[ There's a cowboy on the ship.

Well, cowboy isn't an accurate term – Jake Lonergan doesn't herd cows for a living. In fact, he used to rob people for a living, but he only knows that through seeing his face on a wanted poster and people saying they know him and little fragments of memories. Either way, “outlaw” is a better technical fit than “cowboy”… but he’ll take cowboy if he has to, if it means not explaining that he’s an outlaw.

Either way, he’s on the ship, and in front of him is a shot of whiskey – and next to it, a newly opened bottle of whiskey. His hat’s down low and he doesn't say anything for a moment before his head lifts a little, just enough for bright blue eyes to peer out at the camera and for him to speak, voice low and somehow dusty. ]

Free shot to the first person who can tell me somethin' interesting or useful that wasn't in all that reading.

[ There's a pause as a border collie noses its head up and Jake scratches it behind the ears. ] Nathan, your definition of interesting doesn't necessarily count.

Good evening, Tranquility. My name is Nathan Petrelli, and prior to my arrival on the ship three jumps ago I was a New York Senator. Now I know what you're thinking, and you're right, I'm not the Senator of anything here. That's the first thing you've gotta know about this place; don't matter what you were at home, whether you were a leader, a villain, a scientist, student or salesman, cause now we're all in this together the only thing that matters any more is what we can do for each other. We gotta work together and we gotta support each other, protect each other.

Now me, I work in communications despite not knowing a damn thing about it, and I moonlight as a flight operator, seeing as Hotspur had the decency to show me how to handle the shuttles here before he died. We still need to fix up more of them, so consider this a call out to you engineer types. Need a hobby, something to do in your off time? Well we need your know-how getting these things flight-ready.

Some of you are gonna feel lost. This isn't a city, it's a ship; it runs by ship's rules, ship's laws, and the most important thing to remember when you're at sea is that the ship itself is what is keeping you alive. Outside of these walls there's a vaccuum just waiting to suck you all out and explode your heads, and while a case of cabin fever is expected, if you let it get out of hand you endanger all of us. Don't go to the war with the goddamn ship, got it? In the Navy you'd be taken off duty and tranquilized for pulling that kind of crap.

I'm guessing some of you don't think you can be of any use around here cause you've not fallen outta some cable network Sci-Fi. Maybe you're just a teenager, and all this 'war' talk and hacking stuff sounds like fun, but if you want to get involved in the crew, if you wanna really help out, then you should get involved, maybe take a crash course in one of the professions we got on board. We've got a handful of doctors and next to no nursing staff, a security team that's full of detectives who only really care when you're already dead, a garden which could be expected to provide both food and medicine for us for a while yet, but which we're having trouble finding green fingers to tend, next to no flight officers--the list goes on.

I know what you're thinking: what can I do; I haven't even graduated high school, I can't fly a shuttle, wrap a chemical burn, fix a computer.  But there's already people younger and more inexperienced than you doing just that, and if you don't give it a shot then you can expect only one thing for sure--that the opposite wall from your bunk is gonna get pretty boring real fast.

I'm looking for senior staff, experienced crew members who're willing to open themselves up to a group of apprentices each month, give them a crash course in whatever, expand on their natural skills. There's no reward, short of the chance to fill in where your own sections of the ship are short handed, just like I can't offer any of the students any advantage to taking a post short of the opportunity to learn new skills and not get bored senseless. Fact remains that we need this just to survive, nevermind find a way home, and I want to encourage all of you to give it a shot.

So here's how it's gonna work; this post is just to get people talking and try and work out how many people are interested and what sorta placements there's gonna be available. Try and think about whether you have the time to train someone in your field, and what number of students you can stand to take. Soon as we straighten things out, I'll make another post to get everyone reporting to the right places. Simple right? That's the plan, anyway.

Ah, and one more thing before I sign off. Chapel's open to all faiths tomorrow morning in the oxygen garden, same as it is every Sunday at 10am. Anyone is welcome to attend.

[ OOC: No logs go up for the chapel, but tomorrow there will be some brief words said about those lost during the last Jump, and Nathan might even try to be nice about Isaac. You're welcome to assume your character attends this Sunday as any other. ]

[ This time, Erik chooses to don the helmet, which he hasn't worn since his first few weeks aboard the Tranquility, preferring to leave it at his side while his paranoia was temporarily allayed. Unfortunately, those particular events seemed to have flared up his need to renew his helmet use, more so thanks to a series of seemingly unrelated events, starting with Edgeworth's survey, and rounding it out with Tony's latest post. It's not a particular frightening stance, given that Erik is still brooding around in one of the libraries where he's making this broadcast, pacing back and forth as he considers the next move to make, hands behind his back. ]

There's been enough announcements over threats and supposed attempts at cooperation. While I find flaws to that philosophy, [ Sorry, Charles. ] it seems no matter what, we will constantly be tested while we're imprisoned.

[ Because as comforting as the quarters and the kitchens can be, Erik's near constant restlessness brought back distinct memories of a prison, one he was never inclined to ignore. ]

There's already been another death, and it goes without saying, some sort of unity is preferred. However, holding hands gets one nowhere. [ Sorry, Eridan. ] Cooperation is one thing, but a more active stance is necessary to prevent any further casualties or threats.

[ Erik pauses in midstep for a moment, turning his attention back to the camera. ]

Sitting passively by solves nothing. Actions are needed. The best defense here is in the form of an even better offense.

We can't escape one by one; but we can as a whole. I'll extend my hand as an offer of preparation. We need to be prepared; we need to be ready. [ Pause for dramatic effect. ] The question is, are you?

( Filtered; Resnik & Ward | Encrypted, 90% )

( Filtered; CR AU Charles | Encrypted, 90% )

[there comes a point in every young boy's life where frustrations grow too strong and all you want to do is hit things. or fuck. this is what happens when you cut yourself off from all possible outlets and are left stewing in your own juices for too long. enjoy, ataraxion.]

the next jump is this week, and we've just got to trust that those pods are safe now? yeah, we have that cure, but who the fuck knows if it's still going to work if shit happens again. don't know about you guys, but i think i'll pass on the sickness this time round

then we've got :) running around trying to cause shit. and then it turns around and helps?

t(-_-t)

[there's a few minutes wait before the entry is updated again.]

this whole thing is bullshit

[ It wasn't hard to figure out; the name of the poem as the password, then the message written in Morse code. Deciphered, a list. Glancing over it, there's not a single person listed that he knows or particularly cares for -- either he simply hasn't bothered to find out who they are, or they're of no interest to him -- but, near the bottom, a series of numbers matches that on the arm of one Peter Petrelli.

It's possible that's he's already aware, but just in case he isn't: ]

( private: peter )

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.

( Not an IC cut - trigger warnings for mentions of depression and suicide, and Nathan is not delicate )