001 - Video/Action - Welcome to space?

[helladoomed]

Who: Chloe Price and open!
Broadcast: Fleetwide, accidental
Action: For people on the Marsiva, if they like!
When: Right now! And on until shuffle

[There was a young woman with blue hair passed out on the floor of Marsiva. She looks maybe nineteen or twenty, her clothing seems to be a tad damp, and she shifting occasionally as if having a nightmare of some kind.]

-on't you forget about me..

[The words come out in a mumble against the floor, and maybe it's the way they sound in a spaceshiip that yanks her out of her sleep, but a second later her eyes flare open and she sits up in a shock.]

WAIT I- What? [Whatever she was expecting, the Marvisa was clearly not it, and after a quick, panicked look around, she scrambles to her feet.]

Okay, calm down. Maybe this a good thing. Okay. Okay [She is clearly talking to herself, with no idea anyone is watching. Trying to calm herself down, probably.] Still alive. What does that even...

[She finally seems to have noticed a nearby window and the void of space beyond it because she freezes, then immediately darts over to it, staring out for a long breath, one hand coming up to press against the glass, making sure it was there.]

...What the fuck. Am I in space?!

Comments

[stefanged]

There's a little implant somewhere in your head. It's kinda weird to think about, but that chip gives you all the information you need for your job.

If you're a pilot, you get flight plans. If you're a lab tech like me, you'll get basic chemistry info and how to use body scanners, and so forth. Every passenger here has one, and uh - [deep breath] I wouldn't try removing it if I were you. No one's succeeded yet.

[helladoomed]

[Chloe feels around her head a bit more before she groans and stops.]

That's just what I need. Someone shoving stuff into my head.

[There's enough broken shit in there already.]

Okay. Uh. How do I figure out what they jammed me with?

[stefanged]

Think it through. You're gonna know a lot of stuff about whatever it is you're doing - if it's a pilot, how to fly. If it's a comms officer, how to use scanning tech. Lab techs like me get basic first aid and science.

[He pauses,] Might be more difficult if you had experience with any of those back home, but it'll be clear pretty soon.

[helladoomed]

Just...randomly knowing something, huh?

[She turns away from the monitor, taking a few steps off, kind of pacing back and forth as she tries to imagine various things she didn't know how to do before. 'Pilot' doesn't really do anything for her, just makes her think about driving, and scanning doesn't bring up anything execept looking around. But when she thinks about medicine, she freezes...and then lets out a short, sharp laugh.]

Holy shit I know how to set a broken bone.

[stefanged]

No kidding.

[He's suddenly a little concerned for her future patients.] Guess that means you're a lab tech like me. If you ever want pointers, lemme know.

[helladoomed]

[Hey, tough love is still love.]

Weird. I mean, I guess I've always kind of liked science and shit but like...

Not doctor stuff.

[stefanged]

Normally, I wouldn't say they overlap a lot... but scientifically-minded people are all the same in Atroma's eye.

[Mostly because he has lab experience too, and bedside manner isn't a thing you cultivate when you experiment on vampire bats.]

What kind of science were you interested in?

[helladoomed]

Oh just...whatever. Physics? Astronomy?

[She felt weirdly embarrassed.]

I just liked reading about it, I didn't...study it or nothin'. Got kicked out of school last year.

1/2

[stefanged]

Oh.

[His expression softens considerably. She's not the only one who had to leave school early and against her will.]

2/2

[stefanged]

I'm more of a physiology and anatomy kind of guy, but... I've got more than a few science books on the Paisley and lab experience from home.

You're gonna make it over here anyways, so why don't you drop by the lab and I'll bring you up to speed? [If the Shuffle works in their favor and they're not at overcapacity AGAIN.]

[helladoomed]

Sure that sounds cool. But with my luck and this shuffle thing, I'm gonna end up on whatever ship is farthest from Max.

[Aside from the 'not being dead' part, Chloe had basically no luck at all.]

[stefanged]

Even if you do, you could always take a shuttle over. Or I'll make it over to wherever you are.

Distance, especially over here, is all relative.

[helladoomed]

...That'd be cool.

I guess I'll get to see her whenever I can get to that station, anyway.

[Three more days.]

[stefanged]

You sure will. In the meantime, hang in there - and if anyone hasn't introduced you to the movies or music online, here.

[He'll attach a song that may catch her interest, uploaded under the name "Shawn Hunter"]

There's a ton more where that came from. Just click on our names and you'll access a ton of stuff.

[helladoomed]

Trying.

[She taps at the screen as things pop up, poking through files.]

Oh hey, Counting Crows. [Hmm.] Who's Shawn Hunter?

[stefanged]

He was on the Fleet with us. [shrug] I don't know much beyond that. He visited Max sometimes, for photography stuff.

Everyone on this list was in the Fleet back then, but not all of us stuck around.

[helladoomed]

[She's hunting through names as they talk, of course.]

People can...leave?

[She frowns in surprise. But...maybe she should've expected that.]

[stefanged]

Sometimes. [He bites on his lip] Every week, when people get their assignments, we also know who's been "shuffled out," so to speak.

But they don't get a choice in leaving. It's like... one day they're here, and one day they're not.

[helladoomed]

Well shit.

I...[Chloe hesitates, then falls silent for a long time, maybe thirty seconds, her gaze away from the screen. Finally she looks back.]

...Where do they go?

[stefanged]

That's a good question. [By which he means, he doesn't know, and it's not something he's sure he wants to know.] Most of us believe that we're sent back home, should we randomly disappear.

[gently:] I'm sorry. I wish I had all the answers, but then if I did... I'm not sure I'd still be here.

[helladoomed]

So eventually Max is going to leave. Go home.

[Assuming they were right, at least.]

I guess a show like this has gotta keep the talent guessing, right? It'd be hella boring if we knew what would happen next.

[stefanged]

Maybe. It's hard to tell with this place.

[The lack of information bothers him way more than he wants to admit. It's one thing to be on reality TV. It's another to know nothing until it actually happens.]

Honestly, no news should be good news - but the hosts clearly know more than we do.

[helladoomed]

[Give her a second man, she's still stuck on that last point.]

So what if like, people can't go home?

[stefanged]

Like if their world was destroyed? [He lived through an alien invasion; this is a legitimate possibility to him.] You'd have to ask Atroma.

Most of us've been assuming we go home, but there's also the possibility that we don't.

[helladoomed]

Woah, no. No. Earth's...fine.

[She sucks in a breath, opening her mouth to maybe explain and then catching herself.]

Shit your friends with Max. Just. It's cool. Ignore me. Don't worry about it.