thisavrou | video

[ the video feed flickers onto the face of an older gentleman; unflattering low angle, poor lighting, eyebrows hanging heavy over his eyes and lips tightly pursed. he's wearing a nice, heavy coat over a hoodie and a t-shirt featuring a sick ass space shark, though much of the ensemble's coated in a fine yellowish dust. looks like it could use a wash.

not his main concern right now. ]

Really? [ one corner of his mouth quirks up, wry. ] Cast across time and drifting lost and alone amongst storms of raw negative energy, but you've got social networking. How very... human, I bet a human knocked this up. D'you call it Spacebook or something?

[ original dad joke, do not steal. no apology is forthcoming.

the camera swings round, losing sight of him for a second as he sets the device down on something solid. re-adjusts it until it's centered properly on his face, steady now. ]

Hel-lo, Avagi. I'm the Doctor. Yes, just the Doctor. I arrived on your quaint little space station only recently — not the worst I've encountered. Well done. Probably... well, possibly not even in the bottom ten, but I mourn for some of your equipment. Someone made off with two-thirds of your laboratory, you realize, and ohhh, the state of your computers...

[ briefly aims the camera up at one of the aforementioned storms. ] But I must say, the open-plan observation station is a bold design.

[ casually tossing topics out as he rapidly approaches the actual purpose of this broadcast. this time he points at the screen, seriously, ]

Has anyone established themselves as your de facto leader yet? I'd like to know who to ignore.

The rest of you, tell me about the Ingress as it was, and the planets you've visited. Any of them.

[ over and out. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Not looks utterly unrepentant until he gets an actual age, at which point he looks surprised and doubtful.]

Really? I wouldn't have put you a day over fifteen hundred. Do you moisturize?

Extensively.

And I can hear you perfectly well, thank you! Don't listen to anything Clara says, she's got a doctorate in lying.

Really? They give out PhDs for that? Now I'm starting to wish I'd had some higher education.

It's a PhD of lies, of course she hasn't actually got one.

You also haven't introduced yourself yet.

Drake. [He gives a little wave.] Nathan Drake. Not elderly, but old enough to know better.

[Not that that's ever stopped him before.]

Impossible. No one ever actually knows better, at all.

[ even the exceptionally elderly. ]

But we can fake it well.

[Some better than others.]

Oh, I'm sure you'll get there eventually...

Though I've no idea why humans even bother. You've only got a few decades, no one could expect you to know what you're doing.

You know, I like the way you think. How many decades do you get, by the way?

[He'd question the 'human' thing, but he's been in space a while. He knows better.]

If you're asking about my total lifespan... that's personal.

[ the honest answer is that he hasn't got a clue, not anymore. it's complicated. ]

And indefinite.