voicetest | Setting: Spaaaaaace!

"Levitation, huh?" He had been wondering how this universe handles zero G, since his own had a lot of use out of it too. But he guesses some things worked the same. Machinery that can reduce gravity can also be used to increase it, whether it be gravity tethers or mass effect fields.

At the mention of religion, his expression falters. He can't help it, it's an ingrained instinct from most of his adult life. The connected thought to that makes him worry a little, "That religion wouldn't happen to involve everyone becoming a big happy lump of unity after death, would it?" A bit of bitterness comes out at that question, despite his earlier attempts to avoid being rude.

Jacob looks a bit puzzled for a moment. "No, nothing like that. They worship the Protheans- ancient alien race. They call them the Enkindlers, say they were gods who taught them civilization." And in Jacob's experience, some of the hanar would not shut up about it if you gave them the chance to talk.

He crosses his arms again and takes a step back for a moment, leaning back on one leg as he regards Isaac. His tone didn't sound like an idle joke, just now. "That lump thing... is that a real faith you're from?"

He huffs out in relief at hearing the description of their beliefs. Yes, there is some connection with Unitology, but hell, in a galaxy where other, living aliens surely exist, there's nothing weird about having a belief system with a progenitor species in there.

"Uh," he rubs a hand over his face. "Yeah. It's this thing called Unitology. But, you have to understand. Where I'm from... it's not like your galaxy." Probably the most jarring thing about this place was how often people smiled. It felt different in the air, people's lives were just better, their moods higher. It was if a tight rope around mankind's neck had been pulled off the moment he stepped onto the ship.
"There are more computers made then there are people. There's no talk of things like 'preserving garden worlds'. There aren't any left. We had our one and it's gone. People everywhere just felt like they didn't have a future, or anything to hope for." He'd be lying if he said he never felt the same, but still. "So Unitology comes around, and it preaches that everyone comes together after death in something called 'Convergence', and it'll be a great happy afterlife where you'll meet all your friends and family again--only you'll be one mind and soul together." He shakes his head. "Even then it wouldn't be so bad, but it preys on people. It costs money to get in with the church, and they target vulnerable people, or people who wouldn't be able to say no, and they just..." He trails off, the memories of his younger life are still raw to him. "Destroy lives, until the church is all they have left."

"Damn. I didn't know it was that bad where you're from. I'm sorry." Jacob says it simple and direct. He means it, but even as he speaks he knows words are insufficient here. It's hard for him to imagine a life so utterly without hope, except maybe in the darkest parts of the lawless Terminus Systems.

"They sound like nothing but a cult." His voice fills with contempt, suspicion, hostility. The kind of exploitation Isaac describes strikes a deep and tender chord with Jacob. "The authorities, they just let this happen? Haven't declared them illegal or anything?"

He forces a smile at the apology, though he truly does appreciate the gesture. It's not as if Jacob's universe is all peachy keen, after all, especially considering all the guns laying out around them. Still, he can't help but feel a little... envious of the guy.

"EarthGov--which I guess is the equivalent of your Alliance--" The name Alliance confuses him a little, it sounds like it should be the name of a human and alien force. It makes more sense when he remembers it was made after the people on Earth got their shit together and held hands in unison. EarthGov was like that too, only it took a second Cold War and devastating ecological disasters for it to happen. "They're obviously not fond of them. They've tried to regulate as much as they can, like limiting where and when they can proselytize. But the Church has got a pretty big heft, you know? It comes with the territory when their followers have to fill their coffers. ....The real problem is that a lot of people really do believe in what the Church has to say. When you got people who have this one last thing to hold onto, you can't just--" He gestures with both hands, sullen.

"That's my galaxy. EarthGov, Unitology, dead aliens."

"I get it." Jacob frowns. "Money talks. Some things don't change no matter where you're from."

A few years ago Jacob learned that all organic civilization in his Galaxy had been orchestrated by a malevolent ancient race of machine-gods responsible for millions of years of cyclic genocide, and Isaac's world still sounds more depressing than what he's used to. Jacob can handle the idea of a dark future looming overhead, the threat of an imminent galactic harvest, but the lifeless, desperate universe Isaac has described sounds more like a dark present. It's especially hard for him to imagine a galaxy where all the aliens are dead.

"So this Church- are they the reason you're not comfortable without a weapon? Sounds like they've caused a lot of trouble." Jacob asks the question directly, yet hopes he's not stepping on any of Isaac's graves in doing so. It's hard to know what's okay to talk about and what's off-limits when comparing entirely different universes.

He flounders, making a tensed noise in the back of his throat. It almost comes rushing out all at once but he stops himself. He wants to tell Jacob, but there's something in the back of his mind that tells him if he talks about what happened... then somehow it would bring an outbreak here.

"Look, you're..." he brings up the arm he'd installed an 'omnitool' on, flipping through it looking for a program that can be used to draw or record physical motion. "I don't mean to overstep my bounds on this ship, but you and your company are pretty deep in paramilitary, secretive shit, right?"

Isaac had been on enough military ships with sensitive information on them to smell a jump in paygrade from the other side of the deck, and Jacob's vessel felt like it was humming with info he wasn't supposed to look too closely at. Why he's asking, however, is for the sake of putting his mind at ease.

"Officially, I can't confirm or deny something like that," Jacob says. Then he shrugs. Jacob Taylor can keep a secret when it's important, but he will never be the Galaxy's most reliable devotee of regulations and red tape. There's obviously something big on Isaac's mind, something painful and frightening, and Jacob has dedicated his life to confronting painful and frightening things. "But off the record? The fact that I have to say 'off the record' should answer the question."

"Yeah, I get it." He finds a TouchDraw or similar program, activating it, and a rectangular, grid screen pops up above his arm in glowing orange, awaiting input. He presses one finger into it, and a thick glowing line surrounds it.

By memory, he draws out the too familiar double helix shape, first one half, then the other. The image itself makes him pause, the motion of drawing it taking him back to the time before. His eyes glass over, and before he can stop himself, he's already drawing out one of the symbols that covered the marker's surface. As he lifts his finger to draw another, he snaps out of it with a shake of his head.

Swallowing roughly, he looks back to Jacob, offering the finished screen in front of him. "Have you or anyone you work with ever seen something that looks like this?"

Edited 2014-04-17 23:11 (UTC)

Jacob leans in slightly to get a good look at the screen, then shakes his head. The symbol is faintly unsettling, reminiscent of flames or twisted blades, but he doesn't recognize it. Jacob looks away from the screen to focus on Isaac. The look on his face while he was drew that... Jacob's not sure what he's seeing in this man, but he doesn't like it.

"Doesn't ring any bells. It looks like an icon of some kind. Is that their logo or something?"

"It's...." Shit. He doesn't know how to explain it all at once. "It's the icon of the Church." Maybe he shouldn't explain it. It's irrational, but he can't get over the idea that talking about it will invite the same disasters to this universe. "...But it's also this artifact. It's incredibly dangerous because it does things to people's heads. The Church was the one going around to different planets and digging them up--exposing people to them."

Keeping things vague helps him feel a little better about talking about it. "They claim it's part of their religion, but they really have... no idea what it's truly there for." His eyes are glazing over again, but this time he's able to fight it back, his expression growing stern. "Yeah. They're why I don't feel comfortable without a gun."

"Well, you should have one soon. Cryo ammo, like I said. Could help you feel a little safer." Jacob looks over at a nearby weapons rack, scanning it for likely candidates, then looks back to Isaac and the sinister icon on the screen. Buried artifacts, doing things to people's heads... A tingle runs down his spine. How much has Isaac been exposed to that kind of insidious influence?

"Do me a favour, though," he says. "Talk to Yeoman Chambers about what you just told me. Especially about those artifacts. She's... the ship counselor. I'm not trying to cross any lines here-" He holds up his hands, a gesture of respecting Isaac's space. "But it sounds like you've been handling some real shit. Might be you could use some comfort that you can't get from a gun. Know what I'm saying?"

He hopes Isaac does. If there's a chance the engineer has been exposed to something in his own universe that's comparable to Reaper indoctrination, Jacob is not going to arm him until it's sorted out.

Ugh. The ship's resident overly friendly shrink. It's not as though Isaac has no respect for mental help professionals at all. But there's something about how forward miss Chambers is that puts him off. It's probably his past experiences in a straight jacket talking there, though. (That's one thing he's not going to breathe a word about on this ship, that's for sure.)

"Yeah..." he tries not to sound too dismissive, but a bit of a sullen expression crosses onto his face. "I'll drop by CIC for a chat later. ...Thanks for taking the time to hear me out yourself, by the way." He perks up a little, flashing the man a brief bit of open gratitude.

"No problem, man." Jacob's not surprised to see the sullenness. He'd act the exact same way in Isaac's place. He hates it when people try to tally up his baggage or treat him like he needs to open up about whatever he's carrying. But for Jacob, this is something different- something like indoctrination.

He holds out his hand for a shake. "Take care. I'll get back to you about that gun."

He looks back down to his hand and his smile grows to something more genuine. He grabs it in his own, briefly squeezing his fingers around his palm. After the talk he feels a bit more comfortable. Hell, he'd probably come duck into the armory if miss Tali starts trying to poke inside his RIG again.

"Yeah, I'll be..." He shrugs his shoulders, "Well, down in Engineering, probably, if you need me."

Setting: Spaaaaaace!

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Sorry for the delay, it's crunch time at school!

Its alright! I've been a little sluggish myself, ugh

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(( Don't worry Jacob, he's only slightly indoctrinated. Slightly. ))

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(( A+ would definitely RP again))