video | action

[greyjane]

Who: Shai+open!
Broadcast: everyone
Action: Marsiva, if the new arrivals are so inclined.
When: Jan 26/16


[Not her first rodeo - being uprooted and tossed into the howling seas is sort of a thing at this point - so Shai looks cheery by all accounts. Have a wave, Fleet. When she speaks, it's with a strong accent that wars between being Australian and South African, with no discernible median point between the two, because #space shenanigans.]

So am I to brush up on my pirate brogue, or is this a respectable sort of kidnapping fleet?

[It's just amicable enough to hide the anger. She's rather good at it.]

At any rate, hello. Name's Shai Ebbisaryn, late of the Lattice and more recently of a quaint little place called Eudio. Give a gal a chime if you recognize either.

And, ah-- any word on whether or not we can get the Augments out without doing anything permanent? [A flash of a smile.] Asking for a friend.

[Obviously not, but it's said lightly.]





A; or, ❝bro, do you even lift?❞

[She can be found in the gym doing all manner of katas - obviously this is a lady who Knows Her Shit inasfar as sparring goes - and she'll be happy to invite you to participate if you look at all sturdy. Otherwise she'll strike up conversation for any number of reasons. Can you hand her that towel over there? What's your best bench press, sweetheart? Attractive, of-age (ie: over 18 at the very least and preferably somewhere north of 21) individuals of either gender might get a curious once-over and something like, 'Well aren't you a sight, darling' to the tune of playful flirts everywhere.]

B; or, ❝they call me mister farenheit❞

[She's definitely standing in front of that charming, large bay window idly letting a spark of electricity trail between her fingers. It's a bit like someone walking a coin across their knuckles, save that the electricity is more like a living little glob of plasma that drips and sparks with energy. It's a nervous tick, not that the rest of her body language gives her away. If anyone enters the room, that little plasma-looking glob will disappear in a hail of sparks (she's not trying to hide it, just being polite) and she'll give the newcomer a cheery smile.]

Don't know about you, mate, but I'm about ready to rip these bloody speakers clear off the walls.

Comments

audio;

[redactions]

'Bout as respectable as it gets. The coffee dispensers are almost tolerable.

permavid

[greyjane]

[IN A TONE OF OBVIOUS(ly feigned but playfully meant) RELIEF;]

I'd've had a heart attack if it were anything to the contrary, friend. Glad to hear it. Are you trapped on this tin bucket too, or are you one of the late, great escapees?

audio until otherwise stated.

[redactions]

On a different tin bucket. The Heron. Captain James Barnes.

[greyjane]

[-- James Barnes. Curious thing, that. Common enough name, but now that she's listening for it the voice is a match, too. If he recognized her, surely he'd have said something. Shai's expression doesn't change, but if this poor bastard is anything like the other one she met she has cause for a gentle touch.]

Pleasure, Captain. Much as can be gleaned.

[A vague, dismissive sort of wave at the whole 'audio/visual communication racket'.]

Your bucket smaller than this one? Have yet to have the privilege [her tone suggests that said privilege is dubious at best] of seeing the rest of this vaunted fleet. Like to know what to expect.

[redactions]

Pleasure's all mine, ma'am. The other ships are smaller, more comfortable, though we're having an overcrowding problem at the moment.

[greyjane]

[She laughs at that ma'am. Faintly delighted, but mostly:]

Now, none of that, sweetheart. Captain's above my paygrade, last I checked.

[She's not one to eschew her rank in the least, but she'd rather not get ma'amed unnecessarily. And it is, technically, true.

To the last, she shrugs, an expressive sort of full-body gesture that starts with the set of her mouth and travels on to the upward swing of her shoulders.]

Any provisions in place?

[redactions]

If you say so, Ebbisaryn.

[ Just wait and get stealth ma'amed instead. ]

We can upgrade the ships to have more space, that's doing the job for now. The rest, we'll see what the Atroma have planned.

[greyjane]

[Definitely starting to think that captain isn't ornamental. Which suits her just fine-- she's at her best among soldiers.]

How long until they toss us in a cage and have us battle to the death for their amusement, you reckon?

a;

[familyremains]

[ Dean's got no interest in the gym. He'd rather work off his nervous energy by walking around, scouting the place, walking every corner in each direction and mapping it all out in his head. The lack of emergency exits (or, you know, the non-emergency normal kind) is almost as freaky as that window into space.

Okay, no, it's nowhere near as freaky. God, he hates that thing.

At least the gym's closed off, no windows like the viewing bay. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have a view. He walks clear past Shai only to stop, and turn, and look at her like maybe he saw something else the first time. Then he looks around like maybe it's the gym that was wrong, and she's the right part. But no, still a gym, and no one else around by her.

Hey, reconnaissance includes talking to people. That's totally his motivation here. And since he's not a complete idiot, he makes his approach obvious, on an angle where she can see him, and he doesn't get too close before he addresses her. ]

What is that, karate?

[ He may be able to fight like an ex-marine, but all his practical knowledge of martial arts come as hand-me downs from his dad with no named style to them. Whatever she's doing might as well be from a Bruce Lee movie for all the difference Dean can tell. ]

[greyjane]

[Smart man. It's the first thing she notes as he angles his approach, and when it looks as if he's keen to make conversation she straightens up out of her pose with a bright smile. Always the chance he's one of their jailers, she supposes, but no sense in not being amicable until such time as she tosses him out an airlock in that case.

Her hair's sticking to the back of her neck and her shirt to an interesting variety of places across her torso, she scrubs her face with a towel that until then had been hanging around her neck. She's looking forward to the after-the-fact shower.]

Assuming that's a martial art I've never heard of-- [she's heading to a nearby bench as she talks, her rather obvious goal is the waterbottle perched half-full upon it.] -- it's called Shrei Gana. Little something from back home.

[She takes a few carefully measured sips from the water bottle, sets it back down and now sufficiently hydrated and with her hands carefully wiped on the towel, she holds one out for him.]

Name's Shai, sweetheart. You a fellow jailbird?

[familyremains]

[ Hey, if he were one of the jailers, he'd throw himself out of an airlock first.

Alright, so Dean's just met the girl, but in about two minutes of watching her and a handful of words, he already knows she's hot, smart, brave, and she could probably kick his ass. He likes her already.

He follows her a few careful steps behind as she goes for the water on the bench, taking a few extra to get in to a more conversational range now that she knows he's there and is out of attack mode. Shirei Gana he mouths after she says it and nods, committing it to memory because he has no freaking clue what that is, never heard of it before. But he'll remember.

He takes her hand without hesitation when she offers it, shaking firm and meeting her eyes. ]

Shai, huh? Good to meet you. I'm Dean. But you can call me sweetheart.

[ He smiles. It's a charming kind of smile, for sure. Really brings out the green in his hazel eyes as he looks around the room again, like he's looking for the cameras. ]

Reality TV stars, they're calling us. But I get what you're saying. This place's got all the joys of prison but the orange jumpsuits and the cigarettes.

[ He looks back at her. ]

So how long've you been on the SS Minnow, Shai?

[greyjane]

[Oh, that smile is very charming, but that little glance can hardly go unnoticed. Not that she's any stranger to making nice for the cameras - honestly, she actually approves. It belies a situational awareness most people lack, and she gives him a faintly appraising look. Former soldier, maybe? Or some species of law enforcement. Or maybe just a marvelously acute civilian. Stranger things have happened. And if he wants to put on a show for the camera, who is she to say no? She's been acting as the media liaison for the Janes for years now, she knows how to direct a media blitz.

She would, personally, rather dig latrines. But it doesn't mean she can't play the game. Her handshake is equally firm as a matter of course, but she isn't so theatrical as to let her touch linger. He does get a playful, knowing little quirk of one eyebrow, though, as she retreats into her own space.]

Oh, I'm new enough. Few days. Word is, we're here for a few days before we get our ship assignments, then it's off to another tin can. A somewhat smaller one, to my understanding.

[familyremains]

Yeah, that's what I heard, too.

[ She may be good-looking and willing to speak Dean's language, but that kind of talk gets his smile dropping down to nothing quick. It's bad enough being on a space ship. It's big enough, stable enough he can pretend it's one big building rooted firmly in the ground, nothing to it. ...But getting off the thing, and getting carted onto another smaller ship? Dean hasn't been on a whole lot of boats in his life but he's got a working knowledge of these things. The smaller the ship, the bigger the waves. ]

I don't like it.

[ And not just because of the airsickness thing, either. He crosses his arms, dangerously close to pouting. Or, er, brooding. Yeah, brooding, sure. That sounds better. ]

Feels too much like they're herding us, like cattle running to the slaughter. What's wrong with staying here? It's not exactly the Ritz-Carlton, I'll give you. It's missing the little mints on the pillows I love. But why put us up, feed us, throw a mixer and then send us off cold? I thought these Big Brother shows were all about rubbing people up against one another, not splitting them up. What's the angle?

[greyjane]

[She slings that towel back across her shoulders, hands gripping at either end of it. This place may've rolled out the welcome mats from on high, and they had the singular decency not to neuter her electrokinesis, but so far it's only the barest step up from Evichta. A cage is a cage no matter the bars. Anger claws its way out of all the dark places she'd thought she'd laid it to rest, and her fingers tighten in the off-white curl of the towel. Never again. At least she's spent most of her life in space, and she lacks the innate worlder claustrophobia. But damned if she can't sympathize.]

Don't think they care if you like it or not, mate. Else they'd have sent an invitation.

[She lets the towel slide through her left hand and then snaps it very lightly in the air with her right.]

Near's I can tell, their angle is 'entertainment'. Maybe that's all part of it. Right down to driving us to cook up theories on why.

[It's not quite a warning, per se. Who's she to censor a stranger? But it could be playing right into what they want, and she's-- resistant, shall we say, to the idea.]

Listen. Dean, you said? You any sort of fighter? Good way to blow off steam.

[familyremains]

[ Entertainment might be what they're selling, but Dean's not buying it. If they want to start some kind of intergalactic reality show, why not have them kill each other right from the jump? Put them in a ring and starve them, poke them with sticks? Or if they really want to watch humans in their natural habitat, why a space ship? Why a smaller space ship after this, a "fleet" ? No, it sounds more like they're soldiers in a war than actors. Or even more likely than that, they're food. Whatever it is, they're definitely being lied to.

But Dean doesn't need to scare somebody he just met when he barely knows what's going on himself. He'll keep looking into it. No point in raising alarms if it turns out to be nothing. Especially when Shai seems like the "punch first, ask questions later" type. That's a kind of bomb he's not looking to set off. At least not while he's the one liable to get punched. ]

[ Speaking of, when she offers sparring, Dean laughs about it, easy, arms dropping again to something more comfortable. ] Oh, I fight alright, when I have to. But that is not how I blow off steam. Not even close.

[ No offence intended, of course. She's hot and could kick his ass, and he does not want to piss her off, either by insulting how she spends her free time or by offering his, uh, less than upstanding alternatives. So he rushes to explain with a casual shrug to the words. ]

My job requires it. But I don't do the, uh... [ He lifts his hands, imitating the way she'd been standing. ] Zen and harmony kind of moves, like you. [ He drops the pose and relaxes again. ] It's not relaxing for me. Not like... other things. It's work.

[ video ]

[touchofrogue]

Uh, no an' no.

[ video ]

[greyjane]

[-- Well, it's something at least. Shai's smile is a bit wry.]

Thanks all the same, darling. Knew it was a longshot walking in.

[ video ]

[touchofrogue]

[Rogue shrugs a little.]

If you've been ta a place like this before, then ya know the drill. Mostly the worst part of it's the food. An' the boredom. [...no, seriously, the boredom struggle is real.]

[ video ]

[greyjane]

[She can (and has) survived her share of terrible food, but boredom is a whole other ballgame, k.]

Not sure I'd put Eudio in the same category as this place. It was more a 'come by your own will and leave when you'd like' sort of deal.

[... Okay, and the cuddles. But she'll keep those to herself, shall she?]

[ video ]

[touchofrogue]

Really? I've never heard of a pocket universe place like that. [...] So... were ya taken from there or from your home? Ta get here, I mean?

[greyjane]

Taken direct from that quaint little place. Went to bed, as you do, woke up here. Little peeved, given that Eudio is supposed to grant wishes in exchange for your being there.

[A wry glance around.]

Not exactly what I was hoping for.

[touchofrogue]

...yeah, that sounds disappointin', alright. But then, I always thought magic genies could be real lawyers 'bout their wishes.

text;;

[reconstitution]

You can change your augment if you're unhappy with it.

[ ... ]

I don't know if any sort of kidnapping could be considered 'respectable'. Unless you were near death.

permavid;

[greyjane]

It ain't that I'm displeased with the selection. Security suits me just fine. It's more that somebody stuck it in my neck without askin' nicely.

[She sounds cheery enough, but man she is so not okay with the whole. Body modification thing.]

Oh, I just meant-- are we to be immediately sold into slavery, forced to fight to the death, et cetera. The rest I can more or less live with, but I've got my hard limits now and then.

permavid;

[reconstitution]

[ Well, since it seems pretty clear that she's going to keep going with video, he resigns himself to switching over. There's a bit of static with the feed, but then Shai will get a dim video with the metal backdrop of the cargo bay and Winter from the shoulders up.

Hello. ]

Nothing like that exactly.. though I can see the similarities. We're mostly left to our own devices. We make port on planets about every three or four weeks.