event: portal three | the sky

[mayfield_mods]

The third portal is not what you expect.

It's found in the middle of the Greased Lightning auto garage in the center of one of the building's walls. The drone workers in the garage don't look at or speak of it, but they seem to be avoiding its presence.

From what you can see in the garage, the portal opens up into what seems like the interior of a train's carriage, or first-class seating on an airline. You can see down what seems to be a large, impossibly miles-long aisle, with floors and seats made of luxurious red carpeting. From where you're standing, you can see the arms and legs of the people sitting in those seats, and in some cases the backs of their heads. They're all very well-dressed, and seem pretty lively, although you can't hear anything from this side of the portal.

Upon stepping through, other than the same tingle felt by the other portals, a few other sensations may hit you. The first, and most jarring, is the sense of vertigo caused by suddenly being hundreds of feet above sea level. If your ears pop, that would be why. The second is the smell of delicious food wafting into your nostrils; the supper trolley must be getting close.

The third, and a little less pleasant, is a faint buzzing in the back of your head that will be more than a little familiar to anybody who visited the carnival. Glancing around the cabin, you may notice the same holes that littered the sky back at the carnival: pockets of pure nothing, each about the size of a dinner plate, are scattered here and there across the aisle. Looking at them for more than a few seconds hurts your eyes as well as your mind.

It is while glancing around the cabin that you may notice two things. The first is the windows of the cabin, outside of which you can see the surroundings of your vehicle. It's neither a train nor an airplane: it's a blimp, bigger than any you've ever seen. Above your window you can see the bottom of the great balloon your cabin is attached to. Below, you can see the ocean, and ahead on the horizon, land. It seems the airship you're aboard is headed straight for a large metropolis on the coastline.

The second thing you might notice, now that you're close enough to see them, is the fact that none of your fellow passengers have faces. Their bodies are moving, shifting positions and gesticulating as if they're talking to each other, but no noise emerges from the patch of skin where their mouths would have been. The same goes for everyone occupying the seats down the aisle, which stretches further than you can see. Even when you poke and prod at them, the faceless passengers don't seem to notice your presence- yet.

Comments

[allwehad]

[Margot has come prepared, a backpack full of miscellaneous useful things slung over her shoulder.

After the vertigo, she's struck with awe at her surroundings. They're flying. They're actually flying in some sort of giant airship and that is so cool, but...

Any excitement is wiped away at the sight of the people, at the holes. That's not okay and it makes her stomach churn sickly. For a moment, she's tempted to talk to one of them or try to catch their attention in some way, but what if these faceless people are dangerous?

Instead, Margot steps further into the cabin and toward one of the nothingness holes, having to avert her eyes as a blinding headache sets in. If only she could stare at it longer or had something to poke it with...

There's a pen in the pocket of her duster, she could try. But would it be worth it?]

[a_gentle_boy]

No!

[Margot will hear a familiar voice cry out and feel a sharp tug on one of her hands. The expression on Lucas's face is solemn, angry, and just a bit scared.]

You'll die. You can't touch it. You can't get anywhere near it.

[allwehad]

[Margot immediately stops, looks a little offended. She pulls the pen out of her pocket and holds it up.]

I wasn't going to touch it; I was going to throw this at it.

[But she backs up without doing anything, glancing at the nothingness again before having to look quickly away.]

What is it?

[a_gentle_boy]

Don't even do that.

...It's nothing.

[There's a split second before Lucas realizes he has to clarify.]

I mean, it's Nothing. It'll consume whatever it touches - pens or people. It's probably going to get bigger as we keep going, too.

[allwehad]

[She remembers what Crowe had told her about the holes at the carnival and quietly puts the pen away, turning away from the nothingness.]

Fantastic. So stay away from them, then, got it.

...And how wonderful that there are so many, too.

[a_gentle_boy]

Be careful. I don't know what's happened in any of the other portals, but I'm sure it's not going to be easy.

...You saw all the... 'people', too, right?

[allwehad]

Wouldn't be fun if it were easy.

[Margot smiles wanly, but at the mention of the people it drops instantly.]

...Yeah. I saw them. I wish I hadn't seen them, but I saw them.

[a_gentle_boy]

It might be some kind of preserved memory. Or a different kind of drone. But I think it's pretty safe to guess that they might want to stop us from finding whatever it is we're looking for.

[allwehad]

If they get hostile, do you have a way to defend yourself? I'm... The space is so enclosed, I'm afraid of using my magic. Fire and the indoors don't really mix, you know?

Hopefully, it won't take long to find this memento and we can get out of here quickly.

[a_gentle_boy]

I've recovered a lot more of my PSI since the last time you saw me fighting anything. I'll be OK.

[Lucas will flick a shimmering globe of light from his hand that expands to envelop the both of them.]

Let me know if you need any more defense.

[allwehad]

Good.

[She pulls her jacket back to reveal a butcher knife stuffed into her belt.]

I also throw a mean punch.

[Margot starts to move down the aisle, staying within the globe, and glances out one of the windows.]

You think we'll dock soon? Or, I guess, land or whatever these types of flying ships do.

[a_gentle_boy]

Hm...

[Lucas follows her gaze and looks towards the metropolis they were approaching.]

I think I'd be surprised if we landed at all. It feels like we're meant to stay inside this, um... floating thing.

[allwehad]

[Margot now feels less bad that she doesn't know what a blimp is.]

Bit cool, though, yeah? The flying, I mean. We don't have any sort of proper flying devices back home.

[Unless they crash WHICH SHE WILL NOT SAY BECAUSE NO JINXING.

She crouches down to check under an unoccupied seat, just in case. If she can poke at something and it doesn't look dangerous, she's going to do it.]

[a_gentle_boy]

We didn't really, either, but I've seen a few - there was one just like this, I think, with the big balloon.

[Lucas will... follow suit. For now, he'll try to glance through the unoccupied regions, but as he notices that the other passengers don't seem to be able to acknowledge him, he'll grow a little bolder.]

[allwehad]

Huh... Ever get to ride in one?

[Margot makes it a point to stay away from the people. She's faced any number of things in her time, but there is something so unsettlingly creepy about them she can't bring herself to.

If there are any overhead carriers, she'll check them too.]

[a_gentle_boy]

Nope.

...Oh, I flew through the air hanging from a cage filled with birds once. That wasn't really very fun, though.

[Lucas, on his part, is so used to bizarre that faceless humans weren't too terribly out of the norm for him. He imagines the features of a Pigmask, and that's enough to keep him from being terrified for now.

He'll pause and gingerly step past one in the aisle to examine an empty center seat.]

[allwehad]

I can't imagine that would be.

[Margot gives him a weird look and, in the process, doesn't pay attention and bumps into one of the weird drones. She shudders and hops back, murmuring apologies.]

Let's just... keep going. This section has to end at some point, right? Maybe we can find who's driving this thing.

[a_gentle_boy]

...Hm. Right. He'd probably be up at the front - the direction we're going, right?

[allwehad]

Seems like. Also seems like it's the only direction to go, unless we want to be really adventurous and try outside.

[She's kidding. Mostly.]

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas considers this seriously for a few moments.]

I think we're going too fast to be able to hold on well. If it were the bird-cage, we might be able to do it...

[allwehad]

I can adjust the air currents a little with my magic, boost us up if we fell or something...

I mean, I did it once when I fell off that cliff and I'm sure I can do it again.

[And now she is seriously considering this, thanks. At least there wouldn't be any of the faceless people outside (hopefully).]

[a_gentle_boy]

...

I think we'd better stick to the inside for now, Miss Margot. I don't know if I could heal a thousand mile drop from the sky.

[allwehad]

...

Yeah. And even if we survived a fall, I can't swim so I'd be extra fucked.

[Back to the drawing board.]

Hm. You want to try talking to some of these, er... people? Not that they can talk back, but...

[She shrugs in a 'what else can we do?' sort of way.]

[mayfield_mods]

[At the end of the aisle there is a door marked: 'Maintenance'.]

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas will consider this conundrum for a few moments.]

Why don't we try that door that wasn't there earlier down the hall first and see where it goes? We should see how large this all is.