002 - Take your protein pills and put your helmet on ; video

[geonomy]

Who: Clay Terran and all of YOU!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Vanquish, bridge
When: 6/29, afternoon

[When the video comes on, Clay's looking at it with a big, excited grin on his face that seems to only increase in wattage once he realizes it's on. He sits back on his heels then, arms wrapped around his knees, though they probably won't stay like that for long.]

I haven't been here very long, but I've still met so many people with such cool powers! [And, indeed, he begins to gesture and lean forward as he describes each power.] Super strength, fighting with magic cards, reality bending, and flight! I never even knew those kinds of things were possible outside of comic books and tv shows!

[He rocks back again, arms winding around his knees once more as he seems to calm just a bit.]

So tell me about your powers. What are they like? Is it natural to you, or do you... I don't know, have to call on something in order to make it happen? And for you people who don't have powers, like me, what kind do you wish you had? [And the thought of it just makes him move once more, arms out and gesturing.] If I could have powers, I'd have flight, the ability to breathe anywhere I wanted, and super durability. Or maybe - maybe adaptability? That way I could go into space any time I wanted without getting into a heavy suit!

[... Aaand calm again.] So, yeah. Powers? I really want to know. It's of astronomical importance.

Comments

audio;

[geonomy]

[He does his best.]

Wow, those sound so cool! [How can he not be impressed; Standard RPG or not, that's still someone who can wield ice and lightning and fire, damn!] So like - how do you not burn yourself or something when you're using fire magic? Doesn't it get really close to your hands, or whatever you're using to wield it?

[He leans in close, eyes wide and utterly attentive; this is something he's always thought about.]

Re: audio;

[experiencepoints]

What are you talking about? It's magic, so of course it only affects what I'm targeting.

[Sorry, Clay, the RPG bullshit only gets worse from here.]

audio;

[geonomy]

[THAT WAS NOT AS SATISFYING AS HE'D LIKE IT TO BE

But he gives a mental shrug and accepts that. Friendly fire and all that? Sometimes he just has to accept that there's some bullshit that he can't wrap his head around.]

Sorry, it's just - Magic's still pretty new to me! I've got a friend back home who can do magic, but not that kind - even she's got to be super careful when she's using fire in a trick of hers!

[experiencepoints]

[She shrugs, not that he can see it, what with the lack of video in this conversation.]

Considering Fire 3 is a giant exploding pillar of fire, if we could get affected by our own magic, I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be any mages left.

I still don't understand worlds that don't have magic, though...

[geonomy]

[Brb imagining a giant exploding pillar of fire here. Like in real life, not with video game graphics, and it's kind of hard to imagine.]

... Yeaaah, you've got a point. And I'm not surprised by that; if your world's got magic all the time, then hearing about a world without one must be really weird to you, huh?

[experiencepoints]

You have no idea. I don't understand how that kind of world gets anything done. No magic, no monsters, nothing but humans...

[geonomy]

People of my world get a lot done, actually, probably because they don't have to worry about monsters. As the years go by, technology and human ingenuity increases all the more. Rather than fight and rid the world of monsters, we strive to try to improve others' lives in the world. [Though, thinking about the status of the world at times...] People have different opinions on what improves others' lives, and that in itself causes a lot of conflict. But we still move forward, you know?

[experiencepoints]

It's not like magic makes us less like that. My world's the same in that respect. Or, it was, anyway. We had wards around cities to keep monsters out, and anyone who wanted to could live peacefully. We have inventors and stuff, too. Not just humans- the smartest girl I know is an elf. She loved building machines.

[She doesn't seem to have noticed her tense troubles.]

[geonomy]

Oh, I'm not saying my world's better or anything! I think it's amazing that a world with monsters adapted to them being there by making wards around the cities.

... Are the wards gone now, though? And does your friend not like making machines anymore? [Someone noticed those tense changes.]

[experiencepoints]

[She takes a deep, sharp breath in through her teeth. Clay had reminded her of Rook, and just seemed so easy to talk to, that she'd slipped up.]

It's a long and shitty story. Don't worry about it too much.

[geonomy]

[...]

Well, if you ever do want to talk about it, I'm just a call away. [Or a little trip, if they wanted to meet up face to face or anything. Clay would never push anyone into talking about something like that unless they absolutely needed to, so he'll happily let her do it on her own time.]

So what's your friend like? You said she's really smart; what else has she done?

[experiencepoints]

... I'll remember that. Thanks.

[She almost starts talking- she misses her friends so much, wanting to talk about them is normal, but... no, she shouldn't. That's the sort of thing that can get used against her later, and she doesn't know enough about this place yet.]

Before I tell you about my friend, shouldn't I at least get your name first?

[geonomy]

Oh - Sure, sorry! I'm Clay. Clay Terran. And how about yours?

[experiencepoints]

Weird name. Does everyone have two names, where you come from?

... Gray Nightingale.

[geonomy]

Well, those are two names, right? Or is that all just one?

[experiencepoints]

... Dunno. "Nightingale" is my name, I never asked what was with the colors. Besides, it's a name an idiot came up with.

[geonomy]

Huh. [He can kiiiind of relate to the "idiot" thing, but that's not something he really wants to talk about.]

Well, in some places on my world, the first name is what your parents give you, and that's the one everyone calls you if you want them to. The second one's called the surname, or last name, and that's the one the family shares. It pretty much tells people which family you belong to.

So in other words, you can just call me Clay.

[experiencepoints]

... Nice to meet you, Clay.

My world didn't have anything like that. [Aaaand she's back to past-tense on that.] You get one name your parents gave you, and that's all.

... I guess royalty and shit might have had those family names, too? They were the only ones who really cared, I think.

[geonomy]

[... Yeaaah, definitely picking up on that. And he's starting to get why she didn't want to say anything about it in the first place, but again, he won't push.]

That would make sense in a world where everyone only gets one name. In mine, it really depends on who and where the royals are located. Some of them just abandon the surname altogether and go by "Queen Elizabeth" or "Prince William" or something like that.

[experiencepoints]

I guess it makes sense that all these worlds have such weird differences, but it's still so bizarre to think about.

[geonomy]

It's kind of why I want to learn as much about them as I can! In my career path, it's our job, and our passion, to discover and learn about what's beyond our world. So this is like the biggest opportunity for me!

[experiencepoints]

What kind of a career is that?

[geonomy]

I'm an astronaut! We're trained to explore parts beyond our planet to explore what else might be out there. We still haven't been able to get beyond our neighbor planet and our moon, but the fact that we got that far is amazing on its own! Our space technology is continuously evolving and growing; I've got no doubt that in the next hundred years or so, we'll be able to explore space in ways that scientists can only dream of!

[He would go on, buuut he knows he tends to ramble and ramble about space and his job and what astronomers have discovered thus far if he doesn't stop himself.]

So - Yeah! That's my job.

[experiencepoints]

[His enthusiasm actually gets a small laugh out of her. He sounds like Rook does about flying, or... Well, her about magic. Not that she'll admit that to herself.]

The moon, huh? So you only have one?

[geonomy]

Yeah. Weird, right? Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has just one moon. At least we're not Mercury and Venus! They don't have any at all. Our planet probably couldn't handle more or less than what it has right now.

So what's the most that you've seen, huh?