2021-02-09: Blue Moon
- Cutscene: Blue Moon
- Cast: Josephine Lovelace, Antenora
- Where: Akasha Facility
- Date: March 9th, 2021
- Summary: The Akasha System is activated, and rains fall around Guild Galad.
BGM: (Frank Sinatra - Blue Moon) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw1ZC6sZjIY
"So this's the big day, yeah?"
The operator at the console doesn't pay her much heed, instead busying herself with the necessary work at hand.
Josie sighs, shaking her head, then turns towards the other woman standing, watching the activation of the system.
It's almost like it's her child, she'd said to Antenora, only weeks prior. Her lips tilt in a lopsided smile. It's always sad when a child goes off to war, she'd said. Her eyes hood. Her lips thin.
"So," she asks of Antenora. "What'd you say the plan was, now?"
"I didn't," Antenora answers, without so much as glancing over at Josie, her gaze on the endless scrawl of numbers down the terminals. Some local communications chatter breaks in, hissing with static -- a string of letters and numbers passed between the crew in here and elsewhere in the facility. Antenora raises a hand, as if to indicate the two of them should be silent.
Coordinating between the teams is tricky, even in the same building. The people who built this probably had something worked out. Whatever it was, though, it's gone now.
The activation codes for the system had been wrung out of here with the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears. In a way, she'd done the easy part: cracking the system itself had been far harder.
Particularly the parts they'd needed to get the Akasha's 'eye in the heavens' to wake up again.
...Waking up, huh.
There was a story she'd read as a child about a princess who had slept for a hundred years until someone had woken her. But Akasha -- that part of Akasha -- has been asleep for a lot longer than that.
It kind of makes her wonder what sort of stories it could tell.
The chatter fades and Antenora turns towards her again.
"We are starting with something simple," Antenora explains to Josie, taking a moment to glance at the terminals. "Something to test the system's effectiveness while assisting our operations. Are you familiar with the 'Dianbai Guang', Josephine?"
Faintly, Josie grimaces but she nods. "Yeah. That's the Galadan train line, right? Straight shot from, eh, Guara Bobelo." She pauses. "Well, nearly straight-like. Ish. Through Buckeye," She gestures, vaguely.
Antenora raises an eyebrow but doesn't crack a smile. Josie rolls her shoulders in a shrug and sighs helplessly.
"Then you are aware of the conditions along that track?" Antenora continues, barely missing a beat. Josie nods.
"What do you think would happen..." Antenora says, "if there were to be a heavy rain?"
"So you're gonna knock out their train, yeah? Interestin' choice."
Antenora's gaze is solely upon the screens. They're just numbers now, counting down.
"Not precisely. But that is a fair guess."
Josie gazes at her for a long moment before turning her attention, too, to the numbers on the screen.
4, 3, 2
1
It hardly ever rains in this part of the world anymore. Once in a blue moon, perhaps -- enough to flood the gullies and make life difficult for those unfortunate enough to get caught in it. But it never lasts long. It washes away, it dries up, and the land remains cracked and parched yet again.
It begins to rain. Just a little at first, then picking up into a downpour.
But this time it does not stop.
The Dianbai Guang continues along the track as the rain thunders down. It'll need to go more slowly before long.