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Who: Celeste Blackwell and the fleet
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Can be found sulking around the SS Golden kitchen
When: Feb 6, evening

[The last time this girl appeared on the network, she was in quite a hot rage, so it might be odd to see her looking quiet and pensive now. Sad, despite a slight smile, to those who really look closely.]

I've been away for awhile - don't ask, I don't quite understand it myself - but apparently I've come back just in time for Valentine's Day to be around the corner. And normally I'd be the last person to bring up something like this, but...

[But what? She doesn't say, just asks her question.]

... have you ever been in love? What were they like? What really made you think "My god, this is the one" when there are so many other people out there who might've been just as good? And I mean, if you're in love right now and you still want to answer, it needn't be past tense. I suppose - I just don't quite understand this either, I never have, but that doesn't stop it from happening.

[She appears to be at a loss for a moment, before shaking her head and chuckling to herself.]

My mates would laugh themselves sick if they could hear me now.

[And that's all.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You've got a rather poetic way of putting things, did you know that? [It's still mostly because the statements are staying so general, she thinks, but it's true.] And god, it's wonderful to find someone who sounds like home. If you are actually English, and not from some planet that only sounds very much like it - these sorts of things are a possibility under the circumstances, after all.

[Why not give the topic a break, she figures, since it felt just a touch strained. It really is nice, hearing more English accents around her, and she's loved it since Eudio.]

[ ah, well then. peggy smiles. ]

Very English. I assure you. [ although it's been a while since she's been home -- ] Hampstead, which might as bloody well be London by the reckoning of some.

[There we are. It's a nice smile, and Celeste is dead jealous of her lipstick.]

You needn't tell me. I had a couple of Northern mates where I was last, siblings, and they teased me to no end for being a Londoner. I don't think they knew how much I appreciated it.

[And after a pause:] I really did know an English alien, though. Apparently he was from a place called Gallifrey, and he had a police box ship that could fly through space and time, but he'd talk about tea and jammy dodgers and fish fingers so that you had no idea until the really mad things came up.

And yet, under the circumstances, I suppose we've both become English aliens.

[It takes her a second - not to get the play on words itself, but to truly grasp the enormity of it - before she laughs softly.]

Everyone's an alien of some sort here. I find it almost as comforting as finding someone from home, if that makes any kind of sense... a place where "different" can barely exist as a concept, never mind "weird," because you can't begin to pin down a norm.

I believe I understand. Miss--?

[ a name. she's looking for a name. ]

Oh, yes, of course - it's very easy to get sucked right into conversation on these sorts of networks without remembering the simplest things about meeting someone new. I'm Celeste Blackwell, and you?

Peggy. [ she smiles. ] Carter. Aboard the Starstruck.

The Starstruck. I can't quite get over the ship names, they're more - whimsical, I suppose, than I would've expected from sci-fi. I'm on the Golden, myself, and it's... really a kind group of people, I have to say. Everyone here seems very dedicated to pulling through together, at least so far.

The cooperation is staggering, frankly. Almost unbelievable.

Well, I am glad to hear someone else feels that way. A lot of people seem to think it just makes sense with the shared situation, but - I've been among people who shared quite a lot more than any of us do here, and it didn't make them any more inclined to work together.

I've been blessed with witnessing great camaraderie, Ms. Blackwell. But that never excluded the great conflict that so often went hand-in-hand. Unless the Atroma have plucked up generous and kind people by design -- and that seems hardly likely.

[Well. Now she's quite intrigued.]

Do you have any thoughts about it? Why things might be so different here?

It helps that the stakes remain so low. We have food -- although it barely resembles it, some days. And we have clothing. Running water. Companionship. We're paid something of a wage simply to be here. Neighbour becomes far less cross with neighbour when there's so little to covet aside from our collective privacy.

Interesting. The bare minimum keeps people peaceful enough, as they don't have to fight for their survival - and doling it out equally, or as close as they can, keeps them from getting competitive.

[She chews thoughtfully at a thumbnail - an ancient habit, one her mother was quite forceful about her breaking, and that's only recurring now because her supply of cigarettes is so low.]

I have to wonder how the reality television aspect influences things, though. Those programs are extremely competitive, even cut-throat. But as this one doesn't appear to have a set time limit, nor a system of voting people off and rewarding the winner... it's not exactly standard.

More like a zoo exhibit than a game, really.

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