006. voice.

[sorrycharles]

[ Erik’s voice is low and rough, raw tension metered in the effort he makes to keep himself in check. ]

There is no force in this universe that has our best interests at heart.

We’re stowaways on a stolen warship. Van Rijn is hunting for us.

From what little we know of him, we may deduce that he is not a man celebrated for his mercy. If we are taken on Van Rijn’s terms, we will be subject to his rule -- not as people, but as scientific curiosities. Collateral damage. Pirates. Witnesses. He has no obligation to follow through on any promise his men make.

We are not citizens of this world. We don’t have rights.

Be discreet. Keep communications apprised of any contact you have with his crew. If we are to engage with him, it must be on our terms. If his forces breach this vessel, be prepared to fight for your lives.

[ There’s a pause, as if he’s checking notes. ]

For those of you unfamiliar with the basic operation of Tranquility-issue space suits and armaments, now is the time to learn.

[ ...And a moment of silence for his self-control buckling under the strain of formal address. ]

As of this moment, if I discover that any one of you has taken it upon yourselves to pander away further intelligence on this ship or your fellow passengers in exchange for safe passage -- hope that Van Rijn finds you before I do.

[ He ends that sentence, and so the transmission, with a bristling quiver at the tail of his diction and an abrupt punch of his forefinger. Magneto out. ]

Comments

voice

[overdraws]

Are you threatening us?

not here

[treasonista]

[ If this were Facebook, Odessa would like this post. ]

voice; apologies for threadjack :|

[sweetmotherofgod]

He's giving people a reason to think before they do something stupid and get us all killed.

[She is aware that's not a no.]

voice;

[overdraws]

By threatening us. Why should I believe this guy over the people who want to help us?

[sweetmotherofgod]

He's saved my life once already. And if you really think they're trying to help, he's probably saving yours too.

[overdraws]

I can make my own decisions.

[sweetmotherofgod]

It's not your decision when it affects everyone one the ship. You have the right to believe what you wanna believe, but you can't put everyone in danger because what you wanna believe in is a fairy tale.

Voice

[pushesback]

Man, don't you know that when you make it a point of telling people 'don't do the thing', there's always that one guy who suddenly wants to do the thing.

[overdraws]

I'm pretty sure whatever I decide it'll only affect me, especially considering I'm basically a nobody on this ship.

[sweetmotherofgod]

And Lee Harvey Oswald was nobody until he shot Kennedy. If you're looking to give away information that could lead to us all getting captured and dissected, that's not your choice to make. And if you're not planning on that? Then he's not threatening you, and you can unbunch your panties.

voice;

[priceoffreedom]

Allison, I agree he shouldn't be threatening us, but are you saying you want to give information out? I'm not accusing. I'm just trying to figure out what you're saying.

[THIS IS THE MOST DIPLOMATIC HE CAN GET OKAY]

[priceoffreedom]

Hey. That isn't necessary. She has a right to an opinion on board, as much as anyone else.

voice;

[overdraws]

I'm saying that I'm not going to trust anyone until I know more of what's going on. And that threatening me or anyone else on this ship isn't the way to get your point across, especially when I've never met you.

[overdraws]

I don't know anything more than what's already been told to these people, and I really doubt anyone else does, either. So maybe you should unbunch your panties and back out of a conversation that you weren't invited to in the first place.

voice;

[priceoffreedom]

All right.

[That's all he needed to know.]

And you're right. He shouldn't be threatening anyone.

voice; private

[overdraws]

I'm not going to tell anyone anything. I promise that. I just don't like being threatened, especially when it's a blanket threat. That's not okay.

[sweetmotherofgod]

Did you miss the part where I told her she can believe whatever she wants to believe? I'm not saying she doesn't have the right to an opinion. I'm saying that this is a situation that affects everyone here, and no one person has the right to put us all in danger by shooting their mouth off. You might not like the way he said it, but he's not wrong.

[sweetmotherofgod]

That's your response, really? "Nobody asked you"?

We are so lucky you don't know anything.

voice; private

[priceoffreedom]

I don't either.

[priceoffreedom]

Now you're just being rude about it. She never said she'd shoot her mouth off. She said she doesn't like threats. I don't like them much, either. There's no call for it to keep people in line.

[overdraws]

Well, it's true, isn't it? No one asked you, least of all me.

voice; private

[overdraws]

At least we're on the same page there.

[sweetmotherofgod]

Deep breaths, dude, that's not even close to rude where I come from. She asked if Magneto is threatening people and I like to think I know him well enough to know the kinds of questions he's not gonna bother with, so I offered some clarification.

What tactic would you use to make sure people don't spill the beans when a few of them have already proved they can't be relied on not to? Hope and goodwill? That's real nice for you, but I'm not trusting my son's life to that.

[priceoffreedom]

So you'd rather we all threatened each other to get what we want? This may be the greater good, but who gets to decide that? One person? That's not how it should work.

[sweetmotherofgod]

[Is there a way to ask "are you new here" that sounds like a genuine inquiry rather than just mockery?

Okay, maybe a little mockery.]

There's a neat private function on the communicators if you don't want other people chiming in. Otherwise, people are gonna pretty much consider stuff fair game, yeah. I wouldn't want you to hold your breath waiting for him to respond to that though.