outer_divide | Audio/Action | The ship | Monday before the riots

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Audio/Action | The ship | Monday before the riots

[Currently a petite strawberry-blonde teen is clutching the pendant hanging from a ribbon around her neck as she scuttles between hiding places in the ship and stares with wide-eyed curiosity mixed with finite fear at the names located on the other pods located all around her. Yes, she is looking for specific names and is both dreading and hoping she might come across one she recognizes. There are thousands of pods here, however, and the fingers of her other hand begins to clutch more firmly at the small device she found with her clothing where she had first awoken. After a short hesitation, Chloe presses a button and brings the device to her lips.]

H-hello?

[A hesitating pause, then Chloe seems to find her courage--and outrage.]

Wh-whoever is in charge here, I really don't appreciate being left in the dark. Where am I, and why am I here? Wh-where is my Aunt Lauren, Derek, and the others? Haven't you done enough? Just l-leave us alone!

[If she was thinking clearly, she would realize the Edison Group never would have left Chloe her Swiss Army knife or can of mace... But she was kind of freaking out after waking up naked and without her pendant around her neck.]

Or else.

[Those two words sounded almost like a growl--something Chloe may have loosely picked up from her werewolf boyfriend. Despite the threat, her panicked mind silently taunted her: 'Or else what, Chloe?']

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W-without answers? Without knowing where their families are? Loved ones?

[Chloe hoped she never experienced that. It would feel too much like turning her back on her Aunt. On Derek, and Simon, and Tori. Mr. Bae. Her voice was incredibly small a moment later.]

Me too.

[Offering a smile, Chloe couldn't help but admire the fact that he didn't seem like the sort to forget where he came from--and all he might have to go back to.]

It's nice to meet you. I'm Chloe.

If it came to knowing or going back home, which would you choose?

[It's not as rhetorical a question as it might sound. In the back of his mind, Alex is wondering--worrying, really--how the neurosuppression had effected him. Was he thinking normally yet?]

Where are you from?

Please tell me it's somewhere normal.

That's a good question. I want to say home, but... I'd also want to know why this happened. I guess I'd rather get my questions answered satisfactorily, and then go home. Is that bad? What would you choose?

I'm from Buffalo, New York. [A somewhat humored smile lights her face--the first bout of humor she's felt since waking up here.]

Is that 'normal' for you, or do you come from some far off place?

I've given up trying to figure out why some things happen.

[He gives a wry, smooth shrug of his mechanical shoulders. Like the whole body thing he's going going on here.]

Normal enough, yeah.

I'm from Detroit.

[Chloe's head tilts to one side, considering him after that admission.]

Why is that? Are you unable to find answers, or do you just stop looking?

[She hopes it's not the latter. She may have to get on your case about that, if it is, Alex.]

Detroit? At least home for us is somewhere similar.

[That mechanical shrug is making gears spin in Chloe's mind, however. She's never seen a suit of armor that maneuverable. Seems high-tech.]

Well, at least something is normal for us in a place like this.

Because sometimes...you don't want to know the answers.

[Why Clara signed him over to this, if she still loved him: things he wanted to know...but didn't, at the same time.]

At least we didn't live in a spaceship. Though, the lab was kind of close.

[Norton and his lab, which had been Alex's home for how long now?]

[She's even more solemn when she considers his words.]

I understand. There are things I didn't want answers to in the past. [Her Aunt Lauren. Betrayal. Having family turn her over for experimentation.] But... but sometimes not knowing the truth is worse. Your mind can come up with any scenario--like a scene from a movie that continues to develop conflict without resolution. Pretty soon that conflict isn't even close to the plot, but it seems real because your fears make it seem real. I'd rather know, and move on, no matter what answers I may find.

[A dry laugh escapes Chloe at the spaceship comment. It gets stuck in the back of her throat a second later however when he mentions a lab. Face gone pale, Chloe stares in horror-filled suspense as she attempts to get her lungs working again.]

L-l-lab? Y-you w-were in a lab?

[Oh, no. No, no, no. What were the coincidences that they might both be experiments, and something very wrong was going on here.]

[What she's saying is true, and he knows it, and it probably shows on his face. It was better to know, to be able to move on, one way or the other. ]

Guess it's all moot now, though, being here.

[He had his questions about being here, mostly, that he didn't believe Trance's optimistic 'you're special' line. But that was nothing compared to just wanting to go home. ]

[He rotates his left hand, the robotic one, holding it out toward her.]

What? You telling me they had this in Buffalo?

[It's not a very convincing attempt at a smile, but it's a shot.]

[Despite her fifteen years of age, Chloe's experiences have made her pretty wise in the ways of the world. The slight smile on her face shows she doesn't believe your case to be impossible, Alex--and she hopes and believes you'll find your answers.]

I take it your answers are concerning your past, then? Everything from before you... woke up here? [She gives a slight shrug.] I have it on good authority that there are engineers here very determined to fix this ship and see everyone home.

[Staring at his rotating hand, Chloe's jaw drops somewhat in slack-jawed surprise.]

Wh-what? B-but... you're human. Or are you an A.I. of some kind? I thought those only existed in movies. Sorry to tell you, but we definitely didn't have anything as shiny as you in Buffalo.

[She grins, trying to add a light humor to her shock and amazement. At least this was better than meeting others having been experimented on by the Edison Group.]

Just the last year. I lost a lot of time.

[Three months in a coma, waking up in a foreign country in what was not his body.... There were a lot of questions.]

Human. I was, at any rate. Not much left of that.

[He'd rather not say just how little is left of who he used to be.]

There was an accident. An explosion. I guess this was the only way.

I understand. I don't know how much time I lost, or what's really going on here. I know there are some people I care about who really won't be happy that I'm gone. I won't stop searching for a way to get back to them. You shouldn't, either. You deserve those answers.

Y-you look pretty human to me. [She's trying to sound reassuring--whether that comes across as reassurance remains to be seen.]

So... Someone did what they could to keep you alive. Sounds pretty important to me.

Sometimes, I don't know if they're not, you know, better off without me.

[But that was depressing, and she was so much younger than he is, and he feels about a million years old right now.]

The face and hand are. Mine, originally, even. The rest of this, though.

I don't know if she knew it would be like this.

[Those words cause a deep frown from Chloe. She's heard something that sounded a lot like that in the past.]

That's not your decision to make. It's theirs. I have a feeling that no matter what you're thinking or feeling, they think you're absolutely worth it.

[Those words draw out Chloe's unease once more as she eyes him skeptically. Alex looks... really alive. Healthy, even. When you look at his face and hands. The thought of the explosion--of someone piecing him back together--makes Chloe nervous. Not because of what he was, but because of what it might mean for her. She doesn't sense anything questionable about him, though. She doesn't sense... Anything. That was such an abnormality Chloe almost gasped aloud. Not even a dead animal picked up on her radar, and she worried about what that might mean.]

I-if she loves you, it won't matter.

Edited 2014-04-09 22:33 (UTC)

[He should probably resent being told this kind of blunt truth by someone who looked about half his age, but truth is truth.]

You're right. And that's there, and I'm here. I should worry about here.

[Despite the fact he'd come here, back to the ship, to try to find something to connect him to home.]

Anyway, we're doing this backward: I should be offering you some help.

[It's not often an adult will admit a teenager is 'right.' Chloe smiles, relaxing, and lifts one shoulder in a bit of a shrug.]

It's fine to worry. Shows that you're human.

[And he was human. That was what mattered--not whatever happened to him. That and the fact that he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Chloe's smile widens at his next words, and she gives a little laugh.]

You helped me to stop panicking. That's a big help already.

[Now all her worries return, however, and Chloe shudders as doubts and fears flood her mind.]

I--I don't know what I'm doing here. I d-don't know what's going on, why this happened, or wh-where my family and friends are. From the sound of it, I'm not the only one lost and confused. I don't know if there's anything you can do.

[When you're right, you're right, and Alex is going to acknowledge it. Besides, he shouldn't be dumping all his issues on a stranger, of any age.]

Nice to be able to worry again, at least.

[Under the neurosuppression he hadn't been able to feel a thing. Not worry, not happiness, not anger. Nothing.]

Hey.

[He steps a little closer, forgetting--or ignoring--for the moment that six and a half feet of graphene armor might not be the most comforting presence.]

Hey, it's not so bad. Like you said, people way smarter than either of us are working on getting us back. And there's a city, you know, that doesn't look like a bad science fiction film, with other people.

[He's dumping out anything he could that might be comforting, might say this place wasn't awful. Because it wasn't. It just wasn't home.]

[She grins at that, eyebrows raised.]

I don't know. It might be nice not to worry now and again. In small doses, at least.

[When Alex steps closer, Chloe cranes her neck to solemnly meet his gaze. She's used to having someone bigger and stronger than she is towering over her. He even gets her to smile a little when he compares the city to a bad science fiction film.]

I know there are intelligent people working on it. I'm just--I'm not used to depending on others when it comes to something as important as this. I guess it'll be a learning experience. It's good to know our setting for whatever is about to take place isn't as bad as a scene from some B-rated movie.

[She knows he's trying to reassure her, and the gesture is a thoughtful one . Chloe doesn't want to turn this into a pity-party with her fears, so she smiles and latches into the conversation as if it was a life preserver.]

Small doses, maybe.

[He'll concede that. But nothing like he was.]

Trust me, I'm not either. Want to know something? I can't even eat for myself.

[So, whatever issues she's having, oh he has them too. So much.]

Good to know I'm not the only one.

[Chloe's head tilts to one side as she considers him.]

Then how do you eat?

[Or what did he eat?]

Seems kind of sad, you know, saying that being your age.

[Because excuse him but you look like...half his age.]

I. Uh. Don't. Not any more.

I'm supposed to get some, I don't know blood additives. At least, that's how we did it back home.

[Here? Not so much.]

[Chloe can't quite meet Alex's gaze after he says that.]

L-let's just say I've l-learned things the hard way, and I've grown from it.

Wait. So you don't eat? But you need blood additives. As in a blood transfusion, or pills or something?

[And now she's frowning, looking around and worrying about what he'll eat and how to get him sustenance.]

Edited 2014-04-11 02:58 (UTC)

[He's trying not to think about his son, who'd be her age in a couple of years, but it's not working. She's not David, but no one, no one's daughter, should look away like that, say things like that.]

Not my business.

Unless you want to tell someone.

[Christ, he's so bad at this. If it were David, or Clara, he'd pull them into a hug, ask to know the whole story, what he could do to fix things. But he doesn't know her, and for all he knows, she's as terrified of the armor as David had been the first time he'd seen him like this.]

Like a blood transfusion, yes.

[He tapped the back of his head.] There's a port back here.

[She relaxes at that. Looks up at him with respect in her gaze. His next comment causes her to tense. She wishes she could trust him--but knows better now. Knows to trust no one. Slowly, she shakes her head.]

I'm fine.

[The change of topic in their conversation has Chloe relaxing again. She nods, taking a step closer and curiously looking toward the port mentioned, then steps back.]

We need to find something that will work for you, then. Better to look now, when the need isn't dire. There wasn't anything in the pod with you?

[His stress protocols provide a wonderfully unhelpful readout of the fluctuations of her emotional responses, just enough to tell him that, yeah, that was the wrong thing to say. Wouldn't that be nice if it told him in advance.]

Sorry.

[What else can he say? He didn't mean to upset her. This was absolutely not a case of 'misery loves company'.]

I didn't find anything. They're saying there's someone in town who's good with, uh, robots.

[He almost flinches at the word, wanting to reject the idea it applied to him.]

[She offers a smile, and a small head shake.]

Don't be. It's nothing you did.

[She senses his hesitation in his wording. Picks up on the fact that it must be a sore topic--seeing as how she has her own speech patterns that often give her away.]

Well, let's go fine out, then. If you don't mind me tagging along for a bit?