So since no one else is going to talk about it...

Let's do a vote. Show of hands. How many of you think we're all alone here? A whole planet of pretty woods, jut for us. And how many of you think that we can't be alone. Maybe there's some city out there. Too bad you can't leave the camp.

And how many of you think that we're, like, totally surrounded. I hear that's a thing. Because there's spears, and they're stealing from us. Blah, blah. Tell me something real. If there's someone out there? I'd like to get to them first. I'd like to think everyone would agree with me, but I'm sure I'd be wrong.

Actually, you know what I'd love? I'd love for them to come by and try to get at my stuff. Consider this an invitation.

Well, it's official. "Someday" and "An emergency" are here. We need the zippy little battle craft and we need them now. This is basically all hands on deck for anyone I've flight trained.

[With one notable exception]

And if I haven't flight trained you, these still need a crew to work the weapons, so keep listening.

We have two kinds of shuttle. Harpy have some missile capabilities but are mostly for getting up close and personal with everyone who now wants to kill us. Need at least three people to keep them working. Wyvern are for sneaking around and dropping a nasty surprise from a distance. We need at least four people working those.

So speak up if you want on crew. And if I've flight trained you but you aren't sure about actually being the main pilot on one of these, tell me now. We could still use people working the guns who can step in if anything happens.

Gavvers, Newtie, I have a different job for you two.


((OOC: I've created a Google Doc for keeping track of who's flying with who. Let me know if you want me to just arbitrarily stick your character in any crew that needs them))

[Today, Elsa wears a long blue gown with a pale, diaphanous overlayer. She wants to be as much herself as possible, after days with other people. She's addressing the network very seriously, but her words are initially uncertain. As she continues to speak, she sounds more confident.]

Hello, everyone.

About six months ago, I didn't wake up after the jump. I missed a whole month, and I know I wasn't the only one. I had dreams during this time, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything about them.

I've been starting to remember things since the last jump. Everything that has happened since then... the way that girl Seraphim died and the things she said... it makes me think that what I remember might be important, if it wasn't just a dream.

I talked to Emily about it recently, but there's more now.

The trouble is, I'm pretty good with math, but I don't understand the technology here very well. It's not like anything we had at home. That might be important, too.

My dream was about a woman with thick black hair and a ruddy complexion. She wore her hair pulled back. She left the pods after a jump, and the lights were red, and everyone was lined up in formation. I don't think I've ever seen anyone who looked like her here.

A lot of things that happened after that are still coming back in bits and pieces. The thing that I remember now is... after some time passed, she went to the jump drive. It's the thing that helps the ship move, isn't it? It wasn't easy for her to get in, but I still don't understand why yet: the important thing is that she made it. And it wasn't what she expected to see, it was... there were things that should have been moving that were... frozen. Not as if they were in ice, but they were just hanging there in the air, kind of like lightning that never moved or ended.

[Her expression has grown increasingly troubled through the course of this narrative.]

It scared her.

Did anyone else see this? Even if you didn't... do you know what it means?

[ Home vs. the Tranquility is an obvious choice for most people. For the ones from somewhere particularly awful, the ship's the better option; and for some, there isn't much of an option at all.

Fitz had spent several months thinking he was part of the latter group. He'd thought home meant certain death, so he should appreciate cheating it while he had the chance. Since that had been proven wrong, home had resumed being the obvious choice, despite all its complications — but now Jemma's here, and things are somehow better than they'd been back at the Playground. Add to that a friendly research team offering help to the passengers of the TQ, and the end result is dwelling on questions he probably shouldn't be.

And a broad question for the network, minus much context. ]

Whenever the ship's docked somewhere, it's been too dangerous to stay. But if it wasn't, or if you could get off the ship without going home, would you? If it were possible to go somewhere safe. Different, and not home, but safe.

[the feed opens on a shot of a half empty bottle of tranquility brand ~space whiskey. along with another empty bottle lying on its side beside it. to anyone familiar with the bars on the ship, it may be possible to recognize the fact that the feed is coming from the wrong side of the bar. that inside of being sat beside it, he's instead stood on the inside of the counter. (easier access to the alcohol. and considering there's no bartender, it made more sense to him. it did take an entire liquor store last time).]

Solpeth.

[…okay, whoops. there's a pause; time spent squinting down at the device. he's making a call to the network, so maybe it'd be a good idea if he laid off the "dead" languages. when he speaks again, there's a weight to his words that comes largely from having to focus so hard on what he's saying. on making sure that he's actually using the words he wants to use.]

There are games I have seen humans play before. Ones that involve drinking copious amounts of alcohol for amusement.

[there's another pause then. one that's only interrupted with the sound of a drink being poured in to a glass. far more than a single shot. it's gone moments later; swallowed easily, and with very little impact on his current state.]

Show me.

[what are manners? look, he has other priorities right now.]

What do people do here other than the departments? I know I probably should join one but I don't know if I'd be any help.

( At least not yet, anyway. She needs to pull her head out of bad space first but at least she's not said she's never joining one. But Elena does at least know that she needs to do something )

I guess I mean like group stuff, not a personal 'what do you like to do'.

( Although anything could be helpful )

Where do you even start trying to find something new to do somewhere like this? It probably makes a difference if there are already groups. Or clubs. I'm hoping that there are.

Hi, I'm Annie Sawyer with-

Well, not with anyone, really, I just was hoping that someone could just, if you could, if you have a bit of extra rope, and maybe something heavy that you're not using, I would be very happy to take it off your hands.

And also, be careful, of course.

Mostly, please be careful.

Oh, also, does anyone know, if we lose powers, do doors still lock?

Hey - it's Raven. Got a couple more things.

1. If you need me, I'm in Engineering 70% of the time and 2/3s of the rest is split between flight and comms. You can usually catch me by communicator, but if not, Jasper's your guy. He can do damn near anything I can these days, and even if he can't he'll get word to me. And yeah, I'm still open for freelance mechanics. If you've got something to trade, there's not too much I won't build you.

2. Figured I should put out an official apology for the small controlled explosion a few weeks back. I'm not here to lie to you, we're not actually all that sorry. We've just got enough to deal with without the underqualified safety brigade crawling up our ass.

3. A buddy showed up on the Jump and I'm getting sick of his face. Somebody put his ass to work, yeah? Finn Collins. He'd be good in Comms, or any job that asks you to do stupid stunts with a doofy grin.

Raven Reyes, by the way. I realized I should probably specify.


[ ooc | taking this opportunity to say that since her post last month, she's picked up a good handful of shifts each in both flight crew and comms, as per the advice/reccs she got last time. if you run one of those departments and need me to do anything/fill out any forms for that, lemme know! and if you work in one of them, it's safe to pretend they've at least said 'hi' in the last couple of weeks if you want to tag in with a little familiarity under their belt. ]

[ Simon comes into view unsmiling and still, standing framed by one of the unadorned walls of his room. ]

Those of you who aren't human. Or are more than only human. If you lie low, or pass, or hide—why? [ He's quiet, with an Irish accent and a cadence that's steady verging on mumbly, and intently focused. He's not uncomfortable, not fidgety or uncertain, but he isn't quite at ease, either, in front of a camera. He's only using video to make a display of his bloodless face and white eyes. ] Has something happened to you here? Or is it a habit you've carried from home?

We may not be in the minority, altogether.

[ That's less threatening than we could outnumber them, right? Right.

That's also the end of what he'd planned to say ahead of time; he shifts back from the screen, looks aside, and nearly disconnects before more occurs to him. ]

If you want to talk and don't trust this to stay private, I'm in room two hundred on the third floor. You can... [ Leave a note, he almost said, but he's yet to see paper or pens. He raises his eyebrows like a shrug. ] Paint your answer on the wall.

Or knock. I'll be here.

Got two things to ask and one thing to offer. I'll try to make it short and sweet.


QUESTION 1: What destroyed or depopulated your version of Earth? Nukes, asteroids, zombies? If nothing did yet, what took the closest shot so far?

Same question if you're not from Earth - just swap out Earth for wherever you came from.

I'm not compiling a spreadsheet or anything. I guess it's just something I've wondered.


QUESTION 2: What are we even doing here? What's our destination? The purpose of the voyage? Who sent us, and why us? Maybe I missed something and by all means point me there if I did, but in less than a day, this ship sucks up more resources than the Ark could spare for a month.

I've been here for over a month now and I'm the first person I've seen ask anything like this so far. I want to think it's because we were up to our airholes in highly invasive nanotechnology. Or - like I said, maybe I missed the big 'who, what, where, and why' memo.


OFFER: I'm bored off my rocks, if you haven't picked up on that yet. I was a zero-G mech back on the Ark, and if that's not enough, I helped fix the thing that saved your asses pre-Jump. I can repair, rebuild, or build from scrap just about anything you can think of. So somebody give me a job before I start opening panels and improving whatever the hell's inside.

[ is she serious? she very well could be, so throw her a bone here, yeah? ]