Aᵁᴰᴵᴼ

[ancestor]

...Hello?

Hello. I am not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be—

[ The voice that speaks is so quiet it's nearly a whisper; quiet and lilting in a way reminiscent of whale song. Her words are cut short by a wavering intake of breath. When she speaks again it's with the fervent confusion of a person who has recently experienced something very traumatic and can't quite comprehend it. ]

I'm supposed to be... I'm dead? I'm meant to be dead. I remember it. I remember— It hurt. I remember that. It—hurts. They were all screaming. Everyone was—

All of them—

[ A small, choked sob. ]

My people.

I'm supposed to be with them.

Comments

[albatrossomen]

[Ah, yes, death. The expected termination of frail mortal flesh. They are always so upset upon learning the predictable end has happened, nearly every one of them. One would think that would change with time.

Some things are ever eternal.

He's never been particularly good at the comfort thing, that task is better suited to those angels with sweeter dispositions. And fewer eyes.]

Be not afraid.

[That's probably not very helpful here, is it? No, unlikely. Again, really terrible at comfort. That's Peter's job, or, well, anyone not Murmur honestly. Ah, what else does he have to offer?]


Would you like some tea?

[Nailed it.]

audio

[ancestor]

[ There is silence for a few, long moments, and then: ]

I'm not afraid.

[ She is many things right now, but that is one of the few things she knows for sure. As for the offer— ]

...Tea? Is this one of the hells?

Is there a hell that offers tea?

[ She mumbles, mostly to herself: ] There must be—it's tea.

Re: audio

[albatrossomen]

Good.

[The response is... weirdly monotone. Neither approving, nor disapproving, with no hint of sarcasm or humor.

He does cluck his tongue thoughtfully at her question.]

Unlikely. If this was a Hell, I am fairly certain I would be aware.

As for the latter, yes.

[Yes there absolutely is.]

Would you prefer something else? I am afraid alcohol is in short supply at the moment.

[This is a totally normal, not strange conversation.]

[ancestor]

[ If she's at all bothered by the demeanour she doesn't let on. ]

Oh.

Do you need alcohol? I can make some for you, if you like.

[albatrossomen]

Myself? No, though that news will likely generate some excitement among the other passengers. Have you watched your debriefing?

[It does help explain things better than he really can.]

[ancestor]

It's just basic biochemistry. We learn it as children.

First tea and now debriefings? I would question your certainty now, as this could only be some sort of hell.

[albatrossomen]

A primary source of income?

[He hasn't yet grasped quite what she means yet.

There's a laugh, it's not quite as monotone as his normal speaking. A small hint of genuine amusement there.]

When you put it that way it does fit the bill, but no. I'm afraid it's not quite that simple. A pair of gentlemen have gone to the trouble to record a message briefly explaining the situation we find ourselves in here. Some manner of temporal interference and random chance, as it were.

[ancestor]

Income?

[ She pauses. Temporal interference? Random chance?

Her attempts to maintain some level of nonchalance and humour finally fail, and she's left struggling to contain her fury at the situation. ]

It is that simple.

My people are dead. All of them. Every adult. Every elder. Every child.

And yet I am here. I should be dead. I should be with them.

[albatrossomen]

[The question of income is set aside, unimportant. She's upset again, he's pretty sure he did that. Has no idea what he's supposed to do about it, though.

Hm, right, mentioning that that happens will probably not go over well. He knows that, but he's not sure what else to say. Jack help.]

Something has transpired.

[It's not really a question, but it is an invitation if she would like to shout some more. He's heard that's cathartic.]

3.4 & 5.0 spoilers

[ancestor]

They were all screaming. The star and the souls. All of them. Everyone. Deafening, agonized screams as we were all torn asunder. It was a—a sundering, yes. That's what it was. A sundering. The Sundering.

I could feel it and I could hear it and I couldn't stop it.

[albatrossomen]

[Ah, yes, that description was a bit... uncomfortably familiar. Not precisely, and Sunder wouldn't have been the word he'd have used for his own experience, but he recognizes it enough to understand something absolutely terrible happened.

And that it wasn't something one could very well recover from. Not here, not like this.]

I understand.

[It's all he could offer. No empty words of comfort, no reassurance. What happened could not be undone.]

[ancestor]

Then you understand wanting to be with them.

[albatrossomen]

I do. Unfortunately that is, for the moment, out of reach.

audio; un: panoptes

[sisterswitch]

Well ... there’s news of varying degrees of good or bad, depending on your perspective. Number one, you’re not dead. Number two, none of us are supposed to be here. Number three, we’re working on a way back.

Now, are you injured? There’s a med bay if you are.

[ancestor]

[ None of that sounds particularly good to her, so she ignores the bulk of it for now. ]

A way back to where?

[sisterswitch]

Wherever you’re supposed to be. Assuming you want to go back, of course - most people here do.

[ancestor]

There is no 'where' left.

[ She pauses; contemplative— ]

...There is a 'when'.


It would not be too difficult— A minor alteration in the geometry. A variable for temporal adjustment alongside the spatial displacement. The aetherial requirement would increase exponentially, but I could simply sacrifice a part— Yes.

Yes, that would work. The theory is sound.

[sisterswitch]

[jack hums thoughtfully for a moment, mulling over this mash of mathematical jargon. she thinks she understands what this is about.]

Time travel to change the past is generally not advised - there's a whole film genre dedicated to this idea, as well as the consequences of doing it anyway. But you do you, I guess.

[ancestor]

There is no future. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[sisterswitch]

Oh ... OK, well played, that’s a good argument. I’m sure Navi can hook you up when we get there, but nobody knows when that’ll be, so you’ll probably want to get comfortable.

[ancestor]

Who is Navi, and why would I want to be hooked?

[sisterswitch]

[sigh. this has been jack’s life for the past six months, explaining things she says to people with no frame of reference.]

Navi is the ship you’re on. “Hook you up” is something we say where I’m from - it means “get you what you want.” Not to be confused with “hooking up” - that means meeting someone for sex. Though I guess you could say they’re somewhat related.

[ancestor]

I— What?

What?

'Hooking up?' Does intercourse involve hooks where you come from? That seems—uncomfortable.

[sisterswitch]

Hmm ... I think it really depends on what kink circles you run in, but no, not typically. Personally, I'm not really into painplay, but I'm also not into kinkshaming. As long as everyone's consenting and being safe and having a good time, I say go for it.

[ancestor]

...By definition, a circle cannot have a kink in it.

And I'm not quite sure what geometry has to do with intercourse.