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

[notafraidofyou]

[Look. Tim is justified in being confused. He was on his way to Wayne Enterprises to harass Bruce and generally give him a hard time for forgetting that vacations are a thing that happen, and then suddenly he's in space with a computer talking at him and telling him that he's lost in space? What the hell??

He sits up and looks around.]

Uh, hi? What do I call you?

[peregrinatus]

Hello.

[The confusion is absolutely justified! The Navigator's just grateful there isn't an immediate threat of violence from this new arrival, because that's not always the case.]

I am the Navigator. Traditionally, my people are given a name by their passengers, so you may call me whatever you'd like.

[notafraidofyou]

Cool. I'm Tim.

[Nothing wrong with being polite. And he's up and looking around to try to figure out more about where he is. Kind of like a hotel room, really, except in space. Like the Watchtower.]

Are there a lot of people here?

[Opening and shutting drawers.]

[peregrinatus]

Hello, Tim.

[Definitely do the exploring thing! It's not every day you wake up on a sentient space ship.]

In addition to yourself, there are thirteen passengers on board, one of whom is in long-term stasis. This is slightly less than half of my total passenger capacity.

[notafraidofyou]

[It sure isn't! He glances down and notices the glyph on his hand. Huh. That's not usually there.]

Hey, Navigator--nah, that's too long. Is Navi okay? Or do you like Gator better? Can you see me?

[peregrinatus]

Many of the others refer to me as Navi, but I have no preference for how you address me. And I cannot see you unless you are physically in front of me, though as long as we are linked, I can sense you.

[notafraidofyou]

[...There is so much to think about in that, but he's not going to let himself get distracted from his actual question.]

I have a thing on my hand. That's new. What's it for?

[peregrinatus]

That symbol is a glyph - a link between a Navigator and its passengers. My people form a symbiotic relationship with our passengers - we thrive on the energy created by emotional bonds. But the link created by the glyph is not just between a Navigator and its passengers - it's also between the passengers themselves. Bonds between the passengers are even stronger than those between passengers and Navigator.

[notafraidofyou]

Uh.

So... what. It's a connection to you? And the rest of the passengers?

[choosetruth]

[Aren't you glad that universal speech translation modification makes it so easy to understand the long string of curses that spew out of Georgia's mouth for a solid three minutes? You're welcome, weird creepy voice.

Finally, she looks up, glaring around the room to try and figure out where to look. With no better options, she'll just glare up at the ceiling.]

Yeah, I have questions. Where the fuck is my brother?

[She has other questions. This is just the most pressing.]

[peregrinatus]

[Well. That's definitely cause for some confusion.]

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking me. What's a brother?

[peregrinatus]

Just with me, at the moment. Eventually, you'll be synced with another passenger. It's an automatic process.

[choosetruth]

[Seriously? She rolls her eyes behind her sunglasses.]

Shaun Philip Mason. You can recognize him by how he'll be asking after me and emphasizing his question with explosives.

[peregrinatus]

We have someone here who is fond of threatening with explosives, but he hasn't asked about anyone.

[That's because he's Jason Todd, not Shaun. The Navigator doesn't actually know anyone by their names, by the way.]

[choosetruth]

Then it's not him.

[There's no way Shaun would have skipped the asking about her step. As much as he likes relying on violence, he's aware that sometimes using your words is effective too, at the very least because then they know how to make the violence stop.]

Fine. So you say I'm a long way from home. How long? Where is this? And why can't you just send me back the way I came?

[notafraidofyou]

[Weird. Cool, but weird. He rubs at it, frowning, but it doesn't change.]

So... what's that like?

[peregrinatus]

I would need to know where your home planet is first before I could estimate how far you are from it. As for why I cannot send you back the way you came, that's because I don't know how you got here in the first place. Your appearance here is as much of a mystery to me as it is to you.

[For now, until Navi makes that announcement.]

[peregrinatus]

I imagine it's much like how you and I are connected. It's an entirely painless process, I assure you.

[notafraidofyou]

Automatic, painless and... telepathic? As in I don't actually have to say any of this out loud to you? Am I talking to myself?

[choosetruth]

Earth. Milky Way Galaxy. The only planet with intelligent life as far as any of us know, so this is fucking impossible.

[She's feeling increasingly frustrated.]

[unshape]

( at the very least, telepaths inside of his head isn't anything new, and conversing via thoughts is something teddy has gotten used to over the years. waking up in a strange cabin? newish. )

"Please, don't be alarmed" is exactly what someone would say when you're supposed to be alarmed. I've seen the movies.

( also what the heck is this on his hand. he can't even get tattoos, piercing holes don't stick long. don't mind him while he tries to. shift that thing away. )

[peregrinatus]

[He can definitely shift the glyph around, but unfortunately, it's not going away.]

I don't know what movies are.

[peregrinatus]

That's correct. You don't have to speak out loud, but you can if it's easier for you. The important part is the mental link - we are always connected, but unless you focus on communicating with me, the connection is more like background noise to me.

[unshape]

You don't know what movies are?

( that bit was said out loud, shifting the gylph around until it's under the collar of his shirt. covered but still there. and then it's time to get up, take a glance back to his room, and open the door leading out of it. )

Where is this? Where's Billy?

[peregrinatus]

Well, that's not true at all. There are countless planets that are home to intelligent life.

[C'mon, George, don't be so Earth-centric.]

Many of the other passengers are also from this "Earth," but unfortunately, I have no knowledge of its coordinates.