Pain Train Pulling into the Station

[pain_train]

Who: Wrath and... you?
What: Getting the lay of the land, also sending out an intro video
Where: All around the rig
When: As the new hires arrive
Warnings/Notes: None, will edit if that changes

[It's a sad statement about Wrath's life that this is not her first time waking up in an alien place, nor her first time being strapped to a chair and interrogated, nor her first time being stuffed into what is plainly a corporate nightmare.

She keeps it together through the intake process, even though parts of it scare the hell out of her. She knows how to put that fear in a little box and ignore it. It's just restraints, not honey, not a woman with chipped pink nail polish. She's got this.

In a strange way, the explanation of the work is almost comforting. The words are different the situation details have changed, but it sure sounds like holding a line, building a dome to keep the people inside safe. In a way, it's comforting compared to being nothing but television entertainment with no distinct mission.

Same shit, different day.

Released out into the rig, Wrath takes her time getting the lay of the land. She's not stupid, and she is paranoid for a multitude of reasons. She pokes her nose into every place she's allowed and perhaps a few she isn't, courtesy of her disarming attitude and non-threatening appearance. She's also, as always, looking for familiar faces.]


Top Deck

[This is actually the first place she heads, because she wants to understand what the external situation is. It's hotter than she's been in a while; she's got sweat rolling down her nose as she looked out over the variagated desert, out to the distant horizon. She's seen the sky recently thanks to the Fleet, but it's somehow different, to think that this is her reality now. The sky is no longer a temporary thing.]

It's beautiful.

[Her fingers itch for a sketch book, for paints, for anything.]

Gardens

[This is not unfamiliar to someone who spent most of her life in a domed city. Proles had some traditional farms, but there were a lot of vertical farms and hydroponics bays. The smell is familiar, and a happy one, and she's happy to get Farmer Bob talking, even if she has almost no idea what he's actually saying. She wanders the paths among the vegetables for a long time, smiling faintly to herself.]

The Mess

[This is honestly the best mess food she's had, and the food even tastes like what it's supposed to be, which is a bonus. Though Wrath is disappointed that there's no drink dispensers like in the mess of the Windrose because she'd just figured out how to make the perfect drink that was also pink.

Oh well.

She collects a tray and chooses a table at random, one where someone who looks like they could use a friend is sitting.]

Hi! I'm Wrath. What's your name?

Training Room

[It's inevitable there'd be a training room, and necessary. Wrath's still got daily physical therapy exercises to do, and she's still trying to train herself back up to full speed and strength after a length of time where she'd been tuned down to human normal for her own safety.

She diligently does her PT, does a few rounds of weights, and then works combat drills with single-minded intensity. First by herself, then with the training droids, then with the floating laser droids. At normal speed, she's impressive. At high speed, she's still plainly relearning. She works both unarmed and with an apparently ordinary, if sleek, cavalry saber.

A couple of lasers hit her and she faceplants into the mats with a loud thump. She sighs with annoyance, picks herself up, shakes it out.]

From the top.

Wildcard!

[There is literally nowhere she's not going to at least try to stick her nose into, so pick a place!]


[Video, sent out later]

[The video shows a middle-aged pink-haired woman with an easy smile.]

This is Wrath, formerly lieutenant in the Proles Militia and first officer of the Windrose. If you're from Proles or the Fleet, report in.

And if not... uh... hi! Looking forward to doing good work with you!

[She waves at the camera. Video ends.]

Comments

top deck

[bothbarrels]

[ North was coming up for a breath of fresh air—which wasn't necessarily very nice, considering the heat, but it was outside, at least. He saw the woman with pink hair at the railing, realized he'd never met her, and decided to come and greet her. New arrivals were various levels of scared and confused, and he liked to greet them, when he could.

He hears her mumble to herself and comes up alongside, looking out over the railing. ]

It's the best view in this place.

Re: top deck

[pain_train]

[ That... is a familiar voice. One she hasn't heard in way too long.

She turns, eyes going wide as she looks up--and up--and yes, that is North.

Yeah, trust him to act all casual like this. What a beuatiful jerk. She breaks into an absolutely radiant grin. ]

North!!

[ Without any kind of hesitation, she flings herself at him for a hug, trusting he'll catch her. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He does catch her, but not out of any expectation that she would do what she did. She's a lot heavier than she looks. He's amused and bemused, smiling. ]

Heyyy.

[ He allows her the hug—returns it, even, because clearly wherever she had met him, she had had a favorable opinion. She doesn't seem that inclined to let him go right away, so he slowly releases her and tips her back to the floor. ]

I hope you won't be upset if I tell you I don't know you.

[ He understands immediately what must have happened, of course—with these alternate universes being part of the deal, and all. He just doesn't want to leave her with a false hope. ]

[pain_train]

[ Oh. Oh. She knows this happens. She knows parallel universes and all that crap now, thanks to the Fleet. Hell, it could even be some kind of augment (or whatever the equivalent is here) glitch. But that doesn't change the facts. ]

Fuck. Sorry. I shoulda asked before I touched you.

[ She backs up to a more standard personal space distance, shoving her hands in her pockets and looking back toward the desert. ]

Um. Yeah. It's a nice view.

[ownperson]

[ With her dominant hand still in a splint after an unfortunate... incident between her fist and a bulkhead, South's training options are a lot more limited than she'd like. Rather than doing all the combat training she wants to be doing, she's relegated to things that don't require both hands. Treadmills, leg curls, or pushing her luck a little by going one-handed for push-ups and pull-ups.

She pays little attention to her surroundings as she works out, not even casting an eye across the rest of the room until she eventually needs a break. She sits herself down off to the side of the sparring mats, because there at least she can observe other fighters among the New Hires, and watches the pink-haired woman for a while in silence.

New face, she thinks between swigs of water, and not half bad a fighter. Idly, she calls out just loud enough to be heard: ]

Those things sure sting like a bitch, huh?

[pain_train]

[ Wrath drops into a crouch and looks in the direction of that voice. Which is also very familiar, and not in a welcome way.

If you can't handle the crowd, stay off the streets, yeah? ...Oh, so like a pity date?

Wrath's memory is terrible for a number of reasons, but some things are seared into her mind--and she hasn't had a wipe in the intervening years, so it's all still there. The anger, the frustration, the sick self-hatred. And right. What North and Delta told her about this woman.

She rolls her wrist, saber not up, but ready. ]

South.

[ownperson]

[ Uh... what?

South narrows her eyes, wrinkle in her brow. Puts her bottle down and straightens her spine a little. ]

...how the fuck do you know my name?

[ Sure, it's all over the network, and some people seem to dig around when they arrive, but the way this woman says it isn't like the name of a stranger she's just so happened to learn. ]

[pain_train]

[ Wait, does South not remember her?

Well, they only met the once. And maybe it was more memorable for one of them. ]

We've met.

[ She rises to her feet. Physically, she is not at all imposing. ]

Back when I used a cane to walk.

i'm going to create a card so wild

[bananaclip]

[ Dayna's lying on the bed when Wrath enters her room. Her room. She's not at all surprised to find a newbie walking in, though, and she looks up from her bunk, from the book she's been reading, and says dryly: ]

Hey. I'm guessing we're roommates. I'm Dayna.

Hello...roommie

[pain_train]

[ Wrath actually double checks the 'orders' she was given, just to make sure. ]

...guess we are. Hi, roommie! I'm Wrath.

[ She picks one of the remaining two open bunks. ]

I'm physically incapable of snoring, so you don't have to worry about that!

[bananaclip]

[ Dayna smiles at that. ]

Hey, you're friendly enough. A little snoring wouldn't bother me.

[ She watches Wrath settle in for a moment, then looks back at her book. ]

I like your hair.

[pain_train]

A good attitude is good for morale!

[ She grins. ]

Thank you! You have nice hair, too.

the mess

[zerofield]

[ Someone who looks like they could use a friend, in this case, is a petite girl of about fifteen with a very deadpan demeanor, poking at her food with the attitude of someone who knows they need to eat but isn't getting a bit of enjoyment out of doing so. ]

Ah?

[ Wrath is...an interesting name, but Tio wasn't entirely raised in a barn, she has some manners. ]

I'm Tio. Hi.

Re: the mess

[pain_train]

Nice to meet you, Tio!

[ Wrath starts digging into her food. ]

Man, this shit's great. You got like... actual cooks here or something.

[zerofield]

[ She blinks. Now, that's not what she was expecting to hear at all. ]

The food must've been awful where you came from. This isn't...horrible, but compared to home, it's painfully mediocre.

[pain_train]

First it was ration packs and then it was synthetic protein that you had to mix yourself and it never quite tasted right. [ She shrugs. ] But it's the calories that are important, right? Every calorie is a protein farmer's tear.

Video

[walkingballpit]

Hey Wrath, I’m Robbie.

[ No judgment on the name, one of his oldest friends calls himself Rage and is a total marshmallow. ]

Those sound ship-shaped. Sea ship or space ship?

Re: Video

[pain_train]

Hi Robbie!

The Windrose is a space ship. She was part of a whole fleet of space ships.

Re: Video

[walkingballpit]

Rad. I like a good terrestrial name on an extraterrestrial ship, gives it a space pirates vibe.

[ She seems cheerful for the circumstances (being kidnapped from one’s dimension and able to relatively roll with it is not a universal skill) so Robbie will continue to treat her as he normally would if they weren’t meeting under dungtacular circumstances. ]

So I’m not from the fleet, if you haven’t figured that out yet, but we may be from a similar tech level universe. Around here, that’s as good a reason as any to be friends. Anything I can help you with?

The mess

[poor_unlucky_girl]

Oh, hello. [she smiles timidly] My name is Jennifer, I'm new.

Re: The mess

[pain_train]

Hi, Jennifer! I'm Wrath. I'm new, too. I just got in today.

Food's pretty good, huh?

Re: The mess

[poor_unlucky_girl]

It is! Although I wish we also had a supply of tea. It's nice to meet you.

Top Deck

[hallelujahjunction]

[Dan tries to get up to the top deck at least a few times per day to get his nicotine fix, and at the moment that leads him across Wrath's path. He's been getting cigarettes from the various Jorgmund workers he's befriended and socialized with, and even though he has to ration them, the here-and-there ritual is keeping him feeling grounded.

He sees someone new, and heads over the railing on the Rig where he can look out and smoke while downwind of her, in case she doesn't like the smell. He gives a little wave, a short man with a voice that sounds like five miles of bad road and bronchitis.]

Sure is. Some days it's outright spectacular. [He smiles at her.] You're new around here, ain't you? Welcome to the Rig.

Re: Top Deck

[pain_train]

Yeah, I just got here today. Thanks! My name's Wrath. What's yours?

[hallelujahjunction]

Dan. [He reaches over to shake her hand, but with a lingering half-smile to indicate that there's no hard feelings if she doesn't accept.] So brand new. How are you holding up with the information overload?