It had been a while since he had awoken from the pods, discovered what had happened. It was a lot to deal with...

...Plus the fact that this ship's acting commander was an alien. One who was likely responsible for the deaths of thousands of humans. If not, he was a member of the group who did.

This was confusing, and Jorge had spent time thinking about it. About what he found out on the Observation Deck. What John told him. If there was anyone who he would believe, it was John, but...

His memories say otherwise.

If anyone cares to notice, there's a 7'8" armoured man walking around a set course in the city. He's been doing this for at least an hour, not talking to anyone, not making a sound.

With the information they received from Zetta, the hack team arrives at Programming, armed with the tools they'll need to make digital avatars of themselves to go into Stacy's programming, as if it were virtual reality. Cortana again reminds them of the danger, mentioning that if they die in this world, they will die in the real world as well, and that any injuries will translate, though more minorly, to their physical forms.

The hackers close their eyes and sink into the digital world. When they open their eyes again, they are inside the lobby of an empty hotel. According to the AIs, they must explore the hotel and find where the files are, which will hopefully manifest themselves as physical cabinets but are more likely to show up as something much more esoteric.

"Good luck," Cortana wishes them, and the hack team sets off and splits into groups.

Less than an hour after the ship leaves Agrestic's orbit, an announcement is broadcast throughout Stacy.

|| Attention, crew. Your crewmates, Howard Bassem and Charles Merriman, have been apprehended attempting to desert. They will now be given Punishment. According to established guidelines, you are all requested to report to the Observation to witness the Punishment. Attendance is not mandatory, but highly suggested. This will serve as a reminder of the consequences of treason and desertion. ||

On the observation deck, Archon Yavek, Archite Rekkti, two other Daligig and a handful of Kessek soldiers stand outside a spherical force field. Inside the bubble, Orc and Howard are suspended by tentacles looping around their wrists. Orc's ceased thrashing around and struggling against his restraints; rust-colored fissures have developed around his shoulders and forearms from the strain, but now he simply hangs there, looking defeated. Howard's nose is bleeding, and every time a drop falls to the bottom of the forcefield there's a small sizzle. He's weeping and begging the Daligig with every plea possible, but they act as if they aren't listening. Instead, they wait for an audience.

Who: Ax, Jonas, Paco, Jeka, OPEN
Where: On the move
Summary: Crew members released from GLaDOS’ clutches request information.
Warnings: None

Several holes opened up just inside the Hub and ejected a handful of crew members out onto the corridor floor. It took several moments for them to extricate themselves from the tangle.

“Hair. HAIR!”

“Sorry, didn’t mean to pin it down. Jonas, Ax’s back legs are tangled in your cape, can you do something about that?”

“[Tell him to stop kicking and I will try.]”

< This is not kicking. >

“[Then please squirm less. Do you see anyone?]”

“I don’t see anyone, but we’d better get this worked out before we need to run.”

“Amen, sister. Ow!”

Once on their feet again, they all pulled out their omnicoms to find out what they’d missed and to let the rest of the crew know that they were back.

“I don’t see anything about Brainy or Brenda,” Paco said, disappointed. Jeka huffed unhappily, running her thumb over her Legion ring.

“I’m going to report in to Security,” she said. “Aximili, do you want to come with me?”

< I should talk to Allenby first, I think. Tell them that I’ll be by soon. > Ax replied.

“Aaand Jonas is already tearing off to go find his girlfriend, so looks like it’s just me and myself going for food again,” Paco said as the other teenager in question vanished around a corner. “Catch you guys on the flipside, assuming we’re not about to get ambushed by tentacled space-snails or something.”

[[OOC: Say who you want to talk to in the subject line!]]

It's shaping up to be another average day on the Transmigration 9. Crew members are going about their business as usual and all is (to most appearances, at least) about as "well" as things ever are on the ship.

Some crew members are going to be stopped out of the blue by impact with a force field.

"Attention Crewmen: You have been chosen to participate in an experiment!" GLaDOS's voice informs. They're not alone, someone else that was nearby is also caught within the same narrow radius. "Participation is mandatory. Please try to relax and enjoy the experience, as this will improve the quality of the test results."

Clearly this is going to be a wonderful day for science.

"You and your new scientific partner are now on a date," GLaDOS goes on. "As it would be detrimental to our study of the date experience if you were to be separated, you must remain close to your partner for the duration of the experiment. This will be enforced with the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field. Prolonged exposure to the Transmigration 9 Crewman Containment Field may have unexpected side-effects. While any side-effects encountered will be documented and your desire to offer yourself to science is commendable, it is not a necessary part of this experiment."

"You will be informed when the test has been completed. We would like to thank you in advance for your full cooperation in the experiment and failure to attempt to foil it in any way."

"The experiment has begun, so you may begin dating."

( OOC Notes Below Cut! )

Terry's first priority when he'd found himself on the ship for a second time, now with so much changed, had been to touch base with those he'd known before, and get up to date on what had happened while he was away. He still needed to go through the ship's roster in more detail to pick out any more familiar names, and find out a few more of the details on what all had been going on, but he was feeling a bit more at ease now, and could turn to his second priority: making sure he was ready for the war with those damned bugs when it all finally came to a head.

He'd made a lot of use out of the sensoriums before, but it was mostly recreating his city, to have something to hold on to. About a year had passed outside of his pod, though, and he felt that he had to accept that Gotham, for now at least, was gone. His focus had to be on the current situation, not the past, however much he wanted to go back to things as they were.

Besides, he'd also used the sensoriums for fight practice - like the battle robots Bruce had had made for training back home. But he'd been asleep in a pod for a year, and though he'd only felt like he'd had a very long and restful night's sleep, he had to admit that his muscles atrophied somewhat in the stasis.

So he'd shaped this sensorium session into his own private work-out room. A mix between the Batcave and the gym at juvie. It surprised him, one he'd thought of it, just how much the ship reminded him of the latter.

He started in on a simple, but effective, warm up and then work out. He didn't quite notice anyone come in right away.

Several significant data reports were still trickling in, and already Billy's overworked mind knew one thing: this workload was going to be one of his least favorites. Overwhelming, exhausting, sometimes confusing, and with the pressure of time attached as well. Stacy could simply not be relied upon to give the crew a break, and thus they needed to be prepared for a battle like that again. As soon as possible. But how soon was that? Today's meeting's purpose was to make it as soon as possible.

On the board against one wall of the lab, he threw up a starting list of repairs that needed to be made. All the significant weapons and armor that had been turned in, important communications equipment, crew items requiring immediate attention for that person's full functionality, the most often used generic vehicles, and the specialty/personally owned vehicles. That group would be the easiest to select, he hoped.

How easy or difficult this would be would not be fully known until he saw a spread of who was assisting, and how many. Could they complete everything fast enough for the crew's satisfaction? That would be the main worry from here on out.

Billy was almost relieved when they started trickling in. As he waved, not quite as energetically as usual, they might notice one or two signs of the battle. His movements didn't look quite as easy as before, some trace of pain still behind them, and a long bandage now tied around his forehead. Some would look better, some would look worse. He sincerely wished to see more of the former than the latter.

They needed all the healthy help they could get.

 As the battle raged outside, those remaining aboard Stacy had their hands full preparing for the incoming flood of refugees.

Positioned near the Bleed-Gate orbiting Lirath, Stacy stood ready to receive the refugees. Ship after ship ascended as quickly as they could, some of them making a break for the Bleed-Gate itself while the smaller ships were forced to dock at Stacy, unloading their cargo of refugees before setting off again for the planet's surface again to take on more passengers.

Several small units of GIA soldiers were also sent up to help the Transmigration crew take in the massive amount of refugees, many of whom were tired, wounded, and scared. It wouldn't take long for the ship to begin filling with people.

With the battle raging outside, and the Ohm clambering outside, trying to get in, it would be a tall order to keep all of the refugees safe and calm, but the crew didn't have much choice.

[ooc: Open!]

The day had finally arrived for her big event, and Starfire couldn't be happier---or more nervous, actually. She was certainly not an expert on the inner workings of a prom, but it couldn't be too terribly complicated, right? As long as the people could eat, dance, and talk, it should be a reasonable success.

With that in mind, her decorations sprung from her mind into the large dome all around her, transforming a grey Sensorium into a beautiful underwater world, one with clear waters and free from the possibility of a shark attack.
( Diving into a underwater wonderland... )

The first thing he'd insisted on them fixing was the clone brand, but the surgery to fix his arm had come first, to allow all the tissue to heal right. His tendency towards fast healing was taking care of the rest. Then they got rid of the stupid clone brand after.

His hand was gone.

It was still a thought he had to get used to. One second it'd been there and now it was gone. It hadn't even been all the dramatic, like things like that were in the movies. It wasn't some moment over a gaping pit, with a villain chopping off his hand and revealing he was his father. He didn't have to saw it off to escape from some deadly trap, horror movie style.

There'd been a fight, he'd fallen on the teleporter pad, there'd been a bright light in front of his face and that was it. Apparently, it could happen just that easily.

Then again, it wasn't the first time he'd lost a hand--that same hand, in fact--but after healing for a thousand years under the North Pole, all the damage from the fight that had killed him had disappeared, and the thing had apparently regrown. So losing limbs wasn't exactly something he never expected would happen, when it already happened once. This time, he was fairly sure it wasn't going to grow back, though.

Ultimately, he decided that was okay. He was a little freaked out about it, but he'd cope. You rolled with the punches, right?

Sometimes you have to roll with the accidental amputations, too.

It was war. This stuff happened, it was going to keep happening, and at least it hadn't been his head.

It was war, and people got hurt in wars, just like you made decisions you weren't sure were the right ones. Just like his decision to let Moses free all the clones was one that was weighing on his mind. (He was just WAITING to hear from Leon on that one).

Superboy sat upright on his bed in Medbay, arm bandaged and in a sling, and played Tetris on his omnicom one-handed. Hopefully, they'd let him out of Medbay soon, and then...then he'd figure out the rest.

After responding to the post on the omnicomm Cassie spent several minutes just shaking, waiting for another response that didn't come. Then she started for her room, at first walking but then running. She was crying before she even got there and the moment she stepped in the room she slammed the door close and leaned back against it, slowly sliding down until she was huddled with her legs pressed against her body.

It was too familiar. A desperate call over the omnicomms- something she herself had done when she was trapped on the Helmacron ship. No one even knew she was there and being tortured. Just like no one had known that this person and someone else was...

It was too much. She'd tried so hard not to think about what had happened. But now she knew it was happening to someone else she couldn't- she just couldn't...

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

Cassie was taking Pinky, her Kyth Grub-Mole, for a walk in the City. She watched the tiny, pink creature skittering around in front of her, periodically stopping to look back at her. Apparently she had been missed.

The last time Cassie had gone outside Medbay ended in a disaster, with her being exposed to the Melting Clock. But this time would go better. This time she wasn't sneaking out.

She'd recovered from her last surgery, which was by far the most complicated. The skin on her head and neck had been replaced. She'd had to keep immobilized for far longer than she'd wanted to make sure the blood vessels got a good flow established. And now she didn't have to crane her neck permanently to the side. She could turn her head any which way she pleased. It was liberating.

Plus when they'd replaced the skin of her head they'd taken skin that would develop longer hair follicles. No more baldness, now she had a few weeks worth of fuzz on the left side of her head. So what if it looked weird.

All in all this was not a bad day.

"Hey Pinky, how about a hug?" She bent down and scooped up the grub-mole in her arms. "There we go. Good boy."

It was a little hectic in Medbay. Though there were only a few patients, they weren't in the best shape. Still, there was the best life support technology that could be built or grown in the Medbay, and the problems were being dealt with.

For the moment.

That moment would soon be over, only to be replaced by sheer chaos.

[ooc: Tag away!]

A good number of those affected by the clock had reached childhood, and required supervision. Several of the adults had offered to help, and no one was quite sure anymore who had first suggested it, but it was decided that one night, there should be a sleepover, something fun for the children. The idea had grown; Eva had offered Cassie's house, after getting permission from the other non-deaged resident, Aximili.

In the end, it turned out to be a packed house. There were about twenty children running around, and thankfully, there were five adults and two teenagers supervising. Luckily for Eva, she had made sure to childproof the house the best she could beforehand.

It was going to be needed.

[Planning post is here. HAVE AT. A description of Cassie's house is here, and if you have any questions about it, you can ask Lisa (Eva), Blue (Marco), Cait (Rachel) and Kaylin (Ax). Start up subthreads for stuff, and try not to wreck the place. :D; ]

"Wee-tah-kah-loo-loo..."

Howard was too young to catch the Furby craze in 1999, but he sure knows about them from Youtube videos of them being used in prank calls. What he didn't realize was that the off-switch was either impossible to find or non-existent. So it was with mild curiosity and, as is turns out, crushing naivete that he picked it up out of the box of toys in the Med Bay and gave it a shake. He has never regretted a decision so much in his life.

"I love you...doo?"

"Oh God, would you just shut up?"

"Wee-tah-kah-wee-loo..."

"That isn't shutting up! Please shut up!"

"Doo-dah!" the Furby cries as it's thrown against the nearest wall.

Anyone who walks into the Med Bay right now will find a very frazzled teenager looking for a hammer to free him from the piece of fuzzy Tiger Electronics that has been tormenting him for the last hour.

[OOC: Please don't destroy the Furby. I'd like to let everyone who wants to to get a chance at this ridiculousness. Feel free to threadjack. A list of Furbish phrases is here.]

After hearing the clock, Cassie had headed straight back to the Med bay. It had taken a while for the others to start deaging, hadn't it? And they were working on a cure anyway so- this was O.K. they all had time. They'd figure this out.

Except Cassie had less time than she thought. Maybe it was that she had been GLaDOSed recently. Maybe it was the pym particles in her system. Maybe it was all the stress her body had taken lately. Maybe a being of total control over here just felt like it. Whatever the reason, about halfway to Med bay, the effects of the Melting Clock took effect.

Cassie Lang was now 11 years old and totally confused about why she wasn't in the Baxter Building. Not to mention all the extra memories she had which... made no sense. She was 11, not 16! She hadn't been blown up. Her dad wasn't- and had never- died. The only boy she was crazy about was named Kristoff Vernard. And as much as she wanted them, she didn't have super powers.

This was totally crazy! This had to be some kind of super villain trick. That had to be it! She was fighting off the mind control. She could do this! Maybe the others were around, in their own illusions.

"Uh, dad? Kristoff? Invisible Woman? Human Torch?" She called, looking around. "Thing? Anybody?" She waited for a few moments. "I know this isn't real. You're making a huge mistake if you think you can manipulate me."

It had taken a little time for Stacy to double back, and for the Melting Clock to be brought on board. Now all of them could see just what had caused such a drastic effect - the giant, metre-wide melting clock face. But now the crew had it in their hands, and they could get to the real work - trying to find a way to destroy it.

[[ooc: Threads are up! Also, the ooc post about this can be found here, if you need to ask questions]]

Despite Superman's suddenly odd penchant for sporting mullets, it was time to have a heart-to-heart chat... between the Council and the rest of the crew. If there was some sort of bond between them and the crew that needed to be made, it needed to be done without hiding behind Omnicomms and other decisions.

Thus, the Council was gathered within La Prefecture and everyone was welcome to come in and make their concerns, questions, complaints and what have you known. Care to join us?

(OoC: This is open to everybody and everyone! Also, don't wait for the Council to address you guys! If your characters have concerns, start up a subthread and we'll gladly tag it!)

After several weeks, thinking with portals got old. Really old. But at least GLaDOS had the courtesy to drop Cassie off at med bay when it (she?) was done with her.

"You stupid freaking- do you know how hard it is to hold that gun with one hand?" Not to mention the rest of the scars. Cassie rolled her eyes and held up her left hand so she could get a good look at it now that she wasn't being forced to run around like a rat.

The color was good and everything was still in place. Looked like the skin graft had taken but better safe than sorry. She could test out moving her fingers after she got the O.K. from the doctor.

"Not bad."