outer_divide | [VIDEO, shifting to ACTION potentially

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character: kaidan alenko

[VIDEO, shifting to ACTION potentially | 001: Arrival]

[By the background, Kaidan, outwardly a normal-looking dark haired man in his mid-30s, is still on the ship. Still beside the pod that's disgorged him even, as a blurry nameplate can be made out behind him if you squint. His own communicator has come to him in the form of a datapad, which he's currently holding out in from of him with the slight abstracted furrow to his brow commonly seen amongst iPad users as they try to make sure the camera's focusing. Some things carry down across centuries, apparently.]

Look. I don't know where the hell I am, but this sure as hell isn't the shuttle down to Vancouver. Everything's saying 'ship', but I'm not hearing engine noise and what little I've seen says this thing is way too big to be stealthed.

And there's another thing--

[He turns the datapad to let its camera pickup take in the pods along the corridor.]

That's not normal cryostasis like I'd call it. It looks more like prothean tech. So if anyone's picking up on this frequency, I could use a few answers.

[After a moment more, he stares at the camera and awkwardly rubs at the back of his neck with one hand as he's recalled to manners and lets the irritated command slide out of his voice.]

Uh. Please?

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It is not prothean. [That particular blend of certainty and abstraction could only really come from one asari - even if the slightly-disfocused image on the screen wasn't familiar.]

But it is oddly familiar.

--Liara?

[It's not that he's not glad to see a familiar face, but a ship with tech alien to his eyes, and unfamiliarly alien at that, is not exactly where he expected to find someone he knows.

On the other hand, finding Dr. Liara T'Soni in the middle of an unknown vessel is a case of 'where else would she be?'.]

Is this some sort of bizarre first contact thing? Or the rachni or something?

I am not entirely certain. I have only just awoken here myself, and have not yet had a chance to familiarize myself with the available information. If the vessel were closer to your fleet's design, my first guess would have been Cerberus.

[A small frown flits across her face, tightening abstraction into focus.]

Do you have your omni-tool? It might be prudent to meet and continue searching for answers together.

Wouldn't that be wonderful. [Kaidan: still wants to biotically punch The Illusive Man in the face.]

I don't think this is human, though -- or at least not any 'human' I'm aquainted with. It feels familiar, but it feels wrong, too... and yeah. I'll set up a ping to yours now.

[And so he does.]

Pro-what?

[Hi, Kaidan, do you want a 20XX-thug looking teen coming up behind you? Of course you do.]

[Audio because there's no way in hell he's seeing exactly how uncertain she's looking right now.]

Stay where you are.

I'm coming.

Liara. [Her tone's almost warm and almost relieved, but right now she's too caught up on the 'Kaidan' thing to spend too much time on a joyous reunion.]

Borrowing Alenko for a minute, then we'll both find you.

That is, assuming I'm invited. [This last bit has a note of dry humor. Of course she's invited, she's just tacking that on because Liara's got enough of Shepard's respect to have the option of saying no.]

Prothean.

Kaidan turns before Akira closes to within melee range, some soldierly reflex tingling at the back of his neck. He takes in his questioner with a quick glance, arms folding across his chest to still them from falling into any mnemonic patterns as he offers the level explanation of]

Alien race about fifty thousand years ago, some of 'em tried to use stasis pods to survive the Reaper invasion. Didn't really work out all that well for them, but... they looked a little like this.

Uh. The pods. Not the protheans.

You are hearing nothing because the ship has crashed.

Apparently a considerable time before any of us awoke.

[It still doesn't make any more sense to him the second time Kaidan says it, but something else he says perks Akira's attention.

"Reapers." Didn't that one old lady mention something like that when he was pestering her out of boredom?]

...Reapers? Like the ones Shepard talked about?

Shepard?

[He should be concerned. He should be distrustful -- after all, he was headed back to earth because she's about to go before a tribunal regarding the deaths of three hundred thousand batarians. What he actually sounds like is relieved, and just a little bit of pleasure pairs with it, lightening his expression across the one-dided video feed.]

You got it, ma'am... although I, uh, guess technically I have to stop calling you 'ma'am' now.

[Indeed, those are major's stripes on the shoulders of his BDUs.]

No, it does not appear to be. The timing is merely...inconvenient.

[And isn't that word loaded with half again as much meaning as it should be.]

I will see you soon, Major.

[A... geth is talking to him? Talking? Or maybe it's just a mech with a VI on board. Kaidan composes himself from his earlier alarm at this thought, and decides to go with it.]

That's... good to know. What is the current status of the ship?

[The slightly-stilted phrasing of his question is designed to help a virtual intelligence rather than a true AI parse it.]

[Or maybe it's Wing, the Polite Cybertronian!]

[Maybe the slightly formal language is how they talk where this human is from? Wing rolls with it.]

Flightwise? Nonfunctional. The life support systems for your kind appear to be...moderately working.

Most of the humans who awake move to the Old City.

Of course, Commander.

[Warmth answers almost-warmth - and, perhaps more tellingly, Liara does not sound at all surprised to hear from Shepard.]

I will attempt to make some sense of this.

[And not get caught behind a barrier curtain this time, thankfully.]

Shepard? Commander Shepard?

[Kaidan manages to keep the level tone to his voice... mostly. But his attention on Akira has sharpened to interest beyond just the simple threat assessment and observation of a moment earlier.]

That's be them. Eldritch mechanical horrors from the edges of dark space... I'd call them holovid monsters, except they're real.

Yeah, talked to her before. [He's never met her in person, so he doesn't know what to think of her. Still, he's eying Kaidan warily now.]

Why? You know her?

[He squints a little at that. The inflection, the hesitation... neither are something a standard VI is all that good at. Kaidan lifts one hand and rubs at one temple as if to ward away a headache.]

Uh, not to be rude, but... what are you? And... is anyone working on repairs to the ship, or is this 'Old City' pretty much where it's at?

[Wing laughs.]

Cybertronian. Many of your kind have never encountered mine.

Or the reverse, as well.

I believe some are working on trying to stabilize the ship: I've been working on external defenses. [He sounds a bit apologetic that he doesn't know more.]

Hell of a woman. She used to be my CO, a couple years back.

[Among many, many other things. His expression shadows briefly, dogged by the weight of not just one world, but several. (Virmire, Alchera, Horizon...) The wary look is countered with a lift of one eyebrow.]

You end up on her bad side or something, kid?

Count on it -- seems like Shepard's here too, so we're going to meet up.

[Something caught between wistful and worried creeps into his expression, and edges up against his tone.]

Any sign of others?

Nah, she just talked to me.

[It's somewhat vague, but, well, that's how Akira remembered it. Either way, his watching of Kaidan doesn't change -- he doesn't know anything about Shepard, not having been able to find her physically, so this one was a bit more important.

His eyes fade out into green-yellow, the scar on his head giving off a sharp glow as Akira reaches out, brushing his mind against Kaidan's.]

[Kaidan's mind trips a silent alarm as Akria's eyes fade to green-yellow, and by the time the scar gets in on it, he's twitched a hand in the precise grace of a biotic mnemonic, bringing up the blue energy glow of a barrier field to flicker with protective foxfire around him.

His surface thoughts hold no hint of offensive attack, simply clicking along in a well-ordered fashion of observation-analysis-observation that's backed by an absolutely rigid sense of self-control. They largely boil down to watchful awareness and the solo question of What the hell is this kid up to?/]

You all right there, kid...?

[It's not the 'alarm' that pulls Akira, nor the structure of Kaidan's mind. It's the sudden surge of biotics and the glow that triggers him, his eyes widening in surprise as they fade back to normal, the scar darkening as well.]

Holy shit. What's that?

Sense... things are going to make sense now?

[Kaidan pairs that with a huff of a laugh.]

Look forward to catching up with you, Liara. Commander, I'm right by my, uh, pod, if you know where that is. If you've got your omni-tool online I can ping that too.

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[VIDEO, shifting to ACTION potentially | 001: Arrival]

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