video;

[arithmethodical]

Do these people look at what we can actually do before they give us jobs? Is it just me?

[ There's a certain false bravado in the words, like someone clinging on to the one thing that might be at least somewhat within her control. ]

I'm a bus driver. I should at least be in engineering, if they're not going to give me something with wings. The company I'm supposed to work for won't even let me get a look at the guts of the bus. They want me to drive that thing every day but they won't even let me see what it's made of.

Comments

video;

[usaf]

Huh. Guess I lucked out when they made me a flight instructor. If you don't mind coming down to Heropa, I could put in a good word for you with my bosses?

[arithmethodical]

Bad enough that this place doesn't have spaceflight capabilities, they stick me on the ground anyway.

[ She sounds ABOSLUTELY SULLEN about it, but studies the camera with significantly less annoyance. ] Jess Pava. You're a pilot?

Video

[flightforfreedom]

[ The video gets turned on so fast that Poe wasn’t even ready - fumbling and nearly dropping his comm in his excitement. ]

Jess??

Jess, is that really you??

[arithmethodical]

[ Of all the voices she expected to hear--]

Poe?!

text;

[therewillbeorder]

[Another Resistance fighter, from what he can tell.

Lovely. They just keep coming.]

Perhaps that is what you're truly suited for. You might have found your life's purpose.

text;

[arithmethodical]

[ All it takes is one look at his handle for Jess to tighten up inside. Hux. Hux is here. Of course. There's something inevitable about it. ]

Is yours greasing engines with your hair?

permavid

[killtime]

So quit.

[arithmethodical]

[ Wow WAY TO BE PRACTICAL.

Robbed of her reason to complain, Jess is left to wonder why she didn't think of quitting in the first place. ]

Would you believe me if I said I hadn't thought of that.

video »

[forcelight]

[ She doesn't know Jess, but the complaint is one that Rey shares since she'd showed up for work that first day. Still better than digging for scrap metal, but... what does a desert scavenger know about swimsuits? ]

I think I'd actually prefer driving a bus over ... selling swimwear.

[arithmethodical]

[ Squint. ]

Okay, you have me beat.

[callmesuperboy]

I think they don't care.

But it's not hard to change jobs here.

[arithmethodical]

There’s that anyway. [ She still sounds aggrieved. ] Apparently they don’t let civilians touch real... airplanes. [ Airplanes. Not starfighters. Not even shuttles or freighters. Airplanes. ] Not outside of their military.

[Video]

[mem0ry]

[Though she's younger than the rest of the people replying, Lain has a solution, sort of.]

Maybe you could find another job? Someone here must need an engineer, after all...

[arithmethodical]

[ Oh no a smol. Jess’s scowl softens into a more or less neutral expression. ] That’s the plan. I’m not staying behind the wheel of a vehicle I can’t work on myself.

[hatestrashcans]

They do.

It's their idea of a joke, I think. Just don't do it.

Or drive like the bus from Speed.

[arithmethodical]

Speed?

[ She can tell it’s a reference, but: ]

Is that an Earth thing?

video;

[hatejakku]

You could look without telling them? [ It's a bus. Surely she can drive it somewhere. Who'll stop her from looking then? ]

But you never know. I ended up working at an aquarium for some reason but I love it now. If you don't like it, you can always find something else. Work isn't too bad out here.

[arithmethodical]

That’s true.

[ She pauses, frowning. ] I don’t think so. I want off the ground.

text

[h2no]

nothing is stopping you from improving the bus you gotta work on
right?

you're a pilot?

Pretend this is formatted as text

[arithmethodical]

I would definitely be doing them a favor.

Starfighter pilot, yeah.

[video]

[loyal_soldier]

I'm not certain anyone's been able to figure out the logic behind the assignments. My best guess is it's an outreach and assimilation program. [And whoever's running the logistics of it is a bit incompetent or sadistic, but he's not going to say something like that out loud to someone he's never met before.

Poe has definitely met her, though. The whoop he'd made when he'd seen the post had been pretty good indication of that.]

If you're looking for a more suitable assignment, the local military won't let you fly combat, but they do allow imPorts to sign up.

[arithmethodical]

They don’t let us fly combat?

[ Her tone says, quite clearly: What the fuck. ]

What are we allowed to do?

video;

[storyseeker]

Don't give away the secret, but I'm pretty sure at least one government stooge arranges jobs they think are funny. My old roommate had his own starship and he got stuck driving a taxi here. A shitty one, too.

[arithmethodical]

I'm going to find whoever gives out these assignments and punt them into a gas giant.

video

[perfectlyhuman]

I'm a dog trainer.

[ And he's eleven, so, you know. They're kind of all over the place. ]

[arithmethodical]

[ .....

Ok, look, her context for 'dog' is pretty different. ]

You barely look big enough to handle a dog on your own, no offense.

[Video]

[detectivedwloki]

I just got here and they gave me a job as a locksmith.

My real occupation is a detective.

Maybe they're hard up for bus drivers and locksmiths?

[arithmethodical]

And they're giving the jobs to people who are qualified to do them, clearly.

[Video]

[spaceforged]

I'm convinced they don't. Or they're just putting us on the first thing they find. At least switching jobs is simple. It was suggested me by someone noticing I'm a pilot to look into the Air force.

[Bus driver. He grimaces a bit. At least he got a soothing job until he can get wings again.]

I don't get why they won't let you look inside the bus. It can't hurt for a driver to familiarize themselves with the insides of their ride.

[arithmethodical]

Something about regulations. [ She says it like regulations, ugh. More importantly: ]

You're a pilot? How long have you been here? I'm told it takes two months before they'll let you near an Air Force cockpit.

video

[ct_7567]

[ Here's at least a mildly sympathetic ear - just one that happens to share a face with someone else. ]

No. Very few people are given occupations here that make adequate use of their skillsets. That's why you take the initiative to get out there and find something that can. The less time you have to waste with their nonsense, the better.