Action | Bloodsport is such a violent name, gosh

[mikangirl]

Who: SS Bloodsport crew and visitors!
Broadcast: N/A
Action: SS Bloodsport
When: Any time since last shuffle.

[And then the SS Bloodsport got two new crew members. Say hi to your co-pilots? Crew mingle!]

Comments

[pompous_today]

Just a little bit. At least we are part of a fleet, so if nothing else, you will be able to follow along with the crowd. Your augment will help with that, as well, I'm betting.

[mikangirl]

Yeah, that's. Uh. Something else. [She reaches up subconsciously to touch at the small bump she can feel.] Someone told me trying to remove it led to all kinds of nasty stuff. You know anything about that?

[pompous_today]

[He nods.] People have tried, but fiddling with it too much fills one with overwhelming dread. Like trying to take it off would be a very, very bad idea. I'm sure it's a failsafe Atroma put in to stop us from probing their technology too much.

[mikangirl]

Figures. I wouldn't even know where to start trying to pry it out anyway.

[To be fair, she does appreciate she kind of knows how to pilot things now. And the crew so far seem okay.]

How long have you been here?

[pompous_today]

It is tricky, especially when it's so near vulnerable areas like the inner ear and the brain. I am an experienced trauma surgeon and even I would be wary of attempting to fiddle with it.

I have been here around 6 months.

[mikangirl]

[So, filing that away in the nothing-can-be-done column.]

Has the fleet changed much in that time? I mean-- do you often get new crew?

[pompous_today]

Yes. Whether people stay or leave seems to be completely random- my sister arrived not long after I did, yet she's been gone for a month or so and I remain. Supposedly it's all Atroma's doing, but some of us are not convinced.

[mikangirl]

[Ah. Is it a good thing or a bad thing she went home?]

...I'm sorry about your sister.

[Either way, he probably misses her a lot.]

[pompous_today]

I am, too. I know she is safe back home and will not ever know that I am gone, but... she and I are close. [To say the least.] I try not to dwell, though, as there is not much I can do to change things.

[mikangirl]

[Her eyes narrow a little.]

She won't know you're gone. Time doesn't move back home?

[pompous_today]

It does. That is one of the things I cling to while I am here- at least my sister and my girlfriend will not have to deal with me having up and vanished.

[mikangirl]

Always a plus. [But she frowns.] I guess the whole "time standing still" thing is common to places like this.

[pompous_today]

It seems to be, yes. This is the first time something like this has happened to me, but others have come from other worlds that aren't their own, and none of them seem to have been missed back home no matter how long they have been gone.

[mikangirl]

It makes you wonder just how these places are connected. It's way too implausible for there to be a bunch of little terrariums like this that all have the same kind of rules.

Has anyone ever died here?

[pompous_today]

It is something to consider. Maybe there are other Atromas who enjoy kidnapping people for their amusement.

They haven't, to my knowledge- Atroma has put us in peril a few times since I've been here, but never enough to be lethal. I suppose so far we have been entertaining enough that they do not have to resort to such extreme measures.

[mikangirl]

Or the Atroma are just a branch of something else.

[Either way, the chance she'll get a definitive answer about that is pretty small.]

I guess it doesn't matter. Stuck is stuck.

[pompous_today]

Nothing about them would surprise me at this point, frankly.

[He nodded.]

Some people choose to deliberately play to the audience, but others- including myself- just carry on as normally as we can. I do not court audience acceptance, but they seem to enjoy me anyway.

[mikangirl]

Must be you have a charming personality. [Grin.]

I don't know what I'm going to do yet. I guess I'll work it out eventually.

[pompous_today]

[Simon laughed.]

I know looks do not help- the fans seem to like it best when I have facial hair, on the rare occasions I bother to grow some.

I think it's perfectly fine to not know what you want to do first. This is quite overwhelming, I know.

[mikangirl]

I guess I can count myself lucky I have prior experience.

[Scowl. But after a moment, she grins. She can't help it.] Looks don't help? There goes my plan of taking gratuitous showers.

[pompous_today]

In a way, I am a little envious- but then again, if I had to choose, I think I would pick coming here fresh over coming from one unfamiliar world to another, without going home.

I misspoke- I think looks certainly do not hurt one's chances. Of course, do you really like the idea of people watching you while you bathe...?

[mikangirl]

[He's right-- she'd much rather not have the additional frustration. But she won't say as much. Instead she just shrugs cheerfully.]

That all depends on whether they're paying me for the privilege or not.

[pompous_today]

[Simon laughed.]

The audience does send us gifts if they like us- sometimes fanmail, sometimes gifts of some sort, including monetary. Atroma also gives us a stipend every month, if ratings are good.

[mikangirl]

Hmm. Do you think that proves there actually is an audience? I mean-- have you ever received fanmail?

[pompous_today]

Not personally, but Atroma has read some out over the network. I've gotten gifts from the sponsors, too- and when we were on a beach planet, a fan sent me a swimsuit shaped like a merman tail.