(OPEN | Mutiny Log) Well it's been so long

[alittlesweptup]

Date & Time: Nov. 16 ~0300 through Nov.19th ~0230hrs, 3133
Location: Housing, Cafeteria, VR rooms, hallways etc (read: everywhere)
Characters: YOU!
Summary: Mutiny on the moon base! Vital systems are offline, mutineers are making PA announcements, and there’s conflict and turmoil brewing in the halls. Dun dun duuun!
Warnings: None yet (possible violence?)
Notes: Specify a date and location in your top comment. You may specify multiple dates/locations. A timeline for the plot and the IC PA announcements made during are available HERE.

[In the dead of night - or as close to ‘the dead of night’ as is possible to have in moon base - a small group of transports finally make the move they’ve been planning for weeks. Pre-determined teams, maintaining radio contact throughout, simultaneously take control of the Transporter Room and take multiple systems offline.

One moment things are normal; they next, they’re not. With a last message flagged as ‘maintenance’ left on the network, the network cuts out. A moment later, Transports across the base find themselves losing contact with the ground or shifting in their sleep and gently floating out of their beds from the force as the gravity drops. Lighting flicks over to emergency only: bathing corridors and rooms in a desolate, lonely red. Doors work - and then they don’t. Transports will find themselves confined to housing (and washrooms), the VR rooms, and the cafeteria; it’s plenty of space to be comfortable and largely covers most Transport’s basic needs (unless you’re fond of cheery light or having your feet on the ground in which case you may be out of luck).

Hours later-- Click-HHHSSSHK-click!

A woman’s voice speaks over the moon base’s PA system, echoing through the dark corridors and off the odds and ends gently floating through them thanks to the lack of gravity regulation. The voice is rich and accented, with a certain practiced ease to it - one that sharpens to a point the longer she talks:]

Testing. Testing-- are we good? Christ, I'm not echoing, am I? No?

All right good. Listen up, fellow transports. As you might have noticed, some of the base's general systems have gone offline: this, I assure you, is absolutely intentional. There's no need to panic.

So moving on from the understandably frustrating to the even more frustrating, I'm sure you all have also noticed the fact that we're currently all stuck-- starving and defenseless-- on the bloody moon. In a base that was, up until a few days ago, overrun with zombies. And before that, thousands of lives were bombed right out of existence, and before that, an entire world-- and before that we were all still being thrown at the United Earth for the sake of dying off repeatedly in a war we never stood a chance or had a say in. Transports have been treated like pawns since day one, and I'm sorry, but we don't deserve it.

If we're giving up our lives and our freedom, I'd say it's about time we earned ourselves a little equality.

We deserve a say in what goes on in this fight, and with that in mind, a few of us have decided to hold onto the transporter for a while. Just until the Initiative agrees to treat us like people instead of ammunition. Trust me, we’re not here to hurt anyone; none of this has to end badly. But it does need to end. Things have got to change. And if this is what it takes? This is what it’s going to be.

We need your help; please don’t make it any harder for us.

[The PA clicks off, pitching the base once more into complete radio silence.

Near the end of the first day, gravity regulation is re-established. The network is brought back online the following day, allowing everyone to communicate more freely. Lighting doesn’t come back online until the 18th and the door regulation isn’t normalized or operable until the 19th. Throughout the four days, the mutineers make multiple PA announcements.

In the mean time? Keep your friends close, come to the aid of your neighbors; help with reconnaissance and choose sides - are you neutral in this mess? Are you trying to help bring systems back online and root out the mutineers? Are you sympathetic to the mutiny and trying to sabotage those Transports standing for the Initiative?]

Comments

[controlledvariable]

[Yeah okay fine, that got a tiny smile and a huff of breath that might've been a laugh in another life.]

What sorta powers are you giving me, usually I have to put in a little more effort than that?

[hostage]

[He lifts his hand (finally, holy shit) to beckon her closer.]

Come here, come here. Do it again, just like that.

[controlledvariable]

[She moves closer, in part just because she kind of wants the reassurance of other people, right now.]

Wouldn't I have to beat you up again, first?

[hostage]

Totally worth it.

[Jokes aside, he reaches to take her hand and just hold it for a minute.]

[controlledvariable]

[She has to swallow around the sudden lump in her throat, after he's taken her hand, trying not to grip too tight.

Her smile wobbles a little.]

I'm not really into that.

[Well it's. sort of true.]

[hostage]

[He pushes himself up, now that he can, and clasps her hand between both of his.]

Hey, we're both okay. Nothing bad happened.

[controlledvariable]

[She opens her mouth to say something, but what comes out is a pained little sound before she starts crying again. She looks away, bringing her free hand up to cover her face because she's - a little bit embarrassed.

Fuck.]

[hostage]

[He tugs her hand gently to draw her in so he can wrap his arms around her. She doesn't need to be embarrassed. He knows how she feels.]

It's okay...

[controlledvariable]

[She hides her face against his shoulder, gripping the fabric of his shirt because she needs something to hold onto.

For a little while, all she does is cry quietly, since she's too exhausted for anything else, but eventually she manages to find her voice again.]

It's not.

[Someone got into her head and took her away. She doesn't know how to be okay with that.]

[hostage]

[Sometimes crying is the only thing to do. He gets that. He cradles her the whole time, stroking her hair and rubbing her back.]

If it isn't yet, then it's gonna be. I promise.

[controlledvariable]

How?

[Because she doesn't feel like it's possible.]

[hostage]

[He's still holding her, his lips close to her ear so she can hear him when he murmurs soothingly:]

We do what we do.

We make 'em pay.

[controlledvariable]

[Jesse that's not soothing.]

That's not what I want, Jesse.

[This isn't like Sionis, this isn't someone who wanted to hurt her, who took pleasure in it. It's different, even if the end result feels the same.]

[hostage]

[He's honestly surprised. He thought they were on the same page here. Sadism isn't in his nature but revenge is revenge. And especially at a time like this... Either you kill your enemies or they kill you.

Far be it from him to extol the virtues of taking full measures when he's talking to the generally lawful-leaning vigilante who just did him a huge favor, though.]

What do you want?

[controlledvariable]

[Max isn't their enemy.]

I want people to stop getting hurt because of me.

[And that includes him; she wouldn't have needed to heal him if he'd never gotten hurt in the first place.]

[hostage]

[Jesse's carpal tunnel begs to differ. Max made it totally violent when it didn't have to be. They're lucky no one was shot.

But he pushes back to get a look at Steph when she says that. She is not seriously blaming herself for this?]

Hey. This wasn't you, Steph. I was out there to protect everybody. I was out there looking to take down any one of those bitches, and I did. And I'm glad I did it. And I'm gonna keep doing it 'til they stop this bullshit.

[controlledvariable]

[Of course she's blaming herself.]

If I hadn't let her do it in the first place, none of this would've happened. [nevermind that Max could've hurt someone else.] Max was my friend.

[Those two sentences don't really go together, but she's kind of frazzled right now.]

[hostage]

[If there's anyone in the fucking world that understands that sentiment, it's Jesse Pinkman.

...He also happens to be the most qualified to argue against it.]

That's bullshit. She did what she wanted to do, and she hurt you while she was doing it. Don't go making excuses for her. And don't go feeling sorry for me getting involved, either. I wasn't even hurt that bad, and it was totally worth it, anyway. I got exactly what I wanted.

[controlledvariable]

[She could argue it; she's pretty sure that Max did what she did to save physically hurting Steph, but Jesse is right, at least partly.

She lets out a shaky breath, rubbing at her eyes and trying to get her thoughts back in order, but everthing feels like such a mess in her head.]

Tell me it wasn't about revenge.

[She needs that, if nothing else.]

[hostage]

It wasn't. I did what I thought was right.

[...It's not a total lie.]

[controlledvariable]

Okay.

[She wants to believe it, so she does, sighing softly as she leans into Jesse again.

Hugs are nice.]

I'm still sorry you got hurt. You should've had back up.

[hostage]

[Hugs are nice. More hugs, less chastising. He nuzzles her shoulder as he gives a short, sheepish laugh.]

Mmf. I had backup. I told him to take a coffee break and I'd call him if I needed him.

[controlledvariable]

Maybe you should give the teleportation to Mike.

[She's assuming that's who he means.]

[hostage]

[...Literally everyone would die if he did that.]

It's okay, I learned my lesson.

[controlledvariable]

You better have.

[It's a little hard to get the lightness in her voice, but she manages.]

You only get one free heal, after this I'm gonna start charging.