uncomfortable questions + action

[takeabow]

Who: Nova + U
Broadcast: Video
Action: On SS First Breath or planetside
When: now

[ a video pops up. Nova is looking mmmmore rested than she has in previous videos, but thoughtful and slightly distant ]

I have a weird question... have you ever met someone in one of these places who's supposed to be dead? Or... I guess, are you? How do you know?

[ she's also available to be found just outside of town on the dusty moon, or back on her ship later ]

Comments

[mucked]

And from that question I take that it isn't yours?

[ first times: what slippery things. peggy can't even begin to pick apart the sheer madness that is being in outer space, let alone all the rest. ]

[takeabow]

Here, yeah, it's my first time. But I was somewhere else before here, that was similar in some ways. I didn't come straight from home.

What have people told you so far?

[mucked]

All sorts -- about the fleet, and about how we're little more than glorified entertainment. [ ... ] About how even time and history become malleable things.

[takeabow]

[ clearly a bit wry and resigned ]

That about sums it up.

[mucked]

[ ... ]

Your question, however -- about dead persons. Have you seen a ghost?

[ quiet. probing, in her own obvious fashion. ]

[takeabow]

Not here, no.

Someone I met here... she was in a similar place before coming here, and she knew people I knew from my world, who had died.

[ and let's not mention about how she knew Katniss... that part is still freaking her out ]

[mucked]

[ like halfway houses for the damned. peggy keeps the thought to herself. ]

I can't attest to hearing anything like that. [ ... ] As far as jarring goes, you might have taken the prize.

[ not that it was ever a competition. ]

[takeabow]

I'm not sure it's a competition but... it's just strange.

She also dated my best friend and... knew some sort of... or— I guess.

She knew me but not me.

[mucked]

Time and history. [ she repeats. ] Malleable.

[ and although peggy doesn't care to talk about herself: ] Here, I've met a man whose death report I'd read and signed myself. Only now he seems to be living someone else's life. The face is the same but the details don't match. I wonder how it's possible.

[ is the problem metaphysical? or astronomical? cosmic? ]

[takeabow]

[ she realizes this is rude to ask but... ]

Did you see him die?

[mucked]

Heavens, no. [ -- though she shudders to think on it. reading the report had been damning enough. and the young woman's rudeness doesn't seem to register. ]

There was a war going on, and his death was in the field. My role was more -- well, administrative.

[ she undersells herself by design. peggy isn't keen to mark herself out as an agent of any sort. ]

[takeabow]

Things can happen. Misunderstandings.

[mucked]

True enough. [ ahem. ] But no, I wasn't there.

[takeabow]

...Right.

Anyway. I don't really have answers for any of this stuff. It's just weird.

And I guess I'm kind of jealous that the girl I met got to spend time with my friends.

[mucked]

I can't fault you for that. [ a quick pause. ] I imagine I'd feel much the same.

[takeabow]

Anyway. It's kind of a heavy topic. We don't have to talk about it.

I'm Nova.

[mucked]

Nova? [ -- new, or like to do with the stars? that gives her pause. ] What a pretty name.

Call me Peggy.

[takeabow]

[ she softens, just slightly, at the compliment ]

It's not really my name. I mentioned I was somewhere else before here. I kind of lost my memories there, and before I regained them, I needed a name.

My real name is Katniss. Katniss Everdeen. But I feel... really far from home, so I'm fine with Nova.

[mucked]

[ katniss is an equally pretty sort of moniker, but peggy refrains from lashing the cream on too thickly. overt sweetness can often spoil a blooming acquaintanceship. ]

Nova it'll be, then. A kind take on a new beginning.

[takeabow]

Thanks.

My team had a space theme, I guess.

[mucked]

-- Is that how names were divvied up? By team?

[takeabow]

Well, not really. We were assigned to teams by color, and our teammates usually helped us think of names, if we didn't remember our own.

[mucked]

And was forgetting them a common experience?

[takeabow]

The primary one, really. We only had one memory when we arrived. Sometimes it included your name, or someone recognized you, but most of the time you had almost nothing.

[mucked]

It sounds heartbreaking. [ dour. ]