First thing's first, and this isn't just me being a pain in the ass but could someone maybe bring everyone on board up to speed on the Smiley thing? We've got a lot of people around here don't know what's going on and if I have to put my hands up and be the first to admit to it then so be it, but for the love of God if there's something you've got to share with the class get on and do it.

I do a lot of watching around here - guy can't be on duty all the time - and I've got problems. Communication is a big one, there's a whole lot of difference between the people with their hands on the wheel and those who're just along for the ride cause they got nowhere else to be. There's no liaison between one and the other, everyone's just gotta sit tight and wait for information to trickle down, and I don't know about the rest of you but I don't think it's working out.

To that end I think we gotta have that meeting people have been talking about, whether it's for the sake of expediting that or just to get people talking--we're jumping again soon, and I'm pretty sure things are gonna be as much as a shambles for the new guys as I felt they were when I got here. Sure, we're all gonna be just as screwed coming outta those things as anyone else, but at least we know where we are.

Now I'm not saying it won't be dangerous, or that there's not a hundred different excuses for leaving things the way we are, I'm just saying - and I think most people agree - that some kind of something has gotta be done, and it'd have been a hell of a lot easier if we'd had the opportunity to discuss it last week, rather than leaving it to the last second. I know: everyone's too busy asking 'How high?' when Smiley-boy says 'Jump'. While I'm on the subject, what the hell happened to that chapel idea we were floating? We got go ahead for that yet?

One other thing, and I'm gonna be assertive and straight out say it. If you wanna be useful, then join the crew. And if you don't wanna be useful-- [ He just shakes his head. ] Only thing I can think of is the story of the Little Red Hen.

I'd like to start keeping archives of this place. I've looked back on the network somewhat, and I know there isn't any known history of this place, but we seem to be around only a few months into whatever voyage this is.

[She marks something down.]

I am not entirely sure where to start though. If anyone can give me details about anything, including the subnetwork-- I am still trying to understand that as well.

I haven't seen anything, and I suppose maps would be useless. The more information the better.

[ Instead of the usual stern look of challenge, the face Mattie presents to the network looks young, younger even than her fourteen years, wide-eyed and uncertain. She's had time to recover from the effects of the tear gas, and did so quietly and under the watchful eyes of friends, but it has become clear to her that simple stubborn determination will not send her home again, nor will it make her current surroundings any less foreign. ]

If I am to stay here, and despite my personal feelings about the situation it does seem that I must, then I would endeavor to find something useful with which to fill my time. Regrettably, I know nothing about ships, neither those that go on water or those that go in the air. But I am good at keeping books and have very neat penmanship, I know how to bargain for a good and fair trade, and I can handle horses and livestock, though I have not seen that there are any of either here. I can garden and farm, mend, wash dishes, and cook good plain things.

[ She bites her lip, hesitant and frowning. ] In return I hope someone might teach me better about how to use this communication machine correctly, and about how air-sailing ships work. I am not fond of ignorance, nor of idleness.


Additionally, I do not know how one addresses a message within a message, so I must apologize for making them public instead:


Mister Abernathy, I am sorry for shooting you.

Mister Snape, I would like to arrange for that meeting, if you please.

Bran...have you learned any new stories? I fear I am much in need of a good one.