[ Did someone call for fanservice? The young blond man on the screen is quite well-built and very shirtless, though he seems rather unimpressed with the world at present. Though he's been through the showering process, there's still the remnants of blue in his fringe. ]

This is unacceptable.

[ It's gritted out, but he seems to realize he's not going to be doing himself any favours by having a tantrum over the network, so he visibly reigns himself in. A shake of his head, and he holds up a waterfall of chain link. ]

I need someone who knows how to buckle up armour. Report to my chambers immediately.

[ Except of course, he's not at home, where every man and their dog knows where the prince sleeps. In fact, Arthur isn't even sure he knows where he sleeps. He scowls, squints down at his arm as though the ink on it's betrayed him, and reads out the numbers: 012, 007. Ah. He's new. ]

If you happen to run into a man-shaped idiot calling himself Merlin along the way, send him instead.

[ And then he stares at the camera a moment longer. And turns away. And proceeds to return to getting dressed, having neglected to realize the importance of turning the video off. Eventually he moves out of frame entirely, and after a long shot of the blank wall of his room, the feed times out. ]

[So, this last jump? Aaron got a gun. Just walked up to his locker for his clothes, clicked it open, and there it was. Sitting on top of his leather jacket, a few cases of ammunition behind it.

He really missed his gun.

Which is why, today, he's not addressing the network through text. Instead, he's sitting in his room, a single gold case (it almost looks like cigarette case) hanging around his neck, face serious and posture... well, it almost looks a little threatening.]

I need to know how often people from your worlds show up, people you know. When one person ends up here, do other people follow? That sort of thing.

Also... I need a chemist. [His expression tenses a little, almost darkens] Consider it urgent.

[There's a quick pause, and Aaron's lifting up the handgun he'd been given this jump, wiggling it in plain view of the camera.]

People from Outcome... Byer? You know what this means.

[And, almost looking smug, he leans forward and flicks the feed off.]

[He speaks with an English accent, corrupted by his native language and years of contact with all kinds of pronunciations from around the world - be it his or someone else's. Still, his fluency makes all those little alterations perfectly forgivable.]

I'll begin this message by letting you all know that waking up in these facilities made a week of decontamination feel like a well-deserved vacation. [For those unfamiliar with those procedures (the vast majority, he assumes):] They aren't. They're quite unpleasant, in fact. But also necessary.

Which begs the question: is all of this necessary as well? And I don't mean the healthy dose of tube - whatever that was, exactly - just the fact that we're somehow here. [Hm.] Highly doubt it. I'd at least have some memory of asking to be whisked away to a haunted space cruise.

[Pause. He doesn't sound like he's being serious, but that's up to you to decide. And he really enjoys the sound of his own voice, so whether this Space Ship Party MC's around to see it is actually rather irrelevant.]

Honestly, I'm just wondering when someone's going to show up and tell me this was an extraordinarily detailed prank. [... Well.] Hoping would be the right word, actually.

[And there you have it. But wait!]

So - who wants to tell me what we're going to do about that dragon?

[ There are a great deal of fumbling noises coming from this broadcast, followed by a low mutter of "Pigeon crap!" This continues for about a minute before Shale realizes the device is on, and then there's silence until she flips it toward her.

Hi, Tranquility. ]

I'm to use this to communicate, am I? They ought to have made its buttons larger, but I suppose it will do, strange as it is. Some sort of magic, perhaps? But so fragile. Likely the work of humans; they're rather fragile themselves.

[ There's a pause here for a quick laugh before the golem behind the camera continues. ]

This is not Ferelden, that much is certain. It is not the Deep Roads either. In fact, I have been told we are on a ship in the Void. Bah! No darkspawn to crush, and yet there are still birds. They will keep their feathered fiends away from me, if they want them to live.

If the Warden or its companions are here, they should speak. I have already spoken to the Warden they call Bethany, but I mean the Warden. And if none are here, I would like to know where I might be able to squash some things.

[ The video clicks on, and it's obvious enough that Cat's not particularly happy about choosing to do so, but given the reason for one of her rare appearances on the network, she thought she might as well show her face. There's a bit of a pause before she finds it in herself to actually start talking as opposed to just looking a bit grumpy and reluctant, which is of course her standard approach to everything. Doesn't matter that Cat genuinely wants to get something out of this, she just hates having to ask for help. ]

All right, seeing as for once we're not being fucked around by red text or demons or brain-washing or fatal illnesses and shit, might as well make the most of it, yeah? [ She peers at the feed searchingly, pursing her lips. ] Bound to be a couple of you out there who can swim, I reckon. There's a pool here - I want to learn how. Not got much use for swimming back home, s'why I never learned, but I have a chance now, so it stands to reason I could give it a go.

Any of you lot think you can teach me?

[ She's very careful not to use the word "help", already feeling weird for how much she's talking when she usually kepts to the minimum amount of words required to make a sentence. With some amount of restraint she manages to stop herself from saying she wouldn't mind a couple of offers since some of you lot were bound to be terrible teachers.

Fair warning, Cat herself would be a pretty fucking terrible student. ]

[The feed doesn't transmit any image, just the sound of an angry teenager with a thick and far from proper English accent trying to show the ship how many fucks he does not give.]

Fuckin' fancy prison we got here, yeah? Nothing like this back where I come from. No, you'd be lucky if you could even take a step in your cell. The guards don't give a fuck about the stuff they brought in with ya, either, [and he got his hoodie and a pack of cigarettes - among other things - so.] Is there anything else they'll wanna shove down my throat, though? 'Cause I'd rather take their cells than any more of that.

[He could throw out the threat that his family will know he's gone, but there's the very clear notion that if Miles ever went missing the reason would most likely be attributed to him having finally decided to run away. There aren't a lot of people who would bother to try and bring him back, which... would have been a good thing for him if they'd been right. Alas.]

The food's shit, by the way.

[ ...oh, hi. Finally, after what feels like forever - and boy, does he really know about that one - he's managed to access the video function of the device. He's thinking about naming it, but that's neither here nor there. For the most part, he's stretched out on his bed and panning it around the room to give everyone a nice view of his, otherwise, not so great accommodations. ]

Soooo. [ Give him a sec. He's trying to sound serious. ] I've definitely lived in worse, but this is all kinds of lame. I mean, what Circle of Hell did I crawl into? Not like it's real important or anything. Just, uh, curious...

[ Then, the video centers on him. He's somehow twisted the uniform around so it doesn't seem as restricting around the arms, and his hair is a wild mess of blond and bits of red. But the important thing is that he's grinning. Possibly a little strung out. Who knows for sure? ]

I've always been pretty bad about this sort of thing, but I guess I should state my name and all that. In case someone's keeping track. Name's Beleth. Well, no. That's not too accurate now. It was Beleth a looong time ago.

Bells is fine. B, E, uh. Whatever. Just Bells, and only Bells. Good? Good.

Now that we've straightened that out, I've got two questions for anyone willing to answer 'em. Number one: if I need to find a little lost lamb, just where am I supposed to look? Annnd. [ A smirk. ] Two: what's a guy to do for fun around here? Staring at the same stuff is bound to get boring after a while, and I'm already pretty bored.

[ He ends the feed with a yawn. ]

[As Harry turns on his device, video is barely visible for a moment. He's poised over it with two screwdrivers, obviously trying to work it from a distance. Behind him are a few leaves and plants from the oxygen garden, as it's one of the areas he feels that he can be in without short-circuiting something important. The feed dissolves into static, his voice still present underneath the steady buzz.]

Dammit. This really isn't the time.

[The static grows louder for a moment then much softer, but Harry's voice is distant.]

I'm having... technology problems. The not-so-usual kind that comes with, well, being a wizard.

[More static bursts across his feed and he has to move further back.]

Look, can someone meet me in the garden to talk about the pods and the jump? I don't think this thing is gonna--- [oh yep there the feed goes.]





(ooc: Shoving this up while I can at work. Will be very slow. Open action to the oxygen garden! <3)

[ ENCRYPTED 75% TO MEDICAL AND XENOBIOLOGY/GENETICS STAFF + BRUCE BANNER: ]
I took the liberty of checking out the blood samples we were able to get from the creatures at the end of the maze. Some of them seemed to have bacterial infections, which isn't surprising, but I also checked them against known DNA samples from Earth.

I don't want to alarm anyone, which is why I've encrypted this for now, but so far the results are all coming back in essentially the same manner. The DNA of these creatures is a mix between Earth creatures -- the lion is a large component, and there are also what appears to be genetic material from the Australian dingo and some sort of crocodile. However, at the present time it appears as though the largest genetic contribution comes from human beings.

Obviously the samples may have been compromised, as I've really only been able to work off their blood and some hair. I'm going to request a larger sample, preferably an entire specimen -- dead, obviously. Hopefully we can get more answers, and hopefully the human genetic material was just cross-contamination.

[ OPEN: ]
I've heard a few things about people returning to the end of the maze to clear out the rest of the creatures, in addition to a possible salvage operation. My name is Elizabeth Ross -- I'm a cellular biologist and university professor back home. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to request a mostly intact -- though definitely dead -- specimen of the creatures. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are wondering just what they are and how they got here, not to mention how they've survived the jumps, and I'm hoping that an entire specimen might be able to give us some answers.

How is everyone feeling?

[Some people may have noticed an absence since before the last jump. Even when the passengers were awoken, Bass made sure he found isolation before any familiar faces found him first. The entire process was different this time around: yes, he still felt sick and his telepathy had become once again erratic, but he knew where he was, he knew what had happened, and he knew what mattered. He also knew that the clock was still ticking.

It's been over a month since he's last fed, now making its way to the second month mark. That means things are going to change - that he's going to change - unless he does something about it preemptively.

It means that someone has to die.

The audio feed clicks on, running silently before he speaks. Words are then recited from memory, taken from a prayer of warning he was taught many years ago.]

In the quiet of the night the sky tore open, and from the holes in the skies monsters began to descend upon Earth.

[There is more to it, but this is where he deliberately stops. Bass wants to know if anyone recognizes the tale of how his world came to be. He wants to know who could find out what he is, even if that person is just his sister.]

( Text; Not an IC Cut; HERE THERE BE MORSE CODE. )



So... I don't do Morse code, but who wants to bet that's the other part of the list?

[He told you he'd pull it off, Tony. OF COURSE, HE DIDN'T GET ANSWERS, but... Yeah.]



( Retroactively added to the post after the code was cracked: ZE LIST. )


[OOC; THE NAMES, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, ARE NOT PART OF THE CODE. They're just there for reference.]

[ Kasumi's preferred method of dealing with the network is much like her preferred approach to life in general: lurk in the shadows, occasionally emerge to poke things just to see if they're entertaining. But every now and then, she has something she actually wants to say. This is one of those times.

Everyone's been buzzing about all these puzzles and riddles that have been showing up, and she's been keeping an eye on it more or less, though she can't say she's particularly engaged by it. That shows in her voice when she starts to speak. ]

Since we all seem to be enjoying thought puzzles so much these days, here's one to try out: What would you do if you found out that nothing you did had any real life consequences? Not for you or for anyone else. Not now or in the future.

Would you still follow the "rules" or would you toss them out and have a little fun?

[ There's a slight noise like thin metal yeilding somewhat under weight, followed by a tap and a hollow sounding bang and multiple wires sliding against and past each other. This is all topped off with a series of muttered obscenities as Cat struggles to get her communicator up to face level, considering that she is currently somewhat lacking in room. There is a pause in which all that can be heard are a few short, shallow breaths. This has been quite a workout. She sounds frustrated and incredibly reluctant; help isn't something she usually asks for. ]

Right.

Anyone here want to tell me the secret to untangling wires? 'Cause it's a lot harder than it looks, and it looks pretty damn hard from afar anyway.

[ It isn't very much to go on, but this is partially because Cat doesn't really want to tell anyone that she has gone and trapped herself in a rather narrow ventilation shaft, and has become caught up in some random, unexpected sea of wires. She's not idiot, so she's hardly about to just yank the wires out of wherever it is they lead. Not that she thinks it'd do much harm in the long run, considering she's found one relatively small set of wires on an otherwise enormous ship, but she'd rather not risk it.

... she was bored, alright? Crawling through ventilation shafts seemed like a really good idea at the time. ]

[ Tommy's looking a little worse for wear right now, sitting up on one of the beds in the medbay and carefully angling the camera so it mostly just shows his face and not the stuff that's still healing up from his adventure the other night. There might be kids watching, okay?

He's also sounding a little extra terse. ]

In the medbay. Fine, but I'll probably be here another day. If you were wondering. Object fu-- [ cover your ears kids!! ] frigging lesson in why we should be sticking to a buddy system on this ship.

( [ private | tyke, dean, jenna, kirk, tillman, robb, alayne, petyr ] )

[ ooc: between being sore and embarrassed, tommy's not in a great mood, so responses may be briefer and grumpier than usual. feel free to hit him up on his log. ]