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[housepartyprotocol]

Who: Tony Stark and anyone!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Still on The Marsiva
When: Now

[ The video feed crackles to life, and on the screen is a man looking equal parts composed and annoyed. He settles into the frame and smiles wryly.]

I'm not going to waste time here asking where we are, since I'd like to think we can all recognize space, but fair warning: you've got about [ he looks at his watch ] 2 minutes before I start taking this place apart. Not a threat, just making you aware that without a pretty impressive explanation, I will cannibalize your lovely and expensive ship and fly myself home.

[ He smiles briefly and with no humor before sitting back in his chair and tapping his watch. ]

Comments

[dancingmd]

[She gives him a sympathetic smile. How well she understands the frustration.]

Something like that, yes. And, before you ask, we haven't found a way to safely remove the augments either.

[housepartyprotocol]

Yeah, kind of expected that. I have some experience in that department.

[ Doesn't look pleased about it, but at least it feels grounded in science he understands. ]

[dancingmd]

Me too, unfortunately. I haven't given up on it yet, mind you, but this technology is unlike any I have encountered.

[Which is saying a lot.]

[housepartyprotocol]

[ Starts to make an agreeing comment when he realizes that he does know something about it. He makes a strange face and touches the hardware currently attached to his skull. ]

What was that I heard about downloading information?

[dancingmd]

Oh, we are each given a certain skill set related to the running of the ships - Maintenance, navigation, communications, et cetera - and I believe it also provides basic information about space and computers for those who don't come from spacefaring societies. It is very possible you personally may not notice much of a difference... The augment is more or less redundant in my case, since I was already working as a doctor aboard a starship before Atroma brought me here.

[housepartyprotocol]

[ Looks around the ship as he listens, realizing that none of the technology feels all that foreign to him. Surely at least in part to his extensive prior knowledge, but even Tony doesn't flatter himself that he understand all alien technology. Except that he seems to. ]

...well, that's new.

[dancingmd]

Weird sensation, isn't it?

I'm Dr. Beverly Crusher, by the way. SS Blue Fish.

[housepartyprotocol]

Tony Stark. Uh, Earth.

[dancingmd]

[She chuckles.]

Sorry, I should have clarified. The Blue Fish is one of the ships in this fleet. You'll be assigned to one yourself and transferred at the end of the week.

Really I'm from Earth as well... or rather, one of its colonies, but my ancestry is Terran.

[housepartyprotocol]

That either puts you very far in my future, or from a different universe entirely - if I'm getting the hang of how this place works.

[dancingmd]

A little combination of both, no doubt, though I have had at least two others from my universe here.

[housepartyprotocol]

I might, who knows. It's hard to tell now that 'alternate universe' is an option.

[dancingmd]

It does complicate things... but I'm sure if anyone here knows you, they'll be contacting you.

What year is it for you anyway?

[housepartyprotocol]

Yeah, so I'm gathering...

2015, last I checked.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly makes a small thoughtful humming noise, as she considers Atroma's continuing fascination with turn of the millennium humans, and humans in general. For someone who is used to working and living with many other species, it strikes her as very odd. In any case, she's willing to bet, if her past experiences are any indication, that Mr. Stark is not from her world.]

Well then, there's a simple enough way to see if you're from my universe's past or not: does the name Khan Noonien Singh mean anything to you?

[housepartyprotocol]

Nope. Guessing it should?

[dancingmd]

Trust me, if you were from my universe, you'd know him.

[Frankly, she's relieved. There's always that small worry in the back of her mind that one of these days, someone is going to be from far in her past and she'll have to be a lot more careful about the Temporal Prime Directive than she was with Julian.]

[housepartyprotocol]

Does that make him a Big Bad, or a Big Good?

[dancingmd]

Bad. Very bad. He was a tyrannical despot that ruled during one of Earth's darkest hours. My Earth's, anyway.

[housepartyprotocol]

Oh, well great. We've had a few people try for that spot where I come from, too.

[dancingmd]

Well... Hopefully none of them succeed.

In any case, now that we have established your time and place, are there any specific questions you have about the fleet? I have been here for over six months now, so I am happy to try to fill you in on anything.

[housepartyprotocol]

I did hear something about the ship resetting itself daily. You experience that too?

[dancingmd]

Ever since we were brought back to the Marsiva, yes, but that's not standard operating procedure on our individual ships. Break something or make a mess on your ship, it'll still be there in the morning.