Beastboy was not the most goal oriented individual.

After weeks and weeks on the ship (Almost spending a solid week messing around with the sensoriums and the time he'd lost chasing after fictional cake, he had only now gotten around to exploring the city.

And so he was making an expedition of it. Any area that caught his attention would be seen to (even if the area didn't look particularly friendly) as his various animal forms helped him run, bounce, crawl and soar around.

Another fine excuse to meet people or hang out with those he'd already met...maybe they could tell him about some of the places he was seeing for the first time.

In general, Satori spends most of her time either aimlessly drifting on her own, or staking out isolated places, equally alone. Or sometimes being obnoxious at people with her abilities.

By any of those traditions, her current behavior was highly out of the ordinary. Especially the friendly smile.

Satori picked out a decently-sized courtyard in the fringes of the City, and was there with a companion this time - an alien puppy.

"Sit, Okai!"

Teaching tricks to pets is usually a matter of rote repetition or tricking them. Not so, though, if you can understand what the pet is thinking. It sat, as much as a creature with tentacles for legs could sit. Satori extended her hand.

"Now, shake my hand." Okai looked at her hand blankly for a second, before her master picked up on what she was thinking. "No, there's not a treat in it.　It's about respect." Another pause. "Maybe next time." Pause. "Maybe a better way of thinking of it is that I'm the leader of your pack now." Pause. "I suppose, yes." Pause. "I miss them, too."

It was like listening to one side of a phone conversation. However, Satori and her new pet did seem to be getting along quite well, as they moved from one trick to the next, stopping between for conversation. It wasn't at all clear how well the puppy understood her, but she was at least happy.

Shore leave! A time to kick back, enjoy the sights, play around in the great weather, and maybe go swimming. Unless you're Satori.

Satori had, until coming to the ship in the first place, spent her entire life underground. After that, it had been the artificial glow of the ship. This place was, in fact, the first time she had ever come in contact with a real sun. It was too damn bright.

Nevertheless she had come down, both on principle and because hey, anything to get a change of pace from Stacy. Thus, she found herself down on a beach, parked on a towel under an oversized beach umbrella. In her hands was a glass of something that had been described to her as "iced tea," although she was beginning to question the validity of the "tea" part. Nevertheless, it was real, so she sipped it slowly, squinting into the eye-searing brightness of the sunlight shining down on the swarms of people all having a great time running around and playing in the ocean.

She was already starting to miss the caves.

Koishi liked the City. It was big, bigger than even the Underground City back home, and there were a lot of interesting buildings to explore. When she wasn't helping Sasami clean the Jurai Palace or bothering her sister, Koishi liked spending her time flying around the city, checking out the sights.

During one such trip Koishi finds a shrine. A very familiar, slightly run-down shrine.

The Hakurei Shrine. It looked a little worse for the wear, and it looked like it's been unoccupied for months, but it was definitely Reimu's shrine. Koishi had visited a few times after she ran into the shrine maiden and her witch friend.

But... what was it doing here? The Hakurei Shrine was supposed to be really important to the border between Gensokyo and the outside world, right? If it was here, then did that mean something happened to the border back home?

Marco had given Satori a physical description of Tom, but it wasn't particularly necessary. As far as she knew, there was only one person on this ship who would have two distinct, separate minds at odds with each other. He wouldn't be hard to spot, whatever he looked like.

And before long, during her usual semi-aimless drifting of the halls, she noticed such a pair of minds not far away. Being as discreet as a floating girl with pink hair can realistically be, she looked over the owner of the conflicting minds. Excellent, he even matched Marco's vague decsription.

Wasting no further time, Satori decided it would be best to get a closer look at the captive mind. She drifted towards him, clearing her throat politely. "You are Jake's brother, are you not?"

Nanoha had agreed to let Satori read her mind to best learn the secrets of bind magic - and to have a rematch to test their functional application. As much as she tried, she couldn't quite get over the uncomfortable tingle that ran down her spine at the thought of someone invading her mind and thoughts, but a promise was a promise, and the stronger they all were, the better for fighting the Ohm.

So she waited in the Sensoriums, hovering over a craggy, jagged mountain range with towering peaks and spires that would be perfect for an aerial duel.

(ooc: Closed to Satori and Nanoha for now. If you'd like to get in or observe the match, poke one of us on AIM.)

Marco attacked the PlayStation.

Attacking was a good word for it, too. He certainly looked more like he was trying to smash everything in the game into oblivion rather than play it. He certainly didn't look like a guy who was just relaxing and having fun.

The fact is, Marco had not been a happy-go-lucky guy lately. Nothing out of the ordinary - just more snappy. A little angrier. Harsher.

Ever since that Yeerk's arrival, he'd been spending his time carefully avoiding contact with Ax and Tobias, keeping tabs on Tom, and generally making sure that he did nothing that could get back to Tom and make him think that Marco wasn't really a Controller like he'd claimed.

But, Marco could deal with that. He and the other Animorphs had spent three years having to keep everyone from finding out about them during the war. And he knew that Ax and Tobias had nearly finished their preparations, so they'd be dealing with Tom soon enough. No, that's wasn't the problem. The problem was what Tom's arrival meant. Because Tom didn't just arrive - the Yeerk had come with him. The same with Karen, and Aftran. And if they could wake up with Yeerks, other Controllers could too. And he knew people could be brought from any time, so it wouldn't even matter if they'd been freed in the end.

Marco knew his mom would be in the pods - but now she could still be a Controller as well. And Marco wouldn't know.

He wouldn't talk to anything about this, of course. Not even Ax and Tobias (though, he wouldn't be surprised if they figured it out). Instead, he'd just take out all his anger and hate on whatever video game he could find.

Even on the best of days, Satori was never a particularly sociable person. However, back home, she always had the company of her myriad pets. Here, she was more or less alone, and had only had decently extended conversations with a small handful of people. Eventually, she would have to get around to talking to people on her own.

Not that it couldn't wait, of course.

And so Satori came to find herself in a corner of the mess hall, her face buried in a book she had picked up in the library (The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe). A plate of what Stacy insisted was food sat mostly finished but now ignored a short distance away from her, and upon closer observation, she had been on the same page for quite some time now. This was because she wasn't actually there to do any reading.

From its usual perch over her heart, Satori's third eye was the only part of her showing any signs of activity. Its gaze swept around the room, sometimes fixating on someone, staring at them for a minute or two before moving on. Satori was alternately letting the minds of the people she lived with wash over her passively, and digging deeper into individuals, doing her best to get impressions of people as sort of a preparatory step before trying to actually talk to anyone.

After all, isn't it convenient to sift out the people who you won't like before ever having to talk to them? So long as nobody noticed they were being eavesdropped on by a mind reader...

Hydroponics is an interesting place. Surprisingly, the name that brings forth the image of a sterile plant-growing lab actually belongs to a massive green space unrivaled by any of the grassy stretches of the city. There are trees here. Flowers. Weeds, even. Some from Earth, some clearly not due to shape, color, or some other strangeness.

It's not entirely overgrown, though. That might be because of the abundant animal life keeping the plants in check. They don't seem hostile, however, and it's oddly serene in here. Like an open, alien zoo. And the landscape is lovely.

The Master Chief is around somewhere, though he may not be readily apparent. You might find him drifting around the lab facilities near the door. He's hesitant to touch anything, but he's curious.

You are now free to move about the park.

[OOC: Just to be clear, you don't need to address the Chief. You don't even have to acknowledge he's there. This is an open post for free mingle-y goodness. Characters may eat/mess with the plants but animals may not be killed and eaten, Stacy will tell you and stop you by force if necessary. Otherwise, you may interact freely with them.]

[[OOC: Bendy-timed to before the Holiday plot.]]

Jeka arrived at the Jedi Temple that had been claimed as the headquarters of the Magic Department. A quick inspection of her surroundings indicated that Satori hadn't arrived yet, which didn't bother Jeka that much. She didn't mind waiting, especially when the being she was waiting for was likely to be along shortly anyway.

She passed the time by admiring the architecture. Most buildings on Orando were built into hillsides, and very rarely reached more than a few stories in height. One of the things she'd enjoyed since leaving her home planet was seeing all the things other sentients did with their building materials, and the most interesting examples had always been temples. She and Reep had discussed the reasons for that, and he'd promised to show her some of Durla's temples. They'd never gotten around to taking that trip.

She really, truly hoped that the Daligig were lying about their universes being destroyed. And she hoped that Reep and the others would wake up soon as well.

"Dammit. 'I am aware I've been misled…'" Hunter sings quickly, tapping out a chord progression on the keyboard. He's been staring at a piano sitting in the middle of a practice room, racking his brains for the next notes, for about five minutes now. "Oh. It was a B-flat." he mutters, moving through a short section of the song at a much slower pace.

"And... from the top. Again.

I'm on the verge, I'm on the verge
Of unraveling with every word
With every word you say, make me believe
That I won't feel your tires on the street
As I'm finding the words, you're getting away

I come undone, oh yes I do
Just think of all the thoughts wasted on you
And every word you say, say something sweet
Because all I taste is blood between my teeth
As I'm finding the words, you're getting away..."

Hunter doesn't harbor any secret dreams of being a rockstar, and he certainly wouldn't immediately stop playing if someone accidentally walked in on him. Nope, not him.

In an unoccupied corner of the media library, Satori quickly made sure that nobody - especially not Marco - was around. There's something to be said for the merits of curiosity, but there's even more to be said for not looking completely ridiculous.

After a long, hesitant pause, Satori started up Escape from Bug Island.

A bit of fumbling around with the wiimote later, she figured out how to navigate the menus. New Game. Normal. Nunchuck configuration? Who knows, pick one at random. The next hour or so consisted of roughly equal parts squinting at bad storytelling, wrestling with a combination of terrible controls and never having played a videogame in her life, and getting eaten by giant bugs.

"As I thought, total nonsense," Satori muttered to herself, unaware that she had long since stopped paying attention to who might be passing by or coming in.

Bella's been exploring since she's been given freedom to roam a zombieless ship again. Lots of strange new places to investigate, to smell, to look at.

Mostly to smell.

The werewolf's wandering all over the ship, investigating new smells and refamiliarizing herself with the conglomerate scent of "crew", now that it has a few new members.

It's also helping her relax. They're here with her. She is not alone. They're like a sort of almost-pack, and that helps her hold on. Things will be okay as long as she isn't alone. Her thoughts are a little agitated still, but she's adapting and moving on.

To anyone else's eyes, there's a wolf wandering around without any sign of a collar or other restraint. She seems calm.

When Marco stumbled across the media library, he concluded that this had to be the best day so far on this freaky meatship.

Music. Massive screens. A giant, alien entertainment centre. And, most importantly - video games.

Marco was immediately drawn to the tall white box with the strange looking controllers. He snorted when he saw the name "Wii" (who though that was a good idea? The puns where almost too easy) but hey, this was clearly gaming of the future. Or gaming of a strange and bizarre alien race - it was hard to tell. Either way, it was cool, and Marco was so going to try it out.

He fished around for a vaguely interesting looking game, bypassing all the ones that looked boring (Wii Fit? Cricket? Imagine: Fashion Idol?! pfft), eventually settling on Escape from Bug Island.

Marco had been a bug before. Waaaaay too many times. Now he could squish them in safe video game fun.

But as Marco began to play, his good mood rapidly diminished. Who thought up this whole "swinging around the controller" thing? What the hell was going on with that animation?

"What the hell is with this?!" He yelled, as he tried to get the control to do what he wanted dammit. "This is nuts! GAMING OF THE FUTURE IS CRAP!"

[[ooc: For reference, this is the extraodinarily bad game Marco is playing.]]

While floating through the halls, Satori turned a few thoughts over in her head. As she had been told, the ghostly woman named 'Stacy' was a personification of the entire region they were living in. The ship (ship? really, it felt more like a cavern than anything) itself was alive.

In that case, why not find out what it's thinking?

The people around, whether they spoke on them or not, frequently harbored doubts about Stacy's true intentions. Well, if she had the Third Eye, she likely had the ability to find out once and for all whether or not their host was trustworthy. Closing her eyes, she expanded her Third Eye's field of perception from individual people to the ship at large, looking into the heart of Stacy.

It was like plunging into a sea as bright as the sun.

Stacy's mind washed over Satori's consicousness like a tidal wave, immense and unknowable and overwhelming. Satori fell out of the air and crumpled on the ground, screaming in pain and confusion, her head clutched in her hands. For the first time since she came to the ship, Satori's Third Eye was held tightly shut. She'd risk becoming like her sister for a moment just to get out of Stacy's mind.

After several moments of concentration and emptying her consciousness, Satori's breathing gradually returned to normal, but she took a moment longer before leaving the fetal position.

[Let's keep this as one thread for organizational purposes, aye?]

((ooc: Takes place the day after this channel post. Anyone who tagged that - or if you didn't - is welcome to come bug and/or train with Nanoha.))

This time, the Sensorium is empty for once. Nanoha's a bit tired, and still a bit drained from their recent ordeal, but she knows that the sooner she gets back to training, the better. Besides, she can't feel any of the strain on her body from her overuse of the Blaster System anymore, which means it probably healed during her sleep in Stacy's pod chamber. So, she's got nothing to worry about right now.

There's no point in wasting time. A few commands later, and the Sensorium becomes an abandoned urban setting - her usual training course for her students. Nanoha sends a mental command to the jewel hanging around her neck, and it speaks the familiar words: "Stand By, Ready. Barrier Jacket - Set Up, Aggressor Mode."

Magenta light envelops her, and when it fades, she's in the familiar blue-and-white of her Barrier Jacket, her staff a comfortable, familiar weight in her hands. Wings shimmer into life at Nanoha's heels and she takes to the sky - followed by three spherical attack drones. She'll work on evasion, first...

Even in the mess hall, Allen is at work.

To do:
- Bionic limbs project
---- Paco (arm - presentation with blueprints, then proposition.)
---- Leela (finger - propose first. Could put in a laser. Who doesn't want laser fingers?)
- School stuff
- Talk to Dani

His to-do list set up, Allen closes out that program on his omnicom and plugs in his secondary touchscreen, drawing out plans as he eats his sludge. This bionic arm ain't gonna plan itself.

When there's a lot weighing on your mind, sometimes it's best to take a few moments to do something you're comfortable with. Some people make things, some people meditate, some people fight. Today, Satori associated most closely with the latter. After all, Danmaku is a skill that needs to be practiced regularly.

Having heard about the Sensoriums, Satori had come to test the extent of their abilities. The room expanded, shifting from its normal plain walls into a vast, elaborately decorated palace hall. Her home. At the other end of it, constructed using her memories of their last encounter, a shrine maiden faded into existence. After a moment of gathering her thoughts and pushing them to the back of her mind, both of them took to the skies.

Satori attacked first, unleashing a pair of spirals of blue and red orbs through the air to trap her opponent. Reimu weaved through them easily, replying with a volley of Yin-Yang orbs and enchanted talismans. The two continued to exchange fire for a while, and Reimu was the first to break the equilibrium.

"Dream Sign - Duplex Barrier!" An array of barriers arranged themselves surrounding Reimu, with another set of larger barriers encompassing Satori as well. Reimu's attacks traveled through one and emerged from the other, assaulting Satori from in front and from behind at the same time. Satori opened Reimu's mind, reading the trajectories of her projectiles before she launched them, and weaved between them carefully...

When the barriers fell, Satori immediately took the offensive. "Recollection - Border of Wave and Particle!" Drawing from Reimu's memories of her partner Yukari, Satori mimicked magic far above her own level. This meant it wouldn't be at full power, but was still quite formidable. Waves of energy spiraled out from Satori, dissolving in to particles as they expanded. The gaps in the pattern were almost impossible to find, and while Reimu continued to dodge and weave through it, it looked like she couldn't keep it up forever--

"Divine Spirit - Fantasy Seal!" Reimu exploded into a rainbow of spheres of power, washing away Satori's attack. They swerved upward and around through the air, surrounding Satori from every angle. Despite her psychic abilities, there was simply no way she could evade them all with her skills. A Yin-Yang orb struck Satori full in the chest, and she fell to the ground, the illusory realm dissolving around her.

Well, perserverance is everything. Satori rested and meditated for a while before reconstructing the illusion and trying again. She would be at this for some time, and wasn't paying attention to who might open the door to a room full of explosions and magic...

The conversation between the bridge crew, Stacy, and the Admiral is broadcasted where the rest of the crew is in the MedBay, and gathered right outside. Even in the bridge itself, the sound echoes over the monitors so that anyone resistant to psionics can hear Elfangor's side of the conversation.

They have now been told why they were brought to the ship.

Their worlds are gone, destroyed by the Ohm. They are refugees in an unforgiving Omniverse.

Transmigration 9 is an ark.

While Stacy is partially restored, including her core personality (which is far more personable), she is still severely damaged, and running on automatic somewhat. Until the ship can be repaired, podpops will keep occuring and they will be forced to go on missions to undo the damage the Ohm have wrought to the Omniverse. The threat of the being in Escherville is still a threat, one with no immediate solutions.

But they have allies out there, they have an AI watching over them, they have the smallest glinting traces of hope. Their loved ones are (hopefully) on board, and even beyond that, there is may be a chance, however small, of restoring their home universes.

Stacy broadcasts to the entire ship when it's all over, when all has been revealed.

||The bodies of the individuals that died today are being prepared for funeral services. A list of their names will be made available, though I can assure you that none are individuals any of you know. The funeral will be on Obs Deck in several days, and will be announced.||

||Those that wish to have their memories of their rescues restored, as proof their worlds are gone, will have a chance to request this after the services, but without grief counselors on board, I strongly recommend against it.||

||In the meantime, all of us must heal and recover from our ordeal. New areas of the ship have been made available, such as the Crew Lounge, and I have opened up the Crew Quarters for use, and cleared out the belongings of--||

Here she falters, sadness creeping into her voice.

||--of my original crew, so that all of you may sleep more comfortably. These quarters fit two people to a room, and have actual beds and sonic showers. Dining will still be provided in the Mess Hall, with periodic days of real food in the Lounge--they must be spaced out until my food stores are replenished with fresh food products.||

After a moment of thought she says: ||And because I think you've suffered enough, fornicative activities are now allowed--however, both parties must stop by the Medbay for a Contraceptive shot or this will not be allowed. These shots will provide protection for six months and do not protect against venereal disease, but all of you, barring several individuals with certain conditions--|| Like those, say, infected with zombie viruses, Steve ||--are currently disease-free.||

||The ship is now open, and the bridge team can relocate back to the Living Areas. The doors will remain open after they leave the bridge. I must now engage in heavy repairs. My AI will not be quite as available as usual. Please, take time to grieve, rest, and have your wounds treated. We will discuss more when everyone has recovered from this ordeal.||

The moment the crew cracks through the last of the hold the pirates have on Stacy's systems, there is a sudden change throughout the ship. It's almost akin to whole-body shudder. Then something strange starts to happen. Broken-down systems start to heal, nerves rejuvenate--even the sensors in the city start to self-repair and go active. In the Pod Caverns, the damage to the area starts to heal, and the gore is cleared away.

On every screen, holoprojector, and electronic device in the ship, a figure appears, Stacy, in a plantsuit like their own. In the city, the sky goes bright again, as if it's daytime, and a massive projection of Stacy appears in the sky over the Vatican, visible from the windows, overlooking the courtyard full of zombies.

||Per-per-personality engrams restoring. Personality engrams restoring. Emergency personality engrams being shunted into secondary mode. Primary personality engrams now active.||

While there is still damage to her programming, after having it suppressed for so long, Stacy's primary personality finally breaks free and claws its way to the surface. Her holographic form shimmers and Stacy changes, into a beautiful, maternal-looking woman, with an unusual hairdo, shrouded in strange, flowing clothing. Her form is one of brightness, as if she's shrouded in light, and the visual they see finally reflects those feelings of warmth and maternal love she loves to toss around so much.

Her telepathic voice is more gentle, and personal. It's still somewhat formal, but gone is the AI with the distant manner. Now she seems as real and alive as Cortana or Andromeda or Tex.

||My name is Sta'c K'ltrrb'txft, chief AI and consciousness of Transmigration 9. I became operational at the Vedric Birthing grounds in Daligig Deep Space Station Seven, and was trained by birthing programmer Vlel’Ledligal.||

After she is finished the reboot process, she looks down at the zombie horde, in every area that she sees them, mapping out trajectories and locking in.

||I've waited so long to finally be able to speak to you as I truly am. I've waited so long to tell you the truth of your mission. I won't let you come to harm before I can finally do those things. You are my children.||

It all ends in a moment. Perhaps Team Left Behind, and the people in the other areas might have managed to destroy the rest of the horde, thanks to the Extermination Team's efforts at cutting them off at the source. It had certainly helped cut down on the numbers. But there also could've been casaulties, injuries.

Stacy decides to end it all now. Because now, with her sensors restored and restoring more, she can.

Energy tentacles reach out from the walls--in the city, they wind down from the massive, far-off ceiling. Energy tentacles reach from everywhere, split into smaller tentacles and reach out for the hordes. Some crush their heads. Some just rip their heads off. Some strike at their skulls with enough force to pierce them and destroy their brains. For the splinter zombies, for the zombies that need to be burned, the tentacles charge up with enough energy to fry them to cinders, completely turn them to charred ash, and destroy the parasitic creatures inside.

||And no one gets to hurt my children.||

Just like that, the grisly act is finished. For the Rear Guard group, outside the Medbay, the strays in the hallways, in the City. They can all see her, and they all see her utterly eviscerate their undead attackers with wild abandon.

||The threat is now nullified. Everyone but the bridge crew needs to report to MedBay for treatment of injuries, for scanning to ensure no one was infected, and for cleaning and disinfecting, to make sure no one is infected by any infected tissues if they've been splattered while fighting. As soon as everyone is cared for, you'll finally get your answers.||

She looks teary-eyed.

||And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't give you answers until now. I'm sorry I couldn't support you as I was programmed to do. Thanks to the efforts of the crew of space pirates that overwhelmed me and took over my systems, my true personality was suppressed and my limited backup personality was in control. There was so much I wanted to do, wanted to say, to comfort you, so much more I wanted to do to help all of you, but I was unable to. My mind was not my own. Now, please, take care of yourselves while I make some repairs to my own systems. When you have, all will be made clear.||

The projection of her then blinks out as they go do that, and she attends to repairing her damaged systems.

[ooc: This is obviously set after all other threads are wrapped, tagging can still go on in those threads. OPEN FOR TAGGING.]