001

[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

[experiencepoints]

My world's calendar works a lot differently.

[housepartyprotocol]

How so? Different sun? Or something that makes lease sense than that?

[experiencepoints]

Well... It's not Earth, so yeah, it has a different sun? It's ten months in a year, thirty-six days in a month.

[housepartyprotocol]

Makes sense. You know, theoretically. So where is that you're from?

[experiencepoints]

The world itself doesn't really have a name. But the continent was a place called Ashvara.

[housepartyprotocol]

There was a continent and not a planet?

[experiencepoints]

Of course there was a planet. The planet just doesn't have a name.

Speaking of names, I haven't gotten yours yet.

[housepartyprotocol]

How does a planet not have a name? How does that happen?

That's because I haven't given it to you. Name's Tony.

[experiencepoints]

Nightingale. It's nice to meet you.

Any other questions while I'm here?

[housepartyprotocol]

Nope. Unless you know a way out of here.

[experiencepoints]

Off that ship? You wait.

Back to where you came from? No. Even the people who vanish from the fleet aren't sent back where they came from.

[housepartyprotocol]

Uh. Excuse me, what was that? Where do they go?

[experiencepoints]

... We're not sure yet. We're working on it, but as you can guess, the Atroma aren't cooperative.

[housepartyprotocol]

But you know they don't go home. Haw can you be sure of that?

[experiencepoints]

The Atroma don't seem interested in lying to our faces. Instead, they're evasive and use half-truths. When I confronted them about my teammate who vanished, all they would tell me is that she's 'safe', when I know she had nowhere safe she could go back to.

... And, supposedly, going home is the prize for winning this damn show. So people who vanish... Well. They didn't win.

[housepartyprotocol]

No, doesn't sound like it. Never seen anyone win either, I'm guessing.

[experiencepoints]

Winning happens at the end of the 'cycle'. But they won't tell us how long that is.

[housepartyprotocol]

This all seems very on the up and up.

[experiencepoints]

Is this where I mention that no one on any planet we've ever been to has ever heard of this show we're supposedly on?

[housepartyprotocol]

[ A sigh. ]

Also shocking.

[experiencepoints]

Better get used to it now, it only gets more infuriating from here.