[ the feed begins in audio, and on the opposite end of the communicator, hayley chews on her bottom lip. the pause only lengthens after she clears her throat, and discovers that she's managed to find the video function. the lens remains pointed at her knee for one beat, then another- before the image is righted, and she turns an apologetic smile to the feed. ]

Sorry. I'm not really used to the. You know, [ cue the demonstrative finger wiggles ] future stuff yet.

[ a small crease appears in her brow, but softens as soon as the communicator is set on the table, so she can settle down to look into the feed directly. her shoulders hunch, and she plays with her fingers anxiously as she begins again. ]

Anyway um, so I know I should be really freaked out about the dimension hopping spaceship thing, and the mutiny thing, and I will be. Once it like, processes. And I don't mean to sound super insensitive or anything? But um, I don't suppose anybody's managed to find like, some books or anything just hanging around, have they?

I'm pretty desperate for anything at this point, especially since it's only a matter of time before we get back into the jell-o baths, you know? And I know that all you super cool space heroes are like, up to your eyeballs in shenanigans, but there's just not a whole lot of stuff for- kids around here.

The whole, no tv, no internet, no ipods thing is kindof like, [ a sheepish laugh ] hell on earth for a teenager. Or. Not earth. Since we're in. Space now.

[ Though he's been here for almost a month, Erik deliberately hasn't made a public comment, preferring to speak to almost everyone else first and foremost in order to assess the situation ahead of himself, and most importantly, come to terms with the fact that this is not Earth. He'd been mulling over what Kirk had said, as one of the earlier people he had spoken to, particularly the statement that things were different than what he was accustomed to. It's a considerable break from reality, because where Erik last stood was watching the world fall apart as he and several others had essentially outed themselves to the public, and earned a response he had correctly predicted. At least here, several years in the future if what he had learned was anything to go by, there was the possibility that Charles had proven him wrong; an admission he wasn't inclined to concede so early on.

Answers however, were slowly provided, and Erik was forced into a position where he had little choice but to re-evaluate a stance he had sworn by for several years. It was a defeat that had put him at odds with himself, having been forced to interact with not just non-humans like himself, but also humans. They were mere temporary allies, associates at best, until Erik had derived what he needed, piecing together a shaky network that merely served to relay information back and forth for his own means. To either deny the seeming equality that appeared on board, or to deliberately instigate what wasn't there and accept that there would be a conflict. ]

For those of you whom I haven't spoken to, my name is Magneto. [ His voice comes slightly off camera, as all that's deliberately being shown is the side of his jaw, the device loosely held in his palm while Erik processes his next move, tone clipped and to the point. ] It's fruitless at this point to deny one of the differences between many aboard the Tranquility; that there are both humans and non-humans here.

As one of the latter, [ Hope you're hearing that Raven, because Erik just outed himself. ] I intend on making it clear that while we're held captive together, I will not tolerate any exercise of dominance over non-humans. [ Admitting this on Erik's part is a cost because it conflicts with his own stance on how he sees society, one he's finally conceded will not change despite convincing; Charles couldn't do it, the others won't either. ]

That being said, [ Erik lets the device leave the comfort of his hand with only the slightest curl of a finger, raising it until its level directly with his face; just the barest hint of confirmation he needs. Lips curling into a smile, it's evident Erik can do more than just that, but he doesn't intend on letting it all come out immediately ] I'm inclined to put forth what effort it takes to ensure that all of us get out. [ A concession Erik has to make, that some sacrifices are necessary for the greater good, because while mutant superiority is likely to prevail, it takes a back seat to the situation at hand. ]

How many of you are willing to do the same? [ With that, he shuts off the feed, frowning slightly. ]

Private | Spock [40%]:

If you have time, I would like to speak to you in person. [ Vague enough, because Erik's ability to encrypt is absolutely terrible and he doesn't trust it to actually succeed. ]

[ He's tired as hell and not exactly in the best of health yet - there are faded red blotches dotted along his bare arms and exposed face and neck in between long streaks of black engine grease where the chickenpox sores are yet to fully heal - but Hotspur's in one hell of a good mood. In fact he is practically beaming down the video feed as he makes his announcement to the ship at large: ]

Hey, crew. [ Yeah, you guys are all crewmates whether you like it or not. Deal with it. ] I know we're all feeling pretty grim after the past couple of weeks so here's a bit of good news--

[ He steps aside and the feed spins wildly as Hotspur readjusts it to focus on one of the shuttles in the hangar bay. It's beaten up and still has a few exposed panels that need to be refitted but all in all it's looking pretty good. ]

The good ship Tranquility now has a second working shuttle!

[ Said with all the pride of a new father, which as far as Hotspur's concerned is kind of accurate. A quick zoom on the name of the shuttle - Spirit - that had been chosen by Kasumi several months back and daubed with pain-staking accuracy on the flank of the little ship by Hotspur himself. ]

Thanks to Tony's input we've changed up a few things while we were fixing her up so she's way speedier than the other shuttle. I reckon she's gonna make for a bumpy ride though - but that's what you get when you go for speed over stability. [ Not that he seems to mind. At all. ] But she hasn't been tested out yet! So that's going to be... interesting.

[ 'Interesting' here equates to 'exhilerating yet vomit-inducing'. ]

Starbuck, Joker -- I'm going to let you guys fight it out over who gets the honour of flying her out on her maiden voyage and who has to sit shotgun. But you better bring her back in one piece; me and Tony have got a little game of Space Tag to be getting on with.

( OOC NOTE: if your character has volunteered to help out with fixing up any of the ships down in the shuttle bay over the past four months then VOILA here is the fruit of your labour! Feel free to blag that your character helped out with any particular bit, even if it was just passing wrenches and making coffee. c: )

Once upon a time, [ Kasumi begins, and she sounds thoughtful as she says it, though also like this is the conclusion of her thoughts and not part of an ongoing process, ] there was a man. It doesn't really matter what his name was or where he was from, since most of you won't have heard of it anyway. He did some work for a client that seemed relatively harmless at the time. And boring too, actually. When the work was done, he delivered it to the client and collected his credits and went on his way.

But, as it turned out, the client wanted to use the man's work for something the man didn't exactly approve of, even if he thought he'd gotten over worrying about that sort of thing a long, long time ago. So when he heard about it, the man went to a friend of his and asked, "What can I do?" And his friend said, "You can start by stealing your work back." And the man said, "What happens if I can't get it back?" And his friend said, "Then you find another way to get even, first, and then you make things right."

[ There's a long pause and then Kasumi exhales an almost-silent laugh. ] I'm not really one for thinking big ethical thoughts, so let's just leave it at that, okay?

[Hey everyone, hope you don't mind a slightly deadpan techie to go with your moral dilemma!]

So, I know everyone is still reeling with the ramifications of a mutineer on board, and far be it from me to weigh in on that, but...

I think we need to get some hands on hand to repair some of the damage done in the scuffle.

As a certain pilot pointed out to me, pretty much everyone listed as engineer is either A) no longer present due to gravity couches, or B) Megamind, neither of which are really up to the task in these situations.

I know more than enough about ship repair, so unless any commanding staff objects, I'd like to take over engineering duties for the time being. I've stumbled upon maybe half a dozen spots that still need repairs.

If no one objects, I'm just going to grab myself a toolbox.