driftfleet | 11. [Text]

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11. [Text]

Who: Simon Tam and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: N/A
When: August 28th

I have been trying to avoid getting roped into this nonsense with the different factions, but it's looking more and more inevitable that I may have to join one. Has anyone taken a particular liking to theirs?

I have to admit, though... it's times like these that make me wonder why I am still here. Does the audience enjoy my rebellious nature in refusing to choose a side? Am I only here because of my skills? It's something I have been pondering a lot lately.

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I think a lot of people like all three, if the hoo-hah go team stuff is anything to go by. Why don't you just pick the one that speaks to you? There has to be at least one, right?

Spirit seems to align with my personal values the most, although... the Savvy team seems to be all about wilderness survival and the like, an area I am lacking in.

For something people take this seriously, my gut feeling is that you probably shouldn't fake it just to try to play an angle.

Besides, there's a lot of decent people here in Savvy. If you ever want to stop by and pick up some skills, I'm sure you won't have a hard time finding someone to help you out.

Indeed. I'm trying to approach it from the angle that I AM a doctor and should see all people as being equal as much as I can, but I realize that's a bit too idealistic and contrary to human nature.

I'll have to do more research. I think I will be avoiding Moxie, at least- I am not the type to solve problems with my fists, as it were.

I'm partial to Spirit, even though I do think the whole faction thing is a little silly.

Then again: they're letting me into their labs and paying me. So that's a plus.

The "paying" part is what will push me over into joining one more than anything, I think. If I look at it practically, I don't know how much longer we will be here, and as much as I would like to stick to neutrality, my bank account will thank me.

It is kind of nice to make money off of actual talent/knowledge and not something as nebulous as "being entertaining".

I don't think I've gotten any credits for the latter yet anyway.

Indeed. I think that's why I struggle with wondering why I'm still considered "entertaining" enough to keep- because that is rather hard to quantify. I do my job, I keep a routine, and that's all. I don't actively court audience interest.

I guess I'm still having trouble taking the whole "reality tv show" thing at face value anyway.

But these are people who kidnap their contestants (if that's what's going on) so hey, who knows.

You're not the only one, believe me. I'm leaning towards the idea that the supposed audience and show are some elaborate sham, but the one thing that stops me from fully subscribing to that theory is that I cannot fathom what they REALLY have taken us for, and why they'd go through the trouble of such a charade, rather than being upfront about why we were taken.

An experiment? I was at this place before, it was supposed to be a summer camp, but I'm almost positive it was really some sort of huge experiment focused on responses to emotional trauma.

So they're studying how we react to being put in various situations. That sounds entirely plausible, actually. And the "show" is a front to give them excuses to put us in different situations.

A blind experiment, yeah.

Various situations -- maybe some kind of study on the way that people to react to new cultures? Given that the fleet regularly stops off at planets. Or the opposite, their reaction to us.

And many of the people brought here have been completely out of their element- they have never known of space travel or communicators or anything of the sort. So that would provide them with a good sample size and good variety of people to watch.

One of the only problems I have with any theory, though, is why some people end up not staying for very long. Who stays and who goes seems quite random.

[The next text is not immediate, since Felix has to really sit back and think about that.]

Huh. You have a point.

[A few seconds after that:]

I'm not really sure. Maybe they didn't fit what the researchers were trying to elicit. Bad science?
(Joking.)
(....Maybe.)

Perhaps you're here because people enjoy you.

They must, I suppose, or I would have been sent home by now. I feel like I am pretty boring compared to some Fleet members, but we are our own worst critics, too...

Truly, we are. But the self craves approval, as well. In other words, don't be so hard on yourself!

I'm certain there are things about you which incite love and praise.

[It's Kaworu's belief that everyone deserves a pep talk, even during a first meeting. (Maybe especially then.)]

Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't be. I am in it for the long haul, whether I like it or not, so it does me no favors to dwell.

Well, I know my profession has to be worth some points.

The only true dwelling place is the heart. Otherwise, it's best to progress. :)

What is your profession?

A very nice way to put it. I am normally pragmatic, but I suppose the previous star system we were in put me in a pensive mood.

I'm a doctor, so I'm always useful to some degree.

To be sure, I can see how that place might incite many things within any person's heart. Do you want to talk about it? [Kaworu's a patient person, and likes to share time with people, but he's still undersocialized and doesn't consider first meetings to be too early to have someone spill their guts.

Anyway...]

Being a doctor sounds like such an interesting thing! You must have learned so much.

I admit... it's mostly due to missing home. I haven't seen anybody from where I come from since my sister left the Fleet, and that was more than a year ago. So that led to me wondering why I haven't been sent home yet, and why I was picked to come here, and continue to stay.

I have, and I want to keep learning.

You would go back, if you could? A sister is important, I'm sure...

That's very admirable, Doctor.

She is the most important thing in the world to me. So if I had a choice... yes, I would go back.

Thank you for saying so. I took an oath to heal, and I take that oath seriously- and I want to continue living up to it to the best of my ability.

Go with whatever faction you can get the most from
Who cares about anything else

[Says the fox who has been messing with all three to get stuff.]

That's the thing. I don't have much that I am looking for or that I wish to gain.

Then there's no real reason to bother with them

Unless I want to drain my credits, of course.

If you want to do that you're better off donating them to a worthy cause
Like giving them to a poor, starving fox

Well, there is plentiful food about. Should I take pity on said starving fox, perhaps let me know what they'd like to eat first.

Chicken and blackberries!
Or, I suppose, whatever their equivalent may be here

I will see what I can come up with, then. Since I know chicken solids are no real substitute.

I would be extremely offended if someone tried to feed me chicken solids

I do not blame you there. One of the best things about this system IS having actual food.

Why aren't the ships outfitted with better refrigeration? Do you have any idea?

My first thought was "to make us have to depend on Atroma for food", honestly. If it's harder to keep our own food supplies, we must turn to them for the protein they provide us.

[She has to wonder what happens when you technically don't need food, if that's the case....]

That's very rude of them
Though, I suppose that's very strategic
Promote dependency through food, and through food that isn't stimulating

Spirit reminds me of the good things about home. I'm taking advantage of it while I can. A good story takes all sorts, though. You might just be playing your part as they're hoping you would.

It does sound like it aligns with my values the most. And I admit, it would be nice to do some reading and research for pleasure. I haven't been able to do so in quite a long time.

That thought has crossed my mind, as well. Atroma seems to be turning the wheels even when we're not recognizing it.

The libraries over here are astounding, if there's anything I can try to help you find.

As I see it, there are limited ways to look at why the Atroma choose who they do: our narrative (as determined by who we interact with or what we learn) can make an interesting story for an audience and perhaps teach us some lesson along the way; we fit neat typecasts; or it's random. But I really don't think it's random.

Being a doctor, I am especially interested in any medical resourced around. I'm only familiar with humans, but seeing as how the Fleet has many who are not human, I'd like to find out more.

I think typecasts are at least part of the reason we were chosen. I'm a doctor- there are several more doctors here, too. Readymade medical drama.

And besides that, you can only have so many fearless hero types around before they start needing someone to look after them. I haven't seen much of that yet but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. I haven't been here that long.

Do you have a specialty with medicine? Do you exclusively use science/technology or do you have additional skills? It's no good finding you a text if it isn't comprehensible to you.

That is a good point, as well. The ship I traveled on back home did not have a dedicated medic before me- they had a pilot, a mechanic, a mercenary, and two ex-soldiers. They knew field medicine, but if anything more serious than knife cuts or laser burns had happened, they would have been in serious trouble. And around here... not too long ago, an augment glitched and caused someone to attack people. So it's possible there will be a mass casualty event in the future here.

I am a surgeon, and I exclusively use science. I have no sort of supernatural powers of any sort, though I've found I am also from 500 or so years into most peoples' futures.

At least field medicine is piles better than nothing, in my experience. I've served with some exceptional field medics.

Ah. Explanation: I'm trained as a Healer with a form of what you might consider magic, but I received basic medical training for humans and a handful of other species as part of my training. Most recently, I've worked in a war alongside field medics and military doctors.

If your universe has Earth, I don't have a clear frame of reference for my own universe, but everyone else from there in the Fleet seems to be used to significantly less technology than I am. It's good to know these things if we need to trade information, yes?

Probably better not to even ask yourself those questions, dude. These planets are better than some of the others. There's good food here, anyway.

There are a lot of interesting sights here, indeed- and we're not forced to share feelings here, either. That last planet may have been what put me in a pensive mood.

yeah that place was really weird
at least theyre not all like that
could be worse places i guess

Like the poison planet- even if things are looking for up for them.

I'd say it couldn't get much worse than that, but that's just tempting fate.

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