Text/Audio/Video; open to all members of the crew except for: Kobra Kid

[hohnkai]

[On the 17th, Captain Thán sends out a text message addressing all Moirans.]

The environment on the ship has been extremely hostile, more than what's typical for us, and that has to stop. The punishment system was put into play to discourage these kinds of actions, but there have been more after its installation.

This means that things are going to change, beginning with the treatment of other crew members.

As your captains, we don't wish to force anyone to do anything, and we'd prefer that everyone learn to live and work together to achieve our common goal, but that idle behavior we've adopted is now over. All of us are extremely displeased.

We're going to start with reworking the punishment system. This will mean the creation of new positions (arresting officers, mediation officers, etc.), and the implementation of new rules.

Please state your suggestions, thoughts, and offer yourself as candidates for the new roles.

[Messages will come from all the captains.]

Comments

[skelepun]

[Rolling on his back, skull lolled over the side of the bed, Sans shrugs while thoughtfully regarding the threesome. From upside down, of course.]

I dunno how close an eye you keep on things around here. I'm guessin' not very, since all this threw you for such a loop. [Sitting up finally, he reorients himself cross legged with yet another ambivalent gesture.] But if you think it's died down? Heh, it really hasn't.

I keep my eye sockets open, y'see. Nobody really notices the garbage guy.

[hohnkai]

[Than doesn't mind the skeleton suddenly on his bed either. It's just a bed and this is just a room. The only thing he's curious about is why Sans wanted to speak to them.]

We try to keep an eye on as much as possible. Everything, if you will, but some things require more attention than others. It's not that we were thrown for a loop, we just couldn't stand by and watch any longer as it didn't get better.

[He settles back on the couch.]

What have you seen?

[skelepun]

I'm not really into snitching. [Of course, there's a tone to his voice that belies his flexibility on that fact.] And I'm trying to deal with the problem myself. Not that I've done a real stellar job of it so far. I'm sure you remember why the punishment system got set in the first place.

[Grinning though he may be, Sans doesn't look very happy about that fact.]

We really gotta talk about the Chara situation.

[hownkai]

[ Pleased or not about the current situation and the fact that there is much unrest among the crew, Cúrre is curious to know what it is this particular crew member has to say to them that couldn't have been said through a message. She sits beside Manasseh, ever calm and straight-faced. She rests her hands together in her lap, poised for the conversation ahead. ]

And what is it that we are discussing about Crewman Chara? [ Given her own position, she remembers both well enough. ] We appreciate honesty. All that you tell us will be between us unless it affects the crew directly.

[skelepun]

[It takes Sans a moment to gather his thoughts. He wasn't expecting an opportunity for this to come so soon, or with such a... well, unfamiliar audience.]

Well, I'm sure you lookit a kid like that, you just... see a kid. [He says first, bones clacking against each other wile he fidgets inside his jacket pockets.] N' that's fair. Humans are tough. Not saying they couldn't do some damage, and trust me they've tried in the past, but you guys have a certain solidity on your side. Us monsters, well... kid managed to kill all of us about as easy as breathing.

[He scratches at his skull, perpetual rictus going tense.]

I get your whole workin' together shtick. I do. I'd be pretty behind it, if I had a place goin' back to, but... I don't. Chara murdered my family, murdered kids, murdered people beggin' for mercy. My race is gone 'cuz of that kid. N' not for any reason, either. Just because they could, and because it was easy.

They're doin' better lately, sure, but doesn't mean they didn't kill someone off ship not too long ago. Or that they encouraged another kid to kill with 'em. I look around and I see how people react to them and... I mean, fuck, it wouldn't even be hard, for 'em to turn on us again.

[As he speaks, he realizes he's not just talking about Chara anymore. Ah well. For the best. With a quick scan over the captains, he detects a lightness to their Souls that is... well, rare for this ship. It puts him at least somewhat at ease to continue.]

Monsters don't got a mean bone in their bodies, and humans have been taking advantage of that n' killing us for as far back as our history books go. Take my brother. When Chara... [He takes a breath, voice tightening.] When the kid murdered him, Papyrus was trying to convince them off the path they were on. Had his arms out for a hug, and the kid just...

[Eugh. Nevermind. He could do without reliving his brother's decapitation this recently after going home and seeing proof of it all over again.]

Spirit of cooperation, I'm all for it. I'll smash a bottle of 'chup on the side of the S.S. Friendship myself. But you pull people in from different worlds, you put 'em in the same jumpsuit, you expect history to fall by the wayside? What about the big dudes you got workin' in the cargo bay? From what I've picked up here and there, half of 'em were on opposite sides of a war.

History matters. People talk. Tensions are real. N' if you put your skull to the ground like I have, you'll know there're a heck of a lot more just waiting to boil over.

[hohnkai]

[He listens attentively, his face not betraying how he might feel about anything that Sans is saying. He's only briefly spoken to Papyrus a few times, but he came across as a kind soul, not wanting to harm anyone else. He'd also recently offered himself up to aid the current situation in anyway that he could.

That someone would kill him just to kill him was, unsettling.]

The problem with this is that there is nothing we can do about the history.

[Readjusting, he sits forward and gestures outward.]

Everyone comes in at random, it seems. We have no control over it. If we did, we could be careful about who comes in. What we need to do is find a way to keep this from continuing to happen, no matter what crew has been through.

[skelepun]

See, that's where you and I disagree.

[Despite that, there's a note of sympathy in Sans' voice. He might not know the captains very well, and a few aspects of the ship might bug him, but he knew that theirs was an inherited problem. It was small potatoes compared to the gift he'd been given: A chance to live with his family.

And he wasn't about to let that chance go to waste.]

You can't do anything about what people get brought in, I get that. You're at the mercy of that big bucket of broken bolts. And you've got my condolences for that, it can't be easy. [But...] It's just that you're missing the point here. You want to bring up a group of people to protect us from ourselves, that's great. But if that group of people doesn't take the time to learn the crew dynamics, they're going to be as about as effective as a wet fart.

You want us to be a crew, you gotta get to know us. Take the time, ask questions, get some people assigned to sensitivity training, put out a goddamn survey if you have to. [Sitting up now, Sans slants his hands back and forth, as if comparing two invisible melons] Sure, only a few of 'em are gonna take it seriously n' the rest will draw weird human wangs in the margins, but that's just life. Trying's kinda required.

[The irony here isn't lost on him. Trying isn't really his thing. Suggesting that other people try, though, that's a much easier path to take.]

If history is ever going to stop repeating itself, you gotta face it head on. 'Cuz it's the heart of every single incident we've had on this ship, directly or indirectly. Until you get a system in place to learn about and handle those tensions before they explode, more people are gonna die.

[He grins, far more cheerily than anyone concluding a sentence like that should be.]

I'm not gonna judge you either way. Bring in a new security team, make punishments harsher, roll us back to the honor system -- I'm chill with whatever you guys decide.

Just, y'know. Pay attention to what people are saying to each other behind closed doors. Get somebody with ears as big as mine on your team. [He holds up two hands to the side of his face, highlighting his "ears."] They come in handy sometimes.

[For emphasis, he waggles his hands. Geddit?]

[hohnkai]

I won't make excuses for us. We know where we've been slacking, but when the crew was smaller, it was quite a bit easier for us all to know one another.

[He gestures to both the other captains, then at Sans.]

I don't believe that anyone of us here could honestly say that they know everyone on the ship. We can all try, but it's nothing that would happen quickly and it seems that a fast solution is what is needed.

[Thán sits back again, expression thoughtful.]

We've had prevention suggested to us as well, and it's seeming to be that more and more it's something we need to do.

Do you want to be on our team Sans? Our ears behind closed doors.

[He smiles wryly.]

Wouldn't that put you into a position to get hurt? If crew found out, they wouldn't trust you or us very much.

[skelepun]

Hey, don't sweat it. I'd slack too, if I were in your shoes. [His sympathy is genuine, if muted somewhat by the grin on his face.] I will say, though, you guys are experts at not letting people get to know you.

[He opens his mouth to continue speaking, but the captain beats him to it. Well played, Thán. The offer seems to genuinely surprise him, for a half moment. Possibly because he barely does the job he's already assigned.]

I, uh... I'm not gonna lie, chief, sorta thought you'd have a more industrious name in mind. [After a beat, Sans returns Thán's smile, though with a hair more skepticism.] I'm not sure the crew trusts me as is. And they definitely don't trust you.

Guess that means you've got a choice to make. But I'll tell you now, I don't work for tips.