// EVENT: STATION-WARMING PARTY

[aqdidit]

It's like a long, long blink, and then, pop - the uncomfortable feeling of squeezing the very last stubborn little bit of toothpaste out of the tube, but you're the toothpaste.

And then you're sitting in a chair in a strange bar, with several people you've never seen before in your life. The light is low, the sort of comfortable level reserved for comradely conversations around some nachos and beers. The architecture of the bar itself looks industrial - someone might be forgiven for thinking it's located in a reclaimed warehouse or something of the like.

It's not. (Not unless you want to call a repurposed mining space station a warehouse.)

There's food on the tables, and drinks - much of it looks like staple bar food (is that deep-fried mac and cheese???), but some of it is a little unfamiliar (is that a bowl of worms? are they moving???????????).

After you have a moment to look around in sheer bewilderment, a man in what seems to be a uniform stands on the dais in front of a stained-glass mural and raises a glass. "A toast. To the new crew of Deep Space Nine. By which I mean, of course, all of you!" He chuckles. "You hardly look like a crew, though. Why, you're all out of uniform!" He snaps, and you suddenly find yourself wearing a uniform like his. "Where are my manners. You don't even have your marching orders." A handheld tablet appears on the table in front of you, between a glass of something blue and what's definitely a basket of loaded potato skins. And it's definitely yours, because it has your name on it. "There! Now you all have your PADDs. Read them at your leisure."

He takes a sip of what's in his glass and makes a face. "Ugh! Kanar. Terrible stuff, don't know how the Cardassians drink it." There's a small flash of light, and it's replaced with something bright teal. "Much better. Now, the Romulans, they know how to make a spirit."

Then he sits down in the chair up on the dais and leans back so it's only on two legs, looking down his nose at everyone. "Now. I imagine that all of you have some questions for me. So to avoid any blah-blah boring repetition, I am Q, and this is Federation Starbase Deep Space Nine - your home for the foreseeable future. Don't ask me any boring questions like 'ohhh why am I here ohhh', you can find most of what you need to know on your PADD. You're here because the station needed a crew and I thought you'd be a good fit."¹ Q twirls his wrist and a pocketwatch appears in his hand. "Yes, I can dilly-dally long enough to answer some questions. At my discretion." He snaps it shut, an oddly final sound.

Once Q is done holding court, he grins. "Oh, you're going to have such fun, mes amis," he says, and vanishes in a flash of light, leaving everyone to mix and mingle. The bar is unattended if anyone is interested in trying some amateur mixology, and Q has thoughtfully taped up instructions on how to use the replicators.

THIS IS NOT MY SLEEP NUMBER
When the party is starting to wind down, information for your quarters flashes on your PADD - including the location in the Habitat Ring and how to get there. They're spartan and lacking creature comforts, but your original clothes are there, neatly folded on the bed, along with anything else you may have had with you upon arrival. The PADD periodically chimes with information that you need to know, like how to work the sonic shower, or that the station runs on the 26-hour Bajoran day. It's almost like the PADD knows what's going on...? Eh, it's about as creepily invasive as Alexa, anyway. And speaking of Alexa, the PADD also provides a crash course in how to interact with the station's computer! Which is essentially plain-language audio querying. Ask Ms. Majel Barret Roddenberry the computer anything you like and she will help you.

A message appears from Q later on everyone's PADDs, unable to be replied to:

It'll take about a week before they finally figure out how to get transmissions through the chroniton field.

You've got that much time to get a handle on things.

:)

-Q

---

¹ This is a lie. He picked you just for shits and giggles.

Comments

HOLDING COURT

[aqdidit]

Q is changing the drink in his hand to something else each time he sips it. A can of Surge from the 1980s, something that could be hoisin sauce but smells strongly of isopropyl alcohol, a refined blend of Earl Grey...ask a question, and if he's in a good mood, he'll answer. It may even be true.

Hiya

[flashedglass]

Clarissa, perhaps unlike some of her kidnapped comrades, brightly wanders around the bar, peeking at each person, telling a joke or two before moving on, until she finds herself next to the...person, who had brought them all here. He certainly had some sort of interesting power seeing as he had snapped his fingers and brought them all here, but also changed his drink every two seconds like he couldn't make up his mind.

"The sisters didn't let us party like this back home," she quipped, plopping down next to him. "You a god or something?"

He wasn't, but best to make friends right?

[aqdidit]

Q looks at her with an almost indulgent smile. "Mortals like you have called me that, yes. But I'd be a terrible host if I didn't welcome you all properly, wouldn't I?"

[flashedglass]

mortals, she laughed internally. He certainly did see himself as a god. Interesting.

"I don't know about proper, but most gods tend to meddle a little less...directly?"

[aqdidit]

"Hate to disappoint you," he doesn't, "but I'm not 'most gods'. I'm great at meddling. In fact, it's practically part of my job description."

It isn't. He just does it for fun.

[flashedglass]

"Well, you do it quite well," she mused raising her glass to him. No matter that she wasn't technically old enough to drink. Did they have drinking laws in the future?

"So, your...godliness," Clarissa replied, "What happened to the others? This place wasn't just sitting here, empty, right?"

Seemed like a waste of space.

I had to do this.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Look. In her defense, Q's kind of humor is familiar to her.

She doesn't like it, but then she doesn't necessarily have to like it.

That, and this kind of reminds her of an old joke.

In an attempt to sound casual, she opens with, "So, what's the meaning of life?"

good attempt, neets, but he's not chao! :P

[aqdidit]

"Very cute that you think your life has a meaning," Q says, and he sounds very sincere about it, but with that same spark of humor at the same time. Laughing at Nita, not with her.

Sorry, you got the guy who once got kicked out of the Q Continuum for being too much of a jerk for all the other Q to deal with him.

quite!

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita doesn't have much more than a snort to muffle in response to that, though she does let the remark flow over her with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Call it habit, I suppose. Had to check. As for other questions... anything you plan on not happening on this station? As in don't want to let happen, not just taunting us that it might happen if we don't get something done."

'Anything' might be something a wizard could encounter, but there was no such thing as being prepared for it!

That, and for all Nita knew he'd be quizzing them on what was improbable for life on a station later. Just because he could.

[aqdidit]

"I'm certainly not going to let you die," he says, sounding almost offended. "The station's life support and all the essential goodies that you people need will run themselves. I won't do everything for you - hardly fun for any of us - but you don't have to worry about the station suddenly ceasing to operate well enough for your fragile little bodies to keep working."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Truly, that's more than Nita could have asked for. /sarcasm

Nita nods, not letting her expression change, much as she is relieved by that much confirmation.

"I'd hate to give you ideas beyond that, I'll tell you that much."

Which didn't mean she wouldn't put her foot in her mouth eventually...

Ah, Callahans.

"And - regarding our homes. Is it accurate to assume people know we're missing?"

[aqdidit]

"You know what they say, don't you? When you assume you make an ass out of you." ...that phrase ends with 'and me', but he's not gonna say it. "You'll be returned at the exact moment from which you were plucked. Easier to deal with causality that way."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Somehow, she knew that line was coming... waitaminute.

Nita nods, seeing as that really is the best she could ask for (or pointedly Not ask for) in this whole situation.

"Thrilled to hear it."

It's a load off, but she's not going to make a show of that in public. Even if this Q probably wouldn't care.

"We'll see you around later, then?"

Re: HOLDING COURT

[wearethespark]

Q might have been in a good mood, however, unlike Q, Poe is not in a good mood. He hadn't been when he was grabbed from the millennium falcon surrounded by the remainder of the Resistance - tired, dirty, surprised he wasn't dead, and riding off the residual anger that had led to a mutiny in his part of the universe, before whiplashing into confused, lost, and struggling to figure out what was going on. Then, after ending up at whatever this was and being subjected to what was obviously someone getting off of jerking everyone around (down to being shoved into clothing without warning, though he will admit that it was nice not feeling grains of salt all over, especially a uniform for something he never agreed to be a part of) - he had more enough of it. His mind goes to the people he disappeared from. What if something happens or happened. He needed to be there. They needed all the hands they could get. Even if he knew they were in that situation because of him. All the more reason to demand to be sent back. He needed to take responsibility and help rebuild what he nearly destroyed for good.

In fact, he's downright pissed off especially upon seeing the man, being sitting there changing the drink in his hand again and again. Based on the snippets of conversations he's overheard, and the magic trick happening in front of his eyes, he has reason to believe that this is the person responsible for kidnapping all of them. He can almost hear the General warning him to keep his cool, count to ten, take a breath, but no... he certainly will not.

"You Q?" Poe finds himself asking, his voice rising slightly as the words come out."Because I have a problem."

[aqdidit]

"I would say 'the one and only', but that's not true. I am Q, though, yes."

He looks Poe up and down, appraising the rebel, and seeming to dismiss him as a person. "I'm not customer service."

[wearethespark]

"Alright, well, that still doesn't mean there isn't a problem. You took all of us without asking, some of us want back..." He is trying to remain professional, like a leader (Leia, where are you when you're seriously needed) is supposed to, but Q's dismissal of him? He has to admit that it pisses him off. Though, he isn't sure what he was expecting from someone willing to kidnap so many people at the same time and merely just go "too bad" when describing it.

"But since I don't see you being kind enough to to just let the people who want to go back - what happens to where we came from? They're going to notice we're missing. And I'm right on in the middle of a war, you really want to be the reason things get even worse in a corner of this great big mess of a universe? What about people who have families? Important work?"

[aqdidit]

"Oh, don't be so provincial," Q says, waving off Poe's concern. "Time's not passing where you're from, they're not going to miss you at all. Consider it an enforced vacation for you. This is better than a war, hm?"

[wearethespark]

Poe had to scowl at the answer given. Time was frozen? So, the Resistance was just... what? Hanging out on a ship in the middle of space trying to plan what happens next? That, while nothing "bad" or at least "worse" was happening, wasn't a comfort. If anything it made him more uneasy, angrier.

He feels his hands turning into fists.

"Even so, you're still screwing with people's lives..." Poe finds himself saying, trying to keep his tone even, as something close to matter of fact, but his voice is steadily rising, "Do you not even care? Forced vacation or not - by the way, I never consented - and sure, a vacation where all the folks are going to have to work so we all don't die isn't much of one to me..."

Then he shouts:

"The fact that there's still a war that's on indefinite pause isn't a comfort!"