Video Broadcast - OTA (Post Storm)

[doubled_speed]

[Hey guys, look who it is. The bright and cheerful and constantly snarky kid. Who is smiling wide, though it looks a bit strained. Good news, his arm has healed since getting back. Bad news, Tommy looks nervous and maybe a hint of stressed as the video starts. But hey, he's in the greenhouse, which is obvious from the greenery around him. And his communication device is propped up against something, because his hands are in the shot, working at the soil around a lush Cyanana plant, clearly working fertilizer into the soil with care.]

So, like... Just because we've got the ships and stuff doesn't mean it's not important for us to maintain the greenhouse, right? We were gone for a while and not all the places in here did well while we were gone. And then I was walking around and realized that we're sorta scattered, the people working here. So maybe people with the skill should, like, coordinate? Because fresh food on the ships is good too. We can preserve shit and put it on the ships for variation.

I also wanna do, like, hydroponics on some of the ships. So if we gets spaced again for a while, we can have fresh stuff.

Guess...

[He sighs and his hand cards through his hair. Which means some dirt is now there in the perfect white strands.]

Guess I mean I'm willing to help organize. Map out the greenhouse, help us figure out schedules and when to work on different plants and that shit. Or not. Someone else can take that charge. I don't much care. It just needs done. Might also need an engineer to help with the ship part. And maybe people to okay adding it to other ships and to take care of the plants.

Anyway uh...

[Let him be useful. He failed as a hero in the storm. Disappointment and frustration flash across his face in the video and then it's gone.]

Thoughts?

Comments

[doubled_speed]

You talk about him like he’s a person.

[happybeeps]

Well...- [Poe's expression suggests that he very much thinks of him as one.] Yeah?

[doubled_speed]

If he's a person, then he isn't YOUR droid. He's his own person. You can't own a person!

[happybeeps]

[Well that....definitely takes Poe by surprise, and his steps slow, blinking at the camera. There's a concerned sound from BB-8, and Poe glances to him with a reassuring smile.]

He's- ...he is his own person. [Poe confirms. Droid rights are a complicated issue even in his time.] He's here because he wants to be.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, but you called him YOUR droid. That's fucking possessive language for someone that doesn't actually own him. Don't call him that.

[Listen, things get complicated when your father and one of your best friends are synthetic people, are machines.]

[happybeeps]

[The droid in question is making his own arguments, but Poe doesn't translate this time, shaking his head softly at him. He doesn't think Tommy's got the best incentive to believe him right now when BB-8 seems to be arguing in favor of his master.]

...It's complicated. He is mine, but that doesn't mean he's not free.

[doubled_speed]

[Don't argue with him, BB-8. He's trying to HELP YOU escape an oppressor.]

Man, Space-Shatner, I thought you were better than this. But apparently you're more like a fucking Bot-Slaver. That's not even fucking cool. And you said someone just GAVE him to you? You can't give people.

[happybeeps]

[BB-8 is a proud Resistance member, he resents the implication that he's only there because Poe's forced him some how.]

Slaver?? [He looks very taken aback by that accusation, and shakes his head.] I'm not- he's my partner.

[doubled_speed]

Then don't refer to him as your droid. CALL him your Partner. Or your Friend. Or SOMETHING.

[happybeeps]

He is my friend. One of my best friends.

[And Tommy has some good points, though it's hard for Poe to immediately change his way of thinking. He'll make a point around Tommy at least for now.]

[doubled_speed]

Then call him that.

[Geez, don't be an asshole.]

[happybeeps]

...Fair enough.

[BB-8 gives a sullen whistle, and Poe gives him a look.] Be nice.

You still want us to come by?

[doubled_speed]

I can't control you, or the people with the greenhouse. But you can't force the droid to do the work for you!

[happybeeps]

I couldn't make BB doing something he didn't want to if I tried.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, well, I'll believe it when I see it.

[happybeeps]

We'll work on teaching you droidspeak and you can ask him for yourself.

[doubled_speed]

I'm a fucking horrible student.

[He blew up his school.]

[happybeeps]

I'm probably not the best teacher. We'll make it work.

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, I'm not sure about that. But good luck