Commander's Log 001 | voice; / action;

[chakotay]

[ his day has not been a good one. actually, the last few have been... less than ideal. he's been trying to do something a little more normal and had almost no luck. perhaps it's his mind running wild; perhaps it's the lack of personal items he would normally have at his disposal. whatever the case, his days have been... extremely difficult to adjust to. so when he decides to test the system, as it were, he chooses to make his presence known by voice only for now. ]

I realize I am still very new to this City, but I have a question for any who would answer. Do any of you have personal items that you normally have in your own homes, items you no longer have with you? What do you do now, with the emptiness that comes of having lost something extremely important? I find myself... missing certain things and I'm at a loss as to how to connect to something that is no longer with me.

[ it's a vaguely-worded question and he's not sure he'll answer with complete honesty if someone asks what he's talking about, but it's a question that's bothering him now. perhaps the answer is to gather a substitute and make do with what he can here. for better or for worse. ]

Comments

» audio

[thenormalsquint]

I get used to it.

[Her things aren't all material. Mostly people. They can't be substituted.]

What are you missing? I can guarantee you the City might have something like it, if not it already.

» audio

[chakotay]

[ this may as well be a set of people. they're that important. ]

They're personal possessions that remind me of important people and events in my life. They help me focus. I doubt there's anything similar. [ pause. ] But maybe... a shop might have something I could use instead.

[ vague, vague, vague. ]

» audio

[thenormalsquint]

Oh, so like pictures and mementos? No, I don't think the City will have those. At least, not the same exact one.

[Unless a curse brings them.]

What are you looking for? Maybe I can suggest someplace to look.

» audio

[chakotay]

Something like that.

[ that might be interesting, actually. he's only shown the bundle to one person before, so the idea of talking about what's in it to a complete stranger isn't sitting well. even so, maybe he can bend it a little. ]

Gemstones, mostly. [ not entirely the same thing, but if those exist here, he might be able to find something similar to one of the items at least. ] They won't be exactly the same, but anything close will help.

audio | filter » starfleet comm frequency;

[directives]

[ she knows her first officer well enough to guess what he's getting at, but won't point it out when there's nothing she can do about it. they've had to rough it through tougher situations, been away from voyager without so much as a medkit for longer than this, but knowing that you're stuck here and there's no viable means of getting home makes it that much worse. even lost in the delta quadrant, thousands of lightyears from their homeworlds, they've always had the comforts of home right at their fingertips -- whether it be things they brought with them before the caretaker sealed their fate or replicated somewhere along the way. but, there are no replicators here and they only have what was on their immediate person at their time of arrival. tricorders and phasers are hardly creature comforts. they're basically starting from scratch and faced with being her for an indefinite amount of time. it's as maddening as it is infuriating, and it's a "fate" kathryn janeway refuses to accept. ]

You could always paint a smile on your tricoder and cuddle up with it.

audio | filter » starfleet comm frequency;

[chakotay]

[ somehow, just like that, kathryn's response is enough to pull him at least partway out of his semi-brooding mindframe. she reminds him of what he has here. she might not be his medicine bundle and she might not be able to help him contact his spirit guide like the bundle would, but she can put him at ease better than anything or anyone else.

in spite of the situation, he's very glad she's here. ]

If you're suggesting I treat my tricorder like a stuffed toy, I might have to recommend that you spend a little time in sickbay.

audio | filter » starfleet comm frequency;

[directives]

Come now, Commander. You couldn't successfully recommend that when we were back on Voyager. What makes you think you could get away with doing so here?

voice;

[hexuality]

[She's tired and painfully sentimental today and out of everything she's seen on the network, this is what catches her attention. She was lucky to come to the City with her wand on her because that's her most important possession, an extension of her arm and her soul. She can't imagine having come here without it.]

The City might surprise you. [A thoughtful pause.] Anonymous, the people who overthrew the deities a few weeks ago... They were asking for us to help them rebuild parts of the City and they were willing to pay us with something small from home. Try contacting them, maybe?


[ooc; idk if this is still a Thing but it was fairly recent! this was the ic post and here is the ooc one. :) ]

voice; ♥!

[chakotay]

[ that's a very interesting idea. he makes a note to ask kathryn about it. she might have been around for that or have known someone who was and they might be able to help him contact these... people, whoever they are. maybe... ]

That sounds like a very good idea. [ sort of. well, it has its merits. he's just not so sure about bending the temporal rules. which ones would that sort of thing bend, which would it break? that will take some discussing with his captain and closest friend. ]

I'm assuming you've been here long enough to remember that or know someone who has.

voice;

[hexuality]

Yeah. Actually, I helped a bit—with the Hall of the Missing.

[She's certainly been here long enough to have helped and to feel attached to that particular building, too. But to have a taste of home is something she knows helps with being here, even if it's something small (like a few bottles of liquor only found in her world).]

They're on the network more often than the deities ever were. You might be able to find them. Tristero's the one I've spoken with the most.

Voice

[trenchknives]

I mean, if it's personal stuff you're lookin' for, it can be kinda hard to gettin' used to not havin' it, but sometimes this place can surprise you. Sometimes we do get stuff from home... mementos, pictures. It doesn't happen when we expect it, but it happens.

Voice

[chakotay]

Random "gifts" from the people in charge? [ he's not sure what to think of this. bending temporal rules, acquiring things from alternative dimensions or temporal anomalies... it all sounds difficult to imagine. and yet it's enticing. too enticing.

he's also not sure he approves of the idea of "people in charge" either. ]

Re: Voice

[trenchknives]

Kinda. When the Deities were in charge, we had a curse where it rained photographs. Real personal stuff, y'know? Stuff from home. Some of us we're able to keep 'em. Sometimes you could make a deal with one of the Deities, too, trade somethin' in return for somethin' from home.

I dunno how it's gonna work with the guys that're rulin' the place now. I know some people got letters from home, a couple days back. Supposedly, at least.

audio; starfleet comm

[logistical]

[Mysterious person who has access to the Starfleet filter! You now have +1 curious Vulcan.]

Have you attempted to rebuild it?

audio; starfleet comm

[chakotay]

[ hopefully this is a vulcan he can get along with rather than tolerate. either way, he's intrigued now, assuming this is commander spock, as kathryn told him spock is here. ]

They aren't things that can be rebuilt. I'm considering trying to find substitutes, but it's a little more complicated than that.

audio; starfleet comm

[logistical]

Were they on your person or nearby? It is possible the object is within the city, and simply has to be located.

voice;

[skintoskin]

[That sounds sad...]

I guess these are things you can't buy here? I mean, we're not talking about your toothbrush, right?

voice;

[chakotay]

Not exactly. [ he's just grateful he had it with him when the val jean was pulled into the delta quadrant, or else he would have spent the last five years without it and he's not so sure how he would have managed that. ] They're more personal than simple. I was planning on looking for something similar, but I don't think the exact ones can be found.

voice;

[skintoskin]

[Okay, this has potential interest.]

What are you looking for?

voice;

[anatural]

You could try asking the guys in charge for a trade. [The deities used to make trades like that all the time. She hasn't tried it with this new regime.]

voice;

[chakotay]

I'm not so sure asking for a trade is a very good idea.

[ he's not willing to make a trade of this magnitude with someone he doesn't know. that and the idea of this being a temporal anomaly means they'd have to transcend space-time itself to get what he wants and he isn't willing to do that without breaking the temporal prime directive. ]

voice;

[anatural]

Well, yeah, you never really wanted to make a trade when the deities were in charge. [Lie. Her first trade with the deities went perfectly. But that second, aborted trade rather soured her on the whole thing.] But the Anonymous movement seems pretty okay.

audio;

[candothat]

I have not experienced this, but I think that, if you are patient, there will be an opportunity for you to request an item from home.

audio;

[chakotay]

[ that accent... when he finds out who this is, he'll certainly find this interesting. he knows chekov is here, but the idea he would reply is... well, he didn't really think about it. ]

I'm not so sure I want to go that far.

audio // starfleet comm frequency

[candothat]

Asking to make a trade would be worse, I think--if trades are still being made. The deities who were recently overthrown were fair, so far as I know, even when the prices they asked were high.

[And, because he has rifled through the other replies by now--]

You are a member of Captain Janeway's crew?