004. video/spam

[wildguardian]

[He settles himself on a sofa in a corner of the common area, along the very base of the tree, and lifts his wrist to a comfortable level to smile at the camera. He's done this before. It's performative as fuck, and he doesn't enjoy it, but it's past time that he got over his sulk and started getting people motivated here.]

Good morning, Clipper! Some of you I know and some of you are strangers, but we can welcome one more lovely day on this new boat together regardless. To the strangers: Zhao Yunlan! Formerly of the Barge, and even more formerly of Dragon City's Special Investigations Department.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk to all of you about happiness. Peace. Indeed, justice itself -- because I'm sorry to say I think our dear Nurse's head is not in the right place on those topics, and we could all get some better results with just a little change of perspective.

Anger, you see, is the natural response to injustice! Think back to the last time in your life you got real peeved -- what caused that emotion? I bet you were thinking, That's just wrong, or You can't treat me like that, or How could you do that?

It's a powerful feeling, and don't get me wrong, it sure as heck can be misdirected and cause some real harm in the world.

But the true cure for anger is to gather the strength to go after injustice. Not listening to happy music and putting on a smile. You know it as well as I do! Don't you feel that anger lingering in your heart as long as the wrong goes unfixed?

[He grins at the camera, sharp.]

Who ever repaired a wrong just by saying they were fine?

[And with a grand gesture of his free hand:]

I open the discussion! How do we make a better world? How can we improve this good ship?


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[Zhao Yunlan spends most of his first week either moping in his room or moping generally around the ship. He'll participate in his assigned shifts, but he's hopeless in the kitchen and hopeless at custodial work, outside of the truly unskilled tasks like emptying garbage cans and hauling buckets of soapy water.

Once he's gotten his week of uselessness out of his system, he's choosing to become aggressively involved. Expect him to plop down next to you on the couch and strike up a conversation, Barge transfers and Clipper natives alike. He'll volunteer to tell stories at storytime, and launch into tales of war or murder investigations past if he's able to take the mic. He'll... be stuck washing dishes on every kitchen shift, because he doesn't seem to have the least idea of which flavors can safely go together and which ones will create a heart-rending abomination of a dish.

Sometimes, after the evening storytime but before it's late enough to sleep, he can be found leaning on the railing and staring up at the treehouse and the useless, opaque ceiling above it, lollipop stem jutting aggressively from his lips, expression very far away.]

Comments

[wildguardian]

Well! We had some people who went dinosaur hunting, and the rest of us just stripped the ruins of some buildings for parts...

I'm guessing it was a place with dinosaurs because when you're on the run from the Authority, your supply stop locations are just a little bit limited.

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo's eyebrows just keep rising as Zhao Yunlan goes on...]

On the run?

[He squints.]

Not because the ship was designed to encourage real change?

[He knows what being on the run is like, sure - but a whole ship? How did that happen?]

[wildguardian]

What I heard is that the Admiral's problem was something about being too reckless with the people he picked. I admit things get dicey on the Barge sometimes -- we've had major issues there. Which it doesn't sound like you have here?

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo looks downright frustrated, though he masks that by turning back to drying dishes.]

It's not- ... Things can happen, and there's tension, but the only resolution most people can focus on is graduating.

[If being on the Clipper isn't itself already an improvement on home - and Alfredo's aware enough of where some of his compatriots are coming from not to hold that against them much.]

It's harder to feel things are worth striving for, here.

[Though the idea that people in general are worth standing up for keeps him going, most days.]

[wildguardian]

Yeah.

I'm having trouble with the idea that even graduation won't actually get you out of here, myself.

[That makes it a hell of a lot harder to feel like it's worth the effort. Sure, if they can get their deals, so much the better. But.]

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo lets himself look back at Yunlan, once, before looking at the sink again.]

... If someone you're looking after gets demoted before the three-months trial period is out, I think it cancels that deal?

[It was a very distinct source of frustration.]

The original Assistant can't leave until those three months are up, I remember. Though if the second Assistant makes it home, at least the original's deal is intact.

[wildguardian]

Right.

And if you go back home and foul up there, you get brought back, I hear. At least sometimes.

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo nods, a scowl briefly crossing his face.]

And then they start all over again. I've met more people who've gone back-and-forth repeatedly here than those who've gone all the way to the end and have to start over, though.

[So some people may well have been here since the Clipper started its journey - but they've never said as much to Alfredo.]

[wildguardian]

Oh yeah? Ones who can't make the three-month timer, or ones who can't stick it out while they're going for their deal?

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo thinks.]

... It must be the former; I've never met many who just give up on their deals.

Or, at least, no one who'll admit it.

[And given the Nurse's track record, it's far too easy to believe they check in on those people as well.

Alfredo puts aside another dish for putting away... and there aren't any new ones to clean.]

Zhao.. Zhao Yunlan, would you help me put these back in the cabinets?

[It would give them more time to talk. Also, he's almost definitely the shorter person here; he could use the help.]

[wildguardian]

[Zhao Yunlan is 183cm, and definitely is the taller person here, so he doesn't bat an eye at the request.]

Sure, Alfredo. You pass 'em to me and I'll put them away?

[He heads over to the cabinet, holding out a hand for a stack of clean dishes.]

I'd guess if they give up on their deals they'd just leave. At least, Wardens back on my old ship could do that if they wanted.

Usually didn't happen until they'd nailed down at least their first deal, though. How easy is it to graduate here, would you say? Does it usually happen fast? Because I've heard of a lot of people who bounce back and forth between patient and assistant.

/reviews thread to make sure I'm not accidentally repeating things-/

[hisblueskies]

[And as they keep talking, Alfredo passes the stacks along; none are too large, so nothing should get dropped - but then, even if anything were dropped, there wouldn't be much in the way of broken pieces.]

Thanks.

[And after giving Zhao Yunlan a dubious look, he nods.]

If you're comfortable pretending, then you can get through faster... But most of it relies on getting a 'Patient' who goes along with that idea, for those three months at minimum, and there aren't many partners like that here.

... I think some people need more to help them be happy - be healthy - than what we have here.

[He's been reading certain medical texts. Hormone imbalances, mood disorders... biology is weird, even just for humans.]

The Nurse just focusing on appearances makes change harder - it's just more pressure on them, instead of support.

[Some people are absolutely trying to be that support - but they're also hiding their true feelings in the hopes of getting out sooner, and Alfredo can't bring himself to trust them very much. Fake support can be worse than no support at all, in some cases.]

[wildguardian]

Well, sure. I don't think focusing on appearances is going to actually help anybody, no matter what kind of help they need.

Sure explains why so many people bounce back and forth, though.

[He slides each set of plates onto the shelf, considering.]

I mean, I'd be willing to fake it myself. But looking at an entire lifetime of faking it is pretty freaking demoralizing.

[hisblueskies]

[In lieu of nodding, Alfredo hands over another stack.]

And it only takes one lapse for any Assistant to become a Patient.

[Which, as far as Alfredo can tell, nullifies any deal as well... but he's not sure on that score, so he won't say it aloud.]

There's no such thing as 'play' fighting here, and the Nurse isn't much more fond of being blunt with words either.

[As opposed to passive-aggressiveness and coercion.]

[wildguardian]

Yeah. So anybody who starts losing their patience here winds up as a Patient before they have a chance to quit in disgust, I'd guess.

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo hands over the last of the plates, grimacing.]

That's... accurate.

[As if making it harder to leave will make people more... more able to be happy.]

A lot of it feels like it's about control, though I don't think the Nurse thinks that way themselves.

[wildguardian]

I'd say if the Nurse doesn't get that part of it, it's only because they're way too far away from human to understand how we react to stuff.

[Which the Nurse might be. Yunlan has his own doubts about the Admiral. But still.]

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo's eyes turn distant.]

And what about... whoever created them? Who allows these ships to run, yet be so... unable to connect?

[wildguardian]

The Authority.

... I don't know a whole lot about them, Alfredo. But I know that they hauled our ship in and were going to overhaul it initially because the Admiral was giving chances to people they thought were too much of a long shot. Too dangerous.

[The corner of his mouth twists unhappily.]

I can't say that says great things about them. But who knows? We've had some stuff go down on our ship in the past.

[hisblueskies]

Is that to say they've never been people?

[Because Alfredo has... sure met some people back home, who most would be content to think the worst of.

But even the 'Angel of Death' was still a person. Still human, even, terrible as he was.]

The worst and best of people, they always coexist. Ignoring one doesn't make it go away.

[Or even contain it, as the Clipper's cycle shows.]

[wildguardian]

I don't think the people running these ships have ever been human, and I don't think the Authority has, either. Doesn't mean they're not people, but it does mean we want to be careful making assumptions about how they might react.

[He shrugs.]

... But you're right, kid. There's no getting rid of the bad things by pretending they're not there. You've got to face them head-on if you ever want to deal with them for real.

Is this thread to wrap? I could go either way!

[hisblueskies]

[Alfredo nods again.]

There's a difference, I've come to learn; humans are far from the only people out there.

[A wan smile crosses the boy's face.]

And there's no knowing what you'll pick up along the way to facing them, either.

[It makes life interesting... though not always in a good way!]

I think this is a good stopping place! ty for the thread :>

[wildguardian]

No matter what species we might be originally, we all learn through our lives. And I'm sure we can all learn to understand each other!

[He spreads his hands, smiling.]

Anyway, Alfredo... thanks for helping out this newcomer. I'll see you around, yeah?

thank you as well! :D

[hisblueskies]

... I hope so.

[Alfredo smiles, feeling a little better after getting to know this man.]

And as to that, I know you will.

[Even at the longest, there will still (sigh) be storytime.]