[video] we'll turn the moon to blood

[interstices]

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.

Comments

text;

[shishkebub]

canada

[The next part comes after a long pause as he tries to figure out what the hell to put here.]

superhero

text.

[paraclete]

This is very proactive of you, Shikinami-san.

[This might read as more patronizing than he intends, but he is trying.]

text;

[interstices]

[Unseen, Asuka scribbles both words down in her notebook. Asking for names wouldn't have hurt, come to think of it, but she doesn't want to bother editing the post. Canada seems plenty normal enough, but his occupation is bizarre.]

Superhero? Are you serious?

[child_of_bhaal]

Just a quick question. When you say nationality, do you mean the sovereignty that you were born to, or the larger geographical country?

[interstices]

How large is the sovereignty?

VIDEO

[sandhate]

I don't really have a nationality. The Jedi doesn't affiliate with one planet or nation. I was a general in the Grand Army of the Republic. So in that sense, the Republic would be the closest to what you're asking for.

text.

[interstices]

Did you expect me to just sit around on my ship?

[child_of_bhaal]

It was a fortress. But the admission was very strict. Not many could come in.

[interstices]

Then both is fine.

VIDEO

[interstices]

The Jedi?

[Asuka writes that down, too, along with his rank. It's really about time she met someone with a rank beyond what was assigned aboard the Fleet. She's trying hard to swallow her impulse to give her rank, too, little as it's mattered in years, but as always, the desire to impress wins out.] I was a captain in the European Air Force. The Republic's a pretty vague name for a nation.

[child_of_bhaal]

The Sovereignty was Candlekeep, the country called The Sword Coast. Though I think you'll find I'm the only one even from my own world here.

My profession, officially, is bard, but I tend to make most of my coin as a mercenary.

video;

[nulliverse]

Well, if it could help in some way...

Born in England, although my mum is Filipino, and I was a test subject, a student, and then a shopgirl.

text.

[paraclete]

Well, you're doing more than I am.

Are you trying to go back?

[interstices]

No.

This is better.

[paraclete]

Yeah.

Hey, I'd like to ask you a question.

[interstices]

You'd like it if I tried to leave. Wouldn't you?

What?

[paraclete]

I'm relieved you're not trying to leave, Shikinami-san.

[Though that's not a direct answer to her question, and for good reason. Still, he is trying. He is trying. So: ]

Have you done your laundry recently?

video;

[interstices]

[Well, two of the three are way too familiar. Asuka doesn't perk up, but she does offer a wry, tilted attempt at a grin that still looks a bit like a grimace.]

What made you decide on the last one?

[interstices]

[Now he's done it. Now he's done it. Asuka looks up from her latest scribbling-- a series of question marks on one side of a column, and then the word "pilot" hatefully written on the other-- and then tosses the notebook away.]

You bastard, I do it every day!

video;

[nulliverse]

[And that definitely wasn't where she expected the questions to come from, but she's going with it; the expression on the redhead's face is confusing but evocative, a clear sign that Celeste's strange background at least hit some sort of nerve.]

We got a stipend just for living in the last city I was in, but I wanted more money, and more to do. I'd hardly spent enough time in school to have any sort of qualifications, and of the entry-level work they had about, a clothing shop sounded like the most fun.

Text;

[save_the_souls]

I'm British, and I'm an Exorcist and a medical student.

[paraclete]

[ :( What did he do wrong...]

I see.

I was wondering if, next time, I could do your laundry with mine and Shinji-kun's.

[Laundry, he's realized, is something he really enjoys doing. He hangs out in the laundry facilities. He sits on the washer, the dryer, which is warm and pleasant despite its jostle. Doing Shinji's laundry is somehow... intimate? But he's expecting Asuka to realize this without explanation, which is his mistake here.]

[interstices]

[Laundry together? Why would Kaworu want to do her laundry together with theirs? Isn't she an interloper? Someone he wants to get rid of as dearly as she wants to get rid of him?]

[The realization that he might not have been implying that she hadn't taken off her plugsuit in months is a humiliating pill to swallow either way. But if he has... if he has, she'll keep seething.]

That might be difficult.

[Meaning that since she refuses to wear any of the Fleet's clothes, she's usually settled for washing her plugsuit in the bathtub.]

text

[dancingmd]

[Beverly doesn't usually respond to these fleetwide surveys but... this one definitely catches her attention. She's spent a lot of time wondering about the Earth-centric leanings of the fleet.]

Hello. I'm Dr. Beverly Crusher, on the Blue Fish, and I'm a citizen of the United Federation of Planets, originally born on Earth's moon, but I was raised on a couple of different planets. I'm a physician.

VIDEO

[sandhate]

The Jedi - we're a peacekeeping organization. [ He paused for a moment, unsure of his use of "we" but trucks on ] We are guardians of peace and justice, and we're spread across the galaxy. The roles Jedi play can vary; there are scholars, diplomats, warriors.

Right now, the Jedi serves as military leaders for the Galactic Republic. Nation wouldn't be a correct term for it, but like I said, it's as close as it gets.

[ Curiously: ] What kind of ship did you fly back home?