Never let them tell you that it's all the same... [Open]

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

The door to one of the Sensorium pods has been propped open with a brick taken from the city level; it leads into a small vestibule with 'airlock' doors, set up to block out the outside light.

Past that, one can take a few steps into the darkness, eyes adjusting—and feel the weight lifting as the gravity drops to nothing, and there is only a soft floating against the stars and galaxies that stretch in every direction.

The air is thicker, almost fluid, body temperature, enough to make the boundary of the skin seem to almost fade a little, and there's absolute silence but for one's own breath: it's like stepping into a supremely thorough sensory deprivation tank, but for the stars. One could imagine floating peacefully in space, overlooking the whole universe.

Near the entrance (now hidden from the inside), only a dimly-outlined shape against the sky—as there isn't enough light to really see her properly—is Luly, curled up against herself in the zero-G environment, eyes open but unfocused and her red wrap trailing around her a little.

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[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara, her curiosity definitely getting the best of her these days, noticed the open Sensorium door. She walked over and peeked in, and the lack of light gave way to a rather extraordinary view. The first thing i made her think of was what Jean Luc had shown her earlier, however, this was a galaxy of stars and night complete in all its majesty. Katara's kees felt a little weak looking at it: once she stepped through the door however, she couldn't fell them at all.

Katara felt herself almost lift, and the feeling was a little frightening to her at first. It was like nothing she'd ever been through before, not even in instances where she'd been captured in almost effortless ways on her world (the swamp benders vines came to mind). She breathed in, and even that seemed different in this simulation. She wanted to close her eyes but found she could not, certainly not with this backdrop. Something like a giggle escaped her throat, and she allowed herself to almost drift a moment, feeling not unlike bending the water below you.

There was someone here, and Katara could very barely make them out: they seemed to blend with this environment except for something red. Katara entertained the thought of apologizing, explaining herself, but instead just floated quietly, serenely.

She'd never felt such wonder and peace at the same time, not even in any of the Air or Water temples.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly is drifting slowly end-over-end, but her head twists at Katara enters, red eyes more sharply focused on her.

She starts humming a tune (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrrXOVkXkvw), softly: no words, just the melody filtered through her. And in the dark, she stretches, the lines of her tattoos catching the minimal light as she unfolds out like a cat. In the zero-G, she can do it more than she'd be able to normally—with the weight gone, her spine has loosened up even more than usual.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara saw her now that she was at her full length, but didn't disturb her. The tune was beautiful though, and Katara found herself lost in its song, floating peacefully. She could fell the ebb and flow, even here: strangely like her own element despite the lack of it on this ship. It beat with the rhythms of everyday people, all finding a place on the ship. She felt like she could hear it all.

Katara moved over to the girl now, her curiosity getting the better of her. "Hi," she said, almost in a whisper. "What is this place?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"It's a little like the view of space you'd get if you stood on the hull of a cruiser."

Under them, a great dark shape looms, a black-painted ship a mile long that shares the plated, almost-organic aesthetic (http://www.cthulhutech.com/media/art/p163.jpg) of much Nazzadi technology, studded with turrets and missile tubes. The hull plating is warm to the touch.

"But if we were doing that, we'd need suits, and that kind of gets in the way of things." She shifts, catching fingers in hull protrusions and pulling herself to 'sit' cross-legged despite the lack of any gravity to hold her there.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I've never been on a space cruiser," Katara said, strangely humbled by yet another experience in this world that she had never taken part of. She tried joined Meluly on the ship, and at first couyld not manage. Taking a moment to regain her balance, she finally settled next to the woman, taking a deep breath.

Around her the sights were out of some strange dream, or nightmae to some. The ship looked like sopme sort of looming alien, one that Katara could only comprehend in a dream sequence. In truth, a lot of this seemjed like the kind of thing Aang would be pulled into.

She sat in a similar fashion, watching her host. She was beautiful in a way far different than any appearance Katara had ever seen. Hard as she might, Katara could not stop looking at Meluly. She fascinated her.

"What...who...are you?" She asked timidly.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"First lieutenant Meluly, NEG army, special operations division." She says it like a name, smooth and embedded into the subconscious, not like the disjointed string it really is. "I'm a Nazzadi."

She stretches a little, a hand staying hooked into one of the crevices in the hull to keep her motion from making her drift away. "We're on the outside of the hull... the bridge is about straight down from here, right in the middle where it's least vulnerable. That's the front." She twists to point leftwards, where the ship stretches out into the black.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Oh...that's a mouthful." It also wasn't the first time she met military personnel on the ship, and she doubted it would be the last. "I'm Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. I don't hold any special titles since its mostly the men that fight in my tribe."

She could clarify later that she was a one woman army anyway.

"Oh, I've actually already been on a ship's bridge! I met the Captain of the ship, Jean Luc Picard. He had me do a training simulation and everything. But I haven't been inside a ship like this before, just Stacy and the starship Enterprise. I'd love to see the inside of thsi ship when we get the chance!

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Well, I could give you a look, but it's honestly not that exciting," Luly says—

—and the environment suddenly changes—

—and they're in a cramped, long, claustrophobic room, studded with display panels and control interfaces, all in that same strange style. There's barely any lighting at all, with only those panels and some dim strip lights down the length of the passageways to provide any ambient light. It's like being in the middle of a submarine's bridge.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara, who HAD been on a submarine before, was used to the dim lighting but definitely not the panels. She had hated to disturb the peaceful tranquility of their former surroundings, but she was also a girl who had formerly lived in an icy wonderland with limited technology. All of this was very new to her, and she wanted to learn as much as she could.

"It's really fascinating, to see how far technology has gone in other people's worlds! I know I seem like some sort of backwards tribe person for getting so excited about everything, but in my world the farthest we've gone is an industrial age." She made a face, annoyed that the only reason she knew that was because of Brainy, the impolite life form.

"We can go back to the hull again. It's beautiful up there. I just wanted a peak in this place. What you're able to accomplish: its truly breathtaking."

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

Lafiel's breath hitched in her throat. The stars... Oh how she'd missed them. Not the distorted little projections visible from the observatory. For a kin of the stars, being apart from them was like missing one's beloved.

It takes a full minute of wondrous staring before she notices a small blue shape in the corner...

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly is quite different: her tattoos gone, her skin lighter, her hair the standard Abh blue, the froce in her forehead right about where her circle tattoo would go, and her body frame lighter, thinner, lacking that built up endurance-muscle.

Her head tilts as Lafiel enters, to glance over at her—her eyes aren't red anymore, either, and she blinks, trying to focus...

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

"What are you..." Realization hits her and she laughs, doubling and tumbling over and over in the black. She gets it under her control after a while. "You are a strange Abh."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Lafiel..." Luly's voice is different: softer, lighter. "Did I get something wrong?" It's a good emulation, even if it would be rather unusual to find an Abh wearing the red wrap Luly still has on.

She reaches, stretching over to try and get a touch on Lafiel—but with the added push of of the froce she misestimates, snagging one of Lafiel's legs and pulling the two of them together a bit too strongly.

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

Lafiel flails to get her balance and pushes off of the other girl. She takes her by the hand instead and side by side they float. "No, it's not that. You just look so different as one of us. Close your eyes." Which she does too. "Trust the froce. It will show you where you are."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly lets her eyes slide shut, trying to focus.

"I've been practicing, but it's... so strange," she says, and squeezes Lafiel's hand tighter.

[not-prncss-tldr.livejournal.com]

Lafiel returns the squeeze. This is like teaching a formerly blind man how to see. "It shows you where you are at all times. Let it. Don't try to fight it or find your equilibrium." This was often a lander problem, that of reference points. "I'm going to let go. Find me." And so she slid away, smiling down at her flailing companion.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Ah, Lafiel—"

Luly folds up on herself a little. With the thicker and warmer air, the sensations of the body melt away some, leaving her to focus on the froce.

An arm slides out, pointing. She's off, but not extremely so.

[bored-admiral.livejournal.com]

Spaurh finds herself inside and for a moment, all she can do is smile to herself in satisfaction as she watches the stars. Her kin. Her home.

She does not indulge in the notion of "homesickness" of course. That would be utterly ridiculous and not worth her time. Instead she lets herself drift for the moment, taking in the view. She hasn't noticed Luly. Yet.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly is sneaky! Particularly now, using her control over the little simulation to nudge herself around behind Spaurh despite the zero-G.

She reaches to poke the other woman right in the middle of her back. The froce might well give her away in advance, but with the way the denser, warmer air confuses perception...

[bored-admiral.livejournal.com]

Spaurh does detect something at the last moment and she starts to whip her head around. However, she's free-floating in zero-g and she can't precisely turn on a dime. She gets poked, and manages an indignant snort before she sees who it is, "...ah, Lieutenant. How are you?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"I'm okay," Luly say with a little shrug motion. One of her hands grips onto Spaurh's shoulder—not (solely) to be familiar, but so that she can orient herself around into a more face-to-face position. Well, if Spaurh doesn't get in the way of the action, anyway. "What about you?"

[bored-admiral.livejournal.com]

Spaurh doesn't completely mind the physical contact, although she pulls away slightly after Luly's oriented herself. She glances back up into the stars, then back at Luly with a small smile, "Still bored. Still trying to exist on this ship...."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Aren't we all," Luly says with a smile back, folding her arms across her chest.

Her head tilts back, looking at the stars. "What do you think of it?"

[bored-admiral.livejournal.com]

Crosses her legs and lets herself drift, glancing back to the rather magnificent view, "Of the view? Very beautiful. Reminds me of home. Or did you mean the ship in general?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly loosens her arms up, stretching them behind her head in a 'lying down' pose. "Both, I guess," she says, mental map reorienting so she's now looking 'up' at Spaurh instead of 'forward'.