@all (from @r.asuka)

[luciformis]

[ On the morning of the 15th, there is a network-wide ping issued approximately twenty-three minutes after the roster is released to the public. ]

Hello.

As I'm certain you all are aware, a roster has been sent to each of our devices. Given that this is yet another item on a growing list to be examined by us all, I believe it's important for each of us to come together to discuss any possible concerns or ideas that may require teamwork.

@PALPATINE and I earlier discussed the possibility of a non-compulsory meeting to sort through these issues. We agreed it would be in our best interests.

If you're inclined, please come to the Mess Hall at 19:00 in three day's time.

[ ooc: so! this will be broken down into sub-headings as discussed on the ooc plot post and utilized as a kind of "catch-all." if you think anything needs to be added at any time, please feel free to contact me through pm, at rasasvada, or on disco at morning star#3715. or, you know, add it yourself! i don't mind.

noticeably, this is self-directed! if you character wants to speak or make a point to everyone, feel free to do so. no one is policing how this goes or making introductory comments or whatever else. open floor, y'all. ]

Comments

VOLUNTEERING & SERVICES.

[luciformis]

[iustitia]

[Hm. Okay. Time to get this job fair started, I guess. Here comes Terezi, the hopeful young college graduate, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in her nicest business attire (by which I mean her jumpsuit) as she's on the hunt for the most elusive of all prey: a fucking job.]

Of course, this is pretty contingent on ever finding or unlocking the dang thing, but... I'm a little interested in working in the library! I don't really have any skills that are very applicable here. I don't know much about computers or engineering or medicine! I mean, my resume is mostly just being very good at tricking people and also kicking a whole lot of ass, and I have exactly zero interest in doing any kind of security work.

But... I kinda want to keep busy! I need a job! Gainful employment! I have had it with being bored in space for years. I will just melt into a melodramatic pile of goo if I have to.

So I guess I'll just make myself useful and pick up trash or something until then? I guess? Unless someone else has any suggestions they'd like to give me. But books have a nice smell, and I think I'd like to work somewhere quiet in my old age.

[this is clearly A Joke. terezi can't be older than twenty.]

[reposing]

[By this point of the town meeting, Alucard has fallen asleep leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He doesn't snore in so much as he breathes heavily, his long golden hair a river down his shoulders.

When there is a moment of silence, ironically, is when he opens his eyes and awakens.

Alucard looks up, sighs, rubs the bridge of his nose, and speaks.]

I've already made such an announcement, but for the time being until there is one more qualified, I will be your doctor. You may ask me any questions related to that, if you wish.

In addition, I am willing to teach basic aid, and I will be looking for assistants.

[hopefragment]

...?!

[Hajime can't help but double-take, glancing to the person who'd spoken up. He'd spoken to someone who sounded like this guy, but...]

Wait, you're Alucard?

[The -san has disappeared, because this guy definitely doesn't look much older than Hajime himself is at all.]

[reposing]

[The reaction Hajime has just confuses him, genuinely. Alucard hesitantly tucks some hair behind an ear.]

...Yes. What of it?

[setpoint]

[Alright, so here goes nothing.]

I'd like to start a group focused on repairing and unlocking the station. My background is in mechanics and engineering, and I have a little programming knowledge. I used to work on Jaegers back home—massive robots, and I was in charge of a project to repair and upgrade one that was nearly destroyed.

[So, that's what she's good at, and those are her credentials.]

I don't have any experience working on a station like this, though. Space travel isn't common where I'm from. I think a lot of my skills will translate, but there's plenty of knowledge I'm missing, too.

[bu773rfly]

[Erika raises her hand.]

Programming, networks, and so on. I'll do my best to branch out.

[She's kind of quiet, and keeping to a word budget.]

[tumang]

[ Amos steps forward, looking as intimidating as he knows how to be, shotgun in hands, and gives Mako a nod, an half smile on his lips. ]

I've got the experience. Me and Naomi - [ He points at her with a thumb. ] - we've been working on places like this one for years. We're engineers too.

[ He's not exactly one to offer his help so openly usually, he just does things, but he knows he has to, if he's ever going to make it home. He can't just pretend they're not all in this together. ]

Count me in.

[tekimetexeng]

[ This is what Naomi's here to discuss -- the politics of their current situation aren't to her taste, but she's concerned about the damage to the station they've already witnessed. People tearing into walls, breaking the terminals apart. It doesn't seem to have broken anything so far, but it potentially could. Naomi doesn't want to be in charge of anything when there's no real authority, but a group could work. If everyone actually knew what they were doing.

Amos gestures to her so she stands up next to address everyone, with a polite nod of greeting to Mako. ]

We've got the experience. I grew up fixing ships and stations and my specialty is impossible repairs. Qualifications probably don't matter here, and I'm not looking to be the boss, but if anyone wants a crash course in space mechanics I should be able to manage that. Just to make sure everyone inclined knows exactly what they're poking at. I'm sure you're all capable but we're working with limited resources and need to be extremely careful. I'm guessing any spare parts this place has are behind a sealed door somewhere, and not everything can be improvised.

[ And then she's got a question just for Mako, actually. ]

What kind of massive robot, exactly?

[veristitalian]

I'm compiling a list of unanswered questions, based on the discussions we have here. I'll share it with the network when it's as close to comprehensive as possible.

[The timing couldn't have been better, in terms of the arrival of the blank notebook, the quill and ink. Jasnah settles in to jot down every detail she can capture.]

If you can think of anything specific you've wondered, please see me before you leave. The more thorough the list, the more useful a tool it will be.

[contorta]

( prax woke up less than twelve hours ago. his life has been turned upside down, but not only by his arrival here: the destruction of ganymede station, not knowing where mei is, whether she's alive or a hybrid or dead, whether he'll ever see him again, staying on the roci... his life was turned upside down a while ago and it hasn't righted itself yet.

and still — he's here. mei isn't and he doesn't know how to get off this station and return to the search for his little girl. alex and amos don't know, either, though they've both told him not to give up, that they'd find a way somehow. he hopes that's true. he has to keep hoping. he can't give up on mei, he can't.

it's just that he's scared and this? this is something he knows. this is something he can do. so at some point, he speaks up. there's nothing demanding attention in his bearing, his posture or his tone. he's quiet, shoulders curled inward a little, a barely-healed cut on one side of his skull, still stapled together. )

My name's Prax. Prax Meng. I used to live in a place called Ganymede Station. I was a botanist. Am a botanist. I've heard there's some hydroponics here and some attempts to get an air filtration system going.

I can help with that.

( and for a moment, it seems like that's all he can say, but then his brows draw together, forehead crinkling. ) If anyone's seen or heard of a little girl called Mei, please tell me. She's my daughter.

[mapsio]

[As Prax speaks, Haru is in the corner of the meeting listening. He seems worse for wear and frightened on top of that. When he speaks of botany she raises both of her brows.

Of course the main concern is this man's daughter. Was she on the ship with them? HAru hopes not, for lack of better thinking. This would be no place for a young girl, especially if she is a child.

After he speaks, she approaches him directly.]

Hello, Prax-san? My name is Haru Okumura. I was the one who started the hydroponics garden here about a week ago. Things are slow moving, but I would really appreciate any help you can give.

[And with a much softer tone:] I do hope that your daughter is okay.

[veristitalian]

[Jasnah knows when her understanding of the technology of the future risks derailing a conversation, so she listens to this and waits. She only approaches Prax at the end of the meeting, when things are wrapping up, and asks, quietly;]

Excuse me. Can I ask you about what you were describing earlier? Hydroponics?

[oorah]

[ he tracks prax down when he's (mostly) alone. he sees that giant gun, amos!!! he is not impressed okay. but he is hopelessly endeared, oops. frank looks better than the last time they spoke, physically at least, and he has a new friend. max the dog is at his side as he approaches, and he seems to immediately understand that this man is of no threat to him, sniffing prax's shoes as he waits for acknowledgment. ]

If you need any help with that plant shit, let me know. [ despite the dismissive words, he couldn't actually sound more sincere. ]

[marineris]

[Luckily, Bobbie isn't very intimidated by Amos, so she doesn't hesitate to approach Prax. She's not sure if he remembers her, but that will become obvious soon enough.]

I haven't seen Mei. I'm sorry.

[There's something disquieting about the fact that being here would be hands down better than whatever might be happening to Mei on Io. She's almost entirely certain that's not something Prax would want to discuss, let alone here, so she shoves it to the back of her mind. If they can get out of here, they can deal with everything that's going to hell in a handbasket at home.]

How's your head doing?

[supersonic]

[ Pietro gives a sort of nervous glance at Amos hovering nearby before he approaches, but then, he's a wary sort of kid. Tall, athletic, but hunched in a way that suggests he's used to needing to make himself smaller and less noticeable, in crowds like this. Attracting the attention of large groups never ends well for him. But he has questions. ]

Is that something you could teach? Botany? I am— [ Well. ] —not necessarily very good at gardening; most of the farm work I have done has been the kind with tillers and dirt. But I learn quickly, and I would rather we didn't all starve. [ To put it dramatically. ] Or run out of clean air, either.

[subplot]

[Karen listens to him and takes interest in the fact he's a botanist. She has some input as far as the air filtration goes, but there's a more pressing matter that makes her heart lurch. She can't imagine what he must feel like right now, trying to find his daughter in a place like this.]

I haven't seen any children here. Just teenagers. But if I find her, I'll be sure to get her to you right away.

[There's a part of her that wants to warn him she may not be here. But she can't, because she knows that he's likely already thinking it. And if she's not here, then where is she? The implications that come up because of that question make her frown.]

If you need help with any of the plants, I can do that too.

[oorah]

[ frank slips in after the meeting is underway with a big, brown dog and sits at the back of the room without announcing himself. he already volunteered on the network as trashman, but he won't mind reiterating it here... once people cool it a little. he's an anarchist okay, he doesn't want a leader any more than the next high-strung loser in space, but there are jobs that need to get done here until they find a way home. so he waits through all the bickering and loudness until things begin to calm. max seems to be relaxing as well, his heavy head pillowed on one of frank's magboots.

he thinks of what wanda said to him, that he's suited for helping people. no one's ever said that to him before. it was always his skills killing them that mattered. but now things are different, and not just because his war is over. he thinks of alex's wedding ring, and of mako and raleigh. there are people here who need to get back. if he can help them do that, even do a small part - he's obligated to, isn't he? he stands abruptly and max reluctantly sits up at his side, looking annoyed at being woken up but trying to be a Good Boy anyway. ]

I'm Frank - Frank Castiglione. I posted to the Network about - trash. [ he shrugs a little helplessly before going on. ] I'm not a nerd, I mean a genius, or an engineer or anything. I'm just a dumbfuck Marine, but... I want to help out. Even if that's just, staying outta the way.

[ he lifts his hands dismissively, exposing the still-healing burns and his slowly-mending right palm, before sitting back down with his dog. no one can ever say he didn't try. ]

[subplot]

[At some point, Karen's slipped in to the room and sits in the empty seat next to Frank. She's been lingering far back against the wall, but if he's here she might as well move in closer. She reaches down to scratch Max behind the ears before settling in to her seat, posture rigid and professional as she observes everything. Her eyes flicker from speaker to speaker, and she mutters some comments to herself (and okay, maybe to Frank too) at some points. But otherwise she doesn't engage with the general conversation. She's trying to get a feel for everyone.

Frank surprises her by speaking up, and she glances down at Max as if to say let's hope this doesn't turn into his trial all over again.

Whenever he's done engaging whatever conversation his piece inspires from people around him, she waits until he's seated before leaning in to whisper:]

Don't lie. You are a nerd.

[subplot]

[Karen shows up on time, but lingers outside the mess hall and lingers in the back of the room observing everyone else. Typically she might be in the front of the crowd asking questions to get some answers, but without having any expertise in anything being discussed here she hangs back and watches. She's taking notes as best as she can as she observes, keeping track of people she knows and what they volunteer to do. Anyone that speaks she watches intently, trying to sort out who will be the most useful and if there's anyone that seems better to avoid. She eventually makes her way to the last row of seats and slides into an empty spot. Just like she's been there the entire time. Which she has, just creepily distant from the rest of the group.

When it seems like everyone's settled down she figures it seems like a good time to speak up with the one question that hasn't been asked yet. Or at least, one she hasn't heard mentioned yet while she was paying attention.]

What about the people who aren't qualified for any of the work that's been mentioned? [Obviously this isn't in relation to her, she takes whatever job she wants regardless of experience or qualifications.]

How should we decide the best way to find a place for everyone to be productive? Do we even care if everyone carries their own weight?

[splinten]

It feels like it would be kind of fucked up to insist everyone should 'carry their own weight,' especially in a situation that no one asked to be in and that's seriously out of a lot of people's depths.

[It isn't a confrontational tone at her (it isn't much of a tone at all), so much as a comment on the system altogether.]

A cooperative community is in everyone's best interests, and obviously counterproductive behaviour is going to cause problems. But no one here has the authority to insist on punishment of people for not being productive or force them into labour. I'd take issue with anyone who tried it.

[He isn't accepting any kind of authoritarian bent happening here at all. He may not have a sword, but he has very strong convictions about it not being okay to coerce people.]

[tumang]

I started teaching you some stuff before. I can keep going.

[ It's said nonchalantly, from just behind her. He did start and he's happy to keep at it - it'll be a better use of time than the lot of them sitting on their hands while only three people get to do something. ]

[morphogenia]

[Kamala has been listening during the meeting. One because she's been waiting to see if anyone would try to take over. That's kind of historically how it goes down in high pressure situations like this. Two because everyone else seemed to be on the same page as her as far as realizing how likely it is a power hungry person may try to use the kidnapping to gain control over the other kidnappees.

Now seems like a great time to speak up though. Kamala rises to her feet and raises her hand politely. She's a tiny thing who looks even younger than she actually is, but how she carries herself makes up for it. Mostly.]

Okay so I'm a high school student. I'm on honor roll and all that, but I don't think that actually qualifies me for anything in real life yet much less a space kidnapping.

[She's determined to be useful though which becomes clear very quickly.] It does make me an excellent student so is there any job that really needs a helper you're willing to train? [She adds quickly since Alucard was kind enough to offer just that already to everyone. She doesn't want people to think she isn't paying attention.] One we really, really need like immediately. I want to be wherever I could be most useful.

[She adds more chipperly,] I can probably take more than one too! I have a lot of hobbies back home and I don't even have an incentive there to fill as many hours as possible. Seriously this whole situation is creepy so I could use the distraction. If I can spend seven hours mastering six different subjects five times a week, I can handle learning like two things for however long I'm awake every day.

[veristitalian]

...we spoke, but we never intrudoced ourselves properly. [Jasnah realizes, surprised to be searching for the young woman's name and to find it isn't there.] I'm Jasnah Kholin.

You're interested in learning. Does that extend to other scholarly traditions? I've been using my own to try to learn more about the station. I can provide formal training in the approach, and I believe that a second perspective could make the work stronger.

[lssj]

[The funny thing about your entire culture revolving around being a FIGHTING WARRIOR RACE, being one of the few members of said race who's kind of shitty at it and hanging out with a bunch of delinquents who don't contribute to society is...no skills. No skills whatsoever.

Despite that, Kale's taken it upon herself to try and be a bit more proactive in putting herself out there. With Caulifla absent and her time here amounting to be a big old [undetermined], she can't exactly shy away the whole time.

Unfortunately, selling herself is not her strong point.]

I, um...[...very, very lengthy pause. Deep breath.] I don't...really have anything to offer. Um...I'm not all that good at anything and I'm kind of clumsy and I get in the way a lot...

[Another pause.]

But...I don't want to leave everything to everyone else here, either...I want to help. I just don't know what I'd be very helpful for.

As far as things go, I guess...I can fly. And I can lift heavy stuff. [Despite the fact her build would suggest she can't lift anything. But given she doesn't have much confidence in herself to begin with, she might be a fairly reliable gauge of her capabilities after all.] And...I'll do my best. I promise. I'll try not to get in the way.