thisavrou | video, December 3, evening

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video, December 3, evening

[A sharp, knowing, bare-cheeked face appears on the monitor, framed with soft brown hair. The voice that comes through is a bright alto in a broad Betan accent, heavy on the flat rs, indistinguishable as to gender. (And quite different from, say, that group of space Russians two rooms over.)]

Hello, Moira! Bel Thorne here, arrived the other day with the rest of the new people, fresh from the Wormhole Nexus. I'm told we're a captive crew and there's no way out but forward, so I look forward to meeting you all as we bring our ship home. I'm also the new Interrogation Tech, so you'll probably see me patrolling the ship, trying to figure out what the hell that's supposed to mean.

[a more serious look, the voice now clipped and on point]

Meantime, I have some experience in deep-space survival situations. Since our captains are apparently inaccessible, no doubt for some very important reason, I'm going to assume they'd prefer us to live through this, and have for all your consideration a couple of suggestions. You'll find them in the attached text packet. This shouldn't be so hard to get through if we can all keep each others' welfare in mind.

[Pause; then an ironic smirk.]

If you're wondering whether I'm a woman or a man, the answer is "yes." We'll surely all learn more about one another as we get better acquainted.

Oh, and if the word "Dendarii" means anything to you, get in touch.

[The attached text packet opens to a neat memo.]

Captain Bel Thorne
Dendarii Light Cruiser Ariel
Presently: Interrogation Technician, Moira

First, the good news: while we're having temperature problems, it looks like the rest of the environmentals are holding steady. Who else is in favor of breathing? Don't all raise your hands at once.~ For all you dirtwalkers -- people more used to living on planets, I mean, that makes things easier, since it means you'll be able to gather in closed spaces for warmth and just let the air circulate now and then.

Next, the fewer spaces, the better. Those of you who've been on board the longest will probably have a better idea of which areas are best at retaining heat. Anyone with an empty bed in their cabin, invite someone in to share it. Better yet, double up in each bunk. The room'll be warmer and you might make a new friend! Cabins should be either completely empty or completely full; that way no one's wasting body heat or left alone in a room. If there's any common areas that can be heat-secured, those can be used as well as the cabins. Stay away from heat-sinks like Sanitation and the Observation Deck, unless you have essential duties to carry out -- and if you do, take frequent breaks to warm up.

Next, keeping warm. Who's our quartermaster? Let's talk. Spare bedding from the unused bunks on your deck should be redistributed to the full quarters and shared among the occupants. We get three sets of uniforms? Wear them all. Layer up if you have to leave your cabin. Any extra warm-weather gear? Share it among whoever has duties out in the cold. Forget about bathing regularly or laundering your outerwear until you're not in danger of freezing. If you feel grimy, take a cloth and some warm water and wipe yourself off in your cabin; don't try to be a hero and wind up making everyone sick. Any essential laundering should be done in one big load every day or two. Just imagine how nice it'll feel to be all clean and crisp when the heat comes back.~

For any of you who aren't used to shipboard life: no open fires. Fires use air. I'd like to talk to anyone who has heat-generating weapons, for example a plasma rifle that could be used on a low setting to heat up any large metal objects that could radiate heat for a while. If anyone tries that trick, make sure the metal object is safe on a heat-resistant surface.

Anybody injured, ill, small, or otherwise more vulnerable to the cold should spend as much time as possible in their cabin, and be accompanied at all times if they have to leave it. It's up to everyone to make sure your fellow crewpeople are protected. These classes of people should also be excused from long or heavy labor until the heat comes back, and their official jobs divided among their crewmates. Priority should go to tasks essential for ship maintenance and crew survival. Everything else can be cleaned up afterwards.

Next, and this is important. Someone on each deck should be checking in with each warm room. If someone has to work in the cold parts of the ship and doesn't come back, they should be missed and found as fast as possible. No one disappears.

I'm new here, so this is going out to everyone who already knows the ship and crew well enough to implement any of this. You'll find me on Nomo Deck; get in touch if you want to coordinate.

[Dating this to December 3 since the event is already started but Bel's still meeting people. edit: and if you're on Nomo Deck, you may get a knock on your door as Bel tries to figure out who knows the ship and/or needs to make room arrangements.]]

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[To a certain cold-blooded someone who can no longer feel his remaining fingers, this is riveting literature. He’s already thought of layering up the uniforms, but he hasn’t outright asked any of his homeothermic crewmates to share a bunk. He feels rather stupid for not having thought of it earlier.]

There are three empty bunks in my quarters. I have a roommate but I don’t think she sleeps. [He’s not being cute. He’s legitimately never seen her sleep in her bed. Or anywhere else for that matter.] As for bunk-sharing, if you’re warm-blooded and have a pulse, consider yourself welcome to my own. I can look male, female, like your favorite Holovision star, whatever makes you comfortable.

Seriously though, it’s kind of urgent. Blankets don’t really do much to trap heat when you don’t, you know, generate any.

[now this is intriguing.]

Putting aside the other obvious points of interest, this does sound urgent. Let's get you taken care of. What deck are you on? Do you know your neighbors?

I’m on Moro Deck, room #003. I know a couple of them besides my roommate. Pretty sure she wouldn’t share a bunk with me if you paid her too. [Blame drunk Zam for that.]

So she's out. Who are the others? Are you in touch with them? I'm on Nomo; we're still getting sorted out on my deck.

There are two others that I actually know. [And one droid, but 1) said droid does not like him and 2) would probably not generate that much heat anyway.] They might be willing to at least share a room. [He’s not so sure on the bed-sharing part. Some people can be prudish about that.]

Good. Get in touch with them and let me know how it turns out. Sharing a room is better than nothing. I'll see what kind of space we have on our deck when I've found everyone. God, it's impossible to keep track of people on this ship....

I'll check up on you if I don't hear from you. What's your name? And... [small grin] what will you look like?

Got it.

My name’s Zam. And unless I change my mind between now and then… [With numb fingers, he manages to switch the message format from audio to video. He gives a wry smile at the device.] I’ll look like this.

[Bel gives a little wave through the screen.] Pleasure's all mine. Good luck!

[[If he doesn't find a roommate, Bel can invite him to Nomo Deck! I'm not sure where Bel will be spending the next few days though.]]

Probably because we accidentally destroyed a planet a few weeks ago. I mean, none of my commanding officers have decided that locking themselves in their rooms is the appropriate answer to this sort of thing, but the closest we've come to is just conquering a planet instead of letting it collapse in on itself.

( he squints at the video, since bel looks... familiar. he knows the accent, and the reference to the mountains in miles' finally places the betan somewhere in ivan's general sphere of knowledge. good god. )

Does, uh. Does Miles know someone's asking after the Dendarii?

[and there he is; Greg had mentioned he was on board. hasn't changed a bit, either. oh joy.]

Ivan Vor-something, for the love of God. [broad, far-too-bright smile] I haven't seen you since that memorable wedding night all those years ago. [technically Bel didn't see him during the incident on Earth, but... yep that was also a thing.]

could just explain, but tbh Miles and Ivan both brought this on themselves~] You'd have to ask him. What's your security clearance these days?

[more seriously] Maybe if the captains stay out of sight, they won't lose their crew too. What the hell's wrong with this ship?

Edited 2015-12-07 01:48 (UTC)

Vorpatril. ( he offers helpfully, digging through his brain to turn up a name. no such luck, give him a bit longer. ) Yeah, how are Elena and her husband doing these days? Still, you know, doing whatever it is married people do?

( he hopes he never finds out. personally that it, about marriage. although he doesn't want to know those details about elena's life either, now that he thinks about it. she'd probably knee him again. )

Dunno, it gives my commanding officers one hell of a headache. ( ivan says with a grin. not incorrect -- he knows about the dendarii for being there during its formation and also helpfully being around to give miles the few missing pieces he needed in order to figure out that getting strung up for treason was looming in his future. ) Not as much as Miles gives them, I'll give him that.

( as for what's wrong with the ship, well. ivan just raises a brow and shrugs. )

Hell if I know.

( and he'd like to continue living in this blissful state of ignorance, please and thank you. )

Edited 2015-12-07 02:09 (UTC)

Vorpatril, that's right. [the name is right up there in the video, Ivan.<3 have you been drinking? and if so can Bel have some?] Oh, they're doing very, very well. [very suggestive smirk; doesn't think Elena will mind.] I suppose they'd have sent their love if they knew we'd be meeting like this.

[yes, Ivan. Bel was there. you were probably hanging out with Auson and didn't notice.~] Pity. Well, why not ask him? Or better yet, ask that good-looking foster brother of his. Maybe he can tell you something.

[tilts head, pondering the great and terrible mystery that is Ivan] Well, at least you're not alone. Ivan... how does Miles hold up in weather like this?

( maple mead, and no. that's his, it was delivered to him. there is some left in the bar, however, because no one can actually drink three kegs of the stuff. )

Er. Yeah, probably. ( or, you know, more physical violence, whatever. bel you can't seriously hold the auson thing against him forever. what was he supposed to think? ) What, Gregor? ( ivan frowns -- since when has gregor been 'good looking'? not the point. ) I think I'll take the cousin that doesn't answer questions with "let's see what happens".

( he likes to think he's pretty simple to figure out. hell, he's put a lot of time in effort into being so. )

Weather like this, where he's not in charge and he's just died? I can't say it's happened before, not on the equivalent of ship duty.

Edited 2015-12-07 02:45 (UTC)

[oooh. perhaps Miles will effect an introduction then.

Ivan you were still staggering the next morning. nah, though, Bel doesn't really hold that against him. it's just a nice conversation point.~] Oh, I thought he was going by Greg. [you didn't notice he's good-looking, Ivan? maybe you'll notice now. ^^] Up to you.~

[...ah, but the next line, though

did you ever fancy seeing Bel's face go bloodless in barely a heartbeat? well, you have now.]

.........Died?

Yeah, last planet we were on. ( guess who's not noticing bel's reaction? this man. ) We burnt a death offering and everything, but he apparently got revived just fine and showed up a week later.

( it slowly, slowly dawns on ivan that something is wrong with bel's face. er. whoops. )

He didn't tell you that?

( goddamn it miles. bel's one of yours, it's not ivan's job or place to drop 'hey your co died' on them. how was he supposed to know you didn't mention that? it seems like the sort of thing you'd want to lead with. )

[having reached a reaction point visible enough to register to Vorpatril, Bel is just listening to this. 'revived just fine' suggests cryo-revival, but the details can come later.

finally, suffused voice]

.............No.

[have you met Miles, Ivan. ಠ_ಠ]

Incidentally, where are they right now?

[why? no reason. at all.]

[[the icon I am having so much trouble keeping a straight face at work]]

( unfortunately yes, he's met his cousin. for twenty-five years. )

Probably in his office. ( that ivan is pretty sure he conned himself into, rank, promotion, and all. because miles naismith vorkosigan, and ivan's really just waiting for the moment he takes over at this point. ) Although he hangs around the library too, some days.

( ivan can't blame him. he's tempted to, just for the exceedingly attractive librarian. not for the books. )

(( armie hammer makes the best faces for ivan, i don't make the rules. ))

My shotgun uses disposable heat sinks we could try to capture the heat from.

And I'm working on something we could check in with, but it could take a while.

Edited (I reread your edit actually absorbing information this time) 2015-12-07 02:50 (UTC)

Sounds like something to explore. Know any engineers? There've got to be some on board. What do you have in mind?

[[Yay!~ Can they see caller ID on the MID?]]

Tali'Zorah's an engineer, and might have another gun that uses the same technology. I'll contact her.

Something on the MIDs, whether it's another function or an upgrade to something on there already. Still deciding.

[Yes: Cloney shows up as Jane, MID technician.]

Got it. I haven't heard that name yet. Could you repeat it?

[glances down at the readout] You program new functions on these things? [that could be really useful.....]

[[thanks! :)]]

[Slowing it down:] Ta-li-Zo-rah.

That's the idea. But I only started recently, so nothing on there's my work yet.

[Geez Bel, you're not supposed to tell people that they have no idea what they're supposed to be doing.]

Mero Deck might be a good place to bring people. The beds are...different. [The camera pans off the Wanda blanket-burrito to show her egg-shaped bed.] Two people could fit, I think.

[hey, Bel doesn't know who does know what they're doing. this is the best way to smoke them out, right? ~~and there might be a vindictive urge to stick it to the absent captains somewhere in here, but we won't talk about that.~~

whistles] I think I got assigned to the wrong deck. That's perfect. Much better heat retention than we have here.

[Bel's bundled up in several uniform jackets, with a scarf wrapped around their head.] Someone suggested a mass slumber party, but there's always some killjoy who can't admit they like a good pillow fight and won't go to these things. This could be the perfect alternative. Do you know someone on Mero who could broker housing arrangements?

Edited (sorry for all the html edits!) 2015-12-07 13:53 (UTC)

[yes but then someone could tell them what they're supposed to do - and with 'interrogation' in the job title, Wanda's pretty sure she at least won't like it]

I think all of the rooms still have one empty bed. Maybe two. It should not be hard to find the unused ones. [She makes a face.] Just look for the beds without blankets.

I would not mind but I will be in the library with everyone else.

[oh THAT part XD Nah, no suggestions being taken on that score. Bel knows what they'd personally want in a security patroller; this is just to make the crew underestimate it.]

Never know when someone will refuse to sleep with their neighbor though. [shrug] Or not want someone in their room when they're not around.

I'll come over later on and see how it's going there. Do you want to keep track of the people who pick the library? As long as we know where everyone is, we probably don't have to go through the rest of the ship more than once a day. [to make sure there are no further problems with the cold affecting the ship itself.]

That should be simple enough. [The hardest part will probably be deciding what's a blanket pile and what's actually a person.]

This is a lot for your first week. How are you doing?

I hope so. [Bel finds that trying to crawl into it usually does the trick. :D

..it is? pauses, momentarily derailed. you mean not every week is supposed to be like this?]

I didn't think about it that way. Back home, dealing with shipboard crises is my job. It's what I wake up in the morning to do.

[and here, it... isn't their job, but peoples' lives are in the balance anyway.

they've never been good with that.]

How did you deal with it, when they brought you here?

[ Well, this person (since apparently their gender isn't something so easily defined, and Snake can respect that) seems to know what they're doing. Snake reads over the report that's sent over, and while it's all information he knows already, that might not be the case for everyone here. He prefers someone else take charge in getting the word out, so this works for him.

There's something else about the announcement that grabbed his attention, though. A few things, really, but one of them trumps all the rest. ]

Interrogation specialist, huh. [ He's seated in his bed on Mero deck, wrapped up in a few layers of uniforms and some blankets. ] Sounds like the kind of job only a certain kind of person would really enjoy.

[ Like a certain someone Snake could think of with a penchant for revolvers. ]

[even more ambiguous than usual in all the uniforms plus the grey Dendarii one on top, Bel doesn't look particularly hardened, but there are types of interrogations that don't particularly need to be. nods wryly at the man's remark, though; that was exactly what came to mind when handed the job]

Sounds like it, doesn't it? They tell me it's a security patrol job -- prevent fighting in the corridors, report to Navigation, all that. Wonder what would happen if I tried looming over people and saying 'mind if I asked you a few questions.'

Sounds more like babysitting than interrogation. [ Snake rolls his eyes -- not at the other crew member, but rather at the situation. He considers it a waste of time. No one person is going to be able to control a group like this, brought from all corners of the universe from what he's heard so far.

It's taking some time to believe that, but the idea that everyone here other than him is nuts doesn't make much sense either. And Snake can usually get a sense for when someone is lying. ]

Do you have some kind of experience that makes you the best person for the job, or did they just hand it to you at random?

[ Maybe it's a strange time for a Q&A, but then again, keeping busy will distract both of them from the biting cold. ]

And yet it somehow makes more sense than the ranking system. What the hell's a Tirincula? [seriously. this is the literal worst ~~and it would please Bel very much to throw a wrench in it~~.

tilts head, answering with cheerful irony] Captained a light battle cruiser in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet for the last ten years. But yeah, it was probably random. What'd they give you?

[no wrong time to get to know someone else who sees how screwy the situation is.]

Beats me. [ Says the man who was ranked based on a system using animal names. It's not like that had been Snake's idea, though. For all they know, a Tirincula is a common animal on some random planet, but they're not likely to find out unless the captains decide to show themselves.

Captain of a ship in a mercenary fleet, huh? It's not what Snake would have expected, but he's never judged too much by appearance anyway. Or he tries not to anymore -- that's the sort of thing that gets you in trouble. ] Seems like there's a lot of combat-trained people caught up in all this... [ Said more to himself than anyone else. ]

They gave me Cargo Bay Technician. [ Snake shrugs, which more or less sums up his feelings on the matter. ] Could be worse.

Yeah. Funny kind of coincidence. Especially with the range of civilians also caught up in it. [a sharp, speculative look.] You think? I was wondering if I'd overestimated. And yet I haven't seen anything about mustering or training exercises. Is this supposed to be a civilian ship?

So I've heard. [a wry nod at the shrug] What's your skillset when you're at home?

There hasn't been any mention yet of us being deployed as soldiers, but I don't buy it. [ Snake closes his eyes briefly and shakes his head. When has he ever been chosen for a mission that didn't require him to pick up a gun and shoot? It's happened so many times by now that he'd be more shocked if this really was meant to be a civilian-operated assignment.

On the other hand, the number of other military types here makes his life a little easier. He doesn't always know how to act around civilians who have never seen a battlefield.

That question gives him pause. Even now, his instinct is to hold back information, but this person is from another world completely unrelated to his own. Snake's secrets won't mean much. ] I'm a freelance agent specializing in infiltration. Ex-military, but it's been a while since I reported to anyone. [ And he's better off for it, too. ]

Wow, you've thought about this really thoroughly. Good ideas!

[ Wash is impressed with the text packet, honestly, especially if this person is as new as he is. They've met already, of course, but it was relatively brief, all things considered. But Wash would like to get to know them better, especially after this. ]

There's a spare bed in the room Snake and I share on Mero Deck, so we can take someone in. And if you need any help with anything, like any of these ideas of yours, my armour regulates my body heat so the cold isn't affecting me too badly. I can move around the ship without too much worry. Should be useful if we require any search parties.

Back home we have a whole rulebook of disaster regulations. You probably had something similar. [at least Bel hopes they did.]

I'll let you know if I hear about anyone from your deck. And that's great; that'll be really helpful! [it's really heartening that Wash is offering without being asked; good-will among the crew is the surest sign they'll all survive this.] What's the weight calibration -- can you move large heavy objects? [has this idea about using heated metal as portable radiators....]

Well, yeah, but... I can't admit to having read everything...

[ Flushing slightly beneath his helmet, no big deal. ]

With my armour on? Yeah, to an extent. It doesn't give me super-human strength or anything, but I'm definitely stronger in it than out of it. Why, d'you need some help with something heavy?

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video, December 3, evening

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voice, and she's on Nomo deck btw!

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<3

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