thisavrou | video 01 | Aortic Aneurysm

(You know who is not going to react to this situation decently no matter how many times it's explained to him? Eddie. You know who doesn't have a good game face against fear? Also Eddie. He's alone, he needs an adult, and he's pretty sure they don't restock on inhalers here. He knew he didn't need it, not technically, but he also knew that his lungs were contracting at a rate that lead to hyperventilating and as far as he was concerned, that was exactly what an asthma attack was all about. He was having an asthma attack. Maybe. His body was thinking about it.

By the way, he's definitely just been staring at the video for a couple of silent seconds, his jaw working back and forth as he just tried to remind himself that he was actually capable of breathing. This kid......)

My mom's going to fucking kill me.

(The words are whispered under his breath and he would think twice about swearing if he realized how many adults might be watching this video. He was enough of a loser that he could get the whole communication device thing, really, that was fine. But he wasn't quite able to wrap his mind around the full extent of it all.

After a second, he decides fuck it. He needs his inhaler. It goes up, he gives it a few shakes, and takes a deep, deep breath in with it. Holds. Holds.

Then his whole body deflates, his eyes rolling up. He closes his eyes and thinks about how he would talk to the police in Derry. Ha. If that wasn't the biggest fucking joke ever. When he speaks next, his voice is pitched higher than before, that typical 'I'm trying super hard to be polite and endearing' voice that he uses to call his mom 'mommy' when he's real apologetic. He's not even trying to be a suck up. The kid's just scared.)

Um. My name's Eddie Kaspbrak. I'm Sonia Kaspbrak's son and I definitely need to be home for dinner which is like, in an hour. So if anyone can help...I would really appreciate it.

.....God, I really hope this isn't that creep who was taking all those kids.

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Glad I could help. [There's some small humor at the over the top reaction to being saved from his mother's wrath. The second statement catches her, and she considers it for a moment.]

It's... something like that. We're on a space station. There's no government, but we make do with what we have. Commune's probably the closest equivalent we've got, at this point.

[Leave it to a kid to really put his finger on it.]

Nope. Just a soldier.

(It may be over the top but with due time, it might be easier to understand why. Sonia Kaspbrak was hardly a normal mother. Being late by an hour had wound up with Eddie in the hospital for a week before just because she was dead convinced he had gotten something wrong with him. His paranoia, he likes to think, is decently justified.

Either way? It puts this woman in a good position to be the one saving him from that.)

And people aren't always fighting?

(This kid was from America from the late 1950s. Patriotism was probably the most established part of his history classes and you bet he's been drilled to think that you need a strict government for a group of people to run smoothly.

That and he read Lord of the Flies last year and hoo-boy could those boys have done with some leadership.)

Really? But you're a girl!

(He splutters this with shock and, at the exact same time, awe. Again, 1950s. Women were still pretty stuck in their roles and Eddie had never heard of a woman soldier before.

That was incredible to him. He didn't doubt for a second the reality of it but it was just. It was wild.)

Did you just fight in the war? Did you kill any nazis?

So far, so good. Almost like people want to live peacefully alongside one another in deep space, with a storm raging outside. [They had been pretty lucky, so far. She wasn't sure exactly how long it would last—but she'd enjoy the cooperation while they had it.

His shock, and eventually, awe, earns him something of a wane smile.]

That I am. But I'm a little bit after the Nazis—where I come from, it's 2186, and we're on to fighting threats in deep space.

Might sound a little far-fetched, [Especially considering he just asked about Nazis—that would put him in somewhere around the mid-1900s, right?] but you're already on a space station. Can't get a lot crazier than that, right?

A storm? Is there really? (Metaphors, if that's what it was, might go a little bit over Eddie's head at times. He understood them fine and all but he was still young enough that certain words put him on edge. Words like 'storm'.)

That is so fu- That is the coolest thing ever. I didn't know girls could be soldiers. Could you take out a boy? (Eddie is absolutely thrilled by this prospect. Thing was, Eddie wasn't very masculine, didn't have a lot of weight to his body and was small even among his friends. There was the whole sick thing too. And sexist though it was, the idea of a girl who- in his time period- were known for being small and weak growing up to be a soldier? It gave him a weird sense of hopefulness.

He's pretty quickly distracted though by her given date.)

2186?! Yee-owza. That's. I don't even know how far off that is, wow. I'm from 1958...So does that mean NASA figured out space exploration?

(They had only just started where Eddie was from but...Wow. But then again, wasn't he in space right now? He hadn't found the observatory yet so he actually is still pretty far removed from that idea.)

Honestly, no. There's some pretty weird people here. I talked to a skeleton even. (A really nice one, mind.) So I'm starting to get a sense that I should probably just accept stuff as it is. It's like my mom says, adults are always right.

[There's a waver in his voice as she mentions the storm—but, well, there's no point in lying to someone, kid or otherwise. Bitter pill, but he'd see it with his own eyes soon enough.]

Yes. But we've been here a little more than a month, and it's still locked safe outdoors. Nothing to worry about, right now.

[True enough.]

Not only could I, I have. A lot of boys, actually. And yes—NASA got it. That's all I'm giving you, though, unless you want the spoilers.

[Talking skeleton. Sans always was a hit with the new arrivals, wasn't he?] He's a nice guy—right down to his bones. [ha HA] You guys hitting it off? [But that last part...]

I wouldn't go so far as to say adults are always right—but they're worth listening to, most of the time. As long as you're keeping yourself safe, we'll be here to do as much as we can.

Found yourself a place to stay, yet?

(There is something oddly ominous about the use of the term 'it' to Eddie that he can't quite put his finger on. It cannot be locked up. It, he thinks, meaning inevitable disaster. It's a weirdly mature thought for a kid his age, but there it is, clear as day in his mind. He stares at Shepard with with absent eyes.

Nothing to worry about, right now.

The key term there being 'right now'.)

But that doesn't mean there won't be in the future. Something to worry about, I mean.

(He's not going to beat around the bush.

That absent look is swiftly replaced and Eddie's grinning cheekily.)

So you're basically a badass. (He knows he shouldn't swear but how else was he supposed to describe her? A certified regular badass. Sure guys who could kick ass were cool and all, but girls had a lot more disadvantages so when they kicked ass it was waaay more impressive. He bets she could take on Henry Bowers himself.

Eddie gets the joke and instantly snorts.) Yeah. He's one of the coolest guys I've ever met.

(He means that in earnest. Sans left a strong impression on Eddie, to say the least.

Eddie contemplates this token of advice. He knew that technically adults weren't always right, but he also knew that he had to agree with them all the time anyway. They were In Charge.)

Do you think kids are worth listening to? (It's an earnest question, not an accusatory one.)

Um. I was going to stay with a girl my age but her place was full. But I'm down the hall from her now so it's not too bad.

(He doesn't mention that he's alone. Doesn't know if he wants to let Shepard know that.)

True—that's why I phrased it the way I did. In the future, it might be a problem, and the people who can do something about that are working on it. [As much as can be, anyway.] But for now, there's no point in getting worked up about something you can't control, can't banish away. So: nothing to worry about, right now.

[She's not going to lie to a kid.

At the proposal for her "description, she scoffs a laugh, and shakes her head.]

I'm just a soldier, Eddie. Just a run-of-the-mill soldier with some interesting experiences—and I'm glad you've been enjoying your time with Sans. He's a good guy—don't let him shake you off.

[There's no pause when she answers his question, though—and the conviction and sincerity is easy to hear, without a hint of irony.]

Absolutely. Why wouldn't they be? Adults may be worth listening to, most of the time—but so are kids. Why do you ask?

video 01 | Aortic Aneurysm

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