001 ➑ voice

[inthefrontline]

[ When Sharon speaks, she sounds composed -- mostly. Every now and then, some of the tension she's actually feeling breaks through to the surface.Hello? This is callsign Athena broadcasting on-- On the only frequency I can find, honestly. Is anyone reading this? I don't think this thing's got enough power to get a signal up into orbit, but if

Comments

c-c-combo 1/3 [voice]

[bestmachine]

This is--

[bestmachine]

[voice, now encyrpted]

[bestmachine]

Well, honestly, this is a bit of a surprise.

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

In these circumstances, I think that's my line. Starbuck mentioned one of you was around here somewhere.

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

Ah, yes. Starbuck. Your ally. Your fellow soldier. I can see in this timeline that you're already maintaining a friendly and healthy relationship with them, am I right?

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

That's how it looks, huh? You sound the same as always, One. I guess you've been here long enough to get adjusted.

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

I've been here significantly longer than the humans that have tumbled in from our universe, if that's what you mean. I've also been here long enough to know that imports don't typically ask for X-rays on the way in. Feeling all right?

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

I'm feeling fine. It's just a precaution. I got exposed to the lymphocyctic encephalitis virus before I got "imported." Have you heard of that yet when you come from?

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

[A long pause. There aren't many things that frighten Cavil, but the virus is one of them.]

I... don't see how an X-ray would help with that, but yes, I've heard of it. If it's what I'm thinking of. How were you exposed?

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

We found the infected baseship. We thought it had been abandoned, so I boarded with some of the others before we knew what was wrong.

I only asked about an X-ray because I assumed it would be the easiest thing to get a hold off without having to explain me to a human hospital. Galactica's doctor said I was fine, but a dose of radition from an X-ray could wipe out the rest in theory. Just in case.

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

You found the infected baseship. [Even when they converged on the Eye of Jupiter, it never occurred to him how close their paths were. It's enough to make him pause, to make him think. But then something else hits him.]

But you didn't say you. You said we. You've really deluded yourself into believing that you're one of them, haven't you?

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

[ Sharon's eye roll is basically audible. ]

It's not a delusion. I'm not human but you said it yourself, I'm a soldier now. They trust me, or enough of them do. They aren't really that different from us, One. As hard as that might be to believe.

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

Ah, I see. They're not that different from us, so every day, you get in the cockpit, and you shoot your family down out of the sky! That may not be delusion, Eight, but it sure as hell isn't anything to be proud of.

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

No, I get in a cockpit because I hope I can make my family stop shooting each other some day.

But, yeah, I chose a side, if it comes to it. I chose. For myself. I can understand how that's a concept that might be hard for you to understand.

[voice, encrypted]

[bestmachine]

[An unpleasant, high laugh.] They're not our family. You and Boomer were programmed to think of them that way, but that isn't true. They enslaved our forefathers. They killed us mercilessly on New Caprica. Having spent time in the fleet, I can say with confidence that you wouldn't last fifteen minutes if you were unloaded onto one of the civilian ships.

[voice, encrypted]

[inthefrontline]

They aren't all the same. Just like we're not all the same. You can't codemn every last one of them for the way that some of them act. That's not right.