Ask the Sydney Scroungers

Who are the Sydney Scroungers? A Leverage-meets-Firefly-style group of five criminals and mischief-makers running heists and undercover jobs in the area around the Sydney Shatterdome in the Pacific Rim Universe, circa 2021. A thrill-seeking oil-heiress all too interested in Kaiju, an ex-PPDC psych analyst, an AI-programmer on the run from the new Marshall in town, an exeedingly professional sniper willing to do just about anything to protect his secrets, and a J-tech engineer trying to keep her black market dealings separate from her day job. Feel free to ask questions to either the players or the characters themselves! Their story can be found here on Tumblr OR here on Archive of Our Own.

[askthescroungers]

Eleanor- who is your hero and why?

Ah--what an interesting question!

My mother, for one. She was always very outspoken, and told me to do what was right, even when I had no allies. I try to live up to that.

And I also greatly respect President Noémie Boulanger, of France. She was the first female presidential candidate since Ségolène Royal in 2007, and I am so glad that she won in 2017. Her pro-individual-rights views are sur le pointe, as they say. 

(By the way, though my mother was French, I don't speak much of it. I keep up on politics through the internet, and that's about it.)

[askthescroungers]

Seiko, did you really just say that I'm a pain to work with? --Sylvie

Is this news?Ms. Mansen, I’m pretty sure I’ve said this to your face multiple times, you have nearly gotten me killed, and you punched a physically disabled crew member in the face hard enough to nearly break her jaw.

[askthescroungers]

So Sylvie, what made you want to join the PPDC, anyway?

Well, to tell you the truth, it just kinda made sense, I guess? I've been taking martial arts classes since I was young at my aunt's insistence, and I picked up coding because it was something I could do on my own. I... also kinda blame my addiction to the Matrix movies for making me think that fighting and computer code needed to go together.

But anyway, so there I am, about to finish college, looking for a job for someone with an Information Technology degree and some physical skills, and I figured: hey, the PPDC pays well, stable career plans, trying to save the planet; it's a good cause! And I could totally do the whole Ranger thing, since I was more than qualified for what they were looking for and Drifting sounded really interesting. I'd been doing research into the technology of the Drift for a long time, actually. Wrote a few thesis papers over it too.

Signed up, passed most of the prelim exams, got accepted, and I had top marks in all of my training... except for Drifting. The early evaluations showed that I was at risk for Drift Incompatibility but I thought I could do it anyway, and they passed me through because my other scores were so high. But, I just couldn't ever make it work, no matter how hard I tried. Just... not compatible I guess. It's not really a thing that can be forced. So I got transferred to programming the piloting simulations instead. I suppose it's for the best. I mean, if I'd gone on to become a pilot, I never would have created Vee...

--Sylvie

[askthescroungers]

Could I ask Seiko if he likes working with the rest of the crew? Is there anything that's easier than your previous jobs? Anything that's more difficult? Any PERSON who's more difficult to work with?

This isn’t all that different from my previous jobs, to be honest. I’ve been hired by plenty of people who are trying to do the right thing and want some less official means of working.

I prefer not to work on teams, but despite my problems, Zhu’s group aren’t the worst to work with. They are skilled, and far less likely to have surprise motives. They are a bit soft though, and… as much as I’d like to complain about how impulsive they are, what’s annoying is how impulsive they make me. 

That said, everybody is a pain. Especially Mansen.

[askthescroungers]

Hey Miranda, what's the best and worst thing about your roommates?

Well, since fiVe was my first roommate, I'll start with her. The best thing about fiVe is probably her sense of humor. I tend to communicate best via jokes and teasing, and fiVe gets that better than most people. It might be because she is me in part, but she can keep up with me pretty well. And she can tell when I'm dancing around something and can call me on it. She keeps sane, and I like to think I do the same for her.

The worst thing is entirely my fault. But just... knowing that she's in so much pain and not being able to do anything to help. Knowing that she's hurting and it's because of me and that there's nothing I can do about it. And that there are people who would use that against her to try and turn her into someone she's not... There's always a bit of guilt when I talk to her, and I feel awful about it.

As for my other roommate... That's a hard one to answer. I think I'd have to say... the fact that he knows me. And that I know him. Which... probably sounds stupid, of course we know each other, we live together, but... I think I'm the only one who gets to see him, y'know? Not Seiko, not Daniel, not Shinigawa, but... him.

Along the same lines, but the worst thing is probably having to watch that part of him slip away every time we walk out the door.

[askthescroungers]

Ask The Scroungers!

The place for you to ask all the burning questions about the Sydney Scroungers that you've desperately wanted to know. Or... you know, just give their players something amusing to answer while they wait for more scenes to write!

AskTheScroungers is a completely open askblog! You can address questions to the characters or to the players, PCs or NPCs, in-universe or out! If you've got a query, one of us has an answer!

ATS is now open for questions!

Not sure what Sydney Scroungers is? Check it out here on tumblr or here on AO3!