Since the announcement, Matt had done his best to clean up everything and prepare a pile of food. There were small sandwiches, various snack foods, chips and several bottles of soda. It was simple snack fair, but it was enough to give people reassurance that there was normal food within the lunacy.

Rein puttered around, the little girl heaving up seats and moving them to accomodate the meeting place in the dining hall, pushing together chairs and tables with surprising strength. The pair worked busily and soon were prepared for whatever would come.

"Seems like we're all ready," said Matt, wiping his forehead. "Made all sorts of snack foods, and I've got the slow roast in the pressure cooker for those who want something hearty."

Walking to the door and wiping his hands on a rag, he opened the door to the bus to welcome anyone who was coming in.

Miku was a fairly religious young woman; you didn't go through life seeing the dead on a constant basis without needing, no, wanting, to put your faith in something. Unfortunately, Miku knew she'd been a little remiss in her duties to her family members. She sat in a small, created room in the sensoriums, a 10-mat tatami room with wood-barred windows and a single, sliding door. There were many, many small black mortuary tablets around her, some of the kanji so old that it'd warn away with age more than anything else.

She sat on her knees before the small family altar, where her mother and brother's iei portraits faced out at her. Mafuyu's smile was faint, but apparent in the way it lit up his eyes. Her mother's look much the same.

Miku cleared her throat and put the offering of rice up for them, then lit a stick of incense. "Good morning, Mom, nii-chan. It's been a few weeks since I properly spoke to you. I'm very sorry about that. I'm doing fine, as usual, so there isn't any reason to worry about me." It probably sounded crazy, talking to herself in the middle of such a dreary room, but Miku didn't mind. She knew she was already probably three steps closer to crazy than she'd like to admit, some days. "I've made a few new friends, aren't you proud of me? They don't even mind that I'm a strange, even if I do."

She smiled at the pictures, "I hope that you're living comfortably in Paradise. Please continue to watch over me, even if there isn't anything to worry about, okay?"

Diana hadn't really seen much of Cassie since she'd gotten here and that had to be corrected. Diana had heard of the Sensorums being able to create any place, including a training grounds, which was pretty much her intent. Getting rusty was a bad thing.

From Stacy, Diana learned of where Cassie was staying and she headed towards her room, knocking on the hard door. "Cassie? Are you home?"

Blink. Blink. Blinkity-blink.

Why are there three blue lights blinking from a small corner of Obs Deck? The blond kid in the simple blue polo and khaki pants might have an answer for you.

He's surrounded by small blue boxes and various inventions on the table and chairs around him, and if not for the fact that he's fiddling away on yet another invention and acting as if nothing's wrong, he would look just like an ex who'd been thrown out of his former significant other's house.

In between tasks, he lowers the tools and gazes around the deck, almost as if he's looking for something (or someoone) else. Hey, maybe he and his big mess ended up out here for a reason.

"This is it," Samus said, plopping down two trays of slop for her new companions. She seemed to be giving two crew members a basic rundown of the ship, which in itself was not that odd. Senior crew members often explained the status quo to the newer ones. Perhaps not usually this in depth, but the act itself was not strange. There were, however, a few odd things about this scene.

For one, Samus, willingly out of armor, was the one conducting the impromptu tour. She usually didn't concern herself with acquainting the newbies to the now old habits of the meatship. She was a busy woman and didn't really have the time to be friendly, which brings up another odd point. She seemed quite comfortable around the new crew mates. She still conducted herself in a mostly professional manner, but this encounter seemed to lack a certain... distance she normally put between herself and others. There was something special about the two she was with.

Well, something special besides odd point number three, which was that her new companions, who she seemed to fit in with rather well, were a pair of bird people: Komali and Gray Voice.

((This thread is open! Feel free to have your character stumble in and spot this "family." All three characters will be part of the resulting thread))

Scout had been rather secretive after the mission, ditching the second meet and greet (who cared about those jerks anyway) to head straight to the crew lounge. It was empty, which was actually great for him. After all, he wanted a bit of quality alone time with some of the "souvenirs" he brought back from that Earth.

He pulled out a white bag, practically dripping with grease now, but -oh God- did it smell good. Scout inhaled deeply, savoring the scent before gently pulling out a taco, hastily wrapped up in some thin paper. Sure it'd probably take a couple years off his life by eating it, but what what was he gonna do with those anyway?

Of course, the task entrusted to our beloved heroes of the Meatcrew won't be easily accomplished. They're being watched. Small, robotic Arctic foxes, a product of Macrohard, studies the crew as they come through the portal. They watch the set up; they see them go into the realm of the Holiday Spirit, and leave in their flying cars to spread joy in the world. The portal is left open--this is their chance to strike.

This joy, this happiness, this plan? Unacceptable. These creatures are the surveillance for Macrohard. The crew's plan is out, and this corporation is not pleased. The crew's efforts are threatening Macrohard's dominance of the season, but the most effective tactic isn't fighting the crew--oh no. What they'll do instead is go after the Holiday Spirit itself. There is no other option: the threat must be eliminated, once and for all.

Luckily, Macrohard happens to have access to the most technologically advanced weaponry available. The most dangerous mercenaries are on their payroll. Troops of mecha nutcrackers, cybernetic polar bears, and candy cane-wielding arctic ninjas are on route to the North Pole to finish up the job.

[OOC: These are small teams, so try to keep Infiltration Team in one thread, and try to do a LOT of group threads in the others.]

The plantsuits and space age clothing are so warm they almost forget they're in an environment that's negative seventy degrees Fahrenheit, (-21 degrees C). This would likely explain the snowball fight right in the middle of the mission. The mission that they've all forgotten. Remember the mission, guys? The mission to revive the Spirit of Giving? That mission?

They have to revive the Spirit of Giving hidden away in its own pocket dimension, accessible only by a portal they probably can't find. Where could this portal be? It could be anywhere! It could be under the ice, under the sea, at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.

The portal could be... suddenly wavering in the sky above them, like the aurora. Yes, there it is up in the sky, pushing the clouds out of the way to expose the sky overhead, caught in its three-month night, the stars sparkling in the frigid air. The sweeping colors probably remind them of the view from Obs Deck, and as it descends down from the sky closer to the snow, it bathes them all in a curtain of flickering pinks, greens, and blues. The edges of it burn white and then the portal opens up to a white space, that they can't see into. There is the delicate sound of bells coming from somewhere.

Their snowball fight did this.

The spirit thrived on joy, after all. What else would be the key to its home?

Well, what are you waiting for, folks? Dive in.

[ooc: tag away.]

Diana stared at the slop. She'd eaten this since she'd arrived but damn it was unappealing. She frowned, propping her chin on her hand as she leaned against the cafeteria table, alone, staring at the slop. Human food would be good. So would company.

[ uh, new thread is a new encounter? that's how i roll :D ]

All the while Hal was traversing the ship, the place that came closest to home for him was the Statuary. At least, a part of it did. He needed a clear head. He needed someone (someone he knew from back home) to tell him that he wasn't crazy.

Thankfully, he had already contacted Wonder Woman. He would contact Ollie and Guy and Kyle first, but the ring couldn't contact them or find them for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with their location... In fact, the ring hadn't been able to do some of the things it was used to doing, and Hal knew that since he started exploring this place. He would deal with that later. But for now, he waited for the amazon princess.

Something...odd is happening on the ship. Plant-like protrusions are occasionally sprouting in places throughout the ship.

They look like mistletoe, but this is purely coincidental. It's not like it's the holidays on the ship, right? It might be for some people, back home (if they still had a home), but others were grabbed from different times. No, it's just coincidence that these little devices look vaguely like mistletoe, and coincidence what they're being used for.

For you see, when this "mistletoe" is overhead, a crew member will be trapped in an invisible forcefield, and won't be able to escape until someone has kissed them or otherwise showed them some equivalent of affection. (Cheek kisses and sloppy puppy kisses from the canine crew members count). The "mistletoe" spring itself is shielded itself and can't be destroyed, the only way out is a kiss.

Why is this all happening? GLaDoS is performing whacky behavioral experiments, that's why. Each time, it happens, she intones messages like the following.

"Please express affection for your fellow crewmate to free them."

"This is of the utmost importance, and part of ongoing Crew Coherency and Cooperation Studies."

"Please do not attempt to leave the vicinity until you have participated."

"Participation is required. Why wouldn't you want to participate?"

"The Transmigration9 AI Complex thanks you for your participation in important research. Unless you don't want to participate, but not participating would make me disappointed. I suppose you just want to disappoint me."

And of course, sometimes she even outright lies.

"There will be cake."

In the fashion that only a speedster is capable of, the Flash is late to the party. Extremely late for someone who can cross the whole ship in less than a second.

Where he's been during the podpop and the crew social is best left unasked. Oh, he'd been in the caverns before the new arrivals had their gooey awakening, but he'd had an agenda. Had it been minutes, hours or days spent searching for Linda amongst the seemingly infinite mass of pods? He could never be entirely sure when he was back on Earth, but the ship's timelessness made it that much easier to lose yourself in.

The rest of the time spent absent? Well, he never did find her...

But here he is regardless, late rather than never, a crimson streak hurtling onto the observation deck.

"Hellooooooooooo...? Don't tell me I missed the show?" he looks around for a familiar face, while absently muttering, "Bet the buffet's already been rustled too..."

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their number. After the recent revelation, many of them were even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Brainiac 5 and Sensor were set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings.

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

[ooc: Newbie Helpers List | Instructions: Post your character with one post establishing them as being podpopped. If you would like to play out them talking to the AI, please send an email to the mods making the request--we do this only by request. Then move onto the big Newbie Meeting. Once your character has gotten the rundown from the old crew, you may start posting entrance posts and freely tagging. Here is the OOC info.]


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

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

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

--

( There was nothing... )