Dash was surprised that he wasn't experiencing the effects he had heard afflicted more first timers, and he was more resistant to the extreme physics of space and entering it than he thought he would be. He would not have envisioned that he would be partaking in an astronaut's job of all things - those men and women needed to be physical and mental gods to do this, with bodies and minds of steel. Dash knew he wasn't that tough... and yet here he was somehow.

"Artificial gravity through centrifugal force would have been the simplest method, although an exhausting one. You'd always be walking uphill to go from room to room, but it would do the job if you could power the station and keep entropy from destroying the base." Dash considered that idea of gravity. "You said this structure has acquired the physics property of the anomaly? Does it defy Einsteinian physics?"

He smiled and glanced to everyone else. "Newtonian physics are also fine, and generally give more precise answers at the scale we operate on, but when the subject becomes very big or very small, like outer space or atoms, Newtonian physics no longer apply, and we need to switch to Einsteinian physics normally. But I'm guessing that math does not check out here, and gives some strange answers, which likely means Newton's theories aren't checking out either."

Interested in the maths theorising Charlie takes it a step further. "Newton's work is like an approximation of Einstein's maths. We can consider Einstein's universe as an approximation of black hole maths. Well that might be an approximation of this.
Rather than analogising centripetal effects, I was thinking of a magnet. It experts am influence on the surrounding world. A sheet of steel concentrates and contains the effect do that it's not evident on the other side of the sheet. Make a hole nearby in the sheet and the magnet's influence can be felt locally.
"That's how I interpret this."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:26, Sat 22 July 2023.

"We're not spinning," Morales said. "It's one of the mysteries our resident physicist, Doctor Petrovna, is focused on. Along with everything else. So far she's put it somewhere in the "irreducible complexity of a fundamental natural force" but with the anomaly to examine, we have access to processes never witnessed on Earth."

He looked at Jack and Riley. "For those of you who aren't scientists, that just means that when you break it down, past a certain point we know what gravity does. We just don't know why.

"But that's not why you're here. I know it was a long trip from Earth and I'll let you get settled in your bunkroom, but first let me give you a brief tour of the station. Where we're at right now is a hub. Living quarters and amenities are down that way, furthest from the Anomaly. There's a galley where you can take meals, along with a media room in case you need to, uh, research your subject matter."

He pointed off to the left, opposite where their shuttle had docked. "That way is the command section. Major General Sullivan is  in charge of the project, I’m sure she’ll want to meet you eventually. Colonel Anderson is her second in command, you’ll probably deal with him more often. After that I’m in charge when it comes to the station, Doctor Kovalenko when it comes to science, Captain Mitchel is Chief Medical Officer, Colonel Johnson head of security.

"Labs is that way, towards the anomaly. Follow me to the conference room first, and I'll finish your orientation. Feel free to ask questions as we go, keeping in mind my role as head of station operations."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:22, Sat 22 July 2023.

"Of the returnees that weren't physically injured, were any of them otherwise affected? Like, their personality or PTSD?" enquires Charlie a little too lightly for such a serious topic.

"I didn't say they weren't physically injured, I said they weren't killed. I'll cover the dangers you'll face in your briefing."

"Do measuring instruments work normally near the hole?" Charlie pesters.

After weeks cramped in close quarters and zero G, Riley stumbles when switching back to normal gravity, occasionally holding out her hand to balance while she gets her land legs back.


Mostly she looks around while the others ask their initial questions.  She assumes some information will be covered in the briefing.

But there is one important question for before the briefing.  "Does the gravity mean you have real showers?"

"What measurements, and what hole?" The Chief asked Charlie. "You mean the Anomaly? It's not a hole, it's a giant cylinder. But what measurements are you curious about?"

"Not yet," The Chief responded to Riley. "The modules here were all designed for microgravity... the anomaly's artificial g spreading to our own structures was a surprise. We've managed to make the structure safe, but plumbing designed to work with gravity is something that's still on order. Not to mention a heavier duty recycler to cope with the increased useage a real shower would require... remember, all the water we have is what we bring up with us."

"That said, we do have bucket technology. I'll give you the water rationing details once you're set up."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Sat 22 July 2023.

"Thank you for the layman's terms, SMSgt Morales" Jack said as he continued to stretch in the abundance of space.

He was trying to make sure to pay attention to the introductions and instructions now, time to wonder at this amazing reality later.

He looked at Riley and smirked. "This going to be a thing, explaining it to you and me."

Reaching a conference room, the Chief Master Sergeant bid the group sit in chairs set around a flat table. "Your operational roles are to accompany expedition teams into the anomaly, and to act as expert guides for the science and security staff. Your role is primarily advisory, but you will, I repeat, will, enter what is basically an alien structure.

"Preliminary exploration have confirmed the interior’s similarity to what I’ve been told is the video game Super Mario Bros’s world 1-1. It doesn’t follow the level layout - and the layout actually shifts around every time we mount a new expedition. But there are bricks, question blocks, pits that might as well be bottomless, and life forms similar to what is found in the game.

"Our furthest expedition to date encountered a subterranean area similar to that of World 1-2 accessed through a tunnel shaped like a pipe.  We believe that other Mario-related biomes lay further within - and have intel that leads us to believe that other areas of the object have terrain similar to other 8-bit video games.

"I want to emphasize that entering the anomaly is not a game. It’s a real place. And, generally, more dangerous. One of our security staff compared it to a fever dream version of the game.

"The artifacts recovered are real, however. Samples of the Brick boxes show construction materials lighter than concrete but more durable than steel. If we could figure out how they levitate… that would help us figure out the artificial gravity puzzle. You can see the possibilities."

Morales crossed his arms. "Questions?"

Dash was already forming some ideas about how this place might work, but he was curious about a detail. "Shifting terrain? I'm assuming you have it under surveillance right now. Is the change in terrain constant and steady, or sudden? If the latter, does the alteration come with organic observation? That is, does it change the moment a team arrives?"

"The region near the airlock is static," Morales answered. "We've built past it to a degree. Doctor Petrovna has theorized there may be an observer effect at work, or that the incursion has somehow stabilized the closest region. Changes can be dramatic, but so far no pattern has been established as to when they occur.

"And before anyone asks, there's a good degree of broad-spectrum interference - teams are out of contact shortly after leaving visual range, and remote drones won't be an option."

Riley whispers to Jack.  "Better to not know too much about physics since the experts are clueless."

Then the briefing has time for questions.
"Procedurally generated layout.  Cool."  Riley thinks it's better to use game terminology, considering the situation.  "Are there any patterns you've seen more than once?  Are they re-using areas?"

"So we can expect to jump super high in there, right?  Like four or five times our own height?"  She's been eyeballing Mario distances on her GBA during downtime on the flight.

"No. Gravity is Earth normal to within a few percent," Morales said. "The environment resembles the game, but being in it doesn't feel like being in a game. You go in, you're still three dimensional flesh and blood you, not translated into a digital sprite.

"Regarding its configurations, for the most part close to our staging area is a large flat chamber with cobblestones and felt-like fake grass, with the occasional brick cube. Occasionally we'll see a pipe or steps made of bricks, or a pit. The pipes are decorative in most cases, but one expedition found one that could be traversed, leading to an underground area."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:44, Tue 25 July 2023.

"Damn.  Riley waits a moment before continuing.

"It's going to be rough navigating that terrain without the ability to move like in the game.

If it's similar, we're looking at a step being 3-6 feet, and a lot of chasms three times that.

Does that mean there's no flowers that throw fireballs?"

"We've found artifacts similar to the items in the game. Coins. Flowers. Mushrooms. They don't work like the game, because this isn't the game. It's an alien environment that appears to take inspiration from it. It'll be clearer once you've seen the lab, but are there any other questions first?" He directs this last towards Jack and Charlie.

When Morales looked in his direction he spoke up.

"Yeah, I think so." Jack said. "Is there a ceiling? I mean, most of the game screen is taken up by sky. How high does this place go? And clouds?" he asked leaving the question open ended.

"The largest chambers we've seen so far are warehouse sized, so ceilings of ten to twenty meters. Not to say there aren't even bigger rooms further in - you guys saw the place as you approached. We might run across spaces that have ceilings kilometers above the floor."

He gestured that the group should follow and left the conference room, returning to the hub, then turned and headed inward, towards the anomaly. "Some of these questions are pretty strange, I'm not going to lie, but I guess that's why you guys are the experts. It wouldn't occur to me that there'd be no ceilings, or that you'd have enhanced jumping... but I've always been a bit lacking when it comes to imagination. That's not to say there aren't things that baffle our scientists..."

He stopped at what looked like an airlock guarded by a pair of marines. He gave them a nod, and one of the men entered a code into a keypad.

"We're going to cross the threshold into the anomaly itself now, where we keep the inner labs. Some of the samples we’ve brought back don’t last long if taken too far from the anomaly - current theory is that there’s some kind of radiation our instruments don’t record - calling it xeno energy until we know what we're dealing with.

"That’s actually one of the reasons why you all were recruited - tissue samples taken during your physical were resistant to this anomalous energy…

"Anyone who doesn’t show a high resistance - like myself - is only permitted past the airlock for short trips. In fact, let me introduce you to Martinez."

He stops by a door and opens the window. Inside is an asbestos room. A man - nude - sits in the corner. His skin has a bronze tinge, and as he looks up you can see there’s actually a thin layer of flame covering his body.

"Martinez here broke protocol and touched a fire flower with his bare hands. Doctor Taylor is studying the effects, but essentially his cellular structure has been supercharged with heat energy. He can’t turn it off, and it doesn’t seem to be wearing off… and if he leaves the anomaly, it starts to kill him.

"Now one of you guys - resistant - if you touched it the effects would be temporary. Your clothes would burn off, sure, but it’d eventually subside. At least, that’s how it works with the other Resistant. Most of the time. Some people, just spending too much time here... messes with their minds, makes them sick. We’re not sure why. But only a small fraction of the population is resistant like you are."

"That makes way more sense than choosing us based on that weird tournament." Riley says.

"We can probably get past the stranger questions once we have a look ourselves... right now I think we're all just guessing randomly."</Periwinkle She's always been more of a visual learner.  <Periwinkle>"If we could see for ourselves, we might be more useful.

In the safe room at the entrance, of course.  Until we get the briefing with the protocol."

Sergeant Morales walked the group back to the hub, and then to their bunkroom, which held alcoves originally designed to hold sleeping astronauts in zero gravity, now supplemented with cushions, sheets, and blankets. Each team member also had a footlocker.

"You will get that briefing at 0800 tomorrow morning - station time is synced with Eastern Standard, so that gives you time for a good night's sleep, sponge bath, and breakfast. You've got spare uniforms and some other gear in your footlockers. Bring the packs, any additional gear will be issued before you deploy."

"Any final questions?"

ooc: Anyone checking their footlocker finds four olive daub duty uniforms consisting of trousers, shirt, and undergarments in their size, a tactical radio headset (including headlamp), and a frame backpack containing a first aid kit, gas mask, coil of role, utility knife, two MREs, a quart-sized water bottle (currently empty), and a pair of binoculars. There is also a smaller bag inside the pack containing a spool of paracord, an ultralight blanket, a bottle of water purification tablets, firesteel, a whistle, signal mirror, duct tape, and extra wound closure strips.

You will also note the complete lack of US standard electrical outlets.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:02, Thu 27 July 2023.

"Sponge bath?" Dash had an expression on his face that indicated 'no' to phrase it mildly. "A common fantasy, but please no."

He then realized the most obvious intention of that idea. "Unless we are expected to do that ourselves. Then I'm fine. I have no questions yet."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Later, he was rummaging through the footlocker, muttering to himself as he did so.

"Military. Let's see... first aid, rope, mask, empty bottle, binoculars. Uncertain if MREs are barter or diplomatic incident. Foul reputation. Will require interviews."

He continued rummaging through the locker while commenting about it. "Paracord, blanket, water purification, firesteel - "

He paused at that one. "Huh. Lighter expected. Gravity intention. Simplicity over function? Will ask later."

He shook his head, and continued. "Backup distress, long-range backup distress, duct tape, which is hilariously named, and more medical supplies."

He frowned, continuing to mutter. "Little field experience, knew that coming up... let's see... no outlets to precharge US technology with. Interesting. Likely standards related. Have to interview."

Jack saw Dash going through the footlocker and though it was a good idea to do the same with his own. It appeared to be the same list. "Purification tablets? I wonder if they're expecting us to find water. But I don't imagine the water we find would actually be water!. Maybe we should ask about that later." he said and then stowed the bottle again.

Having got over his intial enthusiastic questions Charlie moves as directed but otherwise sits quietly, listening.

He says quietly to Riley, "No batteries."

Riley grabs a spare uniform and was about to get cleaned up - after the trip over here she feels pretty gross and while she'd been hoping for a real shower, this was still an improvement over the trip over here.

She probably wouldn't have noticed the lack of outlets until it was time to sleep if Charlie hadn't said anything.  "That's going to be awkward.  I didn't bring anything to pass the time that's not electronic."

She had spent most of the trip out here alternating between playing Mario kart and Warioware on her GBA, or listening to music from her phone.  Neither device had much (if any) charge right now.

OOC: I assume that's supposed to be coil of rope, not coil of role.

"Solar panels create DC current," Morales said when asked about it later. "So our outlets are international 120 volt DC. Basically the reason we use AC on earth is because it carries over long distance more efficiency, but DC is safer. Since the power's not going too far, stations like ours and the ISS use DC."

"As for your devices, our technical crew can adapt them to run off of station power. Shouldn't take more than a few days, depending on workload - I'll bring you some requisition forms. Until then, as mentioned our media library contains relevant games you can play as research."