returnjourneylogs | SET SAIL: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

SET SAIL: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

January 1, 2022 – January 7, 2022
Welcome to the new year and the Return Journey's opening event! We're starting with something light to get everyone acclimated and so no one feels they've missed too much if they app after the holiday season. We'd like to make it easy for any new players to jump in right away.

If you have any questions about the event, please ask here.

1. What? My name is who? My name is—

Salutations! Now that everyone's respective warden and inmate orientations are out of the way, you've been given a helpful, mandatory name tag. It instantly appears on your shirt and can't be taken off, though where it appears on your shirt is a bit more unpredictable; it's an imperfect science, so it's just as likely to pop up on the back of your shirt as the front. If you try to remove your clothes, the tag appears on your skin; they're waterproof, so a quick shower won't get rid of it, either. What can we say — it's mandatory.

While the tags all follow the standard "HELLO my name is" format and have your name or most common alias, they also include some other information. For wardens, it features a space that declares "I LIKE" and one or two of your most choices hobbies. For inmates, it features these hobbies and "I have killed [x] people" (this may be a specific number or something akin to "a lot of" or "no"). Fun icebreaker, right?

2. Twenty Questions

Speaking of icebreakers, a brief announcement summons everyone to the observatory. Again, yes, it's mandatory; wardens must retrieve absent inmates before any more information is revealed. Better hop to it!

Upon arrival, passengers will discover that the Peregrine's resident bot force has reconfigured the observatory with small, portable cubicles, each with a transparent wall that retains a lovely view of the observatory's massive window. Each inmate is assigned their own cubicle and, upon entering, cannot leave without a warden's say so; the door only unlocks with a warden's CommLink.

Wardens are tasked with interviewing at least one inmate, to get a feel for their prospective charges. They can have as much time as they need to formulate what questions they want to ask, but that might leave some inmates waiting. Maybe that's on purpose, though. In any case, the exercise is over once an inmate is asked five questions and a warden receives five answers.

Archimedes will collect name tags after the interviews for incineration. The robotic owl is, notably, the only one who can remove them.

3. Polite Picnic

The greenhouse doesn't always have enough fresh produce to go around (and often what is collected is frozen and preserved), but given the circumstances — a new mission and new passengers — everyone can reap the rewards this month...if they share. A bot stationed in the mess hall mechanically tells anyone who crosses into range (whether they mean to visit the produce table or not) that they aren't to take more than three fruits and/or vegetables. If you choose not to abide by the rules...well, that depends if you're caught and by who.

The produce available are as follows:

Adalfane: Tastes like cocaine, but very nutritious, especially when eaten raw.
Tuadath: Smells awful, but very hearty when cooked, tasting a little like steak.
Tsanyi: Pure, sugary sweetness. Can be made into a refreshing drink, eaten raw, or sprinkled over a desert.

There are notably fewer tsanyi than adalfane or tuadath. But if everyone's nice and cooperates, each person can get exactly one.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The soldier doesn't seem remotely phased by the dismissal. Any control this guy exudes is just posturing, really. No real point in taking it seriously.

"Not really a hard question. Don't overthink it. What's the best way to kill someone?"

"No." Rejecting this premise. If there's a trick here, he's not falling for it. "I don't fucking, kill people, that's, like, illegal. Everywhere. Nowhere is it not illegal."

The inmate squints off to the side.

"I mean, laws are just structured threats intended to maintain the power of the ruling class, so it doesn't apply to them, so I guess the answer is- "

Huge shrug.

"Become the leader of a country and you can kill anybody you want without consequence? Or military police? Honestly, military police is easier. Am I actually being charged with something?"

Edited 2022-01-02 07:41 (UTC)

It's not really surprising that any inmate would find any sort of question from a warden suspect. All the supposition is, of course, wrong, but it's not impossible to work with either, regardless of how defiant an inmate might be. Really, even this is much tamer than some of the conversations he's had with Steve, in their youth.

"Illegal doesn't stop people from doing it. Not all killing is malicious either. Believe what you will, but this isn't a trick question. Just answer the question honestly."

"You seem over invested, for something that's not a trick."

Volk puts his chin in his hands and bats his eyelashes.

Bucky, leaned back in his seat with his hands folded lazily in his lap, raises his brows. The question is only there to spur a reaction to read, and it's certainly done its job. Petulance is apparently Volk's favored defense mechanism. But if he wants to think he's the smartest guy in the room, then Bucky will let him.

"What? No, I'm not," the soldier remarks while glancing to the side, sitting forward in anxious concern. "It's just a question. It's not a trick." When he eventually looks back to Volk, Bucky looks unsettled.

Is this where his tax dollars are going these days? Volk's expression takes on a sugary, porcelain-doll moue. Or, well, it tries. The mess around his eyes and the bloody tissue ruins the effect, but an attempt is made.

"Sweetie, I'm having what you'd call a mental health day. I don't have time for this kindergarten cop entrapment shit. Can you be a good boy and go tell whoever is in charge that I am going to make every step of this process a living nightmare until I get to talk to my lawyer?"

Somehow, every time he says shit like this and then gets punched in the face, he does not learn a lesson from it.

He appears to cave, at that, muttering under his breath about how this won't look good, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"C'mon, man, I'm just trying to do my job. I don't call the shots around here. If I mess up again, they're gonna dock my pay next quarter, and I barely have enough for rent already." Bucky scrubs his face in a visible attempt to collect himself.

At the claim that Bucky doesn't call the shots:

"Yeah, uh huh. I can tell. All of that seems like a you problem, okay?"

He waves. Bye now! Go get your manager.

SET SAIL: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

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