ataraxion | 001

[ The video is turned on, showing a woman with short blonde hair with a serious expression on her face. Her arms appear to be crossed over her chest, number obscured by the way they’re settled. ]

My name is Carolyn Fry. I am [ and here there’s a slight pause, her posture straightening ] the captain of the Hunter Gratzner and a pilot. I’d like information on the layout of this ship, the shuttles, the chain of command, and everyone’s experiences here. I want to know what I’m dealing with, or at least be as well-informed as everyone who’s been here for a while. Don't worry about saying something that someone else might have already said; I'm interested in your personal experiences, as well.

[ There’s another pause here. ] Thank you.

[ One hand moves, as if to shut off the feed, but then Fry adds something else. ] And Riddick? I'd appreciate it if you spoke up, all things considered. [ You know exactly what she's talking about, big guy. And next time you're trying to hide yourself from people, work on not having such a distinct voice. ]

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[Silence, for a long moment, almost like he isn't going to say anything at all. Finally,]

Carolyn.

[ She'd known it had been him. She'd known it, had looked over the network, could practically feel it in the fresh scars through her torso. But until he'd spoken, there had been doubt -- that she was wrong, just seeing things, the ghost of a man that had been her last sight before she was carried off. ]

Riddick. [ Pause. ] You got back to the skiff? With the others?

[ Curiously, though with an air of definite politeness: ]

—you know the lone wolf.

[ She has to stifle a snort. ]

Is that what people are calling him?

[ More certainly, and less politely: ]

It is what I call him.

[He's been prepared, from the start, for anyone from his universe to appear. And he's been expecting something like this, deep in his gut, since he spoke to the girl that had been murdered. Too many dead in his past. Too many he'd killed, a few that he hadn't. Right now, he can't tell which he'd prefer.]

Got them off planet. [Hard to think of the course of events that almost happened, now. The one where he would have left them there. All of them. But he can still remember the rain like it was yesterday, her hand slipping out of his grasp.] Five years ago.

I guess it fits.

[ The lone part, anyway. ]

Yeah, I know him.

Good. [ It comes out, relieved, before she can stop it. She nearly killed them all to save herself, and then she became their captain -- and then she died, sacrificed herself the way she tried to sacrifice them. ]

Wait, five years? [ One hand moves, slips down right over her scar, where the blood dripped down into the mud between them. ] But I was just... [ No. She shakes her head. The difference in time doesn't matter; has been explained. It's just harder to believe, when it's happening to you. ]

He refused to share his name otherwise. He left me little choice.

[ A pause, then Alayne resumes her former tone of courtesy. ] I imagine you will be met with as many questions as you will be answers.

[ Hm. Johns is dead, but five years ago... she guesses it might make sense. He had a nice bounty on his head, after all. ] Are you going to share yours?

I don't know how much I'll be able to answer.

[Hey sup Carolyn I got you this British voice]

There are a few guides floating around, I suppose. I'm sure someone will toss one your way sooner or later. It's nothing you can't figure out just by being here.

I wouldn't expect much from the captain and his ladyfriend.

Good luck.

[ yes excellent ]

I found a few. I looked back at the network, but I'm interested in what people have to say.

No?

People don't like to share?

Not really.

Then no wonder everyone's still stuck here.

Maybe you'll have better luck.

Just don't call dibs on dead bodies.

That's the plan. [ Not that she has anything to go home to.

... uh. ]

I'll pass on that, though.

Yeah, they don't exactly...they're not very helpful, to put it lightly. Don't expect answers, if they even--if they even talk to you at all.

So if you have any specific questions, you're better off asking someone from the earlier jumps.

I have been here since the beginning--got the zero-zero-one on my arm and everything. [Said like it's a badge of honor, or something.]

My name is Alayne, Captain. Alayne Stone.

Many of the people aboard the ship are fond of mysteries. And though the Tranquility holds many, its passengers hold even more. Your — as you call him — Riddick is chief among them, though he keeps mostly to the shadows. Your world, your circumstance.

There are those who would look to know you, in the hopes of knowing him.

Hiding something? [ Though really, who isn't? ]

Well, that'd be why I made this post. Can you help me out?

[ Not a name she's familiar with, but there are a lot of people in the universe. It's not surprising. ]

I'm more fond of answers. None of us are going to get anything done if we don't find certain secrets out. [ The ones of the ship, of the captain and crew, most of all.

Fry pauses, considers for a moment. ] What are you asking me to tell you, Alayne? I don't know his life story. [ She wouldn't tell it if she did. Not after what happened. ]

Most likely. [NOT THIS GUY that's for sure.]

Uh, yes. It does help, though, if you've got something in mind. To ask. I do know there are maps, floating around with the guides, but we've got it on good account that nothing actually stays where you want it to, around here.

Ward and Resnik, right?

You've been here since the beginning. [ Or so you just said. ] I've heard things happen every month -- weird, creepy, potentially disastrous things. What's happened so far?

You're more than welcome to try, of course — to find your answers. It's not my place to stop you and I've few answers to offer myself. Apologies. The ship is strange to me and those who come from my world. Your 'science' is foreign and like magic to us. The Tranquility remains more a mystery to me and mine than it ever will be to you.

But others have tried to uncover its secrets. And some have succeeded and some have died in the process. [ A pause, then more quietly: ] Awful, isn't it.

[ A longer pause, a lapse into silence. She makes no further mention of Riddick. ] Your ship, Captain. The Hunter Gratzner. What sort was it? Did it move people — like this one?

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