001 they send me away to find them a fortune

[ashandflame]

Who: Jean Grey
Broadcast: Fleet Wide
Action: N/A
When: 5 April

( Jean isn't a stranger to space. She isn't a stranger to time travel. She is, however, a stranger of being kidnapped to a space fleet, released, and kidnapped back. What's the deal? What's so special about her that the Atroma want to bring her back for another round? She's a telepath, sure, but there's other telepaths in the world. There's other mutants. She isn't any better than the rest of them. Still, there's a whisper in the back of her mind that she tamps down and locks shut - something she vacuum seals to keep it from contaminating the rest of her mind. You have the Phoenix Force. You're chosen. It's always you. Death and rebirth, cycling on. She turns on the camera and decides to just do it live. Stream of consciousness is still a thing in 2019, isn't it? )

Look, I was here before. The people were cool but the forced captivity was something I wasn't a fan of. I'm just a girl, ok? There's no reason why I need to be here over anyone else and I have shit I need to do back home. How do you get the Atroma to spring you permanently? Do you have to pay them off or something? Because I think I could swing something. I've got friends in high places.

( It's probably useless but Jean feels the need for agency. So much of her life depends on teamwork, on relying upon others to do the right thing and do their part and she's not someone who likes relinquishing control. It takes everything in her not to just take over; this is why group projects were never a good idea in school and should be permanently banned. The Atroma can stab themselves in the eye with a rusted spork for all she cares. She just wants to go home, finish her mission, grab a slice and do the same thing tomorrow. That's it. The normal desires of a twentysomething with the most dangerous job in the world, right? Right. )

Seriously, though. I'm not here for it. I just need to get back home and if anyone has left and come back before, hit me with your ideas. I'm not above telekinetically frying all the circuits on this piece of shit just to make a point. I think it might end in some consequences I don't want, though, so if you have ideas that aren't going to turn me into a vegetable, I'm all ears.

Comments

[passingthrough]

If I knew how to get them to let us go, I wouldn't have been here for over three years now. [And maybe she should feel bad about it, but she's glad to see Jean again. Would she prefer a more familiar face with a blue mark around the eye and shorter hair and definitely something in an older version? Sure. But this is a Jean who recognizes her even if it's only from an earlier brief stay and one who knows another Kitty Pryde and is an X-Man and a fellow mutant who isn't trying to end the world. There's comfort in that. She's family even if they're also strangers in a lot of ways. She can't help the smile that rests on her lips which is a nice change of pace. They didn't always come so easily.]

You owe me a birthday present, kid. [She feels absolutely ridiculous calling any version of Jean Grey a kid, and means it as a joke.]

[ashandflame]

Man, are you going to hit me with that before they even credit my account? Come on, I'm working with limited funds here.

( Jean is so grateful Kitty is still here. It's not her version of Kitty, sure, but it's a version she'd met and one she can feel a kinship with all the same. Maybe all the players look different but the names and the things that count are the same and Jean can work with that. )

How have you been?

[passingthrough]

Hey, I don't make the rules. [She absolutely made that rule just now about birthday gifts.]

You know, life of the put upon prisoner. It has its ups and downs. You missed calibrations, so you're luck is looking more up than you think it is. [Mentioning calibrations coaxes her a little back to business mode though.] Are you still on the Marsiva?

[seeingscarlet]

At least you remember. It's...hard, when everyone else knows you and you can't remember who they are.

[ashandflame]

( Jean recognizes Wanda from last time around and remembers her being a telepath, too, and an all around nice person. She shoots her a sympathetic look. )

I guess it could always be worse. So you're still stuck here, Wanda? My condolences.

[seeingscarlet]

It's all right. I don't like that we're trapped here either, but...there are some reasons it is not so bad.

At least you missed Calibrations.

[wallcrawler]

I think figuring that out is a lot like seeing the afterlife. Anyone who finds out what the secret is can't come back and share with the rest of us.

[Then again, Peter here's from one of those weird universes where people don't die and then come back through magic/science/They-were-never-really-dead-at-all on the reg, so what's he know?]

It sucks, but for now that's kind of where we're at.

[ashandflame]

Why do you have to come here speaking logic? That completely ruins my angsty video log.

( Jean actually doesn't mind, though. She props her device up so she can record hands free and sits cross-legged on the floor, maintaining the appearance of zen even if she is far from it. )

You do have a point, though. It's an exclusive club, leaving and not coming back.

[wallcrawler]

Force of habit. If it helps, there are some people who claim they found a way to leave the fleet, just not get home. Kind of tight lipped about how though. You might be able to find out more if you ask around.

[Because Peter here knew of the Interceptor fleet, but he had yet to interact with anyone from it himself. So his information on them was very limited.]

Though I do wonder if the only reason nobody's come back after figuring out how to leave is something else. Like because they can't figure out how, because the tech needed to do it is something that only exists here. That sort of thing.

[Or they never actually went home at all, and the Atroma are just keeping them locked up someplace. But he'll be considerate and not actually share that possibile explanation. Definitely not the time or the place, and it wasn't exactly great to think about on top of that.]

[logicabounds]

I do not have answers, unfortunately. Your requests are ones many here seem to share.

That said, I could not help but notice your comment on telekinetics. Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Spock. I am a race called 'Vulcan' in my universe. We are telepathic ourselves and utilize emotional control and meditation to maintain calm.

If you were interested, I could teach you the rudimentary steps? See if it helps the turbulent emotions you are experiencing.

[ashandflame]

( Jean knows about emotional control and meditation. Charles has worked with her on that before and she's done some work with Psylocke recently. It's not a strong suit for her, not like the other her that is older and seemingly perfect, and that's something she chafes against a lot. )

I've done some work with meditating before. You know us telepaths, always with the busy minds. I'm better at it than I used to be but I could use some practice if you're offering it.

[logicabounds]

[Spock nods, accepting her generalization of telepaths. It was true, after all.]

Indeed. Vulcan meditation is not the same version I have seen humans engage in. It can be a deeply absorbing activity and one that requires hours of diligent practice. However, I believe it may assist.

voice;

[straightouttacarbonite]

If I could find someone to bribe and something to bribe them with, I'd be in a dive bar in the Outer Rim right now.

[ashandflame]

Bribes aren't usually my style but I am saddened to hear that they're not an option after I put it out there.

How long have you been stuck here?

[straightouttacarbonite]

If they get the job done, why be picky?

Twelve or thirteen standard months, I think. Long time to be stuck in one place.

[cajunspice]

[Well would you look at that, a familiar face, even if it hadn't been for long, and one that remembered this place to boot. Did it make things easier? In a way, especially with not having to fully go over introductions again.] Hello there, Jean Grey, long time no see.

've had it happen before, went to bed one night 'nd when I woke up the next day it turned out be half a year later. Was quite a trip, even if I didn't remember 'ny of it.

[ashandflame]

Remy LeBeau, as I live and breathe. Should have known you'd know something about leaving and coming back. You know something about everything.

( Jean likes this version of Remy. The version back home is someone she doesn't really know all that well, someone who spends most of his time away on missions with Kitty's group of X-Men, but she knows him on sight. And, well, everyone knows his reputation. This one is more real to her because they've had a real conversation before and it's easier to reconcile rumor and reality. )

Looks like the Atroma couldn't get enough of me so they brought me back. Lucky me, right?

[cajunspice]

Ah, I like to claim I do at least, 'nd now and then I manage to pull it off as well. [A bright grin at that before a chuckle as she kept going.] I guess ya were popular with the viewers. Donno if that be a good or bad thing for ya, but be what it be.

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

If you've been here before why would you think anyone was here who might know a way out of this situation would not have implemented it and left?

I doubt there is anyone here who hasn't got an important reason why they need to return home or resources they could offer in order to get out of this situation, unfortunately, I don't think the Atroma are hard up on anything we could offer. Otherwise, they could have just teleported that to them instead of people.

[ashandflame]

Yeah, I was just hoping that someone would be able to tell me what I didn't know deep down. It was worth the shot, even if the shot was bad.

( There's some dumb little saying about shooting for the moon and landing among the stars but Jean doesn't think it applies here. She didn't shoot for any moon and she definitely did not want to land in these stars again. Klyntar had been bad enough. She doesn't want to be stuck on this Fleet for God knows how long while the rest of her team is depending on her to get back. )

How long have you been conscripted into the crew?

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

I arrived here just before Christmas, so I haven't been here that long? Well depending on your definition of long. A few months suddenly feels a lot longer now that I've thought about it for more than a second.

When were you last here?

video

[unspangled]

Everyone has somewhere else they'd rather be.

[ He sounds more grumpy than snarky, at least. ]

Welcome back? Whoever you are.

[ashandflame]

Well, aren't you a drop of golden sunshine? I don't know if a welcome mat is in order, or anything, but I guess complaining does no good. No one actually wants to be here.

( Jean cants her head at him, trying to get a read on him without actually getting a read on him. )

Are we in a system right now or are we in Drift?

[ecclesiophobic]

I'd say welcome back, but..

[ His version never did do well with forced idleness and it is still so strange to see what looks like a teenage version of his. ]

Afraid the only experience I've had leaving is dying, and I came back feeling like hell. Wouldn't recommend trying it. [ He doesn't sound nonchalant about the experience, but neither does he seem particularly traumatized. ]

[ashandflame]

Mmm, yeah, heard bad things about dying. My other self likes to pull that but me? I'm not into the whole death and rebirth thing. It's a little too metal for my tastes.

( Jean recognizes Kurt, naturally, but she hasn't had much experience in talking with him - she mostly knows him only by reputation and not personally. Still, not a bad person to know. )

How long have you been part of the merry prison crew?