trans_9 | (no subject)

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Throughout the ship, people would hear the familiar voice of Stacy in their heads.

||Pod Release Protocols Initating||

In the Pod Caverns, there were the sounds of: Pop. Pop pop pop. Poppuhpoppoppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiiiissssss.

There was condensation and mist spraying out from cracks in the pods, as the people inside slid out onto the floors, covered in slime.

Pop. Poppop. KASCHUNKhiiiiiissss.

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There's a woman's voice that seems to come from nowhere.

||Do you require any assistance, Leni Ivens?||

"Yeah, y-- wait." She squeezed her eyes shut and massaged her temples. Voices in her head. Great. This was really getting to be too much to take in all at once. She'd say it was just a bad dream, but normally her imagination wasn't quite this creative.

"Okay." Her voice held the calmness of someone who was just barely holding it together. "Let's try this again. What's going on, and who-- what are you?"

||You have been awakened from podsleep. I am--||

Leni would suddenly feel a wave of emotion wash over her, something like a mixture of maternal love, duty, and honor.

||The closest pronunciation human vocal chords would be capable of is STA'C K'LTRRB'TXFT, though many refer to me as Stacy.||

"All right. This is a start. This is... something." She didn't sound particularly reassured, but her shoulders were a smidgen less tense. "So, Stacy, could you clarify that a little? Where we are and why we're here would be a good start." She was a bit more comfortable now that she was getting into something that, while still unspeakably strange, was at least a dialogue of sorts. Fact-finding Q&A sessions she could do.

||You are in the Pod Caverns.||

As for why she's here... ||Information classified.||

Oh, good. A special guest appearance by her least favorite word in the English language. "Classified by who?" Deep breaths. "If I'm stuck here, then I at least have a right to know why!"

She went to cross her arms and got a sudden reminder of her present less-than-dignified state. "... look, do you at least have some clothes or something for me? And maybe a place where I can clean up?"

||Both services will be provided at the Clothing room.||

A path of lit up...were those pustules? Yes, yes they were. Those were glowing pustules along the ground, lined up into a path leading off into the distance.

||Please follow the indicated path.||

"Nice touch," she muttered, carefully avoiding the glowing pustules as she followed the path. As if she needed more nightmare fuel.

"So," she said a bit louder, "is there anything you can tell me that's not classified? Or is this one of those kinds of places where they like to forget about things like due process?"

||The Living Area includes a sleeping area, media room, cafeteria, sensoriums, Obs Deck, and Weapons and Possessions Lockers. You will be directed there after your trip to the Clothing Room.||

At the mention of due process: ||Violating Rules will grant you one Violation. Accumulating fifteen Violations will earn you Punishment.||

Now she was starting to get somewhere. It wasn't a somewhere she liked, and definitely not a somewhere she recognized, but she'd take what she could get right now. "Punishment. All right. So what are the rules, and what's the punishment?"

||The Rules are as follows: Do not attempt to harm your podmates. Do not attempt to harm yourself. Do not attempt to enter restricted areas. Do not attempt to damage or in any other way violate the intended use of ship components. You must obey your commander's orders on missions.||

On the second, point, however... ||Information classified.||

"Missions?"

That particular point distracted her enough that she even forgot to grouse about the 'classified' reprise. This seemed like the start of as close an answer as she was going to find about the 'why' issue. "What sort of 'missions' do you mean? I can assure you that past associations to the contrary, I don't have any military training."

||Missions will require several other areas of expertise beyond military training. Several podmates with military experience have been taken to fulfill that part of the quota. Your areas of expertise, however, have been deemed useful for possible future missions.||

And then, as a side note, ||Training in military expertise will be provided if deemed necessary or if requested.||

Ah. She knew where this was going now. "At least the Loonies had the courtesy to ask first," she grumbled in an undertone. "Any chance I might get a choice about all this, or at least some sort of compensation?"

||There is no choice in the matter. Your compensation is the knowledge that you are accomplishing something great.||

Well, this was just grand, wasn't it? All she could do was hope that it was a project she could deal with. The last time she'd tried something like this hadn't exactly worked out too well. "So what kind of missions are these? Humanitarian? Imperialistic? I need to figure out what kind of style I'll be using." A pause. "What kind of equipment will I be working with, anyway?" God only knew what kind of audiovisual equipment these... whatever used.

||You will be instructed on the nature of missions in proper time before each one. Proper equipment will be provided before each mission, though it is likely your personal equipment can be found in the Weapons and Possessions lockers.||

The path was slowly coming to an end, leading to a massive, cylindrical structure that reached from the floor of the cavern to its roof. The path finally ended at a door in the wall of the structure, which led to a room that was empty save for numerous vine-like tendrils hanging from the ceiling.

||Please step inside.||

Leni peered inside and looked suspiciously at the vines; there wasn't any clothing in sight, but maybe this was some kind of decontamination chamber or something. Given that she was going to have to play along for the foreseeable future anyhow, she shrugged and stepped inside the structure.

The vines reached down and wrapped around her as they lifted her up, covering her in clothing made out of a strange, dark, plant-like material before setting her down again.

"H-hey, wait a--"

It was over almost before she could raise a protest, though, and she looked at her new clothing with a mixture of faint surprise and disgust. At least it was comfortable, but the pulsing she could do without.

"Thanks, I think. Guess you don't have anything without a heartbeat, huh?"

||It is a standard podmate uniform composed of a biomaterial designed to be form fitting and to keep your body clean.||

"Better than slime, I guess." She at last sounded somewhat resigned to everything. "So. Where am I off to next?"

||I will guide you to the Hub, which will take you to the Living Area.||

Outside the door, another lighted path led out and around to another door on the cylindrical structure.

"Lead the way, then."

She stepped quickly along the lit path, more than ready to get out of this area. She wasn't sure whether the prospect of a chance to sit down and think about all this was a good or bad thing, but it was necessary, anyhow.

At least she'd be getting her camera back.

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