video | llama 29

[labcatte]

[There's an anthropomorphic tiger person peering through the screen, their body language and expression giving the impression of embarrassed worry. A perfectly ordinary-looking sleeper cabin is in the background.]

So. Uh. There aren't any long-term penalties or punishments for ditching a mission before you even get more than two hours into it. Right? Because I just...

[It hit too close. All of it. Everything. People getting stuck in a video game.

They shake their head.]

Sorry. The excuse doesn't really matter. It's just been a hell of a couple weeks, that's all. I'll do better next time.

[They reach to cut things off, then hesitate.]

Oh, uh, and Casper? If you're watching this? I've got a book you might want to take a look at. Sorry I didn't go find you when the package first came. I was in a bad headspace.

Comments

[helborn]

No, it's okay.

[He has a... strong idea as to why they got out.]

And sure, where should I meet up with you?

[labcatte]

[YEAH IT WAS THAT.]

Uh. Anywhere's fine. My cabin, the library... it's, uh, not a memento or anything. Just a book published in my world.

[helborn]

... I was just heading to the library anyway. How about there?

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[labcatte]

Sure. Sounds good.

[And they'll be waiting in the library for Casper, a hardcover book in their lap.]

[helborn]

[It doesn't take him that long to get over to Bacon. And once he's inside it's... not hard to find them. The orange fur helps with that.]

Hey there. What's up?

[yondu]

It don't punish nobody for not showin'. I know some people that refuse to get off durin' missions. That one was bad enough that you can't be blamed.

[Everyone came back pretty fucked up.]

[labcatte]

Yeah. It just... kind of cut close to home a bit.

[Are they going to elaborate? Probably not without a bit of prodding.]

[yondu]

[He doesn't think to, not out of a lack of caring, but because of what else the perpetrator did.]

Oh they left us all sliced up as far as cuttin' close to home goes.

[labcatte]

Well, at least it's not just me.

[Bacon sighs.] Tell me at least that they rotate whose trauma they proud with a rusty knife.

[yondu]

No. We saved ever'body but nah, they got away.

If you're weak to illusions you might wanna ask people if they got any spare pendants from the last stop.

[mtsilver_conquor]

If there are, that's news to me.

[She's serious. More than serious.] Missions are optional. They have been from the start and I can't stress that enough.

If anyone gives you a hard time, tell me, ok? As one of the team leaders, I'm obligated to have a Word with anyone who decided this was a thing.

[labcatte]

Nobody's given me a hard time, [they say quickly.] No one but me, I mean. It's just-- stupid Catholic guilt, that's all. Which you'd think I wouldn't have, since I'm not much of a worshipper of gods, but I guess it's cultural.

[flurryofbeaus]

If there was, you'd think they'd've kicked in by now. It's been a couple weeks.

Anyone who gives you shit for not putting yourself through a fucking nightmare when you didn't volunteer for any of this is an asshole.

[She doesn't know about their trauma. She doesn't need to know about their trauma. The very personal illusions were nightmare enough for anyone.]

[labcatte]

[Bacon nod slowly.] It's-- just me. My own damn mind. That keeps focusing on how I could have helped if I'd been able to cope with the mission.

[flurryofbeaus]

Shit, I've been there. It's all bullshit - the things you think you could've done looking back with all the information usually aren't the things you would've done if you'd actually been in there blind.

[She pauses a moment.]

We're going to run into this shit again. If you want to help, you could look at ways to counter or track it so we're prepared next time. The pendants are a start, but there aren't enough to cover everyone who's going to come in.

[labcatte]

I mean, I've been in there before. I was just one of the people who were trapped in the game that time. And I worked for the people who made it, so you'd have thought I'd had an idea of how to fix things, but I wasn't that much better off that people who didn't know anything.

[They sigh.]

But. I don't know. I thought I could maybe help from the outside this time. And I just freaked the fuck out instead and hid for weeks.

[flurryofbeaus]

The really bad shit leaves scars.

It isn't something to be ashamed of. You wouldn't push someone who took an axe to the leg to just start fucking running tomorrow, right? Same thing. You find your limits, then you start figuring out how to work with them.

[video]

[consider8]

Where I come from desertion is punished severely. [Eight closes her eyes with a disgruntled sigh, reminding herself that she is not in the Octarian Army anymore.]

The greater sin is that others were relying on you and you showed you cannot be relied upon.

[She'll... leave it there to give the tiger lady room to respond. But Eight's tone and expression still belies that this is not a light matter to her.]

Re: [video]

[labcatte]

Yeah. I really fucked up there.

[And they still feel awful about it. It's what kept them in their room hiding from people even after the train was back in the void.]

[consider8]

What happened?

[She asked directly, trying to hold back her judgement. Whether she got an answer or not was Frankie's to decide.]

[labcatte]

So, um. Back home, I work for a company that makes VR games, kind of like the one during the mission. [Better and more complex, almost certainly. But sshhhh.] And sometimes I used to play them? In particular, there was this one MMO.

Uh. Anyway. There was a cyber attack while I and some other people were playing that left us unable to log out, with our minds totally disconnected to our bodies.

So, uh. The mission was kind of too close for comfort. [And they kind of wimped out.]

[so_dark_a_road]

The Voidtrecker Express doesn't care if you ditch a mission. In fact, it's not unusual for passengers to simply stay on the train during a mission. No punishments, nothing. It's up to you to decide.

[labcatte]

Oh. Well, that's a relief. I'm going to try not to have to recuse myself from participating in the future, but I guess I'm a little more fucked up from the last few months than I thought I was.

[so_dark_a_road]

It does pay to go on the missions, if only because we collect experiencs we wouldn't have otherwise. And it is good to discover how well we can all work together, or even just how well a team can work together. So it'll be nice if you can participate.

What happened to you in the last few months?

[labcatte]

... I. Ah. Well. My mind was stuck in a video game, along with thousands of other people. And the fact that I'd helped develop that game? Didn't really help.

[So yeah. That's a thing. They had a fairly legit reason to nope out of the last mission all things considered.]