#vatlings

- inhabitants of the vat have taken to affectionately calling themselves the vatlings, with Eva as their benevolent dictator and head of their unofficial government on board the ship

- after some weeks of boarding the ship, time quickly becomes lost on everybody so they revert to basing everything around the position of the sun/moon/stars

- this quickly led to an ongoing joke of the vat being a pirate ship with Stratt as the Captain

- and quickly spiraled into the whole ship, save for one Captain and her lapdog, dressing up in pirate costumes one April fool's day (of course Ilyukhina bought extra costumes for those two but the best she managed to put on them was a hat and eyepatch)

- she did get Stratt a real sword though, no one knows how she managed to procure it but Eva proudly brandishes it in her office

- sickness is rare but not impossible on the ship, if one person is down, it is inevitable that everyone goes down (except Stratt and her primary crew, who she drags onto a private jet to wait out whatever disease to run its course)

- if she so much as hears one cough from any of them, she kicks them off and sends them back to the vat (Grace only survives since years of teaching around living petri dishes has strengthened his immune system, while Stratt is always the last one standing, but her cursed sleep and eating schedule ends up being her downfall)

- the multicultural makeup of the ship has led to factions forming among vatlings of similar origins, and mock wars are declared nearly every week that always devolve into petty pranks

- peace treaties too, each with more ridiculous articles than the last, such as renaming little russia to little america after a cold war reenactment between members of ROSCOSMOS and NASA (which did not last longer than a week thanks to Komorov)

- Grace refuses to pick any side during these wars but ends up helping anyway, including stacking neon party wigs on Dubois (with help from Shapiro and Ilyukhina) after he nodded off during another last minute team meeting, or convincing Leclerc that no it's not snowing that's just frozen rain

- they rarely attempt to prank Stratt, once Ilyukhina convinced Grace to try the same prank they did on Dubois on her, but the best they managed was one green wig and a blurry picture when she passed out after three days of irregular sleep (one eye shot open and that was enough to send the pair scampering from her office)

- Ilyukhina often defects for no reason other than to stir drama, while Yáo pretends to not care but is willing to broker information to anyone for the right price (a pack of cigarettes and an hour of their PTO)

- being the dictator director, Eva does not step in during these wars, so long as work is completed by the end of the night (she understands how stir crazy living on a boat can be)

- the mess hall has a rotating schedule to represent the different cultures on board the ship which inevitably means everyone complaining once its time for English-based meals (no one wants to eat mushy peas or beans on toast, but an argument breaks out on whether chicken tikka masala belongs to England or India)

- the Olympics causes a return to nationalism among the vatlings and is the only time Stratt is seen repping her country's flag

- speaking of, the vatlings held a mock Olympics (the Vatlympics) themselves with increasingly strange competitions based not on country/heritage but on respective roles on the ship

-Stratt catches wind of this and forms her own team made of the best in each crew simply termed the Leads (did not last long, Ilyukhina quickly retermed them the Strattlings)

- she tried getting the astronauts to join her team but they chose to stick together led by Yáo who surprisingly became quite competitive

- events included but were not limited to swimming laps around the Vat, running along its length (suprising to no one Redell wins), bowling using discarded equipment and a mannequin head that no one knew where it came from (Grace has shockingly good aim), a spelling bee amongst the science factions (despite being the lead astrophage researcher, spelling is not his forte), extreme hide and seek (won by Shapiro and Dubois who of course knew all the best hidden places), and cultural dance forms (it was impossible to select a clear winner but Lokken did surprise everyone by performing a hallingkast)

- they hold a funeral for Antarctica headed by Leclerc (he's bawling the entire time), Ilyukhina almost poured one out but quickly remembered the newfound Prohibition enforced on the vat

- an illegal speakeasy is formed by the chemists when Stratt limits alcohol usage only for galas and the monthly team bonding events, they take orders from the crew teams until one suspicious request for mead shows up (little known fact, Eva has a sweet tooth)

- a makeshift Eurovision is held (including non-euro crew members), Eva almost considered joining but started getting a sore throat after endless meetings that always ended in her yelling at greedy capitalists trying to profit off the end of the world

- Lokken and Grace's beef is so well known amongst the vatlings that a silent system is formed to alert if one gets within 10 feet of each other (fails every time, those two can rarely hold a civil conversation, Grace likes to think himself a calm man but Lokken knows the exact buttons to press)

- (eg. During the Vatlympics in a particularly heated staring contest between team bio-engineer and team Leads Strattlings, Lokken and Grace had the misfortune of being paired, Lokken only won when she whispered independent evolution, causing Grace to yell about panspermia)

Lokken

Dimitri Komorov

Lamai

Francois Leclerc

Robert Redell

Steve Hatch

- the speaker system on the vat is usually off save for announcements, but Stratt noticed that many had trouble adjusting to living on a ship with no clear timezone and started playing white noise every morning and night to help the crew adjust (birdsong to wake them/soft instrumentals at night)

- but one morning (well after April Fools) the entire ship woke to sea shanties blasting through the system (Ilyukhina swears she had nothing to do with it cause why would she ever disturb her own precious hours of rest, Stratt gave her a look but dismissed her, while somewhere on the ship, Hatch was bent over laughing over his success)

- when first arriving on the vat, it can be hard for vatlings to adjust to the rise and fall of the waves beneath them, but after a while it becomes easier to walk and work even during rough waters

- that doesn't stop the sea sickness, though, after a particularly bad storm much of the crew was left incapacitated and nauseous including Eva (who would never admit it, but for once replaced her third cup of coffee with ginger tea), Grace (who couldn't stomach anything longer than half an hour), and Lokken (Grace finds her doubled over and in a rare moment of civility held her hair back as she threw up in a Petrova Task Force sickness bag)

- that experience was so terrible that Lamai ended up developing an anti-nausea medication that didn't induce drowsiness (which was promptly sold to Big Pharma to help support the vatjectives)

- when the next storm arrives, she is hailed a hero and employee of the month (ending Grace's three month streak)

- there are two universal truths of Stratt's Vat: one, the vatccent posses all, and two, no matter how strong your core strength is, the curse of sea legs comes for all

- after months of not stepping on stable land, the flight crew and the primary team of the PTF are invited to a last minute gala mainly for pr sake (much to the chagrin of Eva) which of course meant relearning how to walk on dry land in their hotel rooms

- it was much easier for some more than others, years of training gave the astronauts an advantage (though that did not stop Shapiro and DuBois from holding the other up, if anything it gave them an excuse), but the primary team, however, struggled to keep their balance straight

- if you were to analyze the pictures taken that night, you'd notice how the second in command kept a steady arm hooked around his Director, the two rarely apart when standing (for all her capabilities, heels and sea legs do not mix well)

- each part of the vat is given a notice board to place complaints and requests, but over time this evolved into being a space to post pictures taken of one another, and a silent competition formed of vatlings attempting to take the most candid photo of each other

- many photos of crew members sleeping in wild positions or even on top each other are posted (including a flight crew dog pile, komorov and lokken after a long day of testing a mini astrophage-powered centrifuge, and one posted by Carl who, during a traffic pile up after yet another meeting with some world power, snapped a selfie of Ryland and Eva asleep in the back seat, Ryland's head on Eva's shoulder, who in turn rested her own head on his)

- that photo went missing soon after, tucked away in a certain office drawer containing a fox charm and rosary

- a cat somehow ended up on board the ship and was only discovered hours after it sailed from harbour by a poor member of security who thought he could escape his allergies, only to be assaulted by cat fur

- he failed to capture the animal, and hours later it is found sleeping and huddled up in Eva's office under her desk

- it quickly grew on her, and the vat did have some loose mice running around so she allowed it to stay

- Grace named it Sol since it was perfectly orange, but no one realized it was pregnant until Lamai caught a rare sight of it while giving a report to Eva

- she ended up giving birth to three healthy kittens right under Eva's desk, and votes were held throughout the ship to name them

- the white one was unsurprisingly named Luna, the black kitten was named Astro for its fiesty personality and love for biting people, and the orange one was originally named Garfield since it was mistaken as a boy

- but as it grew it became obvious as being the sole girl in the litter, and after spending so much time around Eva grew an attachment to the woman, and a running joke was spread of the kitten being like her daughter, where the name Eve quickly spread and was adopted

- the four cats now roam the ship and were given the official title of chief mice repellent

- being an aircraft carrier, the vat was not originally outfitted for longterm living, let alone for the hundreds now inhabiting the ship

- which means whenever the astronauts have to bunk on the vat, they have no choice but to dorm together

- they learn that Grace has his own private bedroom and get really annoyed

- Yáo: youre telling me I put up with Martin's snoring for no reason

- M: oh like you're any better, atleast Annie appreciates me

- Ily: no, actually, when it's really bad she crawls into my bed, she doesn't even bother to climb the ladder

- meanwhile Grace is trying to defend his little shoebox of a room (no matter what he says, its clear Stratt gives him extra privileges)

- Eva, of course, is the only one to have both a private room and bathroom

- Annie and Olesya find out and start using her bathroom cause no way are they using the communal ones

- okay technically the astronauts have their own sectioned off part of the bathrooms, but why use that when they could bother their dear leader

- which also means that Eva now has to vie for her own sink space

- Olesya has a cute picture of the three of them brushing their teeth together (Eva by the sink, Annie sitting on the floor, while she's strewn across her bed)

- the three of them also get ready for galas and dinners together

- Eva is insistent she can do her own makeup, but she always goes for more reserved looks

- and it takes the other two to convince her to do more bolder looks (aka they do her makeup for her)

- Eva would never admit it, but she enjoys their company

- she also grows closer bonds with Lamai and Lokken

- aside from Grace, Lamai is the only other person who can coax/threaten Eva to take a break (doctor's orders and all)

- Lamai becomes Big Pharma

- Eva is always amused hearing of Lokken and Grace's arguments, even if she never fully follows along

- sometimes, for spite (and fun), Eva would hint at siding with Lokken in front of Ryland (she won't hear the end of his ranting for the rest of the evening)

- post launch, Lokken and Lamai are the ones who visit her the most in jail (the vatlings draw straws to decide, but they always cheat)

- one gala night, some rando man was being misogynistic towards her astronauts, and Eva does not play about her ladies

- pranks are common on board the ship, and though Eva is rarely targeted (for the fear she strikes in everyone's hearts) that does not stop the walking mischief that is Olesya Ilyukhina

- specifically, she once convinced Grace to distract her for a while but did not tell him what for

- that night when she washed her hair, she walked out the shower a pale dusty pink in lieu of her strawberry blonde

- the first person to see her that morning was, of course, Grace, who could do nothing but stammer at the new look

- however, what Grace did not know was that Ilyukhina also managed to sneak dye in his own conditioner, only she squeezed more of the pigment in his bottle, and for nearly two weeks longer than Stratt sported a brighter rose pink

- (she was much more poker faced than him, and Grace didn't realize his hair was any different until Yáo approached asking about the new look)

- they waited months after the dye faded to get her back; after a particularly long pr tour around Russia, Ilyukhina returned on the ship jetlagged and promptly passed out in the break room, giving Grace and the rest of the flight crew (who Eva paid off to do her dirty work) enough time to bleach and dye the ends a much darker shade of pink (jokes on them, Ilyukhina is never opposed to a free dye job and she proudly sported it around)

- at one point, Ilyukhina made a joke about getting matching tattoos, but the idea never faded, and each meeting she ends up bringing up the topic

- Grace was initially opposed (he may be fine with vaccines or drawing blood, but the thought of a bunch of tiny needles injecting ink in his skin freaked him), while Stratt just shook her head

- Yáo was shockingly not opposed, who actually had a few of his own (and was forced to give a tour of them), Shapiro always wanted to get a tattoo, and if she was on board, then so was DuBois

- of course, Ilyukhina pulled the dying woman card, cmon she deserved to get her make a wish dream come true, and after a while the pair acceded

- they agree on a spiral sun design, and Eva suggested getting it on their wrists (so every time she makes a decision, she'd remember what they're all fighting for)

- they get it done together after a UNGA meeting, of which Ilyukhina vlogged the whole time, and posted an image of their wrists in a circle

- the image goes viral and is part of the reason Grace's students find out he's officially part of the task force

- ROSCOSMOS is forced to remove their unofficial rule barring tattoos after that post

- despite the official Hail Mary logo, the sun ends up becoming a major symbol for the Petrova Task Force

- adding onto my sea legs hc, once when Grace was unable to attend a pr event for the flight crew, Eva had to lean on Annie and Olesya for support, and a photo was taken of both astronauts holding onto either of the woman's hands as she walked down a flight of stairs in heels

- which also went viral; while people joke about Ryland being Eva's lapdog, Annie and Olesya are joked as being her sunlit knights in spacesuits

- Olesya learnt of party buses from Martin and Annie, and gained a new goal of forcing the crew to do drunk karaoke on a speeding (within limits) bus

- Eva, after weeks of requests, finally relents only because her birthday was coming up

- she of course was dragged along with the rest of the crew, but did not participate in the singing

- despite the naysayers, Yáo can be a good singer when he's not three drinks in and is singing in Mandarin, Olesya takes advantage of that fact and busts out perfect Mandarin in her duet with Yáo

Snippets be upon ye!!! :