one. voice + action.

[artificial]

Who: snarkbot + you!
Broadcast: ye.
Action: the special calibrations portion of the ship.
When: early evening, july 2.

( action. )

[ when gideon wakes she's--well. more than a little confused. this is the first time ever she's not been connected to the waverider and it's disorienting. it takes her a minute of sitting in her room to figure out just what's wrong and why she feels like she has a stone resting in her stomach, but when she does she's a little peeved, honestly. she rifles around the room, finding her communicator but nothing else of note. unless you count the absolutely ridiculous throw blanket that she wraps around her shoulders.

gideon is, first and foremost, a computer so it's the communicator she's drawn to first. she spends a not insignificant amount of time flipping through it and figuring out what she can. once she's sort of got her bearings, she makes a network post of her own (see below) and then determines that exploring is a great idea.

as such, she can be found very curiously wandering barefoot through all the parts of the ship she can get into, occasionally pausing to simply touch things--walls, doors, furniture--with a slight frown on her face. and, yes, all the while she has the ugly as sin flamingo blanket with her. ]

( voice. )

[ the voice that comes through is surprisingly pleasant, all things considered, though there's a hint of testiness lurking behind the words. ]

I'm given to understand that this rather elaborate kidnapping has taken place because of a reality show, correct? One which we are all unwilling participants in. I'd like to know more about how this is broadcast, if anyone has that information. [ augh, having to ask for information instead of just looking it up is really unexpectedly annoying.

she pauses. ] I would also like to speak with anyone familiar with the Waverider or her crew.

Comments

action!!!!

[directed]

[Of all things that might convince him that this is real, it's the bloody blanket she drapes about her shoulders that does it. It looks utterly ridiculous, patterned with flamingos, the absolute opposite of the sort of thing Rip might expect Gideon to drape about her--

But she must be cold, since she wears it anyway. Cold, a sensation he wouldn't expect of an AI or even a robot or an android. She's felt so much over the years they've been together, happiness and frustration and a fear to die. Enjoyment of a kiss.

But never cold.]

...Yes. Hello. [As if he just now remembers how to walk upon hearing his own name, Rip starts towards her once again, heartened in part by her smile. There's nothing to be done about the open curiosity with which he stares at her, drinking in every detail of her, from the curve of her smile to the bare feet which rest against the floor.

It's impossible, and yet somehow quite real.]

This is all rather new, isn't it? [Brilliant observation from the former Time Master, here.]

[artificial]

[ enjoy having a good look at those long, bare legs, rip, since gideon is still only dressed in the tank top and shorts that were provided for her. ]

It's been approximately three days and seventeen hours since I was given this body.

[ approximately because she has no idea how long she was unconscious. all she remembers is going to sleep on the waverider and then waking up on the marsiva. there was obviously time in between, but how much is anybody's guess. and another thing to add to the list of gideon's annoyances with this situation. she rather prefers being able to be precise about things, she's discovering. ]

Would you like to come in? [ she takes a step back into the room, further away from anyone who might stumble upon this conversation. ]

[directed]

[They are rather nice legs. Unfortunately, he's a bit distracted by other details.]

Wait--three days?

[And seventeen hours approximately, yes, he's heard the rest. But what concerns Rip immediately is the notion that Gideon has somehow been here that long with Rip unaware. He still thinks, after all, that the form she inhabits now is somehow the doing of the Atroma.]

You've already been here for more than three days?

[One question traded for another. Gideon smartly reminds Rip that they are in fact standing in the hall, and with a glance up and down the corridor he nods before carefully stepping past her. For his part, he's dressed rather normally--coat on and everything--as if he'd been pulled off the jump ship rather than the Starstruck.

And once upon a time, two months ago, that had been precisely the case.]

Are you alright? [He turns to face her, standing in the middle of her quarters now. She must be confused at the very least. He's confused, but at least he knows a bit about the setting where they've found themselves. Oh, and right, he's not suddenly in some foreign body, the same of which can't be said about Gideon.

So he thinks.]

[artificial]

No, I've only just arrived here, [ she says as the door shuts behind him. ] I was still aboard the Waverider when this-- [ she gestures to, well. herself. ] Happened.

[ she won't tell him anything else, if he asks, but since simply seeing her is possibly revealing his future, she sees little harm in giving him this bit of information. he is quite adept at keeping secrets, after all. ]

Everything seems to be in working order, though the temperature of this ship is a little chillier than I would prefer.

[ which is a lot of words to say yes, she's alright. ]

[directed]

Bloody hell [And so comes the moment when Rip realizes that Gideon must be from the future; certainly nothing like this has happened when he was still aboard the ship. He can only wonder what trouble the Legends must have gotten into if Gideon has somehow become human--only, because aside from lack of obvious explanation, they both know the dangers that lie in revealing too much to a person about what is yet to come.

He pinches the bridge of his nose momentarily. It's all rather much, but at least she's by and large okay in spite of it. Just cold, and with a quietly huffed out breath Rip moves to fix that in a way that would spare her use of the blanket.]

Here. [He shrugs off his duster with practiced ease, then offers it to Gideon. It's something he can at least do for her, and moreover, he trusts her. If they are suddenly sent back to their ships, Rip knows he'll keep the contents of his pockets safe--a notebook and pen in particular, where he's started keeping notes about what's happened on the Marsiva.

Everything he can remember--because he's learned all too well that there's much he can't.]

We'll find you something more suitable soon enough. [Perhaps in this very room, if, like Rip, Gideon has been granted additional clothing in the trunk by her bed.]

[artificial]

[ she wraps herself up in his duster for the second time in a week, and it's just as comforting as it was the first time. gideon sits on the edge of her bed and tries to inconspicuously snuggle into the warmth and pleasant feel of it. given that she's only had a body to be inconspicuous with for three days, she fails terribly at this. ]

Are there fabricators aboard, or will we have to go shopping?

[ while fabricators make everything easier, she's a little intrigued by the notion of shopping, honestly. ]

[directed]

[--In the end, he can't quite help but notice how cozy Gideon is with his jacket wrapped around him. It's hardly an unusual sight in a general sense, but one that for Rip emphasizes how odd this situation truly is. Gideon, in human form, pleasantly pulling his duster tighter around her frame.

He only watches for a moment or two before going to the trunk at the end of her bed, opening it much the same way as he has the one in his own room.]

--Ah, neither, I'm rather afraid. [Just as Rip is disappointed to find little of use in the trunk. It makes sense to a degree, since Gideon is so new she's yet to even be assigned a ship. Still, he would've hoped for one of those jumpers that seems to be provided to the crewmen as some sort of standard wear.]

There aren't any fabricators about, and we're essentially stuck on this ship for the time being. [With no way of knowing just how long it might be before they reach a new system after these ridiculous calibrations are done.] Gideon, how much have you been told about where we are?

[He knows at the very least that the people here are helpful, usually. Whether or not the current predicament has changed that, he cannot say--but he's hopeful that by now, she's gotten some understanding of the situation they're in.]

[artificial]

[ the only thing in the trunk is a sleeveless jumpsuit. it's an exact replica of the one gideon was wearing in his mindscape. but it doesn't exactly help with keeping her arms warm anymore than the tank top does. ]

I've been told very little, though I have gone through some of the most recent postings to the network. [ she had to do it the old fashioned way. it was terrible. ] I believe I've a grasp of the basic situation. [ though she could be wrong. and that is also terrible.

(guess who now has two thumbs and hates that she's no longer connected to a computer?)

gideon looks up at rip, head tilted ever so slightly to the side with her curiosity. ] Is there anything pertinent I wouldn't have found there?

[directed]

[He tries to think over some of what's been broadcast lately. Truth be told, Rip hasn't been paying so much attention as he should. His waking hours have been filled, among other things, with exploration and recording. There have been far too many gaps in memory for his liking in the recent past, ones not just shaped by the calibrations at night but others he might not know about, save for the notes Gideon now carries in the duster wrapped around her.]

I'm afraid there's been a great deal that's gone undiscussed on the network as of late. [Broadcasts and efforts that have ultimately raised more questions than answers, even for long-time captives of this particular batch of spaceships. Rip moves without really thinking about it, more polite habit than anything, sitting on the bed next to Gideon. Near enough that they can talk easily, but not so far as to touch her.

As soon as he's settled, though, Rip finds himself staring a bit again at her face. Right there, just as normal as you please. Just as human as she had seemed when they'd both been trapped in his mind, prisoners of Eobard Thawne's manipulations.]

--In my coat. My, ah, my communicator. [Right, he'd been going somewhere with this. He motions towards her left side; in the interior pocket, she would find the device Rip has been assigned, so similar to her own.]

There's a bit of a starter's guide if you're looking to verify anything you've already learned, although it was out of date last I checked. [Slightly off-topic, given that it too exists on the network Still, it's something, and a far more organized presentation of the basic information. He'll need to thumb through his communicator a bit to find it, but he'll wait until Gideon's handed him the device first.] Most of what's gone undiscussed publicly involves the actions of the group in charge of this little—endeavor. The Atroma. They've been proving themselves to be rather vicious as of late.

[From employing the canon housed on the very ship they reside in now to the brutal execution of at least two of their own, to the nightly calibrations—as glad as Rip is to have Gideon beside him, he would much rather she be safe, especially now that she's been put into a human body somehow.]

[artificial]

[ she fishes around in his pocket for his communicator and then hands it over to him, posture hunching in on herself just a titch as she does. the loss of her connection to the waverider and technology in general aches a bit like a missing limb right about now. ]

Vicious? How so?

[directed]

Public executions, although the jury may still be out on whether or not broadcasting it was their intention. [Rip has a difficult time believing it wouldn't be. Now with his communicator in hand, he thumbs through it quickly, pulling up the guide that was offered to him on his arrival before holding the device back out go Gideon.]

It's a bit out of date, but it covers the basics. [The bare minimum at the very least.] The executions weren't of any of the captives. About six weeks ago there was a raid on a particular compound of a system we were visiting. We'd been contacted by an organization supposedly opposed to the Atroma. In the end, it doesn't seem as if we accomplished much at all. The information we obtained was largely sanitized if not redacted completely, and the one major discovery has seemingly been locked away from our use.

[An AI, of all things. Though Rip knew better than to trust just any such program, the discovery had still been--not comforting, exactly. But perhaps close.]

The pair of operatives from the other organization had stationed their ships nearby. Then, without warning, the Atroma fired on them using a massive canon housed on this ship. Presumably, they were killed.

[artificial]

[ she grimaces. none of this is good news. in fact, it's all rather terrible and she's not quite sure what to do with it.

as she wraps her head around things, she takes rip's communicator in hand and starts reading the guide. one thing in particular catches her attention. ]

Calibrations. This is why everyone is here now, isn't it? Ms. Zor-El mentioned everyone being forced to walk through each other's psyches.

[directed]

[She's not wrong to think that way. Nor does it get any better. Rip lets the silence stretch on; there's more to say, further events to detail in the aftermath of that disaster of a raid, but he waits for Gideon to tell him she's ready for him to proceed.

And she does, in a sense. He nods when she brings up calibrations, though the frown that he wears might make his opinion on those abundantly clear.]

Essentially, yes. It's not entirely unlike cognitive intrusion in that sense. [A process they were both familiar with from home, unfortunately.] Though they don't seem to need the same equipment or have the same limitations on time. Thus far, it's been an unfortunate opportunity to view the memories of others as they experienced them.

As others have had done with mine. [He turns his face away from Gideon, at the same time worrying his chin with a hand. She likely knows better than anyone of the demons that lurk within Rip's mind, and how they've so often taken their toll.] It hasn't been good, Gideon. At least one person has seen the memories of my time with the Legion of Doom.

[artificial]

[ though rip's done a good job of hiding it, gideon knows that the time he spent brainwashed weighs on him. the fact that those memories were drudged up for anyone to see... it makes her very, very angry with the people who have captured them.

but anger won't do any good here, so she shoves it aside and does what comes most naturally to her: cares for her captain. she reaches out and grasps the hand that isn't rubbing at his chin and gives it a slight squeeze. ]

I'm sorry, Captain. [ that he's having to go through this. ] Have you been able to explain to them the circumstances?

[directed]

[In the time immediately after Sara and Jax and Gideon saved him from Eobard Thawne's manipulations, there had been little time to stew in either guilt or uncertainty. The quest for the Spear remained too pressing, and for better or worse, Rip had in turn been forced to set aside any lingering doubts in favor of doing what was necessary in order to ensure that the Legion weren't able to rewrite reality.

(And he knows that it hadn't been enough still. That in one disastrous timeline, the Legion did indeed win, and the situation became so dire that he went along with the team's plan to break a fundamental rule of time travel.)

Yet even those thoughts have been pushed away; just when their victory had been obtained, when Rip left the ship to try and find what answers he could, he found himself here. In some ways it had been almost a relief, having an entirely new environment to focus on--a new mission, arguably.

But these past weeks have served as harsh reminder that some demons remain undefeated, lingering in the shadows.

There are angels to fight against them, however; Rip doesn't expect the contact, unused to it even being a possibility with Gideon. For a moment, his surprise is clear when he looks at her once more, the gesture one he wouldn't have predicted--

And the smile that follows, however slight, speaks to how welcome that touch is.]

Thank you, Gideon. [She is his oldest friend in so many ways, a source of guidance and comfort both. Already Rip thinks he'll be reminded of that numerous times while they're both aboard these ships.]

I have. Thankfully so, considering she nearly kicked me off her ship. [The individual in question holds the rank of captain, and is in fact the one Rip has opted to align with. Such a fact would be telling, given how well Gideon knows Rip.] Her name is Peggy Carter, if you happen to meet her. She's the appointed captain of the Starstruck, where I'm currently assigned.

[Notably absent in that statement, however, is the role he's been given to go along with it. The omission is entirely deliberate, even as Rip acknowledges to himself that he'll have to tell her eventually.]