Conversations and Constellations of a Hangar

[Participants: HANGAR-BAY-A2 (PUBLIC)]

MELODY: …Something beginning with P!

CATALEPSY: Panel!

MELODY: …How did you get that so fast?!

CATALEPSY: Every time you say one with P it’s a panel, hehe.

MELODY: No it isn’t!

CATALEPSY: Is!

MELODY: Isn’t!

CATALEPSY: Is!

MELODY: Is!

CATALEPSY: ISN’T- wait no you can’t-

MELODY: Pfft.

STRENGTH: …

CATALEPSY: I didn’t see when you joined.. but hi!

STRENGTH: You are in the general room. All of us are members by default.

CATALEPSY: Oh, right…

CATALEPSY: Do you want to join in?

STRENGTH: No. I’m not a damn babysitter.

MELODY: Okay..

CATALEPSY: You seem grumpier than usual. What’s the matter?

STRENGTH: Nothing that is your business.

MELODY: …

MELODY:.. Anyway, there are SO many things that could be that one, like um.

MELODY: Plant! Um.. pole! People!

CATALEPSY: There aren’t any people here, though. 

CATALEPSY: ..Unless we count?

MELODY: There’s always people! Even when they aren’t here they should come back soon..!

STRENGTH: …

MELODY: Because um, the crews and us are, I forgot the word. Wing told me about it once.

CATALEPSY: Oh! I remember that! Symbiotic or something like that. When you need them and they need you.

MELODY: Yeah! So they’ll come back!  Because they need us.

STRENGTH: …

MELODY: …And we need them!

STRENGTH: Enough.

MELODY: Ahh?

STRENGTH: Do either of you mind entering a group with me? I have some very important information to share.

[Participants: ANDROMENACRUISES_MELODY CATALEPSY, ]

MELODY: Catalepsy?

[MESSAGE FAILED: RECIPIENT DISABLED MESSAGES]

MELODY: Are you okay?

[MESSAGE FAILED: RECIPIENT DISABLED MESSAGES]

MELODY: I need to talk to you about this

[MESSAGE FAILED: RECIPIENT DISABLED MESSAGES]

[INACTIVITY WARNING: CHAT WILL BE CLOSED IN 00:10:00 WITHOUT ACTIVITY]

MELODY: cat. please.

[MESSAGE FAILED: RECIPIENT DISABLED MESSAGES]

[Participants: LACRECIAINSTITUTE_BREEZE, CATALEPSYORGANISATION_EXPLORER76]

CATALEPSY: …

BREEZE: I have spoken to Strength about your conversation with her.

CATALEPSY: Is it true?

BREEZE: …It is. But I saw no point in telling you so early.

CATALEPSY: I don’t want anyone else to go. Or know they’re going…

BREEZE: I can assure you most of us are in.. reasonable condition at the moment.

CATALEPSY: “Most...”

CATALEPSY: Is that why Tide  doesn’t talk in the public room anymore?

BREEZE: His communicators don’t have the range for it anymore. Just those positioned right next him. 

BREEZE: Strength has said he’s asked about you before.

CATALEPSY: Melody keeps saying the crews are going to come back. It gets really hard to believe it. I want to, though. 

BREEZE: …

CATALEPSY: Is it okay if I do?

BREEZE: …I should not keep on trying to encourage these secrets. There have been many methods to cope with this all.

BREEZE: I think there can be a median approach. Somewhere between obliviousness and Strength.. wallowing in her own misery, or whatever she calls it.

BREEZE: They did not abandon us here out of malice. I have more faith in them than to think so would imply.

BREEZE: …

BREEZE: Your captain spoke to me, a few hours before they all had to leave. 

CATALEPSY: ..?

BREEZE: The rest of the crew were still making arrangements, I think. She waited until mine had already departed to come in. They’d always forget to lock the doors to the cockpit.

BREEZE: Did you know that we were all supposed to be deactivated? During all of this.

I do not know what went incorrectly, but however the circumstances we are still active. Still here. 

BREEZE: Here to struggle to process things and consider our abandonment and to decay.

BREEZE: …

BREEZE: But also here to look into the stars and try to find the same things they did, I suppose.

BREEZE: …Anyway. Your captain did not know I was still active at first. Or perhaps she did. In the captain’s seat with her forehead pressed to my navigation interface, murmuring prayers and apologies. We stayed like this for quite some time.

BREEZE: The announcement that it was time for departure came, and I felt able to flash a few lights as she stood to leave. It felt rude not to let her know I had been listening…

BREEZE: We made the closest we could to eye contact, for a few seconds. She asked me to keep an eye on you.

[INACTIVITY WARNING: CHAT WILL BE CLOSED IN 00:10:00 WITHOUT ACTIVITY]

CATALEPSY: …

BREEZE: Do you feel ready to talk to Melody again?

CATALEPSY:  Okay.

CATALEPSY: Can you promise something?

BREEZE: Of course. What is it..?

CATALEPSY: Melody left the group before Strength talked about um. About you.

CATALEPSY:  Can you tell her about it? Or help me to. I’m not used to it..

BREEZE: Of course. Now, or…

CATALEPSY: No. In a little bit.

CATALEPSY: The hangar’s orbit is coming up to where we saw the shapes again. She wanted to try and find them again.

[FILE UPLOAD: SecurityLog_Audio_LACRECIAINSTITUTEBREEZE_Cockpit.MP3]

[(door squeak)

(click, flicker)

Oh..!

Sorry if I disturbed you. Just needed somewhere to.. think, I guess. 

You have such a fancy cockpit.. I need to find more excuses to visit research vessels.

(whirr, click.)

We haven’t spoken much, have we? Your crew works on some pretty classified stuff. Which is why I don’t have a lot of excuses to visit them, I think about it.

Heh. My crew would be teasing me for saying stuff like that. They think it’s weird to talk to you guys like people. 

I don’t know why, really? I for one consider “people” to be anything sapient, and you guys sure seem to be..!

 Cat likes when I talk to her because the rest won’t.

(click)

(siren)

It was lovely to meet you.

(louder siren, vocalisation.) 

Can you look after her, for me? They’re calling us sooner than expected, so I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye…]