VIDEO ▒ 001 ▒ OPEN BROADCAST ░▒▓█▛▟▛▙▚▞▗ ▘

[tranquiliorem]

[ There's small click as the feed begins transmitting. Nothing shows up except staticky black, but there are muffled noises in the background that faintly resolve themselves into hurried words-two voices, one male, one female, pitched low. ]

-id this-

-ell is goin-

[ . . . ]

-et’s just … over with.

[ There’s a noise that might either be a

Comments

Video, either

[zouichi]

So you were just awakened recently?

Where is this ship headed? What is its purpose? Will we be able to get off at this Tansei Station? What, exactly, is a "jump"? Are these... identification numbers permanent?

...Finally, what kind of tasks are you expecting us to perform?

[tranquiliorem]

[in no particular order:]

The Tranquility was a colony ship headed for the Delta Andromedae system.

The numbers aren't permanent, per se, but they will be present as long as you're on the ship.

And no, no one's getting off the ship at Tansei. It's a refueling stop only.

[zouichi]

I'm not familiar with Delta Andromedae. You say that you don't know how we got here... in that case, do you also not know how to get us back? Is your civilization Bleed-capable?

[tranquiliorem]

Bleed-capable? You're going to have to clarify.

And we're working on a way to get you back, but it may take some time.

[audio] either

[babbletechno]

Is the Tranquility sentient or have an AI?

[Augh. He's heard of rogue AIs before and sentient ships that went nuts. It never ends well. For the first time, he's more than just vaguely worried. Please just be technical difficulties. Please just be technical difficulties.]

That would explain why the comms are acting weird.

[ video ]

[archimedeia]

[ Resnik rubs a finger over her mouth. ] The ship doesn't have an AI, but it'll respond to vocal commands.

The comms seem to be acting just fine on our end. What's your issue?

[ video ]

[babbletechno]

[relief]

Oh, they're functioning fine. That wasn't what I was talking about. The comms aren't...communicating. They're usually talkative enough if you're on their frequency, but these ones...

I've met enemy communications equipment more open than these. It's odd.

[make sense of that, Resnik]

[ video ]

[archimedeia]

[ ... ]

You can communicate with the communicators?

[ what the actual fuck ]

( video )( ward )

[flares]

[ Oh god, where to begin. There are so many questions, Capa is silent for a long stretch, just trying to decide where to start. ]

Captain Ward. Is it possible to get a little clarification as to what you mean by: 'pulling our weight around here'? There are a lot of civilians in the mix.

-and kids.

[video | capa]

[tranquiliorem]

[sigh] We know.

If you can help, it's really in your best interest to do so.

... the children are obviously exempt.

[there are only two of them, and this is a huge ship. help?]

[video | ward AND OR resnik]

[flares]

So far I've been able to locate two other members of my crew. That gives you an engineer, a botanist and an astrophysicist.

We're trained and acclimated to space travel, but the native tech on the ship might be a little beyond our grasp. Is there any salvageable documentation on ship's systems to get us up to speed?

[ Capa chews on his lip for a moment, then offers: ]

As for the kids. You're probably going to want somebody to keep an eye on them, Captain.

( video )

[archimedeia]

We have some hardcopies you can take a look at. Mostly manuals for some of the tech, but that's all you'll need to start out with.

-And I'll need help in engineering. Which of your crew is which profession?

[ Completely bypassing the kids comment. That's on you, Ward. ]

[Video, either]

[hagyjbeken]

[Yeeeeah, most of that went right over her head and it's pretty obvious. She's just. Sort of staring at the screen with a blank expression before actually saying anything.]

So could you please put that in terms for those of us who have no experience with this technology? Excuse me for not understanding a word of that. And, while we're at it, are you affiliated with a particular country or is this some sort of... odd conglomeration?

[video] /threadjack

[wiener_bonbons]

[...Oh god. Last thing anyone should be doing is being rude to people that they have no idea how much power they have over them. Uh. Looking incredbily frazzled right now.]

Elizaveta please calm down, I know it's difficult but if you lash out it will only make things worse. [Clears his throat; attention is now hereby directed at the authorities.] I... however would like to second this inquiry about being affiliated with anyone. I'd... also like to ask if there are medical services available. Eliza, didn't you say you were in the middle of battle when you woke up here...?

[Video] hdu <3

[hagyjbeken]

[But she wasn't even meaning to be rude, if she was! D:]

I wasn't trying to be rude, Roderich. I was merely asking a simple question, that's all. But ah, yes, I was in the middle of a battle when I got here. Though I don't think there's any reason to worry about me, really.

[video]

[tranquiliorem]

[oh sweetheart. honey. they haven't had countries since everyone left earth.]

You're on a very large spaceship that can travel faster-than-light. [the most deadpan face of all.]

video; resnik (i think)

[in_three]

[Jim watches this particular feed critically. so these are their fearless leaders, are they? and, of course, they have no idea what's going on either. it's possible that they're lying, but for how unimpressed they look, he thinks this is unlikely. so if they really don't know what's going on, and data is going missing... it doesn't look good.

great.

he clicks on the video.]

Kirk here.

What's this spacetime technology you're using to jump?

video;

[archimedeia]

[ Oh, perfect. She'd known this question would crop up pretty early on, but it doesn't make answering it any less of a chore. ]

It's called a jump drive. Clarke's drive, if you want to get technical. Folds space and time around it in order to move from one point in the universe to another.

Basically, it creates wormholes.

[ Explaining the physics of the thing isn't going to be a piece of cake, so she's keeping it basic for now. ]

video;

[in_three]

[oh god no why why would you even this is a BAD IDEA. his mouth purses.]

Your ship creates singularities to jump through space and time to get around not only the galaxy, but the universe? [it's clear he doesn't like the sound of this at all.] Did you guys stop to think about the ramifications of that?

video;

[archimedeia]

You think we came up with this? [ Bish, please. ]

I'm sure the scientists back on Alexandria who put this thing together thought it through, with every possible outcome in mind, but it's not my concern. My concern is keeping this ship running.