driftfleet | first poem

Who: adelina and you!
Broadcast: fleetwide
Action: marsiva
When: now

[video & action]

[there's a figure clad in armor slowly stirring on one of the cots in the marsiva. it takes a few moments for her to come to, but when she does, there's a flurry of activity. she reaches for her sword instinctively - but it's gone. she looks around the room quickly, noting how unfamiliar and strange everything looks.

she refuses to lose her calm, though, and so she's heading into the rest of the ship to (hopefully) find some answers after inspecting the place she awoke in. her growing agitation is obvious in the way she moves, though her steps are still graceful and elegant despite the heavy armor. she's not going to panic, but not knowing what's happening or how she might fix it is frustrating. as such, she raises a hand in greeting to the first person she comes across on the marsiva. despite her mounting anger, her voice is polite and pleasant.]

You there. Might I request your help?

[video]

[later, she's trying to puzzle out the strange device that is the communicator. this means you're getting an extreme close-up of her face as she looks at it, though the view is rapidly swiveling around as she turns it over, then around, then sideways. what a good introduction.]

How peculiar. I wonder how we're meant to-

[the broadcast ends abruptly, only to resume a few moments later. someone's pushing buttons despite having no idea what they do while muttering aloud to herself.]

—different from anything I've encountered before. I wonder if it's a sorcerer's invention, or perhaps some kind of—

[there she goes again. someone might want to help her out.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[another confused pause.]

I apologize, but... Have we met before?

[depending on how perceptive she is, she might notice that she seems a bit older than the girl nightingale is referring to.]

... Oh. Damn it.

[She can't tell over the video feed, honestly, but it doesn't matter that much- She's met Vash, and a couple of others from the castle who don't recognize her at all.]

Nightingale, from Takshaka... If that means anything to you?

Strange... I can't recall any town within the kingdom called Takshaka, though I've been thoroughly instructed in the geography of our land. Is it a very small village?

[sorry, Lace, all that you can get out of her from that is just a simple:]

Ffffffffuck.

[it's probably a good thing she isn't familiar with that word.]

What's amiss?

[besides, well, the obvious.]

A very long story that I don't like telling sober.

This doesn't seem a very proper time for drink.

Really? I think getting kidnapped into space is a perfect time to drink.

It seems a bit counterintuitive to fixing the problem. But before that...

What do you mean by kidnapped into space?

... Look, let me just send you the document I've been working on.

[The communicator will indeed soon buzz with a document link. Weird.]

[do you think she knows how to open links.]

What is this?

[Oh, for fuck's sake.]

Just click the link and it will open up a document with all the information.

[her expression grows angrier as she continues to read, though there's a layer of calm on top of that frustration. once she's finally done with it:]

No. I refuse.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could?

I'm not going to allow them to treat me as a means of entertainment, like some kind of toy or a pet. They can't force me to act as such, even if they insist on observing us.

It's true. I don't even believe we are being broadcast.

But, there's still nothing you can do about it.

I refuse to accept that. Even if we are powerless now, there will be a time when the opportunity rises to free ourselves.

Do me a favor and feel right here.

[She taps the base of her skull, where the bump from the implant is.]

[doing so, and while she doesn't quite gasp, there is a small, surprised intake of breath]

I don't understand.

They've stuck a device in your brain. The implant I mentioned in the guide.

They had to do something I don't think they planned for to us, back when we were all brought back to the Marsiva. But then, when we saw things we shouldn't have, they pulled the memories right back out of our heads.