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.]

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[She frowns a little, thinking.] How many years, if you don't mind my asking? And - what's the last thing you remember from Luceti?

[Since... if people can come from all different times...]

Oh merde, [That took some thinking, it really wasn't something Remy kept too much track of or celebrated any sort of anniversary on the Fleet. Plus he had vanished away for awhile as well, not that he knew it at the time.] I guess, year 'nd a half, maybe two, here.

'nd Luceti, well, I guess at the end of it, if that be a thing. They were packin' up people to go home, if people wanted too. Offered some to stay if they wanted to. [ That had been... a very bitter sweet time; a chance to go home but to lose friends and memories of friends.]

[...

Please hold.]

[She leans forward.] Say that again? What happened? They got to go home? How...

Donno for sure, wasn't the most clear, [And it's been a few years for him now.] From what I remember, they were done with usin' us as test subjects 'nd were shuttin' stuff down 'nd sendin' people back, if they chose to go. Guessin' they just... zapped us back much like how they took us, though hopefully at ground level 'nd not up a tree... [Remy certainly remembered that...]

Not that I really gotta find out, woke up here 'nstead.

[...wait. That doesn't make any sense. Darn it, was there a way to make this private, she didn't want to advertise this -- screw it, she's too impatient to try to figure that out right now.]

Wait - that doesn't make any sense. I thought -- I was sure -- that they didn't have the power to put us back, that something with the world was broken and they were trying to fix it, that's why they kept the enclosures. So they just... had the ability all along?

[Remy offered a shrug across the feed.] Donno what to tell ya, cherie, don't remember them givin' us much 'nformation at the time on it all. Also, shouldn't really be surprised if they lied to us, they were usin' us for observation 'nd experimentation, all against our wills. It be no good for them to have a riotin' crowd wantin' to get away, easier to lie 'nd just say we were stuck there.

Not that it really matters now, [To try and put it in perspective.] It be done, not like we can change it. 'nd as far as the Fleet goes here, it actually ain't too bad. Certainly get to explore a lot more than we were with bein' stuck in that giant snow globe.

[No... she knows what she's seen. She's certain of it. She's equally certain Remy is telling her the truth as he remembers so maybe... something changed and he just didn't know it?

Anyway, he's right... it's not something she can influence right now.

She hates that.]

How long have you been here? [...] And - do we have to deal with things like the experiments here or...?

I donno, I would say... three years or so, it's been 'while 'nd stuff does start to blur together.

Ahh, not so much experiments like back in Luceti, but our augments, [Remy moved to point behind his own ear to his one.] They can play up at times. Haven't had an issue with it m'self, but know others have. 'nd we do end up at different planets all the time, 'nd those can vary greatly.

Most the time it just gettin' on with life, 'nd hopefully not gettin' too caught up in boredom between planet stops.

Really? That sounds... [...so pointless. And equally hard to believe, after they way they had been used in Luceti.]

...and this is really one of those "TV shows"? People actually watch this?

So we're told. Donno if we've ever really had 'ny proof one way or 'nother. We get sent stuff from sponsors now 'nd then, but that could just be our lovely hosts sayin' it be 'nd just doin' it themselves.

Thing be, don' think 'nyone has found out for sure, but it also gets to a point of not carin'. [It was... surprisingly less hard to admit that than it use to be. Remy missed home, he thinks he always will, but he knows he will miss this place, or at least the people here, even more.] When I first got here I tried lookin' for signs of cameras 'nd the like, but never found 'nything. After while, ya just have to go 'long with it or... drive yaself 'nsane lookin' over ya shoulder all the time, I guess.

...I see. [Everything he's saying makes sense.

Everything he's saying is also really disturbing.

...it just...] ...it's sick and pointless.

[Katara wants to go home. How terrible to be ripped from the friends she'd made in Luceti and then not even returned to finish what she'd begun? Even if Sokka was here... why did places like this have to exist at all? She'd tear them all down from the sky with her bare hands, if she could.]

[There was a heavy intake of breath, holding it for a moment before Remy sighed out a confirmation.] Yeah, it be. It really be, now I think of it. [Even if his view on it now days was quiet different to hers.

And considering her view on this all...] Sorry to hear ya got dragged all 'nto this again then, cherie, rather than headin' home.

[A little quietly:] ...thanks.

[A breath.] It was nice to meet you again, Remy. Thanks for letting me know what happened. I guess I'll see you around?

[She needs to go off by herself and brood for a bit, it seems.]

Nice to meet ya too, Katara. When ya get off that ship, 'm on the Twin Roses if ya ever wanna talk. [It wasn't much to mend what was happening to her, but he hoped it was something.]

[She smiles a little.]

That's really kind of you, Remy. Thanks.

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

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