nexus_crossings | Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

On a sleepy summer morning a wonderful smell begins to waft throughout the Nexus. For those familiar with this place there can only be one explanation but for those new faces to the nexus this may be a strange thing: seeing so many people flocking toward the sweet and savory scents perfuming the Nexus.

There are a few tables set out this morning in the Plaza in front of a small cafe loaded with several carafes of coffee, a myriad of pastries from more than a few different worlds and cultures, and a large pan of eggs and sausage kept warm over a chafing dish. On either end of the table are disposable plates, cups, and cutlery as well as a few welcome pamphlets in a small container. Along the front of the tables is a hand made banner.

Meet and Greet

Manning the tables is Katsuya Suou, red apron on and a cup of coffee in hand. He looks far too cheerful for how early in the morning it is. It's always satisfying to put one of these on and see the throngs of different people stuck in line together to get their food and find a place to sit among the tables and couches nearby.

"Right then, is anyone hungry? I've got more than enough here for everyone so please mingle among yourselves or feel free to ask me anything you'd like."

((OOC: This thread is ALL ABOUT threadjacking and hopping. I encourage folks to tag on each other's comments and mingle rather than to reply only to me. This is a huge opportunity to have your characters interact with people they wouldn't have talked to before. Branch out! Meet new people! Scheme new schemes! Steal the last chocolate croissant!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah, it- used to be a garden world. Before the darkness took it." It's a strange and twisted place now. Maybe that's why her estranged brethren have hidden there, beyond the sight of other Guardians. Or maybe it's as simple as proximity to the sun they call on. There's no better place for communion with the flame.

"Don't congratulate me 'til I survive." It's half a joke though, said with a happy chuckle before she tilts her head at him. "I appreciate the thought, though. And the offer, although I'm not sure what you mean by exchange."

Wrong human words.

Alec stops and stares at her, "-I-" He'd meant to say "honor". To honor the occasion. The big green creature puts a hand to his head, "I misspoke." things get jumbled up in his mind. If a big green creature can look nervous he's managing a pretty good job of it, "I was up half the night arguing with a bush about a nearby tree's roots. The plant kingdom can be surprisingly...whiny? When it comes down to it?"

Ha Ha ha. It's a good joke, "I meant to ask if I could do anything for you."

The Exo blinks at his sudden shift in body language. Humans mix up their words easily enough but there's something so terribly familiar about his worry, the need to excuse himself. She wonders - but she can't put words to what she'd ask, and when she looks up at Ghost there's a tiny little shake of his shell. Not now.

He's probably right. Her gaze drops before she looks up at Alec again. "Heh. Don't worry about it. I can't even keep my own head straight yet."

Blaze thinks for a minute, wondering what she could possibly ask of him. She enjoys greenery, but, well. She's a machine. Has been in every life but her first. The power she serves may have seeded entire worlds, but she and the plant kingdom are strangers to each other. There's really only one thing she's sure she wants.

"Celebrate with me, then," she says, looking up at him. Share in my joy. "That's all I'd ask."

He considers this before a necklace of flowers pops out of his neck. They open and bloom. Why not it's a party right?

After a moment he extends his hand and grows a second necklace of flowers, "Making flower necklaces is a skill." He shrugs, "the kids are into flower crowns as well. Lots of different cultures use them. Primarily hawaiian in origin. I can't do...exotic flowers here without a bit more time."

What do plants and machines talk about.

"This is some kind of party."

subtle alec. subtle..

Her optics glow brighter in surprise, and not a little appreciation. She's careful when she reaches to take the second necklace - flowers are so delicate, no weight to them at all - but the blooms are examined gingerly. Her solitary slouch against the wall is well and truly abandoned at this point. "These look special enough to me. We don't have anything like them in the City."

Or at least, not around the Guardians' Tower. She doesn't take a lot of trips into the civilian interior.

"Not enough noise for my kind of party." She chuckles. There's something oddly endearing about the big guy's awkwardness. He may be unsure of who he is, but for a moment, at least, there's something unmistakably human about him. Besides, standing around making small talk isn't her strong point either. "And nowhere near enough dancing. Do they dance in the plant kingdom?"

The last time he danced was at his wedding to Linda. He didn't even dance with Abby and when she asks it he realizes he should have. Even if he's not nearly as graceful as he was.

"Lots of swaying. Nothing like..." He gestures, "This. In the green though...we're a part of each other. It's hard to explain if you haven't experienced any sort of ...sharing consciousness."

He passes out a third flower necklace to a giggling partygoer who takes it, heedless, and tosses it around her neck with a "woo woo!"

"The last time I danced was at my wedding."

Too sad Alec. Far too sad.

"what uh-what kind of parties are you used to?"

She pauses to shake her head, in the middle of easing the flowers over her head. They catch on her antennae for a second and she has to carefully disentangle them. No, she's never shared a consciousness with anything else. She can imagine it, like the Vex and their vast, omnicidal machine mind. It's unnerving to think about. Maybe it's different with plants. She hopes so.

But she's hit on something sorrowful again. Dismay twinges in her circuits as she nods. Guardians love dancing, to a point that draws odd looks from civilians back home. It's one of the few definitely non-violent pastimes she can claim, so there goes that conversational gambit.

But parties. Parties are fun.

"Back home? Well, then I'm partying with other Guardians. We drink, we dance, we tell stories and play games. Challenge each other to fights. My favorite is the Festival of the Lost. We all goof around wearing masks and doing dares for little prizes. They give you candy for all your enemy kills too, but that's kinda wasted on me."

He's a sorrowful creature at his heart. The idea of masks and dares for prizes has him intrigued however, "That sounds a little like Halloween on Earth. You wear a costume and go around trick or treating for Candy."

He pauses, "Why do they call it Festival of the lost? And good. No one should kill if they can help it. The black has...far too much influence."

"Right! Halloween! That falls around the same time, too. There's usually a party here for it. Ghost thinks our Festival might be descended from it." She gestures up to the little robot keeping watch.

She hesitates for a split second before she answers, gaze searching his face for a second. When she answers it's more slowly. Thoughtfully. "The Festival honors the souls of the people lost to us. Levante likes to say it's the time of year when they walk among us. We wear masks so death can't find us, and we challenge ourselves to honor their deeds. Guardians are recruited from the dead, so we remember that each of us was lost once, too. It's fun, even if it's- bittersweet, at times."

She pauses, then adds, because she doesn't want to deceive him on this: "There's not a lot of avoiding the killing, for us. It's kinda what we're for. Not for its own sake, and it's not all we do. And we don't attack the innocent. But we're brought back to fight a war. And we're good at it."

He listens mutely, "I think you and I have that in common. I'm not...My purpose is to protect the green which requires killing."

He looks uncomfortable, "It's hard. When you're good at something but you don't want to attack the innocent. When you have...laws you have to follow."

He pauses, "The green and the machine kingdom recruit from the same places.

Interesting."

She nods. When violence is hardwired into you, there’s no getting away from it. She’d like to say she doesn’t enjoy it, but she does love fighting. She loves winning. The worst she’s ever felt about taking a life is weary annoyance at the necessity. That’s not because of the Light, she’s sure.

“War makes it easier. Plenty of opportunities to cut loose. I walk out beyond our walls and just about everything I meet is a creature of the Darkness. There’s no need to hesitate. Dealing with people, keeping the peace? That’s always going to be harder.” And she has her code. Her comrades. Her Ghost. Luxuries he doesn’t have...

Wait. What did he say? She tilts her head curiously. “There’s a machine kingdom? I thought it would be natural elements that had that kind of-“ What’s the best word, here? “Consciousness.”

"...Machines develop consciousness. Anything can develop consciousness." He frowns, "...Isn't...that -"

No. Alec. That's rude. He looks away, "...Believe me I was as surprised as you are. I'm still not sure what to make of it. Being around it makes me..." He frowns. He's good at frowning, "...It makes me uncomfortable to think about."

He holds out his hands, "On the one hand, human beings are mostly...mostly of the red. red. When I crossed into the green I made myself of the green. When my ...when I am ended I'll go into the green. Except I helped create machines. Human beings helped create machines. It is unusual."

“Emergent consciousness. It happens. Build a system smart enough and it’s practically inevitable.” Blaze nods slowly. It’s easier to contemplate these matters than only a couple weeks ago. Easier to focus on thinking it through.

“You went to the green. Humans can become machines. And machines can become organic- I know a guy whose people did that. Created organic bodies for themselves.” It’s still difficult to imagine artificial life as some kind of fundamental element in the way plants are.

The little Ghost speaks up for the first time, beside her. His voice is quiet, more obviously synthetic than hers. “

I don’t think it’s that strange for one kind of life to give rise to another. We know a machine who can create plants and animals. Why not the other way around?

”

"...I remember as a scientist - the potential for genetically growing plants and animals. The idea felt wrong to me. I wanted to make plants more powerful, to survive so we wouldn't have to rely on those things."

The red eyes look haunted, "It haunted me. The idea of an all green world." Now it appeals and he puts a hand to his head, "...I'm sorry. It's so hard to explain when you just know."

He should make time for that. Understanding it, "Suffice it to say that any life can create other life. I am...between many worlds."

"There can be a whole lot of strength in that, but honestly it sounds like a confusing way to be." At least she doesn't feel caught between two sides of herself. She is Exo, a human who is a machine, and if anything she just resents any reminder that she used to be only one of those things.

"You're better at creating life than the rest of us, though." She pokes lightly at the flowers draped over her shoulders. "It's incredible to watch, you know that?"

"It's easier here. This green is welcoming. There's no sense of duty it's like..." He doesn't laugh but he does almost smile, "being on vacation. I didn't take enough vacations when I was alive."

Her first words make him think, "All I have left is my humanity. I've lost everything else. for this. A few...Even making flowers isn't a substitute for companionship. For people understanding these things."

"Make that one of your objectives, then." She sees that near-smile, and she's glad of it. "Learning how to get some R&R in. Warriors need downtime too. Even us machines."

She considers, and has to admit, "Yeah. I've been thinking about everything you said, about the changes you've gone through. That you're going through." These things don't end, not just like that. Not the way she wishes they did. "Every time I think about how new Guardians adjust, I come back round to having comrades. We have mentors teach the newly raised who they are. Traditions. Ways of coping. Letting off steam. We keep each other in line. You- well, I guess you don't have anyone in exactly the same position. But if there's anything I can do to help, you've got it."

"The parliament is supposed to do that." He might sound bitter, "To work closely with me, to guide me. Except they haven't. They use me as an errand boy."

He pauses, "They told me I'd never be human again after the rot tried to take over our world. That they needed a champion. I was dying and I told them to change me and now..."

He's stuck. Swirling with raw power and energy, "...It's...good to have someone who understands."

"Hnh." Her gaze narrows. Great bosses, this parliament. A couple of electric sparks jump from her gauntlets when she closes her hands. "I'm not much of a counselor, but I get what it is to be changed into something you don't understand. Even if you and I see it from different angles. Point is, if your parliament aren't going to have your back they can go jump in a compost bin."

He shouldn't need to be so lost. There's probably no way to for a human mind to bear his mantle without it taking a tremendous toll, but he deserves more help than nothing.

"So. What should I call you? If I don't get a name this time I'll have to keep making them up, and I'm not creative at nicknames."

"...Holland." he hesitates before offering her a big green hand, "I..." he pauses, "I didn't recall that we never met officially. I'm sorry."

"Dr. Alec Holland."

I am the Avatar of the green. The focal point of earth's power.

He appears to struggle for a moment, "...I'm the swamp thing."

"And I didn't ask. Relax." She clasps his hand, her own grip less careful than usual. She doubts she needs to worry about crushing his hand. The inside of her gauntlet is lined with a flexible mesh that's faintly warm and crawling with a bit of residual static. "Blaze-37. Everyone just calls me Blaze. I'm a Guardian of the Last City on my Earth, and the little guy here is my Ghost. It's a pleasure, Dr. Holland."

'Swamp thing' is an odd one- it doesn't sound polite, yet he names himself that? Regardless, it's his humanity he's trying to reinforce, so his human name is the one she'll use.

"...The next question I want to ask might come off - rude. And I apologize." He pauses, "...You know an awful lot about changes between states - human and otherwise. Do you know someone that happened to? That this...this happened to?"

He puts a hand on his chest.

She was an instant away from brushing off his apology again, her vocalizer primed for an easy chuckle until he actually utters the question. Instead there’s silence, and for a long few moments the Exo staring up at him goes still as only machines and dead things can. Her Ghost has spun to watch her; he shoots a couple of little glances up at Alec, but Blaze knows he’s just waiting to hear how she replies.

Thing is, it’s no secret. She’s been over this a dozen times in the last couple weeks alone, in her head and out loud with Ghost. The information is neither shameful nor dangerous. It shouldn’t be compromising. She can’t come up with a good reason to hide it except that it’s personal and acknowledging any of it makes her want to tear things apart.

So maybe she wouldn’t tell him anything, except that he asked a direct question and Blaze cannot bear to think she’s a coward who flinches from the honest truth.

And she just promised to help him, if she could.

“Not the same way.” Her voice is lowered as she folds her arms. There’s a sweep of her gaze around them, confirming that nobody else is standing too close. “I- hnn. This isn’t something I discuss freely. But you- you deserve some straight answers. So- yes. Bots like me, Exos? We weren’t always machines.”

There's a long pause. That tone. The way this being responds. There are other people like you. Indeed there are.

"...I won't press." Even if his body language and tone might say I get it in big red letters, "Someone said I had to get out there, meet people...maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought I was. I see that's...true."

He feels a bit less awkward now, then a big more awkward about the potential faux pas, "Terrible party conversationalist. I'm sorry. want to hear a joke?"

He was once witty, charming, used to parties...

There's no reason I can't try it again if there are other people living with things like this.

"What do you call a stolen yam?"

He paused, "A hot potato."

Her expression can't register her gratitude at not being pressed for details here and now. Maybe there's a subtle relaxation of her shoulders. She gives a nod. "I'd be willing to tell you what I know another time. If it-hmn. It might be useful."

She's not sure how much: there are differences in their situations, to say nothing of the fact that her kind don't remember anything about being changed. Aren't burdened by memories of their lives before. Blaze just happens to be a partial exception, thanks to the Nexus. But thanks to the Nexus she also knows of one or two things she should try to warn him about, even if they turn out not to apply.

All the broody thoughts have her distracted, so when the big green swamp thing turns the conversation around and cracks an honest-to-the-Traveler cheesy joke at her Blaze snorts in startled laughter. Blinks up at him for a second. Then breaks down chuckling outright, at the incongruity as much as the joke. "Nice turnaround, big guy. All right, if that's how it's gonna be: what do you call a sad robot?" Beat. "A sigh-borg."

Time for a big ol' Nexus Block party

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