Infirmary, Echidna's Daughter: 1.1.112 - Seeing Things

The infirmary was quiet, eerily so; aside from the gentle humming of the equipment attached to the young Khanid woman laying on the medical table next to her, the only sounds in the room were the steady rhythm of her own breathing and the periodic flipping of a page of the book in her lap, a leatherbound volume with a faded but intricate gold-colored inlay on the spine.

The Intaki's eyes were red and tired, her posture slouched as she sat with her legs crossed on a table next to the first woman. She turned the page again, then let out a small yawn as she reached up and rubbed her eyes gently. Letting her gaze drop back towards the pages of her book, she sighed softly before gently closing the book and casting a somewhat empty look off towards the entrance to the infirmary, away from the woman on the table next to her.

The monotonous droning of the equipment was interrupted by a sudden, familiar giggle from behind her, and a cheerful voice:

"'My god, Morwen, you look like crap."

She froze. She couldn't believe her ears; she couldn't possibly be hearing that voice. The doctors had been still as far away from a solution a few hours ago as they had been when her companion had first fallen into her coma. They couldn't have found a way to remove the virus infesting her friend's implants in that time, could they? Or even if they had found a solution, why would they have applied it without being in the infirmary? Could they even do that? She took a breath, then replied cautiously.

"... I know. Thanks, I think?"

There was a hint of amusement in the voice now. "No, seriously. When was the last time you got some proper rest?"

The Intaki -- Morwen -- sighed. "Don't know," she stated tiredly. "Probably several weeks ago."

The voice's response was almost incredulous. "Oh, come on. That's just silly."

"You'd have trouble sleeping too," came Morwen's blunt reply. She turned the book over in her lap, then shifted uncomfortably where she sat on the medical table. "I didn't think things could get worse," she said. "But... yeah, shows what I know, I guess."

The voice was a little exhasperated now, with a hint of expectancy. "Oh come on. Aren't you even going to look around?"

Morwen's response was quiet and subdued. "Do I want to? Should I?"

The voice scoffed. "Hallucinations have feelings too, you know." A pause, then: "All right, no, I suppose I don't, but c'mon, your brain put in a lot of effort here."

Morwen opened her mouth to make what, knowing her, probably would have been a snarky response, but she closed it again and turned her head slowly. Her eyes were dull and hollow, any semblance of the light that usually shone there long gone as she turned to face what was supposedly the source of the voice she is speaking to.

Staring back at her was Reppy -- the woman who should have been lying on the cot next to her -- or at least some illusion of her. She was perched backwards on a chair, presumably not wearing much, if anything at all; the back of the chair hid all but suggestion. The impish grin on her face was as familiar as ever, if slightly blurry.

"Maybe Suzie was right, and I should stay away from Burn," Morwen commented, more than a little surprised by the sight.

'Reppy' grinned. "Or maybe you're overworked, tired beyond belief, and kinda horny. Seriously, when was the last time you got any?"

Morwen almost glared at her. "No comment," she stated forcefully.

"I'm your own brain," the hallucination replied with a smirk. "I can't exactly tell anyone."

Morwen's response came with little more than a blank stare. "I'm not sure if I can even trust my own head anymore, thanks."

The illusion tilted its head a little, almost as if disappointed. "Honestly," it said, wriggling around a bit on the chair, as if trying to get comfortable. "So come on, what's wrong?"

Morwen sighed, then turned herself the rest of the way around, looking into her lap. "Everything, it seems like," she mumbled sadly.

Her hallucinatory companion smiled kindly, then spoke. "Well, let's see," it started, counting things off on its fingers. "I'm in a coma, Inara's giving you the cold shoulder, Lilly's not working out, and you're having second thoughts about your career. That about cover it?"

There was a long pause.

"Something like that," Morwen said, nodding a little.

'Reppy' looked to be deep in thought for a moment, then grinned. "At this point, an interesting question occurs," she began. "I mean, I'm not real, we've established this. But if I start giving you advice, does that make me a personification of your subconscious, your own personal devil's advocate, or just demonstration of the fact that you're horny as fuck?" She brought her hands up to her ears and made a gargoyle-like face. "Or maybe I'm some trace of the Masque, fucking with your braaaaaaaaaaaain," she added in a silly, overdramatic voice.

Morwen arched an eyebrow at the gesture. "Or maybe you're actually awake, being just as much of a pain in the ass as usual," she replied, her voice level, with a slight hint of amusement -- or possibly irritation -- bleeding through. "And the lump on the table next to me is actually the hallucination."

The apparition grinned widely. "Ooh, good one!" it giggled. "Didn't think of that. Or did I? Or should I say we?" It waved a hand dismissively. "Never mind the metaphysics. Why'd you come to be a Ghost?"

Morwen gave 'Reppy' a look that read "haven't we already discussed this?" before sighing and responding quietly. "Lilly really wanted me to, and I didn't have anywhere else to go. I didn't know anyone else I could work with or trust."

"You knew what you were getting into," came the reply. "So why's it suddenly bothering you, what your day job is? Being a capsuleer is hardly a job for the completely sane."

Morwen looked back at the hallucination, her expression a little pained. "I sent a pilot six days out of training to the cloning vats just because I was in a bad mood... I don't want to be like that." She glanced away, continuing. "I don't want to be a monster."

The mirage scoffed. "What, you're worried about one sod who has the luxury of getting up and walking around again a few minutes later, but not all those poor Serpentis you keep killing who won't?"

"Sometimes I wonder if I should just stick to wormhole work," Morwen mused. "I'm not hurting anyone that way."

"No," was the hallucination's reply. "You just think you aren't. We know so little about the Sleepers that you can comfortably tell yourself that they might as well be asteroids, it doesn't matter how many you kill."

"We've never found any signs of life," Morwen protested.

"And our definition of life is the only one?" The hallucination waved a hand vaguely, blurring in the air slightly. For a split second, Morwen thought the apparition had taken the image of something else, but by the time that it registered in her mind, it was back to what it had always been. "You're a capsuleer. You're a combat pilot. You're death incarnate. Why's it less objectionable to kill a few thousand ordinary people than to inconvenience some punk who shouldn't have been out here? If you want a full-blown moral crisis, I suggest a convent."

Morwen frowned. "It was a complete mismatch. He didn't even get a chance to shoot back," she commented, pausing for a moment. "I enjoy the rush of combat... but how can I live with myself if I enjoy just... slaughtering someone like that?"

"Cos you're feeling guilty now?" The hallucination smiled kindly, though it appeared to be struggling to suppress a laugh. "You want a monster, go chat with Mortis a bit. You think he's felt a scrap of guilt over a single kill he's ever made, capsuleer or non?"

Morwen grimaced at the mention of Mortis, unpleasant memories resurfacing from the last time she had spoken to Reppy's brother. "After last time, I don't really want to talk to him unless I have to, no."

"Can't say I blame you," her non-corporeal 'friend' replied, smiling lazily. "You talked with anyone else about this in the Ghosts?"

Morwen shook her head. "Don't know who to go to," she started. "Inara would be entirely unhelpful even if she weren't being so blind right now, and Age is busy dealing with her, and..." Morwen trailed off, a couple names still on the tip of her tongue; even though she was really just talking to herself, the names she would have said felt so obvious to her that it felt silly to mention them.

The hallucination looked at her, head tilted slightly, as if trying to guess the names that hadn't been given. "I'm not exactly chatty at the moment, am I?"

Depends on your point of view, Morwen thought to herself silently as 'Reppy' continued speaking.

"What about Kimochi?" it suggested. "Or hell, Myrhial might spare you some time if she knew you were having trouble."

Morwen sighed a little, looking down into her lap. "Aldrith yelled at me when I tried to talk to him."

The hallucination just looked at her. "He's a fucking loyalist," it stated. "What did you expect? He's not gonna be able to have a rational discussion about piracy with you."

"He's never yelled at me about it before," Morwen mumbled in protest.

'Reppy' shrugged. "My point stands, sweetie. A non-pirate isn't going to be helpful. You need someone who's been through this to give some advice. Or at least someone neutral."

Morwen looked away uneasily, still mumbling. "Normally I'd go to you or Lilly."

The apparition just looked at her, a smirk on its face. "The girl who got petrified of even locking a target for ages and the woman who probably doesn't even remember her first kill?" It grinned a bit. "Nice choices," it added, with a hint of playful sarcasm.

"I don't know who I am anymore," Morwen said, looking into her lap again. "Or even what... other than just a mess."

'Reppy' looked at her, smiling gently. "Well... I could say all sorts of things," the hallucination started. "But you wouldn't believe most of them."

Morwen sniffed a little, glancing quickly at her 'companion.' "Of course I wouldn't," she said, her voice sounding as if she were holding back tears. "Why should I believe myself about anything?"

"Exactly," came the response. "Telling you things like when I'm going to wake up you'll just dismiss as wishful thinking. So I won't bother."

Morwen looked away, her gaze subdued, almost sad. "It'd give me something to look forward to," she said quietly. "Especially after that last talk with Lilly."

"Second week of February," the hallucination responded quickly, almost eagerly. 'Reppy' winked at Morwen when she cast a brief glance towards her. "Trust me. By then the virus will have decayed enough to be shut down by the native security systems."

A moment passed, then Morwen spoke cautiously, the smallest hint of humor in her voice. "Why am I so tempted to start a betting pool on this and try and see if I can make money from it? And how would I even know that about the virus?" she added, her expression now confused.

"Doubt Inara would approve," her illusionary friend said, grinning. "And don't bother asking the doctors about it, they don't even know that the virus can decay."

"Still doesn't explain how I'd even know this," Morwen pressed. "Or have reason to guess."

The hallucination simply shrugged. "Doesn't, does it? Second week of February. You'll see."

Morwen looked up. "You'll make my life miserable if I do start a betting pool, won't you," she said, an accusing look in her eyes. 'Reppy' only smiled at this.

"I don't think I need to," she said. "Everyone else is doing a good job already."

"No kidding," Morwen sighed.

"Now come on. You should sleep." The hallucination smiled again, gesturing to the medical table that Morwen was sitting on as well as its neighbor. "Talking to yourself will drive you mad, y'know," it added with a wink before fading from view.

"That assumes I'm not already mad, doesn't it," Morwen commented out loud to herself after the hallucination had disappeared. She looked around the infirmary a little, noting that as before, the room was entirely silent, except for the sounds of breathing and the soft humming of the equipment nearby. She rubbed her forehead gently with one hand for a moment, then set the book aside. She lay down on her side on the cot, staring tiredly at her friend on the table next to her as she carefully took her near hand into her own.

It only took a few minutes for sleep to overcome her; despite being plagued with nightmares, it was still a very deep and restful sleep, something that she'd needed very much for a long while.

Private Log Entry, 31.12.111

I had been wandering idly around my hangar when I heard a call from Heyna about a radar signature in Goinard. Ended up bringing out the Rose again to help handle the guards in the complex once she had pinpointed it, then once that was done I headed back to the station to grab the Misuzu to assist in salvage operations and cleanup.

As we were finishing up, Heyna and I saw a Thrasher on scan, somewhere in the system. I switched to the Katana, and we narrowed it down to an asteroid belt near the second planet, and engaged. A Hawk and a Thorax are a little more than a match for a destroyer, and so it went down quickly. An Exequror was also in system, and warped to the belt at range as we were finishing up -- Heyna grabbed what she could out of the remains of the Thrasher, then we decided to attempt to catch the Exequror. We eventually caught it at the fourth planet and engaged.

Unfortunately, we saw spike in local transponders too late, and what we had commented just might be bait... turned out to be exactly that. Heyna's Hawk was unable to escape when the fleet landed and tackled her despite the call to disengage and retreat just as they started landing; when the Pilchard went down, I became the next target... but for some reason, I managed to get out just as the Katana's hull integrity was reaching about three percent. I don't know exactly what happened; my best guess is that everyone who had jammed the Katana's warp drive had disengaged their disruptors (and they were using disruptors instead of scramblers, as I know I managed to burn out of range of one of the larger ships with the Katana's microwarpdrive) in an attempt to catch my pod, but miscalculated in their timing, allowing me to escape, just narrowly.

I feel silly, having forgotten that what smells like a trap, almost always is a trap... it cost Heyna an expensive ship, and a number of crew on the Katana -- about seventy in total -- whose families need to be notified and compensated, and... well, replaced, I suppose is the only proper word. Thankfully I have Suzie to help with that, but... really, if there's a part of being a capsuleer I genuinely hate it is that: having to deal with the loss of my crew, even just one of them.

Later that evening while the Katana was in for repairs, I heard a call from Deckhard and Leo about a Rupture in a belt, so I wired into the Ananta and headed over. I managed to arrive just as the Rupture exploded, and would have simply left to allow Deckhard and Leo to handle the rest, but Leo's Curse suddenly performed an emergency warp, so I helped Deckhard by keeping a point on the Rupture pilot's pod while he continued the ransom negotiations.

A neutral Vagabond pilot entered the system and landed some distance away from us in the belt scant minutes later. Deckhard and I both panicked; he cut comms with the Rupture pilot and destroyed his pod, and I slipped out to sit at Hekhalot. Deckhard, unfortunately, was unable to escape as I had, and was under attack. I turned around and headed back to the belt to assist; I arrived seconds too late as Deckhard's Ishkur fell apart around him and the Vagabond pilot turned to me. I managed to keep distance from the pilot, sending drones after him, but even with a full flight of drones, I couldn't do much to break his shields until Inara showed up in her Curse.

At that point I was able to move in close and apply brute force with the Ananta's blasters; with Inara sapping the Vagabond's capacitor dry and disrupting the tracking on his autocannons, his shields soon collapsed and his armor and hull soon after. We quickly salvaged what we could from the area before any more trouble arrived. Hopefully what we recovered will help pay for his ship; it would be a shame otherwise.

Progress on the Kagami is proceeding as scheduled, so that should be something nice to look forward to this week... frankly, this has been a rather poor month to end the year with. I can only hope the new year is better.

God, I miss her so much...

Private Log Entry, 10.12.111 - Interesting Profits

Well, the last several days have certainly been... "interesting."

A few days ago, Kirsa -- the newest pilot to join the Family -- reported having found a Sansha supply depot in Amod. Where I used to base out of while working with the Accord. I used to enjoy flying around the area, and given Reppy's current condition, I thought perhaps it would be worth poking my head in to see if there was anything there that could help her.

It took us several hours, but we eventually managed to bash our way through the outer defenses and make our way all the way into the deadspace complex. There were a number of us there -- Caellach and Leopold in battlecruisers (a Prophecy and a Harbinger respectively), Kirsa in an Arbitrator, Jude and Whit in bombers (Hound and Nemesis, I believe), and I flew the Thorny Rose and handled smaller targets while Heyna acted as a decoy in her Hawk.

In the end, we managed to track down the complex's overseer, a captain by the name of Skomener Effotber, and reduced his Nightmare-class battleship to a smouldering wreck. When we moved to inspect the wreckage and see what we could salvage, we were most surprised to find a specially-modified energized membrane that is worth almost (or over) five hundred million ISK on the contract market. On top of that, I managed to find some things that I hope may be useful to the people working on finding a cure for Reppy's illness; those particular recovered materials have been sent to the proper place.

Yesterday afternoon, Kirsa reported another deadspace complex ripe for the picking down in Gasavak -- this time, one belonging to the Crimson Hand, a group of Blood Raider sympathizers. We couldn't manage to rouse Heyna again, so I got landed with decoy duty in the Thorny Rose while Kirsa, Leo and Milo handled the rest. It took us a while in the last pocket; while I managed to generally keep a good hold of the eyes of most of the Blooders' sentry gunners and the captains of the modified Apocalypse battleships, Milo had a couple close calls with a capacitor-neutralizing attack (as did I, once or twice), and Leo and Kirsa managed to draw the attention of a few of the battleships as well. In the end, the captain in charge of the complex (whose name we were unable to ascertain; his ship only identified himself as a "Crimson Lord") fell to our combined firepower, and like a little pack of vultures, we moved in to see what our prize would be.

I almost rammed my ship into Kirsa's in surprise when Milo let out an excited shout over comms -- his salvage teams had not only managed to recover another modified set of energized plating, but a completely intact blueprint to build an Ashimmu -- the same type of ship I had constructed for Lilly, the one she named Anta. These blueprints run for about two hundred and fifty million on the contract market, and it's rumored that their design has been heavily upgraded within the last couple of weeks.

With Milo scouting, I brought the blueprint and the membrane safely back to Goinard; later in the evening, Naoko picked them up and brought them to Jita to put them up on the market.

And today... well, I've spent a few hours each night throwing probes out in random directions in Goinard and seeing what I could find. I've found and cleared out a few Serpentis sites, but there was this one gravimetric signature that I simply could not pinpoint, no matter how many probes I threw up around it! So, this morning I asked Jude if he could take a stab at it, and with a grin and a nod, he was in the undocking queue before I knew it, and had already pinpointed it for us.

It turned out to have sizeable deposits of Spodumain and Crokite, both very valuable (and rare) ores for this part of the cluster. What happened next, I will never forget:

We had a mining operation in Goinard.

A bunch of flashy outlaw pilots... mining.

And that's not even the best part -- it wasn't just PRELI pilots who were participating as industrial pilots -- we had PRETA pilots helping out too! Jude put a rack of mining lasers on his Maelstrom, Heyna grabbed a Badger, and Anima Arkenath even showed up in a Procurer! (Where she managed to pull that out of, I have no idea, but I suspect Marcus was involved somehow.)

Milo and I were put on site in "freakons" -- him in his Arazu, me in the Innocence -- just in case some passersby thought that the couple of mining barges we had with us would make for an easy evening snack. We didn't have much in the way of trouble until the local troublemakers -- a bunch of obnoxious little bastards who go call themselves "Zawa's Fan Club" -- decided to poke their noses out of the station that we unfortunately share.

Despite all that, we ended up not having to deal with them at all. I think Vaden -- or "Gramps," as we jokingly call him -- undocking his carrier on them might have given them second thoughts about coming to give us any trouble... this time.

We eventually wrapped things up when people started getting tired and needing to go catch some sleep; I stuck around in the Innocence after I docked, then after a little while I got a call for help from Milo over comms. He asked for a Drake when I responded, and that's exactly what he got -- I managed to land on-site in Raeghoscon just in time to rip the hull plating out from under the pod of Milo's attacker with a well-timed volley of heavy missiles.

We attempted to catch a few more unwary pilots, but in the end couldn't find anything, so we just docked up and called it a night; he went to the Skyhook afterward, I believe, but I had some work to do, and a rather desperate desire to take a long bath, so I had to skip.

There's been some progress with Lilly, thankfully; I went to see her last night after we returned from Gasavak, and after a bit of talking, I managed to get her to try out the holographic piano interface that I had dropped off a week or two ago. Much to our surprise... even though she didn't know what she was doing, she still seemed to just... know what to do with it. Perhaps the memory loss isn't total, as I'd hoped -- that she might still have some memories of things, even if they weren't people or places or events, but perhaps something more physical, like playing the piano.

It was wonderful hearing her play again, but... to me, the most important part was that it brought a smile to her face.

And that's why I've been in such a great mood lately, I think. Not just the very successful several days that the Family has had, but that I've also seen Lilly smiling.

I'm glad that some things still make me just as happy as they used to.

Medical Report: Lagann, Morwen: 1.12.111

Patient: Lagann, Morwen (GF462207810)

Date: December 1, 111YC

Facility: Teppoyuri

Location:

Naraka private hangars belonging to Morwen Lagann

,

Goinard IV - Moon 2 - CONCORD Bureau

TIMELINE

02:45 - Patient arrived at medical facilities on the Teppoyuri.
02:54 - Patient admitted and sent to CF1.
03:00 - Clone grade Xi, ID# GF462207810-1111201 activated.
03:15 - Patient begins clone-jump procedure.
03:17 - Clone-jump procedure completed. Previous clone body taken to secure storage.
03:20 - Patient admitted into OR5.
03:25 - Initial dose of hypnotics administered to patient.
03:30 - Visitors for patient admitted into OR5. Both visitors listed on access lists for Uraha and Misuzu, but not Teppoyuri. Patient allowed override of default access rights for both visitors for the day as well as their presence in the OR.
04:30 - Visitors depart.
04:45 - Second dose of hypnotics administered to patient.
06:15 - Final pre-operation dose of hypnotics administered.
06:20 - Anaesthetics administered.
06:30 - Surgery begins.
07:25 - Final implant diagnostics completed.
07:30 - Implant installation begins.
08:10 - Capsule interface implants installed.
08:20 - Communications implant installed.
09:45 - Additional capsuleer augmentation implants installed.
10:15 - Surgery completed.
11:00 - Patient moved to RU, low doses of hypnotics administered.
13:30 - Patient regains consciousness.
19:00 - Patient officially discharged from medical facilities. Patient elected to remain in RU overnight.

SUMMARY OF PROCEDURES

Procedure: Clone Activation

Status: Completed

Desc.: Grade Xi, GF462207810-1111201

Procedure: Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.: Occipital Lobe - Ocular Filter

Procedure: Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Details: Temporal Lobe - Memory Augmentation

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Parietal Lobe - Neural Boost

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Frontal Lobe - Cybernetic Subprocessor

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Parietal Lobe - Social Adaptation Chip

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Temporal Lobe - Lepus Insights Dodecahedral Subprocessor

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Parietal Lobe - Lepus Insights Actuative Manager

Procedure:

Implant Installation

Status: Completed

Desc.:

Frontal Lobe - Lepus Insights Librarial Tap

FURTHER SUGGESTED TREATMENT

Pilot Lagann should remain out of the capsule for the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and refrain from other strenuous activity during that time as well.

A follow-up appointment has been scheduled for Wednesday the ninth to make certain that the new clone and implants are working properly. If any unusual side-effects or symptoms occur in the interim, Pilot Lagann has been instructed to contact her medical staff immediately.

Private Log Entry, 22.11.111

Morwen's voice has hints of a slightly artificial component to it as she speaks; a trained ear would be able to pick it out as being the caused by a capsule interface, which would mean that she is currently wired in and her ship is idling.

In just a short while, I compete in the latest iteration of Inara's "DeadSpace" games. Last time, the fight was between Elysa and Fear in a Caracal and a Thorax, respectively... this time, it's me against Seriphyn Inhonores, in advanced frigates of our choosing.

I've spent some time studying Seriphyn's combat records, and while it definitely looks like he prefers Ishkurs and Taranis, he's flown an Enyo at least once, and I recall hearing something about him flying a Jaguar once as well. To be honest, in a simple duel such as this, I would fully expect him to bring an Ishkur, and if everything goes as planned and I don't screw up, bringing one will be his only fighting chance.

Reppy and I spent the entire morning looking over my ship and plans; I think I like what she came up with better than what I'd been working with last night when she showed up in my hangar. I have to admit I was rather surprised -- I'd never have expected her to know anything about actual capsuleer combat, but she's been rather full of surprises lately, and just looking at things in the diagnostic tool, this should work much much better.

That all said... I honestly am genuinely concerned about the outcome of this duel. So many people seem to think that it's a sure thing that I'll win in the end -- I really don't think it is, if Seriphyn plays smart. He's right in what he said on the IGS, that most of my solo work has been against pilots that really just did not know what they were doing. I've had a few exceptions, but... still, he's right. My experience primarily lies in working in a group and chewing through a target with overwhelming force and numbers, whereas his experience has been focused in smaller engagements with the Caldari militia.

On an entirely different subject, it's been seven weeks -- at least, I think it's been seven weeks, it's been so long I think I'm losing track -- since I last saw Lilly. Three since she disappeared entirely; nobody has seen her since, not Reimei, not any of her staff... and she's not been in her office or on any of her ships, not even the Longinus... Reimei gave me a comm frequency to try listening to, but I've been listening for days now, and heard nothing... nothing at all save the occasional burst of static or interference. It's just... silent.

She sighs softly, then continues.

I hope she's okay, I really do... she wouldn't have just disappeared like this without a reason, and she wouldn't have done it willingly, I just know she wouldn't have left unannounced like that. It isn't her, even though nobody seems to believe me... I just want her to be safe, to come home.

A pause.

Well, there's the call from Inara. Time to get this show on the road.

Private Video Log, 9.9.111 - Bookmarks

Morwen appears in front of a metallic green background, her shoulder-length hair down and appearing slightly damp. She looks intently at and around the camera, her hands out of view on either side of the lens' field of vision, presumably interacting with the camera drone's physical controls. The colors flicker a little and the image goes a little out of focus for a moment, but then they right themselves. She tilts her head a little, then nods slightly to herself, pushing the drone away just a bit before stepping back a few meters herself, giving the camera a full view of its current interest. Morwen is dressed in a black podsuit mottled with patches of a green color several shades greyer than whatever is behind her.

Family.

One of those things that everyone should have, even if not in a literal, but a more figurative sense. Even better if you can get both, right?

I've found the latter, here in Ghost Festival.

She laughs.

Well, not here per se, we're based in Goinard with Veto, not all the way up in Duripant where I am now. But I've only been here barely a day, and I already feel more welcome here than anywhere else I've ever been. Most of my closest friends -- Family, now -- are here. Ama, Aria, Inara, Kimochi, Reppy... and of course, Lilly.

A small smile crosses her face as the last name leaves her lips.

I know I probably gush about her enough as it is, but I can't help it. Sure, we might be going through a bit of a rough spot right now thanks to that horrifically stupid mistake of mine a couple weeks ago, but I'm infinitely happier having her by my side than I would be without her. I love her, and I don't know what I'd do without her; I can't even imagine life like that anymore.

Morwen sighs a little, then moves a bit, running her fingers against the object in the background. The camera drone adjusts its focus and floats backwards a bit, giving a better view of what turns out to be a Velator-class frigate held securely in dry-dock. Morwen's expression shifts, towards something that appears to be more thoughtful as her fingers run along the edge of a small nameplate on the side of the ship, the word "Melian" clearly readable on the plaque.

It's been over a year since I last flew the Melian. I've been keeping it in Couster for the last year, just to keep it safe. Today I moved it back here to Duripant, where I started my journey as a capsuleer over a year ago in mid-June. Every graduate from the capsuleer training program was given one as a gift... hence its name: "Dear Gift." I've treasured this ship, like all of the others from my early days. And now that I'm moving on from the Accord, to my new Family... I'm closing one chapter of my life, and starting a new one.

Morwen smiles again, her fingertips idly tracing the lettering on the nameplate as she continues.

But it's impossible to bury the past, to leave it behind you permanently. It's part of you, it changes who you are, changes who you can and will be. This is where I started my journey, and what I started it with... and so I will leave the Melian here, so that it may serve as a bookmark of sorts to that part of my life, for whenever I want to remember and revisit it.

A soft pinging noise suddenly starts from somewhere behind the camera drone, causing Morwen to look over. She blinks, then walks over to the source of the noise -- her datapad -- the camera drone panning and refocusing to follow her as she moves. She picks it up and reads it, then smiles a little, shrugging to herself.

Looks like I'm being called back for a roam... I'll just barely be able to make it on time if I hurry.

Morwen laughs a little to herself as she pockets the datapad and walks over to the drone, grabbing it carefully and fiddling with the controls once more, her expression not doing much to hide how unfamiliar she is with the drone's systems.

Now how am I supposed to turn this thing off again? Maybe this switch is the ri--

The video and audio feeds cut out.

Private Log Entry, 29.5.111

Yet again, I screwed up.

Koro and I have this thing we do on one of the public FTL comms channels, specifically the one called "Summit"... it's nothing more than a joke, really.

So one night a new pilot poses a question about how the capsule interface changes your perception of your body -- specifically, how certain ships make you feel larger or smaller, faster or slower, stuff like that -- and I made a crack about how after being in the Uraha for the better portion of a day I keep looking behind me to see if my backside has grown any larger. Koro follows this up with a comment about how it is larger, I responded with a sarcastic quip, we went back and forth with it for a bit... and then someone made a comment about how the "married couple" should take it to private comms.

Which only encouraged us further, as we were already laughing in another channel about the whole thing. It's been "our" joke for the last week or two, and it's mostly for our entertainment than anything else; we've specifically been going with it to make fun of a couple of the more outspoken... idiots... on the Summit.

Anyway... we were heckling each other in the same fashion on the Summit the other day... and didn't realize that Aurora was listening to that channel. Needless to say... she didn't know it was a joke, got upset, cut comms and refused to talk to either of us.

Koro said he'd "deal with it" and went to go find her.

I met up with Koro later at the Skyhook, and he said he'd cleared things up -- she'd been crying when she found him, and smiling when she left. We talked a bit more... about what little of that he would tell me, and some other things... and I made an offhand comment about how cold my hands were.

He called Miss Subaka over, thinking it might be a remaining side effect from the boosters, and she took a look at me, asked me more questions about... that weekend. Short of it was that if anything was still in my system causing trouble, it was the Crystal Egg, and that the best I could do was drink lots of water and see if my CMO could get me a prescription for a detox drink. She left after that... and Koro and I just went back to making idle chit-chat.

Some Achuran lady came in and Koro got up to talk to her... I finished my tea and was ready to leave, so I stopped by to say goodbye... and he gave me a picture he'd gotten of Aurora smiling. It's silly, I know... but I find that looking at a picture of her when she's smiling calms me down and helps me relax.

I went to the Gate after that, figuring perhaps I'd see Amaterasu and Reimei; after all, I had promised Ama that I'd get her a little bit of cider to try -- with Reimei's permission, of course -- but neither of them were there, so I ended up talking to Cia and Math'ra instead. Cia was glad to hear that I was feeling better after my "booster incident"... but Math'ra hadn't heard about it so I had to repeat the story yet again... I really just want these bruises to go away so I don't have to talk about it.

We changed the subject, and Ama and Reimei came up... and then all of a sudden my datapad started beeping... and it was Ama.

She was in trouble, and something about Reimei... being dead... and... I don't know... my mind just shut down. I don't really remember much after that... Math'ra left, I think to try and find her... somewhere in Caldari space... somewhere I can't go. Cia took me home a little while after... and here I am...

I have to call Math'ra tomorrow... see if he found her... but I can't be of any help if Idon't sleep...