2022-01-31: Opportunity 'Sights' A Moving Train
- Log: Opportunity 'Sights' A Moving Train
- Cast: Ruri Hoshino, Dr. Spartura
- Where: Six 6 Colonies
- Date: 2022-01-31
- Summary: Ruri goes on her Very First Ever Train Ride, and meets a familiar doctor, Dorothy, on the way. Ruri sure is collecting a lot of business cards, huh?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Nadesico -- Nergal's most impressive flagship, though they've developed other things in the eight months the ship disappeared on Mars before its sudden reappearance -- is quite large. Too large, in fact, to fit everywhere it might ever need to park, which is why it's docked in a more central location, on the colonies of Side 6. They could take a shuttle to see to Nergal's business, but...
There is also...
~ THE TRAIN ~
It's a delightful diversion of a transport method, and after a fight like Frontier 7, the Nadesico is definitely looking for those. Mr. Prospector is the natural choice for business overhead, but surprisingly, there's someone else with him, today. Ruri Hoshino doesn't, strictly speaking, have to be here -- while her mysterious senses are very useful for figuring out what's going on with the tech systems around them, Mr. Prospector is used to going into the lion's den on his own perfectly well.
But...
Well, Ruri was part of the fight on Frontier 7, too.
There are certainly people beside her who think she needs a break, too, as much as she might grumble about it.
AND SO:
In only the best of tube-based travel, Ruri and Mr. Prospector board... THE TRAIN. The station has plenty of other people on it, of course, but Ruri doesn't feel terribly good about the crowds, so they ended up walking to the far end of the platform, where not so many commuters can be found. It means their carriage is pretty calm, all told; a little conversation from a few travelling families, but with plenty of empty space.
"The stabilisers could use adjustment," Ruri remarks, dryly, as the train sways on its rail around a bend. She's still dressed in her uniform, Nergal orange, white and black; her skin is still porcelain pale, hair still stark white-blue, fae gold eyes which stare out the window with a perpetually bored expression.
(She has the window seat, of course. This is the tradition of all children.)
"Well, trains like these don't have the Nadesico's state-of-the-art gravity controls," Mr. Prospector remarks. (He's still dressed in his remarkable red vest over his own uniform, of course, counterpointing his purple pencil-moustache and the universal accountant's haircut.) "It would cost quite a lot to standardise..." He pulls out a calculator -- he always has it on hand -- and taps out some numbers, holding it up for Ruri.
"I see," she replies, mildly, swaying with the train. She looks out the window, again, quiet for long moments. "... I'd like to have a walk," she says, finally.
"Ahh, but the train is moving, you see, so..."
"That's why."
Mr. Prospector sighs, rubbing at his head. "Well, just don't try to open any doors, will you..?" They surely automatically shut, but on the other hand, it is Ruri.
She slips out past him, and proceeds to wander up the path through the carriage, past some of those chattering families. The feeling of the sway beneath her feet is unique; Prospector was right to say the Nadesico was particularly state-of-the-art, in this area. It means that Ruri hasn't ever really felt the impact of moving through space, not this plainly. It's an experience most travellers have had... but not her.
She has to sway as she walks, or maybe it's the craft, swaying under her -- it's a smooth ride, but it's smooth for a train, all swept on its railing, and it's something she's never experienced before. Bird-boned, it takes her some effort to make sure her feet are planted, but she makes it most of the way through the carriage before she stumbles and has to catch herself on one of the backrests of the aisle seats.
"Oh," Ruri exclaims, more a breath than anything explosive.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
The train has a peculiar sway to it - it feels almost, very subtly, like it's tilting in one direction in particular. It's clearer perhaps because Ruri Hoshino is not used to trains, but in the colonies, there's always that subtle Coriolis force. They have to have separate leagues for soccer teams -- otherwise everyone's reflexes would be off. It's unfair, and usually in the spacenoids' disfavor.
Ruri stumbles behind someone in a slightly beat-up white coat who had been reading a digital book on a tablet. A doctor? Sure, why not. Sometimes doctors ride the train, too. Except that as Ruri brings herself upright, the head of that person turns, and pale hair is revealed to be familiar and a torn-up stretch of skin, a scar long healed but never really amended, holds an eye that focuses on her.
"HUH!" says Dr. Dorothy Spartura.
She immediately shifts ninety degrees in her seat to swing her legs into the aisle, clicking off her tablet. She is wearing a pair of frameless cats-eye glasses, secured on the nose with a pince-nez style grip. "Well, well, well," Dr. Spartura continues. She seems more alert now, focused. It isn't *exactly* hostile, but it is an intense look.
She smiles, a little. "We meet again, miclone. Were you sneaking up on me?" From her tone, she's joking.
"That'll teach me to sit with my back to the rest of the car. Here, have a seat, there's not much crowding up here. You alright? You look a little peaked, but if I had to make my diagnosis I'd say you're getting a touch of vertigo. If you look out the window and focus on a distant object, it'll help." The train is in a tunnel through a landscaped section of false mountain right now, but it's the thought that counts, right?
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri doesn't know what sort of people ride trains. Omoikane told them about them before she went on this trip, but his details were much more factual than cultural. It means she isn't particularly surprised, to see a white coat, here.
She is a little embarrassed to have had to catch herself on a seat someone was sitting on, so she straightens up right quick to pull her hand back away. It's not until the passenger turns, that --
Well, it's definitely the scars which make her memorable. The fact that her legs are now in the way of the aisle, so she can't walk any further, is another factor. (Not that there was much farther to walk before she hit the door, and Mr. Prospector asked her not to open those.) "Dr. Dorothy," Ruri identifies her, in quiet surprise.
It's an intense expression, but Dorothy smiles, so Ruri doesn't think she's offended her too terribly. "No," she responds, plain. "I didn't know you were here, too."
But she takes a seat opposite the Doctor anyway, landing a little heavily thanks to the movement of the train. As Dorothy keeps talking, Ruri does, indeed, look out the window; all she sees is a reflection of herself, gold and white and subtly blue.
She shakes her head, a little, and looks back to the Doctor. "Fool," she says, "there's nothing distant out there." But neutral as her expression is, there isn't much venom behind the phrase. (It's also not entirely correct, on the metaphorical layer; Ruri is absolutely a distant object.)
"But..." Ruri folds her hands in her lap, dipping her head, a little. "... I'm fine. I'm just not used to propulsion systems like this, since the Nadesico's artificial gravity system is advanced enough to protect the crew from undue movement in space. So I'm not used to translating that force." She pauses, a moment longer, heel kicking lightly against the ground. "... it's nice to see you again, Dr. Dorothy. I wasn't expecting it." To see a friendly acquaintance again, or to see, specifically, her..?
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Interesting," Dr. Spartura says, adjusting her glasses. They gleam in the train light.
She lets out a sharp bark of laughter at being called a fool. "Yeah there is," Dr. Spartura says further: "You just can't see it, because there's objects in the way." From her tone, she knows exactly what she's saying.
"Oh, is it now? Posh," she continues. "That would make it easier to do high-gee maneuvering, wouldn't it? You wouldn't have to strap everyone in, and you could probably use advanced thruster technology... at least until it breaks down. Probably propellant-less, too, I wouldn't be surprised." She pat-a-pats her hands on her knees, which are covered by black leggings today.
"Yes... I'm pleased to see you as well," she continues, if with a sort of undercurrent of portent in the statement which may, sadly, be entirely lost on Ruri, given the context or lack thereof. (To herself, Dr. Spartura thinks: Is this fate? Some kind of binding being laid on me? She is a distinctive figure, but she sounds like she's just some weird child... an actual child, yet. On an actual ship? Not just some jumped-up cadet program?)
"Anyway," Dr. Spartura says --
-- as the train leaves the tunnel! The train is crossing on a bridge over one of the bodies of recreational water which is also a host for things like 'extra drinking water' and 'fish, potentially also ducks'. The body of water is large enough to stretch outwards... but further down, beyond optical infinity but well placed instead of a horizon, is the curving wall of the other side of the colony. At the present time the light of a daytime period prevents space from being glimpsed through the great glass walls, making them more distant gleaming stretches, almost seas in their own right, but the gray-green abstract space of the next-over wall is distinctive, like a satellite view in miniature.
And there are some ducks in this body of water, at least.
"It's second nature to me, but I did grow up in space. You'll get accustomed to it too; you've probably noticed yourself, that it doesn't stand out too much if you're walking around, or in a car or a bus. Though I suppose you were up nearer to the cap, the gradient's going to stand out more there."
"So what brings you all the way up here, anyway? Sounds like you're not running away."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"Yes," Ruri responds, entirely proper. "Ms. Haruka is a capable helmswoman, so she is able to handle surprising manoeuvres with our technology. I am often surprised at the level of optimisation I have to commit to meet the demands of her orders. Of course, it's nothing the Nadesico's systems can't handle." And there are two things here, really:
1) Ruri doesn't mention how capable ERINA is as a pilot, which is a burn which tragically only Ruri is equipped to understand here, probably;
2) Ruri is apparently involved enough in bridge commands to know just what the helm's orders translate to.
She doesn't understand the undercurrent, but she is a child, and that means she's still distracted, when the train VWOOSHES from the tunnel. All a sudden the lights of the carriage are joined by the showing outside, and Ruri's head turns, to look out over that -- lake? Let's call it a lake. She can't see space right now, so...
Her eyes grow a little larger, as she looks out over the fields, the colony, and something which might even be ducks. She resists the urge to scoot over and press herself against the window, but the thought certainly crosses her mind.
The good(?) Doctor helpfully explains some space facts, while Ruri is beholding the colony. She blinks, after a moment, looking back to her. "Nergal has some business here, but it's in an area it would be inconvenient to bring the Nadesico to," she replies, perhaps a hair too honest, but entirely proper. "So Mr. Prospector and I are approaching in this manner." She pauses, and adds, with a little shrug: "I shouldn't talk about the details, I suppose." She looks back down the aisle to her current minder -- he's currently reading something on a data pad, though, so he doesn't notice who she's found herself talking to.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Probably not," Dr. Spartura agrees. She sees the look on Ruri's face, and it is, to be frank, sort of thrilling for her, in a subtle and interior way. It tells her things, and some of those things are amazing. Others are merely informative!
"Mr. Prospector, though. That's a hell of a name. Is he from the Belt or something? Finding us new resource asteroids to demolish for spare parts?" she asks, crossing one leg over the other and bringing it up to hug it up nearer to her chest.
She is silent for a while. The train finishes crossing the lake - the scenery remains pleasant, if perhaps a little unkempt, but less breath-taking. It's easier to ignore the other side of the colony with things in the nearer distance, though if you want to focus, it's always there.
"I had to come here to do some consulting... It's all done now, though. I've got a ride out in most of a day from now, so I thought I'd take a scenic route out there, maybe get dinner at a restaurant... You're going to meet your ship, I'm guessing, or on some kind of errand at the other end of this train, but I'm glad you've already learned to get your tourism in when you can!"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"It's how he introduced himself to us," Ruri says, and 'ISN'T THAT INCREDIBLY SUSPICIOUS' is left implied. "He's one of Nergal's accountants, so... I suppose it's something financial like that." She doesn't sound like she cares terribly much about THE MISSION...?
Ruri doesn't mind focusing on the view outside the window, a while. For one, Dorothy's advice on focusing on distant objects is entirely sound -- not that Ruri would admit she was feeling a little wobbly, in here -- and for another, it's not the sort of view Ruri is used to, really.
(Ruri isn't used to many views.)
She looks back to the Doctor, though, when she speaks up again. "Consulting... I see," Ruri nods, even-toned. She glances to the window, again -- back to the scarred woman in front of her. Well, it's hard for her not to feel a little kinship with her, given they witnessed that gunshot together. "... to be honest, I thought coming out here was a foolish diversion. If something happened, I'd be leaving Omoikane alone with the systems... it's hard for him to slow down for the other people on the bridge. But..."
Ruri sighs, lightly. "I suppose I haven't seen things like this before," she says, of the colonies. "It's very different to looking up their data entries."
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Oh, great," Dr. Spartura says. "One of the soulless minions of orthodoxy, huh?" It sounds light. She has a way of speaking that subtly invites to conspiracy - her and you against the world. (Not shown: The two and a half years of coaching classes on bedside manner in the Side 3 medical system. They weren't intense at any given time, but some things you have to learn in the future.)
(It helps when the medicine deliveries were delayed by a solar storm. Or, by, well,)
"It's a different kind of beautiful than Earth, isn't it? Or Mars, I guess. You know, when they built these places, they did take some pains to make sure none of them were exactly alike. If you measured it, you'd be able to tell you have the same amount of land, same amount of surface water... and you can tell the grids are pretty straight and neat, too. But they didn't ever make them identical."
Dr. Spartura looks out the window for a few moments. She wonders who Omoikane is. But, she decides, isn't it more fun to find out later?
"You talk to anyone much? About the party, I mean," she comments. "I've done my share of surgeries and that was pretty spooky; I just bulled through it. I have the feeling it was your first time, or pretty near to it."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"That's right," Ruri agrees; as someone who views the world as foolish, it's strikingly easy to stand beside her for anyone willing to decry them just the same.
Well, she hardly knows much about conspiracy, after all. She is twelve.
Ruri looks out the window, again, as Dorothy describes it. "They're all different..? I see. It would put a lot of mental pressure on the people living here if they were in places which were all the same, I suppose. That's why we have places like the observatory and the VR room, on the Nadesico, so the crew can pretend they're not on a ship for a while." It is as much a home as a battleship! But, well, it would be a home to Ruri either way.
Ruri frowns, lightly, as she looks back to the Doctor. "A little," she says, a touch reluctantly, which is a light answer which says very much about the sort of child she is. She's quiet, a moment longer. "... I wasn't there when Mr. Yamada was shot. No one was, but the person who killed him. But I reviewed the footage, later. I didn't learn anything new... but there was a lot of blood." This, too, she relates stuck in neutral, voice steady and even and tasteless. There's that shadow of a frown on her face, and it's the only real indication she's bothered. "I wasn't really prepared for how loud guns are... I'm glad she didn't die."
Ruri folds her hands over each other, in her lap. She sits up straight, of course, because she's a bridge officer.
"The Nadesico has fought humans before," Ruri says, after that moment of rearrangement. There's light contemplation to her stoic tone; she's evidently thought about it deeply, even if she hasn't spoken about it much. "But violence feels different on the bridge. Of course, we had plenty of funerals to handle, after we broke through the Big Barrier... but those were casualties from our foolish mission, too. Oh, well... I guess it bothers me, but it's also true a handgun is objectively less powerful than anything I fire on the Nadesico."
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Some people never leave the colony where they were born," Dr. Spartura says, "or just go on a trip to a neighbor in the bunch or something. It's not cheap to get a ticket, you know, and there's a whole world out there, more or less. Why go anywhere else?"
She shifts in her seat then, turning round and bringing her legs up to sprawl out over the two-seat space she's on, to orient nearer to the way Ruri is pointing. "Heh heh - good thinking for deep space missions. But here, it's not a ship. You're not going anywhere. It's home! For you, for everyone... you can raise a family out here."
A death passes nearby. A part of Dr. Spartura smells blood. Death, she thinks. The thing that breaks the chains of fate most reliably! And yet, like that old joke about the Zabi family at the vaudeville play: You can only do it once.
"When I first heard a gun being shot, I was surprised at how loud it wasn't," she says, thoughtfully. "I'd expected a cannon, from movies and everything. Instead, it's just -- ahh, I won't go into it. You know what I mean."
"So let me ask you, my good miclone," Dorothy says presently. "Do you think you can get used to *anything*, if you start early enough?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I only remember ever living in two places," Ruri says, as accurately as she can. "But now I'm with the Nadesico, we stumble all around known space. Well, maybe we'll even trip over the point, one day." She says it lightly; treats her lack of investment in their cause so lightly.
(Things happen to her, around her. The world acts. They'll come to a satisfying narrative conclusion, or they will not. Either way, Ruri doesn't have the power to create a world of her own.)
"The Nadesico is my home," she clarifies, at that later point. "Though there was some argument over weddings and families, when we were going to Mars... well, I suppose the adults worked their contracts out eventually, or else Mr. Uribatake would still be carrying on."
She's still seated forward, of course, but her constant glances to the window have certainly angled her a little in that direction. (Her knees are pointing there.) "I do," she agrees. "But it was still surprising to hear in person."
(It was frightening, but never mind that.)
Her head cants, as she looks to the window, again. "I know that's true," she says, after a moment.
"I began to study systems operation eight years ago. I oversaw the initialisation of Omoikane's systems, and integration with his functions. I spent six years in that laboratory with the core computing unit before the Nadesico was physically completed... and another year ensuring the completed ship operated sufficiently before our launch last year." She relates it all with that same stoicism, and no lost love for her youth. "Obviously, most people my age wouldn't be able to handle data systems like I do... and I have an advantage, I suppose," she adds, lightly. "But since I spent so long preparing, I was able to operate sufficiently."
She won't go so far as to say she did a good job, though.
... after all, as far as being a rescue mission, their trip to Mars was an astounding failure.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"The ship life isn't too bad, if the ship's in good shape," Dr. Spartura muses.
"And from a certain perspective, we're all whirling at a hideous speed throughout a complex vector-space in ways we can't even perceive. You're not noticing the swaying so much now, are you? You got used to it. Sometimes I think, did life on Earth just get USED to the dizzying rush throughout galactic space?"
Unknowable, presumably.
"You picked a major early, didn't you?"
Dr. Spartura's attention turns away from the window and towards Ruri. The angle of the reflected sunlight reflects in turn off of her glasses, concealing her eyes. "How do you like the job? Ultimately, I guess I'd ask."
Inwardly, she feels her body -- no, she tells herself, settle down, Gihren, don't get mad on the train. You're going to spoil the results. Calm, smooth, quiet. Think of the interstellar background radiation. Can you hear it? Yeah, there you go. Just run the chip loop. There you go.
Externally, it seems like she got a little tense for a moment, then relaxed; there are few external signs of the biofeedback-induced override control of the baker's dozen of bio-control chips riddling most of the interstitial spaces in her torso.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri considers it. "It's easier now I'm sitting down," she decides, after a moment. "So I guess you're right." She's getting used to movement like this...
Just like she got used to other things. "I suppose so," Ruri says; she doesn't seem at all uncomfortable talking to someone whose eyes she can't see. She pauses, again, to think about her next answer. "The Nadesico is full of fools," she says. "And we foolishly get into trouble all the time. But Omoikane is my best friend, so I don't want to leave him alone. And, I..."
Her hand lifts, from her lap, to curl to a light fist across her chest. It's the sort of gesture which suggests some discomfort, though it's hard to say for sure, because her expression hasn't changed much. "I can take care of them," she decides, though in the same breath she concedes, "though I suppose I have to get much better to help avoid unfortunate incidents, too." Something -- or someone -- has taught her humility, which might be the most striking thing, considering the feats she's describing.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"'Unfortunate incidents'. Not only are you flying a ship and working with this Omoikane guy," Dr. Spartura says meditatively, "but you're even speaking like a born diplomat. It's -- hahaha. I've never seen anything like it. You're not even uncomfortable here! Normally, I creep kids out when I'm dressing down."
This may be around the point when a shallow spatter of brown dots along the side of the lab coat become clearer.
"Whatever happens, make sure you hold on to memories of a day like this, huh? And your friends, and your home," Dr. Spartura advises. "You're probably going to think it's a bunch of foolish fool talk from some lady twice your age, but you'll treasure it later. Trust me." (She is, generously, more like three times Ruri's age.)
"That ship you mentioned. Nadesico. That's Nergal, isn't it? Or did you guys finally get engulfed by the Federal blob?"
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri's head actually tilts, at the Doctor's laughter. "I don't think of myself as particularly diplomatic," she says, which is true enough, because Ruri has never hesitated to call anyone out. (Why, then, is she so reticent to describe the damage..?) "I don't see why I should be uncomfortable here, either. I have a ticket too, after all."
(A ticket to ride the train! Surely Dorothy has one? She wouldn't just JUMP THE TOLL BOOTH, would she?! She's such an upstanding woman!)
As for the brown dots, well -- she's not the worst Ruri has seen, let's leave it at that.
She looks down, to her knees, as she wonders. Days like this..? "I will. Because memories are important to me," Ruri adds, a shade of melancholy to the words. There's a little curling of her shoulders, a little tightening of her fingers; she doesn't meet Dorothy's eyes, as she says it.
She looks up to answer her next question, though. "... that's right. The Nadesico is Nergal's flagship." Ruri does sound a little proud of that, though how much of it is just pride in Omoikane is difficult to say. "Well, it's true we're cooperating with the Federation about the Jovian Lizards, but we're maintaining our independence. Right now, we're more like mercenaries, I suppose." Isn't she a little young to be a mercenary..?
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
EARLIER:
Dr. Spartura approaches the automatic machine and considers it with a meditative thought for a few seconds, before extending her cybernetic hand towards it and extending her ring finger. It unfolds into spider-web micro-spaces, reaching into the coin receptacle and pressing downwards with a careful rhythm. She watches the toll total deposited tick up, and hits the button for a day pass.
NOW:
The day pass ticket is in her coat's front pocket, next to a couple of pens. Pens. Seriously, they're pens. At least one of them isn't a pen.
"Is that so! Being a mercenary's been rough, historically. People tend to get ungrateful," she says, shifting around to reach into her hip pocket and draw out a faintly dog-eared card. It is a plain white, with a QR code on it. "Tell you what, pass this on to Mr. Prospector, would you?"
"Are they really Lizards? We keep having awwwwwful luck with reptiles," she says, as the train comes to a brief stop in what is apparently a local business district. Some people towards the back of the car start to file off - it's not a very large station.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri can clearly see the ticket! That's why she said she had one 'too', obviously. She has no reason to suspect those are anything but pens.
She blinks, taking the card. Her golden gaze traces the borders of the code, lingering on it for a long moment. "Alphanumeric encoding... I see," she says. "Is this your webpage, Dr. Dorothy? I'll pass it on." How did she know what it was..?
"I wouldn't say anyone is entirely happy about it," Ruri supposes, a moment later. "But maintaining friendly relations with the Federation is less of a pain than fighting them." Even if it does lead to...
Well, it's not like anyone asked them to get involved in that fight.
With a mild sigh -- not that anything she does CAN'T be described as mild -- Ruri glances out the window. "That's what we call them," she says. "But actually, all their attacks have been unmanned, so... we don't know what kind of aliens they are." She watches the people file out from the train, for a moment. All their normal lives... well, they'd be in trouble if a Chulip landed here. At least, since the Lizards attack Earth -- there's an atmosphere to breathe, even if they break something.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Something like that," Dr. Spartura says.
The card, when accessed at an actual terminal, points to a generic business site, the same thing done by relatively transient businesses where people build their dreams for retail success in the shadow of space, the Federation, and the grand cold darkness that lurks in the distance. The sort of place where you order your delivery Chinese food or Indian takeaway or whatever you want. The place your doctor might have, where you can schedule an appointment and read the latest little update flyers.
And it's like a doctor's webpage, except that it doesn't really... specify its medical services.
Ruri would easily get the idea, if she reviews it later, that it's some sort of cybernetic medical service. That sort of thing happens. She's probably being discreet because she does like, urinary or colorectal stuff, and people don't like to talk about that in public, even if it was clearly good enough to get her an invitation to a fancy party on Earth, at least once.
Mr. Prospector would probably be able to read between the lines better...
... it's a place that does augmentations.
Maybe.
"Wild," Dr. Spartura says. "Maybe the machines *are* them, you guys ever work with that assumption? I mean, the only real aliens we've met were basically giant humans -- unless you believe that fossilized whale was intelligent. I'm inclined to think it wasn't, myself."
Dr. Spartura sighs, as if she's catching herself. "Well, I'm full of crap here, we've encountered alien ANIMALS and PLANTS - you knew this one, I bet, but did you know that TECHNICALLY SPEAKING those big-ass pterodactyl's on Eden aren't even animals? THAT one's still getting yelled about. They'd probably say it about the Zentradi, but they don't want to get their bones crushed."
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
Ruri, of course, will visit the homepage herself, because a child's curiosity cannot be sated -- though certainly, she'll pass the card on to Mr. Prospector, too, because she was asked. (His reaction to figuring out Ruri met someone of this persuasion while he was busy reading a business report is another thing entirely.)
The most interesting thing to Ruri, at least, will be that Dr. Dorothy is an actively practicing doctor. That's not something anyone can take for granted. Some doctors are enamoured by research alone!
Ruri listen to the Doctor's theories, thoughtfully. "They're not curious," she says, after a moment, as if it disproves the idea that the Lizards are machines. "Or if they are, I've never felt it... it's hard to reach out to enemies, because they don't really want to talk." This is a description which opens with it a lot of other questions. Ruri doesn't come out with immediate answers. Perhaps she thinks the things she's saying are just plain sense.
"All the Zentradi I know are gentle people," she adds, a moment later. She can't imagine Zurvan or Lahvi crushing anyone's bones. ... of course, save a handful of background Zentradi crewmembers on the Nadesico, Ruri knows so few Zentradi that those two spring immediately to mind. But never mind that. Two is enough of a sample size if she just extrapolates her data!
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
"Hm. That's true. But neither were the Zentradi, at first," Dr. Spartura says. "It took them a while to warm up to it. Try playing them some old Minmay tracks next time you see 'em. Can't hurt anything."
She glances up at the station map for a moment and shifts herself round. "I've never seen one myself. Sounds like I ought to hope I never will!"
She then takes off her glasses for a moment, shifting round in order to wipe it on her T-shirt's tail. ("Ugh, look at me, I look like I was rolling in the garbage. I promise you I'm much better company if I've had a nap and some coffee.") But then she says:
"They're like bears. You ever see a bear? A real bear. They mostly live in Britannia; I think they keep them in parks, for something worth hunting if you're rich. But when you leave them alone, they're huge - strong - intelligent, gentle, caring. And they'll flip an entire salmon into their mouth for lunch... and you'd better not get between one and their cubs."
"Next stop's my stop," she explains. "You seem like you've got your head on straight, miclone. I think you're going to be able to take care of your people. Here's a question for you..."
"Is that what you want to do?"
She puts her glasses back on. She's leaning forwards a little. If she looks intent, it's just because she's paying attention to what Ruri might have to say! Maybe there will be a candy afterwards. (Dr. Spartura has no candies on her that do not also contain ketamine)
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
"I guess it can't hurt," Ruri says, though she doesn't sound terribly convinced.
Well, that's just what happens when you're fighting a war. Even when you're twelve!
("It is very untidy," Ruri comments, parenthetically, because kids can be SO CRUEL.)
She shakes her head, though, when Dorothy asks if she's seen a real bear. She's only seen them in books, and as stuffed toys, which are remarkably cuddlier versions. If Ruri knew more, she might be alarmed about an animal whose main prey is salmon...
... but there's a reason memories are so precious to her, after all.
"I can see why you'd say that," Ruri says, after a moment.
And then the Doctor's stop is coming up, and Ruri blinks, as she issues that question. "I..." Ruri trails off, for a moment. "I don't know yet," she answers, honestly. "Since no one asked me, when we started. But I'm figuring it out. So I'll have to answer you later, Dr. Dorothy. Is that all right?"
She thinks to add: "It was nice to see you again."
(Caution: please do not give the genius child drugs.)
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
Dr. Spartura reaches up to adjust how her glasses sit on her nose.
Inwardly she feels that sensation again. That tingly, youthful feeling that she's near a great discovery. She wants to stand up and kick her legs and raise her hands above her head and do a little dance. It's like stumbling on a jewel that's halfway out of a rock matrix. Like finding a rare bird you were seeking just... taking a crap on your hiking boots. And here it is, right there.
Because to the eyes of Dr. Dorothy Spartura, she sees Ruri Hoshino reach down
grasp her chains
TUG on them
and, perhaps, tug on them to *move herself forwards*.
Nearer to the stakes.
"Well, certainly! We can always touch base later. Of course, that's quite a commitment you're making, and one that I'm prepared to make as well... but it's not something you should do casually." (She may forget about this for months. Until she is abruptly reminded.) However, she raises her cybernetic hand and extends it, fingers curling silently backwards and pinky extending outwards.
"Are you prepared to *formally* promise it, Ruri Hoshino?"
("And I'm glad I saw you again too.")
Despite this inward thrill, she just seems... like... she's perking up? It's a motion from 'ground state' to '1' on the mania dial; it doesn't really start to show until '3'. '11' will come later.
<Pose Tracker> Ruri Hoshino has posed.
The Star is hope's calling card. Don't forget that in the dark.
Ruri, who is quite a serious girl, quite seriously contemplates Dorothy's request. She's not, by and large, a tactile person; she's rather lukewarm on the whole concept. But then, that's the concept of a formal promise, after all.
"... all right," she says, after that moment.
She reaches out her hand, and mirrors the Doctor's motion -- a little awkwardly, she's clearly never actually done this before, just read about it in the archives -- and hooks her pinky in with the older woman's.
She doesn't say anything about needles. She just says: "I promise." Well, maybe she doesn't know the words, but it probably weighs just the same. Ruri seems an honest girl, after all.
She's still in neutral, but -- it is, at least, a softer neutral, a little less guarded, a little warmer. And maybe that's a start.
<Pose Tracker> Dr. Spartura has posed.
Dr. Spartura's pinky finger, curling, feels more like an octopus tentacle in a plastic or metal shell than a finger, but it's the smallest finger on a human hand, and that means it counts.
"Uaahahaaa! See that you do! And if we're not on business next time, I'll buy you lunch!" she says, after her pinky finger retracts and she rises upwards with a rustle of fabric, reaching up to grasp on the grip handle as the train decelerates for the next station. Which is... in a little woody suburb space?
"Tata for now," she says, as the train comes to a halt.
I wonder which of them is Mr. Prospector, Dr. Spartura thinks as she gets out of the train. As it pulls out - there is a moment where Ruri can, if she looks, see Dr. Spartura get into a car with a pretty wide-bodied man. His head is hidden by the position of the cab of the car, but the visible arm seems to be a prosthetic of some kind. Her patient? Maybe it's a house call...
That's a nice thought, isn't it?
IN THE CAR
"You look happy," booms Jiro Fuma as he pulls the car into gear. "Gonna be about six years before we get to the client in this stanky little golf cart. I hate these damn things."
"I ran into that girl from the party!"
"You gonna do a job on her or what?" Jiro asks.
"No, no, the other one, the little one. She's some kind of prodigy... I think she got Coordinated, or some other black ops project. Very open about things. You've heard of the Nadesico, right?"
"Sure... flew to Mars. Hear it was rough out there."
"Mm hmm~. She's holding it well. But I remember when *I* was her age I was planning to build a Normal Suit for a horse, so I could ride that horse through space."
"Huh," Jiro says. "You had a horse?"
"No, that part was going to come later."
"Hah!"
Somehow, the racer manages to make the colony-use electric car peel out... a little... but by then, they're out of sight of the train.