[GP/status] OtherWorlds: Welcome to Asphodel Station

[st_aff]

By the time the Crystal Room, recently and precipitously vacated by Kash, had closed itself off to begin its transformation, the incipient connection to a new world had already been reflected in the Inn's shops. Notably, after Valentine's Day, the boutique had begun to stock two new clothing trends. First came the heavily weighted apparel, almost like blankets for those on the autism spectrum, designed to hang against the body and stay against the body, most of them in fairly neutral shades and modest styles. Then came the exquisitely light, unusual fabrics, that seemed made for dancing and twirling. They often had extra fabric, tubes and ruffs, and layers that when caught in the wind would puff out into shapes. These tended toward the colorful, and while rarely what any 21st century Earth person would call scandalous, they often seemed to be playing peekaboo with spectators and the flesh beneath.

Other, less interesting, changes happened more suddenly. Every room had fresh water bottles delivered daily. The chef's chicken dishes inexplicably began to contain a great deal of cream, cheese, and cream cheese. The ice machines occasionally acted up and spit a stream of cubes at people passing without filling a bucket.

In retrospect, when the Crystal Room opened onto the deck of what might once have been some kind of space yacht but had become more the equivalent of an overcrowded tour bus for penny-pinchers and scholarship kids, it was more obvious than ever that where they'd be going, what they'd need when they'd get there, and the camouflaging of their arrival wasn't entirely random. The captain and passengers of the dirty, overcrowded space-bus SC Trolley couldn't possibly have cared less where the extra passengers came from, if they even noticed. And the docking crew on the pretentiously named Celadon Ring (third from the top, reserved for miner-leave ships and the odd 'leisure' travelers), was more interested in clan personal matters than in how many people were supposed to be on the ship versus how many left through its doors. After the first few hours of the ship's arrival, no one cared at all, which made it very easy for the people of the Inn to come and go.

Whatever intelligence lay behind their off-world jaunts could do little about their appearances, however, and their strange fleshy colors and hairstyles drew unpleasant looks from many on station. The Verineans in particular were none too thrilled by the appearance of a long-forgotten race, and behave more haughtily than ever. The Trovians poked them curiously and ran away. Most of the others avoided them. Only the Gunnii and the Diggers seemed to take them in stride.

Nevertheless, the noisy Hub with its welter of foreign tongues, the familiar patter of bargains and auctions, backed by the odd and occasionally terrifying structural creaks and groans, smelled of tarnished metal, less than fresh bodies, and commerce. Away from the pristine living quarters in the wealthiest petals, Asphodel was a trade station, and anyone with goods to trade and a will to trade them wouldn't be turned (too hard) away.

The rings and Paidia, the upper and the downbelow were something of a different story. Dangerous in the rings and the downbelow, downright welcoming in the Paidia, and off-limits without bribes on the upper, they had their own rules and their own essences. In truth, the station was large enough with so little in the way of true government, it might as well have been several small nations bound together by a gravitational system and air supply.

Regardless of where they planned to go, any visitor that exited a ship in one of the rings was made to watch a welcome video while waiting for the lifts. It contained the basic rules, offenses punishable by death, and an overview map of the station. Exchange rates in currencies unknown to the Inn were posted at the lifts exit doors. Yet whenever any first left the rings for the Hub or elsewhere on Asphodel they couldn't help but be unprepared.

Comments

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

She breathed easier once she felt more secure on the root and then looked to where Peter was looking. Liz glanced back to where they came from and saw the stalks of the mushrooms parting. "Maybe we can hide... mask our smell?"

They didn't really have a choice, though, and she exhaled again and did another running jump, landing on the root better again but pitched forward and had to catch herself again. One more root and they would be at the waterfall.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"If there's any space, we can probably get behind the waterfall and hide there." Peter leaps to the final root, and then jumps to a little platform of rock right next to the waterfall.

He extends a hand to Liz, ready for her when she jumps that next root and then jumps onto that little platform. "I've got you," he says.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz jumped, but stumbled forward a little. She decided, much to her later embarrassment, to try to use the momentum to her benefit and leap onto the little rock. Her hand made contact with Peter's, but her body kept moving forward and suddenly she was under the water and it was cold. She inhaled sharply.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

Peter grabs her arm and pulls her in, then throws his arms around her, as if to secure her in place. She's soaked. And really, really cold.

There's an indentation in the wall behind the waterfall, and Peter quickly scrambles, tugging Liz behind her to hide; he hasn't yet noticed the door behind them -- but only because he's so preoccupied with his sopping wet girlfriend to notice much of anything.

Peter's mind is racing, trying to figure out some solution to this problem. He could give her his hoodie. That was an easy solution. It's too bad that it didn't work like his spider-suit did, he thought, remembering the fight with the Vulture that ended with him being fished out of the lake by Mr. Stark. There'd been a whole system that dried him up and warmed him up quick.

And it's as if a spark goes off in his head. He slips his backpack off of his shoulder and unzips it, digging past his water bottles to fish out his Spider-Man costume.

He holds it out to her.

"Just get undressed and put this on," Peter says, all in one breath. And it's only after it's left his mouth that he realizes what he's said, and his cheeks turn red. "I'll just turn around and look at this wa--"

And when he turns, he finally notices it.

"--door?" he finishes.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz's body was shaking a little from being so cold. There's a safety behind the waterfall even though she knows the water isn't like a wall at all. False security.

Suddenly she had Peter's Spiderman suit in her hands and he was telling her to undress. She blushed alongside him. "O-okay."

Confused, but trusting, Liz dropped her backpack and started to peel her long sleeve top off. "Is it - can you open it?" Her cheeks were red the entire time as she stripped her clothes down to her bra and panties.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says. "I should be able to."

Peter focuses his attention on an electronic panel on the door; it looks a lot like the normal electronic panels back home. The only difference is that he doesn't know the code.

He frowns, and then if suddenly, something occurs to him, says: "Uh, the suit's clean. I clean it, like, every night. Well, Karen does." That was one of the many built-in features of the suit. And this particular factoid seemed relevant considering Liz was getting in his costume.

He leans in to get a closer look at the panel. Fortunately, the last person who used it either had slimy fingers (not something Peter would put past some of the aliens here), or greasy ones because the passcode pattern was streaked across the screen. Peter made a mental note to clean his cell phone's screen more often, then ran his finger over the pattern.

The panel buzzed irritably at him, and Peter tried the pattern reversed. The door clicked audibly as it unlocked.

"Unlocked," he pronounces proudly.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz felt a little silly as she put on the suit and was very aware of how form fitting it was. Peter had a lot of confidence to put this on all the time.

Form fitting until it got to her torso and then it was loose. She held the suit at her chest. "Um.. how do I..." She blushed harder.

But at least the door was open and she had managed to fold her we're clothes too in a pile.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"Just tap the front of your upper left-shoulder," he says. "It should automatically adjust to your size."

Peter continues to stare at the door, and talk into it, too.

"Did you want the mask, too? I mean, it might help with the alien harassment thing."

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

It took a moment for Liz to find the right spot and when she did, the suit formed to her. She had thought the suit form-fit her before and now she was really aware of just how snug it was.

She bent and put her wet clothes in her backpack on the bottom in the hopes to minimize the wetness on the rest of her things.

Liz stepped to the side of Peter, joining him at the door. She wasn't sure she could pull off the outfit like he could.

"Do you think that will work?" She looked to him, then into the door. Something from behind the waterfall seemed the growl but it was still far away.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"I mean, it might," Peter says, creaking open the door. He peers in before he opens it all the way for the both of them to go in. "I know that your face is one of my favorite parts about you."

So it might be the favorite part of some of these weird aliens.

Inside is a massive hallway, thick, metal of various sizes lining almost every part of the wall and ceiling. It's gotta be some sort of water facility -- Peter's sure of it, which probably makes some sense when you've got a functioning river-slash-stream running through your space station. Probably didn't make too much sense, to have something like this, though, especially since water was such a hot commodity that people were willing to basically give you anything, provided you could supply them with enough water.

Peter peers out of the door one last time once they're both securely inside, then shuts it. Turning to Liz, he asks:

"Do you think Yetu's okay?"

Peter hopes so. Yetu was basically the only nice alien they had met so far.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Peter sometimes had a habit of saying something so casually about a topic that wasn't usually so casually that it made Liz's heart do a flipflop. It sounded so much more sincere that way like he wasn't just saying poetry to impress her. It pulled a smile on her face to know he liked hers.

"I think... Well, he seems like he's good at surviving. I think he'll be okay." She'd like to hope so, anyways. He was nice. "Did you... Want to go find him?" Could they? The place was so big.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

Peter reaches into his bag and offers Liz the mask.

"I'm not sure we could," he admits, because Yetu had sorta come out of nowhere. Even with his enhanced senses, he hadn't been able to detect him in advance of even the whole trash can-throwing thing that had saved his rear in battle. "But -- we should probably keep an eye out. Just in case."

Peter presses his lips together and nods.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz nodded. She knew Peter was right about Yetu. Hopefully he was alright on his own. Maybe they made enough of a distraction for him to escape.

She looked down at the mask, the sheepishly back at Peter. She wasn't sure she would pull off the suit like he could, but she knew he was worried and if it meant they could walk around easier then - Liz put on the mask.

Her cheeks were red as she felt the mask come in place and suddenly it was like she was looking through tv screens or something. It was a lot to take in and she struggled for a minute to adjust to everything. How did Peter keep track of all this?

She saw him, though, and she smiled sheepishly behind the mask to him. "Do I... Do I look okay?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"Yeah," Peter says, smiling. "You look more than okay."

Peter reaches for her hand as they start to move down the hallway, following a line of pipes down a hallway with flickering florescent ligthting that would probably be better-suited for a horror movie than a water center.

They only manage to walk forward a few feet before a pleasant-sounding voice chimes from inside the mask.

"Hello, Liz. Peter's told me a lot about you."

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Peter probably felt her tense for a minute as she let him take the lead down the tunnel. She couldn't feel the warmth of his hand anymore, but somehow she could almost feel the heat seeping in through the fabric.

"...Um. Hi. Karen?" And she realized Peter could hear her talking, too, and that probably sounded weird because he couldn't hear Karen, right?

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"All good things," she reassures Liz. "I encouraged him to tell you about his feelings quite awhile ago. Peter has a difficult time listening to my advice about girls, though he seems to have no problem listening to my advice otherwise."

A beat.

"At least most of the time."

Peter glances over at Liz at the sound of his girlfriend telling Karen hello. Without the suit on, he can't hear Karen. He presses his lips together, trying to reign in the panic.

He keeps turning to look at her as they proceed further down the corridor. It takes him about a minute for him to actually press his most pressing question forward.

"Are you -- Are you talking to Karen?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Karen's reassurance made Liz's cheeks redden more. She could feel the heat on her face strengthen.

"Oh. Um, well, thank you. It's.... I'm glad he did." She opened her mouth the say she really liked him, too, but the Peter asked about Karen and Liz realized it might sound really awkward.

"Is that... okay?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"I am glad, too." For an AI, Karen sounds human-sounding at times.

"Uh... yeah," Peter says uncertainly. What was the worst that Karen could say?

"From what Peter has shared, he appears to believe that you're a good person. However, it will be good for me to assess this myself."

But not all the time.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz wished she could see Karen in person because talking to an AI without a face was hard.

"Oh... Um, yes. Okay. What would you like to know?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

Peter shoots Liz a curious look as they round a corner. This place felt like a maze.

"The best way to assess a person's character is to observe their actions," Karen responds. "You are welcome to volunteer additional information, if you'd like."

"You should tell Karen to activate the in-suit heater," he says. "It should dry you up quick."

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

Liz wasn't sure where to look when she was talking to Karen. Did she have eyes somewhere? It was rude to talk to someone and not make eye contact.

"Okay." She nodded to Peter. "Karen... Could you, um, activate the dryer, please?"

The suit suddenly felt like there were several blow dryers on her and she gasped loudly out of surprised. She was dry now, though.

"That was... I didn't expect that to happen." She was starting to get the feeling there was more to the suit than she would ever understand.

"I... Really like him. Just so you know." She whispered because maybe Peter might not hear her, but they were pretty close together.

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

"Peter was surprised his first time as well," Karen says. She had been dormant at the time, or else she would have activated it at Peter's request, had he known about the feature. He did not. It seemed like there was a lot that Peter did not know about his suit's full capabilities. Karen could only assume that he was not very good at remembering things. That was why she was happy to record everything.

Peter can only sorta hear what Liz is whispering to Karen. Him, Just, Know. He doesn't say anything; he just strains his ears a little more to hear any future conversations.

"I can tell. I am a very sophisticated AI."

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

"I'm starting to get that." Liz smiled into her suit, wondering if Karen could see it. She followed Peter around a corner, still on him fondly.

She whispered again, maybe because Karen felt so real to her and maybe because she was a little worried. "Is he... Um. Is he happy?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_arkintern]

Peter's pretty sure he can see something up ahead, so he temporarily relinquishes his hold on Liz's hand to get a closer look -- and make sure it's secure. As much as he wants to try to eavesdrop a little more, the last thing he wants is for them to be trapped or have to fight in a corridor as close as this one.

"That is a very complicated question," Karen says. "That is a very complicated question. From what I have observed, no human is happy all the time. Can you be more specific?"

Re: Closed to Liz Parker

[st_hotflashes]

As she watched Peter walk further away, Liz worried a little that maybe she was prying. Maybe it wasn't her place to ask. At the same time, if he was unhappy, maybe she could help.

"I guess... I guess I'd like to know if it's happy being stuck in the Inn. If anything's bothering him. If - If he's happy with me."

The last part kind of surprised her and she shut her eyes despite there being a mask over her head and thought about how stupid she was and how that question was... well, despite it being a worry, it wasn't something people usually asked.