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[ While she doesn't say anything or even seems to acknowledge Shepard's help, Parker is thankful for it as she continues to busy herself trading texts left and right, trying to gather information, and packing up what's left of her things - and leaving some things out, like her weapons and helmet (which she won't be needing, but so far all of Macha has been trying to kill them, so she would rather not risk it).
She does, however, make a small sound in the back of her throat when Shepard makes her comment, frowning. Instructors have the capacity of turning off their trackers and Parker wishes she could do the same. She knows she's being watched all the time, but damn her if it doesn't make it worse the constant feeling of being tailed.
Shoving the Blackglass in her back pocket, she goes to help Shepard unfolding the benches, focused frown as she does - not because of the collapsible furniture, but the situation. ]
I don't like this. [ She flickers her eyes up to Shepard. ] We get a new arrival and next thing you know, HQ issues an evacuation order.
[ She means Honey, but she would rather avoid names. She is also talking with the little pieces they have, trying to make them fit together - speaking with Warriorhead, reading over the network posts, it made it clear Honey was here because she came from some important family (and Parker knew all too well how easy it was to get access to high ranks when you had a name behind you) but clearly a nuisance to the Instructors. And if that's the case, maybe HQ has a more attentive eye on the Neheda than it used to because of the half-Selenian presence. ]
She does, however, make a small sound in the back of her throat when Shepard makes her comment, frowning. Instructors have the capacity of turning off their trackers and Parker wishes she could do the same. She knows she's being watched all the time, but damn her if it doesn't make it worse the constant feeling of being tailed.
Shoving the Blackglass in her back pocket, she goes to help Shepard unfolding the benches, focused frown as she does - not because of the collapsible furniture, but the situation. ]
I don't like this. [ She flickers her eyes up to Shepard. ] We get a new arrival and next thing you know, HQ issues an evacuation order.
[ She means Honey, but she would rather avoid names. She is also talking with the little pieces they have, trying to make them fit together - speaking with Warriorhead, reading over the network posts, it made it clear Honey was here because she came from some important family (and Parker knew all too well how easy it was to get access to high ranks when you had a name behind you) but clearly a nuisance to the Instructors. And if that's the case, maybe HQ has a more attentive eye on the Neheda than it used to because of the half-Selenian presence. ]
Edited (dw ate part of my reply wtf) 2015-05-14 11:10 (UTC)
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
Time will tell.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
I figured as much. That and shit rolls downhill. I can pick up that slack, not a problem.
Time will tell.
FROM: alomar.sheva@cdc.org
I figured as much. That and shit rolls downhill. I can pick up that slack, not a problem.
[They're not really playing, anyway--it's just something to occupy their hands, and he shuffles idly but doesn't really pay attention to the deck of cards. A crap detail pretty much sums it up. None of this has been what he'd expected, and mostly he just feels kind of stupid for allowing himself to be roped in, especially now that he's seen the true incompetence of the instructors.
He frowns.]
What'd they tell you? Your recruiter.
He frowns.]
What'd they tell you? Your recruiter.
[irritation.]
[she's frustrated. only a brief moment of it: can't identify its cause, a bit of him thinks (wishes) it wasn't him, but he's the only thing around trying to grab her attention and anyway, it made sense. hands shifted in front of him, weight restlessly shifted foot-to-foot, nails biting into the bone of his wrist and his,]
I'm sorry! I let my mouth r-- un...
[breaks into her you're half right. of course, his fades first. then there's nothing to do but listen.]
[... which doesn't turn out as bad as he thinks it will. a bit surreal, sure - letting his mouth run felt tantamount to signing his own death sentence; knew what he'd said wasn't anything too big but it was awfully personal and awfully lazy-sounding, and the combination kept him in a state of wanting to run until two seconds after she'd finished and he blinked and --- oh.]
... I'm sorry for that, too. [making excuses, except saying it would've been three times as damning. sometime in the conversation, he'd taken a step back. his tension, however, managed to ease with a shaky breath out. she wasn't angry? she would be if he didn't make an effort in listening before replying.] What you're talking about, it's... kind of like the units? Only with more like-minded people.
[rather, people given the same goal. get over yourself--- if he were to (he'd like to):]
And it's a trade. Or it should be. Covering each other's asses, sure, that's a great part of, um. A group. But. If a person starts getting special exemption, or takes too much without giving back... [still needed the training, still enjoyed the camaraderie, up-down dwindling interest in both and further yet,] bit useless, aren't they? If they don't have any drive to contribute, it's better for the whole team to cut the loss.
[not a matter of skill, for the first time in his stay within CDC. this was an older, deeper set conviction: if you couldn't muster up interest, why bother? it began with a stand-offish, bespectacled blond; he hadn't thought it'd turn to him, but that was part of the funny twists in life.]
[she's frustrated. only a brief moment of it: can't identify its cause, a bit of him thinks (wishes) it wasn't him, but he's the only thing around trying to grab her attention and anyway, it made sense. hands shifted in front of him, weight restlessly shifted foot-to-foot, nails biting into the bone of his wrist and his,]
I'm sorry! I let my mouth r-- un...
[breaks into her you're half right. of course, his fades first. then there's nothing to do but listen.]
[... which doesn't turn out as bad as he thinks it will. a bit surreal, sure - letting his mouth run felt tantamount to signing his own death sentence; knew what he'd said wasn't anything too big but it was awfully personal and awfully lazy-sounding, and the combination kept him in a state of wanting to run until two seconds after she'd finished and he blinked and --- oh.]
... I'm sorry for that, too. [making excuses, except saying it would've been three times as damning. sometime in the conversation, he'd taken a step back. his tension, however, managed to ease with a shaky breath out. she wasn't angry? she would be if he didn't make an effort in listening before replying.] What you're talking about, it's... kind of like the units? Only with more like-minded people.
[rather, people given the same goal. get over yourself--- if he were to (he'd like to):]
And it's a trade. Or it should be. Covering each other's asses, sure, that's a great part of, um. A group. But. If a person starts getting special exemption, or takes too much without giving back... [still needed the training, still enjoyed the camaraderie, up-down dwindling interest in both and further yet,] bit useless, aren't they? If they don't have any drive to contribute, it's better for the whole team to cut the loss.
[not a matter of skill, for the first time in his stay within CDC. this was an older, deeper set conviction: if you couldn't muster up interest, why bother? it began with a stand-offish, bespectacled blond; he hadn't thought it'd turn to him, but that was part of the funny twists in life.]
Our new friend dropped in weeks ago. [She's not saying there isn't a line to be drawn from point A to point B, just that it's possibly a too convenient one.] It could be anything - tech failure, maybe another company bought the contract on the planet. [Which is speculation, but no more so than Parker's theory.] If it was a personnel issue, why wouldn't they just deal with the individuals?
[Because there's sure as hell a history of that. But at it's most basic there's no heat or edge to what Shepard says as she collapses the legs of the bench, folds it up into its compartment with Parker's help and secures it there. No way to refine an idea without someone asking you to defend it, right?]
[Because there's sure as hell a history of that. But at it's most basic there's no heat or edge to what Shepard says as she collapses the legs of the bench, folds it up into its compartment with Parker's help and secures it there. No way to refine an idea without someone asking you to defend it, right?]
[Hesitation is rare in her - not really Shepard's color, thanks - but for a second in shows in the wary way she settles back in her chair, a brief flicker in how she looks from him to the cards in his hands and back again. It's a sore subject for any number of reasons, but what breeds the pause is the fact that she knows a majority of recruits got duped by whatever rep had brought them on - asked them some stupid question and they'd gone without knowing the extent of what they were answering.
Her recruiter had been pretty damn forward. That hadn't changed her mind. It's possible most of the crew would find that tacky.]
That the CDC knew what it was doing and was good at it. If I worked with them to get rid of some planets that weren't contributing to 'the well being of the universe' they could use their tech to take problem of a problem back home. [A beat. A short one. All raw irony:] --Oh and that they polled pretty high in employee satisfaction.
Her recruiter had been pretty damn forward. That hadn't changed her mind. It's possible most of the crew would find that tacky.]
That the CDC knew what it was doing and was good at it. If I worked with them to get rid of some planets that weren't contributing to 'the well being of the universe' they could use their tech to take problem of a problem back home. [A beat. A short one. All raw irony:] --Oh and that they polled pretty high in employee satisfaction.
[ It's very easy to see that Parker disagrees, the way her eyebrows wrinkle her forehead, the slight pull of her lip and narrowing of her eyes. Convenient to Shepard, too much of a coincidence for Parker and she doesn't believe it at all, not to mention taking in what she knows, what she keeps trying to dig around, it adds to the puzzle. ]
Are you serious? [ She finally speaks after a pause. ] The last time HQ issued an order it was to inform us of the Almina's discharge.
[ And she uses the word discharge cold, bitter and biting, as if mirroring on of the Instructors (or rather, her interpretation of them). ]
I'm not saying it's a personnel issue. I'm saying things are changing.
Are you serious? [ She finally speaks after a pause. ] The last time HQ issued an order it was to inform us of the Almina's discharge.
[ And she uses the word discharge cold, bitter and biting, as if mirroring on of the Instructors (or rather, her interpretation of them). ]
I'm not saying it's a personnel issue. I'm saying things are changing.
[He laughs, an abrupt, barking sort of sound, but it's perhaps his most genuine one yet. Apparently the thought of the CDC rating employee satisfaction at all is just that funny.
Still, he recognizes her hesitation and he understands the reluctance to talk about how they ended up here. He's certainly ashamed of being tricked the way he was--not that he hadn't received full disclosure of the purpose, but his recruiter had led him to believe he'd be used for his specialized talents, not as interchangeable cannon fodder.
And then there had been the matter of blackmail, but Falcon has already learned that the recruiters are less than honest across the board.]
Gotta hand it to them, though. They're good at getting the people they want.
[Not that it's hard, when they threaten to blow up your planet.]
Still, he recognizes her hesitation and he understands the reluctance to talk about how they ended up here. He's certainly ashamed of being tricked the way he was--not that he hadn't received full disclosure of the purpose, but his recruiter had led him to believe he'd be used for his specialized talents, not as interchangeable cannon fodder.
And then there had been the matter of blackmail, but Falcon has already learned that the recruiters are less than honest across the board.]
Gotta hand it to them, though. They're good at getting the people they want.
[Not that it's hard, when they threaten to blow up your planet.]
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Terras been moved to Grey
Im so
Angry.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
(☄ฺ◣д◢)☄ ( •̀ n •́)و ̑̑
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Will you look out for her??
Terras been moved to Grey
Im so
Angry.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
(☄ฺ◣д◢)☄ ( •̀ n •́)و ̑̑
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Will you look out for her??
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Shes strong I know she will be but
I dont like this Im so mad. She belongs on Green.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
You belong on Green.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
I want to punch some thing and light it on fire!!11
Shes strong I know she will be but
I dont like this Im so mad. She belongs on Green.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
You belong on Green.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
I want to punch some thing and light it on fire!!11
[She makes a low noise, vague like a dismissive passing thought - flicks her eyes away and back.]
Look-- [Like a verbal punctuation mark or a knife punching through paper.] --If you want to quit, that's your decision. But we've got people who haven't been in the program as long as you and I wouldn't be surprised if we got more from the last drop after they see some action. You're fast and at this point you know what you're doing more than Tsuna or Iwaizumi. It's good to have a couple of people who get the general idea.
[Crisp and sharp; this isn't a consolation prize, it's just a fact - the same thing she'd told Garrus, the same thing she'd told Sturmhond. Separating the kids up or teaching one on one wasn't going to make them capable; teach a kid to shoot a gun and they might be a decent shot, but that didn't mean they knew how to pass that on. Better to shove them all on a group and hope for some kind of osmosis - things like Jasper chasing Hinata's mile time.]
You don't have to decide right now.
Look-- [Like a verbal punctuation mark or a knife punching through paper.] --If you want to quit, that's your decision. But we've got people who haven't been in the program as long as you and I wouldn't be surprised if we got more from the last drop after they see some action. You're fast and at this point you know what you're doing more than Tsuna or Iwaizumi. It's good to have a couple of people who get the general idea.
[Crisp and sharp; this isn't a consolation prize, it's just a fact - the same thing she'd told Garrus, the same thing she'd told Sturmhond. Separating the kids up or teaching one on one wasn't going to make them capable; teach a kid to shoot a gun and they might be a decent shot, but that didn't mean they knew how to pass that on. Better to shove them all on a group and hope for some kind of osmosis - things like Jasper chasing Hinata's mile time.]
You don't have to decide right now.
[She wasn't around for the Almina. Doesn't know shit about the last time HQ issued an order directly. If the revelation catches her by surprise, it doesn't show.]
Yeah. We're getting off this rock.
[Clipped and curt, pointed in that it's the only thing any of them know for certain. Anything else - like most everything - is speculative at best, bullshit at worst. Shepard slams the compartment shuts around the bench, clears some minutiae from the table and moves to store that too.]
Yeah. We're getting off this rock.
[Clipped and curt, pointed in that it's the only thing any of them know for certain. Anything else - like most everything - is speculative at best, bullshit at worst. Shepard slams the compartment shuts around the bench, clears some minutiae from the table and moves to store that too.]
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Thats not real though!1
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
What do you do when youre mad. Do you shoot things in the VR??
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Are you busy now??
Thats not real though!1
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
What do you do when youre mad. Do you shoot things in the VR??
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Are you busy now??
[She snorts then from where she's settled way back in the chair. Drums her fingers on the tabletop.] Yeah, well. Sounds like they've had time to practice. [Unlike pretty much everyone else in the multiverse, apparently. Either that or she was a bigger sucker than she realized.
She tips her chin in his direction then, a twitch in the line of her brow like a question mark before she even asks the thing that's hanging behind her teeth:]
What'd they tell you?
She tips her chin in his direction then, a twitch in the line of her brow like a question mark before she even asks the thing that's hanging behind her teeth:]
What'd they tell you?
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
We went over guns but you never clocked me again on Macha.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Let me take the test over. Im recovered.
[ And chomping at the bit for something, anything, anyway to take some aggression out. ]
We went over guns but you never clocked me again on Macha.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
Let me take the test over. Im recovered.
[ And chomping at the bit for something, anything, anyway to take some aggression out. ]
That they needed my talents.
[Which had been a joke, but they'd played to his ego and he'd bought into it. That's a little hard to admit, but he figures the statement is self-explanatory without him having to go into details. He shrugs.]
And that they'd blow up the Earth if I didn't come with them.
[He knows now, however, that it's a months-long process and he could've said no and fought back--but hindsight is twenty-twenty, and there's no guarantee all the tech isn't already on Earth, ready and waiting to go.]
[Which had been a joke, but they'd played to his ego and he'd bought into it. That's a little hard to admit, but he figures the statement is self-explanatory without him having to go into details. He shrugs.]
And that they'd blow up the Earth if I didn't come with them.
[He knows now, however, that it's a months-long process and he could've said no and fought back--but hindsight is twenty-twenty, and there's no guarantee all the tech isn't already on Earth, ready and waiting to go.]
[Not far and away from the spiel she'd gotten then, it sounded like. Which probably meant Falcon had some idea what he was getting in to when he signed up (or got blackmailed on board - whatever); not everyone had the luxury. If its shitty to be weirdly relieved by that-- well, it's not the worst thing she's done so screw it.]
It's a good thing their recruiters know what they're doing. At least they know how to keep the canon fodder rolling in. [Raw, brusque sarcasm. Or should be if it didn't sound so on point to herself. Whatever people like Arbuckal or Sturmhond say about the instructors' vested interest in protecting the crew, the bulk of this the recruits are padding.]
It's a good thing their recruiters know what they're doing. At least they know how to keep the canon fodder rolling in. [Raw, brusque sarcasm. Or should be if it didn't sound so on point to herself. Whatever people like Arbuckal or Sturmhond say about the instructors' vested interest in protecting the crew, the bulk of this the recruits are padding.]
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
VR. I want the whole test.
The running the jumping the push ups every thing.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
But at the next level give me phase 2.
VR. I want the whole test.
The running the jumping the push ups every thing.
FROM: khezek.jasper@cdc.org
But at the next level give me phase 2.
[time. effort.]
[even with energy lacking, he supposed he had those things to give. thinking of Tsuna or Iwaizumi - extending it as far as Ciel -- he... saw what she meant. Tsuna had powers to fall back on, but he apparently needed pills every other step, which was time he couldn't always afford. Iwaizumi was--- worse but better, all calm and focus, but he had to be terrified, what person with emotions wouldn't be?]
[... Shepard spoke as if it were simple business, which made it all the easier to sink into. intentional, maybe - a bit of him realized that - but what it accumulated into could easily be called deep gratitude. focus shifted, weight moved, anxiety inch by inch lowered. not fully. enough for, after a pause of staring,]
Alright.
[I said I wouldn't--]
[--- in a fit of panic, which Shepard (given her being here) probably knew. he'd wait. it'd mean more.]
... Sorry for inconveniencing you. [but.] But thank you for coming out here, too, Miss Shepard.
[even with energy lacking, he supposed he had those things to give. thinking of Tsuna or Iwaizumi - extending it as far as Ciel -- he... saw what she meant. Tsuna had powers to fall back on, but he apparently needed pills every other step, which was time he couldn't always afford. Iwaizumi was--- worse but better, all calm and focus, but he had to be terrified, what person with emotions wouldn't be?]
[... Shepard spoke as if it were simple business, which made it all the easier to sink into. intentional, maybe - a bit of him realized that - but what it accumulated into could easily be called deep gratitude. focus shifted, weight moved, anxiety inch by inch lowered. not fully. enough for, after a pause of staring,]
Alright.
[I said I wouldn't--]
[--- in a fit of panic, which Shepard (given her being here) probably knew. he'd wait. it'd mean more.]
... Sorry for inconveniencing you. [but.] But thank you for coming out here, too, Miss Shepard.
[ He's there in ten. Dressed lightly in uniform pants, a black sleeveless undershirt, and the usual single long glove that covers old red burns. One hand carries a fresh towel swiped from his new rover room and the other, a full canteen. It's surface still bares the scratches of use while climbing through Macha's trees.
The first time he'd taken this assessment he was a mess of inexperience. He'd been plenty active before, but had little concept of organized strength building and an even smaller idea of how strong he actually was. He overdid it in some areas and breezed through in others. Aeryn hadn't approved, or at least that's what her reaction lead him to believe.
This time there's no other cadets around to compete with. No Aeryn, no John with his collection of snacks waiting at the end. It's quiet and the VR room echoes softly with his movements while he waits for Shepard. As the lists of transfers grows larger PKN7 grows smaller, but Jasper has learned too much, utilized the program as a distraction for too long to quit now.
Instead of inexperience, his unorganized emotions are what's in his way. There's a burning knot in his stomach that won't quite unravel as he sits and goes through the regular set of stretches. Can't wipe the scowl from his face or ease the tension in his shoulders, can't clear his headspace. At least not while warming up alone. He's focused but in the wrong tunnel-visioned sort of way. An ear twitches at the sound of footsteps, but he doesn't recognize it as Shepard's distinctive stride until she's almost towering next to him. ]
The first time he'd taken this assessment he was a mess of inexperience. He'd been plenty active before, but had little concept of organized strength building and an even smaller idea of how strong he actually was. He overdid it in some areas and breezed through in others. Aeryn hadn't approved, or at least that's what her reaction lead him to believe.
This time there's no other cadets around to compete with. No Aeryn, no John with his collection of snacks waiting at the end. It's quiet and the VR room echoes softly with his movements while he waits for Shepard. As the lists of transfers grows larger PKN7 grows smaller, but Jasper has learned too much, utilized the program as a distraction for too long to quit now.
Instead of inexperience, his unorganized emotions are what's in his way. There's a burning knot in his stomach that won't quite unravel as he sits and goes through the regular set of stretches. Can't wipe the scowl from his face or ease the tension in his shoulders, can't clear his headspace. At least not while warming up alone. He's focused but in the wrong tunnel-visioned sort of way. An ear twitches at the sound of footsteps, but he doesn't recognize it as Shepard's distinctive stride until she's almost towering next to him. ]
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