001;

[privateeyed]

Who: Ben and you folks
Broadcast: Yes
Action: SS Huntress
When: now

action; SS Huntress

[Ben doesn't take teleportation well. In fact, if the confetti and the music didn't tip the ship off, the loud cursing probably does - there you go, Huntress, your security officer is here]

What the fuck—give a guy some fuckin' warning next time, geez! God damn teleporting bullshit.

[once he's calmed down, though - and picked up some of the pudding because far be it from him to turn down free food - he's wandering the ship, peeking his head into rooms to see what's what]


broadcast;

[once he's somewhat settled in and found a place to sit and digest everything going on, Ben decides to set up a broadcast to get some Shit Done]

Anyone here good with cybernetics? Or - I don't know, computers? Advanced stuff, can give you the specfics if you're interested. Don't need you right now, I'm just covering my ass just in case.

[he pauses, and maybe realizes he should . . . introduce himself. Like a normal person would. You know, instead of just getting down to business]

Uh - anyway, name's Ben; if you don't know shit about cybernetics . . . I don't know, come tell me about the weird crap going on here. Or stuff I should know. I like being informed.

Comments

[monolike]

Uh...well, so, if you try to leave the Fleet, you get teleported back. People who die are usually brought back to life...and at least half the places we've visited, it's pretty easy to die. There's pretty stuff too! ...but that's probably because we're on some kind of TV show, and people are watching everything we do.

[privateeyed]

Reality TV is archaic as fuck. [he's not upset, he's just pointing out a fact] When you say "easy to die" - is that, like, 'cause it's really dangerous or because things are actively trying to kill people?

[monolike]

[Okay, that's a better reaction than he was expecting. Maybe glitches and stuff are just a sore spot for him, since he's got his own augments and such.]

A little of both. One time half the Fleet crash-landed on a planet full of people killing and eating villagers...and then they killed some of our people. On another one a meteor crashed into the planet, but we...we couldn't get everyone off in time.

[privateeyed]

[the thing is, it's easy to get offended at easy stuff. It's stuff like this that he has to be careful about. His eyebrow furrow, but he's probably calmer than he's been the whole time]

. . . how often does this happen? [...] Is there anything in place to prevent it from happening? Or - dealing with it when it does?

[monolike]

It's been a while...sometimes tragedy happens one after the other, and sometimes there are months in between. There's nothing to prevent it; we can do our best to take care of things as they arise, but Atroma won't help. Sometimes...sometimes they make it harder. [Like when they decimated the only allies they'd had.]

[privateeyed]

. . . wish I could say I'm surprised, but . . . [if they were supposed to be prisoners, then why would the captors help at all?]

Is there records of this? On the - what's it called, the network?

[monolike]

Well...there's a list of files that people sometimes put stuff in, but we don't like to keep a lot of stuff on the network in case Atroma is reading everything. Which I think it's pretty much a given that they are.

[...hm] You know, if you're interested in finding out more, you should talk to Keith and Lance! They're Huntress crew too, and I think their team leader is collecting info on events that transpire.

[privateeyed]

Keith, Lance, team leader. Got it. [he is absolutely interested. He wants to know exactly what he's been dragged into here] Makes sense to keep it it off the network, though - guess there's no way to encrypt shit so these Atroma bastards can't see it, huh.

[monolike]

If there is, nobody's been in a position where they could share it. [Sorey's smile is distinctly sympathetic, as if he'd like to pat Ben comfortingly on the shoulder but has thought better.] It's hard to get info here, but we are making progress. Little by little.

[privateeyed]

That sucks. Maybe I'll give it a shot - though I'm better at breaking them than I am at making them. [making them was someone else's job and they weren't here] It's all right, I just like being in the know. Besides - leads are information.

[monolike]

Well, if I can answer any more of your questions please let me know! If I'm not here you can come find me on the Iskaulit, in the Interfaith Center. Or you can send me a message, that's cool too.

[privateeyed]

Iskaulit's the other big ship, right? Got it. [he appreciates the offer, like before, but haha asking for any help whatsoever. Questions, though . . . yeah okay that's different] Should I just nab an empty room and set up shop?

[monolike]

[lmao, dude. sorey will learn u and will learn how 2 offer help without offering help. HE'LL DO IT.] Yeah, there should be a couple. Just make yourself at home, help yourself to anything in the kitchens.

[privateeyed]

[KEEP YOUR HELPFULNESS AWAYYY] All right. And . . . okay, what exactly am I supposed to do on the ship? Are there problems that actually need a security officer?

[monolike]

Um...not really, sorry. [Scratches the back of his head sheepishly] A lot of us are already pretty accomplished fighters...and I haven't heard of anybody within the Fleet starting trouble on other ships.

[privateeyed]

Hey, don't be sorry. I don't care if I have to do my job or not. [and at the very least, he's glad the kids here can defend themselves] There's an armory or something, though, right? Just in case?

[monolike]

Oh yeah, it's, [Sorey jogs over to the doorway to point down the hall for Ben to see,] down that way, three doors to the left. The bigger weapons in there will be locked up, but you should have access to it since you're security.

[privateeyed]

[Ben leans back to peer down the hallway, then nods] Okay, cool. I could probably figure out the rest. [...] Anything else I should know? Since you're answering questions still.

[monolike]

Uhhh, hm. [Taps his chin in thought.] There's a few recreational rooms on the Iskaulit that might interest you...and a library, but there's really only texts from people's homes there. The food in the kitchens is mostly this stuff that comes from the machines? But we have good water here, doesn't taste weird like it does on other ships.

We can sometimes get fresh food when we stop places and I make jerky from game animals, so if you ever want any just let me know. We can work out a trade if you'd like, too. [Like Sorey would get it for free but considering Ben makes this shit-smelling face whenever Sorey mentions friendship or help, he has the feeling an offer to trade might go further.]

[privateeyed]

Probably still interesting reads and all. Might check it out once I settle in. But machine food sounds real appetizing. Picking up fresh stuff is probably better, right?

—wait, you make jerky? [hold up you've caught his interest] Like, the old-fashioned way?

[monolike]

Yeah probably! [''''old-fashioned way''' like what is the new-fashioned way] I mean, I catch everything myself, dry it and smoke it while I'm on the planet. If that's what you mean.

[privateeyed]

Yeah - that's what I mean. That's pretty cool - no one does it that way where I'm from. It's all - machines and shit.

[monolike]

I think it's pretty cool that someone built a machine that could do all of it! That sounds amazing. [Though...] Do you wanna try some?

[privateeyed]

Can I? [...] Uh - you mentioned trading, what do people normally trade with you?

[monolike]

[lmao dude] All sorts of stuff. This one guy once traded me like, a whole box of this stuff called 'duct tape' for a bunch of jerky and dried fruit. So worth it. I love duct tape. [don't look too closely at some of those hoses ben]