[GP] Check-in Day

[st_oneswidow]

The wheel of the year turned and turned and Curnen found herself at an anniversary of sorts that she flatly didn't want to be remembering but got stuck on a loop of anyway.

This time there was no taking the hell off into the wilderness, though. Nor were there endless, circular recitations of "The Queen of Argyll." Rather than be poisoned by the memory of someone she still hated like everloving fuck, she focused on remembering the friend she'd lost. And besides this being Kash's song, she figured it was never a bad time around here for "John Barleycorn." Perched on the roof with her guitar, she sang of John Barleycorn's dying and rising again, subtle magic weaving into her voice to lead anyone lost in their little bubble world this way.

There was three men come out of the west their fortunes for to try,
And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn must die,
They ploughed, they sowed, they harrowed him in, threw clods upon his head,
And these three men made a solemn oath John Barleycorn was dead.

It was Kash's song, in her mind, but you talked to half the people around here and it wasn't a bad fit for them, either. From her vantage point, she watched the road.

Comments

Assigned Threads

[st_udieshard]

Samirah did not know what to expect when Heimdall told then he would drop them back to Midgard. The rainbow row simply disappeared and she was free-falling. Thankfully she was a Valkyrie and loved to fly so she took the opportunity to fall quickly before land came into view.

Once she saw land, she was confused about how it looked like a desert. This was not Boston.

She landed on her feet and looked around. There was a hotel in the distance and from it there was the sound of a guitar playing. Maybe Heimdall dropped her off somewhere by accident, she thought, but where was she now?

Tightening her hijab, Sam began to walk to the Inn with her hand on the hilt of her axe. She didn't want to come off entirely hostile, but she didn't want to appear weak.

Samirah and Jack

[st_argateman]

Jack was familiar with the people at the inn - that's what happened when you lived in a small community for a while. When the girl with a battleaxe and hijab began making her way toward the Inn like she was on a mission, it was obvious she was new. That, and it was check-in day.

"Looking for directions?"

Re: Samirah and Jack

[st_udieshard]

Sam kept her distance when the man spoke. She knew it would be difficult for her to know if he was a giant pretending to be human or an actual human.

"Yes, actually. Where am I?"

Re: Samirah and Jack

[st_argateman]

"Where are any of us, really?" Jack paused, and then decided she'd cut this girl a break. There are something about her that reminded him of Carter - maybe it was the look behind her eyes that suggestion she could probably kick his butt.

"You're not on Earth, even though it looks like it. We're in a sort of... pocket dimension?" He made a vague gesture with his hands. "Lots of science involved, but basically a bunch of people are stuck here from a bunch of different times and worlds."

Re: Samirah and Jack

[st_udieshard]

Sam believed him about another world. She knew that there were many worlds connected to one another.

"Excuse me. Did you say 'stuck'?"

Sam felt her chest constrict. She did not have time to be stuck in some other dimension, she thought.

Re: Samirah and Jack

[st_argateman]

He raised his hands as if to say 'don't shoot the messenger'. "I know, I know. Sucks, right? But it's true. Spent the better part of two weeks searching for s way out. Lots of people here are still doing it."

He wondered if some would ever submit, not that he had entirely, of course.

"It's not so bad here. There's a room for you, free food, a pool, pretty nice people..."

Samirah and Peter

[st_arkintern]

Peter tended to stick close to the entrance on check-in days, though there was no one who showed up on the 15th. After a year and a half at the inn, most of the time one day drifted just as easily into the other. Only the new arrivals on the 1st and 15th seemed to break the days up.

He's sprawled out leisurely on one of the lobby's plush pink chairs reading a book on woodworking by Nick Offerman when he hears the sound of someone opening the door.

Peter immediately sits up and puts on a smile. The book is set down on the table in front of him as he stands.

"Hey," he says to the newcomer and his expression, already bright, brightens further when he realizes she's a teenager too. "I'm Peter Parker. Has anyone told you about this place yet?"

Re: Samirah and Peter

[st_udieshard]

Sam was taken aback from the colors in the lobby, but the absurdity of it reminded her of the Hotel Valhalla. She wouldn't be surprised if a spear went flying through the air.

Her eyes landed on Peter. He seemed nice. He seemed eager. She smiled politely to him.

"Hi. I'm Samirah. It's nice to meet you... And yes, someone has. An older gentleman. Mr. O'Neill?"

Re: Samirah and Peter

[st_arkintern]

"Oh, yeah, Mr. O'Neill. I know him, kinda. Not a lot, though." They'd seen one another, said hello, made small talk, but that was about it. You couldn't really avoid talking with someone at the inn at some point unless you really, really tried.

"Where are you from?" He gestures to himself. "I'm from Queens, 2017. I've been here for two Julys now."

Re: Samirah and Peter

[st_udieshard]

Samirah remembered that O'Neill mentioned other worlds and times so when Peter was from a year ahead of her, she was only somewhat surprised.

"2016. Boston."

She didn't have a typical Boston accent, but not everyone did in Boston. Peter appeared to have the Queen's accent she knew about from pop culture.

"You've been here for two years?"

She processed this quietly. She did not want to be here that long, she thought.

Re: Samirah and Peter

[st_arkintern]

"A little over a year and a half," he says. "I arrived in July." Somehow it felt longer.

"No one I knew was here when I showed up, but a bunch of them started showing up later." Quill first, then others afterwards. Technically, he didn't know Quill, but Quill did know him and that seemed good enough.

Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_abilitylost]

Following the much-anticipated encounter with Elijah Kamski, Connor was dropped back off at the Detroit precinct with absolutely nothing to show for it. He could have predicted the enigmatic creator of android-kind to avoid probing questions about his creations displaying rogue traits--what man of his prestige would feed the notion that his legacy was rapidly evolving into a blood-soaked one, especially to a drunkard of a detective and himself, a mere android companion? It was simply human nature to protect ones reputation at all costs.

However--as Connor was learning the hard way--it was also human nature to relish in their own unpredictability. Kamski volunteered all of his knowledge willingly if Connor could pass a "test." It was a simple one, at that. Of course, Connor had been prepared. There was nothing standing between him and the absolution of his mission.

And he had failed. Spectacularly.

Alone, with Lieutenant Anderson gone and nothing left for the day but to deliver the report, Connor entered stasis. There, Amanda had been waiting for him. Even if she was simply the graphic representation of Cyberlife itself--simply an interface--he yearned her approval like a child would of their parents. From one look at her, it was clear he wouldn't be getting it.

"After what happened today the country's on the verge of a Civil War. Machines are rising up against their masters. Humans have no choice but to destroy them." She didn't need to say it. The cold reproach on her face and in her voice said it all.

"I thought Kamski knew something. I was wrong."

"Maybe he did. But you chose not to ask."

Connor could bring himself to say little else. If nothing else, one thing was clear--this was his last chance in every sense of the word. Closing his eyes and exiting the virtual location, he was leaving with as little as he came. No direction. No answers. And then, he opened his eyes, and before him stood an unfamiliar threshold. He simply stared. It wasn't the precinct, that much was immediately clear, but the implications of this were lost on him.

Re: Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_ratagem]

Ah, arrival day. Loki rarely had much to do with the new arrivals when they arrived; he wasn't a comforting presence, generally speaking, and it was still a good idea to get along as best he could. This was still a prison, everyone was still in the same situation, and new arrivals didn't need to be poked on top of their other troubles.

Of course, most new arrivals didn't stare at a doorway like they'd never seen one before as this one was, and that made Loki pause on his way through the lobby. He appeared to be a rather good-looking young human, but there was an odd sense to him in addition to a glowing circle on his temple that warned Loki off of assuming too much. He himself looked human, but wasn't. "I realize you've just arrived, but I would hope 'door' is a multiversal concept."

Re: Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_abilitylost]

Connor twisted his upper body to face the immediately-unfamiliar voice to see the immediately-unfamiliar face.

'Not an officer. Civilian? ...Convict?' Immediately, Connor cross-referenced the strangers face with the criminal database at his disposal. Instead, an error looped him back to square one. Database unavailable. His LED blinked yellow, the only outward manifestation of his confusion outside of an alarmed microexpression.

"...My apologies." Connor dutifully moved to the side of the door in anticipation of this individual or others needing to pass through.

Re: Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_ratagem]

Blue light, then yellow. Hmm. Yellow was a nearly universal color for caution, or warning, or error if one was dealing with computers. Some sort of cybernetic implant, perhaps? That might explain the odd not-quite-there feel to the man. "No need to apologize. You're new, you get a few days' grace. I think you'd best come in and start getting check-in over with."

Re: Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_abilitylost]

Connor regarded the stranger with a wordless stare and then looked behind himself at the sprawling landscape of wilderness. At least one truth had made itself apparent: this was not Detroit. He turned back to Loki and analyzed his options. The prospect of sabotage and kidnapping weighed on him, but while this individual wasn't being actively hostile, Connor opted for the diplomatic approach. Extreme action needed just cause.

"Where am I?"

Re: Connor - Assigned Threads

[st_ratagem]

"This is the Madonna Inn. It's a pocket universe version of a hotel in California, or so I'm told." Breaking news gently was not a skill Loki exercised very often. In this case, it seemed likely that the best answer was the blunt answer. "You're trapped here like the rest of us now."

Connor and Steve

[st_evengrantrogers]

It hadn't been that long ago that Steve Rogers had been one of those new arrivals to the Madonna Inn. Ever since he'd wandered the lobby and front grounds on the days when the new arrivals showed up, offering assistance here and there where he could. He wanted to make sure to pay it forward to the people who were freshly here, the ones who might need a friendly smile, softspoken assurance, or a firm handshake and warm welcome. Steve was more than willing to provide any or all of those things.

So Steve headed out to check and see if anyone else needed his support today.

Re: Connor and Steve

[st_abilitylost]

Navigating the halls wasn't a challenge in and of itself, though Connor wouldn't have called the Inn's layout intuitive. It was given to its kitsch and its novelty and there was a sense of anticipation on what to expect of his own room, The Fabulous Fifties. Likely, it wasn't constructed for someone who didn't need sleep in mind.

Before he could get far, there was a man walking the opposite way towards him that caught his attention immediately. The way he was built, the way he moved--it had such an air of peerlessness that Connor would have been tempted to label him as an android if not for the fact every reading indicated the man was fully biological.

Xavin - OTA

[st_artliving]

Xavin was used enough to arrival days now that he didn't hope to see anyone he knew. Outside of any future visions he was granted, there was no more chance of seeing the other Runaways again than there had been when he'd taken Karolina's place with her people.

It wasn't a sad reflection anymore, at least. He had people at the Inn - Hurley, Lillith, Peter and Liz, Mr. Stark - and a place, even if it wasn't exactly a place he'd aimed for as a hatchling. It was as complete a life as he was likely to have.

But he still liked arrival days. Seeing new faces, being on hand to offer a hot beverage or try to be a comfort. Or not, when no one arrived. Either way, he'd set up his cart-thing and had settled with a beat-up paperback of some kind - either a romance or a murder mystery, from how ridiculous all the characters were behaving - and a caramel macchiato. If anyone wanted his attention, the book would go away.

Of Aliens & Androids

[st_abilitylost]

Once he'd set on a path for his room--the Fabulous Fifties as they were--Connor traced the scent of coffee beans in the air and entertained a brief hope he'd find the Lieutenant at the source. More and more, the man was trading in the Eristoff for the espresso.

No such luck.

Naturally. Connor would have heard the man before he saw him, most days. Still, he lingered before the cart, considering getting the attention of the young man who sat behind it, but found himself at a loss as for what to say.

Re: Of Aliens & Androids

[st_artliving]

The presence at the cart made Xavin look up from the book, and even though he didn't recognize the man standing there his smile was genuine. Most likely this was a newcomer. If he'd been at the Inn for any appreciable length of time, Xavin would have recognized his face at least. "Hello. Do you need a beverage? I would be happy to make one for you."

Re: Of Aliens & Androids

[st_abilitylost]

"Thank you, but I'm alright." Blinking at the sudden and positive response, Connor deduced that this individual must have been unfamiliar with androids, as well. "...I do have a question. Has a Hank Anderson passed through here?" More foolish questions, but he didn't stop himself from asking.

Re: Of Aliens & Androids

[st_artliving]

"The name is not familiar." Xavin considered, but thinking about the name also brought nothing to mind. "I do not believe any such person is currently a resident here. I am sorry. Perhaps he will appear on a future arrival day." After a moment to recollect that manners were a good thing to exercise, Xavin offered a hand to shake. "I am Xavin. You are welcome here."

Re: Of Aliens & Androids

[st_abilitylost]

Taking a moment to process that, Connor remembered his own manners and returned the gesture. "Connor. I'm an android created by Cyberlife." Even if the Lieutenant wasn't here, it was somehow comforting to repeat the refrain he'd greeted the man with to this friendly barista.

"That being said, I can't partake, but may I have a seat?"