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

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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