thisavrou | (no subject)

☄ Audio
Hey ah... My name is Niko Bellic. I am from the Balkans. [With an Eastern European accent that thickens all of his words. His "r"s are heavy and he can never quite manage a short "a" properly in English. It's English he's speaking, too, rather than his native Serbian. So the translators on the MIDs take that into account.] I work in the Cargo Bay, and I am a diplomat for the ship. I'm also a pretty good swimmer? I have a lot of [unfortunate] experience with it. And I know some people here are pretty terrible at swimming. So rather than see someone get hurt I am happy to teach some swimming if anyone is interested. There are shallow places without much current, and places with pools.

I will do my best and make sure you do not drown.

Also for people that have some of the spy jobs- I'm not going to ask who you are on here. Don't tell me over MID. Come find me in person. But I don't want to see us dicked over again because this happens all the time, and being diplomat I want to be ready for the dicking that will probably happen.

So if you can, find out what shit could be helpful to know. [So technical.] Like, I have not actually seen any crime yet? And in tourist places, that is kind of strange. There are usually some bad areas.

Could be that I have not gotten around enough, but just look into stuff like that if you have a chance.

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Terrible might be an understatement in my case. [Look, until very recently, she could just sink and then breathe underwater! Totally fine. Now, however, drowning is actually an issue.] So, sure - I could use all the help I can get.

[...And then she switches to private, and sounds bemused and rather wryly amused.]

We have spies on board. Really?

I don't know who they all are but at least one person I know is in the job.

When I asked for job of diplomat, using those people was a stipulation. I would make sure I went in knowing as much as possible.

[Which means, in essence, the Captains knew what his intentions were.]

Doesn't that seem weird to you? This ship isn't a diplomatic...entity. It's not a people, it's not a government, it's not even a military, it's one ship. If we're just taking people to a destination, what do we need spies for?

[Maybe other people already came to the conclusion this is no homecoming mission a while ago now. Tali's still not totally sold on anything.]

It is. But I think what they have done is given us positions that existed on the staff before. That is why we had the uniforms. They didn't make all of these. This ship came with them.

The spies are not here because the captains decided for them. The spies are here because the ship is meant for them to be here.

And it's useful to have. So, as long as it is there? I need to take advantage of it.

So you think they're just modelling the whole crew off what they think it used to be? They found it empty, right?

They're not a bad thing to have, though, you're right. Especially with all the trouble we get into.

Yeah, basically. From what they told me about how they found the ship. If that's true, giving it back a crew seems to be the best way to do this.

What did they tell you? I've never heard much about this - just that they found it empty, right?

And two of them weren't captains before this.

So the roles that exist would be easier to settle into.

I guess... I mean, it makes sense for things like navigation, the armoury, engineering...but spies... The flotilla didn't even have a dedicated agency for that sort of thing. [She huffs in laughter.] I promise I wouldn't have told even you that if we weren't in a whole other universe here.

Like you said, though, I guess they're useful. As long as they're good at the job.

I have to trust them to be or they will never get to do it.

Besides, we already know some computers in this universe are able to scan much more than we would think. Maybe the one on this ship somehow knows what we have the potential to be good at.

I am guessing that this was a very multipurpose vessel, once upon a time. But that is just theory.

I don't know what I think about a computer scanning my brain to figure out what what job I should do... But sometimes they're pretty good at deciding what we should do when we get here. They put me straight into engineering as soon as I started, like they knew that's what I trained in.

...I'd suggest asking the captains, but I don't know how much they'd tell us.

I will. I mean, I am talking about it out in the open right now. But I have other things I need to do first.

No, I wasn't telling you to ask them right now. It's fine. The more I think about the ship, though, the weirder it gets. And I could have sworn they've said this journey would only last a few months, come to think of it - it's been almost a year.

Don't worry, I wasn't meaning to be defensive. Just to explain that I am sometimes kind of lazy.

[Well... it's true.]

Yeah I don't think they even know for sure.

[She makes a noise close to a bark of laughter.] That's not something I would have ever called you.

[The not knowing is starting to grate. In the CDC, they knew it was effectively forever, which made a sense of helplessness sink in, which in turn smothered rage. Not knowing? That just seeds frustration.]

You know, we've been here longer than we were on the last ship. [There was a split-second pause there after the word 'were', as her mind went first to the blunt 'with the CDC', then cycled through 'on the Neheda' before finding the mildest option.] I know they never told us how long this would be - you're probably right, not even they know - but I didn't think it would be this long.

Not all the time, no. I work hard. I try to make sure things happen that need to happen. But, you know... sometimes you just don't want to do shit.

We'll get out. [He says that with confidence. And while he's not outwardly saying it, she probably knows the tone. They've talked about it enough for it to be obvious.]

[They'll get out. One way, or another.]

[She scoffs, but doesn't say anything. If that's the definition of lazy, it probably describes everyone she's ever known.

But then her grin becomes something less amused, more...reassured. She has heard that tone before - and it helps to hear it now. Reminds her they've got something to work for.] That's what's so annoying. It feels like it's just out of reach for us now.

I am wondering if this is why I'm handling it calmly even if I do not forget our situation. That is how it has always been for me.

At least, it makes me pretty sure the situation will change. It always does.

Yeah. [There's a tight grin in her voice.] Things always change, one way or another.

Do you think we should start trying to get another ship? Doesn't have to be a cargo ship - something we can leave in and trade later. Just in case we ever get where we're going.

We will get one. Or something. We will find a place to stay at least.

I always have, eventually. Maybe it is not quite optimism. But ah... just knowing things always move forward.

[And usually turn out the same way, but it is the two of them.]

It almost sounds like optimism. [There's a little tilt of amusement in her voice there. Neither of them have been that good at optimism for a while now.] That's good enough for me.

I want to try to figure things out, though. Sometime. I don't want us to be totally in the dark when we get to wherever we're going.

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