audio; un: srogers

[unshielding]

Hi. My name is Captain Steve Rogers. I wanted to introduce myself to everyone. Where I come from, protecting people was very important to me. It still is. This ship is dangerous and I think we're getting side-tracked from an important conversation here.

I don't think we should worry too much about that roster file we were sent, but it's not a bad idea to have some sort of security team that can respond to a crisis and keep track of everything we have figured out about this place so far. I'd like to help with any effort like that, but it might be best if we wait before assigning rank to anyone. Fighting over who's the boss or throwing baseless orders around isn't going to help anyone or keep them safe. Our priorities should be safety and finding a way to leave.

It's been suggested to me that some of the things that have been happening to us could be some sort of security response from the ship. Does anyone with a better understanding of computers want to weigh in on that? Can anyone try to access those systems? There's still a lot of the station that we can't access and I know some of us have been trying to work on that.

Finally, if there's anything else I can help with, please reach out to me.

[ And a later text that follows: ]

I think people have misunderstood what I want to do. I don't want anyone to have power over the rest of us. This would be for dealing with outside threats and organizing information that would be available to everyone. Anyone who wanted to help would be welcome.

Comments

[wingstosee]

oh. really?
i guess i didn't think about it like that.
since security forces are usually...
you know.

huh.
i kind of have to think about this.

[unshielding]

I just want to keep everyone safe. We're too disorganized now to respond to anything as a group. We'll all be better off if we can work together.

[wingstosee]

that makes sense, but...
wouldn't everyone be a part of the force then?
at that point it's sort of an all or nothing deal, i think.

[unshielding]

I'm not going to force anyone to put themselves in danger.

[wingstosee]

well, no.
actually, that's really nice of you?
i really like that.

but if something big enough is happening that we're all in danger, that's kind of a thing regardless of if we try to include them or not.
right?
like...
i know at camp, once the devil showed up, it was all or nothing.
all the kids came out for backup.

but also, camp kind of sucked?
like, a lot??
so. idk. maybe it's best not to do that.

[unshielding]

I'm sorry the actual devil?

[wingstosee]

um. yes?
is that strange for where you're from.
like half the people here haven't even heard of the devil so i don't really know how much i need to explain. haha

[unshielding]

The devil is more of a concept where I'm from.

[wingstosee]

yeah. honestly i think that's true for most people?
here on board at least.
i've only found a few people who have talked to god or the devil, so like.
you know.

but where i'm from, the devil's very real.
i'd know since i sort of am her?
it's complicated.

[unshielding]

It sounds complicated.

[ Steve can't pretend that he knows what that really means, but considering the fact that he's friendly with a "god", he doesn't think it's something worth overthinking just yet. ]

[wingstosee]

yeah.
at least you've heard of the devil?
i've had to explain god to like ten people so far.
which is a lot more difficult than you'd think?

actually wait just to make sure
you do know about. god and all. right

[unshielding]

I do, yes.
Are there really people who don't?

[wingstosee]

so many???
oh my god. SO many.
i get having to explain the "i am the devil, and so are the two girls here with me" part, because i mean. that's not really the most intuitive thing?
but like... half of the people i've talked to have just asked what a devil is.
it's so weird?? i know a lot of people aren't from earth, but you'd think that'd sort of be- a religious constant. i don't know

[unshielding]

No, I wouldn't call it intuitive.
I don't think many things are a religious constant when you're talking about a society isolated from ours, though.

[wingstosee]

yeah that's really something you just kind of have to. be there for?
other devils probably wouldn't have a problem getting it but i totally understand why it'd be weird for a human.
or an alien. i didn't realize we had those here but they're just as valid

and that's a good point? at least i think it is.
but most religions have a sort of... you know
good and bad thing going on, right?

[unshielding]

It's not really an area I'm too familiar with.
Maybe people are familiar with good and evil, but not our words for the beings that might embody those concepts.

I think this might be a little over my head.

[wingstosee]

haha. i get that.
i'll just... try to make it easier?
i'm the devil, and i'm a bad kid, and i really like basically everyone i've met here.
and that includes you.

honestly, we can talk about. theology?
and god and satan and all of that all we want.
but the important part is, i think you're pretty neat.
so if you're scared of the devil, you don't have to be. :)

[unshielding]

I think you're pretty neat, too, Venus. I find it hard to believe that you're a bad kid.

[wingstosee]

really? haha. that part's a lot easier than being the devil though?
i mean, it's not hard to be a bad kid, you know?
if you don't do what you're told, or you don't listen well, or you don't like god's plans...
it's so easy to be bad.
all you have to do is grab on and suddenly life is so much easier?

what makes you think i'm not bad anyway?

[unshielding]

Sometimes doing what you're told and doing what's right are at odds. I'm not great at doing what I'm told, either, but I try to do the right thing.

What makes you think that you are bad? I've known bad people. You haven't given me any reason to lump you in with them. No one here has.

[wingstosee]

haha. don't let god see you saying that.
or maybe do? i guess pastors say that kind of thing all the time.
but usually "the right thing" is just doing what god tells you anyway, right?
so that's easy for them to say.

i mean. lots of things?
urgh. i'm probably just going to have to list them to give you an idea?
i guess that works.
so uh. here goes??

- blasphemy
- devil worship
- becoming the literal devil (this should probably be at the top actually???)
- vandalism
- property damage
- radical devil anarchy
- throwing away god's gifts
- i used to be a boy and i threw that away too?
- liking boys and girls. i don't even know which one of those is a sin anymore?? but at least one definitely still counts haha
- envy? this kind of feels like a copout actually. i'm going to ignore the other deadly sins
- underage drinking. i forgot about this one but i've done it like at least four times now.
- sleeping with other people in my room before we're married
- sleeping with two other people in my room before we're married
- i don't even know if marriage would be a thing??? but we also like. kiss and stuff. that's definitely a sin

honestly there's like a million more things??
but that's. probably good enough for a start.
so... yeah. pretty much all of these are the Wrong Thing with capitals. you know?
that's why i say i'm bad.

does that make any more sense or

[unshielding]

[ Okay that's a lot to wrap his head around and Steve can't help but think that he never would have been prepared for this conversation a few years ago. He's thankful he hadn't had to have it until now, when he's had some time to adjust to the world around him and educate himself, because he still feels like he's about to put his foot in his mouth. ]

Okay, but how do you treat people? What do you do when you see other people being mistreated or in pain? That's a lot more important than whether you have a beer before you're old enough.

I've probably done a third of the things on that list and most of them don't seem so bad. Maybe try to keep the vandalism and property damage to a minimum, but what matters is that you aren't hurting people. You don't strike me as someone who goes around hurting people, Venus. I have to admit that I don't understand what devil worship entails for you, though.

And I didn't exactly grow up in a time when being gay or bisexual (or is there another term I should be using?) was something we really talked about, but that's no measure of what kind of person you are. Kissing is definitely not a sin. Neither is being who you are.

[ He hits send and hopes he said the right thing. All the devil stuff seems so fantastical, but Thor is a 'god', so who knows what he's really dealing with. ]

1/2; length incoming, i'm sorry

[wingstosee]

huh.

[ and for a few minutes, that's all that comes through. it takes her an honest to god five minutes to even figure out what else to say. ]

2/2; oh god

[wingstosee]

[ but sure enough, words start trickling through again. ]

i think... you and i are from very, very different places.
maybe it's just kansas. or maybe it's the whole world.
probably the second one? haha.
because, what you're saying... it's a lot for me to take in.

i guess the way i'd put it...
is that you sound kind of like the youth pastors at the church i used to go to
except you believe all of it?
like, you're not just saying this to sound nice.
you really believe all of it.
that not hurting people is the only part that matters, and that liking girls or boys isn't wrong.
no matter what god says.

and i think...
that makes you as bad as me in some ways.
and so, so much more good, in so many others?
haha. i don't really know what to make of it! but i'll try my best.
for now, i guess i'll just say this.

you seem like a really nice guy.
thanks for saying all of that.

also
honestly, i don't really know much about terms or anything like that either. :)
so don't worry about any of that.
i don't think my girlfriends really know what to call it either.

[unshielding]

All I can really say is that I do my best to do the right thing.
I don't always know what that is, but most of the time, I have a good idea.

I don't like seeing people hurt or pushed around. A rule that hurts innocent people isn't a rule worth following, whether it's a law or something another organization tells you to do.

Maybe I am bad in some ways, but I hope they're not in the ways that would hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it.

[ But he knows at least one person he has hurt and it's a heavy weight in his heart. ]