OTA Arrival: Welcome to A New Beginning

[duel_wielding]

WHO: North Dakota
WHERE: Bunker, Outside 'Dojo', Around South Village
WHEN: February 1-5
OPEN TO: Arrival Locked to Aqua, OTA otherwise
WARNINGS: Possible discussion of canon character death

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Bunker Arrival: Locked to Aqua

A tube. They are in a tube. Which of course makes a little bit of sense. Well, no, not any sense at all. Theta could probably justify it as something to do with slipspace travel, but the AI knew that couldn't be all of it. After all, there was no reason he should be aware when North wasn't. Worse, he couldn't find his chip. So things were definitely stressful for Theta, hovering there in North's mind while North hovers in a tube.

Agent North Dakota the display reads. He's here now, and Theta wishes he could find a way to wake his partner and get him out of this place.


Outside the Dojo: Obstacle Course Anyone? | OTA | (Feb 2)

He knows what it is the second he sees it, and for the life of him, North wants a piece of that obstacle course. Too many years in the UNSC Marine Corp, and with Freelancer after that, to not want the challenge.

Are you sure this is the best idea, North?

"I'm sure. Time me, okay?" North chuckled as he shifted to remove his coat and toss it up to the nearby porch. Doesn't matter that it's cold out. This place isn't nearly so cold as his home colony was. So really, going for an obstacle course in the middle of winter isn't all that bad at all. He's even quick across it, speaking of experience and serious training.

Basic, maybe, but damn it feels good to do this.


Around South Village | OTA | Feb 2-5

It's a lot to process. Being dead. Being here, being so many things. This place looks nothing like any place he's ever known before. The houses are just strange compared to even the backwater colony world he'd come from. It didn't even look like there was proper computer tech here, which was making Theta a touch annoyed. The inn itself was nice enough, warm and cozy and North found himself digging in a closet to try and find some gloves so he could be warm when he's outside. And of course he spent some time enjoying the food.

Where he really spends the most time, though, is near the jailhouse by the inn. Not because there's any particular reason to. It's just that there are so many animals there, warm and fluffy and the joy Theta radiated in his mind over seeing these animals.

Comments

The inn, lunch time

[ataashihunter]

Bull makes his way into the inn with a few bottles of beer to place on the table for people to share if they like. It is the new batch he and Des had made.

Then he grabs some food and goes to sit down by what seems to be a new guy, though he makes sure to give him some space. Some people need some time to adjust to seeing a Qunari.

"Hello."

The inn, lunch time

[duel_wielding]

Someone approaching, Theta warned, his voice a whisper in the back of North's mind that he'd grown used to in the years he'd spent with his AI. The early warning wasn't really needed right now, when he could hear heavy footsteps approaching, but Theta had gotten a touch jumpy since coming here. Which made sense, all things considered.

North smiled and raised his attention from his soup and to the person who sits near him. The smile remains there from years of practice even though he is clearly having some processing issues here.

Well, he's definitely not a Covenant race, he thinks at the AI, and he can feel Theta vibrating at him.

He looks like a minotaur! Do you think he's a minotaur? I read about them. They're supposed to be fluffy though.

Theta's questions earns a softer smile from North. Take it in stride. He doesn't have much of a choice beyond that, does he?

"Hey," North greeted right back after the brief delay of conversation with his AI.

Re: The inn, lunch time

[ataashihunter]

North is taking it better that some others do when they meet their first Qunari and Bull smiles warmly at him. "You're fairly new, aren't you? I am The Iron Bull." He offers his hand across the table to the other. "I've been here a while now."

Re: The inn, lunch time

[duel_wielding]

North could actually feel Theta just about squirming at the name, as if it verified the Minotaur theory. And his amusement made North smile as he shook that large hand. “North Dakota, but my friends call me North. And yeah, fresh and squeaky clean from something just a bit too much like cryotubes.”

Re: The inn, lunch time

[ataashihunter]

"Nice to meet you North." Bull gives him a firm shake. "Cryotubes? I take it you're from a world that has technology such as this?" He indicates the device on his wrist.

Re: The inn, lunch time

[duel_wielding]

The wrist watch? North raises an eyebrow at that. No, he's not from a world like that. Just like he's not from a world where he even remotely understands what Bull is, other than apparently non-hostile.

"This would be pretty much a child's toy back home. I'm from a world with interstellar travel. Datapads, holograms, intelligent computer programs..."

I'm more than just intelligent.

Something tells me he wouldn't understand the distinction of a Smart AI Fragment, T.

Re: The inn, lunch time

[ataashihunter]

Bull frowns, repeating some of the words trying to make sense of them. Then he shakes his head. "You're going to have to explain what those are I think. We don't have stuff like that where I am from, at least not with those names. "

Re: The inn, lunch time

[duel_wielding]

Oh man. North reaches up to rub at his temples. He's not really the best for describing those things, and to put them in a way that was more approachable to someone else he would really like to pass that over to Theta. Which would mean trying to talk out the stream of information Theta was practically vibrating in his head with.

"Holograms are like... pictures, made with projected light. You can't touch them, but they can take many forms. Datapads are like books, but on a screen like these smartwatches. Bigger, though, thinner. And not, you know, clipped to your body forever."

Re: The inn, lunch time

[ataashihunter]

Bull nods. Alright, sounds like some of the stuff you get with magic in his home and the datapads sound really useful. "Sounds like stuff that would have been really helpful around here."

He studies the man a little. "You hurt?" His tone is careful, worried.

South village

[notyourrookie]

He thinks he might be getting the hang of this. He's been studying at the library again, because really, what else is there to do right now? Learning about snares, about hunting, about how to skin animals, everything that might make their lives a little easier. It's been a long time since he had to study anything like this.

And now for the long trek back to the North village.

He heads out past the inn, intending to nip in to see if anything was happening. Good to keep up with news. He pauses outside, frowning as he hears a voice. Familiar somehow, although he can't quite place it. Like something he might have dreamed.

He follows it around towards the jailhouse, face drawn into a deep frown as he rounds the corner and sees...

"Fuck."

Re: South village

[duel_wielding]

That purple-pink thing doesn't look like any animals back home, Theta was observing to North, indicating the Zalpaca. Which, frankly, North had to agree with. They were watching one through the window, considering it together.

"I mean, it looks like it's maybe... something like a sheep," he answered, keeping his voice a bit low. Really, the whole talking to yourself can be a bit strange, he gets that. But when no one was around it made Theta more comfortable, and he would always choose the route the best soothed his partner.

Do you think they sheer that in the spring? North, can we sheer it?

He laughs at the very idea, because frankly it sounds... Well, it sounds peaceful. Who had ever heard of something peaceful in their lives? When he got the chuckles under control he opened his mouth to speak again, only to freeze when he felt a flash of awareness from Theta. Someone cursing. North had to bite his tongue to keep from immediately asking the person to watch their language, they wouldn't get it, but he did turn so he could at least see who it was.

And he just about froze on the spot as his eyes met familiar ones.

North, that's Washington!

And North was just a little too frozen in place to know what to do with that. No, that wasn't entirely true. He did manage to get out one word.

"Hey."

Re: South village

[notyourrookie]

It's like a bucket of ice water had been thrown over him, and it settles in his stomach in knots that twist unpleasantly. Maine was one thing, but he hadn't really considered what would happen if another Freelancer showed up here. It brings back a hundred memories, years of anger and bitterness returning full force.

His eyes narrow, expression hardening, before he turns and starts walking away. Maybe if he's fast enough he can lose North in the woods on his way back to the North village.

Maybe North won't try to find him anyway. Wouldn't be the first time.

Re: South village

[duel_wielding]

It’s a strange moment, the two of them standing there, watching each other. Maybe, North thinks, if he is very still, nothing bad will happen. Maybe Wash will forget and forgive and North could pretend he wasn’t dead and it could be the early days of Freelancer when the worst thing they had to worry about was the survival of their race. A wish that was of course dashed by Theta speaking.

Do you think he might be mad at..., Theta started to ask, jinxing the whole thing. He didn’t even finish before Wash’s eyes had narrowed and he had turned to flee.

Because Norh has no illusions about what was happening there. And he deserved no less. Probably actually deserves to be punched. Or shouted at, or something. Anything but this. This was just... exactly what he deserved. And yet it wasn’t something he could just accept.

So he moved. Damn if he didn’t know if he could catch the other man if he really wanted to get away, but he still ran after Wash because he had to try.

“Washington, please. Wait!”

Re: South village

[notyourrookie]

He keeps walking, skirting towards the woods rather than the main road. Track. It barely qualifies as a road. Isn't like it's paved. The woods are not the ideal route but it's less obvious where he's headed and North will have more trouble following him, especially if he doesn't know much about the North village.

Of course North decides to chase him.

"I don't have anything to say to you."

Re: South village

[duel_wielding]

Advantage to having an AI in your head? Constant calculations. It was also a disadvantage of course and Theta’s anxiety issues over the years had definitely been a strain on North in more than a few situations. As North followed Wash, though, he found himself thankful. With Theta he knew how many strides and at what speed he would need to catch up. He knew how to time reaching out, and Theta knew his reaction time so when the AI felt they were close enough and signaled, North knew to shoot his hand out to grab at Wash’s wrist.

Please, I just need a friend right now, he wanted to say to Wash.

Instead what came out was a lot darker than he expected even from himself.

“I died regretting that I couldn’t get you out of there.”

Terrible way to open an apology, but even after only a day he had accepted the strangeness of being here. Given who he was and how he had been raised, though, the conclusion he had come to wasn’t exactly the most unbelievable. Was it that wrong to believe this place was some sort of cosmic judgement?

Re: South village

[notyourrookie]

It takes an effort of will not to lash out when North grabs him. He'd love to punch that smug look off his face, to make him bleed. But he's learnt to hold himself back since Freelancer, to bide his time, and to put that anger to better use. He just looks at North's hand and then back at his face, expression flat and unimpressed.

So he's from then. At least they're roughly on the same page.

"And I live every day remembering what happens to me. Think you got the better deal somehow."

He rips his hand out of North's grasp and starts walking again.

[duel_wielding]

"You're not even going to let me explain?" North asks.

Why is he so mad at you, North?

It's not something North wants to talk about. Instead he continues behind Washington, still walking.

"Can I please just explain?"

Strange that Wash doesn't have questions about North being dead. Did he know?

[aguidingkey]

For a long time, Aqua has meant to return to the bunker, to see if she can find out anything else about it. When she had first been broken out of that tube, she hadn't spent nearly as much time looking around as she should have. Instead, she had wanted to find the villages and the other people, see if she could find a way out of this world. Of course, that had failed. She hadn't found anything to help her get out of this world. Maybe she would one day, but so far she hadn't been able to.

Seeing those memories of Terra, remembering how it felt to fight him and then sacrifice herself to save him, had spurred her on again. She still felt the pain and the worry and the fear that she would never make it back to the Realm of Light, but none of that would matter if she just sat around feeling sorry for herself. The Realm of Darkness may have tried, but it hadn't broken her; being here wouldn't break her, either.

So she has finally returned, after making her way back from the shrine with everyone else. She packed a few things in that backpack she had when she was broken out of her tube, just in case she might need them or someone else might need to be broken out like she had. Honestly, she doesn't really know what to expect out of this trip; she just knows that it's a trip she has to make. What better time than now?

For a while, she doesn't find anything in the tube room. It looks empty. Maybe that's for the best, in the long run. Still, she takes her time looking around. It's only when she hears something near the tubes that she turns to look at them again, spotting someone in one of them now and a readout on the display. Whoever it is looks fine for now, but Aqua knows well what can happen in one of those. If she had her keyblade, any keyblade, this would be a lot easier. Unfortunately, she still can't summon one. So she opts for the next best thing. Shrugging off her backpack, she lets it drop in a corner and makes her way over to the tube. If there were controls... how had Malik let her out?

"If you can hear me, I will get you out of there." Whoever it is, Agent North Dakota, they might not be able to hear her. They might not be awake at all yet. But she has to try. "You're going to be okay."

[duel_wielding]

Waking up now would likely be the absolute worst thing possible, Theta decided. Everything he could read from North's senses said that he was definitely submerged, and waking him without preparation into water would probably not be the best. Of course in cryo that isn't too much of a problem, he knew how to help facilitate transition out of it, but the problem was this.

The constant doses of pharmaceuticals used by the shipboard AI should most definitely have prevented sufficient higher brain function for Theta to be conscious, as he couldn't sense North's armor or even the undersuit that should include some gel-circuitry for him to move some functions into. With no drugs keeping him unconscious, how in the world was North still sleeping? Were they waking from cryosleep now? That was clearing from his brain too fast. And where was the medical personnel that was UNSC mandated to be available at the time of all wakings to help if there were issues?

The voice calms the AI. Clearly the necessary crew had arrived to provide assistance. He appreciated that. Well, at least on this side he could help suppress North's waking just a bit longer, to make transition easier.

And maybe he was going to hope extra hard that this was a Mark VIII Cryogenic Suspension Chamber and not a Mark VII. He knew North got the worst cases of cryo-itch from those non-optimized moisture balancing systems.

[aguidingkey]

Prying the tube open might be her best bet at this point. But if Agent North Dakota is awake enough to help by pushing as she pulls, they might have a better chance. If he doesn't have her magenta power, things might get bad fast. The scrubs color is different than hers, so she isn't sure what might actually happen. It didn't sound to her like the colors had the same powers. This one might do something completely different.

Once she tries a few keys to get the system to unlock and open the tube, she moves to try prying it open herself. "If you're awake in there, I think I could use help opening the tube. If you can push against the glass, maybe we can pry this open together." Or what servers as glass, anyway, whatever it is. If he's not awake, then she'll just have to manage it herself. She won't leave him in there if she can do anything about it.

[duel_wielding]

North. North, please, wake up. I know it's scary, but one of the ship staff is trying to help us. I think the Ship AI has failed to properly regulate your cryosleep. North, please wa...

He wakes with a start. His eyes open and in shock he opens his mouth. Almost chokes, but Theta's there to help his brain overcome the panic enough to slam his mouth shut before he starts drowning.

She says push.

She? She who? The panic is still there, dancing at the edges of his brain as North presses his hands against the glass and starts to push as hard as he can. Good thing Theta was there to keep him somewhat calm.

[aguidingkey]

With their combined strength, the two of them manage to get the tube to open up. Aqua leaps side to avoid getting smashed by any bits of glass or the person inside, while remaining close enough to catch him if need be. She remembers how disoriented she had been when she'd been broken out of her tube.

"Are you okay?" she asks, once she's sure he really is awake.

[duel_wielding]

With the glass gone the fluid inside recedes, and North is immediately over the edge, coughing. But, strangely enough to an outsider, he seems more composed with the fluid gone. There's no confusion, there's no disorientation. Not at first. Just a very distinctive cough, like he's trying to make sure his airways are clear.

"Just... a moment," he manages between coughs.

There is something wrong with that cryotube.

Yeah, I can't disagree with you there, Theta, North sighs as he gets his breath and looks up at the woman standing there.

"That's a bit of a mess cryotube. What..."

Wait... Now he looks confused. He looks up and around. This isn't a ship. What in the world? This isn't a ship.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua doesn't blame him for being confused. She was, too, when she first woke up. It's not easy to be suddenly pulled to a new world without warning, especially like this and without anyone's normal clothes or equipment. Or even their magic.

"I know it's confusing. You're not where you were last and probably aren't wearing what you last were. I'm not who you expected to see, either. My name is Aqua. I can try to answer your questions and anything I don't know, I can tell you how to find out."

[duel_wielding]

“Where am I?” North asks, looking back toward the tube as he tries to catch his breath. That, looking back, was definitely not a cryotube like he would recognize from home. Worse... why would he be in...

pain, he remembers pain
pain and futility
the end of a long, alien blade in his chest
a friend at the other end

Cryotubes were for more than slipspace travel. They were also for holding mortally injured or effectively dead people. A transportation to medical facilities. Which could only mean...

Panic again, a different taste of it despite Theta trying to soothe him. Like North cares right now. He told himself that it could wait and lifted the shirt he wore. No reason to get into the scrubs right now, or to question where his armor was. That would be a given. First he had to make...

When e looks down at his bare chest it is there. An ugly scar cut directly over his heart, a ragged line that told the tale of his death.

“What the fuck is going on?”

North! Language.