Greet the (New) Meat! (no, don't eat them!)

[cityship]

By hook or by crook or by avoiding hook and crook, the crew assembled from the previous podpops eventually made it up to the Living Area to greet their new crew mates. The creepy sculpture was also there, though less to greet them than it was always there.

The strange, fleshy seating had multiplied. You really, really don't want to know how.

Comments

[prettycoolguy]

There's a stranger in the Living Area, coming in from the transport tubes. He's big, standing about 6'10'', and probably the first things to notice about his face are 1) he is extremely pale and 2) he has some interesting scars. But mostly, he just seems a touch jumpy.

It might be good to let him know that there's still nothing actively trying to kill him.

For the moment.

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"Relax, m'boy," says a stout, older-looking man. He's shorter than John, certainly, but something about him just... seems like he should be taller. It must be something about his demeanor.

He offers a callused hand.

[prettycoolguy]

"I'm trying," the Chief replies, though the presence of another human is somewhat reassuring. He accepts the handshake. There's something about this guy, he's clearly older than John but there's a... sense to him. Like he's more than he seems, but it's just a flicker of a gut feeling and it's quickly gone. Easily attributed to general stress.

"Do you know what this place is? The disembodied voice is decidedly unhelpful."

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

Wednesday lets out a hiss through his breath as their hands touch. His grip is firm - firmer than it seems like a man of his age and slight paunch should have. "It's a starship. Might as well be a British merchantman for as much as I actually know about it past that, but..." He shrugs lightly.

[prettycoolguy]

"So it is a ship." Hooray for confirmed suspicions. This also makes the AI... slightly more sense-making? Though it's unusual for an AI to be given this much run of a ship, he supposes that the creepy podroom might well be an automated process by this thing's weird standards.

"Does this ship have a captain, or is it run by the AI?"

[anoldtrickster.livejournal.com]

"Well, there's a... 'captain'," and he makes vague air-quotes, "but I doubt that really means anything, seeing as how the ship hasn't bothered to tell her anything more than the rest of us."

"You're a soldier," he adds absently. Well, he could have figured that out from John's stance and bearing, right? "A very good one, am I right?"

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

Mai eyes the new arrival. He's pretty big, actually. One of the biggest men she's ever seen, in fact. Still, her expression of absolute boredom and apathy doesn't change. She finally sighs and directs a comment in his direction. It's in a flat monotone.

"Nothing is going to jump out and kill you. Although, the food might."

[prettycoolguy]

The Chief notices a young woman here, probably not even twenty.

"Good to know," replies, mostly eyeing that big creepy sculpture now. The figures in it are relatively humanoid, and he's not sure what that means. He already knew this place wasn't Forerunner or Covenant, and the Flood had never been much for art. Or for not trying to kill him.

"What is this place?"

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"Well, apparently it's a giant ship that flys through the stars and we've all been chosen for... something." Mai rolls her eyes, following the man's gaze to the statue, "I'm probably just as in the dark as you."

[prettycoolguy]

"So it's a ship. That's something, at least. Where were you taken from?"

Personal question? Possibly, but John's trying to figure this out. He himself was plucked out a cryopod in the derelict back half of a ship, drifting in what was near enough to dead space. If there was something abducting humans, and civilians just to judge by this one's age and demeanor, it had to have at least hit a colony world.

Speculation like this makes him wonder exactly how long he was in that pod. Long enough to heal...

[grayaura.livejournal.com]

"The Fire Nation."

That's all she says and she either expects it to answer all of John's questions or she just doesn't care. Probably the latter. She keeps an eye on him for a moment, and then goes back to examining her fingernails. Hey, there's dirt under that one. She sighs and starts picking at it with one of her knives.

[cityship]

One of the holographic projectors flickers, and then there's a familiar face looking at him.

"You all right, Chief?"

[prettycoolguy]

Cortana's voice. Where?!

The Chief's head jerks up in surprise. It's her. A wave of relief washes over him, Cortana's here too and that greatly improves his situation. Especially if she's in the system and can tell him what the hell is going on.

"More or less," he replies, with just the flicking edge of a nerve-wracked smile. "Are you?"

[cityship]

"I'm distinctly uncomfortable, but having access to this ship's computer system and yet being cut off from any useful information will do that."

[prettycoolguy]

"I'm just glad I didn't lose you. What do you know? Because to be honest, anything would help me right now."

He missed his familiar headvoice. It's very reassuring, when plunged into a vat of insanity, to have somebody you know with you.

[cityship]

"You haven't lost me yet," she says. "Ready for a sitrep?"

[asluciferfell.livejournal.com]

Javert was interested in talking to the man because, for one, here was a human who was finally taller than him, by at least four inches. Besides that, however, he was a man who reeked of soldier, which made the swarthy policeman feel much more at ease than the scores of children had.

Seeing as the man looked ready to leap out of his skin, Javert cleared his throat and spoke up. "It's merely disgusting, not dangerous, as far as I can tell."

[prettycoolguy]

The Chief looks around to see who spoke to him and finds a tall, thin man.

"How are you so sure?" he asks. "Have you been here long?"

Here is a very strange, bizarre place, so he's reluctant to relax.

[asluciferfell.livejournal.com]

"Not so very long; Longer than you, certainly, and I'm still alive." Which is possibly saying something, with his gray streaks and frown lines. The man has to be at least in his early fifties. He certainly hasn't bothered to relax.

[prettycoolguy]

"Thankyou then, that's helpful. Who are you?"

That's a lot more reassuring than the ship's AI has been so far. And the tentacles. And the sedative.

[asluciferfell.livejournal.com]

"Inspecteur Javert, of the Paris Prefecture de Police."

Javert is blocking out the tentacle-needles from his memory, thank you.

[ihatefire.livejournal.com]

A blonde woman walks up to Master Chief, badge pinned her belt, guns holstered at her sides, a datapad in her hand.

She carries herself like some of his superior officers likely had, but there's the slight cop-ly swagger to it that marks a law enforcement background over a military one.

"Two questions, big guy: what's your name, and have you been briefed on our situation?"

[prettycoolguy]

'Officer,' says John's brain, recognizing the confidence in her stance and gait. 'Officer or police,' it amends as his eyes flick over the badge. 'Police, then.' Whoever she is, she's important. Or at least thinks she is.

"Spartan 117, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, ma'am. I've spoken with the AI Cortana and several members of the crew, I believe I understand most of the situation."

It doesn't make any of this seem less crazy or his situation seem any better, true, but he's accepting it.

[ihatefire.livejournal.com]

Weird name, but she's used to weird names by now.

"Good, that saves me some breath. I'm Cybil Bennet, Brahm's PD. For some reason, Stacy's decided I'm the captain of this little rag-tag bunch, for whatever that's worth. I'm making sure everyone's briefed before I call the meeting. We have to make special arrangements for it, for certain..." He eyes glance upwards. "Reasons, and we can't waste any time during it."

[prettycoolguy]

"Understood." The Chief nods. Okay, so this is the captain. Also, on a much less important note, he was right. Which is always cool. He has his suspicions about the reasons, and judging by the upward glance he'd guess it has to do with the ship listening in. That meshes with what Cortana told him earlier, too.

"Where will this meeting be?" It sounds good to him, any opportunity to get a better grasp of what's going on is worth grabbing as far as he's concerned.