My dear Tranquility, if you would be so kind as to indulge me in another question - quite different from my last one but no less genuine.

[Something milder than anger flashes in Ichabod's eyes. He tucks a strand of long hair behind his ear before continuing.]

Is there anyone who thinks that these trousers, these...so-called skinny jeans are appropriate for a grown man!

[He holds them up, giving them a shake. See how angry they make him!!!]

Why the ship would choose to gift them to me can be nothing more than a cruel jest, but if anyone should like to have them, for whatever reason, you may collect them from me at once.

[ cortana in the background, her little form trying to move things around in her tiny little room. there’s a moment where she looks at a torso, raises an eyebrow and tells someone to get talking. ]

You don’t have to show your face. [small arms crossing before making a movement with her fingers for him to turn the camera away from her and back to him.] You have a very nice torso, I’m sure they’ll get the idea.

[ and then the nice torso starts actually talking: ]

Fine.

[ he murmurs it quickly as he straightens the video out. his hands keeping the feed pointed towards his chest and the pieces of armor that they have settled into the room just beside him. the most important parts (the ones they can’t afford to lose). the armor is his best weapon--but it requires skilled hands, diagnostics, patch ups. but in the end, he’d rather keep what he has to himself. on the downlow. it’s easier this way, but at the same time, frustrating. his voice is a bit gruff. ]

I’m looking for a suit technician. Preferably one from between the stardates of 2517 and 2557. I can be flexible if necessary. Give or take a couple of decades… maybe a century or two.

[ the beat that follows confesses something along the lines of “i just wear the suit, i don’t do much else with it.” not to mention, he’s never actually taken it off of his own volition.

cortana’s voice springs in, clear as a bell and chief can be heard letting out a sigh (relief, maybe?) ]

We’re also looking for something that can easily move 900+ pounds of armor. Preferably in a cargo bay with lots of room for maneuvering, and high powered tools. Not that I don’t mind making the Master Chief put his back into it, but it would make it easier for the both of us if I didn’t spend a few centuries trying to get things bolted down.

[ it’s only with a sharp, small elbow to the rib that he closes: ]

Chief and Cortana. Out.

So, I just got this new prosthetic arm and I need to test it out... I figure a good place to start would be typing, to try and hone my motor skills. Would anyone be interested in a little back and forth? Doesn't have to be extensive or meaningful.

I seem to be able to hold a gun, which is my main concern, but I'd like help with that, too, if anyone's willing. Thanks.

This is Shepard, formerly Commander of the SSV Normandy. On the topic of signing up to do work, we've got huge unexplored sectors of this ship and that should be remedied. The ship changes at the jump [--or hell, mid-month--] but if we don't try to map it, we can't know if there's any kind of pattern to the changes. [And somewhere out there, there has to be a secondary control central for the ship seeing as no one was on the bridge when they took it.] As far as I see it: the more intel we can get, the better. And I don't know about the rest of you but I'm sick of either running blind or just waiting for something to happen.

I also realize I'm talking about dangerous work. I'm not here to tell anyone what to do, but if you're looking to help and want to volunteer then I'm all for building small scouting teams with mandatory check ins, written reports and posted communication lines. [With the unspoken message being: look, you're only cannon fodder if you don't write about it first.] I'm planning to go off the last known schematic we have of the ship. I've attached it to this message in case you haven't seen it as well as well as a short survey for anyone interested in volunteering. I'm looking to build at least five groups of three to four with a contact for each running and recording communications from a secure location.

Experience with field-ops is a bonus, but not a requirement. Weapons training is mandatory for anyone on a scouting team. If you don't have it, get it. If you don't know where to go, talk to Gunnery. For anyone looking to help with comms, technical skill is a bonus. Additionally if anyone out there has workable ideas about how to boost the network signal to deal with the ship's dead zones, I'll personally buy you a drink.

I'd appreciate cooperation with Security and Ops, but I won't argue with anyone who doesn't feel like backing this. Again: the is strictly on a volunteer basis only.

[As promised, attached to this message is a partial map of the ship and a short text document since everyone on the TQ loves surveys:]

Name:
Crew Number:
Previous Occupation:
Applicable Skills:

[It's the familiar backdrop of Medbay, hurrah! Simon looks--you guessed it--tired, and he sounds--you guessed it again--exasperated. Cleanup after something like what just happened in Engineering is never very good for the sleep schedule.]

Before anyone asks--Charlotte is in the care of Medbay. She's stable, but isn't in any shape to receive visitors or answer questions. Please don't come to any medical staff requesting to see her.

We'll get what information we can when she's ready to give it. That might not be for some time. Right now, passenger health is the priority.

[And she is, in fact, a passenger.]

If you were...forcibly ejected from Engineering and require any further medical attention, please don't hesitate to see a doctor or nurse. We'll do what we can to alleviate any lingering symptoms.

[Should you go to Medbay with the express purpose of seeing what's up with this Charlotte lady, you'll find she is, as Simon warned, in no shape to receive visitors, drifting in and out of consciousness and in an obviously unhinged state. As she's clearly a danger to herself and others, there's an SEC guard near or around her bedside 24/7.]

So, I've finally gotten access to this network... [ hmm... someone sounds wary and cautious, like he's afraid of hearing a response back. ] I have a lot of questions, and I'm seeing that I'm not alone in that regard. But for today, I just have one question that I need answered as soon as possible.

Can someone direct me to a doctor that can set me up with a new arm? I didn't really explore the medical bay too much, but I didn't see any available doctors while I was down there. [ and uh. med bays weren't the most comfortable place for him. ]