Text

[robodidactic]

Wanted: Volunteers for scientific survey of Sacrosanct tech resource locations and salvage.

must be willing/able to traverse long distances unaided by teleporters
weapons training recommended
technical and/or medical training a bonus
credits/free food available

Interested parties please reply ASAP.

Comments

[usavatar]

[He considers offering a hand with the door, but she gets it open all right, and when he steps inside - minus the people - it's almost like walking into Howard's private space. Different projects, maybe, different arrangement, but it has the same stamp of personality on it. The same feeling that someone dedicated and brilliant works and arguably lives there.]

What? Oh! Yes, please, thank you. [He shifts to parade rest to keep himself from fidgeting. Steve is starting to worry again that he did something wrong in their last meeting, something that - because of differences in universes - neither he nor Peggy would catch.] Um. Dr. Ross? Is everything all right? I mean, I didn't... Did I do something to upset you? I'm sorry, if I did, I didn't mean to, I'm just not very...

[He trails off, raising one hand to make a helpless little gesture.] I'm never sure how t- This isn't to say that I think about - What I'm trying to say is I'm not really... I don't have a lot of experience with women - with talking to women, I mean, and if I said something that wasn't appropriate or- I'm sorry. Ma'am.

[Oh lord can he please die now.]

1/2

[robodidactic]

[At first she's just paralyzed because he's trying to make small talk. Kimiko, in general, has never really been comfortable with small talk. It speaks of distractions and mockery, neither of which she can cope well with, over the long or short terms.

So, she's mostly just staring in horror at him as he continues babbling, like a deer in the headlights, unable to move, unable to shake the slowly dawning comprehension of her doom. This is it. This is what death feels like. A cute boy talking to you, apologizing for something he didn't do and calling you a-

...]

2/3

[robodidactic]

[ !!!!! ]

3/3 - and my work is done here

[robodidactic]

[ Is he implying that Kim is a woman? Well, of course she's female, but. A woman, not a girl, or even a young lady. A woman.

Women are creatures of the world, they go to bars and talk to attractive men and wear delightful party gowns while laughing over their alcoholic beverages and wafting beautifully coifed clouds of hair over their shoulders like siklen waterfalls of color! Kimiko barely has a ragged mop!

A mop!!!

...

Oh god, he's so sincere. He means it. He really means it and he's still standing there, looking at her with those big blue eyes and he is genuinely sorry for having triggered Kimiko's psychosis. It's impossible.

He's not human.

He's not human!

He can't be!]

...That's....fine. It's not your fault. I don't...

[break contact! break contact! Whew! She manages it when the Espresso machine chirps and she turns to take care of the minutae of coffee.]

I don't generally talk. To b- [boys.] ...people. Much.

fdhujhfbdjsdhcf

[usavatar]

Oh.

[How does one fit that much relief into a single syllable?It is in fact possible. He almost-but-doesn't-quite fidget again, watching Kimiko fiddle with the espresso machine and thinking of those little cafes in London that he never actually went to.]

That's- I don't either. I mean I didn't, much. Kind of have to now. Um- I'm not trying to be rude, but what was it you wanted to keep private? From the AI, or is it a... [Another flailed gesture.] Untainted experiment sort of thing.

I'm not even sorry

[robodidactic]

A little of both.

[A kindred spirit in hermitude? But he's Captain America! Doesn't he uh... Have to go...y'know...do daring deeds all the time?

Regardless, the question helps Kim find the rails again. The business of Science! That's solid ground.]

Mostly, I'd like to avoid Hypatia killing the project before it's finished. I told you before that I had experience with multidimensional travel? Powerful people who run enclosed population concentrations like this one tend to take umbrage when you try to leave without permission.

[She says it as if it's true. And maybe it is, but Kimiko's not referring to merely sacrosanct. This entire universe is too small a cage for her, now that she's seen how wide the horizon can stretch. She wants more.]

It's beautiful

[usavatar]

[He comes to life. There's really no other way to put it. He goes from a cute, mild soldier to someone lit up from within.] You're looking for a way out. You think it's possible, then?Do you think she, the AI, Hypatia, do you think she's responsible for whatever brought us here? Have you done a lot so far - do you think it'll be possible to pick a destination, to direct the way out so everyone can leave? I don't know if it would work, but ever since Jin Tian mentioned the sounds, I started thinking, what if we could sort of... tune in to the other universes, like tuning a radio.

[He catches himself and goes pink. She probably thinks he sounds like an idiot.] Sorry. I'm not a scientist, but I haven't had much to do other than think about this.

[robodidactic]

I...

[And. We're back to staring?]

Uh.

[NO. NO, THAT IS ENOUGH. YOU ARE KIM FUCKING ROSS AND YOU CAN DO THIS.]

I'm looking for a way out. [Liar.] Wait, what? Of course it's possible! What idiot told you it wasn't?

[Mild annoyance makes a good shield against awkward.]

It's not like...that. At all. [Sigh. At least he knows when to be quiet. A little of her desire to combust recedes with this demonstration of Steve's willingness to blurt out stupid things.]

The problem is that the Rift is shifting between an unknown sequence of universes at highly chaotic intervals. I'm sure there's a pattern, but we can't even begin to measure the leap-time. In addition, it's incredibly radioactive and physically accessing it would probably kill you. The rate at which it deposits matter in the junkyard is a good indicator that it's exo-trans-universal, not the reverse.

So far, the biggest point of discovery has been that the rift is affecting the teleporter system. We might be able to reverse the effect, but...tests.

I'm working on...[Just keep babbling and you can totally deal with how...lit-up he is. How nice it is to be given someone's full, sincere attention. Like he even cares- NO SHUT UP GOD JUST. KEEP BABBLING. BABBLE AND FORGET. BABBLE AND FORGET.]

...like a camera. A sophisticated eye through which to observe the workings of an abridged teleporter network. But you can't tell anyone outside of this lab. Hypatia will overhear it- she can see and hear everything unless precautions are taken. I don't have enough supplies, and I don't want to wait for months on end.

[She knows it's ominous, but the truth is that she's speaking from experience when she says it isn't a good thing:]

Christmas is coming.

[usavatar]

[He stays silent, digesting all of that, studying nothing in particular and slotting this information in with what he already knows - prioritizing, organizing, mentally preparing the notes he'll make to hand off to Peggy and Coulson.]

[Steve comes back to himself with a deep breath, nodding.] Well, I'm more than willing to help in any way I can - I go to the junkyard almost every day, at this p- Christmas is coming, isn't it?

[Whatever he was thinking gets derailed by that one comment. Christmas. Again. It feels like - well no, he did just have one, only a few weeks ago, but here it is again. Considering how he came here he's not about to take it for granted. Somehow this one will have to be special.]

[But that's a thought for another time. He ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck.] ...Why is that bad? Does something happen here on Christmas?

[robodidactic]

I don't know. I haven't been here long enough. But from the notes I've gotten from other s- [Survivors] ...people, these dimensional hubs seem to follow western holidays, at least the big ones. Even if they don't, a lot of things happen around the new year, and tick-overs might mean something gets let loose, or switched over.

I'm not going to take any stupid chances. Normally I'd pass that off as superstition, but in this case it's just caution. Other people believe in the importance of arbitrary feast-days, so they're likely to add to the trouble.

It's just. [Sigh. Looking up at the lab. She built it, crafted it like a wasp coating the inside of a cavity with made paper and wax. It was as it had been at home, sounded the same, smelled the same, looked the same. Sometimes, when she closed her eyes she could imagine that world still existed.

Pointless nostalgia. What useless mnemonics we cling to, we fragile human creatures.

They forget that we're only here because someone is allowing us to be. This will never be safe, or home. But they get comfortable until something horrific happens, thinking they can't do anything to prepare. What's it going to take to get these stupid idiots to save themselves? Godric was right; people never really change.]

It could be nothing. Or there could be a zombie snowman uprising, or the environmental controls could give us a white-out blizzard, or who knows what! But it's Christmas, so everyone thinks it'll be fine-

[no, that's a lie. But now Kim is throwing her hands up and she's on a roll]

...If they even think at all or remember that we're on a space station, a space station, but no. I'll have to save them, or at least point out the obvious answers and nobody will listen, and ugh!

[UGH! With your hands like this you flop over, to demonstrate bodily how disgusting people's attitudes are. Unfortunately this sort of wildly flailing frustration is likely to send you careening...right into people.

Oops. Hi Steve.]

[usavatar]

[Steve catches her automatically, one arm around her shoulders, his free hand on her arm. He lets go as soon as he's sure she's not going to fall over and clamps his hands behind his back. He will not stammer, he will not flail, he will not hunch as though hoping to spontaneously transform into a turtle and withdraw from this conversation into the safe dark of a shell without girls.

...Okay, he might do a little of the last one.] I. Like it. Christmas, I mean. Never really had one when things were all right - there was always something going wrong, or something that could go wrong.

[Sirens interrupting the party, raids, power outages, sickness - from his most recent Christmas to the first ones he remembers, they've never been uneventful.] Maybe it is arbitrary, but when things are like this- when we're stuck like this, I think an arbitrary celebration means even more than it would at home.

[He ducks a little more.] ...Even if people do end up needing saving. At least we can be ready for that.

[robodidactic]

[Gaping at you now, Steve. That speech is the kind of thing one makes while being framed by a gently waving American flag, while a soft but staid rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic plays in the background, swelling triumphantly on the final notes, just as you finish speaking.

HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING OOOOOOONNNNNN.]

...That is the corniest thing I have ever heard a living person say. But you're right.

[He really is Captain America.]

When something horrific happens, I'll...[keep in touch. GOD. NO.

NO TOUCHING. OH MY GOD WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT. But now a portion of Kim's brain is fixating on Steve's chest and how it felt when he held her up and she really is going to faint here in a few minutes.]

A-anyways. I. Need. Alumina? For...Project.

[usavatar]

[Oh. Corny? Kim why would you refer to a storied American produce in a derogatory sense You brought this on yourself, Kim: He's bright pink and trying to make himself look as small as possible. CONFIDENCE SHOT. DEAD. ROASTING ON THE SPIT OF EMBARRASSMENT OVER THE OPEN FLAME OF SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS.] Um. How do I... How can I tell if... How do I find what you need?

[robodidactic]

Uh. I can make it, from Corundum. It's-

[SCRAMBLE FOR SAMPLES! She holds up a handful of colored crystals.]

Crystalline aluminum oxide. You can also get it from the optics in the station drones, if you can get into their repair stations. They might object, though.

[WE'RE JUST GONNA IGNORE THE REDFACE. Lack of situational awareness powers- activate!]

[usavatar]

[...Wow. He's still a shining pink beacon of humiliation, but at least now he's a distracted one.] ...They're beautiful.

[He starts to reach for one and pauses.] Um. May I?

[robodidactic]

Sure.

[oh god so unsure.]