OPEN;

[shutupmarco]

who. Rachel (shutupmarco) and you!
what. wandering around Zeta District in confusion
where. anywhere in Zeta District
when. right now
warnings. does Rachel count as a warning

The freaky thing is that Rachel doesn't even remember getting on the shuttle. She remembers coming home to dinner late for the third time that week because of a meeting with the other Animorphs, worried she'd get chewed out or worse, grounded, but then her mother had apparently barely noticed the time and just apologized for ordering without her. She remembers the whoosh of relief, and then a bit of a pang realizing that her cousin Jake probably wasn't getting off so easily with his mom, and -- then what? She can't remember.

They're ushered off the shuttle before she really has a chance to take any of it in. Rachel falls into step with everyone else as the offload into the seething crowds of Omega, realizes with a flutter of panic all at once that she doesn't see any of the others and also they're in space. This is some kind of space station, or maybe a giant ship. What the hell.

For a moment, she thinks it's the Yeerks. That this is some kind of Controller base ship she's somehow gotten stuck on. But while she sees plenty of humans, she doesn't see any Taxxons or Hork-Bajir, just a whole host of different alien-looking creatures she's never seen anything like before. The place doesn't seem very Yeerk-like, either. Is it an Ellimist trick? Maybe. It's too hard to tell.

She thinks all of this in the space of a few seconds, before she realizes all of the people off the shuttle are being directed one way by a group of nasty thug-looking aliens in armor, a couple of equally unpleasant-looking humans among them. "All new arrivals to Zeta District," they snarl, over and over again. Rachel brushes her hair from her face and puts on a neutral smile, walking as she's directed like she belongs there. On the inside, she's trying not to puke from panic. She's got no idea what this place is, or what all of these aliens are, or why she's here, but she's going to find out.

Comments

[bearerofhope]

It was fairly difficult to find appropriate food for mana regeneration while living on a space colony, but Haruto was finding ways to make do. Ration packs were put together purely for calories and not at all for taste, but he'd managed a friendly relationship with one of the restaurant owners he'd helped out during the fires. All he had requested in exchange, rather than payment, was that the man would find a way to make his favorite food. With the ingredients it required, Haruto knew it was a little more expensive than others might be willing to pay and the taste was off, but a bad sugar donut was still a sugar donut.

Standing with his back against one of the shipping containers in the landing zone, he kept the small box in his hands steady as he ate, unsure of how many he'd gone through so far. His mana stores had crashed horribly after using Wizard so much that he had been unable to move for a few days afterward. It made him miss having someone around like Koyomi, who was willing to help take care of him.

Haruto took another bite of his food, looking at the group for anyone who might stand out or look especially familiar. There were a lot of humans, but a few other creatures he didn't recognize as well. They were probably all as lost as he had been when he'd shown up.

Raising one hand, Haruto gave a bright smile towards one of the humans that caught his attention. At the very least, he could try to be helpful to anyone incoming. "Yo! Miss!"

[shutupmarco]

When she realizes for certain that the guy's calling out to her, Rachel almost immediately freezes. Damn it, she's been trying to keep her cool, act like she belongs, because if this is some kind of Yeerk operation, she doesn't want to get found out. She knows the kinds of things the Yeerks will do to someone with the envied Andalite power to morph. She knows she won't get an easy way out like death.

She thought she'd been doing so well, too. But it won't do to lose her cool now. So when she turns in the direction of the voice, she puts on a dazzling fourteen-year-old girl smile, bright-eyed and mostly vacant. "Um, yes? Can I help you?"

[bearerofhope]

"You're one of the new kids, huh?" Haruto took another bite while talking. While he liked to be polite, the fact that he was running horribly low on mana even after the last few days was more important. Dragon's presence was still pulling on him and the dull ache was a constant reminder that he wasn't doing good enough. If another attack happened, he had to be ready to move, which meant taking it easy and eating as much as possible in the meantime. Having a low-paying job didn't help matters with how expensive it was to get real food.

The look on the girl's face reminds him of Koyomi -- actually, they were probably around the same age, though he wasn't very good at guessing the ages of foreigners. It made him realize how much he missed her. Koyomi needed a constant feed of mana from him to survive. It had already been a week since he'd arrived, which meant she had likely run out by now. Maybe Nitou and the others had found a way to compensate for it, but...

"I'm sort of the unofficial welcoming committee, if you need some help getting around." Haruto took another bite, at least chewing and swallowing this time before he continued talking. "Unless you're already from this hunk of junk, in that case you're better off than most of us."

[shutupmarco]

Honestly, she's ready to bolt when he starts talking to her. Her conversation with Marco hadn't exactly been the most enlightening, and she's still feeling skittish and freaked out on the inside, even if she refuses to show it. She's honestly afraid to talk to anyone for too long in case this is a Controller operation, but after meeting Marco...it's hard to imagine that's still the case.

Besides, the guy seems willing to help, even if that makes Rachel a little wary. Maybe she can get some information from this guy.

"Welcoming committee?" Rachel repeats, looking puzzled. Well, that sounds...either promising or ominous. "Uh -- you mean for the shuttles?"

[bearerofhope]

"Lots of people keep coming through every few days. Most of the ones who end up here don't seem to know what's going on. I was one of them when I got here. We're pretty far from Earth and we aren't even close to the year I was from." Haruto shrugged his shoulders, still keeping his back against the wall as he spoke. "I can't find a way back, so I figure the least I can do is try to help people while I'm here."

There weren't Phantoms or Gates to worry about (well, aside from still having Dragon inside of him), so he had to find some way to keep himself busy and his mind distracted. Guarding people and helping them were a habit he'd developed ever since he was little. At least this way, he wouldn't feel useless...

"I guess that means you can start interrogating me and I'll tell you what I know."

[shutupmarco]

Wait a minute -- other people are coming through? People who are lost? That might not be significant in itself, but... Rachel's torn. On the one hand, this place could still be dangerous if she exposed herself. It's not very pretty on the outside to begin with, and she has a feeling it'll only get worse the further down she looks. But then again, she's sick of being confused and out of the loop. She feels like she can't quite find her footing, and she can't stand it. Rachel bites her lip for a long moment, studying Haruto's face, and she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Well, you can start by telling me what this place is and why I'm here."

[bearerofhope]

"There's a few different names for it, but the humans call it Omega. It's a space colony built into an asteroid, mostly working as a mining colony. We're also about one hundred and seventy-four years in the future from my time, if people here are telling me the truth. We're still in the Milky Way, but pretty far from Earth. I don't know enough about space to tell you specifics."

With the way Haruto spoke so casually, it seemed he wasn't bothered by any of this. It really was the complete opposite. He wanted to know more just as much as anyone else did, but he'd always told himself that he couldn't focus on the past or things he couldn't change. Thinking like that didn't do anyone any good.

"As far as why we're here, no one really knows. We're from different worlds, different times... I haven't seen anyone from my world here yet. Maybe someone's grabbing up people they think are capable of something." That had been his guess, what with him being a Rider, but as far as other people who didn't have the powers he did... What was their purpose?

[tradecraftdude]

Marco had to get out of the apartment for a bit---or, more specifically, his pyjak did. The stupid thing went nuts when it was cooped up inside for too long, and after one too many incidents which didn't need to be spoken of ever again, Marco looped a length of rope through the harness made from zip ties and took off to air out the spastic little monster before his roommate wrecked any more tables.

He's kind of dragging his feet a lot more than the pyjak would have liked, so there was an annoying yank on the leash every two steps, and Marco grouchily contemplates letting it go so he doesn't have to deal with it anymore. But then he remembers what they've been through; it's only been a couple of days since he caught it and decided keeping the stupid thing out of trouble was his new hobby, and it just doesn't seem okay to set it loose. It wouldn't last two seconds before getting killed.

Funny how that happens, given how many people were trying to do the same with him. But a lot of things in Marco's life is funny.

Like how the pyjak yanks him around a corner and when he finally reigns it in again, he looks up and sees the side of Rachel's head as she cuts effortlessly through the crowd as if she wasn't surrounded by lots of aliens with questionable body part arrangements. Of course it's Rachel, even if he's having trouble making himself believe it. People just popping out of nowhere and appearing in his life again? That just doesn't happen, right.

Oh wait, it does.

She's not quite close enough for him to just call out to her, so he drags on the leash and starts trotting after her, while a million things are running through his mind. The thought that's sitting on top of all the other thoughts, though, like a big beached whale attempting to crush anything else he tries to think.

There were people he met here who had met a different version of him. That version of him came from an entirely different bizarro world where nothing he knew was right.

Which one did this Rachel come from? And how was he going to know?

There's no way he's going to let her go without at least trying. So he sprints to catch up to her, sliding into place next to her despite the pyjak's protests at the constant changing velocity, and speaking before she has a chance to respond.

"So, new Leo DiCaprio movie's out. What do you say we grab a matinee later?"

He's slightly out of breath, partially from chasing her down, but mostly because his heart is hammering the inside of his ribcage.

[shutupmarco]

Rachel's good at faking it. She knows that. That's how she's made it this far without more than the cursory, mostly disgusted looks of all the thugs in armor hanging around. Man, this place is in serious need of a Gap treatment, pronto. But the thing is, nobody's looking at her too closely. There are plenty of other things to pay attention to in here -- the glaring neon signs hanging over shop clerks yelling out to potential patrons, the grunts and mutterings of gun-toting aliens, the hustle and bustle of the crowd that stops for no one. And what's more, even though nobody here moves like they're a bigger part of anything, Rachel's still not ready to rule out the possibility that there might be Yeerks involved here. And if there are, she definitely doesn't want to draw too much attention to herself. So it's impossible to notice when somebody comes sidling right up to her, and she jerks just slightly in surprise, the expression of wide-eyed surprise sliding onto her face a moment later.

"Marco?" she exclaims, and she looks and sounds totally incredulous, but there's a touch of relief to her expression, too, and the way some of the barely-visible tension in her shoulders slips away. She can't help the little flip her stomach does at the sight of a familiar face. Granted, she'd been hoping to run into Jake, or Cassie, or...well, admittedly, any of the others before Marco; even Ax would be helpful right now, because he might at least be able to identify some of these aliens. But hey, even for all of Marco's dumb quips and that obnoxious smirk he gets sometimes, she's glad to see him. She still feels totally thrown by all this, like she can't get her footing. Marco means she's not alone here, at least. And it means that the rest of the Animorphs can't be too far behind, right?

"Finally. Jeez, Marco, I've been looking all over! I seriously thought I was here alone. Where's Jake and the others?"

[tradecraftdude]

Okay, she knew him. That much was a relief, and also that she wasn't hostile on the spot. Wait, was that a good thing? Rachel not blowing him off seemed kind of strange. But she's new here, so admittedly everything is a little weird for her right now, and he'll give her a tiny bit of leniency. Tiny bit. She knew Jake, but he didn't know who else was included in the 'others'; Cassie, probably? Certainly not Tom. The last time Rachel saw Tom, she was beating his face in with a baseball bat.

All of his thinking happens in the span of a moment, which he shrugs off, looking wounded since she didn't even respond to his movie suggestion. "We were having a rough week, so Jake and I coin flipped to see who had to kill and eat the other one in order to survive. I won the flip. Or lost, depending on how you look at it, because now I'm like burdened with the memory of having to eat my best friend for survival."

His eyes are appropriately downcast in a somber moment, but he peeks over at her for her reaction. "Who else were you expecting, huh?"

[shutupmarco]

Well, if she'd somehow had any lingering doubts in her mind that this was really Marco, they're gone now. Rachel's look of relief immediately evaporates from her face, replaced with pursed lips and a generally unimpressed look. She's not interested in Marco's dumb jokes. She's interested in finding everybody else, figuring out where they are, and getting the hell out of here before her mother realizes she's gone. She doesn't even want to think about how long it might take to get back, even if it feels like she arrived here in the blink of an eye.

"Ha ha, Marco, real funny," she shoots back with biting sarcasm. Look, she tolerates the dumb jokes most of the time, and she can almost appreciate why he feels compelled to make them. But now? This is so not the time. "Hey, I don't know if you noticed, but this isn't exactly home, okay? We are surrounded by aliens, and I've definitely never seen any of them before. We don't have time for your stupid jokes. Seriously, where are the others?"

[tradecraftdude]

Her response is pretty on par with what he expects from her, so he relaxes a hair or three. The pyjak has no interest in standing around and chatting, though, and he wraps the leash around his hands a few more times to keep it from staying too far.

"Rachel, Rachel, there's always time for jokes. I've had plenty of time to think them up in your absence. I've been here for like a year already, so really, the question on hand is what took you so long to get here?" Okay, so maybe a year is a bit of an exaggeration. "And besides Jake and Cassie, who else do you think is supposed to be here? Mr. Chapman? Cher? The president?"

Even though her general persona checks out, a lot of things about what she's saying doesn't line up. Either they got yanked off their planet at the same time and she just got stuck in a wormhole for weeks, or she was from a different time altogether. A time when he hasn't been missing for weeks.

Either way, he's slightly smug about having the upper hand on her as far as information goes, so he's just going to smirk and watch her flail for a little bit.

[shutupmarco]

All right, his lack of a real answer is starting to put her on edge. Not just annoyed -- that comes with Marco territory, of course -- but now she's starting to feel a little nervous. She doesn't like nervous. She'd immediately figured that with Marco here, that meant the others had to be close behind. But now she's realizing that might have been jumping to conclusions a bit.

She's realizing some other things, too. Something about Marco's responses are...off. Even if she writes off his dumb comment about being here for a year as a joke -- and she's not sure if she can write it off completely -- it's just...it's not quite right. And that puts Rachel even more on edge.

"Can you not right now?" she demands, shaking her head to toss her hair over her shoulder. This is getting frustrating, and a little freaky. She hesitates, just a moment. They could be surrounded by Controllers right now, even if that possibility is looking less likely by the moment. If this is another one of the Ellimist's stupid tricks...

"What do you mean, what took me so long?" she finally says, hotly, and crosses her arms. "Seriously, Marco, if you know something about what's going on here, you'd better spit it out."

sobs because rachel. also post-marco

[jumpiness]

Apparently, between the two of Stiles and Lydia, Stiles had been voted the one with more practical market experience. Granted, he only went because his dad worked all the freakin' time and it was only fair to pull some weight, but still. She could have at least offered to come along.

(Okay, she'd specifically said she trusted him to get what they needed, and while that wasn't the kind of trust he wanted - it was a step, right?)

Anyway, Stiles is walking with a bag slun around his side, when he hears voices. Loud voices. Batarian voices, and a human one. And he knows he should just keep walking and ignore whatever problem is going on, but when he looks over it's a girl around his age.

And while she looks like she has the attitude, it doesn't look like she could take on a couple of Batarians in armor. So Stiles mentally sighs at himself even as he diverts himself on over.

"Hey fellas!" he says, falsely bright. "I couldn't help noticing your conversation. Or altercation, as it might be. But come on, guys, we just got the water working again, you think you can keep holding onto that warm fuzzy feeling and give the lady a break?"

While he speaks, he's trying to stealthily edge himself between the batarians and the girl.

im so sorry stiles

[shutupmarco]

Rachel would be lying if she said she weren't still upset about how that conversation with Marco had gone down. That stupid jerk. She'd really only gotten half the picture from him, too, so not only is she mad, she's still confused. And an angry, bewildered Rachel storming through Omega doesn't make for the best circumstances.

Okay, so maybe she'd picked a fight a little with the aliens. One of them had a made a rude passing comment, and Rachel couldn't let it go. She could've easily just walked away, ignored them, but no. A snappy comment about how even with all four ugly eyes he couldn't see worth a damn, and it'd only gone downhill from there. It probably wasn't a smart move to pick a fight with a bunch of aliens with guns, but Rachel's always been a bit shortsighted.

It's pretty clear the batarians aren't pleased at Stiles' interruption, probably because he doesn't look too much older than her. He doesn't look armed, and Rachel has to wonder what it is he's got that makes him think he can actually put a stop to this. She gives him a tight-lipped smile, a little nervous and a little bit uh, are you kidding?

One of the batarians lifts his pistol, pointing it very clearly in the direction of Stiles' face. "Nobody asked you, human," he grunts, giving him a dead-eyed look. "So unless you really feel like eating a few bullets, you'll mind your own business. The human girl is our problem, and we're dealing with it."

stiles the human punchinbag he's like that one guy from neopets

[jumpiness]

In the wake of what happened at the police station, guns are the last thing Stiles wants to deal with right now. Also, this isn't really staying out of trouble, something he'd promised Lydia he'd do.

So it's obvious Stiles doesn't really like having the gun pointed in his face, swallowing a little and raising his hands. But it doesn't shut him up, and he also doesn't leave.

"Guys, come on, seriously, there's got to be way better targets than her. Who's gonna come looking for some skinny kid?" He gestures to Rachel behind him, hoping this works and that he doesn't end up getting shot, or kicked becuase he's disparaging her. "Do we look like we're gonna get you noticed if you shoot us?"

lmfkjhjfk

[shutupmarco]

"Uh, who are you calling skinny?" Rachel protests without really even thinking about it, shooting Stiles a glare. Way to be rude, jerk. The batarians don't look too impressed, and now there's more than one gun leveled at the both of them. Well, Stiles, since he's so heroically put himself between Rachel and the snarling aliens.

"No, you don't," the batarian sneers back, letting out an ugly laugh. "Which is exactly why you're perfect for target practice."

"You know," Rachel says in a low voice, leaning forward so Stiles can hear her, "if you were trying to save me, uh, thanks? But seriously, no thanks."

[jumpiness]

Stiles leans back a little when Rachel speaks, turning to look at her from the corners of his eyes.

"Look, you want to be skinny or you want to be full of bullet holes?" He gives her a look like she shouldn't really need to think about which is worse, before he turns back to the batarians, and the more dakka that they've pulled out.

"Whoa, guys, take a chill pill all right? Are we even worth target practice, I mean, hell, I'm skinny, there's not much target to practice on."

Still, he curls his fingers around the strap of the bag of groceries. He's got a vague plan if they don't back down after this.

[shutupmarco]

The batarians, for their part, look unconvinced. The apparent leader of this little group just sneers at the both of them, waving his gun. "You're bigger than pyjaks and varren. Just barely, but still worth shooting at." He leans forward a little, smirking down the barrel of his gun. "No, you'll make good target practice. And from the sound of it, nobody's going to miss two scrawny little humans."

"Scrawny?" Rachel repeats, her voice rising half an octave.

HI i hope action tags are cool with you sob

[cosmosic]

[Ever since first arriving on Omega and realizing there was some semblance of a pattern to this place, if only in when and where the new arrivals came from, Ino took it upon herself to try and help those in need. First, was her short time in helping rebuild the Zeta district. She realized quickly though that she would be more useful where he talents lie and not in grunt work.

So, second, she found her place as a medic at Mordin's clinic. There was no shortage of people that needed help there since Omega was dangerous to anyone and everyone.

Third, was doing what she could to help the new arrivals understand what was going on. Nobody else seemed to do that and she only had her friends to count on the first time. On Omega, she was the one there for Naruto. It's with some dread and a whole lot of concern that Ino spots a younger girl that is very obviously trying to smile through her terror.

Brave girl, Ino thought, and already felt like she could relate to her.]

Hi! Over here! I'll show you where you need to go!

[She waved, smiling and friendly. Probably one of the only welcoming faces in the crowd and ever will be.]

absolutely! :D

[shutupmarco]

[ Honestly, Rachel thought she was doing a good job of keeping it to herself how freaked out she is right now, but that confrontation with Marco had left her feeling angry and shaken. She manages a tight smile when Ino calls to her, and she's not sure if she should go to her or not at first -- but then again, she's pretty tired of being lost. And she's kind of hungry. And hey, that other guy who had helped her out had been pretty all right, so...

Rachel approaches Ino, just a bit hesitantly, and looks at her questioningly. ]

Oh, uh...and where's that, exactly?

\o/

[cosmosic]

First, you probably want to find a place to stay, right? And this place is pretty crowded anyway. Come on. I know a quiet restaurant where we can talk.

[She nods her head in the direction that leads them out of the arrivals and hopefully somewhere where neither of them felt like they're being stared at like they're a meal waiting to be eaten. Being a human is tough on Omega and that was a fact Ino learned quickly.

Ino doesn't know the reason, but she can tell there is something bothering this girl. She chalks it up to the fact that a) she's in a weird place b) she's alone and c) there are weird aliens everywhere.]

I'm Ino, by the way. What's your name?

[shutupmarco]

[ Rachel nods after a moment of hesitation, falling into step next to Ino. A restaurant sounds good, and maybe she's offering to buy, too. She gives Ino a more self-assured smile. ]

I'm Rachel.

[cosmosic]

[They make their way to the more open parts of Omega even if it's no better than the area they were just in. No matter how many times Ino is around this station, it still makes her just a bit nervous.

She'll put on a brave face though as they walk.]

Nice to meet you.

Are you hungry?

[shutupmarco]

I won't lie, I could eat. I think I might have skipped lunch. Or...an entire week. I'm not really sure.

[ God, this is so weird. Rachel's dealt with weird time travel bullshit before, but it was always reversible. This time she's stuck here, as far as she know. ]