♖ 001.

[summerschild]

Who: Bran Stark and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The HS Marsiva Hospitality Deck
When: 6/13

[On the Hospitality Deck, there's a little lump of dirt and fur on the floor next to one of the cots, twisted up in the white sheets. Bran had woken up in a fit of panic, scrabbling for the damp floor of the Queenscrown holdfast, and then-]

Is anyone there? Hello?

[A bump on his head aches from the tumble. He doesn't understand what he's seeing in front of him, through the clear glass of the bowing windows. It makes him dizzy, and he rubs at his nose with one grubby hand. His fur cape is still muddy from the thunderstorm, making him look a bit like an abandoned puppy.]

I need some help!

[He tries to use the cot to pull himself back up, but with a click the wheel unlocks, and sends the bed teetering towards anyone coming across the floor. Oops...]

Comments

[asinisterkid]

[ It's a kid -- a kid without the use of his legs, as far as Jason can tell -- and he has to suppress his immediate "FUCK YOU ATROMA" reaction in order to be as soothing as he can. ]

Hey. I can't get to you right now, and I'm sorry. I literally cannot. But you've probably got questions, and I can answer them until help comes, if you want.

[summerschild]

[He startles again at the sudden voice, whipping around to scan the room. This must be another vision, that's the only explanation.]

Who's there?

[He tries to put on his Lord Voice.]

Sh-show yourself.

oops, video;

[asinisterkid]

I can't. [ He's keeping his voice as nonthreatening as possible. ]

But if you can follow the sound of my voice to the little device it's coming from -- it should be coming from somewhere close to you, if you can reach -- you'll be able to see me. They give us all communicators. It's how I'm seeing you right now. I'm just not close enough to do you any good.

And my name's Jason. Jason Todd.

shaky video whoops;

[summerschild]

[Still confused as hell, Bran's eyes follow the voice to the small object, lying a few feet away. He uses his arms to pull himself over to it, until he can see Jason's face. His eyes widen in awe, and he accidentally covers up the screen as he reaches over to examine the communicator.]

I don't understand...

[He turns it over, and over again, before finally looking back at Jason.]

Is it magic?

[asinisterkid]

Nah, just technology. It's as inherently magical as... as a crossbow is, just a lot more advanced. [ And he'll feel pretty stupid if this kid isn't from someplace with crossbows, but it seems like a safe bet, between the furs and the asking about magic. ]

Pretty sure one of those would seem pretty magical to someone from a world where they hadn't moved past "hit it with a rock" as a strategy.

Maybe not the best metaphor, but it's what I've got. [ He shrugs. ]

[summerschild]

[He's certainly from a place with crossbows, but this metaphor just doesn't click with him. The concept of video is too foreign, too close to magic to make sense as anything else, and he abandons the query for the moment, instead pulling himself back into a sitting position. The video feed points at the ceiling for a moment before he rights it.]

You said... you said "they" give us these things.

[The question is in his eyes - "Who did this?". This kid can sure glare, even when he's grubby and frightened and lost.]

[asinisterkid]

Atroma. We don't know much about them, but they basically kidnap people from different places and times and even different worlds, and assign us to ships in their fleet to see how we react to things and get along with each other. It's supposed to be a form of entertainment. We call it "reality TV" where I'm from. Of course, where I'm from, people volunteer.

[ There's a bit of anger showing now, but it's very pointedly not directed at Bran... and after a moment, he tones it down. ]

They make announcements sometimes, but no one's ever answered any messages we send to them as far as I know.

[summerschild]

Atroma?

[He repeats Jason, testing the word. None of this makes sense. Different times? Different worlds? His mind works to justify all of this with what he understands.]

They've captured us for... entertainment.

[It rings a bell, hidden deep in stories of the lands across the sea from Westeros.]

Like slavers.

[asinisterkid]

[ There's a seriousness, a toughness to this kid that Jason simultaneously appreciates and mourns. He's got a lot of feelings about kids who had to grow up too fast, and just because this kid's from some medievalish world where it might've been necessary on a broader scale than where he's from doesn't make it right. ]

...Yeah. They pay us based on how entertaining we are, but since that can't buy us a way home... [ He sighs. ]

Whoever entertains the viewers the most gets to go home, from what I've heard. Beyond that, they don't make us do anything... but we're stuck here either way.

[summerschild]

How are we supposed to entertain them?

[He's got some pretty daunting ideas, such as jousting, or fighting pits.]

Do we have to fight?

[asinisterkid]

You don't have to fight. Everyone here has a job, and there's a... okay, there's no good way to explain this... there's a little thing they put in your head, an augment, that gives you the knowledge you need to do it. Some people are security, and they're equipped to handle combat if it needs to happen, but we've got cooks and pilots and engineers and things. Lots of people here who probably wouldn't know which end of a knife to hold. [ His smile's more wry than reassuring, but as solemn as this kid is, he doesn't want to come across as condescending. ]

Really, they just want to see how we get along, how we react to things, what we get up to in our spare time... Every month, we go someplace different, and what we do when we get there is up to us. Sometimes it's all good fun, other times... not so much.

[summerschild]

[At the mention of the augment, Bran's eyes go wide. His fingers fly to the back of his head, searching for anything awry. When he lands on the small protrusion behind his ear, the alarm grows.]

I don't understand. How did they put it in? Can they take it out?

[He hasn't even heard the rest of the explanation, so distracted is he by the augment.]

[asinisterkid]

[ And here's the moment when he asks himself if he really wants to scare this kid more than he's scared already. After a moment, he decides to go with the truth. Trying to soften the blow never helped him when he was a kid. ]

Most likely they made a little cut and put it in, then healed it up before you woke up. They should be able to take it out just as easily, but don't try getting it out yourself. That'll just hurt you. A lot.

[summerschild]

[There's no softening the reality of a stranger having cut you open in your sleep. Bran goes paler, if at all possible.]

... You said the entertaining people get to leave? How?

[asinisterkid]

From what I hear, whoever has the highest ratings -- whoever the viewers like most, basically -- gets to go home when they're done with our tour through the stars.

I'm guessing the lucky winner's going to just wake up at home like they woke up here, but there's no way of knowing for sure.

[ He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. ]

I'm sorry. I wish I had better news. I know all of this is a lot to have to deal with at once.

[summerschild]

You don't need to apologize. It wasn't you that brought me here.

[He's not bitter at all, really.]