VIDEO ▒ OPEN BROADCAST ▒ FORWARD DATED JULY 30 ░▒▓█▛▟▛▙▚▞▗ ▘

[eripui]

[ The feed begins with a single tone, low, as if testing the audio capabilities of the devices. On the screen is an older man, white haired with bright blue eyes, standing in front of a deep blue banner emblazoned in gold with a circular symbol containing three five-pointed stars. Though his face now is solemn, there are laughter lines soft at corners of his eyes, the set of his mouth one clearly used to the curve of a smile. He only waits a moment before beginning to speak, voice level, carrying an assured authority, a confidence borne from experience. ]

Residents of the Tranquility, I greet you today after many, many years of waiting. My name is Hendrik van Rijn, Prime Minister of the Miraxian Triad, the people who built and launched the ship you've been trapped on. You may not have heard of me, but I have heard of you, and all the terrible events you've been forced to endure as a result of the unprecedented malfunction which took the Tranquility so far from her intended path. I offer you the deepest sympathies of my people, and myself. Mistakes have been made, and I give you every assurance that now, with your return to us, we will find the cause of this tragedy and set things right.

I know you may have heard promises before, and met with the unfortunate souls in our society who prefer to cheat and steal than offer a helping hand. I know you have no reason to trust me; if I'd been through as much as you have, I wouldn't trust me either. But we have someone else here to speak to you, and I hope hearing from her will help to show the truth of our intentions, and allow us to begin the forging of a strong partnership as we move into the future.

[ With a last look to the camera, he steps back, turning his attention to the side and holding out a hand to greet and guide the woman joining him to take center. The woman's face is one known to many aboard the ship. She's gracious as she steps into view, appearing to squeeze the man's hand before she lets go and takes her place.

Odessa Knutson. ]

Thank you, Prime Minister.

[ Her attention turns to the camera then, head tilting to one side as a wide smile spreads across her familiar features. She has a look of health to her. A better diet, some proper sunlight, and time will do that. ]

Hello, Tranquility. [ Spoken in the same way one might ask, did you miss me? ] It's been a long time. Too long. For all of us. [ That smile turns a little sad. They've been through some horrors, haven't they? Time and distance has allowed much of it to become a distant memory. ]

The time has come to stop running. When I left the ship, I didn't know what to expect. We received so many conflicting stories, didn't we? I expected all the worst ones to be true, but it was a risk I was willing to take. I'm sure many of you can understand why. Still, I was afraid that I would find monsters. That I would be thrown in a dark cell and never see the light of day again. Now, I don't say this often, but... [ Her hands spread out to her sides, palms up in a gesture that says just look at me. ] I was wrong. After my escape two years ago, Prime Minister van Rijn's people found me. They gave me food, clothing, shelter, a new life and a new purpose...

To find all of you, and help you to be rescued as I had been rescued. I know most of you aren't like me; I'm starting over here, and I'm happier than I've ever been, but many of you have lives you want to return to. [ The delight she has in sharing this good news seems genuine enough, especially (or even) to those who know her well. She clasps her hands in front of her, a light in her eyes. ] I've seen what the Miraxians have been working on myself. There's hope, so much hope.

Pack your bags, my friends. We're coming to take you home.

[[ OOC: van Rijn exited stage left once off camera, and responses will come from Odessa Knutson only. ]]

Comments

video.

[theroadwarrior]

I don't know you.

[Leaving it to someone he's never met and doesn't care at all about isn't working for him.

like at all]

He's not here to save us.

[But Max isn't sure why anyone would want this nightmare ship for themselves.]

[treasonista]

Nor I you. I see the ship is still taking new arrivals. [ Sorry, bro. ] I used to be one of you. It's been two years since I escaped the ship. I'm not sure how long it's been for all of you. Considerably less time, I imagine.

I can understand why you don't trust the Prime Minister's intentions. But know this: I'm here to save you.

[theroadwarrior]

No, I don't know you. You haven't earned my trust. You're just one person I've never met, trying to convince me he — [Max motions with a swat of his hand, as if to say the asshole offscreen] — meets well. The man who has more answers than you.

Explain how this proves your good intentions.

[treasonista]

[ The instinct to snap at him, and petulantly, is quashed beneath the weight of a deep breath. ]

You're right. But I don't know that I have enough time to prove my intentions to you. Do you want me to provide references?

[ She continues, frustrated, but earnest: ] I spent more than a year of my life in that place, and I couldn't get away fast enough. For a while, I swore that I would never come back. That I never even wanted to think about the Tranquility ever again. But I couldn't leave all of you there. I want to help stop what's happening. I want to break the cycle of people being taken from their homes and to that horrible place. I want to give people a chance of finding normalcy again, of being sent home. If you've got any idea of how I can prove this to you to your liking in the next hour or so, I am all ears.

[theroadwarrior]

[He squints. All ears, huh? Actually, he would love references. He would love to see something that proved at all the woman was anything but a ploy by this strange man. As it stands, Max has absolutely no good feelings towards leaders lately. Not with what he's heard here, not with Joe's reign and dominance having only been just a long few weeks ago.

He thinks about how the world looks upside down, and his eyes darken.]

If we're taken prisoner? Treated like objects? Used for parts? Strung up and left to bleed?

Will you accept the blame?

[treasonista]

[ Odessa listens to him, her lips pressing together in a thin line. His scenario echoes what her own fears were. It reminds her of things she saw at home. Things she once helped perpetuate. Things she instigated. ]

Yes. [ There is no lie in this. ] If these people betray even one of you, they have betrayed me as well, and made a traitor of me in turn. I have no reason to believe their intents are anything of the sort, given their treatment of me over the past two years. They could have tortured me for information, forced me to help them find you, but they didn't. Never once was I asked for information or aid. I'm here because I want you all to have the same chance I have.

Please, let me help.

[theroadwarrior]

[He doubts that she would have been able to find them anyway, not with how the jump drive seems to apparently catapult them around like skipping stones. And they likely know exactly what they need to know, without needing to torture her. He cocks his head to the side, studying her with intense eyes.]

And if they treated you well to use you? Lower our guard?

[He quirks his eyebrow.]

... Change your thoughts? Memories?

[How do you even know that you're yourself, Odessa?]

[treasonista]

[ The mental equivalent of flattening her hands over her ears and shouting la la la, I can't hear you is taking place here on Odessa's end. If only because the alternative makes her sick to her stomach. ]

I've had my memories altered before. I know what that feels like.

[ She knows what that way feels like. There could be any other number of ways in which her memories could be tampered with, and she would be unaware. This line of thinking makes her incredibly uneasy. ]

It's possible that they used me, but I don't find it terribly likely.

[ Odessa's eyes fix on something off screen for a long moment, then abruptly shift back to the camera. ]

No. They wouldn't have done that to me. I know who I am. I remember my experiences on the Tranquility. I know my own mind.

[theroadwarrior]

It's probable they used you.

[He says it, surprisingly, with an edge of sympathy.]

How did you find them? Or did they find you?

Tell me what you remember. The two years.

[It's an exercise, Odessa. He wants to hear the details. He wants to hear how well you retell them, how determined and sure you are of their validity. He wants to know you're not trying into a psychotic like he and so many others do in the wastelands. This may be a new world with new technology, but the threats — the disintegration — it can be very well like the rest. Because you don't seem as sure.

And you're looking at something, and he wonders what. Or, really, who. Who are you looking to for validation?]

[treasonista]

[ It's difficult to talk about, she realizes. It had been difficult two years ago, when she had told her rescuers about what led her to them, but it had all been documented and recorded. She hadn't needed to recount it endlessly, and hasn't had to do so for some time now. ]

It was by chance that we-- My-- That Marcus and I found Mister Basher attempting to secure a shuttle and passage away from the ship. We didn't have the nanites to override the doors to the shuttle bay, so he had to open them himself. He left me in the pilot seat, with an autopilot program already loaded in. Marcus tried to buy us more time... I was the only one who made it out. It was just me in a shuttle I had no idea how to pilot, floating through space.

[ She wasn't left there long. Basher practically delivered her to van Rijn's people on a silver platter. ]

Then they found me, and took me in. I wasn't treated with suspicion or hostility, but with compassion. Based on everything I had been told, I expected them to do awful things to me. I expected to be wishing I could die. Instead, they helped me start a new life here. [ She laughs suddenly, in spite of herself. ] You asked me what I remember. I remember taking a bath. Forty-five minutes long. The bubbles smelled of honeysuckle. It was heaven.

1/2

[theroadwarrior]

[Max quirks his eyebrow at her. He's in a constant state of dirtiness to some degree, and while he's fond of getting clean he is hardly sure why that is the first thing you'd be so happy about. It's just a bath. It seems like a waste of good water that may very well not be there someday.

Of course, that is just Max.

He judges.]

[theroadwarrior]

[carrying on]

What did this leader and his council talk about with you?

They didn't just leave you in the dark.

[kind of important]

[treasonista]

[ omg rude don't judge. a hot bath is the best. ]

They seemed interested in me. They asked about where I come from, what my world is like. They asked me what I would need in order to feel comfortable in this system. They gave me training. I'm practicing medicine and surgery again.

They also told me about this universe and the challenges it's facing. It's not great. There's overpopulation and depleted natural resources, but there's still time to save people's lives. That's why I'm here.

[theroadwarrior]

[I ALWAYS JUDGE.

But anyway — boy, does the depleted natural resources part sound familiar. He hums disapproval.]

Overpopulation and no resources, but they want to take us.

[Squint.]

What did they say about the people on board? The ship?

[treasonista]

Perhaps I misspoke. Diminished would be a better choice of words than depleted. The people of this system march on, as people are wont to do. They're resilient. So are we.

The Tranquility? There was nothing they could tell me that I don't already know.

[ In fact, Odessa would argue that she knows a great deal more than van Rijn's people, and a great deal more than she's been willing to tell. She's been helpful, certainly, but she always tries to hold on to that ace. ]

The ship's intended purpose was to help find new planets to settle. You've seen how massive she is. That's a lot of people that could be kept safe until a suitable home is found. It all seems to have gone sideways, however. For reasons unknown.

[theroadwarrior]

Mm. Finding new planets.

Did they ever speak to you about their experiments on living prisoners?

[Max has been listening to the network very well, yes.]

[treasonista]

[ She said it before to Murphy, and she'll echo a variation of it now to Max: ]

Nobody here is aware of any experimentation on prisoners aboard the Tranquility.

[theroadwarrior]

Are you saying that there wasn't experimentation, or are you implying your leader never knew about them?

Find that hard to believe.

[treasonista]

I'm implying nothing of the sort.

[ Which means she's implying "her" leader is fully aware, as far as she believes anyway. Please, please, please take the hint, and move on to a different topic now. ]

[theroadwarrior]

[He takes the hint and throws it into the sun, Odessa.]

I see.

Because those experiments did happen. And if he were involved, that would imply that your leader is capable of causing great suffering to people. People like us.

Wouldn't be pretty picture to paint, would it?

[treasonista]

[ You are the actual worst, Max Rockatansky. ]

It wouldn't be, no. I'm certainly not advocating such baseless rumors be spread.

[theroadwarrior]

[Yep, yep he is.]

Mmm. Baseless.

[He stares her down for a moment, eyes sharp.

Its that kinda look like 'I may or may not shoot you on sight'. Maybe.]

Sure the prisoners would've agreed, if they were human or alive enough to say so.

Are we done, or is there anything else you can tell us?

[treasonista]

[ Is he trying to get her publicly executed? ]

I think we're done here.

[theroadwarrior]

[It's not my fault they're assholes, man.]

Right.

Better duck down low later.

[And for all his grit and gruff, he does mean that as a polite warning.

DISCONNECTED.]