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[eripui]

Boy, that was a close one! That gas formation was a clever trick.

Hello there.

I know I've already spoken to some of you—I had hoped to do this individually—but it appears we need to move things along more quickly than we'd realized. That ship of yours seems eager to shake us, and we simply can't let that happen.

My name is Lina Barnez. The rest of the team and I have been working on contacting the Tranquility for some time. Unfortunately, our tech isn't perfectly compatible with what you're running on. It hasn't been easy, but we're managing. I don't know how long we'll have.

We're here to help you, but in order to do that, we'll need you to help us. You've been through a lot on this ship: it's a miracle so many of you are still with us. We'd like to make sure you stay that way, but we can only do that if you're completely honest with us.

We know about the events on Strela, the Cyllene and Arima, as well as the Scylla. What happened to those poor people was not your fault, and you have my word that we have no plans to hold you responsible for those events.

But we need to work together to make sure it doesn't happen again. The more you tell us about what's been going on aboard the Tranquility, the more we can do.

[ NOTE: All conversations will be cut off before too long by the engines suddenly powering back up, and the jump alarm sounding to alert characters to proceed to medbay immediately. ]

Comments

[rocketeer]

see, there's a problem here. 'cause you wanna help us by having us help you, but it's pretty sketchy that you're giving us jack shit by way of information and expect us to tell you everything we know. we ain't got anything to go on beyond your word.

[eripui]

I've told you who I am and who I represent. What our goals are. What more do you need to know?

[rocketeer]

you give us names and talking about your representatives, but it don't mean squat to us when most of us aren't from this end of the universe, lady.

for all we know, you could be looking to put us into a shittier situation than we're already in.

[eripui]

Some don't seem to believe that to be possible.

[rocketeer]

some people got it worse. to the rest of us, this's just another day. including suspicious people behind text.

[eripui]

What about my message do you find so suspicious?

[rocketeer]

your lack of info beyond a couple names that don't mean anything to me, 'cause they're not anything i've ever heard and you think they're gonna carry weight. your answers to other schmucks on here, specially the ones that're asking if you got a base idea of what you guys're gonna do to help us.

i'm new to this whole "helping people" thing, but i figure you kinda need a general mission outline even if you have few details.

[eripui]

Our mission is to learn as much as we can about how to best stop the trail of destruction left in the wake of your ship.

[rocketeer]

here's what you need to know: shitloads of people have died and gone missing on board this ship, and shitloads more wake up kidnapped every jump. and we're stuck here trying to fix the damn thing while trying not to join the original crew, wherever the hell they've gone.

so i ain't been here too long, but i ain't gonna blame everybody that's a little leery of people who wanna help, but ain't exactly forthcoming.

[eripui]

Could you be more specific in quantifying the number of passengers presently aboard the ship, and the number who wake up at the jump? What is the current jump number?

[rocketeer]

hell if i know. hell if anybody knows, considering how big this damn ship is and our limited access to it, and all the places people can sneak off to or get lost and murdered in, but hey! we get what amounts to prison tats when we show up here. next jump? 39.

[eripui]

I'm sorry, did you say 39?