∞ 00 00 ∞

[cruciblemods]

[a long, shrill whine of static, a burst of sharp white noise, and then--]

--ander Orion. I repeat, this is Commander Orion. If anyone can hear me, please respond. This channel is secure and is not monitored by the captain.

I'll say again, if there's anyone out there that can hear me, please respond. I'll remain on this line as long as I can.

Comments

[celestial_okami]

I hear you, Commander.

[cruciblemods]

Acknowledged.

Who is this?

[celestial_okami]

Amaterasu Okami. We met before on the planet Eos, but I am not sure if you recall it. That was a few anomalies ago.

[cruciblemods]

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, ma'am.

[redpaperfan]

I c-can read you loud and clear, Commander Orion... sir.

[cruciblemods]

Acknowledged.

Who is this?

/and because I have to leave s-sob

[redpaperfan]

Unwilling passenger Uchiha Sasuke, Commander, sir. I've been... on this ship for over nine months. We've been through... almost through... the black hole three times.

[ a pause, and he gathers his reserves for the rest. ]

We remember you, Commander. F-for the first time, we r-remember the black hole, too.

[ And because typing stuttering is silly, he will continue to fight off - and lose against - that stutter... and the stupid, spreading blush. He fiddles with his jacket and looks down. ]

I think your father... knows we're here. Or thinks we...are, for once. He's reacting to things we do, sir. You found out about us... last time? The time before... too, Orion-sama.

[ Fuck, this makes things difficult. ]

Why... we're here, Commander. And we'd like to... get back home. Please.

[cruciblemods]

...that would be impossible. Myself, the crew, and the majority of the passengers were on the ship less than two months ago. We left port only three weeks before that.

For you to be present on the Crucible for nine months you would have had to enter the ship while it was in its final stages of construction.

A black hole is out of the question. No ship can survive that level gravity.

Are you alright, young man?

[bit_impossible]

Orion.

[cruciblemods]

Acknowledged.

Just how many people are still present on the ship?

[bit_impossible]

Over seventy people. Haven't done a head count recently, I'm afraid. But I wonder if that number will even matter to you.

[cruciblemods]

That many? The confusion during the evacuation must have been more severe than we realized.

...excuse me?

[kuroi_sanda]

I can hear you.

[cruciblemods]

Acknowledged.

How is it that you're still on the ship?

[kuroi_sanda]

[A confused headtilt. With a little imagination, it sort of might look like the headtilt of a listening canine... but of course that must be a trick of the light, right?]

Eh? How would I know that? I don't even know how I got on the Crucible in the first place.

[cruciblemods]

You don't know how you got on the ship? Do you remember boarding with your parents, young man? Or have you been injured?

[ghostin_myshell]

Commander Orion, I read you loud and clear.

[cruciblemods]

Acknowledged.

Are you one of the passengers still trapped on the ship?

[ghostin_myshell]

I am.

What are your current plans for getting everyone off?

[cruciblemods]

We have limited resources at our disposal, but depending on the number of passengers left on the ship we might be able to stage two to four retrieval runs.