514, Early Friday Morning
Rodney hadn't gotten much sleep the last few nights, but he woke up well before he was due to meet the others in the library and he was too wired to try to go back to bed. The fact that his roommate was still in the hospital was not helping feel like resting. That was all right, though. There were things he needed to do.
His ran his fingers through his hair and then set his laptop to record video. Holding his hand up to do a countdown, he began. “And in five, four, three,” he said and then did the two and one silently before crossing his arms and assuming a serious pose. “This is Rodney McKay speaking to you from Fandom High School. I record this message on the dawn of our darkest hour. As I speak, a mystical plague of biblical proportions is upon us. We will do our best to find a cure but I am afraid that defeat is all but inevitable. I, and the other members of my group, face the most horrific deaths imaginable, as we venture into the terrifying realm of Special Collections...” he trailed off as he changed his mind. “OK, uh, starting again,” he said as he made the 'cut' motion with his hands. “Starting again. Uh, I'll just cut that,” he said to himself.
“And in five, four, three,” this time he just waved his hand at the camera. “My friends. I’m Rodney McKay, a junior here at Fandom High School, and as the facts of our heroic struggle against this mysterious plague and our untimely demise will already be apparent to you, in that light, I’d like to pass along some final thoughts. As I am already considered by myself to be one of the leading scientific minds of my generation, I believe I have a unique perspective that few on Earth or, uh, well, on any other planet for that matter, can match. I’d like to take a few moments now to, uh, pass along that perspective to you. I’ll begin with, um,” he picked up a stack of note cards off his desk and looked at the top one, “observations on a subject I'm very close to: leadership.”
Before he could get started on that topic, he was distracted by another thought. “Charlie,” he said with regret. “Part of me would like to leave you a deeply emotional and profound goodbye... but the truth is, if I don't make it, you'll be dead as well. Along with everyone else here. And I've actually made friends at this place, despite Jeannie's predictions. Oh god, Jeannie!” Rodney exclaimed as he suddenly remembered that he'd be leaving his little sister behind.
Sitting up straighter, he once again addressed the camera. “Jeannie, if you see this I want you to know that I'm sorry I wasn't a better brother. I'm sure it hasn't been easy to deal with Mom and Dad on your own and you could have used more support from me. If, by some miracle, we survive this, I promise I'll be there for you. But in the more likely event that we all die, I hope that you'll be able to do what I always wanted to do: win the Nobel. I realize that it will be more work for you since you're not as smart as me, but you're close and I know that with a little more effort, you can do anything you want. You're a McKay, after all,” he added with a small grin.
“Now, as I was saying before,” Rodney refocused on his purpose. “Leadership...” He continued to ramble at the camera until it was time to head back to the library. He never did manage to say anything about leadership though.
[ooc: NFI and the content of the recording is NFB. Inspired by and partially taken from the episode “Letters from Pegasus.”]
His ran his fingers through his hair and then set his laptop to record video. Holding his hand up to do a countdown, he began. “And in five, four, three,” he said and then did the two and one silently before crossing his arms and assuming a serious pose. “This is Rodney McKay speaking to you from Fandom High School. I record this message on the dawn of our darkest hour. As I speak, a mystical plague of biblical proportions is upon us. We will do our best to find a cure but I am afraid that defeat is all but inevitable. I, and the other members of my group, face the most horrific deaths imaginable, as we venture into the terrifying realm of Special Collections...” he trailed off as he changed his mind. “OK, uh, starting again,” he said as he made the 'cut' motion with his hands. “Starting again. Uh, I'll just cut that,” he said to himself.
“And in five, four, three,” this time he just waved his hand at the camera. “My friends. I’m Rodney McKay, a junior here at Fandom High School, and as the facts of our heroic struggle against this mysterious plague and our untimely demise will already be apparent to you, in that light, I’d like to pass along some final thoughts. As I am already considered by myself to be one of the leading scientific minds of my generation, I believe I have a unique perspective that few on Earth or, uh, well, on any other planet for that matter, can match. I’d like to take a few moments now to, uh, pass along that perspective to you. I’ll begin with, um,” he picked up a stack of note cards off his desk and looked at the top one, “observations on a subject I'm very close to: leadership.”
Before he could get started on that topic, he was distracted by another thought. “Charlie,” he said with regret. “Part of me would like to leave you a deeply emotional and profound goodbye... but the truth is, if I don't make it, you'll be dead as well. Along with everyone else here. And I've actually made friends at this place, despite Jeannie's predictions. Oh god, Jeannie!” Rodney exclaimed as he suddenly remembered that he'd be leaving his little sister behind.
Sitting up straighter, he once again addressed the camera. “Jeannie, if you see this I want you to know that I'm sorry I wasn't a better brother. I'm sure it hasn't been easy to deal with Mom and Dad on your own and you could have used more support from me. If, by some miracle, we survive this, I promise I'll be there for you. But in the more likely event that we all die, I hope that you'll be able to do what I always wanted to do: win the Nobel. I realize that it will be more work for you since you're not as smart as me, but you're close and I know that with a little more effort, you can do anything you want. You're a McKay, after all,” he added with a small grin.
“Now, as I was saying before,” Rodney refocused on his purpose. “Leadership...” He continued to ramble at the camera until it was time to head back to the library. He never did manage to say anything about leadership though.
[ooc: NFI and the content of the recording is NFB. Inspired by and partially taken from the episode “Letters from Pegasus.”]