[ in contrast to the first time he'd addressed the network, aramis manages to keep the camera level from the start this time. he clears his throat, taking off his hat — it's all done deliberately, for effect, and the amused glint in his eyes underlines that. ]

It has come to my attention — [ a beat. ] that while my friend Porthos and I had the good grace to introduce ourselves to the ship at large, [ more like threaten everyone aboard ] not everyone is so courteous.

[ he holds up a piece of paper. on it is a drawing of athos, perhaps not quite as well done as the drawing linked to here but certainly a passable likeness. ]

This is Athos, a fellow musketeer. He enjoys wine, justice, and brooding. If you run into him, do say hello. He will be sure to appreciate it.

[ he manages to keep a straight face through all of it, but when he reaches for the camera to turn it off, the corners of his mouth are trembling upwards. ]



[ credit goes to illustrate-her ]

Ovid once said, sunt superis sua iura.

[ the gods have their own rules. ]

And so does this ship - and they are always changing.

[ a pause and a smile. ]

My skill with a blade is pitiful at best. One cannot name me a warrior or a knight.

[ some would name her a queen. ]

I find it most useful to fight against armed with gioia di vivere! Such a small battle but I cannot say I have ever lost it.

[When the feed opens, Taylor isn't in the SEC offices. She's in one of the holodecks, recognisable from the walls behind her.]

My name's Tyke, I'm head of Security here. Petrelli's already told you all how thin on the ground the departments are getting, so I won't repeat - you've got any combat or policing experience, you want in the Security department, contact me or Edgeworth for recruitment.

Thing is we're thin on the ground all the way. Thirty-three floors housing approximately two-hundred bodies. We're scattered. It makes us vulnerable. Blind spots for this place to use when it wants to fuck with us.

[Like randomly luring people out into the dark. That had been too easy, even with so many of the contacting other people.]

We're moving to consolidate population before the next jump. Bottom ten floors, more than enough room for everyone. Find an empty room, lock it to your nanites, it's yours. You need a hand moving your shit, my team'll help. This is gonna take the strain off Agriculture's supply runs, our security patrols, and let everyone look out for each other. It'll keep us stronger. Safer.

[She sounds determined, steady about it. This is what they need to do. Should have done months ago, when Jenna had first suggested it. Regrets on that aren't going to help, though, and she looks away, tips her head slightly.]

Meantime, figured some of us might wanna let out some frustrations. [There's a very faint smile in the corner of her mouth, and it fades quickly.] Fight club, Holodeck 3. Same rules as always: no weapons, hand-to-hand only, no abilities unless agreed upon by both fighters. Someone taps out or goes unconscious, fight is over. Spectators welcome.

[[ooc: accompanying mingle/fight log over here! ]]

[[ETA: and a spreadsheet for claiming a new room! You can't unclaim your original room and please be reasonable with how many you take!]]

I am the shieldmaiden Lagertha. I was among those who vanished into the corridors just before the nightmare began.

[ to put it nicely. ] There was no sign of my son during my wanderings.

For almost two months, several of you have told me that he isn't here. Or that giving up is the best thing to do. I never will.

[ too bad. the world has jaded her in a million ways and one. but bjorn is all she has left. without him, she has nothing. that just is not acceptable to her. it's bull-headed of her, but it isn't as though she cares. ]

However; I understand that rushing off blindly without a plan is hardly the wisest plan ever made. So, while I form one, I'd like to spar with as many of you as possible. To build up my strength.

[ if she doesn't, she'll go mad. ] Win or lose, there's still a pint or two of ale in it for you if you'd like to try besting me.

[Ianto looks fairly uncomfortable when he comes on screen. He hasn't addressed the network in a long time, and there are still people who aren't on great terms with him after the fiasco on Arima. Still, this needs to be said.]

Some of you know me, some of you don't. My name is Ianto Jones, and I've been here since the first jump. Back in the beginning, there was a whole group of us who were very seriously dedicated to unlocking the mystery of this place, and I think it's fair to say that we came a good distance. Most of the others are gone now, but we put together a guide that I kept updated for a long time after the organization was disbanded. After a while, though... Well, I suppose like I felt people weren't reading it any more. But we've lost quite a few of the old hats and gained a lot of new faces, and what used to be fairly common knowledge has been lost.

I've been convinced to revive the guide, but in the meantime, one of the things many of you may be unaware of is the subnetwork, buried directly beneath the one we're using here, and how it's been used before. Smiley, the entity you saw leave us that passage before the rescue mission, has given us nuggets of information on that subnetwork before. He left us another one, and we cracked it just a few minutes ago.

The contents of the message are as follows:
( SPOILERS if you're still trying to solve the tumblrs! )

Y'know, it really fuckin' sucks to be homesick. I can handle the space craziness 'n all, and the people here are pretty nice, but. Shit. I want to go home, already. I miss my mom, I miss my dad, I miss Pollo, I miss-

[Helios. The oldest of the Crius triplets, the one that couldn't stand the sight of his own family anymore and ran away to use the dark crafts for his own benefit.]

... What does that mean for you when the golden child turns out to be the black sheep of the family? Huh? Must suck to be a parent then.

[Must suck to be stuck with the other two kids you never had much hope for, too.]

How many of you have kids, anyway? I'm guessing none of 'em are stuck in this shithole. Don't look like it's bringing in entire families or whatever.

[... Which in turn, makes him wonder:]

Wait. Shit. Are there families here? Like - did anyone meet, get married 'n have kids? Then they'd be space babies. Holy fucking shit. Has that actually happened?

Has anyone seen an ice dragon?

[ musing, seemingly to herself, atop her bed. nymeria's head and forepaws are pillowed on arya's thighs and belly. she brushes the sleeping direwolf's neck. ]

There’s a story of a girl who was born during winter. The cold was so terrible it stole into the house and past the great fire her father had built and it crept under the blankets piled high on the birthing bed. It killed her mother, but not her. She was born blue and cold but alive and winter was inside her.

[ children of winter. a fairy story. but arya is a northern girl — no, a woman, now — and though she has not seen winter yet, it lives in her bones. ]

She loved everything about winter. The cold and the grey skies. Making enormous snow castles that turned to hardest ice overnight and playing with the ice lizards that swarmed out of the snow, but she loved nothing half as much as she did the ice dragon.

It came to her when she was very young. She could pet it without burning her hands from the cold. And one day, she got to ride it.

She didn't tell anyone, though. No one had ever tamed an ice dragon, you see. Anyone who'd gone close would be found the next day a block of ice. And it was her secret anyway.

One day, when summer had come and winter was still a long ways away, other dragons, fire breathing ones, came with their riders. She hid and she thought she would die but her ice dragon came to her even though it was summer and ice dragons never come in summer. Even though she wanted to leave and be with her ice dragon in a place where it's always winter, she couldn't leave her family to die. And the ice dragon loved her so much it stayed and battled the other dragons and their riders and it froze them all and it won — but its wings were melted and it was felled.

[ arya takes her time running her fingers through her wolf's long warm fur. nymeria continues to nap, and arya finishes her story. ]

She ran inside the house and freed her family, but when she went back outside, where her ice dragon had been was only a pond of always cold water. She saved her family, but no one believed her. No one had ever tamed an ice dragon, after all.

It's only a story, [ she continues, her tone as even as it had been through the narrative, ] but I always hear of weird animals in other places. Mayhaps someone knows of one like it. The only true ice dragon we have is a bunch of stars: follow the tail and you'll go south but if you chase its blue eye, you'll find north.

[ find home, she means. but there is no ice dragon here either. perhaps it is only meant to live inside the stories old nan spoke in winterfell. ]

[ Though Éowyn has gotten used to the device over the past few months, she still takes a moment to adjust the camera once it is connected, shifting away and tilting his head politely once she has done so. ]

A good day to all. Months have been since I have arrived here, yet this is the first time I address the ship as a whole. So I introduce myself: my name is Éowyn, I hope to find you all well.

[ Now onto the point of her video. ]

I have recently joined the Security team. As such I wish to practice further, so that my skills will not fall into disuse. For this purpose, I seek any and all people who would be interested in sparring with swords. [ A moment before she adds. ] Equally, if anyone who should like to be taught, I will gladly spare what little knowledge I do have.

That said, I also ask if anyone here should be so willing about teaching me about... firearms, I believe that is the term. I have never before heard of them, so I would ask for your patience as I learn.

Thank you all ever so much for your time. [ She smiles briefly, then adds as a last note. ] Oh, La-- I mean, Buffy, I should like to speak to you when you have the time.

[ And with that, she ends the feed. ]