Can I get your autograph?

Posted on Mon Sep 20th, 2021 @ 10:00am by Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini' & Alice Shimada

1,240 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Operation Romulus Return
Location: Deck 16 corridor
Timeline: Before 'Ready at any Time'

Alice made her way down a corridor on Deck 16, which her mother had told her was where her (Chiyo's) office was located. There was something that Alice needed her mother for, and it was something that couldn't wait until Chiyo got off work. Alice carried with her her school bag, which she used to store her few schoolbooks that were only available in print. Alice had mainly used the bag as a static storage container ever since that day on the Morgan, only ever using it as intended in times like this.

Also in her school bag, Alice kept a very personal treasure to her: An officially published fanart book from her favorite live stream show, 'Paper Fantasies', which she would often take out and flip through whenever she needed a pick me up or inspiration for her campaign.

Alice had made her way from the quarters she shared with her mother down to Deck 16, the regs and marines giving her weird looks along the way made it evident that she was an unusual sight on a vessel of this type. However, she had become used to being glanced at in passing, as her mother had been in this line of work for as long as she could remember, and Alice was simply along for the ride.

So, then, as Alice drew near the location of her mother's office, she was quite surprised when she recognized someone heading the other way down the corridor. She stopped in place and her blood ran cold, as she didn't think she would ever meet a famous person like this: She thought meeting famous people was only reserved for fan conventions...

There's no way that's her: Alice thought, trying to justify this paradox in her head. It's probably just someone who looks like her...

"Um... Excuse me?" Alice finally managed to squeak out in the direction of the approaching pilot.

The pilot stopped dead in her tracks, her attention turning towards the sweet little girl trying to get her attention.

"D'aaaawwww!" she squealed, bending over and lightly ruffling Alice's hair. "Aren't you the cutest little thing? And whose kid would you happen to be?"

"The Marine CO's..." Alice responded coldly. "Her office is right down the hall."

"Oh, you're the Marine CO's daughter?" The pilot remarked, before chuckling to herself for not recognizing the similarities sooner. "Probably should've guessed; you're practically a splitting image of her!"

"I get that a lot..." Alice muttered. "Anyway, you wouldn't happen to be... Nozomi Kusuda from Paper Fantasies, would you?" Alice regained her nervous tone when she moved to asking the question.

The pilot's eyes widened in surprise.

"I didn't think I'd be remembered for that!" she smiled, confirming Alice's hunch that the woman standing before her was, in fact, the Nozomi Kusuda. "That was, like, a one-off PR stunt we did to promote one of our albums!"

Alice stood wide eyed for a moment in shock from the revelation:

This isn't supposed to be happening! She thought. This was supposed to be a doppelganger that I just passed in the hallway and carried on with my day!

"On, the other hand, I'd beg to differ:" Alice responded as the shock began to wear off. "The way you played your character; as a crazy ex of one of the series regulars' characters; it was nothing short of roleplaying brilliance! Oh, and the way your character died; Oh, it was just waterworks! I'd personally say the episode with your guest appearance was my favorite episode of the whole series."

"D'aaawww~ you're such a sweetheart!" Nozomi cooed, patting Alice lightly on the head. "I remember putting a lot of effort into my performance, so it makes me so happy to hear that it still moves people all these years later!"

Seriously, you planning on adopting me or something? Alice thought to herself.

"Hey, I know you've probably heard this a million times before, but can I have your autograph?" Alice asked, grabbing her artbook and flipping it open to a page with artwork featuring Nozomi's character. "I should have a pen in here somewhere..."

"Oh, but of course!" Nozomi accepted without a moment's hesitation. "Anything for a fan!"

After rummaging through her school bag enough, Alice found her pencil pouch and a few moments later, presented a permanent marker to Nozomi for signing.

"Here;" She said. "I knew I had one on me..."

"So, fun little behind-the-scenes trivia," Nozomi explained as she took the artbook and scribbled down her signature. "The producers of the show had this big, six-hour campaign planned out, where our characters were going to go on this big, globe-spanning quest to stop my in-game ex from gathering the nine Melodious Gems and stripping the world of rhythym; of course, Rin had just turned 20 the night prior and had snuck out to a bar to get drunk, so she wound up arriving at the shoot hungover and sick as a dog. The managers almost canceled the session outright when she vomited all over Umi's new blazer and we had to take time out of our recording schedule to wash the two of them off, but the producers of the show were like, 'You know what, we're just not going to have time for this six-hour campaign; let's just scale this back and do a four-hour campaign instead.'"

She shrugged and handed the artbook back to Alice. "I think it all wokred out in the end. Accept for Umi, of course; I think she's still a little mad at Rin for ruining her blazer."

"I must say, it never felt abridged at any point:" Alice said as she tucked the artbook away and put the marker back in her pencil pouch. "And the fact that all nine of you were there at all; the promotional work leading up to the stream led us to believe that only one or two of you would appear alongside the main cast. And the fact that most of the main cast still appeared; I applaud the GM for being able to manage such a large group. I mean, 16 players: That's something I could never hope to replicate with my own campaign!"

"Oh, you do your own campaigns? That's so cool!" Nozomi complimented.

"I do." Alice admitted. "You know, if you'd like to join us sometime, I would be honored. You'd just have to speak with my mom about it first. She doesn't like it when I give the location of our quarters away to random regs in the hall."

"Oh, I would love to!" Nozomi winked. "And since I used to work in the entertainment industry, I'd be happy to give you some voice acting tips to spice up the experience!"

"Just don't show up the other Marines with your professional talent." Alice advised. "Or I guess I should say the Air Boss and her kid as well, should they ever decide to take up my mom's offer."

Alice gestured down the hall.

"Walk with me to my mom's office? And we can make the arrangements from there?" She suggested.

"Oh, but of course..."
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Posting by (in order of appearance):

Alice Shimada
Civilian

Ensign Nozomi Kusuda
Fighter Pilot, USS Tokyo (NCC-91101)

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