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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?
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hownkai) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thisavrou_log2016-08-01 12:13 am
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["supposedly." It's complicated, but something makes him think that Snake's answer to that question would be pretty different. Which isn't making him relax at all, if he's honest.]
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No, they're...
[ Is he really prepared to explain the Patriots to someone right now? Especially to someone who's already supposed to know?
Snake makes a waving motion with his hand. ] Let's start over. Do you know what Big Shell is?
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[That's a yes. A huffy one, because if there's anyone in the multiverse who could reduce Raiden to a huffy teen, it's Snake.]
[But his mind is still racing with every (awful) possibility; there's enough similarity in what they seem to think and Snake seems just as confused and frustrated as Raiden right now, so it's probably not a simulation or a spy or something like that. An alternate timeline maybe? It's not like the idea is alien to him, but he's never come across anything so similar and so different to his own experience at the same time.]
[The second the idea crosses his mind, Raiden's positive it has to be what's going on, and something in him just deflates. He doesn't know that he and Snake are friends exactly, but he's always been safe. That security is something Raiden's missed a hell of a lot over these last few years — especially after his escape from TRIDENT — and now, just as soon as he's got it back it's been torn away again.]
[Raiden looks down-- away from Snake. And the way he speaks is almost a murmur to himself rather than a comment to the other man.]
... You're not him.
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It's not hard to see that Raiden's mentally running through the possibilities, that they're both coming to the same conclusion. They're not actually from the same place, even if they know versions of each other from their homes and match up on at least some of the details.
Raiden's obviously disappointed, and Snake's not sure what he can do to comfort him in this sort of situation. He's not good at comforting people in general. There's a few moments of drawn-out silence before he sighs and rubs at the back of his neck. ]
Listen, kid. If we still go through Big Shell together, then that means enough is the same about where we come from that I'm just going to treat you the same. If you don't want that, then let me know now.
[ He can always keep his distance, if that's easier. ]
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[God, he doesn't even know what to say. Raiden exhales, heavy and tired. Of course it'd be too much of a happy coincidence for Snake to be here-- a Snake that actually actually knows him instead of some other version. He probably looks like a pale imitation of that Raiden to Snake, which is a thought that'd get a bitter laugh out of Raiden most other times. He feels like a pale imitation of himself too.]
[He tries to affect a more indifferent posture, but it doesn't really work. The offer's nice, sure, but treat him the same as what? As some guy he doesn't even know? As if Raiden doesn't feel wrong enough already.]
[Plan B: Disengage.]
Look, I not the guy you know, so just-- You don't need to worry about it.
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But that's not going to help either of them. Not when they're out here in the middle of space and there's so few people to trust.
Well, it's not like Snake's above some firmness. ]
You know who else is here who you might know of? Liquid. Ocelot. [ He's hoping that those names mean something to Raiden, to this Raiden. ] Not people I want to trust my back with. [ There's Miller too, of course, but that's besides the point. People who Snake can really rely on here are few and far between. ]
We'll be better off working together, not ignoring each other.
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[Ocelot though. That's an name that makes Raiden's expression darken, and his next question probably says a lot about the kind of person he's become.]
Why haven't you killed them?
[Things would be a hell of a lot simpler that way.]
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This marks a huge shift from that, but Snake takes a look at Raiden's synthetic body, remembers Gray Fox and his distorted voice, his screams of pain, and reminds himself that it could be worse. ]
For one thing, you can't murder other crew members here. Not unless you want to get locked up or thrown off the ship.
[ Ocelot he's mainly managed to avoid, and as far as Liquid goes, well... he's employed a lot of self-restraint.
Snake heaves out a sigh and shakes his head. ] Even before those rules were in place, though, it would have been a bad idea. The people here don't know what they've done so I doubt me killing anyone would have gone over well. [ A pause, and then he remembers one other important detail. ] Besides, death isn't permanent here. They would have just come back. [ With even more of a vendetta against him. No thanks. ]
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Great.
[It's not great at all.]
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[ Snake hasn't gathered too many details on how it all works, but that's probably because it's mainly a mystery even to those who go through the revival process.
He studies Raiden for a few seconds, then narrow his eyes. ] Don't see this as an excuse to be reckless. There's gotta be a catch. [ Nothing that significant comes without a price, Snake's just waiting for the other shoe to drop. ]