*As she switches the log on, the PDA automatically begins recording its surroundings - Elena is sitting at her usual desk, a lot of papers flying around on top of it. Not concerned by this monstrous amount of paperwork right in front of her, she is smiling into the camera, with quite a proud expression on her face. The Rheinlandic accent is only slight, but the rolling 'R' can be clearly heard.*
Nice, it's working ... finally! Goddamn, you can't even imagine how long it took me to get you back on track after I've decided to play around with your insides a little. Okay, actually no, it didn't take me -that- long, just a few hours. Only telling you this to have a good excuse to not write anything new after I've ended my last entry with ... wait, what were the words again? Right, 'See ya soon again, maybe more often'. *She shakes her head slightly* Well, seems it didn't work out once again. I'm not sure what's the reason for it, but probably it's because of -this-. *With wide eyes, she gestures at the papers, accompanied by a sigh* Maybe I'm exaggerating, it's not that bad to be honest, I still got much freetime at my hands that I use ... accordingly.
*She leans back in her chair, her hands folded behind her head, as she lets out another happy sigh.*
Believe me, this really simplifies a lot of things. I've always been somebody who is better at talking than writing ... or rather, somebody who can just talk much if I want to, too much even. No hurting hands anymore ... they are hurting anyways from all the stuff I need to write, comms I gotta answer, I really wished we got a secretary of sorts that would deal with all this crap. Hmm, actually that's not even a bad idea. We'd have to pay such a person a good amount of money though, else nobody cares to take over it I believe, it's just booooooooring. And it gets even worse when you think about all the other things you could do in the meantime. I got a damn good technique though how to deal with it. *She points at her head with her forefinger* Just -believe- that you like to do this work, tell yourself all the time it's great, amusing, relaxing, exiciting, whatever. Sometimes, it works.
*A shrug, she looks at the mountains of paper once again before focusing on the camera again.*
Anyways, there's actually a true reason I haven't done another entry yet, and no, it's not 'cause I've forgotten about you, it's just because there's not much to say about the past two weeks. Yeah, I know, that's kinda unbelievable by my standards, but it's the truth, I haven't been a crybaby for two damn weeks. Yes, there are still problems, concerns and all this bullsh*t in my head, but to be all honest, I don't care a single bit anymore. I'm not even actively trying to ignore them anymore, they are just there, but not doing any harm. Which is ... gods, it's relieving. I've been in a decently good mood for a longer period of time! Do you know what that means? Maybe I'm not even as bipolar as I thought!
*A slight laugh.*
Okay, maybe I still am, a bit. But at the moment, I'm just happy with who I am and what I got, really. Well, I -also- got heartburns and puke attacks lately, but again, as far as I know that's normal if you got a little somebody inside you. *Smiling, she skims over her belly, and looks down for a moment.* Well, anyways, I'll keep that short, just wanted to give you some attention to show I'm not dead or anything. See ya around. Now that I got this reprogramming done, I'll sit down more often to fill you with stuff. Talking is relaxing, writing isn't.
*After a quick smile, Elena shuts the PDA down again, the recorded file is being saved.*
*As she switches the log on, some of the interior of the 'Cinquedea', a Montante class Borderworlds gunship becomes visible. It does look a lot tidier than her apartment on Glendalough, screens, datapads and weapon fixtures can be seen at the walls. A laugh from Elena kicks off the log.*
Quite funny, now that I got my needs covered, you know, talking, no writing, I actually -feel- like switching you on and telling stuff I've been through. Before that, it always had been some sort of 'Meh, I should, I want to, but it just takes so damn long to write one down'. No offense, of course.
*She pours some of the liquid she is currently drinking into the glass she has justed downed before switching on the log.*
Don't worry, this isn't what it looks like. I've sworn to drink no sort of alcohol under any circumstances as long as my pregnancy goes, but hey, who said alcohol-free Rheinbier was forbidden? It's called 'alcohol-free' for a reason. *She demonstratively takes a sip from the glass, laying her feet onto the console.* Ah, this stuff truly sets me up. You know, I don't exactly feel the need to visit my home in Rheinland again, but some imports of Rheinbier from Planet Stuttgart are always an option. Still tastes exactly the way I remember it ... and even the alcohol-free variant tastes -damn- good!
*She strokes her hair back a little.*
Thing is, I wouldn't have switched you on again if I didn't have some interesting stuff to tell. I was bored, so I decided to let some time past while hanging around outside of the Freeport in Omicron Delta. Yes, -that- Freeport ... the one that tends to go 'boom' from time to time. Don't ask me why I'm actually staying there from time to time, I don't know it myself. Freeport 8 in the Sigmas probably would be a better and safer location to lend an apartment. But what you gotta give this place ... interesting people come and go there all the time, and as it's technically a no-fire zone around there, you can pretty much talk with everybody under friendly circumstances. Even with the Commune.
*A slight grin appears on her face, which she quickly hides by pouring more Rheinbier into her mouth.*
Yeah, that's right. I've met this guy again, Bassam Hussaini is his name. A very sociable and talkative man, however not talkative enough to tell me the things that interest me about the Commune. From time to time he acted ... well, kinda weird to say the least, citing some verses from tales I got not a single idea about. Still not hundred percent sure what he wanted to tell me with this sh**. Anyhow ... in the end he even offered me to meet each other somewhere else, Freeport 10 I think it was. It -would- interest me to learn more about this guy, after all he seems to play a big role in the Commune, but I know well enough that this would be a very, very, -very- dumb idea. I gonna have to think about this carefully. Not to mention the others wouldn't like it either.
Well, at one point he left, instead others came around, Order vessels, members of the Archangel Fighter's Club. *She sighs for a moment* And then -this- guy. I truly didn't expect him to show up, like ... of course I did so, but not -that soon-, Jesus Christ! And for f***'s sake, I still don't even know his name. *She does a little pause, thinking about her words* Okay, this is bugging me far too much than it actually should, but still. Why is this actually bugging me so much? My curiosity again..? Yeah, must be. He seems like a nice person, that's it, one I'd like to get to know better, but ... hmm. *She shrugs* Doesn't seem possible.
Goodbye now, I have to take a nap, seriously.
*With a slight yawn, Elena shuts down the log again.*
*As she switches the log on, the well known background of her apartment on Glendalough Orbital comes into the picture, as tidy and elegantly furnished as before. The only exception is her desk in front of her, on which already noticeably less papers and PDAs are lying. Elena still has kind of tired eyes, and is right now holding a cup of coffee in her right hand, from which she sporacidally takes a sip. A slight yawn escapes her mouth before she begins speaking.*
Hmm, good morning there. Pretty sure you're gonna wondering 'What the hell is Elena doing in front of her PC this early in the morning?'. Well, I gonna tell you why ... my sleep-wake-cycle is kinda all over the place at the moment, I feel like I could sleep hours during day time, and when it's becoming night, I'm far too active to actually sleep. I seriously don't know what the reason for this is, but obviously it wears me off. Just as an example, I slept two hours this night. Two. Hours. The rest I spent with finishing up the paperwork that is, thank god, not on my desk anymore. No kidding, I'll have to get the knock of it again, or I'll be easy prey for any pirate coming around.
*A sigh, combined with a headshake and a large sip from the coffee that evidently doesn't have an effect yet. Then she resumes, even though she can't suppress another yawn.*
Anyways, what I wanted to tell you was what happened yesterday. Sadly wasn't able to record a log back then 'cause I was busy with bounty hunting and all that. Don't blame on me, I made a lot of cash, okay? Cash I'll very well know how to spend... *She chuckles for a short time*. Well, I started the day with quite a boring task actually, flying from Coronado to Tau-29 and back to bring some important materials to Glendalough to keep it in a good condition.
Didn't take long until got some bogeys on my arse, two to be precise. *She laughs amused* And who else than my two favourite Commune douchebags, Hussaini and Nomak. The latter asked me to become his whore even. Yeah ... of course, Nomak, of course. You'd be such a dead man if you really tried to. However, this didn't go unnoticed. We at the Forlorns are known to have a few good buds we like to hang out with. *She chuckles for a moment* Crayterians and Imperials soon came to beat them up gently. Turned into quite a huge fight, and it stayed even until the end, but at the end one of the Imperials was last man standing. That really -was- a lotta fun to watch.
And in the end, I got my revenge too. Another Commune member got snubbed by me later that day.
*She takes another sip, then her expressions turn slighty more troubled as she remembers another matter.*
Let's come to the more unpleasant part of what I wanted to tell you. You know, maybe I seem like an arrogant person to many people, but there are some things I just can't stand. For example if there's somebody crying her heart out. Wanna hear more? I knew you would... alright, straight forward, it's about Lena Riemann. Now before you judge me for becoming somewhat friends with a soldier of the Coalition, hear me out, she isn't such a dumb communist fanatic like the others, actually she's not that much of a bad person overall. Makes it even worse I saw her crying yesterday. *She shakes her head* I already knew something was off when she came around with a usual Freelancer transponder instead of her Coalition one. Turns out she's in the sh*t. Why you ask? Now here comes the funny part, or rather ... the one that really made me thinking. It seems she's betrayed her boyfriend and husband. And now he broke up with her, understandably.
*She clasps her brow, stares at the ground.*
I can't really complain now, can I? I mean, I did exactly the same stuff, more than once even. And yet my boyfriend still loves me and didn't even think about breaking up with me, forgave me. Seriously, what the hell am I actually complaining about, this just made me aware again that I got one hell of a good man I can call my own. *She gives the camera a somewhat rapturous smile*
Anyways, I'm done for now. I'll probably catch some more sleep now, the coffee won't work I'm afraid.
*Yawning, but with a grin on her face, Elena shuts down the log.*
*As she switches the log on, a small room becomes visible, presumably a cheap apartment on some station - Trenton Outpost to be precise. Elena is laying on her untidy bed, holding the recording PDA in her left hand. She seems kinda tired, with shadow underneath both her eyes, however most notably are the mainy blue bruises that are visible all over her skin, mostly her arms. After blinking a few times, she starts talking with quite a husky voice.*
Christ, I feel like having one of the worst hangovers I ever had, my head hurts, my limbs hurt, everything is just hurting whenever I move my body, no matter how. And the worst thing, this damn apartment doesn't even have a coffee machine. Like, what the hell ... how am I supposed to survive this even? Okay, yeah, I could just hop out of that bed, grab my Sabre and fly off to the shiny horizon towards Glendalough, grab the coffee machine and drink tons of it there. But, oh well, I feel sleepy enough, I could stay here for another few hours, just laying in bed, and hope the headache is going to vanish anytime soon. I swear, I didn't drink anything, okay? Okay?! Instead, something worse probably...
*A sigh is audible as she strokes over her forehead with her hand, expressions of pain appear on her face.*
Maybe I just shouldn't have accepted this escort offer to Cold Bay Depot in Hudson. I mean - c'mon, one million reward is not much, and honestly, I wouldn't have accepted anyways if it wasn't because of personal interest. Yes, yes, I know, personal interest and business are colliding things, but screw it, I wanted to have fun, and fun is usually a guaranteed thing when spending time with Red. Yes ... exactly, Red again, with his ship, the Apotheosis. He seems to be quite everywhere from time to time, the Omicrons, then New York again. When I think about it, it's actually unlikely there's nobody out there who can tell me more about the Captain of the Apotheosis. If he doesn't wanna tell me who he is, I will find out myself. *She shrugs* It's a wonder I haven't been investigating about that yet, maybe cause I got more important things to do. But I swear to you, Red, the next time we see each other, I will know your name goddamn name.
*A slight laugh is audible, immediately followed by a groan out of ache, as Elena holds her chest.*
The moment when you can't even laugh without pain, is the moment I'd like to be dead, seriously. Anyways, what happened you are probably wondering? We got strange radio signals from inside Hudson, and as it turned out, it was a jumphole. Now, before you hate on me, I know I've got my bad experiences with jumpholes leading to locations I got no idea about, but damn, it was a decision out of hype, especially since Red kinda asked me to. I knew it would be a bad decision, and I got reminded of that the moment we entered the system. Cause ... well, how does a large "NO EXIT" shield sound to you? Good? Yes, because there was no f***ing way back. Essentially we were trapped inside there, and every now and then some cultist vessels were in the mood of messing with us. Not that we were just as small task force ... I remember about three Libertonian capital vessels, one Rheinlandian and a majority of snub vessels.
*She makes a little pause, looking around in her apartment for mere seconds.*
In the end, my Sabre got wrecked again. Gladly Red was gentleman-like enough to fetch my pod immediately, seems he has been the one who brought me back to New York here. Not quite sure though, I have been unconscious for a while I suppose, after all I got quite a beating back then. *She demonstratively shows some of her bruises* First thing I should probably do is consulting a doctor ... I mean, I hope nothing bad has happened, but sh*t hit me quite hard, so I should play it safe and let somebody check if everything is still alright.
Alright, that's it for today, wish me a good night. Or good coffee, either way. Damn, there -has to- be -some- coffee machine here on Trenton, I swear.
*She shuts down the log, not adding anything else to what she said, still with tired eyes.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena is still rubbing her eyes with one hand, while holding the PDA with the other. As usual, she is laying on her bed in her apartment on Glendalough, it makes the impression of a very cozy, yet also untidy one. After her eyes have become visible, they don't look exactly tired, but rather worried, together with the slightly raised eyebrows and a frowned forehead. Her mouth keeps being opened a bit while she is staring at the camera, obviously sorting her thoughts before beginning to speak.*
Ready yourself for some bad news, please. Or rather worrying news, and I don't know if I should be glad or worried I don't know yet whether it will be bad news or not soon. Anyways ... as I've mentioned in my last log, I had this accident during the time in the Uncharted System, you know, the one seemingly without an exit. I still got these bruises everywhere as you can see, but that's seriously not what I'm complaining about. If it was me, I could have far more than only these few, but there's something else. The baby... *She turns silent for a moment* ... it's ... it could be hurt. The bloody doctor was incompetent enough to not be able to tell me for sure if so or not, so now I'm sitting here, on the salver, racking my brain
*She moves her eyes away from the camera, looking down onto the bed, licking her lips while trying to find a good set of words again.*
It's been some time since I've preyed to God, I gotta admit that. I'm not an atheist though, I actually -do- believe in a higher power, and right now, I could seriously need its help. The only reason I might seem calm at the moment is that I already had enough time to brood over these news. And again, these news are no news, why the hell did the doctor have to tell me in the first place when he has no f*cking idea yet anyways?
Anyhow ... tomorrow I'll know more, that's when I'll attend a serious clinic to get any kind of worries sorted out ... or confirmed, we'll see about that. I swear to God, the latter can't be an option, it just can't. Just thinking about it, no, I won't. I've been a mess a few hours ago already, let's not repeat this again.
*With a headshake, Elena attempts to throw the flood of thoughts out of her mind.*
And on top of that, I just got told from John that he's on 'an assigment' for the next ... wait for it ... 4 goddamn weeks! Without any shoreleave at all, he's being held hostage at Missouri by Sader as it seems, having to oversee repairs or what the f*ck he is actually doing there. Slowly, I feel he takes the piss out of me, literally. And the worst thing, it wasn't a joke, he meant it dead serious. Now, he might even be occupied when his child is going to die ... ha! Must feel awesome.
Seriously, may it be because of these mood swings during pregnancy, but I'd have loved to just tell him to kiss my ass for that message. No, not the way you think.
*She makes another small pause, gesturing with her fingers.*
Literally, I was -so- close to telling him he could forget about proposing to me -anytime- soon. Looking back, it would have been a dumb thing to do, I know, but my opinion still holds. If he can't finally make up his mind what his priorities are, I won't be willing to stand this much longer. Christ, I feel like a single mother most of the time, left alone with the baby inside me. This shouldn't be how things are...
At least I got a nice dinner soon I hope. Not with John, but with somebody else, I certainly got enough from him for the next days.
*Shaking her head, she switches off the log, not saying anything else.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena is for once not sitting in her bed again with tiredly rubbed eyes and messed up hair. Instead, she is at her desk again, sitting on the chair and slightly grinning into the camera of the PDA which she has attached to the wall. Behind her her room on Glendalough is visible, tidied up and clean, the TV is switched on in the background, but has been muted. Judging from afar, it must be some news channel. The desk is oddly free from any paperwork, only one piece of paper is laying right in front of her, on it a few handwritten notes at which Elena quickly looks.*
A lot has happened lately, and since I got the worst. Memories. Ever I've decided a few notes couldn't hurt, so I don't forget any stuff I wanted to mention. Just some keywords, not like I would plant myself in front of you and start doing a boring presentation like I can still remember it from old school days. I always hated that, weirdly. Standing in front of people wasn't at all my thing back then. *She chuckles for a brief moment* Oh well, good old times these were. But anyways, that's not the topic. Let's see what we got here.
*She checks the first point on the list, then holds it into the camera for a moment. The handwriting isn't the easiest one to read, but the word is supposed to be "Newcomers".*
Alright, that's my first point, newcomers. Rather a formal thing I just wanted to mention quickly. After we had a few leaves lately, mainly from Troy and some others who don't want to show up anymore it seems, we finally got new recruits. Fills up our personnel, which I'm seriously glad about. One of them - Kiara Garlow her name - has already become quite a good friend of mine. *She smirks briefly* Had a good time with her during a walk on the park. She's a bit shy, and in general quite weak to be honest, but I think she got the potential to become a very good fighter pilot. And if not that, she'd make a -very- good diplomat. Or secretary. *She starts laughing* The other one is ... Aileen I guess it's pronounced? Aileen Dunn. I will have to talk more to her, don't know much about her yet, just that she's a Dublin-born of sorts. As long as she doesn't pester me with this ugly accent, I'm alright. She's quite unconvential, she's got the balls of flying a Scraper ... yes, exactly, a miner vessel. For combat. I think we got a crazy one in our ranks now. Still, both are great additions, seems our advertisement campaign slowly comes to fruition.
*After stroking through her hair and subconsciously pulling a face, she shows the second keyword directly under "Newcomer". It just says "John".*
I hope stuff between him and me has become more normal and chilled again, the last time I visited him I really wasn't clear-minded. Threatening to leave him if he doesn't manage to set priorities. *She shakes her head* The problems are still there, I can't deny it, but it'll be alright. In the end, everything is going to be alright, that's what I'm trying to tell myself lately. It works. *A sigh is audible* The good thing about it is, now that he saw that the sh*t was about to hit the fan, he chose to take two weeks of holidays, finally. Some days off at a nice location might helps getting things straight between the two of us again. He probably still believes I'm thinking about leaving. That will help to lose these fears, I hope. I thought about Curacao, maybe. Though he wanted to keep such a trip back until our honeymoon, I feel like we should move that vacation forward. Only thing is, I got no idea about what Curacao is like, where we would find good, romantic places, which locations are worth visiting, all that. *She starts grinning* And hell, I'm so f*cking awesome with transitions. Because that brings me right to the next point.
*Still smiling, she holds up the piece of paper again and shows the next word into the camera. "This c*nt".*
Because I will ask exactly that c*nt whether he knows good places next time I see him. But let's start from the beginning... I'm not sure to which degree I told you about this employer of ours, Operative Red. Still quite a weird alias if you ask me, I like his real name better, Ezrael has a certain touch to it. Not to mention we got the same initials. I mean, how -cool- is that? *She starts laughing again* Anyways, he asked me out for a dinner. And before you start blaming me like "Oh god, Elena, don't you remember how the dinner with Troy ended?" - yes, I -know- how it ended. But I don't care to be honest, alright? It was a nice evening, and it would have been disappointing if I hadn't been able to enjoy it. The Maltese cuisine was really nice, and the Cardamine wasn't as bad as I feared for a moment. And, well ... uhm ... *She scratches her neck, looking down slightly* ... then it became weird. But it was kinda my fault, I guess, I judged the situation a bit wronger than necessary. *Getting reminded by some of the weird stuff, she can't help grinning* Halfway through the night, in his dreams, he even thought I'm his girlfriend or whoever else 'Maren' is supposed to be. Wasn't easy to wake him up while he lay above me.
Anyways, in the morning he left me without any forewarning again. But hey, what should I expect, seriously? Not like that already happened more often than not. However, this whole thing brings me right to my next point. I'm good with transitions today, I feel it.
*The next part of the paper reads the word "Sweetheart", in the background Elena starts pulling a face again.*
I feel a little bit haunted, I must confess that. 'Cause, you know, I realized something when all of a sudden, this freelancer called "Sweetheart" appeared and asked me whether I was near Trenton all day. To be honest, I didn't really know who she was until she reminded me of a talk we had a very long time ago. When Troy was still around, good old times these were for sure. And when she hitted on him like crazy, I remember. *She chuckles for a moment, then turns dead serious for her standards* Now comes the interesting part. Because I already had a bad feeling about it, I asked about her name again. Guess who it was. Maren. Von Westefeld. *She begins scratching her head* You don't believe how ugly awkward that was, that is, when I assume that's the Maren I believe she is. The reason why I nearly got f*cked because somebody got us two mixed up in his dreams. Halfway through a ship called "Red.Angel" crossed our paths as well, to be honest, I would have already expected it to be him again, he seems to favour the color Red. I doubt it was him, would have been double the awkward. Anyways, I should forget about this, I will just cringe and laugh the next time I see her. Coming to the last point ... no transition this time, sadly.
*Silently, she shows the paper again, the last word is "Hussaini".*
Just as a little headsup, I got a meeting with Hussaini coming next Friday I believe. He offered me to have a talk, nothing violent, I don't exactly know what his intentions are besides "showing me the truth", you know, the usual Commune blah blah you can expect from those folks. And I wouldn't give a damn about this, if it wasn't because of this guy. Nomak is dumb, everybody else just bootlickers, but Bassam ... there's something about him I don't really understand. Maybe I will find out more about all this during the meeting. *She sighs* Oh my, I guess my curiosity will at some point be my death, but I simply couldn't resist that invitation. However! *She points up with her index finger* I'm not dumb! I've organized a bodyguard for it, "just a soldier, the muscles", you know? *She starts laughing* I wonder whether he is going to believe that or not. We will see.
That's it for now, my list is done, I've mentioned everything I wanted to say, now let me get some rest ... thanks.
*After stroking through her hair once again, she switches off the log.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena seems to be sitting on some kind of bench out in the open air. Behind her a small gravel path and a wall that is most likely belonging to a rather large building, an apartment. There is a slight breeze that is blowing through her hair and messing it up, which makes her stroking through it again and again to keep it in place. The PDA she is holding in her right hand, however the camera is wobbling, she is obviously trembling a bit. Besides her on the bench is a half-empty glass of black coffee standing, as well as a few pieces of paper stapled together. She gives the camera a quick smile before turning the PDA around to show the rest of the scenery: An empty beach can be seen in the background, only a few souls are already laying on it or are swimming in the water full of waves. A blue sun is slowly waking up, just merely crossing the horizon, yet still dunking the scenery in a faint, nice and warm blue. Elena turns the PDA around once again, and starts speaking, looking into the camera with her tired eyes.*
Welcome to Curacao. One of the most beatiful places you can visit in Sirius, I guess. I'm still preferring Baden-Baden though, mostly 'cause I remember how I was there once as a child. And one's childhood moments are normally the most special, don't you think? Anyways, it's ... uhm, quite early in the morning to be exact, I think six or seven o'clock, at least here on the planet. The night could have been a bit better, but I'm getting used to sleeping not much slowly. Like seriously. All in all, it were maybe four hours this night. No, I haven't slept so little on purpose, instead I spent hours after hours with wallowing in bed, trying to find a way to finally fall asleep, while John was snoring right next to me. *A sigh is audible.* He is sleeping a lot, but I guess he needs that once. Doesn't seem like they get much sleep in the 5th. At one point this night, about an hour ago, I've decided it has anyway no purpose, stood and freshed up and went for a morning walk. The beaches are most beautiful when they are nearly empty, so the morning or the very late evening are the best places to visit them, in my opinion.
*She takes a large sip from her coffee, humming a tone doing so, obviously thinking about what to say next. There are also silent slurp sounds.*
Alright, so I've told him that today in the evening I got a meeting I need to attend to. Business meeting, I said. Not exactly the nicest way to lie to your boyfriend, but if I told him who I am in fact going to meet, he would just become needlessly worried. If he had told me beforehand he was planning holidays, I wouldn't have messaged Hussaini this week, but now, the meeting is set in stone, and if I withdraw all of a sudden now, I look like a coward, honestly. *She strokes through her hair, looking down for a moment.* It's already enough if I'm worried about this, he should have a nice evening in our apartment ... when I think about it, he'll probably sleep anyways then. *A laugh.* But when I think about it even more, I must say I'm not really fair to him. Like, not at all. Hm. I should probably create a leave message of sorts. You know, these that get sent to your loved ones in case you don't return in time, classy. Even though I doubt bad things will happen. Even if, I got my bodyguard, and I trust Ez that he's able to deal with any sh*t that will be thrown at us. Just a paralyzer shot, and zap, Hussaini down.
*As the wind is becoming stronger again and blows against her head, she has to fix her hair once again.*
And until the evening, I'm going to try calming myself down as good as possible. Hussaini isn't a nice guy, I'm well aware of that, and it makes me nervous. I'll willy-nilly have to give my best at hiding this nervousness when we're on the Freeport, 'cause I guess he would recognize it immediately at point blank. So I seriously have to calm myself down, but how? Easy, by reading. *She grabs the pieces of paper and holds them into the camera.* You see, I found this thing in the Neural Net, and it's somewhat interesting to read. It's not the best for distraction though, because Hussaini has actually been the one who suggested reading this. Written by ... wait ... ah yes, Doctor Wilhelm Strauss, a Rheinlander obviously. "Treatise on Samarra". Yeah, Samarra, this place where all the weirdos are coming from. And considering they are weirdos, Nomak, Hussaini and whoever else, I don't exactly believe that stuff is actually true. Maybe they just hired that Doctor to write some false bullsh*t about a non-existing planet, you never know. Whatever it is though, it's definitely an interesting lecture.
The name Samarra actually reminds me of another story. A poem. One I heard like ages ago in my school classes, our religious education teacher told them to us back then. As far as I can remember, it's a very old story, dating back to the times on earth. It was called "Appointment in Samarra" or something like that, I can't clearly remember to be honest. Neither do I know what happened in this story exactly. *She scratches her head, obviously thinking.* Maybe I'll have another look into the Neural Net later this day. 'Cause I -do- know that back then, it impressed me quite a lot.
*A smile appers on her face.*
That's it for this morning, I will continue my walk over the island where we got our apartment now. The weather is becoming better and better, I tell you. My skin could probably use some sun more often. It's already become a bit more tan, luckily. I hate my white skin, seriously. It looks so ... ill. Alright, see ya later! And wish me luck with that guy on the Freeport, I could use that as well.
*She turns the PDA around once more to recapture the scenery another time before she finally switches it off.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena sits at the by now well-known desk of her apartment on Glendalough. Tidy as ever, yet some new paintings on the wall become visible, mostly ones with a darker nature theme. She has her hands folded on the wooden desk, almost unnervingly tapping with her freshly painted fingernails, quite irregularly without any sort of rhythm. It gradually becomes apparent that she is just trying to imitata calm demeanor, possibly not to reflect her inner self, however she subconsciously keeps biting on her underlip nervously, and looks to the left, and then to the right from time to time, as if she was on constant guard. Quite surprisingly, there is no black coffee standing beside her on the desk, instead only a bottle of water, already half empty. Her dyed hair could also use another bleach session, the blue appears unusually weary. As she begins speaking, she clasps her brows briefly and furrows them and closes her eyes for a moment.*
I know, it's been a while. Two weeks, to be absolutely exact. I would have loved to keep you up to date, but it didn't work out really, as you could see. The last days have been exhausting for me to say the very least, my sleeping schedule has been an absolute mess. Considering it, I didn't have much sleep anyways, so it's nonsense to talk about a "schedule" there at all. *It entices a brief grin on her lips.* Right now, I'm attempting to go through cold turkey concerning the coffee, you know, the one I've consumed in huge dimensions lately. I know it isn't exactly healthy, but believe me, otherwise I'd be a dead corpse lying on the floor by now. Because, and you can take that quite literally, I didn't sleep - at all. Not because I partied hard all the time, gigging from one clubhouse to another on Manhattan. Something else prevented me the whole time ... let's start from the beginning though.
*She sighs loudly, rolls her eyes for a split second. Her hands she slowly removes from the desk and instead folds them behind her head.*
Remember what I said last time, that I had agreed to a meeting with Hussaini? Well... *She stares into the camera for a while; her lips only move sporadically, but no words come out, as if she lays out what to say.*It's complicated, but thinking about it, nothing ever really is easy, isn't it? First of all, let me voice it, straightfoward: This was a fuc.king bad idea of mine, like - really, really bad. I know, I got bad ideas from time to time, that's no news, but this one topped it. I can be so absolutely glad I'm still alive, 'cause the meeting nearly backfired. That's what I had my bodyguard for, you are probably saying. To shoot Hussaini down if he tries to do anything funny. Heh. *She starts laughing ironically.* It's not so easy if you suddenly find out you're actually meeting an infested person. Yes, indeed, this guy got an incubus inside him. With all its perks, containing things like telepathy and all that bulls.hit against which guns are absolutely powerless. *She shakes her head.* In the end, we escaped, Ez seemed to have some sort of Joker in his pocket to get us out. If I understood that right, he kinda is known in the infected line of business, which is weird enough in itself - but seriously, everything is getting weirder and weirder in general. I'm glad he did what he did. Because hell... that was awfully close, believe me. And I'm not exactly looking forward to meeting Hussaini again, that man is intimidating, and the fact he got some weird superpowers only adds to this.
I feel unable to avoid thinking about something, though. The joker he had, it seems it brought him to quite some trouble, I don't know of which sort, but I can guess. Probably certain individuals didn't like to see him using that joker, and if that's true, he actually got a whole fuc.king load of troubles. He told me the two of us should meet soon again to talk about it, and till then, I guess the only thing left to do for me is brooding over it senselessly.
This whole story brought me a whole lot of nightmares lately, the reason why I slept so "much". However, by now they are kinda gone, I guess, and my sleeping schedule is slowly getting more normal again, luckily.
*She brushes a strand of hair away that had fallen into her face in the meantime.*
I might don't want to grant it to myself, but I'm afraid, and not just a bit. Ez also told me I should keep distance to everything nomad for now, which kinda worries me. There must be a reason why he told that to me apart from other things. And then suddenly, nomad activity rises in Liberty from zero to absolutely nuts in the matter of a few days. Just a coincident? *She shakes her head again.* I guess not, or I fear not. What if I - unwillingly - got their attention lately by meeting with Hussaini, what if I'm now on some sort of blacklist? Currently, everything suggests that, and it's a major problem. I got advised to even flee from Liberty now, also avoid Bretonia and instead should retreat to Rheinland, to some sort of remoteness. Ez wouldn't have told me that without a solid, good reason.
Now here comes the dilemma. Not only I'm affected by this, many other people are, mostly the ones I keep talking to in Liberty. Kiara, Karin, Nicole, all those people. I can't just leave them there, with them being endangered to meet a nomad cu.nt on an everyday basis. It would be a di.ck move. I know, maybe sometimes I should keep my own well-being in mind more, but now really isn't the right time to do so. *She starts laughing slightly.* It's ironic, I kinda feel something like ... an obligation, possibly? Yes, to protect my friends. They are already exposed to the danger, and without me being there, bad things could eventually happen.
Anyhow. That's it for now. Let's see what the next days hold for me.
*She turns the log off with a last smile directed at the camera, together with the hint of a nod.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena is sitting on a couch, a rather old, worn one that has seen better days already, from its looks suggesting dozens of rats living beneath it. The room she is in seems to be a very small one, likely belonging to some very cheap apartment on some even cheaper base. Blotches can be seen on the walls, most of them you wouldn't want to know the origins of. With her chin resting in one of her hands, she keeps tapping nervously on her cheek with her fingers while maintaining straight eye contact with the camera. Her eyes are telling stories of many things - tiredness, bewilderment, astonishment, curiosity and last but not least fear. The typical biting-on-her-lips phenomenon has as well returned again. After briefly hawking up something out of her throat, she begins speaking, her voice sounds unusually bland, yet obviously it is trembling, though she tries her best to conceal it. A last, loud exhale appears to announce tough talk heading the camera's way.*
If you should wonder in which messed up rathole I currently am residing abroad, let's clear that out first. Welcome to one of the cheap motels of Caernarfon Station in Poole. First question answered, second question, second answer: No, I'm not here of my own free will. Rather this whole bloody stay got imposed on me out of all the sudden. *She sighs.* At least Caernarfon stays true to its precedent it seems, you could call it a stronghold of sorts ... and that's -exactly- what I'm currently in need of. A place where no piece of sh.it can touch me. After what I've gone through a few hours ago, I could really need at least some safety. That's why right now I'm not really minding that this apartment stinks terribly of excrements and vomit. And I swear, if anybody opens this door right next to me without knocking beforehand, they will be fed a bullet from me.
*She buries her face in her hands for a few seconds, exhaling loudly again, as if she wasn't keen on talking about what she had planned to.*
Okay, so where to start best. The whole fiasco literally began when I accepted an invitation offer from a friend of mine, Karin Walker this girl is called. She amongst others, my fellow colleague Mason Coleman and some really, really suicidical Kusarian woman to be exact, had planned to do a little vacation run, you know, flying through all of Sirius, visiting some famous ... or infamously dangerous places, the usual crap. And as I didn't have anything else to do with my life at that moment, I, the fool I've been, didn't decline that offer and went along together with Kiara and later Nicole. I must admit, we've been a cool group altogether, it was all fun the whole time we spent in Dublin, racing at the track near the Hood and betting about the most ridiculous kind of stuff. That reminds me, I still gotta surprise kiss Kiara sooner or later. That's going to be awkward, I swear. It also heavily reminded me we seemingly got a replacement for good old Troy by now, in the form of Mason, it's hilarious how much he's similar to our Beardman. Flirting his way through life with never-ending teasing. It was quite amusing I must admit, but not more, honestly. But, tell me, how should I have known this whole trip that started with so much freaking fun would end in such an ugly way?! Ugly really being an understatement, I'm not kidding, it was one of the most horrendous experiences I've had so far in my entire life.
*A headshake.*
I should have known it would be trouble when we finally met up with Karin's and Mason's friend, a Kusarian woman called Kiyoko something-something. Honestly, I'm bad at remembering Kusarian last names, it's the same with Nicole's birthname, so please bear with me. Anyhow, we've grouped up with her at Gran Canaria in Omega-49, with the intention of starting our tour. Then I asked, Hey Kiyoko, what do we want to visit. And she was like, the Omegas and Omicrons, and I want to see that Neutron Star! And I was already like, Oh god dammit...
Thinking back, I -really- should have known at that point that the trip wouldn't end well. Vacation tours are fine and all, but not if you go to the Omicrons. There are so many countless dangers out there you don't even want to imagine. But I said like, Oh yes, Alright, Good. The hell, why did I say this even, that was ignorant. But so it went, and I quickly became their tourist guide I never wanted to be. A tourist guide usually has to guarantee that everything is in order, right? Well, I had five tourists behind me, and some of the most dangerous places in Sirius ahead of me, feels good, don't you think? You know, first everything was still alright while we were in the Omegas, visiting Cayman, Omega-47 and 41 aka the Neutron Star system. A tip of possibly useful information, it seems a long-time duration of its radiation can cause men to be the sexually-hyperactive kind of dude. After all, one of my buds - I won't say any name - originates from there, and gosh, he can be described as exactly that, sexually-hyperactive.
*Saying that, even a short smile appears on her lips, however it vanishes nearly immediately again.*
Then we entered the Omicrons, and I tell you, that's when hell broke loose upon us. First, everything was still alright, we crossed Corsair territory without any bad incident, but then, Delta was on our list, the explosive Freeport. There we landed, a small pit stop of sorts, refueling. I actually thought we would then make our way to the Sigmas already, because I swear, I love the Omicrons, but with my current problems on the cheek, I don't. But, that was the point when Kiyoko suddenly began gathering a momentum on their own, as she wanted to show us something in this purple Ice cloud next to the Freeport. First I thought she wanted to lead us to Minor, and I was like, Seriously, what's so special about Minor? Then I realized that wasn't at all what she wanted to show us, instead it was something... *She audibly gulps.* ... absolutely massive. Something that seemed to be a gigantic nomad structure, and the worst of all, it was active - and it even had a fuc.king entrance, leading to some sort of reactor inside of it or whatever the hell that was supposed to be. To be honest, I didn't really have the wish to analyze that further, my alarm bells began to ring, because seriously we shouldn't have been there I realized.
And as if it was really ugly karma or something, we got rewarded for it not one minute after, when we suddenly had these nasty things on our sensor again, two of them. The sensible part of our tourist group, Karin, Kiara, Nicole and me decided to fly back to the Freeport immediately, while Kiyoko and Mason stayed in this bloody structure for God knows what reasons. Back there at the station, one of these things, a drone apparently, contacted us, telling us - you know - "This is our void, what are you doing here?". It's always the same, but heck was I intimitated by that. And then, if this wasn't enough already, the other -Viech- *She accidentally slips into Rheinlandish for a second.* contacted me in private all of a sudden. And I swear, that was the moment when it -really- wasn't funny anymore. Because fu.ck, it indicated it knew about the whole deal with Hussaini and Ez. I'm hundred percent sure what I've met there was one of the two things he told me about, either Unschuld or Gaster. And it didn't seem friendly, no no, not at all. It promised me to watch me, heh, as if I would like that, gods. But I don't really care, because as soon as I heard -that-, believe me I was all about moving away from this god-forsaken place you call the Omicrons.
Karin, Kiara, Nicole and me made a run for it, out of the Omicrons through the Omegas into Bretonian House space. It soon developed into a hunt, that other thing, the drone, kept following us very, very close behind, and at one point or another, it nearly caught us, all while either Unschuld or Gaster kept pestering me on a private channel, giggling. I felt my heart beating like crazy, that was one of the heaviest adrenaline rushes I've so far had in my career. And that means something.
In the end, we made it outta there, that giggling piece of trash said goodbye, and hell, was I happy it said goodbye. We made our way to Poole, because we weren't exactly keen on moving through New London, where all the other nomad madness would have probably awaited us. So we went to Poole, and there I've found this small messed up accomodation I'm currently residing in. *She exhales.* End of the story, and I'm so unbelievably glad it's the end of the story. Getting over this will might take its time, but I'll survive that. You can just be sure I won't travel the Edge Worlds anytime soon, not if these infected buttheads are going to crawl up my arse everytime I do.
Maybe I'll find some rest now, I doubt it, but at least I should try. See ya!
*Not saying another word, but instead shaking her head again and sighing once more, she switches off the log, which doesn't appear to be easy with the tremble in her hands.*
*As she switches the log on, Elena can be seen sitting in front of her all so known desk of her roomy apartment on Glendalough again. Due to various circumstances, a large pile of papers has been put onto the desk during her absence, waiting to be processed by human hands. She is sitting on her chair, slightly crouched with her elbows resting on the wooden plate, holding her head with both of her hands. A long exhale as soon as she darts a look at the paperwork, then the presumes looking straight into the camera again. Her stare is quite fixed, piercing. She keeps pressing her lips together for a while before she finally decides to pipe up. In the background, lurking behind her body, another figure of slightly human proportions becomes visible, however it is a lot smaller to be another human. What seems to be a robot of sorts is currently cleaning the floor as it is, however not causing any nerve-racking sounds doing so. A frown appears on Elena's forehead as she opens her mouth.*
It's been a while again I guess. As you can see, I'm back on Glendalough again, in my sweet apartment. Gotta admit, I kinda began missing it while I was away on vacation with my chaps. Well, except this of course, I could have gone without this crap for just a little longer. *She demonstratively points at the papers with her index finger.* Yes, you're right, that's the downside of allowing oneself holidays, after them you always find a pile of work to finish. If only had these holidays been more relaxing than they were in the end, because this way..? I don't feel any better than before I started the journey with Kiara, Karin and Mason. Quite the opposite actually, I even feel more stressed by now. Heh, as you can imagine, not everything went well during the vacation, and I wished I was only speaking about the incident I described last time, you remember, meeting that thing that by now I'm absolutely sure was actually Unschuld - but eh, I'll come to that in a bit anyways. 'Cause believe me, over time I managed to accumulate enough sh.it again to fill such a log. Stay tuned, I guess. *A brief smirk appears on her lips.*
Let's just say that this one time to meet exactly what I didn't wanna meet during holidays was by far not enough yet. While we decided to carry on with the trip despite the ugly situation that had occured and stayed on the Luxury Liner Hawaii in Sigma-19 for a while, this wouldn't at all keep us from getting into more trouble than good for us. Obviously, we weren't keen on just boring the hell out of us on the Liner, except Karin took us on an exploration trip through her home, the Sigmas, visiting all kind of systems, from dark to dazzling ones, from peaceful to ... well, more dangerous ones as we could learn soon enough when all of a sudden guess-who decided to appear on our sensors and pay us a visit. Our balding friend Jared Nomak it was again, and he was in true old fashion again as it seemed. Chauvinistically as ever -- or rather just being a dick, even chauvinism is still too nice of a word for that prick honestly. He seems to like me though, after all he asked me to come with him... *She chuckles briefly, then turns serious again.* Of course I declined, and in the end I just got barely out with the help of my best friend, my cloak. God, I'm so happy to have that thing, seriously, it saved my skin multiple times by now already. And so it did this time. However ... this just showed me one thing: I ain't got a clean slate anymore, Hussaini and the Commune still want my skin. And this isn't good, not at all. They won't get it, but the situation could become a little less ... pleasant soon if I'm not extremely careful. Not that it is still pleasant currently anyways.
*She lets out a sigh, insecurity clearly hearable in it while she is changing her body position a little.*
Now, have you been wondering what the fu.ck this robot is doing behind me? I bet you have. May I introduce you to "Little Willy", a Kishiro service robot I got a few days back, as a present from somebody. A leaving present of sorts, to be precise. *She turns silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thoughts. Then she turns her chair around, giving a look at the robot while saying.* Say your serial number again, please. *And the robot replies in an adrogynous voice with "E-V-069". Upon that, Elena turns to the camera again.* I can still only smirk slightly on that to be honest, this thing, or rather it voice, keeps reminding me of, hm, a person. One I won't see anytime soon again, sadly. *She becomes more and more quiet over the course of her words.* God dammit Ez, you've done great this time, no kidding. You know, let's just keep it the way that he has done some bad stuff about Hussaini when we met him, and now it seems he got scolded for it by, urgh, this name ... Unschuld. Scolded in a way that he either had to ... work towards infecting me or could never see me ever again. *She sighs.* Bravo, such tragedy, just like in a stereotypical drama really. And to be honest, I'm missing him, slightly, ain't gonna deny that: I'm missing that Curacaoan playboy. But additionally, look at it the situation now, it's completely derailed by now. Ez's attempt to keep me safe or no attempt by agreeing to this deal, I'm still absolutely in the sh.its to say it kindly. As in, has the problem with the Commune and Hussaini suddenly disappeared because of this? Not a chance! And has this prevented me from getting into the reticle of certain factions? No-pe. I swear, it slowly feels like I'm meeting infectees more often than my boyfriend, god dammit. Which brings me right to my next point actually, because no way it would stick to only that.
*A headshake.*
On one of our last vacation days, of all times when I wasn't around of course, Karin and Mason got visited by a few strangers with guess what - exactly, scrambled sensor data packages. They claimed to be from the Kusari Naval Intelligence and accused us of collaborating with the Imperials. Which is, to be absolutely fair, not completely false, but those "collaborations" so to speak had never been much of a big deal, which in itself is worrisome already. Because tell me, how would they be able to find out about this, as it had only been discussed in the back rooms of politics. It would have already been bad enough if these guys had turned out to be actual agents of the Navy, but instead it only became more and more messed up. First, a Guardian-type vessel had also been present, aiding the Kusarians against us, same messy sensor data for this dude, and it only adds up the suspicions. Like, why the hell would Libertonians, our top contractor, suddenly start shooting at us? As it later turned out when I had a talk with Kiyoko something-something, yes, this undercover Kusarian agent, it didn't have to make any sense anyways, because yes. It had probably been infectees once again messing with my friends. Shooting at them, nearly killing them. And all this possibly because of me. I mean, look at the facts, since I've escaped Hussaini, it feels like I'm on a constant run whenever I leave Liberty, and even there I already got visited by these creatures. *She shakes her head again, in an attempt to shake off those thoughts.* Ez, you helped me a lot, and I gotta thank you for that, but dammit. I need something. Somebody. Anything, anybody that could help me.
As it stands, I'm the one who is helping constantly. To get my friends, Karin, Kiara, Mason, all these ones out of the trouble, to keep them safe. *She becomes a little louder.* But Elena, think of yourself for fu.ck's sake, that's what I try to keep telling myself. That I need something to get out. And no, escape is not an option, I'm not dumb enough to drop everything and just flee from everything. That's not how you solve problems, you merely postpone them to another date, maybe in the far future, but in reality it's anything but solving.
*As she has grown more agitated during her speech, some strands of hair have fallen in her face which she now strokes away with a quick gesture.*
For now I'm back in good old, hopefully safe Liberty, but you can never say that for sure honestly. If certain people really want my head as badly as it might be the case, I won't be a hundred percent safe there either. When I think about it, the most safe place for me currently would be somewhere uninhabited, with as few souls traversing the place as possible. But in all seriousness, this would be more torture than anything those things could ever do to me. Vegging out in a god-forsaken place with no souls, with my mind being my last and only comrade I have? Simply no, that wouldn't be living anymore, that would be a constant, neverending circle of pain and misery. It's a no-go for me, and believe me, I know myself well enough than you might think. And I know this would end in my death by my own bullet far sooner than if I stay and potentially have to face what I've caused.
To end this log on a more happier note again, I had the pleasure of getting to know somebody, and you know I'm enjoying this, besides the point I met her at the place of misery called the Hawaii in Sigma-19. Name's Lily Austin, she's an employee at Orbital Spa & Cruising and seems to spend her time mostly giving rich people a lift through Sirius, from Curacao over Baden-Baden to the various Luxury Liners spread all around the sector. A sympathetic woman for sure, we had some nice conversations while I escorted her from here to there and back again. The payments weren't exactly generous to be honest, but well, who am I to complain, I got other matters to complain about than such minor things, and you know that.
Anyways, I'll keep you up-to-date if any new developments hit the road. For now, let's see if I can see one job or two in Liberty to relax a little and distract myself. And I gotta meet John rather sooner than later, I guess he should know about some of the stuff his girlfriend has been up to lately finally.
*Giving the camera a final nod and a brief smirk, she shuts down the log.*
