(no subject)

[madeinahole]

Who: Amethyst
Broadcast: Nah
Action: SS Windrose
When: Right after the shuffle

She had known the shuffle was coming, but had been expecting it to be more like a warp pad, and less...Star Trek. So Amethyst appeared in the cargo bay of the Windrose momentarily disoriented. She had a mission, though. Get the layout of this ship. Find a shuttle. Get to Steven. Gotta get to Steven. Gotta find something familiar in this messed up place.

Strange Sci-Fi technology that isn't Gem tech is not something she's used to, though, and she's curious despite herself. So the Windrose got a short purple woman with lots of hair poking around into everyone's stuff.

Eventually, she did come to a conclusion: "Wow. This place is kinda a dump."

Comments

[unbearablynaive]

"Ah, certainly." It's a little abrupt, but hey, it's not like...she can get anywhere besides the other ships anyway. He's sure he'll see her around again.

Indeed, when he's done with his daily tank and garden maintenance and heading back to the engine room, he notices her again.

"Ah, hello again. Were you able to find the shuttles?"

[[OOC: let me know if that works!]]

Perfect

[madeinahole]

"Turned out not to need 'em."

She walked in a circle around The Vision peering at him, before finally asking "So what are you?" with open curiosity. Tact, thy name is Amethyst.

[unbearablynaive]

Not an uncommon question, really. The skin tone wasn't exactly common, not to mention the habit of floating (which he tended not to in the ship thanks to low ceilings in most areas) or the yellow jewel.

"I am an android, if you're familiar with the term." he touched the gem set into his forehead. "I was created to bear this, a jewel of power called the Mind Stone."

[madeinahole]

"I've heard it, but I've never been quite sure what it meant. I thought humans made them up."

Of course, when your whole species is constructed artificially, the concept of an android is a kind of strange one.

[unbearablynaive]

"The word comes from science fiction, but it is accurate enough to my situation." It's easier than explaining exactly how unique he is in detail, anyway.

"If you'll pardon my asking, are you a Gem like Pearl?"

[madeinahole]

"Yup!"

People keep asking about Pearl. Could it be she's actually making friends with humans (and androids)??? Amethyst was secretly pleased.

"I'm way more awesome, though."

[unbearablynaive]

She's at least been friendly to this android, though that may have more to do with his clearly non-human appearance than anything else. He's glad to hear his guess was correct; the two of them feel similar to his senses, but that isn't necessarily indicative of anything in the wide diversity of the Fleet.

"I am the Vision, and I am the Windrose's engineer. May I ask your name?"

[madeinahole]

The Vision was hardly an odd name by her standards.

"I'm Amethyst. I guess they want me to work the comms? Sounds boring, if you ask me."

[unbearablynaive]

"I'm glad to meet you, Amethyst. The comms don't have terribly much traffic, but it is good to be able to send encrypted messages to friends and becomes more interesting when we're in deep space for an extended amount of time. I'm afraid Engineering is always busy; the ships aren't in prime condition and parts are difficult to come by." Oh well, at least it gives him something to do.

He smiles apologetically. "Have you already located your quarters?"

[madeinahole]

"If you can call that little broom closet 'quarters' then sure. It's kinda cramped in here, isn't it?"

It certainly was compared to the temple, at least.

[unbearablynaive]

"It is rather tight, although if you'd like to put in for a bunk space increase that is something we can do with our ratings accounts. You can access your balance from your communicator, and we earn money based on our actions." It's one of the more bizarre aspects of being in a reality show - that they can see a direct correlation with their ratings - but then, it is useful for that.

"The ship actually was quite a bit smaller before we expanded its crew capacity. Thankfully, that raised the ceilings a bit so some of us weren't in as much danger of hitting our heads on doorframes." Speaking of things that had increased his ratings....

[madeinahole]

Ceiling space was not much of a problem to Amethyst, who stood at less than five feet tall.

"So how's this work with ratings? Couple people mentioned that."

[unbearablynaive]

For a while, the Windrose had only had short women and very tall men. The Vision isn't surprised they've gained another short woman, though he will be surprised if the next man they get isn't over six feet tall.

He tilts his head to one side, considering. "Our actions and their popularity are reflected by our account balance. It seems to be rather unpredictable, but in general the more you interact with your fellow passengers, the higher your account becomes. Creative solutions to problems and reacting well to a crisis situation are also rewarded." He smiles ruefully. "The audience also seems to like it when I fly."

[madeinahole]

"Huh. So I should mess with people a lot and do crazy stuff?"

[unbearablynaive]

"Essentially, yes. Naturally, you could do an experiment - act for one week as you normally would, then the next week participate in more 'crazy' activities, then compare your net gain after each week. That may give you a good idea what kind of behavior your audience is looking for in particular."

[madeinahole]

A moment while she considers this.

"hmmmmmmm, sounds too complicated. I'ma just do what comes naturally. It annoys Pearl most of the time so it'll probably make SOMEONE laugh.

[unbearablynaive]

It at least makes the Vision smile.

"I imagine you'll do fine, but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me."

[madeinahole]

"I got one, actually. What's there to eat in this place?"

[unbearablynaive]

"The main food we have access to is protein gel from the kitchen. There are several flavors available, and you may eat as much of that as you like. Other foods in more limited quantities appear every week in the pantry, and fresh foods are available on each planet we visit."

He is very carefully not mentioning the fish or kelp in the tank in the cargo bay, because the fish are his pets.