driftfleet | 1 feather ✞ action

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1 feather ✞ action

Who: Michael
Broadcast: Personal comm - Bloodsport
Action: Bloodsport's shuttle
When: Let's say...Oct 9th, afternoon

[The idea has been sitting in Michael's brain since he brought it up to Zoe on the network. He didn't posses her same academic curiosity, but that didn't mean he wasn't a bit fascinated. He'd never seen a spaceship before, but his view of them so far had only been the cramped interior of the Bloodsport and the distance exterior of the mysterious Marsiva. But after a few days, the archangel craved movement.

Time for an adventure.

He heads to the shuttle, opens the hatch, and then turns on his communicator.]

Hey! I'm gonna take a little tour. Maybe go say hello to our hostess. Last one into the shuttle's a rotten egg.

[And with that, he shuts it off with a manic grin. That's all the warning you're gonna get, crewmates.

No worries, though. Once he peeks his head into the craft he realizes quickly that a normally oriented chair presents some logistical issues for an angel. After a minute of frowning, he sighs and twitches off the trenchcoat that normally covers his wings.

Anyone who arrives will find probably find him like that, attempting to arrange said appendages so he can sit in the pilot seat. Mind the feathers.]

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[You know what... the idea of this makes her really nervous. What if there's an accident while they're off the ship? They'll be ripped open like a tin can, exposed to the cold and vacuum of space, and they'll probably die like that, and their frozen bodies will float around the emptiness forever...

But who cares? Probably all of this is some kind of induced hallucination anyway. So once she hears his message, she'll be turning up a few minutes later, looking at the shuttle with some distrust.]

Are you sure this thing... [And then she steps closer, and she sees him... and the wings...]

... works...

[...Rin that's really morbid...

The wings are probably not reinforcing her sense of sanity though, sorry about that. He's mostly managed to get them aligned to either side of the chair back. It's a bit awkward and space-invading (haha), but what are you gonna do?

He cranes around at her voice and acts as if he doesn't notice her reaction]

Only one way to find out.

[Luckily! (?), her losing touch with reality started long, looong before she arrived in space. Space hasn't improved her sense of unreality of everything, but at least it hasn't made it worse! :D

And ohhhh no son. Talking around those wings is not allowed! She gestures towards them with an open hand. Politely:]

You're aware that you have wings, right?

[Are we talking rhetorically or spatially because you're going to give him a neckache.]

So that's why my back itched so much...[The smirky expression gives the sarcasm away pretty easily though, though that eases itself quickly into a softer look, as he gestures towards the vacant chair] Have a seat.

[Oh, so we're going to play like it's nothing... well, maybe it is for him. Her eyes narrow, and her expression maintains its wariness, but she does come closer and slips to sit next to him after a moment.]

Really, though... are you a human?

[Fairly obviously NOT. But she'll start with the basics.]

[He gives her a look, but there's a small smile on his lips. The fact that she doesn't automatically assume his nature is interesting, though, and he decides to humor her a little]

No. I'm an angel.

[Matter-of-factly. He starts investigating the controls for the shuttle, finding with mild surprise that he has at least a vague of what does what.]

Mm...

[She transfers her gaze from "the side of his head" to "the controls," inwardly wincing a little because she knows them, too... and she shouldn't. They've really been invaded...

At least it seems fairly benign, so far.]

I guess... I've known there have been angels around before... [Vaguely. She hasn't known any of them personally.]

[Well, that's gonna change pretty soon, though he's maybe not the best representative of his species]

...but? [There seemed to be more to that statement]

... I've just never gotten to know any really. That's it. [She blinks at him and then looks away.]

You're from Christians, right?

[He laughs softly]

Technically speaking..."Christians" are from us...but yes.

[His fingers find purchase on a few key buttons, and the shuttle hums to life, but not moving just yet]

You have questions?

Edited 2014-10-12 04:05 (UTC)

Maybe. [She stares out at the stars, what can be seen of them, instead.] How old are you? Is your God real?

[He glances at her as he fidgets with the controls, amused by the fact that he knows how to do this at all]

If God weren't real, it would be strange for me to exist in the first place.

[He pauses to smirk at her] And it's rude to ask people's ages, you should know that.

[Michael? Give straight answers? Never]

[She noticed! And so she crinkles her nose out at the view of stars, though she's watching from the corner of her eye as he maneuvers.]

Well, I don't know. It's a Christian thing, isn't it? Do you know that Christian people got tortured to convert where I'm from? What do you say to that?

It's a terrible thing.

[That actually sounded serious, though, and he frowns at her sympathetic]

But if you're asking why one of us didn't intervene, I can't really answer that.

What kind of real god lets that happen to his followers?

[Gods suck, Rin thinks, with an internal nod to Robin: he's acceptable. But, then again, he's not really a god either.

So she can stick to that stance: gods suck.]

He doesn't intervene in everything because he wants people to be allowed to make their own choice. Sometimes...a lot of times...they're bad ones.

[A few button presses punctuates his pause while he closes the shuttle door and the seals hiss]

Leaving your believers hanging out to dry is pretty lousy. [The look she gives Michael is a little challenging. It might not be the best idea to dog an angel about his god, she thinks, but at the same time that's pretty honestly how she feels. She glances away and shifts in her seat at the hiss. Hhmmm.]

[Michael sighs a bit as he punches a few more controls]

This isn't really my area. But think of it this way...if your father constantly stepped in to protect and help you with everything...would you ever learn to stand on your own?

Being tortured until they convert is supposed to be standing on their own?

[She folds her arms and looks out the window. She knows it's not this guy's fault, but this kind of stuff bothers her.]

Do you think that's fair...?

I shouldn't talk bad about the big man...

[Which should maybe imply as much as he doesn't say, and his expression is neutral as hesitantly places his hands on the controls and the shuttle breaks off from the ship with a lurch, floating free for a few moments before he experimentally eases it forward]

[You know, she's distracted from the heavy conversation by how they're suddenly unmoored and now spin-drifting through velvet blackness free of all oxygen and life-sustaining substances by themselves. Her hands close tight on the arm rests of her seat, but she leans forward too.]

Woah... [Dang. DANG. They're going to be able to see their own little ship.] Will you know how to find... you know, our way back?

[That's half the idea. The other half it just finding somewhere to put all this stagnant energy, even if he is still sitting down. It's exhilarating, watching the sky shift sideways under the influence of his own hands]

I don't know. I think so. I've never even driven a car, but I know my way around this thing. Odd isn't it? [He's grinning, though, despite how creepy that might be if you stop to think about it too long.]

[Whoops, she thought about it... and it made her shiver.]

They really got their hands into us...

[But seeing the stars this way is pretty awesome...

And look, there's the Bloodsport. A tiny oasis full of relative warmth and breathable air, spinning in the vast darkness.]

[Michael's gaze follows her own as he circles their ship. The vastness of space is more easily felt in this shuttle, when they can see just how much emptiness surrounds them, and all the space between the Bloodsport and the other ships]

Puts it in perspective, doesn't it?

[And that may or may not be a response to more than one thing]

[She folds her arms a little, folding up in herself... wow. Too bad about their kind of threadbare circumstances, or this would be really cool.]

I guess so.

Have you been here before?

Not exactly. Not like this.

[He steers the shuttle in a lazy arc towards the Marsiva]

[That's one hell of a ship. Looks like a bullet fired from the largest gun imaginable...]

You think we can board there?

[He isn't used to feeling dwarfed by something, but there is is]

No idea. But I'd like to find out what's in there, wouldn't you?

I sure would. [She just stares that way like she could laser through the side of the ship with her eyes.]

Let's go see if we can get in first.

[He makes a sound of agreement and moves the shuttle towards where the little voice in his head - the not God one - says the airlock should be. Thrusters hum softly in the silence]

Question. If we found the one responsible for us being here, what would you do or say to them?

[She... hadn't thought that far in advance. Hm.]

I'd ask them to send me back to Exsilium. That's the best place I've been so far.

[Maybe she'd hurt them to provide some motivation to do that, if she had to.]

What about you?

[He hadn't either really, but he's curious about her priorities]

I don't know... [His voice comes out a bit strained for a moment, the lack of surety over his actions briefly worrisome, but he continues with a bit more confidence] ...probably ask what their intentions are. I have something to finish back home, but I'd like to see how this plays out.

Exsilium?

It's a world I was taken to before. [She just stares dispassionately out of the viewscreen.] They were at war with a world power called United Earth... one that brainwashed its citizens and had repressed a lot of people... the Initiative wanted to take back the world, I guess. So they fought wars through time to try and destabilize United Earth. We got issued weapons and everything.

Is it difficult to drive?

Only a little harder than riding a bike...if I actually knew how to do that...

[He gives her a silent look, showing a bit more concern than he would most times. Angel or not, it's a difficult piece of information to take in]

So you actually haven't been home in a long time.

[Well that makes her laugh, sudden and bright like a spark chipped off a rock. Gone just as quickly too. She ticks off on her fingers.]

I've been away from home for years and passed through a bunch of places. A lab... Siren's Port... Exsilium... and Court too. [Then she returns to staring out the window... though she's not exactly looking at the view.]

It's been... about three years, I guess. Since I've been home.

[It's just felt so much longer.]

[He's sighting on the ports where the shuttles dock, so he's silent a moment as he angles the ship the right way. It takes a bit of concentration]

Home. But that's not where you want to go.

I'd be happy if I ended up at home in the end... it can be pretty brutal there, but most of the worlds I've been to haven't been much better.

[She takes a moment to ruminate, and then laughs shortly.]

Really, none of them have been. The Initiative just gave us weapons and money to deal with the problems we faced.

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