At least it's not actually raining men

[monstermama]

WHO: Ripley & OPEN
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Settling in, disclaimers that this isn't her fault (pink hearts, sparkly glitter)
WHEN: V-Day (and a few days after)
WARNINGS: Possible language (Ripley has a dirty mouth)

She'd been there a day now. A day to poke around and find a place that wasn't too close to the rest of them, but not too far either. Not hers- not yet, but hers for now. It was in the area near the Flood Plain. One of the residences somewhere in the middle. She'd been listening on the network, going past to see what was and what wasn't. The Flood Plain had food in ready supply if she needed it, things she could hunt. Things that might try hunting her. It almost felt natural.

It wasn't too far from the bar she'd met the android, Cayde, in. Close to the meat of the place, since she'd yet to see humans pass up a place to go to drink themselves stupid when the situation called for it.

She'd been about to leave to go hunting, see what there was in terms of sport and violence here, when the sky had opened up above her. All over Temba, it seemed. She held her hand out when she saw that it wasn't doing any damage to the area around her. Flecks of glitter stuck to her hand, a little pink heart joining the flecks to stick to her before she wiped it off. Or, tried to. It didn't seem to want to come off, sticking to her and just moving to another part of her body. "Great."

What a welcome. She managed to drag together a blanket to toss over herself to protect her from the worst of it, but... well. There was glitter raining from the sky, and someone had left something on the pad she'd made a nest of when she got back to the room she'd claimed. A note. Fangs. And a pink ball of fluff that she kicked off to the side.

After a half a day of glitter-rain, she took to the network.

username: ripley
Does this happen often? Is there some sort of weather schedule to look out for to avoid this? Whatever this is.

For the next few days, Ripley will be found using blankets and tarps as coverings when she ventures out, looking for food, information, and trying to figure out where she fits in this strange new city. Find her wherever you like, looking for things, attempting to scavenge, or eying the data points with curiosity.

Comments

[monstermama]

"No. Never seen a turtle before, either." She hadn't seen a lot of things, Raphael. Turtle hadn't been flashed on one of the cards in her training session. But, he was certainly something interesting. The shell reminded her of something else, something she doubted he'd ever seen either.

Still, he didn't seem so mad anymore, and she needed to learn more about this place and the people in it.

[rage_on]

That was surprising to him and it showed on his face, brows lifting beneath the mask. "Whoa, seriously? What planet are you from?"

It wasn't meant to be a sarcastic question but sometimes his tone just had that hint to it. Most of the people he'd run into around here either knew what turtles were or just figured he was an alien of some sort, and either way no one- well okay, one person had screamed in terror but everyone else was generally cool about having a five-foot talking turtle around.

"Name's Raphael. Who're you? Other'n new?"

[monstermama]

"Supposedly Earth, but I wasn't made there. Went there once. Johner was right; it's a complete shit-hole." In the year 2386, Earth had come upon some hard times. It was a good thing the species had taken to terraforming and colonizing. Still, she doubted anything like him still existed on Earth. Most life didn't exist on it anymore.

She did smile at the question, opting to answer. "Ripley. You been here long?"

[rage_on]

"'Supposedly'? Wait, no, made?" Raphael didn't bother to hide his confusion but then of his brothers he was the most emotive. "I'm from Earth- well, a version of Earth. After being to other planets I still think there's nothing to compare, but home's home."

He started closer, stepping away from the water's edge, eyeballing a rock to potentially sit on before abandoning the idea after seeing how much glitter was on it. "Know what? I have no idea how long I've been here. It's gotta have been months at least. I don't think it's been a year yet, but the hours here are weird and the days are stupidly long."

[monstermama]

"Mm," she hummed in agreement at all his outbursts. If he wanted to know, he'd have to ask. She was cagey like that. Still, it was interesting that he'd been to other planets. She wasn't sure what that meant in the long run, but that he was from a time or place that had the capability was something to note.

He mentioned the hours and days, and she was glad to see it hadn't just been her. When you're in space and only have the computer's clock to guide you, there's no solar or lunar gauge to mark things by. Stars didn't track the same way solar systems did. "So you'd know if this kind of thing is usual." She gestured up, blinking as more glitter fell down and she had to swat it out of her eyes.

goigehgh THANKS FOR EATING THAT NOTIF, DW

[rage_on]

"Guess in a way you could say me and my brothers were made since we weren't always mutants, but how's that work for a human? You make it sound like some kind of science experiment." Unless she just had a strange way of referring to human birth.

Raphael sputtered and swiped a bit at his face to briefly be rid of a fresh sprinkling of glitter. "Pff- Blah! I think it went in my mouth- wait, what the heck? Why does it taste sweet?" He looked incredibly confused at that, shaking his head. "This place is going to drive me crazy. Actually it already kind of did a couple weeks or so ago, but that was because of something else, I think." His expression darkened at that, not proud at all of having been driven into a mindless, violent rage.

"Anyway, this? Not normal. I don't know what this is about."

DW's a butt.

[monstermama]

He had brothers. She had... sisters? Or had, before they'd failed in being made properly. Until she'd flamed the room full of their corpses and one lingering life form that had begged for death. Seven. Seven 'sisters', and now here she was. All alone. Her head cocked a little at Raphael, and she shrugged. "It was a science experiment."

It sounded cryptic, but it was just her way of answering what he'd asked. Nothing more, nothing less. If he wanted to know more, he'd have to ask. She was still sometimes a little too literal. She watched him spit out some of the glitter, taking a finger to one of the crystalized pieces and putting it on her tongue. Well, look at that. He was right. "Sounds like there's a lot of strange things that happen here- beyond random people showing up?"

[rage_on]

"No kidding? How's that work? I guess you could say we were an accidental science experiment. Came into contact with some mutagen these alien brains were trying to use to make Earth something more suitable for them."

Raphael had to nod- this place was just full of strangeness. "Oh yeah. This place is a mess. If you couldn't tell from looking. But there's these storms we have to figure out because the aliens who live here- the Agrii? They can't survive in them. But they don't know how or why the storms started and from the one that we actually experienced? It was more than just heavy rain and lightning. You'd see things- people you know, people who shouldn't be around here. It's like this storm thing could tap into your head."

[monstermama]

"Accidental, mm?" That made sense. If she was a mad scientist trying to make anthropomorphic animals that could be weapons (because why else would scientists be doing that?), turtles wouldn't be her first choice. Or on the top ten list. "Let's say that they wanted something my old self died with and they got... unexpected results." Results they'd kept tinkering with until they'd wound up with her. She still felt a shiver of fear at winding up as Seven.

The idea of a storm messing with her head was intriguing, if only because she wondered what anything else would find while trying to muck around in her memories. Which side would it play with? What nightmares would she see? "I remember the Agrii from the... globe. That one when I first arrived and woke up. I still don't see how they expect anyone to stop storms unless they decide to provide terraforming equipment."

[rage_on]

"Uh...huh." At first it sounded like a vague reply, which it was, but there was still enough in there to put some things together. "Wait- your old self, are you like...a clone or something?" So he wasn't very tactful about it, but the concept of clones wasn't new to him. He'd seen one of his human friends get cloned. It was...pretty weird.

Raphael made a face at the mention of the datapoint, but he nodded. He'd been compelled to touch the thing too. Except when he'd arrived, the city truly looked like it had been abandoned because even the 'he-rows' who had been brought there were scarce at the time. "Yeah, no clue. They didn't exactly provide us with instructions past 'fix things.'"

[monstermama]

"Or something." It was the truth, after all. She was a clone, yes, but she was something they hadn't expected in that in-between mix. It was as good an explanation as any.

The turtle kept speaking, and she found the whole idea of it amusing enough to keep the smile on her face. "No manuals? No 'how to' books? Just... fix it? How trusting of them to presume anyone had a clue what they were thinking of."

[rage_on]

Raphael made a face, but he gave a shrug. Or something. Right. Well, not like they didn't have a weird group of people here already or anything.

"Nothing! Stop the storms so they can come home, I guess, but how the heck do you stop weather?" He shook his head, paused, and then for a brief moment gave into another attempt to brush glitter away. "Agh, I hate this stuff!"

[monstermama]

"No idea. Weather and terraforming wasn't my area of expertise." No, it wasn't. Ellen was a pilot. A mechanical engineer. A survivor. Planetary goddess hadn't been on her resume.

She looked up at the glitter, wiping it away from her lashes, watching the turtle-man get angry at what was on him. "If it's new, then hopefully it won't last. If not, then maybe we should start wearing plastic wrap."

[rage_on]

"Sure isn't mine," Raphael grumped. "I prefer hitting stuff. I break things, not fix them. They should've grabbed Donnie instead-" He hesitated then, looking immediately sorry he'd said something like that. "...but I guess I'm glad they didn't." Being stuck here sucked- he didn't want to put any of his brothers through that. If they'd all been together, maybe it wouldn't have been so bad.

"...yeah, guess that's true," he muttered as he eyed the heart shaped glitter bits that were stuck to his stubby fingers. "Wonder if these guys even use plastic wrap."

[monstermama]

Ripley found herself grinning, amused despite herself that she could actually determine facial features and emotions coming from them from a turtle-man. All in all, it was incredibly interesting. And a nice reprieve from murder and mayhem. "I haven't figured any of that out yet. Plastic wrap, that is. Still trying to figure out what the water and food situation is here."

[rage_on]

With a snort, Raphael folded his arms again, shoulders lifting and falling in a shrug. "Plastic wrap's the least of our problems. We haven't been left without food, it's just mostly liquid and goo-shaped. Unless you're into that kind of thing. There's these big lobsters out by the beach though, and probably stuff running around in the woods. And there's a greenhouse but of course everything just looks weird. Me? I just want some pizza."

[monstermama]

"What's that?" Sorry, Raphael. Even her previous self wouldn't have known the joys of pizza. Ripley herself had lived off some strange goop in the station's cafeteria. The idea of hunting for food was genuinely appealing.

[rage_on]

If she hadn't already been confused as to what a turtle was then Raphael would have thought she'd lived under a rock all this time. It still didn't save her the look he shot her as though she'd just said something crazy.

"Only the best kind of food ever! It's a flat bread, usually round, with tomato sauce and cheese, and then you got pepperoni and whatever other toppings you want. ....ugggh, now I'm making myself hungry just thinking about it."

[monstermama]

"Right. Bread... I'm sure I'm missing a lot." The tone she used to say that spoke otherwise. Sorry, Raphael. Until she'd been shown the wonders of the pizza, she was going to be okay with living off goop or hunting for her own fare.

[rage_on]

Raphael made a face at her, but then he shrugged. Sure, it didn't sound like much of a big deal, but he could guarantee it was delicious. If only they had actual ingredients to make pizza. "I'd say it makes going back to eating algae and worms difficult, but that probably goes without saying."

[monstermama]

"I can't really complain about the food. I've had... limited experiences so far and the memory of food isn't the same as the actuality of it. Marine rations are shit, I know that much." Yep. Space marines, colony marines, it didn't matter. It was all freeze dried and disgusting.

[rage_on]

"No kidding. Well, guess the stuff we got here might be an actual improvement then. At least it's got flavor."

Raphael supposed it could be worse anyway. His last space voyage he'd been spoiled because they had a machine aboard their ship that would make any food they wanted if they just thought about it. There had certainly been no lack for pizza.

[monstermama]

"Flavor's a luxury. Trust me. As long as it covers all the basic protein and vitamin needs, we're better off. If you want to sweeten it, you could just... hold it out in this," she gestured upward, smiling. What? It was sugary, right? And decorated the waste that came from eating it. Win-win.

[rage_on]

The turtle teen cringed at the suggestion. "That. Is disgusting. I'm pretty sure half of this stuff isn't edible. It shouldn't even be tasting sweet!" He eyeballed the lake, debating on whether going for a swim would help or just make it worse.

"...on second thought, I'd rather not come out looking like a powdered donut," he muttered.

[monstermama]

"More than you already do?" Not that she knew what that was, but if it referred to the glitter, he was wearing an abundance already. More seemed to like to stick to his shell where he didn't seem to be swiping at as much as his arms. How... pretty.