Chain 020: Firefly

Chain 020: Firefly
Location: Persephone
Age: 31
Identity: Drop-In
Drawbacks: [+500] Mercy Is The Mark Of A Great Man, Never Goes Smooth
(Abilities: Savant; Hyperkinesis; Achron; Easy Money; Dropping The Mask)
[Free]      Leaf On The Wind
[100/1500]  Friends In, Well, Places
[200/1500]  Calm And Steady
[400/1500]  Gut Feelin'
[600/1500]  Welcome On My Boat
[650/1500]  Mysterious Box
[900/1500]  Biometric Cut-Outs
[1500/1500] Encyclopedia

The thing about being an Achron is that it's entirely possible to run through conversations several times, tweaking your responses to be exactly what's needed for the conversation. Or... you know, reflexively completely geeking out when you see a technicolor umbrella. I may not have been the most ardent follower of the series, but I remembered the ship's iconic appearance, and moreover I remembered that umbrella simply because it amused me.

When I saw a preacher, or rather a shepherd, book passage on that same vessel, I decided to follow him. Where am I going? Second star to the left, and straight on 'til morning. Or 'til I run out of coin. One or the other. --wait, this isn't coin, this is raw gold. Whoops, where did that come from, suppose you folks will have to take a little extra to cover the finder's fee.

No, sadly, I do not have more where that came from, but that should pay my way for a little while shouldn't it?

"Paste? You guys are cooking your food out of paste? I mean, I thought the Serenity Luxury Cruise Line was all about comfort- oh, come on now, I was joking. But tell you what, I've had a lot of time to practice cooking, why don't you guys let me handle dinner and see what you think." ... "What do you mean I'm now officially the cook. ...Screw it, I can roll with this."

(Maybe I shouldn't have gotten those steaks out of the Barbeque Rations, but who could blame me? Serenity's food costs have never been so low.)

And so began my journey. This went about as well as anyone might ever have hoped, especially if you've watched Under Siege. It did not hurt that I seemed to have a few contacts on various worlds, so it helped keep the crew in a little more coin than it might otherwise have been. And maybe in a little more hot water than they otherwise might have been, too, but... hell, part of the crew, part of the ship. And while early on I kept my head down, as things heated up, I found myself stepping out to help the crew with the jobs they'd take to help ends meet. Occasionally I'd get to do a little freelance hacking. Sometimes I'd even find something of value. Or open doors during a job in certain cases, or put together documentation, because why would things ever go smooth?

Despite what people said, I never actually killed anyone. Shoot to wound, maybe. Kick that decision up a bit, maybe, but taking lives... it didn't sit right with me. Though it never has, it's been a particularly unpleasant thing here, despite there being people that most definitely deserve it.

(Would be nice if River would stop calling me Old Man Crux, though.)

I may have possibly made a few waves. Like, for instance, bonding with Jayne over steak (on day one, no less). Or listening to River's words with a wider knowledge and greater willingness to listen to her and try to interpret what she says. Or replacing one of Inara's syringes with a dose of the Longevity Vaccine and watching illnesses disappear. Or convincing Simon to give everyone an injection as a vaccine, after watching it actually stabilize River's state of mind, if only slightly - less bipolar is good. Or Book getting wounded and using medical treatment on him that belongs in the Fifth Imperium, rather than this 'verse.

Or taking a enthusiastic walk with River onto an Alliance cruiser to bail everyone else out and run with their cargo.

(I've had plenty of time to learn to swing a punch, after all, and I've still got my implants from the Fifth Imperium even if I don't have the subdermal armor.)

Or a planet-sized spaceship showing up and a beam weapon wiping through a fleet of Reavers, obliterating them at a crucial moment, while the ship barely lands intact and the flap of a butterfly's wing means that the pilot's alive and well.

Or watching the Alliance chase its tails over rumors over a brass-colored planet that appeared and disappeared, wiping out Reavers in its wake, while its sins are exposed to the wider universe.

Or hacking to uncover more of the Alliance's dirty laundry and watching the cracks within it widen, and watching it purge its upper leadership a half dozen years later. And then the military purging THAT. And then in the closing months, watching the Alliance become the Confederation; rumors were that the capitol was going to be established on Albion.

What do I know, though? It's not like I'm any threat.

I'm just the cook.