Primeval fic: "A Reader's Digest of the year after" (for Lsellers)
.
Title: A Reader’s Digest of the year after
Author: Keenir.
Written for: Lsellers. Happy Birthday.
If this isn’t what you meant by “time is an illusion,” I can try again; no problem.
Characters: Jenny Lewis; Connor Temple, Sarah Page. Mention of Lester, Nick, Sofie, Danny, Samuels, and Dave.
Author's Note: the tiiiiniest pair of references to events in Primeval: Fire and Water.
Summary: Jenny’s life in the year after she left the ARC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘I had thought it was all behind me. That the chapter of my life was done, closed, and I had done my best to lock it away like an heirloom which carried far too many painful memories.
‘I forgot, or chose to ignore that just as a river may burst its bank, so too may memories intrude upon daily life.’
---from the personal journal of Jenny Lewis, 1 June.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the cab to her next job interview, Jenny sees that a prior passenger had left the newspaper open to an article about a new fossil discovered in the South which ‘might force us to revise everything we thought we knew about this family of extinct animals,’ in the words of one paleontologist involved there.
Jenny smiled at that, thinking what Nick would have thought of such grandiose claims.
And she switched back to steeling herself for the interview, as the skyscrapers fell back and were replaced by the more prevalent lower office blocks in this neck of the city. She knew that knowledge of how to fire a rifle might be a plus at select picnics and estates, but it would otherwise not be something for her CV. Her pre-ARC expertise, on the other hand, was a highly-valued commodity in the profession.
One must have priorities.
~~~
Her office filled a sprawling building whose grounds abutted a royal park. In these office grounds was a lake some swore had tides it was so big. Jenny just smiled and walked.
Walking the full length of the paving stones around the office’s lake was a task Jenny set herself every day. She did it to convince herself that there were in fact no amphibious beasts in the waters and nothing pachydermy on the greens.
Her coworkers saw this and thought her a health nut or a woman keeping slim, depending if they liked her or not.
~~~
Jenny tries not to overreact when her landlord refuses to deal with the mildew problem endemic in her building. She didn’t really buy enough anti-fungals to cause a minor extinction event - that was just the ravings of a hysterical landlord.
Or to the bats who roost in the eaves of her workplace. They still fly, which Jenny finds to be the only reassuring part.
She saw a seal at the beach. Thankfully, it was gone when she returned the next day.
~~~
She avoids the zoos now. And most museums. And only an invitation to a birthday party brought Jenny back to Kew Gardens.
They all had too many animals and plants which were nearly extinct, could become extinct, look like relics from a bygone time, or seem to come from the future, etc. The rich variety of evolution sticks in her craw: 99.9% of all animals which ever existed are now extinct…except Jenny knows they aren’t: They’re alive on the other side of an Anomaly.
~~~
Jenny is polite and well-mannered with all her coworkers. Though it is two months before she forces herself to admit why she hasn’t made any friends.
The person she counts as the closest thing to a friend Jenny has these days, is Sofie Dekker from the Johannesburg branch.
~~~
A noise downstairs wakes Jenny up. Noises. Loud ones. Call 999 or the ARC?
Jenny hopes they are only burglars. Early 21st Cen. men or women.
Regardless, she reaches for the handgun Lester gave her, complete with paperwork. 999 it is. She has a dispensation to have the gun. It should surprise her intruders, whatever they are.
~~~
Sarah and Connor visit once.
‘Awkward’ is a polite word for the scene, the three of them sitting in Jenny’s Living Room.
They’re all perfectly civil, but they stutter and fumble through the visit. After all they have been through, the ARC is a classified matter, and what else do they have in common to talk about? Aside from Nick, whose passing is still too raw for the three of them.
So they sip tea and do their best to keep a discussion alive, even if it concerns the weather and the latest doings of Kate Middleton, the future Queen. Though the liveliest debate concerns if Hans Solo (Jenny’s favorite) could outwit Indiana Jones (Sarah’s favorite).
Nobody mentions Nick or Danny or even Lester and Christine. Sarah slips once and grumbles about a “Samuels,” but no more than that.
Jenny sees them to the door at the end of their social call.
They don’t come back.
~~~
Jenny’s employers are bought out not long after Boxing Day. The new bosses only fire the CEOs, leaving everything else intact.
They are good to their employees, even those with years blacked out by Her Majesty’s Government. They love their workers.
But there is an unease within Jenny now. It seems irrational when she mentions it to herself, so she doesn’t breathe a word to anyone else. But it is plain to see that the subsuming corporation’s logo is a lungfish breaking free of its cocoon. Waking up. Emerging into a new world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End
Title: A Reader’s Digest of the year after
Author: Keenir.
Written for: Lsellers. Happy Birthday.
If this isn’t what you meant by “time is an illusion,” I can try again; no problem.
Characters: Jenny Lewis; Connor Temple, Sarah Page. Mention of Lester, Nick, Sofie, Danny, Samuels, and Dave.
Author's Note: the tiiiiniest pair of references to events in Primeval: Fire and Water.
Summary: Jenny’s life in the year after she left the ARC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘I had thought it was all behind me. That the chapter of my life was done, closed, and I had done my best to lock it away like an heirloom which carried far too many painful memories.
‘I forgot, or chose to ignore that just as a river may burst its bank, so too may memories intrude upon daily life.’
---from the personal journal of Jenny Lewis, 1 June.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the cab to her next job interview, Jenny sees that a prior passenger had left the newspaper open to an article about a new fossil discovered in the South which ‘might force us to revise everything we thought we knew about this family of extinct animals,’ in the words of one paleontologist involved there.
Jenny smiled at that, thinking what Nick would have thought of such grandiose claims.
And she switched back to steeling herself for the interview, as the skyscrapers fell back and were replaced by the more prevalent lower office blocks in this neck of the city. She knew that knowledge of how to fire a rifle might be a plus at select picnics and estates, but it would otherwise not be something for her CV. Her pre-ARC expertise, on the other hand, was a highly-valued commodity in the profession.
One must have priorities.
~~~
Her office filled a sprawling building whose grounds abutted a royal park. In these office grounds was a lake some swore had tides it was so big. Jenny just smiled and walked.
Walking the full length of the paving stones around the office’s lake was a task Jenny set herself every day. She did it to convince herself that there were in fact no amphibious beasts in the waters and nothing pachydermy on the greens.
Her coworkers saw this and thought her a health nut or a woman keeping slim, depending if they liked her or not.
~~~
Jenny tries not to overreact when her landlord refuses to deal with the mildew problem endemic in her building. She didn’t really buy enough anti-fungals to cause a minor extinction event - that was just the ravings of a hysterical landlord.
Or to the bats who roost in the eaves of her workplace. They still fly, which Jenny finds to be the only reassuring part.
She saw a seal at the beach. Thankfully, it was gone when she returned the next day.
~~~
She avoids the zoos now. And most museums. And only an invitation to a birthday party brought Jenny back to Kew Gardens.
They all had too many animals and plants which were nearly extinct, could become extinct, look like relics from a bygone time, or seem to come from the future, etc. The rich variety of evolution sticks in her craw: 99.9% of all animals which ever existed are now extinct…except Jenny knows they aren’t: They’re alive on the other side of an Anomaly.
~~~
Jenny is polite and well-mannered with all her coworkers. Though it is two months before she forces herself to admit why she hasn’t made any friends.
The person she counts as the closest thing to a friend Jenny has these days, is Sofie Dekker from the Johannesburg branch.
~~~
A noise downstairs wakes Jenny up. Noises. Loud ones. Call 999 or the ARC?
Jenny hopes they are only burglars. Early 21st Cen. men or women.
Regardless, she reaches for the handgun Lester gave her, complete with paperwork. 999 it is. She has a dispensation to have the gun. It should surprise her intruders, whatever they are.
~~~
Sarah and Connor visit once.
‘Awkward’ is a polite word for the scene, the three of them sitting in Jenny’s Living Room.
They’re all perfectly civil, but they stutter and fumble through the visit. After all they have been through, the ARC is a classified matter, and what else do they have in common to talk about? Aside from Nick, whose passing is still too raw for the three of them.
So they sip tea and do their best to keep a discussion alive, even if it concerns the weather and the latest doings of Kate Middleton, the future Queen. Though the liveliest debate concerns if Hans Solo (Jenny’s favorite) could outwit Indiana Jones (Sarah’s favorite).
Nobody mentions Nick or Danny or even Lester and Christine. Sarah slips once and grumbles about a “Samuels,” but no more than that.
Jenny sees them to the door at the end of their social call.
They don’t come back.
~~~
Jenny’s employers are bought out not long after Boxing Day. The new bosses only fire the CEOs, leaving everything else intact.
They are good to their employees, even those with years blacked out by Her Majesty’s Government. They love their workers.
But there is an unease within Jenny now. It seems irrational when she mentions it to herself, so she doesn’t breathe a word to anyone else. But it is plain to see that the subsuming corporation’s logo is a lungfish breaking free of its cocoon. Waking up. Emerging into a new world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End