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01:25, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day.

Posted by The GuardianFor group 0
The Guardian
GM, 1372 posts
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 04:16
  • msg #267

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

As Trav emerges from the open iris, she sees the large and ungainly form of Baby, twisting to and fro in some agitation.  There are clear trails of dispersing bubbles leading off in two directions fro the bikes' mooring spot, Stanley's leading back toward the rift, and Smoke Alarm's arrowing off in the direction of Poppa.  There's nothing threatening in the vicinity, though, and Trav and Sereth with Rayburn and Lin are able to get on their respective vehicles without interference.
The Traveller
player, 1194 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 05:05
  • msg #268

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Trav gets onto her cycle, and revs up. She toggles her radio. "What's the situation? We need to deal with these hostiles before we make our way back to the Anomaly. Trillby, can you hear us?"
Smoke Alarm
player, 1160 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 08:02
  • msg #269

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

'Ha-ha-ha! Wipeout!' Smoke Alarm cheered with Reed, as the shockwave slammed into the little pool-bike, making it hop and skip and corkscrew wildly downwards away from the smash. Smoke let it spiral; down was down, and she might need one of these angles later. 'Good fishing, soldier-boy!' she called back to Reed. She caught the

Hearing Trav's message, Smoke pulled out of the dive, caught the trailing grapple-gun, then sped off, tracking back to the trail of pool-bikes. 'No to-do! We made chief pool-cleaner go splat like pave-cake on side of Big Daddy. Mayhaps Big Daddy'll show-and-tell him not to make live-in alivethans no more.' Smoke Alarm reported, puffed with victory. 'We be outgoing home-sweet-home now?'
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Tue 06 Oct 2015.
The Traveller
player, 1197 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 20:14
  • msg #270

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

"Figured you'd take care of everything, Smoke baby! Good to hear you and the team are ship shape!" As she and Sereth join the team on their aquabikes, Trav opens up with her telepathy. <<Great One, Little One. Will you and your child be safe? I am not leaving until those who would harm the two of you are rendered harmless. I owe the safety of myself and my family to two of you.>>
This message was last edited by the player at 20:15, Tue 06 Oct 2015.
Stanley Newton
player, 383 posts
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 21:25
  • msg #271

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

The Traveller:
Trav gets onto her cycle, and revs up. She toggles her radio. "What's the situation? We need to deal with these hostiles before we make our way back to the Anomaly. Trillby, can you hear us?"


"Everything okay. No problems here." Stanley responds. He decreases the aquabike's speed, to keep the distance between him and the others from growing to quickly. "Thanks to Smoke's distraction they didn't chase us."
The Traveller
player, 1199 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Tue 6 Oct 2015
at 21:30
  • msg #272

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Trav nods. "Josh, get you and your team to this point, ASAP. There are already UNIT personnel aboard Sweet Boy. Hustle! Don't stay here any longer than needs be." Trav marks the anomaly's location on the inertial locators of the entire team. "Trillby, this is the team. Colonel Rayburn's team is incoming, I repeat, Colonel Rayburn's team is incoming. We'll be along right behind. Prepare for reception!"
The Guardian
GM, 1373 posts
Wed 7 Oct 2015
at 02:56
  • msg #273

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

OOC:  Trav and Sereth are both doubled-up with someone from UNIT.  Don't sweat it, though.

Trav hears Rayburn clear his throat over the comm, and realizes belatedly that he's sitting behind Sereth on his vehicle -- and that Lin is right behind her.

She doesn't have too long to try to cover for her embarrassment, though.  She and Sereth are suddenly caught in a powerful current -- not too strong to keep their bikes stable, but strong enough that they have to work at it.  Baby, rotating and counter-rotating excitedly, hovers nearby as a wall of flesh looms out of the blackness at them, and in the center of it an eye two stories tall, radial veins gleaming gold in the light from the bikes' headlights.

SMALL TRAVELLER, WHO HAS SIZE BEYOND ITS SIZE, comes the response.  The mental spill is enough that Trav's friends get at least the gist of this, although perhaps not in exact words.

THE OFFSPRING SWIMS FREE.  YOUR PURPOSE IS GREAT BUT THE OCEANS ARE GREATER.  THE HUNTERS WILL HUNT.  THE OFFSPRING WILL GROW AND ENDURE.  IT IS THE WAY OF LIVING.

There's something like confusion in its sense now.

THIS ONE SEES NOW.  YOUR KIND IS NOT THE HUNTERS' KIND.  THEIR EVIL IS NOT YOURS.  WITH THE OFFSPRING FREE WE WILL SEEK NEW SEAS.

Baby's voice pipes in:

is has OUT.  is has can SEE and SWIM and LEARN.  one who is help is...  A pause: puzzlement.  one who is help is FRIEND.
Smoke Alarm
player, 1162 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Wed 7 Oct 2015
at 03:20
  • msg #274

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

'Shape-ship and sound.' Smoke Alarm reported back to Traveller, with a hint of correction on the Kang speak. She motored down to the procession of pool-bikes, shepherding them nose-to-tail again, before arriving at her place in front as leader and trailblazer. 'All piggy-backers keep outlook for more pool-cleaners.' she told the UNIT team. Then, as the pool-bikes rocked and rolled as the massive tower-sized Big Daddy came up behind them, she added quietly 'And leviathans.' Outlooking back, she saw the humongous leviathan, bigger than big in all ways she knew. Filled with awe, the Kang felt like a little mouse or even an ant before something so vast.
The Traveller
player, 1200 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Wed 7 Oct 2015
at 04:36
  • msg #275

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

The Guardian:
OOC:  Trav and Sereth are both doubled-up with someone from UNIT.  Don't sweat it, though.

Trav hears Rayburn clear his throat over the comm, and realizes belatedly that he's sitting behind Sereth on his vehicle -- and that Lin is right behind her.

She doesn't have too long to try to cover for her embarrassment, though.  She and Sereth are suddenly caught in a powerful current -- not too strong to keep their bikes stable, but strong enough that they have to work at it.  Baby, rotating and counter-rotating excitedly, hovers nearby as a wall of flesh looms out of the blackness at them, and in the center of it an eye two stories tall, radial veins gleaming gold in the light from the bikes' headlights.

SMALL TRAVELLER, WHO HAS SIZE BEYOND ITS SIZE, comes the response.  The mental spill is enough that Trav's friends get at least the gist of this, although perhaps not in exact words.

THE OFFSPRING SWIMS FREE.  YOUR PURPOSE IS GREAT BUT THE OCEANS ARE GREATER.  THE HUNTERS WILL HUNT.  THE OFFSPRING WILL GROW AND ENDURE.  IT IS THE WAY OF LIVING.

There's something like confusion in its sense now.

THIS ONE SEES NOW.  YOUR KIND IS NOT THE HUNTERS' KIND.  THEIR EVIL IS NOT YOURS.  WITH THE OFFSPRING FREE WE WILL SEEK NEW SEAS.

Baby's voice pipes in:

is has OUT.  is has can SEE and SWIM and LEARN.  one who is help is...  A pause: puzzlement.  one who is help is FRIEND.



<<Swim free, FRIEND. May you grow to be as big outside as you are INSIDE. I love you both. Be well! Both of you, swim free and stay safe! Maybe, I will see you again! I do not HUNT, I TRAVEL. THERE IS ALWAYS TIME TO TRAVEL, SEE AND LEARN AND HELP. BE SAFE.>> Trav feels her hearts swell as big as the Grinch's did on that Christmas day.

Trav blows a big MWAH kiss to Baby and Poppa, and then spins her aquacycle back towards Sweet Boy. "Lets move, people, clock is still running down! Back to Sweet Boy!" Making sure that all heads are accounted for, Trav herds everyone back to the anomaly and the TARDIS. She spins by and picks Lin up, helping the other woman onto her bike."Just like the old days, right? Except I'm skinnier!" After making sure everyone is accounted for, she roars back to the TARDIS with all speed.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:39, Wed 07 Oct 2015.
The Traveller
player, 1201 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Wed 7 Oct 2015
at 04:40
  • msg #276

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Smoke Alarm:
'Shape-ship and sound.' Smoke Alarm reported back to Traveller, with a hint of correction on the Kang speak. She motored down to the procession of pool-bikes, shepherding them nose-to-tail again, before arriving at her place in front as leader and trailblazer. 'All piggy-backers keep outlook for more pool-cleaners.' she told the UNIT team. Then, as the pool-bikes rocked and rolled as the massive tower-sized Big Daddy came up behind them, she added quietly 'And leviathans.' Outlooking back, she saw the humongous leviathan, bigger than big in all ways she knew. Filled with awe, the Kang felt like a little mouse or even an ant before something so vast.


"Beautiful and awesome, isn't he, Smoke Alarm? So amazing. This is why I left home."
Smoke Alarm
player, 1166 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Thu 8 Oct 2015
at 00:26
  • msg #277

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

As the procession sped off again, Smoke Alarm was in the lead, zooming back for the space-hole. 'Icehot!' she agreed.
The Guardian
GM, 1374 posts
Thu 8 Oct 2015
at 03:08
  • msg #278

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

The travellers and their respective passengers traverse the wormhole without incident.  On the far side, they emerge to see, drifting placidly in the light of the anomaly, the Traveller's TARDIS.
The Traveller
player, 1207 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Thu 8 Oct 2015
at 06:47
  • msg #279

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Once the team is safely inside, almost sadly, Trav pulls off her mask and gets to the Transversal Power Station. "Goodbye, Baby, Poppa." After clearly mapping that particular cosm's quantum spin with TARDIS sensors should she cross it again, she starts the pullback sequence. The mighty engines of Sweet Boy start to carefully close the anomaly shut, safely closing the door between universes, weaving back together the tear in space-time. She's running the calculations personally. Earth has enough problems with things like Weevils showing up in the sewers of places like Cardiff and it's big rift. She lived in a blue-lighted post apocalypse for decades - that could possible happen here given enough bad events.

(OOC - let me know if I need to make any rolls to close up the rift once we're back inside the TARDIS)

"Speizo, Oswalds, did you get everything? That went -swimmingly- well. Everyone, you were all amazing. That went much better than it could have. I'll run around and give smooches, but I'm exhausted. But I have enough energy for one thing."

She takes the phone handle off of the TARDIS console, and extends it to Josh Rayburn.

"Let your wife and family know you're all right, and you'll be home soon."  She smiles, as she pulls up a chair to the TARDIS console, and plops into it, smiling.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:48, Thu 08 Oct 2015.
Smoke Alarm
player, 1169 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Thu 8 Oct 2015
at 11:22
  • msg #280

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Smoke Alarm stacked her fists and waved goodbye to the big shapes of Big Daddy and Baby, receding into the blue distance. 'Build high for happiness!' she called, feeling so happy at her small part in freeing the baby leviathan and starting a revolution among them against the pool-cleaners. She hoped they would win their freeness in time and that no more would be renovated into towers and ships.

She was sad to be eyespying them no more – with Traveller closing the mouse-hole, they would mayhaps never meet again, never find out if they'd won freeness or not. But she was glad to be getting out of the great pool and back to the talkiphone box. Dry floors and towers was where Kangs belonged.

Tracking back to the home-sweet-home of Sweet Boy, she putted the pool-bike through the wall of water at the door, stop-signing to let the water run off the bike and her suit, though she found the force-field had kept back almost all of it. Weirdly, though she was out of the pool, the fish-tank-walls of Sweet Boy's control room made her feel almost like she was still in the pool, surrounded by water. Right now, she'd be happy to be out in the wide open parkland, than under all that crushing water again.

She parked the pool-bike, let Reed off, then climbed off herself. She popped off her helmet and shaked loose her long blue hair, rather more tangled and sweaty than would be icehot, and breathed in and out of fresh air-conditioned air. Home-sweet-home!
The Traveller
player, 1208 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Thu 8 Oct 2015
at 14:43
  • msg #281

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

After making sure the rift was safely closed, and a full report was sent UNIT Dallas and London, Trav takes her time in making sure that Rayburn's team is checked out and fully examined in the triage that has been set up, working with Stanley. Having been for a long time a dimensional traveller, she makes sure that Rayburn and his team haven't been compromised by any strange dimensional variances or forms - like what she used to do for Malakai and her old team back when they used to cross into new universes nearly once a week. She finds herself thinking about Erin Tarn, and her children, and Minmay, and all her loved ones who were still alive but seperated by a wall as thin as a whisper yet as wide as an infinite sea.

Thinking along the lines that Smoke was, Trav gets a dark look for a few moments, after passing around the snugs and kisses on the cheeks, now that every was back home.

"Sereth. I wish I could have stayed there, and have saved them. But there's a lesson - they need to save themselves, or live their situation as is natural. Just like Buchenwald - I can't live their lives for them." She sighs, as she throws down the lever on the TARDIS console. She remembers why she is The Traveller, and the mocking words of the Mathematician, back on Rifts Earth - the burden of the Time Lord. She had to leave Macross City, Rifts Earth, all these other places, so that everyone else could live their lives peacefully. And that was all right. She smiles to Stanley, and Smoke, and Sereth. Moreso than glomps and smooches and crazy exclamations, she radiates her immense pride and love for them.

Trav thinks back to that cryptic message, on Karn. GALLYFREI STANDS.

If it indeed does, then she will return home, and lead that revolution.

But for now, she throws a switch. Sweet Boy's door opens, to a jubilant crowd. Homecoming and celebration. At least for today, everybody lives, as the TARDIS materializes in it's old spot at the Alamo, near the secret entrance to UNIT Dallas.

OOC: If it's OK with the GM, spending Trav's last remaining story point.

As everyone steps out of Sweet Boy, Trav produces Shopansky's UNIT badge and dog tags. "I grabbed them as Sereth and I were backing out. I'm sorry that we weren't able to bring Shopansky home. I was thoughtless. I can do all this shit but I couldn't have dreamed up some nonsense to get Shopansky back for his family. I was too busy being smart." 800 years, and before Josh Rayburn, she still feels small and young like a girl, like she did before Abe Lincoln and Henry Gloval and Erin Tarn. The Marshall, the fist of Rassilon, all of this, and she still felt like this about people.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Fri 09 Oct 2015.
The Guardian
GM, 1375 posts
Fri 9 Oct 2015
at 02:36
  • msg #282

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Later....

After the memorial service for Specialist Warren Shopansky, the travelers, along with the UNIT London personnel, the Shopansky family, and a scattering of others from UNIT Dallas have been invited back to the Rayburn home on the outskirts of Dallas.  While the mood is subdued, the formality of the service has been put to one side and there's a sense of calm.

It's a warm autumn day and everyone is out in the back yard.  (High hedges block the space away from prying eyes, so whether Sereth is using his disguise is up to his discretion.)  Flynn is in a wheelchair, having undergone corrective surgery on her injured leg, but is in good spirits.  Rayburn has introduced everyone around to his family, including his three grandkids.  He excuses himself from watching over the grill to come and approach Trav.

"Really can't say enough about how much we owe you and your friends," he says.  "It's what we all sign up for when we join up with UNIT, that we might end up lost in some highly inventive way, but that don't ever make it an easy thing.  And when someone lays it on the line to pull you out of the fire, well, that's no small thing.

"Been thinking.  You ever think about taking your old job back?  Weirder stuff keeps happening to this planet every day."
Smoke Alarm
player, 1170 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Fri 9 Oct 2015
at 11:48
  • msg #283

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

'We got Baby out sound and safe, show-and-telled them how to start a to-do against the pool-cleaners. But we can't do everything for them. Freeness given is no freeness at all. Freeness is finding freeness of their own.' Smoke Alarm agreed with Traveller, though not in quite the same words, but in the same wisdom. That was what the Doctor had done; he'd helped the people of Paradise Towers work together, to fight back against the Great Architect, but he'd let them do it themselves and find their own ways, with arrowguns and splosives and knitty nets and running, so freeness was their own. 'It's like what the Doctor did. He got the wheels rolling.' she added, knowing it would make Trav feel better.

*

Still clad in her dive-suit, helmet tucked under her arm, Smoke Alarm strode brave and bold out of the talkiphone box, waving at the UNIT people, feeling like she'd won a great game, feeling biggerer than ever. Then: 'Wait, shouldn't've we outgone to the big boat?' she wondered, realised the funny-looking white building wasn't the UNS Loyal they'd left from. Mayhaps the sailors there would be wondering where they'd gotten to?

*

Finally getting out of her wetsuit, Smoke Alarm found herself just as wet underneath, but with sweat and damp. And she was smelly, and so, so yawny. It was hard yakka running about underwater. She washed and flopped into something that passed for a bed – it might've been a couch – for a million ticktocks.

*

Having been living on contemporary Earth for days, but never actually allowed out of the talkiphone box, the base, or the big boat, and certainly not away from the eyespies of UNIT lest she get into a to-do, Smoke Alarm was itching to get out and run around in the city, London or Dallas. She was starting to wonder if she should just take her own freeness... If nothing else, she wanted to cosplay as an Earthian, realising her "space clothes" as one UNIT soldier put it would make her stick out like a Yellow Kang among Blue Kangs. Mayhaps they'd let her get lost-and-found then, or mayhaps it would be easier to get lost and away from eyespies.

So, with meeting-places and parties today, deciding to dress in fancypants formal fabshion, she'd raided the TARDIS wardrobe and changed out of her clothes, though mayhaps not in that order. The Blue Kang reappeared from a mound of clothing in a party dress – blue, natchurally – but lost-and-found it rather yawny on its ownsome. So she added a strip of black around the waist as a belt; a pair of black runners; the blue UNS Loyal cap the Petty Officer had given her as a prezzie; and a black tie around her bare neck, because she'd heard something about black-tie events and thought it set off/covered her chest area nicely, even if she couldn't get the knot right. She even tied her blue hair back in a ponytail with a rubber band. As jewellery, she added her fizz-ade-can bangles, dog-fang necklace, and a badge she'd found once proclaiming that she was 11 today. The last particular number she could remember being was 5, so she figured she had to be close enough to 11 now. Out of this ensemble poked arms and legs, pale and skinny with whippet-like muscles, and livid red dog-bite scars on her left calf.

She outlooked like a prissness!

*

At the memorial service, Smoke Alarm respected the solemnity of the occasion, recognising it as like a Kang's own ritual for the unalive. But when she asked if Warren Shopansky was being put on the scrap-heap... she decided not to say anything more. She'd never met or knowed him, so she couldn't say if he'd been brave and bold or not, but if he was in the UNIT Traveller liked so much, then he was no scaredy cat.

*

After the memorial, the Kang remained subdued on the way to Rayburn's house. Being out in the wide open parkland was bad enough, but these little single-apartment towers were all weird to her. The neighbours seemed too far away – how would you be able to send help, or know what they were up to? They could be eating Kangs next door for all she knew.

Thus, in her fancypants prissness dress, Smoke Alarm sat quietly on a chair and sipped fizz-ade through a straw. However, those who knew Kangs and children would know she just getting sugared up.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:02, Tue 13 Oct 2015.
The Traveller
player, 1212 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Sun 11 Oct 2015
at 03:20
  • msg #284

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

The Guardian:
Later....

After the memorial service for Specialist Warren Shopansky, the travelers, along with the UNIT London personnel, the Shopansky family, and a scattering of others from UNIT Dallas have been invited back to the Rayburn home on the outskirts of Dallas.  While the mood is subdued, the formality of the service has been put to one side and there's a sense of calm.

It's a warm autumn day and everyone is out in the back yard.  (High hedges block the space away from prying eyes, so whether Sereth is using his disguise is up to his discretion.)  Flynn is in a wheelchair, having undergone corrective surgery on her injured leg, but is in good spirits.  Rayburn has introduced everyone around to his family, including his three grandkids.  He excuses himself from watching over the grill to come and approach Trav.

"Really can't say enough about how much we owe you and your friends," he says.  "It's what we all sign up for when we join up with UNIT, that we might end up lost in some highly inventive way, but that don't ever make it an easy thing.  And when someone lays it on the line to pull you out of the fire, well, that's no small thing.

"Been thinking.  You ever think about taking your old job back?  Weirder stuff keeps happening to this planet every day."


As Trav has been looking off into the sunset, sitting in a lawnchair, nursing a corona, she looks up at him. It's been centuries. Even though she looks young, Rayburn can see the centuries on her face.

"Don't ever let them go, Josh." A pause and a beat, as she watches Smoke, in her pretty princess dress, plays with Rayburns grandkids, teaching them Kang games. She passes him her polaroids of her husband and her own kids, from Rifts Earth.

"I spent a century to rescue them." She exhales, pained, remembering the Shedraya war. "That guy there, Josh? 60 years as a human woman, then he gave me 30 more. More than I ever deserved, after what I did. But he died, as everyone does. I buried him." Another, longer, pregnant pauses. "I slipped out of that big old house, in New Kentshire. That was Louise' house, not mine." She draws on her Corona - The genteel 1st Traveller drank wine, and the 2nd Traveller got blasted on one beer. The Marshall drank scotch, her one indulgence from Earth. Louise Simons could drank beer and vodka.  "My daughter begged me to stay, but Josh, no parent can bury their children. They were beautiful, ordinary human beings. I would not change them. So, I left them. My enemies would have come for me, anyway." She doesn't sound entirely convinced of what she's saying. Having known her for a few years, he can probably figure - Humans grow old. Time Lords regenerate.

"Kate Stewart tolerates me because she needs me. She sure as hell doesn't trust me. I know how she feels about Americans and time travel. But you, Josh, knowing who I am and who I was, still trust me."

She stands up.  "I'll be in your office on monday morning. We'll have a talk. This Trav in front of you is different than the last two you've worked with, but I think it'll be good to be home again. I can't promise you I'll always be here, or even on call, but, hey, I'm the Traveller, not the Homebody or the Spud.". She smirks, her eyes warm with affection for Rayburn.

Home. There were only a few places Trav called that - Macross SDF-1, New Kentshire, Gallifrey.  The last three were gone. But here was Dallas. It was as good a place as any to draw a line and take a stand.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:02, Sun 11 Oct 2015.
Smoke Alarm
player, 1178 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Tue 13 Oct 2015
at 06:36
  • msg #285

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Upon entrancing the Rayburn apartment, Smoke Alarm had said how-you-do to the family – the full formal display too, coz she had good-girl manners. Natchurally, this had produced some confuddled stares, coz they didn't have the knowhow, so she show-and-telled them. The inbetweens and oldsters were always slowpokes to knowhow, for sure, but the "grand kids" picked it up right quick and returned it pretty good. After that, Smoke Alarm felt sound-and-safe to entrance their terrortory – no ball-games, no fly-posts, no to-dos.

Still, she was quiet as a mouse, like a Yellow Kang lost in Red Kang carrydoors. It wasn't her terrortory and it wasn't no-one's terrortory. She didn't care so much about the oldsters and inbetweens, but the grand kids. This was their home-sweet-home. She would loiter and foot-about the party area until they decided to get talky and invite her into games. And didn't decide to ambush her.

Rising, she crept to the buffet table, eyespying all the strange foods, just laid out under the sky-ceiling where rats and birds could comeout and shoplift it, not that they would with people footing around. Trav had talked of techs-mechs, but Smoke had figured she was talking about tetchnology and mechinery and fixiting the talkiphone box. There was a lot of red stuff; it almost seemed to be for Red Kangs. 'Waring sprinkles, Smoke Alarm selected a small piece of green fruit that outlooked sound-and-safe and chomped it up. It was, unknown to her, a jalapeño.

'Ah! Hot! Hot! Fire! Sprinkles! First-aid me!' Smoke Alarm, never truer to her name, wailed and poked her tongue out to cool off.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:30, Wed 14 Oct 2015.
The Traveller
player, 1228 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Wed 14 Oct 2015
at 04:22
  • msg #286

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Trav's eye grow wide, a she hears Smoke Alarm's clamor.  She immediately runs into the kitchen, and grabs a carton of milk. "Sorry, sorry, coming through! Spice newbie alert!" She gets to Smoke. "Drink this, baby." There's probably some mess, but having been up and down time and space, Trav knew how to deal with Jalapenos. She helps Smoke get the milk down, since Casein, the protein in milk, helps break the bonds of capsaicin, the active ingredient in Jalapenos. "I'm sorry, honey, didn't anyone warn you about the green peppers? I guess they didn't have anything spicy at Paradise Towers! You should bring some of that back for your Kang sisters - give those Rezzies a surprise!" She laughs good naturedly.
Smoke Alarm
player, 1181 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Wed 14 Oct 2015
at 06:12
  • msg #287

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Still panting like a dog from the stinging hotness, Smoke Alarm gulped down the milk until she could feel her tongue again. Scavenging had given her a varied and adaptable diet, but she'd never before encountered anything as hot and spicy as a fresh jalapeño. Left with a milk moustache, she gasped 'Sprinkles like that would make an oldster unalive in no time! It would show-and-tell them right. Kangs should wear these green peppers to stop them eating Kangs up... So, inbetweens eat those as food? No wonders they're grumpyheads.' She outlooked despondently at the spread of food and all the red and green bits in it. 'Is it all got sprinkles on it?'
This message was last edited by the player at 11:12, Wed 14 Oct 2015.
The Traveller
player, 1229 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Wed 14 Oct 2015
at 06:24
  • msg #288

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Trav laughs. "I'll help you find the food that's not all spicy and avoid the Smoke Alarmy bits, sweety. Should seen the first time I ever had Wasabi, a green hot bit. They don't have Sushi on Gallifrey." This was in Nobunaga's court, when the 1st Traveller , in a Kimono, ran shrieking after swallowing a mouthful of the stuff.
Smoke Alarm
player, 1182 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Wed 14 Oct 2015
at 11:34
  • msg #289

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Smoke Alarm seemed red enough to consider switching to the Red Kangs. She outlooked fiercely at the foods, as if confronted by army of dogs and caretakers. She was brave and bold as a Kang could be! She wouldn't be defeated by a totally not-ice-hot hot-hot green pepper food thingey. And some of the rest of it still looked tummy-yummy. In a kind of reluctant-to-show-it curiosity, she agreed 'Well, okay, mayhaps not so spice-hot.' Hey! She'd lost-and-found an ice-hot new word. Wait until she told the Kangs! But that just made her miss her friends, not eyespied since the Earth caretakers took her away, all those ticktocks ago.

She took some very sound-and-safe-looking corn-chips, repeating 'They don't?' She was about to ask Traveller more, but realised she would probly miss her home-sweet-home more than the Kang did. She wondered briefly what wasabi and sushi were, but if they were anything like these green peppers, then she didn't want to know. More spice-hot, probly.
The Traveller
player, 1231 posts
Last Time Lord No More!
Always time to travel!
Mon 19 Oct 2015
at 06:17
  • msg #290

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Smoke Alarm:
Smoke Alarm seemed red enough to consider switching to the Red Kangs. She outlooked fiercely at the foods, as if confronted by army of dogs and caretakers. She was brave and bold as a Kang could be! She wouldn't be defeated by a totally not-ice-hot hot-hot green pepper food thingey. And some of the rest of it still looked tummy-yummy. In a kind of reluctant-to-show-it curiosity, she agreed 'Well, okay, mayhaps not so spice-hot.' Hey! She'd lost-and-found an ice-hot new word. Wait until she told the Kangs! But that just made her miss her friends, not eyespied since the Earth caretakers took her away, all those ticktocks ago.

She took some very sound-and-safe-looking corn-chips, repeating 'They don't?' She was about to ask Traveller more, but realised she would probly miss her home-sweet-home more than the Kang did. She wondered briefly what wasabi and sushi were, but if they were anything like these green peppers, then she didn't want to know. More spice-hot, probly.


For a moment, Travallenadatura is taken back to the Feast of the Houses. Colorful streamers in the sun, when the ancient academic establishments gave demonstrations, lectures, held debates. The food. The native grains and foods of Gallifrey, arts culinary carefully preserved, in scents and tastes from a million years of history, with other delicacies gathered and exchanged with other civilizations during the bold exploration period. She remembers the faces - her brothers and sisters, her older brother encouraging her not to be shy, her family so proud at her performance in the Examinations. She remembers being sad that  the great age of exploration was over, that the only Bowship she'd ever see would be in a museum, at how Rassilon and Omega diplomatically showed respect for other cultures, and wisely instituted the Laws of Time, which decreed that the Time Lords would only watch, and not interfere.

She remembers Theta Sigma passionately arguing that one could still help, yet still respect the Laws of Time. Koschei had a kind smile back then. Of course, everyone ignored the little Celestiographer.

She remembers when she was a girl, when she was 8, and brought before the Untempered Schism.  When she was made to look into the Time Vortex, she felt like she could see everything, all at once, and she was terrified and elated. It was glorious

But the fish.

"We never had sushi on Gallifrey, but we had fish." She smacks her lips. "Diamound trout. They sparkled. My dad, he used to make an old stew from it."

She leans back into the lawn chair. "We had spices too. But... I can't describe it. There was one kind of like cinnamon, one kinda like curry, and one kinda like a song."

For the rest of the evening, Trav is this weird kind of sad-happy, or happy-sad. These memories hurt, but she refuses to let them go.

"Hey Smoke - Thank you."
Smoke Alarm
player, 1183 posts
Brave and bold
as a Kang could be.
Mon 19 Oct 2015
at 11:47
  • msg #291

Re: Ocean Depths: Earth and Not Earth, Present Day

Smoke Alarm eyespied Traveller with a wondering smile as she rememorised her own home-sweet-home. Mayhaps she hadn't saved her rememorising Gallifrey after all, but mayhaps it was not so bad to rememorise a home-sweet-home. 'Every Someday, us Blue Kangs ganged up and catched rats down Dysprosium Street with arrowguns and pussycats. We tied their tails together and avaded afternoon Caretaker patrols as we track-backed to our brainquarters. We skinned 'em and guttered 'em, and toasted them with crackers and muchrooms.' she shared, taking on a faraway dreamy outlook, rememorising hunting expeditions with her sister Kangs. 'I've not lost-and-found rats that tasted so yummy since.'

Smoke Alarm had organised a rather tame taco and was crunching through a meal messier than rat meat on crackers. 'Wha' for?' she asked around bites, mild taco sauce on her chin.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:49, Mon 19 Oct 2015.
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