Ingress Room, OTA

[manyvoiced]

Who: Breq & Anyone
When: Jan 01-Jan 07 (or so)
Where: Ingress Room
What: Breq tries earnestly to do her job
Warnings: n/a


[The Ingress. Massive, cosmically powerful, broken.

That’s everything that Breq knows about it, and yet somehow she’d been handed the job of Ingress Supervisor. Whatever that entailed. It’s not the first time in her life she’d had a job she wasn’t wholly qualified or familiar with. During her first year of living as a human, there were a lot of off jobs she’d taken that certainly weren’t in her normal skillset.

But this was different.

Entering the room that housed the giant machine, all gleaming metal, the gently thrumming of smoothly working machinery, the engines of ship whirring in the background...she almost feels at home. Something about this space reminds her own engine. Or rather, Justice of Toren’s engine, back when she’d still been Justice of Toren and not just Breq.

Over the course of the next week or so, Breq will spend a good deal of time in the Ingress room, familiarizing herself with the space, examining the computers, and trying to glean some understanding from them. In between that she’ll be intermittently running maintenance checks on the equipment as best she can, making sure things look the way they are supposed to to the best of her knowledge. She’ll often be found bent over some precarious piece of the equipment or half underneath some console, fastidiously cleaning the places that are most often ignored.

No matter when you come in, she’ll undoubtedly being singing (and not all that well) or humming to herself.]



(OOC note: Feel free to come in at anytime and assume Breq is doing whatever works best for you! If you’d like a specific starter or want to do something particular, feel free to hit me up!)

Comments

Jan. 3rd?

[wedealwithit]

[Danny had come back to the source, generally speaking. He was very curious about how something like this might work, how something like this could take him from his own world, driving a car with Frances in the passenger seat, and deposit him onto a giant ship plummeting through outer space.

But, his curiosity was limited to that of someone who had no knowledge of how the Ingress would work. Alex would know, maybe, but Alex isn't here, Alex isn't anywhere that Danny can go.]

You've a pretty voice.

[His voice is light, but loud enough so that she can pinpoint exactly where he is, near the door. Danny doesn't want to startle her.]

Do you run this machine?

[manyvoiced]

[Breq glances over her shoulder at the sound of the voice, pausing in both her singing and polishing of one of the monitors, taking extra care of the corners and underneath the front of it. Her expression is one of mild curiosity.]

Kind of you to say so. [Even if she was quite certain it wasn't true.] They've put me in charge of supervising this area, but I can't say I know much about the machine itself. I just like things to be orderly.

[wedealwithit]

Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

[Danny tosses his head, smoothing his unruly hair down a bit, a nervous habit. He's never seen anything quite like the Ingress, and it's only been a few days since he's come through, so he really remembers how ill he'd felt, a form of motion sickness surely, when he'd arrived.]

Why can't we go back? If we came through, shouldn't we be able to walk right out again?

[manyvoiced]

Not necessarily.

[She cranes her neck, looking at some of the glimmering machinery. It's impressive, she has to admit.]

I'm told there might be something wrong with the machine. And even still...some doors only open one way.

[wedealwithit]

I don't understand. Even the most complicated stuff's simple underneath. There's gotta be someone who'd know how to fix it.

[He takes a step into the room, shaking his head. He's not making sense, it's not what he means. Obviously this machine is extraordinary, complex, beyond anything he could ever understand, but it was still created, someone made it.]

Someone somewhere built this, um, and it's on this ship, other places, too. Why would they put it everywhere if you could only go through and not back?

[It's all speculation, he doesn't really know.]

If it could do it once, it could do it again, couldn't it?

[manyvoiced]

Some things only happen once in a million tries.

[She fixes him with a small smile. She was really only arguing semantics. It was very probable that these machines were meant to be two way doors. Although you really couldn't say...least of all anything built by aliens, who might think differently or have entirely different means of existence that made something like a two-way door absurd.]

If not this, we'll find some other way.

[wedealwithit]

Oh, okay, yeah. There's some pretty smart people on this ship, someone should be able to do somethin'.

[Danny had no idea, not really, it was all speculation, but he'd met some of the smartest people here, he had faith that somehow it would all work out, that they'd get to go home.]

My name's Danny, forgot to mention that.

[manyvoiced]

Breq. It's good to meet you.

[She gives him a friendly nod of acknowledgment, unsure exactly what the introductory customs here are, or of his own culture.]

What is it that you do aboard this ship, if you don't mind my asking?

[wedealwithit]

Cargo bay inventory specialist.

[Was a really fancy title for someone whose main job was just to keep track of stuff. It was exactly the same job he'd done before, back home, though this felt a bit more special than factory worker.]

I, haven't really been doing it as much as I'm supposed to, but I'm adjusting.

[manyvoiced]

Every job on the ship is important, so I hope you aren't slacking off too much, crewman.

[She says it in a stern tone, all military, but there's a hint of a smile to show that she's joking...at least to an extent.]

5th!

[notglitching]

[Compared to the system where Rinzler was compiled, each and every console on the ship is an unfathomable advancement. Still, Breq's not the only one who could almost think themselves at home. The program can feel it as he steps into the room: code seething and ebbing through the walls. The data—the network—makes a song in its own right, complicated and bright and far past access, but still something Rinzler hasn't heard in far too long. For a moment, it's enough to stand and listen.

Every system has a purpose, though, and eventually Rinzler manages to turn his focus to this one's. Or rather, towards its operator, currently inspecting one of the monitors across the room. He skirts the nexus of light (the Portal, but the Portal never opened), stepping closer to look at what she's doing. He doesn't seem inclined to interrupt, at least not right away, and if Breq didn't notice the new arrival at the door, her first cue will most likely be audio: the low, ticking rumble that's joined her own humming from behind.]

[manyvoiced]

[Breq doesn't stop abruptly but finished humming her verse, mindful of her company. It isn't until she's finished wiping away all the dust from the underside of console that she stops, gets to her feet and turns around.]

Can I help you, crewmate?

[She'd taken to using crewmate as a general address. Certainly it was more accurate than the more familiar, and formal 'citizen.']

[notglitching]

[The term fits as well as any. Rinzler's mask dips in a nod before he reaches over to tap at his MID, bringing up a holographic display in bright orange.]

Request current status: Portal Ingress diagnostics.

[The misplaced term takes just a moment to delete and replace. Better to stick with known values, especially with users.]

[manyvoiced]

[Her eyes flicker to the message and then back to the featureless mask, her own expression unreadable.]

I'm sorry, but I can't really tell you much. This is just as unknown to me as everyone else aboard.

[Although it seemed like the Ingress was the point of interest aboard. She would have to see what she could do about learning more about it. Talk to the captains, do some research, perhaps. Someone had to know something.]

Of course, as Ingress Supervisor...I intend to find out more.

[notglitching]

[The helmet angles to the side, mechanical rumble skipping faintly. A lack of data might be understandable, especially if she's as newly imported as half the ship seems to be. But really, user? Nothing at all?]

Restatement: request available data.

[manyvoiced]

Available data is exactly what everyone knows. [An edge of tightly controlled impatience in her voice now; only the barest hint. She gestures at the Ingress.] This machine brought us here and it's broken. We can't go home using it, and our captains are unable to fix it. Whether that's lack of skill or knowledge, I'm not sure.

[She glances up at the machine.]

They assigned me to supervise this room, but there is nothing quite like this in my universe. We have gates, but those only traverse distance. This circumvents both distance, and time. It bends space, and the fabric of not just our universe, but many universes.

[She looks back at her of-few-words companion.]

And I honestly wish I could tell you more.

[notglitching]

[Rinzler doesn't offer much reaction through the rant—nothing, really, outside of his constant, quiet sound. It's not much information at all, no, and he's tempted to question what her use is, if she's not capable of learning more. Then again, he'd been challenged in the same way about the transporters just after his own arrival. And there had been databases to search for information there.]

Written with

[The words start, then delete. Not applicable to users.]

Analysis: inbuilt function?

[soldiergenes]

[ While Snake isn't particularly comfortable with machinery, let alone advanced spaceship technology, he's naturally curious about the Ingress. It's the reason that all of them are here in the first place, and if there's any chance of finding their way back home without the help of the captains, he'd put his money on that being the key.

Not that his previous trips have led to anything noteworthy, mainly because Snake doesn't have the technical know-how to take measurements or track its functions. Otacon would have been all over it, but it's obvious by now that his friend isn't following him here.

It's on his way back from kitchen duty that Snake decides to drop by, not even sure what he hopes to find, and yet he's taken to patrolling the ship, mainly to ensure he doesn't miss any new developments or additions. It's been proved by now that this ship isn't anything like what it seems, so it makes sense to keep an eye out.

He expects the room that houses the Ingress to be empty, so when he hears someone humming he pauses near the entrance. It doesn't take him long to spot a pair of legs dangling out from under one of the consoles, and so Snake makes his way over, stepping loudly so that he doesn't accidentally startle the stranger. ]

What are you doing?

[ They seem to have a better idea of how all this works than Snake does, not that it takes much. ]

[manyvoiced]

[Breq stops humming, craning her neck to see a pair of feet walk up to the console she's under. ]

I'm cleaning the places everyone forgets.

[She continues scrubbing at the metal fastenings, deciding it would be best to finish this last chore before coming out. It was hardly essential, but Breq knew better than most the value of fastiduous maintenance.]

[soldiergenes]

[ Not quite the answer that Snake had expected, if he's honest.

Nor does the woman make any effort to come out from under there and acknowledge him. Maybe someone else would have been offended, but at least this shows that she's dedicated to her job -- whatever that might be.

He moves to lean against one of the other consoles, watching the huge portal at the other side of the room. ]

So, do you know anything about all this beyond cleaning it?

[ A somewhat rude question in itself, but Snake's curious to know her abilities It's not like he's got a clue about any of this. ]

[manyvoiced]

[Unseen, Breq frowns, unsure if insult is meant or not, although ultimately not really caring. It was a functional question. And if it was intended to insult...well, she wasn't insulted, so what did it matter? She blows the last bit of dust off of a bolt head, and tucking the cloth she's been using into a pocket of her uniform, she shimmies out from under the console. It takes a moment to answer, as she gets to her feet, dusting herself off in one clean motion.]

I wish I could say I did, but what I've been led to believe is that no one on this ship really does.

[It was really a little ridiculous, honestly.]

[soldiergenes]

[ Subtle as it might be, Snake does give the woman a once-over as she emerges from under the console. He may not be as interested in flirting these days, but he also isn't blind, and she's easy on the eyes to say the least.

She only confirms what Snake had already suspected about the Ingress. He can't say he's that disappointed by her answer, since it's not like he'd been expecting much in the first place. He bows his head and shakes it. ] Not even the people in charge, apparently.

[ Still, none of this explains why she's here cleaning it, except for the fact that she's got a work uniform on. ] Did they assign you to this area? [ It would make sense. Cleaning is probably the only kind of viable work to do around here, with so little information to work from. ]

[manyvoiced]

[If she notices the once-over it doesn't show, and Breq looks up at the Ingress, and takes a moment to respond, almost seeming distracted. It bothered her that they were aboard a ship with a device this powerful...and unpredictable. That one knew anything about it only made a bad situation worse.]

Supervisor, actually.

[She looks back at him, the smallest quirk of an eyebrow.]

Whatever that entails.

[soldiergenes]

[ Snake's mouth twitches at one side, the suggestion of a smile, and then he rolls his eyes. ] If they want us to work, they'd be better off giving us detailed job descriptions. A title usually isn't enough to go by.

[ Cargo Bay Technician isn't that complicated, he'll admit. But he's heard some of the other titles that people have been stuck with, and some of them are so vague that he'd have no idea what to do in that position.

Snake crosses his arms and cocks his head to one side. ] Have you tried getting through to the captains to see if they can clarify what you're supposed to be doing here?

[ Cleaning it is all well and good, but if she could be taught a little more about how the Ingress functions, that would probably benefit all of them. ]