with a story and needed a reminder. Tapping the pen against the table for a moment, she considered what to write next.

𝐴 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑦- 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐼𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑜?

[only_an_echo]

"That one I've heard of, thanks to Billy. The Legend of Sleep Hollow, by Washington Irving. And he did base his story on folklore from Europe..." A pause. "...Sorry. I used to read a lot." As much as he tried to remember, his memory failed to pull more for reference. It probably wasn't important, anyway; she had more to write and he needed to pay attention.

"The character of the horseman had no head except for a jack o' lantern," he said after a time. "Is your situation similar?"

[tsundullahan]

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with reading a lot. Celty simply shrugged. She sat there a moment, not that the cringe she felt could really be seen as she thought of running around with a pumpkin under an arm. Lifting her free hand, she flipped up the visor from her helmet to let him get a better glimpse of the nothing within it before lowering it again. Again she touched pen to paper.

𝐼 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡.

[only_an_echo]

There really was nothing under the helmet. Echo's mouth formed a line after observing this, his gaze falling away from the helmet where her face should be and back to the sheet.

"Twenty years...do you remember where you were when you had it last?"

[tsundullahan]

𝐼𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝑀𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑘𝑒 𝑢𝑝, 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔.

Celty sighed, evident only by the droop of her shoulders. She shook her helmet, penning out another sentence.

𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑠.

[only_an_echo]

"Sounds like you've covered a lot of distance." If Echo recalled correctly, Ireland and Japan were far away from each other, much like planets scattered across the galaxy. Being away from home for that long used to be unthinkable, but he sympathized with her choice in resigning herself to never find what she had lost. "I'm sorry to hear it turned out that way."

[tsundullahan]

Perhaps, but then she'd not been anywhere else aside from the two, and nowadays it would be difficult to go elsewhere. There'd certainly be suspicions about someone trying to travel outside of the country with a helmet on at all times.

𝐼𝑡'𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑑. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛. 𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ...

𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝐼 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟.

[only_an_echo]

What was the wish? The clone's mouth opened slightly to ask, but shut again when she dismissed the written thought with another sentence. If she didn't feel like saying anything else about it, then it was only fair he left it alone.

"...Was it hard?" he asked after a time. "Adjusting to your new life?"

[tsundullahan]

Celty thought on this, pen tapping against the paper.

𝐼𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒'𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑝. 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘. 𝑀𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒'𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑.

[only_an_echo]

I wonder if I could ever be the same if I decided to go back.

The words hit too close to home. It was a thought Echo wrestled with often, putting it aside in favor of handling more urgent priorities that threatened the safety of his squad.

"You're not alone in thinking that." It took the clone a moment, but he knew the feeling. His gruffness softened, speaking from personal experience. "A lot can change. There's no way to keep it from happening, and you can accept it while continuing to be who you are. Don't lose sight of that."

[tsundullahan]

Change while still keeping sight of who you are. That seemed easier to say than to do, but Celty supposed many things were like that. She looked down thoughtfully at the paper and her earlier writing as she let Echo's advice soak in.

It was a little scary to acknowledge, change. But it was some odd comfort to know she wasn't the only one who wrestled with the thoughts and concerns she had. She could still be who she was, even if she adapted to the situations around her. Her helmeted head nodded at Echo.