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

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.

Re: Raises hand (revised)

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya pipes up, "As someone outside of this... It seemed you all were lost in a daze. And to my own knowledge, that's not the only strange occurrence going on concerning the ghosts."

He adds calmly, "I personally was seeing a ghost that didn't exactly... loop like the rest. Interacted quite differently with some additional information... but I think its more likely that these...ghosts were stuck with people in different ways?"

Kaeya taps on the paper and writes down what he's hearing, fervently. He glances at the group and adds, "Since this could get very confusing, I wasn't able to find a board in the storage rooms... So if anyone wants to assist in that, be my guest. I will keep a written log just in case." He smiles, albeit tiredly.

(For referencing with a google sheet)

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine stiffens a little at the mention of being...seen out of control. Thankfully Kaeya doesn't go into more detail. "Yeah. I wasn't...seeing what was actually in front of me, that's for sure," he agrees, with a forced smile.

But then Kaeya goes on to mention the strange ghosts, and that gets his attention. "Huh...I haven't seen that. All interactions with the ghosts themselves seemed to fall oddly flat," he says, thinking of him and Mario trying to steal the shoes back for that one kid. "Learn anything interesting?"

At the question about writing, Aventurine holds up his injured hands with a wry smile. "As much as I'd love to offer to help write things down, I don't think my handwriting would be the most legible right now~"

[chainedcerberus]

"Unlike Mr. Aventurine, I don't think I was seeing or hearing anything that wasn't real. People were telling me they weren't involved, but I didn't believe them." At least, not most of them. But no need to bring up the exception to the rule right now, it wouldn't be useful. "So it seems like even the possessions weren't all working in the same way..."

Wriothesley has his arms crossed over his chest, but he's pretty good at seeming casual while he's actually quite tense. It seems like Aventurine is having more or less the same reaction to all this as he is - nothing like having to admit you weren't in your right mind to everyone in the area, right? - so he shoots the blond a half-smile of understanding.

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya nods, "Well for one thing, their appearance wasn't like the rest. They were in protective gear from head to foot. They responded to my answers more or less."

He winces at the knowledge he collected, "I think... I learned about the origins of the plants here. The person had a tattoo on their neck, a vine and flower. They mentioned it was a kind of 'safety precaution' and their captain had turned into a plant person. Their job was to collect as much life, animals and plants, from the planet as they could..."

[sanktawithashotgun]

Executor blinks. ...Become? A plant person?

"This...marking. Do you know if the creature it turned people into had some sort of collective consciousness?" he asks slowly, weary of the answer. It sounded alarmingly similar to the Church of the Deep..."Were there possible triggers for this plant's spread? Or did it seem that the transformation was taken willingly?"

"And if they were meant to collect more flora and fauna, where are they? There was mention of a large bird, but otherwise I have seen nothing but flora in abundance on this ship." These are questions he does not fully expect Signore Kaeya to have answers to, but perhaps thoughts that would help all the same.

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya shrugs and scrunches up his face a little at the memory. He's quite aware Executor had dealt with his.... situation and how he was doing. Kaeya is more or less doing better, but the memories are a little fuzzy.

"I wasn't given any information on that, the person only saw it as better than just dying," Kaeya explains. "The person seemed to have taken it willingly, based on how they spoke about favouring the idea."

Kaeya blinks in surprise at the large bird comment but glances down at the floor, as if he could see into the lower decks. "It's hard to say... I haven't heard from the bird but that may be why it's there... I don't know how much of the boat has truly been explored to know exactly what remains."

[sanktawithashotgun]

"Taken willingly...I see." ....one can eat the flesh of the seaborn and become one of them to survive, as well...at the cost of their sense of self. He regrets not studying more about Iberia's resident heretical cult. "....the situation must have been dire indeed. It is a curious solution, however, since it seems that no plant life has survived outside of the barrier of this ship." A short term solution perhaps? "...and if the marking was meant to improve chances of survival...was it unsuccessful?" Since she was...dead.

Executor tilts his head at that comment. Kaeya must have missed the report from the young man with the red mask. "Yes. It has been reported there is a large..."ghost bird"" --he's pretty sure that is their word for fowl-beast-- "on deck nine, that was able to assimilate debris into claws and a beak. Large enough to be two stories tall." His brows furrow a little. "I do not know if all fauna will be that large, if there are more."

[frostwindknight]

Kaeya adds, "I didn't hear much from them. They only told me that kind of information, alongside the state of their captain who hadn't aged in 15 years."

Kaeya glanced away as if he could look outside the ship and into the vast expanse. "I don't think it was... but the ghost spoke of having a sliver of hope... I'm afraid they weren't aware of their own demise yet. Though I have no idea if anyone else saw something different than I did."

Kaeya mutters, "I know there was a net that caught insects, but as for the other fauna... it's hard to say. Though that does clear up some things. I might have to go down to the lower decks to check things out."

[sanktawithashotgun]

"...where I am from, different aging rates is quite normal. I'm assuming it is not common here, however," Executor muses, noting that down.

"I see. It seems that the spirits encountered are from different time periods." The woman he spoke with was very aware of her imminent death.

A net...Executor blinks when Kaeya mentions going to look at the lower decks. "When you go to investigate, be sure to bring me or someone else with you. It is unknown what lies beneath, and based upon the little information we have, it could be incredibly dangerous to investigate alone."

Me being able to update this with LORE

[frostwindknight]

"The ghost I spoke with mentioned something about 'genetics' when it came to the plants? I'm not quite familiar with the term, I'm afraid, but perhaps someone knows it more than I do." He pipes up. "However, is there anything else people noticed about the ghosts?

Kaeya nods, "I will be sure to do so.~ I don't think going alone would be a good idea, especially when er aren't sure what is down there."

[helborn]

Casper pipes up at that. "A few things. Genetics is basically how the blueprints in your cells work to form you. So the reason I look different from you is because our genes - the blueprints, basically - are very different."

Anyway. "As for the ghosts. They're... really kind of upsetting? I can't get them to really notice anything unusual. Aside from. Er. The ones who possessed us were more... there than the others. At least that's how it seemed?"

Re: Raises hand (revised)

[aureliasharr]

Slowly, Aurelia slinks out of the shadows in the corner of the room. Having been waiting there for the meeting to start, she frowns a little at the level of disorganization going on. With a flick of her wrist, small glowing white tablets appear, floating against the far wall along with a number of glowing writing utensils.

"You will use these constructs to record information. We will go over the notes at the end." Her flat voice intones, before she shoots another glowing red look around the room and sinks back into the shadows to await her turn to get involved.

In which I project how I'm like in meetings...

[doomed_gambler]

....speaking of his shadowy little friend. He smirks a little, taking the tablet in hand. marveling at how it's light and yet similar to what he'd used at the IPC.

Best of all it's highly responsive and doesn't...hurt to use. How nice of her...

He writes a cheeky little 'Thank you :)' and flips the board to face her direction for her to see, so he doesn't interrupt the conversation but so she can see it hopefully.

Thanks to this Aventurine does take notes, but it's alot more doodling than anything...

[unihilism]

"Wait, sorry, you can just do that?" He is turning one of the tablets over in his hands, examining it with clear surprise. "Where did you summon these from? How long do they stick around?"

Aurelia is a Wizard. It's a shorter list of things she can't do

[aureliasharr]

As he turns it over and over, he will quickly notice that that the construct grows more solid and three dimensional the more he focuses on it. As though responding to his expectation that there would be another side.

"I am a wizard" she responds from the shadows, a pair of glowing eyes cloaked in the darkest corner of the room she can find. "They are not summons, but constructs of pyschoactive material shaped by will. They will last until there is no longer enough energy to sustain them"

Pyschoactive material here means 'A blend of stolen lifeforce and emotions that resembles the raw substance of the shadow plane', but she's fairly certain only a few people here would understand that and none of them would want to.

MAKES SENSE this man just has no concept of wizardry such as this except as God Power so

[unihilism]

"Wizard, huh," he asks, clearly full of mocking.

He nonetheless seems impressed by the construct, and does in fact note that it becomes more solid the more he expects it to be real. Is that what she means by psychoactive material? It's probably what she means by will.

"Just anyone's will, huh, or only yours?" he asks, though, still fascinated. You don't get this kind of endless energy from nowhere - and as far as he knew, the Conduit wasn't in this world. Which, uh, he would know. "If I tried to turn this into something else, could I?"

"...and whose energy are we talking about, here?"

Casual Disrespect? Time to make like Gandalf.

[aureliasharr]

Aurelia's eyes narrows from the shadow.That tone, those emotions. Crass mockery and false curiosity. She can not let that abide, everyone on the boat has been so respectful... letting this slide would degrade the atmosphere of mutual cooperation they've all fostered

All of that justification, to hide the howling of the beast in her mind. Injured pride, the one thing that she can't swallow. The simple emotions. Anger rising and rushing to her finger tips in a flash that draws the light in and swallows it. The man is made of energy, she can taste it on her tongue, feel it with her will. It would be expensive but, not as expensive as reshaping flesh. Her hand rises, a word of power rings in the room, and her will flashes across the room to seize the component parts of malos's form.

With a twist, she reshapes it into one of the creatures she's been watching Aventurine draw. Small, round, vaugely feline. Perfect. Light flashes, condenses. And malos has been turned into a cat cake.

Aurelia swans over to him, staring him down with a flat expression, red eyes flaring in the dark. "I have been tweaking the spell to draw from others as well as myself. It is efficient. Perhaps you could turn one thing into another. If you had any respect for the art."

She picks him up, and places him on the nearest table. Even if she's mad she doesn't want him to be stepped on. Though she considered it. Briefly.

Cat cake!!!!!!

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine had been considering Malos's forms at the time. And then...

Oh boy.

"Hey Malos maybe you shouldn't-" is all he manages before a word filled with power rings out, the color leeching away from the room. Around Malos, for a moment. "-oop. Yeah, too late."

He's getting a little more used to Aurelia's "magic", but it's still startling. He blinks away the spots and...stares.

Malos had always been absurdly tall. Now. He sure isn't. Aventurine's eyes go wide as he even recognizes the small form. He looks down at his shaky drawings, back at "Malos", then at Aurelia. Back at "Malos." "How did you--oh," He slaps a hand over his mouth before standing and coming over to the table Aurelia placed the new critter.

He's trying. So hard not to laugh. There are probably several Avgin endearments that slip out though. He doesn't want to piss off another...ally? Associate?? Of his???? But stars he's so cute-

"You know for not having met one yourself, this is impressive," he says with just barely contained giggles, hesitantly poking at cake cat Malos to see if it wobbled like Clover, or Hearts, or Ace- alright maybe he misses them a little. He draws back after finding out, firmly reminding himself that this is still Malos. "This should run its course eventually. Probably. Right?"

imagine if the first death on the boat was MALOS GETTING STEPPED ON

[unihilism]

"What the--"

And then he's flooded with - it's like - the black hole of Amalthus, but it's not in his core it's all over his body, it's- he's- HE'S TRANSFORMED INTO A TINY CREATURE!?!?!?

Okay what the hell??? "I thought wizards weren't REAL!?" Malos says, tiny, squeaky voice. "The hell are you- the- PUT ME DOWN? ?? nOW??? What the fuck do you think you're--" Okay he's on a table. Okay. Improvement. WAIT NO HE'S BEING POKED!!!! "Don't touch me!??!" Wobble wobble wobble.

His core crystal remains solid and its usual shape, for the record, crack and all, roughly on the chest of the cat. "Fucking hell, I keep forgetting none of you ASSHOLES apply to any NORMAL RULES!!!" Squeak squeak squeak.

Squeak squeak squeak

[aureliasharr]

That is a lot of cute noises the man is making. She tilts her head at him, trying to figure out anything he might be saying before shrugging and giving it up as a lost cause. She responds to Aventurine in the Agvin tongue however, just to keep up the game a little bit longer. "The storm will subside in time."

Translation is hard, but the repurposing of idioms is always useful.

She reaches out to gently poke him as well. "Perhaps this will be an enlightening experience for you." she muses, noting the texture of the creature and it's general... substance. What a curious creation. "I really must learn more about these constructs."

[helborn]

"There's... well, for at least me I think that there's a natural affinity with the dead. I don't know if anyone else shares that though? And I think I'm a little more prone to ghosts and haunting... does anyone else work with the dead or - and this is personal, you don't have to answer - have a lot of dead people in their life?"

He knows people don't like talking about that, but... yeah.

"Also apparently while I was possessed I tried to get people out of the elevator and then hit thirteen and seven. I don't know if that means anything - does it mean anything to anyone else here?"

[highjustice]

"At my age, having a long list of the lost is rather unavoidable," Neuvillette comments. He does not elaborate. "However, I don't appear to have been as strongly affected by the spirits as what you and the others describe. Possibly this may be due to my unique constitution; all of the 'possessions' I witnessed influenced people via particular strong emotions, which is something that I would imagine I am naturally resistant to."

[helborn]

"That's possible." He's still curious as to what it is, but he can ask... later. Or never, depending on anxiety. "Strong emotions is another possibility - I'm pretty sure panic was the main one for my ghost. Did anyone have something else? Anger, or a different emotion?" Anger and fear tend to be the big ones for ghosts in his experience, but who knows how it is here?

[doomed_gambler]

Aventurine isn't sure how to react to Wriothesely's smile, but it does feel like some understanding is there. He gives a small smile back; this stuff is....hard to talk about.

At Casper's question, however-

"Oh! I did talk with one possessed person that had something a little different happening. They seemed to be feeling extreme loss and hopelessness...?" Aventurine adds helpfully, being very careful NOT to look at Malos while saying this or any time soon. The guy probably wouldn't share it voluntarily but it is good information. "I didn't get the details, but they seemed to be upset about losing how the world was, and had no hope for this ship....fixing it? It's a bit unclear."