Another day, another podpop. The crew and command crew has gathered on Obs Deck to greet the newbs, but right now the atmosphere is tense. People are taking turns on rotations to alternately hunt for Sam--who'd been kept in prison during the trial to present his assassinating the Yeerk-- and guard said parasite so it can have a fair trial. The Jury is in recess, for the moment, but will be deciding the Yeerk's fate very soon. A bunch of new people thrown into the mix is tremendous complication.

Meanwhile, the newbies are waking up to a strange, new world, one unlike anything they may have ever seen before. In the Obs Deck, the light of stars--and parallel universes--streaks past in a sleek, transcendent sheet of multi-colored lights in the large, eye-like windows. (They're inside the eyes, looking out, it seems). The statue in the center of the room, going up the domed ceiling is intimidating--and seems to be looking at them.

The tension is palpable, though a few individuals are trying to cut through it with friendliness for the benefit of the scared and bewildered new people now waking up from their gooey slumber.

Waspinator by nature, wasn't the brightest Transformer around. That being said, it didn't take him too long to find and program the Sensorium. The surroundings changed to the image of jungle, just him and him alone. And to be honest? He prefered it that way. No Megatron. No Ant-bot or Two-Head. And no Maximals!

He sighed. "Waspinator might be happy here, now."

Jonas stood alone on the Observation Deck, quietly staring up at the statue as he waited for the arrival of his new teammates. He wasn't entirely sure why he had been named the team leader, but he was capable of the position when it came down to it; and so he wanted to deal with the potential problems before they became actual problems.

First off, he needed to talk with Gambit and Spider-Man, and make sure they weren't going to have any difficulties with his leadership. They were both adults after all, and Spider-Man was...Spider-Man. After that was dealt with, he needed to meet the rest of the team and get an idea of their skills and temperament. He already had a head start, as he knew and had already worked with Kate and Cassie.

But, first things first: Gambit and Spider-Man.

Kate had done a patrol in the city earlier, and she debated on stopping by the Media library for something to watch. Something to distract her from the encounter with Ir.. no, *Nathanial*. Otherwise now mini-Kang in the making. All that work he did, everything to stop it, and asking for their help. Well, mainly Eli, Teddy, and Billy's help since Cassie and her came late into the game there. Still. They tried to help too. Until they found out what that help would mean.

She sighed, and her steps took her to the Sensoriums. But she wasn't going to use it for sentimental reasons. Oh no. Even if the surroundings resembled the training room of the Clubhouse, it was for function and practice. Not to get lost in nostalgia, there's a clear difference as she sighted her target and fired another arrow.

Wasn't there?

Part of the crew might be gone, but life on the ship goes on. In fact, new people have woken up and, eventually, they've been spat out into the mess hall.

Maybe it's better to introduce them to some of the worst aspects of ship life first, right?

Anyway, the word is out that there's new people, and someone should probably go say hello. Before the n00bs mistake the glop for crew.


[ooc: read before tagging, plz]

River has had better days. Weeks. Months. She's not actually certain how long she's been gone, because measuring time when there aren't exactly regular night and day cycles and no clocks is always going to be a losing proposition. But whatever the length of time, she is certain that it was long and annoying and she's really not quite so fond of labyrinths anymore.

And she still doesn't have any cake. River hates this ship.

Now that the insane (and somewhat creepy) AI has let her go, though, she's found her way back up to what she recognizes as the living area of the ship, and is stalking around with a look of vague annoyance at the universe, wondering if she can find someone to tell her how long she's been gone and if she missed anything interesting. Or maybe her brother to blame for this somehow. Younger brothers are good for that.

After the meeting, Rei had disappeared from the area and headed for the Sensoriums she'd heard about. There, at least, she should be able to find a quiet spot to sort through the brand new turmoil in her mind.

To her surprise, her memory immediately drifts to a familiar-looking gate, which materializes in front of her---a torii, beckoning her to a sacred sanctuary. Simply passing under the gate lessens the burden on her mind, as the comfort of the gods' house surrounds her. For now, she'll gladly take the opportunity to re-ground herself in a familiar setting before the greater hardships begin.

If any podmates happen to pass by the small structure, they'll see Rei seated on the edge of the open courtyard just beyond the gate. The peaceful atmosphere is refuge enough for her, a small escape from the uncertainty beyond.

||All crew-mates. Please report to the Obs Deck to meet your new crew-mates.||

It's time for all the newbies to get a chance to have a formal meeting with the crew. Given the confusion of their arrival, that's probably a good thing.

Word gets out among the crew mates, spreading in a game of whisper down the meat-alley, that an informal crew meeting is what's happening, free from Stacy's prying ears, and sure enough, as soon as everyone's in the room, they're gestured to move in close, and a wall of blue energy goes up around them all.

((ooc note))

The Hub spat the newly-clothed crew members out into the Weapons and Possessions Locker one by one. The place looked like a warehouse, and not a particularly well-organized one. Things were everywhere -- on the floor, stacked on top of each other, hanging off of things...

Either someone had ransacked the place, or Stacy had hired a tornado to do her filing and sorting.

||Pod Release Protocols Initating|| Stacy's familiar voice sounded out to all the podmates.

In the Pod Caverns, there were the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There was condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slid out onto the floors, covered in slime.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.