[ Hello, Tranquility! It's been a while since Chase has shared what little of the future she can get with you guys, isn't it? The four-or-maybe-eleven-year-old is currently holed up in a hallway, and if you look very, very carefully her eyes flicker a lavender colour before she speaks. ]

Sheep. Cattle.

Herd us--herd our flock.

[ She squints, narrowing her eyes, looking confused--as if she doesn't realize what, exactly, she's doing. ]

Red. He's there--Mr. Smiley is--and there are more bodies.

[ And, lips pursed, she cuts the feed while she attempts to sort out what, exactly it all means. ]

[It's honestly rare for Claire to make a post to the network. She mainly stalks it, more likely to watch from the sidelines unless something peeks her interest. But since talking to Topher and more people questioning her about her similarity to another with her face, she addresses the network.]

I know we've all been pulled from different worlds, some with duplicates and some that have strange resemblances to those here or those others may know from back home. [This is still a hard concept to wrap her head around given that people can have their personalities wiped from them back in her world.]

Does this happen often? And has anyone noticed that there are several people within a few worlds that could be another person. I know of three people, myself included, that have what people have referred to as doppelgangers. There are only two 'home' worlds. [Herself, Wesley, and Faith all had lookalikes. It seemed strange.]

[ She's not a public speaker on her best days, and this wasn't one of those. Her talk with Fry has kept her thinking, enough that when she wakes up out of the nightmares covered in sweat, she pushes the ache in her chest away with thoughts of something to do, something to work toward.

Fry had relegated her to doing this anyway. Schedules in space were different than on a world generating its own night-day cycles and perpetuating natural circadian rhythms. She's freshly showered, hair starting to dry in a tight, curling mess. The camera comes on as she's right up close to the eye. Stepping back, she gives a little perspective. It's a vid-phone. A conference call to anyone out there listening. ]

For those I haven't met, I'm Ellen Ripley. Carolyn Fry and I are offering to help people acclimatize and familiarize with operating full-time here in space. What we've got working here isn't an exact match for what we're used to, but it's close enough to help show the ropes to people who don't know and who want to get an idea. Call it a crash course in space-readiness training, without the option to fail out and stay down on Terra Firma.

That said, what are some of the questions you have on your mind relating to surviving in space? Or about the technology we've seen here so far. Knowing what questions you'd like answered helps us all out in the long run.

[ She reaches out, pausing. ]

Anyone with experience willing to work with us on this, get in touch. We can use you.

[ Vid over. Time to see what bites back. ]

[ Carolyn hasn't been here for long but she's been here long enough to notice things, and one of the things she's noticed is that most of these people have no real idea of how dangerous space can be. Some of them, sure -- Riddick, of course. Ellen, Kara, Clarke, Kirk and his crew -- but there are others who've never been in space before, even people who come from a place where it isn't possible yet. Fry doesn't want these people to die because of a stupid mistake, and she doesn't want a stupid mistake to be what kills all of them out here, either. ]

There are a lot of people here who haven't been in space before. I'm going to give you all some advice -- and honestly, if you know someone who's been in space, who knows spaceships, listen to them about this sort of thing. I know weird shit happens on this ship, but that smiley face isn't the only hazard out here.

I'm going to give you all a list of some of the dangers in space -- verbally, as there have been complaints [ you're welcome, Ros ] but I can give you a text version, too. If you have questions, feel free to ask, though I'm not a doctor or a physicist or an engineer and you might be better off asking one of them about some of these. And before anyone says it, I'm not trying to cause mass panic here -- but these are things you need to know, things everyone needs to keep in mind so nothing stupid and lethal happens.

( space: where everything will try to kill you )

It's been eight months without the ship imploding on itself. Let's keep these in mind and not do something stupid to change that. I don't care if you're a psychotic mass murderer who thinks it'd be fun; you do one of these and you're probably going to end up dead, too.

[ when the screen turns on, there's the face of a very pretty ginger — pretty but annoyed. she looks like she's done this a hundred times. maybe she has. maybe people will recognize that. or just her face. she hopes. ]

Right then. Enough of this rubbish. My name's Amy Pond, and since apparently nobody's in charge I can't really ask, 'take me to your leader; I come in peace.' And all that.

[ a beat, as she takes a quick glance around. come on, she's on an spaceship. it's got to work at least once. ]

So, I want to know if anybody's at least seen an alien wearing a bow tie. Except he doesn't look alien, he looks human. He's called the Doctor. If he's out there, then he better show his backside right now.

[ she looks like she might cut the message short right there, but another thought occurs to her. she lifts her eyebrows, lips pouting into a perfect 'o.' ]

Oh, sorry. Err, one more question. It's actually really important. Did anybody here come from Canada?

[ dear tranquility, you really do not want to even know this exists. your life could be so much better if you knew this didn't exist. tony's life (and sleeping patterns) would be so much better if he didn't know this existed. basically, this shouldn't exist but it does because tony stark likes poking his nose in things he shouldn't. alas.

in any case, tony has been sitting on this since he watched and listened to it after he got out of his pod and presented it to his ragtag team of superheroes + people who...aren't superheroes. if he's being honest, he thought about keeping this information to himself, because what good is it going to do. it's just going to make people panic when who knows what it actually is. then tony remembers a time when he didn't know something, he remembers when obidiah didn't tell him about that situation and he remembers how much it sucked to find out after the fact. so after a talk or two (or three) with individuals whose opinions he trusts (well not so much in riddick's case, but eh) he's finally decided on what to do.

before tony says a word to the network at large, he sends an audio clip entitled: that's not just static. what everyone will hear if they choose to listen to it is a loud screaming static that you'd think would come from the jump, nothing particularly scary, but when you listen closely you can hear actual human screams over the static. needless to say it's not a good thing. ]

Tranquility. Hi. I'm going to take a wild stab at guessing and say that we're all not blue and...most of us are alive except for that one dude who made the mistake of being stuck outside the pods when we jumped. Sucks to be him, obviously. By the way, new people, hi, those pods that you tumbled out of, yeah those are kind of important. Kirk will give you the run down on that because I'm definitely not the approved greeter.

What I am here for is to send you that little audio clip. For those of you who just hated that screaming static and shut it off before the interesting part, there's human screams in that little bit. I don't know how in the fuck they're there, but trust me, that's some human screaming going on right there. I'm ninety-nine point nine positive that's not from the dead guy if only because that seems way too obvious. [ also because his suit was nowhere near him at the time. ] So do us both a favor and don't try to even claim it because, yeah no.

That being said, I believe we can all safely say that this ship just a little creepier and I, for one, am kind of hoping we avoid any of the nice and devastatingly interesting occurrences that have happened on this ship like fucking clockwork every month. Seriously, one month of downtime wouldn't go amiss right now, I'm just saying.

[ private voice, stark encryption 100%, sent to natasha romanoff, thor, topher brink, captain america, jarvis, bruce banner, and riddick, and betty ross ]

None of you are to even breath a word about the video portion of this. This is already going to make people panic, and I'm not in the mood to be tossed out of airlock because someone decided to think that this was all my fault because our resident creepy shadow thing looked in the direction of where I was watching him. Until any of us know what the fuck that thing is, that's staying on the downlow.

And that goes for you too, Riddick. I know, shouting disclosure but mass panic not exactly what we're going for here.

[The feed clicks onto to show someone who is most certainly not human. Thane sets the device down on the desk and sits back, and the observant might notice a small faintly glowing holo in his hand. It depicts a human child with a dirty face, and a tooth missing from his wide grin.

For a few long moments Thane says nothing at all, and taps the holo against his knee.]

I could believe my appearance here truly an accident, however the contents of my locker give me pause. How is it a glitch in space-- perhaps a Mass Relay malfunction?- would result in not only my misplacement, but that of a select number of my things? Why only a small portion of my gun collection? Why not my prefured clothing? Why this holo? It's... it isn't logical.

[Seeming to get a hold of himself a little better, now...]

It is not impossible, but highly unlikely.

[Thane seems to then realize he's still holding the holo, and gives it a long look before tucking it neatly into the breast pocket of his uniform.]

I have no illusions; I do not imagine I am the only one with responsibilities to attend at home, nevertheless my appearance here is... troubling. There will be unfortunate fallout if I am away too long.

[His eyes drop briefly.]

To the point of my communication, then; I am a new arrival and would appreciate being informed (to the best of anyone's ability) of what is happening. I apologize in advance if I am forcing anyone to repeat themselves. Thank you.

[End feed.]

[ for the record, the slow string of what has to be cursing, judging by the tone, is in klingon. sulu's trails off, and there's a chink of metal on metal, a low sound of disgust and then... ]

I...found a body.

[ his voice is so very carefully composed. because starfleet officers are supposed to professional as fuck, and sulu's saving the freak out for later. ]

Can anyone identify 006.072?

[FILTERED AWAY FROM CASTMATES]

[This has been something that's been plaguing Alex for a while. Things had been different, in Promenade, when he had been the one being given new information. Now that he is the keeper of certain...info, he wants some advice. Charles seems to have some pieces too, but as usual, he hasn't directly inquired with the telepath, rather wanting to strike out on his own, first.]

Let's say you know the future of some people here. Maybe not their future, but a future. One that might end up theirs--or might not.

[Alex sighs; the way he's describing it, he could see why people might say it doesn't matter, but--]

I guess what I'm saying is that if you know what someone might do in the future--or you've learned things that tell you about their past...

...do you tell them?

Or is it better just to kinda.... [He goes silent for a moment, before speaking again] keep that shit to yourself.

You know, avoid messing with the time space continuum.

[End filter.]

[Now onto something that covers up for his random question. Something that his team mates can answer, too.]

Is anyone else starting to go a bit stir crazy?

[Alex spent almost a year sitting in solitary. The windowless rooms here remind him too much of his own cell--yeah he can get out, do things around here, but he's still sleeping in a place that makes him wake up and remember times he had tried to put behind him.]

Can't imagine how some of you six month-ers feel.

[A beat.]

We don't have a basketball court in this weird place, do we?

[ The feed begins without preamble, and on the left of the screen, Spock is visible- seated beside one Charles Xavier. One of them looks slightly more empathetic than the other, especially given a combination of the subject matter, and time spent in medical bay. Three guesses who. Spock is the first to speak regardless, what has likely become a familiar address after these many months. ]

Greetings Tranquility, this is Spock.

As we have been made aware by passenger Banner’s informative briefing the science lab has provided as many intriguing theoreticals as it has presently unanswerable questions. All attempted scans of the computers therein were inconclusive. Data not in print appeared to have been wiped. [ His fingers steeple in his lap. Someone is less than thrilled by this. ] Documents recovered, appear to focus primarily upon cosmology, quantum chromodynamics, dimensional theory, particle acceleration, and medicine- with the inclusion of research upon the stasis sickness that affected our crew.

[Charles is listening with a pensive and equally thwarted looking expression on his face, though at Spock’s pause on the subject of the more biological end of their findings, he’ll sit forward, drawing a sheet of what looks like bloodied paper towards himself.]

Many of these notes, the ones not rendered illegible by blood, appear to be in various states of completion. It appears as if there was a good deal of work being performed on medicines, including the ‘cure’ we were lead to find a week ago.

[Shifting through the bloodied sheets, Charles frowns thoughtfully before he continues.]

There are other chemical equations that lead me to believe that there was also a dedicated effort being made to stabilize a compound meant to have a calming effect on humans. [Glancing up at the device, Charles tapped the paper before he looked over at Spock and then continued.]

In particular, it appears these compounds were being specialized to treat and prevent psychotic breaks.

Dr. Ross? If you are listening, I would like to discuss something with you.

[He then sits back to allow Spock to continue to debriefing.]

The science department presents an unparalleled opportunity for development, exploration, and study, but not without challenge.

Given an adequate number of interested individuals, I believe the laboratories will be significantly operational in a matter of days. I understand that passenger Clarke has already lead a party through the newly accessible deck and secured the location, however I do not believe it unwise to continue to seek accompaniment from our security team. [ He doesn’t need to elaborate, as he expects it goes unsaid. Their safety has never been guaranteed. ]


( filter to bruce banner &issac clarke | )

[This is quite distressing. For Murphy, that is. He pretty much spent the last hour turning his entire living quarters upside-down (considering that there isn't much there to start with, he did a lot of flipping things over, checking under the bed, et cetera), but no dice in his favor.

[Well, he did manage to unearth some things. Like a half-eaten nutrition bar from the kitchen that he'd forgotten about last week, and had now somehow found its way stuck to the sheets of his bed. He also managed to locate a piece of foil, a plastic cup, and some old soap. So, yes. His room was in such a charming state of disarray.

[In spite of all of this, one thing remains missing. He beats himself up over the prospect that, maybe, there's a slim chance that he had taken it out at some point during one of his many outings and, God forbid, actually left it somewhere.]

"...So, I might have, ah, misplaced somethin' of mine recently." [He tries not to sound too earnest about it. Wouldn't want to make it seem like it's actually IMPORTANT or anything.] "It's... This... is gonna sound stupid, but it's a journal. Black, leather-bound. Got some stuff in it..."

["Please don't read it," he wants to say. But that's just about as subtle as dropping a goddamned grand piano on someone's head, isn't it?]

"I'd really like it back, if you find it. Thanks."

[What troubles him isn't just the fact that something of his has gone missing -- but that journal contains some... almost incriminating personal material on him. All of the police reports, parole papers, news articles, memorandums, and taunting bits of evidence riddled throughout his hellish gander down Memory Lane that led right into Silent Hill... Those things? Are all in that journal he's trying to desperately track down. And all it took was for a curious snoop to sneak into his room or snatch from his pocket (as he normally keeps his most important belongings on his person).

[More importantly, though? That journal also has photos. Of his son. Things from his old life. Also things that he would very much like to have back.

["God, just... stupid, stupid, STUPID..." Murphy is chastising himself to the point of hanging up abruptly. Of all things to get fucking careless about...]

Dr. McCoy here, and this is a general announcement about something I think everybody on this ship could stand to hear about. So if you don't mind, I won't take more'n a minute of your time.

I know you're all gonna say you're adults and don't need any lectures 'bout the birds and the bees. But I also know that most of you are inherently reckless and tend to think you can beat anything that tries to pull you down through sheer stubbornness. I got no illusions that recent events will have hammered any common sense into places it never resided in the first place. And it's a fool's errand to think for one minute any of you are gonna abstain from sex just because there are risks. So let's address how you can avoid those risks, and we here in Medical can avoid wasting our time doling out STD treatments.

First things first: birth control, condoms, basic supplies for intercourse. Yes, we have 'em, and yes you can get 'em from us. All you gotta do is ask. See? Easy.

Second: sexually transmitted diseases. I can guarantee not a single person on this ship can name every STD lyin' in wait out there. We're from different places, different times, different species. A minor rash for one person could be deadly for another, so takin' a few minutes to get informed and take the right precautions just might be the difference between a decent sexual experience and a ship-wide outbreak of Andorian shingles. So I'm uploading some pamphlets, and I expect you to all take the time to read 'em.

Third: testing for sexually transmitted diseases. If you've been havin' sex since you came aboard and you haven't been tested, get down here and get tested.

[ This portion of the transmission ends with an uplink to a number of STD pamphlets, courtesy of Starfleet Medical. Imagine something like this CDC site, but with a lot of alien diseases added.

The second portion of the transmission is flagged to the Medical Staff AND those characters who volunteered in Medbay during the stasis sickness outbreak. ]

Okay, with that out of the way -- at the moment we have exactly zero patients checked into Medbay. Which in my mind makes this as good a time as any for a good old-fashioned We Ain't Dead Yet celebration. If you're on staff or you volunteered during this last crisis, you're invited. Feel free to bring a guest if you want, but keep in mind it's BYOB and I'll sedate anybody who gets out of hand.


[OOC: Yes, it has been confirmed that Medbay has birth control, condoms, lube, feminine hygiene products, etc. As far as the Medbay party, if your character is officially on the Medical Staff or you ICly OR OOCly arranged for them to be volunteering during the recent modplot, consider yourself invited. Plus-ones are also welcome. There will be a log shortly, which I will link here. Log posted here.]

As pointed out in a recent transmission, there are some individuals here who resemble one another. There are others whose worlds are similar to others', while others still have worlds that differ radically.

The following is a survey designed to attempt to determine whose worlds are most similar to whose. As a full disclaimer, I am not a trained sociologist/demographist, nor do I claim to be. My credentials extend no further than merely dabbling in disciplines related to those and having studied the science of writing the census briefly when I was younger. Nevertheless, I believe this may be a useful diagnostic tool.

I would encourage everyone who sees this to take a look at others' responses. If you see something familiar, please discuss with the other individual what that similarity is; from there, please try to determine just how similar/different your worlds are.

This is completely optional.

( The survey can be found after this break in the text. )

I've been here long enough to know that alternate and parallel universes exist. I can say with confidence that this ship holds multiple versions of the same person; for instance, there are three Sherlock Holmeses and three John Watsons. Naturally, each correspond with their own Sherlocks and/or their own John. As the months go on, it will be increasingly difficult to tell between myself and others, which is why it's handy to have our communicators. With each message, your unique number shows up underneath the initial post: this is a good way to ensure that you're talking to the 'corrrect' Sherlock (though know that we share our devices when the whim strikes us).

In short, stop being stupid.

Now, onto my initial reason for addressing the network: I have experienced several different memories that differ from my dopplegangers. Because of this, we can assume that there are subtle differences in behaviour, reactions and interests. Whilst we remain the same in many ways, those differences might end up defining us (which is frankly appalling, but then who am I to judge a 'thriving' civilisation of six months?). I am the third Sherlock Holmes to arrive, though my likeness is shared with only one. An intriguing phenomenon, but our memories are reasonably inconsistent.

I've decided to tell you about my stay on the island of Atia, though I intend to make it quick. I have in my posession the communicators we used to talk to one another. Whilst the connection to the network has been severed, a few things still remain, such as the guides thrown out to every new comer in order to save both time and effort. You may have gathered that this island is of a seedy virtue, and your impressions are entirely correct: we were forced into collars like animals, prodded and poked into actions one might not normally take were they under their usual inhibitions. As the strange little rabbit wearing a dress says, it was not a holiday.

And yes, I'm aware that both guides are incredibly hideous.
SH

P.S: A certain prosecutor has insisted that I put up a warning for those that are of a certain age and/or for those that have a weak stomach. Personally, I think 'don't be stupid' covered every base, but apparently one can't be too sure.

Transferring... guide.pdf

_{[ ooc: link is nsfw. sort of. ]}

[The feed opens and Mary is smiling pleasantly into the camera. She's much more versed in the communicator than when she made her first network post.]

Hello Everyone. Mary here. I know anyone who was sick has recovered or is well on the way but if anyone needs anything- anything at all- I'd be happy to help you.

[She tucks a piece of her hair back behind her ear.] I thought I might as well check in with those who know me. So please, let me know that you're alright.

[She smiles again, having said all she wanted to. She looks as if she's about to cut the feed when an idea occurs to her then she adds one more thing as an afterthought.]

Oh. And I was just wondering, who else didn't get sick? I know there were some of us out there- and I don't know about you- but I'd like to know why.

[She gives a little nod and cuts the feed.]

[ bruce does not much like posting on the network. mostly because it involves people looking at him, people not his team. but betty asked, and there's not a whole lot he won't do under that particular duress.

so he taps on a video feed, trying not to let how much this whole mess feels personal show on his face. ]

I know we're all tired and run down, but there have been some developments. Bet-- Dr. Ross and her colleagues have discovered some. [ he pauses, sighs. ] Some disturbing news. In the interest of full disclosure and transparency-- [ and isn't that politician double speak. he sighs, starts again. ] Sorry, habit. I'll try and speak plainly: none of this is reassuring, but we all at least deserve answers.

The creatures-- [ his mouth twists at that, but he doesn't stop speaking this time. ] appear to be a product of some kind of experimentation. Overwhelmingly-- by a margin of eighty percent-- their genetic makeup is simple, baseline human, but there's another twenty left that appears to be a cocktail of lion, dingo, and crocodile. Their organs were... largely human in appearance, with tweaks here and there. We can't tell you how or why just yet, but we can tell you they weren't doing well even before we got there. Based on the sample brought back by Mr. Clarke and his team, there was a high rate of malnutrition, as well as clear evidence of cannibalism. Whether that was by necessity or not, we can't say. What we can say is that they were most likely dying before we got there-- their cells were deteriorating, in what if I had to hazard a guess would be a side effect of whatever process made them into hybrids. There was also a shared high rate of some pretty nasty infected wounds, and I'd recommend anyone who was bitten or scratched and hasn't already done so should stop into Medbay and make sure they'll heal cleanly.

[ his back straightened during that little speech-- science is easy. now it's just bruce, and he takes off his glasses and cleans them on the front of his shirt, slumping a little again. ]

I wish I had more comforting answers, or even just complete ones. And to keep the hits coming, the computers in the newly cleared labs were wiped clean. We're looking into digging harder or establishing a timeline, but it's slow going. If anything new turns up, someone will make another announcement. Until then, it's hurry up and wait.

[ and as a slender hand reaches into frame to squeeze his shoulder, bruce cuts the feed. ]

( text | filtered to the axvengers ( and jarvis + betty ) | 95 % unhackable )

[HELLO, TRANQUILITY.

Topher looks... well, the phrase "like hell" would be apt. He just arrived in medbay roughly ten minutes ago and after making sure his supply of the cure was properly handed out to the staff to resupply, he has retreated to some dark corner to scream at the network. He hasn't showered or bothered to get much of the horrible combination of blood, vomit, and various other terrible substances off of him, so he... Looks quite a lot like this. This is not a happy Topher. Happy Tophers go shower immediately and fuck the fact that there's probably forty people down there getting their showers on.

It takes him a minute to get past teeth-baring, heavy-breathing, nerd-rage, and when he does, it's very clear he had to put the communicator up on top of something so everyone can see his wild, frustrated gesturing.]

I think- I really think we need to sit down and have a little lunchtime poll, Tranquility. I don't... I don't even know if it's lunchtime, because my sense of time is a little shot to complete hell, but for this particular argument's sake, let's pretend it's lunchtime.

Now here's your poll question- and remember, there are no stupid questions, so don't just immediately write this off as me just babbling like a crazy person, 'cause that's not what this is at all.

Okay. You're building a big spaceship for God only knows what purpose. What do you put in it? Kitchens? Holodecks? A really fancy bridge that has that one button and a couple levers that seem to do everything? Those are reasonable answers. I commend you for having those answers. Good for you. You're a sane person. Gold stars for the sane people on the ship.

But if you answered black holes and terrifying hellbeasts, then you have brought me to my next question as well as proved any and all points I might have about who the real insane people are.

So Captain, my freakin' psycho Captain and his little engineer too. What the hell is wrong with this ship? 'Cause a bunch of us just nearly died to fix something that went wrong with your systems and then nearly got eaten by something that got loose in your labs- labs we didn't know even know existed until now, because no one tells us anything. I think we deserve a lot more than a pat on the head and a bunch of vague answers.

But maybe that's just me. I mean, it's not like me and a bunch of other people didn't just risk our lives to save our friends or anything. It's not like they deserve to know what they nearly died of.