Є001

[forgetyourusedtobe]

Who: Elena & you!!!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva, if any
When: May 20th

[Elena accidentally manages to start broadcasting as she's moving through the hallway. The camera follows the light swing of her arm, providing a view of the floor and her legs. She's silent, although really tamping down on the urge to call to people she knows. Staying quiet and remaining as inconspicuous as possible seems like the more logical thing to do in this situation.]

[It's only once she's come to the viewing bay that Elena stops short with a small gasp.]

Oh my God...

[She had been debating if this was a dream or real, but something about seeing outside into space makes this all very, very real. Slowly, she approaches the glass. She places both hands on the glass and through her fingers, you finally get a look at the girl accidentally broadcasting to the entire fleet, confused and upset.]

Comments

[deshabille]

Which one?

[popcorn.gif]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[She jolts a little, not having realized she turned the communicator on before adjusting her hold on it.]

All of the above, I guess. Who are you?

[deshabille]

Mal. Who are you? And be warned they probably aren't listening at the moment.

[Or if they are, they're watching her on television and thus aren't to be trusted.]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[Elena isn't particularly religious, so she's not all that bothered by the remark that whatever gods are out there aren't listening. In fact, it goes completely unremarked upon.]

Then who is listening? Besides you.

[Someone, she quite frankly, doesn't know if she can trust or not, so she hesitates a little before adding:]

My name is Elena.

[deshabille]

Everyone besides the gods, actually. Congratulations, you're on television.

[Assuming she's interesting enough. So far, she's proving to be less than Mal's usual standard.]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

Television? [Elena shakes her head in disbelief.] What are you talking about?

[deshabille]

You.

[She points through the camera at Elena.]

Are on television.

[She makes a little rectangle with her fingers.]

Starring in the Fleet. Aren't you excited? This is the best part of being kidnapped.

[forgetyourusedtobe]

It's not the worst kidnapping experience I've ever had.

[She turns away from the window, needing a moment to just catch her breath. Elena reaches out with a hand to find the seat near by and slowly sits herself down.]

I don't remember anything. [A beat before she clarifies,] About how I got here.

[deshabille]

Well, you wouldn't.

[Mal shrugs. Atroma has ways and means, apparently.]

I don't think anyone remembers. We're all just . . . snatched.

How many times have you been kidnapped, out of curiosity?

[forgetyourusedtobe]

Too many times to count.

[And not the important part right now. At least not to Elena.]

How many people have been taken?

[deshabille]

I honestly don't have an exact count. Over a hundred.

[forgetyourusedtobe]

For television?

[That can't be for real.]

[deshabille]

It's apparently a large enterprise. You'd think ten or twenty would be enough.

[forgetyourusedtobe]

I don't understand. What are they watching?

[She knows they're watching them, but why? Doing what? Explain!!]

[deshabille]

All the mistakes we make, I suppose.

[All the makeouts also.]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

So this is like reality TV?

[She doesn't know if that's a good thing, bad thing, or somewhere in-between. She pushes her hair back out of her face, holding it for a moment before letting it go and her hand drops back down into her lap. She's mostly just trying to...process this.]

[deshabille]

. . . I don't know. Is it?

[What is the thing.]

[forgetyourusedtobe]

[Elena is momentarily confused. Mal knows what television is, but has never heard of reality TV.]

You don't know what that is? At all?

[deshabille]

[She knows what television because of Atroma; she doesn't know what reality TV is because she's never heard the term used in specific reference to what they're doing. She cocks her head, interested and curious.]

No. Should I?

[forgetyourusedtobe]

I guess not.

[But really, Elena thinks Mal should. She shakes her head a little and makes an attempt at explaining.]

Reality TV is just watching people interact in supposed real life. Usually there's a competition with some kind of prize at the end, but sometimes it's just watching a bunch of people have endless drama with each other.

[deshabille]

Oh. Yes. That's exactly what's happening here, then.

[forgetyourusedtobe]

People usually audition and want to be on reality TV shows though.

[deshabille]

Well, in this case, that's obviously not what happened. Unless you got an audition none of the rest of us didn't.

[She does soften a little bit, though. Not much, but some.]

What've you been taken away from?

[forgetyourusedtobe]

School. I was in my dorm room. I'd just been talking to my former guardian. [She smiles a little, not diving into the fact her former guardian came back from the dead and is technically an Original vampire.] I guess most kids would be excited about getting to cut classes.

[deshabille]

[Cut classes, what the fuck.]

Then most kids are idiots.

[Sorry, but she calls 'em like she sees 'em.]