driftfleet | Chocolate-flavored Dessert Cream on the House

Chocolate-flavored Dessert Cream on the House

[The bunks are filling up, but the new faces just keep appearing!

Are you a travel-weary passenger having trouble keeping your crew roster straight? Perhaps you are a fresh new recruit, finding themselves dumped into a new (and much less shiny) home. Or, maybe you've been around for a little bit and just haven't bothered meeting the other weirdos on this ship yet--what is their problem, anyway?

Well, this is the place for you!

All new passengers from the last few Shuffles, especially those who haven't met their crews yet, are welcome to post starter-comments here to invite those living on and visiting your ship to come and interact. Newbies could be just arriving on the ship, busying around where others can find them, or you can offering multiple options for interaction--however you'd like to set up your thread is fine. Just make sure to include the name of your ship in the header, so your crewmates can easily find you!

Everyone else-- go meet those newbies! Whether they are new to your own crew, or on ships you frequently visit, now is a great time to bump into them.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, though the mint could be used in either. I'm not certain about tobacco, but there should be an equivalent type of stimulant available for purchase aboard the station we're docked at. [Chocolate-flavored protein gel is totally the same, right?]

I'm glad to meet you, Kitty. You'll be able to alternate pilot duties with our captain.

[He nods earnestly.] Yes, that's what I was named. Most simply call me Vision.

[So polite and thorough.]

I'm not sure I can resist. I kind of want to add "the" to my name now too. [Kidding. "The Kitty" wouldn't work out at all really. The Shadowcat maybe.]

Not sure I should be going around smoking strange plants anyway. [As if tobacco is safe.] But thanks for the thought.

How long have you been in the fleet?

[It comes from being a robot butler in his previous life.]

Certainly.

I've been here approximately seven months. Around half of that has been spent at planets or stations with the rest in transit. We have yet to find any recognizable astrophenomena or make contact with anyone's home culture.

Long time. [Kitty felt like she'd lived a whole other lifetime in the prison between home and here within seven months. ~~But it was a 7:1 game so you'll have that.~~]

Where was home for you?

[Longer than he'd been awake on Earth, as it happens, so he nods in agreement.] It passes quickly enough; crises are rare.

Earth--I suppose New York specifically, and in the early half of 2015. My particular timeline had a rather notable alien attack in New York City in 2012, if that sounds familiar.

Crises I'm good with. [It's downtime that's hard.]

Chicago for me. And not familiar, but my world was pretty well destroyed before then.

[Downtime is what they have a fair amount of.] We shall have to see what occurs.

I'm sorry to hear that. Was the devastation caused by anything in particular, if I may ask?

Apocalypse. [Pause.] A guy calling himself Apocalypse, not the Biblical thing. He's a powerful, immortal mutant. He was seriously into survival of the fittest.

Ah, I see. [Unfortunate, that, and yet not unlike the recent scuffle with Ultron. If things had gone slightly differently, their own world might be suffering the same fate.]

While it's unlikely he would appear here, if you do notice anything unusual I would be glad to help in whatever way I can. I rather disagree with that philosophy.

[She nods.] Well, if he ever shows up here we could use all the help we can get. [She would hope that's never the case though. She appreciates his offer though. It's difficult not to like him even though she still feels very out of her comfort zone here. Trust is hard.]

So, what do you do besides hovering?

[Trust can't come easy to everyone, and he hardly expects it on her first day here. Still, he would like to prove himself worthy.

Speaking of which, he taps the stone set into his forehead lightly.] Primarily, my abilities come from this Mind Stone. It's an ancient artifact capable of influencing and controlling others through their minds, though I prefer not to use it for that purpose; I find people far more interesting when they act of their own volition. It does also allow me to manipulate technology with my mind from a distance, which is why I'm an engineer, and I'm quite capable of communicating solely through it as well.

Yeah, that's a little alarming on the face of it. [But she doesn't actually look or sound alarmed. She's spent some time around telepaths who could control your mind, but generally only demonstrated reading abilities.] Good pick for engineer though.

I'd like to learn the ship's systems sometime though. I'm pretty good with tech. [Genius, you know. Whateves.] Promise not to break anything and leave us spiraling to our doom.

Thank you. [Both for approving of his augment and for not sounding too put off by his description of his powers; then again, after surviving an apocalypse it's probably not that bad.]

There are certain systems it would behoove you to be familiar with as a pilot, especially the shields and the relation between speed and engine capacity. Perhaps we could start with those and work our from there?

[He kind of reminds her of Data if Data wore a cape. Which he probably should have.]

Sounds perfect. [She hadn't necessarily meant with his guidance, but it's better, and she doesn't actually hate company or anything. Bored and alone with her thoughts tends to be her least favorite state of being.]

So, have you seen any successful escapes since you've been here?

[Capes are awesome and everyone should wear them. Well, everyone who isn't impeded by them, anyway.]

No, not any successful escapes. People do vanish from time to time, but I believe that's at Atroma's discretion.

On the last planet, at least one passenger attempted to stay behind and was teleported back to their ship once they were out of the Marsiva's range. I believe that's standard behavior.

[She actually tried a cape for awhile. Really bad idea. Lost three to solidifying before they were fully out of whatever she was walking through before she gave up on it.]

What about attacks against Atroma? [Escape doesn't do her a lot of good. It might be freedom which is a plus, but it doesn't help anyone else from being abducted or get anyone back home...who wants to go.]

[That? Good example of when not to use a cape. He can always just retract his if it becomes an issue, though.]

That might be feasible if we had any idea of their physical location. Attempts to disassemble the Marsiva have been supremely unsuccessful.

That does usually help. [Why is it always like this in these places? Not that she's been to more than two herself.] Unsuccessful like nothing was found or unsuccessful like it got people killed or hurt?

In this case, very little was found. If any of us have been harmed in our attempts, I've not heard of it.

We were all brought aboard the Marsiva several weeks ago after the ships suffered some damage from a nebula. The investigation yielded a small amount of information, but none with regards to the identity or location of Atroma.

What kind of information? [She'll take small over none.]

Primarily, that beneath the wall panels was a complex system of wiring and levers made of a very dense substance we could not disassemble further; I was also unable to sense any individual life-forms aboard that ship that weren't us, yet it felt as if the ship itself were alive. There was at least one medical bay broken into that we were supposed to be unable to access, but aside from some serial numbers we found no identifying information. There are also two hosts, Diamond and Beax, who we were able to speak with directly and from whom we received entirely unsatisfactory answers. I haven't seen them since we were returned to our ships.

There was also a very large library of modern Earth media--modern to my time, that is. Take from that what you will.

I like you, The Vision. [So full of information. And she's so used to being on a setting of "investigating and planning to get out" from the last place that she hasn't considered any other path here yet.]

Anything distinguishing about Diamond or Beax?

Thank you Miss Pryde--er, Kitty. [Habits, they're hard to break, but he wants to be on a first-name basis with his crew.]

Diamond appears female, Beax male. Aside from their voices, I'm afraid their only distinguishing feature is that they both have fabulous teeth.

[She just smiles as fhe fumbles with which name to use.] I guess dental care is a top priority for our captors. I guess that's something. Just a hop, skip, and a jump over to free from there.

[He smiles apologetically.]

Actually, it does serve as an indicator of their socioeconomic status and general medical facilities.

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