PARADISA

Log...Final

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 01:15:25 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[York's voice is a bit more hesitant and subdued than usual. This has been coming for a while, but it's still not exactly easy for him to say.]

Hey there, everyone. I just--wanted to let you all know that it's time someone went and checked out that spot on the map marked New York and, well, I couldn't think of anyone better to do it than me. Carolina's going with me, of course.

The thing is, I'm not planning on coming back.

We'll be taking the car that the Spartans made. The sleds are for everyone--they're in the garage out back of the castle. Bet most of you didn't even know we had a garage, huh?

So, uh. I guess this is goodbye, castle.

[Wash and South]

The hangar and the second Danger Room are up to you guys now. The teleporter on the roof of the hangar is keyed to the Danger Room, and it's located at three degrees north of due west in the mountains, about 50 kilos out from the castle. Keys are on top of the fridge in the hangar.

[/Wash and South]

[Friends]

[If you think you're on this filter, you probably are.]

I'll be checking in with Dr. Brewer in Fairfield from time to time, so if you really need to get a message to me, just leave it with him. Or if any of you ever want to join me out there, well, there'll always be room.

[There's a long pause.]

You guys are the only thing that's made it worthwhile to stay. I'm not leaving because of any of you, or anything you did or didn't do or could have done. It's me. I've been here almost five years now, and--it's just too much. Maybe I'll be back some day, but if you all go home before we meet again, I just want you all to know that each and every one of you is special. Not because the castle chose you or because you have some special power or because you're important in your own world. It's because you're my friends, and there's nothing more important than that. Nothing the castle does can take that away.

Not to sound cheesy or anything, but I thought you all should know that. And, well.

Goodbye.

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135.0

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 01:25:35 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Filtered away from anyone who would use this information for harm]

So, the aliens haven't made it out here to the towns yet. Some people are heading back already, but me and some others are going to stick here for a little while until they have a better defensive perimeter set up.

These guys are from that Draconis place, the one that the plague came from--they're all safe now, but their journals don't talk to ours so they have to use another way like radio. I'm going to help the leader guy here set up a radio tower or two so we can all keep in touch, and they're going to try to settle here for a while. Anyone back at the castle have any farming experience? Might be a good chance for you. Or, hell, anyone who wouldn't mind ferrying out a bit of livestock for them to use as starter.

It's about time we had a group of friendlies out here, and I want to make sure they stick around.

[/Filter]

[South]

Might have to give you a rain check on that dinner, but next week?

[/South]

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134.0

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 21:57:37 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[The castle has really got to stop with this turning York into a toy business. It's starting to get annoying.]

[Filtered away from anyone who would use this information for harm]

What the hell is everyone talking about? Did something happen? I've been, uh, out of it for a couple weeks. Anyone mind giving me a hand here?

( [Carolina] )

((ooc: Since the distress call was over the radio, it didn't get recorded on the journals so what expedition?))

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133.0

Sun, 14 Jul 2013 16:20:09 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

( [Carolina] )

[Some time later in the day, York speaks in a mostly cheerful voice to the journal.]

I guess it had me out for about two weeks there. Sorry about that, guys.

...Did you all really feel the need to dress up like each other last week or am I just reading that wrong?

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132.0

Sat, 18 May 2013 21:54:40 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[To say that York's been a bit depressed lately would be an understatement, but he's sure he's not the only one. Even those who had managed to sleep through the recent space madness wer picking up negative vibes from everyone else, it seemed, and that was really just no good for anybody. His recent conversation with Carolina had got him thinking, though, and combined with the memories of the hectic giraffe ride after the last expedition, he was really starting to get tired of only being able to fill in a tiny portion of the world map without spending weeks or a month off in the Dead Zone.

There had to be a better solution, and what better group of people to ask than the castle?]

[Filtered away from anyone who would use this information for harm]

Good afternoon, Paradisa. I'm Freelancer York, and as most of you know, we can't just run off and explore this world without making a huge deal out of it, gathering up a caravan and taking several weeks out of our schedule just to get to places we haven't seen yet. I'd like to see that change.

Now several years ago, a couple of people made some tests and determined that steam power and hot air definitely work out there. What I'm proposing is a race.

Whoever can make a vehicle that can run the distance between the Northern Outpost and the Wanderer's Yard in the Dead Zone, faster than a horse and rider going the same distance can walk, will win. If more than one vehicle can make it, the fastest one will win. It has to be able to carry at least four people plus a driver, and the driver has to be someone besides the builder. And enough gear for a camping trip.

But York, you ask. What do I win? Well, since I know how bored you all are all the time, the winner would get an exclusive contract to manufacture vehicles for the Dead Zone with a five-vehicle minimum contract, five thousand Caisos, and exclusive bragging rights.

Let's say three weeks for construction, so your vehicles must be ready to ride on June 8 at the Northern Outpost. We will also be accepting wagers on the outcome, and if you make up a fancy logo and some colors for your team, you might even be able to convince people to cheer for you.

Who's with me?

((OOC post coming soon! I will be away from my computer for a bit so feel free to threadjack!))

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Well, that wasn't any fun

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:46:20 GMT

Posted by: originalcopy

[ok, it was time to pull his head out of his ass and start doing shit again. There wasn't anything in the journal from the previous week that seemed important or addressed to him.]

( Filtered to Delta )

( Filtered to South )

So yeah... I think I'm just about ready to switch to the "space sucks" team.

[After talking with Delta, Church adds another filter]

( Filtered to Carolina )

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131.0

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:30:17 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Well, York had been hoping that his usual routine would help keep his mind off things, but that was being an abysmal failure. Between South's open hostility and Carolina's complete lack of recognition for anything he'd done for her, he was rather upset. So maybe....

Maybe doing something a little different would help. And he'd promised that kid he'd help with building a holodeck, so there he is at the proposed site and going over several different possible designs for the projection system using a small portable holoprojector he's brought from his room. The room for the holodeck itself is just an empty cube with yellow lines in a grid along a black background. The door is open, so anyone who wants to bother a man playing with pretty lights can walk on in!]

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130.0

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 03:46:04 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Backdated to yesterday. York dictates, and though he's waited a few minutes to try and get his emotions under control, his voice has an unusual undertone of fury in it.]

We found a couple former castle residents wandering out here in Terre Haute. No idea how they got there, and they haven't been there more than a couple days. They remember their time here. Might have showed up after the meteor thing hit, but we're not sure. Also still haven't really investigated it, for those of you watching from home.

[Filtered to anyone Carolina knew, but away from anyone who would hurt her as well as away from her]

Carolina's back. Only she's back from significantly later in the timeline, and she hates me.

[...Nope, not getting any more than that out. Not now.]

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129.0

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 03:04:33 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Okay, York feels a little silly for actually writing out this filter, but...well. There's the half-remembered time as a demented old guy and then there's some actual physical proof.]

[The Easter Bunny]

Hey, uh. Well. Thanks. I don't think we've ever had a holiday this fun without side effects from the chocolate like turning into chickens or something equally ridiculous.

[He pauses awkwardly, because way to go talking to the Easter Bunny. But hell, he'd talked to Jesus Christ here before, so why not?]

Anyway. Not sure if you'll stick around here now that the holiday's over, but I just wanted to let you know I had a great time. And this chocolate is really something else.

[The Easter Bunny]

[And now that that's out of the way....]

If anyone tries any pranks like replacing my coffee's sugar with salt tomorrow, you're going to find hot sauce in your pants. Just fair warning.

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128.0

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:52:40 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Unusually for York, this entry is written.]

Things I've Learned in Four Years

1. Season changes typically occur over the space of a day, or at most one week.

2. Becoming a different age has surpassed becoming a cat as the most common loss.

3. We're probably due for another room rearrangement within six months. This timeframe also holds for a world change in which most non-humans get turned human.

4. People are often surprised at the existence of the Dead Zone, the Danger Room, the hot springs, the archery range, and other locations listed on the maps you can find in the library.

5. Earth residents compared to non-Earth residents is about 7:1 at any given time.

6. There's still no food delivery service to the castle from town. Someone should fix this.

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127.0

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 17:25:50 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[It was bound to happen sooner or later. He knew that. He'd always known that - it's what this place does. How many people--how many hundreds of people--had come here a day, a month, a year, and then left again without warning? How many dozens of people had he, personally, cared about and then had taken from him?

Nothing like this, though. Never like this.

He'd awakened in his own room, the first sign that something was wrong. He hadn't been here except to pick up the occasional supplies ever since he'd moved in with Carolina. His initial feeling of dread is compounded when he finds only her dogtags and lighter on the nightstand next to him.

He doesn't want to believe it, at first, but of course when he runs up to her room in a blind panic, it's empty and the nameplate is blank. Of course it is. Why should it be otherwise? When has this place ever managed to hold on to anyone he cared about?

It's about an hour later when he finally writes into the journal, not trusting his voice.]

Carolina's gone.

[Friends]

I'm going to be away from the castle for a while. Don't bother coming after me.

[/Friends]

[If anyone is quick enough they'll be able to find him at Kat's hangar, outfitting the Warthog for a week or more's travel. The Dead Zone's not really an option, not with Delta, but damned if he's going to stay any closer to the castle than he has to.]

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126.0

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:36:30 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Backdated to late in the day yesterday.

York had been surprised, to say the least, when a bird had shown up in his room with the TARDIS's signature VWORP VWORP noise, but he'd quickly remembered the parrot that the Eleventh Doctor had kept - brought back from the pirate land, he thought. So he'd filtered to the Doctor asking if that was intentional, and if not that he could return the bird to him no problem.

He hadn't answered for a while, but this was the Doctor; he could get easily distracted.

After a day, though, York had been worried. Tardy the bird was a little larger than the conure Delta had turned into a number of times, but he found that the same sort of training and gestures applied. So he wandered down to the Doctor's room with the bird on his shoulder, occasionally making squaks or informing York "I'mtheDoctorbytheway".

His panic triples when he sees the nameplate empty. But that could just mean he moved, so York does an entire patrol of the castle, and then one more when he's done to make sure that's right. And yeah. Yeah, it is.

When he dictates to the journal, he sounds both upset and tired.]

The Doctor's gone back to his own world. I--I know he'll like it better that way. Freedom was always the one thing he wanted here and couldn't have.

[But York would certainly miss him, and he knew there would be a lot of other people who would as well. In his three and a half years here, they'd never been without a Doctor.]

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125.0

Sat, 27 Oct 2012 22:04:54 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[UNSC Filter]

[York writes a page number in the journal.]

I'd like to talk about this, if you're all willing. You think we could meet in the hangar in about an hour?

[/UNSC Filter]

[The rest is dictated to the castle at large.]

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to plan Halloween costumes for some, and time to prepare for potential attacks for others. We've had a few over the years, from demons to vampires to everyone's favorite, the brain-eating undead. So tell me, Paradisa.

Do you know what your zombie plan is?

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124.0

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:04:55 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

( Filters to Freelancer House )

[House Flynn-Bradley]

Uh, hi. My name's Freelancer York, and I just wanted to say thanks to you guys for taking care of my buddy Delta during the plot. I'm sure he didn't cause you guys any trouble, but--well, thanks anyway.

[/House Flynn-Bradley]

I gotta say I liked that--and that we should do fireworks here more often. Did any of you ever get to do anything like that in your real life? Cause I sure didn't.

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123.0

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:24:24 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

( [Carolina] )

[Filtered to Tony Stark and anyone else familiar with advanced technology that would not use this information for harm]

I've been talking to a few people about this--this change with death and how the bodies don't disappear any more, and how if you destroy the body it hurts the person coming back. So I was thinking, in my time we have what are called cryosleep chambers that we use on long space flights. Essentially, they keep a person alive but in stasis until we reach our destinations. It's no big deal, I've been in cryo dozens of times. Anyway, I was thinking something like that could help preserve the bodies, and if they do start showing signs of life the chambers can be calibrated to wake them up and let them out right away.

Would any of you be willing to help me build something like that? I have the schematics already.

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122.0

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 01:43:42 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[York's out on the grounds tonight with a bottle of pilfered wine and a good variety of foodstuffs from the kitchen area, sitting at the feet of a particularly sexy (to his mind, anyway) statue. Great way to spend your six-month anniversary with your girlfriend. He raises her a toast and drinks it silently, joined by a Delta in human form. Sometimes it's good to ditch the cabins and be alone with your friends, although speaking of which, he writes up a quick filter.]

[Friends]

Dionysus aren't the only ones who can have a party. Anyone who wants to join me and Delta for a drink and some snacks, we're at [insert location of statue here]. Kat, I know you can see this filter, so you're invited too.

[/Friends]

[Whether anyone shows up or not, they'll at least enjoy the change of scenery. When you're out of the castle, might as well celebrate being out of the castle.]

((ooc: Open to friends (if you think you're on this filter, you probably are) and anyone liable to wander around on the outskirts of the forest!))

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121.0

Sat, 26 May 2012 04:37:08 GMT

Posted by: alaspooryork

[Good afternoon, Paradisa. It's a voice that, except for by a select few, hasn't been heard in the castle in a year. It's a very mechanical voice, almost as if someone was using a text-to-speech program. Yes, a certain iPod has discovered York's journal.]

YOU CANNOT KEEP ME AWAY. YOU HAVE FOOLISHLY ALLOWED MY FIRMWARE TO UPDATE. NOW I CAN ACCESS THE SPEAKERS THROUGH BLUETOOTH. HA HA HA. PERHAPS YOU WILL LEARN NOT TO IGNORE THE END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENTS NOW.

[GLaDOS]

HELLO, MOTHER.

[/GLaDOS]

[The one who was badmouthing GLaDOS (aka Wheatley)]

STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER.

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119.0

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:56:04 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

((ooc: backdated to this morning. Guess whose third anniversary is today?))

[...York doesn't even know why he's surprised anymore.

Hi, Paradisa.

There's a giant panda and a little red panda curled up in the lobby, looking forlornly at the tower stairs. How were they supposed to ask Carolina for help if they had to climb all of those? And why isn't there any bamboo nearby?]

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118.0

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:32:24 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[When he speaks, York's voice sounds unusually controlled. There's a clear undertone of anger and frustration, which is very out of the ordinary for the usually cheerful Freelancer.]

Nice job, everyone. A convicted criminal and confirmed murderer gets his most dangerous weapons back and none of you even bothered to protest. Whatever happened to not being sheep, or do you not pay attention to the Monday night radio shows either?

Don't come crying to me when he starts murdering all of your friends, too. See how much your apathy costs you then.

Screw you. All of you. If this is how it's going to be, I'm not staying in this castle one more goddamn minute. Don't bother looking for me.

[Fifth and Eleventh Doctors]

Well. Not you. [He pencils in some coordinates corresponding to somewhere up in the mountains.] If I do come back, and I'm expecting the castle will make me at least once, I'm hoping I can stay with you? And you guys can visit any time.

[/Doctors]

[Amy and Rory]

If you need a safe place to stay besides the TARDIS, let me know.

[/Amy and Rory]

[And with his room locked in a new rotating holographic encryption, the Mongoose gone from the hangar, and the few teleporters he'd scattered around either conspicuously missing or locked in that room, and to all appearances, York is gone.]

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117.0

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:10:59 GMT

Posted by: encryptedlock

[Backdated slightly to this morning.

York wakes up not only on the floor but in a completely different room than where he was before. There's a moment of panic - it looks entirely too much like something from home to be recognizable as the castle immediately - but as always Delta is there in his mind, reassuring him. Yes, he can still access the CastleNet, and look around a little. This is Noble Six's room.

The question then becomes why is he in Noble Six's room, and how did he get there? And why is his journal mostly blank?]

Hey there, castle. It's me, and I seem to be back to normal now. So. What kind of loss was I on and for how long?

[UNSC filter, sans Maine]

And what the hell is going on with the journals?

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