misfire audio

[suddenlycaptain]

Obviously terrible parts aside, there are some things from this that I wouldn't mind sticking around.

[ Carolyn's voice sounds a bit weird, rather like someone who's just gotten braces put on -- or someone who's found themselves with a mouth full of sharper, stronger teeth. ]

Comments

[voice]

[ryuuzaki]

Like what?

[He sounds almost interested, but his tone is too even and casual for it to be obvious.]

[voice]

[suddenlycaptain]

[ urgh. ] Why did I even try and send a private message?

[ That question's more to herself. Either way, she doesn't mind L -- he's smart. So she'll oblige. ]

Stronger body parts, for one.

[ryuuzaki]

Any corresponding negative effects?

This is certainly showing us the extent of the utility of the nanites.

[Both the illness, and the fact that there seems to be absolutely nothing Comms can do about the network malfunctions until the situation is under control, unless there's something he hasn't thought of yet. Frustrating. Whether or not proper network functions are restored once the larger situation is resolved... if it's resolved... will remain to be seen.

The doubt is unsettling.]

[suddenlycaptain]

Pain. I'm sure there's more.

[ She snorts a little. ]

Nanites have always been a problem. Though this... yeah, this is concerning. I'd like to know if they're transmitting what they're getting from us elsewhere, and what that's going to be used for.

[ryuuzaki]

[She can't see his quick nod when she says there's pain -- of course there is. What's important is that she seems to be withstanding it so far.]

We don't have any record of any outgoing signals, but I'm not sure that means anything. The equipment we have might be specifically designed to ignore it, or it might work in a way that we can't detect.

[suddenlycaptain]

They came from somewhere. They have some sort of purpose.

[ No coincidences, not on this ship. ]

And I don't just mean "fucking with us", because as fun as that is, why?

[ryuuzaki]

There's no purpose in that.

Supposing someone intentionally adulterated the nanites in some way. It could constitute an interesting attempt to clean up a mess, in the event that someone had been able to get onto the ship.

[Most of these words are only slightly weighted, to give them significance, but the last phrase is heavy with sarcasm: Do you see what I'm getting at, Carolyn?]

[suddenlycaptain]

[ Yeah, she gets it. ]

I see that son of a bitch again and I'm going to kill him.

[ Unseen, Carolyn runs her tongue over the sharp points of her teeth. ]

[ryuuzaki]

If nothing else, I'd like to see him interrogated.

[What's the point of hiding this? It's obvious that keeping his mouth shut and his head down won't protect anyone here. They can't kill you for what you didn't say, certainly, but the possibility always exists that they'll kill you anyway, for who you are or simply because it's expedient.]

I can't say that I'm optimistic about how much we'd be able to get.

[suddenlycaptain]

We'd have to find him. Could be that this isn't him at all; that he failed his mission.

[ She inhales. Exhales. Then- ]

He saw Ward, at one point. Talked to him. Or so he said. Could be our missing acting captain is in on things, too.

[ryuuzaki]

Or -- depending on the exact nature of their encounter -- it might be the reason for Ward's conspicuous absence. I'd like to know who restocked the food when we were visiting Arima, however.

If Davis failed his mission, is it possible that someone else has made it onto the ship in the interim without being noticed? It seems unlikely, but it might be worth examining the idea.

[suddenlycaptain]

I'd like to know how a pirate whose body we saw ended up talking on the network.

[ She'd like to know a lot of things, really. ]

Most of what happens here seems unlikely. But it's possible they came on at Arima.

[ryuuzaki]

In one of the shuttles?

[He sounds a little bit impressed: he hadn't considered this yet. But the question isn't really a question, just a confirmation, a nod to her intelligence.]

The question about Laurens is a good one. My assumption has been that it was some kind of trick -- smoke and mirrors, the appearance of Laurens, not necessarily the man himself. Probably something to do with Smiley, because we don't really understand his full capabilities, only that they're broad... they sometimes seem supernatural, but what if they're just... alien? In the literal sense.

[Smiley may or may not have started as Gallagher, but if he did, what could have happened to change him? At the same time, this suggestion seems outre to L. It's as if the situation has forced him to think in terms of the plot of a science fiction movie, instead of the reality he was used to, and that makes it hard to say whether or not an idea is even plausible. He's forced to reexamine ideas he would previously have discarded as ridiculous.]

voice;

[axeyou]

[so pissed off, Johanna spits this out from between her teeth--]

Speak for yourself. And keep it to yourself.

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

It wasn't supposed to be public, [ Carolyn snaps back, though through her teeth it sounds a bit ridiculous. ]

voice;

[axeyou]

If you've got time to admire whatever freakish additions this place has slapped onto your body, then you've got time to make sure that you're not accidentally telling the whole ship about it.

Who were you trying to talk to?

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

Not with mechanical errors. You might have noticed them.

Doesn't matter now, does it?

voice;

[axeyou]

No. I guess it doesn't. I'm really asking just because I was hoping they'd answered you here somewhere, and I could eavesdrop. It sucks only getting half of the conversation.

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

[ She laughs a little. ]

They haven't replied. That's not all that unusual, though.

voice;

[axeyou]

So why waste your time trying to talk to them?

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

They're from home.

voice;

[axeyou]

And that means you're obligated to talk to them? Take my advice: get some distance.

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

No. I might've thought so, at first, but... no.

[ No, she wants to talk to them, that's part of the problem. ]

voice;

[axeyou]

Good. Because nobody likes desperation, and nobody respects it, either.

[sound relationship advice for sure.]

voice;

[suddenlycaptain]

[ what is this "relationship" you speak of ]

You still have both arms?

[ so TOPIC CHANGE ]