Dreaded Bonding AU pt 4 Preview Snippet
Writing on part 4 of the Dreaded Bonding AU continues, although more slowly now that Fall semester has started up again at both work and school. It's swollen to 42 pages, of which approximately 38 consist of Jim, Blair, Kas, Angel, Michelle, and Tim sitting around talking at each other. Sometimes about Guide Task Force issues, sometimes not. It's like My Dinner with Andre only with Sentinels. (In fact--"My Dinner with Angel"--title?)
There's going to have to be some trimming at some point, after I write the rest of the story and figure out what's important. (I also have to figure out a way to include some actual action in the story. A little stuck on that right now.)
Anyway, here's a bit of world-building that I very much doubt will turn out to be important, but that I had too much fun with to let vanish into the ether without sharing with you guys:
“I thought you were the first one,” Jim said.
“First one since before World War Two,” Angel answered. “Once diagnostic imaging equipment was invented, there wasn’t supposed to be much point in having doctors who could figure out what was going on inside a patient’s body without using it. Actually, there were a few old relics still hanging around at the time of the Korean war, too. M*A*S*H got that right. But they had stopped training new ones by then.”
“What I never got,” Jim said, “was how Radar could always hear the choppers before Colonel Potter could. If he was a Sentinel too, Potter would have noticed, even if he faked his tests or something.”
“I don’t know,” Kas said. “Sometimes other Sentinels don’t read Angel as a Sentinel. Maybe, if he was…” Kas made a gesture indicating Angel’s general Angel-ness, “like Angel, Potter could have missed it.”
“After having the kid popping in and out of his office for months?” Jim asked. “I don’t buy it.”
Blair gave up on trying to follow the conversation. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”
“It’s a TV show,” Jim explained. “Set during the Korean war.”
That explained why he didn’t know of it; they hadn’t often had a TV when he was growing up, and when he did, they didn’t watch shows about war.
“About Army doctors,” Angel added. “One of them, this old guy who was also in charge of the unit, was a Sentinel.”
“Okay,” Blair said. “So that’s…Radar?”
“No, Colonel Potter. Radar was…I don’t really know what he was,” Angel said. “The mascot or something.”
“Company clerk,” Kas said. “Potter’s secretary, basically. Only when helicopters were coming in with wounded patients, he always heard them first.”
“It makes no sense,” Jim added.
“Well,” Angel said, “Potter wasn’t there at the beginning. He replaced another character. And the thing about Radar hearing the choppers started before they added the Sentinel character to the show. And it was the fifties, so they didn’t have genetic tests yet. The old Sentinel tests, you could supposedly get a false negative if you had good control and knew how.”
“Why would he pretend not to be a Sentinel if he was in the Army anyway?” Blair asked.
“They had the universal draft then,” Kas said. “But it was only two years, instead of six.”
“Anyway,” Angel said, “it was never clear whether Radar was supposed to be a Sentinel, or psychic, or what.”
“But if he was a Sentinel,” Jim said, circling back around to the beginning of the conversation, “Potter would have known. And the show was supposed to be set in the real world, where there’s no such thing as psychics.”
“I see,” Blair said. “And this bothers you?”
“Only if the subject comes up, Chief,” Jim said. “It’s not like I lay awake at night worrying about it.”
There's going to have to be some trimming at some point, after I write the rest of the story and figure out what's important. (I also have to figure out a way to include some actual action in the story. A little stuck on that right now.)
Anyway, here's a bit of world-building that I very much doubt will turn out to be important, but that I had too much fun with to let vanish into the ether without sharing with you guys:
“I thought you were the first one,” Jim said.
“First one since before World War Two,” Angel answered. “Once diagnostic imaging equipment was invented, there wasn’t supposed to be much point in having doctors who could figure out what was going on inside a patient’s body without using it. Actually, there were a few old relics still hanging around at the time of the Korean war, too. M*A*S*H got that right. But they had stopped training new ones by then.”
“What I never got,” Jim said, “was how Radar could always hear the choppers before Colonel Potter could. If he was a Sentinel too, Potter would have noticed, even if he faked his tests or something.”
“I don’t know,” Kas said. “Sometimes other Sentinels don’t read Angel as a Sentinel. Maybe, if he was…” Kas made a gesture indicating Angel’s general Angel-ness, “like Angel, Potter could have missed it.”
“After having the kid popping in and out of his office for months?” Jim asked. “I don’t buy it.”
Blair gave up on trying to follow the conversation. “What the hell are you guys talking about?”
“It’s a TV show,” Jim explained. “Set during the Korean war.”
That explained why he didn’t know of it; they hadn’t often had a TV when he was growing up, and when he did, they didn’t watch shows about war.
“About Army doctors,” Angel added. “One of them, this old guy who was also in charge of the unit, was a Sentinel.”
“Okay,” Blair said. “So that’s…Radar?”
“No, Colonel Potter. Radar was…I don’t really know what he was,” Angel said. “The mascot or something.”
“Company clerk,” Kas said. “Potter’s secretary, basically. Only when helicopters were coming in with wounded patients, he always heard them first.”
“It makes no sense,” Jim added.
“Well,” Angel said, “Potter wasn’t there at the beginning. He replaced another character. And the thing about Radar hearing the choppers started before they added the Sentinel character to the show. And it was the fifties, so they didn’t have genetic tests yet. The old Sentinel tests, you could supposedly get a false negative if you had good control and knew how.”
“Why would he pretend not to be a Sentinel if he was in the Army anyway?” Blair asked.
“They had the universal draft then,” Kas said. “But it was only two years, instead of six.”
“Anyway,” Angel said, “it was never clear whether Radar was supposed to be a Sentinel, or psychic, or what.”
“But if he was a Sentinel,” Jim said, circling back around to the beginning of the conversation, “Potter would have known. And the show was supposed to be set in the real world, where there’s no such thing as psychics.”
“I see,” Blair said. “And this bothers you?”
“Only if the subject comes up, Chief,” Jim said. “It’s not like I lay awake at night worrying about it.”