Video/Optional Action

[nulliverse]

Who: Celeste Blackwell and anyone!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Golden, p much the most aimless of wandering
When: Day(?)break Jan 10


[Celeste's arrival a day earlier was essentially passed in a whirlwind of cold shock. Everything was so wrong, so alien, and she was already riding a wave of grief following her departure from Eudio; she expected to see her dorm room, the not exactly welcoming but familiar walls of BIAPA, and instead she found a bloody spaceship.

She also found the truth, thanks to it being broadcast in a loop until she could hear the sound ringing through her head even as she tried to sleep, but it wouldn't sink in. This was wrong. It was either a mistake or a betrayal. By the time she was being swept off once again, apparently assigned to a more permanent lodging, she'd come to a decision: Eudio had until the next morning to correct this. If she didn't wake up back in the city or in England, then she had been betrayed and used and lived over half a year of her life in service of a lie.

She woke up (apparently she did sleep, although it felt like it couldn't have been more than a minute or two) in space. And that's when she broke.

Fellow members of the SS Golden can find her wandering the ship, but she doesn't look like she's getting her bearings: her shuffling around is more ghostlike, lost and distant, eyes perpetually red and swollen whether she's crying in that exact moment or not. Sometimes she'll open her mouth as though she's about to start a rant, anger flashing across her face, but then she'll just look helpless again a second later. She's lost so much, two entire lives, for nothing, and now she honestly can't find her way into starting this one. She doesn't know what any of it means.]


[Eventually, Celeste finds her words and settles on an emotion to guide her as she addresses the entire fleet. Her eyes are still rimmed with red, her face a bit puffy from crying, but her expression is hard and ice cold and her stare is furious.]

I've got one thing to tell you lot, and one thing only. [A quiet voice accented with the sound of middle-class London, rubbed raw from crying but taut with rage yet to explode.] If you're ever approached by someone offering a wish - I don't care if a genie pops out of a bottle or a fairy godmother appears in a shower of sparkles or a star comes right out of the sky or it's just two civil servant sorts in smart suits, any sort of person - if they tell you that you can make things right, you can fix all your cock-ups and get your life on a proper track - even if there's a cost, no matter if the cost seems reasonable and this all feels like a very fair exchange -

[The icy mask over her features slips for a second, and it looks like she might be back on her way to tears, but then it's back.]

- no matter how bad it is, and how desperately you want to believe - trust your gut. Wishes like that don't come true. There's no correcting what's already happened. You don't get that sort of second chance, not from anyone, for anything.

It if sounds too good to be true, it is. Don't let any false promise convince you otherwise, or you deserve what you get.

[She sniffles, then looks rather annoyed with herself at having given away even that much and closes things off:]

That's it. That's all I have to say.

Comments

video;

[hymnals]

[He leans forward, eyebrows raised.]

This sounds like a fascinating story.

video;

[nulliverse]

[Why you -]

Oh yes. [Her voice is sharp, bitterly comedic.] Oh, yes, I'm quite a story. One for the annals of history, I'm sure. But as the story is still ongoing, you'll forgive me if I don't appreciate having my back cover read like an airplane novel that might fill a few empty hours.

[hymnals]

You can't bluster in here with a speech like that and not expect a few questions. Come on, now.

[thezerothlaw]

It is an unfortunate fact that what one wishes to be true is not necessary true.

[He's sympathetic, in his own quiet, serious way.]

I am sorry, for what it is worth.

[nulliverse]

[The solemn response takes her aback. Somehow, having someone respond with matter-of-fact kindness causes a much larger crack in her mask than effusive sympathy would, and she has to press her lips together for a moment.]

"Wish" may have been the wrong word. It was more of an exchange, and the other side doesn't appear to have made good. But - thank you.

[thezerothlaw]

Then that is even more unfortunate.

If there is anything I can do to assist, I am at your disposal. I am Daneel Olivaw.

action;

[firstrebel]

[ Hera, on the other hand, is doing the exact opposite of aimless wandering - she's moving with purpose, a few spare parts in her arms, heading from the cargo bay. When she sees the unfamiliar face, though, she can't just walk on past. Not from someone who looks so distressed.

Hera briefly considers her options - asking what's wrong, showing concern for a stranger - and opts instead for cool and businesslike. She offers a piece to the woman. ]

Here, make yourself useful.

action;

[nulliverse]

What - is -

[She's aware that there is a purpose for her here - that much (along with knowledge that seems to have come from nowhere) shines through the fog of grief with a clarity that's almost alarming - but she isn't anywhere near capable of seeking it out and putting herself to work with her own drive and motivation yet.

As it happens, someone coming along and putting her to work is surprisingly helpful. It makes her aware of what a broken mess she must look, tweaks her pride back into place, and she straightens up as she takes the piece. Wipes at her eyes with a sleeve of her hoodie. The woman's appearance doesn't give her even a second's pause, only a flicker of curiosity, before she returns to her initial question.]

I mean - I only mean that I'm not sure if I can. I feel like I know a good deal about some things, but they're nothing I've ever done before, so I can't say why I know them. I've never even been in space.

action;

[firstrebel]

That's fine.

[ Hera just waves her forward, towards the flight deck, and just behind the door there's a panel she's wrenched open, wires hanging out. ]

You're not the first person to be in this situation, and I'm sure you won't be the last. If you can follow instructions, you'll be fine. Hook that acceleration dampener to the green wire, just there.

[Voice]

[honorbends]

[ . . . man. ]

Second chances are possible, but you have to find them on your own. There's no golden ticket.

[ zuko pauses ]

But it sounds like you've already figured that out... welcome to the Fleet. Are you alright?

[Voice]

[nulliverse]

[Voice is quite a comforting idea, actually. She'd made it a video to hammer home her point, but when she gets the voice reply, she makes the switch herself as well.]

That's exactly what I've found out, only far too late. "Figured" out is being far too generous with how it happened.

[If she sounds bitter now, it's only with herself. It's on her as much as it's on Eudio.]

Thank you. Really, thank you, I'm not sure that introduction deserved a welcome. I'm... [And she sighs heavily.] ... is "I damn well will be but I can't quite say when yet" a fair answer?

[Voice]

[honorbends]

Showing up in one universe when you're used to another is an adjustment. I've heard worse introductions.

[ zuko still misses adstringendum, though his wasn't a willing departure. ]

And I think that's fair.

[ that's

basically how zuko lives his life tbh ]

video;

[ino]

[ Ino listens closely as she speaks, looking thoughtful for a moment before she replies. This is a pretty unusual first post, after all ... ]

Is that what you think got you here?

video;

[nulliverse]

I was meant to be going home. [Her voice is still terse, but getting shaky.] That's the only reason I left, because... it was coming eventually, we all had to go home one day, and it was childish to delay the inevitable. I had my own life to start.

This isn't my life. They lied. They used me, like everyone else.

video;

[ino]

[ Hmm. She's quiet again for a moment. ]

I don't know. They might have been lying, I couldn't say, but I don't think this place necessarily has anything to do with them. I was somewhere else besides home before this, too, but so far there doesn't seem to be any actual connection -- just coincidence that we got shuffled from one to the other.

audio;

[sinuosity]

It is only shameful to be deceived by the same person twice.

[ There is no judgement in her voice, only a calm assurance, sympathy close as Nyssa can express it. ]

audio;

[nulliverse]

[She's taken to switching and replying in kind when people use voice, because it really is easier, her little silences not so blatantly attempts to gather herself.]

Even if the first deception is so - so perfect and beautiful that you'll never see anything else the same way again? I think the damage is done. Six years of being trapped and used didn't break me down, but a few months of the life I always wanted...

[There's one of those silences, but she doesn't speak again. Her breathing's just heavy and choppy. She can't hide everything over voice.]

Video

[killedwithlove]

[The screen only shows the ceiling somewhere, then a face pops into view. Thin and pale, too thin, too pale, really, dusty and with a smudge of black paint on his nose.]

Somewhere, for a Celeste, it went right.

He had all the dreams he wanted, but nothing that was real. Even you weren't real, not really. Not to him.

Video

[nulliverse]

What...?

[He's seeing something. She knows enough about psionics to know that - he's not a rambling crazy person, he's really seeing something. But it makes no sense to her at all.]

Another - an alternate universe me, you mean? And who is he? What - what do you mean?

[There's one person front and center in her mind, as much as she misses all of them, and she's terrified that this strange, sickly looking young man means Caleb.]

video;

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Wow. You got right to it, didn't you.

[so there's this guy on the other end of the video feed, pale and handsome and dressed in a lot of black leather--he may as well be wearing a sign that says either "I make a bunch of terrible decisions" or "I am trying way too hard". he's in the captain's chair of his own ship, smiling a little and looking... sympathetic?]

Good words, though. What'd you lose when coming here?

video;

[nulliverse]

[It's a look that would've appealed to her immediately, back in Eudio, all the markers of rebellion and power wrapped into one image. But she's far from looking at anyone with interest right now, with things as they are.]

I don't mince words when it's important. [That's razor-sharp, but a second later, she looks to be falling apart - it's that wording. What'd you lose. What didn't she lose?]

I lost - everything. But it was supposed to be the means to an end, and it became all I wanted. Now I don't even have the end.

video;

[survives]

[Oh... It doesn't take a genius to figure out why she'd tell everyone this, does it?]

And somebody told you they could... [Leanne cuts herself off, shaking her head. Does she really have to ask?]

I'm sorry. Are you gonna be okay? Um. Eventually.

video;

[nulliverse]

[That gaze turned on her is so gentle, she doesn't have the heart to keep up her harsh tirade. Not anymore. She just slumps, eyes glassing over, and sighs.]

I don't know. [That's the god's honest truth.] Someone who knew a lot better than I do said I would be, but - I really don't know. I gave up - so much that meant the world to me, and I got this instead of what I'd earned.

[video]

[evildetector]

Sounds like you're speaking from experience.

[ stiles's voice is low, calm. friendly, too, because it definitely seems like this probably isn't the best day of this chick's life. ]

Welcome to the fleet, though, I guess.

[video]

[nulliverse]

Firsthand experience. Of course, now that I really have the time to consider things, unfuck your life for the low cost of a few cuddles does sound so ludicrous that I feel like a complete berk for taking the chance in the first place.

[She's trying - really, really trying - to keep up her hard edge about the whole thing. Vicious humour, even at her own expense, tends to keep emotion at bay. But it doesn't ring entirely true.]

I've got a lot of welcomes for how I started all this. You lot really are used to horrible reactions, aren't you?