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Who: Nightingale and you
Broadcast: Video, fleetwide
Action: On the Bishop
When: Now

[The video feed starts, showing Nightingale sitting at a table, shuffling a few papers around awkwardly until she's sure the video is on.]

Something I've noticed for a while now is that there's a lot of new people showing up near-constantly, and they all seem to have the same questions. And since they're stuck on the Marsiva for a week, they don't really have people to give them that information, past asking the network, which doesn't always work so well. Especially while people are on a planet, or busy trying to repair their ships, or things like that. And even if everyone is around to give answers, answering the same thing over and over again gets really tiring after a while.

So, I've been working on a sort of an introduction guide, for the new people. [She indicates the papers on the table.] The problem is, I haven't been here that long myself, comparatively to some. I don't know a lot, and there's a lot that people need to know. Apparently that fleet of ships that messed us up a little while ago actually attacked us once before? And I think that's something pretty important to know, in case they come back again, so we can be more prepared for fighting them off. Or anything else important that's happened.

I'm looking for people who have been here for a while and are willing to help with that project, providing information to help write this guide. So... Please let me know if you can help.

[There's a small pause, then she adds:]

Also, has anyone seen Riley Matthews lately? She also goes by Lark. I haven't been able to get a hold of her in a while, and I'm starting to get worried.

[And with that, she turns off the feed.]

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Oh, did you want to do it later?

[But Beverly's starting, so she's listening attentively, and then...]

That's a good point. If someone's from a world like mine, the inconsistent months are definitely going to throw them off... Actually, it might be better to just point out how much of this place seems to be designed after Earth.

[She starts writing quickly, of course in purple ink. She doesn't seem to be taking any time to think out what she wants to say, though, the words flowing out quickly, then updating the sent document with what she wrote.]

Okay, done.

[Beverly reads the addendum, then gives Nightingale a curt nod.]

Good.

Anyway, I arrived back in March, about seven months ago now. [A pause as she double checks her logs for the date.]March 6th to be exact. The fleet was then docked at a planet called Mor, which [She frowns] I have to admit, I did not venture onto that particular planet much.

It was already docked when you arrived? And... Do you remember much about it?

[She consults her notes again.]

Ah techinically, the fleet docked three days after my arrival, but I was on the Marsiva still, so by the time I got transferred to Blue Fish, we were already on Mor.

[She turns towards Nightingale.]

I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't be a whole lot of help for this particular planet. You see, the people there... well, they were kind of like us, in that they were being used for other people's entertainment. The whole planet was supposed to be some sort of tourist attraction, where you'd see how people lived historically. Except the residents had no idea they were being gawked at by tourists. They don't even know there are other planets out there, other people besides their own. They were purposely kept from advancing their technology or changing their society in order to keep drawing visitors. So while I couldn't really do much about the fleet being there or do anything to help the residents - not in any long term sort of way at least - I didn't want to participate in what was going on there. So instead I stayed on Blue Fish, got to know my crew and the ship.

[She starts writing, transcribing what Beverly is saying, for a moment. Then you can see the exact moment when she actually processes what was being said, freezing mid-word and looking up in alarm.]

What-?! That's just- That's sick!

I know. [And the fact that Nightingale had that reaction gains her some approval in Beverly's book. At the time, she'd been surprised that some people in the fleet had such a blase attitude towards the situation.] At least we are somewhat aware of what's happening to us and so maybe have a chance to fight it but those people....[She shakes her head, still clearly bothered by what's happening on Mor.]

Edited 2015-10-08 20:30 (UTC)

Did anyone ever find out who was responsible for keeping things that way? If it's not the Atroma...

[She's regaining her composure, but she still seems pretty shocked. She's already drawing parallels between this and the legends of her home world...]

[Shaking her head.]

No, not that I'm aware of at least. So many people that were in the fleet then though are gone now. There doesn't seem to be any consistencies in who stays and who goes.

For what little it's worth, I don't think it was Atroma, in charge of Mor. I have no proof of that, though, just a feeling.

[Well, and there is what she and Ino discovered, but she's not breathing a word of that to anyone.]

I see.

It sounds like a certain part of history from my world. It's... really worrying if there's any relation there.

What do you mean? Do you think people from your world could have a hand in it?

Not possible. I told you what happened to my world, right?

It just seems like there might be gods there, that's all. Which... is not good.

I don't think it's necessarily gods [because gods aren't real but she's not getting into that argument again]: what they were doing there, that could be easily be achieved through advanced technology. Not that we would use our technology so unethically, but it would be feasible to do so at home, were we to run into a planet whose technology was far behind our own.

[She makes a disgusted face.]

Either way, gods or mortals, it's despicable.

... That's true. And I doubt there would be some kind of god of tourism to force things that way.

Yeah. ... I wonder if it would be possible to get someone with the engineering augment to open up the ships and turn off whatever forces them on the path the Atroma lay out for us? Maybe we can turn around and go back there.

Ah... we'll have to get to that. The ship interiors they're.... not normal. And even if we could do something to interfere with the navigation systems, I don't think we could convince everyone to go back there. Or even most people.

... Yeah. You're probably right.

Let's move on, then.

[Beverly flashes Nightingale a sympathetic smile before returning her attention to her logs.]

We stayed on Mor about a month... that seems to be the typical amount of time we stay in any one place. Soon after we left Mor was when we were attacked by the same fleet of ships that drove us into the nebula. Early April, I don't know the exact date... things were a little hectic in the aftermath and I was just jotting down quick notes when I could.

Edited 2015-10-11 15:03 (UTC)

[She nods, letting the earlier topic go, to focus more on the current information.]

Did they do anything like this time, trying to herd us somewhere? Or did they just show up, attack, and leave?

They simply attacked... Made no response to any attempts to hail them. A lot of our ships were severely damaged, but fortunately no one was seriously injured in the attack. We had to dock at the next way station for a few weeks, to make the necessary repairs.

... They don't respond to hailing, they attack without warning... But they never hurt anyone, and they herded us into that nebula that messed up the Atroma's communcations...

The fleet is pretty similar to ours, too, isn't it?

Yes, from the few glimpses we have gotten of them, their ships seem to be of a similar design, at least on the exterior.

... And... The calendars say 'twelfth cycle', even though that isn't really a way to mark a year...

[Her brow furrows as she thinks. Something about that fleet has been nagging at her ever since the attack- It's almost the same feeling when she was solving dungeon puzzles at home. Like she has all the information she needs, she just has to assemble it in the right way... What fits the information? What is the logical outcome? Who are they?

... She shakes her head as if to clear it. She clearly had an idea, but...]

Sorry, I shouldn't get so distracted. The waystation was just like all the others?

[Don't worry, Beverly has thought about this a lot as well, so she waits patiently while Nightingale mulls over this information.]

Mostly, except it had a holosuite- sorry, a virtual reality dome. People mostly used it to recreate scenes from home. Otherwise, things were pretty calm there, thankfully.

... Scenes from home, huh.

[She mulls that over as she writes that down.]

And that was April? So there would have been... two months between that and when I showed up, about.

That's right... you weren't here for when we first found the Iskaulit, were you?

I wasn't. I arrived when it was being discussed as some kind of... empty bug ghost ship? But no one would give me straight answers when I asked about it, so I still don't know much about what happened.

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