Information Meeting [Open]

[frostwindknight]

Who: Kaeya, Casper, and WHOEVER (open to all!)
What:  kaeya and Casper have organized a meeting in the wake of everything that has been going on. Both of them have arranged a meeting to collect information and figure out exactly what everyone (who is willing to share) knows.
Where: R0, Cafeteria
When: Day 23
Warnings: N/A, other than talking about events

There are several posters posted on the walls of the ship’s upper floors. It appears to be a made from regular paper and tape to keep it up, despite the plants giving the paper not so much room in some locations to actually stick properly. In bold letters is:

[INFORMATION MEETING: Day 23, after lunch, in the cafeteria.

Be prepared to share, not just lurk in the corner.]

Aside from some of the doodles on the page, the information is quite clear.

----

“I had planned to talk to others more individually, but I think you may be onto something,” Kaeya admits as he glances over one of the copies of the poster in his hands. Kaeya had purposely gotten a few extra papers to write down his own findings of what is going on.

He adds, “You know, it’s more annoying people haven’t written a log sooner. That would’ve made this all much more easier.”

He’s already taken a seat and looks still a little tired, though not the same sleep deprived man of before. There is some refreshments (or rather some snack foods from the lunch carts), Kaeya had managed to take just in case anyone wanted them.

"So...." Kaeya adds and taps the pen to the paper. "Anyone want to start with anything they saw over the past few days? Or any information that should be common knowledge by now?"

Comments

Big Discussion Thread

[helborn]

Casper nods as Kaeya taps the paper, standing up. "As most of us know, some of us seemed to be... possessed by something. Ghosts, though not entirely ghosts that I'm familiar with. Has anyone ever encountered a possession like this before? I admit I have... little experience with it."

He turns to the others around him. He's not... lying, but the truth is a little more complicated. He doesn't want to go into the whole 'I'm possessing myself' thing. "I'd have liked to study the ghosts more, but uh... there wasn't a lot I could tell. There wasn't a ton there, so to speak."

[chainedcerberus]

Wriothesley has his coat off (the heavy fur wasn't doing any favours for his still-healing shoulder) and his Vision hanging from his waistcoat pocket like a watch fob. He also has a little friend hovering over the back of the chair he's sitting on, the crystal on top emitting a dark blue glow that reflects off several cheerfully shiny stickers stuck to the side. "I can't say I've encountered any kind of possession before, but I'm curious what other people experienced while they were possessed. I didn't feel like there was anyone else besides me in my head, I was just having... strong emotions. Until I was, uh, encouraged to examine them more closely, they felt like mine. Even then, they were able to overwhelm me again once I'd let down my guard."

It's probably not the venue to do a whole guilty song and dance about how sorry he is for his behaviour while he's possessed, although part of him is itching to do it. There's a time and a place and he's not going to derail the discussion just to soothe his feelings of guilt. "I had a very strong sense that we - the crew of the ship - were involved in something extremely illegal, but necessary. I also believed that someone had betrayed the crew to law enforcement and a raid was in progress."

Raises hand (revised)

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine's eyes flick around, waiting a bit to not interrupt anyone after Wriothesley. It's interesting he recognizes many here. And Casper...he remembers the guy has experience with the dead, but in a different sense. Something tells him he's not sharing the whole truth, and that's fine with him.

And he...definitely recognizes what Wriothesley is talking about. He does feel a pang of sympathy for the man.

So he raises his hand, still bandaged with no gloves to cover it. But there is...an oversized sleeve covering half of his palm instead, part of a strange "gift" he'd found in his room earlier that he got dried and now wears over a dressed down version of his normal outfit. No one would have seen him wearing it before this, except...perhaps Ratio, but only from a photo or two of a much younger version of himself. Aventurine's not...sure how an adult sized version of his childhood jacket even existed, but he'd take it. It's warm, and much cozier than his clothing he usually has on hand.

"Yes, I've also had some...experiences with that. It took me awhile to understand what was happening," he pipes up, trying to appear casual, leaning on the table he's seated at with some snacks. "I've never encountered this before the ship...it made me see things that should be impossible." He pauses, his smile faltering for a moment with the memories. "I also didn't...notice someone else really. In fact, the occurrences made me think I was alone in the wastes outside. There was some wreckage and burning...I'd thought it was the ship? It's all a bit jumbled, it could have been something else," he chuckles, a bitter edge to it for relaying a clearly unpleasant experience.

"I'd assumed it was just ghost hallucination pranks until Aurelia...investigated. I wonder what the patterns were for drawing ghosts to some of us, and not others?" he muses aloud, looking around curiously if anyone had more to add.

[airplaneskyward]

"I ran into one who seemed more like, aware of me than the resetting ones? And he said. Alarming shit. Like that the shielding on the Ship would keep out the radiation that killed the planet for 'a few hundred years'. And I have no idea how long ago he was alive so like. Um. Maybe we should ask the Ship about that. Also he said there was like an evil ghost lady who tormented everyone left alive on the ship, and everyone left alive couldn't die?" He shrugs a little, helplessly. "So those are. Concerns. That I have now."

[unihilism]

"I guess that WOULD explain a lot," Malos muses, rolling his eyes. He's not keen on radiation, either - though he's not entirely sure it could kill him - but more importantly: "I kept having these stupid dreams," he explains. "The ghost, I guess - the home they lost. A city kept in a perfectly maintained environment... Probably under a bubble like this one. Probably trying to keep the radiation out. But they lost that home to... something. Human stupidity, if I had to guess. Man-made radiation disaster."

He scoffs. "Which means the Ship is - from what I gleaned from my ghost - either the last bastion of safety, or the one my ghost just so happened to stumble on. They seemed pretty grim about the prospects of anyone else being able to find them, though; trapped on the Ship, not daring to hope for rescue, or even a way to fix... any of it."

Arms crossed over his chest, he shakes his head. "Boy, this Ship has a lot to answer for."

Dropping in!

[astraldownpour]

Childe emerges from the elevator, sufficiently drenched in murky water. He looks more than a little wild, full of scrapes and mud and with more than a few roots and leaves sticking to him.

"Long time no see, everyone! There's a ghost bird in the pit of the ship, by the way. Deck 9. It's hungry. Watch out."

His voice is very casual and nonchalant, as if these were words normal people say and other similarly normal people expect to hear.

obligatory

[highjustice]

"... Tartaglia. Did you attempt to engage the spirit in combat."

It's not actually a question. Just look at the state of this man. But he needs nominal confirmation for procedural purposes.

[astraldownpour]

Neuvillette's question is. Well. Not really much of one. His tone is very flat and matter of fact about the ordeal, actually.

"It was tall enough to reach Deck 7. You can't blame me for wanting to check it out."

And still using his more formal title, huh? Childe would neg him about it, if the Justice didn't sound so serious. Childe grins, despite his sore muscles and how sodden his boots were.

"...Will you arrest me if I say yes?"

He has very clearly fought the spirit. There is no reality that exists where he would choose not to.

"I lost sight of it a few days ago. I've just been heading back down there to look for it, since."

He has also lost track of time.

do not feel obligated to respond to this

[chainedcerberus]

"Do you even have to ask?" Wriothesley's comment is sotto voce, not really intended for anyone to hear. It's Tartaglia, of course he fought the ghost bird.

[helborn]

Okay. Well. He has to ask.

"What kind of ghost bird?"

[astraldownpour]

"Casper! My buddy! I knew you'd wanna know."

Of course the guy with a bird would wanna know about the new bird. It also makes Childe wonder if he could talk to it, like he'd mentioned before.

"It was like a heron. Real tall and gangly. Its feathers were made of leaves and it seemed to be blind in one eye. It had a massive metal beak and claws, but they were pretty rusty. Not fun to get in the way of, I'll tell you. It was also two stories high, if you'll believe me."

He knows it sounds a bit out there.

FORMS! FORMS! FORMS!

[unihilism]

At somepoint during a lull in all of the chatter and stuff, Malos hops on one of the cafeteria tables. This already draws plenty of attention, but a shouted: "Hey!" surely draws the rest.

"Alright!" Malos says, once he has the floor. "I don't trust any permanence of our memories around here - unless one of you isn't sharing something - so I'm cutting out the middle man! We already have someone keeping notes - " He nods at Kaeya, " - But who knows what one of y'all chucklefucks didn't feel like bringing up, or which one of you got talked over, or what. So you know what I've got?"

He holds up a thick stack of paper with printed text on it - it's enough he can hold it in one hand, easy, but it's still three times the amount of people he knows are here, just in case he missed anyone, just in case anyone fucks up, or loses it, or spills juice on it, or what fucking ever. Malos knows humans need their goddamn redundancies.

"FORMS!" Malos announces.

"I've got forms for everyone to fill out! Huge buzzkill of me, I know. I hate paperwork, too. But this way we can have a more in-depth consolidation of data. What can I say? I'm the kind of guy who likes information."

Piece said, he hops off the table, slaps the stack of papers down onto it with a thwack!, and shuts his mouth. Come get a paper from the table! Fill out your forms!

But whatever kind of ghost that can get into the head of a goddamn Aegis is one that Malos wants to know everything he can possibly know about. Hence, the crowdsourcing. Approach or don't! Maybe his glare intimidates you into doing what he says. Maybe his glare keeps you away - he'll walk away from the table at some point, and the forms will still be there, waiting to be taken.

TALK TO MALOS....?

[unihilism]

"...What?" he asks, disappointed, if you linger to make converastion. "The hell are you looking at? Forms are over there."

sorry malos

[highjustice]

"This was very efficient and thoughtful of you. Thank you." Suffer the genuine smile of approval, Malos, as Neuvillette grabs a couple of forms (so that he can take Wriothesley one without the man straining his injured knee).

Great idea boss, but we got a problem boss

[doomed_gambler]

"That they are, friend, that they are," Aventurine laughs, holding up one form between two fingers swathed in white, and his other hand in the same state.

"I'm afraid my handwriting won't exactly be...legible, at the moment, however." He gives an almost sheepish grin with a 'what can you do?' sort of shrug. "I do like the idea here, though. Do you think there is an alternate way to fill one out? Unless you think you can read my writing."

And...yeah. There's only his name on the paper so far, and it very much looks like someone writing with their non-dominant hand. And badly.

[harmoniousconsecration]

"I just wish to thank you for these forms."

Sunday could appreciate a good form. He offers the other man a smile, hoping that he is... settling in a little better than before. Sunday picks one up, as well as a pencil, walking away to begin filling it out.

Perhaps he should have taken several, but that was a concern for when he starts writing.

[helborn]

Casper turns in his form a little sheepishly. His handwriting is neat, but...

"I'm... I'm better at explaining out loud than I am writing things down, sorry... and most of my expertise is in ghosts."

-confused Sankta noises-

[sanktawithashotgun]

Executor approaches Malos. He'd already come up earlier to take a form without saying a word, and had been sitting and filling it out for some time at the table with Sunday.

He's back, with the filled out form and clearly about to ask something. "Signore. This last question asks for "important information", but I am unsure what qualifies information as important or relevant in this situation, since it covers such a vast range of topics. Requesting clarification."

Malos, he's completely serious.

FORMS

[unihilism]

On the table are not only the stack of forms Malos was referring to, but also a place to submit them (both clearly labeled - wow! he thought this through!) (of course he fucking did: he knows not to underestimate human stupidity). There's also a cup that has been filled with a plethora of writing utensils that Malos has snagged from literally who knows where. Face down, you'll even find Malos's own form, though he gives you a kind of Look if you try and touch it.

When you take a form, you'll find this to fill out. (Please place in comments below!)

<b>NAME:</b> <b>ROOM NUMBER (FOR CONTACT PURPOSES):</b> <b>(WRITE GOOD DATA SO I DON'T HAVE TO CONTACT YOU)</b> <b>HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?</b> <b>WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SHIP?</b> <b>WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE RELEVANT?</b> <b>WERE YOU POSSESSED?</b> <b>IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR GHOST?</b> <b>DID YOU INTERACT WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS POSSESSED?</b> <b>IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE INTERACTION?</b> <b>DID YOU TALK TO ANY GHOSTS?</b> <b>IF YES, WHAT DID THEY TELL YOU?</b> <b>DO YOU HAVE ANY THEORIES? PLEASE SHARE.</b> <b>ANY OTHER INFO YOU THINK IMPORTANT TO SHARE?</b>

[astraldownpour]

NAME:
Childe

ROOM NUMBER (FOR CONTACT PURPOSES):
4-017

(WRITE GOOD DATA SO I DON'T HAVE TO CONTACT YOU)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?
A week or so? [It has been over a week.]

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SHIP?
It's been uninhabited for going on 400 years ish, and it's following the Captain's last order. Same as everyone else.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE RELEVANT?
There are no fish on Deck 9.

WERE YOU POSSESSED?
No.

IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR GHOST?
N/A

DID YOU INTERACT WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS POSSESSED?
No.

IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE INTERACTION?
N/A

DID YOU TALK TO ANY GHOSTS?
I fought one.

IF YES, WHAT DID THEY TELL YOU?
It was a bird.

DO YOU HAVE ANY THEORIES? PLEASE SHARE.
I was sure the ship was haunted by past events, but uh. If everyone else is seeing specific ghosts and getting possessed, I'm definitely wrong. The bird I saw seemed to be using metal scavenged from the belly of the ship as part of its body.

ANY OTHER INFO YOU THINK IMPORTANT TO SHARE?
[There is a crude drawing of a bird here.]

[highjustice]

NAME: Ix. Neuvillette

ROOM NUMBER (FOR CONTACT PURPOSES): 3-005

(WRITE GOOD DATA SO I DON'T HAVE TO CONTACT YOU)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE? Initial wave of arrivals - approx 24 days (initial storm makes determining total length of time difficult due to lack of visible day/night).

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SHIP? Approx 700 years old; originally a pleasure vessel (Sky Hideaway Corporation?), later a research vessel (University of Samdéd Agricultural Research), current official purpose unknown. No crew; no passengers for the last approx 300 years. Intelligent and capable of responding to questions to some degree; frequently responds with opaque or vague answers, possibly deliberately. Following orders of (final?) captain to proceed "until progress became impossible."

Composed of 19 physical levels (bottom 4 inaccessible due to debris) & unknown # of parallel dimensions with identical construction. 4 dims. currently accessible; initial arrivals appear to occur on deck "Fern" exclusively. Fern deck in acute disrepair(inclu. holes in floor/walls), temperate rainforest environment. Other accessible decks agricultural, better state of repair but with spatial distortions that cause them to bleed into each other (Fern deck = wholly separate). Distortions cause significant headaches based upon overexposure to even non-humans. CONT. ON REVERSE

[on back] Majority if not all pasenger food supply comes from agri. decks. Other supplies extremely limited; possibly from before current state of disrepair. Rooms reserved for medical care are sparse but functional.

Numerous small (autonomous?) machines populate the ship in order to carry out maintenence work including plant care on agri. decks, food preparation, cleaning, moving of furniture. Majority if not all are wheeled and make use of elevators. Ship had lapsed maintenance of many passenger-related services and was unprepared for our sudden arrival; several days were required to clean residential suites into a state fit for use. Current priority appears to be the upper levels of Fern in which passengers have arrived.

Plants on Fern HIGHLY reactive to light & grow at exponential rates in response. Agri. decks appear to be less responsive but still grow at an accelerated pace compared to normal flora. Cause unknown. In addition, several agricultural products have fruits which contain what appears to be for all purposes raw meats. The only apparent actual meat has been small servings of fish and other aquatic animals (unfirmed; may also be modified plant matter).

The barrier surrounding the ship is selectively permeable; in particular, it allows rain water in but does not allow evaporation out of the ship, retaining water and regulating the onboard humidity. Ship statement regarding absence of water and rapid-onset dehydration beyond barrier holds true to my observations; there is no water outside save during rainstorms as far as I can sense, and when the rain ceases the exterior of the ship dries near instantly. Other damaging energy ("radiation") also held at bay by barrier.

[Squeezing the last few lines on the bottom] Ship possesses engine capable of flight but is extremely sparing in its use, possibly due to risk of malfunction. Primary means of locomotion are metal legs (x4 pair) attached to the hull at decks 6/7. Engine sectors of legs are blocked from passenger access; likewise rear engine is inaccessible (to the point of being unknown prior to recent use). Ship travels in as straight a line as is possible, with little to no deviation from course due to obstructions. It climbs directly over any scalable slope such as mountains etc.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE RELEVANT? Emotions detected in the water as follows: First storm (including floodwater) - INTENSE anger, light sorrow, light helplessness; Ship faucet water - old grief (as opposed to recent loss), light anxiety, very light foretaste of hope on agricultural decks; Agricultural standing water (rice paddies etc) & water content of produce - moderate hope, faint old grief; second storm (including floodwater) - moderate helplessness, moderate anger, light suspicion. Suspicion was more intense in standing/pooled water than rain droplets.

WERE YOU POSSESSED? No; suspected resistance due to Hydro-related abilities.

IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR GHOST? N/A

DID YOU INTERACT WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS POSSESSED? Multiple individuals, all with distinct reactions to different stimuli (see below).

IF YES, WHAT DID YOU LEARN IN THE INTERACTION? Non-specific: All "possessions" manifested as surges of emotions that did not originate with the affected person. These possessions could be temporarily dispelled with purifying energy, but some recurred later at other times.

One triggered immense suspicion of the other person involved and caused the possessed to become convinced that the other party had reported the ship and/or those aboard to law enforcement, with uncertain but likely severe consequences. The trigger condition for this possession was unclear.

One triggered intense feelings of panic and failure. The possessed experienced some sensation of falling from a great height, triggered by the ship's tilting, and appeared to believe they were at fault for the deaths of a large number of people.

DID YOU TALK TO ANY GHOSTS? No.

CONT. FROM PREVIOUS QUESTION The third triggered intense feelings of panic and loss. Also triggered by the ship's motions, it caused the possessed to begin digging through the plant matter etc on board, believing they were digging through wreckage for survivors.

IF YES, WHAT DID THEY TELL YOU? N/A

DO YOU HAVE ANY THEORIES? PLEASE SHARE. Confidence 10 = complete confidence, taken as fact. 1 = passing thought, not outside the realm of possibility but lacking in evidence.

Confidence 10: There are additional parallel 'decks' to which we do not have access. (As many as physical decks?)
Confidence 8 (related): At least one of these decks is extremely arid, based on the scent of sand/desert on furniture used to stock passenger suites.
Confidence 5 (related): At least one of these decks is aquatic in nature, in part or whole, and the source of fish/etc.
Confidence 4 (related): Ship controls/etc are on one of these decks.
Confidence 8: The ship is not a sea vessel, but an air vessel, as demonstrated in the recent 'jump.'
Confidence 6: The ship was utilized for illicit purposes at some point in the past.
Confidence 4: There is some further entity behind the storm(s) which is separate from the ship.

ANY OTHER INFO YOU THINK IMPORTANT TO SHARE? Water visible out windows during previous week is the previous level of the sea prior to dehydration event (based upon air pressure + ambient Hydro energy). Moon appears to be severely damaged in unknown event, and the degree to which it is lit varies on a cycle longer than anyone has been present (estimate: 40 days?). Stars do not match any known constellations for any passenger I have spoken with.

Upon arrival, passengers appear to have gained knowledge of an additional language without awareness of learning such. This language is common to the Ship + all passengers.

The technology level of the Ship is higher than any I am familiar with on Teyvat, so please accept my apologies for any flawed observations in that regard.

Uno-reverse House Call

[frostwindknight]

[Closed thread: For Ratio Only]

After the meeting's rather.. interesting events, Kaeya had taken one of the forms of Malos for himself. It was rather detailed and well put together. It reminded him quite a bit of Knights of Favonius paperwork.

However, he had failed to account for one person he certainly knew existed and had met fairly briefly (mostly dropping of Aventurine). Not to mention seeing the injuries at the meeting, the 'Good Doctor' would've had plenty of information. It's rather fortuitous that he lived on the same Deck where the infirmary was.

He knocks on the door, just in case the doctor is in the middle of something. He follows up with speaking in a lighthearted tone. "Hello~ May I come in, Doctor?"

Clinic NPC in the House

[alabaster_erudite]

Veritas certainly wasn’t expecting any visitors anytime soon. He was sure he had seen all of whoever felt necessary to see him. The past few days had been hectic with certain individuals behaving strangely, certain ghosts appearing with more awareness than the initial group of vacation goers, and the boat taking flight. Many had taken a fall from that departure from ground level and into the skies which concerned him, but in all honesty, he was sure passengers would either seek out the clinic, himself, or the other healers we had gotten acquaint with.

He still remembers the surprise and the exhilaration he felt during that moment four system days ago. Tumbles and turbulence did little to dampen his spirit when he gripped on to the railing for dear life as his alert and curious senses took in the ship's ascent: the roaring of the igniting engines, its wobbly path into the air signalling its disuse and his own personal worries and interest in the ship’s mechanisms, the smell of ozone burning his nose, and the red lights of the ship reflecting on to the clouds it broke past its barriers as he watched the ship soar and felt the pressure in his ear build. Needless to say, on that day, once he had followed his curiosity to its peak alongside the drones that flew around after the ascent, he had quickly checked on whoever needed it and offered an open invitation for follow ups at the clinic.

Now, he is sorting through the available patient charts, updating them as needed, and doing another inventory check. Some things went flying during that rough ascent, and even after days later, he was still discovering things to put back in their rightful places. He finds himself caught at the cabinets, mid restocking supplies, not too far from a desk where papers are neatly organized into small stacks. He quickly crosses the distance, flipping over clipboards and papers effortlessly and discreetly as he turns to greet the newcomer.

"You may. Is there an issue?" He leans against the desk, arms crossed. He’s been holed up in the clinics for some time thanks to the jostling, fixing what he could, so admittedly, he’s out of the loop for whatever may have happened outside.

It's-a me, Aventurine!! (Bringing in a form for a friend <3)

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine had noticed that one of his boat friends was missing. Friend...yeah. Yeah, he thinks Mario is a friend in the way....most people mean it. That alone is strange to him, but not unwelcome. Mario had helped him through a particularly nasty possession episode...thus he would have information likely helpful to Malos.

On a more basic level, bringing a form to the little plumber is a good excuse to check up on him. Aventurine hadn't really seen him since....he'd hugged him and seemed happy Aventurine had returned to his senses, but he was....crying so much, the embrace almost desperate. It's occurring to the gambler only now with a clearer mind that there might....be more going on there.

So he comes up on Mario's door, giving a cheerful knock, a blank form held in his other bandaged hand against the bottom of a small plate of snacks. "Afternoon, Mario! Hope I'm not waking you. I just noticed you weren't at the meeting and thought I could fill you in on what happened?"

wow something is certainly happening here

[mamamias]

"OH! Well-a hello, Aventurine!" Mario says, cheerfully, though there's something tired about his smile. Uh. He has been sleeping, right...? (Yes, fitfully, his phone still playing muffled opera music from between the couch cushions, listening to his favorite opera to try and distract himself from nightmares.)

"Well, I accidentally took a nap," he lies, "so I-a missed the meeting, and hadn't gotten to check the time before you came-a knocking!" Truthfully he wasn't sure if he could manage a brave face while everyone was talking about. uh. what happened. Better to have a breakdown in private, you know? He can't wait for the Ship to have some other kind of non-possession related ghost problem. Can the plants start overgrowing again? That'd be nice.

"Sorry I missed it - I see you brought snacks!" He hops up to take the plate from Aventurine effortlessly, though leaves the form in Aventurine's hands, not noticing it until now and now distracted by the bandages.. "Are your hands... doing okay? I, uh... I guess they got pretty beat up, huh."

While saying this he makes clear invitation for Aventurine to come join him on the couch, the plate of snacks placed on the coffee table. Also during this he embarrassedly fumbles for his phone to turn off the opera.