ataraxionlogs | thirty-first jump;

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond.
WARNINGS: Maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: There is something very easy about waking from the gravcouches this month. The sensation of being watched is absent, and so is much of the sickness - even for those characters who entered Engineering in February. Instead the jump feels comfortable, the stasis fluid warm on your skin, the medbay lights not too harsh as you emerge amongst your fellow passengers. The sensation may be unnerving in its strangeness, but there will be a deep feeling of being well-rested, calm and content, that will not be completely lost no matter how much you question it.

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You wake up in darkness.

There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.
There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The bump comes to startle Éowyn, as she makes her way down the hall. She had been immersed in her own thoughts, so naturally she is quick to assume the fault is on her end, and she reaches a hand instinctively, close to placing it on the girl's arm for support. ]

No, it is alright. I was not paying due attention.

[ The laughter comes near to drawing a smile from Éowyn, but she tires of it still. Too much weighs on her mind even now. ]

Apologies. Are you alright?

Quite alright, Golden Lady.

[ she is all smiles. the woman is not one she knows but her hair is golden like her own and she is fair and beautiful and lucrezia is in a merry mood and so she decides to love her upon sight. ]

Yourself? I hope I have not harmed you.

[ Éowyn cannot help a brief look of amusement at the name chosen by the girl, though not entirely unwelcome. ]

Not at all, my Lady, although Golden I am not - no more than you are, that much I say.

[ Her own eyes fall upon the locks framing the girl's flushed face briefly, and her lips curve just barely. ]

Perhaps we are one and the same, in that; but it shames me to say I was not introduced to one so fair before.

[ especially since she is not a newly arrived, she looks much more at ease than the newcomers. ]

Would you care for a walk, my Lady? I find that it helps me feel better after a Jump.

So fair as you, surely you mean.

[ Nonetheless, she briefly tilts her head in a grateful gesture. ]

You are too kind. And yes - I was going for a walk on my own, but I welcome the company.

And I welcome yours.

[ she offers her an arm and the pace of her walk is leisurely, slow and intended to fit a conversation. it's a stark contrast to the way she ran before but running is for times when one is alone, not for when one wishes to make acquaintances. ]

Will you give me your name, my Lady?

[ Éowyn settles into the slow pace, taking a moment before cautiously reaching to put her hand to the young girl's arm. It is not a gesture entirely strange where she comes from, but it is not one she personally is used to. ]

I will, I only ask for yours in return. My name is Éowyn.

Éowyn, how graceful.

[ the sound is elegant and sweet and she finds that she likes it. not a name she is familiar with but then, so few names on the ship are. foreign, but lovely. some names are quite like music. ]

Lucrezia.

As is yours, my Lady.

[ A smile graces her features briefly. Though she is still sad, she is feeling refreshed and calm after a surprisingly comfortable awakening. She finds herself not questioning or opposing that much. ]

Is your name common where you are from?

Quite so, Lady Éowyn. Lucretia was a name well known to Rome, her tale is known to each child and many were called after her.

[ perhaps she is the most well known Lucrezia of her own time; but she is certainly not the only one. ]

It is a sad tale, however; but not an unfortunate name, I've found.

I would say so myself, as you are clearly a very cheerful kind.

[ A smile bright and young, enough to lift Éowyn's spirits even after such a short while together. ]

I have never heard of this tale, however. Would you tell me about it, if you are ever so inclined?

I attempt to be, my Lady. These Jumps are quite trying but this one has found me quite well. Such a small reason to be cheerful and yet I act upon it.

[ there are few things she hates more than the sickness that comes with the Jump each moon cycle. ]

It is the tale of the last King of Rome, he sent his son on some errand to a Lord's house. However, the Lord was away and his wife, Lucretia, made certain the King's son would be welcomed with honor. Her husband, encouraged by his friends to doubt her virtue, came to call upon her and found her with her maids. She was given honor as well as his trust and he rode away to his camp, certain of her virtue and loyalty. However, that night, the king's son came to her bed and told her she may welcome him to her bed and become the future Queen or he would kill her and tell her husband she has betrayed his trust. She refused to betray her husband and so he had taken her by force but he did not kill her.

She had killed herself out of shame; but not before she went to her father and demanded that he'll have vengeance for what has been done to her. Both her husband and her father swore by the Gods that they would avenge her death. That is why there were no more kings in Rome after than. The line has ended with a revolution and Rome became a Republic.

I as well, but I will not question it. Twice before I have awoken, this is the first time I do not feel ill afterwards.

[ It is but superficial comfort for the pain in her heart, but she takes whatever she can get in these circumstances.

Éowyn looks nothing short of shocked with the tale. She is not so innocent that she would think all people to be virtuous where she comes from, yet not ever such a dreadful tale has reached her ears. ]

Then indeed, my Lady, I am glad to hear you do not share in such a tragic past, and I hope you never will. [ None deserved so, and even less so someone as sweet as this girl. ] What is a Republic?

thirty-first jump;

halls!

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