driftfleet | one ☀ video / action

Entry tags:

one ☀ video / action

Who: Mal
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Caprine
When: After the shuffle!

[The first thing she did once she got a good handle on exactly what was going on - which, for the record, she did not need help with, she is a perfectly capable and independent adult vampire, it's fine - was dive into the engine room and begin to pull things apart. There is knowledge brimming out of her mind that she has no origin for or control over, it's chaotic and it's mad and she loves it.]

[She broadcasts from the engine room, looking at a wrench admiringly. She's messy and a little greasy, but it's a suave sort of messy and greasy. Gods only know how she manages this.]

I'd be interested to know how many people are actually upset about this. Being here. Because I know all sorts of things now that I never could have known before, and that's worth something, I think.

Also, have there ever been any riots here? I think I could do with a good riot sometime soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You more than me, Mal.

[Vampires and their nobby families and all.]

I don't think anyone will mind as long as you put it back together again, too.

That is uncalled for, Sarge.

I plan on putting it back together once I find out exactly what's inside.

I'm just looking out for you.

Anything useful so far?

I think I could probably build two smaller engines out of this big engine. I won't, but I could. And it smells good in here.

[A brief pause.]

I will admit that isn't very useful. Umm. It's hard to explain if you're not here to show.

I think I could figure out how to get there.

--What, really?

I'm the pilot. I could probably work the teleport, too.

[Which she's half convinced is magic. They didn't give her the knowledge of how it works, just which buttons to push.]

Well why haven't you done it already, then?

Because I'll need to work out the coordinates first.

[And it's strange to rely on knowledge that isn't hers, but she has to try this sometime, right? And she'd rather try it on herself.]

Give me a few minutes.

It's not as if I'm going anywhere. I'm already trying out the toys I was given.

[She is very excited, and compensating by being extra rude.]

I was trying out a different toy.

[i.e. the network. Which she'll shut off now as she heads back up to the bridge, because she doesn't need any distractions as she works this out. After all, the only kind of math she's used to doing is keeping the ledger at her dad's inn, and it's a bit... daunting. Which she'd never admit to.

But, as promised, a little over five minutes later she'll appear on the Caprine, looking surprised she actually succeeded.]

Mal?

Sergeant.

[True to form, Mal does not get up and come to greet Polly. That would, she feels, be a touch overenthusiastic - after all, they've just seen each other - and so she stays with her pipes and screws and grease, remarkably earthy things, things to touch and smell and taste on the air, and lights and displays and--]

[She's excited. But when she sees Polly she does sit up, at least, wiping her hands on a rag and cocking a brow.]

Fancy meeting you here. Look, you didn't even lose any limbs or anything.

I did say I could work it.

[And it is a relief to know she can visit Mal's ship. Having someone familiar around makes the place seem a lot less strange.]

You're still taking the engine apart?

I think I'm putting it back together by now.

[She squints at it.]

Not entirely sure yet. But it feels right.

Did you learn anything?

I learned . . .

[She hesitates, for once. It's hard to encapsulate the breadth of her new knowledge into a few sentences, and she desperately
wants to get it right. Gesticulating with one pale, long-fingered hand, she indicates a dark and murky part of the engine, half-reconstructed by now.]

I learned that this is what lets us breathe. It creates breathable air and circulates it through the ship. There's an emergency supply in case the engine fails, or I have to take the engine apart. Or want to take the engine apart.

[Cough.]

So if that breaks, we all die?

[She has some... vague knowledge about that. Before this, she'd never really considered air as a thing. She knew you need to breathe, obviously, but the idea of a vacuum - that air can just go missing, without something else, like smoke, taking its place - that still seems strange.

But she'll take care not to let anyone fiddle with that thing, not unless they got the same knowledge Mal did.]

This all still sounds like magic.

Well, it's not magic. It's science.

[But she sounds doubtful about it. In perfect truth, she can't tell the difference yet. Science isn't something that really happens on the Disc, especially not in Borogravia.]

I think we must be committing a record number of Abominations. [Which is part of why she's enjoying this so much, honestly.]

We'd already broken most of the Abominations before this, though.

[But she's enjoying it, too. There's always a thrill in breaking a rule and getting away with it, even if you don't believe in the rules anymore.]

Oh, there are always more to break. They were big binders. Anyway we'd never broken the Abomination Against Science because we didn't have it.

Polly, I ought to be angrier. I really should. And be attacking someone. Who are we supposed to attack?

[Polly has wondered about that, too. They've been kidnapped by someone they can't see and can't get to, and that's frustrating - no, it does piss her off, she's not about to deny that.]

So far we only know what they want us to. And they took our weapons.

[Granted Mal is strong enough on her own not to really need one, but they're still lacking in targets.]

I think we should try to learn more first, otherwise we're just wasting energy.

[She nods, her eyes narrowing as she focuses on the wrench lying where she's thrown it. Waiting is one of her strong suits, being a predator, while at the same time patience is nothing she's good at, being Mal. She can easily see herself getting caught up in the whirlwind of this place, the personalities and the places of space. She knew from the moment she woke up on the Marsiva that she was about to be drunk out of her mind on sheer information.]

[It's a good thing, she thinks very solemnly, that her sergeant is here to keep her on the straight and narrow.]

I need coffee. You should come with me and have a cup. We can make a plan.

[She would prefer tea, but these ships seem limited in options. Actually, she didn't find any coffee on the Windrose, either (she checked, because she always checks now, in case Mal ends up needing it).]

Do you have enough?

[To share, that is. And for the future. Because she will absolutely make finding beans a priority otherwise.]

I think so. I haven't counted, or anything. But there's a lot.

[Which she was surprised about. You can't grow beans in space. But it's all for the best, really, because she doesn't want to have another embarrassing incident.]

Come on. This way.

They gave you more? Or is it yours?

[Because if it was provided for her by whoever kidnapped them, then maybe it's not something they have to worry about. But Polly will still keep an eye out.

She'll also be looking around curiously as she follows Mal - this ship is bigger than hers.]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]