[001] - Video

[balancetheblood]

[ the video shows a brief shot of the sky, before blurring and showing the ground in the Garden Zone, and a pair of sneaker-clad feet. ]

[ muttered ] Oak and ash, this is worse than a damn cell phone. I can't even tell if it's on.

[ another blur, and there's more sky, and a bit of chin and straight brown hair ] Damn tetchy gadgety... I give up.

Comments

video;

[needs_answers]

Welcome to Sacrosanct. It's a space station, and you get all the wonderful gadgets here. Including a teleport which can bring you back from the dead.

Enjoy your stay!

... sorry, couldn't resist. Hi, I'm Shaun Mason.

video;

[needs_answers]

Oh, don't worry, trouble will find you. Just remember the part where dying doesn't stick, here. You teleport, because that's the only way to get between zones - unless and until I find another, at least - and if you die, you pop out of the last teleport you took. Kind of like a backup.

It makes the shit this place throws at you much less scary.

The downside? Apparently - and I've not witnessed that, myself - the teleports can change you, too. Fiddle with your age, mix up your species, things like that.

Like I said... welcome to Sacrosanct.

[Comes with the territory. Of course, Shaun will be one of the few people who gets excited at all of this...]

video;

[balancetheblood]

You're making this place sound less and less like my idea of a good time. No offense, but I don't really trust a bunch of computers to reassemble me from scratch if I die. I'd rather just, y'know. Not. Like a normal, sane person. Which you are very clearly not.

[ she's not trying to insult him or anything, just... pointing out a fact.

You know it's true, Shaun. ]

video;

[needs_answers]

[Shrugs.] Never claimed to be.

And hey, I didn't make this place, I didn't opt to come here, and I didn't choose who gets to come here. So don't blame me if you think it's a bad idea! I'm just pointing out the highlights. Kind of welcoming!

Besides, I'm not rushing into the whole experimentation with the dying thing, either, but that's because there's a pretty high chance that the body that dies will turn into a zombie if I do. Don't think that's a friendly thing to do to the station, do you?

video;

[balancetheblood]

The more I talk to you, the more I think this has to be a horrible dream induced by May's late night movie marathons and exhaustion.

I'm not that lucky, but I still can't shake the feeling.

video;

[needs_answers]

Well, that could be a workable theory, except I can tell from personal experience that getting shot here does hurt.

On the upside, apparently if you go back home, you remember nothing from this place. ... I think it's an upside, at least.

video;

[balancetheblood]

You mean I get to give May the whole "no, I'm not mad at you, idiot" speech all over again? Great!

[ /sarcasm ]

video;

[needs_answers]

... mad about what?

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ ...Smooth, Toby, just blurt your whole life story out in public to this guy why don't you? ]

Nothing, just... family stuff. [ Well, it did involve her aunt, in a vague sort of way... ]

video;

[needs_answers]

Riiight! Okay.

Well, in that case, I'd guess you might have to.

Could be worse. You could be going back to your sister dead for a year or... something.

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ This would be the point where Toby, if she were more tech savvy, would make this private. Even if the encryption were shit.

Sadly, she's Toby.

She does frown a little, though ]

Is your sister here?

video;

[needs_answers]

Oh, my sister's here. I'm good.

[What. It's not like he hasn't blogged about her before. Both here and... elsewhere. Although if it gets any more personal, he'll put encryption on it. It just doesn't occur to him for now.]

Point being, having to repeat a talk isn't really a big, now is it?

video;

[balancetheblood]

No, just... amusingly sappy. From her. [ Toby smiles a little and shakes her head - May will never make sense to her. ]

Still, I wouldn't be in any rush to find a way home, either, if I had a loved one here and didn't have them anymore back home.

[ No, she's not thinking about Cliff and Gilly and Connor right now. What makes you think that? Surely not that look on her face that says "I'm going to go be emo for a while after this conversation". ]

video;

[needs_answers]

[Shaun's eyes crinkle at the first part, and then he gives a slight headtilt.]

You've got it.

That said... Nah, never mind. Just be careful and watch the network. When something's happening, usually people tell everybody about them, you can avoid a lot of dangers that way. [Or rush to them, if your name is Shaun Mason.]

video;

[balancetheblood]

[ eyebrow of interest ]

No, finish what you were going to say. I'm all ears. [ and kind of curious, to be honest ]

video;

[needs_answers]

That said, this isn't such a bad place. But I'm sure you'll get a chance to decide for yourself.