[plot] Invasion: Day 1

[theearth]

Who: EVERYONE + Returnees
What: Day 1 of the Invasion!
Where: EVERYWHERE
When: ICLy: The 29th! OOCly: April 29th to May 4th
Warnings: Please warn in your subject line if anything that deserves a warning occurs; this includes R-rated things as well as things worthy of a content warning/trigger warning.

The Central info post



Description: A minute after midnight EST, some people around the world who used to be numbered yet have lost their echoes since suddenly have all their pulses returned to them.

At 4pm EST, a child's laughing voice resounds in the air all around the world, remaining for over a minute and staying longer where it gets caught in the echo between buildings, mountains, or other echoing surfaces. Not long after, people in areas where the moon is visible (like those in Europe) will see pink lights on the moon, like a pink aurora borealis from above going all the way around the moon, and then the whole moon changes shape. Literally. It unfolds into a giant serpent that soon can be seen from everywhere around the world as it moves to wrap around the world, tossing and turning head and tail as if trying to hit and bite nasty flies. ...And if someone gets out a telescope, they'll realize that the serpent is doing exactly that: There are tiny spaceships attacking it and trying to pass by it, but for now it is holding up. ....You might maybe rather get to safety than get your telescope out though, because the serpent sometimes smashes down into the earth in its tossing and turning, and while it doesn't hit inhabited areas that still causes tsunamis and earthquakes. Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and Erich von Däniken will announce that it's totally aliens!!! SEE THEY CALLED IT. Ancient astronauts that gave the earth culture are coming back to us!

What this day is for: This day is mostly for reconnecting with returnees and dealing with the last wave of plot echoes. It is also for catastrophe relief efforts for areas that are hit by tsunamis or earthquakes. The only echo boundary that will be devastated in this way are the Galapagos Islands. Characters that can fly or have special swimming abilities are especially invited to help with rescuing people and delivering first aid. (Icly, the talks with the first wave aliens also happen here and they will be wrapped up or dropped after the 4th of May. You are still welcome to jump in and talk to an alien!)

How this works:

- Day 1 does not have any alien encounters past those in this log.
- There will be no toplevels on this post. Please start your own threads freely! Please format the subject line like this: "Location(s)/Network | ota/closed/etc". Please keep in mind that each character may change location twice per day (=a maximum of three different locations) and that the moon/space location is still off limits on the 1st Day.
- This post can be used for both network and action threads.
- Keep in mind that returnee characters must have checked in and must request their echoes if they get any.
- Please direct all questions to this thread on the General Invasion Guide
- For the returnee registration, please go here.

Comments

[elfstoned]

[Aaron comes up to him, sees what's going on, and will ask the volunteer quietly to spare another meal.]

He brought many to safety today, and he will be needed again. Better to have him fed and capable.

Please.

[The woman looks from one of them to the other, then sighs and marks down a second tick on her sheet. She'll hand Julien a second ration.]

[espigeonage]

[It's not really enough for if he keeps up this kind of activity, he thinks, but he already feels greedy. He'll manage. Maybe he'll find something opportunistically later. There's chaos enough, and he's fast enough.]

Thank you.

[Julien is awkward with a tray. He has to rear up, much taller, and walk quite slowly, his tail sometimes brushing the ground. His feathers are dirtier and less maintained than they've yet been.]

[elfstoned]

[There's a quiet room, a small one, off to the side. It looks like it was some kind of conference room; there's chairs stacked up in corners and a long table pushed up against a back wall. It's not being used for supplies, so it won't get much traffic. It'll do as a place to breathe.

Aaron will be quiet for the first few minutes, getting the food down -- when had he eaten? This morning? How many hours ago had been morning? -- and getting lost in his own thoughts. He thinks about the moon-snake, the dots Julien saw, the waves, the other animals, the people out there, the bandages and thread and penicillin stretched thin between here and the only hospital.

Eventually, though, he'll come back to the present, enough to say,]

You did well today. I'm impressed -- you've come a long way.

[espigeonage]

[Today Julien doesn't bother trying to be civilized. As soon as he's set his food down he's at it with his beak. An apple and an unpeeled orange are swallowed whole, his jaws flexing like a snake's to fit them through. Loose items like corn and peas he got in a cup and slugs back. He uses his beak to cut and ball up bread until he can swallow it, making no attempt to chew anything. By the time Aaron speaks there's nothing but a trace of liquid anywhere, and he's started trying to preen. The salt taste is disgusting, he needs a bath, and worrying that his briny feathers will be hard to fly with preoccupies him.]

Huh? -right. Yeah.

[elfstoned]

What's on your mind, Julien?

[The way he says it makes the meaning clear: what, specifically, out of all the terrible things there are to worry about, is weighing on you most?]

[espigeonage]

[Julien's feathers pull in closer to his body.]

...I'm filthy. If I'm flying that's going to slow me down and make me clumsier. Louder too.

[He wing-flips, unfolding just enough to fold them again.]

I have to spend too much time washing this body and straightening out its feathers so it works well. But if I'm in the ocean again right away that's not going to matter.

[It's also not comfortable. His skin is thin and sensitive, salt trapped against it sticks things together and irritates it. And Julien feels like he's forgetting something, but it won't come.]

[elfstoned]

For now, let's operate on the assumption that it will. For all we know, a bigger wave might bring this building crashing down on us at any time, killing everyone we spent today tending to. We can't stop doing things because they may not matter.

[He climbs to his feet.]

Shall we find a way to get you clean?

[espigeonage]

I know, I know. I'm just not sure it's worth it being fastidious.

[Julien has always been more concerned about his appearance and grooming than Aaron, even if he similarly suspends that concern when things get messy. Un-suspending it when all this is going on makes him feel guilty.

He'd sunk into a sitting position. Standing is just a matter of pushing his feet down.]

Well... I suppose the water's still on.

[elfstoned]

It is on, it is not running short, and everything else important has been taken care of.

Come on.

[And they'll find either a good sized janitor's closet or a hose connected to the outside of the building or some kind of fountain, anything with running water and more room than a sink. Aaron's been running around the building all day; he probably remembers where something is.]

[espigeonage]

All right.

[A janitor closet with a drainage grate in the floor and hoses connected to the sink is a reasonable bet. Julien takes off his clothes without hesitating - they're more a sop to the idea that he should have clothes than anything else, things tied around his neck and waist and each foot. Then he can start wetting himself down, transferring the longest hose from the remaining fingers on either wing to feathers to a foot freely as he twists here and there, opening a wing as much as he can in the limited space to get it and under it, beaking at his feathers. The water runs cloudy for a while. He has a tremendous amount of surface area for seawater and things in it to stick to. Small feathers pull free and float away fairly regularly, which is unusual.]

I'm going to start the molt soon. Oh, boy.

[elfstoned]

Is the timing always this convenient?

[Referring to the molting. He leans against one of the walls, folding his arms across his chest.]

If there's anything I can do to help, ask.

[espigeonage]

Last time it caused a hiccup in my budding modeling career, so yes.

[When Julien is molting he has to eat considerably more, his feathers don't function as well so flying and dexterity suffer, the new feathers growing in are fragile and bleed freely if damaged, and he's very often itchy and irritable. He's going to be a liability if this crisis is still going on when it really kicks in.

This will have to do. Julien's been in and out of the water enough that his preen oil's worn off, and now wet feathers plaster and spike to his skin, making the droop of his wings and tail seem more pronounced. He shuts the water off, dripping, and now there's a smell like wet dog, but sharper and sweeter.]

I'm going to go outside and shake off. [Weary, breezy] Never get feathers, Aaron, they're the biggest hassle.

[elfstoned]

I'll keep it in mind.

[He steps out of the way to let Julien past.]

I'll be where we ate.

[espigeonage]

Okay. Please bring my clothes.

[Julien will show up still damp, because feathers are a massive pain to dry. He's thinned down with more than just moisture, and even though he's drooping he paces and fidgets, not even able to settle to preen.]

The ships are getting closer. Still being smashed out of the sky while they're far away, but... I don't know, the moon's getting tired or overrun or something. It's been flailing most of the day.

[elfstoned]

[He's got Julien's clothes laid out by the table and is seated against one of the walls himself, resting his wrists on his bent knees in front of him.

He sees that Julien can't relax, that the ships are troubling him. Of course they are; it's troubling fact.]

And if they come through, what then? What is the worst thing that could happen if they get past the moon?

[This isn't a trivial what's the worst that could happen? This is a thought exercise, a mental preparation for a worst-case scenario to counteract the fear of the unknown.]

[espigeonage]

Invasion. There's got to be thousands of them, or more. And the aliens we know have weird powers, like Badri can kill with his mind, so even if they don't go for nuking us from orbit, there will be shock troops. With superpowers.

[He yanks his beak through a few feathers, squeezing some water out of them, then starts walking back and forth almost violently, his eyes flashing under closed inner lids.]

Maybe robots too, I don't... we've gone this far, we might as well go full ridiculous science fiction. They'll come in, and try and kill us all, and I don't know, there'll be a Lo! the Bird! scenario. Why not, if the moon's alive.

That's this old story where this giant space bird flies through the solar system and starts making the planets hatch, and I know that sounds stupid but it was written so by the time it gets there it's - horrifying.

[Despite the size and brightness of his eyes it's possible to miss him tearing up, with how liquid collects in the round curve of his lower lids.]

[elfstoned]

[He stands, climbing to his feat slowly, heavily. His tone is gentle but firm.]

Stick to the facts, Julien: keep your mind away from stories. There is nothing to suggest that the Earth will hatch; we will assume it won't.

[He takes a few steps toward Julien.]

Even so, you are right: the worst case scenario is that they invade, and they are stronger than we are, and we and those we care about die. It is completely possible that none of us will live out the week. We may even die tomorrow, or tonight.

[Aaron sounds calm. His voice is even. These events frighten him, too; the thought of losing Eliot, Gillian, Thorir -- even Julien himself to an alien invasion is a difficult one. However, Julien's distress has him reaching a calm center, a resolute determination and cool logic, an equal and opposite reaction.]

[espigeonage]

The Earth and the Moon are made of the same stuff. Or they're supposed to be.

[Awkwardly Julien raises himself nearly upright and puts his head between his wings.]

I know. I know. We're all... I don't want to die like this. [He makes no indications about if he means dying while bird-shaped or in an alien invasion.] And I know no one asked me and it doesn't matter what I think, okay, I know things aren't fair.

[elfstoned]

[He comes closer, close enough to put a hand on Julien's wing, but he doesn't reach out yet.]

And if we are doomed to fail -- if you died tomorrow -- how would you wish you had spent today?

[espigeonage]

[Julien's voice is slightly muffled. He continues hiding his face, and sinks down until his heels connect with the floor and his tail lays out behind him, 'sitting'.] I know what you're doing, Aaron.

I'd want to be doing pretty much what I've been doing, because even if it doesn't matter in the end, I can't just commit to mindless hedonism if I can help.

[elfstoned]

[He doesn't mind that Julien's aware of what he's doing: he's helping Julien get his thoughts in order.

He crouches down in front of Julien, down on his heels.]

I wouldn't blame you for mindless hedonism. In fact, three years ago, I would have thought that would be what you would do if you were told the world was about to end.

[His tone says he's pleased to find that he was wrong.]

You said you didn't want to die like this. How, if you could choose, would you die?

[espigeonage]

...I'd have found my sister. Her kid. They don't deserve to be alone for this.

[He's become less oriented towards the members of his family that will have much to do with him, during all this. Maybe rather, they've become less oriented towards him, and he's adjusted. That's... that's sad. That's really sad.]

I don't know. Not with the world ending. I'd... I'd want it to mean something.

[elfstoned]

It does mean something.

[Brace yourself, Julien, you're about to get hit with the moral of Lord of the Rings.]

I think you already know this, but I will tell you again: being doomed to fail is neither a reason to give up nor an excuse for it. It is easy to be brave when success is within reach. It is much, much harder to do when it is not. That kind of courage, the courage to do what is right because it is right no matter the outcome has great meaning. It's a light, for us and for those who hear of us. It may not be much of one, but it may be all we have.

Even if I knew for a fact that the Earth would fall tomorrow, I would do nothing differently. It would mean a great deal to me that I resisted the end instead of accepting it, and after all, dying in defense of the Earth is a good way to go.

I am proud to be here, and I am proud of you. You have astounded and amazed me time and time again, and I can think of no one else I would rather fight the end of the world with.

[espigeonage]

Hopeless causes are... the best kind, huh.

[Julien pulls his wings down and folds them, his head low. He's crying, tears collecting along his lower lids and wicking through crevices into the feathers at the inner and outer corners of his eyes.]

...you'd get along well with Yuuya. I, hhah, I don't feel brave enough for that at all.

[elfstoned]

Not the best. But, sometimes, the most important.

[Now he reaches out, puts his hand on the side of Julien's neck, near the wing. He talks quieter, moved by the tears; he is not anxious, but he is less calm.]

As for bravery, if you are still out here tomorrow, refusing to despair, then yes, you are brave enough. Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's acting in the face of it. That's something I've seen from you many times.