welcome to omega, round two.

[ceoqueen]

who. everyone!
what. in which the new arrivals join the outsiders.
where. landing pads for new arrivals, who then head through the markets to the residential area.
when. today!
warnings. n/a

This time, when the shuttles arrive, the landing pad isn't so empty. There was no saying these people wouldn't show up again, and though Aria isn't going to be happy that they appear to be coming on a schedule while the rest of the system is grounded, there doesn't appear that there's much to be done about it. A group of her batarian agents are there to escort incomers off the ship; some are taken aside for questioning, but when it's clear they know nothing of their origins, they're let go. Some new arrivals may notice that these shuttles don't simply depart -- a number of them are escorted off by other shuttles, deeper into the station.

After that, though, there's little the batarians can do about them. They're sent towards the residential district by way of the markets and financial sectors. The housing areas they arrive in aren't in the best of shape; while there are other outsiders to this galaxy already at work trying to repair the damage, others aren't bothering with it at all.

This is Omega. If you don't find some way to pull your weight, you'll be dead in no time.

Comments

[tradecraftdude]

That was the sort of childhood Marco might have been tempted to label as horribly deprived. Sure, someone might have labeled Marco's leisure preferences as immature and escapist, but man, so many finer things in life came out of that blinking curved screen that got a funky discoloration on one side because he accidentally stuck a magnet to it when he was eight. To each his own, though.

"I can dig that, man." He nodded to North. "One day at a time, at least. Less with the doing what's asked of me, I guess. Know what's the best part about getting stranded here? No one making me go to school. I have an English paper due tomorrow that totally doesn't need to get written now."

His grin is a little forced, though. One day at a time is sort of tricky when you don't know what's coming next. Or even what day it is.

He raised an elbow to where Theta was standing in his hand, making a longer ramp that went all the way to his shoulder. "No sweat, T-bro!"

[noscope]

Horribly deprived .. well, if that was how he wanted to see it. He really had no idea of what he'd been missing out on, so he couldn't have very well agreed on it. To each their own, indeed - it wasn't like North was going to judge the kid for his choices. He was just that, a kid, and he had every right to do whatever made him happy.

Or at the very least, that was what he thought. No one was going to be able to convince him otherwise, either.

At the mention of the other having assignments due that he very conveniently doesn't have to do anymore, he couldn't help but to shake his head and offer a small laugh. "You sound a lot like my sister when we were younger. I can't tell you how many times she tried to get out of assignments just because she didn't want to do them."

And even if he could tell that grin was a little forced, it made him want to make sure he was taken care of. Because how could he possibly know what to do with himself in a place like this? "What's your name?" he finally asked, thinking that he hadn't exactly introduced himself properly just yet. He started thinking that maybe if they at least did that whole name exchange, there would be a little more trust on the younger's part.

Theta, on the other hand, was too busy rolling around on his skateboard and getting ready to make use of that longer ramp when he stopped and tilted his head to the side. ".. T-bro?"

[tradecraftdude]

Marco lived in a perpetual state of being shoved into situations that he couldn't possibly know how to figure out; figuring out how to figure things out is one of his top secret talents.

"Man, I could get along with your sister. Life's too short to do homework." He stuck his hand out to North with a no-I-didn't-just-preemptively-hit-on-your-sister-whom-I've-never-met grin. "It's Marco. Nice to meet you, Agent North."

Goes to show that even though he was completely flipping his shit a few moments ago, he didn't miss it when Theta dropped the freelancer's name. He realized then that moving his arm disrupted Theta's ramping attempt. "Yeah, I'm not good at remember Greek words, okay."

[noscope]

Figuring out how to figure things out .. sounds like a pretty nifty skill to have. He surely knew of a few people back on the Mother of Invention that could benefit from such a skill, and on a pretty large scale, to boot.

The comment about getting along with his sister brought an abrupt bark of laughter that he at least tried to cover with a hand over his mouth, and whether or not he was actually successful .. well. Let's just move on. "That .. was exactly what she thought when we were kids. I'm almost positive she still thinks that way about paperwork." That grin didn't go unnoticed, and while surely this kid wouldn't have known what he was getting into where South was concerned if he ever got the chance, the way he was going about it was entirely too amusing.

He took that outstretched hand and shook it. "Just call me North. Everyone else does .. the agent thing is only a formality, really. Not necessary."

.. And then Theta was rolling forward and getting ready to make use of that ramp again -

And he stuck the landing again. There was an extremely happy noise coming from that little hologram that North was almost positive he'd never heard before in his life, and Theta himself was practically bouncing. "T-bro .. I like it .. can he call me that, North? I like him!"

North was having a terrible time not outright chuckling at this entire exchange, but he somehow managed to come out with: "It's up to you, Theta. I don't see why not."

Except it may have been touch and go for a few seconds before the words actually made it out of his mouth.

[tradecraftdude]

"Whatever you say, North."

North certainly didn't seem like most of the 'agents' Marco knew about anyway. He wasn't sure what was up with that laugh, though; sure, Marco knows he's irresistibly funny, but he didn't think he actually made a joke. Better make up for that.

"So, how old's your sister?"

The introduction and handshake didn't wipe all doubts from Marco's mind, but they were just more data points for him to consider in this whole figuring out what the hell is happening to his life business. He's at least made enough of a recovery from his initial freak out that he's back to making stupid comments again; whatever he needs to do to figure out the rest wasn't going to happen while he's standing in front of anyone, much less someone he just met.

Of course, he's pleased that Theta's taking to the nickname well, and offers the AI a finger to try to balance on.

[noscope]

While he had no idea of the 'agents' that Marco would know about, he was pretty sure that he - along with the others from the Project that had shown up here - were not exactly what he might have expected. Because as he'd found out previously, not all 'agents' walked around in power armor all the time.

Not that he was wearing his right now, but .. details.

The question about his sister had him wanting to laugh again, and if he wanted to know, why not tell him? "My age," he replied with a smirk. "We're twins. And she's the .. less-approachable one." He wasn't entirely sure how to finish that sentence without making it worse, so he just stopped there.

He hadn't expected a formal introduction to make the other trust him any more - but if it helped at all, he had to think that it was worth the trouble. He'd learned from the get-go that being in a place like this meant forging alliances was a big deal, and knowing who you could and couldn't trust was a part of that process.

Theta, on the other hand, was more than up to the challenge of trying to balance on the offered finger. He stepped up on the very tip, wobbled a little with his arms flailing at his sides, managed to stay upright for a handful of seconds before he toppled over and ended up rolling around on his back for a second. And North .. just chuckled and shook his head. "At least you've found a friend in Theta."

To which the AI replied: "He has! I like him .. M-bro .. can I call you that?"

[tradecraftdude]

"Way out of my league, then, huh?" Marco, try to look less disappointed. "It's alright, though, I've got a girlfriend anyway. She's kinda the less approachable one, too." Except she's in a different dimension.

As Theta took another spill, he reached over to flick at the holographic skateboard to right it. "M-bro totally doesn't roll off the tongue, dude. Sounds like 'embryo'. Nicknaming is both an art and a science, and you can't just pattern-match your way through. You gotta have some creativity for it."

[noscope]

"South is .. well." Dear god, was he glad that his sister wasn't around to hear any of this - because despite the fact that it was all absolutely true, he wouldn't have put it past her to find a way to be offended by it and blow everything out of proportion. "She's out of everyone's league. I'll just put it that way."

While Theta seemed to be genuinely considering what Marco said about nicknames, North took that moment of silence to continue their own conversation. "Now that you two have properly acquainted yourselves .. I really should get back and make sure my sister hasn't decided to tear the station apart because she picked the wrong roommates and they're starting to piss her off." He paused, tilting his head. "Have you figured out how to work your omni-tool, yet?"

[tradecraftdude]

"South and North. That's pretty cute. Way to have super obvious secret agent codenames. Do you have any other siblings? Named like, East and West or something?" Marco smirks, being way too proud of himself for this joke. "I get you though. It's rough being the chill one sometimes."

He gives Theta a mild little shooing wave to send him back along to North, wondering what sort of nicknames an AI was capable of coming up with.

"This crazy space wrist-computer thing? Dude, I have played way too many video games to be confused by holographic pop-up displays. Go take care of your sister. Marco's gonna be a busy guy for a little while."

[noscope]

"They're short for North and South Dakota," he chuckles, letting out a huff. "We all have state names." He pauses, trying not to snort at his assessment. If only he knew how true that was ..

Theta looks a little unhappy to be shooed - or as unhappy as a hologram in armor can look - but he rolls back towards North's shoulder and then disappears. "If you say so. I'm not slow on the upkeep, myself, but it took me a little while to figure it out. But, hey, if you need anything - I'm not sure what you'd need, but the offer stands - you know how to find me."