[ By the time Blake gets to writing everything up, it's early in the morning on the 7th, some time around 0700. He doesn't particularly enjoy addressing the network, especially not like this, but the information is definitely something that needs to be shared. ]

At approximately 0415 this morning, and according to witness reports, the individual identified as Antti Basher escaped medical quarantine and proceeded toward the main shuttle bay. At this time, it is believe that Basher made contact with Marcus Rothschild and Odessa Knutson. Basher later stated that their involvement was voluntary, but not premeditated.

The above mentioned individuals arrived at the main shuttle bay at 0421 and proceeded to power up a flight-capable shuttle at 432 by bypassing its main security protocols. Due to the small number of Flight Crew Members in attendance, the unsanctioned presence elicited immediate intervention.

Antti Basher was successfully apprehended in the Control Office by Flight Trainee John Blake, but not before accessing the airlock controls. At 0437 the shutter bay doors were opened without the appropriate warning protocols and authorization. This facilitated the escape of Odessa Knutson who currently remains at large. During this time, several members of the Flight Crew, Marcus Rothschild, and at least one unidentified individual were subjected to unsafe conditions caused by decompression.

At 0445 atmosphere reached and maintained satisfactory levels. The Flight Crew Members then discovered the body of the deceased Marcus Rothschild, the apparent cause of death cited as asphyxiation.

The circumstances surrounding Rothschild's death are currently under investigation.

For a information on obtaining a full report of this incident, please contact John Blake or Hoban Washburne.

[ If it sounds like a police report, well, there's a reason for that. ]

[England clears his throat. This is his first video broadcast across the network, and he wants to avoid an embarrassing situation like his mistaking the text function for a telegram the first time.]

Right. Yes. This feels oddly informal but if that's what's done--

--I'll be brief and to the point: I've got two questions.

First, could anyone from Earth who's lived through the twentieth century tell me of its history? Ah, the version of Earth where the British Empire exists. I would like to know how the world changes in the next hundred years. It doesn't matter when or where you're from, I'm just very interested.

My second question is addressed to the users of magic on board the Tranquility. Sorcerers, witches, wizards, healers, mages; whatever you are, how does magic work in your world? What sort of spells do you use? Runes? Talismans? Perhaps a proxy via a familiar or even technology? I've been practicing magic for as long as I've been alive--that's over fifteen hundred years--but one can never learn too much.

--Ah, I'm rambling. Excuse me... [He straightens his shoulders, tilting his nose up to be as dignified as possible.]

At any rate, I've one more announcement: I'm willing to trade tealeaves for sewing supplies, or anything else. Especially alcohol.

[Arthur pauses, not sure how to end the feed, but he just decides on something simple.]

Thank you.




[*edit/ooc: I'm aware of what he's asking. Bring on the temporal spoilers.]

[ At first there's no one visible on the feed at all - just a bad shakycam-esque view of a bar, the hand holding the device wavering badly. Empty or half-empty bottles are littered on the bar, and a photograph is propped up carefully against one of the empties. Eventually, the device's owner manages to figure it out, the camera view changing to show his face.

It's a wonder that the man is able to operate the comm device at all. He’s a mess; though he’s wearing the standard crew jumper, his hair is mussed and unwashed, and there are dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. More than that, though, is the fact that he's dead drunk - and he's clearly not a happy drunk. He's a big man, muscular, and the lines of his body are tense and hard, his expression just this side of angry.

This is not someone you want to meet in a dark alley, inebriated or no.

He focuses as best he can on the screen, scowling. It's difficult to operate, the tiny icons hard to pinpoint with his fingers. (He may have accidentally sent a few private and totally incomprehensible messages before managing to access the main network. Sorry about that.) ]

Gotta find her.

[ Right, the network...Booker's still not 100% sure about this thing. There's no wires hooked up to it, nothing to show how it's connected to anything at all, but hey, he's seen stranger stuff in the past week.

Might as well give it a shot. ]

Looking for a girl.

[ He smiles suddenly, all teeth and glittering eyes, and then laughs, dark and bitter. ]

Not gonna find her, though. She ain't here. She's back in the city, with him.

[ His face twists into an ugly expression, and he tightens his hand on his current bottle, lifting it to down half of it in one go. ]

But what the hell - I'm here, ain't I? Can't do much else but ask. So here's the deal. Anyone here knows where to find Elizabeth Comstock, you let me know.

I'll make it worth your while.

[When the feed begins, Luke is in some part of the Engineering department at a work bench. It's zoomed in too closely to see the table in front of him, but he's surrounded by bins of spare parts and it looks like he might have been building things.]

Hello, Tranquility. This is Luke Skywalker with some updates on the ESD project I've been working on for the past few months.

To refresh your memories, I created an IV device that's worn inside the stasis pods and administers drugs to the wearer right before being released. It minimizes the effects of jump illness and the Engineering sickness, if anyone is around who's still going through that like I am. I call it the ESD, the Engineering Sickness Device for that reason.

[He holds up the device itself to the camera. It's fairly small and simple, made up primarily of a pump and a timer attached to a tiny vial, and dangling from it is a short strap.]

Here it is. I went into detail about it a couple months ago but you can get a pretty good idea of how it works from here. I've been testing it on myself and the design works great. I usually have a mixture of painkillers and anti-nausea drugs and that typically takes care of the worst of it for me.

[Luke tilts his head to examine the device and then sets it back down on the table.]

The biggest problem I had was timing it so that it would go off about a half hour before we were released from the pods, but I found a solution to that, something I'll talk about in a minute.

First, [he holds up a finger] I'd like to ask for volunteers to continue testing it. As far as I can tell, it's a pretty low-risk test. The medical staff will set it up for you and they're responsible for the drugs and needles of course. Oh, and no one can tamper with it while you're out because it'll be inside the pod with you during the jump.

Pretty much your biggest risk is reactions you might have to the drugs, so it's probably a good idea to make sure the med staff give you something that you know you can tolerate. It'll be up to them to help you come up with a good cocktail that'll be safe for you and stave off whatever nasty jump side-effects you'd like to get rid of.

Primarily I'd just like to know of any problems other people might have with my design, like things not fitting right, stuff like that, before I mass produce them.

Anyway, let me know if you'd like to volunteer to try it out.

[Luke clears his throat and shifts in his seat, preparing to move onto another topic.]

Now, I mentioned that I found a way to time the ESDs perfectly. In other words, the lengths of the jumps. They're different every time so that proved to be a major problem. This is something that I know several people have been working on for a while so I thought it'd be helpful to share what I discovered.

Back several months ago when we had that nanite problem that almost killed everyone, we found a room, a sort of status room, where the stasis pod systems are managed. Some of the tech in there let me sync up the timers perfectly with the control equipment. I wanted to test it first to make sure.

I set the timer on my ESD to that exact time minus thirty minutes during the last jump and it worked! It administered the drugs exactly when I needed it to and I woke up feeling pretty good. Well, relatively speaking.

I'm going to keep using that status room to set our ESDs, but I'm sure someone else can find another use for it. I wouldn't go messing around with stuff in there too much, but we might be able to use it to our advantage, maybe figure out a little more about jump times and how they're determined.

[Luke clasps his hands in front of him.]

Alright, uh... ask questions, volunteers are appreciated, etcetera. I'll be around here in the Engineering department for a while. I'm going to try to get one or two more ESDs built before I head to bed.

[He reaches towards the camera and then the feed cuts out.]

((OOC: The bit about the status management room containing equipment needed to sync with jumps comes directly from the mods. I'll be corresponding with them for the information needed to answer character questions about it, or at least, things that Luke would know.))

[This is Death, this is Death with the skull face/body, creepy eyes, black robe and if you look off to the side you can probably see a scythe. He does however have a cat sitting on his shoulder like it's a totally comfortable place to hang out. It might look a bit weird is what I'm saying. Death however speaks up.]


AH, HELLO.

I HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE ARE MORE THEN A FEW PEOPLE WITH CATS ON BOARD THIS SHIP.

[The cat on his shoulder does not seemed freaked out by this skeleton at all, in fact it may be purring.]

AND I WAS THINKING THAT AT SOME TIME IN THE FUTURE WE COULD GATHER TOGETHER AND PERHAPS LET THEM MEET. ....AND MEET EACH OTHER AS WELL. THE GARDENS MIGHT BE A NICE PLACE.

WE COULD HAVE TEA. OR PERHAPS SOME OTHER TYPE OF FOOD OR DRINK.


[Come have tea with Death....and his cat. Please?]

[When she'd gone from the gardens to try to surprise Leia, the last she she'd been expecting it to run into someone. Especially someone who was supposed to be dead, she can remember his death and the smell of fires burning around them on Arima. She can remember Legolas' broken leg and the nightmares he'd given to his prisoners and more.

Panic had swelled in her chest and she felt like she forgot how to breathe as she looked up at him and he grabbed her. In another time and place, she apparently finds the courage to rival him but not here and not now. She freezes and then struggles only to be rewarded with a backhand.

It was enough to snap her into action and she did all she could. She sang, one of Daeron's songs but she infused what she could of her own power into it and ran, hoping it would hold him back.

She ran back to the gardens and there she fumbles with her communicator. Her hands are shaking and her face is pale except for a slowly forming bruise under her right eye.]

M-Morgoth-

I saw Morgoth in the halls. [Even knowing Thranduil had cut his head off, somehow he's there.]