thisavrou | { text } forward dated to April 30th and the event

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{ text } forward dated to April 30th and the event

[ Seeing how Mei lives on Chioni with all of four other people, when her dreams have her running to her balcony to be sick over the edge, she doesn't organize a block party afterwards to discuss it. Instead, she goes back inside and creates a cocoon out of the blankets on her bed. She tries to read, but there's a listlessness to her now. A gnawing in her stomach and an odd feeling that feels very... isolating. She shivers and opens up her TAB. There are different kinds of isolation, but the kind that reminds Mei of a cryogenic tube and being the last left alive is the kind that frightens her. She needs to know she isn't alone. ]

Is anyone else awake? Would you like to keep each other company? I woke up not feeling very well and I don't think I could fall asleep right now.

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Do they use fossil fuels or nuclear energy?

[He's a little gravelly and there might be the sound of something boiling (tea) in the background. Forgive him. He's up late for some reason or another.]

That's not a bad theory. The Ingress on the Moira malfunctioned once. Merged two ships. On another planet it produced a sort of organic substance. Sort of damp.

It's not my field but it might help you check out your theory. [If there's any evidence left.]

Nuclear. I think in Australia, the humans blew up the factory by attacking the reactor. It's left that area irradiated.

[ Hmm, she's a little curious about that noise and wonders why he's awake too. It's not like they're all having bad dreams, right? Right? ]

Oh, that's fascinating! I'll have to talk with some of the Ingress technicians to see if they can tell me more about it.

[Fortunately there's no bad dreams for him, but that means he gets to keep an eye out for some of the people he feels responsible for. Or apparently ones he gets along with.]

[But an irradiated area, huh? Isn't that a little unpleasant reminder of home.]

Not a bad idea. The Moira's Ingress was damaged. Have you found anything interesting about what used to grow there?

[He'll get back to this unsettling Australia thing soon, because he still has a morbid curiosity.]

Honestly, so far, it looks like what grows here now already, which are hardy grasses and bushes. I'm hoping to discover something different, but it may be that this planet has always been influenced by the Ingress.

Pretty impressive if they can endure those kinds of temperatures.

Know if they'll survive anywhere else yet?

I would have to check with one of the botanists to be sure, but I don't see why not. I think if they can survive here, they can survive anywhere.

[ A pause. ]

Barring water planets and gaseous planets, of course.

You mentioned a nuclear issue back home.

[He's finally coming back to that.]

What happened there?

[Because it is eerie. Having dealt with Peace Walker, the near calamity that came with a false missile launch, and then the fact he was raised in the shadow of the bombs. Do they have ways to deal with it? Or are things just... over, in that place.]

Oh, I don't really know much more than I told you; I was fro-- Umm...

[ She stops herself abruptly, because this isn't something she just tells people. It was a traumatic experience to awaken from it and see the scene before her, but as she tries to find a way to sidestep it, her mind just sort of goes blank. There's no real way to say you've missed world events that big and only heard about them after the fact.

Her voice softens a little in defeat. The truth is the best way. ]

I was cryogenically frozen when it happened. But there was a battle between humans and omnics at the factory and there was an explosion. I think the factory's fusion core was destroyed? And now the Outback is irradiated.

Oh.

I'm sorry to hear about that. Not the part about the Outback. That goes without saying. But that you were cryogenically frozen for some time.

Maybe you can talk to me about it sometime.

[See, he's going to be nice and not ask in public about it. Just from the sound of defeat in her tone.]

Almost nine years.

[ She may as well say that much. But saying where, why, or with who isn't something she's up for right now. It doesn't help that her head has felt funny ever since she woke up, and she's been reminded of how she felt back then, waking up alone. ]

And thanks. I think... maybe someday I might.

[ Mei didn't exactly go to therapy once she got back. Winston had just suggested she might like to keep herself busy with her work again, and she'd agreed. ]

Nine years huh.

[That sounds familiar.]

I've got it on pretty good authority waking up to a different world after nine years can be pretty jarring. Throw politics into the mess? Nearly incomprehensible.

[He can't specify too much, and he finds work pretty good therapy himself. It's probably not the healthiest, but it's what he's got.]

Sounds like you had people to meet you.

You do? I had a lot I still needed to catch up on.

[ And she could joke and say "like movies and tv," but she won't. ]

No. I mean... I eventually was picked up by a friend.

[ Eventually. While she stayed at the base for hours, trying not to look at those other cryo tubes with the words "malfunction" written across their digital displays. Shuttles might be a fast means of travel, but Gibraltar is still a long way from Antarctica. ]

But, umm. Anyway. [ Can they move on now? ] Do you always stay up this late, or can't you sleep either?

I tend to burn the midnight oil anyway.

Don't worry about it. You're not bothering me. I've got good tea. I've got two businesses to invest time into and a book to read.

[He's fine with moving on. She seemed happier discussing the climate stuff anyway.]

Oh. And that's good?

[ This is not an idiom she's familiar with, sorry. ]

Two businesses? I only know about the hamburger place.

Still trying to work out the mechanics of the rescue business I'd proposed. But two of the people that offered to help out aren't around. Charles Xavier offered to do some training, and Lucio was going to lend a hand with publicity.

So I've gotta start from scratch if I want to make it work on some level. [He really wants it to. Not so much for his sake, but for the people he cares about that he wants to have a chance to do well.]

There's only so much progress I can make with that on my own right now. But give me time, I'll figure it out. It's not the first business I've built. Have you ever done anything like that?

Oh, that's too bad! Lucio was really fun. And a celebrity back home, so he would have done well with that sort of thing.

[ She shakes her head before realizing that this isn't video. Boy, she's really out of it right now. Rearranging her blankets, she lies back down on the bed and rests her hand near her head so she can still talk clearly into her TAB. ]

No, never. I did most of my work in small groups, or more recently, alone. But I could write up some survival tips for cold climates if you think it might help?

You don't have to. I would be grateful if you did, though.

I was just wondering because being able to juggle expenses helps out a lot with research and development. It sounds boring but once you get into reading product reviews and reading use instructions, it can get pretty inspiring. You read about simplified tools that are cheaper or make your life considerably easier. Make you more capable of productivity and more accurate results.

Thought that it might help out in your line of work, since you have to deal with so many precise measurements and preserved specimens.

[He's going to put her to sleep talking about finances. This is the best plan that he doesn't know he's coming up with.]

I don't doubt it! Back with Overwatch, we had people who handled the budgets; we just sent them what we wanted and they would find the best price. But more recently before I arrived, I had just been building things myself. I'll mess with the settings on something and then take it on a test run in the wild.

[ She makes a pleased sound. ]

Luckily I'm working with a big group of researchers here instead of on my own again.

I always liked having entire groups to work with. Makes for a lot of productivity and results. Though given that I've mostly been involved in drill instruction and command, I have to support others.

Military history doesn't involve much work. Mostly requires a lot of reading of other people's research. Unfortunate because years know more than books.

[And then finally he explains something he abandoned earlier.]

Oh and uh... burning the midnight oil is just an old saying. For people that didn't sleep much and did a lot of work at night.

Then I really hope you can get people to replace those who have gone! The search and rescue thing sounds like a great idea, and of course I'm happy to help in any way I can.

[ She's never too busy to help those in need. ]

Ohhhh, so like oil lamps? That makes sense! I do hope you get enough sleep, though, whenever that might be.

I'll get enough.

[Theoretically it's enough.]

Did I at least help clear your head a little bit?

You did. Thank you.

[ Hopefully when she falls asleep this time, she won't return to that nightmare. Maybe she'll dream of hamburgers instead. ]

It was good of you to keep me company. And you and your dogs will come visit me soon, won't you?

I hope to. I think the outing would be good for the girls.

[He's reached the point where he's actually calling them "the girls", which has taken him well over a year, give or take one spent in a mantis infested sexhole.]

Sure! What are their names?

Mama and Joy.

...I didn't name them.

[Mama was named Mama only because she was pregnant when she showed up, and Joy once belonged to Big Boss before he died.]

{ text } forward dated to April 30th and the event

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