driftfleet

Entry tags:

001

Who: Malak
Broadcast: Fleetwide video
Action: On the Marsiva
When: 1/29

I - this is - [ Very clean. Very strange. Very frightening. But that he knows how to use this contraption must mean he is meant to be here.

He stops in front of the large windows. ]

Is this the realm of the Gods?

Where are my daughters?

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[finally, someone talking about gods. it's reassuring, in a way.

so, some nearby video monitor has the face of an absurdly pretty man with absurdly lavender eyes smiling out.]

If the gods can reach this place, they are making themselves very scarce.

I don't know if that's reassuring or not.

It's not. [he's sure of that much.] It's just a fact.

You are now somewhere entirely outside of your world-- gods included.

At least as much as I've been able to gather so far.

[ For some reason, other worlds are easier for him to take than even news of other nations, at home. It feels like it fits, slots into some information that he didn't really know that he had. ]

How long have you been here?

Since the beginning of this little trip. Four months, give or take.

If you have any questions, I can share what little information I've gathered thus far.

[because Tek is the best welcoming committee.]

Yes. Please.

You'll need to give me a place to start.

[ah, he pauses.]

--Names. That seems like a reasonable place to begin.

You may call me Tek, if you'd like.

I'm sorry. I'm Malak - engineer.

[ The word escapes before he even realizes that it's lurking in his mind. What is an engineer? - It's someone who keeps the ships repaired. Someone who understands the mechanics. Like he does. Like he suddenly does.

He rubs at his temples, his stomach clenching in anxiety. ]

[ah... he sees it. he watches the whole little train of thought play out on the man's face, clear as day. he's seen it often enough in the last few months.

tipping his head to the side, he taps something at the base of his skull behind his ear that can't be seen from the camera's current angle.]

That would be the augmentation.

So helpful, whether you want it to be or not.

[ He can't respond to that. He's too busy understanding what's being said - realizing that memories are implanted in his mind. Realizing that he knows so much more than he used to. His hands are shaking, and he drops the little device, thudding to the ground himself, curled up. ]

[he waits, very patient. he gives him a minute or two to absorb. and whether or not the other man is still there, whether or not he's listening, Tek finally speaks again. at least he sounds soft and soothing about things. reassuring, though not in the way that implies that there is nothing to be upset about.

there is plenty. being upset is a good thing, in his mind.]

It's a little jarring... but at least they didn't leave you mentally unarmed.

Don't dwell on it for too long. There will be plenty of time for that later.

[ He's listening, and he picks up the device again. Shuddering breaths, calming himself down from the initial shock. ]

I'm just a blacksmith.

And there are just teenagers here. And just soldiers, and entertainers, and healers.

...And there are also monsters and gods and demons.

They've taken all kinds.

Children?

Oh yes.

And it's all for the ratings. It's for an audience.

[ And now, he's calming down. A kind of anger is taking over, from the panic. ]

I see.

[good. ...good.

he likes that very much.]

You'll get used to the way things work around here.

...But maybe you shouldn't.

I can't imagine I would get used to this.

You say that now, but it happens.

They've engineered it just so.

You don't know me or what I will do.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I want you to prove me wrong.

I can hear all sorts of wonderful things in your voice, but I want you to hear the warning regardless.

They will make it hard to fight, and they will make it very easy to settle. These beings, whatever they are, are incredibly good at it.

You shouldn't assume I'll do what you want, either. I don't take well to manipulation.

Ah, I do apologize.

I'm used to people who... aren't nearly quite as sharp.

[ He doesn't consider himself sharp. He can't, for instance, manipulate anyone older than eight years of age, beyond the point where bribery and mysterious adult phrasings stop working. But he has been lied to. He has been pulled one way and then the other for too much of his life, and finally he's learned to notice when he feels those tugs.

He's not sharp. He's just very resistant. ]

You're probably doing it for the right reasons.

[he is sharp, like jagged glass. maybe not the exact meaning one would assume behind the word, but Tek believes it nonetheless.]

I'm doing it for reasons that can be good.

Which is almost the same thing.