YOU'RE THE NEXT CONTESTANT

[sictransitgloriamundi]

WHO: the Captain + You
WHAT: contractually obligated price is right game
WHEN: 11/18, like nightish?
WHERE: Bellona Theater
WARNINGS: N/A, currently

[you've heard the announcement, the sound of Friday's cautious optimism as she spoke it. you've waited all day. now, it's time for the game.

the amount of effort that has gone into this production at Bellona can be safely defined as “minimal.” there are three podiums, with three slate boards and three pieces of chalk. there is another podium, currently empty, next to a plain folding table. there is a tablecloth draped over the table, covering a lumpy, inscrutable shape.

the most remarkable thing is the giant wheel set up on the other side of the empty podium. the slices of the giant circle are colorful, but also completely blank. the Captain actually spends 30 minutes prior to the start of the event simply sitting in front of it, back to the audience, and spinning it, listening to the loud clacking noise pick up and then die down again, before spinning it once more.

clackclackclack clack clack. clack. clackclackclackclackclack.

it's gonna be a long night.]

Comments

[latersgators]

He is. We look alike. [There's a lot more to it than that, but, for meeting someone for the first time, Steven doesn't really want to say much more than leading people to believe they might be twins. It's just-- too complicated otherwise. And not the kind of thing he would dump on just anyone.]

We're staying together too. It's... I think I'd rather be with Marc than try and live alone, if I'm honest. [He's lived alone for a long while, or so he thought. He likes having his own space, sure. Doesn't everyone? But he was also painfully lonely.] I know, it's nice to have a whole room to yourself. Especially when the cabin can feel so small at times. But it's also nice to have someone there, for when you're feeling down, or just. Not well. It did help that we knew each other from before we came on board the ship though. But I guess I wouldn't wish this place upon anyone you'd know.

[astrogator]

[They looked alike? That had to mean a genetic connection, not just friendship, but if Steven doesn't want to reveal the details, she won't ask for them.]

I think it might be cultural. These cabins are... very large and luxurious compared to what I had out on my ship, but at the same time - if I had to share with another person, it wouldn't matter how big it was. I'd never be able to relax. [Or feel sad without immediately having to try to get control of it and not let it show.]

I try to remember that, when I miss people. That I wouldn't really want them to be here.

[latersgators]

You were on another ship? [Hopefully it wasn't a death voyage similar to the one Marc and Steven were on. This place... isn't much better to be honest, but at least they're not on a time crunch.]

Well. It's a bit of an adjustment either way. I hope you do get to keep your space for a little while longer. And, hey. Maybe I'll bring Marc over sometime, introduce you two. You can use all the friends you can get in this place, even if you'd rather not stay with these friends.

[astrogator]

[For a moment it surprises her that he doesn't know she'd had another ship, but it's just another little thing that doesn't translate, culturally. So she'll explain.] Yes - I'm lieutenant astrogator on the Tradeline Starship Prosperity.

[She's keeping that in present tense.]

I'd really like to meet Marc! Maybe the three of us could meet up in one of the bars sometime, or for dinner?

[latersgators]

'Lieutenant Astrogator'? [Although Steven says it as 'left-tenant' instead of 'lyu-tenant'. She looks a bit young to be a lieutenant, in any case.] Awful lot of young soldiers around here... [Not sure how he feels about that beyond a general sort of... Not very good malaise churning in his stomach. Forcing a smile, he nods at her proposal, trying to change the subject along with her.]

Yes, yes of course. We must do dinner. Perhaps the buffet would cater to all our tastes. You must tell us more about this Tradeline Starship Prosperity. It almost sounds like you're an astronaut.

[astrogator]

[Left-tenant - now, the only one she's heard that from is Captain Hands. It's interesting, but she doesn't have enough data to know what it means. Steven doesn't have the same accent as he does.

She manages to ignore the comment about her age. It's the best way. No need to draw further attention to it. She's passed and certified, and the fact that she did that young is a good thing, where she's from. Proof of talent, a clear trajectory towards captaincy. Until this delay came along, at least, but she'll try not to think so much about that.]

I think so. I have to be careful with it, there are still foods I don't recognise, and my people don't eat any animal flesh. But I've been managing fine. [after a moment's thought.] Astronaut is close. An astrogator's role, specifically, is to chart the stars, plot the course, and then fly the ship. I think planetside you would say navigator, or pilot?

[latersgators]

Oh. I'm vegan. [He offers her a warm smile.] I don't-- really eat animal anything. I can help you with any questions you have about the buffet. There's a safe corner and a few other dishes you can take from the other areas.

[The more he hears about an astrogator's role the more intriguing it gets.] That's mad. You're very capable! I can't even drive... Oh I would love to see the world out there mate. It must be beautiful. Cruel, but. Beautiful nonetheless.

[astrogator]

Oh, I didn't know! [There's another little smile for him, at the recognition of something they have in common. Almost. Ari's far too fond of eggs, when she can get them.] Yes, please do show me.

[He also seems to understand a thing or two about space, and she nods.] That's it exactly. The most wonderful sights you can imagine, but harsh, too. No room for error. It's a sacrifice, in some ways, but I know I never wanted to go back to living planetside again, not when I could have the stars.

[latersgators]

I'm-- I was comfortable in my flat. Obviously there's no possibility of returning... [She knew that already, hopefully.] I could possibly live in space for a wee while, take a look around, but I'd want to come back, I think. I like my books and my mushroom wraps too much. I suppose that's a little selfish...

[astrogator]

It's not selfish. I know you're not from my sector, but if you were, I'd say that's what we're out there for. Protecting your freedom to live on the upper levels and read and eat mushroom wraps without being afraid someone's going to shoot at you from orbit. Plenty of people go to space on a passenger liner, just to see it for a while.

[A troubled look crosses her face, but it's fleeting.] I'm going to find a way to return, even if it won't be easy. This is a... very unfortunate delay in my career, but I can still have my own command someday, even if it takes time to get out of this prison.

[latersgators]

[Oh. It seems she has yet to see the binder. Or if she has, maybe she's blotted some of it out in her head in an attempt to cope. Some people dissociate from reality and some people live in ignorance or... selectively forget things. Steven's not going to judge!]

Have you met Mister Pleasant? He's the animated magical skeleton. [There's not many of those around so he trusts that she'll be able to find him quite easily, if she hasn't already.] He's got some information about. How we got here and. Attempts to go back and all that. You might find it useful!

[That's as gently as he can let her down without ruining her whole winning the day thing.]

[astrogator]

[Ari has read it, very carefully, and also taken careful note of the fact that absolutely no supporting evidence is provided for many of the claims made within it. She's been told that not accepting it as truth is insulting towards those who compiled it, but she doesn't care, because any scientist worth the name would be happy to explain their evidence, not demand blind belief.]

We're not... personally acquainted, no. [Although the sight of a skeleton in the corridors is a memorable one, for sure.]

[She reaches out slowly, hoping to give Steven a friendly pat on the arm if he doesn't seem to react in a touch-averse way. A few people are like that, so she's wary.]

I've read the theories. I'm sure he shares them in good faith, but I do question where he obtained his information, and - well, this has been an entertaining day and this is a luxurious prison, I'll admit, but it's still a prison. Prisoners are far more docile if you can convince them there's no hope of escape, or that trying to escape will have terrible consequences, don't you think? I think in such a situation it's important to try to keep your spirits up, and not give in to despair.

[She's doing her best. Tradeliner code doesn't have much advice on the subject; their enemies are the sort who don't usually bother to take prisoners.]

[latersgators]

We all contributed to the binder, with everything we've experienced and found out ourselves. It's like our own wee Wikipedia project. [Although she probably doesn't know what that is.] I'd be the last person to tell you not to hope, or strive for something better than this. [Steven is one of the most buoyant and optimistic and hopelessly naive person on the ship, for better or worse. This holds especially true for the tiny cohort that is his age group.]

I'd just hate to see you get hurt attempting something that someone else got hurt doing before, that's all. We aren't here because we haven't tried various ways of escaping. You don't have to believe everything you've read! I think that's a good attitude to have. But if someone's died and documented their experience, you don't always have to fling yourself off the boat to verify it for yourself. I mean plenty of us believe the Earth is round... but apart from yourself and a couple others maybe, we haven't gone up there to check for ourselves.

[astrogator]

[He doesn't want her to be hurt, and she can't respond to that kindness with sharp words, no matter how she feels. She nods, and speaks in a low voice.] If it's recorded that leaping off the ship is fatal, verified by someone's experience, I'll see no need to repeat the experiment. Don't fret over that sort of thing. It's the sweeping claims - that it's impossible to go home, when all they mean is that whatever attempts have been tried so far have failed - and perhaps not even that. People have disappeared, could have gone anywhere. There's a lot of- [she waves a hand] -unsubstantiated metaphysics. That's what I dispute.

[With a small smile, she adds, gently:] If you doubted that your planet was round I might think you were foolish, but I wouldn't demand you just believed me on account of my spacer authority. I'd tell you to look at shadows - your moon, or even just a stick in the ground. Or to watch a ship sail over the horizon. Evidence, not blind faith.

[latersgators]

[Steven wonders if he's been taking all these things as gospel, and if he should be questioning more. But he's found a few things that corroborate what the binder says, and he sees no reason to keep running up against the same brick wall that people who are smarter and more powerful have already come across. Things are different, for him. He's got Marc here. And not much to go home to if the binder is to be believed. So naturally his focus is on their lives here.]

If there's a way back, I do hope you'll find it. [It seems very important to her, and he's not about to interrupt career aspirations with his perspective as someone who's never had much of one and recently died before being pulled on board this ship. Work didn't really amount to much at all for him, in the end, and he's not sure it would have meant much more had he something more resembling a career.]