driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Nightingale, anyone else
Broadcast: Video
Action: Y
When: The 11th, sometime mid-morning.

[The video starts up showing... Well, for most people, it's probably an empty wall, at the end of the dormitory hallway, and there's a crazy person just pawing at the wall. For those who have the lab support or cook augments that are currently glitching, though, you can see the doorway and touchpad. A hand will reach over from outside of the camera's view, touch the touchpad, the digital voice says "Level five access granted", and the door slides open, at which point she pulls a chair from off the camera to wedge it into the doorway so it can't close again. This probably looks very strange to anyone who isn't glitched.

This is when she will finally turn the camera around to show herself.]

This is Nightingale. I've found something weird that definitely wasn't here yesterday, and I'm starting to think this ship isn't as safe as was claimed. I need a party down here to investigate this, as soon as possible. Preferably people that are able to fight in case things get ugly. I haven't gone through here yet, but I think we might be on a time limit.

... And, while I'm making myself sound totally insane, something's wrong with the ship. I've been checking it with my Scan spell for a while now, and it feels more like a monster than a ship to me. Aren't there story books in here about getting swallowed whole by monsters and living in their bellies? Because that seems a little relevant.

Anyway, I'll be going to investigate this room soon. It's at the end of the dorm hallway. Anyone else who wants in, hurry, I'll be here.

[And true to her word, anyone who comes to check it out (or to check if she's completely lost her mind) can find Nightingale standing right where she said, anxiously checking her communicator. The door is still wedged open, too.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Nightingale is an experienced enough adventurer to know a few rules:

First of all, splitting up is usually a terrible idea, but in closed quarters, it isn't actually a huge disadvantage. So long as everyone is close enough to join in on the fray, it can allow a party to start with pincer attacks, which are always great.

Second, when you're searching for something hidden, never underestimate an energetic person's ability to just trip over it.]

Just be careful, okay? This stuff looks... bad.

Well, yeah?

[ He doesn't really sound like he shares her opinion, when Luffy stops, he leans back against a cryobed, oblivious to the nature of the thing he's resting against. He folds his arms. ]

I mean, it doesn't look like anybody's been here for ages. Was there something here, once?

No one's been here for a while... Why would the Atroma abandon this room?

[She approaches.]

... Hey, Hat-boy, move your butt for a minute.

It just kinda looks like...

[ Elaboration must wait until he scoots over, to let her do... whatever it is she's doing. Looking around, much like he is, except that he's a lot less interested in these boring contents than she is. ]

I'unno. Some old closet someone forgot about. There's nothing here! Just junk.

Well, I won't argue that it's junk, but...

[She taps the cryobed.]

... I know a lot more about this thing than I should. It's a cryobed. People sleep in these for long-term space voyages. Why the hell are they here?

A crying bed? ...Umm, yeah, I guess if that's supposed to be a bed, it's a pretty sad one!

[ Luffy looks over his shoulder at it, scooting aside to let her investigate. He isn't trying to be cute, the fact is, he just sees some dusty old junk lying in a forgotten room, there's nothing interesting about it at all. But... if she says she knows more about it, he'll believe her.

It just doesn't look like any bed Luffy's ever seen. ]

Long voyages? Maybe... people working here? Unless all the guys I see around are just like you and me...

I've never seen anyone on the ships who wasn't one of us captives, so...

... It might have something to do with the people who vanish.

The people who vanish?

[ 'Vanish' usually means dead, where he's most recently from. But there are a number of differences between this place and the last one, and he's hoping maybe there's something more to this than just a pile of dead bodies. ]

You think... what? They got sent on a really long trip? What's that got to do with these things here?

... My only evidence is that the Atroma imply that the people who vanish from the fleet aren't sent back to where they came from, and that they're 'safe'.

My guess here is that they're put into a cryobed to be frozen until the Atroma think they're entertaining again.

Atroma?

[ He's heard that word a few times, never had the opportunity to ask: ]

What's that?

[ But he's straightened up now, his hands forming fists at his sides; that he doesn't like the sound of that at all is an understatement. ] Have you ever seen anyone in one of these things? They look like... I'unno, like no one's used them in a long time.

You never heard? The Atroma are...

[She trails off, taking a breath. She takes a second to organize the information in her mind before starting again.]

The Atroma is the name of the force that brought us here. We don't know their true identity or powers, or if the Atroma is even a real name for them. It may even be a corporation.

Their main spokespeople to us are a woman and a man named Diamond and Beau. Diamond seems to be the primary, but also not as competent- When I implied the Atroma were behind some of the shit that we've been through, she threw a fit and had to have Beau take over for her.

They normally don't interact with us, just talking at us periodically, but since arriving on the Marsiva, they've actually had two-way communications going on with us twice. I've used the chance to pull what information from them I could, but they're frustratingly obtuse, and fond of threats, veiled or otherwise.

[His other question can wait for a while. She doesn't want to think about that just yet, anyway.]

Wow, the Atroma? Makes it sound like a bunch of aliens in a bad movie.

[ And he only knows all about that because of evenings wherein sometimes the only option was to watch bad television (sometimes so bad it was good) or join Vivi and Law while they curl up somewhere with a book or something.

But they're not here, and Luffy just has his memories to draw off of, but boy... it really does sound like some invading species of aliens. They just need a big mutant rampaging across a city while humanity's last home climbs into a giant robot to do battle--

Woah, that would be totally awesome, actually. ]

She got mad? [ He kind of wishes he saw that, it might've been... revealing, maybe. ] Was that the lady who smiles a lot? She didn't really have much to say, even about stuff I thought would be really easy to answer.

[ He shrugs. ] Anyway, have you ever seen someone sleeping in one of these?

That's her. They don't want to answer any questions at all. You have to attack from an angle- Make them think they're talking about something else, and let them slip up.

I've never seen it. I think the implant put the information in my head.