► 00_01/.

[fallbythesword]

Who: Jacqli and YOU!!
Broadcast: Yes - fleetwide
Action: If you want - aboard the Marsiva
When: RIGHT NOW!

[ New kid on the hospitality deck! After establishing that she can't simply disappear from this place and reappear in not actually space the Astral Plane, she really only has one thing she even wants to bother to ask of the network at large.

She turns on the video feed, and looks very, very unimpressed - bored, even. ]

If anyone knows about The Machine as it relates to the Astral Plane, or a very specific shop, respond to this.

[ There's a long pause. ... Okay, okay, fine, she should probably also say something borderline nice. Ugh. ]

... In the absence of such knowledge, I guess someone could tell me what planet that is outside, and why it sounds like a nervous pop star.

Comments

text.

[torsion]

Can't help on that first part, but the planet's called Lyuku. I've heard there have been other "singing" planets, but I don't know why or what it means, sorry.

I believe you'll be able to travel down to it once you've left the Marsiva, though. Unless you can now? It was on lockdown when I arrived so I'm not sure if it's standard to be stuck on it any other time.

[fallbythesword]

[ Ah, text. Just as well. ]

Where I'm from, the planet sings, so that's pretty typical to me. But this one sounds like it's having a panic attack. [ And she is concerned, even if she's acting all flippant about it. ]

It's on lockdown now. I've read I'll be moved to another ship. Do people get moved between ships against their will often? Because that sounds ridiculous and annoying.

[torsion]

[ It's not true anonymity, but it allows her the freedom of not having to be careful in tone (or misheard) and not have to worry about how she looks. Or, more importantly, she can wait and see if she wants someone to know what she looks like. ]

The only sounds mine has are from the life on it, I'm afraid. Not sure how to help with this directly, unfortunately. Or if we can.

You should be, yes. To my knowledge it doesn't happen too often and you can shuttle between ships at will, so you're not even stuck on the one you're technically assigned to. We aren't always close to planets, though.

I've only been here a few months so I'm not necessarily the most well-informed but I'll try to share anything you may want or need to know to make it easier on you.

[fallbythesword]

[ why are you being so nice and forthcoming with info. what do you want. ]

I doubt I have anything to give you in return. I'm only here with the clothes on my back, after all.

[torsion]

[ Because she's a sadsack and this makes her feel useful, obviously. ]

Nothing I really want or need -- other than things you can't give. Been here just long enough to get some things I'm familiar with, but what I want are the things that are mine.

Sucks, but what can you do, right?

[fallbythesword]

Sounds pretty dramatic.

[ She hits send before a voice in the back of her head (that sounds a lot like an old friend, imagine that) starts in all, "BE NICE!!" and she almost continues to drown it out! .... But she caves and types something else up, too. ]

But you are going well out of your way to help me right now, I realize. I'll repay you somehow in the future. [ It's kind of a "thank you??" ] Is there anything else worth mentioning about this Atroma that's behind everything, or is it just smoke and mirrors at this point?

[torsion]

Nah, not really. You just want things that are yours, don't you? Especially when you don't have access to them or your home. I mean, I do, anyway.

[ Honestly, it's kind of cute. But she gets the feeling that would come off as pretty condescending so she manages to resist using her fingers to type something like that up. ]

Don't think I'm helping that much, but buy me a beer sometime and we'll call it even. Anyway, as for the Atroma... could be anything, couldn't it? You see the technology they're capable of, so for all we know they could be smoke and mirrors. If they aren't behind it, they're still taking credit for it or the ones representing what happened. Maybe not the most direct clue or answer, but they might lead us to more.

[fallbythesword]

[ A beer? Bless - someone isn't outright assuming she's like 14 or something! ]

So, we're stuck in space, on an entertainment program, and we have a mystery to solve about our captors. How incredibly overblown.

[torsion]

[ She looks like 19 or something! And that's legal in Canada so it probably counts in space, right? ]

Nothing quite like pressure to light a fire under you, right? Might as well just look at it as manufactured drama.

[fallbythesword]

I could write much more interesting drama than this.

[ Is she kidding?? Probably. Weird sense of humor... ]

Let me guess, it doesn't work to simply do nothing, get poor ratings, and get kicked off the show?

[torsion]

I probably could, too. Can't really speak for the reasons why we're so special and desirable.

You think I'd be here still if that were the case? As far as I know we're stuck until they decide for some arbitrary reason that we're out. Don't think there's anything we can actually do to leave or expedite the process.

[fallbythesword]

What about death? How do they deal with that?

[ JACQLI NOT EVERYONE HAS BEEN DRAGGED OFF TO OTHER PLACES WHERE DEATH IS WEIRD AND NEBULOUS, MAYBE DON'T JUST ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!? ]

[torsion]

[ Isn't that what death is like anywhere? At least if it were described to her that way, she'd probably agree. ]

You'll have to be more specific. People on the fleet, people on different planets? Don't know if there's a baseline where you're from, but here it's dealt with different from person to person.

I haven't seen anyone die that's been on the ships so far, though.

[fallbythesword]

Where I'm from, death is death. You live, you die, you're gone. But I've been in some places where death wasn't permanent. So, I was curious to see if whoever's behind this fleet somehow pulled off death being temporary as well.

[torsion]

Death should be permanent where I'm from, but it isn't always.

Some people have been here for years, to my knowledge, so it might be better to whip up another post and ask about it if you really want to know. If you do, I'd definitely be interested in your findings.

Hope you don't mind me prying, but were you somewhere like this before?

[fallbythesword]

I'd rather read through the archives on the network than post again. It means fewer people I have to talk to.

Not exactly. I was tied into a sort of multidimensional nexus called the Astral Plane. I wasn't trapped, I could go between there and my own reality whenever I wanted. All of us could. But now I'm here, and I can't get back to my own reality, or the Astral Plane.

[torsion]

Ha ha, well, sorry to bug you then! If you don't want to talk to me it's fine. Hell, you can just drop me a bunch of questions and I'll answer them as well as I can instead.

Can't say I'm as social as I might seem, either.

Unfortunately none of that is familiar to me. I can't be of any help in that regard. :(

[fallbythesword]

I wasn't referring to you. If I wanted to stop talking to you, I would have already.

That's fine. And anyway, consider yourself fortunate, The Machine was pretty annoying to deal with.

What about you? Were you somewhere like this before?

[torsion]

Shucks, I'm flattered.

I deal with annoying pretty regularly. This is my first trip to this sort of level of annoying, though.

I'm Jill Valentine, by the way. Tactical support on the Heron. :)

[fallbythesword]

[ UGH NO DON'T BE FLATTERED UGH UGH whatever. ]

Dare I ask what sort of annoying is your normal, then?

[ She's genuinely curious, actually. ... What she isn't so thrilled about, however, is the standard convention that means that she now has to provide a name as well. Damn it all. She debates for what is probably a moment too long, before finally sending another message. ]

Call me Jacqli. The stupid thing in my head is telling me I'm an engineer. Because of course I have no choice in the matter.

[torsion]

[ Too late, the teasing happened. ]

Just one of those people who don't ever stop working because my work never stops, I guess. Bioterrorists often are so wired that they rarely sleep -- and if they do, whatever even they've put in motion doesn't.

Hey, Jacqli. Figure we all have to work together even if we don't like it, but to my knowledge the ships don't need a lot of repair (or tactical support), so at least even if we've no choice it doesn't have to be one that we actively participate in.

Don't try to remove that thing, by the way. It won't come out and you'll lose a lot of blood. There's some kind of mechanism in it that prevents people from removing it or having others do it for them. I'm not very thrilled about it.

[ That's putting it lightly. It nauseates her to the very core. ]

[fallbythesword]

I guess space annoying is pretty different from bioterrorism annoying. It might be less work, at least.

I had a feeling they were protecting the devices somehow. Thanks for the confirmation.

[torsion]

You're the first I don't have to explain bioterrorism/bioterrorists to. Pretty refreshing -- and definitely less work here, I find.

Not surprising. Too bad we can't get one out and try to analyze it.

[fallbythesword]

Really? Worlds that don't know of it are lucky, I guess. Though on the other hand, I feel like it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what it is based on the word itself - oh well.

[ She's so nice. ]

If only we could. Since we can't, I'll just have to do my best to track my observations with it still attached to me. It won't be as valuable I'm sure, but maybe it will do some good.

[torsion]

Ha, yeah! I thought the same thing, too. I mean my job isn't always easy to explain the finer details of but working in anti-bioterrorism I thought would speak for itself, too...

[ Her kinda gal! ]

If you're able to, anything can be valuable. Sometimes it's those small details that don't seem important that end up being the most integral.