(no subject)
The rain is new. Not just new to the island, but new to him. It's been raining now for several days. Nonstop some times, a right downpour at others. Yet other times, for the briefest of moments, it slows to a drizzle, then a mist and then nothing at all. The sky doesn't clear though and soon enough it's raining again.
The first day, the first evening, when it starts to rain, he stands out in it. Enjoying the sensation of the drops on his skin. His actual skin. Later he listens to it during the night. No longer the low hum of the ship and of blue energy nor the sounds of crickets and other creatures out prowling in the night. Now just the steady roar of the rain as it lands on his roof.
Joshua observes it all. Not from the removed location of the Mother Ship nor in a sterile lab nor with scientific or Visitor detached emotions. He's right there in the middle of it all. Mud and bugs and things that scurry. The scents and the sounds. There's nothing sterile about any of it. Nothing emotionless. He feels connected to everything. A connection to the island and to the people he's meeting here, who live here. It feels good. It feels less isolating. Above all, it makes him feel human.
He's settled into a hut. The obvious choice for someone who has known home to be the Mother Ship would have been to take a room in the compound, but Joshua has never been afraid to take a chance. And this chance, to live on his own, prove to himself that he can, it's a chance he doesn't want to miss. It's a hut in the community of New Atlantis, as he's told it's called. One formerly inhabited by a scientist named Radek. It's ironic and almost poetic justice if Joshua hadn't been who Fifth Column back home. The fact that he, a V medical officer (doctor and scientist in one) is now residing in the former home of a human scientist. Scientists, whom Anna had considered, to be as dangerous as the Fifth Column. And here he is, human, scientist and Fifth Column all in one.
And today he's headed to the southern clinic for his second shift there, though his third actual shift since arriving. He's gone from a dark past of which he doesn't speak and certain death to freedom and leisure, human emotion and meaningful work. As he walks, he can't help marvelling at all of it. It's just a small smile on his face. Someone might easily miss it or mistake it for something else, but it's there. There, now, where it otherwise would have been hidden. A small, satisfied, even happy smile on his face.
He hasn't bothered with any kind of rain gear. The clothes that he's wearing, no longer his V uniform, though he does feel most comfortable in it, are soaking up water as one would expect cotton to soak it up. He's very quickly soaked through. Being a doctor sometimes ruins all the fun. He's well aware that standing outside in the rain too long lowers his body temperature which lowers his immune system. His brand new immune system which has so far held out. He doesn't want to test it too much, but he figures there's not too much harm in going just until he reaches the clinic. He'll dry off then.
He arrives early, knowing it will be the end of Carolyn's shift as his begins. When he's alone, he notices a few squatters taking refuge inside. "Hello, there," he says, gently picking up a small lizard.
[Dated to Friday afternoon at the southern clinic, get patched up from Fight Club. Or bump into him soaking wet as he walks to the clinic. ST/LT welcome]
The first day, the first evening, when it starts to rain, he stands out in it. Enjoying the sensation of the drops on his skin. His actual skin. Later he listens to it during the night. No longer the low hum of the ship and of blue energy nor the sounds of crickets and other creatures out prowling in the night. Now just the steady roar of the rain as it lands on his roof.
Joshua observes it all. Not from the removed location of the Mother Ship nor in a sterile lab nor with scientific or Visitor detached emotions. He's right there in the middle of it all. Mud and bugs and things that scurry. The scents and the sounds. There's nothing sterile about any of it. Nothing emotionless. He feels connected to everything. A connection to the island and to the people he's meeting here, who live here. It feels good. It feels less isolating. Above all, it makes him feel human.
He's settled into a hut. The obvious choice for someone who has known home to be the Mother Ship would have been to take a room in the compound, but Joshua has never been afraid to take a chance. And this chance, to live on his own, prove to himself that he can, it's a chance he doesn't want to miss. It's a hut in the community of New Atlantis, as he's told it's called. One formerly inhabited by a scientist named Radek. It's ironic and almost poetic justice if Joshua hadn't been who Fifth Column back home. The fact that he, a V medical officer (doctor and scientist in one) is now residing in the former home of a human scientist. Scientists, whom Anna had considered, to be as dangerous as the Fifth Column. And here he is, human, scientist and Fifth Column all in one.
And today he's headed to the southern clinic for his second shift there, though his third actual shift since arriving. He's gone from a dark past of which he doesn't speak and certain death to freedom and leisure, human emotion and meaningful work. As he walks, he can't help marvelling at all of it. It's just a small smile on his face. Someone might easily miss it or mistake it for something else, but it's there. There, now, where it otherwise would have been hidden. A small, satisfied, even happy smile on his face.
He hasn't bothered with any kind of rain gear. The clothes that he's wearing, no longer his V uniform, though he does feel most comfortable in it, are soaking up water as one would expect cotton to soak it up. He's very quickly soaked through. Being a doctor sometimes ruins all the fun. He's well aware that standing outside in the rain too long lowers his body temperature which lowers his immune system. His brand new immune system which has so far held out. He doesn't want to test it too much, but he figures there's not too much harm in going just until he reaches the clinic. He'll dry off then.
He arrives early, knowing it will be the end of Carolyn's shift as his begins. When he's alone, he notices a few squatters taking refuge inside. "Hello, there," he says, gently picking up a small lizard.
[Dated to Friday afternoon at the southern clinic, get patched up from Fight Club. Or bump into him soaking wet as he walks to the clinic. ST/LT welcome]