driftfleet | ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ | rats are people too

Who: Dezel and you
Broadcast: Yes
Action: The Golden
When: Now

[video]

[A group of ship vermin are all sitting in a circle, waiting patiently for... something. A bowl full of scraps appears and seems to float in the air before it sits down in front of them. The rats make cute happy little noises as they dig into the food.

... And then, the greatest evil comes.

The roomba.

One of the tiny maintenance robots comes screaming around the corner at high speed. DIRT DETECTED. [...] PESTS DETECTED. It heads straight for the the poor rats. They all scatter save for one really fat one, who's too focused on the food to notice what's coming.

But what's this-- the droid is scooped up by someone invisible! Dezel's voice might be familiar to some; it's the "don't sleep in my room" guy.]

Leave. The animals. Alone.

[A thin wire appears. With a hard jerk, he shreds the cleaning droid into pieces. Imagine if that had been someone's neck.]

It's all right. You can come out now. [And then the rats come scurrying out of their little holes again. A couple of them crawl over Dezel's invisible shoes, then go back for the food.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ And to think, Hera's been pleasantly surprised by how little she's had to mom her crew since becoming captain. Spoke too soon. ]

You're getting them off my ship. I don't care what you do with them after that, but if they're bored, it's because they don't belong here. Try the Iskaulit.

They'll just come back. They like to ride around in shipping containers.

[He's annoyed, and it's finally starting to show in his voice. The rats are dissipating though, fleeing back into tactical compartments... probably because he told them to.]

They're staying. If you get rid of them, all the things they take care of will get out of hand. They eat insects and whatever else hitches a ride from other planets. Plus, they were here before we were.

Rats don't "take care" of anything on a space ship. There aren't any bugs, the air filters take care of that. They are dangerous vermin that don't belong here.

[ Sorry, Dezel, she is not fucking around here. ]

Look, you've got two options. Either you get them off my ship, or I will. If I have to do it, you won't like where they end up.

[ Because she'll be pushing them out the airlock. ]

[Welp.]

Dangerous vermin is a broad term that could apply to even you if you ended up on the wrong ship. You know that, right?

[That is a pretty obvious threat, and he doesn't like it. He snarls his reply.]

I'll find them a new home. But if you lay one hand on them despite that, I'll make sure you regret it.

Hey. You're out of line.

[ If he thinks he's going to cow or scare her - he's got another thing coming. ]

If you don't like how I run my ship, you're welcome to transfer. But you will not threaten me, or any other crew member, is that understood?

I'm out of line? You threatened to kill my friends. I'm only acting to protect them, just like you would!

[He knows he's crossing the line now, but... well, once he starts yelling, it's hard to get him to shut up.]

No one asked for you to be captain, lady. You won an empty title from a computer and decided to throw it around because you need to be in control. The truth is that we're all stuck inside a metal box and none of this means anything!

[ Someone save her from angsty teenagers. ]

I don't care what you think of my title or position. Even if nothing else means anything, I am looking out for the safety of everyone on this ship - including you, whether you want me to or not.

Your "friends" are a hazard on a spaceship, they don't belong here. They belong planetside, where they have food and water and won't be endangering lives. If you truly care about your "friends", that's where you will leave them.

[He's twenty-five. That's the worst part.]

You mean the toxic moon? Where even touching the water will kill you?

[He makes a derisive noise.]

You can take your self-righteous crap somewhere else. I don't need anyone to watch out for me, and you'll be safer if you don't get close. [His tone is very serious, none of the flippance.] Suffering follows me wherever I go. The only way to protect yourself is to keep your distance.

[ Hera just rolls her eyes. ]

Then you dump them in the garden on the Iskaulit until we come to a planet that will work.

You can argue for as long and as loud as you want. As long as I'm captain of this ship - those rats are going. I don't care what you think of me - I don't care how you feel about them. This is your 72 hour warning.

Calm down. You won five minutes ago. The rats are leaving and you'll never see them again.

[Too bad he can't say the same about himself.]

[ "Calm down," he says, as if he wasn't the one screaming threats at her not two minutes ago. She never once raised her voice. Her mouth only tightens a little. ]

Good.

[ With that, she cuts the feed, but she's going to be extra-vigilant from now on. Common sense is even more lacking in some of this crew than she realized. ]

ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ | rats are people too

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;

video;