ataraxion | 002

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002 | audio

[ Carolyn hasn't been here for long but she's been here long enough to notice things, and one of the things she's noticed is that most of these people have no real idea of how dangerous space can be. Some of them, sure -- Riddick, of course. Ellen, Kara, Clarke, Kirk and his crew -- but there are others who've never been in space before, even people who come from a place where it isn't possible yet. Fry doesn't want these people to die because of a stupid mistake, and she doesn't want a stupid mistake to be what kills all of them out here, either. ]

There are a lot of people here who haven't been in space before. I'm going to give you all some advice -- and honestly, if you know someone who's been in space, who knows spaceships, listen to them about this sort of thing. I know weird shit happens on this ship, but that smiley face isn't the only hazard out here.

I'm going to give you all a list of some of the dangers in space -- verbally, as there have been complaints [ you're welcome, Ros ] but I can give you a text version, too. If you have questions, feel free to ask, though I'm not a doctor or a physicist or an engineer and you might be better off asking one of them about some of these. And before anyone says it, I'm not trying to cause mass panic here -- but these are things you need to know, things everyone needs to keep in mind so nothing stupid and lethal happens.

- Disease/other health concerns. A lot of you just experienced this, and judging by what I've seen on the network, I'm sure Dr. McCoy will be happy to help educate you all on a variety of them. There are a lot of health concerns, from alien diseases to Earth viruses that spread easily in close quarters like this. We should all hope the artificial gravity doesn't go out anytime soon either, because being in 0g harms bone density. It also makes you more likely to have kidney stones. Space is also filled with radiation, and unless you're magically immune to it, high exposure is going to lead to health problems as well. Be smart. Wear protective gear, use a condom, wash your hands.

- Equipment malfunctions. We're already suffering a lot of those. With communications out, we can't call for help. With two working shuttles, we can't all get out of here if we need to -- if you're a mechanic or a pilot and you haven't been helping out with the shuttles, get on that. Life support is called that for a reason; if that goes down, we're all pretty much fucked. A breach in the hull, a loose seal, a lot of shit could lead to all the oxygen in the ship being sucked out into space and then we're all suffocating. Don't shoot the fucking side of the ship. Take up Judo if you have to, Alice is offering to teach. Same with high temperatures and electricity, apparently; keep that away from the sensitive equipment and pretty much everything else.

- Debris and other objects. I don't know how this system is with putting shit into space but they had real problems back on Earth, a couple thousand years ago. Hunks of satellites, bits of spaceships -- the speed at which they can move through space is enough for a chip of paint to put a small crater in something. Dust from meteors can accumulate into clouds that can rip the insulation off and knock ships off-course. Let's hope whoever is flying this thing looks out for the big ones, at least, and let's hope it's got some decent shields to protect against flying space dust.

- Extreme temperatures. You're not going to freeze to death automatically, you'll probably suffocate first, but don't get stuck outside. Even if you have a spacesuit, a problem in either the insulation or the cooling -- because those things are hot inside -- could kill you.

- Electricity. Solar storms can fry equipment. Space is dry, too; there's more of a chance of static electricity and a lot of it. Apparently we've got people around here who can control the weather, too, so do us all a favor and don't fry anything.

- "Moondust". Not likely to be a problem unless someone goes walking around outside, but they say the dust from Earth's moon is thick and hazardous enough to kill you. It's the same sort of symptoms you get in miners, if that helps anyone. I've never been to Earth or its moon but there are plenty of planets and other moons that are the same way. If you go out in that spacesuit, wipe your feet so you don't get dust in all of our lungs.

- Fuel shortage. You don't actually need fuel to go once you've started going. You need it to speed up, slow down, and you need it to stop. We run out of fuel, we'll keep going until we run into something.

- Other supply shortages. I'm guessing no one wants to starve to death.

- Hostile sentient beings. Whether it's governments, pirates, mercs, or slavers, we're not the only ship out in the black. A ship like this is huge, probably not something most people would want to mess with, but we're also crippled. They look too closely, realize our comms are out, someone might try something. This especially includes cults, since they typically can't even be reasoned with.

- Other hostile lifeforms. Creatures, big or small. There have already been some science experiments -- and for fuck's sake, nobody try and recreate any sort of shit like that -- but I'm talking natural animals. There are all sorts of creatures in space -- some of them harmless, some of them extremely dangerous. Parasites, predators, prey, and things that are just damn annoying -- we're not likely to bump into any just floating in the black, but we could pick something up at a station or on a planet.

- Hostile environments. Not every planet's going to be like wherever you came from. Some have more or less oxygen, more or less gravity. Some are deserts, others have suns so intense you will die if you stay outside during the day. Do your research, if at all possible.

- Black holes. Not the little ones that shouldn't exist but do, in that maze, though don't go near those either. Big ones that'll suck us in if we get too close. You can see how that might be a problem.

- Exploding stars. Pretty self-explanatory. Stars that explode.

- Drugs. I don't care about the people smoking in the oxygen garden but if people start lifting medical supplies to get high, then we're going to have problems. Medical, keep an eye on your morphine. The rest of you, don't steal drugs to get high. If you're having withdrawals, go talk to a doctor. That's why we have them.

It's been eight months without the ship imploding on itself. Let's keep these in mind and not do something stupid to change that. I don't care if you're a psychotic mass murderer who thinks it'd be fun; you do one of these and you're probably going to end up dead, too.

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[ Some time later, Ripley raps her knuckles on Carolyn's door. Once, twice. She's scrounged something up that passes as fruity, she figures, if it's the bastard lovechild of god knows what from god knows where.

Then something that burns, but isn't whiskey. They should really figure out that actual bar situation. It'd probably be more playable. ]

It's Ripley.

[ There are probably grapes in the oxygen garden, if anyone cared to make their own wine, but agriculture isn't Carolyn's forte. Still, something to drink that isn't from Paris is appreciated no matter what it is, and she opens her door with a slight smile. She's pleased to get working, too. ]

Come on in.

[ Fry's stashed the teeth and claws from the creatures that killed her out of sight, but the hat she got from Johns and the bottle of light blue slugs are out in the open. The slugs are tucked between the furniture, glowing faintly in the shadow; from the looks of things, she's shoved some algae or moss in there for them to eat. ]

[ Ripley glances around, taking in the standard cabin -- and the glow. Now that's curious, and not just in a way that makes her straighten up, eyes narrowing for a moment because otherwise they'd widen and she'd have to remind herself how new didn't automatically mean dangerous. Unfamiliar didn't have to be deadly.

And Fry was intelligent, from all exchanges they had. Putting trust out there was bound to be something she would need to do. Keeping it in place was even more important, according to the guys who did her evals. ]

Nice place.

[ With a trace of humor used to the idea of everything being a carbon copy of the home for the next guy over. Living on Gateway had been the same. ]

What's in the bottle?

[ Turning to face Fry, offering up one of the bottles she'd brought with. Small things, nowhere close to full, but enough for their purposes. ]

[ If the lights were all off, the glow would be brighter; like her own verion of a lamp, and Fry's had to stuff the slugs under her bed to get her room to fall into darkness. (She pulled them back out sometime in the middle of the night, the fresh scars on her torso twinging; looked down, saw the reminder, and shoved them back under her bed again. She refuses to be afraid of the dark.) It's gentle now, the slugs moving a bit as they eat; she hadn't been sure if it would be anything they'd like, but it seems to be working out. ]

It could use a window.

[ She takes the bottle, swirling the liquid inside it around for a moment. It looks okay, at least. ]

Some sort of slug. They're an artificial light source, in case everything else fails -- they were in my locker.

[ Found in a cave in the rain, the only other witnesses to her death besides Riddick. Luckily all of them can keep a secret. ]

[ Ripley found herself smiling in spite of herself. The argument for and against finding a way to have feasible windows in a traveling craft, structural integrity be damned, was long running in most all circles. The largest concessions came down to those ships meant to travel between planet and the larger ships in orbit, and for those, it was cockpit only. ]

I wouldn't object to a panel interface or two.

[ If she'd leave hers blank. Blank walls were more calming these days. ]

Nice of whatever's bringing us here to leave you something useful. They're vegetarian? Breed fast?

[ Were they anything Fry knew well? Ripley looks away, not terribly concerned about the slugs past an idea of how they could be unexpectedly useful -- one day.

One never knew when the lights might cut out. ]

We're looking at the details of what we can help people understand to get them comfortable with living in space. What do we know for sure we have to work with?

[ Ripley held up her own bottle. ]

Other than big egos and pissing contests from the peanut galleries.

[ Fry would rather have the structural integrity. She's not sure that she'd like looking out and seeing stars she doesn't recognize, can't easily place and navigate from. It's a nice room, as far as rooms go; better than a lot of people get, and much better than a cryochamber. ]

A lot of people have been wanting to see the stars. Maybe it would make it more real for them.

[ But she shrugs. She's not sure she can help with that, except for maybe a shot outside of a shuttle. ]

Seemingly vegetarian. They're cave-dwellers, specifically up on the ceiling. [ Or that's where these ones were found, at least. ] I'm not sure about breeding just yet. Maybe once I've got them in something other than an empty bottle of alcohol.

[ Carolyn gives the slugs one last look before going to take a seat. ]

Two working shuttles, various technology from the oxygen garden, medbay, and engineering, as well as what was recently discovered in the science department, some advanced weaponry [ Carolyn pulls a slight face here; just what they need, teaching people how to use things that can blow holes in the ship ], and a lot of personal experience.

[ Pause. ]

And big egos and pissing contests, plus whatever new surprises the ship's going to throw at us.

[ optimism... ]

I think explaining how some of the technology works might be a big one. People either come from a place where they don't have anything like it at all, which makes it fascinating, or they're curious enough to want to learn more about it, especially if it's keeping them alive.

[ Bigger than Ripley's apartment for the last god-knows-what. Six months? More? Since waking up fifty-seven years in the future, with nothing to look forward to but a slow climb back to the Weyland-Yutani standards for sanity and licensing. ]

There was a stop before at an independent station. If we have the fuel, and the means to pick up for on station, another stop could give them a chance to see the reality for themselves.

[ There wasn't much of a chance the first time. Ripley regards the slugs one more time, then joins Fry in sitting down. The list is about what she expects, if its good to have reiteration. ]

Considering the people we have from 1964 to 2003, Earthside, bringing them up to speed would be useful. It's easier to track progress on the kind of technology they should know how to use, in case they need to. The people who don't seem to come from any kind of time I can name have the biggest handicap.

[ She sets the bottle down, index finger tapping on the cap as she thinks. ]

We can introduce basic safety checklists at the same time. If any of the nonworking shuttles is even together enough to be used as a teaching tool, show people how to get on and off, strap in, where the door mechanisms are...

[ But that's her thinking about what leaving is, which is only part of the whole. ]

Shit. When they went into the Science department, how much do you want to bet no one stopped to slow down enough and set up basic exposure protocols?

[ She shakes her head. ]

They're looking for order. I can't blame them. Some structure, an answer for what to do when things go wrong.

[ She looks over to Fry. There's going to be a lot that goes wrong, due to how many unknown factors there are. Yet the easier way to start finding answers people can hold onto involves setting down patterns and drilling people in moving through them automatically. ]

Then making it automatic enough that people act instead of freezing to think when things get crazy.

One of those times when "seeing is believing" is a little more stupid than otherwise.

[ There's a grim smile, though it fades into a furrowed brow. 2003 is... a long time ago, even in Earth years, but she doesn't say anything about it, just thinks. ]

The people who didn't even know space travel was possible. They might be the most eager to learn; I've spoken to a couple and they know they're handicapped. I doubt they like it.

As long as we don't try taking them out, there are a few shuttles we should be able to use. I'll double-check with Thrace; if we're dismantling a few to fix up others, that could give us a unique opportunity to get a little more in-depth with how they work for people used to flying but not spacecraft. On-sight training like this isn't ideal but we need more flight officers.

[ As for the science department, well. Carolyn shakes her head, pulling the cap off her bottle and taking a sip. ]

I doubt it. People were panicked, the "expeditions" there were disorganized. From the sound of it, there was blood everywhere in there; I hope to God medical got everyone cleaned up, at least. Seems like they might be the most competent department on the ship so far. [ Which... well, at least they have competent doctors. ] The cure though, that was organized -- they were led there.

[ No, Fry can't blame them either. It's the same reason she was thrust into the captain position at all, why she's ended up in it again. People are looking for answers, for solutions, and they aren't getting that. They're getting words that sound promising but in the end don't amount to much, or amount to more trouble. ]

Anyone with formal training may need to have it tweaked, especially anyone military who's used to shooting first. But we can set up drills; there are announcements before each jump, and if we can't use that system, we can announce them on the network. I want to get a better look at what alarm systems we have set up in engineering for emergencies too, since we can't get to the bridge to check there.

[ Ellen twists off her own cap, sampling what's inside for the second time. It's not better than the first, but it isn't worse, either. She listens, and she thinks. ]

Medical did, if they should have been part of what organized people going in as teams to cut down on contamination risks. That much blood, that little known, god knows what else could have been picked up and incubated in the system of any one person who went in there.

[ Incubated -- the word that makes her hand tighten around the neck of her petite bottle. No thoughts she needs now. ]

Resnik wasn't letting people get too close to the jump drive. Other than that, we can see what systems are in place. Figure out if there's any obvious back-up for life support, or if the engineers here have seen anything in the last eight months. Drills sound good. Even fire drills.

[ Ha! Ha, and she's serious. ]

Want to be the first to explain why unconfined fire in a contained environment filled with god knows what kind of chemicals and compounds is a bad thing?

[ Hopefully they wouldn't. People can't have been that slow on the uptake when fire was an issue of different sorts all through human civilized history. ]

One person seems to have slipped into a coma post-jump but other than that, there haven't been any symptoms. Hopefully we got lucky and it'll stay that way, but I wouldn't rely on luck for the future.

[ If Carolyn notices the way Ripley's hand tightens, she doesn't comment. They all have their memories. ]

I'm not sure I can blame her about the jump drive; anyone who doesn't know how it works probably shouldn't be meddling with it, even if we'd all like to know how it works. I wouldn't trust someone to find out without breaking something either, not if they just showed up on my ship.

I spoke to a man here, Isaac Clarke -- he mentioned he was in engineering. He might be a good one to check with, his number is one of the earlier ones.

[ Keep it up and she's going to think you have an obsession with fire, Ripley. ]

I can. We should find out if the system in place for fire relies on water -- I wouldn't think it would but if it doesn't, we're going to need to see how much extinguishing foam we have, since that's not quite as recyclable.

Neither do I. It's one of the more intelligent things I've heard out of our two absentee leaders.

[ Delicate machinery doesn't need clumsy hands plucking around inside of it -- and she doubts people are wise enough to know when they really, really shouldn't mess around with something.

At Clarke's name, Ripley nods, filing it away as someone else worth talking to on a ship full of people and their own particular agendas. She knows people here are smart. That isn't the problem, not the level of intelligence. It's what they do with said intelligence that gets hazy. ]

Speaking on water, has anyone tracked down the recycling units?

What I want to know is what Ward was before he was captain. It might give us a better idea of what to do when it comes to dealing with him.

[ Most engineers are the same; Carolyn is fairly certain that Resnik's priority is going to be keeping the ship in one piece. Ward is the wild card and he's the one calling himself Captain. That makes her uneasy. ]

Not that I've seen. My guess would be engineering if this ship were smaller but they could be in their own department, somewhere we don't have access to yet -- which is going to make things very bad if something goes wrong.

Edited 2012-07-15 17:06 (UTC)

I wonder... has anyone found the original crew lists? Most everything I hear is "wiped this" and "blank that."

What are the chances any of the people we have here have worked with any of the systems that might go wrong? Seeing if there's a way to track back to the main processing facilities, if any can be made independent. The same for whatever powers this whole operation.

Everything I've heard is that they're gone. Even the medical records.

I'd hope so, but part of me doubts it. [ Another drink. Ugh. ] We're going to have to do a whole lot of organizing, and people probably aren't going to like it.

[ Which would be more of a "that's their problem" if they didn't need those skills. ]

And the systems are probably too different to pull up ghost files hanging around the machines.

[ How long can this bottle get nurse? Screw it. This is less a contemplative swallow thank knocking back enough to sustain a thought Ripley doesn't particularly like. ]

Which means one part telling people to suck it up, one part ego damage control, and one part out and out flattery. Are we sure we're not really dealing with bullshit as usual?

[ It might be different for Carolyn's time, but space is still very much a boys club on the dynamic levels in the times Ripley's from. Both, fifty-seven years apart or no. Her smile is a dry affair, used to thinking of people as an immense herd of cats to herd. And they certainly had enough egos around here -- ones from way back, and others that weren't going to listen to anyone except outside of whim and fancy.

Gee, wasn't this just the kind of party she'd been waiting for? ]

People have checked and haven't found anything, though I can't speak for their computer skills. I doubt mine are decent enough to pull them up.

[ She knows her limits.

Fry shrugs. ] There's always going to be bullshit. [ Which she hates, especially when it's something like this -- something where lives are on the line, something where it's about survival. Fry's had to prove herself against sexism before and she's not afraid to do it again. She's also taking steps to make sure the next man who tries to throw her around will get thrown back; she mentioned those Judo lessons not just because they're a good idea, but because she's attending her own private ones. ]

There are some people who we might just not be able to get through to.

[ She thinks of Erik, who reminds her so much of Johns, and now it's her turn to thow back. ]

Then we can try to get through to the ones around them who'll listen.

[ As for the other bullshit -- Fry said it. There will always be bullshit. You dealt with it, and you kept going forward. ]

Which means starting with what we can. Ship familiarization... technology. Make the offer and get people moving. The more who learn, and learn right, the more they'll pass around by casual contact.

[ Word of mouth and a nominally social population could work well either way. ]

There are three shifts, same as any ship -- we'll need to offer one in each to make it as accessible as possible, and we'll need to announce them ahead of time.

[ Fry huffs out a slight breath, trying to think. ]

We need to take inventory, find out what we've got to work with and where it is, then familiarize ourselves with it. Maybe a feeler post on the network in the meantime, letting people know what we're planning and what they'd be interested in learning about. We can keep an eye on potential threats, too -- the ones who are interested in things they definitely shouldn't touch but aren't tactful enough not to say anything.

[ Everyone has a tell. ]

While running shifts ourselves.

[ Being back in full rotation on a ship is an interesting feeling; she's used to it, only two and a half weeks of sleep time on record. Gateway had the same sort of schedule, with longer hours for the on shifts, and more optional trade-ins for double shifts. ]

Inventory of everything public without attached strings to those holding out for their own reasons, I'm assuming.

[ Inevitably, some will do this. It's imperative this not be the case with medical, and it shouldn't be the case at all, but she holds that thought in mind. ]

Maintaining an inventory after the fact, too. A feeler post sounds wise, considering people apparently use this network like the older civilian internet.

[ It's a strange conglomerate to come up against, without a central AI framing like she's more used to come the times she's familiar with now. ]

Likely to land us on someone else's watchlist. [ With a touch of dry humor -- she's not as concerned about the fact people will watch each other. She's agreeing with Fry's observation on who they do need to keep an eye on.

Sooner or later, they all toed too far over the line. ]

Until we know what we're doing with the shuttles, it might be easy to get time off in order to do this.

[ Not that she's pleased about not knowing what they're doing with them anyway, but at least it frees up some time. ]

Right. And if we find anyone who is, maybe we try and convince them to stop.

[ Try being the operative word. She thinks of Johns, his stash of morphine, and tries not to scowl. ]

Primary form of communication -- if you want to do that, follow-up, you might get more hits than "the paranoid woman". [ Paranoid? Fry would call it cautious.

At the watchlist... well. She snorts, shrugs. ]

Let them watch. [ If they have problems with it, they'll deal with it then. ]

[ Ellen's eyebrow arches up. She swirls the contents of her little bottle around, musing there's not much left in there. There wasn't much to start with. ]

Saying what, exactly?

[ She's not a public speaker. She's only done what she's had to before in the past, and it was very, very rarely to rally anything past getting people in a tight situation into gear and moving.

Much less like the cat-herding they're about to fully engage in now. ]

Ask if there's anything people would like to know about how the ship and its technology works, I guess. Say we're looking into teaching people about it, so they're better equipped out here.

[ Another shrug, then another drink. There's not much left of hers, either. ]

Just tell them the truth.

Aaah.

[ She lets her hand still, the liquid still swirling around with remembered momentum. ]

I'll see what I can do.

[ She'll come up with something. One way or another. ]

Get it out there in the next few days.

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[ There's not much point in keeping the alcohol sitting around, so she finishes her bottle off. ]

Good luck.

Going to need it.

[ Goodbye contents of her own bottle. ]

I'll admit, we have more now than I thought we might when I woke up this time around. Good talking with you, Fry.

002 | audio

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