(no subject)

[abetterway]

[Xavier is sitting on a cot in the Flop, hands clasped in her lap as she smiles into the camera. It's a weary smile, but a friendly one. Her hair is tied back in a low, messy knot.]

Hello. My name is Jocelyn Xavier, and I have a request of everyone.

I'd like to know some details about your home, your history. Nothing intimate, of course – just basic facts that might help us discern some sort of pattern in our abduction. Your statistics, essentially – and your skills, if you don't mind sharing.

I'll start us off.

I come from Earth. America, originally, but I've been traveling for several years. The current year is – was – 1956. I recently turned thirty years old. [Her expression tightens, just slightly, as her voice quiets.] Both of my parents are deceased. My step-brother and his father, as well.

[Her next words come quickly, as she forces old emotions away.] I spent eight years at Oxford University, in England. I have PhDs in genetics, biophysics, psychology, psychiatry, and anthropology.

[She hesitates, then, brow furrowing she glances downward; she seems to steel herself as she looks back into the camera.]

I was a soldier for three years. [It would be dangerous to admit, at home, and might raise suspicions here. But she's asking for honesty, and she's holding enough back already.]

Comments

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

Hm.

[Okay, he thinks about it.]

I'm a soldier and a philosopher, and due to some genetic engineering sturdier than a normal human would be.

[Private]

[abetterway]

[Her eyes widen at that; she's clearly intrigued.]

Genetic engineering. Is this a common process, where you come from?

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

Very common. Most humans are engineered on some minor level. Then there are human subspecies that have specialized engineering. Heavy-Gravity Worlders live in higher gravity. The Inari can see in the dark. The Castellians breath water.

Mine moreso than most. Nietzscheans were originally engineered bred to survive in any rigorous environment, and with the intellect to build a flourishing civilization. Homo sapiens invictus.

[Private]

[abetterway]

I see. [It's a fascinated murmur; she's not staring at him, that would be rude, but there's a definite sharpness to her gaze.] Carefully modified steps in evolution.

How has that plan gone, so far?

[Private]

[truth_is_cold]

It depends on what time period you take us from. In mine, we have been cooperative members of society fro hundreds of years, but have been exploited.

In Dylan's future, he knows us as something much worse.