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Who: Uchiha Sasuke
Broadcast: Fleetwide!
Action: Marsiva
When: This very moment.

(broadcast)

[ Sure there are bound to be the occasional less-than-thrilling broadcasts but this one may be a new low, with the camera focused in on a nondescript blob that turns out -- with some acquired distance -- to be a knee. The feed shakes then and there's the loud metallic tap tap of the device being knocked against the framework of one of the generic cots aboard the Marsiva. Tap. Tap. Tap. The only other sound is that of the painfully bland music in the background, without a word being spoken.

At least this inept user finally turns the communicator around to inspect it at another angle, granting any viewer a flash of dark and impractically spiked hair before the camera then focuses on equally shadowed eyes and a severe expression.

No, he's not going to panic. He probably already did that internally before he even tried to figure out the communicator ~~less than successfully~~. Send aid. ]

(action)

[ Sasuke will be easy to encounter either sitting on that cot and fiddling with his communicator, exploring the bay thoroughly, or staring with incredible and difficult-to-read intensity out into the murky void of space. Godspeed. ]

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[ It can wait. ]

Anyways. So ... this place.

[ She exhales, blowing the air up at her bangs. ]

Basically, we've been put in charge of operating a group of ships that fly through space. The people who brought us here, who are in some mysterious unknown location, are apparently broadcasting everything we do and say to an audience. We get paid for being ... "entertaining".

[ He's never had cause to genuinely try to read her emotions since his memories of her involve them all plainly written on her face, but this is different. Maybe it's just the mention of her father that makes him attempt it, considering that of course to be a bond worthy of note. ]

"Entertaining"?

Hn. Of all the aspects that are intolerable, that one stands out.

Whether or not we actually have an audience is kind of up for debate, still. There's no proof we really do. But yeah, the more dramatic and crazy your life is, the more money they give you.

[ So you're probably going to be rich, is what she's saying. ]

The ships are on a controlled course to random planets and moons. Sometimes we can stop and get off and get supplies and stuff like that. In the meantime, everyone's given a job on the ship they're supposed to do to keep everything running.

[ She frowns a little. ]

If you feel at the base of your skull -- [ She tilts her head to the side, placing her hand where she's talking about ] -- they've put a kind of knowledge chip that connects to our brains and tells us how to do those jobs, and translates what everyone else is saying. Don't try to rip it out, we're still trying to figure out how to do that without giving the person it's attached to a horrible seizure.

[ His hand instinctively goes to the back of his neck to feel it out but his expression doesn't change, clearly unsurprised by this "discovery". ]

Aa, I noticed it as soon as I woke up. [ The first thing he'd done was a quick physical examination of himself to check for damages or injuries, not only overly aware of his own body but suffering from what for once might be an appropriate amount of paranoia.

Totally try to rip it out, got it. ]

How long have you been here?

[ She eyes him suspiciously, because she's pretty sure that he didn't heed the warning she just gave him, but ... whatever. It hasn't killed anyone, so if he wants to torture himself, he can go right ahead.

That question is a more complicated one, though, and she pulls at a strand of hair from her ponytail for a moment before answering. Then, she switches the feed to private, because this path of conversation is going to lead to some things that she's pretty sure neither of them want to be public knowledge. Especially when she starts getting into the versions of him that have passed through. ]

Technically, I've been away from home for over seven years. But this place in particular -- I've only been here for a little over a year.

Edited (what is html ) 2016-01-14 22:39 (UTC)

[ ... some of it is slowly falling together, puzzle pieces from other conversations helping to paint a broader picture. ]

That long... I suppose from the changes to your appearance it should've been clear. [ But the loss of that many years to an outside world is hard for him to swallow. Not for Ino, really, but imagining it happening to himself. ]

The white-haired one with the scar. He was with you during those times?

Allen? Yeah. He's been here just as long as I have.

And that's ... the other thing. You were there, too, a couple different times -- so some people will probably recognize you. But from what we've gathered, leaving means all your memories are wiped, so people don't remember ever being here once they're back where they came from. And it seems like all of the time here amounts to nothing at home -- it sounds like I didn't just randomly disappear in the middle of the war, anyways.

[ He takes a moment to absorb that information, initially resistant to it before his mind logics his way out. ]

Then to me it's nothing but a phantom with my face and history, just like you're separated from the you back in our world. [ If only inter-dimensional travel were a stronger skill of his... minus that deus ex machina thing with Deidara that we won't acknowledge. ]

How much do they know about me?

[ Hey, if that's what he wants to think, she's not going to stop him. ]

Hm ... Probably not much. Naruto's been around a few times, too, but I don't think he would have mentioned much beyond the basics. There might be others from different places who'd recognize you, but I don't think anyone from Paradisa would know a lot, other than the fact that you're from the same world as me.

[ She pauses, like she's weighing the pros and cons of continuing. She decides to be honest, though -- because in the end, it'll come out whether she wants it to or not, if Atroma has anything to say about it. ]

You told me the truth about your brother, though.

[ That finally causes a crack in his demeanor when little else had, a brief hint of anger tied up in a regret and sadness he's had far too little time to acknowledge. Now's no different, not when it's all immediately shut down. ]

[ He actually trusted her with that information once? How much must have changed for that to happen? ]

... Itachi had many truths that he kept hidden. The one you're no doubt referring to is the most important, and the one that he'd most want to keep secret.

Don't spread that information, Ino, whether it's relevant here or not. It's not your place to.

[ And for the first time since he's arrived, she looks a bit irritated with him. ]

I'm not an asshole. You asked me not to tell anyone when you told me, so I haven't told anyone. Like you asked.

Honestly, I wouldn't have even brought it up now, but this place has a way of bringing the things people are hiding to light. I'd rather you hear it from me now than find out I was keeping it from you later.

What I allegedly said to you before has no bearing on how I treat you now, because that's not a memory I share. [ A bit curtly in return, but his own shift in mood isn't as noticeable. Maybe because prickly is his default. ]

I said what I needed to say and I'm not repeating it unless it becomes necessary to.

Edited (get out re:) 2016-01-15 00:48 (UTC)

I'm not saying that you'd remember, but it's a little rude to assume that I would go spreading something like that around, even if your opinion of me isn't that great.

[ Which she's sure it isn't, all things considered. But. ]

You trusted me with that information willingly. Remember that.

That being said, like I said -- this place will try to drag out things you don't want people to know, so you should be prepared for that. A few months ago we were all placed on the ship you're on now and were tossed around in each other's minds all night while we slept.

There are a lot of considerate people here who were careful not to step into anything private, but there are also plenty of people who really aren't that kind.

[ Ah. That sounds like a description of his greatest nightmare. Good to know. ]

Tch...

There's no way I can be 'prepared for' an event like that. It's no different than our world... You have the ability or skills to cope, or you don't. [ Deidara hadn't told him ahead of time what attacks to get ready for and he knows Kakuzu and Hidan certainly hadn't offered Ino any courtesies. ]

I'll do what I can.

Well, knowing about it being possible leaves you more prepared than having it thrown at you out of nowhere. Most of the people here won't want to bring up the fact that it happened at all, for obvious reasons.

[ It was less traumatic for her, given the fact that she's used to being in other people's minds or having someone in hers, but it wasn't so easy to cope for others. ]

On that note, except for a couple of people who are trustworthy, nobody here knows about any of my family's techniques. I'd like to keep it that way, since there's quite a few people here who are -- or could be -- dangerous. [ And then she tacks on, as dryly as possible: ] Not that you'd be talking about me, ever. Just a for-your-information thing.

[ Normally he wouldn't; that's obvious to both of them. But then again, normally he wouldn't really talk to her at all in the first place, and here they are. It's hard to believe that some sentient being with an unknown agenda would pick the two of them -- out of everyone in their world -- to further its goal.

"Entertainment". Sure. ]

I won't share your information. [ Sasuke seems far less offended by that insinuation than she'd been, really. ] I'm doing the same with my own abilities for now, limited as they are here.

[ Well, that gets her attention. ]

Limited? What happened?

My elemental jutsu are weaker, and the Mangekyou and Rinnegan are impossible for me to activate. [ Surprise he has the Rinnegan. Had. Sort of. Whatever.

His tone is still calm but it sounds almost forced now; accepting a downgrade in ability (from god to really strong guy) is almost impossible for him to accept. ]

...

[ She looks a little baffled by that, but she can't be all that surprised that Sasuke nabbed yet another special power. ]

Weird.

Well, for the most part you shouldn't need those things anyways. Anytime I've had to fight something here I've barely even had to use chakra. The most dangerous threats are other enemy ships, which we have to fight with our own ships.

What job were you assigned, by the way? You might have to think about it for a second, but you should already know thanks to the chip.

I haven't lost my chakra control or speed, or my own instincts. I won't have reason to back down quickly from any fight that finds me. [ No, he's far too stubborn for that anyway. But wait, Ino's bringing up another point, so let him concentrate. ]

[ ... ]

...

It's nothing.

[ ... Is it embarrassing? She looks unimpressed. ]

Everybody has a job, Sasuke.

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