driftfleet | .01 [ action | video ] have we lost our way back home

Who: Katara and you!
Broadcast: Video, from the Marsiva
Action: Action on the Marsiva and then then post!Shuffle on the Vanquish
When: Friday, 3/23

[Katara wasn’t always a heavy sleeper, but she never did enjoy waking up. It was a slow process, even here, as if her subconscious had already registered the wrongness of where she was and was well on its way to the land of Denial.

Eventually, though - her eyes opened. And she stayed very, very still as fear replaced sleep in an adrenaline spike sharp enough to make her stomach heavy. Okay. Okay. She still had her bending, in fact, that was at full force for the first time since the last draft, she can feel water in a distant room. But these lights… those walls… that… well, actually, she kind of likes the music, but she can’t -- this is definitely not…

And then she feels it - or she doesn’t feel it - and she forgets her caution and bolts upright, straining her head to take a closer look at her back.]

[She doesn’t expect a response, but she does get up out of the bed and glance around. Her balance is off when she moves, so she takes careful, deliberate steps, as she takes stock of what she has and doesn’t have and exactly where everything is in the room and pauses as the fact that there is music seeps in. What... what is going on here?

But that’s nothing when she spots the viewing bay. She pauses, transfixed for a moment, and then walks very carefully over to the window. She places one hand against it and whispers:] ...there are stars.

[As she spends more time on the Marsiva, she’ll explore the food and take advantage of the exercise equipment, doing what she can to try to get her balance to where it should be without the added (useless; she tells herself she’s glad they’re gone) appendages.]

[ Video Broadcast while on the Marsiva ]
[Serious blue eyes peer out in stark contrast to dark skin as a girl of about eighteen addresses the fleet.]

Hello, my name is Katara. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe, but I've spent the past four years [Had it really been that long? Her expression flickers for a moment.] in a place called Luceti. I understand a... lot of basic information about this place from the augment, but I'm sure there's more to this place than just what is implanted in our heads by our captors.

[Frowning, angry at that, needing to take a visible breath before she can continue.] I'd appreciate any additional information you feel it's safe to give out over these things. And... [Her gaze drops for a moment before she regains her composure and looks back at the camera.] ...if anyone knows the name Luceti, or has heard of the Southern Water Tribe, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know about that too.

[She manages a brief smile.] Thank you so much.

[Action on the Vanquish]
[Katara had been working on her balance on a make-shift balance-beam in the gym section of the Marsiva when she was suddenly teleported -- fortunately close enough to grab a wall. She bats at the confetti with a frown with her other hand as she straightens -- so this is the ‘shuffle’, huh?

The happy little jingle just makes her frown deepen. Jerks, playing with people like this… She gives a deeply exasperated sigh.

Hopefully no one is there to catch frustrated!Katara as their first impression; she will try to make a better second one by exploring the ship, sticking close to the walls, and looking to see who her new shipmates are with a pleasant smile on her face in a few minutes. Feel free to catch her walking around with a smile in a moment or two, but right now, she is having a few mental words with the Atroma and they are Not Nice.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Okay, tracking with the whole 'Sokka being here' thing, but wait--]

Kind of?

[How do you 'kind of' see the South Pole?]

It's kind of where Sokka's from or my kind of?

[It legitimately takes Katara a minute to unwind that, because that is a lot of kind ofs, so she stares at the camera like this for a few heartbeats.]

[Okay, she thinks she's got it.]

I know where Sokka's from. He's my brother. What I mean is -- how do you kind of see the South Pole?

Oh! Right. Katara. That does sound familiar. Well, any sister of Sokka's is... [Wait, does the saying still work? Sure. Just keep going!] A friend of mine.

And I saw it in his mind. I think. It was a whole complicated thing called calibrations. Just be glad you missed it.

[...

So. Let's simplify this.]

You're a friend of Sokka's?

Yes, I'm Mon-El, his friend and wingman. [It was his first time. It's not his fault how it turned out!]

[Katara only knows the word 'wingman' in association with a friend's rather ludicrous flirtation efforts in Luceti. She... has a hard time picturing Sokka doing anything like that, but maybe it was the same intent, just different methodology?

...either way, she's not sure she wants to know.]

It's nice to meet you, Mon-El. I'm happy to meet any of Sokka's friends.

[Mon-El's efforts were hardly ludicrous! He just made a completely open public post to everyone and talked Sokka up to everyone and said he needed a companion. As you do. Totally legit and normal. Yep. And he didn't exactly mention it beforehand to Sokka, but it was implied probably.]

It's nice to meet you too. He must be so excited. I mean, not that you've been kidnapped too, but it's always nice to see people you care about.

[...yes, that will be a fun entry for Katara to see if the communicators go backward.

But, okay.]

Yeah, it's a... mixed feeling in a place like this, but I always believe that we're stronger together. So I'm really glad he's here too.

[They go backward as far as you dare to go!]

So, is he the age you were expecting? [Is that a weird question? It feels like a weird question.] He's been here awhile.

...I don't really know what I was expecting.

[Then yes, she will find that. And then there will probably be face!palming.]

I didn't even expect to find him here.

[Or to... be here at all.]

Good point. It's kind of an all-you-can-be-surprised buffet here.

...how do you usually get surprised here?

Usually? Mmmm...I don't know if there is one kind of thing. People getting new memories or being glitched or planets being full of cannibals or something like that. Those are probably the main kinds but sometimes the people here are just surprising.

[Okay, so her thought process goes a little like this:

New memories... they go home, but they don't go home?

Glitched = ???

Planets full of cannibals... ... D8

'Just surprising?' In a good way or a bad way?]

What do you mean by 'glitched' and that the people here 'just surprising'? In a good way or a bad way?

[Sometimes they physically go home, sometimes they don't!

!!!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Either? Both!]

Well, the augment they planted in all our heads... [He reaches around to point to the base of the back of his neck.] They glitch sometimes. They can make you younger or mermaid or do something weird to your powers if you have powers. Or maybe just make you really sleepy. I think there are a lot of options. Not that you get to choose from them.

And usually neutral-weird? Like finding out someone will only date you if you best them in physical combat first. Or is that bad?

[...okay, so, yes. That reminds her a lot of experiments, but... hmm.]

"Glitch" makes it sound like it's accidental. Is it? Does it happen to everyone at once or just a few people at a time?

[And also yes, that is very neutral-weird, but as Katara has no intentions on dating anyone in these kinds of places ever, since heartache, tears, and trauma, she just stays focused on the immediate stuff.]

We don't know for sure that it isn't accidental. [It's probably not accidental.] Although I've seen technology glitch before and it never made me a sea creature, so it does seem suspicious.

Sometimes it's just one person though it seems like that can trigger a few more people glitching. Usually even the same glitch.

[ That sounds a lot like experiments under a different name... ]

...alright. Well, that's something to keep an eye out for. Thanks, Mon-El.

[So dark!]

Sure.

And don't worry too much. There's fun stuff here too.

.01 [ action | video ] have we lost our way back home

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