HL fic: Conversations
This is my first attempt in the Highlander fandom. It's the first in a planned set of six.
Title: Conversations
Author: Endaewen
Series: In The Open
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: G
Summary: The discovery of immortals by the general public. A series of connected vignettes.
Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to Davis/Panzer.
Note: This story was given a preliminary read by ithidrial, for which I thank her greatly.
The evening had been spent in good spirits. Adam had just returned from one of his trips a couple of days before, and this was the first chance the four had had for all of them to get together, and they'd gathered at the loft. After a while, the talk turned from what he'd seen during his travels to general reminiscing from all of them, although Joe in particular, tended more to stay quiet and listen.
“You've been here almost a decade now,” Adam said during a pause after one of Duncan's stories. “People are likely to start to question why you don't look any older eventually. Where are you planning on living next?” His comment signaled a change in the group's mood. He glanced over at Richie, who didn't seem to be paying attention. “This applies to you as well, you know. You died when you were,” he paused for a second to think, “nineteen, right?” At Richie's confirmation, he continued. “You're going to have to move fairly often then. That's the downside of dying young.”
“It's always a good idea to have plans set out, and even to have your next identity set up, at least partially, especially if you die in public. A good, solid identity takes time, especially these days. And money.” Now, the oldest immortal sounded as though he were thinking aloud. “I don't think we will be able to get or make new long-term identities for too much longer. I think the existence of Immortals will have to become known to the general public eventually.”
“What do you mean?”
Richie was the one who had asked the question, but Duncan was looking thoughtful, while it was clear that Joe was also listening closely. Methos was glad he kept an eye on the chronicles the Watcher wrote, just in case something slipped through which might give any future Hunters extra help, although so far it was an unneeded precaution. Joe was careful with his friends' lives. He took a moment to organize his thoughts before answering the youngest's question.
“The world is getting smaller. A century ago, if you died, you would only have to travel a few cities away, and if people started to question how you still looked so young, even less of a distance was needed, before nobody would recognize you anymore. That was generally only a day or two's worth of travel. Now, you can go half-way around the world in less than a day.”
“It is much easier for a 'dead' man to be recognized now. Before, you could travel a few days and be unknown, now, it depends on how well publicized your death was.” Richie made a sound of agreement at that, which surprised the oldster somewhat. He hadn't thought Duncan's student had been Immortal long enough for such an experience.
“After the motorcycle crash, Mac told me that I'd have to stay out of Europe for a while. Granted, he had the experience to know, but I thought he was exaggerating things a bit. France, I could see. After all, the racing team traveled around France. Then, that night, I was watching the news on T.V. and there was a piece on the crash, including pictures of both of us who had died - on the BBC News.”
The redhead fell silent again and Adam took up his train of thought from where he had been interrupted. “News goes a lot farther now, as well, as Richie just said. There's not only the recognition factor, but also the increased need for outside verification.”
“Time was, when you said you were somebody, that's who you were. You made your own identity. Now, your word isn't good enough. Nearly everybody has records, going back to the day of their birth. If you don't, it raises questions.” He listed several examples of what he meant: “Birth Certificates, Social Security Card, Drivers Licence, Passports. Not to mention credit cards. These days, these make up your identity as much as or more than you do, and they limit what you can do.”
Somewhere along the line the conversation had changed to more of a lecture, Adam noticed, but it didn't seem like the other three minded, so he continued thinking out loud. “And generally, one builds off of another. You can't get a passport without a birth certificate or drivers licence. Leaving your 'country of origin' is nearly impossible without a passport. Your social security number is required when you get a job, and for nearly everything involving the government. Sometimes they also need to see your drivers licence as well. Credit cards aren't a form of ID, but they might as well be.” Everyone was nodding agreement with each of the issues he'd just listed. “Renting a car, or making reservations for a hotel, they all generally require that I have a credit card, even if I were to pay in another form, such as cash.”
“A growing problem for the creation of a new identity is the increase of computerized databases of things like fingerprints. The calls to add such information to passports and other forms of ID would, if the trend became widespread, signal the end of our ability to hide easily. Now, not only do we need to have the proper documents forged for new identities, but they also have to be added to the correct databases. That's where the increased expenses come in.” He fell silent.
The silence wasn't broken immediately, as everyone seemed to be deep in thought. “So, how long do you think you guys have before it becomes impossible?” For the first time since the subject had come up, Joe spoke.
Duncan and Richie looked to Methos to answer. Of the three Immortals in the room, he had the most computer experience. Not to mention the most experience changing his identity. Richie hadn't seriously had to change identities yet, even after the motorcycle accident, and Duncan was notorious for
not doing so. “If the current trends keep going, in combination with increasing computer security, I'd say at most, fifty years. Probably a lot less though,” he finally said. “Don't hold me to that guess though. Something else entirely could be what reveals us to the rest of the world. It's come pretty close to happening a couple of times already,” he added, referring to the incident with Christine Salzer which had nearly led to the revelation of Immortals a couple of years previously.
“You're not going to disagree with this?” Richie asked Duncan, when Adam had finished speaking.
“No. Not when he's right,” was the Scot's reply. “Connor mentioned something about this recently. He's been having trouble getting a new identity going. It started when he was nearly revealed during that series of fights in '86. Apparently, someone with the police figured out his tricks and confronted him on it. They not only found the birth certificate of the deceased child he used as the basis for that identity, but they were able to connect his previous identity to his current one through his handwriting, among other things. And Connor's pretty thorough and careful, so I think Methos is definitely correct on this issue.”
The discussion effectively placed a damper on the evening, and it wound down quickly after that, with everyone leaving not too long after, but still in a thoughtful mood.
Title: Conversations
Author: Endaewen
Series: In The Open
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: G
Summary: The discovery of immortals by the general public. A series of connected vignettes.
Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to Davis/Panzer.
Note: This story was given a preliminary read by ithidrial, for which I thank her greatly.
The evening had been spent in good spirits. Adam had just returned from one of his trips a couple of days before, and this was the first chance the four had had for all of them to get together, and they'd gathered at the loft. After a while, the talk turned from what he'd seen during his travels to general reminiscing from all of them, although Joe in particular, tended more to stay quiet and listen.
“You've been here almost a decade now,” Adam said during a pause after one of Duncan's stories. “People are likely to start to question why you don't look any older eventually. Where are you planning on living next?” His comment signaled a change in the group's mood. He glanced over at Richie, who didn't seem to be paying attention. “This applies to you as well, you know. You died when you were,” he paused for a second to think, “nineteen, right?” At Richie's confirmation, he continued. “You're going to have to move fairly often then. That's the downside of dying young.”
“It's always a good idea to have plans set out, and even to have your next identity set up, at least partially, especially if you die in public. A good, solid identity takes time, especially these days. And money.” Now, the oldest immortal sounded as though he were thinking aloud. “I don't think we will be able to get or make new long-term identities for too much longer. I think the existence of Immortals will have to become known to the general public eventually.”
“What do you mean?”
Richie was the one who had asked the question, but Duncan was looking thoughtful, while it was clear that Joe was also listening closely. Methos was glad he kept an eye on the chronicles the Watcher wrote, just in case something slipped through which might give any future Hunters extra help, although so far it was an unneeded precaution. Joe was careful with his friends' lives. He took a moment to organize his thoughts before answering the youngest's question.
“The world is getting smaller. A century ago, if you died, you would only have to travel a few cities away, and if people started to question how you still looked so young, even less of a distance was needed, before nobody would recognize you anymore. That was generally only a day or two's worth of travel. Now, you can go half-way around the world in less than a day.”
“It is much easier for a 'dead' man to be recognized now. Before, you could travel a few days and be unknown, now, it depends on how well publicized your death was.” Richie made a sound of agreement at that, which surprised the oldster somewhat. He hadn't thought Duncan's student had been Immortal long enough for such an experience.
“After the motorcycle crash, Mac told me that I'd have to stay out of Europe for a while. Granted, he had the experience to know, but I thought he was exaggerating things a bit. France, I could see. After all, the racing team traveled around France. Then, that night, I was watching the news on T.V. and there was a piece on the crash, including pictures of both of us who had died - on the BBC News.”
The redhead fell silent again and Adam took up his train of thought from where he had been interrupted. “News goes a lot farther now, as well, as Richie just said. There's not only the recognition factor, but also the increased need for outside verification.”
“Time was, when you said you were somebody, that's who you were. You made your own identity. Now, your word isn't good enough. Nearly everybody has records, going back to the day of their birth. If you don't, it raises questions.” He listed several examples of what he meant: “Birth Certificates, Social Security Card, Drivers Licence, Passports. Not to mention credit cards. These days, these make up your identity as much as or more than you do, and they limit what you can do.”
Somewhere along the line the conversation had changed to more of a lecture, Adam noticed, but it didn't seem like the other three minded, so he continued thinking out loud. “And generally, one builds off of another. You can't get a passport without a birth certificate or drivers licence. Leaving your 'country of origin' is nearly impossible without a passport. Your social security number is required when you get a job, and for nearly everything involving the government. Sometimes they also need to see your drivers licence as well. Credit cards aren't a form of ID, but they might as well be.” Everyone was nodding agreement with each of the issues he'd just listed. “Renting a car, or making reservations for a hotel, they all generally require that I have a credit card, even if I were to pay in another form, such as cash.”
“A growing problem for the creation of a new identity is the increase of computerized databases of things like fingerprints. The calls to add such information to passports and other forms of ID would, if the trend became widespread, signal the end of our ability to hide easily. Now, not only do we need to have the proper documents forged for new identities, but they also have to be added to the correct databases. That's where the increased expenses come in.” He fell silent.
The silence wasn't broken immediately, as everyone seemed to be deep in thought. “So, how long do you think you guys have before it becomes impossible?” For the first time since the subject had come up, Joe spoke.
Duncan and Richie looked to Methos to answer. Of the three Immortals in the room, he had the most computer experience. Not to mention the most experience changing his identity. Richie hadn't seriously had to change identities yet, even after the motorcycle accident, and Duncan was notorious for
not doing so. “If the current trends keep going, in combination with increasing computer security, I'd say at most, fifty years. Probably a lot less though,” he finally said. “Don't hold me to that guess though. Something else entirely could be what reveals us to the rest of the world. It's come pretty close to happening a couple of times already,” he added, referring to the incident with Christine Salzer which had nearly led to the revelation of Immortals a couple of years previously.
“You're not going to disagree with this?” Richie asked Duncan, when Adam had finished speaking.
“No. Not when he's right,” was the Scot's reply. “Connor mentioned something about this recently. He's been having trouble getting a new identity going. It started when he was nearly revealed during that series of fights in '86. Apparently, someone with the police figured out his tricks and confronted him on it. They not only found the birth certificate of the deceased child he used as the basis for that identity, but they were able to connect his previous identity to his current one through his handwriting, among other things. And Connor's pretty thorough and careful, so I think Methos is definitely correct on this issue.”
The discussion effectively placed a damper on the evening, and it wound down quickly after that, with everyone leaving not too long after, but still in a thoughtful mood.