driftfleet | 084.1 Video

Entry tags:

084.1 Video

Who: Lance Hunter and yourself, should you choose to engage!
Broadcast: yes
Action: Marsiva
When: no time like the present!

[ the comm seems to be haphazardly leaning against something, and the image you get is crooked. a sleeping man, who almost instantly awakes with a start. no scream, mercifully, he's quite over screamer videos, and besides, it wouldn't really be that surprising under the circumstances, now, would it? his eyes dart around the room, his feet flying off the cot and touching the ground. the moment he speaks, his accent undeniably and unapologetically identifies him as an englishman. ]

Not again - [ he groans, looking around him. the first time he was knocked out and kidnapped happened because he was foolish, he trusted a friend when clearly he had overestimated the bond, bloody spies, he's had his fill of bloody spies. but this time - he has no idea what happened. one minute, he's in a pod, sailing to freedom and the next - he's in this bed. he must not have deactivated something. do they have a blasted tracker beam on these things? so paranoid! ] Oi, @therealshield, you forgot to paint your eagle - I'm gonna have to deduct your merits - [ no answer. the room really doesn't seem like anywhere his previous captors kept him in, and that's rarely a coincidence. he gets up, and the comm seems to slip off whatever it was leaning against and end up in a new position, one that shows the back of the man, as he walks towards a window. ] ...you have got to be joking.

[ and a moment later ] Bloody aliens!

[ the man comes in and out of the frame, as he's clearly examining his surroundings, before he heads back to check on what he's got by his cot, and notices the comm. picking it up, you now get a close up of his face - ] Little red light - you're either going to explode or - [ that sure looks like a camera, doesn't it? he holds it directly in front of his face. ]

Take me to your leader.

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[Considering that Rip went through the same exact thing himself but days ago, it's a bit easy to be sympathetic.]

You're out of luck, mate. Apparently the leaders don't care to make themselves known--and the only place you'll wind up going when you get off that bloody ship is onto a smaller one with some confetti thrown in your face.

[ FINALLY someone's treating this situation in a way that makes some goddamn sense. of course he'd be a fellow countryman. ]

So are they, I don't much care for what they care for. [ all he needs is one shot. ] What in the hell is this shit show?

You'll like it even less once you hear the details. [And, you know. Once Lance realizes he doesn't have any weapons.] Supposedly it's meant to be one intergalactic television show, broadcast for the enjoyment of God-only-knows what.

[So, you know. An actual shit show.]

There'll be plenty of people willing to fill you in. I just got here a few days ago myself, so I'm not really an expert.

[ oh, that part he realized. it's annoying, for sure, but to be expected of a kidnapping. it's alright. he's a weapon. it's not his first rodeo. ]

That explains it. [ why you still make sense. never drink the kool-aid, mate, he's got a feeling he's going to need this friendship to retain his sanity. ] You're the only one making any sense. [ he needs a drink. so bad. ]

You picked up on that too, then. [Rip certainly noticed it as he spoke to those who so helpfully replied to his initial broadcast.] One of them described it as "settling," and it seems appropriate enough a term.

[That quiet acceptance of the situation as is, that it can't be changed, so let's smile and make the best of it.]

[ seems to go along with the brain altering implants. this is what a true nightmare is - being stripped of his desire to fight back, turned into a puppet that's content in its captivity. if that ever happens to him, put a bullet in his head. ]

It's rather hard to miss. [ it's very in your face. ] A setting for what, though.

This. [--Ah, right, yes. Not everyone has something like "time drift" to compare it to.]

Everyone here has been entirely removed from not only from their own homes, but their own times and likely their own universes. [Which someone hopefully already told Lance already since otherwise that's a pretty crappy way to hear about that bit.] And then brought here, seemingly with no way to properly return to their rightful places.

So they adjust. They build lives here, make friends, forge relationships. They settle, and eventually they begin to belong here rather than the places where they were originally from.

[ he's heard bits, and certainly the evidence seems to be right in front of him, but no one has quite said like this. ]

Let me guess, the next step is happy to comply in the defense of their "home".

[ this is sounding more and more hydra with every passing moment. and he went and mentioned shield. this is going to be trouble. on the bright side, though, if he makes himself enough of a nuisance which - he excels at - one of them will show up to take him, and he could take them out.

then again, if he's surrounded by the brainwashed, they may just have them handle him. that wouldn't be nearly as fun. ]

Wouldn't you, in that scenario?

[Honestly, if the fleet came into danger Rip would defend it now. As lovely as the asteroids are, he's not really keen on having the only way they've got to travel through space damaged beyond repair.]

[ hunter would defend himself. he would defend fitz. he'll fight to save people. the fleet? can suck it. the only thing he cares to protect about it is his way home. ]

Let it blow, let it blow, let it blow. [ in a sing-song voice, on the tune of 'let it snow'. he is not willing to play their game. they want him to put down roots? that has never been his style. even when he chooses to try and do so, it blows up in his face, so avoiding it here doesn't feel like that tall an order. ]

And all the other people trapped on board?

[Because Rip cannot see the difference--and for the record, he also doesn't get that reference, but that's beside the point.]

There's a number of us, apparently. All pulled from our homes, given these bloody augments--[He touches behind his left ear with his fingertips; if Lance doesn't already know, he's in for a terrible surprise should he do the same.]--and forced to travel on these ships.

[ hunter absolutely sees a difference - a monumental one - between fighting to save the people by your side, and fighting to save a home, a way of life, an ideal. if they get stranded on a far off planet - let them be stranded! so long as they're free, it'll be better. and if there's civilization on that planet, they could commandeer a ride. ]

Watch it, mate, they're getting you already. [ he's heard bits and pieces about the augments, no one seems particularly keen on giving him a complete story on anything. ] What's our number, anyway? [ how many people are supposedly trapped here, assuming none of them are the bad guys? ]

[It might seem that way—that Rip's already starting to assimilate. But he shakes his head, gives Lance a ghost of a grin.] It's got nothing to do with this place, I'm afraid. Someone else got to me first.

[There's no fighting when it comes to Legends, as Rip has learned. He cannot see that group merely standing by, letting the people be so harmed if they could stop it. Besides, at least half the team would take it as a personal insult if they were fired upon.

Even if the Legends themselves had been the ones to start it.]

It varies, from what I'm told. Around a hundred, less than two. [It's a rather general range, but Rip's not exactly in a position to take a census.] Stolen from across space and time itself, only to wind up here. Some universes are also apparently more popular than others, so you might run into someone you know.

[Or who knows him. That's where the "time" aspect comes in.]

I take it it was someone more pleasant than our current jailers?

[ don't let him fool you, rip, he wouldn't let people die around him if he has any other available recourse either, and he would most definitely take being fired on as an affront. ]

Sorry - universes? [ no one has ever explained the multiverse to him, he's always had a tendency to fall asleep during science classes and he definitely did not go far enough with those to make it to any theory quite so advanced. ]

Not sure if I'd say more pleasant--but I'd much rather be around that lot than in this mess.

[At least the Legends can be said to have good intentions--most of the time.

Ah, but now we've gotten into new territory as far as Lance is concerned, it would seem.] Yes, plural. Multiple universes exist with variations between them, sometimes few in number, sometimes entirely different. And in theory, the same person could exist in each, although with different experiences and traits.

So someone might show up with a face quite familiar to one you know, but turn out to be an entirely different person.

[ oh hell no, the words are simple enough but the ramifications are mind boggling. ]

I am far too sober for this. [ he rubs at his eyes. ] Give me the cliff notes - who do I curse, aliens, science, the Hydra Sorcerer Supreme? [ look it will not surprise him if they have one of those, at this point. ]

Reality itself, if you're still focused on the multiverse aspect of things. [Sorry Lance. Things are the way they are, and that includes the existence of a potentially infinite number of alternate dimensions.] For the circumstances leading to your new awareness of it, I believe "aliens" is the going theory—although they apparently haven't been talkative in quite some time.

Why would they, paranoid conspiracy theories are far more entertaining to watch than people rallying against a known common enemy.

[ if their goal is ratings - a bunch of crazies in aluminum foil hats are far likelier to achieve that for them. and besides, leaving people to form their own conclusions is always better than giving them solid intel. ]

...As if there weren't enough to reason to disdain this whole "reality TV" concept already.

[Rip's been looking at the silence from a tactical point of view, but if Lance is right in terms of entertainment? It's just gotten a hell of a lot more annoying.]

[ things have a tendency of getting more annoying around lance, no idea why. ]

You'd think they'd want to provide us with copious amounts of alcohol.

[ he could really use some about now. ]

I'm afraid that's a bit harder to come by. [Along with a proper cup of tea, which in Rip's mind is certainly just as heinous a crime.] Although if you ask around, there's likely someone who can point you in the direction of some. The system of asteroids we're currently parked near also has plenty of bars, but those will cost you.

[And like Rip, Lance likely hasn't been afforded much in the way of credits to start.]

[ as it is in hunter's, rest assured. the only reason he's calmer on that front is peggy promised him a cup once he's off this blasted ship. ]

I seem to have left my wallet in my other pants, and my other pants back on planet Earth.

[She's been rather generous in that way; certainly Rip won't complain about it.

Not when there's so much more that warrants bitter commentary.]

Well, good news. There's an appreciation for people willing to put in some hours of labor--or to get on stage and sing, if that's more your speed.

[Rip's personally been sticking to the former, thank you.]

[ there is plenty he'll complain about in regards to peggy carter; her willingness to share her tea with him will never make that list. ]

All this for a talent show?

[ really? he would have guess survivor, big brother, the bachelorette, even! but the universe has talent? you must be joking. ]

Not entirely. It's apparently en vogue to live out the rock and roll dream in this particular system. A momentary feature rather than an overarching plot.

[Or so Rip sincerely hopes.]

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