2leftfeet: (alpha coronae australis)
Cdr "rhymes with witch" Shepard ([personal profile] 2leftfeet) wrote2014-06-16 11:30 pm
Entry tags:

cdc: inbox


shepard.lydia@cdc.org
(0) UNREAD MESSAGES
boostpower: (pic#8548976)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-07 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
Not really.

[But that's by virtue of nobody really seeing him without it. Here, roughing it as they are (glorified campers aside), Falcon can't exactly justify wearing a flight suit all the time. His eyes follow her hand into her pocket and then to the cards on the table.

Poker it is.
]

Fine. Went better for me than for others.

[That much is obvious, given the names on the list. He still isn't sure what to think of his apparent passing, not when more than half his own team failed.]
boostpower: (pic#8220313)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-07 09:22 pm (UTC)(link)
[He pours glasses, pushing one across the table towards her. Falcon knows he's skirting around a gag order, but there's no point in pretending there wasn't a mission. That much is painfully obvious.]

I can make a few guesses.

[Jasper and Zuko, both on the list, were the ones who started fires. He can only, however, make assumptions about his own team, and with radio silence from all the instructors (as usual), he's got no idea what the hell happened with everyone else.]

But I don't think anyone should hold their breath for feedback.

[He knows that their rovers are probably monitored, that they're more than likely being spied on through their cuffs, but he'll never apologize for stating the obvious, even if it means casually implying the whole thing was a) stupid and b) a waste of time.]
boostpower: (pic#8596682)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-08 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Falcon pulls his hand to his side of the table, fixing her with a look that says he kind of doubts that. He'd been willing to play nice with the instructors, feign respect to get ahead, but he finds the unceremonious months-long disappearance of Warriorhead and Armada nothing short of incompetent.

Those who don't know any better, however, will continue to shower them with undeserved deference, simply because the instructors have been at this so long that they know exactly what to say to make people think they care, to get the results they want. And most of the recruits will eat it up, partially because they believe it, but mostly because there's no other choice.

Maybe, as of the previous day's happenings, something will snap. All the recruits under the impression that any of the instructors cared about any of them at all has been shattered, and rightfully so, but given the amount of naïveté on this crew, Falcon anticipates more confusion and sadness than an altogether more productive emotion, like anger. He wishes he could say he's surprised, but he holds no such illusions.

He looks at his cards.
]

You don't really think that.
Edited 2015-05-08 05:09 (UTC)
boostpower: (pic#8220324)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-09 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
[He shrugs.]

It might.

[It probably matters to all the people who are pro-Neheda anti-CDC, as if there's some sort of difference. They're Kool-Aid drinkers either way, as far as Falcon is concerned.

What he does know is that punishing with no explanation is perhaps the worst way to get results. Sure, it instills fear, sets an example, and keeps people in line, but when you don't tell people what they did wrong (or even what they did right), it's only going to shut everyone down.
]

Might be what they want.

[The CDC has never shown itself to be concerned with the well-being of its recruits. He supposes it's not out of the realm of possibility that the instructors just want to be rid of them.

He sets two of his cards down in turn, pushing them towards her, but it's clear he's not exactly interested in the game.
]
boostpower: (pic#8220330)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-11 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm sure they'd think it's very funny.

[Unhappy recruits pushing at command. The CDC seems like an overly-confident organization--so large and impenetrable that recruits can talk about rebellion all they want. HQ knows it won't get anywhere, and Falcon's positive that the instructors listen in and laugh. All these green, delusional recruits who think they can get somewhere, that they can fight back.]

You run this for hundreds of years, you get comfortable. A couple of unhappy kids thinking they can upset the system is cute in a pathetic sort of way. Crews are expendable. It's not a threat.
boostpower: (pic#8548972)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-12 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
[He concedes with a shrug and another hand of cards on the table, because she's right, of course.

There are a lot of dumb kids on this boat, who probably want to incite rebellion without fully understanding the consequences, or how to even go about it in a way that isn't inexperienced and dangerous. He supposes it's inevitable--someone, somewhere along the line, is going to do something so completely stupid in the name of fighting back that it thoroughly bones the rest of them.
]

Only a matter of time.
boostpower: (pic#8220324)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-13 09:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Sorry.

[He knows he's not the greatest conversationalist, and there's the punishment hanging over all their heads, even if his cuff hadn't turned off. Falcon isn't sure whether or not he would have preferred that. Either way, recent events don't make for an exciting night.

He reaches across the table to take the deck of cards, giving it a few shuffles, if only so his hands are occupied.
]

I can get drunk if you want.
boostpower: (pic#8220322)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-14 11:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[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.
boostpower: (pic#8496018)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-17 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
[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.]
boostpower: (pic#8496036)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-19 06:38 am (UTC)(link)
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.]
boostpower: (pic#8454193)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-21 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
[The point is that he, blackmailed as he was, still knew exactly what he was getting into. The CDC hadn't lied to him about their purpose, just the fact that the corporation itself is a backwards, disorganized, incompetent mess.]

Centuries of cannon fodder, even.

[That still boggles him a little, but mostly the part where the CDC could be around for hundreds and hundreds of years and still run things backward.]
boostpower: (pic#8548975)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-21 07:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[That gets his attention, as it's sort of news to him. He doesn't exactly like not being up on the gossip, but then again, he tries to stay away from the instructors unless he has an important question. Falcon leans in, suddenly interested.]

What, us or the officers?

[Here he is, thinking that the entire operation is stupid and incompetent. Maybe it is--it wouldn't surprise him, but if the instructors are bottom of the barrel, it might explain a few things.

Might explain a few things about some of the recruits, too.
]
boostpower: (pic#8596682)

[personal profile] boostpower 2015-05-21 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Could be why nobody's interested in feedback. Probably hope the dead weight'll just die and they'll get a better trained group next time around.

[Said, of course, with the sentiment that he is not among those that are dead weight. He knows that he's expendable, as far as the instructors and the CDC are concerned, but he also knows that he can keep himself around just by doing what he does best--succeeding. Maybe that's the best way to stick it to these assholes, in the end. Refusing to die.

He levels Shepard with a bit of an exasperated look.
]

Our friend on security is twelve years old.

[Okay, maybe not twelve, but she's obviously a child, obviously here thanks to nepotism, and obviously incompetent, at least as far as leadership is concerned. He knows she can listen to this, but he doesn't exactly care, because she's twelve, and what's she going to do, talk him to death?]

Talent is not a substitute for experience.

[Not that he thinks Gliese is someone to defend, or even competent--if what Shepard says is true, then the Captain is the common denominator in all the reassignments, which means there's something sketchy about her performance, at the very least. Anyone who talks and acts like like Honey does, however, clearly has no practical know-how. It's only a matter of time before she's in over her head.]

(no subject)

[personal profile] boostpower - 2015-05-21 21:19 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] boostpower - 2015-05-23 04:04 (UTC) - Expand