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

[pain_train]

[ Wrath laughs, because that is exactly in line with the reaction he had about the hovercycle when they had their first conversation in the hospital. ]

I'm just good at my job, that's all!

[ Honestly, it's a good question. How do friendships even happen? Mental shrug. ] I don't know? Like you visited me in the hospital because... um... I don't know? But we had a nice talk and we just kept talking and you kept me company while I was in traction for weeks. You're a kind and generous person.

[bothbarrels]

[ His face softens into a genuine smile, less disbelieving and more flattered. ]

Hey, well, if you say it, it must be true.

[ He's teasing her, which is weird. He doesn't usually fall into teasing someone he just met so easily. But her knowing him makes it a bit different. ]

More than one visit, huh?

[pain_train]

[ She rolls her eyes. ]

Of course everything I say is true. Lying is mean.

[ But not, apparently, cutting off someone's leg and then winging it at another person's face. Look, Proles is a really different place. ]

Yeah! I guess you were... bored? I dunno. That's also arount the time you joined up with the militia under Commander Ravani, so like... that's pretty busy. [ Huh. She hadn't really thought this through before. And at the time, she'd been on a lot of drugs and just really grateful for the company. But it is weird, now that she considers it. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He pauses, considering what she'd just said. ]

I was pretty busy, but I visited you a lot.

[ She didn't say 'a lot' but it sounds like it was a lot. ]

Sounds like I...was making you a priority?

[ That's the only guess he has. She seems really nice—he must have really liked her. ]

I still don't understand why, though. Not after you ran me over.

[pain_train]

[ She wishes she had the answer to these questions, because it's making her doubt what she does remember. Why did North spend so much time with her? Way more than anyone else did, though other people did visit her sometimes.

She frowns her uncertainty. ]

I... don't know.

[ Well, there is the one thing. As painful as it is to talk about. Even with her back repaired, the memory of being mustered out is a raw one. ]

That was when everyone thought I'd recover and go back into the militia. That I'd end up serving with you and the others. Maybe that's why.

But that didn't happen.

I didn't have a lot of friends, then. A lot of the Immune were really nice to me. Maybe you could just tell I needed a friend.

[ She shrugs helplessly. ]

[bothbarrels]

[ He shakes his head, somewhat vehemently. He doesn't know her, doesn't know this situation, but he knows himself and he knows that's not why. ]

Whatever you were to me, it didn't have to do with whether you were able to be a soldier. I can guarantee you that.

[ The latter explanation makes more sense. ]

I'm glad I was able to be a friend to you when you needed it.

[pain_train]

[ She nods, though the whole conversation is feeling a bit... weird to her now. ]

So are York and Carolina around? Not that they've... been through Proles.

[ Hrm. Would it be better to avoid people she knew in a different context? She doesn't want to have unfair expectations on anyone or make things weird. It hadn't ever been a problem in the Fleet, and it's a weird one to grapple with now. ]

[bothbarrels]

Yes, they are, and neither of them have mentioned that, no.

[ He pulls his hand back that he had set between them, looking more fully out into the distance. ]

I don't understand this, but I do want you to know I believe you.

[pain_train]

[ She reaches out and very tentatively pats his hand, like it's an animal she thinks might run away. ]

Thanks. That actually means... a lot. More than you can realize.

[ She blows out a long sigh. ]

They do things. Bifrons does. Did. To correct noncompliant behavior. They make you forget, put new things in your head.

Sometimes I don't know if I'm remembering real things or not. Sometimes I doubt myself, and it's harder when people tell me I'm wrong, because I know my brain is fucking swiss cheese. But I know I remember you. And York, and Carolina, and Delta, and Maine, and Jack, and Winter, and Beverly, and Vision, and Erik, and Charles... all of you that were my friends after I went out the window.

Because they never got their hands on me again after that. And you were a big part of why. You don't know me, but I owe you everything.

[bothbarrels]

[ He glances down at his hand where she's patted it, then looks at her face.

Everything. She says she owes him everything.

What had they done to her? ]

You don't remember Theta?

[ Maybe it was some other version of him, then. Well, he knows it was. But...it's odd for her not to have mentioned Theta. ]

[pain_train]

He was really shy, and really young, and he didn't talk much. [ She shrugs. ] He was still a computer-person. But like... they put Delta in a body. So he and I actually hung out?

[bothbarrels]

They did? Hm.

[ He thinks about it a moment, then shrugs. ]

Theta kind of wants to talk to you now but he also kind of doesn't, so he's staying hidden.

[pain_train]

Yeah. He had like... two boyfriends and everything after a while. [ Good for him. ] And a kitten.

It's okay, he doesn't have to talk to me if he doesn't want to.

[bothbarrels]

[ Everything that comes out of Wrath's mouth is an utter surprise. Two boyfriends? Delta?

Her assurance that Theta doesn't have to talk to her helps. ]

He's still thinking about it, but that has him leaning toward coming out sometime soon.

[pain_train]

[ Give an AI a dick and things just... happen. Apparently. ]

I'm gonna be around until some other fucking happy fun universe abducts me, Theta, and I always try to listen when people talk. Even if I don't understand sometimes.

[bothbarrels]

[ That draws Theta out. His hologram pops out and hovers near North's shoulder. ]

I like you. You're nice.

[pain_train]

Thanks, Theta. I try to be, at least. Sometimes I do okay. [ She smiles at him. ] Nice to see you again, even if you don't remember me.

[bothbarrels]

It's nice to meet you.

[ North gives a slight nod. ]

It is. I wish I could have told you I remembered you, but...

[ You can only do what you can with what you have. ]

[pain_train]

It's okay. Like I said, people forget things all the time.

[ She smiles. ]

Just means I get an all-new friend, so that's fun!

[bothbarrels]

[ He grins at that. ]

You do have a bit of the advantage in this situation, you know.

[pain_train]

[ She laughs. ] Maybe? Except you don't have a shitty memory where you keep wondering, huh, did I already tell North this, or was it the other North? It's really weird.

[bothbarrels]

That would be confusing. But that just means you get to tell the stories of your glory days again, right?

I mean, I assume you had glory days.

[pain_train]

I've got a ton of good war stories. And some pretty fun space stories from the Fleet! You get to do a lot of spicy shit in the cavalry.

[ And she will be mostly avoiding stories between the war and her time at the Fleet, because it feels like it would be weird to tell North about a bunch of shit that he was directly involved in. And besides, her part in all that hadn't been that much fun for her. ]

[bothbarrels]

The cavalry, huh? Sounds pretty fun. I've always been a sniper. Which you...probably know.

[ He shakes his head a little. That's a weird thought, that he'd start to tell her something about himself and it's something she'd already be aware of. ]

I spent four years on the Mother of Invention but that was full of training and missions so I don't know how fun the stories would be. ...Is that something you already know, too?

[ Damn, that's a headtrip. ]

[pain_train]

Cutting apart a tank with a plasma blade is always fun.

[ She makes a small humming sound. ] I got told some stories. Not just by you. Enough to know that it was a fucked up situation and your CO was a headgame-playing mind-fucking piece of shit.

In my professional opinion.