001

[avocadoatlaw]

Who: Matt Murdock + anyone!
Broadcast: Video
Action: SS Wonderduck
When: When he arrives after the Shuffle


action

[ Matt hates confetti, there's nothing worse for upsetting his senses than over stimulation. So he stands, waiting for the 'celebration' to pass. He'd only been in the last room (ship?) long enough to be moved along to the next, so now here he was, trying to get his bearing through a snowstorm of flying paper.

Once he does, at least a bit, he can focus on the refreshments. It's clearly party food, which seems safe enough, so he assembles his stick and moves forward. ]

I, uh, hello?

[ He clears his throat. ]

My name's Matt Murdock, and I think you all are expecting me.

video

[ Later, Matt sits in front of the monitor, dark red glasses covering his eyes. He's calm, but it's clear that he's holding back stronger emotions. ]

If anyone seeing this knows me, I need to know you're here. Suffice to say, I have a few questions.

Comments

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt turns towards her voice and nods. ]

Nice to meet you, Dr. Keller. Good to know we're not all desk jockys.

[forsometimenow]

[Jennifer laughed.]

Oh, we've got all kinds here in the Fleet- even on this ship. We've got pretty comfortable accomodations, too. Want me to help you learn the ship's layout a bit?

[avocadoatlaw]

Please. I'd appreciate that.

[ He holds out an arm for her to take. Despite the impossible situation, he hasn't decided yet if it's safe to be forthcoming with his abilities. ]

[forsometimenow]

[And Jennifer took his arm in her own, starting to guide him- first around the bridge.]

This is our ship's bridge you're on right now- we've got a pilot, plus some pretty good autopilot in case she disappears, so you probably won't be spending much time here. But it might help to know the layout just in case. By the way... has anyone told you about your augment yet?

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Walking with her, letting her lead him and taking in the ship with his other senses at well. It's very disconcerting to sense nothing beyond the ship walls. It seems they really are in space. ]

Only insofar as I know I know things I didn't know yesterday.

[forsometimenow]

Yeah, that's about the size of it. They implant some sort of knowledge into your brain and can even change the ship to some degree, depending on who's there or not. We have a medbay, for instance, since I have a lab support augment... [As they walk into the hallway, she trails off as she notices a new room, with Matt's name right on it. It was where Steven's office had been, in fact.] Ah- and I think I know what you're meant to be, our personnel officer, because your office is here.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ He nods. ]

Yeah, that sounds right. The specification is "Legal", but I don't think that'll come up much.

[forsometimenow]

Oh, you're a lawyer? [She grinned.] Maybe Atroma will actually listen to you, then, if you can make a good enough argument.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ A small chuckle. ]

Maybe. We'll see if I can find enough facts to make one.

[forsometimenow]

[As she led him off to explore the rest of the ship, Jennifer heaved a sigh.]

Facts are hard to come by here, unfortunately. Atroma has this whole ordeal down to a science, including giving out as little information as humanly possible. They know that knowledge is power, so they won't let us have any.

[avocadoatlaw]

Honestly, they'd be stupid if they did otherwise. It seems pretty clear that they've collected some exceptional people, and given them free reign. More or less. If they also gave us all the facts, we wouldn't still be here.

[forsometimenow]

Exactly. Someone would have figured out a way to escape. The idea of escape is something a lot of us hold onto. Apparently, this isn't their first so-called "cycle" and this show has been going on for a while. I find it hard to believe that nobody has ever found a way out before.

[avocadoatlaw]

Has anyone on any of the ships ever seen the show?

[forsometimenow]

No. So some people have theorized that the so-called "show" is just a front for something else. What that something else is, though... that's anyone's guess. It'd take a lot of money to feed and clothe and house us, so they need to be getting capital from somewhere.

[avocadoatlaw]

How many of us do you estimate there are? Or do you know a real number?

[forsometimenow]

Around 150, I think. The number fluctuates- sometimes we have a lot of people coming in at once, sometimes a lot leave at once. But between 125 and 150 seems to be the steadiest amount. There are definitely more than there were when I arrived- they had to add two ships on to accomodate everyone coming in.

[avocadoatlaw]

[ Matt humms, sounding slightly concerned. ]

There has to be a reason for that.

[forsometimenow]

Mmmhmm- my best guess is that any larger of a group would be too difficult for them to control. After all, if we'd have dozens of ships, all armed with weapons and such, a hostile takeover would be no problem. And it would be harder for their influence to reach us.

[avocadoatlaw]

You'd think a fleet would be just a dangerous.

[forsometimenow]

You'd think, but they have ways to control us. Last year, they beamed us aboard the Marsiva en masse and were able to force everyone to go to sleep and wake up at the same time. It's the augments, we think- but nobody's been able to successfully remove or examine one.

[avocadoatlaw]

What happens when you try?

[forsometimenow]

A very, very intense feeling of dread, whether it's your own or someone else's. If you keep trying to push it, it causes futher psychological pain. They don't show up on scans, either, despite the fact that there's clearly SOMETHING there. Nobody's been able to overcome the pain and push through so far, but it's clear they don't want us messing with the things.