open | happy (earth) new year, everyone!

[genice]

WHO: Any and all!
WHERE: 2nd residential floor lounge
WHEN: OOCly 12/31; today.
WHAT: Victor's ICly claimed the day as being the 31st, and subsequently celebrating the "New Year" with anyone who comes by! After sending out a post on the network inviting any of the new arrivals via anomalies to attend, people are welcome to come enjoy a probably very random seeming New Years celebration.
WARNINGS: There is food and alcohol here, beware!

The lounges are interesting spaces, and Victor didn't hesitate to roll up his sleeves and rearrange furniture in this section of the middle floor lounge. A cheery wave to anyone wandering through earlier on the 31st (by his calendar, he's quite cheerful in acknowledging how arbitrary that really is) while he goes about arranging things to his satisfaction, before he jets off again to finish preparing his olivie salad.

It's nowhere near fancy, but he's shown up again with a big, borrowed bowl from his work, containing the closest approximation of olivie salad he'd been able to manage working with the supplies he found on board. There's a tablecloth tossed over the table he's appropriated for holding the foodstuffs, along with simple plates, utensils, cups and bubbling wines (three, okay, that's toeing the line of careful financial management). He's even figured out how to get music playing, though it's hard to say if there's any unifying theme to what plays.

Perhaps the most ridiculous part of any of this is how he's constructed a small cone cap for the brown, fuzzy creature that had been delivered to his bunk last week. That it's a shaved ice cone inverted with the words "Happy New Year" written on it amuses him. The unidentified creature simply coos and purrs and wears the cone hat, not moving off the smaller table it's been set on.

"Happy New Year!" he says to just about anyone walking by, tipping his (oh so classy) cup their way with a smile. Welcome to the party. Bring something to contribute to the table? Very welcome to the party!

[ ooc: please tag in with your own top levels and enjoy a relaxed, informal celebration of the new year (per Victor)! ]

Comments

[yokunaru]

He's been here around nineteen days now. [Yuuri says, glancing toward Viktor himself. Then, he frowns.]

There aren't...? [The video they'd played at orientation had made it sound like there were a lot more people in the same situation.] What happened to the others?

whoops look at me misspelling names

[ouzel]

They said that they left, or died. No one here talks about where they're from, it's as if they've been here the whole time.

[ Cassian shrugs, and takes a thoughtful bite of his food. ]

no you're fine! I've seen it both ways

[yokunaru]

They left? [The explanation doesn't help. If anything, Yuuri feels himself getting even more confused.]

But... I thought that wasn't possible. Isn't that what they've been telling us?

[ouzel]

To other ships, to other planets, or so Victor was told. The people I've asked gave same variants to the idea.

Going back to where we started seems to be the impossible end. But I find it suspicious that we aren't given a chance to speak with someone else this has happened to before.

[yokunaru]

["Suspicious" indeed. Yuuri begins to feel a curl of worry in his chest, and it shows it the way his brows furrow.]

You think there might be something else going on, besides the anomalies?

[ouzel]

Mostly I'm concerned that others will take this at face value and not try to find more information.

[ Because you're a paranoid spy from a galactic civil war, Cassian. Let other people live their lives! ]

I don't doubt there's truth to the anomalies, but I doubt that what we've been told is the entire truth of the matter.

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri bites his lip, glancing back toward Viktor.]

He said he had some concerns, too, just yesterday. [Then, looking a little out of his depth, he adds quietly--] What do you think we should do?

[ouzel]

Remain vigilant. Share information instead of keeping it to yourself, which is difficult [ For him, anyway. ] But it's probably the only real way we're going to get to the bottom of this.

I suspect it will take time.

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri nods slowly.] I don't know how much I can do to help, but I'll try my best to get more information, too.

Have the crewmembers said anything else?

[ouzel]

Thank you. It does mean a lot.

[ Cassian you're going to turn this entire ship into a spy network left to your own devices. ]

No, they're pretty...not dismissive, exactly, but unconcerned with what's happened here.

[yokunaru]

I thought it was because the anomalies have been happening for so long, they were just used to it.

[He looks uneasy, fiddling absently with his sleeve.]

But if it's true that there's something else going on, does that mean we can't trust any of the older crew members?

[ouzel]

It means...I would take things with a grain of salt, as they say. If they seem trustworthy then there is little left to lose in trusting them, because we are already here. I would not expect an answer outside of what we have already been told, honestly.

But still, we should keep our eyes and ears open.

[ Cassian gives him a smile. ]

My grandmother had a saying: you cannot keep a sun, a moon, or the truth hidden under a bushel. We will get to the bottom of this, eventually.

[yokunaru]

[Though he blinks at first, just a little taken aback, Cassian's mention of his grandmother gets him to smile in the end.]

Your grandmother sounds like a great person. [Yuuri exhales quietly, then nods.] You're right. I know Viktor's been asking around already, and I'll help him. If we all start looking around for answers, we should be able to find something.

[ouzel]

She was. [ From what Cassian can remember of her. She died when he was young, not as young as he was when his parents were killed, but still.

One war to another, that's been his life, and this may well be a cold war, but it seems to be a war nonetheless.

Or at least a battle. A struggle to find truth. He supposes even an afterlife would have its complications. ]

This is true, or at least it's what I'm banking on. Hopefully looking for answers is all it will take.

[yokunaru]

Hopefully. [Yuuri echoes him, letting himself be optimistic that things might work out...for once. It's either that or wallow in self pity, and Yuuri would prefer to avoid the latter for now.]

At least you know most of the new people on board will want to help.

[ouzel]

[ Cassian nods. Don't be discouraged Yuuri! ]
Even those with no great desire to go home are bound to be curious and concerned with how they got here in the first place.

[yokunaru]

Especially if it turns out the crew members are hiding something after all.

[He tilts his head.]

What about the Captain? The one that showed up in the orientation video? Has he said anything?

[ouzel]

Not that I've seen. A ship this size? It would make sense that the Captain is not accessible to everyone.

[ But it's STILL SUSPICIOUS. ]

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri sighs, but nods with reluctant agreement.]

I guess it would be too much to ask. I'm sure he's busy with keeping this ship running and everything. It's too bad there isn't an easier way to talk to the ship's management, though.

[Glancing at Cassian.] ...is there?

[ouzel]

[ Cassian shakes his head. ] Not that I know of.

[yokunaru]

Maybe we'll get a chance to talk to the Captain later on. He's...bound to use the Shopping Center and the other facilities like everyone else, right?

[That's the hope, anyway... In a ship as big as this one, Yuuri has to wonder if the Captain would have his own special quarters.]

[ouzel]

He might not. There's others that could meet those sorts of needs for him, or...anything, really. The higher up a chain you get, the fewer faces you see.

[yokunaru]

[Yuuri deflates with a sigh.]

So, don't expect to see any of the higher ups like the Captain any time soon, basically.

[ouzel]

I wouldn't hold my breath for it, that's for sure.

[yokunaru]

[Since that seems to be a dead end, Yuuri's all too happy to move onto something else.]

It sounds like you have more experience with all of this. [He's confident in a way that makes Yuuri think so, anyway.]

What did you do back in your world?