audio; un: stargirl

[bossily]

[There sure have been a lot of informational hits to the earpieces lately. And she's really sorry to add another one to the mix. But this is something she feels the need to get the deets out to everyone quickly. You never know when the next mission will be announced, after all.]

Right so, my name's Clara Oswald. Think I've met most of you by now, though there seems to be some of us that are new wandering about.

[And just so everyone is aware, she's smiling and waving like you all can see her but this is audio so you can't. Anyone that's near her in the sunlight room is free to see this happening in real time.]

I've been here long enough to agree with the assertion we need a sense of organization moving forward. So Rosinante and I have come together to start working on gathering a list of our current inventory. The plan is to make checklists and supply kits to take with us on our missions. We'll have to use whatever we currently have on the station, obviously, but thought that maybe we could come up with an organized list of requests for Viveca.

[She's a teacher back home. Checklists are her life. Being organized is also a+, so she sounds incredibly excited by the prospect of being the one to actually get to do some organization.]

Soooo, [Yeah, that's stretched out and almost comes out in a whimsical, playful lilt.]

If anyone has any supplies they'd like to list off, request suggestions, or would like to be one of the first to take a supply kit whenever our next mission pops up...

[She trails off there. She figures everyone here will know what to do if they're interested. If you're watching in the sunlight room, she fingerguns at thin air. It's hard being an expressive person that uses their hands to talk in wild gestures when attempting to deliver a simple audio message.]

Comments

audio; un: kovacs

[kovach]

[ he remembers her voice, something in the giddiness of it that makes it hard not to recall the small girl, about an entire foot shorter, that had practically shoved him around to help him find a room. he hadn't gotten her name then, hearing it for the first time now — clara oswald — just as he hadn't given his, though unlike then, he's actually curious for the conversation this time around. mostly because he actually likes to be ready for a mission, reluctant as he is to engage with this one or not. ]

And what exactly would be your idea of a standard supply kit? Just curious.

[bossily]

[She isn't sure if he's being critical or simply curious, but either way - she doesn't want someone underestimating her. It's easy for people to think she's simple and sweet and has no place doing things like this. But she has to remind herself that not everyone is from Earth. And not everyone from a version of Earth has the same outlook on things as she does.]

On our last mission, we could've done with things of our own instead of relying on the locals. Certain things were hard to come by after a certain point. Things like medical supplies, extra clothing... tools for the mechanically inclined? Anything that might be a simple, basic need. It'd be particularly helpful for new arrivals who aren't sure what to bring with them.

Why? What would you put in a standard supply kit?

[kovach]

[ it's not necessarily that he's looking to underestimate her, since he knows, in his experiences, that size and appearance isn't something to judge on someone's experiences and knowledge (especially, in his history, where changing sleeves means all kinds of minds in different bodies), but he does often need to do his observations to see exactly what people are made of, which, in this case, would be more of an outlook on her.

and by what she's detailing, she seems to have an idea of what she's talking about. ]

Weapons, for starters. Medical supplies, sure, but just as important is gonna be a way to defend yourself before you can even get hurt. These days, there's no planet you can get to without expecting some kind of fight.

audio --> video

[bossily]

Thing is, not everyone prefers to use weapons. But suppose we could have kits with and without basic weapons.

[There's a pause, and she switches things over to video.]

You haven't happened to make your way to the armory yet, have you? Cos there's plenty of weapons here, maybe even something that's specific to your area of expertise?

[The way it's worded combined with the smile on her face make it obvious she's fishing for information. The more she can learn about the others here, the better suited she'll be to figure out who the best allies are. And if he's so freely talking about going to multiple planets, he's definitely someone she wants to get to know better.]

[kovach]

Even if it's not all firearms, everyone could do with some kind of knife, at least. Plenty of uses there besides fighting.

[ when she switches the connection to video, he frowns; it isn't the first time someone's made the switch on him mid-conversation here, and he has to wonder what that habit's about since he's been resistant to garner too much attention yet.

unlike last time, though, he does make the switch to video here, mostly because he can see by the look in her eyes what she's trying for here. on his end, his face remains mostly unfazed, even if he does raise a brow, momentarily pressing a cigarette to his mouth to take a puff before responding. ]

Heard about it. But already have my own. [ if having his own already says a bit about what kind of man he is. but he smirks, not subtle in spinning the questioning back on her. ] And what about you? Not a woman who gets into her share of fights?

[bossily]

[She wasn't expecting him to ask about her. The fact that he does really makes her day. A dimpled grin takes over her face, something more sincere than her fishing for information smile.]

Who, me? I'm still learning. I had to pick things up on the go last mission.

[Which went poorly, but she's not about to admit that out loud.]

Before this, I traveled to other planets with someone that's big on pacifism. Against weapons and all that. [That admission is followed by a shrug. she's not embarrassed to admit that she's still a work in progress when it comes to kicking ass and taking names.]

[kovach]

[ despite seeming inexperienced on the fighting front, from the looks of it, she's still carrying a bit of confidence in the fact, that smile of hers suggesting she isn't ashamed. he can respect that; he's actually impressed with the willing attitude. ]

Sounds like a hell of risk-taker — your friend. Problem with pacifism is that it only works if everybody agrees with it.

[ which most people don't. honestly, if he didn't have to fight, he probably wouldn't either. but in his history, that's never been the case. ]

So since you decided to start learning, guessing that you don't completely agree with that anti-weapon ideology.

[bossily]

I'm not sure you've earned the answer to that. Unlocking my thoughts and feelings on violence only happens after you agree to let me use you as a punching bag.

[She means train with her, but it's more fun putting it that way.

A single eyebrow arches upward, one corner of her mouth curling upward into a grin that seems to be asking him if he's up for the challenge. She's a tiny wisp of a thing. How hard could it possibly be??

Honestly though, she isn't willing to answer him out in the open, where the Doctors might see. She's got to be careful about giving her opinion on things like weapons freely, since she doesn't want to upset them.]

[kovach]

[ since she seems like an eager chatterbox, he'd figured it'd be easy for her to give away plenty, letting him get a better read on her, but he's actually surprised a little when she seems to catch on, cutting herself off with that tease instead.

his own lips form a minor smirk, looking at her with a studious stare for a moment as he takes a hit from his cigarette, slowly blowing out the smoke without turning away, like a minor challenge. ]

Yeah, you wanna take me on? Pretty sure when I met you, I could have shoved you down in my pocket. You sure you'd even be able to reach me?

[ oh, yeah, he's absolutely going to egg her on. ]

[bossily]

[Is this flirting? She thinks he's flirting with her right now. Talking about beating him up is definitely flirting in her book. So she guesses they're going there now. Her smirk only becomes more confident. Look at what he's unleashed.]

Give me a few minutes, and I'll bring you to your knees.

[He can take that how he will.]

[kovach]

[ he'd deny he could be so predictable, but in the case of a woman threatening to smack him one, he definitely can't ever help himself, especially when she's looking as confident as she is about it. his smirk only becomes more evident. ]

That a promise?

[ yeah, definitely flirting. ]

[bossily]

[She softly laughs, a dimpled smile taking over her confident smirk. He could literally pick her up and toss her over his head. But it's fun to play with fire sometimes. And it's not like there's any harm in a little flirting through beating up a man that's taller than her.]

You, me, sunlight room. Five minutes.

[She points to both eyes then gestures toward him like she's going to be keeping an eye out for him. ]

video -> action

[kovach]

[ in truth, he actually would like to see what she's capable of, and if they're all supposed to be teammates — as much as he isn't always eager for the team thing — he should make sure she and anyone else can actually defend themselves. it's both a liability thing and — well, it's just easier if people don't wind up dead.

and maybe he does want to see if she can bring him onto his knees. he wouldn't be disappointed if she did. ]

Five minutes. [ he repeats, chuckling at the gesture of her fingers, giving her one more look with a raised brow before cutting off the connection.

he's still learning his way around the station, but he manages to recall the way to the sunlight room without much of a problem. he puts out his cigarette before he goes since there's no point in smoking it if they're really going to be demonstrating their skills.

when he gets there, hands in his coat, he peers around the room, still almost baffled by the greenery of it, as obvious of a construct as it is, before he looks around to find her, figuring she shouldn't be hard to spot. ]

[bossily]

[She does stand out, in her blouse and little skirt that's just a bit too tight. She looks out of place to be in the station in general, much less in a simulated greenery room.

When she spots him though, she flashes him a smile and makes her way on over with a bounce in her step. It's not every day she comes across willing punching bags to help her improve her skills.]

Look at you. Here in four. Not sure if you know this, but there's such a thing as too keen.

[She's not about to stop with the teasing and banter now that he's here in person.]

video, un: silent

[callada]

Knife's a good call for a general purpose kit, I agree. Otherwise I'm hesitant to just give out pistols to everyone when they might not know how to use them yet. Or have a way to conceal them in the field. Things get stolen and used against you.

Sounds like you know plenty, though, so if the weapon machine doesn't give you what you want, talk to the folks in the lab. They've got weapons we took from the last world that they're working on replicating, like some kind of energy whip.

And this is Rosinante, by the way. Hope you don't mind me jumping in.

[Not much of an introduction, but he'd rather keep to the point. It looks like he's joined the conversation from the training room, and in fact when he stops talking around his own cigarette, he gets to reloading his pistol.]

[kovach]

By all means. Takeshi Kovacs.

[ introduction remains vague on his end, too. he honestly doesn't mind the sudden appearance of a third party, particularly if said party at least knows what they're talking about, which it sounds like he at least has good instincts. ]

I'd suggest along with those supply kits, you compartmentalize people by their skills, so that the right people do keep themselves armed, possibly even arranged by skill level from there to know who gets what kind of weaponry. If we have limited alien tech to work with from whatever world you're talking about, we figure out the best people to actually use it.

[ it's the old military fighter kovacs talking now, even if it's been a long time since he's been on the field with a group. but at least he has the experience. ]

Give everyone standard first aid materials, but give those with higher medical experience the more advanced items. I imagine we don't have an endless supply of everything either, so if we're sorting things out, we get things to the people who are best going to utilize them.

[callada]

All good ideas, but maybe a little beyond the scope of what we're aiming for here. I think it'll be easier for folks who know what they're doing and know what they need to have those things on hand rather than expect us to dole them out.

I know Syrlya's trying to keep a list of who's good at what around here, though, so we do know who has what skills. If you haven't, go talk to him, let him know what you're interested in helping with.

[kovach]

Syrlya, huh? Guess I'll look him up.

[ because if he's going to be working with these people, he wants to get a better idea of what they can do. the gossip memo he came across hardly gave him anything to actually work with from a mission strategy point. ]

So, with all the people we have running around here, how exactly does it work to keep organized for actual missions? Is it all voluntary like this? No assigned leaders to sort these groups? Seems messy as shit.

[callada]

I'd compare it to herding cats except nobody's actually trying to do any herding.

We got lucky last mission. We were thrown into it without much time to prepare beyond just a quick briefing, but we got everyone out by the end without any losses on our side. I'm not counting on that happening every time, but enough people here have so much experience from so many different situations that I'm not even sure how one would start trying to come up with a "leader". All the organization you're seeing now, from gear to food to specialties, is the best effort we've made so far.

Other than that, it's hard to plan specifics. I'm hoping Viveca gives us more time with the briefing before we get dropped into the next mission this time so we can try to work out details on who's going to handle what aspects of the brief.

[kovach]

For a first and only mission from what I've heard, yeah, that sounds lucky.

[ considering the variety of people thrown around here, he has to wonder about how challenging it might've been, though considering clara mentioned the risk of running low on supplies, it really does sound like they pulled their luck. ]

I'm sure everybody's got their talents and all of that and I'm impressed you've all gotten this far, but in my experience, too many heads is eventually gonna land everyone in shit if they don't all rally onto the same page. Hell, even voting on a few squad leaders would salvage things a bit more.

[bossily]

Are you nominating yourself for the job, then?

[kovach]

[ he scoffs a light chuckle, shaking his head. ]

Hell no. I'm not leader material.

[callada]

I agree.

[Just. For the record. But he's only one person and he's used to operating within a military framework. That said, with a lot of military folks here, maybe they'll find some shared sentiment. He can hope.]

If you want to propose a vote for or against named leaders, I guess that would decide it.

And if it helps any, we did vote on big decisions the last mission, so in lieu of an actual leader we were able to come together that way. But we also had fewer people than we do now and it remains to be seen how that will change things.

[kovach]

So we actually managed a democracy. [ that's actually impressive too, since it usually doesn't work. he almost laughs at imagining it. ]

You know, if we could maintain that, it'd actually be better than a leader — always hard to get one who doesn't let the power get to their head. Just rare to see the alternative actually work, since people tend to prefer someone else to make the tough choices for them. Be nice if I get proven wrong.

[callada]

[Democracy indeed. He's not pleased with the end vote, but everyone did get their say and he was in a minority, and that's how it works.]

I've rarely seen democracy work on a country-wide scale, but how things work at home isn't how they have to work here. We might have just a small enough number of people - good, smart people - where it will work.

I'm willing to see if it does, and make changes down the road if it doesn't. Giving everyone a shot at having a voice feels like the fair thing to try first.