SO BELOW - EVENT LOG

[pluviosamods]

SO BELOW

With a slightly bump that can be felt throughout the ship, progress levels out. The skies above are threatening rain, but there aren't any drops falling from the sky... Yet.

Not that you'd know it, looking out the windows. A foreign ocean stands outside, on the other side of the glass - the ghost of an ocean, long gone from the truth of this world.

Just like so many other things, which have become visible to those who are willing to pay attention.

This is the event log for SO BELOW. Information for the first part of the Event (days 15 and 16) can be found here, along with sign-up options for the second part of the event.

Comments

KAEYA

[pluviosamods]

The person appears near the public showers beside the cafeteria, schlepping in under the weight of all their gear. They head into the bathroom and start stripping the gear off in the common entrance area, seemingly piling it into a bin, starting with the gas mask over their face and strapped around the back of their head. The heavy pack - which might be an air purifier of some sort, from the tubes connecting it to the gas mask and the impressive vents - comes off next, and they start talking as they pull the straps from their shoulders.

"I don't know how much longer I'm going to be good for this kind of work," they say, in a voice that's on the deeper end but still hard to place as masculine or feminine. "Physically I'm fine, but... It's so empty out there. It really gets to you, you know?"

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya did a double take seeing them. It's... strange to say the least. Harder to talk to especially in terms of the statement. "...It's hard to say, what kind of work is it?" he asks. He hasn't seen stuff like this back at home, but he bites back the thought that they seem to be... transparent. He's sure this didn't end well...

Kaeya looks away for more than one reason and states "Loneliness.... can get to anyone." He tries not to think about home, about himself, about the seemingly inevitable plot that raced through his head and what he will do once it wakes up from slumber. He shakes his head and asks. "Are you really just all alone?"

[pluviosamods]

"I mean, there's a few of us, but we go out there - " There's a gesture that seems to mean outside the ship, a wave at the direction of the nearest wall. "And there's just... Nobody. Everyone's gone, and here we are down in the dirt, trying to gather plants and catch animals and whatever else we can find."

[frostwindknight]

"Guessing you don't exactly have time to chat." Kaeya squints and pauses, "Gone?... You mean they left the ship right?"

At least the change of conversation allows Kaeya to focus less on his own thinking and more on the situation this person was under at one point. "Why are you collecting them? Some sort of research effort?" He thinks back to the plants that are around here, there had to be something wrong with them right?

[pluviosamods]

The person's face isn't visible - not really, although they're getting ready to pull their goggles off as they continue to talk - but the sound of raised eyebrows is obvious in their voice. "Man, what hole did you crawl out of?" they ask. "I mean they're gone, like, planet's fucked let's get out of here gone."

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya chuckles a little bit. Right, they think he's one of them. He responds quickly enough and shakes his head, even though the person is focusing on something on taking off their gear. "Sorry... I guess my mind has been all over the place," he states. "It's just... hard to believe you know? I still feel like I could wake up any day and it'll be a bad dream..."

He's TRYING to go along with it at least.

"Considering everyone's been searching... remind me if there's a log of any of the plants and animals already collected?"

[pluviosamods]

"Eh, one of the higher ups has that." The ghost seems to roll with Kaeya going into a role more like they expect with aplomb, pulling their goggles free and hanging them on an invisible hook before starting to loosen the hood of their gear. "It's not like we'll be able to get everything anyway. There's too much. Eekah's running that giant bug net behind us and she says we'll be lucky to get one percent of all the insect species in the world."

[frostwindknight]

"Oh riiiiiight," Kaeya hums. "Any idea how to get in contact with them? I mean it's been difficult trying to grab everything."

He glances over for a moment, more to see if the ghost is doing, though tries to be as respectful as he can. He does look away again and continue to talk. "That's.... depressing, what about the animals... like birds and mammals?"

His brain reminds himself of something else, "Remind me, wasn't there another ship that held people? Or am I simply mixing dreams with reality now?" The contrast isn't making sense, if there's so few.... then why are there other ghosts around?

[pluviosamods]

"Birds and mammals are way easier to catch - it's a lot harder for those to go undiscovered, and we can set traps and stuff, you know?" It seems the ghost is only focusing on a question or two at once. "Some of them even come right up to us. It's kind of sad - there's a surprising number of animals who have learned that humans mean food, so..." Their voice is tired. They shove the hood back, though that doesn't give much more clue about them than their voice - their hair is in that stage where it's not quite shaved, but not really long enough to style, either. There is, however, a tattoo of a vine climbing up their neck that ends behind their ear, where a flower bud is sitting as though tucked there.

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya notices the conversation be focused on the task at hand rather than anything to do with the system. Perhaps it makes sense, given this person's work ethic. Kaeya looks back to see if they are doing anything else. "It is quite a sad sight indeed," he hums in agreement.

"I'll have to make an appointment regardless with the higher ups to see if we are on track at the very least with the other species," he says, playing along. "I'd rather make sure nobody is slacking when the job is quite important. I swear I caught someone spending a little too much time on the ship.... Though I could check where they are being stored too... remind me the floors again?"

He spies the tattoo and mumbles, "Interesting marking you have there on your neck. I don't think I've noticed it up until now. It's quite unique... I didn't pin you as someone who would be interested in flowers beyond work..." He tries to point attention to it, just to see if there's any story behind it.

[pluviosamods]

"Ah, well..." The person pauses to thumb their earlobe, a little self-consciously. "Not everyone goes for it, and I can't blame them, but it's a little added bit of security going out there, you know? Not that I'm lining up to die, but it's better to have a just in case."

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya pauses for a moment and asks much more bluntly, "Pardon but.... what do you mean added security?"

[pluviosamods]

"I mean like the captain." They pause to unzip the outer layer of their protective suit, shrugging out of the shoulders. There's another, skin-tight suit underneath. "I'd rather live as some kind of weird plant person than die."

Photosynthesis-what now!?

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya stops in his tracks when they explain it. Any smile is wiped from his face, replaced with shock. It takes a moment to let it all sink in. The plants, they-

"So you're saying..... If you die... you become a plant of some kind?... Like...." Kaeya paused and asks bluntly, "What happened to the Captain?"

[pluviosamods]

"She was the first one - as far as anyone can tell, she's practically immortal. Hard to say, really." The person Kaeya's talking to stops to free their arms from their sleeves, which finally drops the top half of their suit down to slide most of the way off them, catching around their knees.

[frostwindknight]

"What do you mean, has something happened to her for you to believe that?" he asks, glancing at them but also for any plant life. He thinks he understands, but confirming helps.

[pluviosamods]

"I haven't seen anything specific, but the people who have been on for longer certainly believe it," the person says. They lift one foot up and prop it on the changing bench to undo the straps holding their boot tight to their leg at the top, about mid-calf. "Don't know if it's a rumor or true, but they say she hasn't aged in fifteen years."

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya pauses and nods, it reminds him of the archons back in Teyvat. "Well.... If you can remind me, what was her name?" He decides to not ask her location yet, as he still is thinking up an excuse for that one.

[pluviosamods]

"Haven't heard that either. Everyone just calls her Captain." One boot off, revealing that the undersuit goes all the way down to the ankle when they also strip off the dirty sock before kicking their leg free and switching positions to reach the other boot.

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya nods even if that doesn't give a lot of information. He takes a moment and sifts through his head and decides to ask something more... personal, "Well... What are you hoping for... thought all of this? You're still here and trying to retain something..."

It's irony considering they are here now, which means whatever happened never... actually went anywhere fast. They still look so different than the other ghosts... He doesn't get it. A collector of the last remnants of a dying planet amongst a bunch of vacationers.

Like a Khaenri'ahn amongst Mondstadters.

[pluviosamods]

"I don't know," the person says, tugging at a particularly stubborn strap before getting it free. "For trying to be worth it, I guess. Isn't that what anyone hopes for in a situation like this? For it to mean something in the end?"

They drop their foot off the bench to pull out of the boot.

[frostwindknight]

"To be worth it," Kaeya pauses, his voice distant. "I guess... That's what we all want. To mean something..."

It's what he wanted originally with his father's will for him... The desperate hope that Diluc would've understood his words in the end, situation be damned. In the end of the day it feels like a whole mess.

"But I wish you the best of luck," he speaks the lie as best he can. It's obvious there isn't a happy ending in store.

"By the way... what kind of flower is the one depicted on your neck? How exactly does the process work?" he asks, somewhat curious. "J-just in case I'd like one, I hadn't caught on the details yet." It's a lie, as he remembers the role he should be playing.

[pluviosamods]

"You too," the person agrees to the well-wish, dropping their boot and untangling their foot from the last bit of their suit. They gather the whole mess and appear to drop it into a collection bin that isn't there. "Even if you're staying onboard you need some4. I've heard some of the brambles can get out of hand."

Dusting off their hands, they turn for the showers, but pause. "Don't know yet, really," they say, touching the flower dangling down over their ear. "Seems to be different for everyone, something about genetic interactions. Way over my head. Anyway, I've gotta hose, see ya 'round."

And with that, they duck into the showers. If Kaeya follows, they've disappeared, but the water is running in the second stall.