Void Missions (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
voidmissions) wrote2021-09-30 06:48 pm
voidmissions) wrote2021-09-30 06:48 pm
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[M15] ENEMY: UNKNOWN - THE INTERVIEW
On opening their eyes, Voidtreckers will feel a sense of disorientation, a dizziness to their vision and inside their head. Both clear quickly, letting them remember where they came from: in the midst of a mission, some unknown entity jumping them, and then —
They stand in an empty room. The lighting of the room stings their eyes after how dark the rest of the station has been. The walls, ceiling and floor are all bright white, tiles. There is no visible door, no windows.
After the disorientation comes fear. The hairs on the back of their neck stand up. For those with danger sense, these senses are going haywire, even though any other abilities are still not working. The feeling can be pushed down, it is similar to the air of expectation at the start of a horror film, the anticipation of fear rather than being in a truly dangerous situation. It might be that they have been on the train long enough to have felt it before.
Heavy footsteps sound, it is almost impossible to tell where they are coming from as the echo through the empty space. The feeling of dread grows until part of the far wall slides open with a mechanical hiss.
Filling the doorway are two huge figures, around seven foot tall and bulky. They are in large metal suits, almost like power armour, black with highlights of gold. They wear a mask that covers their whole face. It is impossible to see the figure inside at all. Their breathing comes through heavy and raspy and when they walk their footsteps are heavy. The door closes behind them and their presence makes the room feel smaller. One of them scans a green light over the voidtrecker.
"Do not be alarmed. Under sections ninety six of Inter-dimensional law and on behalf of the Void Ministry we have intercepted Voidcraft designation Voidtrecker Express as part of ongoing investigations. You have been taking part in a simulated excercise to gauge your skill and strength. No harm shall come to you or your crew, you are protected by inter dimensional law. You have been chosen for questioning and we ask that you comply. You have the right to refuse our interview but we have the right to hold you until our investigation is complete or one week in standard void time has passed, whichever is longest. Complying with us will ensure our investigation is more efficient."
The inspector talking pauses here, as if giving the voidtrecker time to take in that information.
ENEMY: UNKNOWN
no subject
"Everything in the simulated exercise is to ensure us time, and to deceive the voidcraft in bringing you here," explains the other.
no subject
"Sounds fair enough. I'd be happy to share my experience with you." There's a pause as Zagreus looks between the two of them, trying to determine which one is supposed to be the Good Cop, and which one is supposed to be the Bad Cop. "So you mentioned interdimensional law, but I don't happen to have those in front of me, and I'm new to this whole 'traveling through the stars to other worlds' thing. Would you mind giving me a copy? Voidy doesn't seem to have treatises on interdimensional law on them anywhere, and we could really use that in the future to avoid any further incidents like this."
Yes, the prince just called the Voidtrecker Express 'Voidy' in front of the Investigators. No, he has no regrets.
"And what are your names, by the way? Or designations, if you're from a world that doesn't believe in the whole names thing. I'm Zagreus, son of Hades, if you've heard of him."
no subject
It then drops to one. "My Void Inspector designation is CR34Q770ACB."
"Mine is RT23O409OCT," shares the other after. Neither tripping over giving their IDs.
"Investigation has so far shown that the Voidtrecker Express has been difficult to establish cooperation with, by crew and outside parties. Do you have reason to believe that its passengers can make the voidcraft comply with Void regulations?"
So I made an oops and he doesn't have Stygius with him, my bad
He does his best to remember their designations, as long as they are. He's sure to get a couple of letters or numbers mixed up here or there, but he remembers the first five or six reasonably well. "Well it's nice to finally be able to put names to concealed faces! Mind if I call you Siri and Artie? You can call me Zag, if it'll make you feel better."
Yes, they're still imposing, and it's still unnerving being in the same room with them. And he's doing much like he'd do at home, with his overbearing Father towering over him and glaring down at him in disapproval - getting progressively more cheeky as he's refused the information he believes he deserves. At least he's not thought about an escape attempt yet.
"Us, uncooperative? That doesn't sound much like us. We've done a lot working together and helping out on the various worlds we've visited. And as for contacting outside parties, it's not for lack of trying, Artie mate. I did ask Voidy if we could have a long-range, Void-safe radio transmitter the other month to speak with other Voidcraft. Apparently Voidy just hasn't gotten around to adding it yet, or hasn't received enough materials for it, wherever it gets its materials from." Zagreus shrugs his shoulders matter-of-factly, as the whims of the Void Train have never been up to him, nor any of its passengers.
"Personally, I would be happy to help you out. But again, it would be easier to comply with the Void's rules and regulations if we knew what any of those rules were. A treatise on Interdimensional Law and Void Regulations would really make that easier to do, if you'd be so kind as to provide a copy or several to take with us...? At least let me know what rules we've supposedly broken, if you don't happen to have a printer handy. Although... we do have a printer on Voidy, so if you could send the copy over the SCA, I could see if Voidy would print it out for us! Surely you've got a copy somewhere, Siri mate? Or Artie here?"
There's a pause as he examines them again, sees if anything he's said has made any change in their demeanor. Even the slightest hint of a human-like reaction would make them seem a little less creepy as they loom over him.
"Let me make it up to you two, since you're so worried about us not cooperating. I can start from when I appeared on the platform, and let you know what we've been up to. Or at least, what I've been up to. You know, since this an interview, and definitely not an interrogation."
no subject
Until Zagreus finally finishes, does one of them talk - in the same calm tone as before. Siri, as Zagreus has named.
"There is a distinction, between the voidcraft designated Voidtrecker Express and the crew itself, understood to be unlawfully tethered. We speak of cooperation in regards to the craft itself, not its passengers. Your rights under inter-dimensional law can be told to you now if desired, and the rights of the Inspection arm of the Void ministry will be explained in turn. We have no need for physical copies of the law, and so copies cannot be provided."
"How you are referred to is your choice," speaks Artie, next. "You are also free to leave this interview, at any point of it."
no subject
"Sure, I'd love to hear those, and I'd love to record them on my SCA, if you don't mind, for future reference." Zagreus pops up his little notes screen and sets it to dictation mode. "Whenever you're ready." He is going to get these interdimensional laws one way or another, dammit.
"So do you actually need to hear my part in this whole story, or are you just asking questions of me at this point? Because you might be better off asking one of the others. A lot of the passengers on Voidy are smarter than me, some wickedly so."
no subject
A pause.
"Under sections ninety-seven through ninety-nine your rights are thus: You will not be killed or deliberately injured during the investigation period; you have the right to the sustenance needed for your species; your tethers will not be tampered with; those chosen to be directly interviewed must consent to questioning; they have the right to silence and the right to terminate the interview at any time. Voidcrew can be held for one void week whilst investigations are underway, though no individual should be held away from any other members of their crew for more than one void day."
no subject
Without waiting for an affirmative response, Zagreus keeps talking, treating this like just another briefing that Thanatos or Hypnos might give his father. Just stick to the basic facts as much as possible, don't editorialize. "I was brought on to the platform in the month of Jelly, if I remember right, somewhere in the middle. I knew one person from home, so thankfully I adjusted to life on the Train faster than I might've otherwise. Then something happened on the train that caused a lot of us to... grow younger, for a bit? I'm not quite sure what happened, whether that was the Train's doing, or something else."
"Then we arrived on the world of Erda in the month of Kazoo, somewhere around the 5th or 6th, I believe. I followed the Red Team to fight the demon armies and destroy their summoning gates, to save the people living in the last settlement there. When we completed that, we were sent to this... not quite a world, I think it was defined as a nexus? Anyway, it was called Tshering, and we got to send messages through the Endless River. That was it for Kazoo, I think."
"Then Llama came, and we were sent to the city of Kamakan, to investigate some weird happenings affecting the people that lived there. It was different kinds of illusions, some affecting the streets people were walking on, some creating monsters from the imaginations and memories of people, some making others look like people you know. It was after this mission that we were sent to another nexus-place to train with an order of monks, and make ourselves stronger against illusions. There we made pendants to protect ourselves - which I would like to have back when this is done, by the way, it's proven really useful on our travels."
"Next we went to a place called Jinnjar City at the start of Merriment, and the illusions... still hit most of us pretty hard. It made us think we were different people, with different lives and different families, memories, that sort of thing. Apparently the real Diagad that Jinnjar City was on was destroyed, and the Entity running it all - called Chaos by most of us, I believe, though I know another Chaos from home so that's a bit confusing - blamed us for it. We rescued as many people as we could, and apparently Voidy thought we did such a good job that it next sent us to a place called Aquafir, to have a little vacation of sorts. Nothing really of note happened there, other than I got to swim in a lake for the first time in my whole life. And I saw a forest, too, for the first time! Not one covered in snow, I mean."
"And now we're in Nebula. Before we came here, we were sent to a place called the Salis archipelago, to help the Salis people with their terrible bird problem. And these were awful birds, just terrible. Made the magic in the air all unpredictable, made most of us lose our powers from our home worlds, myself included. That was not a pleasant experience, especially not when my powers literally keep me from dying. Felt like I had a cold the whole time I was there. That's a thing people die of, right? Colds?"
"Anyway, I believe that's everything. Any follow up questions, or am I good to head back to my crew?"
no subject
Then, without answering his last question, they ask, "Did you and the individual from home become tethered to the craft around the same time?"
no subject
Zagreus pauses then, waiting for them to continue asking questions. Apparently he's not free to go back to his crew yet.