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[goodjob]

Who: Fiona Gallagher and you.
Broadcast: fleetwide
Action: the Marsiva
When: 1/20

[The camera manages to catch Fiona waking up with an angry yelp before she stumbles furiously out of bed, and off screen. Something like a muffled scream can be heard, but not seen. She's gone for a fair amount of time before she returns to addresse the camera directly.]

[She looks tired, a breath away from haggard. Her voice is harsh.] I feel like my room's been downgraded. What are our coordinates? [She frowns, scratches the back of her neck.] Where are we? And... how long's it been since the fire?

[That out of the way, she relaxes and asks in a more conversational tone:] And has anybody got a smoke? I'm definitely not quitting now. [She rolls her eyes.]

Oh, and Adrien, you owe me a drink. [Muttered:] At least.

[Anyone who wants to find Fiona on the bridge of the Marsiva is welcome to do so! They can find her when she just woke up, when she went off screen to scream into a pillow, or after the message when she'll be spending her time inspecting everything, and trying to find some cigarettes.]

Comments

[redactions]

[ He quirks a smile. ]

Seven months is a long time.

[ Also he's a Star Trek nerd. ]

[goodjob]

Yeah, but- shit. Seven months in, I was still getting my sea legs. Space legs. Whatever. [She rolls her eyes, mostly at herself.] But then, the CDC was doing pretty different crap from running a really high-budget reality TV show. I bet you know what those are by now.

[redactions]

Yeah. Ain't fond. To be honest, there's no cameras anywhere. I've got an augment that tells me how to maintain the ship, and there's nothing weird here, and it doesn't get fuzzy or nothin' if I'm close to someone they don't want someone to discover.

[goodjob]

No one deserves to be on reality TV. Well, not most people. Probably deserve it after my last job. [But not Jim Smooth over here, who is clearly just a nice grandpa man from the 40s. With a metal arm.]

[Don't question it.] Have you been close to what they don't want you to see?

[redactions]

[ Firmly, ]

Nobody deserves reality TV.

[ He will fight you on this, Fiona. ]

If I was, I wouldn't have noticed it. I wouldn't be surprised if the augments affect our perception.

[goodjob]

[She smiles very fondly to hear that, even if it doesn't quite reach her eyes.] You obviously don't.

Yeah, maybe we're all really in padded rooms. What kinda things d'you think they wouldn't want us to see, though? I got a few guesses, but you got the experience.

[redactions]

[ He huffs. Okay. Strategic retreat. There'll be round two. ]

Well, if this is the Matrix, probably wherever Agent Smith is. Otherwise — anything that might help us pinpoint where we are. The stars here are all unfamiliar, but none of the planets we land on are surprised to see humans or humanoids. There's always something that tastes like Swedish meatballs, for some reason.

[goodjob]

[Okay, so nice grandpa man knows his modern pop culture. Fiona is impressed, and maybe a little suspicious, but who isn't these days.]

There I thought the only universal constant was tentacles and bad hair. You sure it's all in the same universe? Last people I was with liked to hop around.

[redactions]

[ That'd be the time travel, which is hard to explain, so he tends not to. ]

I'm not sure about that, but my expertise ain't in multiverse travel.

[goodjob]

I wouldn't exactly call it experience, but last place I worked... the way they told it, they were the big dick in the galaxy, galaxies, they called a ton of shots. Didn't let us see anything that said otherwise, though. Everything was restricted, nobody got in or out, you couldn't even rent porn without their special permission.

Just altering perception seems a lot fucking simpler. [Which is to say, she subscribes to James' newsletter.]

[redactions]

Yeah, and the augment can't be removed. Anyone who tries feels a lot of pain and then blacks out.

[goodjob]

Yeah, you remember that cuff I mentioned? [She does the same motion as before, circling one hand around the wrist of the other.] Same thing happened when you took those off. Seems like every big space corporation's got some way of keeping their people on a leash.

[redactions]

Colour me not surprised. Well — least we can do is keep looking, worst they can do is make us disappear if we find the truth, eh?

[goodjob]

What if we got people we wanna get back to? I already disappeared once. Don't think I'll come back again the second time.

[redactions]

Sorry, darlin', I can't help ya there.

[goodjob]

[Sighs.] Remember that thing I said about you being a tease? [Her smile's a bit more tired than it was before.]

You ever hear about people coming back from the dead?

[redactions]

Not here — at least, not that I know of.

[goodjob]

Huh. Always wanted to be special.

Well, thanks, James. I'll look you up when I get off this thing. You still owe me a smoke.

[redactions]

I've got those Lucky Strikes whenever you want 'em. And a good strong whiskey if you're that kinda dame.

[goodjob]

[She laughs, surprised but pleased.] I am definitely that kinda girl. And you're practically a saint.

[redactions]

Patron of a good Scotch, that's me.

[ He winks at her. ]

Take care, Fiona. Call me on this line if you need anything.

[goodjob]

Good scotch and Irish whiskey, and I'll knight you an honorary Chicagoan.

And, hey, right back at you, okay. [From her tone, she means it.]