[Open] Stuck in the middle of the 28th and the 1st

[padadin]

Who: Shiro and you
Broadcast: Yes, fleetwide (morning)
Action: Yes, later at the Iskaulit (evening)
When: Today, March 1st

Hello. This is Shiro, captain of the SS Blameless.

[An introduction he's made before, but hey, you never know when someone new may be getting this. Or someone he's spoken only through text. Anyway, Shiro's sitting on the pilot seat, both hands quite busy as he speaks: one with a mug of tea, the other on his dog's head, which happens to be on his lap right now. Procyon is finally tall enough to reach him, yay!]

I wanted to talk about the security systems on the ships. We were boarded quite easily by those cannibals some months ago, although to be fair our ships were damaged. Recently I've talked with my crew about the possibility of security cameras in the ship's system, and I'm happy to report that thanks to the combination of our communication and engineer officers, we managed to install--

-POP!-

[Shiro's super serious talk is suddenly interrupted by a flutter of confetti exploding above him, and a colorful banner rolling behind the pilot's seat. As Procyon shakes his body to get rid of the confetti, Shiro turns around to see what's going on.]


[...yeah, Shiro is not amused, and it shows. Leap year baby jokes get old fast. He's about to say something else to the camera, but gets interrupted again, this time by an enthusiastic Lance that glomps the hell out of him.]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRO!

Lance! You said we would say it together! [Keith enters the screen too, ignoring Lance sticking his tongue out at him and putting a birthday hat on top of Shiro's head with a smirk. Little shit.] Happy birthday, Shiro.

I found this by the door. [Ulaz is the last one to arrive, and leaves a box on the console before turning to Shiro.] Happy birthday, Shiro.

Thanks guys, I--

Is that Atroma's gift?

OOOH! SHIRO, YOU HAVE TO OPEN IT! OPEN IT, OPEN IT!

[Shiro turns to look at the banner again and, after considering Atroma's history with gifts, he reaches the most obvious conclusion.] No.

Come oooooon, Shiro, don't be a spoilsport!

[So Lance being Lance, he takes it upon himself to open the box and take out the gifts. Shiro immediately pinches the bridge of his nose when the teasing starts. They're, of course, kiddy gifts. For the 6 year old. A wolf onesie, glow in the dark stars, a coloring book about space with crayons, toy rockets, the plush of a weird looking alien that a VERY PALE Shiro gives to his dog without a second thought and a NASA kids' program sticker that Lance sticks to his chest. And while the boys keep snickering at the presents, Ulaz -who's been keeping a very good poker face- notices something and reaches inside the box.]

You seem to have forgotten something. [He takes out a book, and proceeds to read the cover with the same poker face as before.] "How to get your sex drive back" by Alicia Gray. The most successful ways to increase a man's libido and--

[OH, LOOK AT THAT, THE FEED IS SUDDENLY TURNED OFF. Oops? (The gifts btw.)]

------

[In the evening, you can find Shiro and the others in the Lion's Den, the space they have in the Iskaulit. Time to party! There's food, drinks and 6 year old jokes, like the cake being decorated for children and a game to put the tail on a donk- no, wait, a lion. Don't ask.

Shiro will socialize with everyone, drink some beer and maybe even dance a bit if you convince him. Come wish him a happy birthday!]

Comments

[padadin]

It did the first time I activated it. [Well, it technically wasn't the first time, but he doesn't remember the actual first time, so gonna keep it like that.] But not since. It's been pretty reliable.

[Which makes him wonder, some times, if they've done something to his body to be able to do it all without too much trouble.]

[mongoosecrow]

[He nods at that, taking it in. He pats Shiro's back in a comforting 'man that sucks but at least it's under control' kind of way.]

So Biotics. Back home there's this... stuff. Called Element Zero. It basically makes everything go. I think it's kind of like quintessence for your lot. [One of the paladins had explained that to Gil before, but he can't remember exactly which one anymore - had it been Shiro? What he does remember is that it had sounded remarkably similar but also totally different to Eezo.]

All powerful? Kind of mysterious? Allows you to bend the fundamental rules of the universe? All... glow-y? That kind of stuff.

Anyway, certain people when exposed to Eezo in the womb or while they're young get some of those abilities inside of them. They can directly change the rules of physics by thinking about it. Some races can be remarkably talented at it. Like the asari. But human biotics need implants to do harness their abilities safely. The early implants caused a lot of issues for the people who had them. Some of them still get headaches or... other problems.

We actually have a biotic in the Fleet. Real handsome guy named Kaidan. Ever seen him?

[padadin]

[He smiles at the pat. Oh, Gil, if you knew even half of it. And that definition? He has to laugh.]

Powerful, mysterious and all glow-y. Sounds about right.

[He listens to the story with attention, luckily it's not hard to follow. So human biotics are like a wand for a wizard, a way to channel that power. He has to wonder what Allura would think about it and if it would help her, too.]

Headaches and problems - trust me, I get it. But it's good to hear they found a way to harness that power safely, an ability not going to waste. [He thinks about that for a second.] I may've seen him around, but no, I haven't met him.

[mongoosecrow]

To be honest, sometimes I'm still pretty stunned to see him around. He was part of a pretty famous crew back home. Of course, the Commander is the one everyone mostly remembers, but Kaidan was part of it too.

[padadin]

[There's a bit of an irony in Gil's comment - it's something Lance would say about Shiro himself. But it's hard to bring that up without coming off as cocky or show-off.]

Heroes are also people, Gil. Why does everyone remember just the Commander? The crew is just as important.

[Here comes the TEAMWORK speech...]

[mongoosecrow]

I'm an engineer I can't help but agree, but Shepard basically punched a giant geth ship off the Citadel signal handedly. I mean, not literally of course. But they make an easy 'face of humanity' representative.

[padadin]

A heroic deed got him attention, popularity and to be the perfect voice for a message. Yeah, I've seen how it goes.

[So maybe Shiro was on a few posters back in the Garrison...]

[mongoosecrow]

Well, first of all, in my reality. Shepard is a 'she' but I guess it's not the same for everyone. One of them showed up here for a bit. He was definitely a man.

[padadin]

[Talking about different realities bring two different emotions to Shiro: irritation, because it reminds him of Slav, and gloom, because it reminds him of Kate. But this is his birthday, and his team enthusiasm is fresh in his mind, so he concentrates on that to keep the conversation going.

Nodnod!] I keep hearing stories about different universe and the changes, although a change of genre is new. Did he recognize you?

[mongoosecrow]

Nah, but that's not surprising. I was a nobody back in the Milky Way.