ONBOARDING.

[peregrinatus]

[Upon arrival, all passengers will wake in their assigned cabins, and upon regaining consciousness, will be greeted by a voice in their heads. It's a warm voice, kind and gentle, mellifluous, impossible to distinguish gender from the sound of it.]

Welcome aboard, passenger. Please don't be alarmed - I am the Navigator, and I'm here to assist you. I'm afraid you're probably a long way from your home - all of those currently on board aren't where they're supposed to be, and I'm not entirely sure as to how you all came to be on board. But I'm doing what I can to locate the home planets of my current passengers, and I'd like to ask for your help, too.

What will aid me the most in finding the way to your home planets is if you'll work together with the other passengers. My people thrive on the emotional bonds created between ourselves and our passengers, and between the passengers themselves. The emotional bonds forged through partnership are the strongest and most beneficial - harmony, compassion, trust. It's not a requirement, of course, but it's to everyone's benefit to work together, both with me and with each other.

I imagine you'll have questions. I'll do my best to answer them, if I can.

[New passengers will note a glyph symbol marked on the back of their dominant hand, and they have been implanted with a universal speech translation modification, which is impossible to locate and cannot be removed.

Newly accepted characters can use this post to ask the standard introductory questions of the Navigator, but comments in this post will not be counted for activity purposes.]

Comments

[selfimage]

[ there's a breath that comes out from between his lips, and the next surge of paranoia hits him. the expression on his face doesn't change. ]

Am I the only one who carries the mantel of Loki here?

[ it's an important question, and he sits up slowly, his fingers reaching for the furry lapels of his coat to shake them out (it's time to check his equipped items). Loki never likes to show what he does and doesn't know, as if he had control over any situation that he found himself in. ]

[knifecollecting]

Did you put this mark on my hand?

[speediest]

Red bull and an endless supply of protein bars.

[peregrinatus]

I don't know what red bull is - I've never heard of such a thing before.

[peregrinatus]

The glyph is an automatic part of the onboarding process.

[peregrinatus]

I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. What is a Loki?

[selfimage]

[ that does not bode well. ]

I'm Loki, but there's another Loki. Old, wrinkly, looks like an overripe prune.

...

[ curious: ]

Or not. Perhaps you wouldn't know.

[peregrinatus]

That doesn’t match the physical description of any of the other passengers. Most don’t tell me what they’re called, but none of those who have are also called Loki. You seem to be the only one.

[selfimage]

Oh?

[ the curiosity turns to a bitter amusement. ]

And how would you know?

[peregrinatus]

Because you feel different than any of the other passengers. There are two on board who have the same name and feel similar to each other.

[selfimage]

Care to elaborate? Feel is really a nebulous term.

[ his fingers flex, knuckle to finger, and his fingers into his palm. in a hazy, far-away memory, his arm had been broken, his tooth had been knocked from his head, and his body had been burnt. there was no self-inflicted pain, only the ghost of pain buzzing through his limbs because his body refused to forget, even when it healed. his mother had exiled him, her voice shrill and high when she demanded that he never return: carrion eater she had called him; his father had comforted him but refused to help him.

you must pay in blood and fire.

even under pressure, he controls his expression. for someone who's so lost, he always seems to come off like he knows what he's doing. ]

Call it insurance.

[peregrinatus]

I'm not sure how else to explain it - I can sense the presence of every passenger I'm connected with through the glyph's mental link, the same way you might see or hear the others and be able to distinguish them based on the characteristics you observe. Each of you is unique. Even the two who are similar have some differences between them - one is older and carries a certain sadness within him that he hides from the other passengers.

[Navi pauses here, mulling over whether this was a sufficient explanation, or if there's something else missing. Loki's the first passenger to ask this question - most passengers aren't concerned with the mechanics of how Navi works to make this sort of inquiry.]

Does that help you understand? If not, I can try showing you instead.

[selfimage]

[ that sounds a little more invasive than he'd like to admit. ]

I'm not unaware of the methods in which presence is defined. [ though it's less of a barb, and more of a confirmation. he's tired, hazy, and wondering how much of this is real. though as an illusionist, he knows how thin the line is between reality and everything else.

he makes an effort (read ""effort"") to be clearer: ] But my perception and observations are not the same as any mortal's. I know there are methods—[ a dramatic intake of breath. ]—and the line between the sorcery and the science. I'll be satisfied if you tell me if it's either-or.

[ he won't be, but he's used to lying about it.

there's no indication of an old, evil Loki, but he certainly can't be sure. he's not even sure he'd believe Navi with a straight up there's no evil Loki here. ]

[speediest]

It's an energy drink. Full of caffeine and sugar.

[peregrinatus]

It's not sorcery. While I'm aware that such a thing exists, it's not within the scope of my people's abilities. We were created to be transportation vessels, and the mental link was the Creators' method of exerting direct control over us. What they neglected to consider was that the link would be established not just between them and us, but between all of my people, and between us and our passengers. So it's more in the realm of science than sorcery.

[peregrinatus]

And caffeine and sugar are vital to your kind's survival?

[speediest]

I will literally die without caffeine and sugar.

[peregrinatus]

Then I'll do what I can to accommodate. I certainly don't want you to die. I don't have this red bull you mentioned, but I believe some of the other passengers have stored coffee in the kitchen. I understand it has a great quantity of caffeine.

[speediest]

Got any sugar for that coffee?

[peregrinatus]

Yes ... there should also be sugar, unless it's all been used.

[speediest]

What if it has all been used?

[peregrinatus]

We'll acquire more as soon as possible.

[batricide]

[ Well.

It beats prison. All of this is a little surprising and he's not really sure where he stands on this just yet -- but telepaths in the brain always seems like a disaster waiting to happen. ]

Seriously? You expect me to believe you just happened to warp a bunch of people off their homeworlds? [ Scoffing, he folds his arms. Friendship and niceties are for nerds. ] And the 'make bonds' thing doesn't sound suspicious at all. So let's cut to the chase, who do you work for?

[peregrinatus]

[This is not actually the most confrontational introduction Navi's experienced, so at least there's that. To Navi's credit, they remain calm.]

I work for my passengers - so I suppose that means that I work for you. But I had nothing to do with bringing you here - my best guess as to the cause for your displacement, based on what I've observed, is that it's the result of rifts in time and space.

[batricide]

[ That --

that actually checks out. Sort of. This could be the doing of anyone with even the slightest touch of dimension breaking power, or some remnants of Luthor's technology. Or a poorly thought out rescue attempt. This whole ship could be... His upper lip curls into a snarl as he remembers just why everything fell apart, but he shoves that aside, opting instead to look around the room. ]

Are you organic or AI?