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

[its_decided]

...then, maybe we need to try to find a room or something and look in there.

[sinistraljoker]

[Shoutaro gives the portal a longer glance, only turning away when his eyes start to hurt. He'll rub them a bit as he speaks.]

Well, hopefully that room doesn't involve any more of these things. I wouldn't recommend looking at them for any length of time.

[nozomisitter]

Yeah. Lets go find a room then.

[Moving over to the nearest wall, she tried the handle of the first door.] Hmm...

[its_decided]

[And as Nozomi waited for Rin to see if the door opened, Nozomi stepped back, fiddling with another door, just in case.]

[sinistraljoker]

[Shoutaro keeps his view on the hallway, taking a tally of available doors they could check.]

[nozomisitter]

[Tugging, she realized it opened by push and sheepishly opened it up. She looked around before taking a step inside.]

[mayfield_mods]

[This appears to be some kind of maintenance room, with various cleaning equipment and repair supplies carefully placed away. A closer investigation will reveal that the various cleaning solutions are nothing more than colored water, as if they're only here for appearance...

There's a stepladder hanging on a nearby wall, and a large tug hatch on the ceiling.]

[its_decided]

A closet?

[Nozomi peeks her head in over Rin's head and takes notice of the ladder and the hatch up above.]

Hey! There's a door up there! I got this one~!

[Pushing by Rin, Nozomi heads for the ladder and climbs it, intending on tugging the hatch]

[nozomisitter]

H-hey Nozomi, don't be so reckless! [Ogod what could happen?]

[sinistraljoker]

[Shoutaro follows the girls inside. He, like Rin, is pretty sure that going in full throttle is a bad idea.]

Oi! Be careful up there!

[mayfield_mods]

[It leads to the outside of the blimp. The wind is rushing ceaselessly, but there are ways to hang on if you're careful...]

[its_decided]

Woah! [Nozomi's almost blown back by the wind as she opens the door.] Guys! It leads outside! Maybe... maybe what we're looking for is out there! Transform and let's go!

[And Nozomi, already have been transformed, makes her way out, grabbing onto a hold to keep her balance.]

[sinistraljoker]

Man....

[He'll look at Rin.]

Impulsive friend you've got there.

[A flash of purple later, he's ready to follow her up there and into the familiar roar of wind.]

[nozomisitter]

She's always been like that.

[A flash of red and she continued, counting on her super strength to keep her from falling off.]

[mayfield_mods]

[The outside of the balloon holding the cabin up is absolutely gigantic. There is netting covering most of it to make it accessible to climb on.]

[its_decided]

It's huge... [Stating the bloody obvious. That's our Nozomi. However, it seems like the only to go is up. With a deep breath, she's going to leap up and grab the netting to start climbing.]

It has to be up here! Wouldn't it make sense?

[sinistraljoker]

I suppose. It is hard to get to.

[Luckily, he's used to winds of this speed, so his balance is pretty decent. Well...it'd be better if he had the Cyclone memory backing him up.]

[nozomisitter]

And it's out of the way. Only the crazy would be here. [She's holding onto the side of the balloon as she continues on her way.]

This is pretty windy.

[mayfield_mods]

[There is light glinting off something at the very top of the balloon...]

[its_decided]

...!! Oh! That...! That has to be!

[Nozomi's going to make her way to the top. Whatever the light is, it MUST be it!]

[sinistraljoker]

[Shoutaro's gonna follow her as closely as he can. But his eyes are on the lookout for any and all threats.]

Rin, watch our backs and the hatch. There's no need for all of us to be in the thick of this.

[nozomisitter]

Right. I'll hang back then. [Hoping this wouldn't turn out badly, Rin is holding one hand on the hatch, not trusting it to snap shut.]

[mayfield_mods]

[This jewellery box is lashed to the top of the blimp. When it's picked up... everything goes wrong!]

[its_decided]

And I... GOT IT! [And Nozomi grabs the box, holding it out for Shou and Rin to see... only to get rocked by the explosion!]

Woah! What's going on?!