thisavrou | video;

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[Hello Moira crew, did you think you’d be sleeping at the equivalent of roughly three o’clock in the not-yet-morning? Well, you’re not, because one of your new shipmates has decided her message is more important.

The face of a young woman with short, coppery-blonde hair and green eyes appears on the screen. At first glance, it may look like she’s resting her head against a wall, but after a couple of seconds spent working out the angle, you can work out that she’s actually laying her head on the flat surface of a table, possibly of a bar.]

Hey there. [The absent smile on her face is unexpectedly intimate, as if she’s lying next to you at that very moment.] I… don’t really know how this works anymore. [It’s unclear what she means by “this.” Maybe she doesn't mean anything. It doesn't take a genius to know that she's heavily inebriated. A hand appears to scrub at her eyes, then cover them. The smile falls from her face.]

Someone mentioned a library. Shouldn’t the afterlife have… I don’t know. All the books in the galaxy?... That sounds right. [Two fingers part to reveal an eye. It’s blue.]

What should I read? I want something… I want something where the guy dies. [She gives a short laugh.] But it should have a happy ending.

Nothing boring either. Something with action. Shoot-outs. Battles. Things like that. [Her hand drops away from her face, and her mismatched blue and green gaze wanders away from the screen.]

Where's the library anyway?

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[Poor Elizabeth doesn't realize this is being broadcast to literally everybody. But this is her first late-night call, and she is ready.]

[Sort of. She's been asleep for maybe three hours, so she feels like the equivalent of road kill.]

Past the mess hall and the gardens-- [She answers, trying not to groan as she pushes herself up off her mattress.] And while we don't have everything, I'm sure I can find you someth--

[There's a series of thumps as Elizabeth discovers her legs are tangled in her blanket, and she hits the floor. Ow.]

Past the mess hall… and the gardens… [Zam repeats the woman’s instructions, raising her head from the bar and turning towards the door, before looking back to her MID.

And then Elizabeth falls down and Zam bursts out laughing. Well, sorry, it’s funny. She doesn’t apologize for it, but after a moment, she does check to see if her hapless crewmate is okay.]

You alright?

[She is Not Amused.]

My elbow will recover, I'm sure. On the plus side, I'm wide awake now.

As far as I know, this isn't the afterlife. It's a pile of shit.

I also don't read much. [He knows three languages, though, but lack of formal education has been an issue.]

So you want a story where the hero dies but it is a good ending, ah?

I’m dead. And I’m here. So… afterlife. [It’s not the afterlife she was expecting, sure. But it’s where she is, and she knows now that what happened in the alley wasn’t a trick or illusion -- she really died. This is it for her.]

You should. It’s better than real life. [She grins, remembering what she had told Boba.] When you don’t like the book anymore, you can just… close it. Or skip to a better part.

Yeah. Just nothing boring.

Good. [Zam’s already on her feet before the woman can protest.] You can help me find a book.

I don't know. I tend to not even like movies. I am picky with what I am willing to believe.

I wish I knew more happy endings.

You don't have to believe anything.

Or you can read real stories. Biographies and things like that. The ones about outlaws are fun. [Her face grows pensive for a moment.] Actually... Most of those don't have happy endings...

[And then she's smiling again, but it's more brittle this time around.] I guess... I guess I should have saw this coming, huh?

Maybe it is egotistical of me to say, but I have a story of how I made a happy ending happen. [Even if things didn't go too well for Niko himself.]

[Zam tilts her head up slightly from the surface of the bar. She’s listening.] Alright. Hit me.

I have a cousin. And he is an idiot. But sometimes you love idiots, especially when these idiots are very good people. He is probably the most loving guy I have ever met.

But he makes bad bets, gambles, and gets involved with some assholes that can kick him around for money. Everyone has a weakness, and his is pretty girls and slot machines.

But he has a cousin that has worked for the mob, who became a soldier as a child. Roman might have not been able to raise a fist to the people that came after him, but I had no problem with it.

[Zam’s head comes to rest on her arm as she listens to him tell the story.]

Sounds like a lot of people on Coruscant, [she murmurs in response to his description of his cousin.]

Mm. Always is better when the main character’s a criminal. [A crooked smile appears on her face.] More fun that way.

But… you saved him... Right?

Now he has a child and a beautiful wife and will be a great father. I am very proud to have him as a cousin. He is the sort of peaceful man that I wanted to be.

In the process I lost someone very important to me. And now I will not be going back to see my family- even if I were not here, it would be my choice.

So I guess if I can be qualified as hero of this story, I won, there is happy ending, but also sort of sad.

[Zam nods into her arm, satisfied with that ending.] There’s a word for that. When there’s a happy ending but it’s sad… [She mulls over it for a moment.] Can’t think of it right now.

‘ts too bad you had to die at the end of it.

Sometimes that is someone's idea of a happy ending.

[Because Niko isn't particularly attached to his own life, even if he knows other people are.] But I guess it's a pretty well rounded story.

Maybe you should write it down.

How did you die in the end? One of your cousin’s enemies do you in?

I didn't die. I might as well be dead, though. I was kidnapped, and signed to a ship.

But no. I have killed all my enemies.

[He's thorough. But that might not be the thing he should say publicly. On the other hand, maybe he should. He will not allow someone to raise a hand to him or his ever again. Never. He spent long enough helpless to it.]

[Zam’s brow furrows.] You must’ve died. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

I didn’t believe it either, but the reflections… I could see it in the reflections. [Her expression grows dark and distant.] That bantanh koudaniua didn’t even bother peeling my body out of that alleyway.

[And then she sighs, her gaze once again meeting his, or at least the image of him on her MID.] At least… at least you killed all your enemies first. That’s a good ending to have.

No. I didn't.

But I think that you might have got lucky in a weird way. The machine they pull people in with- it's got three of us from a different ship. Others from other places.

Have you run into alternate universes yet? When people leave, but then come back. They look the same, but their history is maybe a little different. They don't remember you. Sometimes two of them show up.

I haven’t run into anything like that.

[She chuckles.] I guess that does make me lucky. I’m pretty sure everyone from home wants me dead. It would probably make things easier if they didn’t remember me…

I know what that part is like. It is good to know that they didn't actually get their way, isn't it?

[Because as much as he wants to die, he also doesn't want most of the assholes that want him to die to get anything from him.] It gets pretty strange, though. And tiring, if you meet someone and then have to meet them several times. Sooner or later you do not wish to introduce yourself.

[She laughs.] Haven’t you been paying attention? They did get their way.

Don’t worry. I’ll tell the other versions of me your name so you won’t have to introduce yourself to them. [She pauses.] ...What was your name again?

Not if you're standing here with a pulse. Then what they have is a you-shaped doll.

Niko Bellic. What's yours?

A me-shaped doll lying dead in an alley… That makes even less sense, you know.

I’m Zam. And I know I’m dead. The saberdart hit me riiiight… [A finger makes its unsteady way to the side of her neck.] …here. And I saw it in the glass at the hotel.

You could’ve died and just not know it. Sniper bullet from somewhere far, far away. Or a heart attack. Or a bomb. [She shrugs.]You wouldn’t even know.

I am certain.

A recruiter asked me if I wanted a job where I could see the universe, go into space. I thought he was full of shit and said yes as a joke. Because of this, I was recruited onto their shitty ship.

Since then, my contract has somehow been moved to this one. But I am certain I was not dead then. Three of us came here from that ship, so I'm pretty sure we all have different sort of possibilities of how to get here.

So now I am on this ship instead of that one, and it's still bullshit.

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