[ The video clicks on to show Carolyn in the shuttle bay (of course), standing in front of one of the windows showing the vast expanse of space. After letting the camera roll for a moment so that you, dear viewer, can come to terms with what you're looking at, she focuses it on her face and starts to speak. ]

This is overdue, but we're going to be having another information session on space, space travel, and the features we're aware of on board the Tranquility in a few hours. Make the time to attend. For those of you who want to get caught up on the previous lessons, I'll include a link to the recordings.

We're going to be going over everything, including evacuation protocols, but I'm going to be paying special attention to what I know about stasis. [ Which admittedly isn't much, as they use cryosleep, but it's more than most of the ship. ] It's been a popular topic lately, after all.

[ There's some fiddling with the buttons and after a pause, viewers will have a link to a sub-network with the videos embedded. ]

If any of you newcomers are interested in joining the flight crew, whether you have experience or not, we'd be glad to have you. Come on down and talk to myself, Hikaru Sulu, or John Casey.

[ Carolyn pauses, shifting a little uncomfortably. ]

For those of you that knew her, Kara Thrace has gone home.

[ Aaand: ]

The kittens are ready, if those who talked to me are still interested.

[ And it all came down to this: ]

can't say i've met that many of you, not even close to half
but i'm September.
we have met, in a way, i'm sure.

[ There's a long, long, long pause before he reconnects with video. Perhaps some hesitation and reconsideration. That long pause for a breath and teeth gritting.

After all, it wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't admit to his mistake through his own words. With his own voice. ]

Well, and I... [ Blue eyes shift to the left. Perhaps he prepared for this? Squinting at his 'script'? ] I haven't been perfectly honest with all of you.

[ ...



And another. He clenches a hand. Uncertain what to do with himself. How to sit or look or keep his face looking this way. His tone. ]

I'm what you could call... a... Dream Eater? [ Yes, this tone is funny. He sounds uncertain about the title. ] I've been deceiving many of you. It's... a bit difficult to explain, but I've [ JEEZno, he rubs at his face before he blurts out the final piece. A little hiccup: ] I'VE BEEN invading—invading many of your dreams without permission.

[ Silence. ]

And eating them. 

[ Christ. ]

Enjoying them too, I suppose. Acting out people. Twisting things around. Finding out things that I have no right to. It's not surprising to have the tiniest bit of memory about my face. At least that.

I apologize for... my... behavior... and I'm sorry. [ September looks directly at the screen. How was that, Thranduil? ]

( ooc: Feel free to handwave September-dream interactions all you want with conversations! o/ )

[ he's been deliberating where to begin with these thoughts for some time now, but Spock has never been the type to follow impulse in place of old fashioned consideration. when the feed begins, he's seated as he always is, meticulously composed, with his fingers steepled in his lap. for anyone who's come to know him thus far, it's a sign in and of itself, of how carefully he's treading. ]

Tranquility, this is Spock.

In light of recent events, I find it relevant to suggest that the vessel's security team, while consistently reliable, is only one variant thereof. Recent transmissions from an anonymous source largely referred to as smiley, have illuminated the insufficiency of our attempts to both locate the source and individual responsible. I am aware that we have several individuals aboard who consider technological security and the bypass thereof- a specialty, and I am equally aware that despite these assets, we have gleaned, comparably, very little.

I believe we would benefit significantly from teaching these skills to others and forming a technical security network, for the express purpose of tracking, locating, and attempting to engage this individual.

I can offer no personal guarantees regarding the success or, at this interim, the establishment of such a unit. However, I would not be averse to conversing with interested parties. If you possess technical proficiency of any kind or the inclination to learn, your participation would be welcome.

[ it's here that his mouth tightens marginally at the corner. when Spock speaks again, his focus has changed, and his tone sobers. not that he isn't perpetually dry to begin with. ]

At this time, I believe I should clarify that while these anonymous messages are most engaging, I am not of the opinion that we should offer them exclusive focus. The Tranquility remains in a state of perpetual disrepair and remarkably little is intimately understood about it's origins and technology. While a surveillance team will likely provoke further questions, it does not eliminate those we have failed to answer thus far.

Passenger OPR»002»035, Issac Clarke has requested assistance in the exploration of our engineering systems, but we would also likely benefit from investigation of any and all available historical records on board.

Spock out.

( filter to ward, resnik, kirk |encrypted 100% )



[ ooc; this would be a ping for aberdeen, todd, tali, atton, ismene, sulu, buffy, am, chase, caprica &anyone else willing to offer themselves up as a teacher. if it's alright with you kids- i'm handwaving that he's sent you all private requests to teach- either because he knows you, or has seen your capabilities thus far.

innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn the interest of speeding some of the cr building along i threw a sign up over here :3 ]

[It takes a minute for the feed to pipe up, but when it does, it's the older voice that starts a short chat.]

Hey there, Tranquility, I know we're not looking at a full staff by any means, but I figured I'd put my own 'Help Wanted' sign out for everyone to see.

For anyone who doesn't know, the name's Isaac. I'm kind of one of the more vocal people still working over on the Engineering Deck. We've got about... half a dozen people here. Depending on the time of day. Now, if you can't exactly tell from the size of the ship.. that's not exactly "fully staffed".

It's no secret that we still don't know even a good tenth of what we should down here, but considering we're all still trying to get used to the systems - well. You can see where this is going, we need some sort of help.

I've got some basic information and maps I've drawn up that I'm willing to share, and I figure everyone else can work from there, find areas they're comfortable in, and start poking around. And if you can't tell a mainframe motherboard from a terminal motherboard - that's fine too. I can show some basics to that, too.

Let me know if any of you are interested. Clarke out.

( [25% ENCRYPTION - OPR � 001 � 033: KIRK, JAMES T.] )

( [25% ENCRYPTION - CHIEF ENGINEER RESNIK] )

( [25% ENCRYPTION - MR. SMILES] )

Medbay is understaffed, an' we don't have enough doctors. Or nurses. Whatever.

[No explanation as to the reason he's bothering with a network post, just the facts.]

Most of us will take too long t'learn it - we need help now. So I'm lookin' for some people who can build us some nurses, or somethin'.

( ooc )

 [In a sea of panic, in a sea of blind finger-pointing, and mystery-solving, and hackers hacking, and people screaming, and red text being creepy.

There is one man

who still believes

in alcohol.

Which is to say that Haymitch has limped his way to the kitchen, found himself some vodka and poured himself a drink. Not that you can see this if you're just listening in on the network, hunting down any clues. But if you wanted a cryptic message.

Well. You're getting one.]

Waste of time.

[Panem Filter]

Any of you still alive?

[Leave it to Shepard to not actually check the network out fully before diving in and using it. The feed clicks on, and there's a moment before Shepard's voice comes through, her Commander Mode switched to full-on]

This is Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy, Alliance Navy. I'm requesting any information available on the current status and location of my ship and crew. Barring that, the name and affiliation of this vessel.

[There's a pause as Shepard lets out a breath, giving the comm device a dubious look, as she pulls it away from her face]

I swear if I'm missing another two years of my life I'm going to - [and you don't get to know what Shepard would do as she cuts the feed and the audio clicks off.]

[The white, grinning mask filled the entire screen. It might be pretty recognizable to some. The voice was female, slightly metallic-sounding with a very subtle echo that was likely due to the mask. She still manages to sound quite playful in a dark way.]

Interesting location. Looks like I'm a long way from home... I could use some company.

Let's cut to the chase.

Anyone willing to strike up a bargain benefiting both parties during our stay here had best get back to me soon~. I have quite a few things to offer the right person, should I deem you worthy of my time. It would be foolish to think there aren't advantages to working together.

[At least until she could land on her feet.]

[ ahem, using this thing like a phone because he's really not interested in wasting time trying to figure out just how deep the rabbit hole goes in terms of what it can do. that comes later. ]

Good— [ . . . ] whenever it is.

[ his voice might sound familiar to some of you, if slightly more nasal; there's a steady metallic clop-clop, clop-clop in the background that sounds not unlike horse hooves on steel. Anything is possible when your man's been abducted to live a doomed life in space and is riding his mare around the corridors! I'm on a horse. ]

Seems like as good a time as any for a proper hello. And since we've all got some time to kill, I thought it might be nice to play a quick game of Questions. Or—Facts, I suppose. Whichever works best. I tell you one thing about me, you tell me one thing about you... loads of fun.

[ okay so he's not exactly gagging to talk about himself, but if there's a fast track to gathering information, it's to come right out and ask for it. tit for tat. ]

I'm called—

[ he pauses.

this isn't Wonderland; nobody knows him here, except for Alice, and she doesn't exactly pose a huge threat to his well-being. Well, not any more, at least, because nobody knows about the Stone of Wonderland here; the likelihood of the both of them being tracked down and killed for it has been significantly diminished. he figures it's okay to be honest about his name, if nothing else. ]

—Hatter. Now, your turn.

Also. Directions to this oxygen garden thing would be— much appreciated. I've a horse here in need of some greens, and she's a bit twitchy from being kept in the dark.

[ reluctantly finally: ]

And if you see an old guy with a crazy goatee in a suit of white armor spouting nonsense about—I don't know, mystical vapours of destiny or something, you should probably let me know.

[ There's a voice full of gravel and smoke (fire and brimstone) crackling over the airwaves the 'evening' of the jump. ]

Welcome, welcome, boys and girls, to the Good Ship Lollipop.

I assume you've all had a bit of time to wipe that placenta off of your faces from what we call the gravpouches and settle in. And some of you more clever lot may have even had time to read over the welcome message procured by one of your fellow travelers.

But if you haven't, here's the skinny: you're in space. That's right - drifting in a frigate in a galaxy far, far away. No, we don't know how you got here. No, we don't know why, exactly, you're here. Have some dignity and do stop asking us for information on it - it gets extremely tiresome after about the second broadcast.

Do have a sniff around for that information. You may find a lot of those burning questions are answered there.

I'm here, though, to tell you about some things you haven't quite thought of yet.

First off, on the issue of leadership - the official text answer is that you talk to Ward and Resnik. They're driving. However, ask anyone who's been here for a month without their fingers in their ears and you'll hear that this show is run by Captain James Tiberius Kirk - yes, that Kirk, for all you Trekkies. Try not to wet yourselves.

Secondly! If you are human - congratulations! You are the 99%. If you're not, and you have a diet that consists of flesh, blood, or human misery, you might just want to keep that to yourselves. Or talk to Kirk or those boys in the medbay; word on the air is that they're running some sort of soup kitchen.

Finally, for those of you who are wondering about what's on the itinerary for your forced vacation, let me give you a summation of what our delightful host has prepared for us in the past few months. There's been: halls that do a great impression of Endless Youtube, skeletons in the hallway, strange sigils on the wall, hostile alien take-overs, and, just this last month, demon infestation!

Do you feel as if you're being watched? Well, you are, if anything our red-fonted, smiley friend with no traceable source is any sort of authority. I think some people have postulated that the ship itself is alive and, in fact, responsible for bringing us here. It must have gotten bored of its old crew, but after seeing a few of you sorry sods in the locker room this morning, I'm going to have to question its taste a bit.

Well, I think that's about it. If you've got any interesting questions, I might just answer them.

I'm sure a few of you are about to be very cross with me for spilling the beans, and here's my rebuttal: Shame on you. These people deserve to know the truth of what they're in for, especially if they're smart enough to have stuck with me this far.

You've reached the other side of the looking glass, my dears. The sooner you realize you're in for one hell of a ride, the better off you'll be.

Kisses.

[ the man over the network looks shabby, a little. run down, like an old shirt that somehow looks worn out no matter how freshly clean it is.

...and he is freshly clean, come to think of it. thanks, blue goo. it's been a thrill.

he stares down at his communicator, mouth tilted in a slightly awkward, out of practice smile. ]

So. This is space, huh? [ one nod, and he purses his lips. ] All right, then.

( t e x t ; s.h.i.e.l.d codes )