Meat n' Greet

[cityship]

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

Comments

[8wings.livejournal.com]

"A Media Library, yes. The records are stored electronically, not on paper. A huge volume of data, from multiple worlds and universes. You can view the records there, or take away datapads that hold the information. There are also lockers and quarters available to the crew, where you can store your possessions." that with a flickering glance at the armload of books.

She smiled. "There is both a Magical Department and a Medical Department, and you would be welcome to work in one or both. I myself work in Medical, in a secretarial function."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Soren's expression was one of faint distaste; his grip on the books tightened at Anwei's glance. A mage's tomes were his weapons. "I see. A shame the creators of such an advanced vessel failed to appreciate the appeal of the written word."

"Is that so? Then I shall look into them, thank you."

[8wings.livejournal.com]

She blinked. "I suspect that the creators chose utility over grace. A single Omnicomm can hold the equivalent of fifty billion machine-printed pages; the Library holds many multiples of that amount of data. And can output it into any language, which is useful in a multi-species crew."

A crew that was getting more multi-species all the time, from the looks of it.

"You may not be able to contact some people; there is currently a mission which has taken multiple crew off the ship." Medical was particularly short-staffed.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"Hmph. So its users can bleed at the eyes in any language, no doubt. Perhaps I'll pay it a visit." And probably give the machinery a good kick while he was at it.

"Indeed? And I suppose they've left no confederates in charge."

[8wings.livejournal.com]

Her expression chilled slightly. "You have some bias against computer-stored data? Or do you just prefer bound books?"

And if he tried kicking the Translation Engine, someone would probably - hopefully - warn him off.

"Hmm." She looked at her own Omnicomm. "Both the head of Magical - Nanoha - and the head of Medical, Doctor Henderson, are on the mission. If you are not in magical or medical distress, you might want to wait for their return. I could set up an appointment for you to meet with Doctor Henderson, if you like."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"'Computer'? If you're referring to devices like these--" He palms the Omnicomm in one hand.

"...then I'm sure I've never encountered them before." But it was obvious that he wasn't particularly impressed by them.

"I see. No, that should be perfectly all right. Missions have a way of taking longer than expected. I'll drop in sometime when the doctor returns."

[8wings.livejournal.com]

"They are very powerful tools. It's even possible to make them complicated enough that they gain sentience - several crew members are of computer origin." A frown. "But then again, there is also a sentient book who is a member of the crew. I'm not certain if he was simply such a complicated book that he became self-aware, or if it was some magical effect."

"I appreciate your flexibility. This particular mission seems like it has already departed from what we expected, so I can't pinpoint when those crew members will return." She shrugged. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

"Manmade creations," he snorted. "Likely as flawed as their creators, if not more so."

He raised his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Or perhaps this book is merely a spirit of some sort, trapped within an artifact. It would not be the first time such a thing has happened."

"That is why all plans should be flexible enough to accommodate unforeseen circumstance," he said, frowning.

[8wings.livejournal.com]

"Welllll...sentient-made, at least. Did you come from a planet where 'men' were the only sentient beings?"

"I actually haven't asked Lord Zetta exactly what his origins are. He has implied that as a book he is capable of very powerful acts under the right circumstances, such as restoring all of the lost worlds. And he took on a bipedal form under recent circumstances."

She cocked her head a little bit farther than a human would. "Plans? We had no advance warning of this pod-pop; you and all of these people were simply released. The ship has also been known to release deadly diseases and vicious monsters. The crew are all from multiple worlds and backgrounds, with the only qualification apparently being famous, or changers of their own destiny, or both. The ship chooses the mission teams at apparent random, sends them out with no advance notice and minimal information, and barely seems to notice if a mission has been completed. There are simply too many variables to make coherent plans in advance."

Not that Anwei was bitter or anything. Oh no.

[facepunching.livejournal.com]

Ugh. A pedant. "That depends on what you mean by 'men'. There were two major races, the beorc and the laguz. I would describe both as being contained within the phrase 'mankind'."

"I see." He made a mental note to look into this Zetta later. Though if he hadn't restored all the worlds yet, those 'right circumstances' might be grossly impractical.

"Wonderful. And yet this vessel has not yet run aground, or whatever the parlance might be. I don't much care if this vessel houses deadly disease or gods of destruction -- strategy is integral to any successful campaign." He paused. "...But your defeatism is noted."

[8wings.livejournal.com]

That actually was a relief. "Fair enough. Accepting that there is more than one sentient species can be a barrier for some." It had certainly taken her several years to adjust her attitude.

"This vessel is the Transmigration-9, and apparently ships one through eight were lost for unknown reasons. The ship also cycles through multiple crews, releasing and repodding them, or simply replacing the dead. Making a strategy is possible for the overall mission, but every sub-mission is a stab in the dark against unknown opponents with weapons of untested quality." And sooner or later, they were going to bring something back from a mission that would cause them trouble.

She looked at him with a hint of a smile. "I sincerely hope that the ship recognizes your talents and lets you apply them where they will do the most good. And if in the process you can bring more order to this ship, that will be doubly good."