I'll send an SOS to the world

[astrogator]

Who: Everyone who wants to!
What: Messages for the outside, NOVEMBER PLOT
When: Mid-October onwards
Where: By Phil's signpost, the lounge, Ari's cabin
Warnings: None yet, will update as needed
Notes: Credit to Batya for the first prompt!



1. Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore

A day or two after the signpost goes up, a small table shows up next to it, with a large blank notebook from Sundries. It has been labeled on the front, in careful printing: MAIL CALL.

A nearby note, in the same printing, reads:

If you could send a message back home, or onward to the next place you want to go, what would it say? Write it here for posterity.

Pens and markers are available, in a tall cup scavenged from the buffet table.

2. Only hope can keep me together

In the second half of October, Ari will be in the lounge and other communal areas with her laptop. Anyone who passes by, whether she knows them well or not, will be asked to help her with a project. She doesn't want anyone to be forgotten, she says. She wants a record, because existence is so uncertain. Her injury made her value the people here on the ship more, she'll say, - and the bandage still around her head might speak to that. She encourages people to let her make a recording of them, talking about themselves.

'We can do it however you like,' she'll say. 'Flatvid, looking direct into the camera, or I can activate the holorecorders, give you your own holovid. If you don't know what to say, I'll ask questions. Please?' Are you really going to turn down the earnest young Tradeliner?

3. Sendin' out an SOS

Late in October, Ari calls a meeting of her co-conspirators. She gives them each a different time to arrive at her cabin, so the first arrivals will get to spend time helping with video editing or rocket construction while they await the others. There's time for private chat - but when everyone who decided to come along should be there, discussion begins in earnest.

[ooc: prompts divided up below for organisational purposes; contact me or Batya if you'd like to do something different!]

Comments

[astrogator]

'If there's a specific person you think would respond better to the idea of a protest, there's no reason not to tell them that version. But-' Tayrey shakes her head, looking faintly disappointed by her own conclusions, 'it seems to me that far more of the population here would be willing to try to break a rule out of curiosity than as an act of rebellion.'

Too many of them are comfortable. Complicit. Even fond of their kidnapper, with no reason to challenge his rules, even the bizarre ones.

[not_the_last]

"What about playing to that curiosity instead, then?" Cassandra sits up, warming to her subject. "Frame it as a -- a shipwide experiment. Trying to find out what happens if the rules are broken in multiple places simultaneously. And then, for those who might respond well to the idea of a protest, suggest that to them."

[ss_buttcrack]

"I can think of a few people that might play better for in my own circle, already. It covers our asses, too, if you want the truth. I know we are committed to doing this whatever the social cost, but we still gotta live here until help arrives. If they decide to try and lock us up for mutiny, that won't help our bid for freedom much."

[astrogator]

Tayrey looks absolutely disgusted by this prospect. 'If our fellow prisoners would actually lock us up for trying to get free of this nightmare, I don't want any social ties with them. And I'll stand my ground.'

The thought seems to have hardened her resolve. 'And those of us versed in scientific method would not try to run an experiment by spontaneously texting people. These things are properly planned - and we cannot give advance warning of this. Send other messages if you like. The more confusion the better. Whatever you think will entice people to break the rules. But a false mutiny is a good cover. Everyone will be looking at that, and nobody will notice the launch.'

[ss_buttcrack]

"I hear you. You know I'm with you," Crichton says carefully. It's not even his own neck he has to worry about because, arguably, he'll be the least suspect of them all if this goes the way it should.

"Everyone knows where you stand. You've already said you'll take responsibility for it. Given how consistent your actions have been, no one's going to be shocked about you--for lack of a better description--starting trouble. But I want to know right now, if they come for you and try to punish you, what do you want us to do about it? I can stand up to them, make a case that the stress and your recent injury got to you. But I don't want to insult you."

[astrogator]

All at once the frustration melts away, and she reaches out to touch his arm, speaks far more gently. 'I know where that's coming from, so I'm not insulted - but I don't want it. It is a clear and rational decision I make, taking these actions. My mind isn't clouded by stress or pain. Certainly no more than anyone else's. I'm doing the right thing. If they come for me, I'll stand and say my piece, and I sure as hell won't go quietly if someone initiates aggression against me, but in the end? If someone needs protecting, it's Sparkles. Too many people already hate it. I'll be the target, to keep it safe.' And the rest of them, but she won't voice that sentiment. She suspects there might be objections if she did.

She pauses, and then laughs, a sharp and bitter little sound. 'Besides, isn't there such an irony? The most loyal Tradeline officer one could hope for, inciting a false mutiny against a false captain.'

[not_the_last]

Cassandra gives a wry smile in response to that, echoing Tayrey's bitter amusement. It's brief, quickly gone.

"A further strategic note: if they attempt to imprison you, we'll stand a better chance of getting you out of it if we stay clear. And we will get you out of it. The only question is timing."

[astrogator]

'Yes. All of you stay clear, to limit the damage. But keep in mind-' she turns away from Crichton and towards Cassandra, '-I am already imprisoned. There is nothing they can do to me that will make me regret my choices here. So you'll have to stand strong. As long as I'm not left behind when our rescue comes, the rest doesn't matter.'

Tayrey means it. Any price for freedom. Let them show how twisted their values really are, if they'd harm her for trying to find a way out.

[ss_buttcrack]

He smiles at her touch. It hurts to have to let her take the blame, but he respects her too much to try talking her out of it. He loves the idea of sticking his neck out for Sparkles even less. How is he supposed to feel about that... being? He sure as hell doesn't trust it.

"It's poetic, in a way. Yeah."

[astrogator]

She nods, thinking it through.

'I'll get myself up by the bridge before the launch itself. I'll stay as long as I can, but you'll be the one overseeing the important moment,' she tells Crichton. She trusts him.

'If they react like it's a real out-there disaster, my story is that I automated the launch, ran around starting fires and posting mutiny signs - and a couple about experiments too, to cover anyone sending those texts - then I came to the bridge to attack our captor with a modified weapon that I thought would kill him. I'll put colored lights on a power cell and throw it in the water if I'm confronted,' Tayrey adds with a smirk. 'All me, and if I get any technical questions about how I built the thing or automated it or anything like that I'll shut right down and say I won't ever give up Tradeline secrets.' Like in a Breakaway holovid. She's not trained for that. She's trained for charts and piloting and contracts - but a standard year in this place has made her tougher than she could have imagined. She'll protect Sparkles. She'll protect her team.

'If they react as they should instead, and are pleased we might be rescued, then you can all step forward and be recognised for your contributions if you want. I'll leave that to individual discretion.'

[ss_buttcrack]

"You've got all the angles covered," Crichton says with a distinct note of pride. She really has thought of it all. Like a true commander.

"Personally, I don't want to draw any attention to my involvement, because the fewer questions people ask me, the less I have to lie to them about what I can do. That's safer for everyone."