network video from red fish bridge;

[aberrant_type]

Who: Zoe Hange
Broadcast: Video
Action: for Red Fish crewmates
When: Tuesday... October 7... midday...?

[Someone is experimenting with shipwide broadcast. The screen shows Hange sitting with her hands folded in front of her, grinning amiably at the camera.]

Hmm. Is this thing working? I think so... [She pauses for a couple seconds and then laughs.] Well, I guess I'll find out! Hello, everyone, this is Captain Hange of the SS Red Fish speaking. [She winks.] I just got the paperwork turned in. Sorry to surprise you, Nunnally and Skull, but I decided I'd be up for it and thought it was better to get it done!

Now, I'm addressing everyone today to mention the tiny thing that's been embedded in our skulls! I'm guessing everyone has noticed that they have something in the back of their head that's difficult to even touch. It feels maybe bottle-cap sized! I hope that's familiar-sounding to all of you? I'm a little reluctant to actually open up someone's head but I wonder if anyone has tried that yet! Have you removed someone else's implant? Have you removed your own? If so, amazing! How did you do that? Nunnally let me experiment with hers a little, noninvasively of course, and reported discomfort that seemed unnaturally strong even when another person was just touching it! Thanks for your contributions, brave girl.

Also, as I told some of you, I didn't know anything about space before arriving here, but suddenly upon arriving I do! Also, we have a little room on this ship where I know how to use everything! That's unusual, given my home doesn't have anything close to this level of technology. I'm still exploring that equipment, but I wonder what others have noticed! I certainly don't understand everything on the ship, but I'm guessing if I mysteriously understand this one room, others will understand some other parts! What do you know now that you didn't know before? If you feel up to it, please let me know!

[holy talking, batman. She takes a moment to breathe, grinning at the screen still in an I know I know many words fashion.]

Great to meet you all, by the way! Let's get along and work productively together!

Comments

[aberrant_type]

In that respect, you certainly have more experience than I do.

If you'd care to tell me more about where you were before, I'd be interested to hear it.

[proteusmoon]

Ah, of course. I would not mind answering any questions you might have about it... but it's probably for the best that we, er, switch to a private channel.

[aberrant_type]

Would you mind taking the lead on that front?

[proteusmoon]

Certainly. We all received personal communicators, didn't we? Yours should have a number -- a frequency -- that will allow me to contact you through privately.

[aberrant_type]

I do know what you mean... Shall I give it to you, then? [She just rattles off the number without waiting for an answer]

[proteusmoon]

Right.

[ And Cecil quickly gives hers before cutting the feed and opening a new channel directly to Hange. ]

private; open to comms officers;

There we are... Can you hear me?

private;

[aberrant_type]

Loud and clear! How amazing. I wonder how far apart we really are.

private;

[proteusmoon]

Did you ever learn the name of your ship?

private;

[aberrant_type]

I did! It's the SS Red Fish. Cute, don't you think? Remind me of yours?

[proteusmoon]

[ She chuckles a little at that. ]

Fish, huh? Ours is the Wonderduck.

[aberrant_type]

There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason so far.

Have you ascertained if you have a job?

[proteusmoon]

No, there doesn't and it seems to be a rather common mistake the male members of the fleet to mistake the name of ours for something more vulgar.

[ She sighs softly and shakes her head. ]

But, yes, I do have a job, it seems. I'm head of security.

[aberrant_type]

Oh, that's right. Kaneis is part of your crew, isn't he? [She chuckles and then abruptly grows more serious.]

I wonder what they expect us to need security from.

[proteusmoon]

I'm not certain if there will be outside dangers or malfunctions and other threads on the ships themselves, but I'm not sure I feel especially comforted by the supply of weaponry they gave us.

[ She nods. ]

Kaneis actually is our pilot.

[aberrant_type]

So, you have a pilot. I'm not sure what other jobs are on my ship yet... although there does seem to be a little room where I know how to use everything. Looks like a laboratory.

[proteusmoon]

Yes, it's the same for me and Kaneis said he shouldn't know how to operate this sort of technology either. It has to be the... devices implanted in us.

[ She sighs heavily, shaking her head. ]

Court was similar, in a way. Our minds were altered too there.

[aberrant_type]

How so, and why?

[proteusmoon]

Why, I don't rightly know. As to how... brain-washing. It rewired us, so that specific acts we did earned us monetary and emotional or physical pleasure. Some of us were even made to believe we'd chosen to come there.

[aberrant_type]

I see how that could be perturbing... [And she's not dwelling on it for long, but she's sincere. Hange's mind and faculties are very important to her. They're her greatest weapon. The thought of someplace tampering with them - really tampering with them, like that...]

Was there any word as to some higher purpose for it all?

[proteusmoon]

We were made to believe that whoever progressed through the ranks to the top-most title first would be granted the power to make any wish or desire they had come true.

[ Cecil's expression darkens a little, all signs of cheerfulness completely gone from her features. ]

The more we did our objectives, the faster we'd progress. If we took part in the master-servant system and completed objectives with our partners, we'd rank up even more quickly.

I don't believe that power we were promised actually existed.

[aberrant_type]

[Very interesting. Of course, it begs the question...]

If it didn't exist, then what do you propose to be the motivation for making you go through all that?

[proteusmoon]

I wasn't there long enough to develop a hypothesis. While I was, I gave in to the illusion of being there of my own accord and I played my part. It's been said by some people there that Court is about knowing your part, but often the objectives were acts that were directly in contradiction with our personalities and ideals.

My best guesses would be entertainment, not much unlike this world, or to power something. The objectives are the key. That's all I know.

[aberrant_type]

Did you have implants like these while you were there? Or were you conditioned in some other way?

These things are invasive and far beyond my understanding of what technology can do, I have to admit. But I don't recognize anything like the "objective" you're describing, at least right now... but a lot of information has been opened up to us.

In the long run, I suppose we could easily have been conditioned in the way you're describing.

[proteusmoon]

Mm, no, I would feel the objective rewards happening if we still were programmed for them and you'd be able to tell as well. The impulses are not easy to ignore and they're very distinct— like an addict suffering from a lack of his favored drug... but, you're right, there's no way to tell right now if we were tampered with in other ways in addition to these... brain-chips. I wish I could give you more answers, but likewise, if there were implants in Court, I never saw them. Everything was done behind closed doors and we were usually rendered unconscious when we were altered in any way.

[aberrant_type]

Much like we were unconscious when we were operated on here.

Not the kind of actions a heroic type generally takes, eh?