( video )

[rediscovers]

Who: Michael Burnham and You
Broadcast: Video
Action: SS Bishop
When: Right now!

[ strange is a small word for the situations she finds herself in. and as such, michael doesn't use it very often. strange implies a limited amount of imagination and that's never been a problem for her. despite her logical background, michael takes to new possibilities like a fish to water. she went through the old logs, the records. made notes of the data she's collected.

but she can't remain in the background and assume she can do this all by herself. ]

Hello. My name is Commander Michael Burnham of the USS Discovery. I'm currently assigned to the SS Bishop. I recognize that this is a difficult situation but I hope to have your continued cooperation as we find a way to escape these chains. I am a xenoanthropologist and I study cultures.

As such, would you be willing to share a piece of yours? I can tell you a little of mine. I was raised on a desert planet by a species known as Vulcans. They pride logic above all else and focus on the pursuit of knowledge and truth.

Comments

video;;

[reconstitution]

There's not much to share, but is there an Earth where you're from?

[rediscovers]

[ michael smiles. ]

We do have an Earth. But there are Earths in other universes. They are not the same.

[reconstitution]

You've got to guess that there are some similarities between the two. Born in Illinois, grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Traveled here and there for a long time.

video.

[coinstability]

Hello, Commander Burnham. My name is Connor. I hope your arrival wasn't too disorienting.

[Connor makes a point of never calling it a welcome. It isn't one.]

I haven't heard of Vulcan before, but on my world space travel hasn't yet gone beyond the moon.

[rediscovers]

It's a pleasure to meet you, Connor.

[ polite and smooth. her expression is well-schooled but open. ]

In my timeline, Vulcan initiated first contact with Earth to help usher in the Space Age. If I may ask, what kind of technological advancements have your species made?

Video

[brooklyn_boy]

[Steve smiles at her]

Hey, welcome aboard. My name is Steve Rogers from Earth. Nothing too exciting about that.

Have you met our Captain yet?

[rediscovers]

I have not though I have looked at the roster.

You don't think Earth is exciting?

video

[outstandingbalance]

Vulcans, hm? Might be there's some people around here from your world.

[Meaning both her reality, and the world itself. Though she's only heard about it second hand.]

Natasha Romanoff. Nice to meet you—nice as it can be under the circumstances.

[Conspicuously absent: any information about her own culture.]

[rediscovers]

According to the ship rosters, my brother is here.

[ which will be . . . fun. or something. michael hasn't quite dealt with that, though she is eager to see him again. ]

Circumstances are always changing. Nice will certainly do for now.

action

[tough_love]

[Fitting the Atroma saw fit to wake her from her sudden coma to greet a new arrival aboard the Bishop. At least that tradition could continue unbroken.

Rather than do something as impersonal as responding over the network, Looma at least took the time to track down the new arrival to give her answer- pounding one fist on the bulkhead near the door to announce her arrival. Just in case Michael was too entranced by the ongoing cultural exchange to somehow miss someone her size moving around the ship.]

I am a Tetramand. We also hail from a desert planet, one considered only barely hospitable by much of the galaxy. We prize strength in battle and a warrior's honor.

[Of course, she did mention Vulcans, which means Michael may be from the same universe as Kirk...she might as well try shortening this exchange.]

James Kirk described a race called the Klingons. You might say we are similar. However, we do not share their fondness for slavery or expansion- so long as the rest of the galaxy does not interfere in our affairs, we are all too happy to do the same in kind.

Will that suffice?

[She's not opposed to sharing, but Looma does at least have the presence of mind to avoid outright burying the new addition to the crew under an avalanche of information unless she actually wants to be.]

[rediscovers]

[ well now. obviously, michael doesn't stare, acclimatized to all kinds of species, but it's the klingon comparison that still stops her short, briefly. she'll never be wholly comfortable with klingons after all, though she knows better than to let her prejudices get away from her. she folds her arms behind her back. ]

Thank you. That is certainly most helpful. I take it you have some familiarity with Starfleet officers?

[Video]

[tiedonastring]

[Hux appears on the video, dressed in simple dark clothing, but wearing his heavy grey coat. It showed a military rank and symbol of his military on his left arm. He's standing in parade rest as he speaks. There's a slight accent to his voice as well.]

Commander Michael Burnham, welcome aboard the S.S. Bishop. I'm General Armitage Hux, First Mate to the Bishop. It is nice to see more people from the military arriving.

In regards to your question I had been born and raised in a planet called Arkansis in the Unknown Regions of space. It tended to rain most of the time there. My people prided themselves in the military.

[rediscovers]

[ ah. she can get that assumption. ]

I'm not quite military. I work aboard a science vessel called the Discovery. Though I have fought in a war.

video;

[unbearablynaive]

[A xenoanthropologist. Now that's a great career choice if he's ever heard one. The Vision clicks on video and looks intrigued, even smiling a bit.]

Welcome to the Fleet, Commander Burnham. I am the Vision; like many others here, I hail from early twenty-first century Earth. My timeline is differentiated by others in that our first non-clandestine contact with other civilizations came when the Chitauri attacked New York City a few years ago; we've been building our defenses ever since.

[rediscovers]

[ michael cocks her head. he reminds her a little of airiam. ]

I'm afraid I am unfamiliar with the Chitauri as a species. When you say the Vision, are you the only one of your kind?

video;

[candothat]

Commander Burnham, sir--hello. I'm Lieutenant Pavel Andreievich Chekov, formerly of the USS Enterprise, currently on the SS Bloodsport.

Not to be rude, but... ah, you look very human for someone who was raised on Vulcan. [Or Wulcan, to be phonetically accurate.]

[rediscovers]

[ she smiles. it's good to know there are other starfleet members around. ]

You're not wrong. I was taken as a ward by Ambassador Sarek when I was very young.

[permanentlyexhaustedbird]

Would it be interesting for your studies to know that on my Earth and the world I come from, Vulcans and Starfleet are part of a fictional television program that started airing decades ago?

[rediscovers]

[ that's . . . an interesting take. ]

That is an unusual one, certainly.

video

[unspangled]

What drew you to studying cultures? Are they Earth or alien?

[rediscovers]

I'll admit, I have not spent much time with Earth cultures.

[ except for what amanda and her parents passed onto her. michael has always been more interested in learning new things than focusing on the past. mostly because her past is riddled with strife. ]

I think what drew me is the fact that I belong to two cultures. Human and Vulcan and it was . . . difficult to reconcile the two. My brother had a more difficult time of it, being part Human himself.

But I believe that through difference, we achieve unity. Connection.

video;

[straightouttacarbonite]

I guess there's not much to do on desert planets but sit around and think too much while you wait for the vaporators to fill the tanks.

[ desert planets, ugh. ]

[rediscovers]

[ a slow nod. ]

You're not wrong but Vulcan is far more developed. We haven't had water shortages in centuries.

/rolls in late with starbucks/ video;

[universal_charm]

I think I've done enough sharing already. One bomb a week is more than enough, don't you think?

[rediscovers]

[ her lips curve. ]

Not at all. Being used to bombs on a regular basis, it's nothing new.