0001: A New Beginning

[crux_mods]

Whatever your activities before, they're interrupted by a sudden lurching feeling, like someone's put a hook into the pit of your very being and yanked. There's a brief burst, a brilliantly twisting tunnel? And then silence. Stars fill your vision, along with bodies, machines, and not much else before everything mercifully goes black. The shock of it, more than the lack of air.

And then, there's sound. There's not much at first. Beeping. Lots of beeping. Some of it is irritatingly loud, and apparently it's the cause of a lot of excitement. When vision returns, the first thing to note would be alien writing blinking in your field of vision, displayed on a monitor or a clear bubble somewhere. Alien, but familiar enough for you to read "Awakening". Whatever that means, you're apparently not alone, as people in black and white uniforms are rushing through the large room you're in, the room filled with people hooked up to all kinds of machines. Of course, some of them don't look entirely like people.

All of a sudden, a haggered face fills your field of vision. "Great Shades of Elvis! Another one! Look, please remain calm." The poor nurse turns and starts to fiddle with some of the machines surrounding you. "There's been an accident, but you're okay. Try to stay quiet and don't disturb the other patients. Someone will be with you in a moment." They turn away to shout across the room, as if that wouldn't disturb anyone. "Hoi, Oglaf! Mark this one as alive so Security can take them for the briefing!" He gestures at some official looking people in red and black uniforms assisting other patients into wheelchairs. "Just flag one of them down, they'll take you to the briefing. We'll explain everything. Just don't panic, you're in good hands." He grins and pats your shin. "Welcome to the Fleet, eh? 'scume, someone else is starting to budge and I gotta make sure it's not some poor sot swallowed his tongue again." With that, he leaves you alone with your thoughts and the bright lights.

[Medical Arrival | Hangar Arrival | Briefing | Post-Briefing 1 | Post-Briefing 2]

Comments

[reassembling]

The drone chitters rapidly upon being prodded and pokes right back. Meanwhile, as Tsumugi explains, Eve pulls up a single holoscreen and taps attentively away on it. Tsumugi. Chimera. An experiment to combine a human and guana. Gauna. A type of alien life. Hostile to humans. Native to space, perhaps due to the presence of Higgs Boson particles used for energy. It crosses her mind to add another entry for said particles, but she figures she can cover that in a later scan of the databases here, since they clearly had to exist here if Tsumugi didn't seem to be suffering from any ill effects that she could tell.

...or hmm. Perhaps that plan wouldn't work if this place used a different term for it. Ah, well. It could be brought up on a later date if it proved relevant. But she vanishes the interface as soon as she's done editing her databases and tries to look reassuring.

"Eve understands. Just because a larger group is considered hostile does not mean that all individuals comprising it are.

"You have so far displayed no hostile behavior or intention during this meeting; based on that, Eve will trust you. Those who make a hasty judgment before properly gathering and evaluating the data are shortsighted." She pauses in her tirade. "Ah... this Cydonia. Is this the world that you come from?"

[pinkspaceprincess]

Tsumugi's tentacle tilted its face, watching as Eve entered data on her screen. How peculiar. Was it for later reference? Surely a recording would be more efficient... and yet Tsumugi would feel a little uncomfortable being recorded.

"Oh no, humans come from Earth. The Cydonia is a ship -- the ship I was born on. Say, Ms. Eve, you talk a lot like some of the people from Kunato Industries... could it be that you're also a scientist?"

apologies for the delay!

[reassembling]

She tilts her head very slightly at the inquiry, arms folded over her chest. "Eve was merely pointing out the logical and rational course of action. A scientist is someone whose primary goal is knowledge, and Eve's is not." Still, at the mention of humans, Eve brings a hand to her chin in thought.

"From Earth? Ah, but there are humans from Elrios too..." Though, perhaps they know different species by the same name, depending on what Tsumugi's humans were like... "The Cydonia was a craft like this one, then? At the least, it must have been well-equipped if they could support your birth. How many people lived upon it?"

no worries!

[pinkspaceprincess]

Hmm. So she wasn't a scientist? Maybe she just had a strict upbringing? "In that case, what is your primary goal, Ms. Eve?"

The tentacle put a feeler to its face as if in thought. "Well, it's kind of like the Teuberg, but it's also very different. I'd say there are about 500,000 people on it, but there aren't really any aliens or anything. Just humans!"

[reassembling]

"Just humans," Eve repeats, blinking twice. "I see. That is quite the amount of people for one vessel.

"Now, you inquired about my goals," she states, nodding offhandedly at Ophelia- who returns an affirmative gesture of her own before vanishing in a flash of light. "Eve's primary goal... would be the prosperity of her kingdom and people. That is her responsibility as queen, after all."

[pinkspaceprincess]

"I guess so," said Tsumugi, "But sometimes it doesn't feel like very many. Space is dangerous, after all, so many lives have been lost over the years."

Tsumugi's tentacle reared back a little in surprise as Ophelia disappeared. "Whoa! Oh, that's a wonderful goal. Is your kingdom very prosperous, then?"