5/22/2011
07:55 PM
Logfile from Flandynn.
Yokohama - Cargo Bay
Since the gravity units were restored and now are maintained in working order, the cargo deck of the Yokohama is constantly buzzing with activity. With research needing to be done, equipment to be moved, or a plethora of other tasks taking place people are always coming and going, either from the planet 'below' by dragon back, or meandering in and out from other places aboard the ship.
This area is well lit, the floors themselves have had space set aside specifically for 'betweening'. Three large marked off areas remain clutter-free of people, dragons and equipment. With these 'landing pads' clear, dragons avoid the danger of teleporting into an area of space already occupied and causing a tragedy. Several massive sun lamps have been set up over off to the left, in an effort to make the stay of dragon-kind more comfortable.
People: Flandynn Briana Pyriel Miss Frizzle Kiley M'nol Karona Keziah Iessrien Ocelara
Dragons: Alosynth Faraeth Seryth
Obvious exits:
Airlock <A> Lift <Lift>
Having been told they're heading off for an overnighter, the Candidates have been instructed to pack enough clothes for two days, bring blankets and pillows, but the destination has been left secret. The AWLMs, keeping closed lips to all questions, have rounded up their charges up herding them into the Clearing and loaded them onto dragons. Rising to the skies, which today are cold but clear this early winter morning, they fall into formation and wink Between. It's into the weigtlessness of the Yokohama's cargo bay that they re-enter, floating weightlessly, dragons wisely furling their wings and remaining as motionless as possible (apparently they were forewarned about the grav units being under maintenance). Riding straps are all that keep the occupants tethered to their mounts…
Briana is still strapped in, eyes wide as she looks around her. This is not even something she really ever heard of in her world. Watching the people 'flying' around her gives a look of wonder to her features. "We can fly like dragons here…" She murmurs to herself, though for now…there is still the hesitation to unstrap herself. As Kiley displays the paramount of excitement and more and more of the candidates release themselves to fly through the cargo bay, the dark skinned girl looks down to her straps, fingers resting on the secure latch. She is biting her lower lip as she gathers up the courage to release the strap and drift off into the unknown. "My brothers would freak if I told them I got to …fly." She finally says with a smile to her lips at the though, another deep breath and she undoes the latch and slowly starts to float above her dragon transport.
Karona pales at Keziah's words, looking suddenly ill. Free-floating vomit? Oh dear. "Er, could…" she gulps, "…could someone give me a hand? To one of those receptacles. /Please/?" Though it seems a temporary moment, as she reaches a wall, and finds a hand-hold to cling to. "Er… nevermind. I'm okay now." she says. "I think…" she adds, warily. She's hanging onto that bar of metal for grim life. "Is there anywhere on here that we're /not/ floating? That… would be lovely." she says, face still terribly pale. Iessrien's similar words have her scowling. Something in common with the holder boy? Even worse than /floating/! His reaction to her nag has her eyes widening. Finally there's some colour in her face, red and furious, but all she can do is splutter, apparently not expecting such /rudeness/. Terribly impolite. Huff!
The yahoo that ping-ponged off the far wall is nearing the group and it's sure to be a collision course unless he smacks into one of the others and deflects. He's giggling hysterically as he cartwheels on in, bypassing Pyriel by a hair (or is that a halo?) his 'lookout' hastily - and far too tardily called in warning. He's too busy looking back at Pyriel to notice he's headed right at Ocelara.
Ocelara is brighter than some would accuse her of being; she still has a firm hold on the dragon's strap, and when the youngster goes zipping past, he's dodged..and then nabbed. By the ear, "And what did we JUST say to you?" Oooh…that's a scolding tone any mother would approve of. "It'll be the sanding and polishing crew for you when we get back. If I don't just arrange to have M'nol dump you out an airlock to save me the trouble of supervising you!" She barely ruffles a hair out of place, after that, despite flailing candidate at the end of her arm…. "Keziah, could you help the lass before she rediscovers what she had for lunch a sevenday ago?" Uh huh. There must have been a headwoman in her ancestry somewhere.
Kiley continues her string of 'I can't believe it' as she attempts to maneuver herself around, wriggling this way and that before she gives up and floats just for a bit. At least until Keziah is giving the instructions. The smile that lingers on her lips continues to show the unending excitement and joy to simply be in the Yokohama. Pyriel's reaction gives the woman pause and she eyes him for a long moment before just beaming a grin at him, "you're not going to get me down, Pyriel." Play on words right there. "I am /so/ happy." And then she makes to push herself over towards a grip on the wall, holding tightly as she continues to look around. A deep breath is drawn and the woman suppresses another squeal as her gaze looks to Iessrien. A wave is given to the other candidate as well as towards Briana before she begins to settle down, somewhat.
Alosynth watches the ping-ponging candidate and then lets out a rumble as he starts to go through people. Keziah spins. Bad move. She goes green as she does it but she does get to catch the sight of the boy being snagged by the ear. She gives a wince but she grins. "Nice catch." she murmurs after swallowing a couple more times. She then turns her attention to Karona and frowns "I don't generally come up here, so I don't know if they've got the gravity turned on in any of the compartments." she hmms a little and then shrugs. No help. She does manuever herself so that she's grabbing onto the rail. "Best idea is try to orient yourself to an up down position and keep it. Focus on single things and try to take it slow. For the rest, practice the free-fall a bit first and then you can explore. Just make sure not to touch anything and don't give the technicians too much of a hard time."
"So this is what you wherfolk do on a surprise lark? Makes me curious what Turn's End celebration is like." Flandynn drawls, his voice floating in with about as much amusement as he finds in watching people pinging about. "Oh, that's famous." Cartwheeling. He isn't quite apt to be trying triple-axles or anything of the sort yet, he'll settle for the basics of floating from point A to point B, instead of random point C. Hair flops about him in some kind of mad-scientist mien as he tries to float/glide/drift/scramble towards one of those beforementioned wall-grips. Tummy fipflops.
M'nol turns carefully to lean back against Faraeth's neck and watch the show. He must come up here fairly often, it seems, "Weyrfolk, Flandynn, weyrfolk. Whers are mining and hold security." His eyes slide to watch Karona as she careens, "you okay there?"
Pyriel's brows furrow at Kiley for her retort to him. "Hey…I wasn't…." he starts and then just scowls. "Whatever…think what ya want." He continues to float there around and around he goes, a sigh slipping out then and again. Though his attention instantly flicks to M'nol when the brownrider answers his question, and his eyes are back to being wide and wild. "What?" he asks in a squeak, and despite himself he attempts to cough and cover this quickly. Now he's looking about in a most paranoid way, this way, that, down and up. Floating vomit? That's when the giggling boy floats overhead, so close that he can likely see ever single wrinkle of the lad's clothing. Unfurling in an attempt to dodge belatedly, he's frozen in that alarmed expression, until that kid is well past him. Then he's growling and making extremely displeased gestures, some of them, not so kind. Then he sees where the guy is headed and the anger melts away. "Oh crap. Hey! Hey! Watch out man!" he points to Ocelara. Apparently, for no reason as the Headwoman dodges and grabs the candidate's ear. Oh well. Then it is as if he all at once remembers he's just floating towards the wall. A serious round of cursing now ensues as he attempts to swim in midair to get back some semblance of control. Doggy paddle? Nope. Breast stroke. No good. Butterfly stroke? "Ah shard it." he grumps, and then lightly bounces against the wall. He takes this opportunity to grab hold of something, anything to hold him in place, and luckily for him, it's a metal ladder. There he clings, and goes very very still.
Both of the yahoo's eyes roll Ocelara-wards to see just who has snagged him, "YEEEE-ouch?" His yell diminishes the instant he sees that it is the Headwoman. His shrug says, 'Who cares about sanding and polishing?' Absolutely unrepentant, the grin he gives her, until that word 'airlock' hits his brain. Then it's a falsely meek, "Yes Ma'am, Miss Ocelara." Until she's not looking, anyway.
Iessrien totally smirks at the reaction he gets from Karona for his rudeness, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards slightly, though his next words to her are.. oddly unacidic, "At least it's only us moving and not this whole thing.. Uh.. it isn't moing, is it?" glancing over to Kiley for the answer, as if she'd know. He's not looking quite sure, -where- he is still, all told. He'll at least offer the computercrafter a smile for her enthusiasm, even if Iess' own is a bit more ..contained. He's swallowing an awful lot for a reason, still a little green around the gills, but he's reining it in as much as he can. The ping-ponging candidate is watched a little warily as he nears the group, Iessrien's earlier amusement fading as he himself calls a, "Hey- lookout," to Pyriel and Ocelare, the latter earning a sudden grin, Iess trying not to laugh as she ear-nabs that poor candidate. /Ouch/. Pondwater blue eyes flick over the other candidates, Briana and Flandynn and then back to Py, the ..midair swimming having the holder boy chuckling outright, though he begins to make his way over toward the harper, using the wall grips, with a, "Hey! That must lead somewhere." Like to a deck with gravity maybe. Hopefully?
As Briana floats above the dragon she gives a gentle pushoff from its back, arms going out as if to steady herself as she floats up to the ceiling. There is a mixture of excitement and nervousness on her face as she flies up to the ceiling as she nears it she puts her hands up to keep from banging her head. Then there is discussion of areas with gravity and she looks a little nervous suddenly, "They won't make it gravity in here will they?" Its a long way down! She takes a breath and pushes off the ceiling, her wide rounded eyes seeking out any obstacles that may come her way, hands still held out as if they would help steady her, only she starts to roll into a slow backflip as she heads through the air, "woooaaaahhhh…" She calls out, "How do I stop spinning?" Her long hair is thankfully contained in a braid that just floats out behind her.
Karona nods very very cautiously at Keziah's advice, hands not leaving the railing for a second. "R-right. Orient myself." she murmurs. "…how do I do that?" she asks, furrowing her brow. It's pretty obvious she's never been up here before, and, at the rate she's going, she'd probably be happy never to be here again. Pyriel's cursing gets a snap of "LANGUAGE! Shards!" from the woman. Do they not teach little boys anything anymore? Tut tut tut. Iessrien gets a stare - no malice, just a stare - "…th-the whole thing? Moving?" Oh dear. Face pales again.
Ocelara agrees with Karona, "Language, Candidates…I assure you, there are worse fates than hard labor." She releases the unrepentant Candidate with something akin to an understanding smirk…but then gives him a slight nudge. There. Now. "Try and find something to /gently/ cling to. Something meant to be touched…like a ladder, railing, or the wall if you must…" Nevermind, she's not letting go of that strap with her own hand…which means she's gently beginning to spin as the small motions cause the dragon to rotate…heh.
Flandynn's fingers curl around a grip, his hip banging into the side-wall, only to have his body fall away once more into the open air. From that grip, he dangles -only sideways. He twists by that tentative hold, looking up, up, up there… and then twist to look down, down over there. He drifts ever more 'til more candidates are upside down before his head, instead of right side up. His words follow after Ocelara's, "So clinging to another person is bad…? because right now, I really want to cling to someone."
Keziah watches Karona and points to the pads. "have that as your down point and keep yourself orientated to that." she notes as she makes her way over towards the lift. Alosynth has found a spot under the lamps to lay, gripping onto the deck with a claw to one of the various little loops that have been placed on the deck. It's not that she minds floating, it's just that she loves the heat and doesn't want to float out of it. "Clinging to someone who is spinning out of control will have you doing the same thing. If you're careful you can. Hold on to something and take it easy. Learn to use the least amount of energy to achieve your goal." Keziah instructs. "It's a lesson in finesse." Course, finesse is not something she posesses in space or on earth. At least she's holding onto the contents of her stomach. Though the pale look on her face is quite pale. She nears the lift. "As for movement, the ship is moving, much like Pern is. It's in a stable orbit with Pern."
The little Candidate, now released floats over towards the grips beside the Lift. Oh, lookie here! Grabbing them, he cranes his neck to watch the others flounder. Flandynn's voiced wish to cling draws a smirked, "When do you wanna not?" As the pale-faced Keziah floats nearer, he pleads half seriously-half cheekily, "Don't puke on me, okay Lady?" Then he dimples.
Pyriel is clinging, yes. However, this does not last long. Instead he's pushing himself down, carefully maneuvering himself one rung at a time before he is safely at the bottom. A look is cast over his shoulder at Karona, a frown for her, even if she isn't looking at him right now. Ocelara's warning gets a glance as well, but is free of any gestures or expression. He doesn't go out of his way to reply even. Just a blank look and then he's turning himself around and pointed out towards the cargo bay. Golden eyes land briefly on Iessrien as a careful scan is made of where people and dragons are, before they move on to others such as Flandynn, Kiley, and Briana. Even Keziah, M'nol are eyed before the blond finds interest in the flooring. Idly he taps a foot against the panelling, inclining his head at the sound that resonates from it. "Heh. This is fricken' awesome." he comments to himself, and slowly lets go of the later rung he was fixed to with one hand, and then pushes off with one foot in what is more or less straight trajectory towards Keziah and the lift, though his head moves about to apparently keep track of people and their positions along the way.
Kiley beams a smile at Pyriel despite her previous response, still in her happy place as they float along in space. "I know." Comes her cheerful response to his grumpy one and another smile for his scowl. Fingers wiggle cheerfully at the harper candidate before attention is drawn towards Iessrien as he speaks to her. She blinks once before she shrugs, "I don't believe the Yokohama is moving, at the moment it appears to be settled in one spot. Not that there is much of an issue with that, mind you..Not that I would really know, I am more interested in seeing the computers." And then she lets go to let herself float away, entirely blissful from the look upon the woman's face. She does watch everyone else as she floats along, minding where they all are.
Karona defends her strong grip on the railing with "It's metal, it can take it! It's…" blink blink. "Actually… what sort of metal /is/ it?" Huh. Suddenly this turned from terrifying and nauseating to fascinating… and nauseating. But the smith candidate is now furrowing her brow at the bulkhead, trying to figure the alloy. "A-are there records anywhere? Of the construction?" she asks, tentatively removing one hand from the railing to poke - cautiously, any solid poke would push her away - at the bulkhead. Keziah's words tear her attention back to the situation, and she frowns. "Keep oriented to that, got it. But /how/?" she asks, tone pained. The slightest motion causes a huge reaction, spinning out of control, and she'll have no part of it.
Ocelara smiles a little, "Obviously, the technicians who work here have figured it out. Like anything, it takes practice. And perhaps a willingness not to panic if you don't succeed on your first try. Now…as M'nol's said…let's make our way over there." She does gesture…but it also means she herself is going to have to let go of the safety of the dragon and float about with the Candidates. "If there are records, I'm sure they're stored somewhere in AIVAS."
Once their passengers are off and floated away a safe distance, dragons begin to wink out one by one, leaving the cargo bay quite empty and cavernous. One or two remain to keep Alosynth company, or provide rides planet-side, should it be needed.
Flandynn offers up a thumbs-up to the 'little Candidate' which from his current orientation which is rather upside down, ends up looking quite the opposite way. "Computers… where can I see our home? Is there a window, so I can see the planet?" He pulls on the wall-grip once again, bringing his body in close and somewhat righting himself once again, but it is a precarious position at that -a breath, and he'll probably be wobbling off.
Iessrien pauses as he nears Pyriel and that ladder, eyes flicking to Briana in faint alarm, "..I don't think they're that mean." A huge room large enough for multiple dragons? Yeah, a fall from /that/ would probably be fatal. A grin twitches again at the corners of his mouth for the girl's spinning, though, and then he has to laugh a, "Hey man, so long as you're not clinging to me," called to Flandynn. Karona's stare over there is not returned, Iess only sparing her a mere flicker of a glance, though he does shrug, "Well, it stands to reason.. if us hitting the walls doesn't make it shake? I mean, how.. big could this place /be/? It has to be.. floating?" Keziah's explanation only earns a more confused look, "But.. why aren't we making it move if it's floating?" This physics stuff.. he does not get. Kiley's lack of answers either has the holder boy then shrugging it off and shaking his head, though he quickly stops /that/, the movment sending his hair in strange directions to float around his head. Vainly, he tries to smooth it down with one hand, but that doesn't quite work. Oh well. He remains where he is for a minute to watch the dragons winking out with low-lidded curiosity before Iess makes his way towards where Ocelare gestures.
"Keep your feet pointed towards the floor and your head to the top." Keziah notes and then eyes the candidate blandly. "You keep up your good behavior and I won't lose my lunch all over you. You act up and go careening again. I make no promises." she notes softly. She hmms a little more at Karona "I don't know, you'll have to asks someone. Metal is not my forte." She then glances at Iessrian "If I remember right, the gravity of PErn helps keep it in place and it's large. If you Impress and do well as a WEyrling, V'dim may let you all do a space walk with your dragons and you'll see the sheer size of it. Otherwise, get yourself posted to the Yokohama, or the Easterns Weather station, the Deluge." she notes.
R'iahn has been white-lipped and more than a little pale as he assissts his charges and directs them quietly, though he keeps to the straps for as long as possible, himself. The dragon, at least, is perfectly content in the place he once spent a reasonable amount of time in — if he doesn't remember, R'iahn does, though that memory doesn't seem to help the man. When the other dragons begin to leave, Riah unbuckles himself and slowly floats away, eyes closing tightly for a few seconds before opening again to *glare* at the Candidates. Faranth forbid any of them step out of line! The remaining riders get what may be a nod and either a smile or a look of extreme constipation, as the blueriding AWLM slowly floats with resignation for the lift. Jaesriuth, meanwhile, playfully pokes at somebody passing — and doesn't even have the grace to look shamed at his rider's harsh scowl. *He's* having fun!
Karona closes her eyes, and nods slightly, face pale. Right. Move over to there… She opens her eyes, and sighs. Nothing for it. She pulls herself along the railing, hand over fist, towards the lift. "I'll have to get out to see AIVAS records after the hatching…" she murmurs. Thinking of the craft seems to help, at least with the nausea - it's a distraction from the weightlessness. Iessrien's futile vanity gets a slight snort, but no comment. The lift is far more important. "…there might be gravity there, right?" she asks, nay, pleads, as though the AWLMs possess the power to turn the gravity on or off - for all she knows, they might.
At the instructions given, Briana points her feet towards to the floor with a jerk of her legs which only make her spin the more towards the coming floor which she bounces off of on her back with a grunt. As she goes careening off sideways she tries to twist herself to face the oncoming wall which sets her to spinning towards it. This is not going too well. Finally she gets close to the wall and she reaches out almost frantically for a handhold. She places her head against the cold plating, closing her eyes as she takes some deep breaths to get any nausea under control. Her feet floating out behind her. After a few moments the teen looks around towards the headwoman and WLM to see where they are pointing. There there is an intense scrutiny of the wall along the way. Plotting her course hand hold to hand hold.
Ocelara pushes off from the dragon where she'd been hanging on, and drifts with slightly more ease than the Candidates, but that's a 'slightly'…at least she doesn't look spacesick like some? "Onto the lift, and we'll see if they have the gravity turned on on the levels." Mind you, she has NO Idea if they do, but she's willing to give it a go! "Else, you can float around in here forever…it's a wonder we didn't find a fair of flits up here or something, as it was.* Shoo shoo, everyone towards the lift, quickly as you can… "It's not so bad in the smaller areas, like the corridors. Less room to free float in."
"This is sweeeeeeeeeeet!" The exclamation promptly followed by a cackling Aqueepoli, the lad floating about and being very, very excited about it. Not so great with listening at the moment, the candidate is more entertained with just floating and flailing his arms around like a crazy person. "Shells, I dun know 'bout you guys," Pol shouts to the other candidates, "But after being here, I dun think I ever wanna go back to walking. It's floating or nothing." He does twist and contort his body so his feet are in the right direction, downwards, while his head is where it should be.
Pyriel is about half way through the cargo bay when the dragons start winking out, a glance up towards Kiley for her gleeful reply. "Ugh, this is gunna be a long two days." he comments under his breath, pushing off against something on the floor that propels him forward with more speed. He continues to be mindful of the others around and above him, but also to where he is going. He seems to have adapted quickly to the zero-g environment, once of course he had gotten over the initial shock. With his satchel fluttering behind him, he does make it over to the lift in time, grabbing onto something to slow him down rather then go careening into doors, walls, or control panels. "I am so coming back here!" he grins, looking around with eyes that were wide but certainly free of any fear. Perhaps he missed the part when someone said that the gravity units were under maintenance. It certainly seemed so. Aqueepoli gets a bit of a smirk, "Yer just sharding lazy, Pol!" he calls back, a little bit of ribbing for the holder lad.
Kiley looks to Ocelara at the mention of AIVAS, nodding her head thoughtfully in response but nothing more as attention shifts to Karona, briefly. Her gaze is quickly drifting oof elsewhere as Kexiah gives instructions. It takes another moment for her to right herself and move off towards the lift as instructed, The smile still lingers upon her lips as well as the happiness that is in her eyes. Off she goes towards the lift before finally settling there, waiting to see whatever is next. Wheeee. Squeals begin again anew.
Iessrien nods slightly to Keziah's explanation, the boy looking somewhat thoughtful as he shoves his hair back away from his face again. He does pause to tilt his head at R'iahn's glare, brow lifting for the look on the man's face. But he's wise enough not ot ask, simply moving along carefully, and slowly getting the hang of this zero-gravity thing. Karona's snorty has Iessrien glancing over with a, "You do that a lot. You should probably get it checked by a healer, in case something's stuck up in there," said oh so casually from beneath lowered lashes. Pol's exclamation earns a laugh, Iess grinning over at his bud and commenting, "Didn't think we'd be doing /this/ when he left home!" He eventually does get to the lift, though, and grabs ahold of the rail in there, planting his feet as firmly as possible on the floor while he waits for the others.
Flandynn eventually makes his way down towards the lift, a hand and a foot, and maybe a little bit of clinging to this candidate or that, just because. Hey, it wasn't outright banned, was it? Feet sort of find the ground, more bouncing upon it with tenuous attempts at grounding and friction as he finds the lift. Well, at least he is somewhat pulled to rights, even if his hair refuses to fall as it should, still mad-scientist chic.
Since the little Candidate is already At the lift door, gripping the handle beside it aaaaaand since the doors are closed he doesn't hesitate or give any thought whatsoever before pushing the button beside it. Thankfully they simply open with a near-silent 'whoosh!' and the zero grav doesn't suddenly disappear. Yay! They can float on in rather than limp after crashing to the floor? He heads on in.
"Yeah, 'til it starts dissolving yer bones." That's R'iahn's contribution to Aqueepoli's excitement, offered with a grumpy look towards the Candidate. "Walkin' like a crotchety old man at thirty, eh?" And okay, maybe that's a little bit mocking, but belatedly he's shooting Keziah a wary look. Blessedly, he says nothing on the subject of having to lead space walks — nope, he's very busy, and quite content to let her say whatever she pleases. He's busy trying valiantly to get to the lift but making little headway; there are *people* everywhere, and it might be rude to give any of them a concussion bolting for the lift. Jae? He's so fine here.
You head towards the lift.
Yokohama - Main Lift
Manufactured from a lightweight composite of Terran materials this lift supports a "microfoamed" cylindrical cab to house personnel as they travel from one part of the Yokohama to another. Three linear induction motors, mounted longitudinally on the cab's exterior, provide the force to move the cab. Electromagnetic conduits lining the shaft power the motors. The lift reaches an approximate maximum speed of ten meters per second under this system. Inertial dampeners mounted on the cab's base counteracts the acceleration effects. The interior display shows the ship's directory to assist in achieving the correct destination.
The lift is lined with brilliant tubes shining brighter than a hundred glows each, at least. The floor is thinly carpeted in a depressing industrial gray, and the walls are painted an unassuming tan. The doors are quite thick, and bear a small silver plate with the title 'Emergency procedures in case of Hull Breach…' but the rest makes little sense.
< Type 'Console' to see the commands available here. >
People: Flandynn Pyriel Miss Frizzle Iessrien
Objects: Directory of Levels
Obvious exits:
Out <O>
Karona snorts louder at Iessrien. Snort! But still no actual words for the boy. She's almost to the lift now, and she grimaces at the last little distance. She takes a deep breath, then finally enters the lift. "…hm. That's interesting…" she murmurs, eyes wide at the inside of the lift. "What /is/ this? It's… like nothing I've ever seen before." she pokes at a 'microfoamed' wall.
Briana presses the button for Floor: 17. There is a momentary pause as the lights flash at the entryway.
The doors to the lift come closed and after a momentary pause, waiting for everyone to take hold of the hand rails, the capsule bobs and then rockets to its next destination.
The lift comes to a halt at Floor: 17 and the doors open.
You head out of the lift.
Yokohama - Bridge of Operations
From the lift, the main viewscreen dominates the wall seen directly across the way from it. Set above is an enormous observation window, which affords an amazing view of space and the planet below. There are many control consoles and chairs on the deck set before them, as well as a large open area just in front of the viewscreen. Centrally located in this expansive area is the Commanding Officer's chair. Three sets of steps ascend to the platform, which is set several meters above the deck. Other important stations line the upper platform, which extends both the port and starboard, each side ending a few meters short of the viewscreen.
People: Flandynn Pyriel Miss Frizzle Iessrien
Obvious exits:
Captain's Quarters <CQ> Lift <Lift>
As she is given the 'privalage' of pressing the button, Briana moves within the group towards the button panel and hits the indicated button to take them to the Bridge. As the door opens she steps out into precious gravity with a mix of disapointment and relief on her features at the gravity has been restored. Her steps are slow as she heads out onto the bridge, taken in by the lights, moving along the outside of the room to keep clear of any technicions working here.
It's not without incident that everybody makes it to the bridge. Thankfully, the incident only involves somebody with normal bodily functions and smells, but that doesn't seem to improve R'iahn's temper any. He's first out of the lift, taking a great breath of (recycled) air and shooting the Candidates yet another glare. "Break anything and the crew here will skin you alive. We won't be stopping 'em." He grumps, then gestures abruptly with a hand to the viewscreen. Without looking at it. "Don't get in their way." That's as much instruction as he is apparently willing to provide, casting Kez and M'nol a quick, almost-not-quite entreating look. He'll just…stay over here. In the nice corner. With no views out into space.
Ocelara moves ahead, her footsteps almost inaudible on the floor of the place. Gravity…it's a good thing! But she gestures, as weyrlingmasters herd the Candidates, "There's Pern…all of her." Well. As much as you can see out of the control window! "We're so used to seeing her on maps…it's different…to see her for yourself…Landers, you might like this view more than most."
Karona flees the lift almost as quickly as R'iahn, shooting a disgusted and rather pale-faced glare back, at the… smell. But she seems content to find a corner, and frown at some metallic part of the ship. Her face quickly regains normal colour though, now that her feet are planted firmly on solid flooring.
Iessrien ignores Karona's continued snorty, merely holding tight to the railing and then stepping out with the rest of the candidates. Whatever else he might have said, to anyone, is quieted, as he takes a look at that.. window. And maybe his steps waver a bit, eyes widening just a fraction. His mouth might be hanging open a little. Give the lad a moment, or.. ten.
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Pyriel stumbles out as the doors whoosh open after a few others, and glares back into the lift for some reason, hands on his backside. Even as he crinkles his nose at the smell. He grumbles and frowns deeply, eyeing several of the others still contained inside before he grumps on over out of the way. Hands are then shoved into his pockets and he wanders off, still giving several people a suspicious look before he gets a gander of the view. "Whoa." he says intelligently, brows lifting as he slowly drifts forward as if drawn there by gravity. He's about three quarters there when, "Oh dude, gravity. Awesome."
This was what Flandynn wanted to see. This right here. Dark eyes take in the sight given to him, the shorter lad easing his way around this candidate and that 'til he finds the front and can see all of that space, and all of that planet. "Slap me silly and call me Faranth, would you look at that." His footsteps are light, gravity's touch keeping him upon the flooring even if his thoughts are far, far, far beyond where he stands right now.
The bodily smells only falters Kiley's excitement for the moment in which they are on the lift, but as soon as they are free and able to look around, squealing begins again. The view of the planet isn't what draws her attention so much as the control panels, and with a new excitement she pushes forward. The gravity is noted with a slight tilt of her head looking upward before she is quickly moving to the controls and merely looking at them. Her hands are behind her back so she does not touch /anything/, but that look on her face reads that she certainly wants to. "I'd do anything to take a look inside these right now…" Comes a soft breath from the computer crafter before a sigh comes from her lips.
Lan lifts his head up as his name is called, weaving his way through the crowd toward the window indicated. His eyes acknowledge Ocelara before he takes one long gander out the control window. The reaction he has is a subtle loss of breath, while he leans forward with his hand bordering the frame of the glass, eyes widening a little, lips tightening to a thin line. "Look at all the water…" he says in low tones, a quiet whistle of appreciation for the sight.
Karona stopped poking and prodding at bits of the ship at some point before exiting the lift, though her fingers twitch now and then. She's apparently decided there's nothing new she can learn by staring at a bulkhead, so she's wandering slowly around the bridge, taking care not to get in anyone's way. Along she trundles, turning occasionally, until finally a turn has her facing the viewscreen. She stops dead, mid-step, even. "Whoa." she whispers, awestruck. That - that's /Pern/. "Whoa."
Ocelara actually smiles, a soft, wide smile…and then looks back out at the blue-green jewel that hovers there. "That's home. Down there…Can anyone identify a spot they recognize?"
The little Candidate is the last one out, hands in pockets as he nonchalantly strolls out beaming cherubically back at all those glares sent into the lift. He sings out a cheerful, "Sorry I couldn't hold it in, guys. I tried." Smirksmirk. He skips to the forefront, ducking under and slipping around people, presses his nose to the window and peers out, his breath fogs the glass. "Whoaaaa!"
That' a 12-turn old for you.
Pyriel does stop himself from just pressing himself up against the observation window, but barely. Hands were already poised to plant themselves upon the glass, but he steps back after Ocelara starts asking people if they can identify things from orbit, wandering off again to let other people have a go. A few steps are taken before the littlest candidate admits to being the one that cut the cheese in the lift. The kid earns himself an instant side glance and scowl. Soft grumbles under the harper's breath follow this soon after but rather than stop he just keeps on going by him , with but a pause and head shake for Kiley and her panel drooling. "Seek help, seriously." he mumbles on his way past to the computer crafter, tossing himself up against a wall by the lift and crossing his arms over his chest.
We interrupt Karona's regularly scheduled awe to glare at a little boy. "Boys!" the woman mutters, in disgust. "All the same." Grump grump grump. Are we /sure/ she's still young enough to be a candidate? Her eyes drift back to the viewscreen, however, and she soaks in the view with more curiosity than awe now. She takes a step closer, and furrows her brow. "Is that… the curve of Nerat?" she says, pointing something out. "…maybe." she adds, suddenly seeming not all that certain.
"I.. I can see my father's hokd from here," Iessrien mumbles weakly to Ocelara, though it's likely said in jest, considering the epic distance of the view and the upward tug at the corners of his mouth. Lips twitch further and there's a nodded, "You said it," to Karona, Iess' nose wrinkling briefly at the little candidate before the holder suddenly turns from the view, features creasinf curiously before he begins heading back toward the lift with a mumbled, "Think.. I might need to sit down somehwere," though obviously /not/ in that prominent chair. Some AWLM or other will rpobably escort the lad to the infirmary or something, hopefully, because he is looking.. a bit ill all of a sudden.
Briana's eyes are wide at the dazzling lights around her. It was like the girl was raised in a cave..oh wait she was. She glances over to the window showing the expanse of space and suddenly closes her eyes with a catch of breath. "Oh…" She murmurs and places a hand over her mouth as she gets a wave of nausea. "How.." She murmurs and turns away for the windows to try to settle herself once more. One thing to be told you are floating in a metal ball in space, another thing to KNOW it and see it!
Kiley whirls to turn to Pyriel for his quip towards her, cheeks flushing an angry red and she murmurs. "I am perfectly healthy." Comes her snip. This is what finally draws her attention away from the electronics of the room and to where everyone is gathering at the window. She wanders over, no longer high on excitement and incredibly sober as her gaze settles upon the planet they were once on. Her eyes widen and she leans in just a little, breathing out a sigh of amazement while her eyes focus there. "Amazing.." Comes her breathless response as she begins to stare.
Ocelara grins a little at Iessrien's 'humor', but shakes her head at him. "We came here, when I was a Candidate…" Yeah, like that was ages ago or something! "And they explained it to us then…we can't see anything humans have done to Pern. We are so high above, and the places and things man makes are so small…we can't even really see the Weyrs from here, save Ista…because we can see Ista Island. That large patch of land there, with the clouds near it…that's the southern edge of the Western Continent…it's late afternoon there…and directly below us is Landing, where the University is."
Karona might shoot Iessrien a glance, but it's only to see if there's an opening to nag, surely. But, with all the AWLMs, and the headwoman, present, she looks away again without a word. Not her place, and all. There might be a mutter of 'infirmary' under her breath though. Her eyes go back to the viewscreen, and she whistles in awe. "It looks so tiny." she says, unable to believe her eyes. "We were just there, but from here, looks small enough to take home, display on a shelf. Or… something." she says, furrowing her brow at her own odd words.
"Where is Red Butte…" Flandynn drawls slowly, inching up closer to the visual. He bumps up against another candidate 'til it is pointed out with a pointed finger by another candidate. "Hi mom!" Hand waves and all. "I swear I'll write soon." He takes a step back and to the side, his thigh bumping up against one of the consoles. His head turns, looking back towards Landers, and giving the ex-sailor a bit of a chin-lifted guy greeting. His ears catch Karona's musings, and the teen glances across to her, "Imagine that… planet in a bottle."
Keziah steps off the lift with normal coloring. She doesn't mind being up here so much with gravity working. The weightlessness she really doesn't like. Nope not at all. She watches the candidates and leans back up against the wall next to the lift, making sure she's not on any precious bottons or equipment.
Ocelara laughs a bit, "You've seen how it looks now. If you can craft them, they might make a fine Gather tchotchy to sell…planet in a bottle. I saw a ship in a bottle, once…" She's bemused. "This may be the furthest away from home you will ever be." Alright, maybe that's not technically accurate, but it certainly seems logical! "Can you imagine? Dragonriders protected Pern for 2000 years without knowing what Pern really looked like."
Pyriel glances to Iessrien as the boy talks, and walks past him into the lift. After that, golden eyes return to the room, catching Kiley's angered flush. Yes, that puts a smile on his face and he does so right at her. "Ya, ya you are." he says, with some sort of knowing tone before his chin lifts upwards for a haughty-like expression. He must get bored of taunting the computer crafter because he's drawn away from it around the time that Kiley wanders off to discover the view. Instead he focuses on Ocelara and what she is saying. That is until Keziah is leaning up against the wall beside him.
Lan is more or less forced to shuffle back a few steps when others crowd in around the window. Mid-step back, he notices the greeting from Flandynn, returning it with a simple tilt of his head. Otherwise he drifts back from the main crowd around the window, remembering to catch a steadying breath. It puts him near Briana, in time to hear her comments and see her own reaction. "Tis overwhelming…" a low rumble of his seafaring accent, standing awkwardly with his eyes constantly moving, taking in the sights.
Karona smirks suddenly. "I bet I've seen more of Pern than my mother, now. She's gonna hate that. I ought to write to her." she decides, grinning widely. So, Karona /can/ grin? It's actually a bit of a scary look on her, perhaps she shouldn't. Flandynn gets a nod, "Would make an interesting conversation piece, have to admit." she says. "'Here's a shell I found on Ierne's shores, I thought it looked rather pretty. Oh, and here's Pern. I went up to space to get this one.'" she plays out an imaginary conversation, amused.
Its the mention of Ista, that draws Briana's head up. "Ista?" She asks and glances to the window. The keeps her hand on the nearby plating as she tries to decide whether it is worth the look from so high above. She looks over to Landers though as he joins them and there is another touch of relief as her 'compatriot' joins them here. As he goes to the window, finally she gets the courage to cross the floor to stand slightly behind him to peak around his shoulder. "Which one is Ista?" She asks with an almost whispering voice as if speaking any louder would dispell all this.
Ocelara looks for a moment, and then gestures, "The Yokohama stays in one place…over Landing…but far that way…on the edge of Pern from us, is Ista…you can sort of make it out. Where those clouds are, I think. Mind you, I'm no miner or harper…"
Flandynn's grin grows following Karona's words, "I think I'd have to visit your place to see all of your knickknacks. I also think your dusting off the bottle would probably be the source of most of our storms." Dark eyes eat up the sight of Keroon's coast from far above, "It is… there are so many colors from up here. Funny how I know how long it takes to get to the Igen delta, but from here it looks like just a jump from home." His head shakes from side to side, hair falling about his ears, dropping over his eyes. His words follow Landen's. "Overwhelming. That is a good word."
Kiley flushes a bit more at Pyriel, giving him another look before she schools her features and keeps her gaze carefully away from him. Arms fold across her chest and she does not indulge him with any more than that look, staring at the planet through the window. Her hands grip her arms tighter and then she looks to the other candidates for their reactions. Briana earns a carefully look before she turns her gaze back to the planet with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "Amazing." She repeats with a soft breath before she's turning away and then making her way towards the lift. On her way, however, she gives Pyriel a jab in the side then settles upon the lift and waits. Exploration awaits!
Ocelara stands there for some little while longer, before she begins to gesture, "Alright…get your bags. You did remember to get your bags off the transport dragons, didn't you?" She mother hens…a little. "We need to get to the quarters, and get set up for the evening. Have a light meal."
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Evidently the harper apprentice looses interest with what's being said over by the window, despite a few glances between Briana and Landers, a brow arched. "Heh." Pyriel says for whatever reason, lips once more turning into a smirk. He gives Keziah the once over, eyeing her as if he was trying to figure something out about her, however he soon scowls and pushes himself up and off the wall, just in time to get elbowed in the ribs. "Hey!" he growls, rubbing at the spot a bit before he follows the girl into the lift. "What the…" Then the doors close and all that can be heard is a few shouts back and forth, the words muffled, but the tone is pretty clear. Nothing quite like a heated argument in space.
Keziah just arches at brow at Pyriel, doesn't say anything but looks to see if he will. As he doesn't she shrugs a bit and seems unconcerened about the thoughts of the boy. Nope, nothing serious is going on and they all seem well in hand, so she'll just let the AWLM's do what they are good at. That way no one gets hurt.
Landers' outlines with a raised finger toward the window the indication of where Ista would be, while Ocelara speaks of its location. Lan shows a faint grin to Briana, though the encouragement behind it was waning, fading from his expression soon after. Pensive eyes return toward Flandynn, switching back to Ocelara at the issued orders. Out of place and still with a slight frown on his face, he isn't as animated as some. In fact the sailor looks a little green under the gills. He hasn't really been the same since the zero gravity bay. Still, he does lift his chin as his gaze follows the commotion surrounding Pyriel, a brow perched and then a shoulder rolled.
Karona pales a bit as Ocelara mentions bags and dragons, glancing back to the lift. Her concern over a trip back to the cargo bay seems to have overridden her common sense, as her backpack is somehow still on her shoulder. Silly woman. "Oh. Uh. I'm good." she excuses, then blinks. "…I have my bag." she adds, with sudden realisation. Well, /that's/ a relief. "We… need to?" she asks, regarding moving to quarters, glancing to the viewscreen, and then the crew, with a reluctant nod. "Right. Okay. Of course." she says, trudging back towards the lift, like a good little candidate.
The little brat Candidate has long since grown bored looking out the window at the (mostly) unchanging view and sidled up onto the Flight deck. One of the technicians up there has let the little squirt sit in the captain's chair, much to his delight. After answering a spate of questions, like no, they can't fire beams to blow anything up today and can they cruise around in outer space, the man has been called away, leaving the brat to eye those colorful buttons winking on the panel. So. Stinking. Tempting!!! One finger begins it. Push. Push. CLICK! (his mother always said he liked pushing her buttons) Push. SNAP! Lights flash, sirens beep. And he ducks out of the chair amidst the confusion losing himself in the dwindling mass of Candidates. Is he even still here? Probably escaped in the lift.
Karona makes for the lift at the sirens, with a growl of "/Boys/!", hands clapped over her ears. But, she did catch some words — 'off', 'the', and 'ship', in that order. Wide pleading eyes turn on Ocelara, hoping the answer is yes.
The techs get the sirens stopped within seconds and the lead calls out a rather cheerfully (and hopefully) calming, "No harm done. We don't need to test the breech containment now." Hopefully that'll assure the AWLMs the Candidates aren't on their naughty-list. Yet.
Ocelara does NOT look reassured, though the lack of bells and whistles is more reassuring, "Indeed…and as soon as we figure out who was responsible for that little…adventure." She eyes the Candidates that are still right there…and begins to mentally count heads….who is missing? She'd wager they're responsible for the fiasco…or knows who is! "We'll let you know."
Iessrien has disconnected.
Landers lifts up his arm, glancing under it to see where Briana snuck off too, a brow following her movements to hide from the awe inspiring view. There isn't much he can say in response to the woman because the sirens are blazing before he can. Instinctively steeling himself, the man tenses up, and by his expression he doesn't understand the emergency causing the lights and sound to blare. It was vastly different from a ship. At least one could see the problem. Here, he was just twisting his head side to side, trying to react to something he couldn't see. And as abruptly as it started, it ends. The sailor lets out a breath, narrowing his eyes toward the non-chalant techs. Grunting, the man stands awkwardly somewhere in the middle of the bridge, regarding Ocelara's words to get to the bottom of it. If his lips were not pursed before, they were tightly pressed together now.
"Breech containment?" "What is that?" "What did he say?" a gaggle of voices. "Please, he said no harm done, can we /please/ just calm down?" pleads an older female voice, though there's a definite worried edge to it. Karona steps out of the group, brow furrowed. "Can we go to nice safe quarters now?" she asks, shooting a glance over the bridge.
Ocelara nods a little at that, and begins to herd people outright. Like they were a flock of sheep. EVERYONE to the lift! Now!