[video] SNAKES ON A M_F_in' SHIP

[snake_dreamer]

[The camera pans wildly, showing the interior of the ship, and an open pod.  Snake's not used to video technology like this. Oh, Center had its call screen but nothing this small and compact. 

[That she'd seen of course. But obviously she's in Center. Somehow.  Center, at last, when she least needed them.]

[But she wouldn't break her silence just for nothing.  She's awoken from her pod, crawled out and found what looks to be a battered leather case, with several large--empty--compartments, and another compartment crowded with boxes, pouches and vials.]. 

Where are my snakes? 

[She sounds halfway between angry and frightened. ]

Comments

[Video]

[evervarying]

Your what?

[Ashley's expression is one of unfeigned confusion.]

I think my translator must've glitched. What are you looking for?

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

[There's a moment of startlement. Yes, she made a broadcast but is surprised that anyone responded. It's new tech, so the image swings around for a moment before finding her face.]

Snakes. Two of them. An albino python and a rattler.

[Video]

[evervarying]

[Okay, so she hadn't misheard. That's a wee bit unnerving.]

Cargo bay?

[It's a guess, not a direction.]

There are a few non-native animals around, but no one's actually mentioned where they found them. If you can get ahold of Indrani, she might be able to tell you.

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

Cargo bay?

[Ships have cargo bays.]

Am I not in Center?

Please. Tell this Indrani not to hurt them.

Or go near them. [Sort of an important afterthought.]

[Video]

[evervarying]

No. You're on a planet called Verdana, just outside a settlement called the Old City. Original, I know, but it fits. The ship you just woke up on crashed here about a hundred years ago - most of the passengers are human, with a few aliens.

It's a lot to take in, I know. The locals have some space set up for people like us to bunk down until we've found our feet. It might be easier to digest everything over a drink and a hot meal.

[Video] *facepalm* I meant cobra, not python. /bad at snakes

[snake_dreamer]

I...I don't remember them coming after me.

[They must have. North, or the Center citizens. They must have kidnapped her.]

I always dreamed of going off world. Funny how the moment I don't want it anymore... .[She spreads her hands. Here she is. 'Verdana' apparently.]

I can't, until I've found my snakes.

[Video] /handwaves cobra in

[evervarying]

No one does. How we got on the ship is one of the big mysteries right now.

[She pauses, frowning slightly.]

Do they actually have space travel where you're from? Most of the people here are from pre-spaceflight societies. Or pre-FTL, which is pretty much the same thing.

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

We. There are others, brought here.

[That means...] Is there a little girl here? Melissa? She-- [She's disfigured with scars, but Snake doesn't want that to be the thing Melissa is known for. Not after what they've gone through together. ]

She likes horses.

The protected cities have ports, and off-worlders. That's what they've told us, at any rate. There's a lot they told us that isn't true.

[And how that lack of knowledge has hurt so many people, so needlessly.]

[Video]

[evervarying]

About forty of us awake. There's a hell of a lot more if you count the people still asleep on the ship.

How old? There aren't many kids here, and most of 'em are teenagers. I haven't seen anyone younger than ten who wasn't local.

[Video]

[snake_dreamer]

There...are.

[She can't help but look around the room, at the darkened pods. If each of them was another person...?]

Melissa is twelve, but she looks...far younger. She has had a difficult life.

[Video]

[evervarying]

If she's here, then, she's still asleep. Which might not be a bad thing, for now. This isn't any place for children.