network audio/actionspam [OTA]

[citizendetective]

[network; audio; immediately after arrival; being a cliquey bitch in front of god and country]

Hello - roll call, please! The Authority wouldn't tell me anything; did we all make it? Did we all get chosen by the same ship? Pagan--

[Her voice quivers a little when she says her warden's name, and so she makes herself stop and breathe for a second or two, until she can sound smooth and airy and cheerful again.]

I'm an assistant now, so if you need anything - favors or perks, or, um, requests - I have clout! I think it goes without saying that we should all stick together as much as possible.

[actionspam; first few days after arrival]

[Misty's feelings about all this are deeply ambivalent, to say the least. On the one hand, she has no real attachment or loyalty to the Barge as an institution, and her prospects as a Clipper assistant seem much better than her prospects as a Barge inmate had been: all she has to do is graduate a patient and keep them on the straight and narrow for three months, and she can go home! And that should be the most important thing.

But on the other hand, there are people that she worries about; people that, already, she misses desperately and can't stand being universes away from, without any warning. Even beyond them, there are people that she thinks and wonders about - far more than she would have expected. The Barge residents hadn't been her team, but they'd been something, and to have all that ripped away throws her off-kilter.

So, naturally, she backslides immediately, making herself feel better by indulging in her worst habits of light stalking and petty power-plays. She patrols the circular hallways, keeping an eye on patients, enjoying the feeling of having power that she can use however she'd like. During at least the first few days, she participates fully in the morning and evening group meetings, and makes careful mental notes of who does and doesn't do the same. She'll dole out kindnesses and favors to those who treat her well, she decides, and to those who don't... well. She'll just have to see.

She spends quite a lot of time ensconced in the assistants-only treehouse, where she uses the binoculars to spy on people for hours on end: sometimes aimlessly looking around the whole visible space, and other times picking a person at random, dedicatedly following them until they exit the panopticon area and leave her sight. And when stalking people who are mostly strangers stops being enough, she retreats to her cabin, where she watches her saved security camera footage of Natalie, Shauna, and Taissa, thinks about how she doesn't even have a photo of Pagan, and - in private, out of the public eye - allows herself to cry.

She always carefully cleans her face and puts on eye makeup before leaving her cabin, wiping away tear tracks and concealing any puffiness. But whenever she spots anyone that she recognizes from the Barge, her public facade drops a little.]

Oh, my god--

[She'll say as she rushes over to them, uncertainty and anxiety clear on her face.]

You're here! This is crazy, right?

Comments

[lonelinessloop]

I don't really know that much. Uncle Kaz did his best to keep us out of it.

[ And like hell was she talking about anything recently. Between her son who has the blood of a Triad leader running through his veins and everything that'd happened before Uncle Kaz had 'died', it's not something she CAN talk about here. It's too emotional.

Not to mention what her nose is telling her.]

[citizendetective]

And what about your son? Do you keep him out of it, too?

[lonelinessloop]

[ There's just a glint of mama bear in her eyes as Misty asks.]

I do. I do my best to keep all of the kids out of danger from anyone.

[citizendetective]

Right. Because you have a responsibility towards them. I know exactly what you mean, and that's why I'm so torn.

[lonelinessloop]

Are you a mother, Quigley-san?

[ She's not trying to 'test' her, she's just trying to find out more. ]

[citizendetective]

Well, no. I mean, not exactly; I have a parrot, which is more like having a child than you'd think. But I still have people that I protect.

[lonelinessloop]

[ She shakes her head as if to dismiss the idea she was trying to qualify anything re: having children. ]

I didn't mean it like that. I was trying to figure out if any of the people you're looking for are kids. We have some here but they're notorious for being everywhere.

[citizendetective]

Oh, no, they're all adults - here and at home. We have-- had?

[God, this sucks.]

There were teenagers on the Barge, but no one super young.

[lonelinessloop]

[ That's another nod.]

I hope you get to see them again. Maybe it just took them longer to get here?

[citizendetective]

The Authority told me that I would be chosen by a new ship.

[Misty says, blinking fast a few times as she sits up straighter in her chair, doing her best to seem put together. To feel

The implication seemed like there were plenty of ships doing the choosing. So no. I don't think it's just taking them longer to get here.

[lonelinessloop]

Oh.

I'm sorry, Quigley-san.

[ There's a low bow. ]

[citizendetective]

You know, you can just call me Misty. You don't need to be so formal.

[lonelinessloop]

I didn't want to presume, Misty-chan. But... does that mean you want to be friends?

[citizendetective]

Well, mostly it's that I'm American, and so it feels overly formal to me. But sure! We can be friends.

[lonelinessloop]

She bounces again.

"I'm glad to hear that, Misty-chan."

[citizendetective]

She sure is bouncy. And unlike with a lot of people here, it seems genuine... at least in part.

"You must make friends with everybody, right? You fit the part."

[lonelinessloop]

She wobbles a hand.

"I've tried to. I'm very lucky that I've had the opportunity here."