text | un: m.cabrera

[naloxone]

[ turns out? space doesn't give a single fuck about your circadian rhythm. or maybe insomnia is just that attached to her that even the absence of a sun dictating her internal clock doesn't faze it, like an old friend you wish would just forget you already.

one night (?) late into the early hours (???) marta finds herself drifting out of the room she's come to assume will be hers for the indefinite future, passing through stark white walls with all the sterility of a hospital, but none of its familiar chaos.

she's still getting used to the earpiece. still getting used to hearing other people's voices in her head. she doesn't mean to add another in the void, but one of her own thoughts blares out too vividly as she stares out into an actual void: ]

—but where are the stars?

Comments

audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

Given what this station is meant to contain, it's probably for the best that it's as far away from anything else as possible.

There are stars in the sunlight room at night, and you can make the simulation room show you any constellations you'd like though.

[attackbrows]

[Okay, he’s going to just pop his head out of this freezer and stop this freaky echo.]

One minute and twenty-five seconds.

[He says ever so flatly with a hint of gleefulness.]

[naloxone]

You must have been here for a while.

[ or maybe they were just very dedicated to the stars. they sound to have been around so many, yet still seem to hold a reverent wonder for them. it's admirable. ]

Is that alright to do? Sitting around, appreciating their sky.
Aren't we supposed to be — helping?

--> audio too

[naloxone]

You're talking about the orbs, right? Someone mentioned them... Something about keeping them from doing more damage?

[naloxone]

...Is that your preferred microwave time?

[blackfire]

（ clear-minded, then. ）

We will perform better on missions if our needs are met and our stress mitigated. It may be altruism, or it may be simple utility — it is difficult to divine a motivation with the information we have.

[bindsthedead]

Yes. They act through making bargains... but any artifact that powerful will have a will of its own, and the orbs are not benevolent- they seek chaos, and the prices they call for in their bargains are aimed at causing that.

[attackbrows]

Pops every single kernel of corn within your popcorn bag without it being overcooked.

[Is all this unhelpful? Perhaps. But he hasn’t exactly lost the plot with her initial question.]

It’s a terrible model if you’d ask me. But I’ve learned to work with what I have.

[bossily]

Fraid the only chance we have to help is during the missions. We just came back from one, and no one's exactly sure when the next one will be. So this is downtime, I suppose. You showed up at exactly the right time.

Seeing as we have nothing but time for appreciating stars.

[yeah, she's a nerd for space and stars. She might be embarrassed by it when they meet face to face, because Clara's insisting on showing off the fake ones here.]

[naloxone]

...What information do we have?

voice; un: newt

[groupiedrifter]

Hey, who needs stars when we're all stars... on the inside?

[he's not serious at all but also he kind of is but also is absolutely not

... Also apologies, Marta; Newton is hard to keep on text-only.]

[naloxone]

[ that was... not at all the answer she was expecting, but then again what was she expecting? something that made sense? how foolish. ]

This is — a lot.

[ to say the least. ]

If they're that dangerous, can we really trust they'll do what we — what they promised they'd do..?

[naloxone]

I guess you don't need any help after all.

[ popcorn in space. why not. why not. maybe that's her problem — she's thinking too big.

(she's thinking too much.) ]

Is there popcorn in the kitchen? I haven't really inspected.

[naloxone]

[ missions... thing #83728 marta wishes she'd known about before subconsciously agreeing to circumvent her guilt. ah, well. hindsight, and all. ]

I'd like that, then.
I never stopped to appreciate the ones back home. I may as well get to know the ones here, even if they're not real.

[ they are, for better or for worse, her new reality at least. ]

[bindsthedead]

Because if part of their nature is to crave chaos, it also seems to be part of it to keep their word. For better or worse, everyone who made a bargain with the orb got what they asked for.

[And unlike some stories Sabriel heard as a child, the orbs have so far adhered to the spirit of the wishes, and not just the letter.]

And they have not been... creative in how they interpret wishes, although some who struck bargains with it might not have understood what they were giving up in exchange.

--> voiceroo

[naloxone]

[ the thought-to-text thing is... new. but save for that initial knee-jerk self-consciousness about her accent, she rather prefers the audio option. it's at least a lot easier to control her words.

because what does she even say to that? ]

I'm not used to the voices in my head being so encouraging.

[ lol she's kidding.

maybe. ]

[naloxone]

I agreed to "help." But now I'm not so sure what that help really means.

[kovach]

What kind of gig do you do back home?

[ it's actually something he'd spoken to shaun about; they might've all made deals to be here, but there's no real consistency as to why certain people were chosen, considering the range of skills is all the place. ]

Not sure about the coffee, but I got a whiskey bottle for a warm welcome.

[bindsthedead]

It means participating in missions, gathering the orbs and trying to fix whatever damage they've caused in the process. Which could mean finding the cause of a sleeping curse, or a cure for a plague that turned people into monsters.

[Or... well, Sabriel's not entirely sure what the Orb was after in Braccia. Chaos from the simmering tension between the three different families?]

[attackbrows]

[Sometimes you’ve to start micro to go macro, Marta.]

Allow me to rephrase that question for you:

Would you like to get in on this?

[naloxone]

Solve murders—

[ the wry thought slips out in text before she even finishes thinking it, how does it do that. ]

Nurse, I'm a nurse.

[ she had more or less been kidding about the drink, but now she's wondering if it wouldn't be the thing to do at this point. she's in fucking space.

fresh meat. ]

If you don't mind parting with it... I can owe you.

[naloxone]

[ there's a lengthy pause. a desperate attempt to let the other voice deliver a punchline that never comes.

marta sighs. ]

I think I'm underqualified.

[naloxone]

[ micro...wave. i see what you did there. ]

So long as I'm not going to incite a civil war...

text / un: starkov

[peasant]

the stars in the sunlight room are real enough.
or ... real enough to me that i can't tell a difference. i don't know. sunshine is more my expertise.

i wouldn't suggest going there without a sweater, though, unless you want to start a new life as an icicle. i may or may not asked viveca to add snow.

voice

[groupiedrifter]

Well, you'd better get used to it! We've gotta put a little pep in each other's steps in the down time from crazy monster missions and gangs in sci-fi cities and big sentient castles that put us to sleep.

[anyway]

I'm Newt, by the way! Resident rockstar and the only wielder of an electric guitar aboard the ship. Also a doctor, but not of the medical kind; xenobiology is more my bag.