for lastvoyages: First Vision [video+spam]

[can_has_vodka]

[Have a spritely young bald woman in filmy clothes, perching on a scratched wooden desk and beaming at you. Her eyes are bright, bright purple and almost seem to glow slightly, and she is very pale.]

Hullo everybody! I'm Arkady, and I'm from the Island of Whitechapel. Of course, for most of you Whitechapel isn't an island, but we had a little problem with the Thames getting loose from its banks, and ever since then things have been a bit wet in London. Whitechapel has about twice as many people as this place, and we just took on a hundred more. We'll make do, though. We just need to pull together. [It's not clear whether she's speaking of Whitechapel or the Barge. Both maybe?]

I'm to be a Warden here, and if there's a need for help anywhere, do let me know! [She pauses, blinks at the screen, and then leeeeans forward and peers into it as if she can see some of you on the other side. A giggle; the purple eyes blink and she pulls back again.]

I'll be up on Deck in the gardens if anyone wants to say hello! Yay flowers!

[A few seconds later she literally appears a few feet from the Colour Garden, which she immediately crouches down to inspect.] Hello flowers!

Comments

[video]

[young-idealist.livejournal.com]

Young lady... is that your entire name?

I'm another warden. Armand St. Just is my name. [And yes, he seems embarrassed having had this silly name conversation recently with another young lady.]

[video]

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

When I was born my mum was asked what to name me, and said, "Ah! A child of Arcadia!" They put down Arkady at the doctor's. So that will do.

Hello Armand! I suppose we will be working together--oo, strawberries! [Focus on a fat-berried plant]

[video]

[young-idealist.livejournal.com]

I suppose I will have to accept informality at this point.

[He bites his lip, and there's a note of longing in his voice.] Have the, uh, strawberries fruited again? The poor things get the seasons all confused here.

[video]

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

The seasons are all messed up in New Whitechapel too. We get berries six times a year.

I'm always informal. But that's because I work inside the mind instead of out in society.

[video]

[young-idealist.livejournal.com]

Many young ladies I've met here are like that. I should just give up and go with the fashion on board, but it troubles me sometimes. More so with young ladies than with men. My apologies. I hate to feel as if I'm intruding or assuming a relationship that is not there. [All that is said without him once looking at the camera, when he does it's to ask:]

You're from England?

... inside the mind. Is that a turn of phrase?

I miss working in the garden. [And his shoulders slump, liking a pouting child.]

[championoftime]

[The Doctor is bolstering his psychic shields too. HOWEVER, he's also happily intrigued.]

Hello! The flowers are quite lovely, yes. I'm the Doctor. Or, Dr. John Smith to avoid confusion.

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Hello hello Doctor! [She beams and twiddles her rather spindly fingers.]

[Arkady isn't shielding, but isn't prying either. She just seems rather open to the world at large, as if she doesn't want to miss anything. At the moment she's half occupied investigating the mind of the butterfly in her palm.]

Do you work in the gardens?

[championoftime]

Actually I work in the infirmary. I mostly specialize in xenobiology and atypical human anatomy. As well as psychic and mental stability.

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Mind, body, spirit. Sirkka would like you. Though she would probably flirt too much. She is the one who tends to such things in Whitechapel.

As for me, I will go where I am needed. [She watches the butterfly flutter away, off through the garden]

There is so much fear and sadness undercutting things here for so many. I could not very well stay away when I could help do something about it.

Video

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[In which Claire is dazzled.] Hi, Arkady, I'm Claire. I'm a Warden too. Um, stupid question, but are those the real color of your eyes?

Video

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Hi Claiiiire! Is a pretty name, it is.

Yes, pale skin and purple eyes are part of the Freakangels package. All twelve of us have it.

Video

[some-kinda-hero.livejournal.com]

[Laughs.] Thank you.

Well, they're beautiful, I just wanted to compliment you.

Video

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

That's lovely of you.

I am going to make a great big lot of tea from the pineapple mint that's going mad in one corner of the herb-garden. Would you like some?

Surprise spams! - Hope it's okay!

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

[Jane was in the colour garden at that time, simply checking on them, when someone appeared not too far away. And then spoke. Jane stepped back, staring wide eyed at this person.]

Don't touch them. [It was said instantly, as she really didn't know how to approach this new situation.]

[spam] always!

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Oh my! Are they terribly sensitive? [She stays crouched near them but is careful not to touch. Karl's this grumpy about his plants too, after all, and he generally has a reason for things...

[spam]

[thebestnose.livejournal.com]

No. It's against the Rules. [And this was one Rule she would follow.] They're for everyone to enjoy. [However, since the stranger wasn't reaching to touch them, she seemed to calm slightly.]

[spam]

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh, I understand. No, I won't pick them. If everyone picked them there would be no flowers to look at.

Besides, flowers are best on the plant. It's strawberries that are for picking.

[spam because I promised] [later than everyone else]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[She knows it throws her off when she's up here and sees the sky at this time of day, but it's worth it; better thinking up here than in a room that's in her past.

That's the weirdest-looking kid. She's probably her age, yeah, but seems younger, and she's definitely new. Better to just watch people like that: they'll recognize you when they're ready, and if not it won't be a good conversation.]

[spam]

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

[Arkady is dancing to music only she can hear, and then disappears suddenly, reappearing in another part of the garden, where she starts filling her basket with strawberries. She gets a few handfuls, then looks up and wavewavies. Careful to Act A Little More Normal, she chooses to walk over.

Hi! Berries?

[spam]

[dovehearted.livejournal.com]

[She just disappeared. And then she showed up somewhere else. This place is crazy, Lua already know that, but it still throws her. She smiles back at the girl, though, like "okay I don't know you but nice to meet you", and when she comes over, nods.] Oh. Thank you.

[spam]

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

I'm Arkady! I will be a Warden here. Right now I am just trying to get to know people. [She offers the basket.]

The berries are lovely right now. Though I think we should have chikkens.

[bitnotgood]

Hang on a minute, what happened to London?

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Oh, don't worry, luv, it wasn't your London. Your London is high and dry! But mine...six years ago...subsidence, earthquakes. The Thames broke her banks and the water level rose ten meters.

Whitechapel's an island. My clanmates and I help the people living there.

[bitnotgood]

That's...couldn't have been my-- [He stops, clears his throat, then starts again.] Couldn't have been the London I know; there hasn't been an earthquake in London for hundreds of years.

Whitechapel's an island though. That's...something. What about the rest of London?

[can-has-vodka.livejournal.com]

Lambeth Road is all right, and so is Shoreditch and gthe Docklands...but Whitechapel is the only real colony now.

We have law, and farms, and clean water, and people get fed. Miki handles doctoring, Kait and Kirk handle watching out for people, and we all defend the place, all twelve of us. There are a few hundred people there, and we just took in a hundred more from Shoreditch.