video; un: jace

[estrayer]

[ The video opens on a blond boy dressed in black. The collar of his t-shirt and shoulders of his leather jacket are visible. A dark mark somewhere between a bruise and a tattoo sweeps across the right side of his neck. His eyes are intense, but he's making an effort at a smile. A terse one. Jace Wayland has had better days.

Actually he's had better weeks. Let's not talk about that. Instead, there's something more pressing on his mind: ]

Do we have to keep the jobs we get here? I'm supposed to write greeting cards.

[ His deadpan tone should tell you everything you need to know about what he thinks of that. Greeting cards, as in poetry, right? Jace isn't exactly a greeting card kind of guy, but if he was, his eyes would roll right over the ones with fake cheese and rhyming couplets inside. This is so clearly not for him. ]

I'm taking other suggestions. Bonus points if they don't come with wearing that thing.

[ He turns his wrist to flash the camera over the suit lying on the bed beside him. It has purple stripes and matching boots, guys, come on.

Not to worry, though, the camera's back on Jace now. He's sure you all missed him. ]

That aside. I'm gonna be open about the fact that I'm not looking to be a permanent resident, so if anyone's looking into how we get out of this place, I'd like to hear from you. If you've been here a while, I want to hear about that, too.

By the way, I'm Jace. I'm new, but you probably guessed that. Thanks for your time.

Comments

[estrayer]

You're making cookies?

[ Absolutely deadpan. Jace has to hand it to him; that's almost as bad as greeting cards. At least he's not the only one in this boat. ]

I can't say I'd like that better. Why do you stick at that, if you think your friend did the right thing? If your job was like mine, this must be driving you crazy.

[stubble]

I'm uncertain what a comparable position to my former career I might find here. I was the general of the largest army in my world.

[ He could go into what else he once did, but with his templar skills dormant, there's little point. And little in the way of magic, insofar as he can tell. ]

It does not seem as though such a role is required on this vessel.

[estrayer]

A general?

[ Okay, he has to admit: that's impressive. Not many people ever manage to impress Jace, but a General would be an experienced, disciplined soldier. That, he can appreciate. ]

And they have you making cookies. I'm sorry. That must have been hard to take.

Based on what I'm hearing from others, I think good soldiers is exactly what this vessel needs. It doesn't sound like the last mission went exactly to plan.

[stubble]

It is not ideal, though I suppose it's no stranger than this vessel itself. Such... technology does not exist in my world.

[ He's pretty sure he got that word right. ]

But you are correct, the last mission was evidently not quite as successful as those who ordered it hoped it would be. I accompanied two others to the surface. [ He rolls his eyes. ] We collected samples of dirt and plants. I am told there was a point to the task, though at the time it did not seem terribly clear.

[estrayer]

For testing, maybe. To see if they could support life.

[ That would be his assumption. He'd been told that's what the fleet was looking for, after all. For Jace, that's not the priority. He doesn't want to settle anywhere new; he needs to get home. But if that's the mission, he can see what they were going for. ]

But it doesn't matter. Even if a mission is peaceful in theory, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way.

They don't have this level of tech in my world, either. Tech itself isn't new, though; I'm guessing it is, for you?

[stubble]

[ Are not worlds by their very nature meant to support life? That they might not is baffling to Cullen. But there's only so much ignorance he's willing to show. ]

In my world, peaceful missions rarely remain so. [ It's dryly spoken, not quite an attempt at humor, before he moves on. ] But yes, you are correct. It's extremely new to me. Everything about this place is foreign to me. Even the blighted lights.

[estrayer]

Right. Electricity. [ A pause ] Indoor plumbing? I’m not gonna lie, space is new to me too. But that stuff isn’t.

[ This ship is like a giant leap into the future for Jace, but he’s still got a leg up from someone who’s never seen electric lighting before. That’s kind of crazy. ]

You’re doing pretty well with the video phone, considering.