video.

[materminal]

[ The feed clicks on to a hand-held view of Ripley, but the screen's steady. Just close enough to make the background difficult to make out, at first, though a glimpse of green probably makes it easy to fill in the blanks. ]

My name is Ellen Ripley. [ Lieutenant, but something tells her the rank's useless, here. ] I arrived with the last jump. Thank you to those who were kind enough to fill me in on the basics.

[ Gently wry. "Kind" is a generous term for the attitude she got for her medbay interrogations, though the gratitude's honest all the same. For the most part, her expression and voice remain formal, all patient neutrality. ]

I'd appreciate it if you'd humor a few more questions — I apologize if any of it's repetitive.

Are you familiar with the name Weyland-Yutani?

Two: are we aware of the ship's purpose? Not what we're doing here, or what's happened to it since; I'd like to know what it was built for.

And if any of you have first-hand experience with the creatures in the hallways, I'd like a detailed description.

[ She's a long way from home. That's what everyone keeps telling her, except there's far too much déjà vu in the scattered records she's managed to get her hands on to ignore. It wouldn't be the first time she'd woken up in her own world only to find it slightly askew.

And while this probably sounds more like business than pleasure, it'll admittedly be nice to have some actual conversations. Speaking of social skills, she ends off with an even: ]

Thank you for your time.


( ooc: gentle 4th-walling is ok up to her canon point, which is the beginning of the third movie! )

Comments

video.

[immuno]

I see you gave up on "Lieutenant."

video.

[materminal]

Apparently I'm outside of my jurisdiction.

[ Nice to see you again, too. ]

Settling in alright?

video.

[immuno]

Well, nothing's tried to kill me yet, which makes it better than some weeks I've had. I thought you weren't military. So, police lieutenant?

video.

[materminal]

I said the haircut wasn't military. [ Which is only sort of a no. The rank of lieutenant was handed to her, anyway; she's not particularly attached. ] You're referring to your home?

[ She was under the impression your 2014 was kind of dull, tbh. Things trying to kill you all the time sounds like the exact opposite. ]

video

[foundafamily]

Which creatures in the hallways? The monsters or the, uh, the other things.

video

[materminal]

I wasn't aware there were different kinds. How many have you seen?

video

[foundafamily]

There's a lotta weird things out there. They weren't in the hallways--as far as I know--but there were these freaky... rat-things in a room around here. And then the hallways have got those bigger ones. They're almost like a dog, but... not.

[He doesn't know enough animals to adequately describe those things.]

[voice|video is for suckers!!!1!]

[ryuuzaki]

The ship's purported purpose, or its likely one?

I can send you a video of the hall creatures.

[But that takes a few minutes, so let's chitchat, because obviously both of them love small talk.]

[voice|wow fine!!]

[materminal]

[ It's an important distinction. She hadn't really expected anyone to make it, but the answer's easy. ]

Both. And I'd like to take a look at that video, if it isn't too much trouble.

[ Yes, chit... chat....... ]

[ryuuzaki]

It was a colony ship, but there's been some evidence that the colonization involved wasn't ever intended to be peaceful.

This is an archive file. You shouldn't have too much trouble viewing it, however. The defender, the person who appears to be made of stone... they were a passenger.

[And he sends this video, without any warning about the content. It's better that an adult here knows what they might be dealing with, and the way the creatures move and fight is valuable information.]

text;

[righteously]

[Holy Crap it's Ripley. Holy crap, that is awesome. Call him a nerd, but everyone knows Sigourney Weaver is the god damn queen of scifi. He'd straight up give her a bow, but she'd think he was a friggin' lunatic, and he knows better than that crap by now.

Instead, he opts for a text to keep his fanboying to a minimum.]

If you're worried about the alien xenomorph death creature, it's not here. At least, not that I've heard of. Which ain't to say it won't show up later, but for now you're in the clear.

text;

[materminal]

[ Well, that's a more direct answer than she was expecting. It's good news, of course; she just wasn't expecting such an easy answer after her experience in the medbay, and it does more to kick up caution than relief. Way to stay off the radar, Dean.

There's a delay while Ripley eyes it and considers being direct right back, then she settles for: ]

Is there a reason you prefer text?

[ Which is just another kind of direct, technically, but points for trying. ]

video;

[righteously]

[So, he knows there's no not suspicious way to answer that question. A simple no won't cut it, and any excuse is going to sound like a weird excuse. An I have a huge scifi nerdboner for you might be a little too on the nose. You know. Just a thought.

Thankfully, Dean is a clever, sophisticated man with clever, sophisticated solutions.

He shoves half a sandwich in his mouth and flicks the video feed on.]

Ar' talk w' m'full.

[He explains around a mouth full of bread, and gives her an apologetic shrug.

The feed flicks off again.

Smooth operator.]

private.

[darkart]

[ Huh. That name sounds familiar, for reasons unrelated to movies. Attached: a still image of Various Alien Stuff, and a very verbose text accompaniment: ]

?

private.

[materminal]

[ There's a pause while she looks it over — definitely familiar, if slightly off. ]

You have these with you on the ship?

private.

[darkart]

[ There might actually be some xenomorph stuff, I'm not 100% sure. ]

Yes. Xenobiology and Genetics department.

[trusted]

I was told there was an idea it used to be a prison ship, someone sending their unwanted goods out somewhere else. But the fella told me that's moved on now, and near everyone's got their own idea exactly what happened to the first set of inmates.

Mostly not pretty.

Kind of like the creatures in the halls.

[materminal]

You think that what happened to the inmates might have been intentional? Quite a few of the records on file make it look like an accident.

[trusted]

I think making something look like an accident doesn't always mean it was one.

video.

[de_void]

Define first hand experience.

video.

[materminal]

I wasn't aware there was more than one definition. [ The comment's teasing, though, not mean-spirited. ]

Have you ever had a run-in with one of them?

video.

[de_void]

Weeeeellll y'see. I got stuck in the hallways for a week. Hallucinated a few things, heard some tapping in the walls. But I never got "attacked" by any sort of monster. [he puts air quotes around the proper words and then shrugs.]

Honestly I might have preferred it more if I had.

anon; the latest but i couldn't pass it up ok

[lostsoldier]

colonization
conquest
genetic experimentation
mind control
this ship was built for a lot of things

manticores too
what do you want to know about them?

i'll allow it

[materminal]

I've heard enough about the manticores.

[ For now. Thanks for the actual name, though. ]

What do you know about mind control? Is it something the original crew was experimenting with?

[lostsoldier]

not officially