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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[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."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"This really isn't anything special," Luly says, and trails off. She doesn't want to insult the girl, but...

Instead of dwelling on it, she makes the scenery change again, back to the hull—but this time, both of them are outfitted appropriately, in simple, snug-fitting pressure suits and helmets (http://danbooru.donmai.us/data/2667dc0dc279b35252aa19d2b54e6dc3.jpg), thoroughly sealed-in: the boots of the suits cling to the hull magnetically. With the simulated air gone, there's no sound at all, just the distant, faint thrum of the ship's engines, and Katara's own breath echoing in her helmet...

Luly leans to touch the helmet of her suit against Katara's. "This is more what it's really like," she says, the sound transmitting but distorted by the materials.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara sighed. She knew she was looking more and more naive by the moment, but she could fill a book of what she didn't know or hadn't seen in comparison to the other crew aboard Stacy. It bothered her to admit it, but Brainy might have been right, and the only reason she was upset by it was because she'd never thought of herself as a savage. She was sure even Meluly might have thought so now, and now she knew it was absolutely necessary to start taking these classes they were offering.

When the scenery changed, Katara was used to what she had been wearing, the plantsuit, but definitely not these new pressure suits. She turned red a little, very surprised to be in this kind of attire. It was far more realistic though, and that was the important part.

Of course, being aware of how young she must look in this wasn't an ego boost.

"It suits you better," Katara said. "It'll take me a minute to adjust."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly gives Katara a thumbs up. "There's no air here, so you have to touch helmets if you want any sound to carry," she says, gesturing broadly. "Look at your upper right, the helmet has a display of your oxygen levels and other stuff." It's a simple little HUD, just projected against the faceplate, and the writing's all in Nazzadi that won't mean a thing to Katara, but the mostly-full bar gauges are probably relatively self-explanatory.

Luly settles back into a 'sitting' position, leaving Katara in the self-enclosed silence as she works her mag-boots off the hull plate with a funny rocking motion and then on again.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara nodded, and touched Meluly's helmet. "That's so weird. I've never had to do anything like this before." Obviously. Still, Katara was starting to wrap her head around all of the simplest mechanics of this type of technology, knowing that fully understanding how it all would require much more than a simple foray in the Sensorium. She was getting over the awkwardness of the suit, for one thing. It was just a tool to allow her on the hull of the ship, after all.

Katara attempted siting position, and after a minute was sitting in the same position. She was thoughtful a moment, then touched Mululy's helmet. "I'm curious. In your world, are you fighting a war too?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"We have been for ten years." Through the helmet, Katara can see Meluly's face twist a little. "The Migou—they're our enemies—they control most of the high ground."

The scenery changes and flickers. Below them—far below, but huge, taking a massive slice out of the sky—is a cool blue-and-green planet, and clouds of strange, organic-looking ships stud the stars around it (http://www.cthulhutech.com/media/art/p37.jpg).

"They want to control Earth. They're... not like Humans or Nazzadi, they're so alien we haven't even been able to figure out why yet."

The cruiser they're on the outside of floats unmolested, but one might imagine that wouldn't be the case if this were a real situation.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I see," Katara said, touching helmets again. The ships were beautiful in a way, but Katara knew that beauty didn't necessarily exclude menacing, and she may as well be looking at Fire Nation navy ships. "Ten years. I'm sure ships like those can do a lot of damage in that time. And you say you don't even know why they're invading? That couldn't be any creepier."

Katara thought for a moment. There were a lot of questions she had, obviously, but she wanted to focus on ones that wouldn't pry into this war. For all she knew, it could be sore subject for Meluly. It certainly seemed so judging by her expression.

"Um...could you tell me a little about the Nazzadi?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly keeps the helmets touching, with the kind of vague half-conscious attention that comes from long practice. "Well, we're mostly like you... there's the obvious stuff, and we have better night vision and some of the internals are different, but the biology is all pretty much one-to-one matching." She gestures vaguely with one arm.

"...the Migou created us," she adds quietly after a moment, "but we joined Humanity once we realized the truth of what was going on."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Well, that was definitely something that would bring some conflicting notions. She touched the helmet again, still trying to get used to the suits. "So the Migou created you, but they also want to take over Earth. They haven't...used you to try and achieve that, have they?"

Katara hoped not If there was one thing she knew about first hand, it was being betrayed by someone you once trusted. Obviously, something like this would be much worse.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Well, this started as the Second Arcanotech War, before the Storm joined in," Luly says, and her suited fingers wrap together. "Us—the Nazzadi—we were the first."

She goes silent, wanting to let the implications of that sink in.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara was quiet a moment. So she was fighting for Earth- earth as the planet that needed to be saved, and a planet in many other worlds too. The more she talked to other people, the more she saw that as a pattern. Not that their worlds was similar, far from it. But it was undeniable that a lot of people here already had duties to save others.

"I couldn't begin to know your war. I have a war in my world too, but I couldn't imagine it under those circumstances. But this space, by itself....I think its wonderful, even with the suits."

Katara looked down a moment. "Why do you think Stacy brought us here?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly breaks the connection a moment to shake her head, then touches the helmets again. "I think... I think that if we win this war, there's going to be a long, long time where people will try to forget it ever happened. I've seen things out there that'll turn you white." She smiles, but it's weak and a little haunted.

It takes her a little bit to regain her composure enough to continue. "I've been trying not to think about it. I don't like any of the implications."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara's thoughts went to the war in her own war at home, and then thoughts of what she'd seen with Roxie. She'd certainly seen more than enough to know there were worse things in this world than Firebenders. She touched the helmet. "I can understand that. There are some things that I'm sure could break even me. I've come close to breaking a few times. I can only imagine what you've seen. I only wish I could do something."

And those eyes bothered Katara. Why wouldn't they? Katara was more than aware people on this ship went through worse than some others. When Katara learned about certain things that happened to people on the ship, she was bothered. It was a reaction she'd always had.

"I'm still learning too. I'm trying to find out as much as I can while I'm here. Like learning about all of you here. The longer I'm here and training, the more I want to find out what role we're going to play."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly nods, then touches the helmets again. "...You want to see a good parlor trick?"

Her gaze has slid back out to those glowing stars.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Parlor trick? She was familiar with what a trick was, but what was a parlor?

"Sure."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly wraps her hands together, and focuses—

The suit she's wearing changes, all at once. There's a helmet sort of thing, but it's sleeker and tighter, more like a hood, and at her neck it seals, and from there down she has only a suit of some tightly-woven white mesh, just loose enough to see flashes of her black skin and silver tattoos through, and something like a skintight-sealed one-piece swimsuit.

"Fun fact is," she says, the hood pressed against Katara's helmet, "it actually doesn't hurt to touch vacuum if you've got enough pressure in, too." She stretches her fingers—the mesh is obviously elastic in some way. "This is about the closest you can get to raw space. It's not good for more than a couple of minutes, but it works."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara's eyes practically bug out of her head. It might have something to do with the fact that she's never seen this much skin (coming from the watertribe where she's constantly wearing heavy clothing always) but probably more because of Meluly herself. She hadn't really gotten the best look at her, being in darkness, but now that look is more pronounced, and she can see that, different skin or not, she is a striking figure. The tattoos are also something new for her.

Katara replicated the suit as well, and shivered. Her own caramel skin was unused to being exposed unless she was actually on a beach. She giggled nervously at the new sensation, and touched the helmet. "I'll take the risk. This...is actually fun. Please, tell me more about your people and your traditions. I love your markings."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

The feeling of space is--strange. A rippling, mildly unpleasant tingling situation plays across the body of the suit: it's the kind of thing the feels like it could progress into sat-on-your-foot numbness sooner or later (and probably 'sooner', given what Luly said). It's not cold, though... in fact, without the air to wick heat away, it's actually a little too warm. The air in the hood is stuffy but breathable--there's a well-concealed air recycler built into it.

"All right... Hang on, let's get this cleared out and comfortable some--"

Vwoop, and the simulation is back all the way to how it started, with the two of them floating in the air-filled void of stars, the suits gone--but this time, she's left them in just those underlayers of the elastic suits. The way the white material seals to Katara's skin, pressure-tight, is weird and a bit uncomfortable, but not actually painful.

"Well, these," Luly says, conjuring up a floating globe of ghostly light to better illuminate herself, "are kind of a new tradition for my people. Their use is actually younger than me..." She stretches loose and limber like a cat, with a casual grace that seems almost unhuman. "The circle here--" (she points to her forehead) "--marks me as a unified warrior, a martial artist, and the break at the bottom is a flourish that goes with being a mecha pilot..." She leans forward to let Katara get a better view.