mingle a little Mor tonight

[catamite]

Who: Everyone!
Broadcast: Sure!
Action: The wonderful world of Mor, nearby way-stations, and ships!
When: The first week or so of arrival

[this is it-- Atroma's surprise vacation stay for you all! it's time to explore, speculate, relax, and totally behave yourselves. right?

how are you all dealing with the ever-so-educational volcano? have you played around with the visual toggle on those collars yet? aren't they cool? aren't these peasant clothes rad? if you haven't had a decent meal since Abeo, maybe you could afford some of that authentic farm-raised meat they have here. historical!

I bet you're all excited and completely thrilled to be here! who wouldn't be? ...so, make some discoveries, make some friends, and have fun!]

Comments

2/2

[ino]

[ Then she seems to realize who's actually talking to her, and her expression brightens a little. This lady seemed nice enough. ]

Oh! You're the doctor from the other day. Dr. Crusher, right?

[dancingmd]

[She offers Ino a small smile.]

That's right. Thank you again for your help. I can't say I'm used to all this yet, but I'm ... adjusting.

[If by adjusting you mean constantly thinking about a way to get home then sure.]

Forgive me for asking, but are you all right?

[ino]

[ She'll offer a more reassuring smile. Even if Beverly is older than her, she's always there to support the people who are new. ]

It's no problem. You were assigned to the Blue Fish, weren't you? I'm sure Sokka and Allen are there to help make the whole thing less terrible, too.

[ Oh, right. She noticed. Oops. She rubs her arm uncomfortably ]

I'm alright, just ... [ She gestures towards the exit to the planet ] Thinking I might skip out on the whole "town" experience.

[dancingmd]

They've been very welcoming, though [She raises one eyebrow sardonically.]I think the Captain might be secretly trying to fatten me up.

[Beverly's gaze falls towards the exit.]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who is uncomfortable with this. I hope it isn't typical of the planets you visit, or I'm going to be spending a lot of time on the ship.

[ino]

[ That gets a little laugh ]

I'm pretty sure that ship eats more than the rest of us combined.

[ She shakes her head emphatically at the last part ]

No, the moons we docked at last were much more ... normal. [ Even with their crazy taboos ]

[dancingmd]

[She smiles ruefully.]

In my experience, there is no such thing as a "normal" planet. However, this is not like any other place I have encountered. It's like a... oh what do you call them?

[She frowns, trying to think of the word..]

Some kind of park. I believe they were popular back on Earth several hundred years ago.

[She watches some other people leaving the volcano, holographic disguises safely in place.]

In any case, this is appalling, exploiting the natives of this planet for profit, and they don't even have any idea what's going on!

[ino]

Well ... I guess I should say, more like what I'm used to ... and less brainwashing.

[ A sheepish laugh ]

A theme park ... yeah. But it must be a park with some seriously tight security. I can't believe it'd be running this long and nobody thought to question it or stage some kind of uprising.

[dancingmd]

It seems to me they've kept a tight control on the population, discouraging any sort of societal or technological advancement, so an uprising would have to come from the outside. Presumably no one comes here unless they want to-

[She stops, a thought suddenly occuring to her.]

Do we know for sure this is all real? What I mean is, what if this was set up purely for our benefit? We have to go more or less where Atroma wants us to, so how could any of us know that this ... theme park existed before our arrival? The inhabitants could be actors or sophisticated holograms.

[ino]

[ She listens closely, thinking about it. It's true, it would be possible that this was all set up for them, as something for them to react to. Just like the villagers from Paradisa. They had been created for the purpose of populating the town outside the castle, and they'd confirmed that ...

... By checking in their head.

That was it! If they had truly been set up for this specific purpose, then they wouldn't have any memories prior to that. If they'd been brainwashed in some way to fulfill this new role, there would be some evidence left behind. If she could just grab a random person and check there, quickly ... ]

I think there's a way to tell for sure. But I'll have to test it out first.

[ She leaves that vague. Sorry, Beverly, but she doesn't quite know you well enough to discuss the method -- you'll just have to trust that she can get that information somehow ]

[dancingmd]

[Beverly squints suspiciously.]

How? I don't want anyone to come to any harm to satisfy our curiosity.

[ino]

[ Well ... it was pretty suspicious ...

She raises her hands defensively ]

Whoa, no! No, nobody is going to get hurt, I promise. I wouldn't be a medic if I was going around hurting people for information.

[dancingmd]

[She wants to trust Ino but...]

All the same, I'll be coming with you.

[ino]

[ Well, that works for her. ]

Sure. Just ... don't tell anyone what you see, okay?

[dancingmd]

[Having expected an argument from Ino, Beverly relaxes somewhat. Still, she's not going to let her guard down completely.]

....all right, so long as no one gets hurt, I won't say anything.

[ino]

[ A bit grumbly about it ... ]

Like I said, nobody is going to get hurt ...

[ But she guesses she'd better get on with it, so -- she'll be pushing the button on the collar to activate the illusion (which really makes almost no difference, other than the clothes), and then glance back at Beverly -- you coming? ]

[dancingmd]

[Reluctantly, Beverly switches on her own collar. As with Ino, all it changes is her clothing, which reminds her unpleasantly of one of her encounters with Q. She nods curtly at Ino.]

Ready.

[ino]

[ Welp. Off they go, then. She'll be wandering into the town, trying not to be too triggered by the appearance of the place. Ugh. And that big castle off in the distance, too ...

Hey! How about some conversation to make her feel less like she somehow just got trapped right back in Paradisa again? ]

So, uh ... what was your augment, anyways?

[dancingmd]

[She takes a deep breath at the word "augment." Why did they have to call it that?]

I'm assuming something with the labs, seeing as I miraculously knew how all the equipment in there worked, despite the significant differences from what I'm used to at home. Nothing else seems to have changed so far.

[She steps around a suspicous plop of brown in the middle of the road.]

Hopefully it'll stay that way.

[ino]

Oh. Yeah, probably lab support, then.

[ She nods ... grimacing ... at that poop. Wow. Gross. ]

Allen will probably have a lot to learn from you, then. He was working with another doctor back where we came from, but he was, uh ... [ How do you say "a gigantic douchebag" nicely ]

[dancingmd]

[She waits a polite amount of time, but when no descriptor is forthcoming, she tries suggesting one of her own.]

Harsh, maybe?

[ino]

Kind of a tool, is maybe the nicest way to put it.

[ She tried! ]

In any case, I'm sure he'll be relieved to have someone else to learn from now.

[dancingmd]

A "tool?" I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that term.

[ino]

Uh, y'know, like ... a jerk? An asshole?

[ Why does she feel like she's going to get in trouble for cursing ]

[dancingmd]

[One corner of Beverly's mouth quirks upwards as she glances over at Ino.]

I am certainly familiar with those. There are an alarming number of them in my profession, I'm afraid.

[ino]

[ A bit of a smile ]

Well, you seem pretty alright, so -- hopefully you can make up for the years of being coffee boy instead of learning useful stuff.