Video: Who Do You Trust

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She had been considering this post for a long spell. She's seen friends leave, in recent months. Entrapta's departure pressing most of all. There are others here with the knowledge she wishes to share - but they might not stay for long enough. She might not be either.]

[The image focuses on her, sitting on her bunk, legs crossed. She has a short easel next to her, with large white bristol boards on it.]

Greetings, fellow train residents. I am Guri. Some of you already know that, but this video is made for posterity, in case I am no longer present on the train. Hopefully, it will remain in data storage. Now, the following are people from my universe - and near-variants thereupon - whom you should not trust, engage with, or allow any chance to infiltrate normal life on the train.

[She pulls off the first card, and behind it are a series of carefully drawn versions of men and women in uniform - olive, grey, black, and white armor. These are the various uniforms of the Imperial military. Standing aside from it are two uniformed figures, one all in red, the other all in white.]

These are the various ranks of the military in the Galactic Empire. A totalitarian regime that was in my time bend on galactic domination. By and large, they preferred brute force and terrified submission to cleverness, but are likely to be well-armed and capable combatants. These two...[She indicated the red and white] are exceptions. The white uniform is that of an Imperial Grand Admiral. Only the best, brightest, and most ruthless achieved this rank. The red is a high official in the intelligence services, dangerous for broadly similar reasons. Especially do not trust anyone named Ysanne Isard.

[She moves the card, and the next...well. Any resident of her universe will recognize the two central figures - Darth Vader and the Emperor. Around them are various members of the Imperial Court.]

These are the high members of the Imperial Court, or at least the moment prominent. Here, however...is Darth Vader, chief enforcer of the Empire and extraordinarily dangerous. A fallen Jedi, or Force-wielder, his physical and mental powers are immense. Do not engage unless in a powerful, concentrated group. His master, the Emperor...was even more powerful, according to all known accounts. He may not be overwhelmed by a sheer show of strength, and in the case of encountering him, retreat and fortification upon the train is recommended.

[She moves to the next slide.]

This is a Hutt. Do not trust any Hutt.

[She moves on, to one of a green-skinned man.]

This last is Prince Xizor, my erstwhile master. Full disclosure: in case of his encounter, I will be terminating him or otherwise permanently incapacitating him on sight.

[One last slide, showing a wide range of figures, all of them bearing red lightsabers.]

These are various depictions of members of what is termed the Sith cult. They are dark force-wielders, generally very clever, and thoroughly murderous. They may not appear like this on the chart, but the red lightsabers are fairly consistent. They are duplicitous; even when overwhelmed, they cannot be trusted.

[She nods.]

This concludes my primer video. Thank you for your time and attention.

Comments

video;

[irrationally]

[ Huh.

There are a lot of things Alice is thinking about as she listens to all of this, but once it's over, the first thing that comes to mind that she can't help but ask is: ]

Are you worried they will show up here?

Re: video;

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She nods, slowly.]

Some of them could do incalculable damage. If I am here, and I know of at least two others from adjacent universes currently on board, then the odds are certainly too high to ignore.

Besides which, given the rate of departure, I may not be there to attempt their defeat.

[irrationally]

[ Guri sure is right about that last part - though Alice really doesn't want to think about the other leaving, so she's mentally discarding that part for a moment. If she thinks about it too hard, she'll feel cruddy, so instead.. ]

I think one of them was here before.

[ A long time ago, but if Guri's drawings are accurate.. ]

That Darth Vader person. I have seen him around on the train before, during my earlier days here.

[marvelous_murderbot]

Hopefully only briefly. At full exercise, he is...incredibly lethal. Not least of which because he possesses a laser sword that can cut through all but some very specific alloys.

[irrationally]

.. I am not quite sure, but.. I imagine it was brief.

[ Because she doesn't recall having seen him around a whole lot - but she will also readily admit that she is not exactly the most social of people, so it's entirely possible she just.. didn't pay too much attention to him and didn't realise he was still around.. ]

Though I don't recall having heard about him hurting anyone during his stay, curiously enough.

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She considers that for a long moment.]

Given who and what he is - he doesn't need to. Flashy shows of harm are for those with something to prove...Vader never needed to do that.

[irrationally]

[ Now that sort of statement just makes her frown. After all, there's a certain implication to it - and not one Alice likes. ]

Are you saying he might have been doing things secretly?

[ The last thing she wants is one of the passengers trying to take some sort of control over everyone else in the train.

Sure, he's gone, and so that threat is gone, but Alice still doesn't like the idea of an attempt at that potentially having been made all the same. ]

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She shakes her head.]

That was never his strong suit, though other Sith were adept at it, I'm given to understand. No, I mean he only killed when he felt it necessary - not out of ego.

[irrationally]

I imagine most of us only kill when we find it necessary.

[ (Don't worry, it's just a joke - it's why Alice says it so dryly.

Because it's easier to think about this and talk about it like this than truly contemplate the dangers of having some people on this very cramped train.) ]

But if he did kill someone back then, we would certainly have heard about it. It is not as if such a thing can happen secretly in a place like this.

[marvelous_murderbot]

[That in turn, prompts an...unexpected reaction. She covers her mouth to prevent a giggle, covering it by rolling her eyes, tilting her head from side to side.]

Yes, Alice, that is quite true. But it's more...the same reason a gigantic predator doesn't bother with tiny prey? I think that metaphor works.

[irrationally]

[ Alice does wonder for a moment if Guri almost laughed there. She isn't too sure, though she likes to think she knows the other well enough to assume that was a laugh - even though it was quickly hidden.

If it was, though, then she's glad. Guri deserves more reasons to laugh, especially nowadays. ]

I am not quite sure I like being thought of as small prey.. [ She can't help but remark, but then shakes her head, not lingering on it. ] What do you suggest we do if he ever were to appear here again though?

[marvelous_murderbot]

Whether or not you actually are is secondary to what they perceive you to be...I think any Sith seeing you and your horse, for instance, would be lulled into a very fatal and false sense of security.

[She ponders the latter question, though.]

DEMP devices. Destructive electromagnetic pulse weapons. He relies on a life support suit, these could disrupt his systems enough. Beyond that, engagement with flechette launchers or slugthrowers - they would be more difficult for his lightsaber to block or deflect.

[Oddly enough she's put some thought into this, previously, with updates now on the train.]

[irrationally]

...

[ There's a slight pause.

One during which Alice is most likely pondering if she's ever heard of any of those things, but she's.. pretty sure she hasn't.. ]

Do you have those? [ Hey, Guri is a robot. And also amazing at combat, which is saying a lot, since Alice doesn't easily grant people that sort of title. Who knows what kind of tricks she has up her sleeves. ] Or are they present here on the train?

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She shakes her head a bit sadly.]

No. I could replicate schematics, but it would take an expert hand to create - Entrapta could have done it, but she has since departed.

[irrationally]

We can order weapons though.

[ Through the train shop. The option has been there for a long time, even though Alice has never had the need to use it herself, considering she always carried her own weapons with her. ]

Unless they are too.. big? I must admit that I have absolutely no idea what these weapons look like. [ It's all future mumbojumbo to her. ]

[marvelous_murderbot]

I could draw them but not...too large - what's the maximum size? If you know it.

[irrationally]

[ Alice hums.

Apparently she's not too sure, considering she never really did spend much time looking at the weapons section.. So she shrugs a little to indicate that nothing she says is truly 100% accurate. ]

Those large items cost much more than the weapons, so I imagine any weapons you'd order through the weapons section of the shop would not be able to be much larger than your average weapon. And by 'your average weapon' I assume the standard would be.. something such as a sword? Or a bow?

[ Those seem to be the weapons a lot of people on the train use. ]

[marvelous_murderbot]

Ah, I understand. Though my average weapon are my blaster pistols. Frankly, I was saving up for a heavy repeating blaster. For the next time we have to deal with hordes of demons.

[She pauses]

Which should be a worse memory than it is, but I find it is better since we worked in concert and it was a good thing.

[irrationally]

Exactly. These missions are so much easier to deal with when it is just about straightforward fighting, right?

[ Alice thinks so, at least. Fighting is something she can do, after all. Dealing with those demons got tiring, sure, but it was better than anything in her head being messed with.

And she knows just how badly Guri took to her own head getting messed with, especially when she found out it was all a lie. ]

But I imagine our upcoming missions will be more like that again. Especially now we dealt with that awful thing that was going around and creating all those illusions. So investing in weapons might not be a terrible idea.

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She nodded.]

Thus my future investment in heavy weaponry. I expect hordes sooner or later.

[irrationally]

[ She nods, understanding. ]

I am.. glad to hear that you will be taking care of yourself. [ Is that what Guri said?

No, not really. But Alice likes to think that said heavy weaponry won't just mean that Guri can protect others better, but also that she can protect herself better. And it's the latter that's the most important part to Alice. ]

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She manages a small smile.]

I can't do anything else, can I? Someone has to ensure you eat properly.

[irrationally]

[ Maybe it's since she's already coming off something that left her vulnerable after saying it, but Alice definitely looks a little embarrassed when she hears that in return. Her hands are suddenly very, very busy smoothing out her hair, like they're trying to hide nervous energy. ]

I always eat well! [ Sure, Alice.

That's why you look so terribly thin and pale all the time. ]

[marvelous_murderbot]

[She tilts her head, smiling. She finds she likes making her redden, just a bit, though she hasn't the faintest idea why. Perhaps it's the gentle ease of it? She'll figure it out eventually.]

So you wouldn't be interested in my attempt to make a dish known as jambalaya tonight? It is from somewhere referred to as 'Louisiana', which is a term I just find I enjoy saying.

[irrationally]

.. I will eat it.

[ Please, as if she would say anything else. Alice has so far enjoyed pretty much any food Guri has made and shared with her, so there's no reason to back out of it now.

Not even to try and strengthen her argument from a moment ago. ]

But that is just since you somehow seem to know how to make anything taste good.