ataraxion | 001. video; Public Service Announcement

Guessing everyone's feeling a little closer to compos mentis now. Great, that's gonna make this a whole lot easier.

My name is Nathan Petrelli. I'm Senator for New York, elected representative of the people, and recently made Head of Homeland Security by the President himself. It's my job to do what's in the best interests of the people, and in this case I figure that's gonna be easier said than done.

I don't want any of you to worry. Once I get up to speed on the details of what's going on here, I intend to get to the bottom of how we got here, why we were brought here, and how to go about getting back. And I mean how and why, not the bullshit they've been feeding you about jumping and wormholes and the ship needing a crew. There's a malicious intent here I'm gonna address, and then I'm getting everyone back where we belong.

I realise we're not all Americans here, and maybe you think I have no jurisdiction, but I earned the right to intervene the moment I woke up with a tube shoved down my throat, just like everyone else. I want to speak to people who know the most about this place, or be directed toward them. Captain Kirk: you're on my list for starters, but I'd rather speak to the real Captain, rather than some washed up wannabe.

Oh, and before I wrap this up, there's one other thing. A few of you will have spoken to my brother, Peter; he got here during the 'jump' previous to this one, and as I understand it he's been pretty liberal with his imagination ever since. Some time ago my brother convinced himself that he could fly. He stood on top of a twelve story building one day, called me up and told me he was going to show me he could do it. He jumped, and he fell - fortunately only as far as the fire escape - and a couple days later woke up in the hospital with minor injuries. It wasn't long after my father's death, right in the middle of my run for Congress, and I guess he was desperate for attention.

What I'm trying to say is that he's had brushes with depression before - it runs in the family - and he's not exactly stable right now. All of this doesn't make it any easier. If everyone could please be delicate with him, take what he says with a grain of salt, and inform me if it sounds like he's planning to do something that might hurt himself or others. I appreciate it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You really haven't been listening, have you? Lost the plot just about when I changed the topic to my brother, and now everything else I've said is worthless, like you've watched the news through to the funny bit, and suddenly the Bosnian Civil War doesn't seem so pressing, because you've got a skateboarding dog to distract yourself with.

Life on this ship has been pretty damn awful for everyone, the way I hear it. You're not gonna accept that I want to help because my brother carried a feud from home out here? That's your mistake.

That's honestly what you're taking away from this conversation? Okay, let's trade.

I hear you spouting your qualifications and talking about how you're gonna be the one to crack this, never mind the fact that we already have seasoned space travelers, engineers, physicists and two versions of Sherlock Holmes running around. That tells me you're arrogant. I hear you saying it's a shame nobody's done anything, that we're all just looking out for number one, which is just spitting right in the eye of the people here who have been. We have doctors practically living in medbay so they can look after people. We have fighters and exorcists and [ a pause, a swallow ] soldiers working together to make sure that when things do go wrong, people find out what's happening and how to deal with it as soon as possible. When I got trapped, someone I'd had one conversation with got on the comms to find out what was wrong and hauled ass to help me after I got out. And I hear you airing your brother's issues to all and sundry, which tells me that if someone has a problem they need kept quiet? They can't trust you with it.

We're not weak or stupid or lazy, Senator Petrelli. And we don't need you coming in here swinging your dick and treating us like we are.

So we're back to 'things that happened before I got here', and 'I want to speak to people who know the most about this place'. Good, I'm glad to hear it.

I asked for information; all I got was grief. I'm not professing to know every inch of this ship, but I am asking for information, looking for people to instruct me so I can find a damn way to help.

You didn't ask. You demanded, insulted someone a lot of people here respect, and generally behaved like you think we're beneath you.

We're not perfect, and this whole setup sucks, but people who actually ask and do it respectfully generally seem to get. If you'd lead your broadcast with the last thing you just said to me, you'd be up to your ass in information. The last guy who started making demands of us for own good got a bunch of people hurt and landed himself in the brig, so you're gonna get a few backs up playing that angle. And sure, it was before your time, you couldn't have known about him. Doesn't meant you couldn't have tried not to be an asshole about it.

I'd still love to know I was supposed to find out that Kirk was a real person.

[ That could be misconstrued, at least, that one rumoured captain was confused with another, even if he means it one particular way. ]

Didja think he'd be some jerk pretending to be a guy from a tv show? Maybe William Shatner having some kind of breakdown? That can be a steep learning curve.

[ Maybe she's projecting her own experiences onto him right now, remembering her own difficulties in dealing with the existence of Sherlock Holmes(es), for example - but at least she's a little less antagonistic for it. ]

Look, everybody here's doing their best. And they'll pretty much be okay with anyone else doing the same, so just... you know, actually ask questions. Try to tone it down.

[ And she's smirking again, but not nastily so. ]

Maybe take up yoga. You'll have a bunch of free time.

Actually that's exactly what I thought. Guy still seems pretty young for a Captain, but I'm pretty confident he's got nothing to prove to me. [ Except that he's not going to let a petty sense of humour get in the way of his responsibilities. ] Still not completely sure I'm not dreaming.

[ He shrugs slightly. He's abrasive, but it's his nature. Just like some people on this ship eat people. ]

I'm gonna try my best. Not sure other people can say the same. But I'll defend myself if I have to. Just like you would--like you did. [ Pause. ] People giving classes on that sort of thing? [ He finds it hard to imagine people would be wasting time doing that when they could be looking for a way to go home. ]