I
N
T
R
O
L
O
G
|
old but unfamiliar faces
"We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once."
The Ingress has pulled you in. Your body experiences several sensations at once: being pushed forward as if a hand is resting on your back, momentary and startling blindness, a gentle ringing in your head. You have difficulty discerning whether it is hot or cold, but where you have been prodded is noticeably warmer than the rest of you. Some may suffer from dizziness while others are perfectly fine. Once equilibrium has been reestablished, you will notice you are standing on a long platform and that the room is filled with a soft cerulean light. It's slightly humid and dark despite the glow around you, and nothing is familiar. Shortly after, you are led out and toward the medbay.
Inside this room, you are given a physical scan and offered a contract to sign that states you are now part of the crew of the Moira with a specific job. Any questions you might have would be answered in a straightforward manner as well as an explanation about how the Ingress, the thing that has pulled you onto the Moira, is broken and bringing people here unintentionally. This process also consists of a complete work-up of medical history and current health, and afterwards, you are given your MID, a device that is integrated into your hand or wrist with only the slightest pinch. From there, you are guided out of the medbay and to your living quarters.
At first, this month seems no more unusual than the previous one for those who have been aboard the Moira for any amount of time. The crew who had landed on the slaver outpost were rescued, and with everyone aboard, the ship has pushed forward into the darker parts of the Runoff. Anyone arriving through the Ingress follows the same routine—moving from the Ingress room into the Medbay for their physical and contract before being assisted by seasoned crew members and helped to their assigned decks. But all familiar things must eventually come to an end: two final travelers come through the Ingress. The first, and most noticeable difference between them and all the others, is their clothing. Both are dressed in standard Moira uniforms, though they bear the insignia of one sharing the same rank as Captains Cúrre and Thán. After a moment to take in all the people on the platform ahead of them, one of the two latest arrivals approaches one of the Ingress panels and begins to manipulate the controls. The Ingress completely shuts down. Unlike before, however, there isn’t an imbalance felt across the ship; everything remains normal and stable.
Utilizing the computer systems located in the Ingress room, they send out the following message to the crew via the MID:To all those aboard this vessel: I am Ira Phirun, assigned captain of the Moira. First Mate Egan and I will be commandeering all rights to the ship as soon as word is sent to those currently in charge. Expect a more detailed report as soon as all records and logs in Navigation have been reviewed by myself and the First Mate. All questions will be answered in a timely matter. For now, there will be no interruption of daily routine or reprimand if conduct among ranks is broken. Thanks for your time. Heading to Navigation, the Captain and First Mate, for seemingly unknown reasons, approach Navigator Manasseh and have her show them all records and logs of the Moira. Those working in Navigation when the Captain and First Mate arrive will see Mana greet them in a professional manner. Oddly, the Captain and First Mate act very familiar with the Navigator. They review all documents, but when they come upon news that the Ploiatos is on board, their mostly friendly demeanor shifts quickly. The Captain issues a sharp order, unintelligible to those who are close enough to overhear parts of their conversation, and without any warning at all, Mana loses consciousness and collapses right there on the bridge. Within minutes of this happening, the ship as a whole falls into a low power state with basic functions only. Mana’s MID alerts Medbay, and without hesitation, Captain Cúrre places her in cryo with strict orders to those who work there not to disturb the unit.
As promised, the Captain and First Mate soon address the crew.☄ lights down low The lighting has dimmed in all the rooms and halls, the normally crisp air that is pumped from the vents low, and all machines and tech are running at half-speed. These effects can be found throughout the ship. Water in the showers remain hot for only a few minutes before reverting to cold. Recreational equipment powers off not long after it has been turned on. The sanitation and water filtration systems require an hourly manual reboot, and all unused areas of the ship have no power allotted to them until a crew member steps inside. Even then, most functions are not optimal. It’s as if the Moira has been transformed into a dark house with only a candle flickering on the window sill. ☄ reuse & recycle The Captain and First Mate are quick to establish that this is a new regime and go about making the ship and its crew more efficient in the wake of their change in course and the low power state of the ship itself. This means they will systematically inspect each occupied barracks room and leave notes for what needs to be disposed of or stowed away. Unlike before, this is no longer a pleasure cruise, and each member of the crew is a guest on board; they will not tolerate useless clutter. Anything seen as unnecessary will be either placed into storage in the Cargo Bay or disposed of through the airlock. This new need for efficiency also extends to the need to conserve resources until they reach their destination. The showers are set to an automatic timer to minimize water waste. Those few minutes of hot water are all a crew member is now given. Meals are smaller, bordering on ration sizes, and luxuries are done away with entirely in order to preserve supplies so that the ship can go longer before needing to dock at a planet. ☄ new jobs, same faces The Captain and his First Mate, as expressed in their addressing of the Moira, explain that work efficiency is a priority. Applications for a head of the following departments will be accepted for a short period: Navigation, the Tower, Medbay, Defense, the Hold, Sanitation, Ingress work, and the Galley/Mess Hall. (Here.) After reviewing what they receive, one head of department will be chosen and tasked with helping crew find positions relevant to those departments and their own skillsets. They will be allowed to retain any positions that they held before that aren’t ship-functional jobs, but they will have to be done in leisure time. In two weeks time, they’ll be accepting department position applications which will be approved, and all those that do not apply will be assigned in accordance with their initial work application. They will also choose three individuals to act as guards of Ploiatos to ensure that there is a rotation available at all times. Will you choose to follow this new decision and promote yourself into a position of responsibility? Or will you simply wait for a reassignment?
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-08-01 12:13 am
Closed; Adrien
But here he is, limping back through the doors with the intent of checking on another frozen body. Peter makes it all of three steps in before he sees the familiar face bustling around the main area and he hobbles toward him at a fraction of his usual speed. It's not like the telepath would have been very impressed with his powers anyway.]
You don't get to hide in here right now. [He puts his hands on his hips, bossy and failing to keep the annoyance off his face. Of course he's still mad; when has he ever let go of a grudge so easily.] There's a girl here from the future, like our future and shit's changed a lot. Like, no more robots trying to kill us a lot. And, Charles dude, I think she actually wants to see you. For some reason she likes you. I don't get it but you probably haven't made her do anything illegal yet so I'm not holding it against her. Just, you know, try not to lead her down the wrong path when you talk to her.
[Peter sits down on the edge of a nearby table, frowning.]
What are you even doing in here? Haven't they released you from the brain freeze yet?
no subject
Errr at least not until he was accosted in turn.
At first, when Peter started talking, Adrien did a near classic 'glance around whodahfuqishetalkingtoo' action before it sank in that the young man was aiming the diatribe in his direction. Slowly puffing out a breath, he made a couple of false starts, to try and interrupt Peter, before accepting that he had to wait for the young man to pause for breath.
Pause ... pause ... ]
Anything else? [ He asked, just making sure before delivering the bad news. ] If so, give me a moment to introduce myself before you continue. Dr. Adrien Arbuckal.
no subject
What?
[It's a flat, unintelligent reaction. He looks at Adrien like the man had grown a second head. He gets the same creeping feeling of something being wrong he'd had the last time he'd seen Church. Like he'd missed the last step going down stairs.]
You're kidding me. That's not funny and it's so not a way to get out of me being pissed about what happened. I'm being serious that we've got an actual situation on our hands right now, so. [His frown deepens.] Unless they screwed with your head while you were on ice. Dude, please don't tell me they've started with actual brainwashing here because I will be so pissed off at this new captain if they've changed another rule after I got in trouble for it.
no subject
However, this wasn't Adrien's first rodeo with this, so to speak and he understood how it could be difficult to -even in the face of obvious differences- see the differences. The mind was an interesting organ, that wanted to reconcile it's experiences with it's realities and could often fool itself.
Rather than getting annoyed (as he might have in the past) the doctor tapped on his MID as he walked towards Peter. Getting close enough, he twisted his arm around at an odd angle, to show the younger man the MID display, particularly where it gave his name, rank and position on the ship. ]
I'm not kidding you. If the Charles you're referencing is Charles Xavier, he is still in cryo. You can go check if you want?
[ The offer wasn't in any way snarky. If it helped, Peter was welcome to investigate the pod. He'd find it was still occupied. ]
Though I do agree with you, that we've got a few situations going on at the moment and I would rather not have to deal with brainwashing either.
no subject
Peter stares at Adrien a few moments, eyes narrowed and stony. And then he's gone, air stirred up in his wake. He's back in a few seconds, expression sheepish. After the first time something like this happened, he should have been better prepared.]
You know you look just like him right? [He shrugs, an apology somewhere in his tone.] Like, totally a twin vibe going on here. You should check and make sure you're not, like, brothers.
And you can just forget all that future nonsense. It's not a real situation. Just a joke. [Because that sounds completely believable.] Or maybe it is but not something I should probably be telling someone who isn't actually involved.
no subject
Well actually no he didn't wait, because fuck but Peter moved quick. It was so fast that the doctor was left blinking, owlishly a couple of times as his brain tried to catch up with the input from his eyes. ]
How ... [ He began, pointing from Peter to the cryo chamber and back, frowning before he gave his head a shake. ] Err, I mean ... no, I don't? Short hair, beard and we don't sound anything alike.
[ At least to his ear, it was quite possible that to others the two men sounded more alike that it seemed.
As for the future stuff, Adrien waved it off. Whether this meant he was actually going to forget it (likely honestly) or Peter just didn't need to worry about it; either answer could work?
Besides, there were more important matters to attend to at the moment. ]
Not that I could tell, with how fast you moved but when you first came in here, were you limping?
no subject
[Says the kid who hasn't bothered to do anything to his own hair since arriving.
Peter takes the dismissal of the future conversation with a shrug. Really all it could do, if brought up, would be to make things a little awkward when Charles wakes up. Or for Jean. But it's not like everything around here wasn't already awkward, with the separate time lines and alternate universes.
Peter stiffens when Adrien mentions the limp, hand flying to his knee for a half-second before he straightens guiltily.]
Um. It's not a big deal. [Yes.] It's just, like, a pulled muscle or something.
no subject
My hair has never been down to my shoulders and it never will be. [ Someone really was military, through and through. More importantly was the obvious dodge when he asked about the limp.
One dark eyebrow arched and the glare morphed into a more pointed don’t bullshit me sort of expression. Adrien lifted his arm and pointed at his MID. ]
Did you miss the part where it said ’physician’ next to job? Give me a little credit to be able to identify pulled muscle verse … [ Adrien tilted his head, considering Peter for a moment, before giving his assessment. ] … joint pain?
no subject
[Like he wasn't just making fun of Charles's hair himself.
He snorts at the look. Oh please Adrien, he's pissed off enough police officers to be unaffected by that kind of thing.]
It's not like they give everyone around here jobs they really know how to do. You could just be some poor schmuck they stuck a space degree on. [Except he was kind of right. Oops.]
It's just, like, a twinge. Just a little pain.
no subject
Funny thing about pain, it's the body's way of letting us know that something isn't right.
Now you can continue to ignore it, and fuck whatever is wrong up further, or we can take a quick look while you're standing here defending the honor of your friend's hair.
no subject
[He deflects, clicking his tongue and throwing his head back. He's uncomfortable admitting he needs help, even for something like this.]
I don't like his hair that much. [He grumbles, eyes Adrien and sighs.] Look, you guys aren't allowed to share, like, the medical information. Right? Is that still a thing in space?
no subject
Instead, he nodded his head. ]
So long as you're not carrying a contagion that could destroy all life on this ship. [ He did feel he needed to clarify that point. ] Your medical records are subject only to yourself and me. If you give permission, I'll open them up to the Medical staff, only so you can come to any one of us if you need too but that doesn't have to happen if you want to keep it between us.
[ It wasn't exactly HIPAA in space (SHIPAA?) but Adrien had never seen any reason to share private information and he knew Yewll was also of a similar mind. ]
no subject
[He hesitates, unsure of how much to say without it sounding stupid or childish.]
They worry. [They'd catch on to how it happened, if it came up. And then he'd be in for another round of lectures.] It's just something little, so why let them worry about it. Siblings, you know? Everything freaks them out.
no subject
Yeah, actually. [ He acknowledged, though that was as far as he was going to go with that. ]
If you specifically ask me not to share details with friends or family then if asked, I'll direct them to speak with you. The only time it comes into question would be if you are unable to make medical decisions for yourself.
[ Adrien motioned towards the exam table. ]
But if you want to get it seen too and addressed before one of them notices? [ Because hello, siblings and loved ones will pick up on this shit. ] Then I suggest you let me take a look.
no subject
[Even though he had technically before and let Wanda take the reigns. At that point though it wasn't like there was any hope of hiding anything from her.
Peter glances toward the table, frowns for a moment. He hops up with deliberate slowness, or at least it feels slow to him. He still looks like he's rushing by human standards.]
Fine. I guess this can't be as bad as getting checked out for broken ribs.
no subject
He waited the moment out, but when Peter moved to hop up on the table the doctor stepped forward and motioned for the young man to stretch out. ]
Getting checked for broken ribs is usually unpleasant. [ He'd agree with that also; from both sides of the coin, so to speak. ] Did you injure the ribs at the same time you injured the knee?
no subject
[Peter shrugged, smiling a little. He stretched out his legs, the injured one slowly and with a grimace.]
No. [It was by the same person but he didn't see a reason to tell anyone that.] That was forever ago, like months. I've kind of ended up here a few times. Oops.
no subject
He positioned it to take a read of Peter's entire leg, not just the knee. If the younger man had been hobbling on a bad joint for awhile, it was possible he'd caused other damage as his body tried to compensate.
As Peter shared his history with Medbay, Adrien looked mildly bemused. ]
Most people do their level best to stay out of this place. What, do you like the lollipops?
[ Trick question. There were no lollipops. ]
no subject
[The joke would sound better if he actually knew if Adrien was from a world that had such a thing. He winces, already braced for an awkward explanation and the comparison of time lines that usually makes his humor fall flat.]
Maybe I'm just really into doctors. [He snorts, trying to stay still. He mostly succeeds, at least limiting the twitching to only his hands. Lack of movement was always hard on him.] I don't know if anyone's told you yet but space is kind of dangerous. Not all of us can stay out of the way of that danger all the time.
no subject
That's the bad news.
The good news is, he's so used to this occurrence that he doesn't ask. The comment about being really in to doctors does earn him a flat look, before Adrien finishes off the scan and steps back. ]
I must have missed the space memo. [ He said in a dry tone. ] But there is a difference between acceptable risk and recklessness. How in the world did you do this to your leg?
no subject
He gives a fake chuckle at the pun, rolling his eyes and tapping his fingertips against the table. He gives himself a moment to focus on finding a beat instead of speaking. Peter isn't sure if he should answer the question, not with the truth. Not if he wants these incidents between him and Rinzler to finally stop.]
Were you around for the outpost?
[He thinks most people wouldn't ask any further if he brought up the slaver planet. It's not really a lie anyway. He made the injury worse there.]
no subject
[ Peter might well get his wish. Adrien didn’t know Rinzler and had to reason to trace an injury back to the program. It was liable that he’d stop with the questions about the Outpost. ]
no subject
[He smiles a little, in what could be a self depreciating manner. Mostly he's just happy that he seems to have thrown Adrien off the real story. It makes his life a little easier.]
You might not believe this, having just met me and all, but I've been told I'm a little mouthy. Guess I just managed to piss the wrong people off.
no subject
[ Adrien remarked in a distracted tone as he continued to read through the scan. Getting to the end of it, he folded his hands down with the datapad still gripped in his fingers. ]
The good news is, it's not broken. Which is always good news with a joint.
The bad news is, you've severely strained the ligaments and tendons. You're young and rest will go a long way to allowing that soft tissue to heal. But if you don't rest the leg, you could see long term negative effects.
If you have to be on it, then a brace would be advisable.
no subject
[He leans back when Adrien pulls away, swinging his good leg just to get out some energy.]
How long are we talking about? Because, dude, I'm always on it. Running fast isn't something I can just not do. I'd probably lose my mind trying to stay still for longer than a day.
(no subject)
(no subject)