OPENING LOG: Awakening

[re_alignedmods]

WHO: Everybody!
WHERE: The Junk Pile.
WHEN: Right here, right now.
WHAT: Game opening! Our Heroes find themselves in a strange place not of their own world, however familiar (or not) it may be.

---

Consciousness is slow, and a struggle to obtain. The moments before darkness are hazy enough; a great vertigo, a twisting, and then, falling. Falling for what seemed like forever. And when you are finally aware of your surroundings, it is most decidedly not where you came from.

Instead, you are now in what appears to be a wasteland. A wasteland...of junk. Debris as far as you can see, heaped in mini-mountains that offer only so good of a view of the world around you. Perhaps in the distance, you can make out some flatter land, perhaps you can just make out what looks like a crevice - but it's difficult at best. The light here is all wrong, the two greatest sources being a white line in the alien sky that doesn't so much give off light as simply have it - and something in the south that glows like a setting sun.

You may or may not notice it at first, but you, too, have something alien - something on your arm, more likely than not. A marking that glows softly, but offers no clue as to how it got there - no pain, no sensitivity. It's simply there, as you are here.

So.

Now what?

((OOC: This is it, you guys! Have a blast! Please remember to keep everything under the first thread for now; we'll be adding the Firstforged in in a little bit...

OKAY There is now a second thread to post in! Feel free to make new threads there to react to the arrival of the Firstforged, or respond directly to the Firstforged themselves.))

Comments

[mccrane]

"I would like to know more," he admitted, "But there is somewhere that I need to be getting back to." He needed to find Earth, again. If he'd been on some mission, here, and it was over? Then he was supposed to be protecting Japan. They could not form Super Build Tiger without him.

When Elita One confirmed their presence on another planet, it was at least a bit relieving. If it seemed like a real world to another individual, then in likely was one. "Cybertron is your homeworld, correct?" Given that she'd called herself 'Cybertronian,' it seemed a logical leap to take. "Do you remember how you got here?"

[invisiblepinkboat]

She nodded, and it wasn't hard to figure out that it was Earth he meant. She could understand the sentiment. Whether this was Cybertron or no, after she found out what was going on with it - since there shouldn't be a giant junk pile anywhere on it - she needed to find the Graviton. More specifically, its crew.

"Yes. There's even the two moons, though they look a bit... different than I'm used to." Another look upwards, and when she looked down again, it was with a frown and crossed arms.

"Nothing that would explain my presence here. I was on a ship, in the middle of... beyond light-speed transport mode. And nowhere near Cybertron, as we'd just left Earth." She paused, frown deepening, though more thoughtful than displeased, now. "What about you?"

Could there maybe be... similarities in how and when they got here?

[mccrane]

"Two moons..." he repeated, and followed her gaze to look up at them, still surprised to see the strangeness of this sky. "But not that?" He cocked his head at the long white scar across the heavens, still curious about what sort of phenomena it was.

It looked almost like a nebula, but...much too close.

"I was..." he started, and trailed off. All he'd been doing, the last that he remembered, was sitting in the Brave Police office, loading his shotgun. "...doing nothing remarkable." He'd been on call, but there hadn't been any crimes or any suspicious activities to investigate. "Sitting in headquarters, that was all." He looked down to his shotgun, trying to imagine how only a few hours ago he'd been where he was supposed to be.

But here he was.

And if this was some form of Cybertron, and if this...female...was Cybertronian, then it only seemed to follow that she might have some further clues. "Is there any device that Cybertronians have which could transport us like this?"

[invisiblepinkboat]

The mention of the strange gash in the sky had her looking up again, squinting at it even if it wasn't really bright enough to necessitate that. It was a truly alien thing that even this giant pile of junk couldn't top among something that was seemingly familiar.

"Not that, no." Once again, she looked back down from the sky, unaccountably... unsettled by the lambda, and not certain why. If she knew what it was and its origin, maybe it'd make sense.

"No real commonalities between our appearance here, then, beside that we did wake up here, and, whether this is... Cybertron or not, neither of us, and, I'd think, none of the other as well, should be here." She couldn't really claim transwarp was unremarkable, after all. It did have its pitfalls and dangers.

"... Well, there's transwarp and space bridges," Elita said with a shrug. "But a space bridge requires you to go into a structure that contains the machinery to create and contain the power that transports you. Transwarp is similar, but used in spaceships." So while both of those things were possible... If the transwarp had been responsible for her coming here, the whole of the Graviton ought to be too, as well as the others.

Her comm. however, was still silent.

[mccrane]

"So neither of those options is likely, unless the technology here is greatly superior to that of your Cybertron..." He glanced around to the junk, as if the words 'greatly superior' were in serious question.

"And the only similarity between us seems to be that we're mechanical." At least, as far as he could tell.

They were still missing some crucial piece to this puzzle, and it was probably a corner piece.

"If this is not your Cybertron, however, then...can there be multiple ones?" That was an increasingly worrying fact to him. If, somehow, there was more than one Cybertron, then there was also more than one Earth. And if there was more than one Earth...

...then returning home might not be as simple as a space ride.

[invisiblepinkboat]

She nodded, but while she could agree it seemed... unlikely that this planet had more advanced technology than the planet she knew, she doubted that this junkpile covered the whole planet.

"If there is something more advanced, the amount of energy that would require seems like it'd be prohibitive..." Shrugging, Elita looked over McCrane again, considering it. While there was enough... general similarity (given basic frame-type differences, if they could translate across "species") that she was confused as how it could be that way, he was not cybertronian, so there wasn't really anything but a surface aesthetic similarity.

"... Multiple?" Optics widening and her expression widening in surprise, she wasn't sure whether to shake her helm and just deny it, or... what. "I... suppose. Maybe that could be possible. I don't see how though."

[mccrane]

Energy could definitely be a problem. McCrane was far from a mechanic or an engineer, but he knew the basic limitations. Right now, they were the same limits preventing him from being homeward bound.

If he looked at the situation with all the facts laid out, however, then the only possible solution was the one that seemed insane.

"Theoretically, if the technology had enough energy to pull us through space, it...could have pulled us through time, couldn't it?" Or through reality. There weren't many other reasons for why this could be Cybertron but not be Cybertron.

[invisiblepinkboat]

"Yes, I suppose so... Through time or space. Time-space... reality, I suppose," Elita said, continuing out loud the thought McCrane had been thinking. Rubbing the bottom part of her helm, she slowly shook it.

"Maybe. I'm not unfamiliar with the theory, but I've never seen, or heard, it done." Theoretically, though, she supposed it might be possible. Except that how could there be more than one Cybertron, when Cybertron was the body of Primus?

"Maybe there'll actually be answers to be found around here; if anything, none of us can stay in this junk pile." It wouldn't just be unstable and unsafe, since detrius seemed to... wait. Frowning, Elita followed the arc of a piece of junk that seemed to be... dropping from the sky?

Looking up, she could see nothing that would be the source of it - unless a ship was so far around orbit it couldn't be seen - unless it was that strange tear in space.

Either way, it would be unsafe, especially with junk continually falling down. They'd need somewhere else to stay if they couldn't get home. She futher wanted to try and find out more... and maybe meet up with someone she knew.

[mccrane]

"It is the best theory we have, so far." He sighed, not liking it despite that fact. "But we could gather more information, and compare it later."

Given that they'd covered all of the basics, he was getting eager to move on and see if there was anybody else who could progress the case. Elita seemed to desire a trip home as much as he did.

[invisiblepinkboat]

"If anything, getting a look at things beyond all this gargage could give some more clues... and maybe help to get home." She looke dup at the sky again, and then around them.

"Splitting would cover more ground. I assume you're looking for others you know as well? I hope you find someone at least," Elita said with a nod, back-mounted panels shifting with her own... Not exactly unhappiness at being alone as of yet, more like... displeased.

She could do solo-jobs, but she'd been working with a crew and backup and friends for over a decade now.

[mccrane]

"Those are my thoughts exactly." He offered a smile, finally, feeling comfortable enough around Elita to do so. "If I find out anything, I will attempt to contact you again.

He bowed his head, and slung his shotgun over his shoulder.

"I hope there will be familiar faces for both of us. Good luck?" He hoped that luck was something alien races had, and that she'd understand what he meant by it.

Giving her a quick salute, nevetheless, McCrane turned to continue on his way.