001; video

[wingedman]

Who: Sam Wilson
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Today!

Well, now, this is real nice, isn't it? [Judging by the dry tone of Sam's voice, it isn't.] Not that I was doing anything important back home, but it sure as hell beats being scooped up and used to boost ratings on some sort of intergalactic Big Brother. [And, muttered to himself:] I don't even wanna know what happens if you get voted off.

[Back in a normal voice:] So, I'm Sam. Earth, twenty-first century. Guess I'm stuck here for a few days, huh? On the totally not creepy uninhabited giant spaceship. Yeah, I can see the ratings skyrocketing already. This sure better not be some kinda horror show, 'cause I know the black guy's always the first person to get killed by the out of control robots.

-nah, just kidding, they never even have black guys in space to begin with, I'm safe.

[sam what r u even on about]

Also, this food sucks big-time. Come on, can't they feed TV stars better than this? Why couldn't I get trapped on Food Network?

Comments

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[passingthrough]

[Sam. She met him in the fleet. It was fleeting if you will, but she'd liked him. Seems worth a shout out.]

Sure. Just a few days. Like I've only been here 477 days. [It's totally normal to be able to spit out the exact number of days, okay? Plus, the place she lived before this didn't have a calendar system so it was all about counting the days.]

But I have bad news. [No, the length of stay wasn't the bad news.] The food on the ship you're on now is actually better than the food on the other ships you'll get transferred to.

[wingedman]

[Sam just stares down at the tray of goop in front of him for a moment. He likes food, and being stuck eating whatever the hell this is? Definitely not idea.]

It gets worse? Christ, I woulda thrown myself into space after the first four hundred days of surviving on this crap.

[passingthrough]

What, did you think space was all out of vending machines? [Kidding. Why would space have vending machines? And yet...] When we stop at a system or pass a waystation there are usually chances to get better food. Might be expensive or limited, but usually better.

There's just only so much you can do with wheat solids and flavored protein gels.

[wingedman]

Nah, I thought that we'd be eating freeze-dried astronaut ice cream. [Equally kidding there.]

Does that happen pretty often, or are we just kinda...floating out in the middle of space most of the time? I mean, space is big, but I imagine that with tech like this, we're looking at faster than light travel, too, am I right?

[passingthrough]

Oh yeah, the little packs of neapolitan.

I don't think we've been traveling in space for more than two weeks at time. We're usually stopped somewhere for about a month and even when we are out you can usually make a side trip to a waystation.

But we can go faster than light speed as long as we are within range of the Marsiva. The ship you're on now.

[wingedman]

See? Get a few packs of those, you'd be all set. Totally better than gel.

So do you stop on planets or space stations or what? Is there some kinda guide to all this so I don't keep having to bother everyone by asking these questions?

[Not that he doesn't appreciate Kitty's patience in answering them, he just knows that sort of thing probably wears thin when you get new people on a regular basis.]

[passingthrough]

No arguments there. [It sounds like a step up to her.]

There was a guide, but the person keeping it up-to-date disappeared. Just keep the questions interesting. You know, a few about life here and then an occasionally something odd. Like, why are there no 'B' batteries?

And yeah, we tend to make stops in systems. This one is more about the asteroid belt than planets, but there's usually something. If the Marsiva stops, we stop. It's like there's an invisible tether. We can only go so far from it and then we get snapped back.

[wingedman]

How long has this been going on, that you know of? Who's been here the longest out of everyone still here?

[Sam pauses for a moment, trying to think of a more interesting question.]

Okay, why aren't there any B batteries?

[passingthrough]

About two and a half years. I'm not sure who gets the crown for being here the exact longest. But the longest-stayed guy I know passed me off to someone else because he doesn't like answering all the newbie questions. And she's gone now. She was also the guide person.

[She smiles fro a moment.] Mm, there used to be. They got outclassed by newer models like the double and triple A's. Europe was still using them some before everything.