roll call

[boldboimler]

[The man that's on screen doesn't look as uncomfortable as he could be. After all, the showers in the Cerritos are communal. But he sure is feeling vulnerable chilling here in only a sheet, in an area where only a short time ago there were monsters.]

[Every so often he arches his back slightly in discomfort at the itching, crawling sensation there. (This is worse than the Borg parts. Worse than even the implants on his face.)]

Okay, we should probably do a role call? Who's still here? What's your name?

Also, what skills do you have that could be useful here? We need to figure out what we need to survive. Delegate tasks. The supplies around here definitely seem to be thin on the ground. They're not going to last forever.

We should also probably share intel about anything useful we find as we look around. Or anything the AI shares with us.

Comments

[memcake]

That...doesn't sound right. If that were true, so many people wouldn't wear full down jackets in the middle of summer.

[It's a statement.]

That sort of functionality is for uniforms. You can't tell much about someone from just a uniform. Clothes are where all the Freshness is.

[There's that word again. Agent 8 is really not sure where the misunderstanding lies here. Maybe it's in how Ventrexians rank their gear, it might be a totally different system.]

[furtitude]

[You're killing him. He's dying right now. Sure, it's nice to look cool. There's a reason he has a little mohawk and it's not shaved down short or something. But he was raised by a Ventrexian pragmatist that took said pragmatism to a level of callous ruthlessness that went all the genocide if convenient.]

Okay, things or elements of things that someone wears on themselves that are important, ranked: one, weapons; two, pockets; three, practicality for the elements and/or protective qualities. Very last place: freshness.

Who wears down jackets in summer? Why?

[He has worn heavy jackets (not down, but a similar synthetic). Yes. Sure. Certainly.]

[On ice planets where they belong.]

[memcake]

[Agent Eight suddenly finds himself having to defend a cultural touchstone he's taken for granted even before he was able to choose clothes for himself. He grew up idealizing the freedom to wear what he wanted, when he wanted. That was part of what he was told: the Inklings couldn't be anywhere near as Fresh as Octolings and to make sure they couldn't show them up, they had to keep them down.

No wonder he's struggling.]

Because...they want to show everyone that they can take the heat?

[OK, OK, maybe that's a start?]

Wearing something like that makes a statement about who you are. You wear it to show how unbothered you are by being uncomfortable. Or you wear shorts and a thin jersey to show you're so good you don't need armor. Or...you wear a mask so your opponent can't look you in the eye. That's Freshness. That's what's important.

[furtitude]

But if you're really unbothered by stuff you won't care about how unbothered you look. If you're so good you don't need armor, you're so naturally good you don't need to take extra risks to show it off to make other people think you're cool. They'll just see you fight and know.

[There are types of cool that can be reached by being so cool you don't even care how you look. There is no impression meant to be granted. You just are. You could lean against a wall in a burlap sack and just project. (But without the burlap sack being a choice.) Like the way Cato leans back slightly, with an arm casually draped over a crate.]

The mask thing I get, though. My spacesuit has a mask and sometimes I pop it just when I'm shooting at people. That can be extra intimidating. But the people you're shooting at getting a certain impression is pretty tactical.

[memcake]

[Cato, why are you repeating him.]

Right, exactly, that's what I'm saying. It's all tactical, not just masks but everything you wear. Why would you not care how you look to others? Sight is the most important sense, at least to us Octolings. You can't just disregard it. Why would you want to? Your opponents can see you, nothing else about the environment can.

[If Cato can judge these things by video, he can see that Eight is pacing a little bit. He has his hand resting on his chin in thought. He thought everyone knew this stuff, he never thought he'd have to explain it.]

Not trying to look Fresh would be like...I don't know, building a road without speed limit signs. Or...trying to ship glass without putting fragile stickers on the box. Or storing hazardous material without labeling what it is and how to handle it. It just doesn't make sense.