Support Group - March 2021

[tramitem]

Who: OPEN (Including to all the new characters who app throughout the month)
What: Bureau Run, Non-Mandatory Support Group
When: There are meetings at various times during the week, whatever works for your character between 8 am and 10 pm
Where: There are meetings at various locations around NYC, whatever works for your character
Rating/Warnings: We ask that players put appropriate warning labels in the subject lines of their threads as they become necessary


There’s a generic spread of food on a table off to one side of the room: donuts, muffins, bagels, and cookies; coffee, lemonade, water, and because one of the Different asked for it, hot chocolate. Maybe you’re hungry enough to try it—it’s free after all.

Or maybe you can’t stomach anything, given the event you’re attending.

The space is a local rec center. The beige-painted cinder block walls and the fluorescent lighting are a terrible combination. Maybe they are reminiscent of the public school you attended in your youth?

Why are you here? Curiosity? Maybe the Bureau official will say something that will help you make sense of things? The meeting was interesting—who knew there were so many people like you, receiving memories of a past life? The group was led by someone from The Bureau—the Department of Medical Services. Some people are staying in their chairs and chatting—they must know each other from previous meetings. Some of them are gravitating towards the food.

How do you feel about tonight? Has it helped you come to terms with the dream of memories you’re having? Maybe it’s time to talk to others, get an understanding of their experience.

Comments

[tobodlygo]

James waits until the woman has been summarily deflected and dismissed by the session leader, watching her intently.

"I'm sorry that didn't work," he says, sitting down next to her. "Fab execution, though."

[no_applause]

Padme is clearly irritated by the non-answers of the official. She's worked with diplomats and politicians enough to know exactly what they're doing and she doesn't appreciate it. She sighs, pushing her hair back from her face as she composes herself.

The voice draws her attention. She looks up as the man sits next to her, giving him a smile. "Thanks. I'm beginning to think they don't want us to ask questions, which just makes me want to ask more."

[tobodlygo]

"You too, huh?" Jim grins, already liking the no-nonsense approach Padme's got going on.

"Not going to lie to you, I absolutely want to go and research pretty much everything they've told us about, even though it's slim pickings. James. James Kirk, nice you meet you," he offers his hand to her.

[no_applause]

She laughs, easily returning that smile. It's always nice to meet like-minded people.

Shaking his hand, she nods. "Padme Naberrie, nice to meet you, too. I want to do the same. I don't like not knowing what's happening, especially something as troublesome as this."

[tobodlygo]

Padme? Interesting name! Jim nods as he files her name away into his 'important' folder.

"Ha, mind of a scientist! I'm hoping that I'll be able to either get them to give us more info, or that we can actually do some studies into what's happening. I can't tell much from my own experience just yet. It seems like there's veterans here with more memories than just the one we got... "

[no_applause]

"Oh, I'm no scientist." She grins, "My background is in political science, actually." Thus, she knows about information gathering and how untrustworthy people can be.

She likes the way he thinks, it's good to know there's someone else there who's questioning things as much as she is. Pursing her lips, she nods. "I think you're right. It seems as if more of these so-called memories emerge as time passes." She pauses, tilting her head at him, "How are you going to try to get more information from them? They don't seem very willing to share."

[tobodlygo]

"Hey, Political science may not be as numbered oriented as physics, but I think that makes it all the more impressive! Throw human nature into the mix and it's infinitely more complicated than maths," he grins.

"And, well, brown-nosing is a time-honoured Academic strategy that I'm not exactly above at this point in time," he sighs. The amount of sucking up he's already had to do to get funding where he needed it...

It's better not to think about it.

"If that doesn't work, I suppose I'll have to find alternative ways."

[no_applause]

"Physics?" Her eyebrows raise. Well, now, there's a complicated field. She smirks, "I suppose it's all a matter of perspective. Math was never my strong suit. I found history and economics to be far less complicated."

His comment about brown-nosing gets a chuckle. "Perhaps I'll leave the sucking up to you. I'm afraid I may have burned that bridge today. I would be interested in discussing alternative ways of finding information with you, though."

[tobodlygo]

"I know that money gets me stuff, and how to budget it, and that's about the extent of my own personal Economics knowledge," he grins. "Maths and Science have kinda always been my thing, and I know it sounds silly but- I mean you know when you're a kid and all you want to do is do something fantastical like fight a dragon or fly through space and meet aliens? That's where that started," he laughs.

"I mean I look pretty unassuming, and I've played the patient game a few times, I don't see why I can't do it here."

He thinks for a little bit, trying to make a thought tangible in his mind, thinking how likely it would be that he could actually do it.

"I've got a lab back at Barnard, or at least I will, as soon as the building's up and running again."

[no_applause]

Her lips quirk in an amused smile. "You wanted to be an astronaut? That's wonderful! I always wanted to be a politician so I could save the world. I always wanted to help people." That smile falters slightly as the new memory flits through her mind. A coronation. That's the only thing she can call it. But that doesn't matter, now. She doesn't even know if it's real!

Clearing her throat, she forces the thoughts back and focuses on the present moment. "Well I hope we don't have to be patient for too long. What's happening could be damaging to us, not to mention whatever they did to the people who were around us when it first happened!"

[tobodlygo]

"Oh, not just an astronaut, a full blown space explorer!" He's grinning, because of course that's exactly what a kid would want to do. "A galaxy-roving crew member, getting to meet aliens and do cool science experiments on different worlds. I really loved sci-fi books as a kid, if you couldn't tell."

He grows more sombre as Padme voices her concerns.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a lot to be thinking about right now. These guys don't exactly seem like they care for a moral compass, huh." Jim isn't really worried about himself, but the people around him? What if something happened to them, to his students and colleagues when they aren't even involved? That'd make him feel rotten.