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?


Spam

[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

[fork_off]

That tree? It's certainly big enough to be one.

[wildguardian]

Maybe so. If it is, then attacking or threatening the tree might be the trick.

But the Nurse honestly strikes me as the type to hide her ship's heart. Personally, I'd see if we could arrange some kind of attack on the tree that looks like it's just random lashing out, and see how she reacts, before we try any kind of blackmail.

[fork_off]

That would probably be easy to do. If she secures some other area, that could be where the heart is.

[wildguardian]

Right! That good old Sherlock Holmes trick: yell fire and see where they run, then search that spot.

Even if she doesn't secure a different area, if damage to the tree means squat, we'll know we need to look somewhere else. And I personally would go down. In or even under the Sickbay, maybe.

[fork_off]

I agree down is a good direction to start. Perhaps something at the bottom. Or, as you say, the sickbay. She is a Nurse, after all.

[He assumes some kind of symbolism might be a clue.]

[wildguardian]

True! Plus, there's all that symbolism about going to the roots.

[And there is a big tree in the middle of the room. He shrugs, after a moment.]

Tree first, anyway. Do you happen to know of anybody who's planning to mess with it?

[fork_off]

No. I've been fairly quiet, though. I'll ask around, I'm sure someone wants to.

[wildguardian]

Sure. Do it subtly, though. You're an Assistant, people get wind of you trying to figure out if we're planning anything chaotic and they'll figure you want to know so you can stop it.

[Or it'll alert the Nurse to their suspicions. He doesn't know how much they might abuse the omniscience angle, and it's better not to find out the hard way.]

[fork_off]

I'll start with people I know from the Barge. Or try... something anonymous. Or something.

[He can do subtle fairly well, but he's not as good at delicately feeling people out.]

[wildguardian]

Sure, sure. Let me know if you want some tips? [He gives Blanky a crooked grin.]

I'll be doing the same thing, I think. See who reacts to hearing this ship isn't the greatest.

[fork_off]

I'll probably need some. I'm not very good at being... covert.

[wildguardian]

Step one, do some gentle griping to sound them out. Anybody who joins in with you on the griping is a good target for a harder sell on how much this place stinks.

If they get real defensive, back off and don't keep pushing.

[fork_off]

Gentle griping. I can do that.

[Perhaps he'll post something on the network.]

[wildguardian]

[That's how Zhao Yunlan chose to do it.]

Good luck, my friend!

[fork_off]

Thank you. The same to you.