01 ☼ | Video

[seaoflight]

Who: Nomi Sunrider
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva, Hospitality Deck
When: Current

[A woman in green looks down at the camera, red curls spilling over her face as she inspects it with a gentle, if somewhat unamused look in her eye. She got the briefing it seems, and she's not happy but shouting is only giving her captors what they want. Silent for a few moments, her head quirks to one side a fraction, a bit like a bird studying the ground.

Seeming to come to a conclusion, she nods to herself and finally speaks. Her tone is formal and polite, though there is an undercurrent of uncertainty. Would she be speaking to nobody?]

I understand I'm to be residing aboard this...fleet...and that these communication devices are how we connect with one another. And that means introductions.

[A breath as she seems to compose herself, pushing hair out of her eyes and smiling genially. Her moment of weakness and uncertainty was done.]

My name is Nomi Sunrider, currently of Coruscant. I believe I have an understanding of the basics of what happened, though I would appreciate information that our hosts have not provided. I'd also like to know more about you, whomever might be listening to this. There's little point in being whisked away to another...reality...[She grimaces around the words.] and not at least learning from the experience. [Best to be diplomatic, right?] A name, a favored story, anything. It'd be more worthwhile and significantly less maddening than this horrible canned music.

[Her eyes close, head swiveling slightly to the left as something catches her attention.]

And I feel a handful of individuals strong in the Force present here. I would appreciate it if you would contact me. [A deep, deep frown.] And tell me, why do I sense my daughter's presence?

Comments

[seaoflight]

And how have they done that, if I may ask? Psychological torment is honestly worse, in many ways. The scars last longer.

[What has my child been subjected to?]

[dancingmd]

[Well, it had to come up at some point. Beverly just hoped it would not be so soon.]

A few months ago, they brought us all back to the Marsiva, invaded our minds, and forced us to be complicit in that invasion... not only were we reliving our own memories, we were reliving each other's. Vima and I... we were in one another's minds.

[Pause.]

I am more than willing to discuss it further with you, but I think that is something best done in person, with Vima.

[seaoflight]

I...[That is a disturbing thought, and it completely breaks up her train of them. To be inside another mind...she'd certainly had people try to invade hers, with varying degrees of success.]

I am sorry. That sounds distressing. [Criminal.]

I'd rather wait to discuss that any further, yes. You're right. It's not something for you and I or she and I alone. I can only hope there was no lasting mental scarring, for either of you.

[dancingmd]

[There's a pause there. No lasting mental scarring. If only. Vima, at least, seems to have stayed herself after the calibrations, so that's the important thing for Nomi.]

None for Vima, I don't believe, and certainly none because of her.

[seaoflight]

[That's good at least, and Nomi can at least rest a little bit easier. Vima would tell her, if there was trouble, but...still.]

That's...at least a relief. [But she did notice Beverly's exclusion of herself. Not her place to pry too deeply, but her expression turns sympathetic.]

Was this an isolated incident?

[dancingmd]

If you mean have they continued to directly invade our minds? No, though this all happened over about a month's time. Every night, we'd all fall into a forced sleep and dream one another's dreams. But fairly often there will be so-called glitches in the augments that will cause odd or erratic behavior.

[seaoflight]

Do these affect the entire population then? And...is there a pattern?

[dancingmd]

The glitches never seem to affect everyone at the same time, but I think those of us who have been here for a while have experienced it at least once. Mine has malfunctioned twice, though fortunately to no great harm. There's no pattern from what I can tell... it's probably part of their strategy for keeping the audience interested, a prod for when they feel we need to be more interesting.

[seaoflight]

Then I suppose I should endeavor to be just...interesting...enough.

Do you believe the tripe about an audience?

[dancingmd]

For now? Yes, unless I see evidence otherwise. Not the first time I’ve been used for a powerful being’s entertainment after all, so it doesn’t seem all that improbable to me.

[seaoflight]

That...sounds like an interesting story.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly huffs.]

Oh Q's interesting all right... and infuriating. But even he had the decency to talk to us face to face, unlike Atroma.

[Decency is probably not really the word for it. More like a perverse need to taunt them as they got stuck in his schemes.]

[seaoflight]

Q would be the being in question?

[At least he had a smooth accent?]

[dancingmd]

Yes. He's from an extremely powerful race of non-corporeal beings with the he ability to manipulate time and space to their will. I wouldn't be surprised if Atroma is a similar type of being.

[seaoflight]

That sounds...huh.

[She shakes her head.]

I don't even really know where to begin with that. Goodness.

[dancingmd]

He liked putting us in outrageous situations - fight these aliens that vastly out power you, become part of a fairytale and you have to finish the story before you can leave, visit an alternate reality where you are not really you anymore - to see how we'd react. He claimed it was all part of some test, to see if we were ready to become like them, but I'm not particularly interested in immortality and seemingly unlimited power if all they're going to use it for is to make other people their lab rats and entertainment.

[seaoflight]

My apologies, Doctor Crusher. That must have been difficult.

[That's...how do you take that? She'd asked, of course, but she'd had no idea what to expect.]

There aren't any of those beings aboard, though, I hope. Save Atroma, of course.

[dancingmd]

[Ah. Does Crowley count for this? Perhaps, but she doesn't want to unnecessarily alarm Nomi or give her a wrong impression... That really would not be fair to Crowley either.]

Atroma's the only one we have to worry about in that regard.

[seaoflight]

Good. That's...good.

[She smiles weakly.]

I suppose I should probably go, though. I need to find a way to escape from this blasted music.

[dancingmd]

[She returns the smile with a soft one of her own.]

All right. I hope to talk to you again soon, maybe next time in person?

[seaoflight]

Absolutely. And hopefully not on professional business.

[She bows her head.]

Thank you again, Doctor Crusher. May the Force be with you.

[dancingmd]

You're most welcome.

[Ah. Hopefully she does this correctly. At least she knows what the Force is already. She bows her head in response.]

And with you as well.