"Kita" Howchan's Questionnaire

Pilot's Log
Had a visit from the Factory again. They still don't like that I won't take better quarters. Quarters more under their control. I constantly try to tell them I have no need for better quarters. I have everything I need here in the bay. My hammock is more comfortable than any beds they have in the residential areas, and most of my work is here in the bay, so I don't have far to travel to get to work. If I'm asleep, and an emergency happens, I simply have to roll over, slip into my seat, and we're off. What's so hard to understand about that? I'm all about efficiency. Plus I'm not a fan of all the looks I get when I have to wander around in the wee hours of the morning, and sometimes Baby just needs some extra lovins, and I can't just leave her like that. What if we would need her and I didn't have her ready yet? It's just silly. I think All the pilots should bunk with their ships. But that's just me. I'm... what did they call me... "Obsessed".

Pilots Log
Pay Day again, Which means another tour of the ship. To the Cultivators to restock my food and water. I wonder if that new moonshine has fermented yet. That would be nice. I should hit the Reclamation wing too, and see is they have any parts I need before the Factory get their clumsy hands on it. Love the guys, but sometimes they just have no common sense. Of course, they also don't need to know about my little pet projects either. I may need to swing by the Enforcers and renew my open carry permit. I think it's dumb that the Pilots don't get trained in firearms as part of the training course, but I guess that's what happens when people are too scared to allow freedom. 

Pilots log
It's been a quiet day. I actually got to spend all day polishing Baby's hull without any interruptions. You know, laying here in the pilot's chair, gazing out at the stars, it reminds me why I'm doing all this. The thrill of the speed, the humble feeling of being a speck against the massive ship that is our world, which is a speck in the fast spanse of space... It's awe inspiring, and being a pilot means I get to be a part of it. Grampa used to tell stories about our ancestors having a connection with the spirits of the world they lived on... I wonder if there's room for that kind of thing out here. I wonder if that feeling I get when I know something's wrong with Baby is actually her spirit talking to me, and letting me know she's sick. And if Baby has a spirit... does the Odysseus? Does Space? I want to be appart of it all. 

My, just like most people on the ship, defining moment was the time I was assigned to my own faction. My parents were Cultivators, but my Grampa was an Enforcer. Many people thought I would be one of the two, but I couldn't. When practicing meditation like my grampa used to use, I kept getting distracted. My parents just thought I was too jittery, but it wasn't that. I kept noticing things about the ship. Vibrations on the floor, the air vents, the subtle shifts in pressure when we are at higher of lower speeds. It's maddening sometimes, but thrilling too, and it was that that made me want to be able to work on my own ship. To spend my life feeling that. That's also when I made some people very unhappy. I didn't want to be with the Factory. I didn't want to be a Reclaimer. I wanted my own ship. I wanted to focus on knowing every detail about the ship, and so through hard work and dedication, I managed to become a pilot. 

Grampa, of course. Though he's dead now, He's still an important part of my life, and I still hold him in my heart. Even though almost everything I know of him I learned second hand, my Da is really good at retelling it. The stories passed down through generations. The fighting abilities Grampa knew, even though Da wanted to be a cultivator. Da says even though Grampa's fighting is great for fighting, it's also a great way to relax, keep your body in shape, and your mind sharp. That's something Everyone needs. Even a farmer. And even a Pilot. Someday, my ship will be my body, and my Grampa's martial arts will dance among the stars.

The other would be Ma and Da. They are great. I think the Mutiny effected them badly, because even though Da would kick some butt as an enforcer, he wants nothing to do with the violence. He wants only to live with his wife and provide for the ship. I can respect that, and I always love having the warm welcome I get every time I go home. Ma lost her ability to have more kids, and I think that's why she's so protective of me. Oh the fights we had when I told them I wanted to go out in "One of those Death boxes" as Ma calls them. She almost fainted when I explained to her that even the Odysseus is a Death box, just a Really Big one. 

I apparently had a rare childhood, where my parents were loving, and accepting. My parents broke tradition from their factions to be farmers, so they had no ground to stand on when I decided not to follow that tradition. Especially since I didn't go back to the previous traditions. I will say Ma being from the Factory has helped me with getting parts for Baby, and Pa being from the enforcers, and Grampa being a well liked enforcer, has helped me in ways, including getting my carry permit. I was taught all the languages my parents knew, and tidbits of their skills as well. Hell, I know enough that, if inclined, I could make my own little self sustainable ship... except for fuel. I may need to train for mining... I know how to process it, thanks to Ma, but I have no idea how to mine it, or even what machines I need for it. 

In love... LOVE??? Have you not seen the Beauty that is my Baby?? How can you not be in Love just by being in her presence? I know love. I have watched my parents, and know what love looks like, and that is what I feel for Baby. I don't know what I will ever do without her. I know every curve of her hull. Every dimple has a story, that I alone know, since anything that was there before I was assigned to her was polished out. I know her moods, when she's hungry, when she's not awake enough. When she's in pain. Is that not love?