multiversallogs

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Who: Shepard and YOU!
What: Various wanderings around Baedal. Specific threads for Kincaid's and the Arena.
Where: VARIOUS PLACES.
When: Various times, sukkardi/shundi.
Notes: All CR is welcome! I'll be putting up a couple of open thread starters but if anyone has ideas, just let me know and we'll get something going!
Warnings: Possible violence of the sparring sort in the arena; I'll update if anything else comes up.

Shepard is the kind of person who prefers a somewhat regimented kind of life - so it's no surprise that she quickly falls into a bit of a routine in Baedal. As long as she's not worrying about the basics - food, shelter and clothing - it's a matter of finding her way around and thinking about higher-order things - like keeping in shape.

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"And yet we tend to lump them all together at one extreme or the other," Things aren't always that bad in Steph's world, but there's a definite trend that aliens are either the evil invaders, or the heroic saviours. She's not sure how she feels about it.

"What do they want with Earth?" There are lots of options here, and Steph has a few guesses, but it's easier to just ask.

"Yeah, we really love our binaries. Good and bad, black and white, all of that." Shepard shakes her head.

"No one really knows. But it's not just Earth they're after. They're attacking the whole galaxy. They - they enslave organics. Convert them into... mindless creatures, shock troops. It's not pretty."

"Such a pleasure," Irene replies. Her own shake is surprisingly firm, not quite the grip one expects from someone so carefully put-together. "So- here for entertainment? Must be different watching it as someone with actual training and experience in the matter."

--in which Irene paints herself as someone who would be dreadful in a fight. It's not completely true.

Shepard tilts her head slightly. "I'm not exactly here for entertainment - I heard about this place and I was curious about how it works." She glances back down at the arena. "They all seem very experienced. Practice sparring, or fighting in an arena for sport, it's totally different from actually being in a battle. I think most of these people know that difference."

Any comment she had on binaries is lost in the wake of what else Shepard says, because - "That's fucking horrifying."

Eloquent as ever, but Steph has a lot of feelings about that sort of thing and it shows in her expression. She's not exactly a soldier, but if something like that came to her universe she'd be on the front line.

"I really hope you can beat them."

"Me, too," she says quietly. "Even if we do, though... I'm not sure anything will ever be the same."

The Reapers have already destroyed so much, after all. Even if she got sent home tomorrow and was able to defeat them, it could easily take the rest of her lifetime and beyond to rebuild everything. All the homeworlds.

The batarians aren't going to be as lucky, she knows.

"That's the problem with war," Which Steph doesn't have any direct experience with, but she's seen the after effects plenty of times, both in small scales and the large scale.

They've had invading fleets come to Earth before, they're just lucky enough to have the Justice League and other superheroes to turn them away.

"We've never had it on such a huge scale before," Shepard says. "There's already been at least one species essentially driven to the point of extinction."

"Jesus," said in a low voice, barely more than an exhale as she pushes a hand through her hair.

That sounds - awful. It makes her think of Kara, and Megan, because they're both the survivors of nearly extinct alien races.

"I wish I could lend you some of your superheroes for a while, they'd be able to make a dent in the Reapers," Superman might be the nicest guy Steph's met, but she's also seen him in action and knows how much damage he can do.

"I appreciate the thought, but we'll have to deal with this with our own ingenuity, I suppose," Shepard says quietly.

Another reason to get a really good work out: maybe, if she's tired enough, she won't dream.

"You'll get through it, humans are nothing if not survivalists," As much as she will occasionally despair over the general state of the human race, she's seen how well they can pull through any awful shit - No Man's Land was good for something.

"We'll see." Shepard wasn't quite so sure, anymore. She put on a good front, because what else could she do? But this was bigger than anything anyone could've imagined.

"You're not interrupting," she answers with a little shake of her head. "I was just finishing up, actually. My name's Olivia, and I'm fairly new too - been here a few months, but I'm still sort of finding my feet." Her smile broadens, and she adds, "I guess the whole patchwork nature of the place isn't helping with that..."

"I hope you do," There's very little else Steph can say here - she doesn't want to give useless platitudes, they'd just be condescending. So she just pulls her arm across her chest to stretch.

"I'm gonna hit the mats," That areas reserved for yoga classes, but there's nothing on now so Steph can use the space to run through some kata, "I'll see you around, yeah?"

Shepard nods. "Yeah. It was... good talking to you." And that's true enough - it's actually almost cathartic in a way, to talk to someone about the Reapers who doesn't have firsthand experience of them.

"Yeah, it's... pretty weird," she admits. "How are you handling it? Finding work okay and all of that?"

Among other things, Shepard is interested to know if it takes people a while to assimilate, or if there are a lot of transplants who fall through the cracks.

Not to mention - do people like it here? Is it considered a terrible place to be, or is it a positive experience overall?

Steph's smile is wry, considering the topic of conversation, "You too. I hope things work out back home."

She gives a little salute, in lieu of a wave, and then heads off to the other part of the gym.

There's a fleeting grimace, and then a smile as Olivia shrugs. She's not happy here. She misses her home, her family, her team, her job. Just the knowledge, the fact that she's been trapped in another strange universe yet again makes her furious when she allows herself to think about it. But she's surviving.

"It could be worse," she says, sounding rather more sanguine about it than she feels. It has been worse, for her, when it comes to being abducted to alternate universes. That doesn't make it good. "I've got a job, an apartment... They do make it relatively easy for us, at least."

"That's true enough. Small favors," Shepard says sympathetically. She knows the feeling. Her universe may not be in the best shape right now, but it's hers, dammit, and she was going to do her best to save it.

Now she's stuck here, and stuck trying to work off the frustration of not being there anymore.

"At least I'm not stuck sitting on my hands. I have to feel useful."

Her smile deepens, taking on a wry edge as she nods. "Completely. I wish I still had punching bags in my house."

"A punching bag would be good," she says. "A house might be even better. Not that I've ever lived in a house before." Her statement is good-natured, but, well, Shepard is a spacer. She's never lived planetside for any appreciable amount of time. She'll have to adjust.

"You've always lived in space?" Her eyes widen, more out of intrigue than surprise. "This must be a pretty big adjustment."

Her lips quirk in a wry smile. "At least I just traded one bizarre, violent city for another."

Shepard shrugs. "It's not as though I don't know anything about life planetside, I just get antsy when I'm not on a ship or space station." She paused a moment. "Military family," she finally said.

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