[ hello tranquility, it’s thomas on your screen. he’s sitting on what looks like the floor, his back up against the bed. there’s faint sounds of movement, someone shoving things around, but thomas doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to it. ]

I had some--we have some questions. No one has to answer on here, but I thought it’d be fastest if I just..asked. [ he looks up, over the camera at the other occupants of the room, maybe for prompting, or for permission, before he keeps speaking. ] I wanted to ask about two jumps back, the jump where people weren’t waking up. I didn’t wake up. [ there’s a pause, thomas rubbing his fingers along the edge of the lens restlessly as he picks his words. ] I had some other questions too. About the jump. How it works, when get in the pods in the first place, if anyone knows anything about it.

[ thomas leaves the statement hanging for a minute before taking a breath and plowing on. before he can get anything out, he’s interrupted when an off-screen voice finally speaks up, a little muffled by the distance.]

And what the shuck is up with that blue klunk? Why we gotta wake up standing?

[ (you can almost hear newt rolling his eyes from where he’s not visible--his very distinct voice pops up in the background. ] No one’s gonna know that, Min. [ the questions minho's asking aren’t important, more grievances than anything. minho isn’t enjoying his first months. when thomas gives him A Look he sighs but stays quiet.

thomas is obviously trying to show some restraint, not rush out every word, but the next bit comes out in a rush in spite of his best efforts. he's clearly decided to plow onwards before he can be interrupted again. ]

And I need to know if W.I.C.K.E.D. means anything to any of you. If anyone's ever heard of it before.

Don’t forget about the supplies, Tommy. [ newt appears in the frame then, way too close to it before he backs up to sit on the bed next to thomas. he's still a little banged up from his and minho’s adventure with the “grievers” before the jump, and holds up a finger in the feed. ] Back home, even before we knew the name proper, WICKED used to put their name on all of our supplies from the Box. Boxes of food, clothes, stuff for the Glade--all kinds of klunk. If this place really has them involved, they’re gonna have somethin’ like that to show for it, yeah?

If it has them involved. [ tommy says, more to newt and minho than to the audience at large. ] If anyone here has seen anything like that.

[finally the last of the mighty gladers comes into the shot as minho sits down in front of newt on the floor, back resting against his shins.] Or if you’ve got ideas about the people keeping us here. WICKED didn’t make it easy to find out much about them the first time. Could be upping their game, making us think we’re all safe. No reason to label things when we’ve met our Creators.

[ there’s a pause, thomas looking at newt before back into the lens. thomas hasn’t met anyone. not yet. he’s a step behind, but he’s not going to let that deter him. newt meets his gaze with eyebrows raised, saying something without a word, and reaches down to pat the top of minho’s head where they’re sitting. good plan, min. ]

We’re in room 008.009. If you wanna come talk to us in person.

[ thomas finishes, before disconnecting his advice. ]

( ooc: black is thomas, blue is newt, and red is minho )

[The video is shaky, obviously taken by someone who is both running and unfamiliar with how to use the device. But Minho doesn't care much about quality or the fact that the first half of the video is a blur accompanied by the found of running and heavy breathing.

He's running through the ship as fast as possible, trying to navigate a maze he's never been through before. At home he would know where to lose his pursuer, how to get enough of an advantage to be able to stop and breathe. Here he's at a disadvantage because of the unfamiliar ground, but at least he still has the stamina to run fast. Normally, the odds would be slightly in his favor.

Unfortunately, he's being chased by not one, but two Grievers.

When he comes up on a T in the corridor, he fakes right but goes left at the last second. The Grievers try to follow but end up tangling together in a horrific pile of mechanical limbs and sluggish flesh. It gives him a lead, at least for the moment.]

Still think this isn't WICKED?!

[Minho hasn't seen the PSA about boggarts, and even if he had, he wouldn't trust the people who posted it. He's new to the ship and has a grand total of two friends: Newt and Thomas. He trusts them, and they're the intended audience for this post, but it's hard to figure out filters when you're on the run.]

Boy, that was a close one! That gas formation was a clever trick.

Hello there.

I know I've already spoken to some of you—I had hoped to do this individually—but it appears we need to move things along more quickly than we'd realized. That ship of yours seems eager to shake us, and we simply can't let that happen.

My name is Lina Barnez. The rest of the team and I have been working on contacting the Tranquility for some time. Unfortunately, our tech isn't perfectly compatible with what you're running on. It hasn't been easy, but we're managing. I don't know how long we'll have.

We're here to help you, but in order to do that, we'll need you to help us. You've been through a lot on this ship: it's a miracle so many of you are still with us. We'd like to make sure you stay that way, but we can only do that if you're completely honest with us.

We know about the events on Strela, the Cyllene and Arima, as well as the Scylla. What happened to those poor people was not your fault, and you have my word that we have no plans to hold you responsible for those events.

But we need to work together to make sure it doesn't happen again. The more you tell us about what's been going on aboard the Tranquility, the more we can do.

[ NOTE: All conversations will be cut off before too long by the engines suddenly powering back up, and the jump alarm sounding to alert characters to proceed to medbay immediately. ]

[ the transmission comes on to reveal a teenager with blonde hair, leaning forward a little too close into the video before he pulls back, muttering a low-- ] Bloody hell. [ before he actually goes to address the network at large. ]

Sorry bout being a proper greenie bout this, but--my name's Newt. Would rather go by a name than a number. [ even if it's not his real name, but. newt at least sounds friendly, if a little exasperated by his entire situation--then again, what else is new? he still offers the camera a little bit of a smile, brown eyes twinkling. ] I just jumped through a flat trans and ended up in bloody space. I guess this place ain't WICKED--nobody seems to know a shucking thing about it, 'sides me, so I guess I just had a question for you. Two, actually.

First off-- [ newt holds up a finger ] Do any of you live anything like this back home? And I don't mean in a bloody spaceship, I mean like--like life's some kinda trial, buncha different things gettin thrown at you for you to try and live through. [ his lips purse for a second, a little resigned. ] I was so sure this piece-of-klunk situation was just another bloody WICKED experiment... I'm still not sure if it isn't.

[ the second of his points is a little less dark, and he puts up two fingers before dropping them, making a little bit of a face; one eye squints up, almost like he's exasperated, if affectionately so. ] Second, for the love of everything good and shucky, have you seen my friend Tommy? Goes by Thomas, I guess. Brown hair, 'bout yay high, [ he gestures at his shoulder ] probably runnin around askin a lot of questions and stickin his nose into things he shouldn't be.

Thanks proper. [ he waves, then there's a little fidgeting before the feed finally goes out. ]