of those blackholes & revelations

[capemods]

WHO: All imPorts.
WHERE: Atropos.
WHEN: January 7th to January 14th.
WARNINGS: Death and destruction.
SUMMARY: Atropos has risen in the night, and the inevitable has come: with her jaws she shears away the City from Earth and swallows it whole.

But the City is not yet dead.
FORMAT: Whatever you please.



The formless mass of metal haunting above, hovering like a lunar tombstone, begins to take shape. Asteroids plummet into the cheeks, the eyes, carving out bone structure. Her features howl with fury, with triumph, as she stares down below, savoring her conquest. A cavity opens. Metal swoops to form jagged, angry shears. Her teeth are born.

She waits as the world rotates, its spin more wobbly than it used to be.

And then she leans down to feast, her bite vampiric. She takes the City and then some, and all that it encompasses, so that every single imPort is captured. She takes the time to drink in any stragglers, any imPorts elusive to the City's thrall.

She holds the City on her tongue as she draws back her fist to punch the world.

And then teeth close to the shuddering, glass shattering vibration of a cosmic laugh. The jaws close, and there is no light for about an hour -- until Atropos begins to siphon solar energy from the sun into her veins. She is dissatisfied with its dying tint, or perhaps she cannot stand the redness of color, so once she injects this energy into her her body (her most intimate domain), she turns it bright yellow again. The universe within her is illuminated.

The City is a floating chunk of broken skyscrapers and puckered asphalt streets. The trauma of consumption has wrecked the usual infrastructure: buildings are half collapses, or skeletal, vehicles are flipped and strewn across the layout. Whatever vegetation that is still clinging onto life has rejoiced under the return of normal sunlight.

You can breathe. It isn't too hot, or too cold -- it's unusually pleasant, in fact. The sunshine veins that light your world are not overwhelming. There is no blue sky to complement the atmosphere, and whatever water still in the City will be constrained to the bottled kind found in shops.

But there are other floating pieces of worlds, and they might have water. Or food.

If you live in the City, your possessions should still be in the City. While about 76% of the natives have fled the City (which had gotten the brunt of focus over the past week), there are still some natives who were too sick, too sentimental or too stubborn to leave.

You'll find that your powers work normally, though you can't teleport within Atropos. You probably wouldn't want to teleport outside of her, anyway.

She swallows, and the City gentle glides down a slick throat. Dust and particles create stunning visuals, like the aurora borealis, except in warmer colors. Light reflects so easily from solar veins and starstrewn flesh.

While you can breathe easily, gravity is fickle. Physics is often defied. Atropos was never one to play by the rules.

Comments

open:

[slightlyoffchilt]

[He had been keeping to the organized community safehouses -- few and far between as they were, they provided some foundation. Some security. Frederick Chilton could barely stand to meander beyond the familiarity of beige plaster walls, to look out into the starry abyss and watch the stars blink back at him. He could barely stand to grasp at the threads inside his own head.

But he needed water. He needed food. He was, and would always be, only a human being.

He dared outside, thinking he could ransack a lonesome quick stop deli. He dared to step outside.

Three bottles of water (still, no sparkling left, tragically) and some questionably old croissants that came prepackaged. Whoever thought to raid this ownerless company before him had taken all the good things. Chilton slinked back onto the streets, thinking about huddling in a corner with his boon. He took a deep breath.

He hadn't noticed the violet mist until it was in his nose, his mouth, his lungs. The sharpness in his body. Trying to cough it out, he stumbles off course.]

[heartlessglitch]

[ perhaps the silver lining to the end of the world was that the patriarchal hierarchy that had plagued her at the asylum was now broken, like everything else. the triumvirate of the osborn facility had been scattered. but danger remained focused, prioritizing her search of the city for those close to her. even in her organic body-- not trusting the integrity of her mechanical one, after its metal frame had whispered in the days before-- she was quick and efficient, conserving the resources she carried as she scoured the ruins.

frederick chilton was not on her list of people whose safety to ensure. if she had her way, perhaps she would have never encountered the man again. her resentment for him lingered, even now. but as he stumbled out in the street, it was some force of fate that had danger passing by.

she paused as she recognized the man, eyes narrowing faintly. it would be easy to just leave him there. no doubt he would be unbearable even as the world ended. she wouldn't have hoped that the apocalypse would cure him of the things she disliked. still, pursing her lips, she approached the good doctor, putting her hands on him to support him as he coughed. ]

Doctor.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton swallowed his sputtering coughs, his shoulders stiffening at the sound of her voice. His spine straightened beneath her touch, her strength anchored him. It was a degradation worse than he would vocalize, this necessity of her stability in this wretched moment.

He gasped deeply, taking back control of his throat and heart.]

Danger. [Chilton exhaled through his nose, a bull in the ring.] Why must you look so stunning, even amidst the apocalypse?

[A silence hummed against his teeth, his mouth now partially opened. Needless to say, those words were not the phrases he had put to mind.

Even if he thought they were true.]

[heartlessglitch]

[ she stilled at his question, her hands tangibly tensing where they pressed against him. in the responding silence, her eyes narrowed again, scrutinizing him with the weight of her skepticism.

abruptly, she withdrew, annoyance in her voice when she finally answered him: ]

Now is hardly the time to mock me, Doctor.

[ each word was clipped, unfriendly. ]

I should have left you.

[slightlyoffchilt]

I'm not mocking you. [He spoke tersely, his honestly relentless.] Not right now, at any rate, though I'll be sure to take the opportunity otherwise when it comes. I promise you, I'd find the endeavor enjoyable.

[He stood at full height, brushing off his blazer. At least this angle of truth wasn't so embarrassing. A quick glance up and down Danger caused a sneer on his lips.]

You should have, maybe. But you didn't -- why is that, I wonder?

[heartlessglitch]

Wonder all you like, Doctor.

[ her own tone was terse in response. she was starting to wonder the logic if coming to his aid herself. she knew the man would be intolerable-- worse than that, she felt uncertain of his motives now, or what he was trying to do by saying such things to her. no doubt it was another ploy to gain the upper hand. it always was, wasn't it?

displeased, she folded her arms loosely over her chest. ]

If you insist on mind games, then I will abandon you to fend for yourself. There are few things I dislike more than being taunted and being lied to.

[slightlyoffchilt]

Why do you think I'm lying to you? [Chilton quirked an eyebrow, his stare analytical.] I haven't yet -- I see no reason to, honestly, what gain is there amidst this?

[He flung his arms outwards, showcasing their mutual banishment. Aimless asteroids soared overhead, perhaps a mile above the City's ground level. The void above grinned back down at them.]

I find your trust issues to be both fascinating and frustrating. I've never had a subject who distrusted me so deeply.

[And he pales, having just tangentially admitted to Danger's profile that he kept with his secret observations.]

[heartlessglitch]

Because it is obviously contradictory for you to constantly make a point of antagonizing me, then suddenly decide to compliment me. As if I am not aware that most humans find my appearance to be strange and alien.

[ there was that short, annoyed tone to her voice again-- as if she was impatient with having to explain what she found to be obvious. still, she couldn't completely deny that there was some logic to his claim that he was being honest either. it was the end of the world. petty grudges seemed somewhat beside the point now.

still, she couldn't bring herself to trust him. it made too little sense to her. ]

You have more than earned my distrust, Doctor. My assistance, less so. And referring to me as a subject hardly helps your cause.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton glared, sneering his distaste with bared teeth.]

How dare you resist my authority, Danger. I've always resented your disobedience -- I -- [He coughed, his eyes widening. Again, this odd compulsion, it convulsed down his spine. He likened it to the mistletoe madness so recently suffered.]

Don't change the subject! [He snapped, regretting the word choice only a millisecond later. Subject, as she's always clued into.] Your insecurities are far more fascinating when they concern control, whereas your physical, nearly human conceits are too easy to prey upon. What do you take me for?

[His heart pounded against his chest, his mouth a copper livewire.]

I'm a psychiatrist! I want your psyche!

[slightlyoffchilt]

[She catches sight of him before he notices her -- but the stardust doesn't distract him for long. He freezes in his position, his arms protectively wrapped around his stolen goods. Rightfully stolen, arguably, as this was a veritable no man's land.]

Renee Montoya?

[He coughs out the name, his throat already thirsting for the bounty captured. Chilton wondered if she was as thirsting as he.]

[slightlyoffchilt]

I'm adapting well enough.

[Hannibal would be proud, he thought. The man always did say that they were adaptive beings.]

Though I haven't encountered many other people, which could be a correlation to my wellbeing. How about yourself? All right?

[slightlyoffchilt]

I usually only hear that line in bars.

[But not necessarily spoken to him, which is something he won't clarify. Besides, the banter provides some solid reason to distract any potential predators in his company from his liquid resources.]

Where are you headed towards? I'd be surprised if you're here for the company.

[slightlyoffchilt]

Supplies that I've already attained. For me. [In case there was any question, given his possessive handling of the water.]

Do you have shelter? I've already situated that for myself, as well, and if you don't -- well. I suppose that ought to take supreme concern, with you.

[crab]

[ It's shortly after Karkat's own mist inhalation experience that he runs across Frederick. He doesn't immediately recognize him as the rude fellow from the network who managed to accuse him of being a Halloween costume and use the words aberration and mutation in reference to him, all in the same conversation -- no, the only thing he notices is the fact that Chilton is carrying supplies. Supplies that might include water.

He's so thirsty, and his own search for water has been far less successful. And he's committed theft before. And he doesn't have to take all of the man's loot! Just enough. Maybe. If there even is enough. Guilt and desperation war within him, complicating his already-pounding headache, and it's almost unconscious, when he finds himself stalking the man as one would prey, strife specibus in hand.

Unfortunately, the inside of Atropos' warped concept of physics impedes his ability to be truly stealthy -- he's only been following Chilton for five minutes before, abruptly, gravity lessens, and he lets out a highly audible yelp of alarm when his attempt at walking forward propels him an entire foot in the air. ]

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Chilton whips around, his reflexes tightening at the noise. His disbelief registers as Karkat is lifted into the air, his gravity immune to the natural laws of physics. Clinging his water sharply to his chest, he watches as Karkat fights the new positioning -- it looked agitating, to Chilton, grappling against space and pressure like that. It looked like fighting destiny itself.]

That can't be fun.

[He walks backwards, slowly, gingerly. His eyes are still locked to Karkat's form. Chilton isn't sure if what's happening to his sudden company will happen to him -- but running might only incur the likelihood.

That's what he hated about this place, its unpredictability.]

I'd find you a -- a rope, or something perhaps, I could wrangle that maybe. [But then he'd have to put down his water...]

[crab]

[ Having Chilton's attention is the last thing Karkat wanted. He wants his assistance even less. If he doesn't talk to him, he doesn't have to think about how by intending to jump him for his water, he may well be condemning the man to the very same end Karkat is trying to avoid. ]

I don't want your rope. [ He snaps, but what follows is nothing like he intended the rest of his response to be: ] I want your water. I was going to jump you for it, but I guess physics is on your side.

[slightlyoffchilt]

You were going to steal from me? Steal my water? [That stopped the man in his quiet tracks. Chilton was the sort who rarely enjoyed indignation, and so he utilized this moment to the fullest.

The fact that physics choose to play out absurdities now, in his explicit benefit, almost made him giddy. It was a lot of conflicting emotion, whirling around his heart.]

You wouldn't just ask if I'd let you have some?

[Not that he would, necessarily, but Chilton was riding a high horse.]

[crab]

I wasn't going to steal all of it. [ Karkat responds with his own indignation, face flushed with humiliation and chagrin, while he continues struggle to return to solid ground. ] I would have felt pretty guilty if I left some guy to shrivel up and die of dehydration to save my sorry skin. I'm not worth that much. I'm not worth much at all, actually.

[ This is quickly surpassing "slip of the tongue" territory and entering "wow did I hit my head harder than I thought". ]

[slightlyoffchilt]

You really haven't much self-esteem, do you? [He cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing with internal analysis. Internal soon to be exposed as external, thanks to their mutual circumstance.] I wonder, are you fighting your survivalist impulses even now? You know, surely, what a terrible death by dehydration would be... And yet. You have to argue with yourself upon how worthy, or unworthy, your life is in contrast.

[It had been a long time since he had the opportunity to indulge psychoanalysis. Now was good a time as any. Care to keep an acute distance (lest he get caught in that gravity-defying state), Chilton slowly meandered with calculated steps.]

What have you done, to be so down on yourself?

[crab]

[ He tries not to answer. He really does. He tries to keep his mouth closed, despite how much he'd like to tell Chilton what he's going to do to him once he manages to get down. ]

I let them die. [ It comes out a gasp. ] I couldn't stop him from murdering them. I couldn't stop any of them from murdering each other. I was supposed to be their leader, but I let my friends die.

[slightlyoffchilt]

[Well.

Chilton wasn't quite expecting that gravity.]

Who fitted you with the responsibility to stop an apparent homicidal maniac? [It was a question that lacked judgment or concern -- it was objective, clinical. Curious. Chilton, by his occupational hazard, wasn't unnerved by murder and death.

But it was highly unusual data, from a young person's perspective, and one he personally had no experience with. After all, he never had the pleasure of meeting Abigail Hobbs.]