001 ➳ audio + action.

[sinuosity]

Who: Nyssa.
Broadcast: Fleetwide audio.
Action: Around the Marsiva
When: 1/11.

[ A woman's voice, British-accented, commanding, level, says, ]

I am Nyssa, daughter of Ra's al Ghul. I intend to exact justice from our captors, these — Atroma. We are not playthings, and we will not be caged forever.

I will be indebted to those who fight beside me. [ a beat ] If you intend to stop me, your defeat is not only likely, it is inevitable.

[ and the audio clicks off, but a few seconds later on again, ]

If anyone knows how to remove these implants, I would be doubly grateful.



[ Nyssa is prowling about the ship, peering into empty or unlocked rooms, in the common areas. There must be something here she can appropriate as a weapon. Her bow isn't enough. ]





[ When she finds nothing, she returns to the gym, and can be found in her League uniform (sans weapons), either meditating or going through sword kata. ]

Comments

[grounds]

Generally, I've been going under the assumptions that they're all different. It helps other people feel better about it, and some worlds here just make no damn sense. So odds of the future stuff are pretty low when you think about it that way.

[More eating. Girl's hungry, okay.] Can't say I've heard of your place, either. Sorry.

[sinuosity]

That's fair.

[ She smiles a little as Octavia keeps eating, and tucks in heartily to her own cold pasta. ]

Well, it is a secret castle in the mountains, I'd be surprised if you had.

[grounds]

[She points her fork at Nyssa.] It'd be a bad secret castle if I had.

[Octavia takes a drink of water before setting her fork down into her now empty bowl.]

But that begs the question: Why a secret castle?

[sinuosity]

[ She laughs, soft and girlish. ]

My father does not like outsiders. He has a vast library he wishes to protect from the world.

[grounds]

Like a library of books or what? I'm thinking there're better ways to hide those than a castle in the mountains.

[She's curious, and she has a feeling there's more to this than a secret stash of paper and print. The woman's get up, weaponry and bottle catching skills only increase her desire to know.]

[sinuosity]

You'd be surprised. We have books stretching back to when Alexandria was burnt. There's a lot men would do to get their hands on that knowledge.

[grounds]

My history's pretty spotty, but that was a long time ago, wasn't it?

[She leans back in her seat, taking another drink.]

So, what? You guard the books or something?

[sinuosity]

Eight hundred years prior, yes.

[ Nyssa shrugs, playfully. It's not often no one recognises the name Ra's al Ghul, and she's finding it.. exciting to pretend for a while that she's only half of what she is. ]

Perhaps I do. Or you can keep guessing.

[grounds]

[Octavia can't help smile herself.]

With no guarantee to tell me if or when I'm right? I think I'll pass. Plus, now's a good time to keep secrets while you can. Everyone's entitled to some of those.

[She pokes at her fork.] As long as you don't try to kill me in my sleep, we're good.

[sinuosity]

[ She laughs, again. ]

Very well. I'll kill you when you're awake.

[grounds]

Fair enough. If that happens, it's on me.

[Octavia hops from her seat, taking her plate and dropping it in the sink. Somehow they always end up clean by the next day. No point in actually washing them.]

[sinuosity]

How long have you been using the sword?

[grounds]

Way less time than you is my guess. [This time Octavia doesn't go back to the table, instead simply leaning against the counter.]

A couple of months by this point I think.

[sinuosity]

It's an unusual choice for one from the future. Those outside Nanda Parbat prefer firearms.

[grounds]

Nuclear war, remember? Guns weren't exactly hanging from trees, ripe for the picking.

[She exhales slowly.] We had them, but people leftover, not from the Ark-- called Grounders-- used swords. And bows and arrows. Since they lacked the technology the Ark had, they adapted to suit the harsher environment. They're a tough people, and I wanted that.

[sinuosity]

[ Nyssa nods. ]

A good choice. Guns are a coward's weapon. They teach the warrior nothing.

[grounds]

[Her brow furrows at Nyssa's words, and she can't help but shake her head, thinking of her brother. But then she remembers Finn. And Murphy. But also more of her friends.]

It depends on the person holding them. They're just a steeper slope to fall down and much harder to recover from.

[Octavia looks back at Nyssa.] I've used them, and I will again if I have to. But I don't want to hide behind them like a lot of people.

[sinuosity]

[ She nods again. ]

I will not deny they are useful, and part of that use is that anyone can learn to shoot with ease. Yet, discipline first, before the weapon.

[grounds]

Especially with a gun. That's more destruction we don't need.

[Her eyes travel downwards a bit, and she nods at the food.] You about done?

[sinuosity]

I am.

[ She polishes off her plate, and puts it in the sink as well. ]

Thank you. There was no call for you to be kind, and you were. What do you desire in return?

[grounds]

[Nyssa receives a strange look, like she started speaking in a different language all of a sudden.]

You were new, and I know how that sucks. Helping someone out when they need it shouldn't call for a trade or anything like that. And if I wanted anything, I'd've said so at the start. Don't sweat it.

[Octavia starts walking back into the common lounge area, talking loud enough for her to hear whether she follows or not.]

Right now, we've got this big area plus a hallway full of bedrooms, one for each of us. When we get back [not if] there are more, smaller ships we get sorted into. There's your augment, the thing in your head you undoubtedly noticed. That helps you serve a specific function on your ship. I'm security on the Wonderduck, for example. Yeah, I know the name's weird, but I can't change that.

[Now, book in hand, she turns back and flops back on the couch.] For now, your best bet is to make use of what you can here. Books, movies, music, video games, and what else you can see. Either that or drive yourself crazy trying to escape. This place has been combed over enough that we've found what there is by now.

[sinuosity]

[ Octavia gets an odd look, like she's the one speaking a different language all of a sudden. Nyssa knows in theory there are people who do not ask for debts to be made, and they are few and far between. Still, she has no reason to believe Octavia is lying. ]

I am also security.

[ Nyssa follows, and sits on the floor, legs crossed. ]

I've not had this much time on my hands since I was a girl. What do you do for fun?

[grounds]

Hm, not surprising.

[She studies the older woman, and sets her book aside with a wry smile.]

I've been asking myself the same thing a lot recently. Come on, I think there are some games over here we can look at.

[This either ends in a destroyed game of Candyland or one less copy of mario kart. Either way, it's time well spent.]