"CAPTAIN'S LOG. STARDATE: WHO GIVES A FUCK."

"kk, we've been over thii2. you're not the captaiin of the 2hiip."

"FUCK YOU, I CAN BE THE CAPTAIN IF I WANT TO."

"kk, 2top. you're makiing a fool of your2elf."

"SHUT UP, CAPTOR."

A sigh being his only response, Sollux simply left the area before the urge to hit his head on something repeatedly grew any worse. Karkat was difficult to deal with in good circumstances, and after a perigree locked up with him in a small metal ship, things were getting near insufferable. Luckily for all concerned, freedom was nearly in their grasp.

The world they were travelling to was rather land-locked. There was very little in the way of large bodies of water, and as such, it was a rather common place for lowbloods to travel to after they were kicked off Alternia. It was a place where they could quietly hide out, and maybe, just maybe, get a start on something a bit bigger than the four of them.

Karkat was fully done with the situation, and simply turned to the nearest person to see about getting out of that god-forsaken tin can. "HEY, COMMODORE LEIJON."

The sudden shouting quickly gained the napping girl's attention, making her sit up with a slight start. ":33 Yeah, Karkitty?"

"GO FIND FUCKASS MCGEE AND SEE IF HE'S HACKED INTO THE PLANETARY DEFENSE SYSTEMS YET."

With a slight tilt of her head, she spoke up again. ":? Who?"

"FUCKASS MCGEE. WHO ELSE?"

":33 But you call everyone Fuckass McG33. You n33d to be specific, Karkitty!"

By this point, Karkat was having a hard time not screeching at her. Who could blame him? He was nervous. If he hadn't hacked into them by now, then they were about ten minutes from being obliterated. "FINE THEN. WHO THE HELL ON THIS SHIP CAN HACK INTO SHIT?" Seeing her about to reply, he snapped at her again. "THAT'S RIGHT. TAVROS. NOW GO GET HIM –THE RIGHT ONE- AND SEE IF HE'S HACKED INTO THE PLANETARY DEFESE SYSTEMS." As she scampered off, he slid down into a chair, trying to calm his rapid heartbeat. Man this sucked.

Nepeta hurried down the hallways, taking familiar twists and turns until she got to one particular door. Raising a hand, she knocked softly on the open metal hatch before stepping inside. ":? Sollux? Can I come in?"

His back to the door, Solux was very obviously absorbed in whatever he was doing. A few bees were hovering around his head, talking to him in beenary code. Calling over his shoulder that she could enter, she got a step or two inside before he gave three consecutive exclamations, positive, negative, and positive again.

This made her perk up a bit. ":33 Did you get into the systems?"

A rather exhausted sigh slid from his lips as he shook his head. "Not even clo2e. But ii found a backdoor."

":? Backdoor?"

"ba2iically iit2 a way for programmer2 to get iinto a 2y2tem wiithout beiing notiiced." He glanced back at her before returning to work. "fiindiing thii2 thiing was lucky enough in and of iit2elf. Acce22iing iit ii2 2omethiing el2e entiirely."

":33 But you can do it, right?"

He paused in his rapid typing for a moment, a confused look crossing his face. "huh…. that'2 odd."

Her head tipped to the side. ":? What's odd?"

"thii2 thiing lead2 exactly where ii need iit. that'2 odd."

":33 Sounds like a lucky break."

"that'2 the problem. iit'2 two lucky. iit can't po22iibly be thii2 2iimple."

Nepeta paused for a moment, thinking. ":33 Something left over from the Sufferer, maybe?"

Unfortunately for her, Sollux shot her down. "iit can't be. the defen2e 2y2tem ii2 two modern."

":333 But people still carry his teachings, though they are few and fur betw33n. Maybe someone who believed built it. Just in case…"

"eiither that, or iit'2 2omethiing entiirely not legal. whiich ii2 probably the ca2e."

Nepeta nodded slightly. ":33 so, you'll be able to get us in?"

"iit… look2 liike iit."

Grinning broadly, the girl hugged onto his shoulders for a moment before backing away for fear of being stung. ":33 Great! I'll go tell Karkitty the good news!"

As she headed out, he called over his shoulder again. "well tell hiim iit'll take a whiile."

Scampering down the hallways again, she nearly ran right into another compatriot of hers. ":oo Whoops! Sorry Tav!" Staggering slightly, he laughed it off, assuring her it was okay. ":33 Where were you off to?"

"i WAS JUST, uH, gONNA GO GET MY LANCE."

":33 Oh, that's actually a purrty good idea. We'll be landing as soon as Sollux can get the backdoor open."

"bACKDOOR? iS THAT SOME KIND OF COMPUTERY TERM THING?" At her nod, he waved his hand in a slightly dismissing manner. "oKAY, nEVERMIND"

A small smile appeared on the girls face. ":33 We'll finally be out of this silly little ship. And we'll be able to stretch our legs purroperly. I can't wait…!"

A small chuckle escaped from Tavros' lips. "yEAH, tHAT'LL BE GREAT, uH, y'KNOW WITH ME HAVING WORKING LEGS I CAN PARTAKE IN THE, uH, STRETCHING OF THEM"

She nodded, giving him a quick hug. "X33 Mhmm! Well, I n33d to go give Karkitty the good news. I'll s33 you later Tav!" And with that she was off, bounding down the hallways again. Another minute or so, and she was tacklepouncing Karkat to the ground. "X33 Karkitty!~" He had no time to react, flailing as he fell, 'skree'ing at her all the while. "X33 Karkitty, guess what?"

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?"

She giggled slightly, her tail flicking happily. ":33 Well you did tell me to check on Sollux's hacking. Your memory must be going."

"FUCK YOU, MY MEMORY IS FINE. I REMEMBERED THAT EXACTLY. IT'S JUST THAT, UH, WHENEVER YOU TACKLEPOUNCE ME YOU'VE COME UP WITH SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN. SO WHAT IS IT?"

":33 He found a backdoor. He said it'll take a bit of time, but we should be able to get in undetected." She purred happily against Karkat's chest, nuzzling him like an oversized kitten.

Shoving her roughly, Karkat rose to his feet, brushing himself off with a huff. "ALRIGHT, GO GET FUCKASS MCGEE AND TELL HIM TO PREPARE FOR LANDING."

":33 You mean Sollux?"

"NO, DUMPASS. I MEAN TAVROS."

":33 Oh. I already saw him. He's getting ready as we speak!"

"ALRIGHT. THEN YOU GET READY FOR LANDING."

":33 On it!~"

"ON THE DOUBLE, COMMODORE."

Giving her very best salute, she nodded, scampering down the hall to her room to gather what little she managed to bring with her leaving Karkat to his own devices once again.

It wasn't long after that their old, long-since retired ship reached the defense grid. The ship itself was a rather outdated stealth transport model, and would have easily been picked up by the modern sensors. Everyone was on edge, but none more so than Karkat. While Sollux promised a safe landing should they get past the primary sensors, it still left Karkat a bit jumpy. They all held their breath as the nose of the ship inched past the sensors, all of them half-expecting to be blown out of the sky.

But their worries were unfounded, as they slipped quietly into the planetary airspace. Landing after that was simple enough, as was getting to a safe place. Once they were all safely squirreled away in hiding did Karkat fully let himself relax….Well, as relaxed as you can get when you're the sole Pariah of a galaxy-wide empire, almost all of whom are out for your mutant, candy-red blood.

Thinking for a moment, he soon came to the realization that when he left Alternia behind, he had to leave everything he ever was behind as well. This included his name. After all, Her Imperious Condescension had everything about Karkat Vantas on record. It would be far too easy to pick him out just by that alone. He had to change it. Pariah… For some strange reason, he liked the sound of that. Pariah Vantas… No. Vantas was too easily linked. Maybe an anagram… Savant. That would do. The meaning struck a chord with him as well. He tried the name a few times, letting it roll off his tongue. Pariah Savant. "YEAH, I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT."

His thoughts were interrupted by a rather sharp interjection. "kk what are you goiing on about?"

"I CAN'T GO BY KARKAT VANTAS ANYMORE," he explained. "SO FROM NOW ON, CALL ME PARIAH SAVANT."

"that'2 2tupiid."

"FUCK YOU, IT'S BADASS."

"uH, i KINDA LIKE IT,"

"THANK YOU, TAV."

"33: But I liked Karkitty better…."

"FUCK YOU, THAT WAS NEVER MY NAME."

"uH, yOU COULD TRY CALLING HIM, pURRIAH, hEH,"

"NITRAM, DON'T ENCOURAGE HER."

":33 That's not bad! Thanks, Tav!"

"OH FUCK NO."

"heh"

"FUCK YOU 'TWO', FUCKATH"

"love you two, kk"

"uH, iT SEEMS TO ME THAT, uH, wE'VE BECOME ONE BIG, uH, hAPPY FAMILY"

":33 Yaay! Family!" Amid the various obscenities spouted by Karkat, Nepeta tackled him to the ground, nuzzling against his chest. The majority of them felt safe here. And they were right.

But they could only be safe for so long.

After untangling himself from Nepeta, Karkat excused himself and fled to the pseudo-safety of his own room. He had a few things he needed to do. Pulling out his husktop, he opened up trollian, and proceeded to delete every trace he could of 'carcinoGeneticist'. It was something else that was too easily traced back to him. Once he felt sure that everything was gone, he went about setting up a new account. He had people he needed to talk to. And people he desperately wanted to talk to.

- pariahSavant [PS] started trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] -

PS: HEY.
GC: WHO TH3 FUCK 4R3 YOU?
PS: MY N4M3S FUCK4SS MCG33 WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I AM?
GC: 1T'S N1C3 TO H34R FROM YOU, K4RK4T.
GC: THOUGH JUDG1NG BY TH3 CH4NG3 1N TROLL14N
GC: 1 SHOULDN'T B3 C4LL1NG YOU TH4T.
PS: NO, YOU SHOULDN'T.
PS: IN FACT, DELETE THE CHATLOGS AFTER WE'RE DONE HERE.
PS: CAN'T RISK SOMEONE THINKING TO HACK INTO YOUR ACCOUNT TO LOOK FOR CLUES.
PS: I'LL BE DOING THE SAME THING AND DELETING THIS LOG.
PS: I GO BY PARIAH SAVANT, NOW.
GC: 1 COULDN'T T3LL.
PS: STOP BEING SO CONDESCENDING
GC: 1T'S TH3 ONLY TH1NG K33P1NG M3 S4N3 4T TH3 MOM3NT.
PS: AWW, DID YOU MISS ME?
GC: SHUT YOUR G4P1NG W1ND HOL3.
PS: IF IT'S ANY CONSOLATION, I'M FLATTERED YOU MISSED ME.
PS: OTHERWISE, I WOULD HAVE FELT AWKWARD ABOUT THE FACT THAT I MISSED YOU, TOO.
GC: 1'M GL4D YOU'R3 4L1V3.
GC: 1 DON'T KNOW WH4T 1'D DO 1F 1 FOUND OUT SOM3TH1NG H4D H4PP3N3D.
PS: I KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO ME.
PS: DIED.
GC: K4RKL3S.
PS: SORRY
PS: TOO SOON?
GC: MUCH TOO SOON.
GC: SP34K1NG OF TOO SOON.
GC: 1 H34RD YOU T4LK3D TO F3F3R1 R3C3NTLY.
GC: YOU KNOW WH4T H4PP3N3D, 1 T4K3 1T?
PS: MORE OR LESS.
PS: BEEN ON THE HUNT FOR AMPORA?
GC: Y3S 4ND NO.
GC: TH3 CURR3NT COND3SC3 4SK3D M3 TO F1ND H1M
GC: BUT NOT BR1NG H1M 1N.
GC: SH3 JUST W4NTS TO KNOW WH3R3 H3 1S.
PS: IF I HEAR ANYTHING, I'LL LET YOU KNOW.
GC: MUCH 4PPR3C14T3D.
GC: L1K3W1S3, 1F 1 H34R OF 4NY MOV3M3NTS TH4T COULD THR34T3N YOU GUYS, YOU'LL B3 TH3 F1RST TO KNOW.
PS: ALRIGHT.
PS: AND TEREZI?
GC: Y34H?
PS: IF WE MAKE IT OUT OF THIS WHOLE THING ALIVE, ME AND MY TEAM I MEAN, THEN I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KISS YOU FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE.
GC: SOUNDS D1V1N3. :]
PS: I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD REALLY GO FOR THAT, BUT OKAY.
PS: REMEMBER TO DELETE THIS LOG, ALRIGHT?
GC: Y34H, 1'LL R3M3B3R.
- pariahSavant [PS] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] -