We'll be back after these important messages

[thespaceopera]

[just when it seems like the Hosts are going to leave you all to yourselves, with this latest upset--augments glitching left and right, revealing things that are supposed to be hidden--the faces of Atroma appear once more. the usual jingle plays from the speakers in the main hall, and the giant screen flickers to life.

Diamond's smiling face once again graces her beloved passengers.]

Good evening, everyone! I hope you are all doing well, despite the... continuing technical issues.

I would first like to thank you all for being so patient! We greatly appreciate your cooperation through this difficult time, and we want to assure you that the repairs are nearly complete.

I can't imagine how eager you all must be to get out of here and return to the comfort of your own ships. I want nothing more than to speed the fleet through this rough patch, and get back to our regularly scheduled activities.

So... if you're like me, and are getting tired of all of this calibration nonsense, let me tell you exactly how we can all make that happen.

[and here's where she takes a breath, with a little rise and drop of her shoulders, but she doesn't let her smile falter.]

...I see that some of you have been digging at things that might seem fun and interesting at first, but I would like to let you know that the more energy we spend putting everything back where it belongs, the longer the calibrations are going to take.

So, instead of making things harder on yourselves and on us, I would like you all to do something that will speed things up a bit. Instead of straining yourselves on outdated and silly things, I encourage you to find someone who isn't part of your own crew and talk to them. Make a new friend and tell them all about your ship and the interesting folks you live with.

Not only will the audience love it, but you will be focusing on your beloved ships and establishing new connections, and that is just the kind of thing that will make this whole thing easier on all of us.

Sounds simple, right? Just get out there, say hello to someone, exchange some stories, and we'll all be done with this unpleasant business in no time.

[and just as they had on the first day of calibration, your Hosts are right there, present and listening.

you certainly don't have to answer them in the way that they would like, but if you do have anything to say to the Hosts, now is a great time to do so. who knows when they'll deign to speak to the fleet in real-time again.]

Comments

[experiencepoints]

You know, if you want us to cooperate, wouldn't the easiest way to accomplish that be to tell us what is actually going on? And not leave out important details, like the ship we're trapped in actually being some kind of monster?

[thespaceopera]

Monster? [she looks shocked and a little insulted.] I don't know what you could mean.

The only monsters around here are the ones that attacked us and put you all in this position in the first place.

[experiencepoints]

You know, we're in total agreement there. The real monsters here are the ones who put us here to start with. Who were those again?

[thespaceopera]

I don't know what you are trying to accomplish here, dear.

Everyone knows that those villainous persons who attacked the fleet are the reason we've had to institute these repairs.

[experiencepoints]

What does repairing the ship have to do with you repeating the heart games? I'm not sure what these little romps through each other's heads has anything to do with repairing the ships. And, you know, we wouldn't be here if you hadn't kidnapped us in the first place.

Here, of course, aboard a living ship. When were you planning on telling us the Marsiva is alive? Or were you not going to? Were you hoping we'd just ignore it, along with, for example, cryobeds #56295001 050 through 056? The same kind of cryobed you've put the ones who have vanished from the fleet into?

I wonder how far we're going to have to go before you take us seriously?

[thespaceopera]

[she shakes her head through most of that, and hones in on that first point.]

The ships, dear, will most certainly be repaired on time, and without a hitch. I'm not worried about them at all.

But they are not the only things that were harmed by the attack. Don't you see?

[experiencepoints]

I see a lot of things.

The biggest thing I see is that you're avoiding the rest of what I've said. I've got full HP, and I'm better than ever- My magic sight's come back, apparently.

[thespaceopera]

No, no... what you are experience is an error, and we are working hard to fix it.

[experiencepoints]

Is the error in what we see, or that we're being allowed to see it at all?

[thespaceopera]

The error is much more complicated than either of those things. When such a delicate and important instrument is malfunctioning, it causes many side-effects.

What you're seeing is just a side-effect and really is of no importance at all.

[experiencepoints]

The more you want to hide it, the more it obviously sounds like bullshit. I mean, you're not even trying excuses. Have you considered bribes, if you want us to stop investigating? Might work better for you.

[thespaceopera]

There aren't any excuses to be made, dear, and bribery is an awful way to deal with things.

I understand that you have difficulty with trusting, but I have been telling you the truth.

[experiencepoints]

You're evading any responsibility for what you did. You realizen by trapping me here, you're personally dooming several billion people?

[thespaceopera]

[her eyebrows suddenly raise!]

...And why would you ever think something like that?

[experiencepoints]

The place I was at before was a place where people whose worlds were destroyed could rebuild them. In other words, while I'm trapped here, I can't rebuild my world. If I can't go back, all of those lives are on your hands for blocking them from being resurrected.

[thespaceopera]

Oh...

[and now she restrains a sympathetic smile, as if finding this little misunderstanding something akin to adorable.]

Dear, you don't need to worry about a thing while you're in the Fleet. I can assure you that it will all be there waiting for you, once you win and return home.

[experiencepoints]

And if I don't win? For example, if I'm vanished from he fleet, just like Lark was?