02. VIDEO

[sparrowfeather]

[ rose puts on her most charming smile when she starts recording, beaming into the camera with bright eyes. ]

So, you know, a lot's been happening lately, and I don't know about you guys, but I've been thinking this place is missing something.

[ she puts a finger to her lips and lets a few seconds tick by to keep everyone in Suspense, as if this is some sort of huge and monumental idea. which it is. ]

Can someone tell me why there's no place a girl can get a mug of beer around here? Y'know, a bar? Doesn't anyone else miss alcohol? I know, I know, drink responsibly and all that, but... seriously, nothing? Plus, I'm sure at least one of us knows how to make a decent cocktail.

[ she shakes her head with an exasperated sigh. ]

There has to be some good stuff around here somewhere. I'm not picky. You think URSULA keeps a hidden stash?

[ URSULA, she hopes you can hear her. also, rose knows that the answer is an extremely probable no, but what's the harm in tossing the (still, very low, close to nonexistent low) possibility out there. ]

Everything is just... way too tense. Some of you could probably stand to lighten up a little. So since no one else has done it, I'm proposing the idea of a serious addition to the base.

[ is alcohol even a thing here...... ? it'd better be or else she's going to be kind of pissed? ]

Comments

[sparrowfeather]

[ a thought just occurred to her. ]

Hold on, can seraphim even get drunk?

[ that'd...... be truly tragic if they couldn't. she's pretty sure they can? zaveid drinks all the time whenever they hit up a bar. ]

[oneandmikleonly]

I have no personal experience --

-- and, no you can't experiment on me as the same time as Sorey and Alisha. You can take me to the metaphorical bar another night.

[sparrowfeather]

Fine, fine. Fair. After all, I guess someone will need to help haul them over when they inevitably pass out after one sip.

Another night, though! You and me! Rose and Mikleo are gonna take on the world!

[ she's sort of surprised by how chill he is about this. being around so many people for such a long time must have really helped mikleo broaden his horizons. ]

[oneandmikleonly]

[well, he does tend to advocate people relaxing after extremely stressful conflict situations. e.g. dragon fights. if he couldn't make a decent guess as to why she's craving some alcohol right now he would have been more disapproving about it.

he seriously has no idea how he will react to booze, though. maybe it's like weight gain? maybe he only gets drunk if he believes he should? seraphim sure are complicated!]

I'm sure the world is quaking in its boots. Let me know when you want to go and I'll meet you at the base exit whenever.

[sparrowfeather]

As soon as you're ready to help distill it and all that junk, just give me a call and I'll come running. Or just a nudge, since we live together and all.

[oneandmikleonly]

Hah, all right.

Out of curiosity, has anyone actually revealed a hidden stash to you?

[sparrowfeather]

... Someone said URSULA has one and that I need to beat her at a game of chess to get to it, but I highly suspect they were lying.

[oneandmikleonly]

...yeah, that doesn't sound like URSULA. If you asked her about it I think she'd just tell you.

[sparrowfeather]

What, have you guys gotten all buddy buddy with her or something? All I know is that she's an artificial intelligence... whatever... that trapped us all here with little hope of escape, yet everyone seems to like her just fine.

[ can URSULA read minds? she hopes not. ]

[oneandmikleonly]

We've been working with her for a while now. I dunno, Rose. There's some things I'm not sure of about this situation, either, but URSULA's just been...sweet. She likes to go along with what people want to do a lot, not really the other way around.

She reminds me a bit of Lailah, actually.

[occasionally dippy mom figures? occasionally dippy mom figures.]

[sparrowfeather]

If she likes to go along with what people want, then why isn't anyone allowed to go back home?

[ there's a pause before rose continues, mulling all this over. it's... kind of a lot. she's doing the best she can to adjust, but she still isn't exactly thrilled about being thrust into a situation she can't wrap her head around. ]

Lailah, huh... Wish she was here. She'd offer more insight than I could, that's for sure. It's not that I don't trust you and Sorey, it's just... I haven't had a chance to try to understand, but sweet was never the first word that came to mind when I thought about whoever's running things here. It's rare to hear you say that about anyone.

[oneandmikleonly]

[he shrugs, a little uncomfortable but willing to accept the assessment]

I suppose...I've had half a year living here under her care. That makes a difference. She's never displayed malevolence that I can tell, and she definitely isn't able to give information about absolutely everything...but she's in charge of this building, not the entire planet. She says she doesn't know why our circumstances are what they are, either, and I've seen enough strange things here to be inclined to believe it.

[sparrowfeather]

Wait, are you saying she's almost just as clueless as we are?

[ that changes some things. if she was malevolent at all, sorey and mikleo surely would have told her right away, but it's still nice to hear verbal confirmation, too. the thought had crossed rose's mind, after all. ]

Er... I guess maybe I took a leap and had the wrong impression. Can you blame me, though? Sorry, but what else was I supposed to assume?

[ rose doesn't want to admit that when she landed and had zero idea where she was or where any of her friends were she was scared, but. she was. rose doesn't trust just anybody, and mikleo should know that well. ]

[oneandmikleonly]

I would have told you if she were actually a controlling mastermind and we knew about it!

On the list of crazy things to worry about on this planet she's low on the list, trust me.

[he hopes he's not wrong. will machines display malevolence the same way a person would?

on the other hand like absolutely everything at home will if it has it, so, you know, sometimes it's either make an assumption he's accurate even by alien world rules or be paranoid forever.]

[sparrowfeather]

Fine, fine, you're right, you're right. You guys would've clued me in as soon as I ended up here. I owe you that much credit, at least. Guess I'll just have to go and talk to her!

[oneandmikleonly]

Mm. You'll have fun, I think.

Let me know if you need anything else with all this alcohol-related conversation. I'm staying in today.

[sparrowfeather]

Yeah... I think I have a couple things I could ask her in mind.

Sure! I will. Man, no offense or anything, but you've really mellowed out over the past six months.

[oneandmikleonly]

Is...is that supposed to be a bad thing?

[oops]

[sparrowfeather]

No! Not at all! It's just that you were, uh... well, maybe... not so mellow before all this?

[oneandmikleonly]

I--I was mellow sometimes!

[and can still be teased real easily out of mellowness, it looks like]

[sparrowfeather]

Sure, sure. The most mellow one in the group. Edna must be pretty damn good if she could get under such a mellow person's skin like that...

[ she loves you mik she does ]

[oneandmikleonly]

That's--why are we even talking about this...?!

[make him take you to Floater Island someday Rose, it's full of little barky animals]

[sparrowfeather]

No idea. You're the one arguing about it. Just take the compliment, geez!

[ OH BOY ]

[oneandmikleonly]

Fine! I accept!

[he feels vaguely like he's lost a match here, but he's not 100% sure how]

[sparrowfeather]

Good! Thank you!

[ her tone is not quite aggressive but... also kind of aggressive. where did this go. ]