(Untitled)

[jill_langston]

Growing up, Jill hadn't been a particularly great student, but she'd also been one of those kids who could often be seen wandering down the sidewalk or across the playground with a book held in front of her face. She'd always loved reading and while the material had changed over the years, the book was still firmly in the place it had always been.

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[unit_girl]

Jo knew the woman, having seen her in the lab, but even if she hadn't she still would have rushed over. "Are you all right?" she asked, crouching down and reaching over to pick up the book.

[jill_langston]

It would have been less embarrassing for someone she knew to have seen, Jill thought, but she nodded, flashing a self-conscious grin at the woman. "Yeah, I just need to learn to watch where I'm going when I walk," she answered. "I'm not normally quite that clumsy."

[unit_girl]

Jo smiled and handed the other woman back her book. "Oh, I am that clumsy. I just usually knock other things over. And usually in the lab, although I don't think I've done it here when anyone noticed." Or at least, no one had commented, which was possibly not the same thing.

[jill_langston]

Jill laughed, unable to help herself, thinking of how David would react to someone knocking things over in the lab. "I've seen you around there," she agreed, nodding. "I'm Jill Langston."

[unit_girl]

"Jo Grant. I've seen you around too, but I mostly do what Abby tells me." She smiled at Jill's laughter. "What experiments do you do?"

[jill_langston]

"I don't really do much of anything anymore," Jill admitted, as much as it pained her to say so. "I'm a virologist, which definitely leaves limited opportunities when you live on an island where no one ever seems to get sick."

[unit_girl]

"Oh, well do you know why that is?" Jo sat up, interested because here was someone who might have some good theories. "Although lots of people had colds after it rained in the autumn." Even if the rain was the only part of the weather that was autumnal.

[jill_langston]

"The only possible explanations I've been able to come up with seem completely absurd," Jill said sheepishly, wishing she'd been able to think of something better. "Either the fact that some of us are fictional and seemingly invincible has something to do with it or it's possible there's something else in our systems. Something we've all picked up during our time here, something in the water or the air. Something killed all the previous inhabitants, though, so I'm not entirely sure I'm on board with the idea that we've all managed to become superheroes overnight."

[unit_girl]

She made a face. "I hope it doesn't kill all of us too." She disliked the idea of something horrible lying dormant all this time and just waiting to kill them. Whether it was a virus or not. "I'm not fictional and I'm not usually invincible either so it must be something here. Maybe it was something that's good for us but was bad for the previous inhabitants?"

[jill_langston]

"That is a possibility," Jill agreed, nodding. "But without the proper equipment, being able to discover what that might be is... not easy, anyway. What I wouldn't give to have my virology lab."

[unit_girl]

"It would be interesting to know for sure. But you never know, the proper equipment might turn up on its own. I've heard of it happening before." Well, in January generally, which was a long way away now, but it was always hard to know with this place.

[jill_langston]

"I keep hoping and yet the island decides on giving me toys," Jill answered dryly, although she was smiling faintly. She did like the robot, even if she would have preferred her whole lab show up instead.

[unit_girl]

"I was hoping it would give me something for the lab too. I'd like to be able to contribute more." She sighed, but Jo was never unhappy for long and she was curious too. "What sort of toys have you got?"

[jill_langston]

"Real toys or lab toys?" Jill asked, laughing. "I was given a small model of Gort this Christmas. You know, the robot from The Day The Earth Stood Still? I loved that movie when I was a kid."

[unit_girl]

She shook her head. "I haven't seen it. I'm not really into science fiction." She never had been and it seemed more pointless when her life had become like science fiction itself. "But a robot sounds cool. Does it move by itself?"

[jill_langston]

"No, it doesn't do anything, really," Jill admitted, although she still liked it. "I had a similar toy when I was much younger, so I think the island thinks its still being hilarious."