Calibration Post 1, "Daytime"

[thespaceopera]

[ Not long after the shuffle, there's a ripple of static over the network - loud, sudden, and seemingly with no origin. It's puzzling, but there's no indication that it's going to happen again...

Until a minute later. Another surge of static comes in over the speakers, and then a voice - one some may find familiar, though not necessarily welcome, after all of this time... It's Diamond. Long time no speak, hmm?

Clearly, not all is well. She sounds very far away, for one. For another, she sounds... skeptical, almost alarmed. There may actually be real concern in her voice. ]

Again? Twice in one c--

[ Her sentence is cut short with a strangled gasp, followed by a moment of silence. What follows may be the sound of metal dragged across metal, but it's hard to place. When she speaks again, it's uncharacteristically monotonous. ]

... Bring them in.

[ A blip of lost time passes right after those words, before every passenger mysteriously wakes alone in their own unfamiliar room. The style of decor resembles that of the Marsiva's Hospitality Deck, if any passengers should remember what that's like. It sounds and smells the same as the host ship as well, all clean and chrome, but this set of rooms has only been used once, and for the very same purpose that befalls the fleet contestants now.

As for their hosts, there is no immediate sign of them, though some may recall a series of hideous, half-electronic screams before their memories begin to blur upon arrival...

Welcome back to the Marsiva, dear passengers. It's time for round two of calibrations. ]

[ This mingle will cover all non-calibration room interactions. Please continue to come back to it for the duration of the plot! You are, of course, free to post any other mingles/posts/etc. that you'd like. ]

Comments

[deviances]

[ Eithan looks up, blinks when he sees someone he doesn't know at all - but he does scoot over a bit to give her more room to actually sit. ]

Huh? Uh-- heh. Yeah. [ He grins a little, shakes his head at himself and reaches to pick up said bottle of beer. ] Hard to have a good night with this weird... brain-room-whatever shit goin' on.

[ He takes a sip - well, at least hasn't gotten warm?? ]

[darksmokerising]

It is strange. [Merlan manages to take up less space than one might think, content to sip on her tea with a look that says she doesn't get to do this much.]

I haven't been here long but I can safely say it is not how things usually go where I'm from.

[deviances]

Or where I'm from. [ Beat. ] Hell, if anyone comes from somewhere else that pulls shit like this, I'd feel pretty bad for 'em.

So you're new here, huh? [ Have a sympathetic wince. ] Mm. Talk about timin'... but, welcome, anyway. [ He raises his bottle to her in salute~ ]

[darksmokerising]

I'll say one thing though, the space thing is kinda awesome. I need to find me a window or something. A proper big one. [She nods a little.] It's not been but a few hours or so. A few very weird hours but I can take the weirdness. It's kinda been my life since I was a wee thing.

[She laughs quietly at that and takes a long sip of tea.]

Thanks for the welcome, well met to you, too.

[deviances]

[ Okay, he does smile at that. ]

Yeah, the space thing's pretty cool. We're nowhere near this kinda space shit where I'm from. As for windows... I bet you'll find huge ones on the Iskaulit. You know, once they let us actually get back on our actual fuckin' ships. I could show you, if you wanted a tour or somethin'.

[ And yeah, he notes that comment about her not being a stranger to weirdness. Info to keep on file for later! ]

I'm Eithan. What's your name?

[darksmokerising]

A tour would be lovely. The more I know, the better off I'll be. [She offers a little smile.]

Mine's Merlan.