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

[She reaches out to touch Elizabeth's face, gently wiping away the tear with her thumb.]

I am not entirely without blame myself; I will not claim that my hands are unstained. But you have my thanks all the same. You see why I say that my perspective on family is somewhat... conflicted.

[ she opens her eyes again, smiling in gratitude. ] Yes. I do.

I.. have also seen many members of my family die. My father had his own brother executed when I was small. My mother lost two babes and my sister died of the sweating sickness when she was fifteen. I miss her dearly.

This was before the deaths of my father, brother, half-brother and maternal uncle. And as I hear it, more are to follow. Including my own son one day. Truly, I fear this marriage to Henry Tudor. It would gain back the throne for my family should my uncle the King fall in battle. But he would bring yet more death to my door.

[ and, she will admit now to her what she cannot to any other. ]

I cannot trust my mother to have my own interest at heart. When I was brought here, the throne was all that she cared about. Not my life or my sisters' lives. Just an ornate chair and a crown. How she gained it mattered not to her. And while she is.. younger here, I still cannot bring myself to trust her in that regard.

It is all the more reason you must learn to see to your own interests. [Galadriel's rather determined to see Elizabeth strengthen her backbone now. She needs it.]

I cannot tell you how to feel towards your kin, of course, but there is no harm in being mindful of the consequences of their actions. [Except that it becomes difficult to trust, but that's a rather common casualty to a high station.]

And if they happen to diverge from those of my family? [ this is the crux of her dilemma, right there out in the open. ]

I adore her. [ her eyes are clear, and it is apparent that she is being honest. ] Nothing can or ever will change this. But one day, the throne will be more important to her than my happiness or that of my sisters.

I.. [ she takes a steadying breath. ] cannot help being anything but mindful of what she will do in the future.

It is a choice you must make for yourself. There is little I would not sacrifice to see to the safety of my family. Their political ambitions, however, are another matter. [Not that it's ever been much of an issue. Truthfully, she has always been the most ambitious of any of them.]

I do not think you can be blamed for that.

[ elizabeth has never before seen the line drawn between the two: because there has never before been one. and maybe that's why so many of her relations are dead. she draws her lower lip thoughtfully between her teeth and says slowly: ]

It is.. then, perhaps wise to draw a distinction between the two? I admit that such a notion is new to me. But it makes a good deal of sense.

[ taken aback, lizzie eyes her a moment before releasing a deep sigh. ]

Many would. She is my mother after all. I simply recall that the lives of my sisters and cousins are of much greater import to me than her ambitions.

That future I was told, it was writ within books Ilde has read and taken as fact. Do you think such a future might be changed?

It is something that I would think a necessity.

[Galadriel gives a wan little smile] I have told you the tale of my family; I could not recommend wholehearted trust of all one's family without a great deal of hypocrisy.

The future, as I have seen it, is rarely set. I do not see why it could not be changed, if you wish to do so.

I am beginning to realize how right you are, Your Grace.

[ she nods quietly. ] And I do understand. One day, I pray you might reconcile with your own.

As for me, I am yet torn. But Henry Tudor will bring no joy to my people. That should be my focus, should it not? But then, if I do not wed him and he kills my Uncle by right of his supposed "conquest", what would a grand lady such as yourself counsel me to do?

[She shakes her head.] You must tire of hearing it, I know, but I cannot counsel you here. I will say only this: there are times, when all roads appear evil, that one must consider not only what is best, but one will regret the least.

[ to be frank: this is hands-down the best advice she has ever received from anyone. it is a gift.

and she does not toss it aside but rather turns it about carefully in her mind, contemplating it. as she will for quite some time to come, she is certain. ]

Such wisdom is a rare gift to receive, Your Grace. I thank you for it.

You have given me much to consider this day.

I am glad that I have been of some help, then.

You have no idea, perhaps, just how very much I value it.

[A soft smile] I believe I may have some notion. [About what Melian's advice meant to her.]

[ such a level of understand she has never known before this. it has been incredibly eye-opening. ]

You may have altered the course of my nation's history with such advice. But I think I may be the happier for it.

[ much happier. she gives galadriel a soft smile, her eyes alight with gratitude. ]

You are quite wonderful, Your Grace. I must thank you from the bottom of my heart.

thirty-first jump;

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