MISSION ONE: THE TIME MACHINE

[causalitys]

MISSION LOGS

MISSION ONE: THE TIME MACHINE

▐ OBJECTIVES ▐ The machine has malfunctioned, resulting in the random splintering of individuals across time and across the vast expanse of possible realities. Each person pulled has subsequently been recruited temporarily until a solution to return them home has been reached. The first mission is simple: return to the last splinter point the machine reached and retrace the steps of the team to locate any temporal anomalies and record them. Record anything strange or out of the ordinary for missions. The year is 1993, and you are going native. In the 'present', the team should begin a physical document mapping out where the new recruits come from and try to determine if splintering back is possible with their current technology. ▐ OUTCOMES ▐ Characters will have experience using the time machine and players will have chance to explore the past or explore the facility in the 'present'. A brief comprehensive idea of where everyone comes from should be starting to form, with Dr. Jones conducting individual interviews. You can be as vague about your characters personal circumstances as you like, as Dr. Jones will be more interested in the world itself, the year and will make quick character judgement's based on the conversation itself. At the end of the mission, characters should be starting to form connections, however small or significant.

SETTINGS

▐ 1993 ▐ Before you leave, you will be interviewed by Dr. Jones. This can be hand waved for inconvenience. She will ask you only the most pertinent questions: your name, your age, the year you are from. She will ask for as in depth description of your world that you can provide. If you want to elaborate on your personal circumstances, you can. If not, that's fine too. Before you leave, normal protocol takes place. The machine will be explained to you, as will the injections required before hand. The machine itself is dangerous, but the danger of being catapulted across reality again is 0.000001%. Reassuring in every way, of course. You will travel to 1993, Seattle. The only relevant information about this previous mission is the places the team were and anything odd they can recall. You will, however, be free to explore the State and note anything odd. There will be vague temporal anomalies, but nothing big enough to cross the multiverse. ▐ PROJECT SPLINTER INTEL GATHERING ▐ Interviews conducted by Dr. Jones are mandatory. Until you complete it, you will be held in the brigg quarters which, compared to the rest of the facility, is hugely uncomfortable. It is the same process as above. In turn, Dr. Jones will brief you on the current state of this world. She will only share relevant and confirmed information. After you're done, you are free to also share these experiences with the new 'volunteers. ' ▐ EXPLORING YOUR SURROUNDINGS ▐ The obligatory wild card. Explore the facility. The rooms, the kitchens, the shower rooms. Head up to the roof and look upon the vast wasteland that has become of the world. Do whatever you want!

table code by optimisty

Comments

[causalitys]

The young have the luxury of believing what they want.

[The youngest faces in the facility are the men with guns, and the women her daughter spends her days with. They believe their own ways with such ferocity that sometimes, Jones is envious. All they know is this life, where they take what they can and live in the moment.

Sometimes, Jones fears that she is simply chasing ghosts. ] We carry the burden of realism for them, it seems.

[That's -- odd, how she says. Wry and affectionate, to a degree. ] It seems that I should not be ruling out mystical properties, when reviewing this phenomenon. [What a bizarre turn of the books: magic in her time travel. ]

[metatemporal]

[ One hand creeps up to rub the back of his own neck, a real stress response he uses now as a signal, a response to that odd tone of wry affection in her tired commentary. Wells desists after a moment, making himself straighten back up, return to the topic at hand with less emotion. He's unaware of this other possible commonality that he will try to use later, her daughter and his assortment of adoptive children.

There, maybe, he might fail, seeing as he's willing to sacrifice two of them and has outright tried to kill the third, though that isn't the plan anymore. An actual parent might perceive some discordant tone in his careful displays of affection, as Joe had. But all that is for the future. ]

I still debate whether it's better there be no viable explanation, versus. That.

[ Another resigned little gesture of well, fuck it. ]

Any place in particular I should start?

[ And maybe if there's no surveillance in here, he can spare the calories to speed-read. For now, he'll be cautious. ]

[causalitys]

Temporal anomalies, I think. There are always some, when splintering, but we have been looking for common properties between them in recent splinters.

[And there have been, she thinks, common spikes at certain times. In certain missions. But not enough to say, yes, this is a definite pattern of strange temporal behaviour. Frustrating, overall, but perhaps he can offer something new. Or a new direction altogether, if nothing is to be found.]

Dr. Addler might better brief you. He also might have a better idea of where to begin. I -- [and there is that wry expression again; slightly mirthful, as though she's found a funny side to all of this, ] I have more people to speak with. [And notes to consolidate, eventually. A long night ahead of her, she thinks, staring at the written testimonies of where these people have come from. She can't wait, genuinely. ]

[metatemporal]

[ Wells stands (less creakily than one might expect), taking the cue that she'll be on her way. ]

I'll check in with him, then.

[ Ask some of those nice young soldiers for whom Dr. Jone accepts the burden of reality where the doctor in question might be found, scope out more of this place, and get to work which will occupy enough of his mind to pass the time while freeing other parts to consider a longer term strategy. Though he doesn't particularly want there to be a longer term. ]

[causalitys]

[Jones pockets her tabacco tin and, before she moves to leave, kicks the lower filing shelf closed with a heel. It might be hard to picture an ex-military facility as lived in, but it has all the right elemenys for it. The casual way Jones approaches the furniture, for example, or the way people seem to fill up the halls without it seeming like there's too many of them. In the longer term, if there is one, Jones doesn't imagine that it's an uncomfortable place to reside, even for those coming from houses. But then, she doesn't share a room with anyone.

A nod towards the door, before she nudges it open with a shoulder.] I can take you back to where Addler's work is. This place takes some getting used to. [Lots of hallways, lots of rooms. A lot of locked doors that haven't been opened in years. And, while she appreciates the efforts of her soldiers, they're only human in their pursuits to pass the time, and anyone new is an easy target for cheap laughs.

It's a short walk back, however: an office, just a few steps before the one they'd left, the door cracked open and the faint sound of chatter inside. Two men in labcoats bickering over their work, a familiar sound these days. (Or a familar sound always: if they are not bickering, are they even truly working?)]

[metatemporal]

[ Sharing living space with a bunch of strangers won't be enjoyable, though it will simplify the matter of figuring them out. Otherwise, he doesn't foresee comfort being a big concern of his.

Wells agreeably follows her out, fiddling idly with the strap of his watch, adjusting it or something. It would be quite something for Gideon to have come with him. Alas, that is not the case.

Meanwhile, while they near the door of the office: the sound of scientific progress, although whether it's being made or stymied is a matter of (further) debate. ]

Ah. I see the nature of collaboration remains unchanging.

[causalitys]

[The noise breaks away as one by one, they glance up in acknowledgement. Jones nods, in return, and then, to Harrison:] Productivity at its finest, as you can see.

[And then, to her likely very tired and caffiene deprived team:] Where is Dr. Addler? [Maintenance, is her answer, in unison. It's fortutuous, she supposes, that she has a team so willing to get their hands dirty with heavy lifting. Not so, however, when they are never where they ought to be. To Harrison, she gives a friendly pat on the shoulder, and to everyone else: ] Dr. Wells is here to assist you. Brief him, give him whatever he needs.

[Good luck her eyes seem to say, to Harrison specifically. The bickering has stopped, for now, in lieu of distraction. Small blessings. ] You know where to find me, Dr. Wells, if you need me. [Stowed away in what she might as well officially call The Briefing Room, for the foreseeable future. She turns, to leave, and over her shoulder:] Be gentle with him, he has come from a time were coffee is not in short supply. [Just a cheerful thought, to get him through.]