station72 | [open] we could strike the chord

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[open] we could strike the chord

CHARACTERS: Anyone who wanted to go to the vigil!
WHERE: Royal Street Gaming Parlor.
WHEN: DAY :031
SUMMARY: Concordia honors the dead. Hosts honor the dead, or maybe just do a little 007ing. As in snooping, not macking on hot ladies. ~~We hope.~~
WARNINGS: TBA.

This is here for any and all of your mingling needs. Start your own top-levels, harass each other, etc etc.

Here is what we know is happening, courtesy of our fearless mods:

The hosts will be few in a throng of relatively peaceful people. Most people in attendance are younger (30s and below) and a proportionally large number of them have some kind of physical modification, though most are relatively low-profile mods. There's also a small contingent of androids in attendance.

A low platform has been erected in front of the Royal Street Gaming Parlor and the speakers for the vigil either stand on it or, as is the case with some more high profile appearances, they speak across an extranet connection via a holoscreen projected onto the Parlor itself. For the most part the speakers are small time: a few workers from a small local chapter of Mind Life (accompanied by a few skittish looking androids), a beta block councilwoman, a Mother and Sister from a nearby Church of Lirinity. Most of them have nothing more than words of support and condolence.

Somewhere close to the middle of the vigil, Seong-Hye Ngazi, the Public Security Commissioner for Concordia, speaks via extranet connection. She seems somber, competent, but also confident, and speaks about condolences for the losses, regret for the circumstances of the attack, and Public Security's dedication to finding the party responsible for the attack.

Otherwise: it's your fairly standard memorial gathering. Poems are read, some tears are shed, there are some people with signs and a small contingent of rabble rousers on the fringe of the gathering that quickly get chased off by Public Security, etc. You're welcome to create and interact with your own NPCs if you feel so inclined!

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[Mara commits it to memory, and wonders idly if he told her his real name or the alias he was given. Regardless, she's not about to share her name and potentially break her cover. Yes, it's unlikely anyone who knows her alias is within hearing distance, but she's not taking any chances. It only takes one slip before she has to start all over again from the ground up.]

[So, naturally, she gives her alias.] I'm Frey. [She gestures to the crowd.] What do you think of all this?

[ If pressed, Sam would justify using his real name with the fact that if they're so far out of his corner of the galaxy that nobody's even heard of the Nova Corps, there's definitely no way anyone's heard of Sam Alexander, so as long as the name doesn't sound weird to local ears, it'll blend in just fine.

But really, Sam just hates the cloak and dagger stuff. Going undercover with a different name is just one more thing for him to forget and mess up. ]

They did a nice job putting this together? Everyone seems really genuine.

[ But he follows that up on the mental link, trying to keep it clear and concise, since her messages seem...rough, somehow. ]

( Except the Public Safety Commissioner. Something's weird about her. )

[From a lifetime of experience, Mara is deeply suspicious of figures of public authority. On the other hand, she's a naturally curious person from a universe without the phrase 'out of the mouths of babes'.]

( What makes you think that? )

[Mara follows back through the link Sam made, imagining it like some kind of radio transmission. She's using his frequencies. The result is a clearer message, though it's still a little cluttered with the feeling of cold and darkness.]

[ He's probably going to have to explain this a lot, isn't he? But it always sounds kind of stupid to him when he tries to put it into words, like "so lately every time somebody lies around me I have this sudden sense of bullshit and also I really feel like I'm gonna hurl."

So, he settles on - ]

( Gut feeling. )

[ But some of what he does feel comes across with that thought - a deep-rooted conviction that what he's heard is false, and a wave of nausea that goes hand-in-hand with it. ]

[Mara isn't usually one to take hunches at face value, but she feels that conviction, that wave of unease, and she's reminded of all the times her hunches have saved her life.]

[So, hesitantly, she listens.]

( Is there any way of turning that hunch into a lead? ) [The link still fizzes with emotions crowding around the borders, impatience and curiosity, but it's less, now. Like having your foot run over by a shopping cart, rather than being hit by a minivan.] ( What's 'weird' about her? )

( Maybe. I dunno. )

[ It's nothing precise, after all, but - ]

( It sounded okay at first? Like every other sad speech somebody's made today. But when she started talking about the investigation and finding who was responsible...that part just feels like bullcrap. )

[Mara's eyes widen, and the mental link crackles with intense interest as she starts going hurriedly through her notes. She hands the datapad to the boy.]

( Highlight everything you remember feeling off. )

( Okay. )

[ It doesn't take him long; the feeling was mostly just centered around "this entire topic" instead of "these individual statements," so everything important is clustered together. When he passes back the datapad, aside from highlighting, he's also circled the whole section dealing with the investigation and added a note: "attitude = wtf???" ]

[Sadly, Mara comes from a universe with internet culture created in the mid eighties, she looks over the notes, taps the acronym, and looks at Sam with a blithely questioning expression.]

[Kids these days, with their superpowers and their slang.]

[ Oh.

Right. ]

( "What the fuck." )

Helpful, [She mutters dryly, and looks over the notes in their completed form. It's... not much to go on, but it's a start. This Ngazi is clearly obstructing the investigation in some way, and while there are hundreds of reasons why, a lead is a lead. She intends to follow this one through.]

( You've done well, ) [She says, because it's what others always said to her.] ( Do you have any plans for following this up? )

[Mara does, but either out of cruelty or curiosity, she'd rather assess this boy first.]

[ Plans? God. He's barely finished with the "wow, there is a problem" stage of dealing with things, and with suppressing his usual first instinct in these kinds of problems - which is to go straight in, metaphorical (but occasionally literal) guns blazing, and try to deal with things in the most direct manner possible. ]

( I don't want to just leave it? But I'm pretty sure I'm going to screw things up if I just go straight over to knock on her door and go, hey, you're full of crap and I want to know what's going on. )

[ Sam very much likes the direct approach. ]

( ...so I'm not sure yet. )

[So Mara can quickly surmise that, while the kid's clearly got some kind of preternatural knack for it, he might not have a lot of experience. She tucks the datapad away, and crosses her arms in front of her, thinking.]

( There are more ways to handle it than the one you're thinking of. You haven't done this sort of work before, have you? )

( Uh. I snuck into Oblitus once? But it was only really sneaking to get from the docking bay to the guy's room, and then we just went back to shooting and threats. )

[ Going after anyone who owed Rocket Raccoon money was inevitably going to end in shooting, anyway. ]

[Mara... doesn't know what that means, but she gets the general idea.]

( Have you considered a gentler approach? Maybe one without explosions? )

( Sometimes. Kinda. But I'm a lot better at the explosions. )

[ The Nova Force was not a particularly subtle superpower. ]

[Mara gives in to the deeply diplomatic urge to roll her eyes.]

[But everyone can be useful, if their part is played correctly.]

( I'll keep an eye on her, and send you my copy of the speech. In the meanwhile, you should trail her, research her, look for any more bad information. Does this hunch work with recordings? )

( Not sure. I'll give it a shot and get back to you on that one? )

[ Watching sports hasn't been the optimal ground for testing it out, really. ]

[Mara cocks her head to one side, and then another. Were he older, she'd just leave him, but something about the idea of a child failing missions sits poorly with her. A child on her team, who has benefited her investigation.]

[She owes him.]

( You should contact me if you have questions. I've done this sort of work before. )

[ That...doesn't seem too surprising, really. She's jumped right into making a plan like she knows how this stuff works.

Sam, on the other hand... ]

( Cool. I'll probably have like a million, because I haven't. )

[Mara wonders just when she signed on to be a kindergarten teacher. A space kindergarten teacher. Do they even get dental?]

( Try to keep them in order of importance. )

[ Excuse you, kindergarten is not at all accurate. He's definitely mastered sharing and coloring in the lines.

...let's not discuss running with scissors, though. ]

( I know, I know. )

[Mara considers what else needs to be done. A plan can't be made with what little information they have, but it's a start, as well as a shaky contact in the field. She'll have to strengthen the contact to really get a use out of him, but it seems a worthwhile endeavor.]

[No, wait. One more thing.]

( And my real name is Mara Jade. )

( Well, I figured it wasn't Frey. )

[ Not, actually, because of any insight about hiding identities here, but just because...a feeling. ]

( You already got my real one. )

[ what is undercover can you punch it in the face ]

[Mara tilts her head to the side. So his talents extend beyond the Commissioner.]

( In the future, if you catch me in a lie, I want to know about it. ) [But she doesn't expect favors.] ( Consider it payment for answering your questions. )

Edited (commsisonsionrtrrer) 2016-09-01 21:33 (UTC)

(no subject)

headinjuries - 2016-09-01 23:44 (UTC) - Expand

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