Windrose, where the wind blows

[tothefly]

Who: Windrose crew and you, distinguished visitors!
Broadcast: Naaah.
Action: Windrose, various points in the near vicinity
When: Until we get off this frozen rock

[On New Year's Day, the crew on board the Windrose and those nearby may notice the chill as the doors to the cargo bay are left open, and their captain making quite a bit of noise as she inspects their newly expanded home away from home. This is likely to go on for a while. Feel free to come investigate, chat among yourselves, complain about the cold, etc!]

Comments

Castle | OTA

[thebestseller]

A.

[That morning, Castle had woken up just a tad hung over. By his reckoning, it WAS the New Year, after all- and since he was alone, that meant getting drunk. He'd crashed in his hotel room, woken up with a splitting headache, and stumbled back to the Windrose, holding his head and not taking his sunglasses off even inside the ship.]

B.

[Later, when he finally felt better, Castle could be found puttering after his cleaning droids as usual. They were especially busy near the cargo bay door, sweeping up melted snow and other debris people were tracking in.]

Cameron, I think you're working yourself too hard.

B

[tothefly]

[While she's checking out the door security panel:]

You should really give them nametags. I don't want to offend our future robot overlords by getting their names wrong.

[thebestseller]

Hey, that's not a bad idea. Maybe I can make puppydog eyes at the sponsors to give them gaudy, logo-filled nametags, just to add some color to the ship.

[tothefly]

I'd settle for a little sticker. No need to give them the full sponsorship package, otherwise Atroma might get ideas and we'll end up looking like space-NASCAR castaways.

[thebestseller]

Hmm, that's a good point. And if the robots DO end up taking over, they wouldn't appreciate being corporate darlings.

[tothefly]

I don't know about that, pretty sure half the corporations back on Earth are really just half-sentient AIs anyway. You wouldn't believe half the things Stark's invented to avoid having to actually do work.

So what are the rest of them called? Did you really name all of them?

[thebestseller]

I think I would believe it, honestly. Tools made it easier for humans to do work... and now we've made the logical progression to where we want them to do the work for us.

Well... the one with the spiderweb-looking crack is Leopardon, and the gray one is Robocop. Not sure about the rest yet, though.

[tothefly]

[Robocop, she echoes silently, arching eyebrows at him again.]

Guess I should just consider myself lucky you haven't named one Skynet. How many of them are there at this point?

[thebestseller]

That would be tempting fate a bit too much for my tastes- especially because Atroma seems to have access to Earth movies for inspiration.

There are 6 of them.

[tothefly]

Good. I'm glad you understand.

Too bad they don't really handle the pest problem, but that's what Officer Snuggles is supposed to be for, Wrath tells me.

[thebestseller]

And if Officer Snuggles is hunting rats, the robots can clean up any unfortunate messes. Everyone wins.

[tothefly]

That's the general plan. Make this place livable for however long we're stuck here.

Did the ship expansion change anything over in your maintenance closet?

[thebestseller]

Which could be a while.

No, just aesthetically to match the rest of the decor. My bots got the same treatment, but it's purely cosmetic.

[unbearablynaive]

[Oh dear. People usually remember to take off their sunglasses when they enter the ship for fear of tripping on things or--in this place--whacking their heads on the ceilings. Expansion to the ship aside, it's still potentially dangerous to the taller crew members.]

Ah, do be careful--!

[thebestseller]

Sorry. [Castle groaned and held his head.] Hangover, so light of any sort's a bit more than I can handle right now.

[unbearablynaive]

Oh dear. Shall I mix up a rehydration drink? We have an abundance of salts.

[thebestseller]

I'd appreciate it. I'll try not to barf in the meantime, the robots might hate me for it.

[unbearablynaive]

[Nah, they'd appreciate the extra work - but he's not going to tell Castle that.]

Perhaps I'll find you some mint leaves as well, in that case.

[thebestseller]

Please do. Uggh... now I've remembered why I stopped drinking heavily.

[unbearablynaive]

[He pats Castle on the shoulder sympathetically.]

I'll be right back.

[Indeed, a few minutes later he's back with a homebrew of orange drink, rehydrating salts, and mint leaves. he also has a pack of painkillers.] I hope this will help.

[thebestseller]

Thanks, buddy. I owe you one. [Castle reaches for the drink, but he stops and makes himself swallow everything slowly.] Normally I don't, but... well. Guess I was feeling especially lonely last night.

[unbearablynaive]

[The Vision nods sympathetically.]

It's a difficult time to be without your family and in a strange place. Though if you feel that way again, I would recommend looking for Officer Snuggles. [He says this with a perfectly serious face.]

[thebestseller]

You know, that's not a bad idea. I would have loved to get a dog for the ship, but he's the next best thing, right?

[unbearablynaive]

Very much so. They seem to be entirely domesticated, and he's responding well to training so far.

And he is very friendly.

[thebestseller]

And sometimes, a friendly face is what you need. I'm glad he's going to be around, because how cool is it that we have a pet fox?