◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

[raiamods]

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

HATCHING LOG 001 ❀

CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING

Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:

☆ Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

☆ Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:

☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR

You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:

☆ Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:

☆ PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:

☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

NAVIGATION ❀

Comments

CAPTAIN CHILDE

[capt_childe]

[cleaningsolutions]

Mops has submitted to being pulled aside and questioned without a struggle. She is cooperative, though she has to ask sometimes that people repeat themselves. Without her monocle, without Doc, it's a little hard to understand strange voices in a strange setting and this doesn't seem like the time to nod and hope it wasn't something important.

She's been staring at people. Eyes, faces, mouths, hands, and she's gone paler realizing what the unreal-looking red tint, the white sclera, the unfamiliar much-patched clothing means. She looks... lost.

When prompted she gives her name as Lieutenant Marion Adamopoulos of the EMCS Pufferfish, and probably that's the point where she asks, "You're all fully human. Who are you? Why are you? Do you really have-" Her voice breaks, and she swallows trying to clear it. "A real cure?"

[capt_childe]

Captain Childe is brusquely polite, and treats the woman with due respect despite the oddity of her skin, her features. It isn't in her nature to be judgmental, simply firm, and when the woman reveals herself as a lieutenant, Childe is quick to adopt that manner of address as they converse.

The question, though, seems to catch her off-guard. Her expression grows quizzical, one brow lifted faintly. A cure for what, exactly? Something important, given the aching sincerity of the question, but Childe is at something of a loss. She's silent a moment, and then shakes her head. "I'm afraid I'm at a loss as to what you mean. We have cures for any number of diseases," she begins, and then her mouth thins bitterly, "on Earth, at least. Less so here, but that's not a reflection on our good Doctor."

[cleaningsolutions]

Her mind is racing. The Captain's arms and hands are so much more delicate than what she's used to, each finger ending in a smooth scale. Were those ever a feral's grasping arms? It would take so much work and risk so much to change them for what would ultimately be mostly cosmetic reasons. Are they prosthetics? Why would this many people have double prosthetic arms and hands?

And they have so clearly fallen on hard times, which she knows she will have to address, and do they really have a human Captain? Doc isn't here to help her sort out what to focus on and she's stuck on what the depths these people are. "Who made you? They must have wanted you to be as much like our ancestors as possible, but - you can't actually be - you're speaking Human. It's made from human languages but that was a triple click. The Krakau built that in."

[neversmall]

"Well, I have to say, you're all being very civilized about this," Nina prompts, in Ravkan, having heard everyone speak to her in Ravkan, which is clearly impossible. She hates it already. "But I promise you I have no idea how I ended up here. I was hoping you'd know."

[capt_childe]

The sense of humor appeals to her just enough it merits a smile. Childe is not a humorless woman by and large but she is quite stoic and not inclined overmuch to emotion. Still, she admires spunk when she sees it.

"Unfortunately, we haven't much idea of our own. Near as we can tell, this all started because one of our ensigns tripped his way into that great glowing orb we call the Chrysalis." She gives a sour look to one of the nearby men, who looks profusely apologetic and may in fact be the aforementioned ensign himself. Rather than chastise him for it, however, Childe merely shakes her head and continues on. "I wish I could guarantee I'd be doing everything to return you to your world, but unfortunately we barely have the resources to survive on this one. I have to put my people first."

[neversmall]

There are things most of note to Nina in that response - one, the smile, always an encouraging sign; two, chrysalis, what the fuck; three, my people. She's on the wrong side of that division again. That is not a safe division, not for anyone, but it is an understandable division.

Her gaze follows Childe's to one of the nearby men, noting the nuances of their interaction, before returning her attention to the Captain.

"Oh, I see. Or, rather, I understand. As nice as it would be for you to be able to send us right back as abruptly as we arrived, that's not the way the world works, is it. Things are easily broken, not so easily mended." It's a problem Nina sees instantly - in order to merit help in being sent back home, she's going to have to be of use; if she's of use, why would they work to send her home? Sort that out for another day, she supposes. "Of course I have many other questions like, 'Who are you people?' and 'What's a Chrysalis?' and 'Do you intend to keep us in those cells for long?', but I'm sure there were things you wanted to ask me? And thank you for the strange baths, by the way, that goo was vile."

[spalten]

[ by the time he approaches the captain, he's had a general feeling for the lay of the basecamp and has gone out to the adamant to check out a few things. the return was fruitful, in terms of being able to obtain supplies, but a bit disappointing on his end - someone, or perhaps a few someones, have taken the liberty to strip away essential parts at the bridge.

except a distress call that seemed interesting enough. he's here with his mask; it adds an unnatural timbre to his voice sounding a bit metallic as he regards her. more a precaution than anything else, really. ]

Captain. I'd like to talk about the UCSS Adamant, if you have the time.

[capt_childe]

She is helping to add a trench to a new ditching system around the Basecamp when he finds her, every inch as dirty, sweaty and in need of a bath as the individuals beside her. When he speaks, she leans on her shovel, and then informs her crew to take a break while she discusses the matter with the Hatchling.

She gestures for him to follow her to a portable water dispenser, where she cleans her hands, and then she straps a gun from a communal table of weapons to her thigh. "Let's go for a walk."

It isn't so much that she wishes for privacy as the fact that her crew were there, they all know the story. They've gone over it again and again until it's almost mythicized among them. She'd just rather not do two things at once, and her aching back could use a break and a brisk jaunt around the perimeter. As they fall into step, she asks, "You've got ten minutes of my time, Vidar. What can I tell you?"

[spalten]

That should be enough. I'm not looking for sudden epiphanies here.

Vidar matches his long strides with the captain's step. The Adamant seems to have all of the parts in the bridge salvaged well before us already. This is not a surprise considering we've arrived at its three year anniversary.

What is surprising to me is a distress signal from one Ensign Ashley Porter. An electrical disturbance hardly justifies the fact that there is a massive crater in the ship.

Vidar watches her with a curious look on his face, though none of that translates much to his body language given the mask and his easy walk.

[fortyforged]

When you're confused and have no idea what's going on, it usually seems in your best interest to cooperate. Or at least that makes the most sense to the Exo. While he doesn't seem phased at all by being surrounded by humans he's slowly started to note all the curious and wary looks in his direction, although it seems there's plenty of wariness to go around when taking all the others he's been jailed with.

Banshee's very cooperative when he's led out. He seems perfectly fine with whoever's summoned him to open things up. At least it doesn't smell as funky here as it does in the cells.

[capt_childe]

Captain Childe is seated at a makeshift desk. They've been conducting interviews all day and it's starting to wear on her, as evidenced by her slightly disheveled hair and her steady intake of terrible coffee. She gives the (android?) a curt nod and gestures for him to sit.

"Please. Your name, for our records."

[fortyforged]

The Exo sits. Pauses. "Banshee," he says, as though having to double check with himself on that.

[northerndragon]

It's a good thing he woke up weak, unable to hurt anyone until he had his wits about him. Since then, he's been quiet and cooperative, if not always cheerful about it; sometimes, sitting in his cell, his expression has been openly resentful, though more often tired or mildly exasperated. He keeps those looks off of his face while he's being questioned, always stressing that he means no harm, that he is as surprised as anyone else at his presence among them.

At least some power rests with this woman: he sees, already, the way people defer to her. The lives of everyone who has been pulled from an egg may rest in her hands.

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know." He pauses, frowns. "But I don't know if it will help you, my lady. I can tell you where I came from, where I've been. I will sound like a fool, but it's the truth."

[capt_childe]

"I assure you, I've heard stranger today than whatever you can muster. Someone showed up with a fucking dragon." That last is a mutter, almost as exasperated as Jon himself may have felt recently, and then she's rubbing at her forehead and continuing on. "We're just trying to establish a pattern. Something to determine why you've all been brought here. We don't have anything approaching resources to work out how to send you back, but the more we know the less we have to learn later."

[northerndragon]

He absorbs that for a moment, his expression sober.

“There’s a woman with pale hair. A small woman, pretty. The dragon is like to be hers. Drogon.”

He pauses long enough to swallow, but not so long that his answer seems finished. It is possible that the dragon is not one of Daenerys’s. It’s hard to wrap his mind around the idea that it could be anything else. The captain seems less and less a dragon when he remembers being surrounded by all three of them in a dream.

“I come from a city called New Amsterdam, but it was not my home. The year there was 2512. I found myself there a few moons ago, half a year — like I found myself here. My home is in Westeros. At Winterfell. It’s the greatest castle in the North.”

He doesn’t say this as if he expects to impress anyone. Rather, it’s a way of explaining the sort of place he comes from, and it’s wearying.

“Nothing like New Amsterdam. That place... it hadn’t been like my home in a thousand years. Maybe more.”

Post Community Outreach, if that's possible?

[unclesam]

"Captain Childe. I know you're busy, but I'd appreciate a moment."

During his time in detainment and any subsequent interrogation, one thing will have become easy to figure out about Sam Wilson: He doesn't budge an inch when he doesn't want to, but he's not an unreasonable man. So while he wasn't the most forthcoming of the people she's likely dealt with, he was potentially someone who made an effort at appearing in good spirits. Still, his training's been military - he doesn't give up much in interrogation, but what he gives, whatever questions do not dig too deep, he gives easily, and doesn't make himself difficult. Pointed, perhaps, at least sometimes, and some jokes can straddle the line towards a dig for a reaction, but ultimately beyond anything, calm, composed and easy enough to handle.

The next time they speak, he seeks her out with purpose, not wearing the clothing provided, but rather his own suit, shield on his back. The white armband with the aid station's blue cross on it goes well with the ensemble, all things considered. He doesn't typically wear it outside the aid station - today, he does, and smiles.

"Yeah, alright, bet you hear that about a dozen times a day. If it helps, I'm here for one of your people, and your volunteers told me to speak to you."

Of course!

[capt_childe]

She's on KP duty today, a rotation she gives herself the same as she does any member of her crew. It's not the most glamorous job, but then she's never been a glamorous woman. She's utilitarian, no-nonsense and more serious again than most of her peers, but there is a sense of humor that lurks somewhere beneath the stern expression and the military posture of a career naval officer. When Sam approaches her, she looks up from her pile of various tubers and edible roots she's peeling the old fashioned way, wipes her forearm across her cheek and gives him a nod. And then she points to a second peeler across from her, a clear indication that if he's going to stand there, he should help.

"You folk are going to be interrupting me in my REM sleep before too long. Spit it out, Wilson."

[unclesam]

KP duty is familiar. Of course, so is being put to work by his sister, who scares him more than anyone in a position of authority in the Air Force ever did. Sam grabs the peeler and goes to work without missing a beat.

"There were some emotions running high earlier that got me thinking. Young woman near tears, saying they should get a say in how their dead's belongings are handled."

He knows her name, talked to her after the outburst. Walked her away from the station. She doesn't look like Karli, not even a little. Still reminded Sam, though. He's not about to shine a spotlight on her when she's just hurting.

"I know you got tough calls to make here for survival, and we're damn lucky you're bothering to put anything into our hands when you got your hands full of other shit to juggle. But hurt don't make that girl wrong."

Sam says that carefully, glancing up at Childe briefly while peeling a root. Pure muscle memory taking over there. Riley and him used to make KP duty a competition.

"I know survival and war and tough calls. I'm not questioning getting a dead man's belongings. But are we getting things that were taken rather than given?"

[swordjock]

The first time Adora gets pulled out for questioning, she fights — not expecting to escape (and not planning on it, without a way to bring everyone else with her), but to test the strength of the guards, as well as their reaction times, the speed of reinforcements, and anything else she could learn. It gets her tasered almost immediately, which she really should have seen coming, but even that painful process has one valuable lesson to impart: whatever the guards are using, it isn't Horde-issue stun batons.

This time, she cooperates enough to get in to see Captain Childe. She wants to meet the person in charge; if not of the entire base, then at least their current corner of it. When she sits, she does her best to mask her exhaustion behind a cocky attitude, but the bags under her eyes speak volumes as she stares at the woman in front of her.

"Not much of an interrogation room," she scoffs, leaning back in her seat. "Oh, and just so you know? There was a problem with the shift change earlier. Five minutes is a long time to leave your prisoners unsupervised."

There's an emphasis on the word, almost daring Childe to correct her. Some of the arrogance is for show, a test to see how the other woman reacts, but it's clear that she's done this before. "Because that's what we are, right? Or is this how you treat all your guests?"

[capt_childe]

Christ, was she ever that young? It's like looking in a shorter, blonder mirror, and Childe would be amused if it wasn't so obnoxious. This must have been what Patel meant when he said she was a nightmare in her youth. Piss and vinegar even beneath the exhaustion.

"Not meant to be much of an interrogation room," she says back with equal amounts of cocky attitude. She isn't a young woman any more, but by God she's earned her arrogance. "And am I to congratulate you, I suppose, on your keen powers of observation? You can tell time. We're all very impressed." She leans back in her chair and takes up her cup of coffee, taking an idle sip that's barely marred by a grimace for the taste (or lack thereof.)

"We're quarantining you for health, safety and security purposes. Or do you, in your infinite wisdom and experience, suggest you're advocating for more of an open door policy for interdimensional travelers showing up in the middle of your population of vulnerable survivors of a terrible tragedy?"

[baum]

This is not, honestly, John's first time being interrogated. He's been arrested before, for one thing, and he's had more than his fair share of social workers breathing down his neck. He's also had guns pointed at him far more often than he'd like, and thus, nothing about this situation makes him panic.

It does piss him off, though. For once, absolutely nothing about this is his fault. He'd like to stop being treated like it is.

He sits looking at the captain, head held high, expression unreadable. He'd checked the exits when he was brought in, though, and noted how many other officers were around. He hadn't done it consciously, but he'd done it.

"Look, I have nothing to say," he says, lifting his brows. "I don't know how I got here, it wasn't deliberate, and I don't know anyone here. So whatever it is you want, you have the wrong guy."

[capt_childe]

Oh for pity's sake, she's tired of these upstart youths. She presses her thumb into her temple to drive off a headache that's threatening to overwhelm her. "I don't care about your ridiculous bravado, child. I'm trying to tabulate where everyone is from so I can entertain the eventual idea of getting you all home when we have something approaching time and resources. Answer me or don't."

[cryptoherpetology]

When Alex is brought in for questioning, he's quiet, diplomatic and as respectful as he can manage while as tired as he is. At least he's clean and dry by now.

From what he's seen from his cell and heard from the people who would talk to him from them, the newcomers are new mouths to feed these people didn't ask for at best, and potential threats at worst. As much as he's lived his life back home in secrecy, he doesn't see a lot of use for it here.

So he answers questions in the interrogation easily. Talks about his life, his upbringing, his glancing familiarity with interdimensional theory and a career in what is more or less equivalent to xenozoology. With the exceptions of the names and present locations of any of his family members, he more or less makes himself an open book to Captain Childe, assuming it will be easier for both of them that way.
He tries to make it as clear as possible that even as an unwilling stowaway, he'll earn his keep since it's the best way to stay alive, and he can only get back home if he does that much.

After he's told her more or less everything, he sits back, sighs.

"What are you willing to tell me, Captain?"

[capt_childe]

After the variety of personalities she's dealt with today, this one is a damn relief. She looks grateful for it, too, and her expression has thawed considerably from the customary icy stoicism. "Well, what are you most interested in learning? Some things are classified, but I'll tell you what I can."