video

[revivo]

Who: Sara Lance
Broadcast: Everyone, new arrivals as they appear.
Action: Aboard the Marsiva.
When: This week.

[sara awakens with a gasp, shooting not just upright but to her feet and reaching for -- coming up empty-handed. she frowns, dropping her hand, and pivots on her heel to take a good look at her surroundings. this is...different. once she's convinced there's no immediate threat, she searches her bunk for what she knows is missing, and eventually notices the open feed on her communicator. there's a brief moment where she eyes it sharply, then clicks it off.

we were trained by the league; no prison can hold us. it's what she wants to say, but when she turns the feed back on ten minutes later, she seems more relaxed; some people might recognize the tune she briefly hums.]

So, [she draws out the word: sooooo] what's a girl got to do around here to find a little company?

Comments

[revivo]

Brand new.

[the woman's friendly demeanor means she keeps her voice light, if at least for now. should she somehow prove herself responsible for this kidnapping...then it'd be a different story.]

The Fleet. [it sounds nothing like amazo; but the name seems to ring the same in her ears.] I've never heard of it. There any chance you could give me a rundown?

[imahologram]

Of course.

[Light and friendly--and dry-humored--is, as far as Leia can tell, the easiest introduction to the entire mess, especially when hearing it from a stranger.]

We're in some kind of intergalactic holo-drama, according to the people who kidnapped us. You're on a ship called the Marsiva right now, but in a few days, they'll assign you to one of the smaller ships. After that, they expect you to be interesting for them, and they'll pay you for it.

I'm Leia Organa. [You might have heard of her, nbd.] I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances.

[revivo]

[yeah, it kind of rings a bell. or ten. her eyebrows go up, but sara doesn't comment when there's so much else in that explanation to think about.]

Sara Lance. Believe it or not, this isn't actually the worst way I've ever met someone. [nor is this the worst prison she's ever laid eyes on, especially if leia's to be believed.] Pay us how?

[imahologram]

[One of the facts of being a public figure, positive or negative as the situation develops: people recognize you. She's used to it.]

Trust me, I'd believe it. [On both counts.] They'll give you an account and transfer credits in when you're entertaining them. Keep some of it in chips--everyone's accounts have been frozen for close to a month now.

[revivo]

[so payment, as in...actual payment, not any of the more sinister options that'd flitted through her mind.]

Let me guess: ratings been bad?

[imahologram]

I wish. [She could do with a little less drama in her life--but as far as she knows, the credits are still accruing. Thanks, family.]

We're docked at a station right now--it's called the FS Starlight. They're the ones who froze our accounts, not the Atroma. [Which probably won't mean much to her yet.] The Atroma are the people keeping us here. Don't expect to hear much from them.

[revivo]

[luckily, leia isn't the first to mention the atroma to her since who can keep track of timelines on an intro anyway]

Noted. What does the Starlight want with us? If they wanted to steal our money, there are better ways to do it.

[imahologram]

[Timelines are for suckers. What's important is getting the situation down.]

They want to make sure we're who we say we are. I don't think they care about the money--but it's mildly inconvenient. If I were you, I'd start thinking about odd jobs I could do on the station.

[revivo]

[that's interesting.]

Maybe they aren't big fans of reality TV. [or maybe the atroma aren't very honest after all. leia's suggestion makes her smile despite herself, equal parts amused and self-deprecating.] Shame; I left my resume in my other pants. Think the Atroma might be willing to write me a reference?

[she tries to imagine advertising herself: assassin for hire! and has to bite her lip.]

[imahologram]

No one around here is. [If they're actually being broadcast anywhere--and Leia's doubtful of that--it's somewhere far, far from here.] I wouldn't go looking for anything too long-term. We might leave any day.

But it's a big station. If there's anything you're good at, someone will probably take you up on the offer.

[revivo]

Know if any bars down there are hiring? I'm fresh out of a job at my friend's club.

[she asks lightly, eyebrows slightly raised; she's kidding, mostly, but that wouldn't be a bad way to make money if she has to].

[imahologram]

I'm sure some are. [It might be a joke, but Leia's willing to entertain the question--work is work, and if that's what she knows how to do, it's not a bad option.] I've been doing diplomatic work primarily, but I can ask around for you.

[revivo]

That'd be a help, if we're still here once I get out of house arrest. Thank you.

[it's such a genuinely nice offer to make to a complete stranger that she's taken off-guard.]

Diplomatic work?

[imahologram]

Any time. We're in this together, after all.

[Their enemy should be the Atroma, not each other.]

Not a lot of actual diplomacy--but conflict resolution and things of that nature.

[revivo]

[together. what leia says so simply sparks a lot of thoughts, half-formed, stemming from a familiar sense of shame and guilt. sara went back to the league of assassins willingly, and she owns that choice; maybe she wasn't much of a hero, but she can still fight evil in her own way. maybe oliver was right, months ago. she's lived with those feelings for so long that they just feel normal now.

(maybe they should.)]

I wouldn't have figured the FS Starlight for a rough crowd. [just. that name.] Just goes to show you.

[imahologram]

Last week I helped someone negotiate a price on a secondhand shuttle. Trust me, it's not always thrilling.

[But it pays well enough that she doesn't have to eat powdered meat, and that's something.]

[revivo]

[she smiles, understanding -- work is work, especially when you don't have money.

but...]

What's stopping any of us from buying a shuttle for themselves?

[and leaving. it's possible that everyone she's met are just the people who don't want to brave unknown parts of space on their own, but that doesn't quite seem to line up with everything she's heard.]

[imahologram]

[Her expression takes on a rueful tinge. She likes Sara--it's too bad she doesn't have better news to answer her with.]

That was my question a month ago. Has anyone told you about the augments yet?

[As she asks, Leia taps the little bump behind her ear. If Sara hasn't heard about them yet, she'll at least know where to look.]

[revivo]

Augments?

[surprise flits across her expression, and she mirrors leia's movement. raising a hand and gently pressing fingertips to her skin reveals the bump; she freezes.]

[imahologram]

Yes.

[It's grim news, and she knows it.]

They add them when you're brought into the Fleet. The augment gives you the knowledge you need to do whatever job they've assigned you. It also acts as a leash, in case you decide you want to try and escape.

[revivo]

[in a way, it's almost a relief. here is real, tangible proof that the atroma are the enemies. pleasant conversations and half-decent space food aren't enough to make sara (make the canary) forget that she and others have been kidnapped here for someone else's entertainment, but this blatant violation serves as a reminder.

her hand curls into a fist, then drops out of the frame; her eyes are dark. this conversation would've been better suited to text, without need to consider how her reactions would look.

to the others, of course, not big brother.]

Implants. So if you try to get away -- [zap! she imagines] they remind you who's in charge.

[imahologram]

You've got the idea.

[Leia takes in the clenched fist and the way her expression shifts. Whatever else might be true of this woman, the two of them are cut from the same cloth in this regard.

It's strangely comforting to realize--the suggestion of an ally in this fight.]

You can try buying a shuttle, or getting passage out of here. It's a big station, and we aren't the only ships that have stopped. But you won't get far.

[revivo]

[there are so many ways to cage a person. sara knows that better than most. you don't need bars on the windows or shackles or even locked doors to keep someone trapped. lian yu was a natural prison, impossible to escape without help. the amazo kept everyone on it captive whether they were in the cells or not; even her, obedient to escape becoming one of them, and even, she thinks, anthony ivo. he called the shots, but was he really free? his obsession with the mirakuru kept him out there in hell with the rest of them.

talking to leia now just maps the dimensions of their current prison. she could see slade using a sick idea like implants if he had the chance. no one who'd do something like this deserves the chance to talk or prove they won't change.

(ollie would probably disagree. but ollie isn't here.)]

And I'm going to guess that trying to take them out -- same thing.

[imahologram]

Worse.

[Leia's mouth presses into a thin line. Aside from the entire I'm here instead of at home, rebuilding issue, the augment is her least favourite part of what the Atroma have done to them.]

I wouldn't mind trying, but it apparently causes indescribable pain. They've made sure throwing off their leashes won't be easy.

[revivo]

They always do, [she murmurs, crossing her arms. there's a memory pricking at her mind, something dig had said once about ARGUS's task force x. she hadn't paid a lot of attention to the story of what went on when he was called to help lyla -- they'd had bigger problems, with slade in starling -- but she remembers hearing about a similar mechanism to keep their squad in line.

thanks, waller, for giving alien kidnappers ideas. not that she's going to rule out ARGUS involvement.

she'd turned her gaze downwards as she took that in, but they flick back to the feed now, fix on leia.]

I'm sorry. [she says it low, honest.] No one deserves to be trapped like this.