/insert rose petals here

[incousinswithyou]

Who: Haruka, Michiru, and you!!
Broadcast: Two fleet-wide videos
Action: On the Marsiva
When: Now

01.

...in the reaches of space? How ironic.

[ This network station appears to have switched on of its own accord. That or the two people standing next to it wanted to only broadcast part of their conversation. And just their torsos. And hands. The taller person is making a fist. ]

That’s not the word I would use to describe it. [ The shorter one places a hand over that fist. ] They can look after each other.

...I suppose. [ Their fingers intertwine. The taller person’s thumb strokes the side of their companion’s hand. They chuckle. ] Space won’t be so cold. If you’re there.

[ That’s a quiet laugh, and the other one is leaning in and up.

...Better interrupt this sappiness before somebody gets diabetes and/or they magically pretend it didn’t happen on tape. ]

02.

[ Later this same day, from this same broadcast station, another message comes through. This time, there’s a pair of faces on display: a blond “man” and a green-haired lady. Both are way more attractive than they have any right to be. Especially when smiling. ]

Hello. I’m Kaioh Michiru. [ This is not the face of a person who was caught being all PDA on camera. ] If anybody can tell us what this place is, we would be most appreciative.

Tenoh Haruka. [ The blond sticks a hand into “his” pocket. ] Don’t take all day now. We’re busy.

[ And that’s a wink. Nothing to see here. Nothing amiss. ]

Comments

[averagestar]

[Should she bring it up... Probably not... Well, just focus on answering their questions first.]

The implants should fill in a few things, but let's see... You're on the Marsiva, which is something of a "mothership" that all of our ships have to remain within a certain radius of to work. The Marsiva itself seems to be moving according to a flight plan, though we don't have any access to what the flight plan actually is, and the other ships don't actually have any charts to indicate where we are beyond long-range sensors. At the end of the week, you'll both be moved at random to one of the other ships, to work as part of their crew.

...Also, this is apparently a reality show. You've uh... Probably been watched since you arrived.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Wow, the people here are eager to please. Haruka laughs and flashes the girl a charming smile. ]

Are you the welcoming committee?

[averagestar]

I wouldn't say "welcoming committee" exactly, but it's... kind of part of my job to help keep people informed while we're here. It helps to have someone willing to help out too, right?

[Then, let's give a proper bow, and...]

Shimamura Uzuki, of the Golden. Let's all do our best while we're here!

[incousinswithyou]

[here's the other one. Apparently, her first priority isn't always flirting.]

Who are we being watched by?

[averagestar]

To be honest, we can't be sure. The flight plan itself seems to be specifically tailored to avoid making contact with anyone that's actually aware of the show's existence. What we do know is that it's being run by "Atroma", though we're not actually sure what precisely Atroma is. I assume it's an organization of some sort, though we... don't actually have proof of that, either.

[actsmagnificent]

So we're flying blind.

[ A thoughtful look, and then Haruka's exchanging silent glances with Michiru. This all means they only have other people's word for the situation, doesn't it?

But that's their worry and not this girl's, so when Haruka turns back to the screen, she's grinning. ] I can believe we're in show business, though. The reception's cute enough.

[incousinswithyou]

[one might catch Michiru making the tiniest eyeroll at that last statement.]

Is everybody here in the same situation?

[surely there has to be something more nefarious to their presence here than providing entertainment]

[limitstorm]

[ a wink?

erk. somehow, he's turning a little red... he ducks his head down, pulling at his bangs as if that'd hide him. ]

Uh...

I think that camera was on earlier.

Anyway--you already got some answers. For the record, in case you're split apart, you can ask them to put you back together on a ship.

[incousinswithyou]

[and she oh-so-easily ignores that first statement.]

Oh? Does that happen often?

[limitstorm]

People getting split up? Yeah, it does. My friends usually never ended up on my ship, and I'm pretty sure their friends didn't end up on mine, either.

[actsmagnificent]

So pulling acquaintances is common.

[ Haruka looks thoughtful. Which mostly means she's staring into the camera as if it doesn't exist, sorry. ]

[incousinswithyou]

It certainly doesn't sound very random.

[if people you know start showing up too, out of an entire universe of possibilities. That could be troubling.]

Have many of your friends shown up here?

[limitstorm]

[ there's a flicker of sadness in his eyes but he schools it away, looking down and away as his shoulders hunch. ]

Three, but two are gone. Sometimes they're sent back--or, I guess that's what we all think happened to them.

action for michiru

[actsmagnificent]

[ This place is basically a floating, deserted hospital - with an exercise area built in for good measure. Having temporarily split from Michiru to do another once-over of the premises, searching for anything that'll prove or disprove the information they've been given, Haruka picks up a weight and hefts it, testing the ship's induced gravity by assessing the feel of it in her hand.

She doesn't need to look over to know whose footsteps are approaching her now. ] They've cut some corners. The coffee's sour.

[ She's assuming what she got to come out of a machine earlier was coffee, anyway. ]

[incousinswithyou]

Oh? If that's your only complaint...

[the teasing tone drops from her voice though]

Haruka. [and she's pulling her hair up and turning. There's bump of her augment, right under the skin, behind her ear.] What do you see?

[it has to be something, if picking at it fills her with the type of dread reserved for the end of the world.]

[actsmagnificent]

[ ....They messed with Michiru.

Putting the weight down, Haruka resists the urge to feel that same place on herself - now that Michiru's pointed it out, she feels a weird prickling there - and funnels that self-control into tempering her anger. ] Nothing good.

[ And she turns her head so Michiru can confirm the same on her. Whoever put that in even had to shave a little bit of her hair behind her ear, so now her haircut isn't symmetrical in the back, either. ]

[incousinswithyou]

It's there.

[she resists the urge to smooth away that blemish somehow. Not with the way it made her feel.] It's connected to the mind, somehow.

[actsmagnificent]

[ Haruka nods. Now that Michiru mentions it, this explains a lot. ] I woke up understanding more. It wasn't clear if that was intuition, or...

[ She puts a hand on Michiru's shoulder. ] Does it hurt?

[incousinswithyou]

[if it can do that, what other memories or emotions can it mess around with?

She crosses her arms at her torso, almost hugging herself.] Almost, if you try to do something to it.

[is it something to just overcome, or is it actually a warning?]

[video]

[experiencepoints]

[When the feed turns on to reply to the second broadcast, Nightingale is definitely quite red. How do you pretend you didn't just see two people broadcasting their PDA all over space? ... How do you tell them that they might have been broadcasting it all over the universe?

Answer: You chicken out and pray someone else already got it.]

It seems like I'm a little late getting to this, so... How much have you already heard?

[incousinswithyou]

[at least she's super good at pretending such things didn't happen. And there's no way she's going to ask about that blush on Nightingale, so hopefully it'll come up...never.]

Well, there is some sort of entity named Atroma in charge of this television show, but nobody knows how or why.

[experiencepoints]

Yeah... Personally, I don't buy the idea that there's a show at all, but that's the line we're told, anyway.

[Topic successfully averted. For now. We hope.]

I'm actually working on an introduction guide for new people, but it's still sort of a work in progress...

[actsmagnificent]

Life in space must get dull.

[ No variety show events? No other types of strangeness?

If so, the banality's enough to be suspicious in and of itself. ]

[experiencepoints]

You have no idea. It's weeks between planets, it seems like, with long boring periods of just... Space, and more space. You'll be lucky if you can find something to do in that time.

[There's a short pause, as she tries really hard not to say what she's thinking.]

... Or, in you two's case, someone.

[Tries and fails.]

[incousinswithyou]

[oh my. That smile of hers though...]

You're having trouble staying entertained?

[though to be honest, she was expecting more villains and grandiose plans, rather than boredom.]