MOD PLOT ↠ HOME FOR RIFTMAS

[faderifting]

WHO: Everyone (more or less)
WHAT: Rifter Show & Tell & Steal.
WHEN: Early Wintermarch 9:49 (forward-dated!)
WHERE: The Crossroads and BEYOND.
NOTES: OOC post. Please use appropriate content warnings in your subject lines.

Since Corypheus began opening the Gates, Riftwatch has been noticing pockets of instability in the Crossroads—crumbling platforms, paths newly blocked by rubble or broken bridges, sections where gravity has been shifted and altered in ways unusual even for the Crossroads, with new intrusions of green-tinged rock outcroppings or corners of temple walls. The barriers between the Crossroads, the Fade, and the world are thinning. It's a problem.

But more recently, Riftwatch has been made aware of an ancient artifact known (now; one hopes this isn't its original title) as the Sealing Stone, now in pieces scattered throughout the Crossroads, and the approximate locations of those pieces. If brought together and activated, the Stone may stabilize the barrier between the Crossroads and the other realms and may provide a model Riftwatch could use to reinforce the Veil elsewhere.

So Riftwatch ventures into the Crossroads to retrieve the pieces of the Stone. It's an intensive effort undertaken by large teams, due to the many now-familiar hazards of the Crossroads, the potential for encountering the Venatori that also use the eluvian network, and the need to cover ground as quickly as possible in hopes of finding the artifacts before the Venatori notice the increased Crossroads activity and come join the hunt.

It's not as simple as merely locating the pieces, however. Whenever a group of Riftwatchers get near enough to one of the artifacts, they're alerted first by the triggering of a sort of protection mechanism. In some cases—specifically, on teams without any rifters—spirits suddenly swarm from the metaphorical woodwork in numbers so great and with such hostility that retreat is the only viable option. The spirits chase the teams only as far as necessary to push them away from the artifact's location, then mass into a circling shoal, guarding the spot until they're left alone long enough to decide the risk has passed.

But for groups containing at least one rifter, something with the mechanism goes wrong. Or right, arguably. Rather than being overwhelmed by spirits, they instead find themselves abruptly engulfed by what appears to be a rift, opening suddenly and rapidly large enough to swallow entire masses of people before contracting again to lie in wait like a carnivorous plant for anyone else who comes too close. Those caught in its radius tumble out into what appears to be a new and unfamiliar world–for most. For one or more of the rifters in each group, it will be perfectly familiar.

The first group to encounter this effect will be one including Tony Stark and Stephen Strange, and will drop them and their compatriots straight into midtown traffic. Any groups attempting to travel to the same spot in the Crossroads to investigate the apparent vanishing—whether they have rifters with them or not—will find themselves drawn through the same "rift" almost as soon as they get within sight of the place, before anything can be discerned about their lost fellows. They will likewise emerge into Stark & Strange's United States.

Subsequent groups including other rifters will be seemingly drawn into their companions' worlds by the same effect. In each, Riftwatch will have to navigate local hazards and retrieve a distinctive lyrium-etched artifact, at which point the world will dissolve around them like a dream and they will find themselves back in the Crossroads where they began, in possession of a carved chunk of stone glowing with lyrium runes.

1 ↠ MCU Earth-199999

Alternate-universe Earth, New York and Los Angeles, 2012-2025, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange.

Earth-199999 is very much like contemporary Earth as we know it, featuring the same historic events, same nations, same conventions. For the average person, there is no difference, except that they know magic and aliens and gods and superpowers are all real and have been causing problems for a while now, with NYC as the hub for most of the shenanigans. MCU Earth has also made leaps and bounds in all science fields as compared to real Earth, although these leaps and bounds are not widely accessible, primarily exclusive to private organisations like Stark Industries, mad scientists, and the likes of SHIELD, but can range from interactive three-dimensional holograms through to biotechnology that turns people into supersoldiers.

It's commonplace to see or hear about criminals causing havoc in the streets with superpowers or gadgets, and crime-fighting vigilantes trying to stop them. The Avengers, as the world's first superheroes, became widely-known commercialised celebrities in-universe with merchandise, documentaries, book deals, and memorial murals to the deceased Iron Man.

Special Abilities: Everyone is nerfed to regular human, unless you want a sudden onset of mutant powers. 1 individual themed ability per character; like pyrokinesis, superspeed, superstrength, etc.

Arrival: One main rift opens in the middle of New York City, ejecting our rifters into midtown traffic… except thanks to Strange’s own multiversal mishaps, people in this world will seem astonishingly accustomed to this sight! Bystanders will be startled, but then the rifters will likely be dogged by strangers snapping photos and videos and tweeting about their arrival.

The Fade-constructed timeline will be a little off: the old Avengers tower and its penthouse is still standing and still accessible to Tony, and Strange will also offer up the Sanctum as a sanctuary, and these will be the main mission hubs while the team gets their bearings and tries to locate the artifact. In the meantime: relax, take in the sights, maybe check out a Broadway show, wrangle your new superpowers.

A secondary rift also opens up on Hollywood Boulevard, in case people want to do some helplessly stranded on Earth RP. Tony can very easily find out this has happened and go collect them, with various degrees of efficiency according to what people want out of that OOCly. As this universe will be available to explore for a few IC weeks, people can assume some degree of Stark-provided financial freedom for basics (i.e. clothes and food, burner phones, etc), and they can stay in the Avengers tower and/or the Sanctum.

2 ↠ Shifterverse

Original alternate-universe Earth, Midwest US, 2022, Jude Adjei.

Real-world 2022, but what if Shifters?

Special Abilities: All superpowers are unfortunately nerfed. However, everyone's a Shifter now. Your choice of animal. Enjoy.

Arrival: Everyone will arrive in Yellowstone National Park, which is wholly staffed and operated by Jude's pack, but... not in an area where tourists are routinely and happily welcomed. Welcome to the deep woods and canyons and plains, where Jude's pack has built their den for some several hundred people. Characters will immediately be found by scouts in fur and feathers, who will be guarded and curious, but not hostile. The wolves and ravens will greet the interlopers as equals, and if they aren't offered any violence, they'll be treated as guests. Hundreds of pack members live in a mixture of hand-built cabin homes and meeting places, portable tiny houses and various shared spaces. There is wifi, a greenhouse, lots of tasty food and warm clothing to wear. If they stay several days and prove themselves trustworthy, they might even start to see children out and about, and there's nothing cuter than a toddler who can become a wolf pup at will. (Mind the raven toddlers and the bear cubs. They're less cute.)

3 ↠ Tassia

D&D Original World, Loxley & Richard Dickerson

Tassia is an original Dungeons&Dragons inspired world, a single continent divided into four nations that is otherwise completely isolated from any other possible world beyond it. These nations are Lloryndell, Sylvica, Ifrin, and Promias, and at its centre lies the Cruxal, a university-city of diverse cultural influence.

While Tassia resembles Thedas in its day-to-day technology levels, including its anachronisms, it is more heavily laden with fantastical elements. Along with humans, elves, and dwarves, there are goblins, dragonborn, tritons, tieflings, sentient robots, bird people, centaurs, and more (https://www.dndbeyond.com/races) (but no qunari). There are many different kinds of magic users who wield their powers openly. There are shops full of magic items, potions, and spell scrolls. There are monsters of countless kinds that lurk just about everywhere. Most cultures in the material plane are polytheistic and worship themed gods from the default D&D (Faerun) Pantheon. Some smaller cults and individuals worship ancient fey, fiendish, and eldritch beings who dwell on the outskirts of their respective planes and may provide power to the exceptionally loyal -- for a price.

Special Abilities: You can choose to be a normal depowered person, but you are equally encouraged to take on magical abilities, whether you're a mage or not. In brief, you can be a wizard, whose magic comes from spellbooks and knowledge, a sorcerer, who have innate magical abilities, a bard, who draws their magic from music, words, and performance, a warlock, who has made a pact with a powerful entity in exchange of magical ability, a druid, who draws their magic from nature, and a cleric, whose divine abilities are gifted to them by a deity. (Other classes have magic too, but it might be easier to pick one of these major ones if you are unfamiliar!)

Rather than overthinking it, we recommend you pick whatever sounds fun to flavour your magic with, and then browse magical spells using classes as a filter. (Eighth and ninth level are off limits, and it may be easier to limit yourself further due to how many spells there are.) Given the temporariness of these powers, don't worry too much about how many spells you get or how frequently you can do them, but know that higher level spells (anything above fifth) can only be cast one or twice a day.

Your character may be Tassia-ised, in terms of their race, but in a limited capacity. All humans will stay human, but elves may adopt D&D traits like seeing in the dark.

Arrival: Rifts will open in the streets of the Cruxal. People will be startled by the sudden appearance of rifters and stand offish, but otherwise: they've seen it all before! No one will be calling the guard on you, unless you decide to start something, so please don't. Or enjoy jail.

The Cruxal is a labyrinthian melting pot built up in concentric rings around a massive central university and library. Goblins scarper among humans, elves, and dwarves in the street. There are tusked half orcs and horned, scale-clad dragonborn mixed in among more familiar silhouettes. This is a university town, but while a large portion of the population are students, academics, and staff, it is also self-sustaining, with taverns, shops, temples, brothels, residences, and marketways.

The university itself is guarded and degrees of entry closely regulated due to the school’s extensive collection of dangerous artifacts -- one of which just so happens to have gone missing last night. News of the theft has been suppressed, but every temple, tavern, and brothel on the outskirts of town is abuzz with the rumor. The entire corridor, they say, was scorched black.

Loxley and Richard won't be too concerned about herding everyone but can provide some coin as needed for inn rooms and food. They appear to have a near bottomless stash, at least as far as living costs go.

4 ↠ Sulleciel

Original fantasy world, Petrana de Cedoux.

What if magic was real and holy emperors still kissed the ring in Rome, until someone beheaded the fucking pope? Welcome to Sulleciel, and specifically to Lamor City, capitol of Lamorre and the seat of the Lamorran empire, ruled over by Empereur Marius IX and his consort, Empress Petrana Solene. A nation and empire in the throes, still, of great upheaval — think Versailles or Orlais, but lurching ungainly out of its dark ages into a theoretically more enlightened time, control of which is being actively fought in the halls of power and at grassroots levels of social influence. Power vacuums abound, thanks to the fall of the church and the rise of a conqueror who is less interested in ruling than he was conquering; women are still the often-illiterate property of their fathers and husbands, but now there are more alternatives to family and marital homes, and dedicated studies of witchcraft are being encouraged, with pilot programs across the empire primarily in those early sanctuary cities, figuring out how this is all going to work. Known for her efforts to lean on the scales in the people's favour Petrana herself is, in this era, rumored to be imprisoned; graffiti of her crowned likeness can be found in some places in the city, with the epithet ""la reine du malheur"".

Special Abilities: In Sulleciel, magic is a skill that may be pursued like any other — and there are those of more or less talent, as if someone were to attempt the violin, or swordplay. It is practised primarily through incantations and foci, with more elaborate spellwork for more ambitious results sometimes requiring particular items or a full coven to achieve. As magic is limited in Sulleciel only by the will, imagination and stamina of those practising it, no one coming here will be subject to any nerfs; all mages and otherwise magical or powered individuals will be able to use their powers as they're used to using them. In addition to this, anyone who is as magical as a chair-leg ordinarily can feel free to have a go at Sulleciel's magic — it's up to you if they have a knack for it or not. Simple spells like casting a light or telekinesis of small objects can be mastered by toddlers; a powerful enough witch or coven might be able to summon a thunderstorm and alter weather patterns, but ""can"" and ""should"" are different and it's generally advised that you try not to do a climate change.
"
Arrival: The rift will open into a spacious, luxuriously-appointed tower on the grounds of the imperial palace but not visibly connected to it above-ground. It was at one point the sole domain of the previous arciduc's personal astronomers, but is now the primary residence and working space of the Queen's Coven. The Queen's Coven is a particular group of women, so named for having been among the first witches to come beneath the new regime's protection in the first city-state to bend the knee where Petrana was first installed as Queen Regent; they are private, secretive, and increasingly cut off from the power-struggles of the imperial court, having been actively distanced from the Empress herself by a variety of other players in the game. Both relatively prepared for sudden magical happenings and inclined to keep shit in the tower on lock, they will be prepared to pass you all off as "foreign witches, seeking our enlightenment" and see both you and the sudden access to Petrana as potentially useful in their maneuverings. Which will make moving around easier, but will probably be an active hindrance to getting where and what you need. An underground tunnel connects the tower directly to the palace, though there are also pleasant, covered pathways to walk across the palace grounds; guards at the main, above-ground entrance to the tower will inquire about movements to and from, and will be skeptical but limit their interference initially ... as long as they don't see Petrana.

5 ↠ Kalvad

Original fantasy world, Wysteria Poppell.

Kalvad—specifically the city of Somerset, the magic capitol of the civilized world—is a mashup of Regency Era and Industrial-Revolution-But-Magic! Nebulously England (with the serial numbers aggressively filed off). When in doubt, default to Jane Austen vibes. But if it seems fun to do some weird magic-powered technological advancements, then go nuts.

Kalvad is an imperial island nation ostensibly ruled by three kings, though they're largely figureheads overseeing an upper and lower parliament. The country has made itself rich and powerful by doing a whole lot of war and colonization. As historically one of the most magically powerful regions in the world, magicians have long been a vital tool in the empire's efforts to do both those things.

Unfortunately for Kalvad, the strength of magic in the world has waned considerably in the last 40 years. Where once Talent was rare but reasonably powerful, magic users are both becoming more commonplace and considerably weaker. Even older magicians and hedge-witches who once might have manufactured considerable arcane feats have seen some diminishing of their powers. A popular, but unproven, theory in academic circles is that those with Talent all draw from the same "well" of magic. As more people are born with the ability to tap into that resource, the less there is to go around. Resentment for those with weaker Talents among older generations of magic users is A Thing.

That said, increased availability of minor magics has kick-started a 'minor magic' powered industrial revolution. Parlor witches who perform small arcane conveniences are growing in number; minor charms and enchantments have become more readily available to lower classes. Meanwhile, the non-magical population is slowly being shunted out of their respective cottage industry jobs and into factories powered by great enchanted machines. The empire as the world knows it is clearly teetering on the brink of major social and political upheaval, both at home and abroad. The consequences of all this change just haven't quite played themselves out yet, though you can bet there are people rushing around in an attempt to cover their asses before they do.

Special Abilities Characters will be nerfed of any abilities they had in Thedas, but can be Talented in Kalvad terms or not. Any Talented character under 40 is likely to be able to produce only minor magics (think lighting fires in fireplaces, being able to heal minor injuries, and temporarily being able to enchant objects to do one specific thing). Anyone over forty can be a little flashier (think appearance altering glamors, temporary invisibility, transfiguration and significant healing). General magic flavor is: Brothers Grimm fairy tales and Arthurian legends, except that someone somewhere made all that weirdly pliable magic adhere to a strict ruleset. Easy, thoughtless channeling of magic is a secret lost long before the arcane powers in the world began to diminish. Now, all magic must be carefully and deliberately designed and constructed. The magicians most accomplished by Kalvadan standards are methodical and patient. Think clockmakers and mathematicians, not wizards on the side of a van.

Arrival: Members of Riftwatch will arrive through a rift and find themselves on the wooded outskirts of a sprawling city. Luckily, no one will witness their initial arrival. Even more convenient: once they've gotten their bearings and made their way into the city, they'll discover they aren't the only weird strangers in town (although they may want to strongly consider indulging in petty theft to make themselves stick out less—particularly as it comes time to infiltrate places). It seems that a sprawling months-long academic conference turned party turned cover for political intrigue and cold warfare has descended upon Somerset.

In the aftermath of what everyone is claiming to be a major military victory somewhere, delegations from a number of implicated countries have converged on the city at the invitation of the Kalvadan Crowns in order to share and demonstrate their various technical and arcane achievements. The World's Fair-like atmosphere has drawn a number of non-Talented tourists, scheming politicians, and cutthroat spies along with the legitimately academically and/or magically inclined.

While Somerset is something of a city of wonders by the world's estimation, it's still first and foremost a dirty and crowded industrial hub in a world that has yet to bother with paving all its major roads. The conference has quadrupled that effect, transforming it into a riot of sights, sound, and (often to its detriment) smells. At this point, finding a room and board in the city has become less a question of where you want to stay and more one of how many other people you're willing to timeshare a bed with.

Luckily, it doesn't seem like Riftwatch will be sticking around long. Some snooping around the of pamphleting/gossip will reveal that the artifact they're after is likely to be found in the grand exhibition hall, and that there will be an opportunity to get their hands on it that evening.

6 ↠ Abeir-Toril

D&D Forgotten Realms, Astarion

The D&D continent of Faerûn is loosely based on Eurasia—if it ran entirely on magic, was roughly stuck somewhere in the 14th century forever, and was filled to the brim with elves, dragons, gnolls, faeries, gods, demi-gods, and just about any myth (or mythological creature) you’ve ever encountered in your life. For the purpose of simplicity, everyone from Riftwatch is going to get plunked down in the titular Baldur’s Gate: the city is massive, it’s known as the jewel of Faerûn, and its cultures, districts, trades and pastimes reflect that remarkable splendor. Still, think of it like Kirkwall in that there are some pretty damn rigid socioeconomic divides separating the city via districts. QUICK GUIDE.

The Upper City is the fancy part of town where nobles (known as Patriar) and their servants live, and it also houses the city’s government and key recreational buildings. There are no bars, pubs, taverns or drinking halls. Anything rowdy happens behind closed doors, and if you don't have an invitation, you'd better look for fun somewhere else. Magical enchantments and lanterns make it beyond stunning at night to stroll through. Lower City is more varied: you’ll find taverns, shops, tons of entertainment and ample trade, as well as pirates by the docks (and their ships), and the harbor waters are absolutely gorgeous for sailing on calm days. Doors are shut and locked during nighttime hours aside from taverns, inns or gambling parlors. Visibility is also lower at night when harbor fog rolls in, particularly where poorer residents can't afford oil, tallow or magic every night. The Undercity stretches deep (and hidden) beneath both the Upper and Lower Cities: it begins at its most shallow within the city as sewers and along seawall cliffs as open-mouthed caves. The deeper you go, the worse it gets: undead catacombs, cultists, temples, blood sport and bloody magic prevail alongside monsters too dangerous to clear out. Outer City sucks. There's almost next to no law or order, and is inherently dangerous to explore. Treat it like Lowtown for the most part, and you'll be pretty smack on (slavers and actual kind impoverished poor included).

CULTURE: Baldur’s Gate is primarily run by humans, and to a lesser extent, elves. Other races aren’t really considered a foothold here, but they’re more than welcome in the city and treated exceptionally well with a few exceptions here and there (ogres, trolls, more ferally inclined goblins, etc). This is not at all like Thedas: someone more familiar with discrimination against non-humans, certain pairings and particularly mages wouldn't find it here. Most of the time if you dress nicely and carry yourself well, you’ll be well respected. Or robbed. Or both!

Special Abilities: Characters will be adjusted to fit D&D, and powers are optional for all. For D&D’s magic/power/race everything, please take a look at some basic classes.

Arrival: Characters will arrive via rifts torn into the Outer City, just along its riverfront sprawl. They won’t be too far from the city gates, but witnesses to the scene will be inclined to gossip and gawk, assuming everything from a freak magical incident to believing the new arrivals are wealthy travelers from somewhere far and exotic, who simply missed their mark in teleporting to the Upper City for sightseeing. Anyone wearing Thedosian clothes will be fine to go without changing— wearing something more modern or say, nothing at all for some reason, will definitely require staging some kind of Terminator II style clothing (theft) acquisition in order to fit in.

Ideally, the team will at least want to make their way into Lowtown in order to begin snooping around, but it’s a big damn city to say the least, and information is expensive. Astarion will help within reason, but being a vampire means that he can only afford to fund so much on his own.

Might be a good idea to do some fetch quests or live your best Adventuring Party life, because you’re all going to likely be here for a (time distorted) relative while.

7 ↠ Orphan Black

Alternate-Universe Earth, 2014; Toronto, Canada; Cosima Neihaus.

Real-world mid-2010s, but secret unethical biology/biotech experiments including viable human cloning in the mid 1980s. Carrying out such technologically advanced work is a combination of international organizations including a private research company, at least one paramilitary organization and a shadowy organization that oversees both. (Orphan Black also features minor differences from our world typical of its genre, such as plot-convenient hacking and variably competent law enforcement, but the cloning project and related scientific offshoots are the most salient differences.) Relevant to this plot in particular, the Dyad Institute is a private organization, considered ""fringe"" by the mainstream scientific community, devoted to research related to human evolution and biotechnology. Some of its many employees had connections to the ""neolutionism"" community, the members of which believed human evolution should be actively shaped by scientific and technological intervention. The organization was responsible for the project that created Cosima and her sisters roughly 30 years before in-world present day. Also at the moment they're jumping to, Cosima works there, it's complicated. (If anyone is familiar with the canon, we're jumping in circa season two.)
A tiny pinboard.

Special Abilities: None, you're all just unpowered humans. Sorry/you're welcome.

Arrival: The group arrives at what turns out to be a nondenominational winter party for a local school; there are some mild shenanigans as Cosima clocks that it's a school attended by children she knows, and more pressingly, partially overseen by their mother, who has Cosima's face. Cosima press gangs one or more other people into helping her hide her own face while negotiating with Alison to borrow her minivan. She shuttles the group to Alison's large suburban Toronto home, which becomes the FR group's base of operation. (It is perhaps telling that while Alison finds this frustrating, she and her husband Donnie do sort of roll with it also.) If desired/depending on how big the group is, Cosima could also stow some Riftwatchers with Felix, the foster brother of one of her other clones, who has a big artsy loft downtown. She is not against taking anyone to her place, but she's a grad student; it's not huge. Everyone who knows how to use a phone or can be trusted to figure it out with a tutorial gets a burner phone for convenience. (Perhaps additionally telling how quickly Alison gets everyone a burner phone. She also decorates the protective cases for them. No, it's not optional.)

8 ↠ The Last of Us

Post-Apocalyptic Earth, Spring 2038, Seattle, Abby Lasterson & Ellie Williams.

This world was ours until 2013, when a worldwide pandemic broke out overnight. A fungus (cordyceps) that had originally infected mainly insects adapted to infect human beings. Anyone bitten by an infected person or who has breathed in a significant or concentrated amount of fungal spores becomes infected themselves. Over a maximum of two days, they utterly lose their humanity and deteriorate into violent monsters, eventually sprouting spores and fungal plates. There is no known cure, and the only human being ever known to be immune is Ellie Williams. 25 or so years later, humanity has crumbled into various factions in a struggle to survive. First came the Federal (FEDRA) response, resulting in Quarantine Zones and martial law. Life in the zones is highly regulated, with work assignments and rations that often aren't enough to go around. Many citizens are forced to turn to crime just to make ends meet. Orphaned children become wards of the state and are trained to become FEDRA soldiers by the time they're sixteen.

Various civilian groups rose up to rebel against FEDRA, forming factions such as the Fireflies (rebels who recruited scientists in an effort to find a cure), and the Washington Liberation Front (a militia-minded organization who overthrew FEDRA in Seattle). There are other smaller groups such as the religious zealots called the Seraphites, or the violent slavers known as the Rattlers.

Few and far between are independent human settlements like Jackson of Wyoming, where small communities have managed to gain self-sufficiency and safety with tireless group effort and highly vigilant defenders. They bolster their numbers by welcoming peaceful outsiders and engaging in trade with travelers.

Living outside of these groups, people are largely on their own, vulnerable to packs of hunters, bandits and even cannibals that prey on anyone brave enough to risk travel.

The infected are an ever-present threat everywhere, and the world is a ruin quickly being reclaimed by nature. (cw: body horror in the link) See board for world aesthetic and depictions of the Infected.

Special Abilities: Everyone is a normal human here. No supernatural powers, no magic, no non-humans.

Arrival: Welcome one of Ellie and Abby's least favorite places: Seattle. The Space Needle is visible in the distance, so despite the advanced state of decay, it's actually recognizable. Except it's been bombed, and rotting, and nature's reclaimed it for the last quarter-century. This adventure won't be for the faint of heart; there are no home bases and no safe space to be had. All clothing, supplies, weaponry and food are things you'll need to find yourself. Everyone can assume they'll get a quick lesson in gun safety and a rundown on various types of infected. Multiple rifts will open, so feel free to appear anywhere in the city (even apart from others) but expect to find no native allies. The city of Seattle is embroiled in civil war between the Seraphites (a religious cult who rejects anything "old world" and scars their faces, called "Scars") and the Washington Liberation Front (a ruthless mercenary coalition, called "Wolves") and both sides will assume you're with the other group and attack on sight. Better pick up a brick.

Comments

[sprent]

"Legacy," Gela says simply, looking up again. That somebody cared enough to find these, and dig them up and arrange them, put them back together again. Look at them. Display them, for others to look at. The care is obvious, the love, and the interest. "I understand."

The love for dinosaurs, anyway.

"What do you think of this place?" From her understanding, it's like Ellie's world, but whole. More advanced. "I think it's loud." It's hard to tell whether this is good or not, but her addition, "I wouldn't want to live here," clears any confusion up quick.

[notathreat]

The question is one that requires some thought, and Ellie grips the railing, jogging one of her chucks as the thinks about it, as the voices of so many kids and strangers wrap around them, exclaiming laughter, full of life.

It's the kind of thing she used to dream about, when she was younger. Light and life, filling places up until they spilled over. She still feels too still in the center of it all.

"I like things about it," Ellie admits. "The music, the art, the tech, and the food, and how safe and easy everything is. But..."

She trails off, unsure of her answer. Looks down at her hands, the missing fingers and the scars.

"I don't think I belong here."

[sprent]

Gela sighs. "I know what you mean."

It's obviously very nice to live here. The food is very good, and she likes the fashion, and being able to buy whatever she wants is a new and thrilling treat, it has been difficult to keep from going overboard. But what Ellie says is completely correct- Gela doesn't belong here either. She feels a little wrong, like she sticks out.

She says, looking at the dinosaur again, "I don't know if I belong anywhere." Her turn to look at her hands, also scarred, but not as well as Ellie's. "But I like the Gallows. I hope we go back soon."

[notathreat]

Gela says out loud what Ellie feels, and she can't help a wry smile.

"I miss it too," she says. "I'm glad the others are here with us, mostly. But I miss the missions, and doing something that feels like it makes a difference. I feel like if I stayed here, I'd just get bored."

It would take a long time, but still.

[sprent]

"You'd get a job, wouldn't you." She can see herself living here, that's not the issue. Gela could live anywhere, really, you just have to make room for yourself. Find things to do. She could live here, but she doesn't want to. A great number of people inhabit this world (not so much a danger to her as it is a danger to the people).

She sighs, suddenly uncomfortable. There are a lot of children standing around, staring at the dinosaurs.

"What else is there to see?"

Somewhere... less crowded, would be preferable.

[notathreat]

"Maybe. Probably. Somewhere like here. Putting these together."

Ellie's eyes travel over the soaring heights of the fossils, so many tiny connecting pieces... but Gela is shifting uncomfortably next to her, and there are a lot of sounds. A lot of people.

A lot of little kids here with their families, which Ellie is trying to ignore.

JJ would've loved this.

Ellie tilts her head to indicate the direction, and leans them onward through several halls to another exhibit she'd been eyeing. It's- heartbreakingly similar to the one Joel had shown her, some years back. There are models of space suits. Rovers.

Fuck. This was a mistake.

Ellie continues through the exhibit, silent, and heads to where she can hear some kind of theater production. There's a movie reel going, a place to stand in the dark. It's a presentation for children, but it explains the sun, the planets, the solar system.

[sprent]

All things Gela has never seen in her life and couldn't begin to fathom either, and so she slows right down as they pass through to look, her eyes wide. She doesn't understand what she's looking at, and she asks Ellie a question, "What's a- lunar rover?" but Ellie doesn't say anything. Gela turns just in time to catch her trailing off toward an archway, and disappearing into the dark.

She hastens to catch up.

Somebody is talking inside of the room but it's so dark Gela can't tell who it is. They're very loud! The sound is seemingly coming from every direction. She cups her hands over her ears, squinting around, and comes to stand beside Ellie once she finds her, and then eventually lowers her hands once she figures out what's going on, and her eyes have adjusted to the gloom.

Dutifully, she listens to the presentation. She says, to Ellie, drawing close, "We're on... that one?"

And points, toward Earth. All of the planets are lined up in a little row, Earth the third along.

[notathreat]

"Yeah. Right now, anyway."

Ellie leans in close, keeping her voice very soft so they won't disturb the presentation. The audience is filled with children so thankfully they're not the only ones wiggling, whispering.

Ellie still seems a little shaken, but she's getting a handle on it, her eyes a little too shiny, but she blinks it away.

"Earth. And the moon. And... a lunar rover is a little robot they put on the moon. Like- I don't know, a golem. A machine that can send information back to the scientists on earth."

See. She's trying. Ellie straightens, discreetly wipes a hand across her face.

[sprent]

The people on Earth are a curious bunch, aren't they. Looking for old bones to put on display, and sending machines to the moon for 'information'. How does it get sent back? Magic, Gela supposes, since they seem to have it here, and she nods, even though she doesn't really understand. These are concepts beyond understanding.

Ellie is quieter than she was when they were looking at the dinosaurs together. Gela glances at her. She can only just see the downward curl of Ellie's lip in the gloom.

"... Are you okay?"

[notathreat]

Ellie considers not telling her. If she has noticed, she's being kind enough to give Ellie some wiggle room, to get out of it. All told this is a mild reaction, given what happened the last time she was surprised with this kind of stuff.

At least they didn't hear a space launch.

"Yeah," she says, more a gasp than a word, and she holds it in the back of her throat for a second, hands in her pockets, jogging her leg.

"Yeah. I just... it's been a- this place reminds me of somebody I lost. So."

[sprent]

Gela feels that ache, half in reaction to Ellie's quiet upset and nervous energy in the twitch of her leg, half in recollection of her own, sore memories. She nods without saying anything, and they stand there like that, in the sadness, watching the presentation together.

Then, as it starts to loop back around to the start again, Gela finds Ellie's wrist in the dark and gives her a little tug. "Let's keep movin'."

They come out of that dark little room, and go along a corridor. The hallway segues into an exhibition about extinct and endangered insects, the walls suddenly lined with brightly coloured butterfly wings, and large photographs of bees curled into little balls. Gela stares at one for a moment, the curve of a ladybug's shell. Without looking at Ellie, she says, "We can leave, if you want. If it's hard."

[notathreat]

Ellie puts it away in the time it takes to walk out, but she's still grateful that Gela's not looking directly at her. She wipes her face again on her sleeve, takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes before she focuses on the ladybugs, on the bright colored butterflies.

There's one as big as her arm. It's haunting and beautiful.

There's something kind of fucked up about seeing all these preserved little bugs, just... pinned down. Bodies lined up for inspection, for viewing. Did they have little bug lives? Did they sit and savor the air as it dried out their wings? Did they know what they were turning into inside their cocoons, or were they confused, afraid?

How did they die?

She doesn't think that they found such perfect specimens by chance.

"It's okay," she says softly. And to assure her that she means it, she reaches out and puts a hand on her shoulder. Squeezes, gives her a small smile.

"I just wasn't expecting it."

[sprent]

But they're lined up for appreciating, for witnessing, and remembering. She isn't disturbed by the little bodies pinned to white sheets of card, the better to display their splayed legs, wings, antennae. Cold, still, and beautiful. Such is death; Gela wonders when she became so afraid of it, why she can't repair that relationship.

Ellie's hand finds her shoulder, and brings her back from her reverie.

"I understand." Truly. She's still looking at an emerald-green beetle, splayed out, when she adds, "My mother passed away a few years ago. She was sick for a long time before that. So many things remind me of her."

She wonders if she finds this easy to talk about because it still doesn't feel entirely real to her. She never saw the body, so it's very easy to imagine her mother sitting at home in that old chair with the blue cushion, a book in her lap and socked feet outstretched onto the hearth. She spoke to Gela in a way she never spoke to her siblings, called meetings in separate rooms of the house while citing: 'go along, the women are speaking'. It always made her feel so important.

[notathreat]

Ellie's told Gela about the farm. About living with someone she loved, about her baby. About how they were safe, now. Back where they'd be around people.

But she hasn't told her about Joel.

Ellie listens to Gela paint a picture of her mother and lets her mind drift, looking at the see-through wings. There are no fireflies. They're not endangered here.

"I met Joel when I was fourteen," Ellie says softly. "I didn't... have a family before that."

Typical QZ orphan, she'd said. No siblings, no family.

"I had him, though. And he brought me to a place like this, for my birthday. It was just ruins, but- we saw the dinosaurs. The models of the planets, the space suits. I loved it."

Ellie licks her lower lip, slowly.

"He was murdered," she says softly. "Um... a few years ago? I was there."

A few words, saying a lot.

"... I'd rather remember him like this, though."

[sprent]

They are wandering slowly, talking softly. There aren't as many people in this part of the museum, and possibly because nothing is especially interactive children choose to gather elsewhere, tugging their parents and friends along. It's a good place to have this kind of conversation, even though it's horrible.

Murdered, and Ellie there to see.

Gela feels a great rush of sadness wash over her, her eyes blurring hotly.

"I'm sorry," she says simply. She doesn't know what else to say. She's staring at another blown up photograph, and she lifts her fingers to the corners of her eyes, wiping. A sigh. She scratches the bridge of her nose, "That's sad.

What was he like?"

They weren't family before, and then they were. That must be some story.

[notathreat]

Ellie catches it out of the corner of her eye, feels a pang. She didn't want to make Gela sad with this; she's kind, of course she'd sympathize.

Ellie's eyes don't tear up, but she lifts her chin up a little, taking a deeper breath. Joel.

"He was in his fifties when I met him. He'd been a smuggler for a long time, and he was kinda grumpy, closed off. He acted no-nonsense about everything, but once you started wearing him down, he actually had a sense of humor."

She wets her lips, thinking.

"He taught me just about everything I know about fighting and staying alive. He was really overprotective, and it made him kinda shitty sometimes... but he'd always remember jokes he heard to tell me later. If he found a book he knew I'd like he'd bring it home. He wasn't into the stuff I was, but. He'd read it. Just to talk to me about it."

Ellie swipes once at her cheek.

"He taught me how to play guitar and sing and swim. He loved woodworking. He'd carve animals and make his own guitars. One time I gave him a drawing of himself and he freaking framed it. Kept it for years on top of the fireplace. His jackets smelled like woodsmoke and coffee."

Ellie stops abruptly.

[sprent]

This is a glimpse of who Joel was, and who Ellie is. Gela gets a sense that she may have thought of them like that for a long time: Ellie-and-Joel, a single unit. Parts of him have been left to her in the wake of his death and now she uses them to keep herself safe and sane.

"To me," she says, looking across, "It sounds like he would be so proud of you."

She's turned quiet for having spoken so much to Gela just now, and she seems young and far away, "For doin' all those things he taught, and survivin' away from home, and leanin' how he loved you."

Gela thinks she's right to say it. After all, she is doing exactly what her own mother taught her (unconsciously, unknowingly): to hide her pain. The motions are very similar. "I'm sorry you've had to go without him."

[notathreat]

Ellie's heard this before, too: like something about her just telegraphs what she needs to hear. He would be so proud of you.

It still makes her eyes sting, makes her throat tight.

The fucked up part is that she'd always known that he was proud of her. That he loved her more than anything. More than the whole world. That he'd have wanted her to be alive and happy. But she still misses his voice, his hands, the look in his eyes. There is still a crushing void in the world that he should be here to fill, and he isn't. He never will be again.

These days, she's usually okay. It doesn't make her unable to climb out of bed in the morning. Doesn't stop her from smiling, or feeling guilty for finding pleasure in anything at all.

But every once in a while, it hits her all over again, and she just can't breathe.

"... tell me about your mom?" she asks instead, reaching up to swipe her fingers across her face.

[sprent]

Gela nods, thinking about what she wants to say, looking at the photograph framed on the wall: a mantis, long and elegant.

"I think that I've mentioned my family had me first? Me, and three boys quick after that, so even though I'm the oldest, I'm also my mother's little girl." Even if she's gone. Forgive her tense, if it slips, because she doesn't talk about this often, if at all. "She was a merchant, and so she taught me book keepin' and inventory, and how to sew, and what birds best like the Cumber river. Birds were her favourite animal.

She had my hair. Or, I suppose I have hers. And- Maker, she would say the worst things about me because she knew me best of anyone. She could hurt me with a word." Sometimes Gela thinks that's probably why she died in the end: to twist the knife. The thought doesn't feel uncharitable. Her mother was a practical woman, her kindness buried deep.

Having said all this, she sighs. Perhaps notably, she shed a few tears hearing about Ellie's pain, and as she talks about her own, her eyes are dry. "I miss her," is the soft conclusion. "I wonder what she'd make of all this, and of me. She would not be proud that I've run off from home without properly inheritin' the family business, let me tell you."

[notathreat]

Ellie frowns slightly; Gela's not saying the happiest things about her mom, but. She kind of understands that. Joel was a mixed bag, too. If she were to talk about the things he's done, the way he treated her, it wouldn't all be good.

"I think if she wouldn't be proud of you now, then. She's finding the wrong things to be proud of."

It doesn't escape her, Gela's lack of tears. She doesn't think it's because she doesn't care, though- maybe the opposite. Maybe it's just. The way Ellie talks about home. Things that are facts.

... and maybe not.

[sprent]

Gela smiles, but it's a little sad. She looks at Ellie and reaches out to take her hand, just to squeeze it once and let go. "Thank you. I didn't mean to come in here and start to talk about so many sad things, honest, but thank you for listenin'."

Maybe she should have tried to speak about her mother more like Ellie talked about Joel... she regrets what she said now, but she can't take it back. Only way to go is forward.

"We should keep movin', or we'll get stuck here all afternoon."

bow on this?

[notathreat]

"Same," Ellie sighs, and squeezes back, her heart giving a twinge, too. "... and same."

Ellie presses her lips together, then reaches out to gently knock her knuckles against her arm. "All right. Let's go."