005 ⌥ TEXT; ANONYMOUS [god, i feel like i'm spamming]

[femshep]

If anyone's got a minute to spare, I was wondering if you'd tell me about wherever it is you come from.

The world or worlds, the level of technology, the political hierarchy, your culture and society and how it functions, etc.

[But a few minutes later, a second part is tacked on.]

Forget it. Forget all of that. Don't worry about getting technical.

Just tell me what it was like for you. Your ship or city. Your job. Your friends or family.

If it's not a problem.

Comments

[truth_is_cold]

More like as individuals suffering from program degradation. At that point, they're usually rebooted to get rid of whatever faulty programming is damaging them.

[Text]

[timesbureaucrat]

There was one place, with red grass and an orange sky. It felt like home.

[Because it was home. Gallifrey.]

[buckingauthority]

Lee?

[Gods, where does she even begin?]

He's good at what he does. Dedicated. Far more disciplined than I'll ever be. Usually got a pole shoved way up his ass about something. I keep trying to help him unclench, but he doesn't appreciate it as much as he should.

[There's a hint of wry affection in her voice. They go way back and it's always been like that between them.]

Lee only commands the ships flight squadron, though. His father Captain Adama is CO of the Battlestar Galactica and the Colonial Fleet. Or what's left of it. Colonel Tigh is XO.

voice;

[fireofunknown]

Well then, I am from the beautiful state of Texasssssss. Originally at least. Been a bit around everywhere...Oklahoma most recently.

I worked in a traveling circus troop. Had cotton candy for every meal.

[hunt4commonwealth]

I don't know. My crew might be able to manage without me. But like I said, they're good, but they aren't disciplined. I don't know if my ship would entirely trust their decisions. It could work. Or it could all fall apart spectacularly.

[Considering he sometimes half-expects Tyr to try to mutiny even while he's there, he can easily imagine the sort of fighting that could potentially break out over command decisions if he's not there. But more than that, he feels like it's his fault that he didn't get a message to the Commonwealth in time to prevent the fall of civilization as he knows it, so it's his responsibility to fix it.]

text;

[femshep]

['State' means America, if she recalls right, but that's about all she can glean from that first bit.

As for the second, though:]

'Cotton candy'?

[audio - private]

[femshep]

Because of the testing?

[femshep]

So they're too easily controlled to pose much of a threat, then.

[femshep]

[She hears that affection.]

What about the rest of the squad?

[What were they like?]

[audio - private]

[waspromisedcake]

No, because of the stasis.

[She wasn't going to just accept Wheatley's word about the stasis process leaving her brain damaged, but there really was no other explanation for why her life before Aperture was a near complete blank. Obviously she knew things. She could speak and read, knew basic math, knew plenty of things, really. Hadn't she learned all that as a child?]

[femshep]

[She's still not used to shipboard AIs being even close to common practice. Her Normandy's EDI was a fluke, technically illegal until EDI proved her worth.]

Rhade mentioned a shipboard AI.

[Read as: 'Elaborate, please? Shepard's curious.']

[Text]

[femshep]

How about most unique?

[truth_is_cold]

No more easily controlled than any other person. They take the oath to serve the same as us. They can live as androids or as ships. If we break our oath, we are all dismissed.

[Which he's pretty sure is what happened to him.]

[hunt4commonwealth]

All Commonwealth warships have them. Had them. That technology became a lot less common after the Fall. She manifests in three forms: on-screen image, hologram, and android, all linked to the ship systems. Andromeda's very loyal, but I think she doesn't entirely trust the new crew all the time. They got off on a bad footing and I don't think Rommie's ever forgotten it.

[Text]

[timesbureaucrat]

'Unique' could mean a lot of things. Good. Bad.

On the planet Sequiz the dust, when exposed to too much ultraviolet light, becomes sentient, sings, and attacks people.

[audio - private]

[femshep]

Did it block your memory or erase it? Do you know?

[femshep]

Assuming 'dismissed' means killed for humans, too?

[femshep]

[Once again striking a familiar note, though obviously with different names and events. So she has to ask:]

And what does the crew think of her?

[Text]

[femshep]

'Unique' meant 'in your opinion'.

Any chance you could tell me how that works?

[The 'suddenly sentient, singing, and violent' part.]

[audio - private]

[waspromisedcake]

[She hesitates before answering.]

Not sure. I know things that I don't think I learned in the facility.

voice;

[fireofunknown]

Yeah, cotton candy! Light fluffy spun sugar of deliciousness? Typically dyed blue or pink?

It's the best. Melts right in your mouth-- man I never thought I'd miss cotton candy...never thought I'd miss the circus.
[A beat.]

Anyway, the government is a democracy? President and the House and Senate in Congress and all that jazz.

[femshep]

What's it for? Quick carbs to burn?

[She's still on cotton candy, and she's also still in the shipboard mentality that everything you put into your body has to benefit you somehow. There's no room on a starship for garbage food.]

[truth_is_cold]

It can be. It depends on the level of crime against the Commonwealth.

[He knows what he's probably in for.]

[hunt4commonwealth]

Harper, my engineer, is a bit infatuated with her. Beka and Trance, my first officer and medic, get along with her well most of the time although Rommie's sense of propriety and military discipline sometimes clashes with how they're used to doing things. Rev Bem loves everyone and I'm pretty sure Tyr likes no one. And that's my entire crew these days.

[audio - private]

[femshep]

[A thoughtful pause.]

If you had a chance to remember, would you want to?