outsiderslogs

Entry tags:

rachel

OPEN;

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.

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"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."

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."

"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?

Snapping up people with some kind of special power? Rachel can't think of anything that has the power to do that except the Ellimist, and this really isn't his style, as far as she knows. No, she still needs more information to figure this out.

"Different worlds," Rachel echoes, frowning slightly. Does that include alternate universes, or whatever Marco had said? "So what year is it, then? And we just...what, we just appeared on those shuttles? Everybody here? I mean...are humans even supposed to be out here?"

If she were a little less scared and confused, she probably wouldn't barrage him with questions quite so fast. But damn it, there's finally somebody who knows what's going on and is willing to share the information, and Rachel can't ask him fast enough.

"Twenty-one eighty six or something around there. Everyone I've talked to seems to have gotten here the same way I did. I was minding my own business and then I was on one of those shuttles," Haruto spoke as he motioned to the shuttles in the distance, already departing as quickly as they had arrived.

"There are humans who have been staying here, but there are a lot of different races. I don't think we're the most postively viewed race in the galaxy. No one's been actively hostile to me other than the wildlife. If you can call it that. More like stray dogs and other creatures wandering around. I don't think they appreciated me thinning their numbers either, so I can't blame them for being mad at me."

The barrage of questions doesn't bother him at all. When he had arrived, he knew how confused he'd be and could only imagine how worse it could be on someone who didn't handle things as well as he could. Anything he could do to help...

2186? 2186? No, it's 1997 back home. That's nearly two whole centuries apart. Rachel feels her blood run cold. Does that mean that everyone she knows is dead already?

No, no -- different worlds, different universes. If Marco came from a timeline where things are different, however they are, then maybe she never existed in this one in the first place. Does that mean Yeerks don't exist here, either? There are plenty of aliens, but none that look familiar to her. God, this is all just too weird. She almost wishes Ax were here to explain this.

Rachel nods, slowly, looking around the place. Mining colony on an asteroid, huh? Well, it's appropriately grubby. "There are sure a lot of people carrying guns for a mining colony," she notes, her eyes sharpening a little. "So what's the real deal, then? Who's in charge of this place?"

"Well, it started as a mining colony and then sort of became the black market, back alley, dark trade sort of world. Not a lot of nice characters here. You have to look to find anyone you can turn your back to." Haruto popped the final piece of donut into his mouth, promptly taking another one from the bag before he'd finished chewing.

Who was in charge? Haruto had heard rumors, but nothing official. "Some woman named Aria. There's a complicated thing about having to pay her protection money to keep safe, but I've never heard her talk. Probably for the best, with how scared everyone acts whenever she's involved."

Like a den of thieves, but in space. Okay, uh, sounds a little creepy, a little dangerous, but you know what? Rachel can totally handle herself. She's been in tougher situations than this. In fact, maybe she's even glad for the challenge. She'll show Marco.

She takes mental note of Aria's name, resolving to look her up later. She should really familiarize herself with the local groups here. Which brings her to even more questions she's got for Haruto.

"I've noticed a lot of these guys wearing the same kind of armor," she presses on, glancing around again. "A few different kinds, like -- uniforms, or something. What's the deal with them? Are they some kind of police force or something? Do they work for -- Aria?"

"Mercenary groups. There's at least four of them. I don't know too much about them yet, but I've been trying to keep myself out of their way. The Talons don't seem too bad -- the ones in the mustard yellow armor. They helped get the station's water supply back online when it went down. Pretty much everyone else seems to be wrapped up in some nasty stuff, though." Well, at least from what Haruto had gathered. He hadn't heard too much about what the Talons had done, but he'd seen them on the network seeking out help to get things running again. That meant they couldn't be too bad yet, right?

Finishing the last bit of his food, Haruto folded the bag and put it in his back pocket, then wiped his hands together, before wiping them on the sides of his pants. He glanced around the area thoughtfully, as though looking for someone else who might be in the same situation. "There really is no police force here. Everyone has their own rules and sticks to them, as long as they stay out of Aria's way."

Mercenaries, huh? It's starting to sound an awful lot like a survival of the fittest kind of deal, and Rachel's okay with that. She knows how to survive. The mercenaries make her curious, and she's filing that away to ask about later, too, but she has a question that's far more pressing.

She honestly hesitates on asking, because she's afraid that if this is somehow some Controller operation, as unlikely as it seems, she'll be outing herself. But...this guy seems all right, and Rachel has to know.

"There are a lot of aliens here, right?" She glances around again, this time just a little nervously. "Can I ask you something? Have you ever met or heard of any Andalites here? Or Hork-Bajir? Or -- Yeerks?"

"Probably seven or eight different types, that I've seen. I haven't taken the time to figure anything out about most of them. I try to keep out of their way." Haruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back against the wall, putting the bottom of his boot back against it as well. He was still feeling hunger pains despite how much he'd already eaten. Hopefully, his mana would finish regenerating before too long and he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

The girl asking about different types of creatures didn't surprise him. After all, he was curious if Phantoms happened to be around as well. How could anyone identify a Phantom, though? They could look like any human and their true forms varied so much in appearance that they couldn't be pinpointed. "The names don't sound familiar. If you tell me what they look like, I can tell you if I've seen them or not."

Rachel can't think of any reason the Yeerks would do a slow takeover of a space station. They've obviously got the resources to take over one wholesale, and if this were a Controller operation, he'd have pulled a Dracon on her the second she asked about Yeerks. Plus given that there are apparently other people here who don't belong here...well, okay. Still, she doesn't know...what universe she's in, exactly.

"Andalites are sort of like blue centuars, but with scorpion tails and no mouths. Hork-Bajir are big, seven-foot-tall lizards with blades sticking out everywhere. You'd know them if you saw them." Rachel gives him a faint smile, brushing a lock of hair from her face. "If you've never heard of the Yeerks, then I doubt they're a problem around here."

Haruto listened closely as the girl spoke, taking the time to think back to all of the creatures he'd seen since arriving. "No. None of them sound familiar. I haven't seen anyone who looks anything like that. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing for you." He couldn't be sure exactly how this girl knew of those creatures -- if they were things normal from her world or something like the Phantoms were for him.

Since they were on the topic of strange creatures, however...

"I'm sort of looking for something specific too, but I don't know how to describe them. They disguise themselves as humans, but their true forms are all pretty different..." He reached up with one hand to rub at the back of his head. "Anyway, if you ever happen to see someone who has a purple crack in their skin," Haruto motioned to his face for emphasis, "find me as soon as possible. It looks like the person's going to break or dissolve. It's a ... condition... where I'm from. I'm the only person here who could stop it."

It felt strange to admit something about Gates and Phantoms so openly, but Haruto really was far more concerned with protecting people than hiding information.

Rachel can't help but be relieved -- even if she has no allies here, it doesn't seem like she has the Yeerks as an enemy here, either. She gives Haruto a rueful smile, shaking her head apologetically. "I...haven't seen anything like that, but if I do, I'll let you know." Not like she's not stranger to weird, weird shit going on in her general vicinity.

She hesitates, looking at Haruto with slightly raised eyebrows. "Now that I mention it, though, I don't think I got your name, um...?"

"Ah... Souma Haruto. ... Haruto! Sorry. I'm not used to introducing myself to Westerners." Haruto made a face at his slip up, though he was clearly laughing at himself more than anything. It really was hard to adjust to so many different cultures at once that he'd never been exposed to. It made him concerned that something he would do would be taken as a big offense by someone and cause problems, but it was something he couldn't worry too much about. After all, he couldn't prevent everything.

"It's nice to meet you." He simply raised his hand again in a short wave, rather than offering it for a handshake or bothering to bow.

Rachel waves back, maybe a touch uncertainly, but hey, he seems nice enough. "Nice to meet you too...Haruto." She hesitates a long moment, wondering if that was an invitation to introduce herself as well. If she should even take it. It's hard to shake the paranoia when she's been living with it for so long. But finally she figures -- hey, what does she have to lose? There aren't any Yeerks here.

"I'm Rachel."

It seemed weird that she was only giving her first name, but he brushed it off as a cultural difference that he didn't understand. He knew enough to know that Westerners usually called each other by their first names. Not that it bothered him much, since he was usually calling everyone by their first name anyway -- or something close to it.

"If you need anything, you can just track me down. I've got to make myself useful around here somehow, since I'm sort of out of a job at this point."

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