unfinishedlibrary | It's a beautiful day in the village

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It's a beautiful day in the village - TAKE A LOAD OFF, LOG 1

Who: Readers and Actors
What: Beta Story Start - At the start of any particular Story, characters will be drawn to a section of the Stacks. Those inclined to resist will find themselves there anyway, through the shifts and changes inherent to the Library's structure. The Story manuscript will be laid out neatly on a side table, its pages lit by a faint aura that draws focus and beckons insistently to the Editors. Touching it will bring them into the Story.
Characters can either voluntarily touch the Story to enter it, or the Librarian will eventually sweep them in. Regardless of how long it takes them to enter, everyone will arrive at the same point in time.
When: November 14- November 27
Where: Woodhurst (UK) and the SS Radiance (in space!), 2019
Content warnings: Please tag warnings in comment headers!

In Woodhurst

It’s another Monday morning in Woodhurst, and as is often the case for the United Kingdom in the fall, it is raining. It is, all in all, a rather typical Monday morning. People shuffle off to work, dropping by the various cafes and shops for their morning caffeine. Polite (if meaningless) greetings are exchanged, vague comments about the weather are made. Heads down, trudging along, just keeping things going.

By midday, it’s clear that this Monday is a little bit… different. There are some people who seem especially cheerful and helpful. Perhaps you’ve just been served a free upsize of your morning coffee. Or a stranger held an umbrella up for you. People keep talking about the benefits of yoga? And it’s not just a bunch of people seeming to be having an especially good day and paying it forward (that would be strange enough). Some of your friends and loved ones aren’t acting like themselves, aside from being remarkably cheerful. They don’t seem to remember basic things, don’t know their normal rituals, and are generally just very off. You think one of them might have blinked sideways? Whatever it is that’s happened, it doesn’t seem right.

As for those ‘friends and loved ones’… The novices from the Interstellar Group are largely inexperienced with such a thing as covert operations. Fresh off the ship and with no frame of reference, their human disguises may have a few significant flaws.

However many fingers it is they have, they’re keen to help - perhaps a little too much so. Whatever it takes to make these human lives easier, whatever they can do to help them relax - the Group are on it! Hopefully they’ll catch on quietly.

On the IMW Group Supply Ship: Radiance

No plan survives contact with the enemy, is how the saying goes. But within the Interstellar Mindfulness & Wellness Group, the concept is usually applied to patients. Patients are, almost entirely across the board, unpredictable creatures - and while the science behind wellness is robust, there’s simply too much individual variation for a standardised approach. That being said, this particular plan seems to be going… rather more poorly than expected. It starts to break down once the word ‘kidnapping’ is brought up. It’s such an ugly word to use. The Group tries to avoid it. But in some of these cases, the humans need the Group’s own facilities! The idea was to convince the humans to follow them to a very not suspicious space capsule, or to get them to touch this particularly strange teleportation device, and they’d be on their way to recovery. However, most if not all the humans seem to be reacting… quite negatively to that. It’s almost like they don’t understand that this is for their benefit!

The ship is very nice, and perfectly designed to relax and comfort (--for the species the Group are familiar with, at least). Soothing music plays along the spaceship’s halls, which are lit in a soft violet glow. Potted plants are artfully displayed, though none of them are recognisable as any species found on Earth. For those with a sensitive nose, the flowers give off a bright, delicate scent; not unlike that of lavender and lemon myrtle. An entire stretch of glass is dedicated to the view outside, the Earth looking so serene from this distance; stars shining in the space around it.

For those Aliens aboard the mothership, maybe you’re delivering this hour’s yoga session. Maybe you’re leading a group chant or meditation. Are you perhaps talking humans into resting in the healing spa, or - for those so inclined - are you delving deeper, forming a connection, and really getting to know these humans? For the humans… well, at least the spa looks really nice, right?

[Space Spa Features:
Yoga - you’ve been herded into a room where a flexible alien encourages you to breathe deeply; holding it in your stomach and feeling your heart beat before letting it out in a big sigh. The routine is not very different to yoga on Earth, except… well, if you can’t find your proboscis, maybe that particular pose won’t work for you.
Sauna - the heat promotes circulation, but the temperature in here seems to be a little off.
Spa - you know what a spa is. Or, you thought you did. It looks like the aliens aren’t quite on the same page. Where there would normally be cucumbers, there’s a strange pink fruit. Where you’d expect water, there’s… a viscous fluid, gently rotating through a myriad of colours, that seems to soften and soothe your muscles as you soak in it.
And Others - the aliens have no shortage of remedies for what ails you! Since this is their first time experiencing humans, results may vary.]

Optional prompts (player-run):
An alien adrift, unsure what task to complete? Seek guidance from your leader.

In Woodhurst, unnerved and skeptical? Drop in at your local seedy bookshop to chat with some alien enthusiasts.

[Have a plan to drive the Story direction? Let us know, and we’ll add it to the list!

Info post can be found here.]

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Min’a gives him her full attention, too. She sees him as a mentor, wiser and more experienced than she, and she looks up to him in that regard.

She nods thoughtfully.

“I suppose it’s one thing to know that, from the research, but something else entirely to actually experience it firsthand,” she says quietly. She’s used to being treated with respect and trust by her peers, so it’s been a bit of a shock to the system to have suspicion and hostility leveled at her.

"I know." Kai gives her what he hopes is an encouraging smile. "It's always different in the field than in theory. That's a very normal thing to experience."

He takes a sip of the tea, tapping a gentle pulse to the side of it- he's Kloax, so this is hardly uncommon for him. "This is an unusual mission, on top of that," he says, "There's a reason we're supposed to let First Contact go... well, first. They're supposed to ease the way a little bit. But since we didn't know how long that would take..."

He shrugs. He's still not sure he agrees with the decision (not that he'll voice that), but he understands why it was made.

“Yes, and these humans really are in dire need of assistance!” Min’a says earnestly. “If anything, my first few sessions with them have only made my conviction stronger. Some of them -“

She respects the sanctity of the patient-therapist relationship so she won’t go into details, merely letting her eyes widen in horror. Kai can imagine the rest.

Kaiisteron can't help but chuckle a little at the expression on her face. "Yeah," he says with a nod, "I've, uh, talked to a few of them myself." At least one of them didn't seem to have even heard of therapy, or understand why people would do it, which was concerning. "Just remember that we're only here for a little bit; we'll do as much good as we can, but it's no one's fault if we don't do as much as we wanted. This is... an unpredictable situation."

"Oh... yes," Min'a says with a sigh. "Their whole planet could do with a bit of an overhaul, really, but I'll consider myself successful if even one of my patients comes away from this with an improvement in their quality of life."

"That's a good attitude to have towards it." Kai would love it if, additionally, they could not have a huge incident about alien sightings blow up in their faces, but that's not Min'a's problem. "Just focus on that, and just remember that you have support if you need it."

"Thank you - that means a lot," Min'a says earnestly.

"Though - what if - that is to say, hypothetically, if one of my patients were to disclose that someone close to them were potentially violent..."

Ah. Kai winces. "I mean, I think you know the normal protocols for that," he says quietly, "But here..."

They have no contact with any of the human authorities, for obvious reasons. He huffs out a frustrated breath. "I'll have to see what our resources are," he says after a moment, "We might be able to get someone to say something to the... police, I think they're called here? Obviously I wouldn't want to return them to that situation." But he really doesn't think kidnapping someone- or, kidnapping more permanently- is the correct solution either.

Min'a nods. "I can't help but think the local authorities might be ineffective. If this has been the situation for so long..."

Charles seems more resigned to it than anything else.

Kai makes a noise in his throat that's something like a frustrated growl, though he cuts it off quickly. "Of course," he says with a sigh, "...Can you give me the chart to look at, at some point? And if you have any ideas, absolutely share them." He can think of a few solutions, none of them legal. So he'd like to try and avoid them if he can.

"Oh yes, I'll send you his chart this afternoon," Min'a says, a note of relief in her voice. At least, sharing this with Kai means she doesn't feel she has to shoulder this all by herself.

"I'm not sure I have any good ideas," she admits. "He has local friends, so there's some support, I think, but - the father sounds absolutely vicious." And his mother - charitably, she's likely in the same position as Charles. Uncharitably, she's useless. Min'a is trying to be charitable.

Kaiisteron sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He hates cases like this; dealing with them where they have no legal support is a whole other nightmare.

"And it's been ignored? Really?" Maybe if the local law enforcement won't do anything, the illegal paths will be more tempting. He's still trying not to think about that.

"He's spoken of his mother refusing to leave his father. I don't know exactly how true that is - but I find it difficult to believe that no one in town knows his father's true nature," Min'a says quietly.

"You'd think someone would do something." Kaiisteron can't imagine leaving a child in that state. He's definitely going to need to keep his head for this. "I'll look into it. Did someone use their hologram to look like him? I'll check in with them too."

"Yes, I already sent out a note to steer clear of the man," Min'a says easily. "I don't think the police generally do anything in these situations, unless there is some clear and present danger to safety. And it sounds as if the boy's mother is reluctant to report the abuse."

"Good. Thank you." One less thing to worry about, at least. "...Let me know if you come up with anything that might work. I'm not entirely sure there's much we can do within their system." So underhanded methods might be necessary.

"We should've snatched the father, not the son," Min'a says after a moment's thought. "Lock him in the brig, ask for forgiveness later."

Toss him out an airlock on the way back home.

Kai snorts. "It's not too late." Is he joking? He must be joking.

(He's only half joking.)

Min'a sort of glances around, as though making sure no one else is in the vicinity to overhear. Though the ship is probably overhearing everything they say, no matter where they are. Oh, well.

"What's stopping us?"

After all, they've already kidnapped a bunch of humans. It's just that - this one wouldn't be for his own good. It'd be for everyone else's.

"An intergalactic incident," Kaiisteron answers immediately, and dryly. But he's not telling her off. He looks... thoughtful.

"...If anyone found out, anyway."

"It's not as if no human has ever disappeared mysteriously, never to be heard from again," Min'a points out. That had been easy enough to discover in her research.

Kaiisteron's quiet for a moment. He had... a bit of a rough start to things himself. He's more surprised Min'a seems up for this. "Can you find out what humans usually do before they disappear?" he asks her quietly. Some people will definitely put two and two together. The fewer the better.

She probably wouldn't be, but - Charles is such a sweet boy. No one deserves the kind of treatment he told her about.

"I can do that," she agrees after a brief pause.

This is such a weird conversation. Kaiisteron is pretty sure they shouldn't even be considering it. But--

"Let's... talk about this later." Maybe they'll come up with something better. Maybe.

"Yes, later. Good idea." If nothing else, it will give Min'a time to decide if she really wants to do something like this. Not acting in the heat of the moment? Probably for the best.

"Thank you, for lending an ear," she adds.

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bashasasdemon - 2025-11-25 15:08 (UTC) - Expand

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