driftfleet | [video] we'll turn the moon to blood

Who: Asuka Shikinami Langley
Broadcast: Video, Fleetwide
Action: SS Red Fish
When: 3/8

[Asuka is sitting on her bed, with a bright red notebook and pen in hand and a slight frown crossing her face. She's still wearing the same form-fitting red-and-purple combat plugsuit she's been in since her arrival. For once, she doesn't look so much annoyed as she does wary, though honestly, with her, it's hard to tell.]

This is Asuka Shikinami Langley. [No wave. She scribbles something on a notebook page that's probably just a line and not any kind of script.] I have a few questions for everyone. The more people that answer, the more accurate the survey, so I suggest you tell me.

[All business. Asuka would applaud herself for her own professionalism if there was any point. There's no telling how long it'll last.]

First, I want to know your nationalities. Second, I want to know what your occupation was before the Fleet. I'm trying to figure out if there's a pattern to the kidnappings or any groups that get targeted more than others.

[Which is what the notebook is for. She really doesn't trust the network not to bungle everything at Atroma's whim. There's a brief, reluctant pause, and then--]

Before you ask, I was born in Germany. I was a pilot before, too. That's all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You have dual citizenship?

[If so, he can join the club. Despite not having heard of either of those nationalities, Asuka dutifully writes them down, too.] What is the Curia?

Hm. Not quite. My mother left Troia when I was infant, though I imagine they'd be happy to accept me back were I to return.

[Maybe. At least in Nephele. They did all they could to convince him to stay when he'd been there last. But Marathat felt more like home, for what that was worth.]

The Curia is a council of wizards for the government of Marathat.

That's a new one.

[Asuka fiddles with her pigtails, a little absentmindedly. Then she adds--]

So as a wizard, what can you do?

Magic? [There's a badly suppressed smirk to go along with that that says he knows he's being obtuse on purpose.]

Honestly, that's casting rather a wide net, as questions go.

I'm asking for specifics. What can't you do, if that's too hard?

[He makes a thoughtful noise, drumming his fingers on something out of frame. He's not sure why the specifics matter, or if it's simple curiosity. Either way, it likely doesn't matter. Not unless she were from his world.]

I can't conjure or call anything material, to start with. No summoning creatures or monsters or weapons or anything else like that. Transmutation is also impossible, meaning no, I do not turn people to frogs or lead into gold. Thirdly I can't really move things. I can't make me or anything else float or fly or what have you.

[Granted, Duke had introduced him to the idea of moving air to do something like that, but thus far anything spectacular is far out of his reach]

It's also not just a matter of capability. There are some things which of I am capable but will not do, for both personal and doctrinal reasons.

[This might be the most thorough answer she's gotten on the network at all. Asuka's notes are getting more scattered than she means for them to be, but that's all right. God knows she'll have time on the ship to organize them later.]

No rabbits out of hats, then. [That's pretty disappointing, though honestly, she's never been sure why that's part of a stage magician's skillset anyway.] Has your augment interfered with any of your abilities, or improved them?

[He smiles wryly] No, I'm afraid not.

As to the augment, no, I haven't noticed any change, for good or ill. Granted, it's not as if I've had much reason to test it. I did install some wards on my ship, but I won't know for certain how they'll perform until tested.

Wards?

Protective spells, contained within a physical border or tied to a physical anchor, or in this case both. They would function much the same as the ship shields, if you have any, but also extend to the interior.