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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[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?

Just, you know, enough to take on here. Didn't mean to dredge up bad stuff from back home.

[He shrugs, awkwardly. Even before the accident, he hadn't be a good-with-words guy.]

I don't think it's technically tagging along as much as exploring together. Or something.

[Just, you know, that she's about on equal footing with him as far as he's concerned.]

[And Chloe appreciates that. Grins impishly up at him.]

Hey. It's fine. I mean it. Everyone has something, right? I'm just one of many.

[She grins again, laughing softly.]

Exploring. [There's quite a bit of amusement to her tone.] Exploring I can do.

Had someone here tell me we were brought here because we were special.

[He didn't buy it, but maybe it helped her feel a little better.]

Then that's what we should do. Want to see the outside of the ship?

[Yeah, Chloe's calling you out on that one, Alex, if her 'look' and raised eyebrows up at you means anything.]

Where I'm from, special to this caliber usually means special in the head. While some have called me crazy before, I don't think it takes a genius to realize something is going on here. And I plan to find out what. [She grins a moment later.] You're welcome to join me.

[She's used to having someone with her while poking around. Someone bigger and stronger. And a lot grumpier. Thinking about Derek only made Chloe nostalgic. She'd have to have a mini breakdown later, where others wouldn't see.]

Sure. Outside the ship, inside the ship--I have a feeling it's all going to be important. Might as well get a feel for the area now though, since we'll probably be staying here a while.

[Are you trying to sass him? Because that eyebrow thing sure looks like it. ]

Yeah, okay, well, I'm special that way, maybe you, not so much.

[He's not quite as good at the wink as he should be, but he tries. It's the first time he's made a joke about, you know, the whole cyborg thing.]

Well, what can I say to that except lead the way.

[A brilliant flush rises to Chloe's cheeks at his comment about her being practically 'normal.' Because, really, she was as 'special'--in the head and out of it--as he was. If not more so.]

Right.

[Turning, Chloe only smiles and shakes her head, charmed at his joke. She moves ahead to do exactly that.]

Sure thing. Is the exit this way?

[He's aware his joke kind of misfired, but he's not quite sure how. Still. Hardly the worst interpersonal failure he's had so far.]

That's where I found the way out, yeah.

It's actually...kind of pretty out there, if nature's your thing.

[He's a city boy, himself.]

[Heading in the direction aforementioned, Chloe looks back briefly with a smile.]

Oh? Is it very different from the major cities of the U.S., then?

[She comes to the door finally, pausing only a moment to walk outside.]

Yeah, it's a little, you know, low tech. At least the part I saw.

[He's not really an expert, despite the whole, you know, robot suit thing.]

I admit, when it comes to the outdoors, low tech can be good.

[And now Chloe is out of the ship and taking in her surroundings for the first time, eying landscape and wildlife alike.]

Wow. I feel like we should be on a set for a movie. Sci-fi most likely. We could do a documentary on other forms of wildlife.

I think you're going to be the expert on that. Not a lot of outdoors in Detroit that isn't paved over.

[All this...nature. Honestly, it's even stranger now.]

That's probably the best way to look at it.

[Besides, how bad can it be, right? Birds, maybe. Squirrels. Surely nothing dangerous.]

It's the same in Buffalo. I'm really starting to appreciate woods and forest, now. My f-family and I have been staying in a cabin before I woke up here.

[If you call two sorcerers, a witch, a necromancer and her Aunt as family.]

Hey. Sometimes thinking about your life as a scene from a movie can be good for the psyche.

[If Chloe didn't have that to fall on, she'd be freaking out and screaming her head off right about now.]

I-is that...? Th-that squirrel has fangs. It really has fangs.

You'll have to show me, then.

[Because his idea of forest is like...an SUV commercial.]

I'm not sure I'd like the genre of movie my life would be.

I'll show you what I can. I'm no expert, but it's something you can learn fairly quickly when motivated. I-if we're really as far from home as everyone has been mentioning on this communication device, I might know less than you do, though.

[A small snort that is more an exhale--and Chloe's lips twist into a wry grin. She knows that feeling far too well. Can empathize.]

That's when you have to try to direct the movie yourself. Lead it to where you want it to go. [A small grin is sent up his way.] Or try to change the mood by adding some twist to the genre. Sometimes it can help you reevaluate what's important.

It's not paved over out there. I'm pretty sure you'll know more than I do.

Trust me, it's not that easy when stuff you can't even imagine starts happening.

[Like the whole blown up turned into a robot guy thing. Yeah, didn't see that one coming.]

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ghostly_stutter - 2014-05-03 20:55 (UTC) - Expand

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