[open] we could strike the chord

[headinjuries]

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!

Comments

[headinjuries]

( Wow.

Uh. 2016. )

[greentech]

( Uh. Wow. That's a pretty long time ago. We didn't even have any interplanetary space programs back then. )

[ Sam, you're old. ]

[headinjuries]

( Yeah. Most people don't know jack about the rest of the galaxy and believe me, it shows. )

[ Sam has become one of the worst people to watch sci-fi stuff with since he started tripping around the galaxy. ]

[greentech]

( Well, we have all the time in the world to learn now. At least when it comes to this specific planet. )

[ Boy, she sure sounds thrilled about that. ]

[headinjuries]

( Last time I was stuck on the ground for this long it's because I had a broken arm and the worst concussion of my life.

If we're stuck here for another month I think I'm gonna explode. )

[ Or more.

He's not even letting himself think about the possibility of more. ]

[greentech]

( That sounds way too messy. Don't do that. )

[ She's been earth-bound her whole life, except for the whole going to space to fight evil thing. She's used to it. ]

[headinjuries]

( Don't worry, I'm good at cleaning stuff up. )

[ Hates it, sure, but he's gotten pretty fast about it. ]

[greentech]

( It's a good skill to have. )

[ She tends to pick up after herself more often then not. Other times she's just really absorbed in a project. ]

( You guys lost someone, right? Who was he? )

[ Abrupt subject change, but she feels like she should ask. Even if it's a bit awkward. ]

[headinjuries]

( His name was Anakin. He was in Castor brood, and some of them already seem kinda...volatile? )

[ Okay, on the other hand, roboSam is a pretty chill dude, but Kylo Ren in a brood pretty much makes up for everyone else's deficiency of volatile. ]

[greentech]

( Did you know him well...? )

[ This feels awkward. She knows what it feels like to be told someone you know and love dearly is gone, but from what she can tell most people here just got thrown in together. Is this really appropriate to ask about? ]

[headinjuries]

( I didn't. And it's...weird. )

[ Weird and uncomfortable, the unspoken thought carries across. ]

( Like, I never really talked to him, but you can feel it when someone else here dies, any of them. It hurts like hell and it feels worse than when one of my best friends died. )

[ And he doesn't like that part. He had every reason to be sad about the Watcher, and not many at all to be sad about Anakin; it was a bad situation but it shouldn't have been so personal. ]

[greentech]

[ She hasn't experienced that (yet), but she can remember how she felt when they announced that the Kerberos mission had been lost with all hands. She remembers how it felt like someone had reached right into her chest and torn her heart out. Her father and brother couldn't both just be gone. They were too good at what they did for that. She makes a little 'ugh' noise at the back of her throat. ]

( That's just weird. I don't want anyone to die, but... we should figure that out on our own. Not because we have our heads linked together. )

[headinjuries]

( Yeah. I don't like that part. It's really weird when you know you've got no reason to be so torn up about something but somehow you can't stop yourself. )

[ He'd been upset over things that he knew were illogical before, but it had always been petty. Small stuff, stuff that wasn't huge and that was precisely why it was stupid to get too worked up. Nothing of this magnitude, where it was absolutely, dead serious, and he knew it was tragic but it wasn't supposed to be tragic like that. Not to him. ]

[greentech]

( Yeah. I haven't had to deal with it yet, but I think I'd feel kind of violated. Like I had these emotions and ideas that weren't really mine being forced into my head just because someone decided I was going to be psychic family with someone I've never met. )

[ She really hopes she doesn't have to deal with that. Because it sounds awful. ]

[headinjuries]

[ She hit the nail on the head a little too well, and there's a flash of something like a mental wince. "Violated" is a lot more accurate than he'd like to admit; calling it "weird" is a little more comfortable and doesn't make it sound so much...well, so much like it kind of is.

But when he thinks about it, it really is...pretty much like what happened at Pleasant Hill, right? Maybe not as dramatic, but...ugh. ]

( I guess I should be glad we at least remember who we are. )

[ It could easily spiral out a lot from just "these feelings aren't quite mine but I'm still aware enough to know that." ]

[greentech]

( Ugh. Yeah, at least there's that. They could've screwed with our memories. )

[ Although that opens up a whole new can of worms. There's a distinct sense of anxiety that comes shooting back. As well as some healthy curiosity. ]

( But if they had, how would we even know? )

[headinjuries]

[ He hadn't thought about it that far.

........holy shit. ]

( I. I dunno. Do we know? )

[greentech]

( If you think about it too much, we don't. Because they could make us think we know, even if we don't. )

[ Pidge, this isn't helping. ]

[headinjuries]

( ...aw, man. I'm not gonna sleep for a week thinking about this. )

[greentech]

( Don't let it bother you too much. )

[headinjuries]

( You know how the first thing you do when someone says not to think about something is start thinking about it? )

[greentech]

( ...good point. )