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

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.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.]

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[Friends! Very much friends! She was just, you know... misplaced. When she went to a different universe.]

I would be happy to talk about them with you. Kitty was also in Marina, and I know that Felix Gaeta was somewhere else before this... but I doubt that he would be willing to discuss it.

If I may ask... in Luceti, did you succeed in finding a way out?

[Oh... that's a good question.]

...not yet. Not that I know of, anyway. But we'd learned more than we had before and we were still working on it.

[We hadn't given up. They won't give up. They'll find away, even if it's without me. And she makes herself believe it.

Then she glances at him.] What about where you were?

[He does, on occasion, come up with those!]

Ah. [gently:] Then you have people there still?

[That's the worst part of all of this: leaving people behind. Especially when there's no way of knowing what will become of them or if they'll be okay or get home.]

In the City, we were given a choice to leave and to go where we chose. Marina... that is more complicated, but we had not found a way to leave either the simulated prison or the physical prison intentionally.

[She does not want to talk about, or think about the people she left behind.

At least Ikki had gone home. At least Sokka had gone home. In fact, many of her friends had gone home, so many of them... Shikamaru and Masaomi would be okay, Aang--

She couldn't think about Aang. Not and continue to function. So she swallows the thought down, and though she appreciates the gentleness of his tone, can't bring herself to answer that question with more than a nod.]

...well, if that's the case... do you know how you ended up here? Were you at home or still in Marina when you came?

[Alright, not a thing to talk about then. Understandable, and he makes a mental note to not bring it up again.]

I was in Marina immediately before I was here. I have no idea how, although I wish that I did.

...I see. [...] You said that place was like a prison?

All of these places are like prisons, yes? But no, our bodies were held in stasis in a small facility there, so I think it was more like a prison.

... just your bodies?

[That's weird, dude.]

[Yeah, agreed.]

Well... we were made to think that we were trapped in a dome underwater, but that was only a simulation. A very convincing one.

...that sounds... really unpleasant. And strange. What did they have you simulate doing in that dome? Was there a war to fight?

[She's not sure how they would but... what was the point of divorcing someone's consciousness from their bodies and forcing them to believe they inhabited a specific kind of space?

Ugh, what was the point of any of these places?]

No war, it was much more mundane than that. We were living as ordinarily as we could, mostly. The purpose, I think, was experimentation.

[If they weren't a science experiment, then it was just an exercise in cruelty and playing with other sentient beings. He's not prepared to accept that.]

...May I ask you about Luceti, Katara?

[Katara's a little startled by the question, but then - it's only natural to be curious about these places. It's just so strange to... not be there.]

Oh, of course. What would you like to know?

What was it like? Was it a city, or was it something larger like this place? Was there something that you were meant to do there?

[That's a lot, isn't it.]

You don't need to answer anything, of course, if thinking about it is difficult. Or if I begin to annoy you, which is a distinct possibility.

No, that's alright. Luceti was... [she pauses for a moment to gather her thoughts] a village inside a large enclosure. There was a barrier that surrounded its boarders that kept anyone from going out or coming in. It also helped keep the area enclosed so that the Malnosso could enforce a power cap and run experiments with Shifts. There were... at least six other enclosures like it on the planet.

[But Luceti had it easier than all of them, and she frowns a little just thinking about it. She shook her head.] There was something wrong with the planet. It... drew people from all kinds of worlds and all different times, like quicksand. And no one on the planet, in or out of the enclosure, could really die. But each time someone died, they lost something - it could be a sense, or a series of memories, or use of their legs or - even their conscience. In Luceti, there was a scientist on the run from the Malnosso who'd figured out a way to reverse the death penalty, but... that wasn't available for most of the people on the planet.

[She'd been to a hospital filled up with people who'd died, over and over again, who were lost and beyond helping. It was one of the most terrible things she'd ever seen.]

There were two main factions outside of the enclosures, the Malnosso and the Cultists. The Malnosso were the ones who put new arrivals behind barriers and ran experiments with shifting to try to figure out a way to fix what was wrong with the planet and send people home. The Cultists had a different opinion about what should be done.

The Cultists' opinions weren't so good, I assume. [He wants to know more--curiosity about other places populated by people who were abducted from different universes and times is only natural after being in three--but it would be impolite to press. Katara just left that universe for a new one, after all. That's not an easy transition.]

It sounds like the City, a little--borders, exchanges for lives, two factions. We were all able to leave there with the help of the faction that was kinder to us. [Kinder, not necessarily kind. Their help hadn't been free.] Maybe that will happen with Luceti and everyone will be allowed to leave.

[Her voice is hard:] The Cultist's opinion was that the way to escape was to create a true death for everyone on the planet, saving themselves for last, of course.

[So. Yeah. That led to some Fun Times.] The problem wasn't just that the Malnosso were keeping us there and running experiments on us, it was that they, themselves, didn't know how to get home. We were all working on it, though, and I heard from someone else who'd been there that... they were able to find a way. So... that's good. That's really good.

[It just sucks SO BAD that she is now here instead of there, and that she didn't get to go home.]

...Ah. That is a terrible opinion. [But, like, not a completely crazy one. Dying is definitely one way to get out.]

Then, if they were able to leave, at least you don't need to worry so much about the people that you had there. [Not that worrying about people is an optional thing.] They are home, and you will get home too.

[It was a terrible option. And the way they killed others to ensure 'true death' had been... hideous. She'd seen the recording, and it still made her feel sick if she thought about it. She didn't want to talk about that; what they did was bad enough.

But she doesn't have to dwell, because he Optimisms at her, and it's exactly what she needed to hear. She's so often in the position of giving out encouragement that receiving it is something precious to her, and it resonates when it is sincere like this.

So she gives a small, warm smile in return.] We all will. Thanks, Pavel.

[Not talking about it is a fine option! That's kind of dark for a first conversation anyway. Traumatic experiences are definitely third conversation material.]

You're welcome, Katara. [Even if it was just the truth.]

Are there any questions that haven't been answered for you already? Easy ones, I mean. Nothing like 'why are we here' or 'what do the Atroma want.'

[But hearing it expressed as a truth was the most encouraging thing about it.]

Hmm... I think I have the basics. And -- [and then, a bit passionately, contradicting herself] -- I just wish I knew how these things happened, but - I know, that's not an easy question. So I think you're off the hook for now, Pavel. [With a shrug and a small smile.]

[In that case, Katara is always welcome to chat with Pavel when she needs a little reality-based optimism in her life.]

Knowing how these things happen isn't possible yet, but I do have several hypotheses if you are ever bored and want to discuss extremely theoretical physics. [It's a sincere offer even if he doesn't expect her (or anyone, honestly) to be interested in purely academic speculation.]

[ He might be surprised about that - she's no physicist, but learning the whys and hows of this are very interesting to her.

And from everything she's learning about this place, a theoretical conversation has got to be more interesting than staring at the wall. ]

Well, I don't know very much about extremely theoretical physics, but I wouldn't mind listening someday. [ A quick grin. ] If I'm bored, like you said.

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