artificial intelligence program alpha (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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thisavrou2016-02-05 08:12 pm
kickbancaboose) wrote in thisavrou2016-02-05 08:12 pm
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[ looks like someone figured out how to use his communicator! good for church, but quite unfortunate for the passengers of the moira. hope you kids like your morning coffee with a generous helping of salt because church is making it rain. ]
golly gee willikers i never saw this plot twist coming
you know i thought i was finished with this dying and not dying bullshit but if this is how it's going to be for the rest of my infinite undead lives then fine whatever, like i give a shit. i'm not fighting fate and i give up. officially. someone write this down so it's on record. leonard church gives the fuck up, full stop. boom. done.
most importantly i'm actually really hungry and i haven't eaten in forever or basically never depending on who you talk to so if someone could point me in the direction of a cafeteria i'd appreciate it.
okay well thanks
[ if he knew how to do the text equivalent of finger guns, he'd be doing it right now. ]
bye.
p.s. i'm on moro deck 1
golly gee willikers i never saw this plot twist coming
you know i thought i was finished with this dying and not dying bullshit but if this is how it's going to be for the rest of my infinite undead lives then fine whatever, like i give a shit. i'm not fighting fate and i give up. officially. someone write this down so it's on record. leonard church gives the fuck up, full stop. boom. done.
most importantly i'm actually really hungry and i haven't eaten in forever or basically never depending on who you talk to so if someone could point me in the direction of a cafeteria i'd appreciate it.
okay well thanks
[ if he knew how to do the text equivalent of finger guns, he'd be doing it right now. ]
bye.
p.s. i'm on moro deck 1
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I didn't realize we were keeping track.
[ That's what a technicality would imply, wouldn't it? As though he had needed to trick her into going on a date with him. She picks at her food with her fork, rearranging the noodles a bit before scooping some up and placing them in her mouth. She doesn't continue until she's swallowed that bite. ]
So, if this is "technically" a date, what are we supposed to be doing?
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[ look, church never said it was going to be a good date.
he sets to work on his small mountain of potatoes and carefully folds his vegetables into the mix. it's been forever since he's spent time with tex one-on-one, but it's been equally as long since he's had a good meal, and his attention is torn between the two.
nevermind that he's been abducted and shoved into a foreign body. that fact seems less pressing than the fact that he has food and tex. ]
But it is kind of a date, right? Sort of. Unless you consider us colleagues.
[ or, god forbid, friends. ]
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[ It had nothing to do with worrying about him being left on his own. Certainly not. ]
Listen...where were you before this? Before you woke up in the Ingress?
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[ that's not a question that church wants to answer or think about ever, but he responds before tex can reply. ]
I was with Wash at Freelancer HQ. Totally saved his ass, by the way. Just FYI.
[ church chooses vague! it's super effective! ]
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You don't get to complain about what questions I ask.
[ At least not after that outburst earlier about why she 'ran off' on him. ]
That's all I needed to know.
[ She puts her attention on her food again, picking up a roll to butter it. ]
I was looking at the roster earlier. Wash is here, too.
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church is quick to duck his head and shove a few more broccoli florets into his mouth. better to not piss off the ex, then, no matter how much is left unsaid and unresolved between them. there'll be time for that later, like when church isn't sitting two feet in front of her and well within throttling reach. ]
Wash — ? [ the revelation has church choking on a piece of floret, and he pauses to gulp down a long sip of water before continuing: ] Wash? Like the Wash I was just talking about Wash? That Wash?
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[ She's keeping her face very carefully neutral as she lifts her roll to bite into it. She's not mad, just...it all feels strange and out of place. Thanks to Wash, they're dead—except they're not dead, they're here, and how is she supposed to feel about that? How is she supposed to feel about seeing the man knowing that he knows what he knows about her, and that he arranged for her to be wiped out?
As of now she's not feeling very charitable. ]
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it wasn't his fault, the way things ended — not technically, anyway. church is the one who volunteered, who went willingly with wash into the unknown, except the unknown was never really unknown, except wash knew from the start that he'd be walking out of that facility alone.
and maybe church knew that, too. doesn't matter now. what's done is done.
church is silent, picking at his food on his tray and sparing tex a few long, searching glances. it's different for her, he knows that.
finally, carefully, he asks: ] Are you okay?
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I'm fine, Church. I'm just not going to be sunshine and lollipops about him being here just because I used to know him.
[ It's so different being in these bodies, being able to read body language and facial expression like this. And Tex doesn't really know what to do with empathy. Especially coming from Church. She pauses to look to the side momentarily, then tilts her head a bit as she looks back at him. ]
You don't need to worry about me.
[ She means ever, but she also knows telling him that won't do any good. Church has probably always worried about her. What else did he have to do after they scrambled his functions and left him in a box canyon to rot? ]
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and he wasn't just talking about wash. he meant if she was okay with everything, with the meta and dying and smashing into church as church tumbled into her. those aren't good thoughts, or good questions to ask. church can't think about it too long without his head hurting, but he can't not ask, either, not when it comes to tex.
the coward in him is relieved when she only answers part of the question. typical. get your shit together, leonard. ]
Just checking.
[ with that, he turns his attention back to his food, finishing off the last of his mashed potatoes. ]
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[ She mutters the words, keeping her eyes on her food. Unless he speaks up again she's content to consume her meal—carefully, as she'd explained to him, sure not to overeat or eat too quickly. She'd been a bit eager the first time she'd arrived on the ship and had nearly lost her first meal in the middle of eating it. She knows they're going to have to talk things out, but here and now isn't the way it's going to happen. She would have been more open about it but the more concerned he is, the more he fawns over her, the more she balks at letting that go. And here, in a public space? No, it'll be better to save it for later. ]
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[ really, church always wastes his time. that's nothing new.
he eyes her critically and sits back, pushing his tray away from him. the tray isn't entirely empty; there's a few pieces of food left, mostly vegetables, but he's surprisingly full and sated. maybe he shouldn't have grabbed quite as much as he did. oh, well. learning process. ]
Where'd they put you up?
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Mero deck number 12. It's right next to my name in the manifest. [ In other words, if he'd been paying any attention earlier, he would have noticed that when she texted him in the first place. ]
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Sorry, I was slightly distracted by you not being dead. My bad.
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How extensive do you want this tour to be?
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You were here before, right? All the important stuff, I guess. [ speaking of: ] When were you here last, anyway? Was I here, too?
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[ She rests one hand on the table, looking down at him. ]
It was two years ago there. But only four months ago here.
[ The timeline nonsense doesn't surprise her at this point. Neither does their timing. She doesn't know who programmed the Ingress but she does know they're sadistic fuckers. ]
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Two years ago? What was that for you? Freelancer?
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[ After the crash, after trying to rescue him at the ship. Things he doesn't remember, or at least not properly. She signals with her head that he should follow her, clearing her tray before heading out to the hallway. ]
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a few moments later, and he's ducking into the hallway to meet with tex.
the temptation to press her for more information on everything she remembers is still there, but church honestly isn't sure if he wants to know just yet. better off left alone for now. so, straight to business. ]
Where first?
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[ She walks along beside him, leading the way there. She knows that there's still a lot unsaid, and she's expecting him to eventually broach the topic of what they shared before they came here, but for now she's going to just keep the silence and enjoy it. Occasionally she glances over at him; it's weird, the fact that they've both been given some kind of clone or something to live in. It's weird how the faces are similar enough to recognize who they're originally based on while still being the face of someone else. She'd say, looking in the mirror, that she resembles Allison—that much was recognizable right off the bat—but she doesn't think this is a clone of Allison's body. Same thing with Church. He looks like Leonard, but not just like Leonard. Where had these bodies come from? Lab-grown, or somehow duplicated from someone else within the Ingress?
She doesn't dwell on it for long—she'd thought about that plenty considering her previous stay here. And she doesn't like thinking about things she can't do anything about. ]
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there's no ai backstories in that world, no ex-freelancers sweeping in with their bullshit agendas to very literally shake his existence apart.
it's easier. he doesn't want to think about it. he never wants to think about it.
(coward)
all that matters now is that somehow, by the grace of whatever diabolical presence that rules over everything, he's been reunited with tex. even with so much left unsaid between them, it's nice just being with her again, walking side-by-side in silence, listening to the familiar shuffle of her footfalls and the steady rhythm of her breathing. (except that last part's wrong, wrong.) ]
What do they have you doing? [ he breaks the silence, finally, glancing at her quickly from the corner of his eye as they walk. ]
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[ Something she's surprisingly looking forward to doing, considering her usual levels of patience for other people's stupidity. It's different when it's someone who's come to learn, though. Especially when it's a child. ]
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[ there's a position he never imagined tex in, but he supposes she wouldn't make an awful teacher, even if she isn't the most patient of people sometimes. it's not like church is one to talk.
better her than him. ]
What kind of new skills are you teaching? [ especially to tiny children. ]
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Don't sound so shocked.
[ She lifts her chin slightly, considering. ]
I was in a couple of positions when I was here before, so I'm qualified to teach people the weapons systems and how to repair the transporters. Other than that, I guess people will have to say what they need.
I don't know how many kids are on board.
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