001 | Video

[twiceadays]

[The video clicks on about midsentence, revealing one dashing commander and one dashing buckethead alien. The woman taps at the screen while she talks.] --looks like some crap from the 21st Century.

[The aforementioned buckethead hums in agreement, peering at the netbook with great interest. Her eyes narrow through the purple haze of her faceplate before she shrugs and turns to face her human companion.] Mm. It’s awfully primitive. [OKAY, JAVIK oh wait we haven’t met him yet--] I wonder if I could rig our omni-tools to connect to the network instead...

Too bad EDI isn’t with us. [A pause as the woman purses her lips. But that’s right. Her ship’s AI isn’t here because someone took her ship from her. AGAIN. The tapping becomes more of a jabbing at the screen now.] I don’t know what sort of game this is, but I don’t have the time to be played with. [There’s a huff of frustration as she glances at Tali.] Think you could rig it to hail the Normandy and get our asses out of this place instead? [BECAUSE YOU CAN TOTALLY DO IT, RIGHT, TALI? THEY ARE THE NORMANDY CREW, AFTER ALL.]

[She’s an engineering genius, Shepard, not a goddamn miracle worker.] I can certainly try, but I think you’re asking for a little too much, Commander. [Tali sighs mournfully, feeling more than a little agitated herself.] I get the feeling we’re going to be stuck here for a while. You have to hand it to the people in charge here, though - they have wonderful timing.

[The flattest of all the flat looks.] I ask you to fight Reapers and plunge yourself into suicide missions, and this is asking too much? [She rubs a hand over her face, breathing out slowly. Okay, getting angry is not going to help. Angry is bad. Angry only gets results when you have something, someone, to shoot. Her eyes close briefly for a moment.] They couldn’t beam me up during my jail sentence? That would have been nice.

I’m only one quarian, Shepard. [Just gonna return that flat look with a flat tone of her own. Then she lets out another sigh and taps the ‘chin’ of her helmet thoughtfully. At least she has a slightly better hold on her temper. :|b] I don’t know. You heard what that woman said - they need our help. We can’t just turn away from that, can we?

[Shepard sighs, having the grace to at least look guilty. Taking out her frustration on Tali isn’t going to be helpful to either of them.] The Reapers have already taken Earth. I just... [Why you gotta do that, Tali, making her feel all guilty and reminding her that she’s some kind of damn hero and shit. That’s low. Super low. She’s watching you, girl.] We can’t turn away from that. [And so she jabs her finger at the screen again because luls, they’re being recorded.] I’m Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance. [She hooks a thumb at the buckethead.] This is my friend, Tali’Zorah vas Normandy. Who here wants to be helpful and tell us things the welcome wagon obviously won’t?

[Tali waves a three-fingered hand at the camera.] Um, please. We’d appreciate anything you can tell us.

[ooc: black text is Shepard, purple is Tali c: we'll both be replying to tags~]

Comments

[tequilaselai]

So, this is a hell of a reunion.

[twiceadays]

Wish it were under better circumstances. [A pause before she gives a sharp bark of laughter.] Of course, I'm pretty sure that when we meet up again back home, it'd be just as awful.

[tequilaselai]

To be fair, our meetings have never occurred under the best circumstances. [She smiles - and then, remembering Shepard can't actually see that, starts to laugh.] That's just the way the galaxy works, I guess.

[twiceadays]

[... Oh right. :'D She shakes her head slowly.] You know what, that's it. After we get out of here and kick Reaper ass, I'm taking a long vacation and meeting people the normal way.

Voice

[checksum]

Praise the Cheese Weasel, more people with independent hardware. My handle is Osprey, and welcome to the foxtrot.

Let's see, what to tell you on top of the welcome speech? The Initiative has demonstrated themselves to be moethically bankrupt, tactically and strategically inept, and secretive to a degree that has me breaking out in sympathy paranoia. The netbooks they provide us are locked down, and the coding tools they provide us are sandboxed enough that I suggest assuming any information passing through them is public knowledge.

I'm a security and counter-security professional, with experience on both digital and physical fronts. If you're willing to share specifications, I would love to work out a secure networking option - I'd love to have a network I trust to connect to around here.

Voice

[twiceadays]

[There's a snort at 'Cheese Weasel'.] Nice to hear from you, Osprey.

Great, I'm being held captive by idiots monitoring my every move. That... That makes me feel a lot better. [Maybe isolation wasn't so bad in comparison.]

Slow it down, soldier. I'm not linking up with anyone just yet until I figure out my bearings.

Voice

[checksum]

They might not be monitoring every move, but they have the potential to monitor quite a bit. I do apologize, but like I said, their paranoia's contagious, and I already have a fairly advanced case by virtue of profession.

Anyway. Any other questions I can help you with?

Voice

[twiceadays]

Don't worry too much about it. I can understand the paranoia and pressure. This isn't exactly the most ideal of situations. Here, participate in our battles, take this weapon, here's a bank account. [A pause.] It's strange.

Exactly how many others are here?

voice

[tequilaselai]

Good to meet you, Osprey. Thanks for the info. Not that it's very comforting to hear. [She sighs. Again. She's been doing a lot of that lately.] Keelah, at least they were organized back home.

A secure connection sounds great, but you'll have to forgive me if it's not my first priority at the moment. I'll work with what I've got for now, until I'm a little more settled.

Voice

[checksum]

Not a problem. Forgive me if I'm a little bit forward on that front - I'm used to a much more robust infosphere than this place has, and it's starting to get on my nerves.

Voice

[tequilaselai]

No, I understand. I've barely been here an hour and it's starting to get on my nerves, too.

[Voice]

[uncalled_for]

[Well! Since you asked nicely.] I haven't been here for very long but I can try and tell you what I know. What information were you two looking for, exactly?

[Voice]

[twiceadays]

[Shepard is the best at manners, it's true.] Booze. Tell me there's something good around here.

[Voice]

[uncalled_for]

[She'll snort a laugh]

Anywhere would probably work, there's plenty of stores and shops around. I think most sell the same items.

[Voice]

[twiceadays]

Fantastic. Then I can block out the fact that I've been forcibly drafted into a fight that has nothing to do with me. Does everyone just sit around twiddling their thumbs here?

[Voice]

[tequilaselai]

I suppose it would be asking too much if I said I wanted to leave?

[Voice]

[uncalled_for]

Probably. They don't exactly take requests around here, or listen.

[Voice]

[tequilaselai]

You'd think they'd be a little more accommodating, considering what they ask of us.

[Video]

[noble_nate]

[The woman called Shepard seems interesting enough, but Nathaniel can't stop looking at the one in the purple helmet.]

There are quite a lot of things to know about this place... is there anything in particular you wanted to know.

[Video]

[tequilaselai]

[Eh, she's used to it.]

Well, they only seemed to give us the bare minimum when we arrived, and left the rest for us to figure out on our own. Not very helpful, considering they've enlisted us in this war of theirs. So there's a start, I suppose. How is the war effort going, so far? Do they really expect us to make that much of a difference?

Re: [Video]

[noble_nate]

So far, the war effort is... going. Everyone survived our first battle more or less in tact, which is about the best that can be said of it.

[Video]

[tequilaselai]

First battle? So no one has been in this very long, I take it?

[Video]

[twiceadays]

[Shepard frowns.]

I'd like to know how to get my ship back, but barring that, I'd like directions to a bar. [She rubs the back of her neck.] How long have you been here?

Re: [Video]

[noble_nate]

There's a bar next to the Clinic that Martin Septim and John Watson run.

And I've been here nearly three months now.

[Video]

[twiceadays]

[Booze (yay)]

What's happened these three months you have been here?