driftfleet | Gumball Wishes and Taxicab Dreams

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Gumball Wishes and Taxicab Dreams

[On today's episode of the Drift Fleet:

The cargo holds are full of mysterious crates! The crews are filling beyond capacity with new faces! Official alerts are informing the passengers that they are signed to contracts that they've never agreed to! They are docking at the dazzling FS Starlight, but are flat broke!

What are they going to do!? Stay tuned to find out!

...Meaning, this is a kickoff mingle for you all to enjoy the beginning of the latest plot setting. This is a convenient place to start threads relating to the first week of the event-- meeting new crewmembers, reacting to the mysterious cargo, arriving on the station and discovering that you're all broke, etc.

Tag around, start whatever you'd like, have fun. And, as always, feel free to make your own posts and mingles from here on in, as this will be the only mod-posted one for this event!]

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[ rei has been wandering around with her winnings from totally swindling the casino, and she's lost in looking at everything when someone bumps into her. she's about to whip around to tell that person to watch it, but when she gets a look at who ran into her, she freezes. ]

-- Sasuke?

[ but her incredulity (and relief, because a familiar face is always a nice thing, usually, maybe, probably not in this case) is soon cut off by the whirr of a siren, and rei blinks before looking at... a bunch of police officers who are racing after them. and have now begun yelling at her.

there's only a moment of blank staring before she whips back around to sasuke, tone accusing. ]

What did you do?! -- run!

[ He's genuinely more irritated at being slowed down than he is at hearing his name from yet another stranger because it's becoming par for the course, instead cementing his grip on his bag as he too glances back. Not too fully, though, or they might notice that he doesn't have the facial scar he did a moment ago when he purposefully allowed them to see him.

His arm is temporarily restored only through a transformation technique, entirely fake just so he's harder to identify. ]

Who the hell are you supposed to be? [ Asked curtly as he indeed takes off, assuming she can keep up if he's not using his chakra to go faster. ]

[ -- well, that answers that question, and she immediately takes off. if sasuke doesn't know who she is, then she's not going to transform. she had promised michiru to keep it quiet.

still, that makes this a little more difficult, and that's annoying. without mars, though, rei is still a capable fighter and can run quickly. she keeps up with sasuke pretty easily. ]

You're getting slow in your old age, Sasuke.

[ snippishly. how do you get caught robbing a fucking vending machine, you casual, and her eyes quickly scan the crowd before she spots a side alley. ]

And senile -- how many saw you?

As many as I needed to see me.

[ A spree of crimes without a suspect leads to more questions being asked than he'd like. Best to establish one early... even if that suspect just so happens to be a complete innocent. ]

Answer my question. [ He's just as keen on disappearing into that alley, entirely unwinded as he darts into its mouth. There must be a reason that he isn't going his top speed at all, and it can't be good. ]

[ she ignores him for the time being, her hand dipping into her pocket for the ofuda she always carries, murmuring under her breath (rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, zai, zen) before whipping around and throwing six of the blessed talismans behind her.

they have little effect on the robots, though the spiritual powers activated by the talismans seem to at least knock them back a bit -- but the aliens in pursuit as well immediately stop in their tracks, frozen in place as they hiss and spit -- but by the time they realize what happened, rei is already down an alley, up a fire escape, and out of sight.

not everybody can have magical ninja powers when not transformed into sailor mars, but she's quick besides. sasuke, surely, can follow. ]

Stupid -- ninjas --

[ with a soft exhalation of breath as she rolls onto the roof, careful to keep out of sight as the robots try to figure out what to do on their own. ]

[ Well, just the chanting earns a glance back, sharingan active as he watches her and somehow still seems fully aware of where he's going. It's a mere burst of chakra to launch him halfway up one wall and then a push off of it for him to scale the building she's chosen in less than a second, offering him more time to peer over the edge and watch the aftermath...

before calmly stepping back with that bag, still seeming wholly unbothered both by the physical 'exertion' and by the chase itself. ]

Breathe first, then explain yourself.

I don't need instructions on how to breathe.

[ it's said automatically, though she catches her breath in a quick exhalation before getting to her feet, dusting off her jeans. she then finally looks over at him, critically -- her eyes flickering, as she looks him up and down. placing his energy. feeling him out.

it's definitely sasuke, but it feels different. he feels different. through hell and back, but it's definitely still him. older, than she remembers.

there's a pause before she sighs, pushing her hair out of her face. ]

... I'm Rei. I've met you before, but not here. -- in another place. We were friends. You look older than I remember, though.

[ and rei pauses before she gestures at his bag of goodies, huffing in irritation. ]

You're still an idiot, though, good to know that doesn't change across the universe.

'Rei'. [ Well, at least it's short and easy to remember. He allows himself another glance over the edge of the building, watching the cluster of police and imagining how much longer it'll take his clone to finish another job within the district now that he's drawn all the law enforcement out this way.

Always have a plan. ]

So you're another one of those. [ How the hell did he manage to make so many friends. Just thinking about has him feeling claustrophobic and uneasy, honestly. ] Adstringendum? Paradisa?

[ she arches her eyebrows at him, eyeing him for a moment -- enjoy being stared at a lot, sasuke, how does it feel -- before glancing over the roof edge. ]

Has Zuko found you yet?

[ rei never really talked a lot to zuko ~~lmao because the mun isn't threading with herself~~ but sasuke and zuko had been inseparable in adstringendum. rei mostly stuck to hanging out with the shinigami; the uchiha family weirds her out. except sasuke, he was fine.

still weird, but not overly murderous. ]

... Adstringendum, then. [ So that answers his question and hers at the same time; clearly he's met up with Zuko. In fact he's assuming he's still in the park, avoiding most forms of life while trying to soak up the refreshing rays of a very fake sun. What a life. ]

We've spoken a few times here.

Observant as always.

[ dryly, and she slips her hands back into her pockets. ]

Zuko never caused any real trouble in Adstringendum, though I'm sure he's happy to see you here. -- I take it a lot of random people know your name.

[ rei has been in the game long enough to feel bad for the new ones. she remembers being thrust into adstringendum for the first time, though she didn't have anyone to recognize her. and while she cares about sasuke (her version, anyway), she also knows well enough not to press. ]

I'm sure his feelings are mixed, just as everyone else's are. To them I'm merely an amnesiac.

[ Which is frustrating for him too, really, but he's had enough time now that his emotions are in check and he doesn't show it. Finally he turns to actually sit on the edge of the roof, slinging that bag off his shoulder and unzipping it as he allows the illusion of his left arm to dissipate.

Looks like nothing's damaged. ]

[ luckily enough, sasuke isn't actually facing her to see that brief look of horror that comes with the realization that sasuke has lost an arm -- and the question forms in her mouth (what happened?!), before rei quickly swallows it.

sasuke has already made it pretty clear he hates presumptions. may as well allow him his space. and rei moves to sit next to him on the ledge, though she leaves a healthy amount of distance. ]

I'm not really sure what I believe -- whether or not there's multiple versions of the same person, or the same person goes from place to place and loses their memories each time. I thought I believed in the latter, but now that I'm here, it's probably the former.

[ which is... difficult to swallow, but she's long since learned that nothing is impossible. ]

I'll try not to pretend you have amnesia, though -- so what did you steal that was so worthwhile?

It would have to be the former if you're accounting for ages. There are certain physical things that people experience that don't seem to have been wiped away, but when I use language that implies that I'm a different version of the me that they knew altogether there's an argument.

[ At least from Ino, anyway, who has thrown the amnesia theory his way more than once despite his stark insistence that that isn't how it is. Not as if he'd know, really. ]

All in all it doesn't make much difference unless those memories are recoverable. [ He removes a small box, however, one that he clicks open to reveal a number of vials. ]

... who knows.

The beings in charge of the last world I was at could do pretty much whatever they wanted -- I've learned not to rule anything out.

[ she glances over at the box, brow furrowing at the vials. not labelled in any language she can understand, and she sighs before looking back down on the street. ]

Sorry that people are giving you a hard time, though. You were definitely younger when I saw you.

[ you also looked like less shit but rei has tact and will not say so ty.

she pauses, though, and glances over at the vials, extending a hand. ]

I wasted six talismans on you. Let me see.

It isn't an issue. They're acting how they feel they need to and I'm doing the same. [ Well, a little less so on the latter. He's a raging asshole but he's holding back a lot right now still, having wished for a mostly empty planet where he could let loose some aggression but that's impossible in a place this crowded. ]

You used those on your own, though. It wasn't necessary. [ Sasuke frees one vial and holds it out to her all the same should she want to examine it. ]

Don't damage it.

I wasn't going to get arrested because of you.

[ and rei takes the vial, though she tosses it to her other hand, catching it deftly. just to be contrary. ]

Though the robots are really annoying... did you rob a laboratory or something? What is this?

We don't have animatronic machines like that in my world, but they're easy enough to get past. They don't feel pain, perhaps, but they don't have the ability to make snap judgments or adapt well.

[ He watches her though, having expected her to actually perform some kind of helpful test. No dice. ]

I was asked to serve as a courier for them. I can deliver them or keep them for myself; I'm deciding my course.

[ nah she's just nosy af.

but the vial doesn't contain any dark energy to her, and seems to just be full of some type of liquid. nothing overly deadly, to her senses, which means it's probably just poison. or some sort of disease. nothing that she can sense.

she does have a bad gut feeling about them, though, and rei tosses the vial back to sasuke. ]

Careful not to drop them.

[ mildly, seemingly unconcerned with sasuke and dropping said tossed vial. ]

I'd get rid of them -- we're apparently going to be stuck on this thing for a few weeks. I wouldn't tick off anyone who might want to force-feed you whatever they asked you to carry.

[ Oh good, so nosy like Sasuke is nosy. That works.

He swipes the tiny glass tube out of the air before it can near any real danger, tucking it back into its protective foam slot within the metal case. ]

Oh, assuming it's poison? I don't have much fear of poison anymore, but I won't risk it. I'll see that it gets where it needs to go.

I don't have time to find a better buyer here as it is without turning too many heads, probably.

Poison or some ridiculously deadly disease that probably shouldn't exist.

[ adstringendum has given her a fresh new 'fuck you' perspective on life ]

And wise decision. Best to just pass it along to where it needs to go -- or, you know.

[ casual shrug ]

Get a legitimate job.

[ weird ]

I'm a shinobi. These are the kinds of 'legitimate jobs' that we do.

[ Since 'ninja' is honestly just code for 'glorified mercenary', regardless of how much they like to tart it up with nice speeches and ideologies. Which Sasuke buys into himself half the time but he's not blind to reality. ]

If I had more time I'd get it analyzed, but delays encourage questions.

Right, right, ninjas.

[ with a slight wave of her hand, and rei goes back to watching the street, idly swinging her legs. ]

One of my friends would probably be willing to look at it for you, but he'd also say you lost brain cells on the way from Adstringendum to here, so I don't know how willing you'd be to tolerate a nosy angel.

[ He's had nearly all he can take of people from different backgrounds questioning his intelligence or his history in other worlds, but he doesn't voice that. No doubt it's pride or slow adjustment to his new surroundings talking (well, slow by his standards). ]

If it can't be fit into a time frame of one to two hours, it's likely too risky. Otherwise I wouldn't pass up the chance to learn more.

He can be here in ten seconds, but I don't know if he'd rush for a vial of weird juice.

[ so. ]

The person who contracted you seriously didn't tell you whether or not it was dangerous? Or any details?

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