007: AMAs, Third Round

[tarnishedavenger]

So, we've got a load of new people, and that means it's time for me to do the only thing it feels like I get on these comms to do anymore: AMAs.

For you new people, I find it helps when we get together and explain a little bit about ourselves, any powers we have, and our skillsets. That way we know what we're starting with and what we can build off of. So, please, come and introduce yourselves and be willing to answer questions.

Comments

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan is red-haired, green-eyed, and really pretty. She also looks kinda like she's having teeth pulled. This is a good idea and she should probably stop keeping to herself so much, but that doesn't mean she has to like it.]

Sarah Kerrigan. I started out as a Confederate ghost, a special forces stealth operative. Insurrectionists pulled me out and I was with them for about a decade. [She looks to be in her mid-20s, which, if you do the math, means this Confederacy seems to have a bit of a child soldier problem.] Before you ask, neither side is the good guys.

I'm very good at penetration, operating behind enemy lines, marksmanship, and hand-to-hand. I've commanded up to the fleet XO level, but don't make me do any of that naval crap unless it's absolutely necessary.

Oh, right. I'm a telepath. So yes, if you're in the same room with me, I can hear what you're thinking.

That's it.

[No, wait.]

...The clock just rolled over to the 26th century where I am, since I guess that matters.

That's it.

[credit_not_blame]

With the psychic thing, do you just get internal monologues, or is it a full-on surround sound with picture kind of deal?

[Don't think about pink elephants, don't think about pink elephants, don't think about pink elephants...]

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan's taken slightly aback, because she's used to people being suspicious of ghost telepathy, not curious.]

It's whatever you're thinking. Some people have internal monologues, some don't. If someone's a very visual thinker, I get that.

[Pause.]

And you're out of range, so I can't see the elephants you're thinking about.

It's always elephants.

[Or a recursive panic loop.]

[credit_not_blame]

Huh, I guess that makes sense. Does it work over electronics or did my thoughts just get really, really loud just then?

[Stacia continues to Not Think About Pink Elephants because otherwise stuff that says "family" and "longing" is going to start seeping in. This may be awkward.]

[zerg_rush]

No, I can't "hear" you right now. It's just that everyone thinks "don't think about elephants" the second they find out I'm a telepath. That, or they get into this weird "oh God, she can hear what I'm thinking...oh God she can hear this too" loop. So I had a 50/50 chance.

[Kerrigan shrugs.]

[credit_not_blame]

[Well, at least there's that. Stacia laughs.]

Okay, fair! I was thinking about elephants -- or rather, telling myself not to think about pink elephants, which amounts to the same thing. If someone has a song stuck in their head, do you get the music too? Or is it more like monotone chanting?

...I'm not asking because I'm planning on being annoying, I swear.

[zerg_rush]

Uh...

[Kerrigan is very bad at normal people things.]

I've never noticed one way or another.

[credit_not_blame]

Huh. Would you object if I started thinking songs at you at some point? I don't know how weird-slash-new you being psychic is for you, but poking at things is one of my hobbies.

I'm Stacia, by the way! Weird things keep happening to me, and one day I will be completely unflappable.

[zerg_rush]

I'm...not big on experiments.

[Haha no personal trauma here no sir.]

I've been a telepath all my life. Nothing really changed here.

[credit_not_blame]

Fair enough, no experiments.

[Not for now, anyway.]

Huh, that's cool. Is that something that's just a thing in the 26th century? That person's got brown hair, that person has blue eyes, that person's a telepath?

[zerg_rush]

No, it's pretty rare.

[Kerrigan's kind of not great at keeping conversations going.]

[credit_not_blame]

[Fortunately Stacia is excellent at it, though she's currently trying to determine if this line of questioning is making Kerrigan uncomfortable.]

That must have been an exciting discovery for everyone. I don't have kids, but I've done a lot of babysitting and I don't know what I'd have done if they could read my mind and figure out where I hid the candy.

[zerg_rush]

[Definitely getting into some unhappy territory.]

You said your name was Stacia?

[Look at that slick subject change. Smooth as buttah.]

[credit_not_blame]

[Stacia pivots into it as though this new topic is the most natural thing ever.]

Yep! I'm a werewolf.

[See? Whole new topic!]

[zerg_rush]

What's that?

[Hi, it's 2500 AD, Kerrigan's never been anywhere near Earth and was raised by the military. She has no idea what you're talking about.]

[credit_not_blame]

Uh, basically, I turn into a giant wolf-monster that walks on two legs and has big claws and teeth. You don't have any stories about people who can turn into animals in the far-flung space future?

[zerg_rush]

[Kerrigan's eyebrows go up. She'll, uh, take your word for it, Stacia.]

Not where I grew up. I'm pretty sure the colonists only brought domestic animals. I don't think anyone wants to turn into a cow.

[text]

[takenalive]

Telepathy, eh. Can you project as well as receive? Is this purely a passive form or are you also able to delve past surface or current thoughts?

[text]

[zerg_rush]

I can only talk to another psychic, and trying to sort out deeper thoughts is hard.

[Locked to New Hires]

I don't want the general public freaking out about me. I got enough of that back home. Yes, I can go past surface thoughts, and I can project images and emotions to non-telepaths.

[locked]

[takenalive]

I suppose that's fair. Interesting to have this as a human ability. I associate it more with Leerans.

What Andalites use isn't truly telepathy by some markers. Cadets sometimes make it through the academy believing psychic things don't exist. I'm not clear on the difference, though.

[locked]

[zerg_rush]

We're newcomers as far as psi goes. Every single protoss is a psychic.

What you do would be called telepathy where I'm from.

[locked]

[takenalive]

How did your people acquire the ability?

English has too few of the words I would use to describe how Andalites speak and sing, and I am no scientist, so any attempt I could make to explain is incredibly crude. We transmit what are generally assumed to be universal symbols, but it's also the case that we are better understood when we know something about the people we speak to and can adjust our language accordingly.

[onequartershark]

[ Well. That sucks.]

I'm going to start off with the assumption you know better than to air what you hear from me, and thank you in advance.

[ She won't let it go unremarked, but isn't going to linger on the subject. You don't get up into any form of fleetcomm without at least some capacity for discretion.

Carolina is similar in appearance, but older by about a decade. She's been settling into the mildly exasperated steadiness of someone who's not thrilled to be here, but has been through all kinds of stupid nonsense already so this might as well happen too. ]

Mid 26th-century here, but we have a distinct lack of history of telepaths that's pretty telling. How was your century on genocidal alien wars?

[ She's curious. ]

[zerg_rush]

One just kicked off.

[And she's about to switch sides! Not voluntarily, though.]

[onequartershark]

We just finished the one that had been going on since before I was born, so I'll wish you all the best.

[ Does this do anything? No, but she means it. ]

While we're here, I just keep getting staffers asking me if I've been to Mars like it's the center of the sun.