vance_prime: (Default)
Alyx Vance ([personal profile] vance_prime) wrote in [community profile] milliways_bar2011-02-01 05:11 pm
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[Pre-Milliways: There are only so many things a shipboard AI can do to pass the time.]

Alyx Vance is in Milliways this evening. This, in itself, is par for the course; she's been coming here almost every night to relax, lately. Tonight, though, she doesn't look relaxed. She looks anything but, as a matter of fact.

In her hand is a sheet of computer paper (with tractor-feed edges, even). On it is printed the message carried in the encrypted radio signal that PIaDOS picked up and decoded less than an hour ago.

There's not much to it, really. Just three lines:

30.45°S
137.17°E
HELP



[ooc: Open until it scrolls, assuming my keyboard doesn't completely die on me.]
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (about to ask a question)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
It's a look Ellen recognizes. She's seen it often enough back home. "Hey, Alyx," she calls as she approaches, Dogmeat at her heels. "What's up?"
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (wut?)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 01:54 am (UTC)(link)
Ellen tenses a little, purely out of reflex. "Human?" she says. "Or is the Combine trying to contact home?"
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Be careful," Ellen says. "I mean- I probably don't have to tell you that, but- twice now I've followed what I thought were distress calls, and both times they wound up going really, really ugly on me."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
Ellen nods. "I would imagine not," she says. "Where's it coming from?"
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
"Huh," says Ellen. "That's... wow. How far is that, anyway? To put out that strong a signal..."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Ellen nods. "Do you have any way of getting some kind of advance scouts in closer, before committing to a real effort?" she says. "So you don't lose too much if it turns out to be a trap?"
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (um question)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
"And it's not the kind of resource you want to send with a crew that can't defend it," Ellen says. "So it's an all or nothing deal, isn't it. Ouch."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (hesitant)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 03:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, Ellen's just going to blink blankly at that word, but otherwise nod. "You know better than I do," she says. "I can handle myself and my dog and maybe one or two other people in a firefight. Planning something like this is ... it's for the experienced people."

She fidgets a little.

"Um. Speaking of which. I'm actually going home tonight. I wanted to let you know before I left- I'm going back to the Citadel, and they're going to see how ready I am to get out into the field."
Edited 2011-02-02 04:04 (UTC)
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Brotherhood paladin)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, they have their medic," Ellen says. "I'm assuming there'll be a physical examination. And then they'll probably send me out to have one of the paladins or senior knights test me. Soldiers have to pass a test to get out of doing basic training all the time, right?"

(She's grasping at straws here. This was not a question she thought to ask Elder Lyons when last she saw him.)
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't know. But if I'm not I'm at least close enough that I can get away with coming to the Bar from somewhere in the Citadel each night and working on getting better here for a week," Ellen says. "Just waking up and walking out of the infirmary in perfect shape's going to be too much for anyone to swallow. Getting much better fast, with people seeing me every day, is something else."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
"As long as I don't burn myself out I should be good," Ellen says. "I'm not going to just lie around if I have something else I can do to get back to work."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 04:44 am (UTC)(link)
Ellen nods. "I'll do my resting here," she says. "Unless I have to sleep at the Citadel for some reason, it'll give me more time to get things done."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I can only imagine," Ellen says. "Do people back in your world know about this place, or do they just assume you can make do on a lot less sleep than normal?"
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (Default)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I guess not," Ellen says. "Back in my world the only people who know about it for sure are Star Paladin Cross and Fawkes. I'm pretty sure Elder Lyons knows, but he's not admitting it... that's it, nobody else. It's a little weird keeping it from them, is why I ask."
aaaaaaaagh_sky: (um question)

[personal profile] aaaaaaaagh_sky 2011-02-02 05:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ellen nods. "Whereas if I do convince the people who're closest to me that this place is real, they're probably going to be duty-bound to try and get here and take back as much as they can, and nobody wants that," she says. "So if I tell them, I'm crazy, and if I tell them and convince them, it gets ugly... so the best I can do is just sort of hope I don't get asked."