driftfleet | (no subject)

Who: Makie and you guys
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: This evening

[Makie wakes feeling more relaxed and a lot clearer than she has in a long time. It's enough that, for a time, she just stays in bed. An odd bed, a very soft one. Given she'd spent a year sleeping on the floor-- and her last memories-- it's a luxury she indulges in.

She knows this is an unfamiliar place. She just doesn't care.

Eventually she pushes the coverlet back and stands, collects her shawl from the stand nearby and settles it across her shoulders. Her clothes are clean and in good repair. That's interesting. The shamisen is there and she picks it up, freezing for a moment as she registers the difference in weight. Notes it, dismisses it. She doesn't...need it here, does she?

It's not until she explores that she begins to feel the first confusion. This is not at all what she would have expected, alien and unfamiliar walls and machinery. Not only that, the more she exerts herself the more the heaviness in her lungs becomes more pronounced, and eventually she sinks into a nearby chair to get her breath back. She's better than she was by far, but she's still sick. She shouldn't still be sick. Surely.

All right, then.

After a while, unnerved by the silence and emptiness of the place, she begins playing her shamisen. If she'd explored a little more, she might have found others, but she's tired. If there are others, they can come to her instead.]

---------

[Eventually, a broadcast. It's short and to the point and delivered in a thin, tired voice by a Japanese woman in a kimono with exceedingly pale skin.]

I understand this is no longer Adstringendum. [She still stumbles over that name, even after a year. Too many damn consonants. And then her tone turns wry.] It is also very clearly not the land of the dead, and this communicator is... familiar.

I apologise as you've no doubt heard these questions many times before, but I should like to know where I am and why.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Blink.]

That's all? I should think their viewing must be quite dull at times.

[...although. Close quarters and some of the people she knows could get very dramatic, so she'll concede that point. And this is far better than some alternatives, so she relaxes. This, she can deal with.]

Thank you. Are we here indefinitely?

You'd think so, but some people will watch anything.

[Leia, for one, is Not Impressed With Holo-Serials.]

In theory, if someone "wins" their little serial, they can leave. Otherwise, we're stuck here--unless we can find a way to escape.

[GUESS WHAT SHE'S AIMING FOR.]

I wonder where I would go if I were to win. [Back home? Dead. Adstring? ... well. Also dead. But nobody wants to be trapped at the behest of another.

She'd totally guess the escape.] How long has this been going on for?

Do you have multiple homes? [She can't imagine thinking of a place like this as a place to return to--but then, she's not dead anywhere.]

I have no idea. [Another shrug.] I was brought here around three weeks ago, but plenty of people have been in the Fleet for months.

In a sense. Adstringendum was... also a place I found myself caught, though the situation was less a kidnapping and more an accidental visit. I wonder if I would go back there or to my own land.

It doesn't matter, I suppose. If people have been here for so long, one assumes that they have tried a great many ways to leave. [Which is disappointing. Unless they're all exceedingly lazy, which she doubts.] I'm afraid I can't give any assistance when flying among the stars is so unfamiliar to me.

[She wouldn't even know where to begin.]

An accidental visit? I guess that's an improvement. [She might be skeptical, but she hasn't seen it for herself--so who knows?]

If I find a way out of here, I won't leave without making sure everyone knows. [There are plenty of people who have vital work to return to. It would be wrong to escape without leaving the option open for them.] But it might be a while. I was hoping to be gone about three weeks ago.

[She smiles at that.] I understand. [She doesn't say it's common; a lot of people try looking for an out and fail over time. It's obvious that might be the case, she's sure.]

You mentioned there were many people here but I've yet to see any. Are they on... another ship?

[Or just down the hallway behind a door she's yet to find? It's possible. She didn't get very far.]

[Leia smiles in return. She likes this woman.]

That's right. You're on a ship called the Marsiva right now--but sometime in the next week, you'll be assigned to one of the smaller ships.

[A pause.]

My name is Leia Organa, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you.

[Ah-- she hadn't even introduced herself. How rude. Makie smiles a little ruefully, inclining her head.]

I am Otono-Tachibana Makie. Likewise.

I suppose until then, I will bide my time here.

[The name is a mouthful, but Leia's already filing it away for future reference. Diplomats gotta remember these things.]

You should also know, Otono-Tachibana, that when you are assigned a ship, you'll be able to visit the others in the Fleet as well.

[A little pause.] Maybe then we can speak in person.

[At least Makie can make that part easier on her. She's had people assume that's her first name before. Different cultures...]

You can call me Makie. And I'd like that.

[It's much easier not talking on these things.]

[She smiles, grateful for the correction and the opportunity to make her own preferences known.]

And you can call me Leia. Makie.