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[rory-the-rude-blog]

Task 001: The Devil is in the Details

((Trigger warning: Question 60 asks about self-harm.))

The computer screen lit up in front of Aurora, showing her her own face as picked up by the small camera. She looked bored - and what a coincidence, because she was bored. But this session was necessary, according to the medical staff. “To make sure your memory hasn’t been affected by the cryostasis,” one of the doctors had told her, like she was speaking to a child. What they didn’t say was that they were checking their psychological profiles again - because that had to be a factor, right? Space madness was not great for crew morale.

The screen changed. Her face was replaced by the Apollo Corporation logo, formed out of lines of code. Samson’s voice rang out clear from the speakers.

“State your name and access code.”

“Aurora Roth, Access Code 13122101. But you knew that already.”

Samson did not respond to her sass. ‘He’ only proceeded to explain the rules of the test. Respond as thoroughly as you can, so your answers can be compared to the results on your file. Do not purposefully lie. Do not answer ‘I don’t know’. 

“Are you ready to proceed? Only answer in the affirmative if you have understood the assignment.”

Aurora sighed. “Let’s get this s**t over with. Ready.”

Personal

1)      Age?

“Twenty-five. Twenty-six this December. No, I have not forgotten my own birthday.”

2)      Gender?

“Female. Cisgendered.”

3)      Romantic/Sexual Orientation?

“Not f**king interested. S**t, wait, I didn’t put that before. Fine then. Heterosexual.”

4)      Height?

“5′1, but tall enough to kick ass. Make a note of that, robot.”

5)      Race?

“Caucasian.”

6)      What do you look like?

“Christ, this is like a first grade homework activity. Um. F**k. How do I describe myself? I have light-brown-slash-dirty blonde hair that hangs just past my shoulders, with bitchin’ bangs. My eyebrow game is strong. I have blueish-grayish eyes. And I’ve been told I have resting bitch face. Good enough?”

7)      Any disabilities?

“The inability to suffer fools. It hinders me on a daily basis.”

8)      Is there a meaning to your name?

“My mother picked it. If there was ever a special reason why, she never told me. With her personality though, I’m just grateful I wasn’t named ‘Crystal’ or ‘Jewel’. Hey, are all these extra comments going to register negatively? Am I going to be told I have memory loss because I’m being a f**king chatterbox?”

9)      What makes you, you?

“I...? What??? F**k. I guess my sparkling personality? ... Hey, what do you mean ‘incorrect’?! That’s f**king rude. Is it my trucker mouth? I put my trucker mouth before, didn’t I?”

10)   What did you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do with your life?

“... Be happy. And needed.”

Family

11)   Do you have parents? What are they like?

“Growing up, it was just my mom and I. Mom never really spoke about Dad - unless we were fighting, and then he was everything wrong with me. ‘You’re a demon, Aurora, just like your father.’ ... Yeah, I don’t hold out much hope for him being a nice guy.”

12)   Do you have siblings? If not, do you wish you had siblings?

“I’m an only child, and I liked it that way. I was pretty solitary growing up.”

13)   Extended family? Do you see them often?

“None. Again, pretty solitary.”

14)   Do you like where you live? Is it a safe place?

“Back on Earth, I lived in The Bronx. The neighbourhood could be pretty dodgy, but our apartment block at least had mild security. I could handle myself though. Do I like the Atlas-7? Sure, I guess.”

15)   Where do you live? Are they wealthy, poor or middle-class?

“Mom and I were lower middle-class. And now... do I get paid for this? S**t, I better get some kind of luxury for risking my neck out in space.”

16)   Do you have a lot of expectations or pressure on you from family to do great?

“From my mother? Hah, f**k no. I don’t know if she even knows I’m up here. ... I hope she does. I hope she’s proud of me.”

17)   Do you have pets?

“We never had the space for one. I would’ve loved a snake. Or a snapping turtle. Something mean-looking, like me.”

18)   Who do you look up to the most in your family? Are you close with them?

“Not really much of a choice when it’s just me and one other person, is it? I guess Mom and I were close at times. I have some good memories, at least. I drifted away a bit in high school, and, well, she never pulled me back. That’s that.”

19)   Is there anything special about your family?

“I come from a long line of psychics. I s**t you not. Some of my ancestors were spooky accurate with predictions.”

20)   Do you wish you lived in a different household?

“Nah. What’s the point of fighting the hand you got dealt? I made do with what I had, and it wasn’t all bad. It made me strong.”

Friends

21)   Best Friend(s)?

“A few good friends, but only one best. Matthew Reyes is, without a doubt, my best friend. He’s the one who inspired me to do this.”

22)   Who was your first friend?

“Matt, again. We clicked pretty quickly once we actually had a chance to interact.”

23)   What is your friend group like?

“Pretty f**king big. We were one of those groups that split off into different groups, and mixed and matched. There was my group - Matt, Nathaniel (Matt’s then-boyfriend and now-husband, and very sweet Latino boy), Jeanette (the eternal ball of sunshine), Vaughn (the mysterious one) and myself - and then the “popular” group - Evangeline (the ice queen), Benji (the jackass), Angela (the cool bitch), Gabe (the stoner-who-wasn’t-a-stoner-but-looked-like-a-stoner), Lavender (tailor aboard the Atlas-7. Never liked her) and her boyfriend, Will (the worst person alive). Despite our differences, we were pretty tight. Lavender and I managed to get all of the others aboard the ship as civilians. It’s one of the only nice things I’ve ever known her to do.”

24)   Do you have a love/hate relationship with any of them?

“I love Matt and Nate, and hate Benji and Will. Does that count?”

25)   Do you consider any of your friends to be like siblings?

“Matt is like my brother. I was one of the first people he came out to, and he was the first person to ever just accept me for me.”

26)   Have you ever hurt a friend or lost one?

“I’m sure I’ve hurt them plenty, but it’s not my problem. They know I’m blunt and honest. If they didn’t want to get called out on their bulls**t, they shouldn’t have f**king done it in the first place. Loss-wise... does having friends frozen in time count as losing them? Because I’m feeling that loss pretty hard.”

27)   Do you have a crush on any of your friends?

“God no. It was bad enough watching them all shack up with each other. I’d hate to actually be part of one of those relationships.”

28)   Do you share classes with good friends?

“We all used to have at least one class with each other - well, Matt, Nate, Jean, Vaughn and I did. The others were a year above us. They probably shared some classes.”

29)   Who do you go to the most when you need a shoulder to cry on?

“No one. I was the strong one of the group. I don’t really need anyone to share girly emotions with, since I’m 100% pure man.”

30)   What would you do without your friends in your life?

“Spend my days charting, navigating and mapping stars and other space matter, and my nights rooming with a treehugger.”

School

31)   Did you complete your school career?

“I finished high school and went on to college before joining the space program. I wasn’t studying anything special.”

32)   Did you like your teachers? Was there a good one? Bad one?

“Does anyone really like their teachers? I had a few average ones, one or two that didn’t quite click with my learning style, and a handful who I enjoyed. Same as everyone.”

33)   Did you listen to your teachers or were you goofing off a lot?

“I was a good student. I pick up a lot just by listening, so I tended to pay more attention in class so I could study less.”

34)   Were you a good student grade-wise?

“I was steady. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad. Mostly Bs.”

35)   Did you need extra help?

“Nope. Matt and I used to help Nate with his English though. That was fun - and f**king hilarious too. I love Nate, but his English wasn’t bueno.”

36)   What was your school like?

“School was like school. I went to public school for a few years, then got into one of those psuedo-fancy academies for my later years of high school. We had one of those uniforms with the blazer-and-skirt combo. Blazers do not look good on short people.”

37)   Did you have bullies in your school?

“Every school has their s**theads, you know? And it’s always important to remember that anyone can be the villain in someone else’s story. I’m sure a few people would call me a bully - not that I ever actively went out of my way to be a bitch to someone. But not all bullies are the stereotypes you see on TV.”

38)   Have you ever gotten into a fight at school?

“Plenty. My crowning achievement was when I split Benji’s lip after he made Jeanette cry. For the next week, he flinched every time he tried that sleazy smile of his and made the wound bleed again. Good times.”

39)   Have you ever done something stupid or embarrassing at school?

“I was involved in Nate’s promposal for Matt. It... it was so gay. Was it embarrassing for me? Nope, I loved it. For Matt? That’s another story.”

40)   How far do you plan to go with school? Do you want to go back?

“I think I pretty much hit my peak. This is what I’m doing with my life now, and when we’re done and rehabilitated onto another planet? Well, who the f**k knows?”

Other

41)   Are you dating anyone? Do you want to date? Are you married? Divorced? 

“Jesus Christ, Samson, what are you, a trashy gossip mag? No, I’m single - always have been - and that’s the way I like it, thank you very much.”

42)   What is your favorite hobby? Do you keep it a secret?

“I like plotting the demise of my foes. No, seriously. I sit and think about ways to hurt people who’ve hurt my friends, in the privacy of my head. Is that a tad sociopathic? Maybe. Do I look like I give a f**k?”

43)   If you could have one thing in life, what would it be?

“Matt, happy and unfrozen.”

44)   Do you work?

“Do I work? Yes, dips**t, I’m a navigator. I didn’t forget the whole reason I was here in the first place.”

45)   Do you use social media?

“Nope. Never been interested.”

46)   Have you ever been in the hospital?

“Does when I was born count? If not, then no.”

47)   Do you believe in the supernatural, that there is more than the eye can see?

“Surprisingly enough, yes. Judge me if you must. I don’t care. My family have had ‘experiences’.”

48)   What do you do when you get angry, stressed, or upset?

“When I’m angry, I blow up. Punch things. Swear. That kind of thing. I don’t really get stressed, to be honest. And my ‘upset’ equates to my ‘angry’. No room for sadness here.”

49)   Would you consider yourself to be a good person, bad person, or morally grey?

“Chaotic good, maybe? Just because I’m rough doesn’t make me a bad person. I don’t know if I necessarily qualify as a ‘good person’ either. Morally grey, I guess.”

50)   Does this OC have any part of you in them? (I.e, personality traits, similar background, etc)

((OOC: Hahahaha. Aurora is probably one of the most opposite characters of my own personality that I play. We both don’t take bulls**t, and can be a bit confrontational, but she’s way more extreme than me. We both have great eyebrows though.))

Health

51) Have you ever been seriously injured?

“Surprisingly not. Some scratches and bruises from fights, but I’ve never broken a bone or anything.”

52) Any allergies?

“I’m severely allergic to bulls**t. Other than that, I’m allergic to nothing.”

53) Do you get sick often?

“Whenever I started coughing or sniffling as a kid, Mom used to give me this godawful herbal concoction. I think that disgusted my body into never being sick again. I had perfect attendance at school.”

54) Do you need to take medicine for anything?

“Luckily not. A few of my friends were on the pill for their sex lives or cramps or some s**t, but I was never one of them.”

55) Are you a hypochondriac?

“That’s a negative.”

56) Do you even like going to the doctors?

“Seriously, Samson? This s**t is on my file? No, I very rarely went to an actual doctor, so it isn’t something particularly dear to me.”

57) Do you brush off injuries or seek help?

“I brush them off. I’m tough, and I don’t want people worrying about me. That’s just how I’m built.”

58) Do you know first aid?

“Nope. If I’m your last chance, you’re f**ked, I’m afraid.”

59) Do you have health insurance? If so, how good is it?

“Didn’t really read the fine print, but I’m sure the crew has some kind of insurance. Not that we have to pay for any kind of treatment while we’re up here. It’s free real estate.”

60) Have you ever harmed yourself?

“No, Samson.”

Favourites

61) Favourite animal? Why?

“The honey badger, because it doesn’t give a s**t. Ravens are cool too.”

62) Favourite type of music? Why?

“Kelly Clarkson is a goddess, and all of her songs are cool, punchy ballads for cool, punchy chicks.”

63) Favourite place? Why?

“My bed. It beckons me into the sweet, sweet abyss of sleep, where I am free to do whatever I want.”

64) Favourite food or drink? Why?

“Matt’s mom used to make the best strawberry cheesecake. I’d sell a kidney to taste it again.”

65) Favourite type of clothing? Why?

“Knuckledusters, because they get the job done. Other than that, I like hoodies. They... make me feel safe.”

66) Favourite time of day? Why?

“3AM, when I am deep in the clutches of sleep. I don’t know. I don’t really have a favourite time. Things like that don’t matter to me.”

67) Favourite season? Why?

“Winter, when the outside world is as cold and grey as my soul. Plus you can live in your hoodie and people won’t give you weird looks for wearing a hoodie because it’s hot.”

68) Favourite story, be it from a book or something like a myth or fable? Why?

“I don’t like fairy tales. They’re unrealistic and make people act like idiots in the hopes of finding their ‘happily ever after’. That s**t doesn’t exist for everyone. I like stories where people get their comeuppance.”

69) Favourite thing to learn? Why?

“A bit of everything, I guess? I might not like people, but I like learning about them. I’m observant. I pick up on a lot. I like learning curse words in foreign languages too.”

70) Favourite scent? Why?

“Rose water and bad quality incense. It smells like home.”

World

71) Do you live on Earth or somewhere else?

“I lived on Earth. Now I have no real home except for a big metal spaceship.”

72) What time period do you live in? 

“Last I checked, it was 2038. Unless something got f**ked up along the way.”

73) Anything special about your world?

“The fact that it’s a spaceship is special enough, yeah?”

74) What are your world leaders like?

“I, for one, support our AI overlord, Samson.”

75) What is the state of your world like?

“Structured. Orderly. Routined. Let’s see how long that lasts.”

76) Do you wonder about your place in the world?

“No. I’m hardly the philosophical type. I’m more of an ‘in the now’ kind of girl.”

77) Is your world in contact with other worlds?

“Does Earth count as an ‘other world’ now that we’re not a part of it? If so, yes. If not, then no. No green squigglies have tried to probe us yet.”

78) What area of your world do you live in? 

“I live in the f**king Amazon Rainforest. No, Samson, I know we’re in space - it’s a f**king analogy. My room is super f**king humid because my roommate is growing her own plants. Doesn’t she have a whole farm lab for that? Christ.”

79) What is the wildlife like?

“By ‘wildlife’ I’m assuming you mean ‘men’. They’re big and lumbering. Or they drink. Nothing new.”

80) Do you have a religion or belief in a higher being?

“I’ve never believed in a higher being. Too much s**t happens in life for it to be part of some grand plan.”

Skills

81) Do you know how to fight?

“F**k yes. Please tell me there’s a demonstration needed.”

82) Can you drive? 

“Nope. Mom and I could never afford a car or anything like that. I used to walk everywhere.”

83) Can you swim?

“Yeah. We had swimming at school. I hated it.”

84) Are you handy?

“Relatively so. I’ve had to do a few DIY fix jobs in my life.”

85) How quickly can you learn something new?

“I taught myself everything I could about the stars and interstellar navigation in less than a year. So, pretty f**king quickly, I’d say.”

86) Can you speak more than one language?

“Fluently, no. But I can hold a basic conversation in Spanish. Gracias, Nathaniel.”

87) Can you read and write?

“I, indeed, can.”

88) Do you have any survival skills?

“Survival like camping? F**k no. Survival as in protecting myself on the streets? F**k yes. I’m pretty good at self-defense.”

89) Can you cook?

“A few basics. I used to make lunch for myself a lot. It wasn’t anything special though.”

90) Any unusual or unique skills? 

“Did I mention previously that I’m slightly psychic? Because that’s unique. I have way too many premonitory dreams for it to be a coincidence.”

Other II

91) Do you believe in destiny and fate? Do you think it can’t be changed?

“There’s no such thing as fate. It’s an excuse people use to be lazy, or to explain away s**tty things. Situations can always be changed if you get your ass into gear.”

92) Do you have any regrets?

“No use crying over spilled milk, hey Samson? I am who I am. I’ve done what I’ve done. No regrets.”

93) What do you fear the most?

“Letting my friends down.”

94) Do you believe in love at first sight? Soulmates? That love never dies?

“None of the above. There’s no such thing as ‘true love’. People waste way too much time and energy deluding themselves otherwise.”

95) Can you play an instrument?

“Nope, I have next to no musical talent.”

96) How messy is your room?

“I’d prefer it to be tidy, but apparently my f**king roommate has already decided otherwise. There’s nature junk everywhere.”

97) Can you dance?

“Yes. Take that secret to your grave, Samson.”

98) Do you like to meet new people? Do you like people in general?

“No, and no. I’m not what you’d call a people person. Being frozen for ten years hasn’t changed that.”

99) Are you hopeful for the future?

“I suppose? I’m not getting my hopes up or anything, but, I mean, this mission has to succeed..... right?

100) Why did you make this OC and maybe even the world they live in? Just cause? Or for some other reason?

((OOC: Aurora is one of my most refreshing characters, simply because she is just absolutely 100% unapologetically herself. She’s always been quietly self-sacrificing - so what better position to put her in than in space, where she could quite literally sacrifice her life for her friends? She’s a lot deeper than you think. I look forward to sharing her with everyone.))

[rory-the-rude-blog]

Playlist to your life. What would the top songs on it be?

Got a whole f**king album’s worth for this one.

Friday Night - Lily Allen

Looked me up and downI don’t make a soundThere’s a lesson that I want you to learnIf you’re gonna play with fire, then you’re gonna get burned

Don’t try and test me ‘cause you’ll get reactionAnother drink and I’m ready for actionI don’t know who you think you areBut making people scared won’t get you very far

Bad Kids - Lady Gaga

I’m a twit, degenerate young rebel and I’m proud of itPump your fist if you would rather mess up than put up with thisI’m a nerd, I chew gum and smoke in your face, I’m absurdI’m so bad and I don’t give a damn, I love it when you’re mad

Save Yourself - My Darkest Days

I’m the devil’s son, straight out of hellAnd you’re an angel with a haunted heartIf you were smart, you’d run and protect yourselfFrom the demon living in the dark

There’s nothing to be gained'Cause I can never changeAnd you can never understand my sickness(I’ll never understand my sickness)

Save yourself, from a life full of liesAnd a heart full of pain and sorrowSave yourself, from the choices I make'Cause nothing but failure follows me

Asylums for the Feeling - Silent Poets

I find my own completenessThe darkness and the weaknessThe light, the fight, the quietness

Cool Kids - Echosmith

She sees them walking in a straight line,That’s not really her styleAnd they all got the same heartbeatBut hers is falling behindNothing in this world couldEver bring them downYeah, they’re invincible, and she’s just in the background

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

I don’t give a damn'Bout my reputationI’ve never been afraid of any deviationAn’ I don’t really careIf ya think I’m strangeI ain’t gonna changeAn’ I’m never gonna care'Bout my bad reputationOh no, not me

Jekyll and Hyde - Five Finger Death Punch

There’s just so much goddamned weight on my shouldersAll I’m trying to do is live my motherf**king lifeSupposed to be happy, but I’m only getting colderWear a smile on my face, but there’s a demon inside

[rory-the-rude-blog]

Do you have any favorite childhood or school memories?

Being part of a big friend group at home meant a bunch of fun memories. 

Like this one time with my friend, Gabe. He has a bunch of piercings all over his face, right? Especially in the eyebrow region. He used to wear this f**king stupid beanie to cover them up at school. Looked like a f**king stoner. Anyway, he once got stuck to my other friend Angie’s science project to do with magnetism or some s**t. She’s this real smart bitch, so these magnets were strong. She had to take her project - now with Gabe attached - to her science teacher to help her detach him. 

Needless to say, she aced that s**t. 

[rory-the-rude-blog]

What couldn't you leave earth without?

My sparkling personality?

S**t man, who writes these questions? I don’t really have many special possessions. I’m not really the sentimental type. I have a small box of trinkets from my friends that I brought with me, but that’s about it.

[rory-the-rude-blog]

Anybody special in your life? On earth, on the ship, or otherwise

Yes. 8 special someones (10 if you count Will and Benji, which sometimes I don’t). You see, on Earth I was part of this sick-ass harem–

F**k, I’m kidding. They were my friends. Now they’re friendsicles in the big ol’ freezer on our ship. 

[rory-the-rude-blog]

In a fight between Desmond and yourself who do you think would win.

You’re kidding, right? Obviously I’d say me without any doubt, but in reality, it’d depend on the situation.

Just a normal fight, in a room with enough space to move? I’d win. I’m small, fast and angry. 

If it was after hours, once the good Doc had a few to drink? Still me. 

Huh, what do you know. Guess I’d win either way. 

[rory-the-rude-blog]

If you were an ice cream flavor, what would it be?

My friends would say rocky road as some kind of pun.

I’d be lemon sorbet - sour to the palate at first, and not something everyone likes. But once you develop a taste for it? Totally refreshing. Just like me and my blunt honesty.

[rory-the-rude-blog]

It’s TMI Tuesday! Ask my muse anything you want and they’ll have to answer honestly.

[rory-the-rude-blog]

The Journey Begins -- Open

Space: the final f**king frontier. A total mystery to the human race - until now. She’d map the living s**t out of it if it meant finding her friends a new home.

She gazed out of one of the large windows, having moved out of the cryo-bay as soon as her tiny legs would let her. Reunions were not something she wanted to take part in - not when half of the crew were hugging and smiling, and the other half were using their first moments awake to be sick. If people really wanted to greet her, they could find her themselves. Hopefully they wouldn’t. The view was spectacular, and she didn’t want it ruined by having to share it with a stranger.

She could almost picture how her friends would react to the sight of so many stars. Jeanette’s voice rang through her head, loud and clear and full of unnecessary excitement as she ruined her own lame punchline, ‘Hey Aurora, how do you plan a space party? You plan it.’

The sound of her voice made Aurora’s lips twitch into what was nearly a smile, before she remembered that Jeanette wouldn’t get to see this view - not for years. All she could see was the inside of her own eyelids while she was stuck in her cryogenic tank, dead to the world along with all of her other friends. All of them together, except for her. 

For the first time in her life, Aurora felt small.

[rory-the-rude-blog]

It took Aurora a second to respond, her irritation levels immediately rising at the fact that this man thought she was too stupid to tell a kitchen and an infirmary apart. She took a deep breath. ‘Push the anger down. Try again,’ she thought to herself. Today was day one of a long-ass trip to who knew where - maybe it wasn’t a good idea to alienate people so soon. 

She opened her mouth to respond, and immediately snarked at the man. “Oh, this isn’t the kitchen? Guess I can’t eat those f**king scalpels then.” So much for being polite.

Walking further into the room, Aurora looked around before turning to the doctor. What was his name again? She hadn’t really bothered to learn many of them. Cree? Creep? “So, Doctor McCree, are you gonna help me, or just sit there like some GQ model?”

Ten years in cryosleep had been rough on Desmond’s body. The chemicals and fluids that were used to get ones body into such a state left burns and scars on his skin that would take weeks to fully heal. 

With the process of waking and medically assessing the rest of the crew over and having dismissed the rest of the medical crew soon after. Desmond now sat alone one one of the many medical beds in the empty, quiet and now dimly lit medical bay. His shirt now sat on the bed next to him as he tended to the burns and scars that started on his back and wrapped all the way round to his chest. From what he could see most of the burns and scars would heal fine, only a small few would remain to lightly mark his skin. 

Hearing the sound of the medical bay doors slide open with a small mechanical hiss, Desmond turned his head to see another stepping in through the door way. “The mess hall and observation deck are on the first floor” he said, his voice tired and his body aching as he did. 

[rory-the-rude-blog]

“You look as s**tty as I feel.”

Maybe not the greatest way to greet somebody, but hey, it wasn’t like Aurora was going to be winning any awards for being Miss Congeniality anytime soon. She slid into the seat across from the man, slouching back into it and resting her arms on the backrest. With his shoulders slumped and fingers clutching his nose in that defeated way she knew so well, it was like looking in a mirror. Ten years of being frozen hadn’t agreed with her, and every movement sent a weird coldness through her - like her body had forgotten what moving was. “Oliver, right?” Aurora hadn’t remembered many of the crew’s names (she had years to do that still, right?), but it was hard to forget the man with the nice accent. “I’m Aurora, in case you forgot. I don’t know how some of the others come out of the freezer looking so chipper, but I feel like f**king death.”

A sigh escaped Oliver,  he had hoped coming here to the rec room with help clear his head, but from the moment he woke from cryo the memories of what he left behind, what occurred before he left on this journey flooded back to him. What was technically 10 years ago, felt like a mere day. This was not how he wanted to start, mourning over someone light years away. He’d say he needed a drink, had he been the sort.  Oli pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to alleviate some of the pain from a headache he had, before staring out into the blank nothingness of space. Whether the headache he was suffering from was caused due to waking from cryo or from the stress of leaving what he had left. He wasn’t sure.