reach the residents

[ximilian]

● ● ● REACH THE RESIDENTS

For any questions you want to ask Viveca or Degar and receive an IC response, please direct them here. Please indicate in the subject line who you are trying to contact.

// VIVECA

Hi, what can I help you with?

// DEGAR

Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you. And by now, you should've somehow realized what you're not to do.

▶ NAV

Comments

audio; un: nightmoves

[ruinously]

Uh, hey.

Did I -- actually go back? Or was that a dream? How's that work?

[vivecai]

Dean, hi. Welcome back.

[ which — perhaps that says it all. ]

You did go back. I'm sure it comes as no surprise if I say the orbs are capable of that, as well.

After 4:50 to Vrefesea. Post Newt. Post bracelet.

[cruelyethuman]

Viveca.

[There's a long pause after that, a hesitation before his question comes.]

When I go home... when I undo my regret and what was will never have been- Alina won't return with me. Will she? Not this Alina?

[Not my Alina]

[vivecai]

Aleksander.

[ there's no apprehension in her tone, nothing to say she's reluctant or wary to speak with him; even now, he's still a member of the team, and she's here to help them. all of them.

the question makes her silent for a moment, and there's a strange sympathy to it when she answers, ]

No. No, she won't.

audio ↪ un: 朱 1/3

[blackfire]

（ sent over a period of days during the fox and the hare mission, because in the event of his death he should like her to know — ）

Viveca-san.

I do not believe there is a way to keep the others from learning the truth of your history. Doubtless, you know this — perhaps that is why you opted not to disclose fully the nature of this world. I understand your reasons.

But I would like to apologize, should circumstances force me to break your confidence.

2/3

[blackfire]

I spoke with your mother. She never gave up on you.

[shadysided]

... Hey, Degar. Is Viveca alright?

I mean, it's obvious she's pissed, if she's playing the silent treatment.

I know it's usually my play if I'm mad or sad — or whatever, too.

[stationmaster]

Hey, kid. Welcome back.

She's fine. [ or she will be. ] It's — a little more complicated than that. She just needs a moment, you know?

Besides — [ he adds, clearing his throat ] — apparently I wasn't pulling my weight fielding your guys' questions, so it's my turn. Lucky you.

text ↪ 朱

[blackfire]

Commander.

I have several items for Viveca. Please let me know where they can be left.

( he will not ask to speak with her, he has no doubt she has made herself scarce for a reason. )

[stationmaster]

Hey, thanks.

Uh — why don't you come by the North Wing when you're free? I'll let you in and you can leave whatever it is you need to leave with me. She'll get it.

[peasant]

Hi.

[ it only makes sense that the first stop on her apology tour should be here. still, her throat clicks with a hesitant, dry swallow before she manages out a quiet: ]

I'm sorry. I don't expect either of you to forgive me, but —

[ no justifications, no explanation. it won't change what's been done. ]

I just wanted you and Viveca to know that.

[stationmaster]

[ oh, alina. ]

Sorry, what exactly am I forgiving you for?

voice; un: s.wilson

[unclesam]

When you get a chance, let our best girl know Callan gave me a holodisk to pass on to her, yeah? She don't gotta get in touch or take it yet if she needs more time. It's here whenever she's ready.

[stationmaster]

Thanks, Sam. I'll let her know.

How was he? Callan.

[ he might have heard some things. you know, in passing or whatever. ]

text | un: 182 | a few days after their return

[fuchsiative]

[ she's been mulling over something for a while — even long before their mission to e23b — and while it isn't as fully formed as she'd like, she feels like sitting on it any longer might just drive her insane.

to be honest, she'd been expecting to eventually speak to viveca about it. she's not entirely sure if she's relieved she won't have to. ]

hi
um

degar... right?

[ pause. ]

or i guess you'd prefer "commander"

[stationmaster]

Oh yeah

I mean who wouldn't right? "Commander"s so badass

But hi

Welcome back

private audio. un: barnes.

[starer]

[A few days after their return to the station, there's a message sent in the middle of the night. A time where he'd usually seek out Viveca for company. But after everything that happened, he knows that isn't on the cards anymore. So instead-]

I know she's mad at us. [Amongst other things.] Got every right to be.

[And then some. It's not every day the people you work alongside go and tear your home apart like that.]

You know her better than any of us. So it's on you to decide whether this makes it to her or not. But the way I see it, we've still got a way to undo some of the damage we caused.

[Considering how varied some of their regrets are, bringing back some of the innocent lives lost seems relatively straight forward.]

Probably gonna make things a whole lot worse by saying it. But she can consider this an offer. No strings attached.

[stationmaster]

Hoo boy, Bucky buddy — you sure you wanna be offering things willy nilly?

[ the weight of such an offer is ... a lot.

maybe it speaks to bucky's character, or maybe his naivete where these orbs are concerned, but it takes him a sec to really process this. ]

Your guilt's this bad you'd be willing to do something like that?

[groupiedrifter]

Um... hey! So. I was gonna... give this to her in person, but.

Anyway. It's not much, but I compiled a bunch of stuff for her on USBs, if you wanna... take these to her at any time. It's got all kinds of stuff! Movies and games and e-books. Homely stuff. There's also some clips that came from her university, I think?

[He's still pretty tore up about what happened.

Seeing people die in front of you'll do that to you, especially when you were the one they were relying on to get them free. He's been trying to not see the terrified expressions of those people in collars, just before the guards carried out their orders.

He tried his best, though. That's what matters, right?]

[stationmaster]

Hey, Newt. How're you doing?

[ just a casual check-in, nbd.

and then: ]

Stuff from E-23b? What kinda movies and games and books are we talking here? Just — you know, to make sure it's all up to snuff.

[ he's personally always been curious of those movies and some of her favourite stories too, so. if he does a little pre-snoop before passing them over, that's for literally no one to know or find out.

the clips he'll leave for her eyes only, though. ]

But yeah, of course, I can get them to her.

[spacedisaster]

[ Two days after their return from the Fox and the Hare mission, Peter sends a voice message. He tried to ignore the frustration, to let it go, he really did. They had enough fights already, and he knows Viveca and Degar are upset. He isn't aiming for another confrontation but the Captain's reaction doesn't sit well with him. ]

That wasn't fair, you know. [ Peter doesn't sound angry or frustrated, just tired. He's been here almost a year and if he's going to get kicked out of the airlock for speaking his mind, then so be it.] It's not easy to look from a far, to put your trust in others and hope for the best. But we're the one who are sent out there, who need to make the hardest decisions when we don't always have all the information.

[ There are a lot of things about this mission they should have been told about from the beginning but there's no point now, isn't it? ]

We're the ones risking our lives, the ones who get hurt, not only physically but mentally. You have children in your crew. You have non-combatants. Some of the orbers even died, it's only that they were powerful enough to come back.

You are the Captain, you are supposed to lead, to inspire. To guide us. [ 'Do you think you are doing a good job?' goes unsaid but clings in the air. ]

[stationmaster]

You done? You good?

[ he won't wait for a response before he adds: ]

I'm just gonna give you a super quick run-down of my actual job as commander of this station, not captain, and maybe you can spare the disappointed dad-lecture on me for someone else, huh?

[ for someone otherwise pretty blase and deep in his chillvibes, there is an edge to his voice. peter is really aiming to push at some buttons here. ]

So it fell to me to keep the orbs from doing any damage once you guys have collected them, to keep both eyes on them at all times, and to make sure they didn't do anything to you guys, to us, or to the station itself. I take care of the station, and I make sure that the things that happen on the Ximilia are run under the best security and efficiency that it can.

I'm not a leader, I was never a leader, and our last team — [ man, does he ever hate even thinking about it, let alone bringing it up, but ] — we didn't have a leader then either.

I get that you're frustrated and feeling shitty about what happened on E-23b. We're all feeling it. Viv had her reasons for not telling you guys it was her home, and yeah it might not've been the best decision in hindsight, but you can't tell me everything that happened the moment you found out where you were wasn't done with just a little more fervor — because it became personal. Because you knew Viv and you cared about her and her friends and her mother. She gave you as much information about this world as she's done with any other past mission, keeping out the personal stuff so you could come to your own conclusions.

[ and they did.

he clears his throat. ]

Jeez, I haven't had to talk this much since recounting the 'The Crown on the Head and the Crown on the Heart' to a rowdy clan of trolls.

video; un: rita.farr

[farr]

[ is this like a voicemail? videomail? whatever the case may be, rita clears her throat as she straightens her spine, trying to appear as collected and professional as she can be. ]

Hello there. I'm Rita Farr. Though I ... well, I would assume you know everyone on here. Otherwise, why would you — ? [ trust us? she doesn't say.

her eyes drift off like she's thinking before she shakes her head and diverts her attention forward again. ]

I was hoping to discuss some things with you. Now, I'm aware that this last mission came with its set of ... problems. And whatever anyone thinks of the outcome, I personally think one of our biggest setbacks is with engaging in proper communication with one another and being a bit more ... well, organized when it comes to making decisions when we're out on the field.

Here, we have you and Viveca for instruction and guidance, but when we're out there, there aren't any leaders or proper team arrangements to really keep ourselves on task. And when the time comes to actually make big decisions, everyone just yells over each other and no one ever properly agrees on what we could do. Hence, the utter chaos of our last little hurrah.

[ she sighs, the stress of it bubbling up again that she has to press her fingers to the side of her face, taking a breath to keep herself from accidentally melting. ]

I know I haven't been around as long as the others, but I think, before we get sent out on another mission, we need to figure out some kind of better structure in how we go about doing it. There's too many of us to have any one leader, but there's always the potential for specialized teams or at least a proper voting system in place. Since you're the Commander of this place, I figure if anyone might have an idea on suggestions for what we could do better in being a team, it might be you.

[stationmaster]

Hey, Rita Farr. The actress, right?

[ see? he's totally ... starting to read through people's files. ]

Okay, so as far as I know, the moment we find an orb's location, that generally means it's go time. We get as much information about the world as possible, we find a safe landing point, and then we send the alert out on all your comms devices to hustle and get ready. Sometimes that leaves us with a couple of days. Other times, it's kind of a run-and-gun-it kinda situation, you know? Like, we've gotta keep hot on an orb's trail.

Every place has had its own system of adapting. You know, cover stories, moral dilemmas, people to look out for, people to avoid. Saying all that, I don't know that there's a ... one-and-done structure we can use for every mission.

[ he scrubs his face. ]

Sorry, I know this probably isn't what you want to hear. [ he is definitely not the answers guy, that's 100% viv. ] Do you have any ideas on how to make the pre-mission stuff work out a little easier? Oh — maybe it's worth getting everyone together in a few days, do one of those 'lets review the footage of our past mistakes' things.

video; un: stargirl

[bossily]

I'm sure you're being bombarded with questions, problems, and critiques right about now so I'll keep this to the point.

[she'll just let that sit there for a moment to really build the anticipation.]

What will it take to be named the boss? Before you turn me down, consider the following: I'd look amazing wearing a name tag that says Clara Oswald: I am the boss.

[stationmaster]

[ there's just a laugh, good and hearty, and yeah — he'll let his own face be shown over video as he does it. behind him, clara will make out the large orb containment unit in the background. ]

We can get you a nametag with exactly that if you want. That's no problem.

You sure you're ready to be a boss?

to the commander. un: 10-54.

[construing]

A little fox mentioned our stalwart leader is a musician.
And as it turns out, we have a band practice coming up.
Interested?

[stationmaster]

And I heard rumours the station had a band so this all works out perfectly

Consider me there

Where ... do you guys practice?

[farr]

[ one morning on the station, the same hand-written note (in fancy calligraphy) that has been given to every orber to attend the town hall meeting is also given to viveca and degar:


degar's invitation in particular comes with a bonus little scribbled note in the bottom corner:

thank you 🙂 ♥ ]

text for viveca — un: joe

[malta]

Hello, this is Yusuf al-Kaysani (or Joe, if you would prefer) and I was hoping to ask you a question regarding regrets.

[vivecai]

Hello, Yusuf. What is your question?

[ it's good apprehension can't be transmitted through text... ]

audio ↪ viveca ↪ un: うちは (~2 days pre-fishion. fish-mission.)

[blackfire]

（ this question comes parcelled alongside a series of moves in one of their ongoing games, his tone is not necessarily any more somber than usual but there is, perhaps, something to his tone. whether it is the lingering feelings his conversation with wei wuxian dredged up in him is difficult to say. ）

I am aware that you make every attempt at protecting the privacy of our crew. （ our crew. odd, how easily it trips off the tongue now. ） And I would like to stress I do not anticipate an answer you are unwilling or able to give. However — it has been brought to my attention that there is a man here, named Kirigan, who has the potential to be a considerable danger if he feels his goals are... not in alignment with the general consensus.

（ there is a brief pause, and then his tone goes quite wry — ）

The irony of my concern is not lost on me. （ the threat he could pose to a not-insignificant amount of the crew can hardly be understated. but the days of being willing to cut down those around him in pursuit of his own desires is... diminished, now. ） I only wish to know that, if measures are necessary, you and Degar are able to take them — and that there is some provision in place should he act in such a manner on a mission.

（ trust, but verify. he has not spent a waking moment of his life in more than a decade unprepared to face a threat, but he has put enough faith in her not to simply keep his own counsel and take matters into his own hands. ）

[vivecai]

[ her answer is not immediate — when it comes, it's solid and serious. ]

You may be relieved to hear measures have already been taken. I believe he has sufficient reason to consider his actions in the future.

[ in the end, it is not her story to tell, not when it pertains as much to newt as it does to aleksander. and now, it is all up to how badly aleksander wants his regret to be fixed; he knows now that degar's magic is powerful enough to overpower him in but a breath. ]

text; un: Ambus

[legalcy]

Viveca:

My apologies in not reaching out to you with my questions earlier. I am curious as to how the orbs we collect will be ultimately used. As I am aware, utilizing their power will come at a price, and with the weight of our regrets, I am concerned of the consequences. How can we be certain that for what we wish will not lead to lasting consequences that make the situation worse?

Will using multiple orbs cancel out their effects, or amplify them?

Signed,

Minimus Ambus

[vivecai]

Hello, Minimus.

If you're concerned about the price, you're all already paying it. Your price is being here, the time you give. When your regret is undone, it won't cause anything else to happen, because you've already compensated for it.

making her work too hard all the time........

[groupiedrifter]

Viv!!!!
You think you could get me some of this stuff???
Super important!
But also if you can't get it all I get it.
Just getting ready for movie night
so-

FOOD:
- Umeboshi/onigiri
- Grilled fish!!
- Capri Suns
- Sfogliatelle
- Tanghulu
- Energon stuff

STUFF:
- Pool table!!! 10/10 NEED
- Basket-weaving materials
- Knitting materials
- Painting materials
- ... DDR machine? 😅😅😅😅

MOVIES:
- You've Got Mail
- Clueless
- Shrek 2
- Seven Samurai
- Godzilla vs. Mothra

[vivecai]

Hi, Newt.

Sure, I think those should be alright... as long as I get a pool table that can be stored somewhere on the side of the common room. Otherwise, it might be on the way when it's not used.

Actually, I had something to tell you. It'll take me a few more days to complete, but I should have something for — well, not just you, but the entire team. I meant to have it ready for your arrival, but just bear with me for a little while still. It'll take up some space in the common room, but I'm sure you'll like it.

audio (un: major.yzak.jule) (few days after wish full ending)

[coordination]

[ Right now, his message is primarily aimed at Viveca, as he gets the first thing out of the way. After waking up, orienting himself, and letting this new reality that meets him upon waking really set in, reaching out to her is one of his priorities. ]

Viveca.

[ He sounds himself, though still resting and recovering (like a good boy), so there's a hint of tired to his voice. ]

Thank you, for your assistance.

[vivecai]

Yzak.

[ does she sound relieved to hear from him? yes, certainly. she's not even bothering to try and not sound like she's been worried. ]

No need to thank me. You did the work... and you paid the price. [ she merely let him know it was possible; and she has no doubts he would have figured it out even if she hadn't told him. ]

Degar; Audio

[bindsthedead]

Hello, commander. I have- a few things I'd like to ask, but first- can orbs... refuse to grant a bargain? Like how Xoria wasn't able to restore her mother, no matter how much she asked?

[stationmaster]

You sure you wouldn't rather talk about that freakin' cool-and-awesome new music room we've got now?

[ no? okay

he's just so proud of it! ]

Okay, okay, business first. So the way I understand it, orbs don't really refuse bargains, not if they're free to take one. Why would they, right?

The thing with little Xoria, she'd already made the initial contract with it, and once you commit, you can't take it back or undo it if it doesn't work out the way you want it to. It kinda became one of those, 'be careful what you wish for' things, you know?

degar; action.

[farr]

[ it seems rita is going around putting flyers on everyone's door:


except, in this case, she seeks out degar himself, darting over when she spots him, putting on a wide smile. ]

Commander! [ is she a little flushed? that's just from all the running around on the station, of course. she holds out her hand, offering out the colorful flyer. ] I was hoping to find you to personally make sure that you take a shot at auditions. You seem like a man with just the right kind of spirit we could use on the stage.

[stationmaster]

Rita, hey!

[ oh! uh —

he'd just been sneaking away from the kitchens with a (very) strong coffee, which he now keeps hooked in one hand while his free one accepts the flyer.

he gives it a quick scan, his eyebrows rising with every word rita adds on to her pitch. but he smiles widely to reflect hers. ]

Auditions, huh? Well, I can't say I'm much of an actor but this does sound awesome. And it's a really good idea, I don't remember anyone ever putting on a show like this.

[ random musical numbers played by yours truly notwithstanding.

grinning now, he gestures to the colourful illustration. ]

Please tell me you drew this.

Audio | UN: Wei Wuxian // Viveca

[singlelogbridge]

Miss Viveca? [He's not entirely sure how to do this, though he supposes it makes sense that contacting her works in much the same way as contacting anyone else on the station. He pauses for a moment and then continues. If she doesn't answer then he can always try asking someone for help.]

Do you have a few minutes?

[vivecai]

[ the voice that answers him sounds just as it always has, on those messages to them — bright and human. ]

Yes, of course. [ one might argue that's one of her primary functions here, to be there for the crew when they need her. ] What do you want to talk about?

voice ↪ un: うちは (for viv)

[blackfire]

Viveca.

（ always so serious, this man. ）

Are you available to meet me in the Sunlight room in a quarter hour?

[vivecai]

Itachi, [ she answers, with a slight lilt. ]

Yes, of course. I'll see you there.

[ no further words wasted; she'll be there, a few minutes early, as she knows he'll be too. ]

voice | un: silent | for Degar

[callada]

Commander.

We haven't really had a chance to speak. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I've gotten to know Viveca better, but thought I might instead ask your perspective on something this time.

What's known about people vanishing from the station? Is there any possibility they returned because they satisfied enough of the orbs to undo their regrets?

[stationmaster]

Oh boy, sorry man, you probably should've stuck with Viv for this one.

[ degar chuckles in a self-deprecating manner, but then he clears his throat. maybe there's even the sound of rustling, like he's literally sitting up a little straighter. ]

So, there's some good news and bad news. Which one do you wanna hear first?