Chapter One [Video/Action]

[thebestseller]

Who: Richard Castle and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The good ship Windrose
When: RIGHT NOW

Video

[Castle is looking dubiously at his bowl of celebratory chocolate pudding- at least he thinks that's what it is- as he broadcasts to the network.]

Dear video diary,

Today is the start of my new life as a space reality TV contestant. It can't be much worse than paparazzi and serial killers, right? Right. I have been assigned to the good ship Windrose and hope to be an asset to her crew. Oh, diary, I do miss New York City, but I might as well make the best of things while I'm here.

Love always, Castle.

Action

[Upon exploring his new digs, it didn't take Castle long to find the tiny cleaning droids. He was attempting to line them up, but as they seemed programmed to go and clean on their own, he was having some difficulty.]

Come on, stand still and be a good robot army.

[Or perhaps you'd like to run into him elsewhere? Just name the time and place.]

Comments

video;

[thebestseller]

Oh, I think it's more entertaining for everyone to hear.

[limitstorm]

Is your name really 'Castle'?

[thebestseller]

It's my last name, yeah. My first name's Richard, but everyone usually ends up calling me Castle.

1/2

[limitstorm]

Jeez, that sounds like someone you'd meet in a novel...

2/2

[limitstorm]

I guess what's more important is: serial killers? You hurt?

[thebestseller]

Well, I'm a writer, so you're about half right. And nah, I'm fine for now- I do work with the police, though, so I've come across a few of them.

[limitstorm]

... you're a writer that works for the police? [ huh? how does that work? ] Are you some sort of journalist?

--oh. [ wait, he's being rude. he tugs on his hair, looking a little abashed. ] Uh--I'm Riku. Sorry.

[thebestseller]

No worries, Riku. [He shook his head.] I'm a special consultant with the New York City police. It's kind of a long story... basically, they called me in as a suspect when a killer was patterning their murders after the ones I wrote in my books. I was cleared of suspicion, but I helped them solve the case, and, well- the detective assigned to the case captured my imagination. The rest is history, as they say- we just got engaged a few months before I was pulled here.

[limitstorm]

[ he laughs. ]

Wow, that's some romance. I thought cops--er, or cop consultants, weren't allowed to date anyway. I guess stuff is different in your world.

[thebestseller]

I'm technically not a cop, so the captain's fine with it as long as we keep our personal and professional lives separate. Everyone's aware we're together, but it doesn't interfere with the crime-solving part.

[limitstorm]

Is it hard? The--helping solve crimes part, since you're not a cop.

[thebestseller]

Sometimes... I think the hardest part for me is NOT being a cop, since it can limit what I can do and where I can go. And keeping my emotions out of the case can be difficult, too- especially when it involves kids being in danger. I'm a father myself, so of course I don't look kindly on people who are willing to hurt kids.

1/2

[limitstorm]

[ ... uh. oh no. ]

2/2

[limitstorm]

Well... don't freak out that there's a lot of kids around. Most of us can take care of ourselves.

[thebestseller]

I'll try not to. I mean, I suppose it wouldn't make sense for you to be brought here if you couldn't fend for yourselves to some degree, right?

1/2

[limitstorm]

I dunno about that, there's a few kids I'm surprised that got here in the first place... and a few adults, too.

2/2

[limitstorm]

[ riku you're making your case worse ]

B-but, most of us can take care of ourselves, or have someone... around.

[thebestseller]

Well, that's good to hear. I doubt it would make for a great show to see a bunch of clueless people unable to take care of themselves, after all.

[limitstorm]

I dunno, it'd probably be funny--but it would be pretty hard if someone couldn't take care of themselves and had to fight stuff like what we've had to do.

Guess you've got a point.

What augment do you think you've got, anyway?

[thebestseller]

Fight stuff, huh? So it's not just a free beach vacation...

I am the almighty janitor, I suppose, since I came here with a bunch of cleaning robots.