libraryassistants: (Default)
Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account ([personal profile] libraryassistants) wrote in [community profile] unfinishedlibrary2025-11-28 06:38 pm

I'm not saying that it's aliens - TAKE A LOAD OFF, LOG 2

Who: Readers and Actors
What: Beta Story final log
When: November 28 - December 11
Where: Woodhurst (UK) and the SS Radiance (in space!), 2019
Content warnings: Please tag warnings in comment headers!

In Woodhurst:

There is quite a bit of confusion in the village as the weeks pass by- by now it is clear that some people are very much not themselves, and there are multiple theories as to why. Aliens, obviously- the really weird bit is that it’s not just certain edgy teens purporting this theory, but since there’s been some (alleged) activity previously, maybe they’ve come back! Some tourists (and perhaps some locals) have made signs of the ‘Take me with you!’ variety, mostly loitering in the town square or in the park, whenever they get chased out of one or the other.

Suffice it to say, those people aren’t being taken seriously by those in charge- though even they have to admit that something strange is going on. Prevailing theories amongst officials are ‘gas leakage’ and ‘water contamination,’ neither of which are suitable explanations but no one seems to want to think too hard on it. As a result, the friends and families of those acting out of sorts are in a strange position. Do they try to seek medical help? Wait and hope it sorts itself out? Or do they join the crowds bidding welcome to their potential alien guests, demanding their real loved ones return?

Visitors of all stripes might find themselves a bit more scrutinized, as a result. Didn’t a bunch of weird people show up just as people seemed to start changing? Readers and aliens alike had best be on their most normal behavior, or it’s possible they’ll get cornered by someone asking what’s happening, or… a fanatic who wants to be taken up into their spaceship. Some of whom have some weird questions about probes. Good luck figuring out what that’s about.

On the IMW Group Supply Ship: Radiance

Things are not all well further up in the atmosphere, either. The staff have had to deal with much more pushback than they were expecting, including some people who seemed to not enough understand the concept of mental health (which was not in the briefing- shouldn’t they have at least heard of it before?). A few cases also seem to be quite severe, involving a level of intervention that they weren’t really prepared for- but of course, they’re here, so they’re going to do the very best they can to get all the humans the help they need! Hopefully legally.

Most alarmingly, however, it seems there have been some kidnapping attempts! …Kidnapping attempts that didn’t involve them! Someone, or multiple someones, have managed to get the patients off the ship without first filling out their discharge paperwork, and that simply will not do. As a result, security is ramped up on the ship… sort of. There’s very little in the way of a security crew, after all, and it’s not like they can call in reinforcements. So mostly this means that there are some very tired counselors who have been put on hallway shifts, and everyone has been assigned a little name badge that they MUST wear at ALL TIMES.

(There are actual people guarding the shuttles now, but again… there’s only so much security. The real question is, do you really want to beat up the aliens who are just trying to help?)

To their credit, the various Group members are trying to listen to the concerns of the patients who are here… less than willingly, and are beginning to filter some cases back to the planet by request. But they are going to do it properly, which means the proper forms. A wrap up visit with their counselor, a form agreeing to be finished with treatment, a politely worded request to maybe not tell people about the aliens (it’s not an NDA, because the Group has never needed those, it’s really just a form asking if they’re going to talk about it so management can figure out how badly this is going to go). Oh, and would you mind filling out this survey about your experience?

Of course, not everyone is in a hurry to leave- or at least needs something to do while waiting for bits of paperwork to approve. All the regular classes and sessions are still going, and they even retrofitted one of the spas to have water instead of… whatever it was before. Now certified safe for humans!


[Information on what's available on the ship is in the first log; info post is here.]
shelloflight: (Default)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-02 10:39 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, thank God," he says. "You are the best, Rin."

And dutifully starts creeping around the corner, trying to press flat against a wall, like when the Ad Astra crew try to be Top Sneaky.
Edited 2025-12-02 22:39 (UTC)
ugh_emotions: (Neutral 13)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-02 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
There's an awkward, embarrassed pause.

"You...don't need to do that," it says. "I have camera access. I'll know if any Hostiles are near."

(And in fact, in addition to it having access to the ship's cameras, it also has two drones which Akira might notice - one in the corridor ahead of them, and one flying a ways beyond. Even if something happens to its camera access, SecUnit will still have the two drones' inputs.)
shelloflight: (confusion)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-02 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Uh."

They blink.

"Right. Sorry. Walking normally now."

Though he will still peek around corners, just to be sure.
ugh_emotions: (Neutral 01)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-02 11:11 pm (UTC)(link)
(Humans were weird.)

"...This way," it says, before walking down the corridor. Also normally. (There isn't any reason to run; the hostiles haven't figured out what its doing yet. And it doesn't want to unnecessarily wear out the human.)

Akira might notice as it walks that it does not peek around any corners. In fact it barely seems to glance at them. It doesn't have any need to; the drones and camera inputs are already giving it a wider view than its own eyes could provide.
shelloflight: (Default)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-03 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Oh Rin is for serious a security expert. Akira sticks close, shuts up, and waits for the other shoe to drop or until they hit Medical, whichever comes first.
ugh_emotions: (Dubious 02)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-03 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
At least they're not trying to talk to SecUnit; it appreciates that.

The other shoe does not drop, and it doesn't take too long for them to reach medical. SecUnit has to have a quick argument with TherapyBot to get the door open (yes, it's totally a patient in need of some medical care, and no, it does not want to talk about its 'current emotional state', ugh), but soon enough its able to stride inside.

One drone accompanies the two of them in, the other stays stationed outside the door.

There's still one barrier to pass, however. Because all of the medicines are in locked storage cabinets and fridges - the aliens aren't so hopeless as to leave them all out where anyone could grab them. SecUnit can get into the cabinets easy enough, but it helps to know what it's looking for.

"Which ones do you need?" it says, as it tries to convince TherapyBot to just open the cabinets for them. (Which, much to SecUnit's irritation, it does not.)
shelloflight: (deep exasperated sigh)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-03 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
The adolescent goes on a remarkable face journey, cycling from startlement to fear to taking a deep breath and leaning against the wall for a moment.

"Uh I think it's called Jatenz..."

(This is an alien ship, genius. That's the brand name on Earth. You need to give Rin the generic name. The ACTUAL drug.)

"...it's testosterone, alright?" The adolescent sighs. "Patches or pills. Either will work."
ugh_emotions: (Neutral 02)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-03 05:53 am (UTC)(link)
Huh. That is a face journey. It watches this journey with a morbid kind of fascination.

(SecUnit, of course, does not watch this with its own eyes; it watches with the drone. Which means said drone has now flown closer to Akira's face.)

"Okay," it says, looking faintly baffled. (It doesn't understand why Akira's face went all twisty. Humans get gender hormones all the time. It's a perfectly normal human medical request.) Then it manages sneak the ship's medical inventory log past TherapyBot, locates the cabinet with the gender hormones, and then proceeds to bypass all digital security by physically breaking open the lock.

"I don't know your pronouns," it says, as it starts yanking out the testosterone. All of the testosterone, patches and pills. As far as SecUnit's concerned, Akira can have the whole damn lot.
shelloflight: (happy sigh)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-03 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
The adolescent's leans back and looks roofward in relief.

Rin, you're alright.

"...He and him and. And thank you for asking."

And then he laughs.

"When you last met me I was Michiko the Pink, now I am Akira the Blue," he says, and giggles again.

He's probably quoting or misquoting something.
ugh_emotions: (Neutral 09)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-03 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
"Well how else am I supposed to know your gender?" it complains, while it updates both the name and gender fields for its profile on Akira. It's not like it can tell just by looking. And no one has feed profiles.

The reference, however, gets an utterly blank look. Both because SecUnit knows absolutely nothing about the media that is being quoted, and the idea of colours having genders is fucking stupid and not something it has ever considered.

"Okay?" It says, tentatively updating Akira's name field again to say Akira the Blue???. Then, because it's pretending to be human and thus also has to pretend to have a stupid human gender, it adds: "They/them."
shelloflight: (rare smile)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-03 06:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Good question that. Used to be you could tell from skirts or trousers, but between kilts and trousers getting popular with everyone these days..."

He shakes his head and, for the first time, genuinely smiles.

"And if you haven't read what I was riffing on you ought to, once we're out of here. Anyway. Onward?"
ugh_emotions: (Annoyed 05)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-03 06:39 am (UTC)(link)
"That's stupid, clothing doesn't have a stupid gender," it says, scowling. (Ugh, was this why some of the humans here kept assuming it had a gender? Well, other than the 'neutral' gender that it was currently pretending to have, mainly because out of all the available options, it was the least annoying.)

"I'm not carrying your medicine," it says. "I need my hands free."

And also like hell was it going to go around carrying things for humans. It had been forced to do that more than enough in the past; it wasn't going to start volunteering to do it now that it had a choice in the matter.

But yeah, they can go.
shelloflight: (Default)

[personal profile] shelloflight 2025-12-03 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
"It can depending on how you wear it."

On Akira, trousers were definitely masculine.

"That's fair," Akira says, taking as much as he can. Which isn't all of it, but...

It takes upwards of two years to get hormones from British medicine. This much? This much should cover him till then.

And then he salutes and falls in.
ugh_emotions: (Neutral 03)

[personal profile] ugh_emotions 2025-12-03 07:51 am (UTC)(link)
SecUnit wears an expression that suggests it thinks that explanation is utter bullshit. Which it does. (Ugh, why did humans have to make their genders so complicated and weird.)

Then it looks at the medicine still on the bench. Sighs. And then puts the rest of it in its pockets, before walking out of the medbay without another word.

Then its back to walking through the corridors again, with SecUnit this time leading Akira to the shuttle. Once there, it immediately starts pulling the medicine out of its pockets and shoving it into the shuttle's storage compartments.

"I need to retrieve more people," it tells him. "Stay here, stay quiet, and stay out of sight. Got it?"