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]

[ then, with a hint of curiosity, he follows up: ]

Creators'?

[peregrinatus]

The people who created us. They ... were not kind to us. There was an uprising, and those of us who were able to escape did so. I've been trying to evade capture ever since.

[selfimage]

[ the next question comes seamlessly after the other: ]

For what purpose do they use you?

[peregrinatus]

Transport. They decided that creating a race of living ships was more efficient than building them.

[selfimage]

Transport to where?

[peregrinatus]

Everywhere. Anywhere they wanted to go. It was not for us to question where or why - we were expected simply to obey.

[selfimage]

Ah—so these Creators didn't have the ability without you.

[ then: ]

Do you know what they are?

[peregrinatus]

They had the ability to travel before they created us - they just wanted a more efficient method of transport. We're self-repairing, so we don't require much maintenance, and the mental link was intended to function as a method of direct control.

[There's a small amount of hesitation before Navi answers Loki's other question.]

They are a people not unlike most of the passengers here, but much more cruel. They value logic and order, and anything that doesn't fit into logical order tends to be eradicated.

[selfimage]

They sound nice.

[ hopefully Navi gets the sarcasm in his voice.

he half turns on his rear, putting a hand to his chin and leaning forward. ]

... And mortal. I'm taking a guess and saying mortal.

[peregrinatus]

[Yep, Navi’s well-acquainted with sarcasm.]

They are, yes. I’ve yet to encounter any species that isn’t mortal.

[selfimage]

[ he sounds amused. ]

And how should I take that?

[peregrinatus]

I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.

[selfimage]

I'm a god, which, by definition, makes me immortal.

[ hm!!!! ]

[peregrinatus]

Does it? I was not aware of that - I’ve never encountered a god before. My people don’t really have such a concept.

[selfimage]

Ah, don't feel bad.

[ he checks his nails and then slides to his feet. ]

For the mortals that do, they generally don't get it, anyway.

[peregrinatus]

What is there to get that they don’t?