"Yes. I mean... not your Mother or your friend, necessarily, but anyone." The young woman looked sympathetic. "Has anyone else told you what's going on yet?"
Tara knew how unsettling turning up in Taxon could be. It had to be all the worse if you didn't have a friend to greet you a few minutes later.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 3 2010, 03:41:01 UTC
Either this was someone's fucked-up idea of good cop/bad cop or the girl on his new cell phone was offering to help him. It was the same tack either way. "Not really," he said brightly. "But there's a first time for everything. You mind filling me in, Miss...?"
"Maclay," she supplied. "I'm Tara Maclay. And you're in Taxon. It's..." She hesitated, just a moment, then said, "As best we can tell, it's sort of like a very strange zoo. For people." It wasn't terribly comforting, but he didn't look like the sort of person who'd appreciate having punches pulled.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 3 2010, 20:36:02 UTC
Michael cradled the cell phone in one hand again and tapped at the icons: holo? What was holo, exactly? Focusing on this kept the tides of panic brought on by the word zoo at bay; not so much the zoo idea alone as the rising confusion and feeling that nothing he was doing was remotely getting a grip on his situation. "Zoo?" he said a bit flatly. "What do you mean, zoo?"
Softly, she said, "No one knows how to leave, though people do come and go; just not on purpose. There are people who watch; we think they're watching, anyway, but they intervene very occasionally. I think they want us to be comfortable, but they're not always good at going about it."
Tara knew it was a lot to take in, but she tried to lay out what she knew plainly. It only made it worse to have people pussyfoot around the situation, she usually thought.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 4 2010, 22:41:31 UTC
"Okay," said Michael, pursing his mouth. "Okay."
'Okay' was not how he felt about the situation. 'Okay' was not how he felt at all. But 'okay' was all he could think to say for the moment; he rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and stared at the girl on the screen, like some insight would pop into his head if he did. It didn't, and he was still reeling like the rug had been pulled out from under him -- like the ground had been pulled out from under him, really --
He managed a smile. "Tara MacLay. So, I'm Michael Westen." He'd toggled the pad to 'Visual' by now and was tapping around the screen. "Thank you. I appreciate when someone bothers to tell me what's going on."
"I wish I could be more helpful," she said, sincerely. She knew too well how hard it was to accept so much all at once, even for people who were used to the bizarre. "None of us wanted to be here any more than I'm guessing you do."
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 5 2010, 07:44:50 UTC
"That's all right," he said, though it wasn't. "I'm sure we can figure something out." He smiled a little more brightly at her, more out of relief that anyone seemed more interested in talking to him than staring at him voyeuristically at the moment: not that, between Management, Vaughn, Victor Stecker-Epps and his own mother, this was a feeling he was unused to.
She made a note to tell him to be careful, in a bit - she still too-vividly remembered how wrong the Doctor's attempts to escape had gone.
"Once you settle in some, I can tell you what I know. I've been here a little... a little less than a year, but it's still not a great deal. Do you mind if I ask... you sound American?" Turn of the 21st century, probably; he seemed very normal to her.
Then again, Timelords looked like people, over tablet. But somehow, she was going to stick with human.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 6 2010, 06:03:57 UTC
"American?" The fact that he was reduced to repeating her words back to her was sign enough that he was discombobulated. "Um, thanks? You -- sound -- American -- too?"
Only then did he realize what she was probably asking: you sound American, are you? Where are you from? This Taxon place attracted all kinds, apparently. He tried to ignore what he'd said a few seconds ago and went on, with only slightly bruised pride, "Oh. Yeah, I'm from the U.S. Dr. Reid already asked me some stuff about that: Miami, 2010, only universe I know about. Did you have any more questions? I'm all ears."
"I don't think you really need an interrogation right now," she said, gently. "But it should make it a little easier on you; the people from farther back have more trouble getting used to the technology. I'm from California, about 2002." She wasn't sure how time passed at home while one was in Taxon, but that still seemed a safe ballpark.
"It seems like there are a lot of Americans from within a decade or so of us, and then the rest are sort of... far-flung." She'd leave off Extras for now.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 6 2010, 14:34:55 UTC
Michael processed 2002. "We've got a president named Barack Obama," he said helpfully. "He's a Democrat. The country's still not over 9/11. Music has gotten a whole lot worse." He tossed Tara a half-hearted salute. "Greetings from the future."
Tara smiled a little, though there was something almost sad about it. "Sounds pretty wacky. Or it would, if I didn't have Taxon for comparison." Aliens. Extras. Glitches. The decline in pop music didn't quite measure up.
"Anyway - if you pick up the tablet, the sort of phone thing we're talking on, you can at least get out and about."
Tara knew how unsettling turning up in Taxon could be. It had to be all the worse if you didn't have a friend to greet you a few minutes later.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Tara knew it was a lot to take in, but she tried to lay out what she knew plainly. It only made it worse to have people pussyfoot around the situation, she usually thought.
Reply
'Okay' was not how he felt about the situation. 'Okay' was not how he felt at all. But 'okay' was all he could think to say for the moment; he rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand and stared at the girl on the screen, like some insight would pop into his head if he did. It didn't, and he was still reeling like the rug had been pulled out from under him -- like the ground had been pulled out from under him, really --
He managed a smile. "Tara MacLay. So, I'm Michael Westen." He'd toggled the pad to 'Visual' by now and was tapping around the screen. "Thank you. I appreciate when someone bothers to tell me what's going on."
Reply
Reply
Reply
"Once you settle in some, I can tell you what I know. I've been here a little... a little less than a year, but it's still not a great deal. Do you mind if I ask... you sound American?" Turn of the 21st century, probably; he seemed very normal to her.
Then again, Timelords looked like people, over tablet. But somehow, she was going to stick with human.
Reply
Only then did he realize what she was probably asking: you sound American, are you? Where are you from? This Taxon place attracted all kinds, apparently. He tried to ignore what he'd said a few seconds ago and went on, with only slightly bruised pride, "Oh. Yeah, I'm from the U.S. Dr. Reid already asked me some stuff about that: Miami, 2010, only universe I know about. Did you have any more questions? I'm all ears."
He was all something, anyway.
Reply
"It seems like there are a lot of Americans from within a decade or so of us, and then the rest are sort of... far-flung." She'd leave off Extras for now.
Reply
Reply
"Anyway - if you pick up the tablet, the sort of phone thing we're talking on, you can at least get out and about."
Reply
Leave a comment